Die, 5 Chinese Brothers, Die!

The Mong / Music Group Commentary / April 2011

Alkaline Trio – “Crimson” = 2.5 Stars
A bit dated but still pretty cool.

Motörhead – “The World Is Yours” = 3 Stars
As advertised: Motörhead delivers the goods good!

North Mississippi Allstars – “Keys to the Kingdom” = 2 Stars
Having heard quite a few great live tracks from NMA, I wanted to like this more than I actually did. But this wasn’t a matter of unmet expectations…the songs were either contrived or half-baked.

The Smiths – “Louder Than Bombs” = 3 Stars
Apparently I like The Smiths a lot more than I thought, but, to quote allmusic, this is “an overlong and unfocused collection.”

5 Chinese Brothers – “Singer Songwriter Beggarman Thief” = 0 Stars
I find 5 Chinese Brothers’ lyrical attempts to ‘speak to me’ through some stupidly imagined universal experience of Americana even more enraging than their saccharine twang. Powerfully unbearable!

G’hits – 3 Chord Rock
Great collection. I really like this “theme” idea for G’hits. Looking forward to more.

Topic:
How do you listen to the music we review each month? Do you use headphones, listen in the car while driving, listen at home while doing other things, listen with 100% of your attention...you get the idea.

All of the above but usually I listen to “music club” selections when at my computer doing creative writing or other creative work that needs to be done on the PC (meaning, not busy work, paying bills, or jobby-job work) and then while actually writing my “music club” commentary.

The follow up is, does HOW you listen, or the number of listens, affect how you rate the music?

No, how, where, or when I listen doesn’t influence how I rate it. If I suspect it’s a “4” or above, I’ll generally listen to it repeatedly for the pure pleasure of it but the side-effect is a confirmation or refinement of my initial enthusiasm.

Hang the Dj, Hang the Dj, Hang the Dj...

Alkaline Trio – Competent but rather unimaginative pop punk.  With the solid wall of guitar riffs and catchy choruses, their script is well polished.  I just wish they’d deviate from it once in a while to keep one song from sounding exactly like the one that preceded it.  The strings (synths?) on  “Sadie” are a good example where a little change in the formula goes a long way.  2.5 stars

5 Chinese Brothers –Left me wondering, “How did I miss this one?” Fantastic album that starts great and never wanes. The tunes are so strong, whether they are country tinged or straight pop that they seem effortless. Lyrically they run the gamut from poignant to comic, but always sharp and on-point. Wound up chasing down their other works. 4.5 stars

Smiths – Hadn’t heard this in many years.  Great guitar work by Johnny Marr, simple pop songs and clean production that still sound good.  Holding it all together is the great Morrissey, whose vocals and lyrics are comically over the top. Never quite knew if he was trying to be serious or in on the gag, but I always assumed the latter.  A little more filler on this than I remember, but when they’re on their game, they’re as good as it got in the 80’s.  4 stars

Motorhead – While I generally hate metal, I respect Motorhead.  Like the Ramones, their charm lies in a refusal to deviate from the blueprint of playing simple music boiled down to its barest elements.  As expected, there’s nothing new here.  Lemmy’s vocals are a little worse for wear, but the band sounds as locked in as ever.  Not something I’ll ever play start to finish again, but when the occasional tracks shuffles in, I’ll crank it up. 3 stars

North Mississippi All Stars – Had a sinking feeling after the first two cuts, but the Mavis Staples song gets the rest of the disc on the right path.  Nothing remarkable about it, but there is a solid toe-tapping consistency that reminds me of Little Feat.  “Hear the Hills” was the highlight, would have liked them to stretch a couple of other songs out like they did on that one. 3.5 stars

3 Chord – Good stuff all the way around.  To me, these songs are representative of the essence of what rock music should be about.  Especially loved the Harrison track, which I had not previously heard. Shockingly, Dylan sounded downright interested. If we’re picking nits, the Ramones should have been in there somewhere.  Enjoyed it tremendously

Discussion Question

Don’t have a set routine. I listen at work, in the car, walking, driving, etc. All but the real crappy ones get a final listen before putting my insightful, well-reasoned opinions in writing. Once I have my rating set, I use the following matrix to make adjustments :

If the disc allows me to use the phrase “in its genre” in my review add ½ star
If the person who submitted it slammed my last offering – subtract 1 star
If my kids bitched about the disc when I put it on in the car – add 1 star
If my wife bitched about the disc when I put it on in the car – add 2 stars
If there are any songs longer than 5 minutes, subtract 1 star
If I submitted it, add ½ star to boost rankings
If Ken submitted it – subtract ½ star to offset the extra ½ star he undoubtedly gave it to pad his rankings
If Mongillo submitted it – Go no lower than 2 stars to avoid being branded a retard

Motorhead Cleans Up

(WC)5 Chinese Brothers- Singer Songwriter Beggarman Thief - .5 (because I like the title)

I wondered how long it would take for someone to say, “hey, how about if we form a grateful Dead country band”. This band pretty much bundled all of the music that I dislike most and packaged it in one pretty package. This works well because I know exactly where to go when I know what I don’t want to listen to.

(New) North Mississsippi Allstars- Keys to the Kingdom – 2.5

I’m on the fence with this one. I honestly can’t decide if I like it or not. Nothing flat out offended me, but nothing struck me as being exciting. It had a bit of a Charlie Daniels feel which I like, but it also had enough of a Georgia Satellites feel to turn me off a bit. Not the worst thing I’ve ever heard.

(New) Motorhead- The World is Yours -4

20 albums and Lemmy is still alive. That alone is worth 2 points. It doesn’t get a lot cooler than Motorhead. I feel dirty just listening to them, by dirty, I mean I feel like I smell like liquor and smoke. The liquor part might be appropriate. Outlaw should be a classic, but it probably won’t even get airplay, unless anyone knows anyone over at WCCC. Crankin’ kick ass cd. If it’s their last they’d go out with the perfect bang. Way big pick of the month.

(Old) Alkaline Trio - Crimson – 3.5

I little typical, Jimmy Eat World/My Chemical Romance/Fall Out Boy, but I love typical. I am a run of the mill sucker when it comes to music for the masses. This was a consistent cd without any real holes.

(Old)The Smiths- Louder Than Bombs - 4

Wow, does this bring back memories. Most of my stupid ex-wife who loved and played this miserable piece of shit over and over while we were dating. Now I understand because misery loves company and it doesn’t get a lot more miserable than Mr. Morrissey. But times have changed and I’m older and wiser now. I still hate the stupid fucking bitch, but I’ve forgiven Morrissey and the Smiths and have come to appreciate this album for what it is. Good solid misery music.

Ghits -3 Chord Rock

Cool idea. Some of the best songs were some of the simplest.

How do you listen to the music we review each month? Do you use headphones, listen in the car while driving, listen at home while doing other things, listen with 100% of your attention...you get the idea.

I listen in the car and at work. I typically listen on the ride home from the group and then start again about a week before the meeting. If I loved something right off the bat I’ll check it out more. I will usually give about 50% of my attention unless something really clicks with me.

The follow up is, does HOW you listen, or the number of listens, affect how you rate the music?

Absolutely, the more listens the more I love it or hate it.

What's not to like?

Todd Rundgren- 4.5
I have not listened to this record- and I only own the record- in probably 10 or 15 years. So listening to it again brings back tons of memories from 1972 and 73. Great memories. I had forgotten how great this album is. Todd Rundgren is a genius. A mad, pop hound, fanatical, freaking genius. The first 3 sides are all Rundgren- he plays every instrument and each side has it’s own feel and on side 4 he plays with people like Rick Derringer, The Brecker Brothers, and The Sales Brothers and we get songs like Slut and Hello, It’s me. So, thank you Jay. Something/Anything has been on my turntable for weeks and I’m lovin it---- all over again.

Riot- 4.5
Bringing shit like this to the table is why I love D’Arcy. I don’t think I’ve ever heard a Riot song. I’m not a heavy metal fan and I avoid records that are listed with that moniker. But, I love this cd. Catchy songwriting; great vocals; energetic guitars with the “heaviness” carried thru the songs by a driving rhythm section. And all of it with a nice kind of bluesy feel as well. I love driving home from work with Riot blasting out of my speakers… . Really good stuff.

Amos Lee- 2.5
I had a hard time getting into this cd. The guy sure can sing- and he can write. The cd is full of nice sanctified country music with a soft rock feel to it. I really like Calexico so I was all excited to hear this cd because of Joey Burns producing it. But, alas this is nowhere even close to having a Calexico feel to it. Windows Are Rolled Down, Violin, and Flower are all good tunes but the rest of the cd is just, well, nice and a little too introspective for my liking. I just feel like Amos Lee could do so much more.

Wire- 3.5
Another band I am not familiar with so I can’t compare it to anything they’ve done prior to this. I liked this cd right from the opening track- a great pop tune with witty lyrics and lots of catchy hooks. While I could definitely hear their punk roots and edginess on a lot of songs, I think the cd as a whole is pretty accessible and pretty melodic. A fun listen.

MSHVB- 2.0
They should be called Field Fleet Music Foxes. To me, their sound is a cross between Fleet Foxes and Field Music and while, on paper, this may seem like a good combination- it just doesn’t work on this cd. I’m not sure that I can articulate what exactly about this cd is so difficult for me to like so I’m not even going to try. The vocals aren’t great. The songwriting isn’t so good. And, I think they try to put too many textured layers into a lot of their songs which makes them bog down in the complexity. Having said that I’m giving them a 2 for Hurrah and Messengers- the 2 songs I liked on this cd.

Next Meeting's Topic

While I'm still logged in, I thought I'd give everyone a heads up on the topic for the next meeting...it goes to HOW we listen to music and if that makes a difference in how you rate it, so...

How do you listen to the music we review each month? Do you use headphones, listen in the car while driving, listen at home while doing other things, listen with 100% of your attention...you get the the idea.

The follow up is, does HOW you listen, or the number of listens, affect how you rate the music?

Looking forward to seeing everyone at the Spigot...when is it that we meet again?

Alan

Last In...God, It's Messy.

Amos Lee – Mission Bell

This CD made me admit to myself that I am ‘musically prejudiced’. If it was a Dave Matthews CD, I would have given it a 2. As I listened to it without prejudice, while I’m not a big fan of the Ray LaMontagne, white-boy sings soul/folk genre, I was pleasantly surprised to hear the different flavors in Amos Lee’s songs…his voice is pure and interesting, the production is clean and refreshing…the songs are good, the Willie Nelson and Lucinda Williams cameos were a treat and this will get repeated listens on those Sunday mornings after pouring a second cup of coffee. 4 stars.

Something/Anything – Todd Rundgren

It’s a basic tenant of entertainment that you start out great, finish great and leave ‘em wanting more. Todd Rundgren certainly did that with this album…it’s pretty hard to beat “I Saw The Light” and “Slut” as bookends. It seemed that the more I listened to this, the more enjoyable it was. Turns out there are many good songs and performances on this that I overlooked at age 15. There’s a LOT more to this than just “Piss Aaron” and “Hello, It’s Me”… and all these years I thought the most interesting double album set of 1972 was “Exile on Main Street” This was an overlooked pop masterpiece…4 ½ stars, with ½ off for the silly studio antics between songs.

Mt. St. Helen’s Vietnam Band – Where the Messengers Meet

This CD goes to this month’s topic – is there anything someone can submit that will get a “4” from everyone in the group. I know this is supposed to be good, I know they are an up and coming indie band, but I just can’t get into it. I don’t like the whiny vocals, the slower songs aren’t melodic enough for me to want to listen to repeatedly, and this is a fairly typical representation of this genre, and I don’t think it’s any better than a 2 ½, so there’s a pretty big gap to get to a ‘4’ in this genre for me.

Riot – Fire Down Under

Never got it, didn’t have it, it was a “buy only” on Rhapsody and the 30 seconds per song that you get to listen to was enough for me to give it a 3.5. D'Arcy...will you bring one of these for me next time? Thanks!

Wire – Red Barked Trees This is a CD that, even though post punk synth is not my thing, has a little of this, a little of that, all sequenced perfectly…It was a fun listen, not boring…The guitars cut through the synthesizers, the songs were well constructed, melodic where they needed to be and the vocals were palatable. I remember liking the late ‘70’s stuff from these guys, and it’s nice to hear people my age making vital alternative music that I can listen to and enjoy. 4 stars.

GH – Accordion

Thanks, Monsta for a nice, well thought out mix of rock…I had forgotten about the Pogues and Sousie and the Banshees and I didn’t have some of the live stuff like the Tom Waits, so that was a bonus…the only thing I expected to hear that I didn’t was a song from the Five Chinese Brothers, like Williamsburg or Baltimore…I’m sure there are a bunch more that didn’t make the cut, too.

Topic – Is there a CD that would get 4’s from everyone?

I misunderstood this question...I thought it meant, "Is there anything that we would all think is good, not great, and that we would ALL give it a "4". In reality, I guess the question was meant to mean, "is there anything that ALL of us would give at least a "4" rating? That changes my answer, since what I may think is great, Jay and D'Arcy may find "almost great", Ken, Sandy, Mike and Greg might find it "better than a 3-3.5" and so there are some albums, mostly "classics" that would make it. Most were mentioned at the meeting, so there's no need to dig further.