Front Porch Musings

There are a lot of cool things that we’ve come into from starting this here blog deal on the interweb. Obviously the coolest, and the main reason that we started this thing, is all of the babes that we’ve met because of our incredible writing and awesome taste in music. Totally joking about that part. Anyhow, don’t get me wrong, the fact that us 3 ding-dongs are incredibly good looking helps, but we are truly doing this because of the music. Another cool part about what we’re doing is that we get to communicate with guys like Bryan over at Nine Bullets. Basically, that blog is the reason that this blog exists, and the fact that he’s willing to acknowledge us turds is awesome. Homeboy posted about this album a few weeks ago, and I liked it so much I asked him to send it to me. Little did I know, this freaking thing is going to make my top 10 for 2010, no doubt.

I know very little about Chase Fifty-Six, except that they’re from some tiny ass town in Georgia called Acworth. I’ve only been to the airport in Atlanta, so unless they’ve been there, we have little in common. I will say this however, their album “Allatoona Rising” has twelve tracks that will have you itching for a trip down south. It’s tough for me to review this thing without repeating all of the great things that were said in the post that turned me onto it, but I’m gonna give it a whirl. I’m also going to TRY to refrain from posting the same tracks that were shared in that post, but it’s gonna be tough.

It starts out with “MaryJane” which is just too good not to repeat. I just checked my Play Count on this track, and it’s currently at 83. I’ve had it for two weeks. This is just such a beautifully tragic love song paired so nicely with some twangy slide and back-up female vocals that you can’t help but listen to it over and over, and over again. Too bad it didn’t work out.
MaryJane

9B posted 3 of the best tracks on the album, one of which being “Goodbye Princess” so you’ll have to go over there to listen to it. But as I mentioned, all twelve of the tracks on this album are worth a listen. Musically, the band fits perfectly within the Drive-By Truckers space, pairing incredibly smart lyrics with booze soaked rock and roll. Vocaly however, I can hear some Eddie Vedder in a track like “Let it Go,” which is awesome. I generally hate that guy (Vedder) and all of the pomp and circumstance that comes with him, but this song rips.
Let It Go

Speaking of ripping, the track that follows is “Hundred Roses,” and it’s a real doosey. This band is versatile as all hell with their ability to make some really pretty love songs and some really pissed off songs about what happens when all that junk doesn’t work out. This track is a mix of the two. Again, the female vocalist helps a ton.
Hundred Roses

In my efforts to keep this review to only streaming four songs, I’ve realized that I’m unable to do so. Looks like I’m gonna have to give you five. Get over it. “Trailer Park Love” is the kind of song that will easily put you in a different world, but still makes you think about your own life. Looking back at a life and love that hasn’t produced all of the things that it was promised to, this track is a special reminder to keep keeping on. Kinda makes me want to live in a trailer.
Trailer Park Love

Okay, put on a helmet and pack a lunch for this last one. “Hey Bartender” is going to knock some sock off. As the title implies, this is a great party song, with some awesome lines. “I learned to spit just as soon as my feet hit the floor” is quickly becoming my personal mantra. It’s short and it’s fast, just like me. Throw this song on, throw some beers back, and burn the mother down!
Hey Bartender

In the end, this is one of those albums that you can put on and listen to all the way through. No need to skip a track here or there, pure entertainment from start to finish. Some of my other favorites are “Wasting Time,” “Ready Tonight,” and “Worst Thing.” Don’t be a buster, get this album!

Chase 56 on MySpace

Chase 56 on Facebook

Chase 56 Website

See ya later,

Brain

So, last night we were at The Hotel Utah for Kasey Anderson and American Aquarium, and let me tell you that it was easily the best show we’ve seen all year. For those of you here in the city that didn’t make it, make sure you punch yourself in the leg for being a baby. Yeah, 4th of July was a tough weekend. Yeah, we were all tired and hungover. Yeah, you had a good excuse and refuse to beat yourself up over it. You should.

Kasey Anderson started the night off with an acoustic set that featured a nice mix of tunes from his 2010 album Nowhere Nights. He made sure to play “Blake’s Song” which, as it always does, sent chills through the crowd. He also covered a Chip Robinson track, one from The Boss, and busted out some new tunes that he managed to write somewhere between his grueling tour schedule. “Sirens and Thunder” is my personal favorite, and I can’t wait until you guys hear it, once Kasey says it’s okay of course.

Once Kasey got the crowd good and warmed up for some rocking, he made way for the doods from American Aquarium, on their first trip to San Francisco. We were lucky enough to catch these guys twice in Austin, one of which at our showcase. Needless to say, we were more than a little excited to see them come to the West Coast. They provided a two hour set full of booze-soaked alt-country rock and roll that had us singing along with every track and certainly had the ladies dancing along. American Aquarium is out on the road promoting their most recent release, Small Town Hymns, from which they played quite a bit. In bold and daring fashion, they did a feckin flawless version of “Thunder Road” during their set. Apparently Kasey and the guys from AA are playing a game of HORSE with Springsteen covers. The real winner here? Us folks in the crowd. Finally, we managed to force the guys into an encore. I say forced because there’s no backstage at the Utah and the only way out is through the crowd. We were yelling for more, and the guys kindly obliged. They reached way back into the catalog and fittingly busted out “California,” from 2006′s Antique Hearts. Since one of our buddies was the one that vehemently demanded it, we were all pleased with their willingness to play a tune that we know they don’t practice too often. They also seemed pretty surprised that we even knew of it. Then, to cap it all off, they closed things out with another Springsteen track, a little number called “Born To Run,” you may have heard of it. All in all, it was an epic night. I couldn’t think of a better way to have spent 8 bucks, so I bought a t-shirt. And a koozie. And a poster. And had them all sign it.

On behalf of all of us there, thanks to Kasey Anderson and American Aquarium for an incredible show that we certainly won’t forget.

For those of you reading this post, make SURE to check these guys out when they come through your town. They’ll be together for the next few nights here:

Thursday, July 8th: 8:00 PM @ Tractor Tavern – Seattle, WA
Friday, July 9th: 8:00 PM @ Ella Street Social Club – Portland, OR
Saturday, July 10th: 7:00 PM @ The Empyrean – Spokane, WA
Sunday, July 11th: 8:00 PM @ The Filling Station – Bozeman, MT

Here’s some of the tracks I mentioned, but not from last night:
Kasey Anderson – I Was a Photograph (Blake’s Song)

American Aquarium – California

See ya around,

Brain

Hey All,

Another Tuesday, how about another Tuesday Two-Pack? This week’s version is going to be filled with some pretty new stuff that I haven’t listened to a whole bunch, but am just now getting my teeth into. I’ll let you know a few of the tracks that I dig, and you can go listen to some other stuff and we can kinda get to know the albums together. That’s what we’re all about here, bringing people together.

Nicholas Altobelli – The Regulator

Nicholas Altobelli is a 25 year old singer-songwriter originally from Southern California, but currently making his home (and quite splash) in Dallas. The Regulator is Nicholas’s second full-length album, and it came out on Tuesday of last week. This album is super mellow and soothing. It’s the kind of music to listen to while you sit in your favorite chair and reflect on the day whilst drinking a beverage of your choice. The album was mostly recorded by Salim Nourallah who worked with Rhett Miller and the Old 97′s. I’m particularly fond of the opener, “Wooden Floors,” which is basically an acoustic guitar, some violin, and real mellow percussion. “Northern Lights” also caught my ear with more picking than strumming from the guitar, again this one has some great violin to set the tone.
Wooden Floors

Northern Lights

BUY IT

Nicholas Altobelli’s MySpace

James Dunn – The Long Ride Home

Based in Raleigh, NC, James Dunn was inspired to make music when he started listening to the Boss as a kid. I think a lot of us find inspiration from the Boss, but very few of us can actually make music with that inspiration. The Long Ride Home was released in 2008, and it’s a follow-up to 2006′s Lonely American Dream. The album so far varies with some country, some John Mellencamp, and some of that rock that Mr. Springsteen inspired. I’m currently pretty fond of “Oak Tree,” which sounds like it could be a Bob Seger tune with the piano jamming along. I also really like “Till The Sun Comes Up” with it’s f*ck you attitude and fast guitars. You can listen to both of his albums on his site, so check out the links below.
Oak Tree

Till The Sun Comes Up

BUY IT

James Dunn Official Site

Well, that’ll do it for now,

Brain

There are a lot of good Americana / Alt-Country / Whatever bands that are currently making great music in the NYC area, and this is one of those bands. I know very little of their story, but what I could gather from their Facebook and MySpace pages which, as you’ll soon find, is also very little. I know that the band has 5 current members and 2 former members, and they’re calling Brooklyn home. I know that their current interests include shooting stop signs with buckshot, fire-crackers, and weed. I even know that they once played a show with God & Country and Poconos at The Delancey. Other than that, my knowledge of Golden Bones is very limited. Almost everything I know of them, I learned from listening to their awesome Self-Titled EP that they released last week. I suppose I could’ve just sent them an email if I wanted to learn more about them before writing this post, but I had to have something up for Tuesday, and let’s be honest, you come here for the music, not my ramblings.

The album is definitely something that is right up our alley, and if you like our alley, you’ll probably like this album as well. It’s got a fair amount of twang, a nice dose of folk, some country, a taste of the blues, and some great melodic vocals on top of all that. I’m hearing a little mix of The Band, Deer Tick, CSNY, and The Avett Brothers. How’s that for some toppings on your fro-yo? The album opens up with Bad Habits, with the banjo setting the tone for a bluegrass romper that turns to a sweet love song. Laureline comes next and really shows off their vocals. The instrumentation is great here too, and this is where I hear that CSNY reference I made earlier. Malibu is one of their most country leaning tracks, that recalls a drug trip, probably somewhere near Malibu? There’s also a great track called Adeline that features some great keys, twangy guitar and mandolin for good measure. They jam like The Grateful Dead towards the end too. Maybe Adeline is Laureline’s fiery younger sister? This is one of the best albums we’ve been sent lately, and we must thank one of the former members of this band, Matt Terrell for being a nice enough dood to think of us and forward it along.
Bad Habits

Laureline

Malibu

Adeline

Like I said, this is a really cool album from a band that I know very little about, but hope to learn (and hear, and see) more from these guys soon. One of the coolest things about these guys is that they’re offering this album fro FREE DOLLARS HERE. There’s nothing better than free music. When it’s legal. And, this is great free music.

Here’s a great live video too:

That’s all for now. Go Dodgers,

Brain

Raleigh North Carolina’s American Aquarium will be releasing their fifth album in as many years come this May, and it just might be their most impressive creation to date. If you know anything about the band, or have managed to catch one of the roughly 600+ live shows they’ve performed in the last five years, you’re more than familiar with the things that make this band great. Like many of our favorite bands, American Aquarium’s general persona is a direct reflection of their lead songwriter, and his songwriting (see also: Lucero and Ben Nichols, or The Drive-By Truckers and Patterson & Cooley.) Among such great company, BJ Barham and American Aquarium will certainly hold their own.

The instruments behind BJ’s deep Southern drawl and incredibly creative yet natural lyrics fall perfectly into place to burn the finished product into your brain in a way that’ll have you tapping your foot in enjoyment and nodding your head in agreement. What’s the same about this album as those before it, is that it derives much of it’s inspiration from the things that cause us the most of our worries… women. BJ Barham must’ve had his heart broken more times than one man should, but he’s managed to take each of these experiences and illustrate his feelings more poignantly than most men ever could. What’s different about this album is that, to put it succinctly, it’s a real country album. That’s the only way I can wrap my head around it. Don’t get me wrong, it’s got some rocking, but there isn’t a Katherine Belle and there are no Antique Hearts, and it’s perfect. And for a guy that STILL listens to Dances for the Lonely on a weekly basis, that’s saying a lot.

The album opens with “Hurricane” that starts off with the musical equivalent of what feels like waking with the sunrise, as opposed to preparing for the worst. Guess what? It’s a metaphor, for a girl. BJ sets the scene of a town preparing to be torn apart by a storm, while Whit Wright’s pedal steel swirls around like the wind picking up steam. From the get go, you can feel that the band is taking a more introspective approach to being used and abused, not looking for revenge, but rather looking back at what it was for what it was, and it’s a beautiful way to do it.
Hurricane

For every story of pain however, there’s a story of hope, of that beginning part of the relationship that feels so promising. “Nothing to Lose” tells this story of hitting the road and leaving everything else behind, and Bj does it so quickly and poetically that you’ll need to listen to it several times before you really feel it. The way this kid rhymes words with one another is truly a gift. Don’t overlook the musical aspects of this track though, as Ryan Johnson’s lead guitar and Kevin McClain’s drums created the tempo for this whole thing to go down.
Nothing to Lose

These guys wouldn’t be who they are if they didn’t show some real attitude, and this wouldn’t be considered a troubador country album if it weren’t for a song like “Rattlesnake.” Again centered around a dangerous woman, but the kind you know is going to burn you and you just can’t resist. This is a booze-soaked tribute to the kind of holes we tend to dig ourselves into, fully knowing the outcome. How can you not like the line “she’s got the kisses of a thousand angels, and the bite of a rattlesnake?” Zack Brown busts out an incredible piano solo towards the end of this one. I feel bad mentioning him this late in the post because Zack’s work is killer.
Rattlesnake

The last track you all need to hear isn’t about a woman at all. Well, there’s one woman mentioned, but it’s a Mama. “Brother Oh Brother” is proof positive that BJ Barham can write a song about something other than heartbreak. This is a heavy and proud song that will suck you in ala Kasey Anderson’s “I Was A Photograph” or Lucero’s “The War.” I hate to play favorites, but this is my favorite from this album. I love the way it’s written in a pattern, and emphasizes the important statements at the beginning and end of each verse. What do you call that? I don’t know, but it’s good as hell. Oh yeah, and I haven’t yet mentioned their bass player, Bill Corbin, but he’s really good too, way to go Bill!
Brother Oh Brother

All in all, if you’re going to buy ten albums this year, make damn sure that this is one of them. I’ve had it on repeat for the past two weeks and I hear something new every time I listen to it. There are ten tracks in all, each of which has a certain edge and consistency that ties it all together. If you’ve been listening to American Aquarium for a while, you’ll find a lot of familiar characteristics, but the changes should be considered promising. If it’s your first time hearing this band, this will be a great introduction to a library of music that won’t disappoint. I also must mention that you NEED to see this band play live. BJ runs a show that his half stand-up comedy, half party, and half rock ‘n roll mayhem. Yeah, it’s like 1.5 shows in one. Make sure you check out their MySpace page below to find out where you can see ‘em. They’re playing damn near everywhere from now through May, and you can bet your ass we’re doing a little work to get them out to California (stay tuned!)

American Aquarium MySpace

American Aquarium Facebook

I’ve got to leave you with what is probably my favorite YouTube video of these guys, and surprisingly, it’s not the one from our SXSW showcase (although they tore that thing up too.) The video below is for “I Hope He Breaks Your Heart” which was on 2009′s Dances for the Lonely. BJ tells the story of the girl, or demon rather, that inspired this song, and it’s hilarious. I wish we had the tape of the way he lead into this one at our showcase, because he wished that this girl had a bunch of “Water Head” babies. That’s one you don’t hear everyday, and I pretty much spit out my beer mid drink in laughter.

Alright guys, taker easy!

Brain