Front Porch Musings

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

It’s a damn shame that I’m just now starting to listen to Matthew Ryan. I mean, the guy has released 12 badass albums in the past 13 years, and is an amazing live performer. I blame my friends for not introducing me to him earlier. On the flip-side, it is kinda cool that I’ve just discovered an untapped library of new (to me) music from one of the most underrated singer song-writers of the past decade, give or take a few years. So, how did I find out about this guy? Well, he and Kasey Anderson put on an amazing show last week at the Hotel Utah Saloon. I feel that we should do a proper, full-length review of the show, and I’m going to make Skeet do it soon. Let me just tell you that Matthew and Kasey started out on stage with their guitars trading song for song like it was a rap battle for white people. They ended up doing the same thing amongst the crowd by the end of the night, and Matthew closed out the show by serenading our friend Cristina. It was definitely one of the most intimate shows I’ve ever seen.

Released in 1997, May Day is Matthew’s debut album, and it will definitely fit well in the Americana/alt-country/ whatever section of your album collection. I’m not sure who else was releasing this kind of music back then, but I’m sure that being a dumb-ass teenager at the time, I most likely wouldn’t have appreciated it as much as I do now. At that time, I was all about what it sounded like and less about what it said. Let me tell you that this album has both. The overall themes of the album, like most of Matthew’s music, deal with the highs and lows of life, some socio-political stuff, and the daily struggles that we all go through.

“Guilty” kicks off the album, and could quite possibly be the best break-up song I’ve ever heard. It’s not so much about how breakups can involve people falling out of love, cheating on each other, or growing apart. It’s about the fact that break-ups generally just fucking suck overall. Let’s be honest, all that fluffy break-up stuff is just a facade, this song is about the real emotion and the real goings on. It’s really raw, really pissed, and flat-out honest.
Guilty

This is one of those reviews where I have to limit myself on which songs I talk about. Every song on here is special, as I’ve had this thing on repeat for the past week. Another great track is “Irrelevant.” Where “Guilty” is hard and heavy, “Irrelevant” is introspective and soft. Matthew’s weathered voice still gives the track that gritty feel as he’s telling the story of a man looking back on memories that seemed so important, but realizing now that he’s, well “Irrelevant.”
Irrelevant

Okay, back to the rockers with “Disappointed.” This is my favorite song on the album, and my favorite part is during the beginning countdown with the way Matthew says “four.” For some reason that part always makes me smile. Another cool thing about this song, is that it caused me to use a dictionary. Do you know what a pugilist is? Neither did I. You think I’m going to tell you, but I’m not. I’m smarter than you right now and It’s killing you.
Disappointed

The last track I’m going to mention is the slow, steel guitar laden “Dam.” This is one of the most mellow songs on the album, and it’s really pretty. For the types of subjects that Matthew broaches, it can be hard to do so in a calming fashion, but he does it very well on this track.
Dam

So, I feel pretty bad about the fact that I didn’t plug Matthew’s 2009 release Dear Lover, or 2008′s Matthew Ryan Vs. The Silver State, or 2006′s From a Late Night Highrise, or 2003′s Regret Over The Wires, or 2001′s Concussion, or 2000′s East Autumn Grin, but I want for you guys to check those out on your own. While you’re here, check out the promotional video below that was made for Dear Lover’s release last year, it’s pretty sweet.

Taker Easy,

Brain

Matthew Ryan on MySpace

Matthew Ryan’s Website