Music: Classics of Love - Self titled

Jesse Michaels, better known as the front man for the legendary Operation Ivy and less legendary Common Rider, is back with his second release from his new band Classics of Love...and he is fucking pissed...again. With zero hard evidence to back up this outrageous claim, I can say with 100% confidence that Op Ivy is the most influential band of all time, or at least 2nd behind the Insane Clown Posse. Either way every shit head in high school since the early 90's has cut their teeth on Energy and thought about getting a righteous ska guy tattoo as the anchor to that sick sleeve they're piecing together. Whether you listened to Michaels' charged up lyrics or not, Op Ivy was infectious, fast and fun. After he blew up Op Ivy and went AWOL (supposedly as a monk) his work with subsequent bands including 2009's Walking in Shadows by CoL lacked the blistering intensity that caused Operation Ivy to strike such a chord. It was almost as if Michaels was afraid to truly unleash the monster inside him for fear that once again the world would embrace it and demand that he be justly compensated.

Thankfully that monster is on full display again in "Classics of Love" and the world is exposed to Jesse's best work since...well...ever. Its like Operation Ivy without all the silly "hope for the future" or "optimism." On Castle in the Sky, Jesse demonstrates his harder lyrical edge:

Everyone likes power, I wish I had some

But you would kill the prophets for your place in the sun

Now it's up to us to keep you well heeled...

Who's telling lies in the corner?

Laughing as the house burns down?

Although some may find it depressing that the biggest punk icon since Joey Ramone supposedly spends his days working as a short order cook in California, I think that ultimately the world is a better place with an angry/uncomfortable Jesse Michaels. If he'd been able to sit back and collect royalty checks from all those hipsters' tattoos then we'd be missing what is turning out to be an exciting twilight to a remarkable career.

P.S. Any review of Classics of Love would be remiss not to mention that Jesse is backed by San Jose's excellent trio, The Hard Girls. You can check out their fantastic debut EP for free here (or you could throw them a $5 donation you cheap fuck.)

10/10

Music: Dead To Me - Moscow Penny Ante

When I was a little kid there were three bands that at various times occupied the top spot in my little heart; Pearl Jam, Rage Against the Machine and R.E.M. By the time I was finishing high school I had discarded all of these old favorites as sell outs and held up Operation Ivy as the pinnacle of music history. My conversion to punk was particularly hard on my relationship with R.E.M. All the hours I spent as a little kid jamming out to my Green or Automatic for the People tapes were dismissed as a youth misspent and reflected on with embarrassment. My dalliances with Pearl Jam and RATM were self-justified because at the very least they were still heavy as fuck, R.E.M. was just slow and boring and shitty. In the past two years as I become more and more heavily entrenched in this thing called adulthood I find that the tables have turned once again and R.E.M. is now my favorite childhood obsession to revisit. I blast Monster in my Bronco on the regular and unselfconsciously scream all the lyrics to What's the Frequency Kenneth? You may ask; "What does any of this have to do with Dead To Me's excellent new release Moscow Penny Ante?" Well, the point is I think I'm kind of over punk bands. They just don't get me excited anymore. Whereas three years I ago I would have been drooling over the prospect of a new release from The Have Nots, now I find myself yawning. I still prefer independent music but you have to bring something more to the table than three chords and a catchy chorus to keep my attention. Dead To Me is the only straight forward punk band that matters anymore, and their third release, Moscow Penny Ante brings the heat.

Despite numerous lineup changes Dead To Me have put out three full lengths and one fantastic EP in the past five years and proved that you can still hammer on a guitar at a blistering pace and not be boring or cliched. The poetry in their lyrics won't blow you over with profoundness and the choruses won't get stuck in your head all day, but there is just something fucking solid and relistenable about them.

At this point I a better writer would tie this all back in to the R.E.M. rant but I really don't have anything for you. I guess all I can say is that some music ages on us better than others and reflects back on us in different ways. While I can't guarantee that I'll ever feel the need to listen to my Rudiments or 88 Fingers Louie CDs again I do know that in 30 years I'll be able to drop the needle on my copy of Moscow Penny Ante and feel secure knowing that when I was twenty-seven I had good fucking taste in music.

9.5/10

2011 Rankings:

1) Laura Stevenson and the Cans - Sit Resist

2) BTMI! - Vacation

2) Dead To Me - Moscow Penny Ante

3) Mischief Brew - The Stone Operation

4) Lisabi - Au Diable Les Bananes

5) W/IFS - The Anarchy and the Ecstasy

Music: Bomb the Music Industry! - Vacation

If you were new to Bomb the Music Industry and spun their newest LP Vacation for the first time you would immediately deduce that Jeff Rosenstock (singer/guitarist/creative force behind BTMI!) is in his late 20's, white and generally a miserable bastard. All of these things are probably true. Further listens would reveal him to also be a genius with melodies and an accomplished song writer capable of lyrics that can at times be profoundly moving. Those of us who have followed BTMI! since it rose from the ashes of the Arrogant Sons of Bitches, see Vacation as the logical next step in the evolution of the band. Every release since Album Minus Band has moved a little farther away from the poppy/ska synth sound that characterized early BTMI! releases and Vacation shows Jeff treading more closely to the punk perspective of Elvis Costello.

Despite the cheery/optimistic title, on Vacation Jeff vacillates between dissatisfaction over the present and confusion about the future to a shaky acceptance that things could always be worse. The back to back tracks "Everybody That You Love" and "The Shit That You Hate" are a perfect illustration of the delicate balancing act attained. As Jeff chants:

"We all got sorrows so hold onto your home and your hope.

Sorrow don't answer problems. Nobody cares. We're all in trouble.

The shit that you hate don't make you special."

Vacation is a rare commodity, a punk album for adults. Being a punk doesn't have to be all about skateboarding, avoiding cops and stealing cigarettes. Being a punk at 27 is about going to work every day, staring out the window of your cubicle in a silent rage and then blasting your Clash CDs at an irresponsible volume in your car. The point is at 16 no one ever realizes that life will be a steady stream of compromised principles...but it is...and that's OK, it happens to everyone. All too often I find that BTMI! is dismissed out of hand by people of my age because Jeff's voice isn't that great or their newer releases aren't as fun as their earlier stuff. But unlike some punk bands (Big D I'm looking at you) who refuse to grow up and still write songs about being pissed at their teachers or adults not understanding, BTMI! has grown with me and just like every other album they've released Vacation will serve as a snap shot in time, reminding future me how it felt to be 27 years old and stepping angrily off the precipice, face first into adulthood; job, cubicle, Clash CDs and all.

9.5/10

2011 Rankings:

1) Laura Stevenson and the Cans - Sit Resist

2) BTMI! - Vacation

3) Mischief Brew - The Stone Operation

4) Andrew Jackson Jihad - Knife Man

5) Lisabi - Au Diable Les Bananes

6) W/IFS - The Anarchy and the Ecstasy

Music: Laura Stevenson and the Cans - Sit Resist

Ever since I heard "Landslide Song/The Dig" on 2008's A Record I have been eagerly, breathlessly, slobberingly (?) awaiting a proper album from Laura Stevenson. In the interim 2.5 years she has teased me with a handful of delightfully tight, catchy songs spread across various E.P.s, splits and demoes. But nothing could have prepared me the sonic meal my eardrums were treated to when I finally had a chance to spin Sit Resist. Lacking any real recording quality A Record was nice but more of a demo than anything. LSatC's sophomore effort however is the shit . . . the fucking shit. The songs range from pop to ska to bluegrass all the while maintaining a cohesion united by Laura's bright voice and dark stories.

If this album was on a major label and subject to radio play, I suppose the first single would be "Master of Art." A song which showcases LSatC's ability to start hauntingly slow and build to a powerful crescendo that will leave you unconsciously tapping your feet and banging your head like Wayne and Garth.

And while that song is undoubtedly great I prefer the darker "The Heathly One" where LSatCs hide a bleak tale of a family's impending doom beneath a bright, poppy beat. On it Laura repeatedly croons:

-You will live long

You will bury them all in the ground

And your body will grow,

You will bury them all . . . It hurts to be the healthy one -

That chilling refrain is indicative of what truly separates and elevates Sit Resist into greatness; a lyrical darkness that adds substance to an aggressive and often fun musical accompaniment. Sit Resist is extremely re-listenable and you'll continue to mine previously undiscovered nuggets on the 10th - 20th - 30th listen. I got the MP3's when I pre-ordered the vinyl 3 weeks ago and ever since it has maintained a Million Dollar Man like choke hold on my iPod, laptop and now with the arrival of the full package, my turntable.

The best thing I can say about Sit Resist is that Laura resisted the urge to make something sweet, something easy. Despite her enchanting voice, this isn't baby-making music, there is nothing happy or nice in Laura's world. The songwriting acts as sandpaper to the music's more refined edges, roughing it up and taking the entire album to a dark place, where loneliness is the rule and there is no escape. I've listened to this album so obsessively for the past 3 weeks that my wife has at times found herself questioning my commitment to our marriage.

15 minutes ago:

Wife - "What're you writing about?"

Me - "Laura Stevenson"

Wife - "Oh great. Should I be worried."

Me - "Why is she touring Portland?"

But fear not Wifey, Laura isn't the type of woman you would want to settle down with. She clearly writes from a lonely place where fucked up demons and gargoyles lurk in the shadows, a place where selfishly, I hope she stays.

10/10

Updated world rankings for 2011:

1) Sit Resist

2) Au Diable Les Bananes

3) The Anarchy and the Ecstasy