Acrylics are not good.

Acrylics are great. Yes, a tad hyperbolic but have you READ anything else I write? I go on about hitting people with shovels for listening to Billy Joel. In this case I actually mean what I am writing, however.

If someone is listening to Uptown Girl? I still say you should hit them with a shovel.

But back to Acrylics, a Brooklyn band that I had heard bits and pieces of and liked quite a bit. But I didn't get the full measure until this live show. While I watched I thought; Acrylics sound like 10,000 Maniacs meet Roxy Music at Sharon Van Etten's house. Then the keyboard player from Split Enz shows up with a pizza.

I am not sure I believe that as literal or even figurative truth but it is what sprung to mind. The band has whiffs of "new wave" but also of jazz (not meant as a pejorative in this instance). They put on a good show, even sitting down. They noted that this was their first ever show sitting down.

Without hyperbole I would use the word "transportative" to describe their performance. They send you someplace else when you listen. It may be briefly but you are gone for a bit. And that should be the aim of every live act in every genre--from techno to death metal.

Initially the plan was to shoot photos of the band at Chicago's Empty Bottle. That show turned out to be an early all ages affair that I headed out to ex post facto. I felt bad at using up a guest list slot on a sold out show as a no-show. Then, up in Evanston on Easter, I noticed Acrylics and Junip were playing that evening. I will ramble more about Junip shortly.

I put a crowbar in my threadbare wallet, pulled out $20 and didn't regret it for a second (except when I had to run out for more money to buy the band's 10" vinyl and CD)

Junip are also a wonderful band. I didn't come up with a cutesy-poo description of the band, however. I did, at some points think that singer Jose Gonzalez sounds like a Swedish Jim Croce. But the music is less straight forward and morose than the late Croce.  But not as morose as Red House Painters (although the fans of that band would certainly appreciate Junip even though they have actual bass-lines.

There are whiffs of trip and trance and even Dead Can Dance. Hey! That rhymes! My third grade writing teacher would be proud. Ok, probably not. She would be ashamed. I apologize for using the word "whiffs" twice too.

These two bands, Acrylics and Junip, are an illustration about the state of music; it has never been better in my lifetime. Anyone who says otherwise is one of three basic things:

-wrong.
-ill informed ( and really miss Supertramp ).
-Worked for a record label (most likely in the 70s).

I have had discussions with two former record company types from the 70s. When you mention all the good music out there today they shake their heads sadly and say "No, there isn't." What they are really talking about is that big record companies can no longer make a shit load of money off tired trend copping. No one, in their right mind, misses the rule of the major labels (not that indie labels are much better but that is a tirade for another time).

To be sure, they are still around. Right now a bunch of guys in suits are talking about where to find the next Katy Perry, Lady Gaga or Justin Bieber. They are still there but they just matter a lot less. Their tools in radio matter less too. We do not need them or want them dictating what we listen to anymore.

Artists matter more and it is beginning to show. Neither of these bands is a household name. But neither of them, despite their high end songwriting, originality and musicianship is inaccessable to the general public.  The underground isn't GG Allen throwing a bucket of shit into the audience. It is a broad cross section of music and it is expanding exponentially.

Wolf Ram Heart opened April 15th's record release show for Tim Larson & The Owner Operators at Beat Kitchen. Yeah, the pictures would probably be of them if I hadn't taken pictures of them a few weeks ago. What can I say? I am not very bright. Wolf Ram Heart are. They are part of a very welcome return to "roots shoegaze," a term I plan to trademark. I am not good at describing music most of the time but I'd say it has a tinge of lo-fi rock that has a dreamy quality. But this isn't achieved with piles of foot pedals and rack mounted gear humming and buzzing away. It is more organic than that.. They have a new record out, Betrayal of Hearts, so you can buy it and decide what they sound like yourself.

I would have likes this band even if their music sucked (I assure you it does not). They are named after the evil law firm from the show Angel? If they name a song after a Doctor Who episode I may become their roadie. Yeah, I am dork but I can probably still kick YOUR ass.

The band also have a 7 inch of their track Vampire (bw Sing). David James sings plays guitars and keyboards. Jessica Barnes sings, plays bass and keyboards, Sawyer Shepard is the man with the telecaster (he likewise sings). Eric Buford is the guy who hits things with sticks. There was another keyboard player, a mysterious, unnamed and presence lurking at the back of the stage, defying all efforts to get a clean, unblurry shot of him. I figure he must be in the witness protection program.

Yes, it was their show and their new record, A New Deal, is out now. You can  find out more at the band website. You can also hear the audio from their truly awesome show, HERE.

I am not going to use STRFKR. That is stupid. The band is Starfucker. I am thinking of starting a band called the ccksckng mthrfckrs though. Anyway Starfucker, of Portland, played in Chicago at Lincoln Hall with fellow Pacific Northwesterners, Champagne Champagne (who hail from Seattle).

If you happen to see Champagne Champagne you will never forget their name. They chant it in every song and try, with less success as the set goes on, to get the audience to chant it too. You will remember their name on your death bed if you see them. They are, I suppose, a hip hop band with 80s and 90s references thrown in; songs about Molly Ringwald appear and they have a tune where they mix in part of Sonic Youth's Bull in the Heather (the additional lyrics for that song, if I recall correctly, were something about "sucking my dick). They mention dicks and fuck, fuckers, etc with frequency. If it had been 1977 I would have been shocked, SHOCKED I tell you.

BUT they are energetic and engaging and, I bet, judging from the finale they joined in with Starfucker, that if it were more than a trio they would feed of the extra energy. They need to have a big ass band with a horn section. Buy their music so they can afford that, ok?

Starfucker themselves are part of a new trend that old people will whine about. They do mash up style music and they wear all their references on their sleeve and own them.  When they first started the vocals made me a little queasy. They are not strong vocally but if they were it would be a totally different vibe.

And this is all about vibe. One minute you are thinking "Bright Eyes!" and the next "lo-fi dance" and the one after that you forget because you are hopping up and down and humming to yourself.

The crowd featured a guy who vomited before the show started. And I stood briefly next to two girls who got into a shoving match with another girl. I mention this because both are totally incongruous with the music and the polite, almost mellow hippie sensibility that permeated most of the evening. I doubt the guys in Starfucker start many bar fights.

Champange Champagne!!! Champange Champagne!!! Champagne Champagne!!!

The English Beat was the band people into hardcore punk and those who like Joe Jackson could agree about back in the 1980s. The band broke up in 1983 and a UK and USA version apparently both exist (the UK version is The Beat). Personally I want them to tour together. Another curious thing is that when the band split they reformed as General Public and Fine Young Cannibals (both pretty memorable in their own right).

Especially General Public. I bought that one twice as a kid. I literally wore it out (and I would have objected to being called a kid too).

Dave Wakeling lives out in California these days and The English Beat are pretty much constantly touring.  They go out for three weeks and play 17 shows and then take three weeks to a month off. Then they do it again. They are working on a new record as well which includes new material and covers. I was curious how The English Beat 2011 would sound next to The English Beat of 1978.

“I think things do evolve, by the influences around you. When we started we wanted to mix punk and reggae. I didn’t want to sound like Jamaica in 1963,” says Wakeling. “I wanted to sound like Birmingham in 1979. I am proud the new stuff sounds like California in 2011.”

He says the live music also adapts to the times and to how individuals change.

“People say it sounds just like the record live but it doesn’t. A song moves with the times and with the spirit of the times like we do. I like people to think it sounds like it sounded on the record.” he says.

We meandered into discussing the nature of influences and how Wakeling says the Chinese don’t pay copyright and publishing.

“You were just the sum of your influences. How can you claim that?” he says.

He doesn’t necessarily AGREE with artists not deserving these royalties of course. But it is something to think on. As is making excuses for not making music.

At one point he talked about how Robert Johnson played on a horrible guitar. But he still played. When I talked about all the record company people who ripped off Johnson Wakeling commented “But who remembers them now?”

That is dead on. Who does? I am heading down to the crossroads…

But what does Wakeling listen to now? He says he doesn’t much listen to other folks’ music.

“If I turn on the radio I am likely to turn on talk radio. I am more interested in ideas than music. I am only slightly interested in other people’s music.” says Wakeling.

In the past he says he has been influenced by the chemicals in his system. But that has changed.

“Now I am a fairly sober character as opposed to the firebrand I was.” he says.

He says he carried his hangovers like a badge of honor and acknowledges that a hangover can help you write something that reaches other people—especially those with hangovers of their own. But says such songs are more liable to be like a soap opera than an Oscar winning movie.

“Without booze a different set of things comes up. You can still be dismissive and sarcastic.” Says Wakeling.

“One of the biggest influences is time. I am certainly in the second half of my songwriting career, maybe in the last third, hopefully not in the last quarter.” he says.

He says he listens to music on the radio, the Sirius stations from the 60s or the 80s.

“I think albums are an anachronism. They talked us all into thinking what we liked was six good songs and six not so good songs. I like singles more.” says Wakeling.

But there is one record he calls the “holy grail”,  Heart of the Congos by The Congos (released in 1977).

“It is the only record I ever play and it always effects me.” he says.

Curiously, I do listen to a lot of music but one record that always effects ME, is Special Beat Service. Sure there are those who like the more Ska flavor of the first two English Beat records but they are wrong.

If you go to see The English Beat, and you should, keep an eye out for something. Wakeling brought up Carl Jung’s theory of “mass consciousness” and talked about noticing, at shows, how the crowd begins to behave as one.

“You notice that the crowd does this thing, they start moving in time with each other but don’t know it. It is the best part of a concert.” he says.

I thought—“yeah sure…hippie” but then at the show, around the time they played Save It For Later, it happened. Before that middle aged Ska enthusiasts lurched around looking for the beat and then, suddenly, they all seemed to find it as one.

The English Beat, in addition to Dave Wakeling, are; Rhythmm Epkins (Drums/Vocals),Wayne Lothian (Bass/Vocals ), Antonee First Class (Toaster), Raynier Jacildo (Keys/Vocals) and Matt Morrish (Sax/Vocals).

Usually I get pictures of everyone but this time out…they all move too much for my dubious photo skills!