When the Hold Steady covered the Minutemen’s “History Lesson Part II,” lead singer Craig Finn tweaked the lyrics to fit his own experience better. This resulted in the line, “Me and Tad Kubler we’ve played for years; punk rock changed our lives.” This reflects how their collaboration has shaped his musical career since Kubler joined Lifter Puller for their final album, Fiestas and Fiascos. Throughout the Hold Steady’s five albums, Kubler’s written the melodies, with Finn contributing lyrics. One would expect the main question to be – musically, how does Finn’s solo debut, Clear Heart, Full Eyes sound? Read More »

In 1974, David Bowie asserted, “Adolf Hitler was one of the first rock stars…quite as good as Jagger…he staged a country.” With this statement, Bowie commented on how similar the showmanship of fascist leaders and rock stars could be. Many other artists made a similar commentary, often joined by criticism from a more detached perspective, an unfortunately large body of pro-fascist songs, and many songs viewing other trends through the lens of fascism. Read More »

This is a companion piece to the Thursday September 15th episode of Footnotes that streams on WGTB from 11m-midnight.

During much of this summer, I was out of the country with little access to the internet or news; thus, upon my return to the U.S. in August, I ended up sitting around for a while catching on things like the AV Club. Suddenly, sitting at my kitchen table I was overtaken by a wave of sadness, almost as hauntingly powerful as the saxophone solo in “Jungleland.” I had read the headline “R.I.P. Clarence Clemons.” It told me that the saxophonist had died of a stroke on July 18. Read More »

This is a companion piece to the Wed. April 20th episode of Footnotes that streams on WGTB from 9-10pm.

For the most part criticism of radio tends to concentrate on the top 40 format stations (which they completely deserve). Today, however, I’m going to air a different radio related grievance – one with classic rock radio. Why not play a Warren Zevon song that isn’t “Werewolves of London?” Why not play a Troggs song aside from “Wild Thing?” Or a Who song aside from “My Generation,” “Baba O’Riley,” or “Won’t Get Fooled Again,” or the other couple of songs that they always play? When you consider that much of their listeners have been listening for years, it seems likely that they would appreciate a more varied playlist. Additionally, it seems like a sound business move to stave off some of satellite radio’s competition.  Admittedly, my show may tend to rely too much on band’s best-known songs, so to mitigate this, this week will be all about deeper cuts by band’s which tend to only get airplay for a few songs. Read More »

This is a companion piece to the Wed. April 13th episode of Footnotes that streams on WGTB from 9-10pm.

In the last 50 years, the United States’ per capita real GDP has increased almost threefold. The largest factor contributing to this growth has been innovation – new technologies like cell phones and the internet, which have increased output and standards of living by essentially all quantifiable measures. Why then are there so many artistic efforts to depict modernity as a weight on humanity’s back? Read More »

This is a companion piece to the Wed. April 6th episode of Footnotes that streams on WGTB from 9-10pm.

On a rainy night in August 2009, a man sporting a beard, dark-sunglasses, and a hat pushed down to his eyes was looking around Long Branch, NJ. Afraid, a local family called the police, who questioned and then detained the man, when they did not believe his claims to be Bob Dylan. Eventually, at the station the policewoman’s superior recognized him and sent him on his way. Why was Bob Dylan skulking around the New Jersey suburbs during a storm? The block was where Bruce Springsteen lived during the Born to Run era, and Dylan had been visiting former homes of his favorite contemporary artists. During the year prior, he was noticed on a public bus tour around London sights related to John Lennon and visiting Neil Young’s former house, showing that Dylan was seeking to understand what they were thinking. Other artists have explored similar themes, without police confrontation and braving stormy nights, though song. Read More »

This is a companion piece to the Wed. March 16th episode of Footnotes that streams on WGTB from 9-10pm.

In honor of St. Patrick’s Day, I did a show on seminal folk-punk band The Pogues for their work throughout the 1980s combining Irish folk music with the punk scene from which their leader, and former frontman of  the Nipple Erectors, Shane MacGowan emerged. From Shane’s sometimes slurred brogue to Spider Stacy’s tin whistle to the large number of traditional songs that they played to their name – a corruption and shortening of póg mo thóin (“kiss my arse” in Gaelic) –  everything about the Pogues smacked of Ireland. However, the band’s members were essentially all drawn from the English punk scene. Thus, they bridged a gap between folk and punk that has created two, mostly distinct subgenres as their legacy. Irish or Celtic Punk, typified by bands such as the Dropkick Murphys and Flogging Molly, further adapt Irish themes and instrumentation into essentially a punk rock style. On the other hand, less obviously, but much closer to the Pogues’ actual sound is the folk punk scene, which combines traditional instruments with the fast freewheeling play, with bands including Defiance, Ohio; early Against Me! ; and Andrew Jackson Jihad. Read More »

Midway through Jonathan Richman’s set on Saturday at the 9:30 club, a fan yelled “How about some oldies?” Richman responded, “How much older do you want, I’m almost 60.” This exchange illustrated three key things about the singer. First, in 1971-2, he recorded one of the greatest albums of the rock era – The Modern Lovers. Second, that was a long time ago. In fact, he opened the night with a reworked acoustic version of “Old World” (a favorite off The Modern Lovers), which exchanges nostalgia for longing for a break from the past (while still maintaining melody and lyrical structure from the original). Third, he still maintains a constant sense of humor that goes along with a childlike attitude. The latter was most important throughout his performance on Saturday, where his act blended humor, music, and simple lightheartedness into an overall joyous experience.

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