Giant Robot Store and GR2 News
Sometimes the world seems to good to be true. How cool is it that Sam Coomes (who’s played with Elliott Smith and Heatmiser) and Janet Weiss (Sleater-Kinney, Wild Flag, The Jicks) can come together and form a unique and excellent musical bond that sounds nothing like those other top-shelf bands. Like The Beatles on steroids with out-of-this world hooks, free-associating lyrics, and crazy dynamics, Quasi is never less than totally melodic while somehow never leaving the red zone of the Rock-O-Meter. And despite being in even more than the previously mentioned bands–as well as actually been previously married to each other–they are miraculously celebrating their second decade of kicking ass.
And then sometimes the world is lame. Why wasn’t last night’s show at The Echo totally packed? If the rock gods meted out any sort of justice, the Portland duo would be selling out fancy venues instead of playing comfortable dives that are not sold out. Sam wondered aloud at the show if it was a problem that he and Janet started off playing prettier music and may have become too rocking for their audience. The storied drummer responded that she can’t not rock.
On Tuesday, I saw Ronnie Spector‘s Behind The Beehive show at The El Rey. It wasn’t really a concert as much as it was the legendary singer recounting her life’s journey via anecdotes, personal photos, rare video, and song performances. From what I understand, this format is a way for the Original Bad Girl of Rock ‘n’ Noll to give a live performance without getting caught in the spiderweb of legalities spun her infamous ex-husband and producer. Going to the show as a casual fan of Spector, it was mind-blowing to hear firsthand her tales of The Ronettes crashing the Peppermint Lounge, hanging out with Murray The K, playing with The Beatles in England, and touring with The Stones. Taking both of those bands to a BBQ joint in Harlem and recording a 7″ single for Apple. And it was also shocking to hear what a dick Phil Spector was to her as a manager and a husband. Even so, her tone always remained classy and positive and she remained respectful toward his work with her. As a big fan of the She Talks To Rainbows that was produced by Joey Ramone and released by Kill Rock Stars, I was stoked that she played so many songs off it. She said that Joey wrote the title track of that EP for her, and that Brain Wilson wrote “Don’t Worry Baby” for her as a follow-up to “Be My Baby” but that her husband wouldn’t record it because he wouldn’t get all of the royalties. She also played her version of Johnny Thunders’ “You Can’t Put Your Arms Around a Memory” as the second-to-last song of the show before coming back for a short concert that featured “Baby, I Love You” (also great for a Ramones fans like me) and “Be My Baby.” So rad. If she ever makes it to your neighborhood, don’t miss her. Spector’s voice is a national treasure, her story is the history of cool music, and her perseverance is inspiring. The next evening I dropped by the Satellite to catch the latest free #scionrockshow. To be honest, I wasn’t familiar with the lineup but the previous two installments of the series featured rippers Fu Manchu and Lecherous Gaze and you can’t go wrong with the LSDJs (featuring homie Don Ngueyn) spinning records. It would be lame not to go–especially since it’s right down the street and free! Openers from Memphis The Dirty Streets were real cool, sounding a little bit like Rod Stewart singing for ZZ Top. Heavy-duty hooks and licks with zero ego and tons of soul on a sweaty little stage in front of practically no one–probably not the band’s dream show but I get to shows early precisely for moments like that. Indian Handcrafts were amazing. The duo from Canada attack their instruments like hungry animals, albeit ones with chops for miles, snapping with massive riffs and the gnarliest of drums–not to mention back-and-forth vocals. I loved the “Bruce Lee” song and the...
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On Tuesday, I saw Ronnie Spector‘s Behind The Beehive show at The El Rey. It wasn’t really a concert as much as it was the legendary singer recounting her life’s journey via anecdotes, personal photos, rare video, and song performances. From what I understand, this format is a way for the Original Bad Girl of Rock ‘n’ Noll to give a live performance without getting caught in the spiderweb of legalities spun her infamous ex-husband and producer. Going to the show as a casual fan of Spector, it was mind-blowing to hear firsthand her tales of The Ronettes crashing the Peppermint Lounge, hanging out with Murray The K, playing with The Beatles in England, and touring with The Stones. Taking both of those bands to a BBQ joint in Harlem and recording a 7″ single for Apple. And it was also shocking to hear what a dick Phil Spector was to her as a manager and a husband. Even so, her tone always remained classy and positive and she remained respectful toward his work with her. As a big fan of the She Talks To Rainbows that was produced by Joey Ramone and released by Kill Rock Stars, I was stoked that she played so many songs off it. She said that Joey wrote the title track of that EP for her, and that Brain Wilson wrote “Don’t Worry Baby” for her as a follow-up to “Be My Baby” but that her husband wouldn’t record it because he wouldn’t get all of the royalties. She also played her version of Johnny Thunders’ “You Can’t Put Your Arms Around a Memory” as the second-to-last song of the show before coming back for a short concert that featured “Baby, I Love You” (also great for a Ramones fans like me) and “Be My Baby.” So rad. If she ever makes it to your neighborhood, don’t miss her. Spector’s voice is a national treasure, her story is the history of cool music, and her perseverance is inspiring. The next evening I dropped by the Satellite to catch the latest free #scionrockshow. To be honest, I wasn’t familiar with the lineup but the previous two installments of the series featured rippers Fu Manchu and Lecherous Gaze and you can’t go wrong with the LSDJs (featuring homie Don Ngueyn) spinning records. It would be lame not to go–especially since it’s right down the street and free! Openers from Memphis The Dirty Streets were real cool, sounding a little bit like Rod Stewart singing for ZZ Top. Heavy-duty hooks and licks with zero ego and tons of soul on a sweaty little stage in front of practically no one–probably not the band’s dream show but I get to shows early precisely for moments like that. Indian Handcrafts were amazing. The duo from Canada attack their instruments like hungry animals, albeit ones with chops for miles, snapping with massive riffs and the gnarliest of drums–not to mention back-and-forth vocals. I loved the “Bruce Lee” song and the...
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This week I attended back-to-back music release events for Aziatix and Best Coast. Weird! For the former, I crossed a velvet rope along with invited guests and journalists. For the latter, my Kindergartener daughter and I sat on the sidewalk for a couple of hours with fellow fans outside Amoeba to attend the in-store concert. K-pop vs. indie rock. Massive production value vs. lo-fi. Lil’ Wayne vs. Kid Cudi. Making charts is something I really enjoyed and miss about working on Giant Robot magazine, so I figured this was as good an occasion as any to dust off the old format… Enjoy! Links that actually work: www.toyota.com/corollaready www.amoeba.com/live-shows/detail-2760/
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This week I attended back-to-back music release events for Aziatix and Best Coast. Weird! For the former, I crossed a velvet rope along with invited guests and journalists. For the latter, my Kindergartener daughter and I sat on the sidewalk for a couple of hours with fellow fans outside Amoeba to attend the in-store concert. K-pop vs. indie rock. Massive production value vs. lo-fi. Lil’ Wayne vs. Kid Cudi. Making charts is something I really enjoyed and miss about working on Giant Robot magazine, so I figured this was as good an occasion as any to dust off the old format… Enjoy! Links that actually work: www.toyota.com/corollaready www.amoeba.com/live-shows/detail-2760/
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