What Christmas Is

It's the liquid in this picture.

This however always makes me smile:

Savory

I remember hearing this song on WHFS back in Baltimore. Jawbox was a local band (DC), but I never saw them play around. They were probably already too big to play Max's or the 8x10. This song stood out among the new alternative pop/noise bands. It was definitely noise, but the texture was restrained -- very restrained, just listen to that tension build as the song goes on. Also this noise had a sweet melody which definitely set it apart from many of the post-Fugazi quiet/loud/quiet angry-shoegazing beltway bands.

Jawbox has reunited to celebrate the 15 year anniversary of the release of their major-label debut album, hence their appearance on Jimmy Fallon (who always seems to get cool musical guests). This song sounds even better live; the tension becomes almost physical as the space between the chugging chords remains defiantly unfilled. A lot of the talk around the reissue of For Your Own Special Sweetheart is about its influence on the alternative pop/noise bands of the 1990's and today. I am not sure I could identify a Jawbox-influenced group today, but this song remains one of the best products of the manufactured trend of the early 90s that we called "alternative."

Jawbox does however remind me of a dearly departed friend.

Auto. Tune. Rocket. Boom.

Live at The Shop, October 22, 2009

Moldover is a hard act to follow. Download the extremely large file and hear for yourself my best effort, recorded last Thursday night.

New Music

My friend John and I recorded a song called Jukebox in his basement clubhouse. It's a song that was written some years ago by my friend Greg Mansperger for his band Johnny. When John and I started playing together, we just wanted to rock out. This recording is about as close as we're going to get to rocking out as long as our drummer is a machine.

You can download Jukebox here.

It's Fracking Happening

Remember hydraulic fracturing? It's come to Pennsylvania and Upstate New York, and it's already contaminating our water.

The DEP [Department of Environmental Protection] has found that Cabot operations have caused unacceptable levels of methane to get into private water supplies. Four wells have been taken offline to prevent explosions and at least a dozen are being tested regularly. The company also installed systems at some homes to either take out natural gas or other contamination that has been linked to drilling.

What can we do to stop these people from poisoning our watershed?

Kanye!

Kanye!