Happy Independence Day

It was kind of a tough call deciding what would be an appropriate Fourth of July post. The most obvious call was the Beach Boys – why, I don’t know, but the Beach Boys always seem right. At some point last night I woke up and thought the Rolling Stones, but in the clear light of day I realized that was an obviously delusional idea.

While looking through music this morning, I found what seems to be perfect: Bob Dylan and Tom Petty playing a July 4 concert in New York. I mean, what’s more American than that? I suppose I could upload some hotdogs for you.

While this is a great show and I would have loved to see any stop on the True Confessions tour, the sound quality here is about a C-. That being the case, I'm posting only a handful of songs – just something to get your morning moving. Enjoy your Fourth.

Masters of War.mp3 ~ Bob Dylan with Tom Petty & The Heartbreakers
Breakdown.mp3 ~ Tom Petty & The Heartbreakers
A Hard Rain's A-Gonna Fall.mp3 ~ Bob Dylan (acoustic)
Ballad of a Thin Man.mp3 ~ Bob Dylan with Tom Petty & The Heartbreakers
Johnny B. Goode.mp3 ~ Tom Petty & The Heartbreakers
Refugee.mp3 ~ Tom Petty & The Heartbreakers
Rainy Day Women #12 & 35.mp3 ~ Bob Dylan with Tom Petty & The Heartbreakers

This recording is from the July 4, 1986, show at Rich Stadium in Buffalo, N.Y. It may or may not show up as July 14 when downloaded. According to the Gone Gator Website, there was no July 14 show on that tour, so I take that as a typo and assume this is the July 4 show.

Labels: acousticness, classic rock, holiday, live music

posted by aikin @ 12:45 PM 0 Comments

Music from My Mailbox

Could I just copy the words to The Sun Also Rises, throw in some fresh adjectives and updated references and get it published as the remixed version? Honestly, I’m so tired of remixes. I go through my inbox and see remix after remix after remix. Are you serious? Make your own damned music if you’re so talented. And not to be hateful, but I don’t even care if you disagree.

So, that said, here’s what I found that wasn’t just someone else’s music with a couple of echo effects and a drum loop thrown in: While this mailbox purge is short on my beloved garage punk, there are still a few interesting things here. The first I want to mention is The Emotron. I’m not sure what’s up with this guy. He lights his pubic hair on fire during live performances and claims to be some kind of synth-punk G.G. Allin, a feat I’m sure no one could really pull off. This song, “Drink A Beer for Me,” sounds more like a novelty song than it does anything from G.G.’s catalogue. See what you think.

There are a couple of reggae-type bands represented: 10ft. Tall Ganja Plant (ha! Like you wouldn’t have guess they were reggae!) and Indofin. Both are great for a relaxing on a summer evening.

“Neon for You” comes from My First Earthquake’s just released EP Crush. The disk hearkens back to 80’s pop and is very enjoyable. In a wide-open field, this track is one of my favorites.

As always, follow the links for more information.

My First Earthquake
Indie / Electro / Rock
From: San Francisco, Calif.
Band MySpace
Neon for You.mp3

10ft. Ganja Plant
Reggae / Dub / Roots Music
From: Brooklyn, N.Y.
Band MySpace
Bonny & Clyde.mp3

Love Crushed Velvet
Rock / Alternative / Pop
From: New York, N.Y.
Band MySpace
Love Crushed Velvet.mp3

Electric Tickle Machine
Indie / Alternative
From: East Village, N.Y.
Band MySpace
Honest Injun.mp3

Joy Ike
Indie / Soul / Pop
From: Pittsburgh, Penn.
Band MySpace
Sweeter.mp3

Indofin
Reggae / Ska / Punk
From: Austin, Texas
Band MySpace
Bluelight.mp3

Imagine Dragons
Indie / Pop / Rock
From: Las Vegas, Nev.
Band MySpace
Selene.mp3

Upstation
Pop / Indie
From: Moscow, Russian Federation
Band MySpace
No More Promises.mp3

The Emotron
Punk / Rock / New Wave
From: West Fuckin’ Philly/Georgia/Pennsylvania
Band MySpace
Drink a Beer for Me.mp3

Eagle Winged Palace
Acoustic / Indie / Classical
From: The Deepest Darkest Corners of California
Band MySpace
Movin’ on to Avalon.mp3

~~~~~
(pictures, top-to-bottom: My First Earthquake, Joy Ike, The Emotron)

~~~~~
As a reminder, there is a little less than two weeks left on my host, so if there is anything you want to hear, you need to act quickly.

Labels: "alternative", acousticness, indie, new wave, pop muzik, punk, reggae, rock, ska, soul

posted by aikin @ 12:16 PM 3 Comments

Music from My Mailbox and Other Important News

OK. Important things going on, so please don’t skip the first part of this post. I have slightly less than a month left on my web host. When that time is over, I am not planning to renew. What that means to you is, in all likelihood, I will bring this blog to an end. I’ve learned to never say never, but I’d say there is about a 99.9% chance Licorice Pizza will cease operations in about a month.

The reason for this decision is two-fold: First, while Dreamhost is an excellent host, I do pay quite a bit for that service. Quite frankly, I have never donated to anyone else’s blog fund and don’t feel you need to contribute to mine. This is something I do for fun and if you’re going to pay for my fun, well, there are other things you can buy me. But understand it’s not just about the cost of the host, which brings me to my second point:

I have been at this for four years and my interest has waned a bit, although I still go on posting jags once in a while (see last month). I can tell by the quality of some of the posts I’ve made recently that I’m forcing them and I don’t want to continue doing that.

Although this post has been on my mind for some time, it makes me a bit sad to actually write it. I may at some point decide I miss doing this and I’ll start up again. In the meantime, I assume that once my host expires, so does access to anything on that host. I encourage you to look back over the past couple of years for anything you wanted to hear but put off listening to. If you find something that is no longer available, drop me a note and I’ll do my best to re-up it.

I’ve started a Tumblr page, in case I feel like there’s something I need to say. You can up music on those pages, but you can’t share it, which is a disadvantage of sorts. Feel free to check it out if you care to; there’s not much there now but I may get more active with it in the future.

As always, follow the links for more information....

Grace Potter and the Nocturnals
Indie / Alternative
From: Vermont, USA
Band MySpace
Things I Never Needed (acoustic).mp3

Soft Tags
Indie / Shoegaze
From: Portland, Ore.
Band MySpace
The Pine Barrens.mp3

22-20s
Alternative
From: United Kingdom
Band MySpace
Latest Heartbreak.mp3

Ashton Nyte
Alternative / Folk / Indie
From: Johannesburg, South Africa
Band MySpace
Jennifer.mp3

Horrorfall
Electronica / Industrial / Shoegaze
From: Los Angeles, Calif.
Band MySpace
Necroplasm Fix.mp3

Nada Surf
Rock / Indie / Pop
From: Brooklyn, N.Y.
Band MySpace
Electrocution.mp3

The Constellations
Psychedelic / Ghettotech / Showtunes
From: Atlanta, Ga.
Band MySpace
Setback.mp3

Kyp Malone (TV on the Radio)
Acoustic / Indie
From: United States
Band MySpace
Frog Went a-Courtin’.mp3

Nadia Kazmi
Pop / Rock / Soul
From: Calgary, Alberta, Canada
Band MySpace
Mother.mp3

Burnt Ones
Minimalist / Psychedelic / Thrash
From: Indianapolis, Ind.
Band MySpace
Gonna Listen to T. Rex (All Night Long).mp3

The Public Good
Rock / Powerpop / Indie
From: Washington, D.C.
Band MySpace
My Pre-existing Conditions.mp3

~~~~~
(pictures, top-to-bottom: Grace Potter, Horrorfall, Nadia Kazmi)

Labels: "alternative", acousticness, electronic, folk, indie, pop muzik, rock

posted by aikin @ 12:02 PM 3 Comments

Jewel’s ‘Needle and the Damage Done’

I like to – every now and again – throw a curveball at you with something I post. I sure don’t want you getting bored or complacent and thinking you can tune in any ol’ time and just pick up some oddball garage rock or a classic rock ROIO.

Hence today’s post.

I know very little about Jewel. I’ve heard the song that made her famous: “You Were Meant For Me” (ha! Tell me that song’s not in your head right now!); I know she can yodel; and I know she’s really attractive. Beyond that, I dunno....

So it came as a surprise to me to learn that she regularly performs the Neil Young classic “The Needle and the Damage Done” when she plays live. I found out about this yesterday, when Jewel was on the Howard Stern show. At Howard’s request she played her version of the song he said “wrecks him every time.”

Without a doubt Jewel brings something different to her version of “Needle.” She doesn’t have the intimate feeling of loss that drove Young to write the song, but she struggled a lot on her way to where she is and I have no problem with her putting her own emotions to such a heavy song.

To my knowledge, although Jewel regularly performs “The Needle and the Damage Done” live, it has never been officially released. The track here is a YouTube rip – it is not from the Stern show, btw; I don’t know where it was recorded. On a quality note, I’ve found some new software that pulls stuff from videos at a higher bit rate, bringing a slightly better sound than previous YouTube stuff I’ve posted.

The Needle and the Damage Done (Neil Young cover).mp3

Labels: acousticness, covers

posted by aikin @ 7:00 AM 2 Comments

Music from My Mailbox

This seriously has to be one of the largest mailbox dumps I’ve ever done. Sixteen songs – and that’s after I deleted a good number I didn’t want to post. What’s funny is I started off thinking this was going to be an unusually small post because I had to go through about 20 e-mails before I ran across something I liked and wanted to post.

Like always, I was happy see big names like the Dead Weather and MIA reaching out to bloggers to help promote their respective albums. I’ve seen both of these tracks posted on other blogs the last few days, so I apologize I’m a little slow getting them to you.

Besides the Dead Weather, of course, some other tracks you should pay particular attention to: The Ex-Girlfriend’s Club and Best Coast both fit loosely into the garage / psycho-fuzz genres I like and can recommend.

A lot of bands sending out music seem to be shooting for summertime pop-hit type of stuff. Sometimes that can come across like they’re trying too hard, but the couple I picked here – The Like and Sonny and the Sunsets – are bearable, if not downright decent. The Like also went for a purposefully lo-fi sound, recording their album direct to analogue tape.

Finally, I usually shy away from remixes, but I went with this remixed cover of Ice T’s “Colors,” from the movie of the same name. I was just talking with someone the other day about the 1988 flick, a classic directed by Dennis Hopper and starring Robert Duvall and Sean Penn. If I still have the soundtrack, I may get that up as an OST OCD post soon.

Like always, follow the links for more info.

The Dead Weather
Rock / Blues / Gothic
From: Nashville, Tenn.
Band MySpace
Die By the Drop.mp3

Sonny and the Sunsets
Indie / Beach-Pop
From: San Francisco, Calif.
Band MySpace
Too Young To Burn.mp3

Pearly Gate Music
Tropical / Concrete
From: Seattle, Wash.
Band MySpace
Big Escape.mp3

MIA
Other
From: London & Southeast U.K.
Band MySpace
XXXO.mp3

Ganglians
Showtunes / Celtic / Roots Music
From: Sacramento, Calif.
Band MySpace
My House.mp3

Pete Covington
Alternative / Psychedelic / Pop
From: New South Wales, Australia
Band MySpace
Balloons.mp3

The Like
Pop / Garage
From: Los Angeles, Calif.
Band MySpace
Fair Game.mp3

Sleigh Bells
Electronic / Rock
From: Brooklyn, N.Y. & Florida
Band MySpace
Infinity Guitars.mp3

The Ex-Girlfriends Club
Garage / Rock / Glam
From: Portland, Ore.
Band MySpace
Your Prescription.mp3

Lana Del Ray
Glam / Surf / Hawaiian
From: New York, N.Y.
Band MySpace
Diet Mtn. Dew (demo).mp3

Yelawolf
Hip Hop / Ghettotech / Southern Rock
From: Gadsden, Ala.
Band MySpace
Good to Go (ft. Bun B).mp3

DJ Troublemaker / King Fantastic
Punk / Funk / Crunk
From: Los Angeles, Calif.
Band MySpace
Colors (Ice T cover).mp3

Best Coast
Surf / Pop / Gospel
From: Los Angeles, Calif.
Band MySpace
Far Away.mp3

Katelyn Dawn
Indie / Pop / Acoustic
From: Toronto, Canada
Band MySpace
Puzzle Pieces.mp3

Luna is Honey
Pop / Rock / R&B
From: Los Angeles, Calif.
Band MySpace
Who Wouldn’t.mp3

Lisa Jaeggi
Soul / Folk / Freestyle
From: Brooklyn, N.Y.
Band MySpace
Oh Lady You Shot Me!.mp3
~~~~~

(pictures, top-to-bottom: Dead Weather, MIA, The Like, Lana Del Ray, Best Coast)

Labels: "alternative", acousticness, blues, covers, electronic, folk, funk, garage rock, glam, hip-hop, indie, Jack White, pop muzik, RnB, rock

posted by aikin @ 6:02 PM 1 Comments

Music from My Mailbox

I just realized that the last time any of you heard from me I was on my way out of town to see BugGiRL. For all any of you know I never made it back. But I did. The BugGiRL show was great – they gave it their all despite the small crowd. If you get a chance, definitely you need to see them live.

I’ve really had a lack of posting inspiration lately, so I thought the best solution would be to hit up the mailbox. It turned out there were a few gems hidden there. Straight away I need to mention Long Island’s Roast Beef Curtains. The band’s name alone is hilarious if you realize what exactly a roast beef curtain is. Besides that, there are the lyrics to “5th Base Girl”: “My fifth-base girl likes Diet Coke and glory holes.” I actually laughed out loud the first time I heard that.

The Burnt Ones wear their Johnny Thunders influence proudly, with reverby, echoey vocals and the almost patented Johnny Thunders lo-fi recording style. As a matter of fact, I like these guys so much I tossed in a bonus track, a cover of Motörhead’s “Damage Case,” which was a special Record Store Day download.

A couple of other things: I saw Ke$ha on SNL last night and I wasn’t really impressed. I’m sure she’s this summer’s Kelis. The Clucks’ cover of “Tik Tok” is interesting and at least as good as the original. Also check out garage rockers Thick Shakes for more of that tasty lo-fi rock ‘n’ roll I know you love.

As always, follow the links for more information

Thick Shakes
Garage / Punk / Pop
From: Jamaica Plain, Mass.
Band MySpace
(Baby) You’re a Starfish.mp3

Midnite Theory
Alternative / Hip Hop / Other
From: Los Angeles, Calif.
Band MySpace
Angel On Sunset.mp3
** now with correct links! **

Clucks
Indie / Rock / Garage
From: Seattle, Wash.
Band MySpace
Tik Tok (Ke$ha cover).mp3

The Roast Beef Curtains
Reggae / Dub / Punk
From: Long Island, N.Y.
Band MySpace
5th Base Girl.mp3

The One AM Radio
New Wave
From: Los Feliz, Calif.
Band MySpace
Credible Threats.mp3

Norman
Indie / Folk / Rock
From: Willamette Valley, Ore.
Band MySpace
Hell, If I Love.mp3

Terese Taylor
Experimental / Black Metal / Folk Rock
From: San Francisco, Calif.
Band MySpace
My Shine, Doesn’t Shine.mp3

The Futureheads
New Wave / Indie
From: Sunderland, UK
Band MySpace
Struck Dumb.mp3

Burnt Ones
Minimalist / Psychedelic / Rock
From: Indianapolis, Ind.
Band MySpace
Gonna Listen to T-Rex (All Night Long).mp3
Bonus: Damage Case (Motörhead cover).mp3

~~~~~
(pictures, top-to-bottom: Thick Shakes, The Roast Beef Curtains, Terese Taylor)

Labels: acousticness, covers, folk, garage rock, indie, new wave, pop muzik, rock

posted by aikin @ 1:29 PM 2 Comments

Music from My Mailbox

Wow. I just can’t get the motivation or inspiration lately to post. I look through my CDs and the stuff on my computer and think, Nah, that’s all been done. Then I look through the 100-plus emails clogging my inbox and think, There’s gotta be something interesting in there. So out of those hundred-some emails, this is what I culled. Can you see why I’m not feeling too inspired these days?

My pick of the litter this go-round is Univox’s “Pi,” which I think I had attempted to post before but there was a problem with the link they sent me. Whatever the issue, I’m glad it showed up again, because it’s a rockin’ little number.

A song I almost passed on is Marc Robillard’s “Butterscotch High.” I’m glad I didn’t. I don’t know much about Marc, but there’s something about this song that I really like and it reminds me of someone else, but I can’t quite put my finger on who.

And just to mix things up a bit, I also want you to check out Dominique Young Unique. This is something you might hear thumping in your local strip club this summer.

As always, follow the links for more information

Science Fiction Theater
Rock / Indie / Melodramatic Popular Song
From: Rancho Cucamonga, Calif.
Band MySpace
Gasoline.mp3

Marc Robillard
Pop / Rock / Acoustic
From: Venice, Calif.
Band MySpace
Butterscotch High (acoustic).mp3

Univox
Glam / Soul / Folk
From: Philadelphia, Penn.
Band MySpace
Pi.mp3

Thought
Rock / 2-step / Funk
From: Brooklyn, N.Y.
Band MySpace
The Hardest Thing.mp3

Lloyd’s Garage
Rock / Indie / Blues
From: SF Bay Area, Calif.
Band MySpace
Return to Sender.mp3

Hunters & Runners
Rock / Indie
From: New York, N.Y.
Band MySpace
Sociology.mp3

Dominique Young Unique
R’n’B / Hip-Hop / Electronic
From: Tampa, Fla.
Band MySpace
Show My Ass.mp3

~~~~~
(pictures, top-to-bottom: Science Fiction Theater, Lloyd's Garage)

Labels: acousticness, electronic, hip-hop, indie, pop muzik, RnB, rock

posted by aikin @ 12:48 PM 0 Comments

Music from My Mailbox

Happy SXSW week to you and yours. Once again I will not be attending, although I recently wondered if I could have gotten a record label or PR firm to cover my airfare and bar tabs while I whore myself for whatever bands they have in attendance. On the other hand, I harbor a dislike for much “indie” music and can see where it may have ended up as a “Fear & Loathing on 6th Street” type of occasion. “We were somewhere over Louisiana when the drugs began to take hold...”

Anyway, as you might guess, my inbox was full of notices about appearances at SXSW. Probably the majority of the bands in today’s post will be there, but I can’t be arsed to dig up schedules for you. If you like the band and you’re going to be in Austin this week, I’m sure you’ll figure it out.

This is a pretty small inbox purge because a lot of the stuff I received was electronica or whiney, self-indulgent indie/emo stuff or some mash-up/remix of the two genres, and I’m really not in the mood to hear that.

The top stuff today is easily The Choke and The Ex-Girlfriend’s Club. Both bands bring the garage rock sound that I so enjoy. Also, if you think back to my last mailbox post, you’ll recollect Pack A.D. Well, as the fates would have it, The Choke are on tour with Pack A.D. You’ll definitely want to check out that bill if they come to a town near you. The Koot Hoomi track comes from a Hall and Oates tribute album the group did. It’s called The Dark Side of Hall and Oates and is bizarre enough that it warranted inclusion here.

As always, follow the links for more information.

The Choke
Garage / Punk / Soul
From: New York, N.Y.
Band MySpace
Tuff Kids.mp3

Shaka Ponk
Rock / Electro / Experimental
From: Berlin, Germany
Band MySpace
Do.mp3

Cary Ann Hearst
Folk Rock / Southern Rock / Roots Music
From: Charlotte, S.C.
Band MySpace
Are You Ready to Die.mp3

April Smith
Melodramatic Popular Song / Pop / Folk Rock
From: Brooklyn, N.Y.
Band MySpace
Movie Loves a Screen.mp3

Koot Hoomi
Experimental / Indie / Acoustic
From: Tempe, Ariz.
Band MySpace
Maneater (Hall and Oates cover).mp3

The Ex-Girlfriend’s Club
Garage / Rock / Glam
From: Portland, Ore.
Band MySpace
Devil Eyes.mp3

~~~~~
(Pictures, top-to-bottom: The Choke, April Smith)

Labels: acousticness, covers, electronic, folk, garage rock, glam, indie, pop muzik, rock

posted by aikin @ 12:40 PM 0 Comments

Music from My Mailbox

I suppose one advantage in taking so long to clear out my inbox is the large selection to pick from. I’m able to weed through all the “indie” stuff and skim the cream off the top.

A couple of items of note from this purge session: Kandi Coded keeps the Seattle grunge tradition alive on their debut Fell for the Gift, which is out next month. Check out their amped-up take on Johnny Cash’s tribute to a lost Viet Nam vet, which is just as meaningful now.

In case you weren’t aware, there is a Spinal Tap tribute album floating around (I think you can download it here for free or voluntary contributions or something.) Lapdance Academy Records founder and Dogs of Winter front man Brian Grosz contributed “Gimme Some Money” to the release.

And of course there’s the almost-obligatory Wolfmother remix track. There were actually three versions in the package I received – this was, in my opinion, the best of the lot.

As always, follow the links for more information.

Wolfmother
Rock / Psychedelic / Metal
From: Australia
Band MySpace
White Feather (Burns remix).mp3

Doug Keith
Rock / Acoustic / Alternative
From: New York, N.Y.
Band MySpace
The Lucky Ones.mp3

We Be The Echo
Progressive / Experimental / Metal
From: San Francisco, Calif.
Band MySpace
Droid Poem.mp3

Phantogram
Concrete / Other / Big Beat
From: Saratoga Springs, N.Y.
Band MySpace
When I’m Small.mp3

Kandi Coded
Rock / Alternative / Grunge
From: Seattle, Wash.
Band MySpace
Drive On (Johnny Cash cover).mp3

Pierced Arrows
Rock / Garage / Punk
From: Portland / Clackamas, Ore.
Band MySpace
Paranoia.mp3

LANTERNS.
Punk / Punk / Pop Punk
From: San Diego, Calif.
Band MySpace
Midnight Psalms.mp3

Year Long Disaster
Rock / Rock / Rock
From: Los Angeles, Calif.
Band MySpace
Show Me Your Teeth (radio edit).mp3

Brian Grosz
Indie / Acoustic / Ghettotech
From: Brooklyn, N.Y.
Band MySpace
Gimme Some Money (Spinal Tap cover).mp3

~~~~~
pictures, top-to-bottom: Doug Keith, Kandi Coded, Year Long Disaster

Labels: "alternative", acousticness, electronic, garage rock, grunge, indie, pop-punk, rock

posted by aikin @ 12:41 PM 0 Comments

Woozy Viper Speaks in Tongues

From Kansas, via New York, come the brothers Meseke. The duo, which goes by the name Woozy Viper, have just released their eponymous debut, an album of back-to-basics acoustic rock.

Don’t be misled into thinking these guys play peace and love coffee house music, though. From the album’s opening line, “I’ve got graveyard dirt in my mouth,” you know they’re up to something a little different. Without a doubt, there’s more blues influence than folk on this disk.

The brothers write with a sense of humor as well, with songs about King Kong (“He didn’t give a shit / Until some girl messed with his head and he wound up dead”) and hypocritical faith healers (“Slip out them blue jeans, get down on your knees / ‘Cuz, I’m gonna teach you, baby, how to believe”).

Check these songs, and then click over to Woozy Viper’s MySpace page, where you’ll find a link to download their album for free.

Speaking in Tongues.mp3
The Switchblade Swing.mp3

Labels: acousticness, new stuff

posted by aikin @ 7:00 AM 1 Comments

Down the Holiday Trail, pt. I

Ten days before Christmas and 10 days since my last post seems like a good mid-point and a good place to jump up on the holiday song bandwagon.

I’m going to take it a little easier on myself this year than I did last year and post just a few random songs a day, every other day until Christmas Day. Then I’ll do a massive Christmas song dump – haha, just kidding.

I’ve picked up a couple of new things since last year, but for the most part, these are holiday standards we all know and love. From today’s post, one of the new things for me is the Flirtations’ “Christmastime is Here Again,” which I found when I was looking the other day for “Nothing But a Heartache.” A beautiful version by a woefully underappreciated 60’s “girl group.” The other song I just recently found is the Boss’ version of “Blue Christmas,” a live version that I think was recorded in December 2000.

So, settle down, put another log on the fire – or, if you’re in someplace like Miami, turn the air conditioning a little lower – and let’s all get in the holiday spirit.

Run Rudolph Run.mp3 ~ Keith Richards
Blue Christmas (live).mp3 ~ Bruce Springsteen
Merry Christmas (I Don’t Want to Fight Tonight).mp3 ~ Ramones
Christmas Time is Here Again.mp3 ~ The Flirtations
Silent Night / Christmas Card from a Hooker in Minneapolis.mp3 ~ Tom Waits

Labels: acousticness, holiday, live music, punk, Springsteen

posted by aikin @ 6:16 PM 0 Comments

'Praying to the God of Giving Up'

Today’s music is a great, fun band out of Portland, Ore. And, really, how often do you hear that?

The Taxpayers are a four-piece whose music ranges from folk-sounding punk to hardcore and pretty much anywhere in between. “Probably the best aspect of The Taxpayers is that it's damn near impossible to tell what they're going to do next,” the Free Music Archive said in a review.

I don’t know much about these guys; they’ve been together a few years I think, and they’ve released a couple of albums. The latest, A Rhythm in the Cages, is out on Quote Unquote Records, a purely donation-based record label (take that, you corporate weasels!).

The Taxpayers remind me much of early Against Me! in their full on, mostly acoustic and percussion punk assault. Singer Rob Taxpayer also sounds more than a little like Tom Gabel.

Check out these couple of songs, then click over to the Taxpayers MySpace, where you can find the download links for their albums and some older, live stuff.

No Lodging for the Mad.mp3
Cuyuahoga Canal.mp3
Montana.mp3

Labels: acousticness, punk

posted by aikin @ 5:38 PM 1 Comments