South DaCola

Editorial Cartoonist from South Dakota

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Music

South DaCola music club w/ Pearl Jam

l3wis 0Comments

To be quite honest with you, I pretty much stopped listening to Pearl Jam after this album. Ten was so good that I was really surprised that VS. was better, but after that they kinda went downhill.

I think this review sums it up pretty good;

By E. Callaway

Pearl Jam has taken some pretty firm stances throughout their career on several social issues. Abortion, race relations, poverty, and the environment are just a few they have tackled throughout their time in the spotlight. You can get overtones of this social conscience in all other music. The concept of the broken home is also rather recurrent throughout their body of work.

“Vs.” is an extension of the aforementioned concepts. It is filled with amazing, and profoundly powerful, rock anthems. Songs like “Go,” “Dissident,” and “Leash” are great. “Dissident” did make its way to rock radio for some time. “Leash,” already mentioned above, is straight rock `n’ roll. The first single “Animal,” was a rather interesting choice for a single. Though I like the song, it isn’t exactly radio friendly.

Contrasting the rock anthems on the record was some very good melodic rock songs. The big single off of this record was “Daughter.” I never quite did get this song. But, nonetheless, it is pretty good. I think there are much better songs on the records than the ones that were released singles. “Indifference” a slow, bass laden slow song, has this “Twin Peaks” kind of feel to it. It is very cool. The song with the longest title I have ever heard in my life is one of the best songs: “Elderly Woman Behind the Counter in a Small Town.”

This record is one of the most prolific works of its time. It held the record for the “most records sold in the first week of availability” for several years. Before the concept of internet presale, this record went platinum in just over a week. It is amazing and a must have for any Pearl Jam fan.

Music

South DaCola music club w/ God’s Favorite Band

l3wis 0Comments

Think the Ramones meet the Replacements. I first saw this band at Nordic Hall when I was 19 and saw them at least ten times over the years. Originally started as a side project by one of Twin Tone Records founders the band caught on and became quite popular after realeasing ‘Shack Nasty’. GFB is a power trio that blows away the power trios of today. The Bass player and guitar player alternate instruments and singing and the drummer ironically is a well known guitar tech and guitar collector. My favorite track on the record is ‘Weapons’ a song about selling parents fake guns for Christmas presents for their youngsters.

Music

South DaCola music club w/ Son Volt

l3wis 0Comments

Right after ‘Straightaways’ came out Son Volt played the Pomp Room, it was an amazing show except for the fact that a bunch of prick frat boys showed up and crowed the stage and if you weren’t wearing a American Eagle hat (slightly tattered) they told you to sit down. Why do frat boys have to ruin good shows?

Here is a review by Amazon.com,

When Jeff Tweedy and Jay Farrar, his former partner in Uncle Tupelo, split up in 1994, the common wisdom was that Tweedy was the melodic and optimistic Paul McCartney of the team, while Farrar was the cathartic and moody John Lennon. That analogy seemed to stand up when Wilco’s debut disc A.M. was sweet and tuneful, while the first album by Farrar’s Son Volt, Trace, was angst-ridden country-rock. Tweedy transcended his pigeonhole with the diverse, ambitious Being There, but Farrar remains trapped in his on Son Volt’s follow-up Straightaways, a more laid-back, understated version of Trace. Farrar does one thing really well, and that is his use of a gravelly baritone and suspended guitar chords to capture the exhaustion and desperation of a man at the end of his rope. Unfortunately, he tends to do it over and over and over again. –Geoffrey Himes

Music

South DaCola music club w/The Sneakies

l3wis 2Comments

The Sneakies were the first band that I hung out with on regular basis. The bass player (The late Matt Staab) and the guitar player (Jesse Christen of the Blues Bashers) were always fun to be with. They weren’t the best band in town, but damn if Sideshow wasn’t funny. This was their final DEMO they put out and their best work. I bet if you go to the old Ernies on 12th Street you’ll find this tape somewhere.

Music

South DaCola music club w/ The Ramones

l3wis 0Comments

I dug up my cassettes from the late 80’s early 90’s this past weekend and remember finding this gem, Halfway to Sanity by the Ramones. I got this tape the summer before I moved to Sioux Falls (1991), it was originally released in 1987. I remember it as being one my favorite Ramones albums. Great stuff.

Another review by Tim Brough, author and music buff,

The Ramones continued their ride on auto-pilot with “Halfway To Sanity.” While a touch better than “Animal Boy,” it still lacked the punch of the classics. There was (well, in the days of sides one and two), a great first half but a forgettable flip side. I remember playing the [stuff] outta side one, but aside from “I’m Not Jesus” and “Real Cool Time,” really getting disinterested in side two.

The first half, though, would be a 5 star EP. Dee Dee once again wrote a pair of stunning, life affirming songs with “I Wanna Live” and “Garden Of Serenity,” “Bop Til You Drop” follows in the tradition of countless Ramones dance songs, and Debbie Harry adds a sixties girl group fever to “Go Lil’ Camaro.” “Weasel Face” has spunk ala “Animal Boy” and “I Know Better Now” kicked the LP side to a close.

Perhaps had they recorded this in the CD age, a different sequencing might have made it a more consistent sounding disc. But as a document of the Ramones late 80’s recordings, it only rates about 3 1/2 stars.

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