Wednesday, March 25, 2009

Past Lives Ultimate Focus

It’s rare that I get that excited about particular bands anymore. I listen to records at home endlessly... Go out to shows on weeknights... I live in music all the time. But that kind of curiosity isn't easily sustained. Lesser music loses its mystery quickly...

However, Past Lives has re-ignited some serious fire. This is a dream band, performing like no other, past or present.


Personally, I see Past Lives as the ultimate culmination of a scene originally rooted in pure screaming energy...

Maybe Drive Like Jehu really did spark the San Diego underground... The Eighties ended, and something was smoldering in Southern California. Basements and halls split with sound. Whatever you want to call it, the music was searing, youthful and handmade. Brown-bagged records and tapes, traded from milk-crates, appeared almost exotic in their plainness. The music was quick and chaotic, and it caught like wildfire across the Xerox-underground.

But when national attention came, it was Seattle’s Blood Brothers who truly amplified the sound to major (label) proportions, perpetually grounding the hype with their DIY-backbone.

Past Lives expand upon that exploratory vein, crafting a sound intelligently streamlined over a ten-year period of constant musical activity. I’ve seen nearly every one of their Seattle shows, and remain amazed at the band’s execution of fresh ideas. Their full-length album – now in the works – will be a masterpiece.

[Al]

Tuesday, March 10, 2009

Suicide Squeeze 2009 SXSW Poster Art


Jesse LeDoux has created lasting, classic images for SSR... His illustrations have been emblematic of the label for as long as I can remember - like his distorted city-scape on Elliott Smith's posthumous single, "Pretty, Ugly Before," or album covers for Six Parts Seven's "Everywhere, And Right Here" and The Coathanger's new "Scramble." Each illuminates pointed connections with graphic detail, helping to reveal the personality of the musicians and the scope of their music.

This year's SXSW poster - shown above - is LeDoux's most recent contribution to a loose series started back in 2003. Because I am, at heart, a total archivist, I thought it would be cool to have them all in one place...

Take a quick glance at the bands that played these shows - the whole 'where are they now' thing is in full effect...

-Modest Mouse is still Modest Mouse; they're just less modest now that their scope has broadened to include Johnny Marr (The Smiths) and Joe Plummer (The Magic Magicians)...
-Hella has basically split into two projects: Spencer Siem with sBACH, and solo Zach Hill...
-Crystal Skulls have vanished back into myth, while Christian Wargo tours the world with Fleet Foxes...
-Dave granted longevity Pedro the Lion, then slayed the beast in favor of performing as Headphones, or under his own name, Bazan...

But let's get real. It's 2009, and this year's SXSW line-up is the strongest, start to finish, that we've had since 2003. Zero filler. Party early with The Coathangers and Champagne Champagne... [Drink some beer]. Get all misty and swoon during Human Highway and Cotton Jones... [Have another beer]. Feel the hair raise along the nap of your neck when Past Lives take the stage... [Don't forget to drink water]. Then let it all out for These Arms Are Snakes...

[Al]