Supersuckers: GET IT TOGETHER

I used to be a huge fan of The Supersuckers (even saw 'em twice), but I lost interest around 2000 after buying Evil Powers of Rock 'n' Roll because the songs sounded so much better live. Fortunately, the self-proclaimed "world's greatest rock 'n' roll band" are back in the sacrilicious saddle with this 2008 release. Get It Together is the best thing they've done since their debut, 1992's Smoke of Hell. While Hell was pretty much a punk record, Together is straight rock 'n' roll. What's nice about it is that they're love for country music is present, but in a subtle way; "She Is Leaving" is probably the best example of this. And there is a 100% country number, "Breaking Honey's Heart". But it's mostly rock here, with "Listen Up", "Paid", "I'm a Fucking Genius", "I Like It All, Man" -- fuck it, the whole album's great. Hard to believe it hasn't even sold 10,000 copies. It's up to you to change that. AND DON'T DOWNLOAD IT ILLEGALLY because they put it out on their own!

Rating: 5 outta 5 stars

Meatmen: COVER THE EARTH

Well, it took almost 30 years, but The Meatmen have finally recorded a decent album. As you probably guessed, Cover The Earth is a full-length featuring covers, hence the tile (duh). Besides having the best lineup since their early seven-inches, what makes this album work is that most of the tracks are of the rock'n'roll vein. Standouts include GG Allins' "Highest Power", Jimmy Dean's "Big Bad John" and ABBA's "So Long". And there's a little variety here with the funkish "Psychedelic Shack" and the country-fied "We Didn't Kill Each Other (But Didn't We Try)". Sadly, though, what holds this album back from being great are the sophomoric comedic skits, courtesy of vocalist Tesco Vee, and too many songs -- 24 tunes clocking in at an hour. Still, well worth checking out.

Rating: 4 outta 5 stars

Cage The Elephant: CAGE THE ELEPHANT

I feel like a bit of a jerk posting this review because my friend Whirls gave me this disc as a gift, but it isn't really my cup of coke. Cage The Elephant have a bar-band vibe about them. They probably would've fit in nicely with the Minneapolis scene, circa 1990. In that alternate universe, they might have opened for Soul Asylum or Titantic Love Affair. But it being 2009, Cage The Elephant remind me a tad of Dr. Dog. That said, one song on this debut is replayable: "Spoil to the Sun". Turn it up!

Rating: 1 outta 5 stars

Emily Haines: KNIVES DON'T HAVE YOUR BACK

Man, I was really looking forward to this album, since I'm a huge fan of Emily Haines' main gig, Metric, but -- Christ! -- what a major disappointment!! This solo outing should set things straight that Metric is an actual band with all four members writing the songs (which would explain why it takes four years for them to put out an album). Almost every song on Knives Don't Have Your Back sounds the same: mumbly-singing and lethargic piano-playing. More boring than a morgue populated by a bunch of constipated CPAs. It almost sounds like Mates Of State with only Kori singing and playing her keyboard sans husband Jason's drumming and background vocals. Knives Don't Have Your Back is so bad, I'm not posting an MP3 and I'm rethinking downloading another Metric side project, Bang Lime (from the bassist and drummer). On the plus side, we have several Metric albums and a few EPs for some real entertainment.

0 outta 5 stars

Andews Sisters: 20TH CENTURY MASTERS - THE MILLENNIUM COLLECTION: THE BEST OF THE ANDREWS SISTERS

Recently, a coworker lent me The Essence of Frank Sinatra, a compilation that focused on Mr. Mob-wannabe's earlier recordings, before he lost his voice for a year or two. Really good stuff. It got me thinking about the Andrews Sisters, so I picked up this collection. Amazing! It has their most famous number, "Boogie Woogie Bugle Boy", as well as "Don't Sit Under the Apple Tree (With Anyone Elese But Me)", a tune I think I read about a long time ago in A Separate Peace. Oh, and there's "Ac-Cent-Tchu-Ate the Posive", which is kind of kick-ass because I heard The Vindictives' cover of it first a number of years ago. Glad I picked up this disc. Twelve songs is about all I can take of these USO angels, but -- good goddamn -- what a dozen ditties!!!

Rating: 5 outta 5 stars

"Boogie Woogie Bugle Boy"

Whole What Bread: HEARTS OF HOODLUMS

I'm not even sure why I downloaded this full-length. I hardly listen to punk rock anymore -- too much unnecessary anger; I guess old habits die horrendously. That said, this black trio are more hard rock on this outing. Most of Hearts Of Hoodlums failed to entertain me, but I do like "Girlfriend Like This" (despite the borderline homophobe lyric: "I don't care what nobody say / If you don't like her you're probably gay") and "New Age Southern Baptist Nigga from da Hood" (a humourous track with the band channeling Iron Maiden or Judas Priest). And I want to say that the lead vocalist reminds me of Living Colour's Corey Glover, but I just may be making that connection for obvious reasons. Overall, not a bad album if you're into hard rock or punk rock.

Rating: 2 outta 5 stars

"Girlfriend Like This"

Sebastien Grainger: SEBASTIEN GRAINGER AND THE MOUNTAINS

I caught this cat a few weeks ago opening for Metric. It just may be the first time I got an album by an opening act (kudos, Metric, for bookng a warm-upper whose sound is similar to your own!). Unfortunately, Sebastien Grainger And The Mountains isn't as great his live show -- maybe it had something to do with his backing band, especially the bassist who specialized in background vocals. On the plus side, Mr. Grainger is one talented mofo. He doesn't sound like anything else out there, past or present. Basically, it's rock'n'roll with a slight New Wave edge. You can't hate that, right?

Rating: 4 outta 5 stars

American Names

Metric: FANTASIES

This album was well worth the wait -- four years after the lovely Live It Out. Fantasies features 10 solid songs with no filler. What's cool about Metric is they do slightly different versions of their songs live, which I found out when I saw them here in Philly at the Trocadero on June 19. Anyway, Fantasies kicks off with a perfect pop song, "Help I'm Alive"; I love how singer Emily Haines reaches near the top of her vocal range for the refrain. The superb songwriting continues with "Sick Muse". Other soon-to-be classics include "Twilight Galaxy", "Gimme Shelter", "Blindness" and "Stadium Love". Such a great, upbeat album. See, kids, you can be New Wave without being too retro. It just takes a tight rhythm section (thanks Joules Scott-Key and and Josh Winstead!) and properly placed modern-rock guitar, courtesy of Jimmie Shaw. All right, I'm off to Toronto to get this quartet inducted in the Canadian Hall of Fame.

Rating: 5 outta 5 stars

"Help I'm Alive"

Church: "Warm Spell" (1988)

I was going to post this when in Australia, but I never got around to it. Now's good a time as any, even though it starts out strong but kind of peters out. Still love it, though.

"Warm Spell"

Napolean XIV: "They're Coming to Take Me Away" (1966)

I uploaded this to my iPod today, so I thought I would post it here. Still funny after all these years. . . .

"They're Coming to Take Me Away"

Wombats: "My First Wedding" (2008)

Since I posted one last song by the Star Fucking Hipsters yesterday, let's do another tune by the inimitable Wombats. This year, I've listened to their album almost as much as the debut CD from Los Campesinos! (Both bands from the U.K. -- coincidence?) This song by the Wombats closes out their awesome album.

"My First Wedding"

Star Fucking Hipsters: "This Wal-Mart Life" (2008)

This'll be the last track I post from this album. I probably should diversify a little more, but it's such a musical masterpiece! Punk rock doesn't get much better than this. . . .

"This Wal-Mart Life"

Totally Michael: "Casual Satisfaction" (2008)

I was listening to this American artist while in Australia. Hard to believe it's current, even though it sounds like its from 25 years ago. This song is a little on the horny side, but all in good fun.

"Casual Satisfaction"

INXS: "Three Sisters" (1985)

I'm back home now from my Australia vacation. Since I saw the Three Sisters landmark, I thought I would post this INXS instrumental.

"Three Sisters"

Dirty Three: "I Remember a Time When You Used to Love Me" (1996)

I was lucky to catch these Aussies about 10 years ago when they opened for label mates Man Or Astroman? Interesting outfit: violin, drums and acoustic guitar. The leader, when not playing his violin, would spit at the ceiling and catch his lugees when they eventually dripped down on that hot summer night here in Philly at Silk City, a club's that long since defunct. And between songs, he would go on these humorous rants that made no real sense -- very stream of consciousness.

"I Remember a Time When You Used to Love Me"

Frenzal Rhomb: "I Miss My Lung" (1999)

This NOFX clone are OK. I love this song because it sounds nothing like their usual sound.

"I Miss My Lung"








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I woke up Saturday at 8:30 a.m. with the intention of at least going to the Melbourne Zoo, but it was windy and rainy. Apparently, Melbourne was hit with its heaviest rainfall in five years. Bummer.

After cereal for breakfast, I did my time online.

For lunch, I walked a block to a Greek restaurant and got charcoal-broiled octopus (octopi?) as well as hot chocolate. In hindsight, I should've ordered the pickled octopus because the charcoal octopus was a little rubbery -- no real taste. Oh well, maybe next time.

In the afternoon, I did my two hours of fiction writing. Afterwards, I headed up to the gym on the roof to exercise.

Around 6 p.m., I headed to a social gathering at a local church three blocks away. Met some nice people there. One guy told me nobody in Australia drinks Foster's -- must be a touristy thing.

For dinner, I did the room service thang. The hotel had "Slow braised kangaroo" on the menu, so I got that and a strawberry milkshake. The kangaroo was in a thick, brown sauce. It tasted like roast beef.

Before bedtime, I packed everything up and got everything in order for customs. Tomorrow, I go back home. It'll be weird. My plane leaves Melbourne at 12:55 p.m., and I arrive in Philly at 10 p.m., even though it'll take 24 hours. Freaky. . . .










Sign near the gym at the hotel. Kind of drives home how serious the drought is down here.

Midnight Oil: "Best of Both Worlds" (1984)

Of course, you knew I was eventually gonna post a song by these lefties. Still not sure what this song is about, but it's from an awesome album!

"Best of Both Worlds"







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On Friday, I got up a little after seven in the morning. For breakfast, I picked up from one of the local convenience stores a bowl of cereal, a small carton of milk and a bottle of OJ. Afterwards, I worked on my fiction.

Around mid-morning, I started shopping for Xmas gifts. I hopped on the tram to go about a half-mile down the road to High Street, but there were no souvenir shops down there.

I returned to the hotel. By this point, it was raining -- somewhere between a drizzle and a downpour, where you need an umbrella.

For lunch, I hit a local deli shop. I got a salami, cheese and tomato sandwich, which they heated up. It was good, but it set off a coughing jag, even though I'm feeling much better.

Around 1 p.m., I jumped on the 58 tram, which I picked up on Toorak, the road perpendicular to the hotel. In about 25 minutes, I reached downtown Melbourne. I got off at Swanson Street and Finders Lane. The rain was really coming down now, though still not a downpour.

The first souvenir shop I saw had almost everything I was looking for. To finish up my gift-buying, I went into Dymocks, Australia's answer to Barnes & Noble, which was only a block away from the souvenir shop.

After shopping, I didn't sightsee. It was raining too much, plus the streets were packed -- wonder what it's like when the sun's out.

I returned to the hotel around 4 in the afternoon. I fooled around online for an hour or so.

At 5:30 p.m., I went around the corner to Toorak. A block before the laundromat is an Indian restaurant called Little India. Because of the rain, I was their only customer; also, the owner told me the dinner crowd doesn't come in until 6:30 or so.

I ordered lamb and rice. It was amazing! Been a while since I ate curry. But the best part was the bread. It was great, I ordered a second basket!!! It wasn't like bread in the States. It was kind of flat, but had air pockets occasionally. Mmm, I'm salivating just thinking about it.

Next up was something I'd been meaning to do for almost a week: see that Australia movie starring Nicole Kidman. The movie didn't start till 8 p.m., but down here they don't let you in until a few minutes until show time, that way you have to sit through all the commercials and few previews. The movie didn't start until 8:20 p.m. or so.

I didn't stay for the whole flick. I left the theatre a little after nine o'clock. I thought it would've been better if one of the leads was Aborignal, maybe the Hugh Jackman character. Another reason I didn't stay was because it bummed me out how in the early- and mid-20th century the Australia goverment snatched Aborignal children to assimiliate them into white society. That just got me thinking how evil that colonialism is and the ills of European mode of thought with its obsession on private property and promotion of Christianity.

I went back to the hotel and watched a little Doctor Who (much more entertaining) before turning in.










I didn't take any interesting pictures today, so let's go back in time to a few days ago when I went to that zoo near the Blue Mountains. Here's me petting a sleeping koala.

Hoodoo Gurus: "Turkey Dinner" (1986)

Today, Friday, I saw a poster for Big Day Out -- a huge annual music festival down here -- that the Hoodoo Gurus are headlining. This B-side is a little on the perverted side, so I can see why they didn't put it on the Mars Needs Guitars album, but it's still a good song.

"Turkey Dinner"





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On Thursday, I got up a little after seven in the morning. I headed down to the Brasserie again. Got pancakes and a glass of OJ.

After working on my fiction, I walked about a half-mile down the road I'm staying on. At a used CD store, I found one of the three albums I'm looking for, Turkish Delight by The Persian Rugs, a Hoodoo Gurus side project.

I then headed to another record store that was a few blocks away, though they only sold vinyl. So I walked over a mile to the next used record. They didn't have what I was looking for. By this time, it was about one in the afternoon. I bought a two-hour tram ticket to take me back to the hotel.

The tram system here is interesting. You can buy all sorts of tickets. The two-hour ticket is only $3.50. It's kinda cool, it doesn't take effect until you slip it into the machine on the tram. Also, what's fascinating is that there's a bit of an honor system going on here. You slip your ticket into the machine so it gets stamped, but you only do this the first time until it expires (I took three trams on my two-hour ticket, but I only slipped it in the machine on the first tram). And the tram drivers have no interaction with the passengers. They're just in their little bulletproof booths, keeping an eye on the road. Oh, and unlike in Philly, where at the end of the line the trolley goes in a loop to reverse the route, here there are two conductor booths, one at each end of the tram. When the tram reaches the end of the line, the driver exits the booth and slides into the other booth at the other end. Neat!

I had a late lunch at an upscale Chinese restaurant a few blocks from the hotel. I ordered their seafood combination and some hot tea. I liked the meal: they served the seafood in a mountain of white rice -- all on one plate.

I was way past due on some laundry, so I did a few loads around the corner from the hotel. The washers were weird because you needed to pay for a token . . . looked like something from Batman's utility belt.

With a suitcase full of clean clothes, I wrote the blog for Wednesday, but when I went to upload to my site, the Internet wasn't working. The hotel switched providers on Wednesday and the installers apparently fucked up. I was pretty pissed off about that, since this is a four-star hotel. The front desk did what they could, but it was 7:30 p.m. and the Internet provider's phone help were pretty useless.

In a bad mood, I blew off my original plan of Indian for dinner. I stalked down a couple blocks to get a pizza with everything on it. It was OK -- they had pineapples and shrimp on there; not really my scene.

I closed out the day by chilling out in the hotel room, grateful that my cold wasn't too bad all day.










One of the two tram lines that run on the road my hotel was on.

Jack Frost: "Thought I Was Over You" (1991)

Jack Frost was a side project of The Church's Steve Kilbey and The Go-Betweens' Grant McClennan. They only did two albums. This album was the better one, I say. I still dig this song -- love the storytelling imagery.

"Thought I Was Over You"






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Rolled out of bed on Wednesday morning around eight. The plan for the day was to do pretty much nothing in the hopes that I could kick this coughing cold.

Feeling lazy, I did breakfast in the hotel at their little restaurant, Brasserie (of course, I keep pronouncing it like brassiere). I ordered bacon, hash browns and freshly squeezed orange juice. Even though the bacon set off a five-minute coughing jag, it was awesome. The bottom half of each strip looked like a slice of Christmas ham.

Afterwards, I headed to the local pharmacy (Aussies call them Chemists). It was a little upscale, but the woman behind the counter helped me out by hooking me up with a bottle of Robitussen.

Back at the hotel, I chilled for a little bit, fooling around online and on my laptop.

For lunch, I ate at a local mall. I got a barbecue wrap with mushrooms and onions. Washed it down with some apple guava juice. Mmmmmm. . . .

I spent the rest of the afternoon working on my fiction.

For dinner, I walked up the road perpendicular to the hotel, Toorak Road. Lots of shops and eateries on there. I eventually settled on a Mexican restaurant. I ordered some chicken contraption in a crusty covering with a tiny salad, a pile of rice and the restaurant's answer to baked beans. Every was good, but I didn't finish the beans -- tasted too pasty. Oh, and I had some type of flavored tea for my throat.

It was around 8:30 p.m. when I got back to the hotel. I showered, shaved and brushed my chompers, then watched a couple Doctor Who episodes on my laptop. I crashed at 11. I'll do touristy things tomorrow. Honest engine! (Pay no attention the crossed fingers behind my back!!!)










A couple blocks of the hotel. Kinda cool how this street is spelled like my last name (or "birth name" as they say down here), but with an e.

Go-Betweens: "Born to a Family" (2005)

This pop band's heyday was in the eighties. They broke up somewhere around 1989, but the two primary songwriters reformed under the Go-Betweens banner around 2000. This song is from Oceans Apart, the best album in the Go-Betweens' catalog, in my opinion.

"Born to a Family"





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Tuesday I got up at 6 a.m. to catch the 7:45 train to Melbourne.

On the train I sat next to some guy from Canada who is touring Australia's East Coast. He was lanky, had a mustache, and was a bit of a Chatty Cathy. At one point I joked that Canada was a subsidiary of the United States, which he didn't find too funny.

Oh, here's something I found hysterical. The Canadian was hitting on the girl next to him, Tiffany, who lives in Melbourne and had been in Sydney for a friend's wedding. (She was about six feet tall, when she smiled you saw her gums, she wore a cap [not baseball, jeff cap, is it?] and she had long fingers.) The Canadian said, "You have the best accent I've heard down here. It almost sounds like Paul McCartney." Then he babbled about Britney Spears. Man, I had to fight really hard not to guffaw. Here I thought I was the king of lame pick-up lines. This Canadian cat has me beat. (Tiffany did laugh. I got the impression she appreciated the attention but wasn't wooed.)

I ate tons of food on the train. I must've spent nearly $50 on the buffet car. No big deal. That's only about 33 U.S. dollars.

The train was supposed to pull into Melbourne at 7:15 p.m., but a few delays knocked that time back to 7:45. Not too bad. Twelve hours to travel a little under 1,000 miles. The trip didn't go through the outback, mostly through farm country. Saw several sheep farms.

I took a cab to the hotel and checked in. Very nice. It's four star but has this avant-garde thang going on.

Melbourne doesn't seem so upscale as Sydney. True to its reputation, it has an European vibe to it. Lots of trams (translation: trolleys) here. Think I'm gonna enjoy my five nights here.










I'm posting this pic for my nephews, Marty and Billy, since they love trains so much. This is the one I took after it pulled into the Melbourne station.