Last Wednesday after work I headed over to the Southgate House to catch Brooklynites, Say Hi To Your Mom. On my way over I called a friend, who has been in a number of bands himself, to see if he wanted to join me.”I’m busy,” he said, “but, I was just beginning to think that they’re weren’t any good band names left. Thanks for proving me wrong.”
I spoke with Eric Elbogen, the lead singer of SHTYM, before the show and talked to him about the name. “It was just something I heard during one of my first visits to the Midwest and I liked the way it sounded.”
When I first heard SHTYM, despite the great band name, I thought they might be a little too emo for my tastes. But something happened between their debut, Discosadness, and their 2005 album Ferocious Mopes. Maybe it was the addition of drummer Chris Egan III (The World Without Magic) and keyboard player Jeff Sheinkopf (Sea Ray) or maybe it’s just simple maturity, but Say Hi To Your Mom is now less Dashboard Confessional and more Magnetic Fields.
The latest album, Impeccable Blahs (released this past Tuesday), is kind of a loose concept album about, um, vampires… and I like the way it sounds.
- Listen to Snowcones and Puppies
- Listen to Blah Blah Blah
- Listen to Angels and Darlas
- Listen to Say Hi to Your Mom on WOXY’s Lounge Acts
Buy Impeccable Blahs from Insound.
Kinda like a cross between Hapland and Delicatessen:
I must admit, I have a strange fascination with Weird Al. No, it’s not the Riff Raff hunched over shoulder look… It’s the fact that he capitalized on something we were all thinking of and parlayed into a career. Nay, a veritable cottage industry. And, he’s managed to stay in touch with the kids, despite the fact that he’s 46 years old. The second album I ever bought was “Weird Al Yankovic In 3-D”. I crafted a character I played in “One Flew Over The Cuckoo’s Nest” based on Michael Richard’s Stanley Spadowski in UHF.
I should also say I like Eminem. No, not the persona of Eminem, arguing with Triumph is a bit too much. But ever since I picked up the “I Just Don’t Give A Fuck” single for free at Chicago’s Evil Clown Records, I knew this guy had moxie. Kinda like Rosanne or Madonna. He’s the guy you love to hate, but at the same time he’s churning out some pretty damn good music.
So it should come as no surprise that I find this entertaining.
- Listen to UHF: Spatula City
- Listen to Yoda
- Listen to Christmas at Ground Zero
Buy Hits of Weird Al Yankovic, Vol. 1 from Insound.
Compare this:
with this:
Discuss.
Speaking of which, when’s the second Menomena album coming out? Do you think it will be called, “Ennoble Me, Damn Moustache!”?
- Listen to E Is Stable
- Listen to The Late Great Libido
Buy I Am The Fun Blame Monster from Insound.
Do you miss Pavement? I do. Yeah, sure Stephen Malkmus and Scott Kannberg are still around and still making decent music, and Bob Nastanovich is probably still running the Lucky Lavender tip-sheet, but it’s not the same.
Which brings me to Hockey Night. People will say shit like, “I liked this band… when they were called Pavement.” But don’t you listen to them, even if they are right. ‘Cause it’s not the same.
Hockey Night does sound a little like Pavement, but that’s mostly due to Paul Spranger’s nasally talk-sing delivery. Hockey Night also sounds like Thin Lizzy. And the Allman Brothers. And Velvet Underground… My point is they do a good job of incorporating the sounds of a lot of bands…as you will soon find out.
Last year’s Keep Guessin’ is pretty damn good and I am on the edge of my seat for their upcoming release, because the epic Who We Are is one of my favorite songs of the year.
- Listen to Who We Are
- Listen to Get Real
- Listen to Save the Clocktower
Buy Hockey Night’s Keep Guessin’ from Insound.
(it’s only $4.40, for chrissake!)
I’ve been told Insound is sold out, so you can try…
Buy Hockey Night’s Keep Guessin’ from Amazon
Buy Hockey Night’s Keep Guessin’ from Lookout Records
Buy Hockey Night’s Keep Guessin’ from 