15 IN PHILLY

Lost Classics: The Psychedelphia Story

April 25, 2009
tapem200bThey’re nobody’s buzz bands anymore. But since 1993, MAGNET has discovered and documented more great music than memory will allow. The groups may have broken up or the albums may be out of print, but this time, history is written by the losers. Here are some of the finest albums that time forgot but we remembered in issue #75, plus all-new additions to our list of Lost Classics. azusa66 You should hear the collective groan around the MAGNET office whenever the idea of writing a scene-report article is discussed; most bands pay more attention to their MySpace page than their hometown. But geography is a powerful thing, and we have been guilty of chasing its musical meaning, sometimes with success (the Chicago post-rock family tree we published in 1996), sometimes with failure (Texas psych/rock or Norwegian pop scenes, anyone?). But one of the most genuine groundswells was in our own backyard in the late ’90s. Sounds From Psychedelphia, a 10-band compilation issued in 1999, is the main artifact of that era of Philly sound. On it, you can hear Lenola taking a My Bloody Valentine-like, effects-bent riff and stretch it like taffy; witness the Asteroid #4 delve into neo-Pink Floyd bliss; take in the shimmering guitar-pop heroics of the Photon Band; and hear Aspera Ad Astra imagine what Brian Jones’ own personal orchestra would’ve sounded like. While shape-shifting noise merchants Bardo Pond and jangle-pop outfit Mazarin aren’t present on Psychedelphia (the former was signed to Matador at the time, and the latter debuted afterward), both bands filled in pieces of the local puzzle. But, predictably, you had to be there. Live, the Asteroid #4 employed a fog machine and a kaleidoscopic light show, while Bardo Pond would stage sit-down performances at art museums and Lenola (which actually hailed from nearby locales in southern New Jersey) cooked up its own visual schemes. “At one show, we wore suits that were covered in Christmas lights and handed out light-refraction glasses to the crowd,” remembers Lenola singer/guitarist Jay Laughlin. “We were plugged into extension cords at our feet. It looked awesome, but (drummer) Sean (Byrne) was getting shocked while we played, so that was a one-off thing.” Beneath all that onstage window-dressing, Philly’s psych/rock scene was steadfastly DIY, with nearly every band forming its own label to release its albums. There was Lounge (Asteroid #4’s imprint, which issued the Psychedelphia comp), Tappersize (Lenola), File 13 (Aspera Ad Astra) and Colorful Clouds For Acoustics (Azusa Plane). “The DIY thing was out of necessity, really,” says Laughlin. “We sent the albums to every label we knew of and never got a bite." No widespread national attention was forthcoming, and Lenola called it a day in 2002; the band’s members now play in Like A Fox and the Twin Atlas. Aspera also disbanded, with members joining Rollerskate Skinny’s Ken Griffin in Favourite Sons. The Asteroid #4 is still around, but 2006 saw an endpoint for Mazarin (a cease-and-desist order was issued by a Long Island bar band of the same name) and a tragic epilogue (the suicide of the Azusa Plane’s Jason DiEmilio; pictured above). :: THE AZUSA PLANE America Is Dreaming Of Universal String Theory // Colorful Clouds For Acoustics, 1998 Effectively the solo guise of Jason DiEmilio, the Azusa Plane represented the experimental outer limits of Philadelphia’s otherwise rock- and pop-leaning psych scene. America Is Dreaming was a two-disc symphony of guitar-and-amplifier manipulations, a melodic beehive of sound that never submitted to drone. What John Fahey did for guitar strings (harnessing a miasma of notes and harmonics with godlike grace), DiEmilio did for feedback. "Strings 2": [audio:Strings2.mp3]
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What Is The Best Rock Band From Philly Right Now?

January 30, 2009
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Philly Ex Post Facto: East Hundred

January 29, 2009
easthundred2c31 We've spent the past few weeks posting items from issue #80's 15 In Philly feature, our 15th-anniversary spotlight of favorite music from MAGNET's hometown. Guess what? It's year 16. This week, we pay attention to the newcomers, make amends for the omissions and basically try to cover our asses. Because all beatdowns are local. On paper, East Hundred appears to be a prime candidate for Metallica-style band therapy sessions. The Philadelphia quintet contains brothers (guitarist Brooke and drummer Will Blair) as well as ex-lovers (Brooke and singer Beril Guceri), and its new full-length debut, Passenger, is a break-up album whose lyrics all but declare, “We shan’t work together again.” Consider, for example, Beril’s words on album track “Pony”: “Our love is the perfect shade of blue/If you’re heading out/Don’t think I’m coming with you.” The underlying sentiment of Passenger may be part Fleetwood Mac’s cut-and-run Rumours, part Marvin Gaye’s more reflective Here, My Dear, but the members of East Hundred insist their tangled personal relationships are a benefit. "Plus Minus" from Passenger: [audio:PlusMinus.mp3] “It can be hard, frustrating, sad and trying at times being in a band together with my ex-girlfriend, but it’s all worth the tough times, because we believe in it so much,” says Brooke. “Some of that tension has pushed us to face our feelings head on, and to do something truly honest with it, and it’s a release. We basically dealt with our break-up in a very open way through our music.” Meanwhile, the Blairs, who grew up outside D.C., haven’t lived up to the embattled-sibling stereotype of the Davies or Gallaghers. “As clichéd as it sounds, there really is an unspoken connection, within our goals and music, that I think you only see with brothers,” says Will, the younger brother and East Hundred’s de facto manager and organizer. “I don’t think we would operate well in different bands without each other.” This well-adjusted group came together as a trio of Will, Brooke and Beril in 2004 (while the latter two were still dating), four-tracking in the Blairs’ basement and playing shows that became nerve-wracked performances for the stage-shy Beril. “Never having sung in public before is probably why I had anxiety,” says the Chicago native, who moved to Philadelphia to study film at Drexel University. “But then again I’ve managed anxiety my whole life, so that just intensified it. Brooke and Will were always really supportive and I can’t imagine having opened up like that creatively and emotionally with anyone else.” Bassist Dave Sunderland and keyboardist Susan Gager joined by the time the recording of Passenger began at Drexel’s Mad Dragon studios in 2007. (The college runs a music-business program and record label; East Hundred is unaffiliated with them.) It was during the recording session that Beril and Brooke split, giving rise to a different-sounding version of the band. “There was always something to write about, but obviously the break-up gave us more material,” says Beril. “For the first time I was alone while being in a band making music. That definitely fueled more lyrical expression.” The band resumed recording Passenger with Brian McTear (Mazarin, Matt Pond PA), and the result is a group of songs that roam between the dream-pop jangle of the Sundays and the sharper punk edges of Rainer Maria. Passenger doesn’t sound much like currently en vogue indie rock; the album’s refusal to bury hooks or play coy with Beril’s front-and-center lead vocals gives East Hundred the refreshing, confident air of a radio-ready pop band. That Beril is easy on the eyes—certainly as lovely as Hope Sandoval—doesn’t hurt the band’s odds of East Hundred making a name for itself outside the traditionally unfamous Philly scene. “We have a love/hate thing with Philly, buts it’s more of a ‘love/frustration’ thing, actually,” says Will. “It really does feel like home, and it allows us a lot of freedom to attain our goals, but it hasn’t necessarily made it easy. I think there are so many awesome, talented bands in Philly, which keep us working harder, but honestly it feels like we rarely fit into a specific scene. We do feel a bit alienated at times. We’ve heard people say, ‘You guys would do so well in L.A.,’ but I just don’t see us ever making that move.”

—Matthew Fritch

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Philly Ex Post Facto: Pi Lam

January 28, 2009
pilambldg3601From the outside, Pi Lambda Phi looks just like every other University of Pennsylvania frat house on the 3900 block of Spruce Street. The large, three-story stone building is decorated with intricate carvings of leaves and vines and preceded by a tiered porch with iron and brick fencing. A giant gold column of a banner hangs from the rooftop, the end of it just barely brushing the cement of the porch. Three Greek letters, massive and purple, stare down at passersby: PLF. Of course, appearances can often be deceiving. While its flowerbeds may be littered with empty beer cans and plastic leis, the Pi Lam house is better known as a music venue than a Thirsty Thursday hot spot. The 30-some Pi Lam brothers are more likely to get their exercise biking to Wawa for cigarettes than playing lacrosse, and they’re much more fond of brightly colored American Apparel tees than Abercrombie polos with popped collars. Instead of Natty Light, PBR is their drink of choice. The Dead Milkmen's "Ask Me To Dance" from 1983's A Date With The Dead Milkmen: [audio:AskMeToDance.mp3] Pi Lam has been a fixture on the Philly music scene since the early ’80s, when the dwindling fraternity was overtaken by a group of punk-minded miscreants—or so the story goes. Either way, Pi Lambda Phi started hosting shows, and over the course of the next two decades, acts such as the Dead Milkmen, Hüsker Dü, Of Montreal, Nada Surf and Yo La Tengo played sets at the Pi Lam house. The fraternity also became known for its yearly event, the Human Barbecue: more than 14 hours of live music and inebriated fun usually held in early spring. Last year marked the 30th anniversary of the tradition, which always attracts a large, diverse crowd of Pi Lam alums, local music fans and assorted other characters (including some of the attendees of 1994’s East Coast Anarchist Gathering, which Pi Lam also hosted). With officer titles such as “PCP” (Pledge Class President) and a considerable amount of credibility in the often-snobby West Philly noise-rock scene, UPenn’s branch of Pi Lambda Phi is no ordinary fraternity, but its members wear their Greek letters as proudly as they wear their guitar straps and Chuck Taylors.

—Anna Hyclak

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Philly Ex Post Facto: Canadian Invasion

January 27, 2009
canadianinvasion350We've spent the past few weeks posting items from issue #80's 15 In Philly feature, our 15th-anniversary spotlight of favorite music from MAGNET's hometown. Guess what? It's year 16. This week, we pay attention to the newcomers, make amends for the omissions and basically try to cover our asses. Because all beatdowns are local. As if handed some imaginary baton from the late, great Bigger Lovers, the five-piece Canadian Invasion has inherited the title of Philadelphia's best power-pop band. The proof is in sophomore album Three Cheers For The Invisible Hand (Transit Of Venus), a smartly written critique of—and ode to—suburbia. Three Cheers doesn't rock the suburbs with rote teenage angst or anti-sprawl tirades, however; the voice of singer/guitarist Andy Canadian is coming from inside the ranch house, detailing the funny and sad lives of the members of an American family lost in their own bland anonymity. The clever lyrical conceit is held up by sturdy guitar-pop songwriting; Canadian Invasion sounds like Fountains Of Wayne with considerably less cheese, swapping regressive teenage fantasies and gimmicky Cars keyboards for Kinks-like character sketches and Teenage Fanclub guitar chime. MAGNET spoke to frontman Andy Canadian and bassist Jim Foley about the big ideas and small details behind Three Cheers, out Feb. 17. "Three Cheers For The Invisible Hand" from Three Cheers For The Invisible Hand: [audio:ThreeCheers.mp3] MAGNET: Let's talk about the concept-album nature of Three Cheers For The Invisible Hand and its suburban-family storyline. Did you grow up in the suburbs? Andy: I grew up in Cherry Hill, home of Orel Hershiser, walking distance from the Cherry Hill Mall. That part of Cherry Hill is just affluent enough for folks to be in the suburbs, but not affluent enough for them to have any ambition. When I wasn’t at the mall or Wawa, I was playing shitty guitar in somebody’s basement. My music is about this lifestyle. Cherry Hill is a place without an identity. They build strip mall upon strip mall, there’s nothing to do, there’s too much traffic and too little nature for a place that isn’t a city. Three Cheers is loosely a concept album. It probably doesn’t hold up to scrutiny, but it is supposed to be the multi-generational story of the Bobbie Watson family. I got the idea from the Ionesco play The Bald Soprano. The play is an absurdist work about a dinner party in post-war England. One of the “jokes” is about the Bobbie Watsons, a husband and wife who are both named Bobbie. One morning I awoke with the idea in my head that the Bobbie Watsons were baby boomers in Cherry Hill. They had Audrey Horne from Twin Peaks for a daughter and a crack-smoking charlatan for a son. I liked the conceit because, much like Cherry Hill has no identity, the Bobbie Watsons have none, either. They feel like ghosts, moved into a non-place and by some invisible hand. All the songs on the record are about characters grappling with their own lack of agency in their lives. To be honest, though, I think every song on the record is a fantasy/nightmare of what my life could be like. I’d like to think my current life is nothing like what I write about. But I only moved two towns over … "Tomorrow And Tomorrow And Tomorrow" and particularly the title track seem written from a father's perspective and are depressing in their realism: your kids will grow up and deny you a high-five or turn out rotten; the mid-life crisis is looming; the meaninglessness of the modern routine. Why is it so much easier to face some of life's harsher realities when they're couched in a catchy pop song? Andy: When I was in college, my friends would drag me out to dance clubs and I came to really like dance music because there’s something nihilistic about it. Between the banality of the lyrics and the repetitiveness of the arrangements, it seems to suggest that we’re automatons, that our emotional responses can be boiled down to a few clichés and that we can be hypnotized by a few variations on the same beat. But dance music embraces that. Perhaps dance music even celebrates that. I’d like to think that Canadian Invasion's music does something similar. It reminds you that you’re not in control of yourself. Emotionally or physiologically you might respond joyfully to the melody or the arrangement of one of our songs while it’s telling you that your life is pointless. And maybe your life is pointless, but you should find some joy in it, goddamnit. Can you tell me a bit about "John Mayer"? Are you using John Mayer as the object of a teenager's derision/scorn in that song? Andy: This guy wrote a song called “Your Body Is A Wonderland." CBS is giving the man a variety show. I think he’s fair game for a murder fantasy featuring references to my high-school gym teacher, American Movie and Twin Peaks. If the logic of that statement is not apparent, I don’t know what else I can say. Letters To Cleo is namedropped on "Juvenilia"—I did not see that one coming. But it got me thinking about the relative dearth of power pop since the '90s. Was that era/style of music (Posies, Matthew Sweet, Gin Blossoms, et al) big for you as a listener? Jim: I think I was 15 when Gin Blossoms came out and I remember really liking that record. My first real girlfriend and I might have had sex in the car while listening to it. I've come a long way. I've met the Posies a few times and one day last year out of the blue Jon Auer sent us a MySpace message asking us to mail him a copy of our record. Those Posies are fantastic folks. Real gents. Andy: As much as I hate the power-pop tag, playing “Girlfriend” by Matthew Sweet in my high-school talent show was watershed moment for me, so I guess it's destiny. After I played that song, a girl in the audience offered me a macaroon, and I knew power pop was the place to be. You guys wrote a Phillies fight song that, apparently, put the team over the top. (There's really no other explanation.) How'd you celebrate the Series win? Jim: I have partial season tickets to the Phils and got to go to every home playoff and World Series game except the last one. It was awesome. We partied in the streets like everyone else but we're not assholes so we didn't break anything. I want to record a legit Phils fight song and play it at opening day. We deserve that much given our obvious contribution to the 2008 postseason. Why is Joe Satriani thanked on the CD sleeve? Jim: Joe's music speaks to me in ways I can't describe with words ... Also, he's always begging me to play bass on tour with him but I haven't taken him up on his offer yet. Now if LL Cool J goes back on the road again and needs my services, consider me on immediate hiatus from Canadian Invasion. Andy: The primary reason to play music is to have a license to be cheeky and ridiculous all the time. We recently published an issue that had a section on Philly bands we've covered over the last 15 years we've been doing MAGNET. What do you like and dislike about being in band here? Jim: I am a MAGNET subscriber, so I read the section on the Philly bands. Philly is the best city for anything, really. I think it's a pity that more people don't keep an ear to what the local talent has to offer, be it music or art. This town is popping at the seams with unique personality and the living space in a metro area can't be beat ... er, it sucks, stay away. It was nice to see some of our friends grace your pages in such fine fashion, particularly Brian McTear. Brian loves his craft and that's the way it should be. Funny story: One day we were recording with Brian at his studio in Fishtown and when we came outside to go eat lunch our drummer George (Groves') car was not where he parked it. Fuck! Some punk stole it, right? So we call the cops and then a few minutes later we see a garage door on the factory building across the street open and out comes George's car. We all go running towards it and this man gets out yelling, "I didn't steal it!" Turns out someone with the same make and model as George's car left their car for repairs and put the key and a note in the shop's mailbox. Their car key worked on George's car. The cops said that is a one -in-75 possibility. Then Brian introduces the man as Joe the Train Guy, who has the biggest model train collection ever and hangs out with Neil Young. You gotta love this town!

—Matthew Fritch

Listen to more songs from Three Cheers For The Invisible Hand here.

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Philly Ex Post Facto: A Sunny Day In Glasgow

January 26, 2009

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We've spent the past few weeks posting items from issue #80's 15 In Philly feature, our 15th-anniversary spotlight of favorite music from MAGNET's hometown. Guess what? It's year 16. This week, we pay attention to the newcomers, make amends for the omissions and basically try to cover our asses. Because all beatdowns are local.

A Sunny Day In Glasgow may be the closest thing that Philadelphia has to a blog band (perhaps with the exception of Philly/Brooklyn’s Clap Your Hands Say Yeah). “The Best Summer Ever” from The Sunniest Day Ever, the band's 2006 debut EP, caused a justifiable stir among those looking for an unknown to claim as their own: It’s a shimmering, sunny update of Cocteau Twins/My Bloody Valentine dream pop with a joyful melody, and it’s so densely saturated that everything—the soprano voices, the reverberating guitars, the processed drums—seems mixed at an equal level.

"The Best Summer Ever" from The Sunniest Day Ever: [audio:bestsummerever.mp3] “I was completely taken off guard by the response to the EP,” says frontman Ben Daniels. “We didn't even exist as a band at that point, and people were asking us to tour and labels were emailing and calling us. It was very surreal, and in retrospect, it's probably a shame we didn't exist as a band at that point. But after that, I kind of thought people would not like the album that much because it wasn't as poppy as the EP was.” Scribble Mural Comic Journal, the full-length that followed in February 2007, expanded on the EP’s promise (literally—it included most of it) by blending focused and catchy tracks (“5:15 Train,” “A Mundane Call To Jack Parsons”) with abstract, electronic reveries (“No. 6 Von Karman Street,” “Panic Attacks Are What Make Me Me”). The band quickly followed Scribble with the Tout New Age EP in July ’07 and is currently finishing its second album, tentatively titled Ashes Grammar and slated for May. “I think the only stable thing about this band is me,” says Daniels of his group’s fluctuating personnel. He originally drafted his twin sisters Lauren and Robin as vocalists for the ironically named A Sunny Day In Glasgow. Their voices are simultaneously seraphic (clear, floating, high) and human (imperfect, introspective), and they juxtapose perfectly with their brother’s wall-of-soundscape arrangements. Lauren relocated in ‘07 but Robin remains a member, and a core band has been working on the new record. Daniels is hoping to solidify a lineup to be able to tour when then new album arrives. Of the new LP, Daniels says, “I had lots of plans for this record and none of them have worked out, really. It's also taken three [more] months to finish than it should have. We recorded almost everything in this big dance studio, so there's a lot of ‘roomy-ness’ to the record. There's lots of synths and electric drums and samples. In terms of the songs, I think it's the least poppy thing we've done yet. Hopefully everyone won't hate it.” But that’s what he thought about the last one, so there’s little cause for concern.

—Steve Klinge

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15 In Philly: Philly Future

January 25, 2009
shot-x-shot150wbtickley150wswimmers150whoots225bmar2008225b Spend 15 years in Philadelphia and you’ll figure out that things in MAGNET’s native city aren’t always sunny or bursting with brotherly love. But underneath the tough exterior are some pretty sweet sounds. In honor of our anniversary, we pay tribute to our hometown scene: Today's installment: Philly Future, five bands—Shot X Shot, Tickley Feather, the Swimmers, Hoots & Hellmouth and Make A Rising—that just might define the shape of the local scene to come. SHOT X SHOT The young, clean-cut former art-school students in Shot X Shot don’t look like your average avant-garde jazz outfit. But the two-saxophone quartet is classically free on its second album, Let Nature Square (High Two), a fresh set of stormy-yet-controlled improvisations. "Overlay" [audio:Overlay.mp3]   TICKLEY FEATHER DIY singer/keyboardist and single mom Annie Sachs (a.k.a. Tickley Feather) makes minimalist electronic pop that echoes with eerie psychedelic touches. Mainly relying on a keyboard, drum machine and Sachs’ echo-laden vocals, 2008 debut Tickley Feather (Paw Tracks) evokes a mixture of Animal Collective, Ariel Pink and ethereal-era 4AD Records. "The Python" [audio:ThePython.mp3]   THE SWIMMERS Debut album Fighting Trees finds the Swimmers peddling guitar-pop hooks hooks reminiscent of Wilco’s Summerteeth and sporting New Pornographers-style male/female vocals. The Swimmers are signed to Mad Dragon Records, a Drexel University student-run label with a national distribution deal. "Heaven" [audio:Heaven.mp3] HOOTS & HELLMOUTH Sean Hoots and Andrew “Hellmouth” Gray form the core of this wooly, gospel-flavored roots band. Hoots & Hellmouth’s 2007 self-titled debut (on Mad Dragon) unleashed a guitar-and-mandolin attack and tent-revival vocals, bringing modern folk out of its Nickel Creek coma. "Want On Nothing" [audio:WantOnNothing.mp3] MAKE A RISING Drawing from free jazz, post-punk and lo-fi pop, 2008’s Infinite Ellipse And Head With Open Fontanel (High Two) blurs boundaries with prog-like abandon. Make A Rising often appears onstage in homemade costumes and animal masks; singer Jesse Moynihan is reportedly working on a headpiece to project thoughts from his forehead. "Transmutation" [audio:Transmutation.mp3]

—Tiffany Yoon

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15 In Philly: Jim Boggia

January 24, 2009
jimboggia334Spend 15 years in Philadelphia and you’ll figure out that things in MAGNET’s native city aren’t always sunny or bursting with brotherly love. But underneath the tough exterior are some pretty sweet sounds. In honor of our anniversary, we pay tribute to our hometown scene: Safe In Sound, Jim Boggia’s 2005 sophomore album, found the fortysomething West Philly musician juggling jangly power pop and solemn singer/songwriter fare buoyed by his frazzled, soul-kissed tenor. With its tight hooks, fat production and guest spots from Aimee Mann and the MC5’s Wayne Kramer, the LP was championed by fans and critics alike. Yet, to this day, Safe In Sound leaves Boggia cold. "To And Fro" from Safe In Sound: [audio:ToAndFro.mp3] “Eighty-five percent of the way into making the record, I was very pleased with it,” he says. “Then a deadline was imposed, and the ending of it was rushed. It actually turned out more polished than it would have if I’d had more time.” How ironic, then, that BlackBerry would use the intro to one of Sound’s best tracks, “Live The Proof,” for a recent TV ad. Boggia is much more comfortable talking about the new Misadventures In Stereo (bluhammock music), an organic, somewhat subdued follow-up whose mix-and-match feel, baroque-pop leanings and darker emotional shades take some getting used to. Boggia has always been candid about the host of difficulties that have colored his battered self-image: an isolated upbringing in Flint, Mich., a difficult family life that ended in his parents’ divorce, one failed marriage of his own and the partial blindness that makes traveling difficult. In person and on record, he’s largely taken those hard knocks in stride, relying on humor and nostalgia to elevate his mood. On Misadventures In Stereo, though, Boggia often sounds despondent. “Nothing’s Changed,” the album’s achingly tuneful centerpiece, displays all the optimism of a well-crafted suicide note and helps set the tone for a collection of defeatist gems occasionally leavened by forays into low-fidelity reminiscing (“8Track,” “Listening To NRBQ”). Even for the unlikely hero in “Chalk One Up For Albert’s Side,” which Boggia co-wrote with legendary Beach Boys collaborator Tony Asher, victory is hardly sweet. “I almost called this album One Win, Nine Losses,” chuckles Boggia, whose latest tussle with misfortune is documented in the song “To And Fro,” an edgy reflection on the volatility of commitment that echoes early Elvis Costello. “If it don’t feel right, the door’s open wide,” sings Boggia. Apparently, his longtime live-in girlfriend took him up on that offer, moving to New York City in early ‘08 to sample life on her own. “Now it’s just me and the cats,” says Boggia. “I’m truly living the recluse musician’s life.”

—Hobart Rowland

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15 In Philly: Lifetime / Paint It Black / Kid Dynamite

January 23, 2009
paintitblack270Spend 15 years in Philadelphia and you’ll figure out that things in MAGNET’s native city aren’t always sunny or bursting with brotherly love. But underneath the tough exterior are some pretty sweet sounds. In honor of our anniversary, we pay tribute to our hometown scene: For a city so fertile with negative vibes, feelings of inferiority, raw anger and working-class toughness, Philadelphia has proven incapable of home-growing a decent, sustainable hardcore band. Even our old-school punk history pretty much started and ended with the lightweight, goofily smart-ass Dead Milkmen. Laying claim to the lineage of Lifetime—the New Brunswick, N.J., hardcore band that started in 1990 and spawned Philly-based outfits Kid Dynamite and Paint It Black (pictured)—is a necessary act of eminent domain. Lifetime, "Young, Loud And Scotty" from 1997's Jersey's Best Dancers: [audio:YoungLoudAndScotty.mp3] Led by singer Ari Katz and guitarist Dan Yemin, Lifetime played melodic punk in the vein of forebears Dag Nasty and Hüsker Dü. Katz’s sensitive-guy lyrics and two albums on the Jade Tree label (home to the Promise Ring and Texas Is The Reason) saddled Lifetime with the dreaded emo tag by the time it disbanded in 1997. Yemin, who earned the nickname Dr. Dan after completing a doctorate in clinical psychology a year later, emerged soon afterward with Kid Dynamite, a group that included singer Jason Shevchuk and original Lifetime drummer Dave Wagenschutz. After two albums of short, sharp hardcore blasts, Kid Dynamite called it quits. Yemin put his degree to use, counseling adolescents. Yemin suffered a stroke in 2001, leading him to reconsider punk-rock glory one more time. As frontman for Paint It Black, his songwriting grew, well, darker within the framework of Kid Dynamite’s classic hardcore rage. Paint It Black’s third album, New Lexicon, gets a deep blast of bass-heavy urgency courtesy of producers J. Robbins (Jawbox, Channels) and Oktopus (of avant hip-hop group Dalek). Even as Yemin moves forward with Paint It Black, however, Lifetime fans—notably, Fall Out Boy’s Pete Wentz, who issued 2007 reunion album Lifetime on his Decaydence label—keep clamoring for the original blueprint of melody and noise.

—Matthew Fritch

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15 In Philly: The Friggs

January 22, 2009
friggsSpend 15 years in Philadelphia and you’ll figure out that things in MAGNET’s native city aren’t always sunny or bursting with brotherly love. But underneath the tough exterior are some pretty sweet sounds. In honor of our anniversary, we pay tribute to our hometown scene: When the Friggs burst onto the Philly scene in 1991 with their debut single, a charmingly sloppy cover of the Troggs’ 1970 lust-charged “Come Now,” the all-girl quartet was still six months shy of its first show. "Shake" from Today Is Tomorrow’s Yesterday: [audio:Shake1.mp3] “All of us were still learning how to play our instruments,” says guitarist Palmyra Delran. “My theory was: You cause a stink and people will show up. Our first gig was sold out. I guess everyone was curious.” The Friggs spent their early years dropping singles like it was the 1960s, popping into the studio every few months to put their playfully trashy stamp on garage and surf standards such as the Shadows Of Knight’s “Shake.” Their raucous live shows, featuring singer Jezebel’s signature back bends and the band handing out half-eaten sandwiches as door prizes, cemented the Friggs’ status as the smart-ass queens of the retro scene. Delran laughs as she recalls one particularly over-enthusiastic fan. “He was a foot-fetish guy. He started off licking my boot, so I made him part of the show of course, like, ‘Look at this asshole!’ And then a little later I look over and he’s jerking off into a plastic cup. So our manager threw her beer right on his dick.” The Friggs’ only LP, 1997’s Rock Candy, was a polished set of mostly original tunes that reveled in Joan Jett-style rock ’n’ roll. The album garnered good reviews and led to opening slots for Beck and Cheap Trick. After the Friggs called it quits in 2000, Delran moved on to other projects, and her debut solo EP, She Digs The Ride, came out in October. Recently, she spearheaded the release of Today Is Tomorrow’s Yesterday, a collection of the Friggs’ out-of-print singles and unreleased demos. One of the tracks, the aforementioned “Shake,” wound up in a memorable scene in Superbad. (Think grind-dancing and menstrual blood. Yeah, that scene.) “We plopped a great legacy of silly rock ’n’ roll,” says Delran. “Everyone’s really proud of that.”

—Miles Britton

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15 In Philly: The Delta 72

January 21, 2009
delta-72300Spend 15 years in Philadelphia and you’ll figure out that things in MAGNET’s native city aren’t always sunny or bursting with brotherly love. But underneath the tough exterior are some pretty sweet sounds. In honor of our anniversary, we pay tribute to our hometown scene: Somewhere between Jon Spencer’s trash-rock blues and the Make-Up’s R&B fakeout was the Delta 72, Philly’s sometimes brilliant, sometimes hucksterish soul-garage outfit. If you weren’t there for the tent-revival exhortations that charismatic singer Gregg Foreman performed onstage at America’s whitest rock venues, you missed it. But you can hear the Delta 72’s engine purr on the three albums the band issued on Touch And Go from 1996 to 2000. "I Feel Fine" from 2000's Ooo: [audio:IFeelFine.mp3] For years, Foreman gave Philadelphia a questionable-yet-entertaining rock-star spectacle. Sporting a Ron Wood-style rooster haircut, Foreman became famous for walking around town with a switchblade in his boot; in 1997, he got into a fistfight with Spencer, who subsequently invited the Delta 72 to tour with the Blues Explosion.

Where are they now? Foreman moved to Miami, got clean and sober and tours in Cat Power’s Dirty Delta Blues Band. Keyboardist Sarah Stolfa, one of the surliest waitresses at Center City dive bar McGlinchey’s, turned the job into high art: Her images of bar patrons won the New York Times Magazine’s photography contest in 2004. Drummer Jason Kourkounis went on to play in Hot Snakes, Burning Brides, Bardo Pond and the Night Marchers.

—Matthew Fritch

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15 In Philly: The War On Drugs

January 20, 2009
war-on-drugs300Spend 15 years in Philadelphia and you’ll figure out that things in MAGNET’s native city aren’t always sunny or bursting with brotherly love. But underneath the tough exterior are some pretty sweet sounds. In honor of our anniversary, we pay tribute to our hometown scene: Despite the title of the War On Drugs’ debut album, Wagonwheel Blues (Secretly Canadian), there’s nothing ranch-hand cowboyish or bluesy about the Philly outfit. That doesn’t mean the trio isn’t down and dirty. It’s just that Wagonwheel Blues is as filled with freewheeling, Dylanesque Americana as it is with Smiths-like Britpop and Brian Eno-style percolating electronic swells. “Taking The Farm” from Wagonwheel Blues: [audio:TakingTheFarm.mp3] “I didn’t have a title for the record, and it was just a lyric and image that kept crawling back into a lot of the songs here and there,” says frontman Adam Granduciel, who started the War On Drugs with guitarist Kurt Vile in 2003. “I was putting together the art for the album, looking through years of Polaroids and Super 8 stuff, trying to sequence the album with all this in mind. I kept seeing all these colors in the songs and on the page, in the pictures and in the tones, like the ultimate Diebenkorn painting. [The wagon-wheel imagery] seemed to reference both how the album was made and also certain connotations within the history of American music.” While Granduciel brings a chiming, treble-kicked guitar and an unnerving sense of unpredictability to his other band, the Capitol Years, his pairing with Vile is the crucial element in the War On Drugs. “We’re definitely great studio partners,” says Granduciel of Vile. “By the time we started recording the Drugs’ stuff, we’d been playing for so long and had been through a lot of shit together. Everything just fell into place.” Granduciel’s lyrics, too, fell right in line. While “Arms Like Boulders” comes from Nietzschean ideas and images he had while touring the West Coast (“We were reading Corso, Ferlinghetti and Miller; you know, the type of stuff you read in California”), “Taking The Farm” is all fuzzed-out and folky, with lyrical leaps into unbridled Springsteen-heartland territory. “‘Farm’ definitely has the dryness of early Bruce records,” says Granduciel. “But when you throw in another two drum sets and filters on everything, you start creeping out of the edges.” Ultimately, the War On Drugs’ crotchety sound is as inspired by the band members’ surroundings as their literary and musical influences. “I moved into a run-down part of town five years ago,” says Granduciel. “My Puerto Rican neighbors, a family of six, loved it when we practiced. They’d be dancing on the sidewalk to a bunch of drones and synthed-out guitar leads. That was an inspiring time for me and Kurt, playing until 3 a.m., four nights a week. It’s amazing how much those things actually rub off on the music.”

—A.D. Amorosi

The War On Drugs Tour Dates 02/19/09 — Oostende, Belgium — Manuscript 02/20/09 — Lille, France — L'Aeronef 02/21/09 — Clermont Ferrand, France — Nuits de Alligator @ La Cooperative Club 02/22/09 — Bordeaux, France — Le St X 02/24/09 — Paris, France — Maroquinerie 02/25/09 — Evreux, France — Nuits de Alligator @ L'Abordage 02/26/09 — Amsterdam, NL — Paradiso 02/27/09 — Groningen, NL — Vera 02/28/09 — Den Bosch, NL — W2 03/01/09 — Antwerp, Belgium — Trix 03/02/09 — Brussel, Belgium — Botanique 03/04/09 — Munchen, Germany — Orange House 03/05/09 — Leipzig, Germany — NATO 03/06/09 — Hannover, Germany — Cafe Glocksee 03/31/09 — Albany, NY — Valentine's 04/01/09 — Buffalo, NY — Tralf Music Hall 04/03/09 — Urbana, IL — Courtyard Cafe 04/04/09 — Bloomington, IN — Jakes Nightclub 04/06/09 — St. Louis, MO — Gargoyle 04/07/09 — Iowa City, IA — The Picador 04/08/09 — Omaha, NE — Slowdown 04/10/09 — Boulder, CO — Fox Theatre 04/11/09 — Salt Lake City, UT — Urban Lounge 04/13/09 — Reno, NV — The Underground 04/14/09 — Stateline, NV — Harrah's Tahoe South Shore 04/15/09 — Sacramento, CA — Harlow's

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15 In Philly: The Capitol Years’ “Meet Yr Acres”

January 19, 2009
capitol_years320Spend 15 years in Philadelphia and you’ll figure out that things in MAGNET’s native city aren’t always sunny or bursting with brotherly love. But underneath the tough exterior are some pretty sweet sounds. In honor of our anniversary, we pay tribute to our hometown scene: If you’re a rock ’n’ roller with the misfortune of having to subsidize your music career with an office gig, your colleagues have most certainly saddled you with CDs of their friends’ horrifyingly shitty bands. I figured it’s always best to tell them their friend’s band sounds “really pro” and promise to try and make that Monday-night show at some sports bar in the ’burbs. In all these years, only once have I received a disc that lasted more than one minute in my CD player: the Capitol Years’ Meet Yr Acres. Shai Halperin and crew have since released records that rocked harder and garnered more acclaim than their homespun 2001 debut. But this one—a woozy fusion of the Beatles, Beck and Guided By Voices—will always have a special place in my collection.

—Patrick Berkery

"Roller's Row" from Meet Yr Acres: [audio:RollersRow.mp3]

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15 In Philly: Brian McTear

January 18, 2009
brianmctear355Spend 15 years in Philadelphia and you’ll figure out that things in MAGNET’s native city aren’t always sunny or bursting with brotherly love. But underneath the tough exterior are some pretty sweet sounds. In honor of our anniversary, we pay tribute to our hometown scene: When Brian McTear recounts the favorite projects of his decade-plus recording career, the Philly-based producer is evenly split between the well-known (Matt Pond PA, A-Sides) and the lesser-known (Lucys, Bigger Lovers). But they’re favorites for a reason. "Sincerely, The Last Century" from Bitter Bitter Weeks' Peace Is Burning Like A River: [audio:SincerelyTheLastCentury.mp3] “They really encapsulate this excellent balance of learning what I was doing and knowing what I was doing,” says McTear. “A lot of it was the attitude we had, just being cavalier. You can never really relive it.” McTear grew up in Philly’s adjacent Chester County, attending West Chester University alongside future members of Mazarin, the Azusa Plane and the Bigger Lovers. It was there he founded Miner Street Recordings, named after his address at the time. The studio later moved to the Manayunk section of Philly and merged with the likeminded Cycle Sound, a marriage that yielded nationally known albums by the Capitol Years, Burning Brides and Espers. He and partner Amy Morrissey have since relocated to the city’s burgeoning Fishtown neighborhood. McTear credits Morrissey’s work ethic and artful placement of microphones for the studio’s redoubled efficiency since she began working there full-time in 2003. Besides working and living together, McTear and Morrissey play in each other’s bands: his Bitter Bitter Weeks and her Novenas. The latter released a self-titled debut in 2007; the former has three albums to its name. Bitter Bitter Weeks began as a bare-bones return to zero following McTear’s droning, experimental band the Marinernine. Its first two albums, 2003’s Bitter Bitter Weeks and 2004’s Revenge, are acoustic affairs centered on McTear’s well-worn rasp and skeletal guitar. 2007’s Peace Is Burning Like A River found BBW reborn as a tight, sunny six-piece. “I knew I always wanted it to be a [proper] band,” he says. “By the third record, I was ready to come out of my early-R.E.M.-loving shell and not be embarrassed by that.” Touring and recording with the Weeks hasn’t slowed down McTear’s day job, however. He’s working with co-producer Daniel Smith (Danielson Famile) on upcoming recordings by Woven Hand (a.k.a. 16 Horsepower’s David Eugene Edwards), experimental rock/hip-hop outfit Soul-Junk and avant-hardcore band MeWithoutYou. Besides overseeing his studio and band, McTear has witnessed Philly’s transformation into a robust music mecca. “When I first moved to Philadelphia, people [weren’t] concerned with making music for any other reason than being big in Philly,” says McTear. “When I was in Mazarin, we played England. No one I knew had done that. Then that second wave hit, with Dr. Dog and Man Man and Spinto Band, and that’s where it is now. It’s really grown up.”

—Doug Wallen

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15 In Philly: Siltbreeze Records

January 17, 2009
bardopond340Spend 15 years in Philadelphia and you’ll figure out that things in MAGNET’s native city aren’t always sunny or bursting with brotherly love. But underneath the tough exterior are some pretty sweet sounds. In honor of our anniversary, we pay tribute to our hometown scene: When he arrived in Philadelphia in 1984, Ohio native Tom “TJ” Lax never expected to start a record label. Siltbreeze began as a zine, and from 1987 to 1992, Lax published eight issues of the digest-sized rag that was as much known for its ’70s-era photos of naked black women as it was for reviews of obscure punk, psych and noise bands such as feedtime, Extreme Hate, V-3 and the Hickoids. When Lax wanted to include a seven-inch with copies of Siltbreeze, Tom Hazelmyer (of Minneapolis band Halo Of Flies and noise label Amphetamine Reptile) offered up some songs that became SB-1. "Melted Pat" from Guided By Voices' 1994 Get Out Of My Stations EP: [audio:MeltedPat.mp3] “It sold well and I figured that was that,” says Lax. “But I’d been in communication with Bruce Russell from the Dead C and was trying to find them a U.S. label to no avail. Then I suddenly realized I could do it myself.” Siltbreeze’s aesthetic was all over the stylistic and geographical map, from the cracked country of Ohio’s Gibson Bros. to the overloaded Philly skronk of Blue. The label’s biggest finds, however, were avant-garde New Zealand artists such as Alastair Galbraith and the Dead C. “New Zealand was churning out all sorts of strange and personal folk and noise music that no one was paying attention to in the early ’90s,” says Jay Hinman, editor of music zine Superdope. “Siltbreeze got the Dead C stuff out in America first, and over the next few years, people really started taking notice.” As the label began to take off, Lax recruited Mac Sutherland to help run the ship. “He came aboard in late 1991 as I was preparing to leave for New Zealand for six weeks,” says Lax. “The label was still nascent, the Strapping Fieldhands’ debut seven-inch (Demiurge) and Dead C’s Harsh 70’s Reality were just out. This was before email and whatnot, and the world could still seem pretty large, especially from the great distance between Dunedin and Philadelphia.” Siltbreeze’s mid-’90s golden era included releases from Sebadoh, Guided By Voices and Bardo Pond (pictured), but a distribution deal with Matador didn’t work to the advantage of more obscure acts such as Harry Pussy and Charalambides. By the late ‘90s, the release schedule gradually tapered off. Siltbreeze was seemingly done for good, but in 2005, Ohio-based producer Mike Rep introduced Lax to a new band called Times New Viking. The Columbus group’s Siltbreeze debut, Dig Yourself, put Lax back in action, and 2008’s release schedule included San Francisco psych duo Sic Alps and Portland, Ore., “shitgaze” band Eat Skull. “The ironic thing in all of this was starting the record label wasn’t intentional,” says Lax. “It just happened. Now that it’s back on, it’s off to a great start. We’ll see how long it lasts.”

—Tim Hinely

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15 In Philly: Mazarin’s “Watch It Happen”

January 16, 2009
mazzerin300bSpend 15 years in Philadelphia and you’ll figure out that things in MAGNET’s native city aren’t always sunny or bursting with brotherly love. But underneath the tough exterior are some pretty sweet sounds. In honor of our anniversary, we pay tribute to our hometown scene: Mazarin created a buzz when its first seven-inch, “Wheats,” was named single of the week by the NME, back when such a thing mattered. A sunny, strummy, feedback-laced bit of psychedelic pop cloaking singer/guitarist Quentin Stoltzfus’ bitter kiss-off (“Oh yeah, that’s right, you never loved me at all”), “Wheats” was one of several euphoric blasts on Watch It Happen, Mazarin’s 1999 debut. Concise and catchy tracks such as “Deed To Drugs” shared space with undulating soundscapes like “Progress Is Lovely.” Mazarin released two strong subsequent albums before Stoltzfus, nephew of soft-pretzel magnate Auntie Anne, retired the moniker in 2006 due to legal conflicts with a Long Island classic-rock group of the same name. While on hiatus, Stoltzfus has been building a studio with Clap Your Hands Say Yeah’s Alec Ounsworth.

—Steve Klinge

"Wheats" from Watch It Happen: [audio:Wheats.mp3]

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15 In Philly: Exiled From Broad Street

January 15, 2009
burning-brides275Spend 15 years in Philadelphia and you’ll figure out that things in MAGNET’s native city aren’t always sunny or bursting with brotherly love. But underneath the tough exterior are some pretty sweet sounds. In honor of our anniversary, we pay tribute to our hometown scene: In 1980, Hall & Oates left Philly for New York City, establishing a migratory pattern for opportunistic traitors—er, career-minded bands—in the decades to come. Equal parts Rocky and the Replacements, MARAH gained fame as the gritty roots-rock band that recorded its debut above an auto-repair shop and signed to Steve Earle’s label. The Stephen King-endorsed Marah even called its second LP Kids In Philly. But grand ambitions to become the world’s biggest band led brothers Dave and Serge Bielanko to Wales in 2001, where Marah recorded with Oasis producer Owen Morris. The result? Float Away With The Friday Night Gods, a fart heard ’round the world. "Christian St." from Marah's Kids In Philly: [audio:ChristianSt.mp3] If you were a musician in Philly around the turn of the millennium, you may have spent time in the melancholy orchestral-pop carousel known as MATT POND PA. Singer/songwriter Pond moved to Brooklyn in 2003 and upgraded to more concise, upbeat guitar pop on 2005’s Several Arrows Later and 2007’s Last Light. Well done, Pond. But the “PA” in the band name? Give it back. BURNING BRIDES (pictured) broke out in the Strokes/Hives/Vines “return to rock” era, circa 2001. The Brides, though, made a return to grunge, a genre that hadn’t been gone long enough for anyone to really miss it. Still, the band led by singer/guitarist Dimitri Coats and girlfriend/bassist Melanie Campbell had knockout metallic riffs that landed it a deal with V2. Flush with success, the Brides moved to Los Angeles in 2004 to deal with drug habits and the dissolution of their record label.

—Matthew Fritch

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15 In Philly: Philly Boy Roy

January 14, 2009
phillyboyroy275Spend 15 years in Philadelphia and you’ll figure out that things in MAGNET’s native city aren’t always sunny or bursting with brotherly love. But underneath the tough exterior are some pretty sweet sounds. In honor of our anniversary, we pay tribute to our hometown scene: Wassup, everybody? How youse doin’? When the guys from MAGNET asked me to recount my favorite Philly rock memories, my first thought was, “What’s MAGNET?” But then I thought, “Oh, it don’t matter, Channel 29 ain’t showin’ Rocky IV for another 45 minutes.” The Beatles, Sept. 2, 1964 Ain’t got no actual verification, but my ma says yours truly got conceived on this night. Coulda been before, during or after the show. She don’t really remember. The Hooters' "South Ferry Road" from 1985's Nervous Night: [audio:SouthFerryRoad.mp3] The Nazz, Oct. 19, 1969 First concert I ever seen. I was four years old, and my old man took me. He got thrown out for punching Todd Rundgren in the thigh. This marked the first time I ever smoked a cigarette and drank more than two Schmidts in one sitting. God, I miss you, dad. When you get out of the butt hut next week, drinks are on me. Robert Hazard And The Heroes, Aug. 10, 1982 Most of youse Philadummies don’t know it, but there was a time when the late, great Robert Hazard was the coolest thing this side of the Schuylkill River. He could probably go into any bar in town, go, “Yo, gimme a Yuengling for free,” and they’d go, “Yo, OK.” This show took place between a Phillies/Pirates doubleheader. I was on ’shrooms and ran onto the field and started playing air guitar with one of ’nem miniature baseball bats. Only problem was they was still in the middle of the first game! Everybody was yelling at me, especially Phillies’ catcher Bo Diaz. What was his problem? He ain’t even from here! I got arrested later on for takin’ a whizz on the Phillie Phanatic. Agnostic Front, Flag Of Democracy, McRad, Nov. 3, 1983 When I saw a poster for this “hardcore” show on the way home from my job at Jim’s Steaks, I thought it was for a live sex act, which was then and still is totally up my alley. The poster also said “New York vs. Philly Showdown” and listed some bands I never heard of. Man, I hate New York even more than I love live sex shows, so needless to say, I was in. The music sucked donkey, but I loved the slam dancin’. It was awesome ’cause I could finally fight at a concert and not get thrown out … or so I thought. Turns out punkers have this thing called “pit etiquette,” which means you can’t hit nobody in the face with no wrench. Live Aid, July 13, 1985 What a magical day that was, huh? I took my hatred of all things non-Philly to new heights by only facing the stage for Philadelphia residents the Hooters and Patti LaBelle. Everyone else got my back. On the Live Aid DVD, you can totally see me whippin’ a Tastykake Krimpet at the Thompson Twins.

Philly Boy Roy is a frequent guest on radio program The Best Show On WFMU and can be found at www.scharplingandwurster.com

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15 In Philly: Man Man

January 13, 2009
man_man330bSpend 15 years in Philadelphia and you’ll figure out that things in MAGNET’s native city aren’t always sunny or bursting with brotherly love. But underneath the tough exterior are some pretty sweet sounds. In honor of our anniversary, we pay tribute to our hometown scene: Man Man isn’t a typical pop group. It’s a pop group like a Salvation Army Preservation Society Jazz Band or a bunch of guys sitting on the stoop flailing on upturned plastic buckets and banjos made from cookie tins. Man Man draws from the grab-bag history of American music to fashion songs that sound both brand new and hundreds of years old. "Top Drawer" from Rabbit Habits: [audio:TopDrawer.mp3] 2004’s The Man In A Blue Turban With A Face set Man Man’s template—manic, time-tight performances of grubby songs about outcasts and oddballs—but also got the band pegged as a carnivalesque novelty act. There’s a whiff of Dadaist indulgence—fans of Pere Ubu and the 1980s-era Magic Band, take note—especially in the group’s spectacular live shows. But as 2006’s Six Demon Bag and 2008’s Rabbit Habits proved, Man Man’s musical chops are genuine. After signing to Anti- for Rabbit Habits, frontman Honus Honus was pleased that his band had landed at the same label as stubborn misfits Merle Haggard and Tom Waits. “We just want to get people to start to understand our language,” he says. “Turns out there are a whole lot of people who want to go to hell along with us.”

—Eric Waggoner

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15 In Philly: Like A Fox

January 12, 2009
like-a-fox366Spend 15 years in Philadelphia and you’ll figure out that things in MAGNET’s native city aren’t always sunny or bursting with brotherly love. But underneath the tough exterior are some pretty sweet sounds. In honor of our anniversary, we pay tribute to our hometown scene: Jay Laughlin is holding up the bar somewhere in Philadelphia tonight. He doesn’t have to be drinking in order to support the psychedelic-pop end of the city’s indie-rock scene, though beers are encouraged. Memories of the singer/guitarist’s former band, Lenola, are etched in smoke on the walls of the Khyber, epicenter of the late-’90s Psychedelphia scene. Laughlin’s current band, Like A Fox, is heard on stages and jukeboxes from Northern Liberties to South Philly. The affable Laughlin—tall, tattooed and invariably peeking out from under a baseball cap—holds near-mayoral status in the town known as Hostile City. "Night Person" from Where’s My Golden Arm?: [audio:NightPerson.mp3] Laughlin got an early start in the South Jersey straight-edge scene. At age 15, he began playing guitar in hardcore outfit Pointless (his mother would occasionally drive him to gigs); a year later, he formed Turning Point with singer Skip Candelori. After his punk phase had run its course, Laughlin re-emerged in 1996 as the frontman for Lenola, whose My Bloody Valentine-inspired guitar vertigo spanned five albums. Locally, Lenola reigned creatively and benevolently—at the record-release show for 1999’s My Invisible Name, the four band members were wrapped head-to-toe in aluminum foil as joints were freely passed around the audience—but national touring and sales proved disappointing. “A week after Lenola broke up (in 2002), I decided on the name Garden State for my next project,” says Laughlin. “About a year later, a friend sent me a link to the trailer of a movie with the same name. Who would have thought it would have become such a big movie?” Laughlin rechristened the band Like A Fox, recruiting guitarist/keyboardist Jeff Scioli, bassist Brian Wilkinson, drummer Pete Girgenti and former Lenola guitarist Dave Grubb for 2006’s self-titled debut and a new full-length, Where’s My Golden Arm? (Transit Of Venus). Channeling the sunbeam psychedelia of Transmissions From The Satellite Heart-era Flaming Lips and showcasing Laughlin’s stretched-taffy vocals, Golden Arm is saturated in bright pop colors. “I’m way more confident in my abilities as a songwriter and as a singer,” says Laughlin. “I used to hide behind my insecurities as a vocalist and songwriter by drowning out everything with noise. I don’t feel that way anymore.” For the first time, Laughlin wrote the majority of his own lyrics—his brother Chris and bassist Scott Colan were responsible for many of the words in Lenola songs—and Golden Arm became an album that connected Laughlin’s past and present. The title refers to a ghost story Laughlin and Turning Point co-founder Candelori heard as kids growing up; Candelori’s death in 2003 from a drug overdose gives Laughlin’s newest songs a bittersweet edge. “Initially, the album title was meant to bring back happy memories,” says Laughlin. “But it took on a double meaning that really fit the vibe of the songs. Happy versus sad and good versus evil. It perfectly summed up what I was writing about.”

—Matthew Fritch

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15 In Philly: The Bigger Lovers’ “How I Learned To Stop Worrying”

January 11, 2009
bigger_lovershorSpend 15 years in Philadelphia and you’ll figure out that things in MAGNET’s native city aren’t always sunny or bursting with brotherly love. But underneath the tough exterior are some pretty sweet sounds. In honor of our anniversary, we pay tribute to our hometown scene: Full disclosure: Two members of this now-defunct quartet currently write for MAGNET. Perhaps there’s some favoritism in citing the Bigger Lovers’ debut album as one of our city’s finest records of the last 15 years. Maybe we’re paying arrears for the unjust treatment of power-pop bands from every town, in every era. How I Learned To Stop Worrying appeared in 2001 like a red balloon, floated over the city by a tiny indie label (Black Dog) and lifting hopes that here, too, was a classic sighting: a basement-fi, reverb-heavy album that could pass for a thrift-store, ’60s-vinyl treasure. On Worrying, singer/guitarist Bret Tobias and Co. proved themselves scholars of Big Star and the Soft Boys, updating the usual influences with splashes of Superchunk-styled rockers and a pinch of the magic-dust melody found on Wilco’s Summerteeth. Balancing heady pop smarts with scrappy inspiration, on these 11 songs the students became the masters.

—Matthew Fritch

"Summer (Of Our First Hello)" from How I Learned To Stop Worrying: [audio:SummerOfOurFirstHello.mp3]
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15 In Philly: Spank Rock

January 10, 2009
spankrock360Spend 15 years in Philadelphia and you’ll figure out that things in MAGNET’s native city aren’t always sunny or bursting with brotherly love. But underneath the tough exterior are some pretty sweet sounds. In honor of our anniversary, we pay tribute to our hometown scene: “Rick Rubin,” the lead single from Spank Rock’s 2006 debut album YoYoYoYoYo, was only the first clue that the Philly-via-Baltimore outfit was interested in crossing boundaries. Like famed producer Rubin, Spank Rock combines raunchy, old-school rap with alternative rock. The perverse genius lies in the combination of the pulsing beats and tight rhythms courtesy of producer Armani XXXChange (a.k.a. Alex Epton) and pornographic lyrics by MC Naeem Juwan (“Hoochies want to get on the guest list/Eat a small dinner so you fit in your dresses … Big breast get treated like guest/I’m serving dick for breakfast”). "Rick Rubin" from YoYoYoYoYo: [audio:RickRubin.mp3] Spank Rock, which also includes Amanda Blank, Ronnie Darko (Ronald Rubarth) and Chris Rockswell (Chris Devlin), released follow-up EP Bangers & Cash in 2007, collaborating with club DJ Benny Blanco on a set that fittingly samples the 2 Live Crew and features tracks such as “Pu$$y” and “B-O-O-T-A-Y.” But Spank Rock routinely crosses party-rap borders to mix with the indie-rock crowd; Epton produced the Kills’ Midnight Boom and remixed a Björk track; Thom Yorke and Beck have proclaimed themselves as fans. A new Spank Rock album is due later in the year.

—Tiffany Yoon

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15 In Philly: Dr. Dog

January 9, 2009
dr-dog510Spend 15 years in Philadelphia and you’ll figure out that things in MAGNET’s native city aren’t always sunny or bursting with brotherly love. But underneath the tough exterior are some pretty sweet sounds. In honor of our anniversary, we pay tribute to our hometown scene: It’s tough to envision Dr. Dog recording an album in the middle of a Philadelphia winter. The sand-between-your-toes vocal harmonies, psychedelic sunshine, sudsy ’60s pop and string-popping live sets—even at the band’s darkest, it doesn’t make much sense. But when the West Philly-based five-piece took a break from touring to dive back into the studio in early 2008, the jams came anyway. "The Breeze" from Fate: [audio:TheBreeze.mp3] “It didn’t feel like we were making weird music for January,” says singer/guitarist Scott McMicken. “My notion of what our music is and where it fits in my head and life is different because I know where it all comes from. In some cases, the event of writing the song and the sound of its final recording are in stark contrast. I have a sense of its wintry qualities as well as its summery qualities. In the end, it’s a song.” Fate (Park The Van), Dr. Dog’s fifth full-length, isn’t only its most fully realized; it’s also the closest you can get to capturing the train-jumping rush of a live show on magnetic tape. In addition to furthering the gussied-up production of 2007’s We All Belong (a clear departure from the decidedly lo-fi crackle of the band’s earlier work), the goal was to bring all the stage-shaking and bleeding landscapes of touring into the studio. “For the first time, my expectation of what I wanted to hear coming out of the speakers had so much more to do with the things I’d seen and experienced onstage,” says McMicken. “[The recording of Fate] was a little overwhelming. I was feeling like I was onstage, that I had to turn the headphones up really loud, that I had to get my chest into it.” Although Dr. Dog hears its share of griping fans wishing the band members would invent new sounds rather than hug as tightly to the classic ones that they—and even their harshest critics—most certainly do, spontaneity and predictability seem to come together on Fate in oxymoronic harmony. Obvious influences (Beatles, Band, Beach Boys) still abound, but bluesy rock burners such as “The Ark” and bustling piano-pop numbers such as “The Rabbit, The Bat And Reindeer” are solid evidence of progress. “I think we got as close as we could get to blurring the lines between our feelings about music, making music and what it feels like to be alive,” says McMicken. “It made me a better person, and it made us a better band.”

—David Bevan

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15 In Philly: Pissed Jeans / Pearls & Brass

January 8, 2009
pissedjeans360bSpend 15 years in Philadelphia and you’ll figure out that things in MAGNET’s native city aren’t always sunny or bursting with brotherly love. But underneath the tough exterior are some pretty sweet sounds. In honor of our anniversary, we pay tribute to our hometown scene: Every band has a story. These stories, of course, intertwine with other bands’ stories to create a sort of mythology for anyone who cares to pay attention. Case in point: Pissed Jeans, from Allentown, Pa., and Pearls & Brass, from nearby Nazareth, used to run into each other at a DIY space in Allentown called Jeff The Pigeon, where no-name acts would play loud, eccentric shows for a sweaty mix of friends, fans and strangers. "Fantasy World" from Pissed Jeans' Hope For Men: [audio:FantasyWorld.mp3] But a funny thing happened on the way to obscurity: Pissed Jeans got signed by Sub Pop, and Pearls & Brass, which was chosen by Slint to play the All Tomorrow’s Parties festival in 2005, signed to Drag City. Suddenly, two of America’s most influential indie labels were mining Philadelphia’s northern suburbs. The result was a one-two punch of fuck-it-all swagger. In 2006 came Pearls & Brass’ The Indian Tower, a crushing heavy-blues opus (think Groundhogs) steeped in cheap weed and rustic whispers. The following year brought Pissed Jeans’ Hope For Men, a stomach-churning punk record (think Flipper) with songs about ice cream and jogging. Both albums are heavy, heady and unconcerned with sounding hip. (True to form, Pissed Jeans frontman Matt Korvette works as an insurance-claims adjuster, while guitarist Bradley Fry has a job in an accounts-receivable company.) In other words, they’re the work of young people reacting against their mundane surroundings. With Pearls & Brass currently on hiatus, P&B growler/guitarist Randy Huth, who bartends at Philly rock mainstay the Khyber, has joined Pissed Jeans on bass. Huth also issued a quiet, acoustic-based solo debut (under the name Randall Of Nazareth) in 2007.

—Doug Wallen

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15 In Philly: Psychedelphia

January 7, 2009
asteroid278Spend 15 years in Philadelphia and you’ll figure out that things in MAGNET’s native city aren’t always sunny or bursting with brotherly love. But underneath the tough exterior are some pretty sweet sounds. In honor of our anniversary, we pay tribute to our hometown scene: The Psychedelphia era lasted roughly from 1995—when the Azusa Plane and the Asteroid #4 (pictured) began issuing seven-inch singles and Bardo Pond released its first album—to 2001, the year the Strokes played a Philly residency that effectively marked the ascendancy of the New York-centered post-punk era. 1999’s Sounds From Psychedelphia, issued on Asteroid #4’s Lounge label, is the definitive document of the scene. The compilation includes tracks from the Photon Band, A#4, Lenola and other bands influenced, in varying proportions, by Syd Barrett-era Pink Floyd, 13th Floor Elevators and other Nuggets, as well as shoegazers My Bloody Valentine and Slowdive. In 1998, MAGNET’s fifth-anniversary concert reflected the local movement, featuring a lineup of A#4, the Azusa Plane, Bardo Pond, Lenola and psych-folk godfather Tom Rapp. The Asteroid #4’s "Tricks Of The Trade" from Sounds From Psychedelphia: [audio:TricksOfTheTrade.mp3] “Everyone propelled one another,” says Asteroid #4 singer/guitarist Scott Vitt. “Everyone was really watching one another. We may not have wanted to admit it at the time, acting like cool indie rockers, but I can look back on it now and pinpoint little moments when you could tell someone was listening to you and you were listening to them. And everybody was pushing the live show; everybody was experimenting with lights and things like that. There was a community on a city scale.” "It was nothing more than a bunch of really creative people taking drugs to make music to take drugs to," says Mazarin frontman Quentin Stoltzfus. "I never saw it as only a Philadelphia movement, but more as a global freeform experimental psychedelic awakening. All of this was coalescing at the first Terrastock (festival in Providence, R.I., in 1997)." Perhaps because no act broke out nationally or because of Philly’s “short attention span,” as Vitt puts it, the scene dissipated. The Azusa Plane’s Jason DiEmilio was lost to suicide in 2006, but many of the key players are still active. The Asteroid #4 recently issued Stones/shoegaze gem These Flowers Of Ours, and the Photon Band, the Three 4 Tens and Bardo Pond still record and perform. Current members of Espers, Man Man and Blood Feathers can be found on the Psychedelphia comp. Even with all the evidence of a musical movement, Psychedelphia’s participants tend to downplay the scene. “Most of us were just playing music for the fun of it, and to meet girls and get fucked up,” says Stoltzfus. “Though there weren’t many girls interested in experimental music and art films at the time, so we mostly just got fucked up.”

—Steve Klinge

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15 In Philly: Fishtown Folk

January 6, 2009
espers3501Spend 15 years in Philadelphia and you’ll figure out that things in MAGNET’s native city aren’t always sunny or bursting with brotherly love. But underneath the tough exterior are some pretty sweet sounds. In honor of our anniversary, we pay tribute to our hometown scene: Greg Weeks meanders around his kitchen like anyone else working at home; he checks his email while slowly sipping his coffee. But as Weeks descends the basement stairs, all traces of 21st-century life are left behind. His retrofitted recording space in the Tacony section of Philadelphia, Hexham Head studio, boasts an arsenal of decades-old analog equipment. It’s one of several hideouts for Weeks and his band of freak-folk gypsies, Espers (pictured). "Mansfield And Cyclops" from Espers' II: [audio:MansfieldAndCyclops.mp3] The seeds for Espers were planted in 2001, when Weeks met guitarist Brooke Sietinsons, who staged shows at her Northern Liberties loft for visiting avant-folk artists such as Marianne Nowottny, Stone Breath and Ben Chasny. Along with Weeks (who issued three solo records inspired by Leonard Cohen and Joni Mitchell), local acts such as the Baird Sisters, Fern Knight and fingerstyle guitarist Jack Rose soon became contributors to a flowering Philly folk scene. “I was into this book called Baby, Let Me Follow You Down,” says Weeks. “It’s an autobiographical tale of the Cambridge scene in the ’60s. When I saw the Baird Sisters play, I thought it was like something described right out of that book, like from one of the cafés.” Weeks and Sietinsons soon joined co-songwriter Meg Baird to form Espers, which has since expanded to include Swedish-born cellist Helena Espvall, bassist Chris Smith and percussionist Otto Hauser. Over the course of three albums, Espers’ roving compositions have coupled new-school acoustic and electric instrumentation, giving ’60s psychedelia a modern twist. The Espers clan and their folk allies around the world are constantly busy with solo and side projects; Drag City recently issued a collaboration between Espvall and Masaki Batoh of Japanese acid-folk outfit Ghost. “When I was in France (in 2001), these folks gave me a CD-R of Devendra Banhart’s that he was selling, of the first album,” says Weeks. “I was like, ‘What the fuck is this? This is so bizarre. But so good.’ When I got back home, I contacted him; he sent me a tape, and we were talking … Imagine if I could’ve had an imprint or talked somebody into putting out that record (at the time), you know?” In 2007, Weeks formed his own label, Language Of Stone, in partnership with Drag City (which handles manufacturing and distribution). Recent LOS releases range from the fuzzed-out ritual chants of Ex Reverie to the accessible singer/songwriter stylings of Noa Babayof, both of which were recorded by Weeks at Hexham Head. As a producer, Weeks subscribes to old-school techniques (Hexham Head’s MySpace page reads: “Sonic influences: sounds and styles pre ’77”), but as a label proprietor, he’s not above window-shopping in the digital marketplace. “I use MySpace a lot in locating bands that I’m interested in signing,” says Weeks. “It doesn’t bother me that people might have a preference for mp3s versus vinyl LPs. [Mp3s] are an easy way to distribute ideas, but ultimately, if people fell in love with something, I hope they would want to get the best version available so that their listening experience could be rich and fulfilling and deep.”

—John Hendrickson

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