Dance Hall Crashers

Jan Jelinek, “Universal Band Silhouette”

Sounds like being slowly dipped in warm syrup.

Jean Grae & Quelle Chris, “Gold Purple Orange”

Goddamn, Jean Grae absolutely kills it on this track. Somehow, she always startles me when she comes in, and then my skull melts.

Dance Hall Crashers, “Beverly Kills”

A lot of the Dance Hall Crashers songs were really not super inspiring or anything. And really, the point of the band is just listen to the harmonies and vibe. Isn’t that pleasant?

Mary Wells, “My Guy”

It’s a trifle, but it’s a very sweet one.

Muddy Waters, “You’re Gonna Need My Help”

We like to goof around with me not knowing shit about jazz around here, but I know so, so much less about blues.

Pussy Galore, “Solo = Sex”

Those trash can drums, disorganized but confident vocals, and primitive grooves are all hallmarks of Pussy Galore that Jon Spencer would carry forward and refine in JSBX, but even the neolithic version is plenty of fun.

Dance Hall Crashers, “All Mine”

Oops! All harmonies!

Holy Fuck, “The Pulse”

Holy Fuck play a sort of instrumental rock that, in its use of primitive electronics and hypnotic grooves, has more than a little in common with krautrock. It’s really delightful stuff, a recognition that some blips and a bitchin’ beat will take you a long ways.

Idles, “Mother”

I think the last couple times Idles has come up, I’ve mostly waxed on about how punk this record is. And, you know - it really is. There’s an immediacy and urgency to this that really calls back to the spirit of punk. This is one of those albums that just gets better the more you listen to it.

Frank Black and the Catholics, “Bullet”

Frank Black went through a couple phases between v1 of the Pixies and v2 of the Pixies. After recording under just his own name, he apparently decided that his band rated a mention, and began recording as Frank Black and the Catholics. To my ears, this was the best phase of his post-Pixies career, and this record might be my favorite of the lot. There’s definitely plenty of the Frank Black madness here.

Rocket From the Crypt, “Shy Boy”

We had a track from this album just a couple days ago, and I guess my opinion hasn’t changed in those two days. Still a good record, still not totally put together. This riff is a classic RFTC riff, though.

Firewater, “Another Perfect Catastrophe”

Nice of shuffle to give us a saxophone after hitting us with a sax-less RFTC track. This is a good example of their “wedding band gone wrong” aesthetic right here.

Primitive Man, “Loathe”

Primitive Man is very aptly named, a knuckle-dragging sludge/doom act from Denver, putting out punishing, bleak records that are unsubtle in the extreme. This little ditty comes from Home Is Where The Hatred Is, an EP from 2015 that is just basically sunless and crushing like this.

Thou, “Feral Faun”

Thou is actually one of the bands I think of as being closest to Primitive Man, so nice pull, shuffle. I suppose there’s more nuance to Thou than Primitive Man at times, as you can hear in the intro to this song. But, overall, it’s the same kind of bleak approach to things. There’s more melody here, I suppose, if you squint hard enough.

Flying Lotus, “Eyes Above”

You’re Dead!, the incredible 2014 album by Flying Lotus, is a shimmering mass of fantastic ideas, with constant shifting across tracks, well-chosen guest artists, and lots of surprises across the length of the album. However, it’s one of those records that really works best as an album, and not as isolated cuts, as you miss the overall context of each song if you just listen to a piece.

Arsonists, “Session”

My favorite song on As The World Burns, powered by that savage bass line. I’m basically a sucker for any upright bass. And, of course, it’s fun to hear them trading verses back and forth.

Prefuse 73, “Last Night”

One of the less glitchy or fractured tracks on Vocal Studies + Uprock Narratives, that also makes it one of my least favorite songs on the record.

Dance Hall Crashers, “Street Sweeper”

An old song from Dance Hall Crashers, this was when their style could best be described as “straightforward” (or “boring”, if you’re not inclined to be nice). As they would go on, they would get more interesting, with songs that were less reliant on paint-by-numbers third-wave ska.

OK, let’s see if we can do better than that low energy thing yesterday. Whatcha got, shuffle?

Dawnbringer, “Nobody There”

Pure heavy metal revivalism, Dawnbringer has decided to see if they can just play this stuff totally straight and manage to not sound totally cheesy. Do they pull it off? Well…I don’t know. It’s reasonably well done, I guess, but by and large I’d pretty much rather just listen to Sabbath. Decent for an occasional change of pace.

As certain part of me wonders what I’m doing with these descriptions. Should I ramble about whatever? Talk about the artists? Historical context? Recommendations? I have no idea. Well, here’s some more dancing about architecture.

We just dodged a super long rap skit, by the way.

R.L. Burnside, “Alice Mae”

Longtime blues guitarist Burnside didn’t really start getting much attention until the early 90s, when his albums first started appearing on Fat Possum Records, despite playing since the 60s. I first noticed him when he worked with Jon Spencer for A Ass Pocket O’ Whiskey, which is where this track comes from. If you like Jon Spencer, then this is an easy buy.