Thought I’d capitalize on a break from the rain and a rather wild week (there was an in house rat battle, a flooded basement, and a prematurely balding puppy, among other subtle joys) to finally stop in to recap my fantastic trip down to Atlanta a few weeks back for Shaky Knees. It was a new discovery for me, a three day festival in the heart of downtown that had somehow flown under my radar, and based on this year’s outstanding lineup (as well as an “are you KIDDING me?!” review of the previous four after the fact) I don’t know how I slept on it this long.
This year’s big ticket bands were acts like Queens, Franz, the National, BRMC, Cake, and others, but it was that review of the previous years’ offerings that really drove home how much of a peach this thing has been. Just check out a sampling (which I promise is nowhere NEAR exhaustive) from those lineups: LCD Soundsystem, the Strokes, Wilco, Frightened Rabbit, the Kills, Eagles of Death Metal, Black Pistol Fire, Built to Spill, Death from Above, Interpol, Neutral Milk Hotel, Silversun Pickups, At the Drive-in, Lumineers, Band of Horses, Pixies (twice), Cage the Elephant (twice), Manchester Orchestra (twice), Parquet Courts (twice), the Orwells (twice), Foals (twice), as well as Spoon, Modest Mouse, the Replacements, Violent Femmes, the National (again), and Alabama Shakes, the last seven of which all played in the magnificent 2014 spread. That’s an insane collection of excellent bands and the festival was an absolute blast — the venue was really nice, smack in the middle of a park surrounded by people’s homes and apartments (we’re still not entirely sure where the people went — were they evacuated to FEMA trailers along the coast or did they hole up and get free entry to the shows?), the weather was great, cool and dry, both from rain and the fabled humidity that will undoubtedly appear in the coming months, and the crowds were all super chill, reasonably sized, and actually listening to the music instead of talking (!), which is a borderline miracle compared to other festivals. They also had a near-infinite supply of corn dogs — jalapeno AND regular! — which was a crucial (albeit unexpected) requirement for one of my travel companion’s enjoyment.
All told we caught roughly three dozen bands over the three days (with my companion eating a comparable number of corn dogs in that span) and while I may have missed some stellar offerings in years past, I won’t make the same mistake moving forward — this one jumps to the top of the list for future festival seasons (particularly with Lolla’s downward trend in recent years, culminating in this year’s disaster, which will have me skipping for the first time in over a decade…) Here’s some of the noteworthy discoveries made by Bobby and his merry band of sunbeams:
The prize of day one was Rolling Blackouts Coastal Fever, a batch of boys from Down Undaaaaah, which despite their rather clunky name throws down some really crisp, solid tunes. Singer/guitarist Fran Keaney leads the band’s triple guitar attack, which finds himself, Tom Russo, and Joe White hammering out bright, sprightly lines in conjunction with bassist Joe Russo and drummer Marcel Tussie. That three-part guitarmony gives the songs a Strokesy feel at times, with one or two banging out brisk, jittery chords while the other serves up bright, clean harmonies that dance along on top. Meanwhile Russo and Tussie keep the train on the tracks, driving the groove and getting the crowd moving. It was a solid introduction to what will hopefully be a strong full-length debut in the near-future — check out “Heard You’re Moving” for a taste in the meantime:
The hands down winner of day two (and probably the whole weekend, outside particularly strong sets from Queens and the National) was the mind/ear/headfuck Greta Van Fleet. The confusion comes not from their music — at least not how it sounds, which is a spot-on expansion/reinterpretation of classic era Led Zeppelin. The dissonance comes from who is making it — a quartet of teenagers from Frankenmuth, Michigan — and how good it is. And it’s real good — both in emulation and excellence. It’s honestly uncanny. Close your eyes and listen to the opening of “Safari Song” and when the vocals come in thirty seconds later tell it’s frontman (frontboy? He’s the old guy in the group and he’s 22 GD years old!) Josh Kiszka and not Robert Plant.
The effect is even more jarring in person — the band has perfected almost every play from the Zepp playbook. Frontman who howls and wails wearing paisley hippie-inspired garb? Check. Nimble fingered guitarist who leans back with his legs splayed as if caught mid-stride, casually ripping off guitar parts while shaking his head at the crowd? Check. Thundering drummer who shall be rewarded with a solo of his own during the set? Check. And yet somehow it doesn’t come across as derivative or flimsy imitation. The songs are instantly enjoyable rockers with some pretty solid rhythms and riffs, and the band puts on a hell of a performance, blowing the crowd’s faces off before the nearby restaurants started serving the blue hairs. The trick will be whether they can sustain it — similar to another band of brothers/relatives who effortlessly channeled earlier legends and made a name on incendiary live performances, Kings of Leon, it will be interesting to see if Greta keep riding the airwaves of Zepp or eventually morph into something else entirely (which in the case of Kings, while still mostly enjoyable, will never hold a candle to the fiery, furious excellence of their early albums). We’ll see what these Michiganders have in store for us — in the meantime, let’s enjoy the timewarp while we’ve got it. Check out “Highway Tune” and crank it up:
Last up is day three’s champion, a warm, comforting counterpoint to the raucous, rowdy winner of the previous day (and the night that followed), the Wild Reeds. Originally a three piece from LA sporting folk tunes with an equal number of harmonies, lead singers Kinsey Lee, Sharon Silva, and Mackenzie Howe added a bassist and drummer in recent years to showcase a fuller sound. It works nicely — the beautiful harmonies are still there (the three ladies’ voices go together incredibly well), but the additional instruments gives them (and the broader songs) some extra weight than before. Starting the day listening to these guys, their voices wafting lovingly out over the field in the glowing sun, was the warm embrace we needed while we laid there nursing hangovers. (I in particular needed it, after Corn Dog called me a see you next Tuesday multiple times while playing Mario Kart at the bar. #wordshurt) Really pretty stuff — check out “Only Songs” off their latest album and bliss out:
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We’ll close with a couple good reads (and one good watch) found over the past week, all looking back at some pretty solid albums from years gone by. First we’ll stay in the year mentioned in the Wild Reeds song with Pitchfork’s rundown of the classic Raekwon album Only Built 4 Cuban Linx. Released back in the golden era of Wu albums — this was number three in that fabled first five solo outings, behind Meth and Dirty and just before GZA and Ghost — and it reminds you just how good the guys were in the early days. Worth taking a trip back to the heyday.
Next comes Stereogum’s remembrance of the Smashing Pumpkins’ Adore, which turns 20 this year. This one often gets a bad rap — which as the article notes almost anything following the sprawling, monumental Mellon Collie would — but is one I always enjoyed. True, it marked a departure from some of the more majestic rock moments the band had become known for, instead introducing both electronic elements and a more oppressive melancholy than seen before, but there are some really pretty songs on here that have stood up well the past twenty years. (“Perfect,” “Tear,” “To Sheila,” etc.) The change transitions well to the band’s next album, Machina, which was a brighter pop counterpoint to Adore (and the last of the band’s great albums).
Last is the latest in Pitchfork’s great “Explore X (In 5 Minutes)” series, this time covering the Buzzcock’s classic Singles Going Steady album. This one’s a punk pop gem from the band I was lucky enough to finally see last summer at Riot Fest, which as the video shows is full of some great tunes. Give it a watch and see how many songs you already knew (without knowing who sang em).
That’s all for now — happy Fri-ye day, all! Off to start exploring the latest from Yeezy now!
— Sunshine