Queens of the Stone Age – “You Got a Killer Scene There, Man…”
Stereophonics – “Caravan Holiday”
Blue October – “James”
Cold War Kids – “Hang Me Up to Dry”
The Who – “Squeeze Box”
RAWK SAWNG OF THE DAY: Priestess – “Blood”
I’m thinking I’ll start a daily feature here on Daily Tuneage. I’m thinking I’ll call it Rawk Sawng of the Day. I’m thinking Priestess is the perfect band to kick it off.
Pull off shameless lyrics like “It all started because / she wants to drain his blood” and “Before you can rip into his veins / you’d better take the reins / ’cause he’s riding into the sun,” and there’s just no way to go wrong! Fawk! Rawk!
I’m a fan of “Blood” because it really sticks out on the Hello Master album. It has a more controlled tempo, layered texture and subdued mood than the fist-to-the-face pace of the rest of the album. Wonder if this is the direction the next Priestess album takes? Wouldn’t mind, but I wouldn’t mind more rock-knuckle sandwiches, either.
BEST BAND YOU’VE PROBABLY NEVER HEARD: Clearlake – “Good Clean Fun”
I’m thinking I’ll start another daily feature here on Daily Tuneage. I’m thinking I’ll call it Best Band You’ve Probably Never Heard. I’m thinking Clearlake is the perfect band to kick it off.
Just go to the Clearlake page and check out everything you can. If Blur was more organic and focused on honest songwriting instead of quirky gimmicks, they’d sound a lot like Clearlake – one of the few bands I can call “charming” without feeling like a giant vag.
This song is one of Clearlake’s best and its off the Amber album. As far as a new album goes, the Clearlake page brings this news: “Your correspondent has been reliably informed that the new stuff sounds fantastic and is not inclined to argue…” Glad to know!
Varnaline – “Indian Summer Takedown”
Ryan Adams – “Do Miss America”
George Harrison – “I’d Have You Anytime”
Bloc Party – “Waiting for the 7:18″
Little League Hero – “I-35″
Might be my favorite LLH song. Fitting, considering what’s in store this weekend. See below.
Albert Hammond Jr. – “Bright Young Thing”
He is Legend – “The Creature Walks”
Ben Folds Five – “Sports and Wine”
I always think of the two years I lived in Ben Folds’ native North Carolina when I hear his music. You know how there’s often that unique attachment to artists from your town or state? I’ve felt that with Folds ever since “Brick” blew up when I was in eighth grade at Alexander Graham Middle School in Charlotte, N.C. I’m a fan of plenty of artists from Carolina, but I don’t feel like a hometown fan to any of them but Folds. Strange. Almost as strange as “Sports and Wine.”
Spoon – “Everything Hits at Once”
Tom Petty & The Heartbreakers – “Billy the Kid”
Stars – “He Lied About Death”
Refused – “New Noise”
Breakdown:
18 songs
7 during commute to work
9 at work
2 during commute home
Tonight is the first night we say goodbye to Little League Hero, one of the best Oklahoma bands of their time.
About seven years back, I spent some late nights at Tony Romanello and Steve Gooch’s rent house in Tulsa stuffing bubble-wrapped manila envelopes with CDs by Little League Hero and the rest of their little record label’s stellar roster. Those nights wound up being the building blocks of why I feel the way I feel about music today. I never would’ve started my own label or managed bands if it wasn’t for Tony and Gooch and Engine Shed Records. Needless to say, I’d be a very different person today if they hadn’t had me over to stuff envelopes when I was just a kid working at a record store and writing sloppy album reviews for local rags.
(I can’t continue without giving props to Joe Cinocca and Yawn Records for hooking me up with the Engine Shed dudes in the first place. So, props to Joe!)
Stuffing those envelopes was a romantic adventure for me. It was noble and just and ridiculously exciting. I was giving people a chance to hear music I felt simply had to be heard. I was part of something bigger than myself.
I’ve seen how hundreds of labels work in the years since then. There’s no doubt Tony and Steve did it up right for their bands, even without any money, a staff or many connections in the industry. They cared and they loved the music they released. That’s rare.
Cool thing about them was they had some of the best ears around. Just check the Engine Shed catalog – it’s chock full of some of the best albums ever made in this state. Few albums have lived up to Engine Shed releases like Look! by The Pistol Arrows, Start by Little League Hero, Counting Stars by Tony Romanello and Shades of Grey by his band, TRB.
Engine Shed also put out a record by a band called Standing on Zero that never really did much outside Tulsa, but they did manage to write a few of my favorite indie pop songs to this day. The songwriter, Mike Taylor, was a regular customer at the record store where Gooch and I worked. When Standing on Zero’s bass player left after its Engine Shed release came out, I somehow wound up having a hand in helping my buddy Jarrod Major replace the departed bassist. Jarrod and I were 17 or 18 at the time, and these guys were all in their mid-20s. That was kind of a big deal for us, as ridiculous as it sounds.
And I never thought about it until now, but SOZ was one of the first bands I was involved with outside of writing about them. That’s pretty monumental considering I spent most of my college years trying to help artists of all types by doing more for them than just writing an honest review of their music. So, for what it’s worth, thanks SOZ.
Anyhow, back to this weekend’s farewell Little League gigs at The Speakeasy.
I’ve thought about Engine Shed at each of the dozens of Little League Hero shows I’ve seen since the label folded. I think they’re the only ones, aside from Tony, who are still playing as the same entity that was part of that special Engine Shed adventure.
I’ll clap for all the Engine Shed bands when LLH walks off the stage for the last time this weekend. All good things end sometime. I’m just glad I had a small hand – even a pinky – in it.
