This Are Music

Les Savy Fav: After the Balls Drop (2008, US)

Les Savy Fav will always be one of my favorite live bands. Unfortunately, this live album isn’t really much better than Pretty Good. Recording is good quality, doesn’t sound real raw but there is plenty of crowd noise, including the singalong on “Who Rocks the Body.”

The last quarter of the album is covers: CCR’s “Hey Tonight,” “Debaser,” “Astro Zombies,” Nirvana’s “Sliver,” a couple others. 

I ended up just going back to the studio albums. Without the menace of Cat and the Cobra, without the balls-out energy of actually being there, I dunno if this record is worth it.

Stretchheads: Five Fingers, Four Thingers, A Thumb, A Facelift, and A New Identity (Scotland, 1988)

Apparently, this band is somewhat related to Dog Faced Hermans. They even shout out in a roundabout way on “Long Faced Germans.” No angular Ex-style art-punk here, though. It’s artsy, a bit, but mostly it’s noisy. More elastic than than spazzy, but it’s textural. Tempos aren’t fast but drums aren’t 4-on-the-floor and they make it seem faster.

The vocals are unhinged. Flip my shit out. This album goes well with caffeine and with beer. Or whiskey.

Consider it a precursor to art-grind bands like Arab on Radar, AIDS Wolf, and Lightning Bolt (pre-hippiness), and it gets even better.

Grab it and smash some shit up.