popwreckoning updates

Under Cover – Pop/Punk Edition
UUVVWWZ – UUVVWWZ
The Hold Steady @ Verizon Wireless Amphitheater, Maryland Heights MO

Posted: 24 Jun 2009 02:03 PM PDT

Welcome back, readers. For months now I’ve been itching to do an Under Cover: Pop/Punk Cover edition to pay homage to two genres that go together like peanut butter and chocolate. Pop punk bands love putting out covers, performing them live, or lending them to cover collections and albums. And they leave no genre unchecked, choosing everyone ranging from the likes of Don Henley and Erasure to The Spiral Staircase and Billy Idol to Britney Spears and Joy Division.

Speaking of one of my favorite post punk bands, Joy Division’s “Love Will Tear Us Apart” is a classic example of a fantastic song that has been covered by everyone, from U2 to Arcade Fire. But it was an unlikely Fall Out Boy cover (gasp) that actually caught my attention. Enjoy this teaser post and check back next week for a fully-fleshed out Pop/Punk Edition. And remember kids: if it’s not [pop] punk, it’s just junk!
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.Joy Division – “Love Will Tear Us Apart” (original 1980)
“Love, love will tear us apart.. again.” Perhaps a snarky response to the Captain & Tennille’s “Love Will Keep Us Together”, or would that be a stretch and I’m just retarded today? Joy Division? More like Joy Divisiveness. No one in the history of British post-punk could sing about discord better than the late great Ian Curtis…and no one could have written a more honest take about the darker side of love. The strummy guitar coupled with that melancholy, spiraling riff in the first few seconds of this song excite me each time I hear this song. Then there’s this moody synth that manages to uplift and depress you simultaneously, while it complements his matter-of-fact, downtrodden baritone vocals. I don’t even know if I actually want to save this relationship since Joy Division makes the dissolution sound so damn good.

.Fall Out Boy cover (2003)
So I never actually thought I’d feature Fall Out Boy in any capacity for an Under Cover feature, but sometimes they do the unthinkable… put out something decent. Plus, lead singer Patrick Stump adds a certain vocal intensity to “Love Will Tear Us Apart” that made it all the more difficult to bash this cover before [or after] hearing it. This interpretation is your basic, no-frills acoustic version with guitar and energetic drums but it’s the vocal delivery that stands out most. He sings louder, with more clarity, and attempts to be emotive, ‘attempt’ being the operative word. You can’t feign desperation, Stump. In fact, he does not capture the same desolation as Ian Curtis in the original, but this cover still sounds good and that still merits some e-props. I mostly enjoy how Fall Out Boy resuscitated the original by taking things up a notch in this sped-up, livelier version that is incredibly listenable. Now if they could only work on making their original material more listenable…
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See you next week for more Pop/Punk cover action. Should you have any recommendations or requests, feel free to email them to mona@popwreckoning.com… who knows, I just may feature your selection!

April 24, 2009 — Silversun Pickups – Swoon (0)
January 4, 2009 — Under Cover: New Order (for a New Year) (1)
August 19, 2008 — Dance Across the Country Tour: The Morning Light, Steel Train, The Cab, The Hush Sound (0)
June 17, 2009 — Under Cover – Bob Marley (0)
June 17, 2009 — Bonnaroo Update Day 2: Friday, June 12 (0)
June 11, 2009 — Under Cover – Annie Lennox (1)
June 2, 2009 — Jeff Buckley – Grace Around the World (0)
June 1, 2009 — Kat Edmonson @ World Cafe Live, Philadelphia (0)
May 28, 2009 — Under Cover – The T-Pain Experience (0)
May 21, 2009 — Canadian Invasion @ North Star Bar, Philadelphia (1)

UUVVWWZ – UUVVWWZ

Posted: 24 Jun 2009 12:55 PM PDT

There's not much about this band that isn't a giant version of WTF?! But before we determine that such a statement can only bring about negative connotations, realize that a lot of WTF?! objects can sell for lots and lots of money and be declared as "revolutionary" and "artistic" and "rare genius." I'm silently giggling to myself but perhaps after a few tracks off of the self titled collaboration of "genius," you'll appreciate just how indie these cats know how to sound.

Honestly, this review would go nowhere without the explanation of their name: UUVVWWZ. Don't be all normal and pronounce it out. Direct from an adorable illustration on both their blog and their Myspace, you're supposed to say "double you, double vee, double double you, zee." Or shorten it and call it the double unit, but not simply "double you" because they worry that's too lonely. They are worry warts, the illustration tells you. Mmmkay.

Moving on, the album starts out with the calm, odd chanting of Teal Gardner, but if you manage to hold on for a minute more, you'll be rewarded with some sultry drum beats and growling distortion. Without such atmospheric repetition you'd have nothing to get stuck in your head ("I like the blackberries/cause they cannot entangle me") as you pass the fruit section of the grocery store, so accept it. For the rest of the album, don't be alarmed when the acceptance could possibly turn to a slight adoration and suddenly, maybe it's too much for you, and then you find out you just need it. The love-hate relationship with her shrilling could come at fever pitch on "Jap Dad", where instruments go chaotic and she keeps right up. It's also at that point when a younger, crazier Karen O seems channeled. Remember the frenzy of Fever To Tell? Haunting shrills and leaps and bounds, all out of a tiny little stage queen? You've got that here—or at least the potential of it. When they start getting a bit experimental – a bit "break the mold" – songs like "Trapezus" happen, and it might take an altered mind to understand anything that happens there. There are no rules. It's as if they picked up instruments and said, "okay, everyone just follow everyone—now go!"

Luckily, the smooth and seductive "The Sun" could be the saving grace of this entire endeavor, because when a song sets a mood for the listener, you've got yourself a winner. The track begins with a taunting much like the hypnotic, epic Salma Hayek scene in From Dusk Till Dawn, and each note seems to tiptoe some elliptical dance. When the band finally lets it all go, a third into the song, you're already in love with the southern influence and lingering swoon to even care that Gardner's voice is in hyper-drive again.

Chords of the Deftones, hints of Bjork, and a more modern link to Deerhoof are all you need to know in order to decipher that this band is something only the artsy-est of art kids could discover. My prediction is that Saddle Creek made a good move (although seriously unpredicted) in taking them under their financially supported wing. Could this rugged power zap! bam! boom! movement be the new sound of '10? Maybe, as long as the show can hold up to the intensity of rare genius. Oops. I said it.

UUVVWWZ – “Shark Suit”

UUVVWWZ will be released by Saddle Creek Records on July 7, 2009.

Tracklisting:
01. Berry Can
02. Shark Suit
03. Jap Dad
04. Neolaño
05. Castle
06. Green Starred Sleeve
07. Trapezeus
08. The Sun
09. Hum Jam

UUVVWWZ: website | myspace

Written by: Heather Lumb

October 7, 2008 — New Music Tuesday! (0)
June 22, 2009 — MP3 Minute: Brendan Benson “Feel Like Taking You Home” (0)
June 19, 2009 — MP3 Minute: Shill “Pick A Fight” and “Play” (0)
June 17, 2009 — MP3 Minute: Living Things “Oxygen” (0)
June 17, 2009 — Bonnaroo Update Day 2: Friday, June 12 (0)
June 15, 2009 — Remix Monday: Royksopp “Happy Up Here” (0)
June 4, 2009 — Yeah Yeah Yeahs @ Beaumont Club, KCMO (0)
June 4, 2009 — MP3 Minute: Suckers’ “It Gets Your Body Movin’” (0)
June 4, 2009 — Regina Spektor on “Good Morning America” and Letterman in support of “far” (0)
May 11, 2009 — Brian Williams and Deer Tick (0)

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The Hold Steady @ Verizon Wireless Amphitheater, Maryland Heights MO

Posted: 24 Jun 2009 08:16 AM PDT

It's not every day that you get to photograph and write a review of one of your favorite bands in music today. With that in mind, let me throw objectivity out the window as I gush over The Hold Steady and their rather amazing live show. When this tour was announced to open for Dave Matthews Band, I was a little worried how the best bar band in the world would translate to playing huge amphitheaters.

Luckily, my fears were quickly put to rest at the start of their sweaty 45-minute set as Craig Finn and the boys ripped through songs mostly comprised of Boys and Girls in America and Stay Positive. My personal highlight of the set was "Hot Soft Light" as I got to be front and center to shoot for Tad Kubler's display of rather impressive guitar skills as he let the solos fly. Tad, himself, is a rather impressive photographer.

Seeing them not headline a show was bittersweet, having seen their show at Washington University’s Gargoyle Club back in April, but I'm glad a huge audience got to experience what I have come to enjoy for the better part of three years now. I look forward to seeing their set as I journey to Rothbury in a few weeks and photograph them again.

Tour Dates:
Jul 02 – The Ritz Ybor City / Tampa, FL
Jul 05 – Rothbury Music Festival / Rothbury, MI
Jul07 – El Rey Theatre / Los Angeles, CA (with special guest El Bronx)
Jul 10 – Majestic Theatre / Madison, WI
Jul 11 – Basilica Block Party / Minneapolis, MN
Jul 24 – Starland Ballroom / Sayreville, NJ
Jul 25 – Wiggins Park – XPNonential Music Festival (Pete Yorn, They Might Be Giants)