November 21, 2008

Too country for rock and too blues for country, singer-songwriter Lucinda Williams toiled for nearly two decades before finding acclaim in 1994 with a Grammy for songwriting – only to have commercial success continue to elude her.  1998 saw an end to all that with the release of Car Wheels On A Gravel Road, which finally won the mainstream market’s appreciation of her as an artist and performer in her own right.  Though undoubtedly not predetermined, Car Wheels was in effect a perfectly timed coup in a zeitgeist which was clamoring for all things alt.country.  And while the crossover airplay and sales would eventually wane, that album ensured if nothing else, Williams’ fan base would permanently include the NPR set going forward.

Touring in support of her latest release, Little Honey, Williams performed Saturday night at the Wiltern Theatre in Los Angeles.  Effectively an alternative country doyenne at this point, Williams’ trademark is a drawl two packs deep and full of regret, yet Little Honey contains what is arguably some of her most spirited and light-hearted work to date.  And though her set leaned heavily on selections from that album (including “Well Well Well,” “Honey Bee,” Tears Of Joy,” “Real Love” and “Little Rock Star” – the latter two of which featured Matthew Sweet and Susana Hoffs onstage supplying backing vocals), she offered highlights from her entire catalogue, including a smoldering take on “Essence” from her 2001 album of the same name.

An enthusiastic, hootin’-and-hollerin’ crowd made certain Williams knew she was among friends, and she replied in kind with performances that didn’t leave them wanting.  But after repeatedly topping herself with stops at “Can’t Let Go,” “Changed The Locks,” “Real Live Bleeding Fingers And Broken Guitar Strings” and a show-stopping “Unsuffer Me,” she unfortunately seemed to run out of steam.  The show decelerated to the close of the main set and through the bulk of the encore, which contained a somewhat limp pass at Buffalo Springfield’s “Stop, Hey What’s That Sound.”  A dedication to President-elect Barack Obama of a cover of AC/DC’s “It’s A Long Way To The Top (If You Wanna Rock ‘n’ Roll)” was somewhat redeeming – if only because that’s a bit of advice Williams, who’s hewn a career from a long road of her own, is definitely qualified to give.

Tags: ac/dc, airplay, alt-country, barack obama, Car Wheels On A Gravel Road, changed the locks, commercial success, country singer songwriter, crossover, decades, Essence, fan base, grammy, honey bee, it's a long way to the top (if you wanna rock 'n' roll, Little Honey, little rock star, live review, Los Angeles, Lucinda Williams, mainstream market, matthew sweet, musiczeitgeist.com, NPR, real live bleeding fingers and broken guitar strings, real love, songwriting, stop hey what's that sound, susanna hoffs, tears of joy, unsuffer me, well well well, wiltern theatre, Zeitgeist

Say what you will about indie-pop trumping the rock establishment, but you’re not likely to see that anytime soon on a Monday night at Spaceland. It remains to be seen if The Smashing Pumpkins v2.0 will achieve any of the relevance of their predecessor, but in the meantime, they’re making it safe for kids everywhere taking music lessons.

Tags: American Idol, Billy Corgan, creation story, D'Arcy Wretzky, Ginger Reyes, Gish, Guitar Hero, Guitar Hero: World Tour, Harmonix, James Iha, Jazz Odyssey, Jeff Schroeder, Jimmy Chamberin, Kings of Leon, live review, Los Angeles, Mellon Collie And The Infinite Sadness, Music Zeitgeist, phenomenon, Siamese Dream, Smashing Pumpkins, Smashing Pumpkins live, Spaceland, the Lot, The White Stripes, Theremin, Truffle Jones, U2, Zeitgeist

Dear Mr./Ms. band named Crocodile:

You don’t know me, and I don’t know you – I am not a stalker, but I am really a fan of your music. It reminds me of when I was a teenager and it was the beginning of the 90’s and I listened to the Vaselines (who are going to play their first-ever US show this year) and Spin Magazine actually mattered because it was subversive and daring in its taste, and I liked Stereolab and early Ween, and I liked getting high and I played around with my Korg Analogue sequencer and we had BBQ’s and sometimes I would stay up all night thinking about things like who I would wanted to hook up with, what God might be and where all of this was going.

I had two massive wooden speakers with huge 20″ cones on either side of my bed and I would fall asleep to Ministry, The Dark Side of the Moon or Talk Talk’s Laughing Stock and sometimes I would listen to mix-tapes someone at the rival high-school made for me and left in my locker anonymously and the sound of the hiss shutting off meant I could finally turn off my mind and go to sleep.

Thank you for your new record “The Great Depression” – it was really fun to listen to, and for a second I felt like it was then again, and I could go play with the willow tree at my grandparent’s yard and your CD sounds more crystal clear than those mix-tapes sounded and the music is good. I know you are “just” an indie, but I hope that lots of people get to hear your music, because you rock in a really good way.

(Music Zeitgeist) Who?
We are Crocodile from Oklahoma City, OK.

What?
We are a three-piece band that makes a mean pop cocktail and we’re not afraid to sing songs about unicorns and sex. But we don’t really. Synthcore, essentially – you dig? There are approximately 200 plastic & wooden “ivory” keys on our stage. We play them all.

Why?
Because Ace Frehley isn’t looking so hot these days and someone’s gotta carry that torch to the finish line.

Until when?
Until we’re 30. That’s the pact we’ve made.

But we’ve also been known to not acknowledge the concept of time. We’re often late to every show we play. Sometimes we show up before we’ve even been booked. So who knows really…

And then?
We’ll become responsible adults and ride off into the sunset on our donkeys.

Instrumentation
Raechel Brown – vocals, synths, guitars, theremin
Derek Brown – vocals, synths, guitars
Dusty Nelson – drums

Discography
The Great Depression – EP (2008), self released

myspace.com/crocodilemusic

Listen to Crocodile’s track “August Is Over” at Musiczeitgeist.com

Tags: analogue, Crocodile, dark side of the moon, great depression, laughing stock, Music Zeitgeist, new indie albums, Oklahoma City, oklahoma city ok, record reviews, sequencer, Spin magazine, stalker, Stereolab, synthcore, Talk Talk, teenage, The Vaselines, unicorns, ween, Zeitgeist