Worlds Apart

My review of the new ...And You Will Know Us By The Trail Of Dead album is here.
I really don't know what to make of these guys any more. Their last full length album Source Tags and Codes was phenomenal.

I've seen them play twice at Irving Plaza in New York. They completely blew me away the first time-- one of the best shows I've seen in the past 5 years. The second time they were like a bunch of Fat Elvises, trashed before they got on stage and so awful that I left after 3 songs.

I'm interviewing the Trail of Dead next week, so there'll be more info on these guys in the near future.

mclusky is dead

The best loud indie rock band in the world died last week. I wrote a kind of eulogy that (I hope) will be published at indie music Web zine Junkmedia (http://junkmedia.org). Front guy Andy Falkous gave me about 30 minutes for an interview. Indie rock godfather Steve Albini was a big Mclusky fan; he recorded their last two albums and gave me time for an interview also. This blog takes its name from a lyric in mclusky's "1956 and all that."