QuarryWoman

A tribute to some noises

[quarry--woman]

[quarry--woman]

The Brian Jonestown Massacre

Laying in your childhood bedroom staring into the eyes of your ceiling regretting not taking acid on that rainy day with those wild hippies that hung out by the home economics building in high school. As “Dear Doctor” by The Stones is playing in the background, is exactly how The Brian Jonestown Massacre makes me feel.  

American Neo-Psychedelic rock band is a cross between black leather and sunny day dreams. Drug infused jams like “Spun” and “Mary, Please” will always be favorites of mine. Obviously, this group in heavily influenced by The Rolling Stones and even maybe some Spacemen 3. The big Psych-rock and shoegaze boom of the 90′s, BJM have taken the kaleidoscope days of the 60′s and made their own sound of dark, dreamy rock and roll. Starting out as a droney/shoegaze band with tunes like “Evergreen” and “She’s Gone” off of the 1995 album “Methodrone” really pushed them into the cult following flow of underground rockers. 

Seeing The Brian Jonestown Massacre at the Observatory in Anaheim last year was a magical experience. The lead singer Anton Newcombe is known for his druggy, bossy, apathetic rockstar attitude. Followed by an overpopulated stage of talented musicians. Every instrument counts to make this wild sound of black licorice flavored psych-rock. They played a verity of all songs from different albums. The venue was crowded and full of a mixed group of people from long time listening dads to some frat dudes with dreads looking for beer. The tambourine player Joel Gion did a solo show at the same spot a year later (3 weeks ago) His sound was obviously very similar to BJM because some of the members joined him. Joel’s killer side burns and bluesy jams were nice and relaxing for a weekday show.  

If you ever have the strong urge to throw on your black clothes, get on the floor and air guitar for an hour or so in the mirror then I suggest picking up any album from these dudes. Distorted, sassy, foggy, get your leather boots on type of rock and roll that never disappoints your inner Brian Jones.  

[quarry--woman]

Friendly Advice - Luna

Friendly Advice is a gem song off of Luna’s “Bewitched” album. Not only is this a sleepy Indie rock and roll band, but there have been SO many solid musicians that have gone in and out of it. After leaving Galaxie 500 lead singer Dean Wareham formed Luna in 1991. With Dean, a few members of the post punk group “The Feelies” tagged along and began to work together. Grasshopper (Mercury Rev/The Flaming Lips) and Sterling Morrison (The Velvet Underground) dabbled in on some of the songs on this album. In a later album “Penthouse” Laetitiab Sadier of Stereolab did a TIGHT French pop duet “Bonnie and Clyde” along side with Dean. 

 I took my weekly trip to Fingerprints Records in Long Beach, California and found some Luna CDs that were shoved way in the back of the L section. I found The Bewitched album I had been looking for for a while. A $3.99 find. The album art caught my eye with the astronaut on the front cover and on the back, a space age looking woman sitting in a Mid-Century bubble like chair, with complete sass written all over her face. As a space age enthusiast, I was sold.

 I am so lucky that I got to go to their first show in 10 years at The Echo in LA. Without a doubt they were one of the best bands I’ve seen live. They had so much energy. The crowd was a bunch of dads that looked as if they came crawling out of a 90’s British fashion magazine. After a few drinks, watching Sean Eden shred guitar, Lee on drums with his stoic gazes, Britta Phillips plucking away at her tangerine colored bass, and heart throb, Dean Wareham’s sleek, apathetic, Lou Reed like voice was a dream come true. I could have stayed there for another hour and listened to them serenade the easy going crowd. Before they started their encore song “Tiger Lilly Girl” they announced they were headed to Spain for their tour and would be back in LA for another show in October. I will for sure be seeing them again in the fall and am interested to see what’s next for them.