Sam's Show Recap: 2/25/17

So I've had the flu all week and in the process of continuing to be poor as fuck I realized I'd only really get to have one show for probably the next 2 maybe 3 weeks and boy oh fucking boy did I make a good show pick.

Momma's Boy just had their EP release show at the Tank Room with Rachel Mallin and the Wild Type and Scruffy and the Janitors acting as the supporting bands and it was like Manor Fest all over again one great big pile of AH THE FUCK YEAH people so let's not bullshit a whole lot and with a series of bad photos let's get to telling you how fucking bad ass this show was.

Rachel Mallin and company

So yeah I didn't get a pic of their set because....I really don't know why I just kind of didn't and I've written about them and Momma's Boy a lot on here so you know that I've been following these wonderful acts around for quite a while and tonight was a pretty good example as to why they're a consistently tight act that performs a very well structured set of excellently crafted songs with a lot of their soon to be released tunes seriously taking shape in the form of some heavier more rock oriented tracks that show a lot of girth and that's fucking dope as hell and I for one can't wait for them to finally put out their tune I Pick Winners because it seriously has the potential to be even bigger than White Girls.

(With Permission Video of The exceptional Razorback courtesy of Kansas City's best interviewer and radio media advisory bestliness himself Mr. McClain Johnson)

In a couple of words this band delivered tonight as they always do and even a sick Rachel still delivered on the vocal front very well and they played a very jammy kind of heavier rendition of Razorback for the first time since their EP release show and my heart literally skipped a beat so yeah they currently have a level of love I haven't felt in a minute.

Scruffy and the Janitors

Straight outta St. Joe is a group of raccous rockers that bring the pure unadulterated blues tinged kind of 70's inspired doomy rock and roll played at 11, with rifts that will make you bang your head and lyrics that are admittedly repetitive but destined to get stuck in your head for months on end you have a band that's almost legendary in a sense of the Tank room felt almost too sanitary for their kind of bad assery and this show like many of theirs I've had the pleasure of seeing was just dripping in awesome and a broken bass string that I may or may not have jinxed into happening I for one am taking no claims as to it happening it's just merely a coincidence I'm just saying.

Top to bottom they brought the fucking thunder and once Dirtleg stepped in bodies where bashing about and beer was getting spilled and everyone was reminded don't fuck with Scruffy. They have been working on an album for the past 2+ years and should be getting something released at some point this year so I definitely would advise you stay on the lookout because that album will kick some serious fucking ass I guarantee that.

Momma's Boy

If you look back all of a few post I wrote about how fucking phenomenal a set these guy's did at a midcoast takeover showcase well in a nut shell this set was that good and then about another twenty two and a quarter times more awesome this band filled out the Tank room and gave everyone there about a hundred dollars worth of excellent for 8 and since that's all that needs to be said in terms of how fucking phenomenally good their show was technical difficulties and all let's talk about Liquid Courage for a bit because you should just buy it like RIGHT THE FUCK NOW!

From the fast paced swirling psychedelics of Make Believe, the mildly depressing Sleepin', the utter gem of a track that is Sweet Girl, and of course the bad ass singles Cool Heat and Be Good Boy I've literally watched all of these tracks grow and this EP is the amalgamation of a year of being dedicated to this band and being rewarded in the best way possible what we have here is 6 songs of straight fire that live and on this album are just fucking awesome I couldn't of thrown my money at these guy's fast enough and those reading this need to run out and see these guy's live and download the fuck out of this album because this fucking show and EP are just validation of why I've dedicated so much blog space to these handsome fucking devils.

I've done good this year and seen some mind blowingly good shows and it's only FUCKING FEBRUARY GOD FUCKING DAMN IT PEOPLE!

Sam's Show Recap 2/10/17

So before I get into details HOLY FUCKING SHIT!

Yeah so some context I skipped 96.5 the buzz's yearly Valentines day show because for lack of a better term I couldn't fucking do it there's a variety of reasons behind why we avoid certain situations and in this case I still can't stand certain things and as solid as the line up was none of it was worth dealing with a fair amount of people that for lack of a better word were going to kill my buzz, but with that out of the way HOLY FUCKING SHIT do I not regret that decision one fucking bit because yeah my fucking god this show.

I went to the Record bar yet again for a showcasing of local talent thrown by local label The Record Machine where they had local Kansas City acts Jaenki, Westside Royal, Pink Royal, and Westerners all play and yeah they all killed it so if the descriptions are short it's because the performances I was treated to this night were so good that I often found myself literally at a loss for words but let's try and piece together something for you people.

Westside Royal

Hold on I have to get this out of my system but....WESTSIIIIIIIIIDE! 

OK now that I've gotten the calling card out of my system this band is just damn great in every fucking way they brought the right energy that should be brought when opening a show and they continue to prove just how fucking great a group they really are because Michael Schley is a hell of a front man with a solid fucking voice and a way of carrying himself on stage that keeps your eyes on him, and this band rocked through a set of great tracks all full of bombast and energy that perfectly matches if not exceeds the album cuts on top of doing this excellent mix of David Bowie's, "Let's Dance," into their exceptional single, “Not the Same,” but the song that really stuck with me is a tune they are in the midst of recording known as, “Better,” which you can see in a video below this post from another show at the same venue because I didn't record video because I was too busy being blown away by it's 80's new wave grooves, kind of funk like bass work, and bombastic drum track this song is FUCKING AWESOME!

I very much advise you go out and download their EP So Wrong, So Well and see this band because they got a special something to be a real thing.

Westerners

This band was a surprise for me because I'd never heard them nor did I know what to expect and in all honesty they had a bit of a My Morning Jacket feel in their solid musicianship and jam vibes that I totally found myself really digging and I'd say they did a damn good job tonight they were a very pleasant surprise in every way and they provided an energy that had the crowd a rocking all through out their bad ass set.

Pink Royal

After about a 6 month hiatus to kind of regroup after their lead singer left for China for specific career reasons PINK ROYAL ARE BACK BABY with a fucking bad ass keytar to boot and tonight was a very welcoming return to form.

(Seriously look how fucking bad ass that thing looks)

Their playing was tight, the vocals quite great, the new songs just as great as the old but with a more rock oriented vibe and a bit more girth, and an energy that had the whole building a dancing and singing along this band just brought it and didn't let go and they gave me a show that proved why I gave a damn about this band to begin with I'm pretty pumped for them to put out some new music and do more touring so everyone else can enjoy one hell of a fucking show.

Jaenki

So....it's....I.....ok I'm just going to say it THIS FUCKING BAND HOLY FUCKING SHIT BATMAN I seriously was left flabbergasted after their set because they just straight up felt like they were on a whole other level of existence just an utterly captivating and mind blowing performance from a group that sound so much bigger than the sum of it's parts and seeing Miracle Maze live was just fucking phenomenal.

Being that every member of this act is just dripping with talent and all 3 vocalist know how to carry themselves and perform with a level of excellence that's almost unmatched you had a band that were so full, textured, and rich sounding that they gave me a show that sounded and felt like it belonged in a fucking stadium they just are too good for their own good and after seeing them perform and even now a day later for real I'm so flabbergasted trying to come up with the right words all I can really say is they're something special and they put on a show that was so good that words can't begin to describe why you should pay attention if you can see them don't question just do it and make sure to bring a bag to pick up the chunks of your mind that'll be BLOWN THE FUCK AWAY.

SO yeah this show was fucking great.

7 years 5 great tracks

So I haven't written about a group of songs in quite some time and there's a very special anniversary that's come today and that would be mine, yes people today Sam's Song of the Day is officially 7 years old and with that in mind I'm a do one of my favorite things a Top 5 list but rather than making a best of like I did a few years ago I'm instead going to highlight 5 tracks that you guy's should all be listening to RIGHT THE FUCK NOW!!!! maybe all at the same time if you're fancy but yeah I've done plenty of reminiscing on here and figure I'd take this year to be in the here and now so in no particular order here's 5 songs that I've on and off been rocking out to over the past few weeks starting with the newest release...

1. Be Good Boy-Momma's Boy

AH THE FUCK YEAH! Kansas City's best group of rockers are gearing up to release the much anticipated and surely spectacular Liquid Courage EP this month and on February 3rd they debuted the first single from the upcoming 6 track EP in the form of this spectacular surf rock cut, “Be Good Boy,” which is a racious little number with an infectiously catchy guitar groove, some stellar bass work, and an opening line I get stuck in my head ALL THE TIME! Seriously before this was recorded I'd get the line, “I See You Smoking a Cigarette,” stuck in my head all the god damn time partly because I'd heard this so many times when I've gone to see them play and because of my favorite story involving this band.

It was at the second show I saw them which was a house show called Manor Fest which they threw in their house and they were closing out the first of a two night extravaganza and during their set the guitarist and vocalist on this particular track Mr. Shaun Crowley had tried to use another guitar for a track and during the whole song the guitar wasn't working and as the song went on he got more and more frustrated before eventually saying fuck it and plugging back in his regular guitar with just enough time to finish out the song and to light a cigarette before then starting in on this very track singing that line with a cigarette in his mouth and I'm not going to lie that was probably the most bad ass fucking thing I'd ever seen somebody performing a show do which is kind of silly yes but you know what FUCK IT if you were there and you saw that you'd think, “wow that guy's a cool mother fucker,” and you'd be damn right because that was Rock and Roll as fuck and this song is about that bad ass so yeah you should go to bandcamp and download the fuck out of this and if you're cool you can throw down a dollar or nothing at all I'm not here to judge just to tell you to download and play this awesome track repeatedly.

Also if you're really fucking awesome you can go see these bad ass mother fuckers play this song live for their release shows of Liquid Courage on February 23rd at the Replay Lounge in Lawrence Kansas or on February 25th at the Tank Room here in KCMO where you can get a copy of this album on CD or Cassette if that's your jive but either way you owe it to yourself to see this fucking band because yeah they are fucking AWESOME!

2. The One Who Got away-Shadow Rabbits

ON the topic of bad ass Kansas City acts that I've seen and covered here on Sam's Song of the Day we have the very groovy Shadow Rabbits with a very kind of dreamy-indie rock song with very 60's psychedelic rock tones in the form of, “The One Who Got Away,” which I've had on a pretty steady repeat since getting to see them play it live and I just have to say GOD DAMN is this song good.

The vocals are just on point with a level of confidence that is just damn impressive, the production is retro but still clean, and the part near the end where she echo's the line, “You're the one who got away,” that just get stuck in my head and give the listener something to REALLY sing along to with a shit load of passion similar to it's lyrical themes that are pretty much explained in the title and admittedly are very minimal and possibly could stand to have a verse just kind of cut out for the sake of making it not drag on awkwardly but hey when you're harking back to a time of 3 minute rock tunes that's acceptable and of course that outro is just damn great.

This band is super dope people and I this track is just one of many they have available that are well worth your time to go check out.

3. To The Fire-DREAMERS

Now for me to talk about a band that I've covered for quite a while on here and who isn't from Kansas City and a band that I'll be seeing live again here next month with one of MANY exceptional cuts from their debut album, “This Album Does Not Exist,” in the form of this just fucking jaw droppingly great track, “To the Fire,” which is a very kind of 80's New Wave dreamy cut with a chorus that's just fucking pure unadulterated FIRE like for real I could just hear those echoing cries of, “Into the fire,” on endless repeat people because I just love the effects that they use on the vocals and the steady pace of this tracks instrumentals on top of those kind of dragged out echoed vocals and the run time of just 2 minutes and 50 seconds is fucking perfect because it makes the song stay around for just long enough to make you down right crave it.

For real it's super fast pace along with awesome structure and addictively catchy echoing woo's will leave you just saying, “To the Fire,” over and over as you hit repeat to unsuccessfully try to get this awesome piece of music out of your head.

I can't wait to get to talk to these guy's again so I can tell them how great they made last year with their support of Sam's Song of the Day over their Twitter and little fun fact they were actually the first band to ever comment on one of my song of the Day post whenever I wrote about how fucking bad ass a song Wolves is and it's something I'll probably always be a little bit proud of and one of many reasons why I'm so god damn fond of this band.

4.  Can You Deal-Bleached

Yet another newer band I love and have gotten the absolute pleasure of not only seeing twice but getting to talk to them personally Bleached recently announced that they're getting ready to put out a new EP and Zine called Can You Deal which you can read about on their various social media accounts and their website and they're also gearing up to tour with The Dammed for their 40th anniversary tour which is fucking wicked as hell but with all that in mind let's talk about this fucking bad ass new single of theirs.

Can You Deal is a very kind of 90's tinged grungy rock and roll track very reminiscent of something you'd expect to hear from a Veruca Salt or maybe the Pixies and Jessica Clavins Guitar Work on this track is very VERY good and I love her changing of pace when she goes from kind of softer parts during most of the verses before kicking things into hyper drive and just fucking pounding through the chorus and her solo around the 2:50 mark is quite nice and of course Jennifers Vocals are just more confident than ever and she seems to really feel this song from how she sings it.

This band get's progressively better with each release and, “Can You Deal,” from just this track alone sounds like it may end up being possibly better than Welcome to The Worms because this band is finding a groove and will be taking over the world before we know it.

5. I Palindrome I-They Might Be Giants

So I'm a go WAYYY back to ye mythical Year of 1992 with the second track to the masters of quirky 90's alternative rock They Might Be Giants partly overlooked masterpiece of an album Apollo 18, “I palindrome I,” which in the title and a lot of it's lyrics ironically enough is a palindrome which is just one of many examples of how this quirky little duo may be the most ingeniously intelligent band around.

“Some day mother will die and I'll get the money, Mom leans down and say's my sentiments exactly, You son of a bitch I palindrome I,” start a very kind of dark and almost jerky little number that again doesn't over stay it's welcome and is dripping with this bands patented brand of charm and spontaneity in it's rapid fire pace you're delivered a stellar track that'll wiggle it's way into your subconscious and serve as one of MANY reminders that this band is more than a couple of bad ass Looney Tunes tracks.

For real if you get the time look into this bands catalog because they have made a fucking shit load of REALLY good songs that are very quirky in nature but at times can be surprising in just how well written and clever they actually are.

SO there you go people 5 bad ass songs I'm listening to right now it's been pretty fucking fun to of been doing this whole site for the past 7 years which is still FUCKING CRAZY to wrap my head around because I didn't think just how long it'd been and my facebook on this day memories thing are loaded with my post of these different songs of the day's and I've written some cringe inducing shit for sure but at the same time this little project has also given me some fucking spectacular memories especially from all the people who've read the different post and told me how much they liked them those people are the fucking best and deserve the biggest thanks along with all the bands and artist I've covered thanks for giving me a reason to go on for 7 years and the years to come but hey let's quit being sappy and go ROCK THE FUCK ON!!!!!

Sam's Thoughts...

Guy's My Age-Hey Violet

I was watching this video on the internet called Billboard breakdown where this guy analyzes the Billboard Hot 100 every week and this past week this song apparently charted somewhere in the lower half of the chart recently and I remember this critic being very harsh on this song to a point where that along with the small clip just kind of made me have to go check this song out and a few listens later I'm a small bit perplexed.

So some context to all this apparently Hey Violet consist of the members of a band called Cherri Bomb who from what I heard were an all girl pop punk act that made what was pretty bland fair very reminiscent of their tour mates 5 Seconds of Summer with a sound that give me this feeling that I'm way to old for this teenybopper shit so from that after the lead singer decided to go AWOL they reformed and changed their sound to go from a kind of teenybopper pop punk group to what I can best describe as Melanie Martinez trying to make a radio Disney rock record.

The chick they have singing for them pretty much sounds like a Disney channel knock off Melanie and from this and the other songs they've made her lyrical themes seem to consist of edgy teenage girl things like hating on “Fuqboi's,”  being young and, “Feeling it,” and of course the subject of today's post wanting to fuck older men.

This song from the beginning drops pretty much all the Radio Disney rock sounds of their previous tunes and instead adopts a kind of trap music tone with a pretty decent drop as she lulls along a chorus that sounds exactly like something Melanie Martinez would write, “Guy's My Age don't know how to treat me, don't know how to treat me, don't know how to treat me, don't know how to touch me, don't know how to love me good,” croons this purple haired choker clad chick that I had to verify that she's 18 while she does her best to basically personify a Tumblr post validating why it's not at all creepy for women this age to go after men who are at a significantly different point in their lives than them.

You have an incredibly creepy undertone going on here where the whole I'm a bad girl who's mature for her age is spending 3 and a half minutes making a very 2016 sounding pop tune that's admittedly pretty fucking catchy with it's formulaic but solid beat being complimentary to a vocalist that's clearly taking notes from Melanie Martinez and Halsey in trying to be very forbidden fruit sexy but equally uncomfortable and admittedly I only find this song interesting for the fact that somebody who enjoys Melanie Martinez as much as I do should theoretically enjoy this song a lot more but really I'm getting more of a vibe that I'm listening to a cheap knock off that just makes me wonder if all future pop bands are going to be this kind of blasé edgy teen bullshit from here on out because modern radio has been stagnant with only a couple of real gems shining though and if this sound is apparently what it takes to get on the hot 100 and get 6 million plays on Youtube than I'm just starting to think that Billy Corgan was right in saying Rock is Dead and the internet has fucked everything up because this catchy but underwhelming bit of Tumblr jams is a bad example of things to come.