Sam's Show Recap 1/28/17

The Midwest Music Foundation decided to throw a show in order to help raise money to help out a group of local Kansas City acts in their attempts to go to South by Southwest and being that this show not only featured two of my favorite bands in this fine city of ours but it happen to be at the new Record Bar which by all accounts is pretty much the cream of the crop in terms of awesome fucking venues to see a show in this city it's pretty fucking obvious that sickness be damned I may have missed one bad ass showcase but I sure as hell was gonna chug that medicine and make this show and god damn it's a good thing I did because the heat was fucking brought tonight mother fuckers.

The bands showcased in this show were Vigils and Thieves, Momma's Boy, Jessica Paige, and the Phantastics which is quite a varied bill in all honesty but with that in mind let's get to the bad pictures and thoughts on these sets.

Vigils and Thieves

These guy's are so fucking great and this show after having a member change recently was a retreading of the waters of sorts and their first show at the new Record Bar and they did quite good if I say so. The first few songs admittedly were a bit rushed with Vicious Ears being a great way to pump up the crowd if not a bit faster than normal and after a few heavier more energetic tunes the songs eventually started getting smoother and things were sounding right and these guy's delivered yet another great set especially Haunting which was pretty fucking spot on vocally Sarah Storm just fucking knocked it out of the park here and gave an incredibly angry and awesome performance of People are Parasites following it somehow being one of the few vocalist I've ever heard actually get better as the set goes on.

If you haven't given their EP Neverland a listen go do so because this band is awesome and their shows even after some line up changes are still solidly fucking good and will most certainly hook you.

Momma's Boy

This time with all members included and well if I were to be blunt people........HOLY FUCKING JESUS CHRIST ALLMIGHTY THEY BROUGHT THE FUCKING FIIIIIIIIIIIIIAR TONIGHT!

For fucking real this set was just one great big ball of fucking awesome from their odd but awesome choice to start with the epic Make Believe to track after track of straight up bad ass fucking surf rock tinged power pop indie rock goodness this band was focused, tight, and firing on all fucking cylinders and delivered a set that just was pure proof that they are the best god damn band in the land and tracks like Sweet Girl, R&R, and Be A Good Boy can't come out soon enough because legit the year plus of working on these songs has become a set of pure non stop great and with an upcoming EP that will most likely be better than anything anyone else is going to put out I get the feeling that 2017 will be the year of the Momma's Boy just you wait.

Fuck it's going to be hard to see a show this god damn good now thanks.

Jessica Paige

So yeah after picking my jaw up and re-adjusting to reality I managed to catch this set kind of in stride and from what I heard she's a very talented vocalist with a lot of charisma on stage that knew how to get the crowd into her blend of kind of Country tinged kind of doo-whop pop tunes and her set was a solid set of tracks with my favorite being a very bad ass Zutons cover.

Upon getting to talk to her for a bit after her set and getting a complimentary copy of her album which you can go download at her bandcamp which is provided in the link above that I was listening to on my drive home I can say that if you got the time and want to listen to something on the lighter side this set of 8 songs is quite a good listen and I'll be keeping her on my radar.

Phantastics

I can't lie I didn't stay for their whole set because I just kind of couldn't do a whole show tonight but I will say these guy's brought the fucking funk like for real their just a non stop whirling ball of energy that had the whole house a moving and really if you were to properly appreciate this very tight group of  musicians I'd advise you get a DD or Uber knock back all the fine beverages and get on that god damn dance floor because they make music to dance to and they know how to make a crowd want to dance.

Tight funky grooves, a stage show just overflowing with charisma, and some very well rounded songs this band did a damn fine job this night and really proved why I keep tabs on when they're next shows are because this night was quite good to them and anyone willing to go out and give them a view that's for damn sure.

So yeah this was yet another excellent time at the wonderful Record Bar with plenty of acts that I hope impress all the important people up there at SXSW and this night was pretty simply one great big pile of fuck yeah.

Look what I found....it's a mother fucking starboy!

Sam's Show Recap 1/13/17

So I went to a show Friday night at a bar here in Kansas City called Minibar for a birthday show that was for a guy who works at local record label called The Record Machine.

Just before I get into my coverage of this show I should note I couldn't stay for the whole show because of some terrible road conditions that were only continuing to get worse so for the sake of being safe I decided to leave before the headlining act which if I were to go into a bit of a tangent I'd have to say that January is an awful time of the year to try and see a show because winter, snow, and ice all suck and will do nothing more than act as a means of possibly canceling said show or making you not go because you're me and you live too damn far to be driving in these conditions for the sake of seeing some bad ass live music, but with that said I still managed to be safe and had no issues but for future reference FUCK WINTER!

OK now that the PBR I was asked to start chugging before writing this has set in let's talk about some bad ass fucking bands and show some rather piss poor photos to go along with these descriptions The Show in question was a birthday show that featured local acts: Rachel Mallin and the Wild Type, The Shameless Pursuit, Shadow Rabbits, and Momma's Boy which have all in some capacity have been featured on this little blog of mine with 3 of them making my year end best of list so with a line up like that FUCK YEAH I was going to this show although I had to leave before Rachel's set so I unfortunately can't tell you how bad ass they most likely did so sorry for the first showcasing of a show to be incomplete but hey mother nature does that so let's talk about the first act of the night....

Momma's Boy

So there's something oddly satisfying that the first live set I saw this year happen to be maybe my favorite band this city has to offer and the guy's who are responsible for my favorite song of 2016 which they kindly dedicated to me this show because they're nice like that.

They were added onto the bill at the last minute due to some circumstances I don't entirely remember and had to perform as a 3 piece this show because their bassist is out on vacation but even with that minor setback these guy's fucking rocked the god damn house right from the get go and with a very steadily paced and hard hitting set they showcased a series of quality cuts from their infectiously catchy Be a Good Boy, a very slowpaced garage rock number in Make Believe, a new track that was all sorts of awesomely energetic, and of course Cool Heat being all sorts of headbangingly awesome these guy's put on a furry of a show that will leave you with a shit load of songs stuck in your head that'll put you in a state of when a full length release is to come it'll be a fucking masterpiece but until then they plan on releasing an EP in February to tide us all by until then.

IF you get the chance SEE THIS FUCKING BAND ALREADY!

Shadow Rabbits

So after that swirling wave of awesome that was Momma's Boy Shadow Rabbits hit the stage and right from the opening chords of their wonderful newish cut The One that Got Away a steadily paced rocker with a very 60's rock and roll vibe lulled the fairly packed place in and got bodies a moving and with a string of very kind of post-punk toned set of tunes and those bodies weren't stopping especially for their wonderful kind of tongue and cheek lyrically amusing and bad ass Devils Point of View which was right in the middle of their set, which was interesting because all previous times I recall seeing them they use that track as a closer, but even with that in mind that song fucking pounded its' a kind of haunting little number that moves along wonderfully and showcases some great musicianship from all members of this band and will most certainly be something you'll remember.

This set unlike their recordings which have a very kind of clean and almost retro kind of do-whop tone to them that, on a side note are actually very well recorded that give these songs a feeling that you're listening to some long lost bad ass kind of blend between some old school rock and roll and soul record, in a live environment seem to completely change shape and instead morph into these kind of Post Punk rockers that are more Joy Division than they are Patsy Cline to some capacity and this is ever so present in the track they closed their energetic set with Truest Blue which sounded like an entirely different song all together what's normally this super groovy soul tinged spooky cut instead becomes a kind of goth tinged rocker and that's fucking awesome if you ask me.

The Shameless Pursuit

So I like the Minibar it's a super cool place that's very well kept, with good booze prices, and a friendly atmosphere and alright system of being able to have a show in one place and a bar in another but I can't bullshit you people the sound guy this night was having a host of mixing problems here and there and these guy's seemed to of unfortunately gotten the shaft because I couldn't hardly hear the guitar track and the feedback was pretty bad, but that said FUCK this band is good.

They started with my favorite song of theirs Doubt which admittedly was a bit pitchy at points and not being able to hear the guitar right was annoying as fuck but even so there was a raw aesthetic to the vocals that still fucking worked so god damn well and after a few songs when they went going damn this band was fucking into what they were doing and their singing is just so god damn good this group knows how to work off of one another and they're a bundle of energy that could cut through all the technical difficulties they dealt with and make you REALLY have some faith in this band because damn they're fucking good this set was all their more heavy numbers because they didn't have any acoustic guitars from what you can see in the image above with the exception of Fight and Flight being the one softer cut they played which even that one managed to rock the fucking house this night.

These guy's did a great job working through the bullshit and just seemed to have a hell of a time.

Overall this was a fucking damn great booked show that just had all killer performances that even equipment failure couldn't take away from and even though I didn't get to see the whole show I'm just going to imagine that Rachel and Company gave a 10 out of 10 show that was so good that it could make Chuck Norris shed a lone cancer curing tear of joy and if these bands are within driving distance from you GO FUCKING SEE THEM! Seriously all killer no filler and a fucking wonderful way to start my year of shows here's to hopefully less shitty weather to come.

Also if you didn't already tell there's links to all the bands bandcamp and facebook pages all throughout this article.

Sam's Top 20 of 2016: #7

7.Vigil and Thieves-Vicious Ears

I'm just going to say that these have to be some of the nicest fucking people I've gotten the pleasure of meeting and hanging out with and that I legitimately hope that the best is to come to these guy's sooner than later because they deserve it.

OK now that I've said that it's time to talk about how fucking bad ass this song is, Vicious Ears is a very kind of punk tinged alternative rock tune that starts out with some very jumpy guitar work and is followed by Sarah Storm singing with a voice that's equal parts playful and dynamic in a lot of ways especially the chorus and it's long sustained notes and the delivery of the line, “This may be more,” which just crawls it's way deep into your mind and perfectly balances along with some verses that have a bit of a staccato feel to them and lyrics like, “Monsters with guns and a limited one on these city streets, Monsters in Armani suits who say they know what's best for you,” you get a song that's very VERY catchy and easy to sing along with but is also hiding more meaningful lyrics than your average radio fair and manages to not be up it's own ass in a lot of ways.

These well delivered lines and it's dreamy guitar work along with all the individual members talents as musicians showcase how to make a song that blends just enough pop sensibilities with all the grit of alternative rock to form a very simple dancey post punk tune that I just fucking love and have yet to have a disappointing time when seeing them perform it live. 

Sam Suggest a band: Vigil and Thieves

SO first off I'd like to say that these guy's are honestly some of the nicest fucking people I've had the pleasure of getting to talk to in quite some time.

When it comes to their music there's a very mesmerizing quality to them that's incredibly hard for me to put my finger on because at the surface you have some very well written and performed tracks that range from this very delightfully punky Vicious Ears, the kind of gothy Haunting, and a very bad ass bass driven post punk number Hate that when performed in a live environment end up taking on a life of their own and showcase what really is a talented group of performers that craft some REALLY damn catchy tunes.

Their current release Neverland is quite a bad ass little offering which you can download on their bandcamp and give a listen to down below although just because you can get it for free doesn't mean that it wouldn't be worth your time to throw down some hard earned cash for the download or at the very least wait for the physical pressings to come so you can appreciate the bad ass album art a little more.

I'd also like to make note that their lead singer Sarah Storm has a very hypnotic fashion to how she sings that kind of lures you in and doesn't quite feel the need to explain why you'll think she's so fucking alluring but leave you knowing that you're hooked by a voice that's an odd combination of both confidence and vulnerability.

Also I'd have to say that their song Vicious Ears is my personal favorite of theirs because it's very fast paced song that has a very bouncy punky tone to it that I just fucking love and lyrically it's a little more playful then the rest of Neverland but still maintains something interesting to bite into and maybe it's simplistic nature is why they seem to enjoy using it as an opening track to their set list.

So yeah this band kicks ass and I'm glad I decided to take the time to go see them live because they're pretty fucking cool people and we can all use that in this world of ours. 

Song of the Day 11/20/14

So I've been listening to some odd shit here and there which has lead to me not really being too sure what to write about when it comes to songs of the day but I was listening to the radio and got reminded of this trippy little number from BANKS called, "Beggin For Thread," and upon watching what was one odd little orgy of a music video and realizing the chick that sings this song is rather attractive I figure this would be a good track to highlight.

This song is a very kind of semi-sensual affiar that's kind of dark in tone and lyrically a little dark and it's kind of low monotonous tone really seems to give it the ability to stand out when you hear it on the radio...

Song of the Day 11/4/14

Halloween was a semi-uneventful event for me but that's not really all that important because it's a new month and a new week of songs for you guy's so let's quit with all the small talk and get to today's amusing little cut courtesy of Ex Cops.

Black Soap it's a very rocking little cut with one hell of a chorus that is slightly reminiscent of an act like Sonic Youth with it's very strong early alternative sound and the fact that the verses partway through introduce a male vocalist who's partly deep but not trying to be much a singer.

Overall this song is a great alternative rock cut that I find to get better and  better every listening...



The Official Video

Song of the Day 10/23/14

So this co-worker of mine enjoy's blasting all these emo records during work and in the process of reliving the 8th grade angst I can't help but looking back and yes I know that's what Thursday's are for but you know what it's my blog and I'll write what I want to.

In the string of terrible but amusing tunes that was coming on I was reminded of probably the poster child of angsty I hate my parents and want to go end my life or start a scene rock and roll that was the all mighty Hawthorne Heights who admittedly could craft a decent song or two and pulled the image off really well but even then I couldn't completely get into this stuff mostly because I was too dark to look like a pussified goth and kind of had too much of a fondness for older alternative music with actual substance to really get into the bitch fits and temper tantrums that were a lot of these bands.

Although all gripes and shit talking aside there are still some damn catchy tunes from that time with today's selection being one of them and while it'd of made more sense to post Ohio is for lovers I kind of still find this one to seemingly try to have a bit more substance to it and also it's video is fucking hilarious because they'll probably never sell out arena's this sized again on their own.....but maybe an all emo power tour for my generation........scratch that you read nothing people now excuse me while I go make some phone calls.

Tuesday Two-Fer

You know of all the forgotten 80's alternative acts that managed to break that mainstream mold and carve out a good niche for themselves even though they really did deserve more earlier based on a solid foundation of quality material I'd have to say INXS would be one of my personal favorites for the fact that they weren't anywhere near as pretentious sounding as U2 and could craft either fairly epic pieces of music with some of the most killer chorus' or they just knew how to make some truly catchy little pop minded rock songs that weren't too alternative for the mass public to really get a grip of but still had enough girth to stand apart from the crowd of other new wave acts looking to become the next big thing and with that in mind I was randomly reminded of my favorite song by them and an interesting little cover done...

Don't Change-INXS(1982) & AFI(2006)

So what we have here is probably the biggest sounding kind of semi-inspirational rocker that I've heard form INXS and it's larger then life chorus is only enhanced by the fact that it employes a very kind of trancey jangly intro that just picks up pace continually before Michael Hutchence's vocals come in and bring forth some fairly introspective lyrics about love and loss and it just kind of fires and works on all levels which kind of makes me wonder how this isn't one of the tunes that got them to become a household name.

In comparison though if you were to take that kind of epic sound that the original has and completely strip it of all of that and make it a rather bleak kind of slow-paced mildly acoustic number you have AFI's cover which isn't really a bad thing in that they still manage to kind of build up through the course of their cover they just don't really lead to any resolve and it feels suffocated in some odd way which is a shame because this song's pretty spectacular eventhough after listening to the cover I don't dislike it it's just a difficult number to match but like I say every week you can listen down below and judge for yourself...

INXS:




AFI: