Blank Dogs spitting image of 80s post-punk

There are a lot of present-day bands that claim post-punk as a major influence in their work; think of bands like Interpol, the Strokes, or the Horrors. However, even though they contain identifiable echoes of post-punk the resulting sound is still very different from the genre's golden age. Every once in a while though, I run into a band that is influenced by post-punk and actually sounds exactly like classic post-punk. I discovered one of these uncanny bands on Sunday night while listening to KTRU: Blank Dogs. Originally I thought it was just some obscure British artist from the 80s that never charted or got any major recognition but they're actually from Brooklyn and have only been around since 2007. Take a listen to the first song I heard by them:

Austin City Limits Wrap-Up

Even though I only spent two out of the three days at Zilker Park , I created an exhaustive schedule for myself and saw some really excellent performances. I wish I had some pretty pictures to show you all but I completely forgot to ask the mgmt for a press pass. Here are some of my favorite sets:

LCD Soundsystem: I've been waiting to see James Murphy play since I heard the first LCD LP when I was in high school so the release of tension was considerable when I heard them open with a solid version of "dance yrself clean". The sound was good and Murphy had a full live band with him that was able to keep up with the project's tight disco sounds.They played at least one song from every album, including the tearjerker "all my friends" and a particularly old but good song called "tribulations". Murphy ended the set with a long version of "Yeah" (called the 'pretentious version' on the album) and then wound the crowd down with "Home". Overall, this was one of my favorite performances of the entire festival since I had high expectations and they were met, fully.

Sonic Youth:
Sort of like James Murphy, the members of noise band Sonic Youth are not young today but their sound doesn't really suffer for that. Both over fifty years old, Kim Gordon and Thurston Moore played ferociously on a stage with well-managed levels just two slots before the major headliners. I was a little disappointed to see so few people at the Honda Stage for their set but with the small crowd I was able to see the stage really well. The vocals and playing were spot on and my mind was blown. The best song they played was "silver rocket".

MIA:
My fiance really loves MIA and I've gained a decent amount of respect for her after the release of "Born Free" which samples Suicide and was accompanied by an excellent video. The exotic dance beats and intense lyrics were infectious, even at a distance. MIA does not present herself as some vapid, pop princess while on stage: she is something totally different. She is fierce, sexy, and often shocking. The set ended a little early but other than that, there was nothing to complain about.

Bear in Heaven: Due to the timing and location, it would have been easy to miss this Brooklyn experimental band's set on Saturday but I paid thirty bucks to a pedi cab just to get there in time. The sound consists mostly of echoing vocals, electronic textures, and a lot of arpeggiator tones bolstered by thumping bass and toms. It made me feel stoned, almost.

Black Lips:
Black Lips were punchy, bratty, and loud enough to give me the garage/punk fix that was missing from the rest of the fest. The two best tracks they played were "Old Man" and "Drugs". My only complaint was that I wish their slot was longer but that's festivals for you.

PSA: Amazon delivers cheap mp3s

Amazon dot com rules. I can find any book, DVD, or CD that I want for a reasonable price and can expect speedy deliver. Now, no one is paying me to say this and no, I have sold out to the illusory "man" some people are so fond of railing against. However, I do have a quasi-advertisement I'd like to do for them:

You can now find select digital albums on Amazon for four or five bucks or less! They always have deals on new and old albums and some are much less expensive than on iTunes. A few weeks ago I picked up Ratatat's LP4 for FOUR DOLLARS! That's amazing.

Check it out here. I just bought David Bowie's The Man Who Sold the World for 3.68. If you listen to as much music as I do, you'll realize that iTunes is too expensive to be your only source of music. Try Amazon's service too.

Back to your regularly scheduled programming.

These Young Girls are kicking ass and taking names

One of my favorite Houston bands, Young Girls, have been presented with an attractive opportunity: that is to open for increasing popular Brooklyn indie band The Drums when they play in Dallas. Having already completed a multi-state tour earlier this year and currently working on their official debut Out for Blood, the band is really kicking serious ass. They haven't even been around for a whole year yet.

Austin City Limits will be rock you

I'm beyond excited for this year's Austin City Limits music fest in Austin Texas. My fiance and I have tickets for two out of the three days and I'll get to see almost everyone I want to. The highlights of the fest are The Eagles and Flaming Lips which will both be on Sunday but fortunately for me I worked Houston's Free Press Summer Fest and got to see them already in June (even though I'd still love to see them again). Here's my personal ACL schedule. I'm going to ask on the Facebook fanpage, who's going to ACL? Please tell me, I want to know! Who are you excited about.

Warpaint returneth!

I'll be at Austin City Limits on Friday and Saturday but couldn't afford to stay for the last day which is disappointing since it would be my fiancee's first opportunity to see Warpaint. However, sharing a bill with Young Mammals, the beautiful L.A. experimental-rockers Warpaint are coming back to Houston on the 10th of October, just in time for my arrival. The gig will be from 7-10:30 at The Orange Show, 2402 Munger St. Be there, especially if you've never seen them play before.

RE POST: State of the KTRUnion

Although I've not personally been able to get through to Rice University prez myself (surprise surprise), I still feel obligated to explain his perfidy to everyone who is concerned but might not know exactly what went on with the sale of KTRU. Amid all of the chaos, I feel like it would be beneficial to restate the origins of the sale and the manner in which it was handled. I got the idea after I had a few beers with a DJ I won't name to protect him from any bullshit he might catch. Hopefully by doing this I can remind the community that KTRU was sold in a very controversial and clandestine way which completely merits the outrage most of us feel towards the decision. We must either continue to put pressure on President Leebron and the parties involved in the decision or quietly accept this undesirable and unjust arrangement. There's nothing new in this article, per se, but we need to keep this in the news and keep people talking. It's the only way KTRU stands a chance of staying on Houston's airwaves.

Just to recap, President Leebron issued a public letter on the 17th of August regarding his decision. The board of regents voted to officially execute the sale on the same day Rice students and KTRU staff were given notice. Prior to this, only Houston Press's "Rocks Off" blog had any idea what was happening and even their discovery was only made by sifting through the minutes of the upcoming meeting of the board of regents and seeing an item on the agenda about the sale of a radio station. Prior to the 17th there was no official disclosure. Writing a letter like the one I've linked to really means nothing at all given that no one who received the letter, and was upset, had time to appeal the decision or ask for a place at the table, so to speak.

Even though it's true that KTRU will be broadcasting via the Internet regardless of the outcome it's the actual radio transmission that allows the station to bring in new listeners. Everyone knows that KTRU won't be completely dissolved but that doesn't matter. Once the station loses its frequency it just becomes another one of the endless rabble of online radio stations. Albeit it will still function as an excellent online radio station, there's no way one can accidentally discover a streamed station the same way one can on the FM dial. The tower and frequency are integral to the spirit of the station and its local nature.

The other problem with the letter was the dismissive nature of the President's other arguments for selling the channel. He implied that Arbitron data suggested that the station's audience was barely enough to justify keeping it on the air. What a cold and utilitarian argument to make about such a cherished, culturally-enriching, student-run enterprise. It's almost as if he doesn't realize that such hamfisted comments are a direct insult to the station and its listeners. He then tries to make a populist argument claiming that Houston does not have two 24 hour all-news and 24 hour all-classical formats without caring to explain that this programming will not be student-run or generated but rather will most likely be bland, syndicated, commercial-programming. I just wish that President Lebron would act a little more proud of presiding over a college with such a unique outfit such as KTRU. Every one of his comments just indicate that he doesn't care about the opinions of Rice students or KTRU staff. Please read the letter for yourself as well but I don't think any of these claims are unfair. Res ipsa loquitur.