Get over yourself – Pomplamoose

Pomplamoose is a band that has two members, Nataly Dawn and Jack Conte. They don’t have a song called Get over yourself, that’s just the title of this post. They make dreamy girlpop that sounds like bubblegum smells, and most of it is covers.

They don’t have any records, and they don’t really do shows. From the looks of things they spend a lot of their time in their house making music videos. It looks like they’re having fun to me, but you can never be sure.

I told you they did covers. In the advertising industry that’s what we call a cut-down. They call it a video song, where you see an image of everything that you hear in the song. It’s kinda cool. I warned you about the covers already so watch her do Beyonce

You get it, right? This band exists almost exclusively on YouTube, but if you like it you can get it on iTunes. These people are nerds.

Here’s one of their originals.

I think I like this better. If the indie kids don’t run wild with this one I’ll be shocked until I find out I’m so late on this band it’s painful, and that Pomplamoose is so November 2008.

B

What the kids are listening to – And The Academy Is

I live right by the Metro. Which is this place:

This morning I woke up and walked my old ass down to Starbucks for a Quad Venti Latte (no homo) and there were teenage girls camped out all along the block that the Metro sits on. I looked up at the marquee, and noticed two things:

1) The show was sold out.
2) I’d never heard of any of the bands.

Baffled, and still a bit drunk from last night, I sauntered over to a group of three girls and said hello. Here’s how that conversation went.

-Hi
Uhhhhh, hi?
-Mind if I ask you ladies some questions?
Sure, whatever. (none of them were actually looking at me)
-This show is sold out right?
Yeah
-So what are you doing out here?
We’re trying to get a spot on the rail.
-Really? How long have you been here.
We got here at 2 AM.
-Holy shit. What kind of music is this?
Are you like a reporter or something?
-Something like that. I do a blog and a podcast. (This really got their attention)
Really? That’s cool, what about?
-Music.
Do you blog about And The Academy Is?
-What the hell is an And The Academy Is?
Dude, that’s the band we’re waiting for.
-Dude, I’ve never heard of them.
What kind of music blogger are you?
-That’s a good question, I have no idea.
What kind of podcast is it?
-It’s kind of like a music/talk show. We play music and then we talk about the songs, or whatever.
That’s awesome is it on iTunes?
-Uhhhh, no. It isn’t.
Then how is it a podcast.
-Another excellent question. I don’t really know. But anyway, do you girls realize that this is every teenage guy’s dream?
What is?
-To have girls camped out all night just to get a good spot to see their band.
Yeah we know.
We’re pretty awesome.
-You are awesome. Can I get a photo for the blog?
Gross, no we look terrible.
-Ok fine. So what kind of music is this?
It’s kinda like emo type rock and stuff.
-Give me a more popular band I can compare it to.
30 Seconds to Mars
-Oh cool that’s Gary Sinise’s band, right?
NO, it’s Jared Leto’s
-The band from My So Called Life?
What’s My So Called Life?
-Indeed.
So what kind of music is on the podcast?
-Well last week we played Passion Pit-
I love them!
-…La Roux, Edward Sharpe, Intuition-
Like the rapper Intuition?
-Yeah him. You know him?
Yeah he has a song with atmosphere.
-Awesome, yeah. Uhhhh, we played some Yeasayer, Das Racist, Florence And The Machine-
Who’s We?
-Me and my girlfriend
Is she pretty?
-Yes she’s very pretty.
Do you Loooooove her?
-Yes I do. Well, thanks for talking to me.
What are you doing today?
-Watching basketball. What time do the doors open?
6
-Holy shit. Well I’ll come say hi on my way out later. Stay warm out here.

Peace to Nicki, Julia, and Christina. I wasn’t lying when I said I hadn’t heard of anyone on the bill. So I came home and looked up And The Academy Is. I came up with this video:

I mean, I get it. Androgynous lead singer, overwrought emotional lyrics, poppy upbeat tempo, and that Blink 182 guitar thing where they play one or two chords very rapidly. They’re from Barrington, Illinois. Frontman William Beckett is living every man’s fantasy, with teenage girls flocking from all over the tundra to see him flail about. He has the same haircut as Jennifer Aniston circa 1997. They label themselves pop-punk, but I think any OG punk rocker would punch these guys in the face on principle.

They’re kind of tapping into the Fallout Boy thing, although with less talent. Next on the bill was a band called Sing It Loud, who also consider themselves punk, according to their bio on Myspace. So I checked them out, and IT’S THE EXACT SAME BAND. Long hair, whiny vocals, sponsored by American Apparel, etc. This shit is so emo, they have a video on their website where they, as a band, do a PSA about self mutilation and suicide. Jesus. Here’s a song of theirs.

So the kids are listening to…. this shit. Let me not criticize, I’m sure some of the stuff I listened to in high school was pretty bad. I mean, I don’t pull out the Arsonists LP any more or memorize the lyrics to Wyclef Jean solo albums. What bugs me out is these girls knew a lot of the stuff I listen to, but they choose to be the screaming masses in a concert I will never attend, or understand. Teenage girls are like the hippest people on the planet, and they influence pretty much everything. Lets see if we can get them to support Saigon and Joe Budden. That would be hilarious.

Go Saints?
B

February is Metal Month

Way back in January I decided to dedicate February to the righteous pursuit of all things metal.  I’m not terribly well versed on the hardest of rocks, so I’ve enlisted a friend to help me out with some picks that will ease me into this very heavy genre.

Get it?  Heavy.

So what we’re doing is exploring the genre….. together!  It’ll be an adventure for myself, jules, and the three of you who read this.  Ready GO.

Instead of building from the ground up, my tour guide assumed I already liked stuff like early Metallica, Slayer, Ozzy, etc.  I quietly nodded.  Noting my affinity for bands like Sigur Ros, Radiohead, and atmospheric rock, we started out with a band called Isis, and their 2002 album Oceanic.

The things I don’t like about metal are the obtrusively brutal guitars, and the sound of some dude screaming.  Here is a song that has very little of both.  It’s called Carry.

I dig it.  I can’t say all the choices are going to be so palatable, but so far my buddy Dave is 1 for 1.  Hail satan.

Miley Monday – Black Keys

Chances are, you’ve heard of this band.  They’re a couple of white dudes from Ohio who make a lot of noise.  My first exposure to the Black Keys was several years ago when they opened up for Radiohead at the Auditorium Theater in Chicago.  Great show.  Have you seen Hung on HBO?  You’ll remember this:

Worth noting:

1. Dan Auerbach can wail.

2. He can sing.

3. This music sounds like it was made 20 years ago, in the best possible way.

Here’s another taste of their album work, called Brooklyn Bound.  (This is a medley of songs, I couldn’t find only the one I wanted)

At this point, if you haven’t heard anything new, you may be wondering why you should continue reading this post.  The majority of what I’m going to talk about here is their newest project, called BlakRoc.  There are things I like about this project and things I don’t.

Pro-

They got a lot of really good rappers to collaborate.

They did all the beats.

They shot video of all the studio sessions, which I’ll link.

They didn’t really change their sound.

They made me like rappers I generally hate.  (Jim Jones)

Con-

Damon Dash is involved.

Mos Def is involved.

And if at this point you are still waiting for us to put you on something you haven’t heard, go read something else.  It’s a big internet.  I’m going to skip the first two Blakroc sessions because they involve a lot of Dame Dash, and even more Mos Def, and at this point in my life I can’t be bothered to waste my time looking at or listening to these two douchebags.  They’re well shot though so go look them up if you want.  Episode 3 is all about Jim Jones, who collaborated with Mos Def on a song called Hoochie Coo (?).  He’s entertaining as hell, and even rants for a while about MJ #23 while he’s all high.

Episode 4 is a rare look at the RZA in the studio.  (Okay not that rare)  When he comes in and starts talking to Dan about the beat I thought maybe he was on drugs.  I mean it’s pretty much guaranteed that he’s on drugs, but to varying degrees.  He’s playing a little guitar, and it doesn’t really sound that hot, but you’re interested enough to see what happens next.  What happens next is they smoke a bunch of weed and put the beat together and it’s pretty fucking awesome.  When RZA raps I still get chills.  I’ll never question him again.  Check it out.

In episode 5, Jim Jones comes back and you get to hear Dan sing a little.  I wasn’t a Diplomats fan really,  and my least favorite member was JJ.  But this shit is fresh.

I’m going to skip #6.  Why?  It features NOE and at this point I’m tired of Dipset.  #7 features Q-Tip, and despite being the frontman for one of everyone’s favorite rap groups, he manages to come across like a complete douche.  How cool is he with his sunglasses and earbuds in?  OH MY GOD TWO TRACKS, Q TIP?  THAT MIGHT BE A LITTLE CONFUSING FOR THESE CLASSICALLY TRAINED MUSICIANS.  Him and Mighty Mos are equally intolerable to me at this point.  I think his rap sucks bawlz, so it’s worth watching for that alone.  Plus you get to see the progression of Dan’s beard.

#8 is pretty great.  Features Billy Danze (M.O.P. Holy shit is he old), and the girl who answers Dame Dash’s cell phone.  #9 is Pharoahe Monch, and both are on the song with RZA.  Monch is funny as shit in the studio.  Danze does what he always does and it’s phenomenal.

And finally, #11 with Raekwon, a B&J favorite.  He sounds better here than he did on OB4CL2.  Sorry, Rae.

We hope you enjoyed.

Post Harbor – For Example This Is A Corpse

Here’s a band that doesn’t comb their hair.  Post Harbor is from Seattle, or records in Seattle, or something.  They make surprisingly listenable post rock/shoegazer/atmospheric indie type stuff.

Do you like Explosions In The Sky?  This is better because they sing sometimes.

Do you like Death Cab For Cutie?  This is better because they make more interesting sounds with instruments.

Do you like Mum?  This is better because they occasionally GO HARD.

I’d advise you to check it out.  Here’s a sample track called For Example This Is A Corpse.  If you can’t find a working album link on google send us an electronic mail and we can help you out.  Or you could, you know, buy it.