Up late one night unable to sleep with my bad back I happened to see this gem on Jimmy Kimmel. Paul Reubens, aka PeeWee Herman, is hilarious. Enjoy!

I’m usually SO annoyed by bands from Olympia. You know why? I’ll tell you why: they have it TOO easy! Olympia is the home of K Records and Kill Rock Stars. So it’s easy for a mediocre band from the small-ass town of Olympia to get a deal with either of these prestigious labels. All the college radio stations cream their pants for anything with the K or KRS stamp of inde approval. I’ve seen it before. Why can’t Olympia be like any other town? Why can’t they have great unsigned bands that break up after not releasing anything?

Fierce Perm is one of those rare bands from Olympia that actually rule. They’re not on K or KRS yet… but they deserve it. They played at LADY!! last night, which was pretty rad. It was my first time seeing the band, and I was really impressed. They were really punk rock in the ideal sense. They made their own kind of punk rock. The drummer was gorgeous. He’s not my type or anything, but he looked really cool playing the drums. There should be a welfare program for gorgeous drummers. The government should send a check to him because he really shouldn’t be doing anything else.

Carletta Sue Kay played right before the perm. Instead of their full rock band, there were only two of them. I liked it better than their show I saw a week earlier at the Eagle. I payed closer attention. Their song selection was phenomenal and they really committed to overindulging. Plus their outfits were OTT.

I’m really sorry to report that I missed Woman of Color. I was drinking white wine at a friend’s house. I was not aware of the time. Elton Tom said he really loved their MP3’s. We’ll report on them soon… I’m thinking they need to create a high-concept MySpace page first.

Why doesn’t The Make Out Room ever use its marquee to promote the upcoming shows? Are they too lazy? Are they putting the money they save from not changing it towards a new sound system? Is it because they know nobody’s going to come anyway? Come on, its a rock ‘n roll club not a sex club!

Gaze love songs where girls talk about how pretty they are. Here is a quick overview of some recent vanity jams:

So there is this girl from Chicago, Kid Sister, who has this song called “Pro Nails.” It’s about how her nails are really pro or something. She played on Minna St. behind the Mezzanine some weeks ago. I didn’t have a chance to go, but it looks like plenty of gaze showed up to represent.

In case you haven’t been keeping up with the top 40, there is a song by 17 year old Brooklyn native Lil Mama called “Lip Gloss.” It’s about how lip gloss can make your outfit, even if your clothes aren’t that cute.

A couple years ago there was a great song by Princess and Diamond of Crime Mob featuring Miss Aisha called “Stilettos (Pumps).” It’s about how surprising it is that girls can get crunk.

And, for old time’s sake, here is Divine with “I’m So Beautiful.”

With the exception of Lady, which is already last month’s news, I haven’t really been going to a lot of ‘local’ shows. So I’m going to break rank and write a little about Sonic Youth playing all of Daydream Nation and the Grinderman show that the sf_indie list says tickets were impossible to get. You know, because these bands need more press.

Sonic Youth

My friend is talented and somehow bartered our tickets and we ended up in the first row of the Berkeley Community Theater. I guess it was good. The first couple notes of Teenage Riot rang out and it was awesome because that song is undeniable. But then… well we already know what they’re going to play and that’s a long ass record isn’t it? I’ve always found the last song on that record a little crushing because its really three songs. All right. I get it. You’re virtuosos. Isn’t this supposed to be punk rock? Oh, right…

Also, I don’t remember that record having two encores full of songs from 2006. I think I’m becoming a crotchety old man. Even though we had an amazing view and could see every little thing Lee did (and he’s kinda my favorite), I complained about the sound which was fucked because we were sitting directly in front of Lee’s amp. I heard other people complaining about the sound too, but its a huge theater. If you weren’t ten rows back, center (like our friend LG), the sound sucked. Also, people didn’t seem to into Kim’s miniskirt and dancing during the encores because she’s too old for that. Seriously? Would it have been more age appropriate if she’d traded her face in for plastic?

Grinderman

Actually, after this show I know I’m becoming a crotchety old man because I spent the last part of the show complaining. Why? Because we got to see a bunch of bad seed
s songs rearranged for Grinderman done in a small club. How horrible! I’ve never been a big Bad Seeds fan, but the songs sounded great and I’ll have to check that out
more. A legitimate complaint though: for the last encore they were joined by Henry Rollins and Jello Biafra. What the fuck? The night before, at the Great American, they were joined by Blixa Bergeld. Guess who got the better show?

Anyway, Grinderman tore it up and there’s not much else to say. Nick Cave ruled on guitar. Warren Ellis rocked his samples and his guitar but didn’t really play his violin that much — which was kinda sad because I like his playing, but we got that during the encore. They played the whole album, predictably holding No Pussy Blues for the last song. It probably wasn’t a ‘were you there?’ moment, but it was super good. Definitely one of the best shows I’ve seen in a while.

coconut

but it’s certainly not “My Black Muslim Bakery!”

This shit freaks me out!

If you missed them in all their unibrowed glory at Lady last month, don’t miss them tonight at 21 Grand. These ladies are relentless.

http://www.titsacrossamerica.com
http://www.myspace.com/titsacrossamerica