Gah, I’ve only been able to propagate the legend of the amazing Smashing Pumpkins cover band, Melancholy and the Infinite Radness, through word of mouth because my camera ran out of battery the night of this show. Put together by Myles and Aaron from The Passionistas, these guys ran through some essential ninties listening/modern alt rock classics as a double headed Billy Corgan monster with a bulleted list of reasons why you need to appreciate him more. I thought this was lost forever but, thanks to the miracle internet machine, here’s a bit of proof. PIX! IT HAPPENED!
Perhaps if everybody wishes real real hard the double headed Billy Corgan monster return from eyeliner lake to tell us how much we underappreciate him!
Its been some time since these pages were graced by Myles and its time for our regular check in. Since then, he’s graced the pages of The San Francisco Bay Guardian, VICE and now soon BUTT. Myles sez:
I have a new video that I got taken of me for a BUTT Magazine project. I totally suck at the guitar butt I am sort of naked!
2mrw night the Passionistas will be revealed as the ’surprise guest’ opening for Ariel Pink at Bottom Of The Hill!!!! Come be our surprise guests! Don’t even tell us your coming in fact, just leap on us/stage/after the show- u know, shock us! If you need a little juice to get amped, then here it is below, in video form:
Passionistas- Y2k
Ariel Pink- For Kate I Wait
Cryptacize- Cosmic Sing Along
Rodney Mullen- not playing but you know gets you hyped on life
The World Famous offices have been filled with laughter over the past few days since we saw these two reviews pop up in Still Single: Vol. 5, No. 1 by Doug Mosurak over at Dusted Magazine.
First a review of the BRIDEZ seven inch:
Cruddy no-fi rock aping Royal Trux but getting stuck somewhere in between Be Your Own Pet and bratty trust-fund kids slumming it. Singer Liza Thorn was once in So So Many White White Tigers, a decent enough band that should have stuck around for longer, for they were far more interesting than either track presented here. If you were DYING to hear some rock music, like you were about to expire due to dehydration and this record was the antidote, then I suppose you’d have an excuse to jam it. Not me. What did anyone hear in this that made them think “hey, I’d better press this up?”
And now the review of the Hard Place/Passionistas split EP:
Bay Area split single combines harmless, innocuous, passable bedroom pop by teen neons, the Passionistas, with the tacky, slick electro-crap of Hard Place (the poor man’s Ssion, maybe a homeless man’s Sparks). Never would there have been a point in my life where I would have considered purchasing such a record as this, so if you think like I do, best to bail out, now.
At World Famous we believe that Love and Hate are two sides of the same coin and a review is good whether it moves you to sing its praises or to spew bile all over the place. In fact, we love a bad review, and these were particularly entertaining (seriously, we may refer to Hard Place as “the homeless man’s sparks” from now on). Thanks Doug!!
We mentioned that Love and Hate were two sides of the same coin, so here’s some very nice reviews from our friends over at Aquarius Records
First the BRIDEZ seven inch:
Bridez front woman, and the cover star of this here 7″ single, is none other then Liza Thorn, who was responsible for unleashing a thrilling and damaging whirlwind of fierce energy here in the Bay Area with her previous band So So Many White White Tigers. While Bridez is a much more song based endeavor, there is still that reckless energy and dirty quality to their songs that makes this such a fun, fiery and righteously sleazy debut. We hear healthy doses of Pussy Galore, early Hole and the early recordings of The Runaways. Bringing a much needed element of danger and drunken passion to fucked up rock n’ roll. So good!
Now the Hard Place/Passionistas split EP:
The Passionistas have been gaining some well deserved attention here in SF with their super catchy and colorful pop hooks, dipping their musical toes into both power pop and glam, providing the missing link between Big Star and Sparks. Speaking of Sparks, Hard Place open their side of this split with a very Sparks influenced and triumphant sounding pop nugget. There’s a very early ’80s larger-than-life, arena-ready aesthetic to their sound, yet it’s delivered with such earnest spirit. We suspect there is some Van Halen, Andrew W.K. and maybe even a Jefferson Starship record in their collections. We lean a little towards The Passionistas on this split, but pop enthusiasts will find lots to like on both sides of this little piece of wax.
Also, the folks over at The Bay Bridged liked “Righter’s Block” block by The Passionistas enough to include it in their monthly mix, so be sure to check that out as well.
But why rely on reviews? Take a listen below and make up your mind yourself. If you like it, the records are available from Aquarius or can be ordered directly from us:
Aaron should start a speed dating course, because I’ve seen him work with ruthless efficiency (even if, hilariously, he doesn’t realize it).
The other night, Aaron was at the Phone Booth for a little bon voyage party before Andrew left on on a four month European vacation (leaving the Passionistas bassless). A nice boy mistook Aaron “NO HOMO” Sunshine as a fellow homosexual. This boy came over, phone number in hand, and politely introduces himself. I look over to see this situation unfolding and as the boy is trying to hand Aaron the phone number Aaron says very matter of fact, “Keep it, I won’t call you” and goes back to talking to us. I’m laughing. The boy walks away shocked, probably a little put off, and completely unaware that Aaron is neither gay nor the queen bitch of a roving band of bitchy queers.
The Passionistas are featured in today’s Chronicle, where they talk about their new seven inch on this here label and their creative process now that they have three songwriters. If, like us, you’re somewhat baffled by this band that claims their ambition is to write mega popular songs and be famous but attempt to achieve this through deceptively simple songs — albeit, lampooning their grandmothers and pontificating on Y2K years after the fact — set next to more experimental musical ventures about “The American Whale”, then this article is a good read.
Speaking of the experimental side of The Passionistas, their seven inch may be pure pop but they’re still trying new things. Not since the Y2K video have we been this baffled by The Passionistas. We don’t know if this is Nerdcore, pro-tools masturbation, a really obvious observation, or art but we like it and you can dance to it. We give you “Life Without An Eye Pod”:
The Passionistas, after slurring their way into the new year, are going to be playing the Magic Bullets record release party this Friday at The Bottom of the Hill. Come get your dose of American music sandwiched in between two slices of brit inspired punk and pop.
So, as the newest Youtube convert, I believe I have thought of a project that might get me partnered and making money, without really doing any sort of work or anything like that. Well… watch the video, and i would enjoy it a great deal if my friends and the musicians who read this blog would participate… Download the song here… http://www.mediafire.com/?qtbm2wwi5ml
The Passionistas promised to make a video for each of the songs on their split seven inch with Hard Place (which you should totally buy because copies are going fast). Here’s the first one, for the song “Ashlee Simpson”:
