I'm too cool to like the headliner

Spent a chunk of last Saturday night at T.T. and the Bear’s. T’was an evening celebrating a decade of Ducky. That is to say, cornerstones of Boston punk, the Ducky Boys, were celebrating their 10 year anniversary. I personally have never cared much about or for The Ducky Boys, but I ended up at this show anyway. Boy howdy, was I glad I stopped by. A bunch of other bands played. I shall quickly review them in chronological order.

Light of Day – I uh…didn’t show up in time for their set. Some people said they were good. Some didn’t. I’m sure they did their best, and that’s all that counts.

Morgan Knockers – Sounded great. Solid songs. Lots of energy. Reminded me of Rancid. They have that whole “I’m from Boston and I really like the Clash,” feel to them, but that only bothers me when I’m told a band is really amazing, only to find out they’re just doing the “I’m from Boston and I like the Clash,” thing. Like the first time I saw the Ducky Boys. There’s nothing wrong with that sound, especially if it’s done well, but I mean….a lot of people from Boston like the Clash. So what?

Having never heard of Morgan Knockers before, I wasn’t expecting anything spectacular. I was quite content to hear something that didn’t suck. At all. I also like that all their songs are about drinking.

Shanghai Valentine – These guys I had heard of before. I think they’re getting big, or
something. Intense is, indeed, the word. They’re not shy about tipping their hats to the Misfits, but they’re too melodically complex to be written off as one of “those” bands. The guitar rift in “Last Train to Gibson,” evokes At the Drive In for this reason. Crash and Burn were the last resident hardcore band that impressed me this much. I also like that all their songs are about graveyards and other spooky things. I would’ve bought a T-shirt if I had the money.

Ducky Boys – By the time The Duckys went on I was zoning out, trying to determine how I was going to get home in the rain. The band sounded far better than I remembered them being (of course, the show(s) I’m referring to weren’t at venues designed to hold concerts. Better acoustics and functioning P.A.s never hurt anyone). I still think songs like “Boston U.S.A.” are cheesy as hell, but some people sure do enjoy thrashing around to them, and that’s fun to watch. Despite my reservations, I suppose there is something to be said for that.

Abandoned Pools - Armed to the Teeth review

(I should clarify something. Abandoned Pools AREN’T from Boston, so this post doesn't quite fit into the normal scheme of things.)

The problem with teen melodramas is most of them aren’t animated. I know my (even more) awkward years couldn’t be represented accurately in any way besides cartoon form. Tommy Walter, the brains behind Abandoned Pools, understands these things. The first AP disc, Humanistic, was the ideal soundtrack to Clone High, a tragically short lived cartoon about clones of historical figures. Having reached high school age, they had feelings about stuff. Picture the Breakfast Club meets Peabody’s Improbably History. T’was utterly brilliant TV.

As absurd as it was to have a clone Joan of Arc running around, you still felt for her when her crush (Abe Lincoln) hooked up with her hated rival (Cleopatra). A lot of that can be accredited to AP. Humanistic’s moody, stylistically eclectic pop strikes far deeper than most albums brimming with weepy songs about girls. Clone High would have sucked if Maroon 5 did all the music.

(Side note – another reviewer of this record whose link I can't find again, described AP as “Beating the emo scene at it’s own game.” Somebody said my last paragraph in a sentence. Damnit.)

Naturally, according to the bio on the official site, we don’t get another Abandoned Pools album until Walter gets screwed over by some chick.

I felt like a rube buying AP disc #2, Armed to the Teeth, because half the songs were already online or on the teaser Reverb EP. Can’t complain though. I got my $10 worth. Armed sports less electronic effects than Humanistic, with orchestral instruments picking up the slack. Rhythmically it’s less bouncy and varied, more straight rock oriented (A Perfect Circle drummer Josh Freese played on Humanistic, but not this one). Different as the two records are, it seems unfair to make Humanistic the standard for all other AP albums. But man, I really liked that CD. I wanted another one.

Some songs on Armed are great, some are okay, a few feel like filler. “Tighter Noose” aches with sour grapes disillusionment, and I realize songs aren’t capable of aching, but this one somehow pulls it off. I could swear I’ve heard the keyboard line from “Hunting” somewhere before, possibly on a movie soundtrack, or else the melody is so catchy the first listen feels familiar. “Lethal Killers” makes a good track 1. It’s got a vaguely atheistic message and a spooky opening rift, and all of a sudden it's an upbeat song. It’s emotionally unstable, or something.

The negatives; “Sailing Seas,” just annoys me. The simplicity of a lot of AP lyrics are usually part of their charm, but at rare times on Armed, they go cheesy. Case’npoint (and I might be wrong here) - On “Renegade,” otherwise Armed’s heaviest track, Walter wails; “Like a wrecking ball on a string, I’m a renegade, who wants to get served?”

…..Huh? Is that like a tongue in cheek pop culture reference, or um….what? (There’s no lyric sheet with the album, so there’s no way for me to be sure on this one. If anyone can correct me and, in the process, redeem that song, don’t hesitate).

My only major gripe with this album seems to be shared by a few others. Armed to the Teeth is no Humanistic, but hey, what is?