See Gulls - Curtain Call EP (Potluck)

See Gulls have had enough, and they’re fed up.  Their frustration is mostly apparent in the push-pull relationship dynamic of the songs penned by front-gull Sarah Fuller… tales of overbearing exes and sleazy broheems.  But Curtain Call, the excellent follow-up EP to You Can’t See Me, opens with bassist Leah Gibson venting workplace anxieties on Boss Hogg (which she penned).  It’s a crunchy, grinding number that’s musically perfect for the topic:  a boring job and a boorish boss; See Gulls’ own Slack Motherfucker (“I’ll go fetch some coffees while you sit and take a rest / let me guess / at your desk”).

When …Hogg premiered as a single a few weeks back, I thought it marked somewhat of a departure from band’s sound.  But upon hearing the entire record, it actually sets a tone for and completely meshes with the overall vibe of this collection.

Curtain Call is certainly less angular, more curvy, than the debut.  But it does hop on and continue down the same road traveled by Long Gone (perhaps the best cut off that record).   While the themes here are often of defiance and strength, there’s also a soft, bittersweet side.

The second entry, Where Are We Going, exemplifies this.  See Gulls have always been great at incorporating a kind of heart-achy, ‘50s-‘60s vibe into a more contemporary style.  That’s perhaps realized better than ever in this song.  From the “ba da da da dom” intro whispering up from somewhere deep in the past, to the archetypal setting of driving down a lonely road.  Reflecting on the past, with the ghost of a long gone significant other riding shotgun, Fuller sings “It’s an older tune your Daddy played for you.”  This song sounds and feels like it might actually be one of those tunes.

Kidding Me shelves the tenderness, though.  Can’t a lady have a beer to herself without being harassed by her ex?!  He whispering “not-so-sweet nothings” in her ear (to more crunchy guitar and sick, funky little organ bloops), she telling him to “hush your mouth” like the petulant child he is.

I Want It also visits the “so familiar” (as Kidding Me put it) chore of trying to get rid of a guy.  Hard shots of reverb, and again that ‘50s vibe, back this one. “I wanted you to have me, ‘til I found him” / “I wanted him to have me, ‘til I found you.”  Here, it seems conflicted, like being caught in an endless cycle, obsessed again.  Despite the doubts, there are great lyrics of reclamation and control.  “Could you see that I am not / just the thought you have of me!”

I Wrote It is maybe the most musically upbeat song.  While the title and lyrics revolve around intra-band dynamics and coming out of the shadow of a boorsish frontman, they could just as easily refer to any relationship one’s seen before and is -- simply -- tired of. “You will never see what becomes of me / and you’re blowin’ it.”

You’re Here returns to the bittersweet vibe of Where Are We Going.  It’s the slowest cut, and filled with more cool echoes and reverb.  But despite feelings of reminiscence and loss, the closing statement is another of control, relegating the memory to being that, and only that, repeating “You’re here / in my song.”

Besides great songs and wonderful all-around musicianship and production, one thing that can’t be understated on Curtain Call is Fuller’s voice.  She’s honed into a finely tuned instrument; little changes in tone alone evoke different, even conflicting, emotions, sometimes within the same line.  It’s been fun to watch her stage presence blossom from the band’s first gigs… a little hesitant at the beginning, now fully in control.  Appropriate, then, that I Want It ends with a twist on the earlier line:  “You will never see what becomes of me / and I’m runnin’ it!”  She sure is.

I’m hesitant to say any song here is the “best.”  I DO like the quieter, soulful vibe of …Going and You’re Here.  But this is an extraordinarily consistent EP.  Every song is a gem.  All I really want out of it is, maybe, 2 or 3 more.  Please?

Curtain Call proves that See Gulls early splash was totally deserved.  While it may be right up my (admittedly subjective) alley of musical preference, I’d still say by any standard, it’s one of the best local releases this year.

Katrina Dreams

Hurricane Katrina made landfall on the Gulf Coast 11 years ago this morning.  Not a surprise, I suppose, that my subconscious hit me with some strange ones last night.   I slept fitfully, waking every 2 hours or so before drifting on to some morphed version of the same dream.

First was feeling endangered in my own home here in North Carolina, thinking a burglar was downstairs.  Upon poking my head out of my bedroom door to investigate, the power went out, and I woke in that fearful, jarring state that only nightmares can bring you to.

Next, I was in my “new home”, an old apartment in a mysterious, nocturnal version of NOLA’s wonderful Audubon Park.  Just out the window was a beautiful swamp, purplish in the nighttime lighting.  My roommate kept leaving the windows cracked, which left me feeling vulnerable to intruders yet again.  As I worked anxiously to close and lock the old, warped, wooden windows, my subconscious shifted again.

This time, I was on the Gulf Coast, in the little hamlet of Clermont Harbor, Mississippi.  It was a family vacation spot for decades, and was largely wiped off the map after Katrina.  I had bought a beautiful, newly-renovated cottage on a square on the waterfront (there are no squares on the Clermont Harbor waterfront, and any building there would have to be “newly renovated”, to say the least).  I was trying to convince my parents, who were both still with me courtesy the magic of dreams, that I had made a good decision.  It was the nicest little house on the coast, and it was a deal!  I could work on my writing and art!  I could start a sideline eco-tourism business, putting my marine biology degree to good use!  I frantically tried to print photos and documents that my father himself had accumulated, trying to show them what a wonderful place it was.

Shift again, to a darker place, as my father was dying.  In reality, my mother died of cancer as a Katrina evacuee in Shreveport, and my father died of Alzheimer’s 10 years later… though he had never really been the same since Katrina and Mom’s passing.  In the dream, he suddenly became weak, and died right in front of me as I was going through the documents.  Then, magically, he “awoke.”  But we knew it was a quirk that sometimes happened after someone would die (in dreams like this), and that he only had a few more minutes to be with us.  He was now more simple-minded, not very communicative, similar to how he eventually became in the real world.  But he tried to communicate to us what was important:  the memories of people and places.  We spent this time, as in the previous incarnation of this dream world, going through old photos.  But this time, it was to assure him that we would preserve the memories.  We comforted him as he was dying (a second time in the dream), setting his mind at ease  that we would hold close and not forget what was important to him.  In this way, his spirit would continue on.

Last night, on the anniversary of Hurricane Katrina, I dreamt of vulnerability, water, loss, and remembrance.  I dreamt of NOLA and Clermont Harbor.  I dreamt of my mother and I dreamt of my father.

Not happy dreams, but not altogether sad either.  Dreams of memories, filtered through a surge of water and emotion.  Appropriate, I suppose.

De∙cen∙cy /ˈdēsənsē/ (noun): behavior that conforms to accepted standards of morality or respectability.

(Photo by Carolyn Kaster, AP)

Supporters of Donald Trump tout his candidacy as a fight against what they see as political correctness run amok.  "It's a relief to finally have someone say what they want to say," someone who "tells it like it is!"

Yes, it's true that political correctness sometimes goes overboard, and that people making statements insensitive to some are often derided in ways vastly disproportionate to actual intent or harm.  It is also true that those on the conservative end of the political spectrum have born much of the brunt of such criticism, and that it is not always fair criticism.  Sometimes, there is no "there" there.

But people have always been able and are still able to "say what they want to say."  Political correctness simply means that now, when they say things that (yes, in the subjective view of some) express overt prejudices—things that are simply indecent—they are more likely to get called to the mat for it.

Something that has always been obvious, at least to those of us who believe the goals of political correctness to be worthy goals, is that "political correctness" has never been about telling people what they can or can't say.  It has always been about simple decency (something which neither right or left has a corner on).

The feud between Trump and Gold Star parents Khizr and Ghazala Khan reveals this in stark terms.

In this case, there is definitely a "there" there.  There has, in fact, been a non-stop parade of "theres," beginning the day Trump kicked off his campaign by fearmongering about Mexican rapists and drug dealers.  

Time and time again, Donald Trump's very own words have revealed him to be not simply "politically incorrect."  They have revealed him to be a man who has no decency.

Take a Deep Breath: Dallas, #BlackLivesMatter, and the Culture of "Us vs. Them"

Yesterday morning, on my personal Facebook page, I posted “Folks, the hyperbole has got to stop. This is what it leads to.”  I posted it along with an article about Trump supporters calling for Hillary Clinton’s death at a Trump rally.  That post was not so subtly aimed at the far right, who have been exaggerating Clinton's perceived negatives to claim she is, basically, evil incarnate.  I’ve seen some ridiculous memes and articles coming from the right in recent months, and this was the inevitable result.  This kind of demonization could lead to her assassination, and possibly even violence on a larger scale.

But it was also directed, in part at least, at the rest of us.  Social media and the quick/clever meme lend themselves to broad generalizations, to the demonization of “other.”  They lead to cherry-picking, false equivalencies, and many arguments which sound good, but in fact are rife with logical fallacies.  Our current ratings-driven “news” media doesn’t help matters.

This morning, as I absorb the shocking news that five police officers were killed last night in Dallas, I’m thinking of that post again.  I didn’t expound upon the idea as much yesterday.  But a few yahoos spouting inflammatory rhetoric at a rally pale in comparison to the events of last night.  And what applies to one must apply to all.

Let me say first that I’m in very strong agreement with the ideas and goals of the #blacklivesmatter movement.  I was horrified by the videos in the past few days of shootings of black men by police, as I have been by every one of these “isolated incidents” that have been occurring all-too-frequently.  I think saying #alllivesmatter is an insult to those presenting the #blacklivesmatter idea, and to minorities in general.  It blatantly dismisses what is an obvious societal problem.  This idea is, frankly, so self-evident that you wouldn’t think would require further explanation.  But here goes:  “Black lives matter… TOO.”  Of course we all know that all lives matter, and that police lives matter.  But the problem is the disproportionate aggressive treatment of African Americans by police relative to other ethnic groups.  This reveals that, perhaps, society doesn’t think black lives matter AS MUCH.

You also wouldn’t think this required elucidation, but pointing out there is a problem with disproportionate use of force against minorities by police is NOT mutually exclusive with the belief (which I also hold) that the vast majority of men and women in blue are hard-working, honest civil servants willing to put their lives on the line to keep us all safe.

But back to my post from yesterday, then about Trump rallies.  “The hyperbole has got to stop. This is what it leads to.”

After the horrific events in Dallas last night and my unrelated post from yesterday, I find myself thinking about the many times in the recent past when I’ve consciously worried about the tone of some comments I've heard, in this case, from the left.  These comments have come from people who are (justifiably) frustrated and angry at horrific incidents in which fathers, sons, CHILDREN, have been (unjustifiably) killed… murdered by the very people meant to protect them.

But with a depressingly increasing frequency, I’ve heard people portray police as “the enemy”, speaking as though a revolution were in the making… people using broad generalizations and demonization.   I have wondered to myself, “Is that where we want to go?  Will that improve anything at all?  Or will it simply result in more escalation, more justification for police abuse of power, militarization, and overreach?”

I am not at all saying that the vast majority of people aligned with the goals of the #blacklivesmatter movement (among which I consider myself, albeit one of white priviledge) are anything but honest citizen activists, true Americans, trying to foster peaceful change on an issue which leaves us all very frustrated, angry, and sad.  I must stop here to make the point that this applies to every one of the people engaging in peaceful protest at the time of the shootings in Dallas last night.  These protesters were engaging in their rights as American citizens, peacefully, in a way we should ALL be able to appreciate.  They are not, nor is the movement in general, remotely to blame for the actions of a crazed, extreme few.

But what I am saying is that language (by some), while out of understandable anger and frustration, should not go so far as to resort to broad generalizations and demonization of ANY large, diverse group of people as “other” or “the enemy.”  This can only encourage extremists who want nothing short of open warfare, as the shooter or shooters last night seemed to.  And the exact same thing can be said about Right or Left, Trump haters or Hillary haters, #blacklivesmatter or #alllivesmatter.

The facts bear out that minorities, particularly African Americans, are disproportionate targets of police brutality and shootings.  That is something that this has got to stop.  I believe the problems are systemic, but also deeply complicated.  They will take much more than pointing the camera at individual incidents of unjustified shootings to solve (although that’s a start).  Making progress on these issues will require a change in the culture of police departments (see this police officer’s emotional thoughts on the issue).  It will require a focused attempt at improving training in community policing, conflict resolution, and de-escalation (ironically, issues that the Dallas Police Department has been aggressively addressing, and with some success).

Protest peacefully.  Keep the heat on, most certainly.  It is a good sign that the Justice Department was called in immediately on the Sterling case, and got involved in Ferguson.  Walter Scott’s killer in South Carolina faces both murder and civil rights charges.  Progress often comes too slowly, but it comes nonetheless, and thanks largely to the peaceful protest movements like #blacklivesmatter.

But fostering change on these issues, on ANY issues, will not be helped by generalizing and demonizing the “other” as “the enemy.”  Everyone should take as much time today to mourn the five officers shot as they have for Alton Sterling, or Philando Castile, or Freddie Gray, or Tamir Rice.  And everyone… I was going to say “on all sides,” but really there should BE no sides here, it’s sad all around.  So everyone -- all of us, EVERY AMERICAN -- should stop and take a deep breath, and think about ways to HEAL.  Think about what police go through on a daily basis.  Think about what young black males experience on the street every day.  Greet a police officer when you see one.  Talk to people with different beliefs, in different socioeconomic situations.  THINK about ways to foster peaceful change where you believe it is needed.  

But more to the point, try to understand this entire issue -- and every issue -- in more complex ways than the simple “Us vs. Them.”  In more complex ways than presented by your average, indignant meme, however potent or accurate the message.

Life is not a meme.

No One Mind - Live Debut (Ruby Deluxe, Raleigh, NC, 6/25/16)

Every once in a while, a great band hatches fully formed.  That happens more around here than some places, due to the deep pool of talent we’re lucky to have in NC.  In this case, veteran musicians Missy Thangs (Love Language, Birds of Avalon), Ellis Anderson, and Noah Dehmer broke -- apparently not very amicably -- from the band Toddlers and formed No One Mind.  They "hatched" -- live birth -- at downtown Raleigh's new-ish backdoor venue, Ruby Deluxe, a couple of weeks back, and had already recorded their debut LP (out September on Third Uncle).  Missy and Ellis play keys and guitar, respectively, while Dehmer remains a songwriting partner.  The rest of the stage roles are filled by Joel Willis on drums and Sam Logan (Lilac Shadows) on bass.

While Anderson fronts the band, No One Mind (as the name suggests) is an amalgam of its parts.  Just within their recently-released 7-inch, the sound ranges from the heavy, bass-driven pop of Born Again to the psychedelic, synth-laden, Moody Blues-y mini-opus, Baron Gain.  The overall vibe is restlessly brooding, but not too dark.  Live, they’re a bit more upbeat, though still intense and fun.  Keep an eye out; guaranteed to be a good show.

 

Organos Lives! First show in years, some videos...

One of my favorite, and one of the most unique, Triangle bands is Organos, the brainchild of Durham's Maria Albani.  Lately, she's been keeping herself busy with the Potluck Foundation, See Gulls, and Schooner, not to mention rescuing dogs from Mexico (oh and I'm sure a job or something).  But Organos is her baby, her musical voice.

I rarely take so many videos of a band.  But the desire for such was expressed, and Organos' sound lends itself well to the questionable sound recording of my Nikon (i.e., not so much loud guitar, feedback and distortion).  Plus, who knows when they'll play again?!  (a little bird tells me Nightlight in July)

So here's 5 songs from Organos, recorded at the Anti-HB2 Fundraiser at Kings.  It was put on by the band Make, who were also great... and don't get me started about In the Year of the Pig, whom I had stupidly never seen!  I took a vid of them as well, but I'm not sure yet how it came out (I'll post if it's decent).











Besides just raising awareness to fight HB2 and discrimination in general, the show was a fundraiser for Southerners on New Ground.  Check out the link to learn more about the cause.

Jon Lindsay - Cities and Schools

The first cut of Jon Lindsay’s Cities and Schools, All Them Houses, pops open like tray of Jiffy Pop.  You can immediately hear two things:  there’s a definite ‘80s retro vibe, and Lindsay is a master of melodies.

But his ‘80s touchstones are more aligned with pop-wave of bands like Split Enz, Squeeze, and XTC than the usual darker, punky influences kids wear on their sleeves these days.  There’s a middle ground between Bauhaus and Bananarama, you know.  Between The Killing Moon and Karma Chameleon.

But it’s not all oldschoolnewwave.  The album blends this synth-y vibe with a hefty dose of guitar crunch, really just coming off as power pop, not limited to any era.  See Lifer, When They Broke the World... well, pretty much all of it.

On Lifer, lyrics like “Your love is downtown! Downtown!” pair perfectly with such catchiness.  But a closer look belies the outward fluff; her “love” is her banking job, which has sucked her up to the exclusion of everything else.  Figures that Lindsay, maestro behind the overtly political NC Music Love Army and former Charlotte resident, would touch on the banking crisis... if only obliquely (and probably unintentionally).  But Cities and Schools never veers too far from the personal.  He complains on When They Broke the World not about the Great Recession, but that “they hurt my girl.”  One wonders if All Them Houses is influenced by the burst of the housing bubble, but it sounds more about that of a relationship.  Hugo gets more specifically personal, relating his life-changing childhood experience surviving that 1989 monster hurricane.  A little PTSD (or PHSD) therapy.  As a Gulf Coast refugee, I can definitely understand that.

But still, the sometimes dark personal musings are always delivered in a jumpy tone.  No.  Perhaps it’s more one of restlessness, a little anxiousness, running throughout.

Funky organ and syncopations provide welcome mid-album detours on A Couple More Boats and Jonny Outta Control.  Lindsay reserves his most bitter words for the record industry, on In Breach.  Biting lyrics abound:  “What’s it like not to have any friends that you don’t have to buy?”, “My greatest treasure is time, which you have frittered away”, “If you were covered in fire, I wouldn’t spit in your face.”  Ouch!

But when The Man tells him “Just give us every single thing we’re looking for” I’m thinking “What else COULD they be looking for?!?”  The songs on Cities and Schools hike a trail of ultra-catchy, melodic pop that’s hard to resist.  And one seldom traveled by other NC bands.  Maybe it’s considered too precious and precocious by today’s uber-jaded hipsters… I don’t know.  I DO know that after listening to Cities... a couple of times, the songs keep echoing in my head.  Isn’t that what you want?

Jon Lindsay and his band play a record release show for Cities and Schools at Raleigh’s Pour House on Saturday, June 11th, with The Old Ceremony opening.