I had two initial reasons for picking up the new LP Spaced Out from Calgary, Alberta based band Ketamines.  The first, less serious reason, was that their band name reminded me of one of my favorite “ironic” T-shirts of all time.  The shirt read “I am high on life…and by life I mean Ketamine.” Stupid, yes, but for whatever reason it stuck with me. The other, more pertinent reason was that the record was distributed through Southpaw Records. I was already buying the new Outer Minds record, so I decided to add this other new record to my shopping cart, as music nerds like myself are known to do.  While my motives for checking out the LP gave no reason to believe that the record would be good, my blind purchase turned out to be a successful choice.

I pretty safely assumed that the record would be of the hazy garage type from my minimal experience hearing about the band and the label they were on, but knew from experience that doesn’t guarantee that it will be good.  Ketamines not only proved to be a solid release, but ventures into the weird nooks and crannies of pysch-garage that help to make it stand out from the crowd.  There are moments of garage rock mediocrity, like the power chords and cow bells “meh”-ness of “Teenage Rebellion Time,” but most of the record is a scintillating kaleidoscope of genres. The spectrum runs from the thick molasses groove of “1 yr” to the underwater punk ballad “Skin Trade,” with each song sending the listener down a different rabbit hole. There are a few songs that walk the tightrope of being generic, like “Kill Me Now,” “Evil Intentions” and “Spaced Out,” but the band find a way to wrap layers of fuzz around their 3 chord rock.  “Midnight Dawn” sounds like it could have been off the underrated 2011 LP from UV Race, and the band even prove adapt at bringing to life a surf-garage instrumental “No Grand Design.”

While my two reasons for purchasing the record (a random T-shirt advocating drug use and a shared label with a band I like) may have seemed random, but turned out to be decent reference points for the record.  Like Outer Minds (and other bands released by Southpaw Records), Spaced Out is steeped in garage rock and wrapped in a blanket of old school pysch rock.  As for the T-shirt, the people who thought it would be funny to make that shirt probably think on the same wavelengths as the people who name their band after the drug, which manifests itself in the weird and eclectic left turns that pop up all over the record.  Spaced Out has moments of unbridled weirdness mixed with some more straightforward material, with the end result being a solid record that, no matter why you pick it up, should give you something to like.

See the band tonight at the Turf tonight as part of the Chicago Blackout Fest Kick-Off Party with Teledrome, COZY, Teenage Strangler

Local label 25 Diamonds have done pretty well out of the gate with their first two releases (Red Pens 7″ and the Teenage Moods LP), so they hopefully have gained enough goodwill from local music fans as they look for support on their forthcoming project.  The label is asking for help putting out the LP Let’s Be Enemies by the Arkansas based band Everyone Asked About You.  The band recorded the album in 1999 and had a few people offer to release it, but none of the offers ever came to fruition.  You can read the whole back story, see a video of the band performing and donate/per-order HERE.

Peelander Z

Birthday Suits

In Defense

– Photos By Jon Behm

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Father Yod was one of the original Los Angeles weirdos.  He and his Source Family commune opened LA’s first health food store, practiced psychedelic spiritualism, and recorded experimental music under the name Ya Ho Wa 13.  And while Yod actually died way back in a bizarre hang gliding accident back in 1975, Drag City has unearthed a previously unreleased trove of the commune’s recordings to be released on May 22nd. You can actually stream the record in its entirety via KCET’s Artbound program, and if you dig that hoodoo vibe you can order the double LP along with an accompanying article from Caroline Ryder entitled “Meet the New Aquarians” from Drag City.

It can be difficult to gain a balanced perspective on an album after reading a single summary of the music. Bias can tilt a review, as can personal taste, history and just about everything else that is unique to the person writing it. So in an effort to offer an expanded perspective in such a medium, here are three reactions, three impressions, three Takes on Blunderbuss by Jack White.

Steve Skavnak (@steveskavnak)

81/100

I’ve always enjoyed Jack White’s work in his other projects, but I wouldn’t say I’ve ever been a devout follower of his career. With that, I went into Blunderbuss with absolutely zero expectations. I had heard “Sixteen Saltines” and “Love Interruption,” thinking favorably of both, but not blown away by either. I came away pleasantly surprised, fond of the large majority of the record and more appreciative of the man who has become a musical icon of our generation.

Anyone that saw Jack White’s recent SNL performance witnessed the adorably campy way White switched from an all-female backing back to an all-male one of the second song of the evening. While this seemed to be all for show, when listening to Blunderbuss’ 13 punchy tracks, you can actually envision this change and understand that it’s for sound. The album alternates between White’s signature crunchy guitar hooks and a newfound (or at least more prominent) love of piano, which works the best near the middle of the record on the emotive “Hypocritical Kiss” and the urgent bellowing on “Weep Themselves to Sleep” (which also boasts one of White’s killer screeching guitar solos). Then there’s the beginning of “I’m Shakin,’” which could easily be mistaken for a tune by The Black Keys (the irony has seemingly come full circle). The standout for me, though, may very well be the most timid track on Blunderbuss. Take away the intermediate drumming and “Hip (Eponymous) Poor Boy” sounds like a White Stripes outtake done right, with White utilizing some of the same production mastery he used on Loretta Lynn’s Van Lear Rose.

Now if Mr. White would just visit Minneapolis for a night or two, it’d be nice to hear some of this new material live before he moves on to his next endeavor.

Ali Elabbady (Background Noise Crew, Egypto Knuckles)

84/100

Numerous side projects, managing the day-to-day at Third Man, and a daunting task to show what’s so different about Jack White aside from the band known as The White Stripes, how does one overcome all that to create Blunderbuss?  There’s really not a question as to Jack White’s virtuosity, and Blunderbuss showcases that in a lot of ways.  What comes in this debut solo record from Jack White is not so much drastically different from his work with his various side projects and his work with the White Stripes, if anything it sheds another layer as to what Jack White can do with all that influence, and its evident in “Freedom At 21″ where a nice groove settles in and Jack blurts out lyrics similar to bounce type hip-hop, riding the rhythm perfectly.  ”Sixteen Saltines” is an outright rock jam, whereas “Love Interruption” is a nicely tinged acoustic song with some well-done keyboard work.  Which brings us back to the initial question: what’s so different about Blunderbuss? Really, if you’re looking at the album from an aesthetic point of view, not much has changed.  Sure there may be more mid-tempo jams around and a fair share of nicely done acoustic ones, but one thing is for sure, Jack White continues to be a man who can wear many hats and still treat every project like its something new.

74/100

I didn’t jump into the Beach House review we did last week, but despite the fact that I like Beach House much more than Jack White, I couldn’t help but having the same thoughts about both albums.  How many times can you go back to the same well before people get tired? With his first solo LP Blunderbuss, Jack White goes back to the sounds that have made him so famous with the White Stripes, Dead Weather, The Raconteurs and his other various projects.  White takes the listener on a tour of his previous greatest hits, ranging from the hard charging garage blues of “Sixteen Saltines” to the melody rich piano jaunt “Hypocritical Kiss” to the folk-y “I Guess I Should Go To Sleep” and back to the sultry, organ groove of “Missing Pieces.”  Like always, there is clear talent present on the album, with White able to wring a slightly new sound or different take on a sound that is many lifetimes older than him, but how long can you walk down the same path before it starts seeming a bit redundant?  Like Beach House, most fans with previous experience with his work would be able to pinpoint that this a Jack White effort within the first minute of any of these songs.  This speaks to a distinctive and meticulous sound that has been perfected over the years, but I couldn’t help but thinking what could have been if he had taken his talent in different directions.  His work with Loretta Lynn was cool—why not a rustic, old school country album?  He put out a White Denim LP on his Third Man Records—why not a pysched out blues meltdown?  Blunderbuss will appease current fans of White, bring in a few new listeners and leave causal fans like myself feeling wildly indifferent.

Following up on their This is Bollywood EP, local group Bollywood are back with a new 7″ of demented electro fuzz, further muddying the water of their sleazy sound.  The A-Side “Young” is caustic and breaks into a mid song “solo” that is mostly bend notes and then flips the whole feel of the song.  Even before the blinding left turn, the beginning the track has an off-kilter feel and show the band stretching the listener even further than they did on their debut.  The flip side doesn’t clear up much, with the murky “Turquoise” slugging along for a good half minute before a pulse rises from the corpse and morphs into a dark, new wave-y track that is detached and obtuse in just the right way.  While Bollywood don’t make it easy on their listener, they at least make it interesting.

Meshuggah

Baroness

Decapitated

Dreamless

Dreamless

Big Freedia

Slapping Purses

Votel

– Photos By Jon Behm

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