Of Illness and Ear Worms

It seems the upshot of our first indoor concert since October 2019 was that L. and I both got sick. She tested positive for Covid (but is doing fine), while I somehow have not tested positive, though all the symptoms over the last few days seem like Covid. I have been congested and pretty much lost my ability to taste or smell for about three days. Thankfully, the taste/smell combo seems to be returning today. The congestion isn't as bad, but is now replaced with a nasty, periodic cough.

This will not stop us from seeing Sloan at Saint Andrew's Hall in June, though I think I will mask up through the entire show. Perhaps our risk of Covid will be less in a crowd of good-natured Canadians as opposed to wild animal DBT fans? I have no idea.

When I wasn't feeling cruddy this weekend, I was watching the NCAA basketball tournament and listening to music. For awhile on Saturday, I got to do what I'd do in my younger bachelor days and mute the sound on the TV with music playing on the stereo. I had the Go-Go's Beauty and the Beat playing first--I recently found a pristine vinyl copy and now own this album for the very first time. It's always a relief to hear music that you liked as a kid that still holds up years later as an adult. It's not just the hits "Our Lips Are Sealed" and "We Got the Beat" that still kill, but album tracks like "This Town" and "Can't Stop the World" that are excellent. 

Recently, I found a used copy of the 2009 reissue of The Beatles' Rubber Soul CD for a reasonable price. When those 2009 reissues were released (click on "2009" in this blog in which I blab about them), the only ones on my list of "must-buys" were Sgt. Pepper and Abbey Road. For whatever reason, Revolver and Rubber Soul didn't make the cut. I can only assume I was trying to be economical. I also resent record companies tempting consumers (i,e., me) to buy albums they already own. Of course, I frequently cave in. I happily report that the 2009 Rubber Soul sounds amazing--at least, I think it sounds amazing. Is my brain just trying to convince me that of course it HAS to sound better than the 1987 CD release? I suppose I will have to do a side-by-side comparison to reach a final conclusion.

Up next was Fugazi's album End Hits (1998), which despite its confusing title is not a hits compilation. Fugazi didn't have "hits" anyway. I was never into Fugazi in their lifetime as a band--something about them seemed too serious and humorless--but in the last few years I have come to appreciate their musicianship. I'm still not a big fan of their vocals. I suppose I prefer Guy Picciotto's comparatively more pleasant-sounding voice over Ian MacKaye's. With Fugazi, pleasant vocals aren't the point. It's intense music that is decidedly not made to be played at a cocktail party. It's challenging, often confrontational, but also sometimes experimental and even (gulp) playful.

The final album on the docket was Sloan's Twice Removed. Why oh why did it take me so long to discover this album? Why was my fandom of Sloan such a slow burn? They make music that hits my sweet spot: power pop perfection and intelligent songwriting. Twice Removed could be a Canadian version of Blur's Parklife, which was released right around the same time. The album opener "Pen Pals" makes me chuckle, with its lyrics of broken English likely taken directly from fan letters written to the band. On top of that, the song is ear candy.

So that was my Saturday of music listening.

Drive-By Truckers in Detroit

Before I forget it ever happened, I need to take some time to write about seeing Drive-By Truckers in Detroit on Friday, March 10.

This was my/our first indoor concert since before the pandemic, and guess what? L. and I both have colds now. We assume from being in a small space with hundreds of people in close quarters. Oh well, at least it isn't covid.

The show itself was fun. DBT always brings it and last Friday at Saint Andrew's was no exception. 

Since DBT has no "hits" per se, and a rabid fanbase that has in most cases followed them for decades and knows the entire discography front-to-back, the band plays whatever the hell they feel like playing that night. In fact, they are famous for not using a setlist. So every Truckers show is a unique experience and you're never sure what you will get.

Young singer-songwriter Margo Cilker was the opener. Despite some technical glitches--her guitar-playing partner on stage seemed to have some problems with his amplifier--she good-naturedly soldiered through and was warmly received by the crowd.

DBT played a high energy two-hour set. Apparently there is an 11:00 curfew because that is exactly when the show ended and the house lights came on. It was probably just as well because my feet felt like raw hamburger standing for 3 1/2 hours in thin-soled Vans skateboard shoes. (Note to self: next time wear shoes for comfort and not style. Nobody can see my shoes in the dark, anyway).

The most notable highlights of the show were the Truckers covering Alice Cooper's "I'm Eighteen," and the Jim Carroll Band's "People Who Died." Patterson Hood prefaced the Carroll song with a moving eulogy to the band"s longtime album cover/poster artist Wes Freed, who died unexpectedly late last year. Hood has always been transparent about his struggles with depression, and Freed's death shook him and sent him spiralling. Thankfully, it seems Hood is getting better. He certainly seemed happy and energetic during this Detroit show.

Money City Maniacs

 When I drove to work this morning, I had Sloan's album (CD) Navy Blues playing and I did what I rarely do, I played the same song twice in a row. My jam was on this particular morning "Money City Maniacs" which sounds like a melding of AC/DC and Big Star. The blaring sirens that open the track are an instant hook. The lyrics seem to describe wild days and nights on the road for a touring road dog band, with the lyric I mistakenly overhead as "And the joke is/When he awoke his/Body was covered in goat piss." Unfortunately, the real line is, apparently, "coke fizz" and not "goat piss." I'm not sure which one makes the least sense. In any case, it doesn't really matter that much because the song is a total ear worm.