Pharmacy Spirits
Teen Challenge
March 2010
Self-Released.
Pharmacy Spirits – Books
Pharmacy Spirits – Just Like Charles
This spring we received a beautiful gift from Nebraska’s Pharmacy Spirits. Following the path carved by their debut EP Every Song Ended In 1994, Teen Challenge stands on the shoulders of giants, and it stands tall. The record somewhat insinuates a contradiction, sharing the name of an evangelical Christian outreach program created in the 1950’s to heal the country’s youth of their addiction to drugs, alcohol, and sexual perversion. Pharmacy Spirits and Teen Challenge explores the expanse between depraved debauchery and outlandish treatment programs; the anxiety of each extreme is encapsulated by the band’s style. Taking a listen to their earlier EP, one recognizes a celebration of British and American new wave and post-punk engaged in fornication with college radio demigods, producing a dance driving vegrandis opus that is ultimately hip.
The observation that sometime in 1994 the music died sells the narrative that the 80’s was a truly significant decade. The lives of such admired artists as The Glove, The Cure, Joy Division, Bauhaus, The Fall, and later bands like the Pixies and Pavement (Slanted and Enchanted, 1992 and Crooked Rain, Crooked Rain 1994), all flared and faded by the time 1994’s final sun set. Though this would be only one telling of the story, as many would argue that the few bands who still release albums are alive and well, not to mention, the very existence of Pharmacy Spirits’ seemingly inarguable relevance underscores the fact that many of these bands’ early catalog has never been hotter. These artists though have come through the looking glass marred by the now romanticized experiences of sex, drugs, and death. Enter Teen Challenge.
Piecing together and then articulating the ambient qualities of a record is never easy. The critic is forever the douche bag for ever even considering the use of his vocabulary. Teen Challenge though has a warmth and beauty that is so exquisitely wrought with desperation and exhaustive emotion that it would be difficult to talk about it without reading like a canvas description at the MOMA. Teen Challenge has all that the throw-backs of the modern era could ever hope. The best songs make you want to dance, the rest are just as cool, though the contrast between pulsations such as Books or Just Like Charles and the slow downs like Safety Now only serves to elevate the power and energy of the former. Simply put, Teen Challenge is a beautiful gift that has reified all that we ever loved about the decade of decadence, yet at the same time Pharmacy Spirits has the guts and vision to move beyond a bygone time, through the looking glass, to explore what still counts, what is still relevant. By all measures they have succeeded.
Tour
August 28th 7PM Eclipse Records w/ Dragons Power Up! & tba Minneapolis, Minnesota
August 29th 9PM Vaudeville Mews w/ Gabe Cordova & tba Des Moines, Iowa
September 3rd TBA
September 4th TBA
October 1st 9PM The Cave w/ Gospel Gossip! Northfield, Minnesota
October 2nd 9PM 331 Club w/ Gospel Gossip Minneapolis, Minnesota
Two of the best touring acts are on the road out of Nebraska.
The Machete Archive is a heavy post rock thunder feast. Fuckin’ A man…They are one of the better live acts to grace the Midwest.
Yes this band fucking rocks and you really need to show up for these folks. In Brooklyn, they’ll be playing at Goodbye Blue Monday on June 16th…Yes, yes, yes, I know we all have our issues with Goodbye Blue Monday, but come on, it is like the new CBGB’s….or whatever. So we should all go see these rapaciously decadent instrumentals, maybe you’ll find that lamp you’ve always wanted while you are at it.
As for Midwest Dilemma (Read Review Here), this band isn’t coming to New York this time around but their tour has plenty of dates in Wisconsin, Illinois, Iowa and the Dakotas. The strength of this band is their story telling through music. It is truly an archival experience.
June 7 7:00P Piano Lounge, Cedar Rapids, Iowa
June 8 9:00P Ronny’s Bar Chicago, IL
June 9 9:00P Monks Kaffe Pub Dubuque, Iowa
June 10 7:00P The Historic Trempealeau Hotel Trempealeau, WI
June 11 8:00P Paradigm Coffee & Music Sheboygan, Wisconsin
June 11 11:00P Green Room Pub Sheboygan, Wisconsin
June 12 7:00P The Attic Books and Coffee Green Bay, WI
June 13 8:30P The Root Note La Crosse, Wisconsin
June 14 8:00P Thirsty Pagan Brewery Superior, Wisconsin
June 15 10:30P Lee’s Liquor Lounge Minneapolis, MN
June 16 7:00P Drunken Noodle Fargo, ND
June 17 9:30P Latitude 44 Sioux Falls, SD
June 18 8:00P Red Rooster Aberdeen, SD
June 19 7:00P Slattery Vintage Estates Nehawka, Nebraska
Nebraska philanderers Pharmacy Spirits are touring the US and are making a special 3 day stop in NYC. Though I am getting the word out a bit late, I can’t recommend this show enough. They have the most beautiful and affective tracks I have heard in quite a while. Over the past month or so have fallen in love with Jim’s voice. A contemporary instantiation of what post-punk or Brit new wave ought to sound like. Think The Cure‘s Faith with a bit more light and a bit more fuzz. Their latest album Teen Challenge contains some truly outstanding shit. Time to get to Manhattan or Brooklyn and see the energy of this outfit for ourselves.
So it is almost here. The most anticipated album in a…well…a long time. As part of a promotion for their upcoming record Year of the How-To Book, Eagle Seagull is having a free online listening session as well as making I Am Sorry But I am Beginning to Hate Your Face, a most delicious song off of the new record, free for download. All you have to do is sign up for their email list. Here is the address for the offer, http://media.pias.com/eagleseagull/. Visit their Myspace as well, http://www.myspace.com/eagleseagull. For those of you who don’t know this band, it is about fucking time you get your priorities straight.
A note from the anticipation inducers about their upcoming record, Year of the How-To Book. We have been looking forward to this record for…well…for-fucking-ever… Below as posted on their Myspace and Facebook pages:
Our album WILL come out this year!!!
Hey all -
We haven’t been very good about updates and such over the past 8 months or so. So what have we been up to? Long story short, some utterly depressing things have happened to us and, obviously, our long overdue album “The Year of the How-To Book” has yet to be released.
That said, the album is coming out this year! Perhaps we should change the album’s title to “The Years of the How-To Book”…
Anyway, more updates to follow soon. Our heartfelt thanks to those of you still anticipating the release of this album. We hope you’ll agree with us (when the time comes) that it’s well worth the wait.
Peace & Love,
Eli andEagle Seagull
While we wait for the record to find its way to our various music machines, we wish Eli and company the best of luck and a long period of mania to follow their troubles.
Oh My God
Fools Want Noise
October 14th 2008
Split Red Records
Oh My God- Facewash
Oh My God- Houston
While I have loved many bands over the years, there have only been few that I really give a shit about. Would you believe it, Chicago’s Oh My God is one of them. I first met Bish, Ig, and Billy many, many years ago when they played Duffy’s Tavern back in Nebraska. I had seen them a few times prior and was very impressed with their performance. My sister also happened to be in town from Chicago and I wanted to take her to a great show at my favorite dingy bar. They did not disappoint.
Rumors circulated that there would be an afterhours party with the band. Memory from that night being hazy, I can’t exactly remember how I scored the address, but I later found myself with my sister and a friend parked in a gravel lot outside a big house in the country. There didn’t seem to be anyone around and our first instinct was to scram, but the van was there and I was determined to meet these freakishly performative people. I don’t remember much about the night save the phrase “flying fish farm”, a bottle of Makers Mark, absolutely delicious vegan lasagna, Ig’s massive hair, and the extremely kind company of Ig and Billy as we sat around a living room table discussing who knows what. My sister, my friend, and I were thrilled to have imposed on their late night festivity.
Later, when booking a show at a venue in Lincoln named Knickerbockers, I learned that Oh My God was on tour again and that my band was to open for them. This had my gut in knots. There was certainly no way we were going to compare. But we suffered through it, knowing what was to take place on the same stage only moments after our breakdown. It was a blissful evening, regardless of the sad circumstance of less than capacity attendance. Eventually I moved to Chicago where I saw them at the Double Door for their tour’s homecoming. This time I brought my cousin and a few friends. They were equally impressed with the band’s visceral performance.
Oh My God is aggressively eccentric. You haven’t ever seen a scissor kick until you’ve seen Billy fling his body around the stage. To give you any idea of their antics, Billy often begins shows dressed as a clown or plays the show in a kimono, or a clown in a kimono. As the show progresses he loses an article of clothing here and there, until he ends up in his skivvies, sweat run makeup, and a white tee-shirt that has some handwritten social critique such as “legalize prostitution” printed across the chest.
I always liked Oh My God’s combination of instruments. Their songs are structured around the drums, bass, and organ. The drums are often schizophrenic, the bass is distorted and fuzzed to excess, and the organ is tweaked beyond recognition. Since those days in Chicago and Nebraska, they have added guitar to the amalgamation. Tragically, while on the road in Ohio during a recent tour in 2007, a car collided with their van head on. Every member received terrible injuries. Billy shattered a kneecap, cracked a few vertebrae, and broke three ribs. Bish broke his left wrist and Ig broke his right. Matt, playing guitar on tour, broke his tibia, nose, and thumb. To be honest, I thought the band was through. It is extremely difficult to tour year in and out, record after record, only to be forced to postpone an upcoming record release and take a year off for physical therapy, psychologically to start again. I can only imagine the difficulties they encountered. I wished them the best in a dire situation.
So imagine my surprise when Frederick Foxtrott received a copy of their new record for review. The triumph of this band only underscores their tenacity and energy. While I have always said that Oh My God’s live show never quite translates onto plastic, their newest effort Fools Want Noise comes closest to capturing the frenetic display on stage, although I will always have a place in my heart for Interrogations & Confessions. New to the band are drummer Dathan DeVore and guitarist Anthony Gravino. While I have not witnessed Oh My God play in their current incarnation, I assume they will have all the excess that my memory reports.
Fools Want Noise continues Oh My God’s irreverent tradition. Billy’s voice is steeped in rhythm and blues, imbuing the rugged bass lines and industrial organ with hooks and catchy phrases that snare even the most indifferent of listeners. The melodies were forged in a popcentric factory. Oh My God is a candy coated cog. Though this combination makes for an unlikely surfacing into the mainstream, make no mistake, Fools Want Noise is infectious. Oh My God is an indulgent, intense and socially seditious band.
Every track on this record attracts the listener as much as it challenges them. Billy exudes a libertine persona that shuns social standards with confrontational words. They don’t keep safe any particular agenda; they prescribe an abandonment of all extremes, all the while shanking the status quo. Even in some of their contradiction the band seeks beauty. Billy’s soliciting eyebrows and cocky form sing songs about failure, vulnerability, and tragic love. Oh My God’s words are provocative in that they judge against judgment, while at the same time projecting themselves as iconoclasts seeking to deliberately break from the cagey grip of modern expectations. This allows some of the more saccharine elements of Oh My God’s music to be enjoyed in an abnormal context instead from the inhibiting and trite perspective of the masses.
Other Music
Oh My God EP- 2000
Action!- 2002
Interrogations & Confessions- 2003
You’re Too Straight to Love Me- 2004
Tour
Sept 18, 2008 Founders Brewery Grand Rapids, MI
Sept 19, 2008 The Loading Dock Traverse City, MI
Sept 20, 2008 DIY Street Fair Ferndale, MI
Sept 20, 2008 The Belmont Hamtramck, MI
Sept 25, 2008 Midpoint Music Cincinnati, OH
Sept 26, 2008 (Scene) Metrospace Lansing, MI
Sept 26, 2008 Mac’s Bar Lansing, MI
Sept 27, 2008 Beauty & the Beat Flint, MI
Sept 28, 2008 Allegheny College Meadville, PA
Sept 29, 2008 Smog @ Bard Annondale On Hudson, NY
Sept 30, 2008 Daniel Street Club Milford, CT
Oct 01, 2008 Pianos York, NY
Oct 02, 2008 Mohawk Place Buffalo, NY
Oct 03, 2008 Casa Cantina Athens, OH
Oct 04, 2008 Howard’s Club H Bowling Green, OH
Oct 10, 2008 Doug’s Rockhouse Aurora, IL
Oct 11, 2008 Subterranean Chicago, IL
Oct 16, 2008 The House Dekalb, IL
Oct 17, 2008 Triple Rock Minneapolis, MN
Oct 18, 2008 Cactus Club Milwaukee, WI
Oct 23, 2008 Cowboy Monkey Champaign, IL
Oct 24, 2008 Bluebird St. Louis, MO
Oct 25, 2008 Record Bar Kansas City, MO
Oct 26, 2008 Duffy’s Lincoln, NE
Oct 27, TBA Pittsburg, KS
Oct 28, 2008 Hailey’s Denton, TX
Oct 29, 2008 Beerland Austin, TX
Oct 30, 2008 TBA Paso, TX
Oct 31, 2008 Hotel Congress Tucson, AZ
Nov 01, 2008 Modified Arts Phoenix, AZ
Nov 02, 2008 The Mint Los Angeles, CA
Nov 03, 2008 Bottom of the Hill San Francisco, CA
Nov 05, 2008 TBA Rapid City, SD
Nov 06, 2008 Nutty’s North Sioux Falls, SD
Nov 07, 2008 Maya Jane’s Vermillion, SD
Nov 08, 2008 Maintenance Shop Ames, IA
Conor Oberst
Conor Oberst
August 5th 2008
Merge Records
A cynic might note that Bright Eyes singer Conor Oberst has never really been known as simply a member of a band. He has always been the perceived heart and celebrated soul of Bright Eyes. Whether or not this is true does not exactly enlighten as to why Oberst has decided to release a record under his own name. We can’t quite call it a solo album can we? While Bright Eyes has permanent members, it is Oberst’s presence that is requisite. Simply said, Conor Oberst is Bright Eyes. Perhaps it is this conventional knowledge that provoked this moniker removal. In somewhat of a logical observation, Oberst can be seen to be taking a brake from himself and the persona that has been constructed by both his own efforts and those of industry tastemakers, eager to turn out a unique and compelling story; the results of which range from sincere critical praise to unfortunate narratives proffering Oberst as some sort of Doogie Houser of Indie Folk.
On an academic note, the Nebraska native’s introspection exemplifies the angle from which we, the audience, are intended to view. Oberst’s mythology is invariably rooted in his belongingness to Nebraska, a no-name, know-nothing state somewhere other than where most people live. Omaha is the locus that anchors much of his storytelling. Oberst’s proximity to home is in many ways the heart of his work; it is the referential space that is established in his lyrics as a place to be missed, a place in which to be misunderstood, and a place to misunderstand. These references are not always direct, but they are ubiquitously intertwined.
“He taught me victory is sweet even deep in the cheap seats…”
Even as he releases a self-titled record, suggesting biography, Conor Oberst and the Mystic Valley Band offer a personal narrative that is reflexive and acutely aware of where his lyrical perspective is anchored. Released on Merge Records rather than our beloved Saddle Creek, Conor Oberst is a record that disconnects from the iconic figure that the songwriter has become, allowing for the reclamation of personhood. By naming the record after himself he contrasts what would be expected from him as Bright Eyes and what he would offer when striped of ambiguity. It should not be contentious to note this provocation.
“Bitch in heat, the alpha male, not something she’d ever tell, except when she was deathly high. Then out it came, like summer rain, washed the cars and everything felt clean for just a little while…”
With that said, Conor Oberst delivers one of his most lyrically impressive efforts to date. Taylor Hollingsworth, Nik Freitas, Macey Taylor, Nate Walcott, and Jason Boesel have signed on to tour in support of a record removed from the weighty expectations of studio refinement. Instead Oberst and a few friends absconded to Tepocztlán, Morelos, Mexico and put together a dozen tunes recorded in a make shift studio. It is a largely upbeat folk rock record that at times sees Oberst return to his most lip quivering form. The references to Latin life and the open road conjure images from Jack Kerouac and Hunter S. Thompson. While this might unfairly reduce Oberst’s incredible story telling, make no mistake, Oberst and the Mystic Valley Band have made a record entirely in tune with Beat culture. While Dylan comparison may be appropriate, it is Oberst’s anachronistic membership to the larger artistic tradition that in some ways allow him to be viewed as a peer, rather than a derivative of the Blonde on Blonde architect.Conor Oberstis as beautiful as it is provocative; it is anthropological. It is exactly what was needed to avoid the impending caricature of the passé boy genius in favor asserting an identity beyond the artifice of a clever name.
“There is nothing that the road cannot heal…washed under the blacktop, gone beneath my wheels…There is nothing that the road cannot heal…”
Bright Eyes Cassadaga- 2007
Noise Floor (Rarities: 1998-2005)- 2006
Motion Sickness: Live Recordings- 2005
Digital Ash in a Digital Urn- 2005
I’m Wide Awake, It’s Morning- 2005
A Christmas Album- 2002
Lifted or The Story Is in the Soil, Keep Your Ear to the Ground- 2002
Fevers and Mirrors- 2000
Letting Off the Happiness- 1998
A Collection of Songs Written and Recorded 1995-1997- 1998
Desaparecidos
Read Music/Speak Spanish- 2002
Commander Venus
The Uneventful Vacation- 1997
Do You Feel at Home?- 1995
Tour
9/2 Amsterdam – Melkweg
9/3 Brussels – Botanique
9/4 Luxembourg – Den Atelier
9/5 Zurich – Rote Fabrik
9/7 Munich – Backstage Werk
9/8 Zagreb – Studenski
9/9 Vienna – Arena
9/10 Prague – Roxy
9/11 Cologne – Gloria
9/12 Larmer Tree Gardens, North Dorset – End of the Road Festival
9/13 Paris – Nouveau Casino
9/14 Mannheim Alte Feuerwache
9/15 Berlin – Columbia Club
9/20 Omaha, NE Anchor Inn w/ Jenny Lewis
9/21 Nashville, TN Ryman Auditorium w/ Jenny Lewis
9/22 Knoxville, TN Bijou Theatre w/ Jenny Lewis
9/23 Fayetteville, AR George’s Majestic Lounge w/ Jenny Lewis
9/24 Oxford, MS The Lyric w/ Jenny Lewis
9/25 Tulsa, TX Cain’s Ballroom w/ Jenny Lewis
9/27 Austin, TX – Austin City Limits
9/28 Austin, TX – La Zona Rosa w/ M. Ward
10/02 Melbourne, AUS The Palace
10/03 Brisbane, AUS Tivoli
10/04 Sydney, AUS Enmore
10/07 Honolulu, Hawaii Pipeline Cafe
10/21 Los Angeles, CA Music Box @ Fonda
10/22 Los Angeles, CA Music Box @ Fonda
10/24 San Francisco, CA The Warfield
11/08 New York, NY Terminal 5
11/09 New York, NY Terminal 5
Nebraska again has the pleasure of welcoming home a favorite son back to Omaha and Lincoln for a special performance at the end of September. Matt Focht of Head of Femur fame will be on stage at the Anchor Inn in Omaha and Duffy’s Tavern in Lincoln. With the help of 6 newly enlisted rockers, Focht will debut new material. He will be in great company too:
Decently produced show footage from Eagle Seagull‘s performance at Paridiso in Amsterdam on May 21st of this year. I think that, in regards to a release date for their upcoming LP The Year of the How-To Book, it is safe safe to say that “Some time early in 2008″ has been modified to “Sometime in 2008,” but I think most people are fine with that, as long as they get a wink and a wave. This footage below does just that, and fine job as well. I am not even sure why I thought the record was coming sooner than later. I probably just made it up.
Also if you would like to read some of Eagle Seagull‘s exploits as they toured with The B-52sclick here. Eli Mardock tells The Reader a harrowing tale of a nipple pinching deviant, a nippy Fred Schneider, and the true meaning of family fun at Disney Land. Enjoy!
Head of Femur
Great Plains
March 25th 2008
Greyday Records
Beyond the band’s weirdness and artsy veneer, Head of Femur has a core spirit that has captured the imagination of thousands. The journey they have undertaken, from inception to contemporary form, underscores their unique and enduring qualities. Their narrative is a sort of mythos, inspirational in its own way, yet filled with difficult challenges. Great Plains, more than any other record in their catalog, portrays Head of Femur as the pioneers they are. With it they continue their uncompromised ethos, but over the last two years they have had the time to reflect on their situation and the willingness to move forward, adjust and absorb events that ultimately shaped the band’s present incarnation.
Since the release of Hysterical Stars in 2005, the boys of Head of Femur have taken it upon themselves to rework their operation. The mid-section of this decade saw great things for the band. They christened the first ever Intonation Festival and traveled across the country in support of Hysterical Stars. Head of Femur received favorable reviews from tastemakers such as Pitchfork for Ringodom or Proctor and Hysterical Stars. They released the EP Leader and the Falcon in October of 2007, the same month that they had a great showing at the CMJ Music Marathon. Expectations for their subsequent release were high.
Between 2005 and 2007 founding member Ben Armstrong (hear, hear!) and keyboardist Tyson Thurston left the band for other pursuits. Each contributed to Head of Femur’s newest release and remains part of the Head of Femur family. Colby Starck now attends to the bands percussive needs and Eathan Janney has transitioned perfectly on keys. As anyone who has witnessed will attest, their live show is not to be missed. They have been touring for the better part of two years with material that is featured on their Leader and the Falcon EP and their newest record Great Plains.
It is not that a revolving roster of musicians is new to Head of Femur. That has been the norm since the bands beginning. In fact that has been one of the defining characteristics of the band whose extended musical family numbers well over a dozen. Head of Femur has scaled down the magnitude of instrumentation with Great Plains. Some have said, “Head of Femur‘s Great Plains sheds the excessive glory of past efforts and focuses on immediate melodies.” But this line does not aptly describe the transition the band has undergone. The style and fashion that the band projects can at times be eccentric and schizophrenic, but that is not the monolith by which they should be defined.
To call their music excessive rebuts the very movement that their prior records sought to establish. As much as minimalist 3 piece rock bands have become standard fodder for music halls everywhere, Head of Femur has asserted their belief that composition and orchestration have a place as well. They have reduced their instrumentation, resulting in more manageable live shows, but do not think for a second that they have resigned only to what is immediate, forsaking their multitude of multi-phonic, multilayered, tempo driven textures.
Mike Elsener impressively sings lead on Jetway Junior and Where’s the Fire, two of his best vocal tracks ever. Covered Wagons is one of the finest crafted songs of the season. Between it and Isn’t It a Shame, Head of Femur has definitively asserted themselves as serious song writers. Their oddness does not corrupt their talent. The narrative that the band presents in their music reflects their adventures from Omaha and Lincoln Nebraska, to the neighborhoods of Chicago, where they are not simply transplants, but are ingrained into the art and music scenes.
This Message reminds me of Chicago and my Midwestern experience. The track will never get old and is among the best they have ever written. While it doesn’t quite capture the intensity of their live show, the looped riff from Napoleon’s Boots is phenomenal. Elsener’s chops are appropriately featured on this record. Song after song presents a band that knows exactly how they want to sound; they are not confused about the aesthetic they emit. However, they seem to be unaware of their greatness. If a criticism could be leveled against them, it would be that they should tour ceaselessly. Head of Femur‘s music is endearing and crisp on record, but their music is infectious and consuming live. Come see Brooklyn bitches!
Other Music
Ringodom or Proctor- 2003
Do The Tavern and Other Tall Tales iTunes EP- 2005
Hysterical Stars-2005
Leader and the Falcon EP- 2007
On Tour
April 11th 8:00PM @ Shubas- Chicago
May 15th 10:15PM @ Uptown- Minneapolis, Minnesota
May 17th 8:00PM @ Busted Lift- Dubuque, Iowa
May 18th 6:00PM @ Iowa City Yacht Club- Iowa City, Iowa
May 19th 10:00PM @ Box Awesome- Lincoln, Nebraska
May 20th 11:00PM @ The Waiting Room- Omaha, Nebraska
