You've Changed- Making Sense of Let's Start a Cult by Rustic Overtones

I think the problem is the length.

That’s what she said.

No I’m serious.

So is she.

Moving on, I’m talking about the new Rustic Overtones album, Let’s Start a Cult, and how my problem with it, the main hang up I have about it, is the length. It’s too short. That’s the stumbling block. The last song seems to start right after the third song is over. I know there is a slow song in there somewhere, but ultimately we have the first two- “Let’s Start a Cult” and “Let’s Start a Cult Part 2,” which sound like one song, albeit one with a regrettable outro, and a nice enough third song, “Solid.” Then, just like that, the horns creep in for the beginning of “Going Out With a Bang/Grand Finale” and a few short minutes later, the album is over.

It’s confusing.

That’s what she said.

Shut up, I’m still serious.

Let’s Start a Cult is a shade less than thirty minutes long. It’s only eight songs, none that reach the five minute mark and only three that hit four minutes. In contrast, the last album, New Way Out, had only five songs out of thirteen that were under four minutes. Now a song doesn’t need to be long to be good. That’s not the point. The point is that part of the draw of Rustic albums was the depth and scope of them. There was a shitload of shit going on. With Let’s Start a Cult, there are really just a handful of things happening. It’s not disappointing and it’s not like the music is bad- it’s just…different.

My relationship with Rustic started in high school and since then, we’ve had the kind of relationship most people who are in their early thirties have with friends in high school- on again, off again. Life gets complex around your mid-twenties and the older friends you have seem to drift in and out of your life. With each reappearance they joyfully (usually) remind you why you were friends in the first place. I haven’t been as excited for a new album like I was with Let’s Start a Cult since New Way Out. Interestingly enough though, after listening to both the first time through, I was left confused. My old friend had changed. They had grown a beard, maybe started to hang out with different people. With New Way Out it took some time to get through the new facial hair, new crowds and new habits before I was able to see my friend again. For the most part everything is still awesome, just not as awesome as it was. But that’s life- you know, we grow, we change, we adapt. Inherently we’ll always be the same person- just tweaked a little bit here and there.

Yet this Let’s Start a Cult person- well they’ve changed even more and frankly, I’m just not sure how to react. It’s as if that same friend suddenly started going by their middle name or became a Yankees’ fan. I know we’re friends because we have been for so long. Now though, I’m starting to wonder why we were friends and if we still are.

Let’s Start a Cult had a disadvantage from the jump- Tony McNaboe was gone. That dude is one of my favorite drummers out there and the only drummer who makes me want to instantly play drums after listening to him. He’s no longer in Rustic. His replacement is fine- totally capable. While I question why he always wears sunglasses, I can’t knock his drumming. He’s Charlie Watts steady. Great. But the Tony Mac pop is gone and I really think with it, that signature sound of Rustic is gone too. There are moments of familiarity within Let’s Start a Cult, but they’re fleeting. Maybe I should be more concerned with my inability to move on because there’s a good sized part of me that just wants to hear “Combustible” over and over again.

I’ve thought about this before- how deep down, we should want our favorite artists, whether it’s musicians, filmmakers or writers, to change over time. If you keep doing the same thing over and over again you become Jack Johnson and I haven’t listened to anything he’s released after 2007 for a reason- I don’t see the point. But at the same time, we don’t want our favorite artists to change too much because then we might not be a fan anymore. Case in point, The Office- where Michael Scott left and over the past couple seasons, so has the dry absurdity that made the show so much fun. Now? Now it’s like almost any other bad comedy on television. It’s sad. It should be put down like a sick dog or the 2011 Red Sox. But there’s the fine line that comes with liking an artist with staying power- the line of evolving.

You could see and more accurately, you could hear Rustic’s evolution with New Way Out. String arrangements had replaced the horn arrangements and on stage, they had more keyboards up there than an IT department. There was a definitive maturity to New Way Out and a transparent attempt to move beyond a jam like “Combustible.” A jam like that was Paranoid Social Club territory now. “Nuts and Bolts?” That song is almost eight minutes long, but is absolutely nothing like “Dig,” the last long song the band released, way back in the day on Long Division. “Nuts and Bolts” had parts and sections. It was essentially eight to ten songs in one. The true testament to the skill of Rustic was that each of those teased songs were great and were potentially better than what most people were releasing. If there is any connection to be made to Rustic’s past with Let’s Start a Cult, it’s a connection to “Nuts and Bolts.” Let’s Start a Cult really doesn’t sound like an album, but a multi-part song with each song acting more as a movement than a traditional song.

Let’s Start a Cult is good from a music perspective. That’s not the issue here. Let’s Start a Cult is disappointing from a content perspective. The songs are all good, but not memorable- the ability to create a lasting impression is missing. It’s an album that sounds like an idea not quite flushed out- so close, but not quite.

If it’s the last one Rustic Overtones ever come out with, it’ll only make it more disappointing.

I just wish it was longer.

That’s what she said.

Probably.

And she’d be right.

Loud Regardless! A Sunday Night in Philly with Paranoid Social Club.

Going in, I wasn’t sure what to expect. It was Sunday night, we’d done some casual day drinking and frankly- I just wasn’t sure how Paranoid Social Club would do playing a show upstairs at World Café Live. It’s a beautiful bar, but not entirely friendly to loud noises and from what I could tell, PSC were all about loud noises. Then there was the lingering issue that I might not even be awake when they play. But lucky for me, they were going on early. Unlucky for them though, because it just seems like there aren’t many people going to rock shows at 8pm on a Sunday night.

It’s probably not the best sign when the guy selling tickets has to ask you what kind of band you’re paying to see is- which is what happened while purchasing my ticket for the show.

“People have been asking,” he said. “I’m not sure what to tell them. Do you know them? What are they like?”

I told him that they’re just a good ol’ rock ‘n roll band.

“So it might get loud?” He asked.

There was distinct possibility.

When Rustic Overtones played this same room a few years ago, they played an acoustic set. But I couldn’t see Paranoid doing that. I remember them from my Sidecar days and they never really seemed to care about what might be “the right thing to do.” I thought there was a chance they’d strip it down a bit, but that chance was a small one. I sat at the bar and ordered a beer while they sound checked. It was going to be loud.

Not much of a crowd and it seemed as if only the two tables up front were fans. PSC opened with “It’s the Beat” into “Cable Hook-Up” and quiet room be damned, they were going to be loud. Two douche rockets at the bar who were hitting on the bartender started making douche rocket comments about the noise level. Go home, pricks. The bartender really didn’t seem to mind. She had ear plugs. It seemed both of us were happy when the two fart knockers left.

Plain and simple, PSC rocked. I had always admired their live shows and from the first few tunes, I could tell that they hadn’t lost a step. Dave Gutter remains one of my favorite front men and the addition of Trent Gay on guitar and vocals was a great move. He fits in perfectly. It was a little jarring watching Craig Sala play drums, as I had always been a fan on Marc Boisvert, but Sala is a pro and held it done like only a pro could. And the Silver Fox, Jon Roods, is the band’s wizard- laying down solid bass lines, playing keyboards and handling the samples that Boisvert used too. They’re just tight. They are in control and have a plan. You see a lot of middling, wandering bands out there so it was refreshing to see a band hit the stage, own that stage and make it theirs. Professional in rock music is a lost art.

But the highlight of the night was watching the reactions of those people who just wandered in, either for a beer or two grab some food. These people, the ones unfamiliar with PSC, were the ones I started watching. I witnessed one dude have a oh shit this band is awesome moment and I watched as the wait and kitchen staff started assembling at one end of the bar to watch PSC play. The bartender with the ear plugs was bobbing her head to “Cut In” as she wiped down the bar. Man I was almost proud.

I always used to think that PSC could be huge if only more people saw them. Maybe that will happen on this tour (which takes them to South By Southwest and then out to California.) They’ve become much more of a rock band, less robotic and machine like than they were a few years ago. There’s more humanity to their music now, a perfect example is “Count on Me,” a real barnburner of a rock song, that even in a acoustic-friendly room like the upstairs at World Café, sounded bombastically awesome.

I haven’t had a bombastically awesome sounding Sunday night in a while.

Thanks PSC. I hope the next show is in a room better suited for you.

Top 5 1/2 Albums of 2011

I don’t buy as much new music as I used too. For years, I made weekly trips to Bull Moose in Portland to pick up a CD or two- sometimes three. Then I got into I-tunes and for a spell, foolishly bought more than I should simply based on the relative ease it took to do so. But in the past year or so, I’ve scaled back- spending money on fun things like student loans, car payments and keeping the lights on instead. Life is pretty awesome that way.

The year is coming to an end and because this is a blog and blogs follow and comment on trends, I’ve decided to rock out a list of the best 5 ½ albums that were released this year.

These are listed in no particular order, but if they were, El Camino by the Black Keys would be number one because let’s be honest, that album rocks and as a country, society and modern civilization- we need albums that rock.

1. The Black Keys El Camino. This album gets the award for the Most Anticipated Album of the Year. I couldn’t wait for it to come out and have already had to take a break from it- something that usually happens at least three weeks after buying an album. “Lonely Boy” is great and so is “Gold on the Ceiling.” Come on, every song is awesome. This album is awesome. It could be re-named El Awesome and I wouldn't think twice.

2. My Morning Jacket Circuital. Is Southern Prog Rock a certified musical genre? If so, My Morning Jacket are the kings. If not, then they are the originators. This is one of those rare albums that just gets better the more you listen to it. I don’t promise much, but I can promise that I’ll never get sick of the song “Holdin on to Black Metal.”

3. The Roots undun. I feel like a damn fool. After the first listen of this album I told Drewnami it was good, but not great. He was disappointed. He should be more disappointed in my ability to rate music because dude, I was very wrong. Very wrong. The only way I could be more wrong about something was if I told you that there isn’t a better cereal in terms of bang for your buck than Honey Nut Cheerios. undun is a complete, solid and pretty much perfect album. The flow is undeniably flawless. We should feel like idiots for being concerned that the Roots were on the slow road to Sell Out Town when they signed on to be Jimmy Fallon’s house band.

4. Kanye West & Jay Z Watch the Throne. This is the kind of album I think we all hoped Chinese Democracy by Guns n Roses would be- an album that truly lived up to the hype. I should mention that I feel very strongly that Axl Rose is to rock music as Kanye is to hip hop. But that’s also another discussion. Watch the Throne is why we buy albums and why we pay to hear musicians apply their trade. It’s an album that is the result of two superstar dudes just totally going for it. It’s admirable, astonishing and admittedly humbling.

5. Max Tannone Ghostfunk. Tannone is a DJ from New York who has previously mashed up Mos Def and reggae as well as Jay Z and Radiohead. On this album he mashed up Ghostface Killah and afrobeat. The final product is a sometimes clumsy, but all the time rad collection of party jams. I will happily download anything Tannone comes out with now and thanks to Twitter, I was able to tell him that and then have a quick conversation about Game of Thrones. Thanks Internet!

And the ½ goes to my dear friends Paranoid Social Club and their album Axis VI. Why the ½? Well for a couple reasons:

- Terrible album cover. It looks like someone threw up on it.
- “Count on Me” is one of the best songs of the year, but also accompanied by one of the worst videos of the year.
- There are maybe 6 or 7 super strong songs on the album. The rest are forgettable.
- I wish the songs were lined up differently. The album doesn’t really have a definable flow to it.

I’m sure there albums that in someone’s opinion, and maybe even mine, that were better than the five and ½ listed here. But that my friend is what 2012 is for.

Slow Moving Traffic, Fast Thinking Brain

It is roughly 26 miles from my office in West Norristown to our Queen Village apartment. Thanks to the lovely Schuylkill Expressway and it’s lack of smooth sailing, it usually takes me about an hour to get home from work and a little bit longer to get home. Some days the drive is shorter and some days it’s longer. I’ve given up trying to understand why and concentrated on more important things- like using the bathroom before I leave and deciding which podcast to listen to on the way home. However, there are sometimes when the drive defies all odds and reaches a point where if I wanted too, I could be in another state in the same amount of time it took me to commute to or from work.

Last night was one of those nights. I could have driven to Washington D.C. I spent almost three hours in the mighty and sensible Corollacoaster as in climate weather in Philadelphia seemed to make everyone think that driving above 10 miles an hour was a bad idea. It was brutal. It was boring. It was really, really hard because I had to pee.

The tough thing about sitting in traffic is keeping yourself occupied and the additionally tough thing about sitting in traffic at night is not falling asleep. I did fall asleep once in traffic, stuck amidst a standstill outside of Baltimore for two hours starting at a little before midnight at the end of what had already been a long day. I put the trusty MSI box truck in park and sat back- woken up a couple minutes later by the flashing blue lights of a passing police cruiser illuminating the truck’s cab. Being stuck in traffic stinks. Falling asleep in traffic stinks. Abruptly waking up from a little snooze in traffic is downright inhumane.

Sitting in traffic does lend itself to some quality thinking time, though- whether or not this is a good or bad thing is debatable. I’ve contemplated my entire life, rehashed past regrets, and written rock operas while sitting in traffic.

Last night my thoughts weren’t connected and were random and quick...

Those crazy kids on How I Met Your Mother would have much easier lives if they didn’t drink so much.

The first four songs on Paranoid Social Club’s latest album, Axis IV, are great. I would love them to do a video for Stick Up Kid.

I still can’t believe how season four of Madmen ended.

If Tim Tebow were smart, he’d take initiative and agree to become a running back.

I love how the Patriots’ defense is looking right now. But still, it’s all about the playoffs. It’s going to be really hard to swallow if they lose in their first game again this year.

Bad Teacher would be a better movie if the title were Bad Movie Starring a Very Hot Cameron Diaz. Then we’d have a better idea of what we were getting. It’s like how Funny People should really be called a Sad and Slightly Too Long Movie About Funny People Being Sad.

Not sure when I was as excited for a new album as I am for the new Black Keys’ album.

Got an IPhone 4 for $90. Boo yah.

My fantasy football team could easily be renamed Smoke & Mirrors, but I like Burnsy’s Dumpster Fire. So I’m keeping the name.

If three Thanksgivings can’t propel a person to start exercising, I’m not sure what can.

I’m pretty sure that if Fox News can downplay pepper spraying innocent and non-violent protestors, they would have had no problem dismissing the Nazis as ambitious patriots.

I should really always go to the bathroom before leaving the office.

Happy Thanksgiving. Don't eat too fast...you'll get hiccups.