Album Review: Little Tybee ‘Humorous to Bees’ & LaundroMatinee Session
Little Tybee’s Humorous to Bees dropped back in April via Brooklyn’s Paper Garden Records. I recently became acquainted with this label after they gave some love to our friends The Coasts who we featured in an August interview.
The soaring vocals from bookish lead singer Brock Scott serve as the centerpiece to a talented cast of musicians. He sounds like a silkier Trevor Garrod from Tea Leaf Green. The band, however sounds nothing like TLG.
Little Tybee varies in size from as few as five to as many as 10 members. Scott’s vocals and guitar playing are effortless but would likely prove too clean without the rich backdrop that the strings lay beneath them. The band recently stopped by Big Car Gallery to record a LaundroMatinee Session for MOKB.
Humorous to Bees is a heart warmer. I plan to spin this one during the long Indiana winter, when I am searching for some semblance of summer. The album has the feel of a long cruise with the windows down. The percussion, though subtle, mimics the rhythm of a train engine at times, driving the listener down the tracks. Scott’s lyrics dance along optimistically above it all.
I hope Little Tybee makes a return visit to Indy. Next time, it had better be for a full audience and not just a film crew. For now, this will have to do. See the entirety their LaundroMatinee session, HERE. Stream “Passion Seekers” and “Nero” below.
Written by Rob Peoni
Album Review: Red Hot Chili Peppers ‘I’m With You’
It would be nice to discuss this album as if John Frusciante had never left. However, to do so proves impossible. We can safely assume that the majority of the reviews on the Red Hot Chili Peppers’ 10th studio release, I’m With You, will focus on the absence of that essential melodic layer that helped to evolve their sound over their storied 28-year career. I do not view this release as the dawn of John. Instead, I would like to consider I’m With You another step forward in the evolution of the Red Hot Chili Peppers.
Replacement Josh Klinghoffer grew up in the same scene as the Chili Peppers. His band The Bicycle Thief opened up for RHCP in 2000, during their Californication tour. Klinghoffer began collaborating with Frusciante shortly thereafter and the stage was set. Much like Frusciante, Klinghoffer is a musician that spreads his work across a variety of projects. He fronts the instrumental project Dot Hacker and even drummed on new indie buzz band Warpaint’s 2010 release The Fool. With roots in the LA music scene and an obsessive dedication to his own musical tastes, Klinghoffer proves the ideal Frusciante substitute.
With Frusciante or without, I was hungry for another opportunity to hear the band, and I find the results encouraging. Aside from the greatness of the Core Three, Klinghoffer’s decision to open himself up to vulnerability is worth noting. He was less concerned with filling John’s shoes as he was buying a completely different pair. The bellowing riffs at the end of “Police Station” display a darker sound than we are used to. “Meet Me At the Corner” ends with a country twang that serves as a first for the Chili Peppers. To me, “Look Around” stands up as my early favorite. They embrace their old school funk sound and embed it into a brand new virtuosic interpretation. This track reassured me that I could certainly deal with this new life. It also displayed Klinghoffers freedom, which underscores the group’s trust in their new man.
This album will not likely reach the level of commercial success that 2006’s Stadium Arcadium attained. Frusciante will likely be brought up in the same breath as I’m With You with its similarity to One Hot Minute. With a band this big, there will always be a large table with many chairs open for criticism. I think the revolving door of band members coupled with the continuing change of sounds has been the reason why RHCP has always kept my interest. I support this album and congratulate the new team on continually embracing innovation.
Written by Brett McGrath
Sneak Peek: Tom Waits ‘Bad As Me’
It’s been a long, dry season. After seven years of scorched earth, with only a set of scraps and the occasional reprise on which to hang our hat, Waits’s upcoming album, Bad As Me, promises some respite.
We were told, via Waits’s website, that on August 23rd the songster would “set the record straight”. He did so with the release of the album’s first single of same name and a “Private Listening Party” :
“Bad As Me” is a churning, big-hipped, Screamin’ Jay Hawkins-influenced blues brawl that finds Waits swapping his trademark growl for a warbling caterwaul. Thick, sticky horn blasts reek of elicit propositions, a softly-mixed, almost inaudible piano rings somewhere in ether, alluding to the smoke and stench of the barroom, the wiry twang of a guitar radiates like heat from the barrel of a gun and the drums clang, boom and bounce with the lopsided sashay of an undefeated drunk.
Waits tries to relate to his subject, imploring to be seen in the same nefarious light. He asserts, “You’re the head on the spear / You’re the nail on the cross / You’re the fly in my beer / You’re the key that got lost / You’re the letter from Jesus on the bathroom wall / You’re mother superior in only a bra / You’re the same kind of bad as me”. The subject remains unconvinced. Waits questions in a cocky whisper, “No good, you say?” and assures, “Well, that’s good enough for me”. He explains that, “I’m the mattress in the back / I’m the old gunnysack / I’m the one with the gun / Most likely to run / I’m the car in the weeds / If you cut me I’ll bleed / You’re the same kind of bad as me,” demanding a vote of confidence from a partner in crime, or a foot in the door with a low-down young thing.
Slotted at number eight of a robust thirteen tracks (sixteen if you purchase the deluxe edition), “Bas As Me” is nowhere near as dense as the cacophonous insanity that typifies Waits’s best music, but it plays like straight-forward shot of pure oxygen in the middle of what will surely be a profound and undoubtedly unusual collection.
“Bad As Me”, the new single from seminal conjurer Tom Waits, is available for purchase here, or at any of your preferred digital retailers.
Listen to new song “Back in the Crowd”:
Written by Ben Brundage.
Read Ben’s full review of Bad As Me : HERE.
For more of Ben’s work, check out his Tumblr, Damned Fine Lion.
Thought on Tracks 