Feature: The Drones

So, I now know why writers keep little notebooks stashed about their persons; it keeps you from forgetting things like where you put the prune juice and whether or not you've left your glasses ontop of your head again.

In this vein, I totally had something interesting and meaningful to say about the state of music/a point to make on the debate going on over at http://www.x929.ca/shows/newsboy/?p=1417#comment-911 about whether or not the Calgary music scene is stagnating, but it seems to have vacated my brain like the concepts of simple human interaction, decency, and taste have vacated the mainstream music vending business. >.>

So, instead of ranting on about how the scene isn't stagnant, rather we've all gotten lazy and old and self-conscious about jumping around at shows, or about how The Noseholes could have been GREAT had they not broken up (unrelated, but it would've ended up in there anyway), I will instead suck it up like the BAMF I wish I was and tell you about The Drones.

First of all, The Drones are, indirectly, the reason why I joined this blog and consequently ended up keeping it limpingly, ever so slightly alive when Sheez and Phil jumped ship. And yes, I even suppose I knew about them back then, but it's all a little hazy in the manner of timing since it all happened when I was a doe-eyed, impressionable, and insatiably enthusiastic music hunter trying to track down literally every band mentioned by Kurt Cobain, ever.

No, he didn't mention the Drones, but we'll get to how the two are related.

Through this music-hunting process, I quickly began to realize that exposure wasn't always proportional to quality when it came to music, even in the indie community. Some bands would get huge just based on a good pitchfork review, and others would have their precious hopes dashed by a mediocre one. Some had good reviews and seemed to get the shaft anyway, while others had crap reviews and STILL had legions of fans (I'm looking at YOU, The Killers). This bothered me.

Thus, when I was offered a spot writing on the blog, I took it as a chance to help spread love of those bands whom I thought didn't get the kind of love they deserved (You'll remember that my first ever post was pushing The Wipers, who are still criminally overlooked even by punks who should know better). Of course, once it was only me writing and updating I couldn't just focus on that area, but I always thought about it anyway.

(See? I told you it'd all come together)

The Drones are just such a band. Despite generally favourable coverage by Rolling Stone and Pitchfork, you still have to go very far out of your way indeed to actually find a person in the real world who's heard of them. (As far as Australia, I believe, but don't quote me on that)

Maybe it's a case of a name affecting your chances, maybe just bad luck, but really, this band is wonderful. And no, they don't do sludge rock or rock out on the bagpipes, thanks for asking. Lyrically, their music is at times beer-soaked and at other times introspective, image-laiden and charmingly sung in a clearly Australian accent...on that note, it's frankly WONDERFUL to hear a band sing unabashedly the way they speak without trying to sound accessibly American. Jangly guitars create raucus Pixie-esque rockers to melodic, acoustic-friendly ballads (of the non-annoying variety). And best of all, the style changes between songs so that you never feel like you're listening to the same song on repeat for twenty minutes.

Lastly, it has staying power...the first time I heard 'Sharkfin Blues' from their "Wait Long By The River ..." album, I loved it. It's now been five years, and hearing it again, it's still just as lovable and brilliant as it was back in high school.

Odds are, if you go out and look for their albums in a record store, you probably won't have much luck finding a full selection. Luckily, the band also distributes the albums through their site directly, which I'd generally recommend people do anyway.

So, to sum up: this band is a) wonderful, b)underrated, and c)deserving of every penny and enthusiastic comment that may or may not convince them to include Canada in their journeys *hint hint* Check 'em out!

~Ju


The Drones can be found:

On the web: http://www.thedrones.com.au
On Myspace: http://www.myspace.com/thedronesthedrones

Flashback [June] : Dinosaur Jr.

Dunosaur Jr. - History

They say it better, and in more detail (FAR more detail >.>) than I could ever want to muster in my slackerness. XD

But really, what that long and involved history seeks to communicate is this: Dinosaur Jr. were not only fricking awesome, different (at the time), and LOUD...they were important. Looking back, it's easy to see that more than just about every other "grunge" band given nods of recognition (they really weren't, but what really WAS 'grunge', anyway?), Dinosaur (they only tacked on the Jr. after being sued by the skeletal remains of bands like Country Joe and the Fish/Jefferson Airplane calling themselves The Dinosaurs) really brought the 'hardcore' to the table. They were good. They were an influence on just about every band that came out of the area after. They brought us names like J Mascis and Sebadoh (J was the guitarist/vocalist/composer; Sebadoh was founded by Bassist Lou Barlow). And they never really had much mainstream commercial success, but since when has that been a measure of how good a band is? XD


Here's some tunes for your listening pleasure. (Sure, it's not like seeing these guys live and feeling the blistering volume...the wall of sound...the bleeding...but who knows? Maybe if you turn up your speakers really, really loud...):

Dinosaur Jr. - Little Fury Things
Dinosaur Jr. - Out There
Dinosaur Jr. - In a Jar

Flashback [May] - The Wipers

The Wipers - Portland, Oregon

The Wipers are the band who can be said to have invented 90's Seattle Rock in 1970's Portland. With brooding lyrics, wicked guitar melodies, and the incredible visionary who is Greg Sage fronting them, the band should be honoured with the likes of Iggy and the Stooges, and Black Flag.

Unfortunately, despite namechecks by individuals like Kurt Cobain and Thurston Moore, The Wipers still remain a band floating on the edge of obscurity. Even though Greg Sage is the very model of what indie music listeners look for in their "heroes" (more on that later), you would be hard-pressed to find someone under the age of thirty-five who has even heard of the band, let alone understands their impact on punk/post-punk/indie rock music in this day and age.

It seems a trifle unjust, really. Despite Greg Sage being one of the most sincere artists ever to record, never having done ANYTHING even remotely resembling "selling out", having battled through ugly legal situations to reclaim his "children" (his early albums) from indifference and ignorance at the hands of larger music distributors, and making excellent music for over twenty years, the man still languishes in somewhat-obscurity. And even though he probably likes it that way (he has, after all, always remained true to the artistic vision set out from the beginning, and avoided any actions that might bring him more mainstream success), none of us can help but wish that The Wipers would finally get the credit they deserve.

But...I'll stop rambling. All you really need to know is that these guys ROCKED.

If you want to check out the band more completely than the random mp3's down below, or grab the first three albums (come in a nifty-as-hell Boxed Set available for $17.00 if you get it from them directly), head on over to their official site at Zenorecords. Yes, the band is THAT DIY: they actually run their own official site, without external interference. XD

Now, to the files...these are all from the Wipers Boxed Set.
The Wipers - Over the Edge
The Wipers - Mystery
The Wipers - Doom Town
The Wipers - D-7
The Wipers - The Lonely One

And this one can be found on their "Best Of" album.
The Wipers - Better Off Dead

Flashback - Intro

Hey all!^^ This is Mariella, commonly called Ju, doing my first entry for WHYH...watch the magic, people.

Or run for the hills. >.> Either works.

Anyways, I've joined with Philip and Sheez in order to cover the oft-neglected side of alternative music: the obscure classics. Thus, enter Flashbacks: what we hope to accomplish in these is to spread the word about music that doesn't get nearly enough credit, or has unjustly been ignored/forgotten by people at large. You probably won't get too much in the way of news, considering that most of these bands broke up before most of us could pronounce the word "Alternative" without lisping the 'l's...but expect some boss tracks and record rec's.

So, listen to Sub-Pop's excellent point and pay attention, kids...here we go!