The Coathangers - Self Titled

Bought this CD a little while ago and have been meaning to review it but work has been pretty insane. The Coathangers are a new Atlanta band that have moved through the process of first shows, regular shows, 7inch single and full album pretty fucking fast. Their album has 12 tracks cut between vintage sound samples which are consistent with the kind of cute humor the band uses in all of their songs. "Tonya Harding", "Parcheezzi", and "Nestle in my Boobies" are prime examples. The songs are simple, hook-heavy, and generally fun. The in-joke tune "Buckhead Betty", the thin dubby "Where the Hell Were You Last Night", and the out-of-place "Bloody Shirt" are the albums dead weight, while "Shut the Fuck Up", "Dont Touch My Shit", and "Haterade" (mainly for the chorus) are the stand-outs. I think this band will completely divide audiences both live and on record with the naysayers pointing out that they can't play their instruments and that they only have a record because they are a group of girls while the advocates point out that they are just a fun band with catchy hooks that doesn't take themselves seriously. Being a girl aside, these are the same kind of the things that come down on a lot of young bands. Hopefully the interesting art-punk elements of the band - the natural guttural howls of Crook Kid Coathanger, the driving drums of Rusty Coathanger, and the unexpected keyboard sounds of Bebe Coathanger - develop over time and replace some of the cute filler while still keeping the songs as fun.

Coathangers say, "Ponies! Fuck Yes!"

The Coathangers had their record release party at Criminal Records yesterday and apparently the theme was a "magic princess party" with real shitting mini-ponies and a monkey with a diaper on. Currently listening to their CD and will follow with a review in due time.

Greg Ashley - Painted Garden

Ratings are inevitably arbitrary so lets get to what matters - you should buy this album if you felt like Mademoiselle of the Morning didnt fit in on the second Gris Gris record, like Greg Ashley's solo work, Leonard Cohen before 1980, Exotica records, psych folk, and an albums full of genre dabbling. I'm not a big fan of the soundscape that opens the album (I'd much rather have those during the A to B side split) but once I fast forward through it the opener "Song From Limestone County" is a killer poetic crooner. Signature moves from the Greg Ashley Home Recording School are here: the cymbal washes, reverbed vocals, forgotten mistakes left in the tape, unexpected instrumentation or lack there of are all present and put to remarkably good use. Standout tracks are the opener mentioned above, the synth-drone driven "Amnesia", and the lush, melodic "Sailing With Bobby". Definitely an album that you will appreciate more with repeated listening and as a bonus activity you can count how many times the word "skin" is used.

Availabe through Birdman Records, Greg Ashley's myspace via snocap, or amazon.

Devin Flynn

One of the most exciting animators making videos and the soundtracking in these films is great too.

Heads Up: Atlanta

If you are in Atlanta and you have somehow managed to read this blog in the first hours it has been created then cancel all plans for tonight and head down to Criminal Records at 7pm for free beer, free pizza, and the release of the Coathangers full-length on Robs House Records. Buy the album now so you can enjoy it before some unnamed music site pitches a fit, trashes it and declares the Atlanta music scene passe´. While you are there make sure to pre-order the new Black Lips record, Good Bad Not Evil which is currently streaming from their myspace page (yes bitches, the whole thing). Pre-ordering will get you the Black Lips Live In Israel DVD as well as some kind of hip trick that unlocks the door to their show on the 11th (aka a ticket).

Unnnhh.

Like taking a shit into the already overpopulated blog-o-sphere, I am starting another music blog. Watch for it and subscribe to the atom feed to stay up.