I wanna be your Fresh and Only!

The Fresh and Onlys - Self Titled Debut LP

Ok, let me get this out of the way. This has got to be one of the greatest "rock" records I've heard in a dog's age. It's as if lightning struck the Golden Gate Bridge and out of the smoke came The Fresh and Onlys with sideways smiles and songs in their hearts. It's rare that I like something right off the bat, but upon catching wind of 'Feelings in My Heart' I was hooked. The Onlys are like some horror show version of Bay area flower power filtered through mid 70's American punk, (think The 13th Floor Elevators throwing down at a hulla hoop party with the Cramps) but that's only on the surface. Because beneath all the scuzzed up guitars and clownish rhythms lie real songs, all penned by the songwriting team of fellow travelers singer Tim Cohen and bassist Shayde Sartin.

The good people over at Academy Records (Brooklyn) turned me on to this little goodie. It came out on John Dwyer's (Thee Oh Sees) Castle Face imprint sometime before the summer of '09, just as the heat wave was beginning to settle over the eastern seaboard. And just in time to become my summer jam record of the year. What's really amazing about this record is that over the span of 14 songs there is not one dull song, and even crazier is just how timelessly classic the stand outs are. Take the irresistible bounce of 'Shattered Moon' complete with Link Wray inspired guitar leads and bad ass harmonica wailing, the delirious stomp of 'Love and Kindness' with it's odd harmony double lead vocals, the hallacinogenic carousel ride of 'Imaginary Friend' and straight up Fresh and Only theme song 'Peacock and Wing'. The album plays like the best parties play out over an evening. From the high gear lead off track 'Feelings in My Heart' and ending with the brilliantly sober ballad 'Arm's Advice'.

Tim Cohen has one of those voices I never hear anymore, a charming timbre with great turns of phrase. With his restless quavering and odd ball delivery he manages to evoke singers like Jonathan Richman and Mayo Thompson, singers that weren't afraid to bring a little theatre into the mix. And his lyrics stand out as actual pictures, which most dudes in bands can't even begin to attempt to pull off. They even put a lyric sheet in the LP!

There's a definite practice space vibe to the record, as if the songs were amassed from a collection of rehearsals, albeit rehearsals where the band invited all their friends to party with them. I'm not sure how it was recorded but however it was done it was captured beautifully. There's a thin veil of distortion lying over everything on the record, but rather than sounding intentionally harsh it feels fuzzy in the best way possible.

I was lucky enough to catch them live last Fall as a supporting act for Golden Triangle and Thee Oh Sees. Even having opened the night they easily eclipsed the other bands. The thing is...from the get go the Onlys have been lumped in with the current lo-fi pop craze, but most of these bands working the hype machine are content to bury their nothing mumblings under obscene amounts of reverb, whereas the Onlys have the songs to back it up. Not only that but there is a real grace to how they perform. Wymond Miles' guitar tone is blisteringly great, Shayde's bass is perfectly groovy and Tim Cohen, although somewhat droll onstage has a commanding presence, a master of ceremonies that could rival Gibby Haynes. I like to think that The Fresh and Onlys pride themselves in being steeped in tradition, and as part of a lineage of great American bands.

Do yourself a favor and hunt this thing down. It will make you believe in rock again. And consider this only chapter one for the Fresh and Onlys as they've already released a second record on Woodsist and an EP on Captured Tracks, not to mention a couple 45's in between. These dudes are serious and I'm willing to bet they will be around for a long time.

Buy it at INSOUND.
Buy it at Midheaven Mailorder.

Let Us Now Praise Famous Men: Alex Chilton

Alex Chilton 1950 - 2010

What can I say. We have lost one of the true giants of American music. Alex Chilton is one of the last of a dying breed, he embodied elements of just about everything that came out of the 20th century. His influence is undeniable as his presence is felt in so much of the music of today. It's true that bad luck dogged him through most of his career but he still managed to find a devoted audience, and one that will continue to grow for years to come.

I'm embarrassed to say that I was a late convert. My introduction to Alex Chilton was the inclusion of the Big Star song "Thirteen" on a mix tape a girlfriend had made me. At the time I remember being confused if it was an old song or new song, as it sounded so fresh but too classic to be from the '90s. I guess the line "tell 'em what we said about 'paint it black' gave it away. Shortly thereafter I witnessed the late great Elliott Smith perform the song in the short film 'Lucky Three' by Jem Cohen.

Here's a snippet from the film.

By this point my curiosity was peaked. A friend of mine lent me the Rykodisc CD version of the first two Big Star albums, which seemed to be the only Big Star music available at the time. Ah... the 90's with their genius efforts in consolidating albums worth of material on one infernal CD! I admit it was too much for me to digest at the time. Plus I had to burn the CD and give the original back to my friend. My copy wound up on the mountain of CD-R's I'd accumulated and was swiftly forgotten. A little while later, the sitcom 'That 70's show' began airing. With that intolerable version of 'In the Street' bubbling out of the TV every week it put a real damper on things.

Here's a re-formed Big Star performing 'In the Street' on Jay Leno in early 90's.

I sort of gave up trying to get into Big Star at that point, and turned my attention to other 70's rock luminaries like The Stooges and the MC5. Though I did come across The Box Tops 'Solid Hits' LP at a yard sale and was pleasantly surprised by the raspy lead vocals of a 16 year old Chilton on songs like 'The Letter' and 'Neon Rainbow'.

Here's The Box Tops trying their best to lip sync their way through 'The Letter'.

Down the road a piece, another girlfriend turned me on to the first This Mortal Coil LP 'It'll in End in Tears'. Unbeknownst to me at the time my two favorite songs from the record were in fact Chilton covers, 'Kangaroo' and 'Holocaust'.

Here's This Mortal Coil's rendition of 'Kangaroo'.

On a trip to Portland, Oregon years later, a good friend of mine shows up with Big Star's 'Sisters Lovers' CD. He goes off on it, praising it to the skies. I didn't even know there was a third Big Star record! Before he plays it he says it's better to skip over the first song and go straight to 'Thank You Friends'. As it makes more sense as an opening song than 'Kizza Me'. Even now I don't understand the song sequence on that album. It seems to have changed a couple times over. But it doesn't matter because it's still one of the greatest records ever made! That weekend we sang and played 'Holocaust' endlessly on one of the many shitty thrift store guitars lying around the house. On returning home I dove head long into the album and come out with a whole new perspective on Big Star and more importantly, Alex Chilton. For me, it took falling in love with the downer vibe of 'Sisters Lovers' to really appreciate the slicker production of '#1 Record' and 'Radio City'. I guess sometimes you have to work a bit to find your real heroes.

Home video shot by members of Big Star while recording their first record in Memphis.

Looking back through his canon of songs I feel that almost every one of them is an instant classic. That's a hard mark to hit through a career spanning over 30 years. Though he did it effortlessly. Even the covers he chose stand as memorable renditions, as well as a testament to his genuine love of music.

Interview with Alex Chilton on 120 minutes in '85.

I'm still kicking myself for not going to see the re-formed Big Star last November at the Brooklyn Masonic Temple. It turned out to be one of Chilton's last performances. Even so, the music will be engrained in me forever.

Thanks Alex!

More for the Mountain

Gary Stewart - Out of Hand LP
The Cure - Head On The Door LP
Chris Brokaw - Solo Acoustic Volume Three LP
Tom Tom Club - Close to the Bone LP
Cass McCombs - A LP
Nice Face - Immer Etwas LP
The Pink Noise - Birdland LP
Lindsey Buckingham - Law and Order LP
Beach House - Self Titled LP
Guns n' Roses - Appetite for Destruction LP
Chic - Self Titled LP
Lefty Frizzell - Sings the Songs of Jimmie Rodgers LP
Prince - Controversy LP
Soft Black - The Earth is Black LP
Daily Void - The Eclipse of 1453 EP
Julianna Barwick - Florine EP
The Dukes of Stratosphere - Psonic Psunspot CD
Carl Simmons - Honeysuckle Tendrals CD
D. Charles Speer & The Helix - Afterhours CD
J Mascis & The Fog - More Light CD
Ned's Atomic Dustbin - God Fodder CD
Rolling Stones - Miss You b/w Far Away Eyes 12"
Jana Hunter/Inoculist - Split 7"
Rolling Stones - Emotional Rescue b/w Down in the Hole 7"
Gray Goods - Blue Skies b/w Closet Trash 7"
Cass McCombs - I Cannot Lie b/w At Your Disposal 7"
Hans Chew - Cypress Grove Boogie b/w Forever Again 7"

Some day I'll get to writing a little something about each of these.

Some Songs Are That Good: What Becomes of the Broken Hearted

I was at work the other day and a song came on. I'd heard it countless times before but for the life of me couldn't remember who it was or what the song was called. I caught a couple of the lyrics and looked it up when I got home. Turns out it was Jimmy Ruffin singing "What becomes of the Broken Hearted". A Motown classic if there ever was one.

When it came on I swear it made time stand still. And then I got to thinking, maybe that's what makes a song a good song.


The next day I went to the record store in my neighborhood to see if I could find the 45, or at least a Motown collection with the song on it. I asked the owner, Tony, if he knew the song and he instantly starting singing it to me. He pulled out the "R" section in his 45 collection and I started going through it feeling lucky. But alas, no dice.

Here's a home video I found on youtube of the actual 45 playing in real time.



Notice how the song is all chorus. Now that's a sure-fire way to make a hit!