Austin Town Hall

Hellbender, for this writer, has always been more connected to personal memories than the love of the actual music.  Listening to the band I am reminded of inside jokes, handmade t-shirts, missed opportunities.  Even now, sitting at my desk listening to Hellbender, I am transported back to community college (Jealous?), skipping class, watching friends smoke, and thinking about my new girlfriend (now my wife of seven years!). Of the bands three albums and numerous EPs I only really love one release, 1997’s Con Limon.

On Con Limon you can see the three members of Hellbender already pulling away towards their personal tastes: bassist Al Burian would later co-found Milemarker and Challenger/Auxes as well as continue publishing his long running zine Burn Collector; drummer Harrison Hayes would join jangly rockers Les Savy Fav, and guitarist Wells Tower would practically leave music all together and focus on writing. But the songs on Con Limon use each of the members separate personalities and playing styles to produce a fun and at times heart-wrenching punk record. I highly recommend checking it out, if you can find it.

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Download: Hellbender – Fake I.D. [MP3]

Really, I love Fun Fun Fun Festival.  I will readily stand up to the masses and argue about how much better FFF is in comparison to Austin City Limits.  But, as with all festivals, there will inevitably be some sort of let down that leaves you frustrated.  While I think some of these may be a bit obvious, there are others that definitely need to be brought into the forefront.
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We hope all of you stayed dry on Sunday at the Fun Fun Fun Festival and we also hope you soaked in the great weather of Saturday. All in all we had a great time over the weekend and saw tons of great bands.  Just as we did with ACL, we’d like to give you a brief recap with our top 10 favorite bands from the weekend festivities. We’re putting these in no real order and just listing them with some brief reasons why we liked them so much. Follow the jump for our top 10 Fun Fest bands.

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Our Fun Fest interviews are nearing an end this week but not before an interview with hard rockers Les Savy Fav.  Before the festival, we had the opportunity to catch up with founding member Syd Butler to talk to him about his band and his record label French Kiss Records.  We hope you enjoy it as much as we do.  Follow the jump for full interview.
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As we look forward to the debauchery that will be Fun Fun Fun Fest, there can be only one band that will bring the best time to all those in attendance: Les Savy Fav.  Forget the fact that they bring their own spin of angular punk and indie grit to the sound board, and just focus on the fact that they have one of the single most entertaining frontmen of all time.  Tim Harrington will bring his sweaty bald head and parade around the stage, and the crowd, like nothing else anyone has ever seen.  You should love the band for their tunes, but you’ll fall in love with them as soon as you see this one man show.  Case in point, last time I saw LSF, Tim hung upside down from the rafters of the venue and screamed the lyrics before dropping to the floor, stuffing a pillow beneath his shirt so as to be with child, and took shots with the crowd. Enough said, be there.

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Download: Les Savy Fav – One To Three [MP3]

Our ACL coverage continues the week after ACL with an interview with up and coming buzz band The Dodos.  We were big fans of their set during the weekend, so we were excited to have some time to speak with Logan Kroeber before their show.  Follow the jump to read full interview with The Dodos.
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What?   You still listen to THAT album?  That record is so 2004!  Well, that’s okay, because we really like that one too, which is why we decided to come up with a list of our favorite albums of the last decade (2000-2009).  Sure, these might not be YOUR favorite records, or the most critically acclaimed, but we sat down and really thought out every record from the past ten years that we keep coming back to in our collections.  You’re likely to disagree with some of these, and we won’t tell you we’re absolutely right we just know that these happen to be OUR favorites.  If you think we totally blew it here, feel free to tell us so, but be nice, as our egos are kind of fragile.  Follow the jump for more.

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Rating:

Art Brut burst onto the music scene a few years back wtih their stellar Bang Bang Rock N Roll.  The band was energized, and Eddie Argos self-deprecating wit came out swinging.  Now, three years down the road, Art Brut are preparing to take on the devil himiself for their third full length, Art Brut vs. Satan.

Round three has the band coming out with a barrage of tightly wound rock fury; the flare is back again, and you can feel the power in the chords.  Interestingly, the driving force does not appear to be the music, however, as singer Eddie Argos is pushed way up front in the final mix.  For some artists, this might not be a bad decision, but I don’t think Argos dead-pan delivery warrants such a focus, despite the cleverness of his lyrics. Often, the band brings a tour de force like Les Savy Fav pummeling our ears with a frenetic pace.  Angular guitars cut through thin air with sharp turns of melodious guitar chugging around each corner. Still, the focus has been, and always will be, on Eddie Argos.

Opening the album, Eddie tries to rehash his evening of drinking in “Alcoholics Unanimous” by sending out a group text, as he is sure he was up “all night making mistakes.”  Clearly he has no problem with calling himself out, as he continues to do so on “The Replacements” where he admits he hasn’t heard of The Replacements at this point in his life; this is a bit sad, or at least it seems like some egregious error. Even so, you’re left to question whether or not he trying to good you into buying into everything he has to say.  Perhaps this is his point.  Argos wants us to question the way we listen, or why we listen, or even who we listen to these days.

Altogether, the album comes together quite nicely; it’s as consistent as their debut album.  One will always wonder what would come of the band if they ever had a full-fledged singer at the mic stand, but even now, without such a person, they band sound as brash and enjoyable as ever.  This is an album that will hold your attention through to the end.