Pop Punk Puke

Sometimes when I'm at a concert, I feel like a geezer. At a recent gig from Texas pop-punkers Bowling for Soup, I was nursing home material.

Bowling for Soup is a lot like Blink 182, only much funnier.

You've probably heard BFS's ultra catchy radio hit "1985". It's the tune that asks, "When did Ozzy become an actor" and a lot of other probing, pop culture questions. It's a great example of how terrific the group's songwriting is. They know how to pen a hit. They also know how to toss poop jokes at one another on stage while a crowd filled with pre-teens and their parents yuk it up in the audience.

Here's my show review.

Little known facts about BFS learned at the show:

1) Guitarist Chris Burney licks his guitar after each song. With his tongue.

2) Lead singer Jaret Reddick does a mean Shaggy impression. If you pay him $10. An audience member coughed it up.

3) BFS appeared as a prom band in the film debut of Britney Spears.

3) The band is obsessed with regurgitation and bowl movements. (Maybe that one's not little known...)

Voice Choice

The Village Voice's annual Pazz & Jop poll is out.

Who's #1? Kanye West. Good thing he was picked. He would have walked off the web in protest.

In this December post, I noted that Kanye would top the tally. Hey, I know this isn't like predicting that The Wizards would be in the 2005 NBA playoff run, but let's give credit where it's due.

I also brushed against my crystal ball to reveal:

1) I won't have heard half or more of the top 10 records. Truth is I haven't listened to five of them (Brian Wilson, Loretta Lynn, Green Day, Arcade Fire, Modest Mouse). This doesn't count the Modest Mouse video I caught on MTV several times. This is probably nothing to brag about, but whatever.



2) The most politically eloquent mic ripper since Chuck D, Immortal Technique, won't make the cut. His record didn't and only got 2 folks voting for him. Either nobody knows who the f*ck he is or they're getting technical with release dates because it dropped in '03, but got noticed in '04.



3) I also said Madvillany & The Grey Album would make the top 10 (not my picks, but my predictions). Grey took 10th, Madvillany took 11th.

4) My other predictions for the top 10? Elliot Smith, Sonic Youth and The Streets would sneak in. Right on the Streets (#7), wrong on Sonic Youth (#37) and Elliot Smith (#22).

My ballot.

I even got a tiny, little quote up in there. Break out your pocket magnifiers and check it out on this page. They list me as residing in Charlottesville, VA (aka Rob Lowe's birthplace), even though i've never set foot within city limits. But I ain't mad at'cha. Update: They corrected it to B-Town, MD. Props to the copy editors for some quick action!

One more thing, the Voice's web page has a super cool feature that lists all the writers that picked a particular album or song. More on this later...

Soul Power

Sharon Jones & The Dap Kings are about forty years behind the times.

And that's a good thing.

Where's George?

This is a hip-hop blog.

If you're looking for stuff about Dubya's speech, try here, here or here.

Alter Egos

Caught a show with Leak Bros Cage and Tame One. It's a depressing, drug drenched LP and doesn't exactly make for a fantastic live gig.

Read all about it.

As for Cage, he seems drawn to concept albums with dark subjects.

Porno: Smut Peddlers

Crooked cops: Nighthawks

Smoking cigarettes doused in embalming fluid: Leak Bros

Want more? Try Cage's upcoming Def Jux disc "Hell's Winter." Producers include, ahem, DJ Shadow.

Yikes.