For the past year-and-a-half Houstonians have had the pleasure of watching newcomers
MUHAMMADALi emerge from the house party punk scene into one of the most promising acts in the region, and this week North Texas gets a chance to see what all the fuss has been about. But instead of simply listing the many reasons the band is so great, we thought it’d be more fun to use the quotes of Muhammad Ali the boxer, a man known as well-known for his way with words as his achievements inside the boxing ring, to better illustrate our fondness for MUHAMMADALi the band.
“I am the greatest; I said that even before I knew I was.”The term ‘greatest’ has been synonymous with boxer Muhammad Ali seemingly his whole life. Not only was it his nickname of choice, he was involved in three of the sport’s most hyped matches, and in 1999 was crowned “Sportsman of the Century” by Sports Illustrated. In any case choosing to evoke the name of such a boisterous personality, let alone one with such illustrious career bullet points must be considered in itself a mission statement of sorts.
“It’s not bragging if you can back it up.”Ali’s unorthodox fighting style made him one of the greatest competitors his sport had ever seen, but it was his quick witted pre-bout smack talk and rhyming putdowns that made him a cultural icon. While his rope-a-dope technique might have gotten much of the credit for his victories, Ali’s matchless banter had opponents morally defeated before they even stepped foot in the ring. But it wasn’t just hollow jabber; Ali only lost 5 matches his entire career.
Naming yourself after The Greatest might come off a tad cocky at first, but for a band that goes from playing in living rooms to SXSW, releasing some of the most buzzed about split cassettes in their native Houston, and embarking on a quasi-national tour that includes dates with heavy-hitters
Japanther in little more than a year of existence it is proving to be more of a presage or where they’re headed rather than a hindrance.
“I'm so fast that last night I turned off the light switch in my hotel room and was in bed before the room was dark.”Rather than the typical hands defending the face style of defense, Ali preferred to carry his hands low and rely on his impressive quickness and foot speed to avoid his opponent’s blows. When paired with his sharp wit and even quicker verbal jabs, his sprightliness and sheer enthusiasm became some of his most defining characteristics.
From their quick rise to prominence in the Houston rock scene to the raucous thrashing of their party punk guitar-playing, everything about MUHAMMADALi screams high energy. Even on their more restrained post punk numbers like “Smiling” the band never comes close to dipping into the territory of nonchalant indifference. From the first notes of skuzzy guitar the band’s enthusiasm becomes both blissfully obvious, and wonderfully infectious. MUHAMMADALi’s unrelenting energy is impossible to ignore, and trying to remain stationary among the sweltering wave of sweat-drenched bodies inconceivable.
“Superman don't need no seat belt.”The above statement comes from a familiar quip in which Ali was refusing to buckle his safety belt on an airplane. It is not so much he believed he was invincible, rather he was more than an ordinary man; Because of his rebellious spirit he genuinely felt the rules didn’t apply to him. And while this rebellious spirit and stubborn nature influenced his decision to refuse induction into the U.S. military and subsequently have his title stripped Ali never relented. Four years later his license was restored and shortly thereafter he regained his heavyweight crown.
Similarly, a headline like last summer’s "MUHAMMADALi goes on tour! One problem: no drummer” appearing only days before the first official dates would be enough to derail the plans of most other bands, but like their namesake, MUHAMMADALi are unrelenting. In the face of adversity the band refused to strap on the proverbial safetybelt, instead opting to hit the road with a new drummer—Taylor Stolly of
Legsweeper—who had never played with the band before. For their current tour the band is fully in-tact, and has been unleashing their hellacious band of deafening ferocity throughout the West/Midwest for the past two weeks.
The knockout punk act MUHAMMADALi brings their vociferous rock sound to The Cavern tonight, fittingly enough with their old pals Legsweeper in tow. It should be quite the high-energy good time. It’s like Ali once said,
“There are more pleasant things to do than beat up people,” which one can only presume he meant going to rock shows.
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Posts
Tomorrow night there's a pretty weighty bill at The Nightmare loaded with a glut of SubEx fave's. I think our feelings regarding Man Factory and Zorch have been made pretty clear over the past several months, but headliners Tera Melos are actually pretty incredible as well.
Being such a big Jenny Lewis fan, I was certain that my interest in her new project Jenny and Johnny would be lopsided towards her role, and any enjoyment would be in spite of her beau Johnathan Rice. But on my second listen through the album I was sold on Rice’s contribution. His attitude, lyrics, and harmony fit well with Lewis’ ever-charming performance.
Josh Carter and Sarah Barthel, the duo that make up Phantogram are known for allowing their influences to meld together creating beautiful, beat-driven dreamlike pop songs. Their debut full-length, Eyelid Movies, came out back in February, and the duo --now being joined on stage by Tim Oakley (The Mathematicians) on drums, samples, and Akai MPC--have pretty much been in constant tour mode ever since.
Some quick thoughts on Lochrann's Pub's inaugural Oysterfest and the suburbs in general --done in list format for brevity's sake.
Over the weekend a few more details about that upcoming Roy Robertson EP we told you about on Friday have trickled in. Other than the cover art and tracklist(below), we can also let you know that the album will be available here on 10-10-2010 for a paltry $3. Until then head over to Roy's Bandcamp page to listen to a full preview of Wonderness.
Seems like just yesterday we were asking ourselves 'just who is this Roy Robertson character?'. In a matter of months the songwriter known for having the best hair in Denton county has become a pretty household name around these parts, even to the extent that we had him open up our 2nd Birthday Bash last month.
Today we are thrilled to bring you this little gem that was passed on to us from our good friend Glen Farris. As you may have seen before from his Guestlist contribution a while back, Farris plays keys and banjo for Doug Burr, as well as having his own very successful solo project. This recording comes from Burr's recent performcance at the Modern Art Museum out in Crazy Ft. Worth and is a one of a kind recording, so listen and enjoy some really great music today that you will not get anywhere else.
Not long ago I wrote a piece for The Observer that talked about the instability of those Carlos Santana Supernatural-style albums where every track was just an excuse for another overindulgent collaboration. "...And Friends Albums" we called them.
The Cloud Nothings may not be much more than 18-year-old Clevelander Dylan Baldi, a super talented teenager with handfuls of ultra-limited edition releases under his belt. Those interested in finding out why all the 'most relevant tastemakers' are touting his punchy melodies have a few options. For starters one can spend hours on the internet trying to track down his various cassette and 7" releases, most of which only a few copies exist. Or for those on a more convenient trip Carpark Records is releasing a 13-song comp titled Turning On which encompasses nearly 2 years worth of Baldi's misc. output.
It may have been collaborations with Mark Ronson on his 2007 sophomore album Version, or on Amy Winehouse's award-winning Back to Black that put the Dap-Kings and their retro soul/funk Daptone label on the map, but their real tour de force are their Sharon Jones-fronted works. A personal favorite track of theirs being the cover of Shuggie Otis' "Inspiration Information" from 2009's 4AD World AIDS Day benefit comp.
For those of you that didn't pick up Young & Brave's self-titled debut album last year, you're missing out on some good ol' Americana: rock with a bit of soul, grit, and catchy melodic stories. I had the pleasure of seeing this Denton-based band earlier this year, and they were a welcome change amidst the circle of folk and indie I had been listening to at the time. They are not afraid to get loud, they are not afraid to switch styles, and with their varied sound, they've got a little bit of something for everyone.
A couple of newish cover songs for you today from a couple of artists who are no strangers to cover songs.
There is a common misconception among people that consider themselves 'learned' individuals that if they can't understand something than it must be brilliant. It's a defensive mechanism, surely, in which applies directly to music; if a person who considers themselves of above average intelligence listens to Philip Glass, for instance, and doesn't quite get it, then that person must either admit that their musical palate isn't quite as refined as they previously believed, or that Philip Glass is a musical Einstein. From a standpoint of self-preservation the latter generally tends to be the path of least resistance.
New York rap trio, Das Racist, released their newest mixtape Sit Down, Man set today. The boys are really moving up in the world as their new tape is being presented by Diplo's Mad Decent label, as well as Mishka and Greedhead Entertainment. Grab the free download here.
What exactly does it mean to be labeled a 'blog superstar'? To the layman it sounds like this label is something that would be considered positive, you know to be a superstar and all, but is it really? To me the phrase is oxymoronic at best, implying that an artist has for a brief moment managed to capture the fleeting attention of the self-proclaimed fraternity of taste-makers but who's names and sounds won't likely be readily recalled by the live-in-the-moment trendsetters who are so hot for these so-called 'superstars'.
They say that every human will get colon cancer someday if they lived long enough, and maybe following that same line of logic we'd all be blind as well, considering we managed to eke out a lengthy enough existence. If we assumed those things were true it might change how we thought about everyday occurrences. For instance, 'if we're all going blind then why bother blogging?'
It's always a great sign when you hear a song for the first time and you'd swear up and down you've known it for years. El Guincho's new album Pop Negro comes out next Tuesday, but almost Hindi-sounding sample on the album's lead track, "Bombay," feels like it's been on my iPod for as long as I can remember. Spiced up with some tropical-ish sounding steel drums over Afro-Cuban and Spanish influenced rhythms, it sets up the artful cultural blend that is Pop Negro quite nicely.
Photo courtesy of Adam Neese
