c'mon get sappy.

the sails: s/t
rainbow quartz

few things in life make me giddy. the light-hearted sweetness of songs like “she’s a rainbow” by the stones and finding new britpop bands who actually deserve comparisons to the beatles. here, we've got both. the sails hail from london and perform painfully cute songs about love and candy! their self-titled debut is a sugarhigh that never crashes, complete with charming harmonies and bittersweet symphonies, i mean melodies. some of the songs (“see myself”) are simple and catchy, while others like “peter shilton” dazzle with their depth. regardless, all songs will stick in your head like cotton candy kisses. i have cavities just from singing along and i barely even care.

http://www.myspace.com/thesails

**buy it at insound!**

the boys wanna be her.

peaches/eagles of death metal
@ irving plaza
july 22, 2006.

set list (not in order): fuck or kill, tent in your pants, hit it hard, boys wanna be her, downtown, 2 guys (for every girl), rock the shocker, you love it, slippery dick, give’er, do ya, i u she, operate, shake yer dix, back it up boys, rock n’ roll, fuck the pain away, aa xxx, lovertits.


having been jammed into irving plaza (instead of the originally planned, more spacious, roseland ballroom), the crowd was pleased as peach pie when the vixen surprised us, starting the show off stage from a side platform. dressed like a deranged harem girl in metallic hotpants, thigh high boots, and sequined veil thrown over aviator shades, peaches eased into a smooth rendition of the new “tent in your pants.” from there both the songs and her costumes became progressively sexier until at last she was grinding against various crowd members in her black underpants while singing “fuck the pain away.”

other highlights included peaches teaches on the forgotten art of foreplay in “rock the shocker” (“thumbs up, fingers out, pull back, pull back”), an audience participation ymca take on “aaxxx,” a medal ceremony for the band members (which included le tigre’s lesbian heartthrob, jd samson). oh yeah, and i should probably mention the enormous penis hanging out centerstage for a few songs, then falling over and being carried away on a stretcher. if you haven’t seen peaches’ live show yet, then you had godamn better be a housebound grandmother.

do ya?: http://peachesrocks.com

**buy it at insound!**

the beat is on.

dark side of the cop: s/t
auger down

once upon a time, while attending high school in vermont, marco panella, got the bizarrely impassioned idea to create an “alternate soundtrack” for one of his favorite movies, beverly hills cop. years later, between gigs as truck driver/hand model, the san fransico based musician (with the help of some friends), finally found the time to pursue this idea. the result was a concept album of original songs that exceeded panella’s (and certainly my own) expectations.

dark side of the cop is electronic infused indie pop reminiscent of the busy signals or some other sugar free band i’m not hip enough to list here. the songs cover all the universal topics like growing up, falling in love, stealing cars. it’s serene and a little silly, with softly sung lyrics like, “who’s the bitch now?” but more importantly, it’s tangible proof that those weird ass ideas you got in your teenage pot-rotted brain all those years ago, just might evolve into something cool someday.

by the way, can someone who is less busy than i am, please go ahead and play this cd while watching beverly hills cop and let me know how it turns out? okay, thanks.

pull over: http://www.darksideofthecop.com/
http://www.myspace.com/darksideofthecop

here comes the train.

follow the train: a breath of sigh.

i’m a sucker for bands that hail from the south and record their albums in unconventional spaces. follow the train are four kickin’ cowkids from louisville who recorded their full length debut, (and follow up to their 2004 ep) a breath of sigh, in a funeral home. maybe that explains all the eerie guitars, ominous percussion, and haunting vocals here. the overall feel of the music, the lyrics, even the accompanying artwork are dark and dreary. and frankly, i rather like it.

though the album contains an ode to kentucky as well as a guest appearance by my morning jacket’s jim james, who lends his mesquite charms on the track “i’m not sorry,” the train’s sound is less alt-country and more dreamy folk pop. sometimes sour, often sweet, but always refreshing, like lemonade left out in the sinking sun of tornado alley. yeah, that's it.

cool tracks: "flower," "original disconnect," "remember."

"check their pulse, they're still alive":
www.followthetrain.com/
www.myspace.com/followthetrain

**buy it at insound!**

stick it (in).

peaches: impeach my bush.

in the last few years, the one peach with the hole in the middle has gone from underground vixen to guilty pleasure to some pretty big name stars. her cult hit, “fuck the pain away” appeared in the film lost in translation, mangled shock rocker iggy pop performed on her last album, and in recent months she even opened shows for nin and bauhaus. now she’s got joan jett and josh homme contributing to her latest traxxx. but don’t panic, peaches hasn’t grown too big for her aa cups and hot pink hot pants.

impeach my bush retains all of the charming simplicity and sexually explicit audacity of her previous albums (teaches of peaches, and fatherfucker). in typical peaches fashion, the rhymes are quick and the beats are wicked. with abrasive joan jett rockers ("boys wanna be her") and dirty missy elliot inspired raps ("tent in your pants"), impeach my bush is a non-stop romp in the electro sack. if you don’t hear from me for the rest of the summer, i’m probably holed up in my bedroom dancing in my underwear.

see the live peaches rock show with eagles of death metal: http://peachesrocks.com/

**buy it at insound!**