Giant Robot Store and GR2 News
The Muffs are such a great band with incredible hooks, ace musicianship, and pure energy. And Saturday night’s show at the Satellite ranks up there with so many amazing hometown gigs at Raji’s and other local dives over the last 20+ years. Why they still pack relatively small venues with stinky bathrooms and aren’t huge stars is beyond me. I would say there’s no justice in this world if just the night before Morrissey had not only sold out Staples Center but also mandated that its McDonald’s eateries be closed and that the other vendors swap in meatless dishes.
It’s weird for anyone to go back to his or her own work. It’s even weirder when that place of employment happens to be the Happiest Place on Earth. I wrote an article about working on the Jungle Cruise way back in Giant Robot 12, so I’m not going to rehash all the details about pretending to steer a boat into the heart of darkness three times an hour, six hours a day, six days a week. And hopefully not start unloading all those bad puns. But it’s hard not to think back and make comparisons once you enter the forced perspective on Main Street and inhale the smell of popcorn pumped out of the carts…
While Disneyland is more all-encompassing than ever with a widened footprint and resort plan that has replaced sleazy motels and greasy spoons with resort lodging and an entire new theme park, the fans actually exert more power than ever. The last couple of times I’ve gone have happened to be themed meet-up days–not the immensely popular doom-and-gloom Goth Day but the rainbow-hued Gay Day two years ago, and Sunday was Dapper Day, in which guests dress up as they might have in the ’50s. Fishnets, Pomade, tight wool, and hounds tooth.
You know those Facebook contests that everyone enters but no one wins? Well, I actually won one via Goldenvoice and got tickets to see Youth Brigade at the El Rey last week. Yes, the same band that got in the school bus with Social Distortion and Minor Threat in the 1984 documentary Another State of Mind is still at it and still ruling. And their BYO record label, which boasts key releases by 7 Seconds, SNFU, Bouncing Souls, Leatherface, and their own band, is going strong as attested by their somewhat recent box set…
I interviewed Thao Nguyen way back in Giant Robot 44, after she signed to Kill Rock Stars but before she released any albums on the fabled Olympia label. She had a cool story to tell, unabashedly citing the influence of the Lilith Fair movement to leave her family’s laundromat in Virginia, move to San Francisco, and make music to raise spirits, enlighten minds, and change the world–and maybe shake some asses in the process. Since then, she went on to form a band (The Get Down Stay Down), forge a fruitful partnership with Mirah, and tour with the Portland Cello Project. In the midst of all that, I somehow convinced her to contribute a series of articles to Giant Robot (issues 57-59 or so) and the coolness of that really hit me when I heard her on PRI this week.
So I was stoked to catch the record-release show for her newest release with The Get Down Stay Down at Fingerprints Music in Long Beach last week. We The Common seamlessly empowers her folkie roots with heavy production, at times with nearly hip-hop beats and keyboard flourishes, yet retains her natural and populist vibe perfectly. This was the first time for the group to play new songs such as “City” and “Age of Ice” and they sounded great. Even better was getting to introduce Eloise to Thao. I hope to catch up with her again when she hits the road for a proper string of shows in the spring. So should you.