Yacht Rock finally hits Boston

So I know I'm a bit late to this party, but I live in Boston so a 2-year delay on shit is kinda expected these days. If you haven't checked out Channel 101's Yacht Rock series, then you've already not as smooth as you think you are. I guess these Yacht Rock parties are popping up all over, inspired by the funny-as-fuck videos fictionalizing the songwriting process of Michael McDonald and other commercial rock luminaries in the late '70s.

In today's Herald I wrote about this Saturday's Yacht Rock show at the Bulfinch, starring Three Day Threshold, Okay Thursday and others covering the likes if Steely Dan, Kenny Loggins, Toto, etc.

What will hipsters think of next? Is the world officially out of shit to parody? Regardless, this shit is pretty funny. But I keep forgettin' -- I'll be at the Information show when this goes down. Fuck you, Loggins.

Pela live at KEXP in Seattle

There are worse ways to start the day, so thanks to the indispensable Jenny A. from World’s Fair for hooking me (and now you) up with a bunch of clips from Pela’s June 11 in-studio performance at Seattle’s KEXP.

Every Pela song is phenomenal, as few bands capture passionate, grandiose rock music like these four Brooklyn lads, but “Lost to the Lonesome” and “Tenement Teeth” always stand out for me. There’s so much crap music out there today, it’s almost shocking when I find a band I truly love. Jenny gave me Pela’s demo almost two years ago, and it still hasn’t left my music rotation. I’ve already booked them twice at the pill, but I’m sensing they’re getting a bit too big for the Great Scott stage. Even better, all four are among the best people you could ever meet. Enjoy, and go buy Anytown Graffiti.

Meteor crashes in Peru, everyone sick

Why can't shit like this happen in Massachusetts?

Bonds ball destined for space?

Oh boy. Fashion designer and Yankee fan Marc Ecko, who incidentally was not the owner of Chinatown's Ekco Lounge when we did the pill there, wants you, the general public, to decide the fate of Barry Bonds' record-breaking home-run ball. He's set up a website where you can either vote for it to go to Cooperstown as-is, be marked with an asterisk then sent to the HOF, or shot into space using some sort of rhino-decaled rocket. I say send it out into space, though that's not as cool as blowing it up, which some Chicago restaurant did to the Steve Bartman ball after the 2003 Cubs-Marlins NLCS. Finally, though, we can get Jennifer Stuck's opinion on a baseball matter.

Lacey's band, Nocturne

More "Rock of Love," I know.

Well, we said goodbye to Lacey last night, but lookie-here, it's her band, Nocturne. Starving artist, haha! It says they've toured with King Diamond, Dope, Pigface and Bile. (Here's a random fact of the day: I think I make a cameo appearance in Bile's video for "URA Fucking Loser," which was filed around 1995 at the Shoppe/Voodoo, one of Long Island's finest industrial clubs.) But back to Nocturne -- Lacey sounds pretty much as I thought she'd sound. Weird. Didn't this stuff go away in like '01 or so?

One last thing, re: Rock of Love

Alright, Jes' MySpace page reveals she's "In a relationship," while Heather's states she's single. A possible hint as to who wins? Should I just stop drinking?

Rock of Love down to 2

So it’s a beautiful Sunday night in Boston, the Sox are grueling it out with the Yanks over at Fenway, and the Patriots are saying Fuck You to the NFL by trouncing the Chargers at Gillette. And I’m watching an EPIC episode of "Rock of Love" on VH-1.

Finally evil faux redhead Lacey is gone, meaning buxom stripper Heather is left to catfight with cute-as-fuck wallflower Jes. This could be a really dull finale next week, and if Leatherface Michaels doesn’t pick Jes, well then… ah I really don’t even know. I don’t care who wins, but it’s been an entertaining show. I mean, Jes should win, but is ending up with Bret Michaels “winning”? I had “Look What the Cat Dragged In” on cassette too, and I think “Open Up and Say Ahh” was my first black/charcoal cassette, so that was quite a badge in 8th grade. But it seems Heather’s a better match. What do I know about matches, anyway. Other thoughts:

- Heather’s dad is an alcoholic. I bet that man was happy as shit being able to slam free beer after free beer. He was in the background of every scene just nailing ‘em down – under a tree outside, on the stairs inside the house. Excellent work by a man who looks like he shops with my dad and is thrilled to be divorced after all those years.

- Now, I had lunch at the Saddle Ranch Chop House on the Sunset Strip, so yeah, I was mega offended when Lacey’s douchebag dad with the trophy milf ragged eating around a mechanical bull right in front of Bret. I mean, to say that only a few days after Sept. 11 is way out of line. Very Un-American.

- How can "Rock of Love 2 with Tommy Lee," which my NYC spies say is now quietly casting in NYC, top this shit?

- Season one of "I Love New York" on DVD goes on sale Oct. 2. A few days later the second season begins. I'm kinda obsessed with VH-1's craptastically amazing celeb-reality programing.

- "Rock of Love" has been good lately, but I still miss Samantha. What a jewel, and she never got into the "dancing field."



Best Sunday in a long time. And I didn’t even leave the apartment.

Song of the Day: The CSS remix of the Wombat’s Kill The Director

Wait... what?

Jenny Lewis of Rilo Kiley was the chick in the 1989 Fred Savage movie The Wizard? It was about a Nintendo prodigy or some shit, and I admit to seeing it the theatres and remember getting wikked excited when they unvieled the Powerglove, which gave the sort of advantage at Rad Racer that comes with a futuristic glove that controls steering.

Lewis was also in Pleasantville and 10 episodes of "Brooklyn Bridge"?

Is this common knowledge?

friday night promises

Every Friday night around 8 p.m., as I'm getting ready to head over to Great Scott, I promise myself I will abstain from two things at the pill: drinking too much, and spinning "Heartbeats" by The Knife. By midnight, I realize I've failed at both. Someone once said that I continually "ruin Saturdays," but it's 6:22pm Saturday evening and I'm wondering what I missed had I been fully healthy and functional at 11am this morning. Who knows. But, the Perennials and Retrosleeper are playing the spiffy-assed O'Brien's tonight, so perhaps the afternoons are as overrated as I suspect. Something has to have some redeeming value to be ruined, no?

new pill flyer

Sonja asked why there weren't many blondes in the pill flyer series. I spared her the explanation that the most popular (and never to be used again) pill flyer model was in fact, a blonde, but she prefers to dye her hair black to match the color of her soul. Undeterred, Raph's flyer shelf life ended with the Lie Society gig, so Sonja agreed to lend her German charm to the fall poster. What can brown do for you?