A couple of weeks ago I posted an entry about some of my favorite English rock bands (see British Invasion below). The premise was to highlight some bands that are pretty big in England, but can’t seem to establish a strong following in the U.S. The post was a gigantic success and seems to have warranted further discussion about rock bands from the land of gloomy weather (that’s only by reputation, it’s not that bad). Part of the dilemma in parading out five new English bands for your listening pleasure was whether or not I include Bloc Party. I decided against it, as you will see when you scroll down. I feel like, for whatever reason, Bloc Party has pretty good notoriety here in the U.S. and doesn’t need extra exposure from this humble media-outlet. That being said, if you don’t know about Bloc Party, do yourself a freaking service and check them out. Now then, without further delay, here is the second wave of your British Invasion. God save the Queen…

-John

Maximo Park Warp Records

Labeled as a modern punk band, the guys from Newcastle and Billingham certainly have a distinctly British tone to their music. Personally, I think they sound a little too much like The Smiths to be billed as a true punk band. I guess that makes them post-modern new wave? I don’t even know what that means, but it sounds just pretentious enough to be a real music-critic endorsed subgenre. Whatever their true musical habitat may be, I can’t put my finger on what it is abut this band that makes me like them. I don’t like The Smiths so it can’t be the earlier comparison I made. I don’t know them personally so it’s not a direct connection or anything. Could it be their critical success - they were nominated for the prestigious Mercury Award. Hard to say. Maybe it’s the name: Maximo Park. Pretty sweet name - definitely not hurting their cause. That must be it.

The Kooks Virgin Records

Again - not an unheard of band. In fact, this quartet from Brighton is quite popular and has played a few U.S. shows in New York and LA - selling out all nights. Be that as it may, the perfected Brit-pop-rock sound they emit has not caught on like it possibly could. These guys revel in catchy hooks and acoustic guitar riffs, enough to transport you back to your days of making mix tapes for that one blonde chick in your high school math class. You know the one I mean. Hey man, it’s never too late. Throw a few tracks by The Kooks on that tape and it’s smooth sailing. They’re perfect for that kind of thing. She’ll never be the same. Trust me, I know mix tapes.

The Guillemots Fantastic Plastic

A weird band. Just being straight up on this one. Originally from Birmingham, lead singer Fyfe Dangerfield (what an awesome name) recruited and assembled the rest of the band in London, where they would go on to be nominated for that coveted Mercury Prize. They lost to the Arctic Monkeys - another great band you should all already know about. I call them weird because their sound and style is so eclectic. You can listen to three or four of their songs and none of them will sound alike. Some are heavy on techno beats and keyboards - some are stripped down and concentrate on the vocals - some are basic four piece rock songs with a little horn thrown in. It’s a crapshoot. I could make a lame joke/analogy about them and the box of chocolates from Forrest Gump. But I won’t. Even though you’re now making the joke/analogy yourself, in your head. Sorry.

Athlete Parlophone & Astralwerks

No strangers to success themselves, this London act saw their second album rise to number one on the charts behind the succes of the single Wires. They embody a slower, Flaming Lips-style of music that caters a bit more to the sensitive music fan. Emo? Not really. Not enough angst and torment for that. More sweetness and songs of love. That kind of sensitivity. They’re a different mix compared to the other bands we’ve gone through thus far - but nothing wrong with that. Different is good. Can’t rock your face off all the time - you won’t have a face left to rock off for next time. Slow it down a little. How? Enter: Athlete.

The Klaxons Polydor & Geffen

Finally - a Mercury Prize winner. We’ve gone through some past nominees above, but here we have the 2007 winner. Good for the Klaxons - that’s what I say. Another crazy band with different styles and sounds melding together, this London-based group relies heavily on electronica and dance influences going so far as to perform remixes of Rhianna’s Umbrella and Justin Timberlake’s My Love. Although their tracks often feature guitar stylings, they are certainly a departure from traditional rock, check out The Clap CLap Song for proof, and will excite those fans of The Knife and the new Radiohead In Rainbows album.

Be Your Own Pet Infinity Cat Recordings

A couple of years ago four high school kids put out a punk-inspired rock record and became big on the indie scene. That’s essentially the story of this Nashville, Tennessee ensemble, but maybe it’s actually only the first chapter in a long musical story yet to be written. Fast-paced, frenetic, explosive - Be Your Own Pet captures all of the key adjectives one likes to hear describe a youthful rock group, and they recently added another favorite of true punk outfits: controversial. Turns out some of the songs on their new album Get Awkward had to be rewritten due to violent content. It seems it’s cool for any rapper on the scene to throw out lyrics about guns and murder, but if teenage front-woman Jemina Pearl Abegg sings/screams about violent acts, labels don’t know how to take it. You can almost feel their street-cred growing as you read this post.

So, I caught this documentary on IFC the other night called “Overnight” and I was immediately sucked into it…well, because I’m a sucker for Hollywood tales and this was one of them. It follows the rise and subsequent fall of Troy Duffy (pictured above), a 25 year-old bartender in Los Angeles whose script, “The Boondock Saints” was picked up by Harvey Weinstein of Miramax who wanted to turn it into a feature film. Troy quickly became the bees’ knees in Los Angeles as his story was picked up by the national media. He was featured on the cover of USA Today as well as The Hollywood Reporter, The Daily Variety, and other notable publications. Troy’s deal with Harvey/Miramax earned him 300,000 dollars for the script alone and he also was set to be the director of the film and even had final cut on the picture, which, for those of you that don’t know, is virtually unheard of for an unknown director, especially one that has ZERO experience. Oh, and to top it off, Harvey was supposed to buy the bar that Troy worked at and he would co-own the bar with Troy.

(Short side note – This story kind of reminded me of Brandon Routh a bit. And, I mean, kind-of reminded me of it. Brandon and I used to work together at a restaurant, he was a bartender at the time and he was auditioning for Superman and of course ended up getting the role. He was an overnight sensation despite not really having a lot of credits to his name. I will say that Brandon was always very nice and seemed well-grounded…we weren’t best friends or anything but he seemed like a genuine guy. But after he landed the role, it seemed like all those guys at the restaurant were either wildly jealous or now wanted to be best friends with him…sometimes it was both.)

What’s also interesting to note is that Troy has a rock band with his brother (the Duffy’s are from Boston) and a few other buddies and surprisingly enough, his band grabs the attention of famous producers and big time labels without even having a demo to show for it. So here we have Troy, a bartender from Boston basically hitting the jack-pot as he becomes Hollywood’s next big thing in the film industry and also in the music industry so it comes to no surprise to see that his meteoric rise to fame quickly goes to his head. I mean, we’ve seen it all before, hell, VH1 does shows about this kind of stuff all the time, (Behind the Music being one of them) so it’s interesting to see someone go down that path again, especially with a documentary crew filming it step by step.

While the film is certainly not Oscar worthy, it lags a bit near the end as Troy becomes more and more full of himself, it is still an interesting look into this guy’s life and if you are a fan of “The Boondock Saints,” it’s certainly worth checking out. I had no idea about this guy’s story and while it gives hope to all those aspiring writers looking to make it big, it also is a cautionary tale of the trappings of Hollywood success.

RN

PS – I can’t wait until this podcast takes off and John and I become wildly successful…my guess is that I will buy a Ferrari and wreck it and John will probably buy a monkey or something…or just blow his money on Lost merchandise.

Debbie Deb Pandisc Records

Debbie Deb was born up in Brooklyn New York, but actually was discovered 16 years later in Florida back in the early eighties. She is a prime example of what the 80s pop-synth sound is all about and should induce waves of nostalgia for you true retro afficiandos. The song below is a Kate’s Skating Rink staple and has one of the catchiest beats you’ll ever hear - probably the reason it’s been sampled by so many artists. Get off your indie rock horses for a minute or two and revel in the sugary-pop goodness of my girl Debbie Deb. 1986 in your face…

Rhett and John discuss The Office season finale, the relocation of Scrubs and all of the excitement that is Robert Downey Jr. as Iron Man. Rhett tries to stump John with Guess The Movie and John tries to remember the last movie he saw starring Gwenyth Paltrow. Don’t miss it!

Download: Ironman Review

So, this post is about three weeks late, but you shouldn’t complain, you are getting this for free.  So, I went to see Chris Rock perform at the Gibson Theater, which for those of you that don’t know, is at Universal Studios.  Chris played there for three nights and I was able to get some tickets for his second show in LA on a Thursday.  I went with my lady and Mr. Whit Hansen to the show and well, we had a ball.  The first thing I noticed when we got to the concert hall, which I believe holds about 9-10 thousand people, was the mix of races at the event.  I mean, we had Whites, Hispanics, Asians, African-Americans…it was a virtual rainbow of races there.  Now normally, I wouldn’t even comment on something like this, but I think it’s important here…Chris Rock appeals to every person, no matter their skin color and for a comedian, that’s pretty incredible. 

The show opened with an opening act and after that, there was a brief intermission before Chris appeared on stage wearing a greenish, iridescent suit.   Our seats weren’t the greatest in the world so we mainly watched the nearby monitors, but it really didn’t make a difference as Rock was on form.  He touched on just about everything, from Hillary and Obama to Britney Spears, being famous, the N-word, dating, and I’m sure I’m leaving out a few others.  The underlying theme with Rock’s comedy is of course race.  He is unapologetic with his views and he says things that few folks can get away with and that’s part of his charm.  Later, when I told people that I saw him perform, they wanted to know some of the things that he said and I would think about telling them something before I realized that, as a white guy, I probably shouldn’t repeat some of the things he said.  That’s what makes Chris Rock so great, he’s willing to push the envelope. I was a bit nervous that because he’s a few years older than when he last did he big HBO special, he might have softened a bit.  But I was wrong, he hasn’t gone soft at all. He still has the same old edge much to the delight of the ten thousand fans that showed up to support him during his hour and ten minute routine.  It was a great performance and I can only assume that HBO will do another special with him soon. 

Rhett

A new segment on the site is going to be a weekly spotlight of a musical act - as the heading above may have suggested. The best part is that I could select any musician/band, from any genre, from any time period - there is no criteria. I might pick an indie alt-country act you’ve never heard of, or maybe I’ll pick Michael Jackson. It ’s whatever I feel like at the time. Awesome. Let’s get started. Here is your inaugural musical spotlight - thank me later.

-John

The Black Angels Light in the Attic Records

The Black Angels hail from Austin, Texas and, as such, are no stranger to playing South by Southwest (SXSW for all of you hipsters squirming in your minimal space apartment-lofts because I spelled it out). Often called psychedlic rock, The Black Angels incorporate a hard edge, classic rock sound from the 70s, add a little country flavor and on some tracks filter it all through intense feedback and distortion like The Raveonettes. Whatever that means. Just give them a listen - you’ll be down…

So - recently I was discussing music with a friend of mine (possibly Ray, but I can’t remember) and although I’m currently immersed in a love-hate relationship with indie-rock (I like it more than mainstream but the current state of music in general worries me - see previous podcasts for detials) I got to talking about the bands I listen to most often. Turns out, a lot of what I like comes from across the pond. Granted, I’ve always been biased about England - since I used to live there and all - but over the last few years a lot of really good bands have been turning out great music and haven’t seemed to catch on state-side. I hate it when people say “state-side” or “the states”, but… what are you going to do? The funny thing is: a lot of these bands are fairly mainstream in England and the U.K. so one would think there would be a market for them here in the U.S. But alas, they toil in semi-obscurity. There is hope - hope in the form of your East Coast Host. I’m going to give a little shoutout to 5 of my favorite bands hailing from the Mother Land and let you sample their wares in hopes that I will instigate the next great rock movement and be immortalized forever in tales of musical lore. Slake thy thirst on these tasty licks:

-John

The Zutons Deltasonic Records

The Zutons rep Liverpool and have the thick, Guinness-laden accents to prove it. However, when they’re rocking out one of their signature blues-rock tracks it would be easy to mistake them for a Louisiana export. Dig that. I like the fact they sound like they’re playing a smokey, back-alley bar down the street from your house, but have a big appealing sound that most people would have a hard time not finding catchy. Check it for yourself.

Razorlight Mercury

Straight out of London, these guys are one of the biggest acts to hit England in a long time. Widely adored across the U.K. and most of Europe, they’ve taken the look of The Replacements and combined it with their own unique sound. Sometimes folksy, sometimes retro - they have a quality about them you feel you’ve heard before but can’t quite place. The closest they’ve gotten to making it in the U.S. was when lead singer Johnny Borrell dated Kirsten Dunst for like a week. See if you want to show them more love than she did.

Kasabian Sony BMG

Ah yes - Kasbian. Leicestershire’s finest. I really like this band and the fact that they are frequently one of the featured acts at huge outdoor musical festivals all over England (V-fest, Isle of Wight and Glastonbury) suggests that I am not alone. At least not globally. Kasabian brings an electronic-infused, harder rock sound than the two previously mentioned bands and is often compared to the Stone Roses. I can’t think of many bands like them here in the U.S., but maybe that’s why I like them so much. Last time I checked, Nickelback was still headlining stuff around here - and still sucking.

Hard-Fi Atlantic

A band more similar to Kasabian in sound and performance style, i.e., they rock it out whenever possible. Making sure that Staines, Surrey is never left out of anything, their first two studio albums have both gone to number one in the U.K. - an impressive beginner’s resume for anyone, to be sure. Blending some of the electronic styling of Kasabian with a touch more metal, Hard-Fi cranks out catchy rock jams and proves that chart-topping success does not have to equate to terrible music.

Morning Runner Parlaphone/Faith & Hope

Something for the ladies - mostly. The boys from Reading definitely have a softer side and can crank a ballad or slower-jam (not to be confused with the slow-jam) like nobody’s business. However, they have been known to take it up a notch or two and provide a sweet groove for those about to rock. Any band that can provide varied song tempos while still incorporating piano is cool with me. Got to love bands with piano. Got to.

Your two favorite pop culture enthusiasts weigh in on post-strike TV and check out the new movie Forgetting Sarah Marshall. Rhett gives his Hollywood insider perspective and John can’t sop thinking about Mila Kunis…

Download: Review of Forgetting Sarah Marshall