Zyklon B For Hippies

The Band "Don't Do It" (live)

By Michael Brett, POP ZEUS contributoradora

Recently, a knee jerk reaction to the very creepy Jim Jones tape evinced my aversion to all things hippie. Why should I hate hippies? I could go on for hours and hours, but I'm going to focus just on music, which is why we are all here, right? First, they are music as lifestyle, which has always irritated me. I am a music junkie, tried and true, but I love that my profile befits that of an organic chemist. Music is the escape of the mundane, not an art whose essence can get distilled into a dirty tie-dye shirt. Music becomes the mundane when it becomes the everyday. And lo, if not besides that, hippies chose the worst possible band as their standard bearer-the Dead. Now, I do not loathe the Dead. They are to me the Cubs of music. I am indifferent to the Cubs, but jebus, do I hate their fans! The Cubs are a below mediocre franchise who play in a slice of heaven. The Dead were a good, at times great, band of their era who made millions off of never-ending below mediocre tours.

Do you know how many better bands there were within a fifteen-mile radius of San Fran during the mid-60s? Just off the top of my head-Sly and the Family Stone, Creedence, Jefferson Airplane. Hippies chose the FOURTH best band in a city during their era. But it's all about the music, right? The Dead were quite probably the LEAST professional band of their day. In fact, they could be punk if they didn't take themselves so goddamned seriously. Plugging in and tuning your guitar for twenty minutes while Jerry tries to remember the next stanza and Pigpen swallows back vomit doesn't make you epic. The Dead were kids infatuated with the Beatles and Bob Dylan, who liked to drop acid and sleep around. This differentiated them from.....um, nobody, ever?

In the other corner, we have hipsters. Hipsters are worse than hippies. Hippies are at least superficially sincere. Hipsters are so drunk on irony and conceit they proudly wear their skin tight Poison shirt without even knowing the name of the lead singer (to my eternal dismay, my name backwards). They've replaced the enjoyment and wonder in music with posing and pretense. Take a look at a lot of the young bands today. They all seemingly look alike. Straggly bearded skinny white dudes who look like they haven't had meat since their grade school lunch program. Women who are either auditioning for the next John Waters film or planning on
spending spring break in the 800s of the Dewey Decimal System. Why do they look so awful? Because they want to fit in!

The internet has done many good things, but it certainly has turned the music world topsy turvy. Bands now bust their nuts to look like their fans. If Izzy Stradlin looked like me I would have felt such an intense shame for him I wouldn't have been able to eject the tape fast enough. And when the fans are the cool kids, well, they do what cool kids do-they decide what's in. New is in, old is out. Hey, give hippies one thing-they know classic rock at least. Hipsters loathe classic rock except in an oh-so-ironic, isn't-Jack Black-goofy-with-those-devils-horns kind of way. At Pitchfork, Of Montreal covered "All Day and All of The Night" and none of the hipsters I asked knew who originally performed the song. I didn't ask them who recorded Satisfaction. I wanted to leave some hope. Hey hipster, David Byrne looked better in your uniform, and you didn't discover Velvet Underground yesterday. Now here's some Chuck Berry. Go somewhere, play it really loud, and find out what the fuck you're talking about.

The Band came from the hippie heyday and looked like a hipster's wet dream. Robbie Robertson, Levon Helm,. Richard Manual, Rick Danko, and Garth Hudson toured the States for years as rockabilly road warrior Ronnie Hawkins' backing band, the Hawks. They WORKED the '60s. They played the same chitlin circuit as Little Richard, James Brown, Otis Redding, and a young Jimi Hendrix. Music nuts for sure, but they didn't ever need a turntable to tell them their sound. Robbie Robertson met Bob Dylan on the road and shortly afterward Dylan invited the Hawks to join him on his '66 European tour. On that tour, Dylan went rawk and he and The Hawks rewrote pop culture history. After Dylan's did-he-have-a-motorcycle-accident-or-just-a-nervous-breakdown incident, he invited the rest of the boys to Woodstock (yes, hippies, that Woodstock-before your mom shat on it or it landed on Snoopy's house). For a year or two they 'woodshopped', as Dylan says. Basically, they smoked weed and screwed around with their instruments. Dylan guided the Hawks through his 'Invisible Republic' (thanks, Greil) of old folk and blues. The Hawks provided Dylan with a thoroughbred whose muscles would propel him in whatever direction he wished to travel. Their year together is chronicled in The Basement Tapes. Buy it.

The Hawks became The Band on the release of their self-titled debut (graced by shite Dylan painting). Their first two albums are as good as anything you will ever hear, ever. "Don't Do It" is an old Motown song the Band reworked, and on this night it came with some fab horn players. The song starts with Danko's bass and Helm's drum, Danko showing off his r & b chops. Next, comes Manual on piano, Robertson on guitar, and Hudson on organ. Cue horns. Besides being insanely talented musicians, the Band were also blessed with Beach Boys level singers-albeit if the Beach Boys were from Memphis instead of Malibu. Here it is Levon (always dig singing drummers) on lead and Manual joining him on the refrain and a few verses. On this track, everyone is going for it. Robertson gives us one of those slash and burn solos that end just before you want it to. Manual plays a super tight piano riff which becomes not fill but part of the rhythm, rolling alongside Hudson's subtle organ.

As the song speeds up, Manual gives us a little Little Richard and the rest of the sound has that rich fudge density, where you can't tell one instrument from another, that begs to be played on headphones late at night. Until eeeerrrrrr- Robertson returns with that keening guitar. Then go out as you came in, and done. This song stinks of years of passionate hard work, diligence, and love. No noodling, no posing-just five guys happily blown away that their playing a sold out New Year's Eve gig in New York with a kick-ass horn section and reverent fans before them. This music can learn you something, can take you someplace, for as long as it takes for the next song to play.

A New Era (Of Condiments)

Today ushers in a new era of POP ZEUS! as I will no longer be alone in my struggle to ramble on about why i like what i like and parlay it into the occasional screeching tangent into a brick wall. You see I've employed the assistance of three more contributors to the site. In addition to this, the site will be undergoing a complete overhaul in the next few weeks. Pretty soon we'll be promoting our own music festival in the arctic circle. I've already compiled my list of who I want to perform (Spinal Tap, I'm looking in yr direction).

Yes, POP ZEUS! is expanding but don't worry, all of the new contributors are old friends of mine who share the same seething passion that I do when it comes to music. And they're all originally form the midwest, just like me, so there'll be no shortage of FLAVA!!!! I don't know what the fuck that even meant.

So let me introduce to you the first of the three new contributors, Michael Brett. Brett is what I would consider to be a music geek in the classic sense. He still spins the likes of Springsteen, Zeppelin and the Who on a regular basis. He's based out of Chicago and he tends to be on the spiteful side. But dammit, i'm not here to edit PASSION!!!

Mellamo Morrissey. Donde esta la biblioteca?

Morrissey "First Of The Gang To Die"

Unlikely as it may seem at first glance, Machester's now legendary the Smiths reach out to a fan base of more than just pale white teens who just had their hearts broken for the very first time. It's not just geeky music afficionados (moi?) who memorize the bleak lyrics of "Please Please Please Let Me Get What I Want" and insist that Johnny Marr is the true genius behind the band's sound. And it's not just homosexual interior decorators who swoon at Morrissey's multiple shirt changes during his concerts. No, although these may seem like obvious answers, the true die hard Smiths/Morrissey fans are Mexican. Particularly the ones who reside in Los Angeles.

At first it seems odd. But when you take into account the concepts of isolation and being an outcast of society that fill the Smiths' canon it makes perfect sense. From the girl with the sharpied brows working at the Pretzel Wagon in the Glendale Galleria to the tatted out thug hanging out on a random corner in Boyle Heights, they just may be the world's biggest Smiths fan.

In 2004, Morrissey decided to capitalize on this with his eleventh solo record You Are The Quarry. It was a return to form of sorts for the ex Smiths vocalist. For years he had become something of a wash in the British music press, isolating fans who longed for the more indie pop sound of his very first solo recording Viva Hate. It not only won back many of his old fans but catered directly to his newest and possibly largest fan base.

Depicted as a 30s style gangster on the LP jacket, the single "First Of The Gang To Die" depicted the "pretty, petty thieves" living in the barrios of L.A. and mourned the death of Hector, the first "lost lad". Its really kind of a bizarre song coming from a guy like Morrissey, but upon further listens it becomes clear that this is just the kind of thing we've come to expect from him. All that said, it comes down to being a great pop song. Vatos locos forever, homes!

Damn What You Smokin On?

Sunday is TV theme song day here at POP ZEUS!



theme from "Fraggle Rock"

Those of us who were lucky enought to have cable growing up will most certainly remember Jim Henson's rejected-muppet show Fraggle Rock. You know, they lived underground with a bunch of smaller creatures who were always building stuff and could never go to the surface for fear of giant ogres who roamed the earth, hungry for the flesh of Fraggle. If i was making this up you would either call me a genius or ask me for some of the angel dust I've been smoking.

I Tried. I Gave Up.

Nine Inch Nails "Gave Up"

I will admit a slight fondness for Nine Inch Nails from time to time. In high school I was a big fan of The Downward Spiral, although I never dressed in black nor have I ever smoked a clove cigarette. They did rock back then however, likened to now, where it all just seems to sound the same to me.

"Gave Up" is from the Broken EP, whose accompanying film was a disturbing collection of music videos (including the sadomasochistic "Happiness In Slavery" where a dude gets his dick cut off by some sort of torture machine, and then is ground into meat) tied together by a home video looking document of a nihilistic murderer torturing an innocent victim in his house. "Gave Up" plays during the final moment in which the victim is disembowled and ultimately killed. Play it for Pep Pep and Nana!

My Days As A Chimney Sweep

Paul McCartney "Put It There"

Paul McCartney "My Brave Face"

I was a big fan of Paul McCartney's "comeback" record Flowers In The Dirt back when it came out in 1989. Or rather I should say my sister was. She used to play it constantly in her bedroom boombox, which was separated from my room by an air duct. So I would lay down next to the duct to hear songs like "My Brave Face" and "Figure Of Eight". I got the playlist down pat enough so I knew to resume my usual boyhood duties (which I gues consisted of playing Nintendo and drawing comics) during the songs I didn't like, and then get right back down there for the likes of "Put It There" and "This One".

Flowers In The Dirt introduced Macca's partnership with Elvis Costello, who he actually compared to John Lennon in terms of his personality at times. Pink Floyd's David Gilmour also plays guitar on the record and its hard not to know it's him, as his sound is about as identifiable as Eddie Van Halen. Eddie's on there too, although he was reduced to a skin flute solo. Anyway this popped up on the iPod in the car today, and I shouted along just as if I was right back there on the floor lying next to the air duct.

What The Girls Call Murder

Girl Talk "Bounce That"

Girl Talk "Smash Yr Head"

These tracks comes from another artist that performed at the Pitchfork Music Festival in Chicago, which I attended, but didn't happen to catch. It makes me wonder exactly what I was doing that whole time, seeing as I missed every lauded artist of the festival. Some of you may have already heard of Girl Talk. I say this because he drew quite a crowd at Pitchfork. So big in fact that there were kids literally climbing fences to see him and his show got shut down early by the fire marshall. Damn that fire marshall. The kids are just trying to have a really unsafe good time, and you had to ruin it by making sure nobody got hurt. Well what if they want to get hurt? Ever think of that? Asshole.

Anyway, Girl Talk is a mash up dj. For those not in the know (or for those who don't hang out in dance clubs like I CONSTANTLY do, i'm the guy in the corner tearing at the walls with his fingernails looking for a way out) a mash up DJ normally mixes two songs together to make a whole new song. Well what this guy does is mix like a hundred songs together to make one. It may start off as something you don't like, but stick with this one and I guarantee you'll hear something you recognize. Like the Breeders' "Cannonball", Stevie Wonder's "My Cherie Amour" or Ace Of Base's "All That She Wants Is Another Baby She's Gone Tomorrow" (or whatever the actual title of that song is). I think I also heard a Steve Winwood jam in there somewhere. The only qualm I have with this track is that I wish he didn't use so much garbage modern r&b/hip hop/club music up front to move the song, because it's the background stuff that's the fun part.

Sonik Tooth Chipper

Sonic Youth "Candle" (LP version)

So on Friday I saw Sonic Youth perform Daydream Nation at the Greek Theatre here in L.A. Listening to them perform that record open a floodgate of memories for me. The countless times I played that cd and dubbed it to cassette so I could also listen to it in the car. How much of a freak I was over Sonic Youth at the time, owning several t shirts and growing my hair out to so it would look like Thurston's (it never really worked out. That dude has perfect hair). How the first time I saw them (on the Washing Machine tour) I fell backwards in the swaying, pulsing crowd and some dude grabbed me by the shirt to catch me and tore my shirt off, leaving me the only shirtless guy at the Sonic Youth concert, a guy I really didn't want to be. All of this took place before I got really obsessed with Guided By Voices, and Sonic Youth had to take a back seat. But in the end, Sonic Youth is still here, and they still rock and they still make noise and for an hour or so on friday night I felt like I was 19 again. Anybody want to go on a beer run for me?

Monster Put Card In Wallet!

Sunday is TV theme song day here at POP ZEUS!



Sonic Youth "Simpsons theme song"

"Talkin' Softball"

"Bill Cosby Pokemon"

"Meow Mix"

"Ned Flanders Theme Song"

"Uruguay/You Are Gay"

In honour of the Simpsons movie coming out this week (I already went to my local Kwik-E-Mart and bought a Squishee and a six pack of cavity inducing pink donuts) here is a plethora of random Simpsons mp3s. I would definitely describe myself as a Simpsons fan of the fanatic variety. I hear people say all the time that the Simpsons hasn't been funny in years. I completely disagree with that, it's still the funniest thing on television. And I absolutely detest Family Guy, a poor man's Simpsons at its very best. 24 hours a day, Simpsons quotes run through my head, replacing rational thoughts, leaving me a social misfit with nothing to say except for "another day, another box of stolen pens" or "by the way ambassador is taken". It may not make sense to the mass public, but to a small subsection of the populus, it becomes a new language. You could almost say we just ATE Uder, and he's in our stomachs right now!!

Babies Don't Watch This

Time for another Mastodon video, except this one comes from the beginning of the Aqua Teen Hunger Force Movie, a film I saw in the theatre with one friend and seven stoned teenagers. That was it. No wonder it didn't do well. We are their whole fan base. Still, the movie was fucking great, and we all howled like hyenas during this, quite possibly the best intro to any movie ever.

GA X 5

Spoon "You Got Yr Cherry Bomb"

Spoon "You Got Yr Cherry Bomb (alt version)"

I can only tell you what I know for sure. The first thing is that I consider Spoon to be one of my favorite bands. The second thing is that the first time I heard records like Gimme Fiction and Girls Can Tell, certain songs, such as "The Beast And Dragon, Adored" and "Lines In Suit" jumped out at me right away and quickly became all time favorites. The third thing is that nothing on Spoon's new record Ga Ga Ga Ga Ga has had that effect on me in over twenty something listens so far.

So what does this mean? That the record is no good? Well I wouldn't exactly say that. Ga Ga Ga Ga Ga is an upbeat affair, to be sure. It's got the kind of hooks you would expect from a Spoon record. It even expands their sound with different kinds of arrangements (see: horns) but that's just the kind of thing you'd expect from these guys. Always evolving.

And yet still the record doesn't grab me. It's not groin grabbingly good, as Homer Simpson might say. Seeing as Spoon commands several of the most played tracks in my iTunes, I guess I expect more from them. I'm not used to it taking this long for me to enjoy one of their records. My loss, I guess.

He Hates These Cans!!

Klaxons "Golden Skans"

"Golden Skans" comes from a band that I actually did NOT get to see while at Chicago's Pitchfork Festival this past weekend, but I appreciate them nonetheless. See they had different stages running acts at the same time, and while I wanted to see Klaxons, I couldn't pass up watching De La Soul, who ended up being one of the best performances of the weekend. So forgive me if this seems uninformed or even hyporcritical, but that's just how I roll.

Klaxons hail from England (I don't think they believe in putting a "The" in front of their nomenclature) and play a sort of disco rock. Think of bands like Franz Ferdinand where they ride the cymbal the whole song, ultimately making it easy to dance to. While at the festival this past weekend I overheard a lot of buzz about Klaxons as well as seeing a lot of super tight t shirts emblazoned with their names. But again, De La Soul just had to take precedence. If only I could have cloned myself and been in two places at once. Ah, I've been dreaming of that scenario for years. Good thing modern science is promising its right around the corner!

Think I'm Lying

Video proof of just how hard Mastodon rocked the Pitchfork Festival in Chicago.

Up To My Neck In Hipster Shit

I've been away in Chicago the last week for the Pitchfork Music Festival. Normally I promise myself to stay away from such huge outdoor fests like this, but the lineup was too good for me to pass up. Plus it was an excuse to back home to Chicago and see the family and the peeps. I'll write more about in the coming days, but right now I have to catch up on all the shit in L.A. i missed while I was gone. All i'll say now is Mastodon rocked my fucking face off.

Oh My Stars And Garters!

The Victorian English Gentlemen's Club "Monster"

The Victorian English Gentlemen's Club "Tales Of Hermit Mark"

The Victorian English Gentlemen's Club certainly are a cheeky lot. At first glance of their band name you may have thought that they dress as dandies and fops and play lutes while fainting in disbelief at the most remotely shocking event. But you'd be wrong. Instead they play arty indie rock with a tongue in cheek demeanor. Apparently the dandies discovered the new fangled invention called the electric guitar and fused in with drums, bass and synthesizers to play something called rock music. They'd still never be caught dead without a butler however. Speaking of which, do fetch Jeeves. I feel like changing monacles.

Paging Dr. Rock, Dr. Love Needs A Second Opinion

Ween "Dr. Rock"

A while back a friend of mine unloaded a shitload of Ween mp3s on me, a band who i've always been somewhat indifferent towards. Half comedy, half high art, its no question Ween are talented musicians, but I guess the "Push The Little Daisies" thing from the Beavis & Butthead era always left a goofy tasting impression in my mouth.

These days every so often a Ween track will pop up on the old shuffle and I'll be taken aback like "Fuck! What is this shit? This is so great how can I have not known I had this?!?". My most recent moment like that was with "Dr. Rock". One part cheese ball 70s riffing, one part Devo, on part just plain off the wall. It'll keep me waiting with baited breath for that next random Ween track. I just hope its not "Little Daisies" or it will set me back 15 years.

Who Wants An Orange Whip?

Got Any Change, Paisano?

"The Super Mario Brothers Super Show" theme song

The Super Mario Brothers Super Show (a bit redundant, if you ask me) was a short lived daily kid's show in which Captain Lou Albano (of WWF & Cyndi Lauper video fame) portrayed everyone's favorite barrel jumping, fireball spitting, brick busting, Tanooki suit wearing, wife beating, racoon tail flying, go kart racing Italian American plumber Mario.

The show featured cheap cartoons based on Nintendo characters and wasn't very entertaining. I did however watch the show from time to time as it was carefully place in the time slot of right when I got home from school, where all you want to do is watch television, no matter how lame it is.

This show was on channel 32 in Chicago as part of a kid's show package called the Koz Zone, hosted by ex Son Of Svenghouli host Rich Koz, who also worked at the Subway by my house and attacked me and my friends with snowballs in July once. Its a long story. Actually its a short story, and I just told it to you.

Helpless In Its Clutches

Of Montreal "A Sentence Of Sorts In Kongsvinger"

Not long ago I wrote about Of Montreal's Hissing Fauna, Are You The Destroyer?. Well that was when I first got it. Normally when I buy records that don't grab me right away. Meaning it usually takes me a while to really appreciate a record if its any good. Well Hissing Fauna did grab me right away. So much so that I had to share my thoughts about with all of you. Well since then I've been basically obsessed with it. Seriously I listen to it at least once a day every day and I never tire of it.

There's something sinister going on here I think. I've never been this infatuated with a record before. It reminds me of when I was in high school and my Led Zeppelin II cassette got stuck in my car's tape deck for about a year. Therefore I couldn't listen to the radio or any other tapes, just Led Zeppelin. Something tells me if that was an Of Montreal cassette I wouldn't have minded.

Anyway, I thought I 'd revisit this record one more time on POP ZEUS seeing how it has engulfed my very being, as well as the fact that I'll be seeing Of Montreal for my first time at next weekend's Pitchfork Fest in Chicago. Expect gushing reviews about that as well.

R you going to the mall later that's what I was going to ask....

Times New Viking "Teenage Lust!"

Times New Viking is a lo-fi band. By this I mean a lot of it sounds like it was recorded live over a telephone then filtered thru a Fisher Price tape recorder. Their music is only available in cassingle format. Okay, that's not true. You can buy their shit on cd, vinyl or iTunes format. Boy it's strange that I just said that. More people now buy "virtual" music than ever before. Except for me, because I can't fucking buy anything on iTunes anymore because of some fucked up "keychain access" problem on my computer that apparently has no solution. If anyone knows how to fix this please let me know. I'm looking in YOUR direction, Times New Viking!

Let's Get Down To Brass Tacks Here: How Much For The Ape?

Vincent Black Shadow "Real Wood"

Vincent Black Shadow should not be confused with the more popular THE Vincent Black Shadow, who play Hot Topic mall rock to the Warped tour sect. No the "the-less" Vincent Black Shadow hail from Baltimore and play psychedelic rock. Both bands may have borrowed the name from the heavy duty motorbike name dropped by Dr. Gonzo in Fear @ Loathing In Las Vegas, but only one is good. See if you can guess which one I'm talking about.

Send In The Striped White Jets

The White Stripes "Rag & Bone"

The White Stripes "Catch Hell Blues"

I've always dug the White Stripes. From the first time I heard their quirky super electrified blues frenzy I was a fan. They have since become wildly popular and I'm still scratching my head in confusion over that one. Its really a one in a million chance that such an odd band like the White Stripes would be up on the charts alongside standard American garbage such as Creed and No Doubt, but yet there they are, selling out arenas al over the world.

I'm not bitter about this. I don't feel like they were "my band first" and they "sold out" because of their widespread appeal mainly due to the fact that they have never really changed from record to record. Jack White continues to be one of the biggest weirdos in rock and their music stays simplistic and heavy. 2005's Get Behind Me Satan was marked as a departure of sorts for the band and wasn't as well recieved. In my opinion that was one of the best records they did, and still remains heavily played in the POP ZEUS household. Their latest offering Icky Thump is more of what I expect from the band: Eclectic blues played at deafening volumes.

Icky Thump rips from the self titled opening single to to the acoustic burning of "300 MPH Torrential Outpout Blues to the frenzy of "Rag & Bone" to the shit hot slide guitar on "Catch Hell Blues". Jack White once again proves his worth as an electrifying guitar player and Meg White, well, she's a cutie pie and she keeps time very well. Hopefully the White Stripes will continue to make records like this long after their arena phase has come and gone. I'll be seeing them at the Silver Dollar Fair in Chico, CA in 2012!

Too Cool For The World

The Ponys "Glass Conversation"

The Ponys hail from Chicago. So right there they've got a big plus mark in my book. Growing up on Chicago's south side I was privy to many a local rock band, however most of them were of the punk or metal variety, not "indie rock", or I as I like to call it: rock n roll. There weren't a lot of bands like the Ponys in my neighborhood. No, they tended to dwell up north with the rest of the urban hipsters while we went to see Battery, the Metallica cover band (later to become Disturbed) in places like the Thirsty Whale or Champ's in Burbank.

The Pony's sound reflects their neighborhood choice in certain ways. Far removed from us meatheads on the south side they were choreographing guitar textures and intelligent lyrics. I'm not selling out my south side brethren at all here. Far from it. I prefer to be in a scene full of aspiring musicians doing it cause they love it rather than those doing it because it's fashionable, an easy way to get laid or because they're trust fund allows them to live in a hipster area the supposed "starving artists" are living in lofts that cost more than my parent's house.

So where I am I going with this? I don't know, really. I'm actually confusing myself now. It's just the kind of rant you'd expect from the likes of POP ZEUS. Bottom line is I like the Ponys, and I like south side metal. But I sure as shit wouldn't want to be roomates with them. There, how bout that.

Even That Car Chase Seemed Tacked On

Sunday is TV theme song day here at POP ZEUS!



MacGyver theme song

MacGyver jokes are just too easy. They've been exhausted by the likes of the Simpsons, Saturday Night Live and stand up comedians across the country. You can easily ridicule the show's paper thin premises, ridiculous conclusions and Richard Dean Anderson's hairstyle choice. So I'm not going to tread already well traveled ground. I will day that MacGyver's theme song is as about as typical 80s action as it gets, just short of the iconic Miami Vice theme song to be the soundtrack for 80s crime drama. That and I've never actually watched an episode of MacGyver, so any insult I could make would be uninformed, wouldn't it? I choose my battles.