Touring to promote their 20 years as a band and their latest release, “The Double Cross” (Pitchfork 8.1), her Mims and I dropped in on the Canadian power poppers only to face a 2.5 hour delay. I know these guys are geezers, but did they really need to take a nap before hitting the stage? Didn’t they know that the bulk of their audience had to work in comic book stores in the morning? I was so annoyed when they finally came out at 10:30pm, that I was almost deaf to their sugary goodness. Sadly, they didn’t play too much from their masterpiece “Never Hear the End of It,” and, oddly, they let 4th songwriter and principal drummer, Andrew Scott do a five song mini-concert. Not a lot of harmonizing during the Scott songs, which makes them less appealing.
Chris Murphy might be the best rock bassist going. He plays it like a lead instrument a la Paul “the dead one” McCartney. He and guitarist Jay Ferguson are the reasons to love this band. Next time, though, show up on time! (Friends of mine can insert their own jokes about timeliness now).
Speaking of being on time, just put the finishing touches on to our Best of 2010 list. Read it on the music page and look back fondly on the year that was adequate. Of course, 2011 is shaping up to be a great year for new releases, even if you don’t like Radiohead’s “King of Limbs,” (“Derrick Smalls on lead bass, he wrote this.”)
Finally, here’s a nice shot of me and Piper Palin. No, I kid. It’s Genevieve Schatz of the band Company of Thieves. They put on a great set opening for The Hold Steady, which is no small feat. Check out their song “Oscar Wilde,” and call me in the morning.
