Quick Note: Taking the rest of the year off. Happy holidays and thank you for rocking with Jonathan’s Music Blog.
“I’ve been holding in tears.” Bandgang Lonnie Bands wrote what could’ve been the Michigan rap chorus of the year, if only it happened more than once in the song. I know it doesn’t matter for TikTok, and I know I’m probably putting myself in the old head corner with this statement—hand me that dunce cap—but I wish “Tears” had a more traditional structure.
Let Professor Music Blog school you on some forgotten old-style Milwaukee magic: Bamm Bamm were a two-piece band that spent the early aughts wrecking art-damaged functions and street fairs all around Brewtown. They were an alternate reality Lightning Bolt, the alternate reality here being one populated by Mark Borchardt and Mike Schank (RIP). A quarter-tone guitar through a whammy pedal plus frenzied funk drums equals Heartland freakout magic supreme.
Urnotregistered “Hollywood Baby (Ukulele Cover)”
I went to three “real concerts” this year. First it was Weezer and Future Islands at Forest Hills Stadium (thanks, Sam). Then it was P!nk at Citi Field (thanks, Tim). And what did I scope to complete the hat track? 100 Gecs at Knockdown Center (thanks, Tony). It seemed fitting enough. The triple bill—Gecs/TisaKorean/Liturgy—was an illuminating look at the state of nu-Americana. First, Liturgy: I hadn’t seen these burst beat pioneers play in well over a decade, since we jammed an after-hours show together in an Arkansas living room, so it was inspiring to watch them on a huge stage filled with strobes and smoke. Haela Ravenna Hunt-Hendrix’s band sounded massive, playing long compositions that felt more Glenn Branca than black metal. I was stirred by the blankets of guitar and the hazy banging heads. After that, JMB favorite TisaKorean showed up wearing a straw cowboy hat and turned the club into a silly farm. The dance rap energy was through the roof, with Tisa throwing out branded towels and engaging in expert crowd work. No pure revivalist, his warped take on the genre might be the rap version of Devo or Brianiac. Then 100 Gecs played and the place went mental. Their set was as sloppy as a first-of-four at The Smell in 2007, but they got away with it because they write bulletproof songs that should be ruling alternative rock radio. All you had to do was take a look at the crazed wizards in the pit to know that this is a band that matters. They might be the new Chi Peps. I had a good time. (Sidebar: It would be easy for me to pivot to writing a certain kind of institutional critique, to wrap my own career disappointment in a package of embittered “industry analysis.” But I’m not going out like that!)
Luh Tyler (Feat. Latto) “The Grinch Freestyle”
Luh Tyler and Latto get into some matchy-matchy back-and-forth pockets over a beat that sounds like Mr. Grinch tip-toeing, on beat and suave, through a dusty mausoleum. They even repeat the chorus a few times. Merry Christmas to me!
Ultimate Fakebook “She Don’t Even Know My Name”
It’s the final Report of 2023 and I’m feeling a little randomsauce. Someday someone will make a compilation in the mold of Killed By Death or Nuggets, but instead of punk or garage or power pop, it will be Y2K-era bands who ripped off Weezer. So: power pop, actually. Pretty good key modulation in this song.
MIX OF THE WEEK: Catalyst “Live At Red Ink Community Library 6/23/23”
Nothing like a hardcore show at the nonprofit community library. To my corroded ears, Catalyst sounds like the midpoint between Charles Bronson and screamo, at least in this video; it’s pure crazed youth punk singalong energy from the jump, and it’s not a bad way for me to shut down the year. I feel fortunate to take in these transmissions from underground America on my smudgy little screen.
RIP Jigg