Young Fresh Fellows
Irving Plaza
3/24/01
The Young Fresh Fellows are probably the quintessential American rock and roll band. Their music is a perfect distillation of British and American rock, with dashes of every significant (and some not so significant) musical trend in the last thirty years. That being said, the Fellows are not only a recording force, they may be the best live band around, the only band in near contention being NRBQ. They also like to have a drink or twelve. Head Fellow Scott Macaughey’s pairing with Peter Buck in the Minus 5 is the only thing better than his union with guitar-meister Kurt Bloch in the Fellows. Theirs is a union that is unstoppable, not by broken guitar strings nor dearth of whiskey. While they were inexplicably relegated to opening for the Soft Boys, they still rocked the house. They Had Their Mojo Working and you’ d have to be deaf not to know as they blazed through a bunch of new stuff from the split record with the Minus 5 and a handful of the chestnuts you’ve drunkenly bellowed at a dozen Young Fresh Fellows shows previously. In an ideal world that is. Make the dream real. Buy the new record and I implore you: see them live. There is absolutely no reason why we should have to wait five years for the next tour.

Alkaline Trio
Sweep The Leg Johnny
The Rotunda, Philadelphia PA
4/6/01
I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again: pound for pound, there’s nothing better than a good power trio. Pegboy, Jawbreaker, Husker Du, fIREHOSE. They would (and in Pegboy’s case, still will) kick your ass and make you like it. The Alkaline Trio are the guys doing the kicking in this day and age. They’ve got a new record on Vagrant called From Here To Infirmary that is pretty damn good and were out doing some shows before doing some shows with the Blink 182 in the big halls. Here’s hoping they make it through ok. The boys are copping a little bit of a Gang Of Four look with their red and black look but haven’t deviated from their anthemic rock style. Four hundred kids (and at least one old bastard) pumped their fists and shouted every damn work of their hour plus set. Sweep The Leg Johnny opened with a set of the jazz inflected post-rock you’ve come to expect from Chicago these days. They are obviously pretty talented and jumped around enough to keep it entertaining, but I never really got into the instrumental thing and got kinda bored. Kudos to the Trio boys for bringing some hometown heroes out on the road and the same to 5050 productions for putting on great shows in a great space. It won’t be the last show I’ll take in there.

Mekons
Mercury Lounge
4/19/01
Since the Bowery Ballroom took off in a big way, I seem to spend more time there than my first love, the Mercury Lounge. Luckily, every one in a while I get the opportunity to make it back to see someone like the Mekons and it’ s a hell of a party. For once, they went on early, although you needn’t have worried about their alcohol consumption. Jon was his usual drunken wise-ass self, Sally was cranky and the Mekons collectively were simply awesome. Not that you’d expect anything else. It’s amazing that virtually everyone in the band has a side project and they are still as vibrant as a band half their age. There’s no new record to promote, but we heard a lot of the latest record, Journey To The End Of The Night, as well as a nice cross-section of the last million years of Mekonery. Combine that with the usual rabid crowd of miscreants and you’ve got a pretty good Thursday night. Nice to see that despite the fact they could easily sell out Bowery, they opted for a more intimate venue and multiple nights. A classy move from one of the classiest bands around.

The Figgs
Ride The Mole
Knitting Factory
4/20/01
The Figgs have been a part of my life for the better part of ten years and they never fail to amaze me. They’ve had some ups and downs, but the last two years have galvanized them into a rock and roll institution. They’ve put out an EP, two full-lengths and a vinyl only rarities collection and can still bust out jawdroppingly good stuff like their new "Metal Detector" and the other new songs they rocked the hell out of a crowded Knitting Factory with. They are evidently about to put out a new record soon and will doubtless be playing out again soon. Hopefully it’ll be with Ride The Mole again, as they were pretty damn great. They’ve evidently been around for a while, but have yet to record. I’d say that if they can capture their live sound on record, they could do some big things. RTM aren’t breaking new ground or anything, but they’ve got great hooks and know how to play. That alone should set them apart from most bands around today.

Alkaline Trio
From Here To Infirmary
Vagrant Records
At this point in my life, I’m far from being objective about the Alkaline Trio. I go see them as much as I can, have an embarrassing amount of their merch, and stalk the Net like a damn vulture to get their unreleased and live stuff. I had heard live and alternate versions of all these songs on Napster before I picked up the record and have to say that Infirmary has some of their best songs to date. Guitarist Matt Skiba is certainly on his game for this record, with songs like Private Eye and Armageddon kicking a prodigious amount of posterior. Bassist Dan Andriano is no slouch either, but the remixed version of Crawl takes away from the immediacy of the version they released last Fall. The remixing, or should I say overmixing, takes away from the record a little but for me, but the songs and playing are rock solid and every damn kid at the shows seems to know every word, so they are obviously doing something right. This may very well be the record that catapults them to the big time. Here’s hoping they make it in one piece.

Young Fresh Fellows
Because We Hate You
The Minus Five
Let The War Against Music Begin
Mammoth Records
Not sure who orchestrated this deal, but signing the Minus 5 and Young Fresh Fellows together and then packaging their records together at a discount price is a pretty shrewd move. Both of these bands are the brainchild of Scott McCaughey, fifth member of REM and all-around rock and roll renaissance man. The Minus 5 are some semblance of a post-grunge Derek and the Dominoes meets the Traveling Wilburys. You’ve got all your new school Brian Wilsons like Sean O’Hagan and Ken Stringfellow, Jeff Tweedy, Ken Stringfellow, Peter Buck, the list goes on and on. Less textural than their previous effort, the songs are much more rock, especially in John Barleycorn Must Live. I think it’s a much better record for it. The Young Fresh Fellows, by contrast, haven’t changed a damn thing. They rock, plain and simple. And just when I thought they couldn’t get much cooler, they’ve done a song about Krispy Kreme. I believe we’ve found rock nirvana. Whether you prefer the Minus Five pop psychedelia or the rock goodness of The Young Fresh Fellows, buy this record. You’ll be a much better person for it.

Joel R.L. Phelps and The Downer Trio
Inland Empires
Moneyshot Records
Maybe you know Joel Phelps from his days in Silkworm, or have perhaps picked up the three or four releases he’s done with his band the Downer Trio. Most likely, you either love him or are terrified of him. It’s easy to be a little bit scared, as Phelps has the most harrowing howl this side of Mark Eitzel. This record is a bunch of covers recorded live in the studio, with a new number tagged on for good measure. The Downer Trio approach works well with the two Iris Dement covers, but is much less compelling on the Townes Van Zandt and Steve Earle numbers. You can’t beat his taste, though. A good record, but for completists only.