Shiny Grey Takeover - number one - Michael Joncas

Shiny Grey Takeover number one, and our inaugural host is:
Michael Joncas
Mr. Joncas has been doing me the personal favor of reviving one of my favorite micro-strains of rock music with the two albums his former band The Kneads released in 2015 and 2017, and more recently with his new band Harrison Ford Mustang (see previous post). He has a real knack for crafting a catchy, punky, rollicking indie banger...and then doing it again and again. Windows down, played loud, and sung along to even more loudy, type stuff. Find it and get it.
So, below are a handful of tunes that Michael wanted to highlight for his Takeover, and his thoughts on each (which means you're momentarily spared from my fart jokes). Enjoy, and make sure you check out Harrison Ford Mustang!

Basement Life - Fire
Basement Life has put out two killer albums, 2017's Love Is Not Real and 2018's Devour. Being from
Greensboro, I have had the chance to see and play with them many times and watch as their songwriting has matured. Just recently they opened for another Greensboro band, Old Heavy Hands, and they played a set of almost all brand new songs. The tunes were a little longer, filled with lots of twists and turns driven by Caleb's Jawbox-esque beats. Eric's love for the Cure mixed perfectly with Gavan's 90's indie rock love. Looking forward to these being released. The song that stands out to me is Fire from Devour. Gavan starts out sounding a lot like Blair from Knapsack, building up the intensity to the singalong chorus. Check it out for yourself - https://basementlife.bandcamp.com/album/devour. 
"It's all bullshit! It's all bullshit!!"


boygenius - Me & My Dog

I have listened to the 6-song ep by boygenius more than anything else lately.  Julien Baker, Lucy Dacus and Phoebe Bridgers put their individual styles together to create a magical piece of work. Full of echoey textures and harmonies and clean haunting guitar work. Main problem with it is it's length.Far too short.  Keeping fingers crossed for a future full-length.  I chose to share a live version of Me & My Dog recorded live in The Current studio.  The piano is more in the forefront than the recording. Great harmonies!!

Personality Cult - Burned

Personality Cult, outta Carrboro, NC, put their debut out on Drunken Sailor Records last year and it has rarely left my turntable since I bought it from them when we played the Que Viva! Hopscotch Festival Day Party with them at Slim's last fall. Up for my album of the year. Tight songwriting and punchy hooks ala the Buzzcocks make me anxious to get my hands on their sophomore release which has already been recorded. Check out the entire album here: 

https://personalitycultnc.bandcamp.com/

Fugazi - Break-In

My next two posts are focused on the bands I go back to more than any others. Growing up in the DC area I was lucky to see a million great shows. Fugazi never let me down - live or on recordings. The first time I saw them was at d.c. space opening for Kingface. It was a very early show and Guy had not yet started playing guitar at shows. He was adding backing vocals and lots of dancing. He did take over vocals on Break-In and was a blur of energy - all over the place. I did not get to see Rites of Spring, but this song was a taste of what they must have been like like. I love the breaks with Ian's guitar riff fill-ins. I chose a live version from a show in 1991. Dig the on stage dancer and surprisingly nothing was said about the stage diving.

The Cure - 100 Years

My all-time favorite, the band I have loved forever and probably seen live more than any other, is The Cure. To me, Robert Smith and the gang have done little wrong in their career. After meeting the Red Hot Chili Peppers after seeing them play on the Mother's Milk tour, I have not wanted to meet bands I liked for fear of them being assholes like Anthony Keidis. However, I would love the chance to sit down for a pint with Robert Smith though. Here's a live version of 100 Years from 1984 featuring Andy Anderson (RIP) on drums. Gloomy perfection.

Jawbox - Tools And Chrome

Been listening to a lot of Jawbox in preparation for the show at the 9:30 Club on June 28th. What a show it was too. They sounded amazingly tight and seemed to have a great time. Loved watching Kim's smiling face throughout the entire set. Bill and J's vocals were totally onpoint and Bill was non-stop motion. Only disappointment was they didn't play Tools and Chrome - the first song I heard by them. I chose to share the version from 1990 Desoto/Dischord split as opposed to the version from Grippe. A little more raw sounding.

Chastity Belt - It's Obvious

Loving the Walla Walla, WA band Chastity Belt. 2017's I Used To Spend So Much Time Alone is a perfect piece of indie jangle guitar pop. They have a new album coming out in September and you can pre-order it here - https://chastity-belt.bandcamp.com/album/chastity-belt. They are touring the states this fall and I can't wait to catch them in November at Motorco in Durham, NC. I love this song, It's Obvious from the 2017 release. Instruments are a mix of The Cure and Hum with a layer of beautiful reverb-y vocals. Dig it.

For Squirrels - Long Live The King

I did not hear of For Squirrels until coming across this article -https://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2015/sep/13/remembering-for-squirrels-20-years-after-tragedy-s/. Give it a read and you will see why I quickly checked them out. I instantly came to love their early R.E.M./grungy sound. Wish I had discovered them long ago. Example is a 90's masterpiece that many never heard. Not a track on it is a skipper. Here is Long Live The King. Listen for that Frank Black-ish scream.

Ovlov - The City

Grapes, the opening track from Ovlov's debut album, Am (Exploding in Sound Records) kicks off with a beautiful blast of feedback before kicking into a wall of guitars ala My Bloody Valentine. The album is chock full of love for bands like Dinosaur Jr. and Hum. I have their discography on constant rotation, but I specifically love the Greatest Hits, Vol. II release that is a compilation of Ovlov's tunes prior to the release of their debut album. Every track is a banger and is meant to be played loud. Also check out the bands Stove and Pet Fox, both off-shoots of Ovlov. 

Ovlov Bandcamp: https://ovlov.bandcamp.com/.

Stove's Bandcamp: https://stovesbandcamp.bandcamp.com/releases. 

Pet Fox Bandcamp: https://petfox.bandcamp.com/. 

Fill your earholes with the fuzz-filled track, The City, which includes vocal help from Sadie Dupuis of Speedy Ortiz.

Poptone - Ok This Is The Pops

Growing up in the 80's I came to love bands like The Cure, Bauhaus, Public Image Limited, Love and Rockets, Echo and the Bunnymen, discovering them on MTV's 120 Minutes or the DC area radio station, WHFS. So I was very excited when I heard that Daniel Ash and Kevin Haskins (Love & Rockets, Bauhaus, Tones On Tale) were revisiting their early bands and touring as Poptone. Kevin's daughter, Diva Dompe filled out the sound as the third member of the band, playing bass, keys, drums where necessary. When I found out they were coming to the east coast I jumped at the chance of catching them in Richmond at The National. What an incredible show, especially the chance to hear the Tones on Tales tunes live since they only existed for such a brief period. Poptone re-recorded a batch of songs and put out a self-titled album, did one more tour and then from what I can tell, called it a day. Was really hoping for some new music from the trio. Check out Ok This Is The Pops.