Miserable Friend | Heartbreaking Bravery

June 2, 2016

Splitting at the Break: The Live Photography of 2016’s First Half, Pt. III

Throughout 2016’s opening two months, I was able to take in two surprisingly contained winter festivals in the upper Midwest: Madison, WI’s FRZN Fest and Chicago, IL’s Music Frozen Dancing. The former ran three days (I was in attendance for the bookends) at the High Noon Saloon while the latter took place outside of the Empty Bottle. Both boasted impressive lineups that reflected well on their venues and, to a larger extent, their cities. Those two fests were the year’s openers and they sent me scrambling for more shows to shoot and I was able to capitalize on several of those opportunities. Whether they were in a basement or at a historic club venue, if cameras were allowed, I’d have mine rolling. Several of the best photographs I managed to capture in that run of months can be found below. Enjoy.

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June 2, 2016

Splitting at the Break: The Live Photography of 2016’s First Half, Pt. II

Throughout the first six months, I was fortunate enough to catch (and photograph) the following acts: American Wrestlers, Palehound, Eternal Summers, Torres, Julien Baker, Charly Bliss, Muuy Biien, Meat Wave, The Spits Black Lips, Jungles, Mr. Martin & The Sensitive Guys, Bag-Dad, Haunter, Miserable Friend, Heavycritters, Yoko and the Oh No’s, PWR BTTM, Micah Schnabel (of Two Cow Garage), Dyke Drama, Potty Mouth, Beach Slang, Yowler, Eskimeaux, Frankie Cosmos, Oops, and Dilly Dally. All of that photography will be presented — as previously mentioned — through a five-part gallery. The second installment touches on more of the best selections from those sets. As always, the gallery can be accessed below. Enjoy.

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May 30, 2016

Splitting at the Break: The Live Videos of 2016’s First Half

2016 is just about at its midway mark and there hasn’t been any live coverage on this site since before the year turned over. There have been a number of extenuating circumstances preventing the live documentation that has been captured this year from being posted (travel, time, other commitments, etc.) but that changes today. Below are ten video packets from ten shows that I was fortunate enough to catch — and shoot — this year.

Normally, as a general rule of thumb, I avoid posting anything from shows I play but am making an exception for the Jungles package because the band’s woefully under-represented in America for their undeniable strength as a live act. A few other packets may be missing an artist or two but what’s below is the vast majority of what I’ve seen over the past six months.

Whether it’s Meat Wave ripping through a crushing new song on a (freakishly sunny) winter day in Chicago, Beach Slang covering The Replacements two times over, or Torres making everyone’s hairs stand on end with an unforgettable one-song encore, these are worth a look and were a privilege to experience. A photo gallery will be coming within the next few days but for now, enjoy the footage.

American Wrestlers, Eternal Summers, Palehound, and Torres.

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Julien Baker and Charly Bliss.

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Muuy Biien, Meat Wave, The Spits, and Black Lips.

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Runners, Beech Creeps, and Heavy Times.

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Jungles.

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Mr. Martin & The Sensitive Guys, BAG-DAD, Haunter, Miserable Friend, and Heavycritters.

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Yoko and the Oh No’s and PWR BTTM.

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Micah Schnabel, Dyke Drama, Potty Mouth, and Beach Slang.

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Yowler, Eskimeaux, and Frankie Cosmos.

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Oops and Dilly Dally.

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December 24, 2014

2014: A Pictorial Review, Pt. 5

Those were just a few of reasons that went into the decision behind a headfirst dive into photography investment (on both a personal and public level) and factored into why one camera or another was brought along to every show this site covered in the past year. Now, with 2015 just around the corner, seemed like as good a time as any to showcase a few photographs from the past 12 months that stood out as personal favorites. Since there are a few too many to go up all at once, they’ll be posted at random as part of installments that will run from now to the start of January. Most of these shots have been published on the site before (or on The Media), though there are a few that will be appearing for the first time.

Pt. 5 will be the final installment of this series and the preceding galleries can be accessed via the links directly below. Enjoy!

2014: A Pictorial Review, Pt. 1
2014: A Pictorial Review, Pt. 2
2014: A Pictorial Review, Pt. 3
2014: A Pictorial Review, Pt. 4

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December 20, 2014

2014: A Pictorial Review, Pt. 4

One thing that this site has strived to maintain is its own visual aesthetic. While it’d be impossible to find a photo in the archives for every given band that headlines a post, an original photo will be posted anytime the opportunity presents itself. Upgrading cameras halfway through the year provided a bevvy of new opportunities and the subsequent implementation of a more photo-centric presence. That’s not by mistake. Photography (especially event photography) has always been an important crux of multimedia journalism. It can be a way to implicitly (or explicitly) convey some of the more minute details of a singular moment to a reader- or it can simply act as an intriguing supplement. Those were just a few of reasons that went into the decision behind a headfirst dive into photography investment (on both a personal and public level) and factored into why one camera or another was brought along to every show this site covered in the past year. Now, with 2015 just around the corner, seemed like as good a time as any to showcase a few photographs from the past 12 months that stood out as personal favorites. Since there are a few too many to go up all at once, they’ll be posted at random as part of installments that will run from now to the start of January. Most of these shots have been published on the site before (or on The Media), though there are a few that will be appearing for the first time. Enjoy!

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December 19, 2014

2014: A Pictorial Review, Pt. 3

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February 1, 2014

The Trucks – Space Famous (Demo Review)

Between The Trucks’ Space Famous demo, the PRIVILEGE demo, EP’s from Miserable Friend, Green Kid, and teasers of the upcoming cassette releases for Black Thumb and Technicolor Teeth, Wisconsin’s had a reasonably insane past few weeks. While all of those titles are worth a listen or two, the first one’s going to be the one discussed today. There’s only so much room and so much time to provide coverage for a release influx as formidable as this slate’s been, so even if there’s a release that picks up a central focus, listening’s encouraged for every listed title. Now, with that out of the way, on to The Trucks and Space Famous.

Having started only a short while ago with a scrappy one-song demo to their name, the Appleton-based band had started playing out more consistently prior to the release of Space Famous, wisely finding their niche comfort zone before committing to recording. With a sound that falls somewhere between Superchunk and Archers of Loaf, there’s always a tough balancing act to overcome; how to sound impassioned about being relatively passionless. The Trucks are well on their way to finding that precise point and Space Famous indicates pretty strongly that they’re looking to perfect it.

With this being a demo, the band’s sound, already considerably thick, is made even thicker through the lo-fi production. It’s something that’s immediately evidenced on the title track, when one of the first noises blasting out is a guitar tone that sounds suspiciously like a brass section. What follows is a quick-witted and hard-charging powerpop song that carries a noticeable amount of 90’s indie punk influence. In that regard, the lyrics (courtesy of lead personality Jake Royer) frequently and appropriately recall those of Robert Pollard during Guided by Voices first classic lineup run.

Following the promising opener is “So She Says”, Space Famous’ longest track, which allows more space to provide emphasis on the talents of the members surrounding Royer; Danzo Clavers, Luke Crowe, and Ryley Crowe. This spread-emphasis continues to an even greater extent on closing track “Heartbreak Motel”. Throughout both tracks, there’s a palpable almost acerbic energy that’s anchored and held in check by the power drumming of Ryley Crowe (who also drums on the releases from Miserable Friend and PRIVILEGE mentioned above, likely on the upcoming Black Thumb cassette as well).

By the time “Heartbreak Motel” wraps up Space Famous in an inspired burst of cross-vocal performances, it’s clear that The Trucks are doing more than a few things right- chiefly, resurrecting the 90’s slacker punk sub-genre in a way that feels honest instead of forced. There are traces of early-era Weezer and their kin throughout that promise this band’s got a lot of interesting things to offer musically, many of which may very well be hidden up their sleeves. If they’re all as consistently great as Space Famous then there’s a very good reason to keep both eyes on them. During the wait to find out, relax, find some junk food, turn the volume up, keep an eye out for their upcoming shows (they’re absolutely on the mark live) and take a trip through Space Famous below.

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