I JUST WOKE UP AT THIS STRANGE SHOW

(Oh meine) Liebe auf den ersten Blick.

Des Moines gives, and Des Moines takes away.

Right after the small but passionate audience at Love Is All's Vaudeville Mews show Thursday night had me only praising the Des Moines concert experience, a couple of other (pretty good!) shows by bands I basically like taught me a couple of the more awkward quirks of a smaller city's music scene. Aside from not many of my friends wanting to go to a midnight show on a weeknight, I mean.

Dum Dum Girls first. This buzzing, reverb-buried garage-pop band-- on stage sort of like if the models from the "Addicted to Love" video wanted to be the Strokes-- began as the solo project of a supposed Los Angeles librarian calling herself Dee Dee (real name: Kristin Gundred). After the One Kiss Can Lead to Another box set a few years ago coincided with a resurgence of bands inspired by 1960s girl-groups (the Pipettes, Lucky Soul, Tralala, Johnny Boy-- the list goes on), in the past couple of years more female-led bands have taken a rougher, noisier approach to the girl-group genre: Vivian Girls, meet the Shaggs. While Vivian Girls have a great sound, Dum Dum Girls struck me from the start as having the better songs. For one thing, Dee Dee's debut Dum Dum Girls EP could pull off a ballad. For another, tracks like "Catholicked," with clever lines about a chest stuffed with emotion and a confident young woman declaring that "my sins are my own," struck me as simply good pieces of songwriting, however you might choose to record them. I even said so, in a Pitchfork track review, back in February 2009. 

Dum Dum Girls released their debut album, I Will Be, on indie (well, actually nearly half-owned by Warner) heavyweight Sub Pop, earlier this year. Dee Dee has a full band now, and Richard Gottehrer, who co-wrote "My Boyfriend's Back" and produced the likes of Blondie and the Go-Go's, helped produce. The overall sound is slightly cleaner, and the individual songs didn't quite reveal themselves to me as much, but my overall positive impression about the band definitely pushed the album into steady iPhone duty. Not a surefire top 10, or anything, but easily a contender for a spot on my overall year-end list, on the faith that I'd get more into the individual songs the more I heard them. Which is still quite possible-- it's a good album.

Their early show Monday night at the Mews, however, was... weird. First of all, Dum Dum Girls are opening pretty much everywhere else for San Francisco buzz band Girls. I'm pretty sure I saw Christopher Owens, the dude from Girls with the awesome backstory (I'll let you Google it for yourself), in the audience last night. But I guess his band chose not to play Des Moines that particular evening? Which-- fair play, totally his right. So it was just Dum Dum Girls, who I like better, anyway. And I was looking for Captured Tracks and Blank Dogs man Mike Sniper, who I really enjoyed interviewing for a recent article, and who I think used to tour as a member of Dum Dum Girls, but I guess he wasn't there, either. Whatever. The music itself was great: a little bit of overkill on the reverb, maybe, but Dee Dee's new band sounded super-tight, they did "Catholicked" and "Bhang Bhang, I'm a Burnout" and anything else I was expecting to hear, and I was nodding my head and bouncing up and down and looking stupid. Except for the "stupid" part, so were a lot of people. The crowd was a little dude-heavy, but the dudes couldn't help that, and neither could the Girls (Dum Dum or otherwise). And, you know, if you really are the Strokes, and it's, let's say, 2001, then yeah, you can play a super-short set-- I'm gonna be generous and guess it was 30 minutes?-- and address the audience with a totally supercilious attitude (I think we got a "thank you" or two, tops) and then be all the cooler for it. But it's 2010! And Dum Dum Girls are good, but they're not that great! And the stockings, or pantyhose, or whatever you call those retrograde comic-book-fantasy outfits they were wearing-- they're another reason to listen to Robyn or Beyonce or Kate Nash. I was gonna ask Dee Dee if they brought records or tapes I could buy, but I was too scared. Somebody else asked. We could order them online, I heard. Whatever, it's only Des Moines, right? Bummer.

I have less to say about the Morning Benders' show at the Mews on Friday night, I promise. They're another buzzed-about band, this time from Berkeley, California. Their new album is called Big Echo, and you might like it if you're into bands like the Shins or the Dodos. The catchiest song, "Excuses," combines elements of, like, college a cappella groups (you will never get the "bum bah bum" out of your head) and precious, melodic indie-rock. It also has a lyric about "the southern tip of your body," which, I'm sorry. Anyway, I went to the show with a bunch of friends, and I had a good time, and I'm really glad Morning Benders came to Des Moines. It might've been the overall vibe, I dunno, but I was starting to find the show itself a little boring, a little bit the kind of thing where the noisy spots felt tacked on for the cool factor when the underlying songs really wanted to be something a little cleaner, a little more pop/rock. Which, if you know me, is fine, too! But I was armed with Twitter, and I had the misimpression I was about to be clever-- always dangerous-- so I tweeted something snarky. The next day, also on Twitter, Christopher from the band understandably called me out. I apologized profusely, immediately, and will do so again if called, because either way they seem like really nice guys, and even if they weren't it sounds like they felt it was just a strange night, and besides, the whole point of music criticism for me is never to start a personal beef with an artist or go out of my way to hurt their feelings; you're supposed to be providing a service for other people, not virtually heckling the band. I screwed up.

It's interesting, though. The rules are probably different because I'm a music critic, and so, like it or not, I'm a representative of the publications I write for. But I wonder if, in Brooklyn, there would've been so many tweets that maybe my own boneheaded attempts at humor could've gone overlooked, unnoticed, and un-called-out, so Morning Benders wouldn't have had to try to figure out what I was saying (it doesn't really make sense) and I would've been in the clear. A learning experience: In a smaller city, it's harder to blend in, even when you say something online. I'd better get smart.

(Initial band announcements for 80/35 Festival are on Monday. Advance two-day tickets are $40 or $175 for a two-day pass at midwestix.com. This is a pretty sweet price, and they will go up, so if you're going to be in Des Moines this July 4 weekend and you like any of the music I write about on this blog, I suggest picking them up now.)

(ALSO: Record Store Day this weekend. Hit up Zzz Records on Ingersoll starting at 11 a.m. for special Record Store Day-only releases, pizza, discounts, and all that kind of good stuff. If you're going on the Mayor's bicycle ride, then stop by later in the day.)

(ALSO ALSO: Top tracks/albums of 2010 so far coming up eventually. I always take too long on this stuff-- it was supposed to be for the first three months of the year.)

UPCOMING:
- Cowboy Mouth at Vaudeville Mews April 14
- A Weather at Vaudeville Mews April 15
- Nadas at People's Court April 16
- Julian Casablancas at People's April 23
- Manchester Orchestra w/ Thrice at People's April 25
- Poison Control Center's Record Release Party at Vaudeville Mews April 30
- Canby's Record Release Party w/ Golden Veins (ex-Beati Paoli) at Vaudeville Mews May 1
- Poison Control Center's Record Release Party at the M Shop in Ames May 1
- Brother Ali at Vaudeville Mews May 2
- As I Lay Dying at People's Court May 3 
- Owl City at Val Air Ballroom May 4
- Harlem w/ the Jitz at Vaudeville Mews May 5 
- Mayday Parade at People's Court May 5
- Afroman at Vaudeville Mews May 13
- Baroness at Vaudeville Mews May 17
- MONO w/ the Twilight Sad at Vaudeville Mews May 18
- Mark Mallman w/ Why Make Clocks at Vaudeville Mews May 19
- Maxila Blue's Record Release Party at Vaudeville Mews May 21
- Pocahaunted at Vaudeville Mews June 4
- Damien Jurado at Vaudeville Mews June 6
- Pearly Gate Music at Vaudeville Mews June 9
- The Melvins at House of Bricks June 27
- 80/35 Festival July 3-July 4
- Phoenix at 7 Flags Event Center, Aug. 10
- Keith Urban at Iowa State Fair Aug. 13
- Pat Benatar w/ REO Speedwagon at Iowa State Fair Aug. 17
- Darius Rucker at Iowa State Fair Aug. 19
- Sugarland at Iowa State Fair Aug. 21
- Sheryl Crow at Iowa State Fair Aug. 22  

THERE'S NO SENSE TRYING TO MAKE THIS SMART

Make out, fall out, make up.

 
Josephine Olausson said she expected three people last night. Des Moines didn't do quite as bad as that, but it was a late show, a small crowd. Here's the thing, though: Everybody was dancing. It was like people were jumping and clapping extra hard just to make up for the low turnout. And you could tell Love Is All-- the spastic post-punk quintet from Gothenburg, Sweden-- were happy about it the whole time.

This was the kind of night that makes me appreciate going to shows in Des Moines. I'd seen Love Is All once before, at Cake Shop on Manhattan's Lower East Side, and it was great-- you may still be able to listen to proof here. But I didn't really "see" them much, in the literal sense. Place was packed. And Mrs. Des Noise definitely couldn't go, what with having to ride the subway home in time to get up and teach kids the next morning. Here, not only could I see them, I could enjoy them-- without feeling self-conscious about it, either, because everybody else was probably even more demonstrative (or at least, better at dancing).

Straight out of bed I smashed my head on the bookshelf.

Last night, we heard songs from all three Love Is All albums, including new one Two Thousand and Ten Injuries. If you know the band, you know what it sounded like: Funky guitar stabs, saxophone, keyboard, and Olausson's idiosyncratic vocals about, well, love, and all-- this sort of frenetic style descended from late 1970s British indie bands, 1980s Australian indie bands, and other parts of your complete music-dork breakfast. They came back for an encore, which was nice. They complimented our dancing, which was nice. And they seemed pleasantly surprised that a place called Fong's Pizza would actually make good pizza-- also nice! (They couldn't play "Less Than Thrilled", one fan's suggestion from the new album. At this point, though, how could we not be understanding?)

It wasn't until after the show that I thought about how unorthodox Olausson is as a frontwoman. I mean, her songs radiate enough personality, humor, and desire for love that you have Dean of Critics Robert Christgau calling her "definitely my type," and Pitchfork's Jess Harvell dubbing her "one of the early 21st century's great poets of romantic dissatisfaction"-- an appraisal Olausson took to Twitter to disavow. And yet she's up there in a pink sweatshirt, hardly trying to capitalize on the crushes her songs appear to inspire. She's performing as a person.

That isn't to say she's dull up there. Anything but. Aside from her basic presentation, she's not far off from the dervish-ness of Jemina Pearl here a couple of months ago. There was barely a second to pause for a breath between songs-- a challenge for those of us doing a lot of jumping up and down-- and from time to time Olausson or another band member would come careening into the small crowd. You can tell they've been doing this for a little while (I also recommend seeking out the songs by their prior band, Girlfrendo).

I don't know that it was a good night for the Vaudeville Mews in the short term, given the low turnout. But it had to be a great long-term investment. Everyone there was visibly having just an amazing time-- they'll tell their friends. And with doors not opening until 10 p.m., it was really late for a show in Des Moines, anyway, so I know there were people who would see a band like Love Is All next time who couldn't make it. Anyway, it's just worthwhile to have a music venue that brings top-notch international acts like this one to the area. People who hadn't heard about them will start hearing about them. Events like the 80/35 festival continue to increase exposure for music that-- believe it or not, jaded New York critics-- is still off the radar for a lot of people.

Sparsely attended but awesome shows today are the only way we can eventually have packed and awesome shows sometime in the future. Uhh, right?

(Sorry I missed Mission Creek this year. We will figure out a way to get out to Iowa City for that next year. Also upcoming: Some kind of year-so-far best-of list. Morning Benders tonight!)

UPCOMING:
- the Morning Benders at Vaudeville Mews April 9
- Dum Dum Girls at Vaudeville Mews April 12
- Cowboy Mouth at Vaudeville Mews April 14
- A Weather at Vaudeville Mews April 15
- Julian Casablancas at People's April 23
- Manchester Orchestra and Thrice at People's April 25
- Poison Control Center's Record Release Party at Vaudeville Mews April 30
- Brother Ali at Vaudeville Mews May 2
- MONO and the Twilight Sad at Vaudeville Mews May 18
- Mark Mallman at Vaudeville Mews May 19
- Damien Jurado at Vaudeville Mews June 6
- 80/35 Festival July 3-July 4
- Phoenix at 7 Flags Event Center, Aug. 10
- Keith Urban at Iowa State Fair Aug. 13
- Pat Benatar and REO Speedwagon at Iowa State Fair Aug. 17
- Darius Rucker at Iowa State Fair Aug. 19
- Sugarland at Iowa State Fair Aug. 21
- Sheryl Crow at Iowa State Fair Aug. 22  

BEFORE THE HATERS GET TO THEM

Health care has been in the news for well over a year now, most recently with President Obama's visit to Iowa City after finally signing a bill last week. Most of the bands I tend to write about in this space probably don't have health insurance, however. Meanwhile, in Scandinavian countries and Canada, musicians not only don't need to worry about health coverage (their taxes pay for it), they also can apply for significant amounts of grant money. Pitchfork was kind enough to publish my 4,000-plus-word piece of reporting on these two related subjects today: "What's the Matter With Sweden?".

The effect of the health care legislation for musicians, as best as I can tell, will be modest-- they'll be required to buy health insurance, but it will hopefully be cheaper than it is now, and some musicians will be able to stay on their parents' coverage until age 26, while those with pre-existing conditions can no longer be denied coverage. Still, this isn't an issue limited to places like Brooklyn or Austin. A few Central Iowa connections:

•  Pavement's Bob Nastanovich, who lives in Des Moines when he's not touring the world as part of his iconic indie-rock band's reunion tour, has type two diabetes (the Iowa State Fair will do that to you), but he doesn't have health insurance. Here's Bob in my story; one detail to note is that when he said, "I need to take care of myself," it was in response to the question, "Anything else to add?" Bob is not a me-first kind of guy.
• The Poison Control Center's Patrick Tape Fleming, who is going on a U.S. tour this summer upon the release of new album Sad Sour Future, does have health insurance-- in Iowa. Fleming and his wife Ashley pay $81 a month, and if they need to go to the doctor they can see medical students at the University of Iowa. "Knock on wood, I have never had to go," Patrick says. "But if I was on tour, and I broke my collarbone jumping on [bandmate] Devin [Frank]'s face I might be kind of screwed. 'Cause my Iowa Care would not cover it... Unless I could get to Iowa City."
• Christopher the Conquered's Chris Ford-- who has brought an increased theatricality and tighter stage presence back from his band's recent U.S. tour with Leslie & the LYs, based on Friday night's impressive set at the all-local GDP music festival-- does have health insurance. But not through his position at a small engineering firm, though Ford is one of the lucky few touring artists able to figure out a way to maintain a full-time job. He opts to buy his own. "Given that I don't smoke, have basically no negative medical history, and am young and healthy, this is notably affordable compared to what I know some people can pay," he says. "Granted, I don't have amazing insurance and it is far from a so-called 'cadillac' plan, but I pay about $90/month for what I consider to be reasonable plan."

Thing is, most Pitchfork-level touring bands (probably except for groups as big as Wilco or the Flaming Lips) don't have health insurance, suspects Fleming. "As somebody who is going to be on tour a lot in 2010/2011 I'm glad I have at least Iowa Care, but I would also rather have peace of mind, where I could just pay monthly and go to a doctor if I needed," he says. "Like Canada, or whatever. I'm not the type of person who goes to the doctor when I get a little sore throat or something. I try to take care of myself. But in the indie-rock touring world, there is no really good answer."

It's a good thing Ford does have insurance, though, because he was careening through the audience even more than usual during Christopher the Conquered's set Friday night. The energetic renditions of songs from this year's You're Gonna Glow in the Dark took on the air of a revival meeting. In fact, Ford ended the set in an ecclesiastical-looking black robe, running down from the stage and climbing on top of people before running back up to the microphone and letting his robe blow in the air. It was an off-kilter touch of glam that really nicely suited the band's off-kilter, piano-based sing-alongs about the apocalypse hitting Polk County, and other eccentric topics-- the songs work even better in this theatrical mode, I think. Unfortunately, I wasn't well-positioned to take pictures. We also caught another fine set from Canby, this time debuting new material with a full band, but unfortunately missed Hanwell, Why Make Clocks, and several others either because they were onstage at the same time as another band or because we were grabbing a belated dinner.

Red Pony Clock know their Rugburns lyrics.

Also! Also! We caught a solid early-show lineup at the Vaudeville Mews on Sunday night. Red Pony Clock, whose mustachioed singer Gabe Saucedo I met when he was here last fall with Still Flyin' (to paraphrase Saucedo: Not many people were there, but everyone who was there bought the band shots!), played a winsome set of vibraphone- (not marimba or glockenspiel!) and accordion-assisted twee-pop. A standout was "Take a Side", off of 2007's God Made Dirt, on the Happy Happy Birthday to Me label; you've heard the boom (pause) boom-boom "Be My Baby" beat a zillion times by now, but probably not in a mariachi-tinged tune about relationship strife. "If you're not game, that's super lame, 'cause it's totally all up to you," Red Pony Clock sing. If twee ain't your thing, then-- at least per Saucedo-- Red Pony Clock's new unofficial name is Lazer Boner. Smells as sweet, doesn't it?

Zoos of Berlin did it their "Electrical Way."

Anyway, a fine time, preceded by an excellent set of suave, sophisticated, jazzy art-pop by Detroit's Zoos of Berlin (previous Des Noise faves) and some promisingly skronky post-punk by Wham City-aligned cityfolk/tourmates Child Bite. A lot of mustaches at the Mews last night.

Child Bite get psyched to take a bite outta Fong's Pizza.

(Plus: Des Moines' own the Seed of Something, whose drummer now sings a couple of tunes, staring intensely (and awesomely) toward the ceiling, and Marshalltown's Land of Blood and Sunshine.)


UPCOMING:

- Pocahaunted at Mission Creek Festival in Iowa City March 29
- Electric Six at Vaudeville Mews March 31
- Booker T of the MGs at Mission Creek Festival March 31
- Xiu Xiu and tUnE-yArDs at Mission Creek Festival March 31
- David Bazan, Headlights, and the Poison Control Center at Mission Creek Festival April 1
- Chuck D, Bomb Squad, Harry Allen: A Discussion on the Making of Public Enemy's Fear of a Black Planet at Mission Creek Festival April 1
- Acid Mothers Temple at Mission Creek Festival April 1
- Bomb Squad with the Hood Internet at Mission Creek Festival April 1
- Christopher the Conquered at Mission Creek Festival April2
- Tim Hecker at Mission Creek Festival April 2
- Little Dragon at Mission Creek Festival April 2
- Meat Puppets with Joe Jack Talcum of Dead Milkmen at Mission Creek Festival April 2
- Camera Obscura with Princeton at Mission Creek Festival April 3
- Grant Hart of Husker Du at Mission Creek Festival April 3
- Love Is All at Vaudeville Mews April 8
- the Morning Benders at Vaudeville Mews April 9
- Dum Dum Girls at Vaudeville Mews April 12
- Cowboy Mouth at Vaudeville Mews April 14
- A Weather at Vaudeville Mews April 15
- Julian Casablancas at People's April 23
- Manchester Orchestra and Thrice at People's April 25
- Poison Control Center's Record Release Party at Vaudeville Mews April 30
- Brother Ali at Vaudeville Mews May 2
- MONO and the Twilight Sad at Vaudeville Mews May 18
- Mark Mallman at Vaudeville Mews May 19
- Damien Jurado at Vaudeville Mews June 6
- Keith Urban at Iowa State Fair Aug. 13
- Pat Benatar and REO Speedwagon at Iowa State Fair Aug. 17
- Darius Rucker at Iowa State Fair Aug. 19
- Sugarland at Iowa State Fair Aug. 21
- Sheryl Crow at Iowa State Fair Aug. 22