Twin Peaks & Opinions on The Dead Weather
Chicago garage-rock band Twin Peaks formed when its members were still in high school. Now the group is playing big festivals and shows around the world. They join Jim and Greg for a special live performance and conversation at the Goose Island Barrelhouse. Plus, a review of the new album from Jack White's band The Dead Weather.
Music News
"Hamilton" is making history this week, not only because it's the first hip-hop-driven Broadway musical recounting the life of our nation's original Treasury secretary, but because its album debuted at #12 on the Billboard 200. That is the highest a cast recording debut has seen since 1961. It sold 30,000 copies in its first week, so the playwright/performer Lin-Manuel Miranda is doing something right with this peculiar pairing of history and hip-hop.
Pandora Media, the biggest name in Internet radio, stepped into the ticketing business Wednesday after buying Ticketfly, a vendor that last year sold 16 million tickets worth $500 million. Pandora is known for gathering user data for targeting, and with this new purchase, venues and promoters can target cities and markets where concerts would be most successful. With an 80 million-strong audience, the Pandora-Ticketfly partnership will pose a challenge to major Ticketfly competitor, Ticketmaster.
Feline Internet sensation Lil Bub is making a name for herself in the music industry. Coming off a performance on a track in Run the Jewels' cat-ified album, Meow the Jewels, this cool cat is striking out on her own, announcing Wednesday that she will release a debut album called Science & Magic. According to her album co-producer Matt Tobey, Bub has a vision, and the result is sure to be meow-velous.
Twin Peaks
Our guests this week are garage rockers, Twin Peaks. This 5-piece up-and-coming band from Chicago consists of singer and guitarist Cadien Lake James, bassist Jack Dolan, guitarist Clay Frankel, drummer Connor Brodner and recent addition, keyboardist Colin Croom. They started the group back in 2009 as high schoolers and later decided to drop out of college to pursue music full-time. Some of their influences include The Rolling Stones, The Beach Boys and The Stooges, which you can hear in their debut album, Sunken, released in 2013. Last year, they released their second album, Wild Onion, to critical acclaim and in 2015 performed at Lollapalooza. Their youthfully energetic performance style, guitar-based rock and roll and playful song lyrics make them a draw for young adult music fans looking for something other than EDM. Jim and Greg spoke to them a few weeks ago at the Goose Island Barrelhouse in Chicago and gave a performance afterwards.
Dodge and Burn The Dead Weather
The Dead Weather formed in 2009 as a supergroup of sorts, sporting a lineup of Jack White, Alison Mosshart of The Kills, Dean Fertita of Queens of the Stone Age, and Jack Lawrence of The Raconteurs. Now the band has returned with its third album, Dodge and Burn. White is taking a literal and figurative back seat here as he remains behind the drum kit, and Greg is grateful for the showcase of Mosshart's excellent vocal talents. He also cites Fertita as the band's secret weapon, using distorted guitars and keyboards to bring an element of pure nastiness to the record. Despite a couple of missteps, including the odd closing piano ballad "Impossible Winner," Dodge and Burn is a Buy It for Greg. Jim concurs – the dirty blues garage rock may be nothing new, but its swampy, southern Gothic flavor is perfect for Halloween season. It's a Buy It for him, too.
Greg
Greg has been enjoying Elvis Costello's new memoir Unfaithful Music & Disappearing Ink. While he finds Costello's career as a whole to be hit-or-miss, he's reminded of how great the first four or five albums were – in particular, 1978's This Year’s Model. Costello was often lumped into punk and New Wave, but his band The Attractions had more musical chops than most bands in those movements. Their instrumental virtuosity really came out performing Costello's claustrophobic songs about anger, frustration, and guilt. "Lipstick Vogue" features an incredible drum part by Pete Thomas that, according to Greg, is a highlight of Costello's entire career. That warrants its inclusion into the Desert Island Jukebox.
Featured Songs
- Lin-Manuel Miranda & Original Broadway Cast of Hamilton, "Alexander Hamilton," Hamilton (Original Broadway Cast Recording), Atlantic, 2015
- Robert Goulet, "If Ever I Would Leave You," Camelot (Original Broadway Cast Recording), Sony BMG, 1960
- Eddie Money, "Two Tickets to Paradise," Eddie Money, Columbia, 1978
- Ted Nugent, "Cat Scratch Fever," Cat Scratch Fever, Epic, 1977
- Run the Jewels feat. Lil Bub & Snoop Dogg, Maceo & Delonte, "Meowpurrdy," Meow the Jewels, Mass Appeal, 2015
- Twin Peaks, "I Found a New Way," Wild Onion, Grand Jury, 2014
- Twin Peaks, "Stand in the Sand," Sunken, Autumn Tone Records, 2013
- Twin Peaks, "Fast Eddie," Sunken, Autumn Tone Records, 2013
- Grizzly Bear, "Ready, Able," Veckatimest, Warp, 2009
- Twin Peaks, "Boomers (Live on Sound Opinions)," Sunken, Autumn Tone Records, 2013
- Twin Peaks, "Strawberry Smoothie," Wild Onion, Grand Jury, 2014 1.
- Twin Peaks, "Flavor," Wild Onion, Grand Jury, 2014
- Donnie Trumpet and The Social Experiment feat. Jamila Woods, "Sunday Candy," Surf, Self-released, 2015
- Twin Peaks, "Good Lovin' (Live on Sound Opinions)," Wild Onion, Grand Jury, 2014
- Twin Peaks, "Making Breakfast," Wild Onion, Grand Jury, 2014
- Twin Peaks, "Mirror of Time," Wild Onion, Grand Jury, 2014
- Twin Peaks, "Telephone," Wild Onion, Grand Jury, 2014
- Smith Westerns, "Varsity," Soft Will, Mom + Pop Music, 2013
- Twin Peaks, "No Way Out," Wild Onion, Grand Jury, 2014
- The Dead Weather, "Rough Detective," Dodge and Burn, Third Man, 2015
- The Dead Weather, "Let Me Through," Dodge and Burn, Third Man, 2015
- The Dead Weather, "Three Dollar Hat," Dodge and Burn, Third Man, 2015
- The Dead Weather, "Impossible Winner," Dodge and Burn, Third Man, 2015
- Elvis Costello and The Attractions, "Lipstick Vogue," This Year's Model, Columbia, 1978
- Nick Lowe, "Switchboard Susan," Labour of Lust, Columbia, Demon, 1979
- Bert Jansch, "Needle of Death," Bert Jansch, Transatlantic, 1965
- The Clash, "I'm Not Down," London Calling, Epic, 1979
- Ryan Adams, "Love Is Hell," Love Is Hell, UMG, 2004
- Keith Richards, "Goodnight Irene," Crosseyed Heart, Universal Republic, 2015
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