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Today, the Whiffs

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(Steven J Wilson)
Yesterday I called L.A.’s Starcrawler the greatest rock ’n’ roll band in the world. 

Today, it’s the Whiffs. 

A power-pop band from Kansas City. I recommend the Whiffs if you like Norwegian black metal. Not because they sound like Mayhem or Gorgoroth, but because there are laws against church burning and the Whiffs would never incite such a thing. Their songs are about various stages of infatuation, the yoozh for power-pop. Cheery melodies in bright keys with sprightly tempi tend not to mulch into diatribes against the Caliphate. Although a lot of shit rhymes with Caliphate … hmm (I can hear Joey Ramone rhyming Caliphate with ‘too late.’). But clearly, I digress. 

Take a Whiff is a blast. Eight shots of tuneful adrenaline. Okay, one song is ALMOST three minutes - a veritable jam. But you can fade it out. No problem (kidding). Not a token slow dance dragger on this puppy. Mid-tempo and up-tempo. There’s never a reason for a pop band to do a slow song unless it’s poetic and melodically gorgeous - pull that off, fine. But how many Brian Wilsons are there, anyway?
Let's hear a track by the Whiffs, eh? 

They’ve been compared to Big Star. Nah. More like a cross between the Ramones and Shake Some Action-era Flamin’ Groovies. I hear a resemblance to the Zeros, and similarities to Glitz (check them out … if you can find anything by them, no YouTube, no Apple Music). The Whiffs are professed fans of the late great Exploding Hearts, which I get, I hear, yup … except Zach Campbell, Rory Cameron, and whoever else sings don’t go for that Mick Jones-y transatlantic chirp-yowl that Adam Cox favored. More true to their American roots in that department. 


Cameron is known to KC audiences as the frontman for the Conquerors (above video), another cool band, that started out kinda psych-jammy (think Spaceman 3 maybe?) and gravitated to a bit more manicured and Beatlesque take on the same turf covered by the Whiffs. He’s a talent. Anything he does is interesting because he’s one of those guys who knows how to construct a song, not just come up with a melody. 

The Whiffs rock out some nice pop tunes. Take a Whiff has a nice mid-fi, bash it out, live or close to it feel. Shit sounds great in the car, tuned up loud. 
And yes, their logo pays homage to Stiff Records. Thought I’d better mention that before some pinhead tries to inform me. 


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The people have spoken.

1. July 30, 2017, Jane Weaver, Justin Bieber, Starcrawler

(Steven J Wilson)
This week I’ve been sampling a lot of music. Sampling in the old school sense, that is.   Jane Weaver is a British artist who’s been around in one group or form or whatever for over twenty years. Her recent solo work has become beloved of the psych-folk crowd, the same people I suspect who get giddy over Joanna Newsom, Meg Baird, and whatever. Her new album is World Kosmology . Whoo, there’s a title that any self-respecting punk in 1997 would have called pretentious twaddle. But these are more generous and inclusive times for fans of outsider music. Boris fans may be Margo Price fans may be Kendrick Lamar fans. Weaver combines trippy analog synths, motorik beats (4/4 time, but rigidly mechanical, favored by Krautrockers), chiming electric and strumming acoustic guitars and her own ethereal vocals. It all works because the songwriting is fetching. Give it a chance and it charms. It probably sounds great fucked up on pot, although I haven’t tried that yet.   I hea...
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Keene Kovers

(Steven J Wilson)
I don’t get out much anymore. I try. Hell, I’m a club crawler for a guy my age. But still, measured against my knock’em-back youth. And there’s so much shit on Netflix.   So no, I didn’t make it to Knuckleheads to see Matthew Sweet and Tommy Keene, even though I meant to. I about had my kid talked in to it, but he dropped out because of “homework,” Ya think? But I did listen to music by those guys preparatory to (not) seeing them. In the process I finally dove in to a collection of Tommy Keene’s that I’d never really explored. It’s called Excitement at Your Feet, a reference to the Who’s “See Me, Feel Me.” Just in case you thought it was a collection of songs about foot fetishism. There’s even a Who song on here - “Much too Much,” which is pretty ace. It’s all pretty ace.   A video of that Television cut, "Guiding Light." Some songs are better suited to Tommy’s plaintive aggro than others. I’m not thrilled with his take on “The Puppet” by Echo and the Bunnymen...
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Better Ed than Dead

(Steven J Wilson)
Ed Sheeran - He looks like Van Morrison, kinda, huh? Check the tats.   Ed Sheeran is the highest paid entertainer on the planet. I think. I don’t know. They say he’s worth 65 million. Anyway, I read that somewhere. God knows he travels light and doesn’t have to share that dough with an orchestra or anything. I saw Ed once. At least that I’m aware of. He opened for the Rolling Stones in 2015 (or was it 16?) at Arrowhead Stadium in Kansas City. Just me and several thousand of my closest friends. He came out with a guitar in front of that throng and mesmerized the crowd. Okay, not really. Some kids seemed to like him. Old people, eighty percent of the attendees, treated him as a curiosity or mild irritant, not uncommon for a warmup act served up before the Stones’ Lions and Christians, bread and circuses exhibition. Later, he sang “Beast of Burden” with Mick. He was better than Dave Matthews. I see his ruddy little mug and tousled ginger top here and there in the ...
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