Wolf Eyes or, how I fell in love with P2P file sharing and didn't sweat The Man.

Wolf Eyes. I know.  It's weird.  I'm weird.  Weird is the new normal. 

I first heard Wolf Eyes back in high school as your classically awkward teenager.  I had no interest in sports.  I was too shy to talk to girls.  What I did instead was immerse myself in music, from head to toe, brain stem to frontal lobe, every day on Napster and later Kazaa/Soulseek/any other P2P software I could find out about it...  Thank God for you, P2P.  I wouldn't be the person I am today had I not had unlimited access to anything and everything I could ever possibly dream of via your online community.

At first it was Smashing Pumpkins B-sides and rarities, Mashed Potatoes and such.  That led to other discoveries such as Joy Division, early Beck albums, Sonic Youth, Pavement, the Velvet Underground, Black Dice, Animal Collective, Royal Trux, Flaming Lips etc.  The point is that as I delved deeper into music, I started to get more and more bored and disenchanted with my old favs, the Pumpkins.  Instead, I found myself inexplicably drawn to the odd and grotesque sounds of psychedelic and experimental music.  If any of my family or peers knew just what was playing in my headphones as I walked through the entranceway of Brother Rice High School each day I would have been on a shrink's couch within hours, so odd and unsettling are these sounds I am about to post here.

Now here's where I loosely plagiarize about 1,000 different articles written about the band to give you background: Wolf Eyes are from Ann Arbor, Michigan.  Since the late 90's the band has released hundreds of limited edition cassettes, vinyls, CD-R's and even major label-sponsored albums.  It's probably not possible to do a full discography of the band's work to date because honestly, no one knows, least of all the members of the group.  Despite their extremely scary, horrifying, atonal and arrhythmic sound they have garnered a lot of attention over the years.  Wolf Eyes released LP’s on Sub Pop and has toured extensively.

I first heard their name while I was talking to this kid named Ben I used to get tutored with.  Neither of us got algebra and I don't know about him but I nearly ended up failing despite the loads of money my parents were throwing at these tutoring sessions (shrug, math: some people just don’t care).  He was in a band called The Gremlins who were easily the coolest band in suburban Detroit at the time (2001?).  Ben later went on to found DIY paradise, Scrummage University, in Detroit and release music under the moniker Bennie Stoofy (a separate post for Bennie Stoofy someday soon).   Ben was really cool and somehow contacted this band Wolf Eyes to come play at his house in Birmingham, MI.  They had apparently opened for Sonic Youth in the past.  Needless to say, I was impressed. 

The night of the show, 16 year old me arrived to find a packed house.  The Gremlins rocked it, hard.  Their basement was small, with about 40 people crammed in.  The entire thing was covered in tin foil, floor, walls and ceiling.  I mean everything.  There was a construction bulb hanging down from the center of the room that kids kept playfully slapping back and forth as the band went through their set. 

As Gremlins finished, Wolf Eyes quickly set up.  No drums.  Maybe a drum machine?  They had a microphone and a bass.  Other than that, weird electronics and pedal boards everywhere.  Suddenly the ridiculously cool looking singer (to my admittedly drug addled 16 year old mind) spoke, “Alright, nobody fuck with our shit.”  And… BOOM!  BOOM!   BOOM!  Suddenly the room burst into frenzy.  It was the most hardcore show I have ever seen.  They achieved a sound I had never thought possible, even in my wildest nightmares, and elicited an equally violent and seething response from the audience.  When it was all over, I drove to McDonald’s and got a Coke before I went home and attempted to shower away the grime… only, it wasn’t on my skin.  It was in my mind.  Good luck.

I’ve seen them four times now and spoken to them once, very friendly if a bit drunk as most touring bands are.  Here’s to you, Wolf Eyes.  May you tour until the day you die and may it never lose its magic.

Here's a little something to remember them by.  Not a typical Wolf Eyes release but then again, what is?  How am I even supposed to know that?

Wolf Eyes/Sickness LP:  There Is a Part of Me That You Will Never Know

Matthew Friedberger - Old Regimes (Friedburdener~ ya like that, Kyle?)

Wow, I've done almost as many blog posts this week as I have been to concerts.  Lucky you and lucky me, lucky us!  Old Regimes is the newest Matthew Friedberger album and, looking to my record shelf, I can see that it's the third of his epic eight-album-in one-year series.  My collection has been getting steadily cooler by the day and this new addition, with its deep purple sleeve, is really tying it together right now... and there's still five more to come.  How does he do it?  This album, with its deep and dramatic hues, finds Friedberger exploring his dark side.  Light on melody, large on motif: don't expect to be singing any of these songs in the shower.  It is played entirely on the harp but the sound has been electronically enhanced to be slightly distorted, a sort of GarageBand-y tone (you bedroom recorders know what I'm talking about).  There are lots of beautiful virtuosic moments here and the album actually came with printed lyrics which is a first and quite a trip if you read:)  I love this album if only for its usefulness for making my neighbors think I'm weird and I hope to be hearing it blasting out of your apartments as I speed by on my Schwinn in the coming days.

Thank you for reading and for helping me to make Chicago just that much more of a haven for the odd and unusual.  And thank you, Matthew, for helping to make my record collection the best there ever was.

Here ya' go.
Matthew Friedberger - Old Regimes

Tyler Jon Tyler

Tyler Jon Tyler is blowing up around here.  I have been fortunate enough to catch them live a total of four times now; most recently, sharing a bill with Times New Viking.  TJT is led by the energetic beauty, Rebecca Valeriano-Flores.  She's got a killer sense of melody and drives it home in every song.  Never overcomplicated, her tunes are basically three minute long epic hooks, each one with a unique personality.  Did I mention the other members, Tom and Nathan, are pretty swell too?

It's kind of funny how few bands there are in this city that actually use melodies in song.  Take note, Chicago musicians/bands.  This may have something to do with why Tyler Jon Tyler is as popular and well liked as they are.  We need more melody here in this city!

The group has an LP out that should be available at Reckless.  If not, head down to the Shake Shop at  3247 W. Fullerton Ave. and get yourself a copy from Tom(of TJT), possibly the most endearing guitar repairman/drummer in the city.  Tom, if you read this, are those pedals done yet?  Haha, let me know...

Here's their infinitely listenable 7"