So, last night, I decided to check out some of the performances from the 2011 Rock and Roll Hall of Fame inductions on Youtube. There wasn’t much to see. Too early. There were videos by a band called Middle Brother, however. I had not heard of these gentlemen but curiosity got the better of me and I clicked on the little Middle Brother icon. I was pleasantly surprised by what I heard. I won’t bore you with their history. (their Wiki page entry is below) Let’s just say that they play folkie-type music with a bite to it. And some tune. They remind me a little of The Thorns but with way more energy. There are some very fine songs here. They sing them with a looseness that tells you they know how good they are. I could certainly hear these guys coming along in the 70’s and making a name for themselves. It will remain to be seen how big they can get in these sad musical times.
Their album is hot off the presses. It came out March 1st.
Brazenly stolen from Wikipedia: Middle Brother is an American rock band consisting of songwriters and musicians John J. McCauley III of the Deer Tick, Taylor Goldsmith of Dawes, and Matt Vasquez of Delta Spirit. They played their first show at the 2010 the SXSW film conference and festival at the Ale House in Austin, Texas, where they performed under the moniker "MG&V" in an unannounced appearance.[1] The band played their first official show at The Troubadour in Los Angeles, California on December 20, 2010 under the official name of Middle Brother.
Now on to the music!
Thanks For Nothing – This is the song that caught my ear. Very pretty and very sad. It’s a little mumbley in parts, but he’s very sad, so you make those allowances.
Portland – A little country in this tune. A song as pretty as the city it’s named after. Nice guitar work and a vocal that sounds like it’s right out of The Bodeans.
Blue Eyes – Probably my favorite song on the album. It has a kind of sloppy grace to it.
Blue Eyes – Top Notch song. This is from the Rolling Stone performance. It isn't quite as good as the album, but certainly worth watching.
Theater – This starts out sort of humble and builds into a great big song. Exceedingly enjoyable.
Wilderness
Someday – Sort of a fifties pop homage. There’s an appealing cheesiness to this tune.
Me Me Me – A bouncy little tune. The tune to the first line is very reminiscent on “Don’t Be Cruel”, but from there it is very much its own song.
A great music site with info on this great little band here:
This is hard to believe, but I mean it: I never saw them too hammered that they blew a show...always spot on, for me. Maybe because I was in the NYC area and they did a best-behavior scenario as best they could....thought there is one NYC show on bootleg, which I did not attend (Beacon Theater July '87) that is a putrid performace.
I got a huge pile of live shows, but I''m old school/Luddite as far as the music-distribution goes, and I'm having some computer issues...otherwise I'd offer to send you some of these...if I get it straightened out maybe I will....in the meantime, the best shows if you can find them are (and these are widely circulated boots) Maxwells Feb 1986 (the best Bob-era show) and Beacon Th. Nov 1987(the best one with Slim)....and then a 1985-era show from 7th Street Entry in Mpls..
Portland by the Replacements was a B-side type of thing I suppose, that didn't appear on album until the "Nothing For All" Best of + rarities comp, on the disc 2
My god: "Portland" on the Middle Brother album is an insanely unlikely/deep cut cover version that is bringing a smile to my face...Portland by the Replacements.
This song (a good one) rips copiously from their own "Talent Show" and another 'mats tune I can't place right now.
Legend has it the tune is a paean to Portland OR as they tried to make amends for one of their drunkest shows ever.
The vinyl of the "Don't Tell A Soul" LP even has "we're sory Portland" etched into the run-off next to the inside label
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