The Wheel Workers – Fine Time (Live)
Patriotism seems to trump decency and common sense every time. It was just four years ago that asking for peace, if you were living in Europe, would have, at best, got you a smack on the nose and exclusion from decent social circles.
The attitude is spreading, of course, as are the unjust, dumb wars. You’ll now have to have your social media inspected if you’re thinking of visiting the U.S. in the Summer of the beastly corporate fest that will be the World Cup.
War, on the other hand, remains the best business to be in if you’re looking to make money. Every one of those rockets costs millions, building each one of them is of maximum priority, and most of them just get blown to bits before they’ve had the chance to complete their mission and blow other people to bits.
The world looks just as ridiculous from London and New York as it does from Pyongyang. And it’s rare to come across artists who have the bravery and humour to even bother working with these ideas as The Wheel Workers do.
The only way to argue with the powers that be is to make fun of them. “Fine Time” dares to ridicule the weapons industry, but, what’s more, it does so using the vehicle of sturdy, well-executed, nicely arranged alternative rock. Note the strong performance and good production values, especially considering that this is a live recording. And note just how much money you would’ve made betting on Lockheed Martin.
Dusty Coyote – More Cowbell
There’s certainly a disco somewhere with your name on it. Nah, it doesn’t matter that you say you can’t dance. You will! But it may not be easy to locate at first. You may need to spend a lot of time researching, spending nights at terrible dance parties, getting elbowed by people dressed in gaudy clothes, and spending too much cash on terrible-tasting drinks.
But it’s certainly out there. It’s probably not playing Balearic-styled electronica either, the people aren’t dressed like they’ve come off the set of a 1970s porn film, and nobody’s bragging about clubbing in Berlin. It may just be a place for weirdos, dorks, and people who are too clever for their own good who are sad about not catching LCD Soundsystem at its height.
Dusty Coyote have beautifully issued a tribute to LCD Soundsystem and the band’s preferred percussion devices with “More Cowbell.” You could almost say that they’ve rewritten the NYC band’s most famous song. But that takes a kind of courage that you need to respect. So does singing like Ian Svenonious covering James Brown. This is your dance club, this is your song!
