My Dad Is Dead...

Well, he is. But that was a long time ago and a subject for another blog. What I'm talking about is the band. I wish I could claim my discovery to be pure as untouched snow, found all by my lonesome, but the fact is that the good Mr. John Darnielle (Mountain Goats, of course) has an excellent (linked to the left there) site called Last Plane To Jakarta and that is where I recently learned about My Dad Is Dead and the new CD A Divided House. Unbeknownst to me My Dad Is Dead has been slaving away at that Rubik's Cube we call the music game for some time now releasing a couple of very well thought of records in the late 80's and early 90's. Those earlier CDs are part and parcel of the guitar based indie rock sound that was being pushed by J Mascis, Steve Albini and such bands as Dino Jr, Buffalo Tom, british shoegazer, Jesus And Mary Chain, I swear I hear all those sounds on My Dad Is Dead's early goings on. A Divided House mines similar musical territory, the guitars are buzz saw, vocals barely holding a melody, production decidedly mid-fi. But the way songwriter (and basically only member) Mark Edwards lays open his midwestern soul is pretty astounding to one like myself who tends to keep his insides very much to himself thank you very much. A read of his lyrics is all you need to recognize that Edwards isn't just playing Sir Mope-A-Lot but is instead very much living in the real world. You know, the one that we all live in, the one that's full of struggle and good things and challenges and successes and lots of questions about whether we're doing the right thing at any one time. I mean, really, no one lives their life completely enveloped by the murderously horrid ideas we have bouncing around the bone of our head. We all have them, but most of us have lots of other things going on as well like: what time's carpool? Should I have said that? I love how she/he smells and we're not so different you and I. Edwards' voice reminds me of a slightly less nasal but just as flat Bob Mould from back in the Husker Du days. It's a strong record and a self produced affair so do the music world a favor and buy a copy from the website.

In unrelated news: I really like the new Cat Power CD. Honestly I've never been into any of Chan Marshall's stuff. This is the first CD of hers I've tried (please don't inundate me with emails telling me which of her CDs are so much better than this one) and I'm quite enjoying it. It's on eMusic which is why I ended up giving it a whirl.

Oh yeah, the beard has fully arrived. It's almost it's own person. We'll see how long it's gonna stay. Someone said that I now have an "indie rock hipster" beard. I didn't know such a thing existed and it makes me rethink the whole ball of hair.

1 song from the wonderful A House Divided by My Dad Is Dead:

My Safe Place