DeVotchKa - Grand Rapids

My DeVotchKa concert review:

Some songs make me happy!

Some songs make me dance!

Some songs make me sad!

Intersection sound guy makes me sad, and not hearing sousaphone makes me sad.

Theremin = Magic times.

Jaill - That's How We Burn

"And I'm sure I ain't got a clue"

Because I can be a snob I was ready to write this band off due to the addition of that extra letter at the end of the band name. That's stupid, right? OBVIOUSLY. It's especially stupid because this record is damn good. Jaill is a band that doesn't ever take itself too seriously and that's a pretty refreshing thing as of late. The music is straight forward guitar-driven indie rock that is wonderfully poppy, playful and fun. The lyrics are light and equally as fun ("Sh-Sh-Sh-She's my baby" "Anybody got a light?") and singer Vincent Kircher lazily shouts them at you like an excited stoner telling you a really great story. I guess I'd call it ambivalent urgency... ? Slacker excitement... ? I guess all that could sound like a bad thing, but it definitely works here.

The songs tend to stick to the same formula which can make the album seem a bit redundant, however, if you're complaining about pop rock songs all sounding the same you're missing the point. The point, you ask? To get you singing every word and pounding on your steering wheel while you speed down the road. Jaill isn't really breaking any new ground here but they've managed to place their own unique stamp on a sound that is so often copied and repackaged without a hint of new feeling. It seems this band is only going up from here and it'll be fun seeing what comes next.

That's How We Burn was released on July 27th on Sub Pop. Watch the video for the album opener "The Stroller" below and head to jaill.net to check out "Everyone's Hip".

Jaill - The Stroller from Sub Pop Records on Vimeo.

Dexter - Mild Spoilers, again

People used to tell me about "Dexter," and I'd be like, "Are you kidding me?! That show looks like it will make me want to hide under my bed! No way in hell am I watching some creepy ass show about a serial killer!!"

You see, I have a little "history" with dark TV and movies. I watched Prom Night 4 when I was in middle school and it absolutely terrified me -- so much so that the movie's cliche of "letting the virgins live" was one of the main reasons that I didn't even kiss anyone until I was 19. (Yes, it had nothing to do with the fact that I was a total loser in high school). I remember watching "Girl, Interrupted" and having to come home and watch "Golden Girls" for an hour to ensure that I would not have nightmares about people killing themselves. I turned down seeing "Inception" because it looked "scary." So, you can imagine my hesitance in watching an uncensored premium cable show about a serial killer who kills serial killers.

But, it was on Netflix instant watch, and my boyfriend was interested, so we watched an episode. I said, "That was really good! Now can we watch Comedy Central for a bit so that I don't have nightmares?"

The first season of Dexter is amazing. The plot-line involves the mysterious "Ice Truck Killer" and goes in so many twists and turns you don't see coming, at all. I watched two or three episodes a night and slept with the lights on.

While season 2 was less memorable, it was still awesome. And Season 3 features some incredible acting from Jimmy Smits--you'll be impressed, I promise. The only problem is, when you start watching, you know that you can't walk away, even it means staying up four hours past your normal bedtime, and probably not sleeping that night anyways.

The 4th season will make you crap your pants. I watched half of it away from home, and when I did come home, I checked in my closet and behind my shower curtain for John Lithgow at least twice a day. He earned a Golden Globe or something for it, and it's no surprise, because he is truly terrifying. After finishing off the 4th season (also away from home), my mind was completely blown. And admittedly I made sure that I got home before dark that night, and I checked behind my shower curtain again (but not the closets -- does that make it better?) for John Lithgow. He still wasn't there. What a relief!

To top it all off, Michael C. Hall is amazing in this role. He goes seamlessly from terrifying soulless serial killer to dorky neighbor to doughnut bearing cop. The cast is all pretty attractive, at least in my opinion -- even Masuka!!

So, if you haven't watched Dexter, the first two seasons are on Netflix, so hop to it. The preview for season 5 looks insane, so you better get on this trolley before it leaves the station. And if you don't want to watch it because you're a wuss--get over it. I did, you can to!

Weeds - Season 6, Episode 1 Review (Mild Spoilers)

The first episode of WEEDS sixth season leaked online this weekend, some two weeks before it debuts on Showtime August 16th. I won't say much, other than that it continues holding the high note the last season ended with. It picks up right after Shane, monologuing like a psychopath, killed Pillar with a crochet mallet, and deals mostly with Nancy preparing to hit the road once again after she gets the band together. The resolve on the Andy/Aubra storyline is cheap and arbitrary, but that's likely the point. As Silas points out, it all revolves around Nancy, so having Andy on the party bus was more important than Andy's happily ever after. They've certainly done it before, but Alanis Morrissette's surprising greatness in the role of Aubra makes it suck a little more this time. Other than that, the episode is pretty great. I love what they're doing with Shane. Initially, I've assumed (an assumption reinforced by the very mob movie-esque promo art for this season) they were grooming him to be the Sonny Corleone to Nancy's Don Corleone, but the look Shane gives his mother at episode's end suggests a more sinister sitcom friendly plot lies ahead. Let's hope Richard Dreyfus and Sarah Connor can take care of things this season.

Watch the Trailer.
Season Six debuts Monday, August 16th on Showtime.