rock and roll musings by Tim Byrnes

 Living the Dog Daze: Buster Rides Again

Hey everybody! Buster here. Tim's crashed out on the couch after being out all night (again) doing something called 'work'. He tells me I wouldn't like it and he's right, 'cause I don't like it when he's gone all night. He's tired almost all the time and a little goofy when he does come home. I'm not worried about him or anything 'cause, believe you me, I've seen him a lot worse.

However, I have noticed that he hasn't been writing about music much here, being all self-involved ( I swear, you'd think he was like a CAT or something) and documenting every little change in our lives lately. Which come to think of it has kinda been more interesting than what I've found in his record collection. But in the interest of music journalism and because I got some time to kill when he's gone, I'd like to offer my thoughts on some of the music I've been listening to these last couple of weeks.

And please, don't anybody tell Tim that I can type and/or operate a CD player, 'cause if'n he finds out he'll have me vacuuming the place and maybe even cooking dinner. And I am the original lazy dog that the quick brown fox of legend jumped over. Capishe? Anyway on to the reviews.

Public Image Limited: Metal Box

Boy howdy, this one's a real mess. The bass and drums sound like an out of synch washing machine and the singer's got one of those caterwaulinh muzzeininic things happening, all 'ay-yaiyiiaaaii', well it doesn't translate into print too well, but it sounds like he's had to many lunches at the Gunga Diner, if'n you know what I mean. Tim swears by it, though, I mean he get's all close to dancing when he plays it. I think it plays to his natural antisocial tendencies and that the theme of alienation that practically drips off this sucker makes him feel, oddly enough, at home.

Kate Bush: The Red Shoes

Ok, this one's more like it. Kate Bush sings like an angel who's been hitting the flask a little. Loose but holy. The songs range from dance numbers that throb like intelligent aerobics to science fiction r&b jams with the likes of Gary Brooker (Organ/Procul Harum, the 'Whiter Shade of Pale' guys) and Jeff Beck (one of the few guitarists I like better than Tim) along for the ride. This one really gets my tail to waggin' and there ain't nothing wrong with that.

Sonic Youth: Daydream Nation

One of those 'important' records that I just don't get. It sounds like 2 jet engines being dragged across gravel at 2 in the morning, Tim said 'Hell yeah' when I apprised him of this simile. I can't figure that boy out. Maybe it's that old 'alienation' thing that attracts him to music that grates on the nerves. I guess he just likes grate music. heh heh heh. (Dog humor)

The Smiths: The Queen is Dead

I gotta go down on record as saying I love the Smiths and I especially love the fact that Tim likes them, too. Gives me hope for the boy's soul, y'know? There ain't a mean bone ( I love bones) in Morrissey's lyrical body and the guitar orchestrations of Johnny Marr are always surprising, inventive and just plain sound good! There's a humor to the pathos here, something that many other bands in Tim's collection clearly lack. I mean, why are bands like PiL and Sonic Youth so freaking serious all the time? Or do I just fail to see the humor? I can't say for sure but, boy that Sigur Ros really cracks me up. It's like I was saying to Freddie the cat that lives next door the other day. 'You gotta love a bunch of Icelanders who invent their own language and play electric guitars with cheese graters and uh, oh, I gotta get going, folks, I hear the skinny kid at the door.

In closing, I'd like to thank all of you who've been wishing us well (especially you, Lily, grrrr-rrrow!!!!) and to remind you all that Lou Reed is not washed up. Is he?

Posted by: timbyrnes at 19:17 | link | comments (9)

Buffin' to the Oldies: Rocking the Graveyard Shift

      Shan na na na Sha na na na na (got a job!). Working at the local convenience store on the old graveyard shift here in Fowler, Colorado. The light at the end of the tunnel isn't from an oncoming train (at least I don't think it is) at last. Gonna have steady income and a new (if small) place of my own for me and Buster soon. Life is good.

      At the store we have that satellite radio thing that old guys like me don't understand, but I can REALLY deal w/this shaft of technology because as I buff floors, make pizzas, sell drunks their cigarettes and deny them beer after midnight I get to listen to nonstop, uninterrupted real classic rock and roll, and by that I mean Little Richard, not Led Zeppelin! The energy that can be drawn from theearly masters like Little Richard, Chuck Berry, Fats Domino, Jerry Lee Lewis, hell even Elvis (although I only like his really, really early stuff... like nothing after Tuesday, 6 am. Heresy? Hmmmmmmm could be!) cannot be overstated. I can't just walk normal when the radio's playing 'Rip it Up'. No I gotta strut, makes me feel like a young man again. All the angst and drama that attracted me to bands from the Velvet Underground to the Afghan Whigs stands revealed as fey, weak assed posturing in the face of the unbridled ' hey-I-just-discovered-electricity JOY of those early piano rolling tunes of my youth!

    Now I'm sure that any day now, SOMETHING'S bound to go radically wrong and I'll be hauling out my copies of PiL's 'Metal Box' and the greatest hissy fits of Joy Division, the better to marinate further in my sadness and frail response to such mayhem in a world I didn't make etc, but for now I'm happy to roll with the noble savages, look the devil in the eye and just tell him the truth:

     Wop bop a loo wop a wop bam boom!!!!!!!

      Life is good, see y'all soon!

tb

Posted by: timbyrnes at 23:36 | link | comments (3)

In the Midst of Life We are in Death Etc.

     Yo, world. Byrnes here, tired but happy and maybe a little sad, too. Yesterday I attended the memorial service for Sam Martin, my ex-father in law. Sam and I had our differences (if you call essentially being at each other's throats over the affection and attention of his daughter/my wife differences), but I think both of us realized that we were cut from very much the same cloth.

     We both drank heavily. I stopped. So did Sam, but took it up again. So far I've been lucky. Sam was a man's man, a scoundrel, a philandering gypsy with a child like twinkle in his eye and, for all the trouble he's caused for family and friends throughout the years, it was wonderful hearing everyone talk about him at the service yesterday. Except for the hired preacher going off about Jesus ('cause that is, after all, their gig), everyone had a 'Sam' story, usually revolving around Sam doing something to aggravate them, but all these stories were told through smiling lips and bright, teary eyes. Most of us were glad that Sam wasn't hurting anymore. I showed up to be near my ex wife Lynn, who has put up with far more than her share of nonsense from both Sam and me. We talked, I offerred to help clean out Sam's house later this week. I felt it was the least I could do.

     Regular readers know that my life has been something on the order of a slam squaredance lately. (meaning I'm getting beat up by doing what others suggest), and hearing the news about Sam gave me a little perspective and has almost stopped me from whining. Things are good. I'm not dead. I have a car and, now, a job. Not a great job, but not bad for an aging punk rocker on the prairie. It will pay the bills. Soon. Life is good.

     Wanted to touch base and share whatever it is I just wrote. I'm working graveyards and have had about 5 hours sleep out of the last 50, so I'm gonna go now. Howard, thanks, yeah I did figure out the login problem. Danged Library computers. Hope to post more soon. More reports as events warrant.

tb

Posted by: timbyrnes at 17:54 | link | comments (2)

The Sidekick Speaks:Buster Byrnes Surveys the Damage

Hey everybody! This is Buster. Tim fell asleep answering his email so I figgerred I'd take this oppotunity to say howdy to all you motimers and to thank you fer helping my skinny human hold it together between all the (pardon the expression) crap that's been going down his way these last few weeks. I've never seen Tim so happy as when he's a-typing to y'all.

     We got into town 3 weeks ago and are a-stayin' with Kenny, a human almost as fuzzy as me. I love his house, it's so messy and he has 3 other dogs and a cat for me to play with. Which all kinda makes Tim a little crazy but he's learning. He didn't get the job he was promised so he's kinda running around like a chicken w/his head cut off (I love chicken, don't you?) but I gotta give him credit he hasn'r lost his temper yet and for Tim, that's like a milestone.

     Anyway, I just heard him say something about Kate Bush in his sleep so I better get before he finds out that I can type and has me doing this for him all the time. So this is Buster Byrnes, signing off for now. But me and the skinny guy'll be back soon with tales of our adventures. There's this rabbit in the backyard I'm a-this close to gittin'......

    "Buster, get away from Lynn's comput... oooof"

     Oh shit, he tripped over the cat I better run.......

 

Posted by: timbyrnes at 04:54 | link | comments (5)