Lunch of Champions

Getting back to my roots

I’ve been in the mood to listen to a bunch of country tinged stuff lately. It probably has to do with growing up to KC or attending KU, but whenever I get a little tired of the indie rock thing, I often turn back to familiar turf. Luckily for me there has been a bunch of quality music in this vein as of late that’s kept me more than happy.

I’m looking forward to Wild Sweet Orange’s gig Monday (5/12/08) night at the Fine Line.

Their southern tinged rock has the potential to be in my wheelhouse. My better half thinks they have a hint of the Violent Femmes in them as well. So far they’ve only put out the self-released “Whale EP.” I’ll be interested to see what other material they showcase live when opening up for Augustana. Download their track “Wrestle with God.”

Dark Meat – I checked these guys out at the Nomad last week after Riemenschneider’s recommendation on Vita.mn.

A 17-person commune/psychedelic group from Athens, as he described it. Considering that description, I couldn’t resist seeing them in person. They totally brought a droner version of the Wall of Sound to the West Bank. From where I was sitting, I don’t even think they were able to fit everyone up on that small stage. Unfortunately, due to their late start time on a school night I wasn’t able to catch the entire show. At the least, their album “Universal Indians” has terrific liner notes and some classic song titles.

Speaking of droner music, I’m very excited about the Black Angels coming back to town to the Turf Club in June. They’ve got a new album coming out soon, so more on that later as the release date approaches. I also can’t wait to see the Drive-By Truckers when they return to the First Avenue in early July. I was a bit skeptical about their latest release (“Brighter Than Creation’s Dark”) with the departure of Jason Isbell, but they knocked this one out of the park. And as anyone who has seen DBT live in concert, there’s no setting finer that a hot summer night in the Main Room with plenty of Grain Belt Premium and southern infused rock from Athens’ finest.