Swinging Singles Club MN

  10:20pm. Typing. Listening. Thinking I really ought to be going through and working on the most recent arrivals to the vinyl collection.  Not doing it. I also have a bunch of things I want to scan. Not doing that either.  This is me procrastinating.  You're welcome     American Paint (1998) If there's one thing you could do in Minneapolis at one point is throw a rock in any direction and hit either a loud AmRep type band or a Roots Rock band. So here's the first album by American Paint. Here's what they looked like playing at Bunkers, a club that I've only frequented a handful of times in the last few decades. I had no idea that they existed. Roots rock was pretty far out of my wheelhouse. I don't remember the name. I don't think I ever encountered this band even accidentally on a Tuesday night at the Uptown Bar and Grill. But here they are. It's a fine example of its genre and hews pretty close to its core elements, but definitely leans a bit harder o...

  I took some time off from work so it's been a while since I went. In the meantime I flipped my sleep schedule to more align with daytime hours, so I've been working to get myself back to what is my normal overnight sleep routine. It's not easy.  I'm too old for that shit.   Elevator (1998)   I have no memory of the existence of this band, but it's a bit out of what I might have sought out at the time. They do have a track on a compilation that intrigued me a bit, so I shelled out my dollar for this.  I'm not totally sure what to make of it now.  It has ambitions. It's big and well produced. They've listened to Oasis enough to internalize it. The songs are tuneful, well written and played precisely. But it doesn't quite fit anywhere. It's too slick for college rock, but to indie for mainstream rock. It's a sound that would be great in a medium size venue with a big crowd but would seem more than a little bit overblown in a small club. So he...

  It's not even Halloween right now as I type this approximately a month ago and it's snowing. Supposed to get around 6 inches. This does not make me a happy camper.     2008 - the Small Cities I know diddly fucking squat about this band. They would have started up around the time that my last band was winding down and I wasn't going out a lot anymore. I have no memory of even hearing the name. I just picked it up on a .95 whim. I'm glad I did. They do have a small internet presence though I found a video of them playing live in the studio for MN Public TV that I didn't previously know about. The Wonder Years  So at least you can get an idea what they looked like.   There's also a seemingly abandoned  Bandcamp for them that shows there's a full length to be had. I'm going to have to track that down now. It will also give you the opportunity to sample what's on this here Elongated Player. It's totally worth it for "Trust Me, I'm Not a Sta...

  I'm just going to throw this one out there. 1995 - Workman's Comp This compilation on the Big Money Inc label is a pretty nice rundown of what any random night at the Uptown Bar & Grill or in the 7th St Entry might have sounded like in the middle of the 90s. You've got some heavy hitters and some Post-Grunge types and folks who weren't on AmRep for whatever reason. I  probably wouldn't have gone out of my way at the time to see any of these guys, but I'm not hating on it now. I just may have matured into a warm sense of nostalgia in my middle age.

 Yes and no. 2006 - Mondays in Spaceland The recorded swan song for Sean Na Na was this live document of a show in Los Angeles at Spaceland on August 7, 2006. These days Sean Tillman makes bank with Har Mar Superstar and more power to him. He's got the voice to do it. But I do love this stuff. I did get to see them sometime in the last couple of years when Sean Na Na did a one off thing at Palmer's Bar on the West Bank. That made me happy.

  Sigh. I'm going to have to put all of these albums back on my phone.  They've been a constant on there for years as it is. But as the days shorten and I head for six months in the Kingdom of Darkness that is working overnights, this is hitting me hard tonight. 2006 - Family Trees or CoPe We Must If you liked the last one. You'll like this one just as much. I can't say much more.  And I won't.

 Seriously.    2001 - My Majesty No seriously, the opening salvo on "My Majesty" is a fucking great song of rejection called "Double Date" that should have been a hit despite the serious darkness of the lyric. But that's one song on an album that should have made Sean Na Na an indie darling.  But the tip of the musical iceberg. I could go track by track, but I won't. This is the sound of band that's fully matured into themselves. Everything done with confidence and chutzpah. Sounds like every song was written and honed on a long ass road trip before being recorded.

 More of the same. More of the same quality. 2000 - Return of the Unicorn Yeah, more heartbreak and minor chords and words and the second release in the inaugural year of the 21st Century. "This bag of weed is making me fat and lazy...." starts "Daddy Looks Dead in his Lawn Chair". Could be the theme song for 2020...