Guided by Voices

Dayton Is a Frequency, Not a Place: A Love Letter with Feedback to a Scene That Won’t Sit Still

your tuesday afternoon alternative Dayton, Dayton Music , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

If you want to understand American music, you don’t start in the places that market themselves as capitals. You start in places where people have learned how to survive without being watched. Dayton, Ohio, is one of those places. It’s not a brand; it’s a frequency—sometimes distorted, sometimes melodic, often both at once. It’s the sound of basements, nondescript halls, record stores, radio studios on the left side of the dial, and people who keep making music because not making it would be worse.

Dayton has long lived with the mythology of The Ohio Players, Brainiac, The Breeders, and Guided By Voices, and rightly so. Those bands didn’t just “come from” Dayton; they carried its nervous system with them. The Ohio Players reshaped the structure of music. Brainiac turned post-industrial anxiety into neon futurism. The Breeders made abrasion feel intimate. Guided By Voices proved that lo-fi wasn’t an aesthetic so much as a work ethic—songs written because they had to be written, not because the market asked for them. But the mistake outsiders make is assuming the story ended there, like a museum exhibit frozen in amber. Dayton never stopped. It just got better at multiplying.

What makes Dayton’s music community distinct is density. Musicians don’t just play in one band; they circulate. You’ll see David Payne one night in The New Old Fashioned, another night anchoring something else entirely, as if styles were jackets you try on before walking back out into the weather. You’ll hear Rich Reuter bring the same melodic intelligence to Kittinger. You can see Howard Hensley sing the narratives of your life that you keep hidden in a private journal. You’ll catch Kyleen Downes making vulnerability sound like strength, then turn around and hear Chad Wells and Aarika Voegele in Cricketbows and Creepy Crawlers remind you that psychedelia is still a radical act.

There’s a particular Dayton knack for bands that feel communal rather than hierarchical. Shrug operated like a shared engine—power pop with muscle memory, hooks built from collective trust. Smug Brothers do something similar in an indie lo-fi manner, but with a wink, as if to say: yes, we love the song, but we also love the joke inside it. Me Time pares things down until you can hear the room breathe, while Oh Condor leans into texture and atmosphere, stretching Dayton’s sound outward without losing its spine where punk urgency meets craft instead of fighting it.

And then there’s the streak of theatricality that runs through the city—not showbiz gloss, but the drama of people who know that art is a way to survive the week. Moira thrives on that tension between polish and pulse, while Todd The Fox reminds us that music doesn’t have to be ironic to be intelligent. Novena creates music that wraps around you and takes you through the experiences that you need not categorize but live within. Ghost Town Silence and Sadbox explore all of the corners, not as cosplay, but as honest terrain. They understand that Midwestern quiet can be loud if you listen closely enough.

Dayton also knows how to honor the songwriters—the ones who can stop a room with a voice and a guitar. Shannon Clark and The Sugar balance heart and harmony without sentimentality. Nick Kizinis crafts music that feels deeply personal and belonging to all of us at the same time. Mike Bankhead and Heather Redman carry storytelling traditions forward without turning them into nostalgia acts. Charlie Jackson, Sharon Lane, and Colin Richards and Spare Change all work in that space where craft meets community, where the goal isn’t fame but connection.

What’s striking is how the city supports experiments that don’t fit easy categories. The Nautical Theme reminds us that pop intelligence doesn’t have to announce itself with a thesis statement. Motel Faces and Motel Beds (separate names, shared grit) translate restlessness into motion, road songs for people who might not leave but still want to move. John Dubuc’s Guilty Pleasures embraces joy without apology, while Nick Kizirnis’s various projects show how longevity comes from curiosity, not branding.

Dayton’s rap and hip hop scene carries the same DIY backbone as its rock underground, but filtered through sharp lyricism, lived experience, and a deep sense of place. Tino delivers verses with clarity and purpose, balancing organic storytelling with an ear for hooks that stick without softening the message. Illwin brings a cerebral edge, blending introspection and technical skill in ways that reward close listening, while KCarter operates with a commanding presence, turning personal narrative into something anthemic and communal. Around them is a broader network of MCs, producers, DJs, and collaborators who treat hip hop not as a trend but as a language—one spoken fluently across clubs, community spaces, and independent releases. Like every vital Dayton scene, it thrives on collaboration over competition, local pride over imitation, and the belief that telling your own story, in your own voice, is the most radical move there is.

One of Dayton’s greatest strengths, too often undersold, never underpowered, is the depth and range of its women songwriters and musicians, artists who write with clarity, risk, and emotional authority. Amber Heart brings a fearless intimacy to her songs, pairing melodic grace with lyrical honesty that cuts clean through pretense. Samantha King writes with a restless intelligence, her work balancing vulnerability and bite, proof that introspection can still swing. Khrys Blank bends genre until it gives way, crafting songs that feel both deeply personal and quietly defiant, while Sharon Lane carries a lineage of soul, grit, and resilience that anchors the community itself. Add to this constellation the many other women shaping stages, sessions, and scenes across the city—singers, instrumentalists, bandleaders, collaborators—and a clearer picture emerges: Dayton doesn’t just feature women in its music culture; it is being actively defined by them. Their presence isn’t a sidebar or a trend. It’s the spine, the pulse, and the future of the sound.

Poptek Records operates like a pressure valve for Dayton pop intelligence, a label that understands hooks are a form of radical communication. The 1984 Draft brings nervy, literate indie punk rock that sounds like it’s pacing the room while thinking three steps ahead—melody sharpened by urgency, guitars wired straight into the bloodstream. Jill & Micah offer a different kind of voltage: intimate, harmonically rich, emotionally precise songs that trust quiet moments as much as crescendos, proving that restraint can hit just as hard as distortion. XL427 leans into power pop’s finest tradition—tight structures, smart turns, choruses that land without asking permission—while still carrying that unmistakable Dayton DNA of grit and sincerity. Taken together, and alongside the label’s other releases, Poptek’s roster feels less like a genre exercise and more like a shared belief system: songs matter, craft matters, and community matters. It’s pop music that knows where it’s from, isn’t embarrassed by joy, and refuses to confuse ambition with emptiness.

This ecosystem works because Dayton listens to itself. Bands go to each other’s shows. Musicians play on each other’s records. Area radio, house shows, small clubs, and DIY spaces form an infrastructure that doesn’t depend on permission. You can hear that lineage in The New Old Fashioned’s country infused power precision, in Oh Condor’s punk economy, in The Paint Splats’ melodic insistence, in Guided By Voices’s expansive moods still evolving. It’s a scene where influence flows sideways instead of top-down.

If the great rock critic, Lester Bangs (who I have been reading a lot of lately) taught us anything, it’s that scenes matter not because they’re perfect, but because they’re alive. Dayton’s scene is alive in the way a good band rehearsal is alive—messy, loud, generous, occasionally miraculous. It’s alive in the refusal to wait for validation. It’s alive in the way new bands grow up hearing old ones not as legends, but as neighbors.

So yes, celebrate Brainiac, The Breeders, and Guided By Voices. You should. But don’t stop there. Pay attention to Sharon Lane, Shrug, Amber Heart, Smug Brothers, The 1984 Draft, Age Nowhere, Moira, Tino, The Heisy Glass Company, Harold Hensley, Todd The Fox, Ghost Town Silence, Sadbox, Novena, Me Time, Oh Condor, Motel Faces, Motel Beds, Mike Bankhead, Cricketbows and Creepy Crawlers, The Nautical Theme, Illwin, Khrys Blank, Seth Canan, XL427, Samantha King, The Typical Johnsons, KCarter and all the songwriters and collaborators who keep showing up. Dayton isn’t a chapter in a rock history book. It’s an ongoing argument about why music matters—and it keeps winning that argument one show at a time.

Short Songs Have Every Reason to Live

your tuesday afternoon alternative Dr. J's Thoughts , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

Apologies to Randy Newman for the title, I just could not help myself. We all love a good, long album, don’t we? The sprawling epics, the suites, the ambitious arcs that stretch into the horizon like the great classic rock composers, forever nudging us to find meaning in the slow build, the dramatic rise, and the quiet moments in between. But what about the short, sharp, explosive bursts of sound? What about the brief moments when the band isn’t asking you to follow them through a journey or listen to their complicated metaphors for life? No. These songs grab you by the throat, punch you in the gut, and leave you feeling strangely satisfied, if not slightly unsettled. They take less time than most elevator rides, yet they can leave an emotional scar more enduring than any prog-rock symphony.

So what is it about these short songs that keeps us coming back for more? Why do they work on us so profoundly, often without the luxury of extended introspection or complicated arrangements? Perhaps it’s because they are the sound of life itself—imperfect, intense, and fleeting. Some of the joy is in the very fact of existence. As much as the towering albums of our favorite bands represent a broader spectrum of emotion, there’s something brutally honest and pure about a song that cuts through all the clutter, hits you, and leaves. Let’s take a look at the power of these little bangers, and why they can sometimes be the most influential songs in the world.

Short Songs: The Art of the Quick Impact

Lester Bangs, god rest his sarcastic and critical soul, understood the beauty of brevity. Bangs wasn’t one to be bogged down by theory or length—he appreciated the visceral punch of the immediate, unfiltered emotion that comes from a quick blast of sound. Short songs demand attention, forcing listeners into an intense, often surprising relationship with the music. There’s no room for pretension or self-indulgence. The song either works, or it doesn’t. It’s just you and the music, for as long as it lasts—maybe a minute, maybe three, but never more. The art of the short song lies in its ability to do something profound in a limited time frame, leaving you with a lasting impression, or even a gnawing feeling, long after the final note has passed. This is something that Robert Pollard is an undisputed master of.

Consider a song like The Ramones’ “Blitzkrieg Bop.” It’s barely two minutes long, yet it feels like the embodiment of youthful rebellion, an anthem that encapsulates everything that punk was about—raw energy, simplicity, and urgency. You can hear it, and it’s already over before you’ve had time to think about it. The beauty of this lies in the idea that this song doesn’t ask for reflection, doesn’t demand your intellectual labor, and doesn’t beg for analysis. It just exists—a blur of riffs and hooks that sums up a generation in its frantic sprint.

The brevity of such songs allows them to penetrate deeper than a 10-minute waltz ever could, or at least with more immediate results. A song like “I Wanna Be Your Dog” by The Stooges, which comes in at just under three minutes, does more in those 180 seconds than most of the bloated albums of its time could ever hope to accomplish. It’s simple, dirty, primal, and unrelenting—stirring up more in you in a few short moments than you might expect from an entire album. The impact of these songs is often direct, like a cold slap in the face, forcing you to reckon with them immediately.

The Radio Effect: Why Short Songs Work on the Airwaves

Here’s the thing—short songs don’t just get to your head. They get to the ears of the listener. That’s because brevity is a tool that radio stations, especially in the era before streaming, loved to exploit. The shorter the song, the more it could be played in a given timeframe, and the more it could break through the noise. The best of these songs—ahem, the ones that actually had something to say—became iconic because they didn’t overstay their welcome.

Let’s talk about The Clash for a minute. Their song “London Calling” clocks in at just over three minutes. Sure, it’s a little longer than “Blitzkrieg Bop,” but it still falls into that sweet spot where it feels like a complete statement that doesn’t need to drag on. It’s infectious, it’s compelling, and it doesn’t waste time telling you what’s wrong with the world—it shows you. The energy of the song doesn’t let you get bogged down in excessive flourishes or unnecessary complexity. By stripping away the fat, the band leaves you with pure, unadulterated punk rock power.

Even though London Calling might not be the shortest song on the airwaves, its ability to harness the raw spirit of rebellion in such a brief time makes it the epitome of what a short song can do—take over the world, turn everything upside down, and leave you wanting more. Which, let’s face it, is what we all want from a song, anyway.

The Punch and the Aftertaste: How Short Songs Leave Their Mark

Here’s the funny thing about short songs—they often don’t have the time to linger. But that’s what gives them their staying power. They are designed to stick with you, like a one-night stand that leaves you with a hangover of thoughts and feelings you can’t shake off. After just a brief encounter, they slip into your subconscious, grabbing your brain and twisting it in unexpected ways. They linger, even though they don’t have the time to do so.

Take for example, a song like “Fell In Love With a Girl” by The White Stripes. It’s a burst of electric energy that clocks in at just under two minutes. But what makes it so unforgettable is its immediacy. The riff, the rhythm, the lyrics—they don’t give you time to do anything but react. You’re in it, you’re out of it, but the song sticks with you, lingering in your head long after it’s over.

This is the power of a short song. It may be over before you’ve even had time to process it fully, but that doesn’t matter because the impact is there. Bangs would understand that these moments—these songs that don’t let you breathe—carry an emotional weight that’s disproportionate to their length. The brevity works because it doesn’t give you time to second guess, to dissect, or to overthink. It’s pure, undiluted emotion that cuts through the noise, like a sucker punch to the gut.

“Walkaways” by Counting Crows is the kind of song that hits like a slow-motion crash—strummed guitar and Adam Duritz’s vocals unraveling with all the desperation of a last-ditch attempt to save something that was doomed from the start. There’s a bittersweet, almost reckless honesty in the way he sadly almost pleads the lines:

I’ve gotta rush away
She said, I’ve been to Boston before
And anyway, this change I’ve been feeling
Doesn’t make the rain fall
No big differences these days
Just the same old walkaways

The rhythm is wistful and haunting, like a dream you can’t escape but desperately need to get farther and farther from it and then find you did not take a single step. It’s a beautiful mess—a reflection of how all of us bleed, falter, and still somehow move forward.

Short Songs and the Change They Ignite

Now let’s get to the meat of it—the impact these songs have on listeners. Why are they so powerful? Because they demand attention. You blink and it’s gone. In a world saturated with noise, social media distractions, and endless content, these short songs remind us of a time when music could be something immediate, spontaneous, and anarchic. They explode into your world and leave you questioning everything, and then, before you can fully comprehend it, they vanish.

They also create a sense of community. Every fan of punk rock, indie, or garage knows that feeling when you’re in a room full of people and the first few chords of a short, familiar song kick in. The energy shifts. You can feel the collective understanding—everyone knows the song, everyone knows the intensity, and it’s about to hit us all at once. That communal feeling, that shared experience, amplifies the effect of the song, making it a primal ritual, a call to arms that’s delivered in the simplest of packages.

Short songs give us permission to feel in ways that long-winded tracks often can’t. They teach us that the most significant moments are often the briefest. That intensity doesn’t have to take hours to build. That revolution, rebellion, love, and loss can be boiled down to a few lines, a few chords, a few seconds. The brevity is part of their power.

Smug Brothers’ “Hang Up” is a sweaty, gritty blast of pop-punk that comes at you like a shot of espresso chased by a beer. It’s raw, it’s relentless, and it doesn’t care if you’re ready for it. The guitars jangle like a rusty chain being dragged across pavement, while the lyrics tap into that familiar frustration, the kind that never seems to go away. But the brilliance of this song is its brevity—it hits hard, gives you no room to breathe, and then it’s gone, leaving you half-alive, craving more. It’s chaos wrapped in catchy melodies—perfectly imperfect. Smug Brothers understand the power of a brilliant song can sometimes be best demonstrated by not lingering.

The Brief, the Bold, and the Beautiful

In the end, short songs are, to borrow from Lester Bangs himself, a “shotgun blast of truth” that demands to be felt, not analyzed. They are the anthems of chaos, the rebellion of simplicity, and the embodiment of that glorious moment when everything aligns just right. These songs may be brief, but in that briefness lies their eternal power.

Bangs would’ve told you that these little ditties are a reflection of life’s fleeting nature. Sometimes, you get a moment that burns so brightly, you’re left staring at the ashes afterward, not even sure how it happened. And the short song is the perfect vehicle for that kind of magic. Whether it’s two minutes, three minutes, or less, these songs will always have something to say—something that’s too urgent to stretch out, something that can only be told in a flash, like a lightning strike across the sky.

Full YTAA Faves of 2024 Show on Mixcloud!

your tuesday afternoon alternative Radio Show , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

Every year, like clockwork, the music world implodes into its annual rite of passage: the “Best of” lists. It doesn’t matter whether we need them or not. We could all be listening to something that absolutely shreds, some obscure record that deserves reverence. Still, here we are, obsessing over arbitrary rankings, as if these lists will unlock some divine, objective truth. It is as if, somehow, this tiny, self-appointed cult of critics, bloggers, and tastemakers can distill the whole sprawling mess of 365 days of music into neat little categories that tell you what was really good.

It’s a bit comical, really. These lists are nothing more than trendy cultural currency, an exercise in opinion policing. As if, come December, we all need some authority to tell us what albums we should have liked. Sure, there are some gems in those Top 10s, some records that hit like a lightning bolt, that maybe wouldn’t have been discovered without the almighty guidance of Pitchfork or Rolling Stone. But let’s not kid ourselves – the list itself is a product, a marketing tool, another algorithm feeding on your desire for validation. The music may be real, but the rankings? Please.

Every December, the ritual plays out like a predictable drama: the same predictable indie hits, the same half-baked arguments, the same flavor-of-the-month that gets hyped until the world collectively shrugs and moves on. It’s all just noise. And yet, we devour it like it’s gospel, eagerly waiting for the validation that maybe, just maybe, our choices are “correct.” But here’s the thing: music is personal. These lists? They’re just noise. It’s time we recognize them for what they are: empty, meaningless packaging for a world that’s forgotten how to just listen.

And with all that said, we do an annual show featuring several hours of bands, musicians, songs and albums that impressed the hell out of us. But not going to make some silly rank order, just a bunch of songs that we thought were incredible. So, yeah if this is a bit speaking from both sides of the mouth, so be it.

Our YTAA Faves of 2024 show includes music from many excellent musicians, such as Tamar Berk, Wussy, Palm Ghosts, Nada Surf, Waxahatchee, MJ Lenderman, JD McPherson, Jeremy Porter, Former Champ, Jason Benefield, J. Robins, Dreamjacket, David Payne, Bad Bad Hats, Bike Routes, Brian Wells, The Campbell Apartment, Amy Rigby, The Armoires, Librarians With Hickeys, Bottlecap Mountain, Liv, The Popravinas, The Nautical Theme, Smug Brothers, The Cure, The Reds, Pinks & Purples, The Umbreallas, Nick Kizirnis, Guided By Voices, and The English Beat and The Tragically Hip re-releases.

So, if this is just another end-of-the-year ritual that nobody needs but everybody wants, then maybe it is worthwhile as a way to share some of the music that deserves to be heard.

YTAA Playlist 08-11-2020

your tuesday afternoon alternative Playlist , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

unnamedThis week we have created a YTAA Playlist on Spotify for you listening pleasure! Next week we return to the YTAA Studio and the airwaves of WUDR 99.5 & 98.1fm in Dayton and online! We recommend that you visit the artists social media, webpages and bandcamp pages to support them!

The artists this week include new music from Guided by Voices, Benchmarks, Peopleperson, Tiny Stills, Frontier Folk Nebraska, Jess Cornelius, The Psychedelic Furs, Smug Brothers, Kathleen Edwards, Ryan Allen And His Extra Arms, Lydia Loveless, The Jayhawks, Nana Grizol, Samantha Crain, The Avett Brothers, Real Estate, CrocSoc Workshop, The Great Serpent Mound of Ohio, Carbon Leaf, Surfer Blood (featuring Pip Blom), Dolph Chaney and The Blow Monkeys — yup, they have new music for us all!

Some classics from Pere Ubu, The Pursuit of Happiness, Shrug, The Mayflies USA, Lab Partners, The White Soots, Captain of Industry, The New Old-Fashioned, Mandy Jewell, The Katawicks, Whiskeytown, Andrew Duhon, Gretchen’s Wheel, Manray and The Grapes of Wrath!

And some live versions of terrific songs from The Long Ryders and The Kyle Sowashes!

your-tuesday-afternoon-alternative-color copy

 

Best of 2019: Gladgirl Shelly Hulce’s Picks and Thoughts

your tuesday afternoon alternative Best Of , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

downloadThe whole Maganaphone / Reel Love Studio or as I refer to them “Dayton’s own awesome Wrecking Crew” is going to be well-covered in a list for 2019! To be honest there are  probably multiple crossover’s on local lists, but I’m going off the grid here with my faves that are IN ADDITION to the amazing music coming out of Reel Love.

Let’s start with the NON LOCAL NOD’S:
“Who” by The Who was an incredible return to form!220px-The_Black_Keys_-_Let's_Rock
“Let’s Rock” by Black Keys* (*see nod to the Gabbard bros on my local list to tie this in.) was a powerful record.
“Internet Arms” by Diane Coffee was mesmerizing while sound fresh and connected to musical past and traditions.
“In the Morse Code of Brake Lights” by The New Pornographers was a biting record with melody and energy. (NOTE: January 29, Diane Coffee joins up with The New Pornographers as openers on the current tour!)

LOCAL NOD’S:
The Gabbard Brothers have had a head-spinning year, together and separately.
Joining the touring band of The Black Keys on the “Lets Rock” tour did not slow them down on self releases. I will do my best to count them all, and it’s A LOT!
a3425464433_10

Andy Gabbard:
Under the artist name Strawberry Tapes, he released “Strawberry Tapes “Vol. 1” “
As Andy Gabbard he released the following:
“Trancer”
“Cedar City Sweetheart” and performed live as “Andy Gabbard and the Cool Ranchers”

With M.Ross Perkins, Andy created the digital release of “Gabbard + Perkins” a self titled sweet LP, featuring local favorite “Donuts at Bills”, a love note to the Centerville, Ohio institution, Bills Donuts.
CS4353843_02A_BIG.5dea5f1335a1d

With Gabbard Brothers (Zack + Andy)
Single digital release, “Sell Your Gun, Buy A Guitar” was published while they toured in The Black Keys which tells you a little something about their fantastic work ethic and ability to craft a great song.

Zach Gabbard:
One of the many Gabbard Brothers productions from Zach’s Madison, Ohio farm studio, “Howler Hills”, comes his latest project “Sunday Creek Fed Birds”, released on the Gabbard Brothers home label, Sofaburn.

Seth-Canan

Other fave local releases from this past year included:
Black Sire self titled LP “Black Sire”
Seth Canan and Carriers “Strange Forces”

 

From D.Robins (Derl) Overthought Musik label comes the amazing “Album”, the brain child of Robins for the first annual “Local Music Day” event. This LP features many favorite local artists as guest vocalists and instrumentalists in roles you would not expect.

a3408849665_10Another fave is all the Overthought Musik releases of Derl’s, (D.Robins), self performed and produced projects recorded under his pen name “Peopleperson”, he set out between March and September of 2019 to re-release his past work, as he states, “for your pleasure/confusion.” His trademark Dayton Surf sound, as we came to love in The Motel Beds days, is ever present in the Dayton Music Scene, but with more electronica thrown in for good measure.

Over on the Gas Daddy Go label, the mind bending, sonic collage, “Land Baron of Barren Lands” from Don Thrasher’s electronic music project Crossfade Rivals was something to behold. A sound collage featuring a veritable powerhouse of local musicians.

gbv+cover

The Rockathon Label is still churning out more GBV releases than I can count (or afford), 3 GBV LP’s (Zeppelin Over China was a double LP), and Pollard side project as “Cash Rivers” rounds out 2019. GBV closes out the decade with a sold out NYE show in LA at the Teragram Ballroom tackling a 100 song set list. This team always wins at the rock games. GBV records will be on my top records lists every year, because they never stop.

Self released “Mobile Juke House Theater” by blues phenom, Noah Wotherspoon also needs to be included on a ‘Best Of’ list for the year.

thee-attack

From Poptek Records comes the long awaited, sophomore release from XL427, “Thee Attack”. Although officially release date is in January of ’20, digital releases have been served up via bandcamp during the pre-order phase. This attack was well worth the wait from bandleader and label runner, Andy Ingram.

So about the Reel Love / Magnaphone tsunami, I’ll step out for a second and tell all of you that I love all the faves that will be mentioned repeatedly on other lists (Amber Hargett, Dave Payne, and the like dominating the scene at the moment, I have to speak some of these titles, lest I blaspheme in the temple, number one being “Easy Is the New Hard” by Shrug).

download (1).jpg
And I still get a huge endorphin rush from “The Transformation of Salvador Ross”.
Fun fun fun from John Dubuc’s Guilty Pleasures “Where Have I Been All Your Life” and the debut LP from The Paint Splats. (DANG IT, I said I wouldn’t overlap into Reel Love/ Magnaphone but it’s too hard not to do that when the music coming out from them is so good.) Okay, since I crossed over, I will end with this last fave, “Sympathetic Buzz” from the Tim Pritchard project, Superbloom.
15b0ae5bb6869f2919f47b2d76d0ebd0_400x400


Shelly Hulce is THE Gladgirl in the Dayton Music Community who in addition to creating and promoting a wide variety of shows and specialty experiences, she writes about music, started Story Slam and related Story Telling in Dayton and is an active radio presence throughout the Miami Valley including as a DJ on WSWO Oldies 97.3 FM. She is a Freelance AFCI Certified Film Commissioner. Her artwork is also featured at local exhibitions and of course, cool rock concerts and shows. She is on twitter at @TheGladGirl.

Best of 2019: Mike Bankhead’s Picks and Thoughts

your tuesday afternoon alternative Best Of , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

Shrug – Easy is the New Harda1766992202_10

Shrug are stalwarts of the Dayton music scene, having been around for 25 years.  This is their first album to be released on vinyl, and as if that’s not enough, it’s a double.  Some of the songs on the track list that showed up in their sets 15 years ago (“New Amsterdam” and “Bender” being the oldest) coexist beautifully with new music that didn’t get played live until the album release show (“Powder” and “Follow the Captain”).  The result is probably the best, most eclectic work of their tenure, and certainly my favorite since 2002’s self-titled release.

    *favorite songs: “Powder”, “New Amsterdam”, “Follow the Captain”, “Blue Blanket”

 

220px-Sleater-Kinney_-_The_Center_Won't_HoldSleater-Kinney – The Center Won’t Hold

About the same time that Shrug was getting going here in Dayton, this band started up in Olympia, Washington.  This is their 9th album, and heads off in a different sonic direction from everything else in their catalog. This new direction cost them the powerful services of drummer Janet Weiss, as she departed the band just before they went on tour to support the album.  There is synth here, extra slick production, and pop sensibility, but it still sounds like a Sleater-Kinney album. That’s enough for me.

    * favorite songs: “Reach Out”, “Bad Dance”

 

911IuEsTDWL._SS500_Big Wreck – … but for the sun

Here’s a third band that formed in 1994.  Ian Thornley’s voice is the closest I have ever heard to Chris Cornell’s, and it’s still as powerful now as it was when I first discovered this band.  If you enjoyed Soundgarden in the past, I think you would like Big Wreck as well. This new effort is a big, loud, swaggering rock and roll record. You want guitar solos?  There are plenty of them here. You want riffage? There is plenty of that here. You like shouting along whilst driving? These songs are perfect for that.  

   *favorite songs: “In My Head”, “Give Us a Smile”,  “Alibi” 

 

767870659522_mainGuided By Voices – Sweating the Plague

How about a band that was already more than ten years old in 1994?  Indie rock royals Guided By Voices released three albums this year, because of course they did.  This one is the last of the three. I have had a hard time keeping up on all of Bob Pollard’s music over the years, and would only consider myself somewhat well-versed on the albums that came out between 1994 and 2004.  With that caveat in mind, this album isn’t what I was expecting. I heard tempo changes, a brief Boston-esque lead guitar harmony, a song that starts a capella, all paired up with the usual amount of fantastic hooks.

   *favorite songs: “Street Party”,  “Your Cricket Is Rather Unique”, “Immortals”

 

elbow_giantsofallsizes_mainElbow – Giants of All Sizes

Apologies to Oasis, but Elbow are now my favo(u)rite Manchester band.  This is their 8th studio album. Lyrically, it’s darker than what we normally get from them, but personal tragedies and these modern times will have that effect.  Guy Garvey’s pristine voice, the band’s orchestral use of dynamics, and at least one song with massive audience sing-along potential on the hook… those things are still here.  Also, Pete Turner continues to bring interesting choices to the bottom end, along with solid grooves from which most of the other instruments hang.

  *favorite songs: “Empires”, “White Noise White Heat”, “Weightless”

 

idlewild---interview-musicIdlewild – Interview Music

Let’s stay on the island of Great Britain for a moment, but head up north to Scotland.  I have five of this band’s first six albums on CD (I don’t have the first one). There was a time when I would listen to something from Idlewild just about every day.  Somewhere around 2008, I completely lost track of them. It wasn’t them, it was me. I’ve missed a couple of their albums, and nearly missed this one, only recently having discovered that it came out this year.  Other than the vocals (not the high ones), this doesn’t sound like the Idlewild I remember… there are plenty of atmospheric additions here, strings and reverb-drenched guitar and piano, and it’s all very lovely. I need to spend more time with this album, but I know that I’ll like it more with each listen.

   *favorite songs: “Dream Variations”, “I Almost Didn’t Notice”, “Forever New”

 

The-Cranberries-In-the-EndThe Cranberries – In the End

A short hop West across the Irish Sea brings us to the home of The Cranberries.  This mention is kind of like a career achievement mention, as the band decided not to continue after frontwoman Dolores O’Riordan died in January 2018.  This is their final album, released this year. The vocals come from demos instead of normal studio takes, but if I hadn’t read that online, I wouldn’t have known.  Some of the music would easily fit in among the songs on their first two albums. I feel like most folks probably don’t know this band beyond their hit singles, and that’s too bad, there is some songwriting brilliance in their career, and this is a satisfying final statement.

   *favorite songs:  “Lost”, “Wake Me When It’s Over”, “Illusion”, “In the End”

 

Charly-Bliss-Young-Enough-1557243931-640x640Charly Bliss – Young Enough

Back much farther West across the Atlantic, Brooklyn’s Charly Bliss dropped their second full-length album this year.  Full disclosure, I really wanted to like this album because I have met the members of this band, and they were pleasant and engaging young folks.. I like them as people.  (They also put on a very energetic live show.) My first couple of listens to this album, well, I wasn’t enthused… lots of synth, some drum machine sounds, the guitars and rock had taken a back seat to sugary pop.  Then I paid attention to the lyrics, listened closer to the songwriting, and focused on the harmonic choices. These songs are painfully confessional and personal, and I wonder how Eva manages to sing them on tour night after night without bursting into tears.  Further, this band’s gift for arrangement and hooks persists behind the pop sheen… and these songs sound excellent live, right alongside their older guitar-heavy work. Go get this album.

   *favorite songs: “Capacity”, “Camera”, “Young Enough”, “Chatroom”

 

61470138_554840258255776_5954152654669086720_oJohn Dubuc’s Guilty Pleasures – Where Have I Been All Your Life?

Don’t let John Dubuc’s “aw shucks”, self-effacing demeanor fool you.  He is one of the best songwriters in Dayton. His lyrics oscillate between witty and silly, pointless and profound. He doesn’t feel the need to be constrained by the idea of genre, as there are sounds borrowed from reggae and country and fifties rock and power pop and folk.  Several songs from this album will absolutely get stuck in your head.  

   *favorite songs: “It Ain’t That Far”, “Crazy Days”, “By the Ocean”, “Peace Love and Hamburger Helper”

 

a2717136637_10Me & Mountains – Dream Sequence Volume One

This a very brief EP, so I feel like my comments here have to also be very brief.  I love everything this band does, their sound is right up my alley, and I want them to give me more music ASAP.

  *favorite song: “Demolish Me”

 

a0393637519_10Amber Hargett – Paper Trail

Amber is lovely and genuine and sweet, comes armed with a powerful voice and a knack for songwriting, and once told a story that will ensure I never look at a submarine hatch the same way again.  Oh, and her album is great.

   *favorite songs: “Broke”, “Carolina Blue”, “Stay”

 

0009715440_10Mike Bankhead is a writer and deeply thoughtful musician. Mike does not just create songs he curates sound. His latest record is Defacing the Moon, a split album with The Paint Splats, available now. Mike’s latest song is an impressively powerful narrative that he calls “Little Light” that was released this past May and is available on all digital platforms. He is on twitter at    @mbankheadmusic and Instagram at mikebankheadmusic.

His website is https://mikebankheadmusic.com/ We suggest you check it out! 

Your Alternative Tuesday Afternoon Returns!

your tuesday afternoon alternative New Music, Radio Show, ThePurrs, Your Tuesday Afternoon Alternative , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

 

popthrillz-alternative-11.jpgMrs. Dr. J returns back to the studio for an all new YTAA!

We will be playing quite a bit of new stuff! Expect music from Guided by Voices, Boards of Canada, The Last Royals, The Lost Patrol, Zach Bellas, Hausu, Goldford, The Weathervanes, The Brothers Kaschak, Jay Arner, Luke Frazier, Iggy & The Stooges, The 88, The Purrs, Said The Whale, Surfer Blood and Churchill — to name a few of the cool items that we are playing.

Expect another fine installment of Mrs. Dr. J’s Summer Dance Party!  So get ready to dance!

As always, let us know what you would like to hear via this page or drjwudr on twitter! See you tomorrow at 3pm on wudr.udayton.edu!

8 Years of Your Tuesday Afternoon Turning Alternative

your tuesday afternoon alternative Live In Studio, Live Live Live, Radio Show, Your Tuesday Afternoon Alternative , , ,

YTAA Radio Image
Join us at wudr.udayton.edu

Your Tuesday Afternoon Alternative is celebrating our last show of our birthday month! Join us Tuesday 3-6pm on wudr.udayton.edu as we debut new music from Okay Lindon, Holopaw, Guided by Voices, Neal Young and Crazy Horse, RobtheBank, Swear and Shake, Dear Fawn, Human Cannonball, The Motel Beds, Glen Campbell, and so much more alternative, indie, and great local music. Expect some very rare music from The Connells, Mike Ness of Social Distortion, and a few other surprises. 

Dueling covers this week will be between Uncle Tupelo and The Punch Brothers doing the classic, Moonshiner. We will be playing some local R&B and Rap with Dayton’s own Mission Man. His new album M, is out now! 

Join Dr. J and Mrs. Dr. J as we celebrate our last show celebrating 8 years of playing some of the best independent and Dayton music on wudr. Check out the YTAA Facebook page!

 

 

Explore Dayton: Explosion of Local Music!

your tuesday afternoon alternative Dayton , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,
Vanity Theft playing First Friday at Riverscape
Vanity Theft playing First Friday at Riverscape

It is often assumed that there is no local music scene in Dayton. Dear music fans, nothing could be further from the truth! We have a literal explosion of new music from bands of numerous musical genres, approaches, and styles happening right now. Once the Gem City was considered the post-punk haven for groups such as Guided by Voices, Branniac, and The Breeders. Dayton has a long and significant music history of which the post-punk wave was but one trend in local music.

Today, we have bands playing in almost too many genres and styles to count. We have new music from The Fair Shakes, Bonneville, We Were Animals (from the previously power-pop dream of Ed vs. Radio), Vanity Theft, The Rebel Set, The Story Changes, the horror-rock of Splattertude, Hawthorne Heights, Me & Mountains, Night Beast, Toads and Mice, Motel Beds, Smug Brothers, and so much more.

We have many places to see bands and musicians are plying their trade in the Oregon District or throughout the city. If the assumption is that there is no growing and evolving music scene in Dayton, that is simply not correct. As someone who has conducted research on music scenes for several years (do not ask how many, I am just a little touchy about the age thing), I can honestly tell you that Dayton musicians have much to offer you. All you have to do is go listen.

You can go to several fine establishments to see bands play most nights of the week in the Gem City. And you should. Come on what do you have to lose except your preconceptions about how the limitations of Dayton music.

Cross-posted at DaytonMostMetro at http://mostmetro.com/music/explosion-in-local-music.html