Some history and some HD Harmsen

Awhile back, I got to think about local “scenes”. Everyone has local bands. I grew in the sphere of St Louis, a city that had a few successful bands (the Urge, pale Divine, Gravity Kills) though none particularly grabbed me as much as they did my friends. 

After that, I went to the college town of Carbondale, Illinois. While the town was too small to have much of a “scene”, there was a short time from around 1995 to 1997 where there were a bunch of great local bands. For a time, there was a website that had uploaded a bunch of area band songs but it may be defunct now 

My favorite Carbondale band was a rockabilly band called the Bottletones who reunited for their fourth album in 2019. Highly recommended to fans of the genre

I never lived in Champaign-Urbana, Illinois but I almost feel like I did, by proxy.  I did have friends there and the music filtered to me. Now, Champaign legitimately had some national impact. Probably the biggest bands were the late 90s Emo bands like Braid and American Football. Their impact being one of those that only grew in time.  Other Champaign bands to have national success were the Poster Children and Hum

Bands that caught my ear (via friends in the late 90s) were Corndolly, the Beauty Shop, the Funky Butt Drum Club, the Viper and his Famous Orchestra and Hand to Mouth.   All but the last at least have their songs still living eternally in time via streaming.  

I moved to Iowa in 2003. Des Moines doesn’t have a large scene but it has had some good bands during my time here. When I moved here, there weren’t many venues. That would improve, likely peaking around 2011 or so, but in recent years, some smaller stages have closed. Not having those locations is a major bummer. 

My favorite Iowa area (currently active) artists are roots rocker DICKIE, the self explanatory named Surf Zombies and alt country band Loose Gravel. The first two are available on streaming. 

Ames, Iowa is about 40 miles north of Des Moines. It is the home of Iowa State University. It is close enough of course that I don’t know that there is much difference in the two cities’ “scenes”. 

As with the previous two college towns I mentioned, Ames had a swell of great local bands. Particularly, around the same time the Des Moines scene seemed to peak (from 2010 to 2013 or so) there were a lot of interesting sounds coming out. The big boost (as often is the case) was the support of a local record label (Maximum Ames Records) and a concurrent promotion of the annual Maximum Ames Music Festival

If we are being honest, the most popular Ames musician is early Internet celebrity Leslie Hall (Gemsweater.com) and she, in fact, did release music for Maximum Ames. 

But the more typical rock band that led the charge was a four piece called the Poison Control Center- a really talented band that got press from the likes of Pitchfork and the AVClub. 

A top hit on a recent Google search I did was “Ames Music: What the Hell Happened” and admittedly, we are a decade removed from the magical time. I suppose like Carbondale and Chicago, Ames can only slow down ambition of a bigger nearby town like Minneapolis 

Of course, the pandemic set things back for everyone. 

Recently, I saw a musician perform live who had released an album for Maximum Ames Records: HD Harmsen

Harmsen’s discography probably looks as expected. His debut 2013 “Papoose” for Maximum Ames got some local press. A follow up in 2015 called “Idiot Boy” was also released by Maximum Ames

Now, after a recording hiatus, we have his third album Glaciers available on the usual streaming platforms. 

Harmsen is hard to categorize as he jumps genres from Lo-fi rock on the albums opener to chamber pop to anti-folk. 

On the standout “Enmeshed and Obsessed”, the dreamy "Hope Begins in the Heartache" and the instrumental "2020 Visions", he sounds like something off the Shimmy Disc label -which is right down but alley - but other moments on the record recall Guided by Voices or Pavement. 

On stage, he’s dressed up for performance in a white suit. I am reminded of Elliott Smith and I think that could be  coincidental, but there’s definitely the same ingredients making up both musicians- introspective and vulnerable lyrics and vocals but also an ear for melodic indie pop

I started this post saying I had a history of not being impressed by local artists, but I like Glaciers quite a bit and can see it as a really possibility for one being of this year’s favorite discs of mine. 

https://hdharmsen.bandcamp.com/

Spotify- Glaciers

(With apologies to the artist, concert pictures always look worse than real life)

Concert review - Jeffrey Lewis and the Voltage

 

My parents didn’t want me going to rock concerts in high school, so upon turning 18 (almost concurrent to graduation) I was ready to make up for last time. 

For a ten year period, concerts were such an important part of my life. I saw so many of my favorite bands. I spent a good chunk of my limited income. Even looking back, I think of this as one of my biggest life accomplishments. I have not tallied it up but I am sure I saw 100 bands or more. Most of these were at smaller venues. 

The next 15 years are a bit of “wilderness” years. I would say concerts were not a priority. Still, I have a fondness for some of the artists I saw. I saw a few more festivals so my numbers might be similar. Also I feel like I saw more of a mix of unusual and unique artists. So what I lacked in Quantity, I made up for in Quality

The last five years or so (pandemic excepted) feels like a “third wave” of concert going.  Kids are growing and I have people that I can go to shows with again. 

Now, I haven’t found a good cadence because I do lack the freedom of the younger me to go see any show. I am more selective and yet, I am trying to find a way to get myself out of that comfort level. 

I am not sure what that looks like yet but I am trying 

But Jeffrey Lewis definitely fits the bill. Here’s an artist I know a bit about, heard a couple of songs, seems interesting but isn’t a “must see” for me or a longtime favorite artist. The former are the kind of shows I probably need in my concert diet. 

What I know about Lewis is his reputation. He’s extremely prolific. His style is called anti-folk which kind of sounds like it says- but had a bit of a heyday in the early 00s with Lewis a key figure alongside Moldy Peaches, Regina Spektor and the Mountain Goats

That was my image going in and I also know he is revered by the DIY and outsider crowd. While I hate the gatekeeping of some of those fans, I would say that is accurate but it’s not like he is a one man band like Bob Log III or Scott H Biram

His setup tonight was pretty traditional- though certainly charming. Brent Cole (Moldy Peaches) on drums, Mallory Feurer on violin and keyboard (who also fronts The Grasping Straws) and Mem Pahl ( Catt Tatt) on bass. A perfect backing band. 

Listening to him live, I shifted my focus from 21st Century marketing to the actual music. My first thought was humorous Michigan area 90s folkie Wally Pleasant. There certainly is a lineage to bands like the Dead Milkmen, They Might Be Giants and Camper Van Beethoven and more than anything, the bands that occupied the Shimmy Disc record label roster, not to mention indie nerd mavericks like Casiotone for the Painfully Alone and Atom and his Package. 

Weirdly, the opening song made me think of roots rocker Todd Snider. Not that the two styles are comparable but Snider has found a secondary audience for his more humorous work- even getting played regularly on Morning Zoo radio like the Bob and Tom Show. The song about his girlfriend falling asleep when they watch movies together was absolutely wholesome. 

A look at his set lists indicate that each show is quite different. Not that he has any “hits” but his setlist seemed devoid of the songs he is most known for with the one exception of taking an audience request for “The Last Time I Took Acid”.   Though his setlists do have some commonality and I don’t think you are necessarily get a “here’s my new album” set either 

Lewis is also known for drawing comics. Which brings to mind R Crumb indies but also Daniel Johnston’s drawings. 

Lewis performed three of his songs accompanied by a slideshow of his comics -Champion Jim and Creeping Brain certainly fell into the category of Daniel Johnston or perhaps Jad Fair’s monster songs but the third was the History of Communism: Part 5- Vietnam which is apparently part of his concert series 

I really enjoyed the concert if you can’t tell and it probably should go closer to the top on the all time list than others. 

My last question coming in is how “authentic” Lewis is. It’s a ridiculous question of course. But I don’t feel attachment to anybody who just gets up and spits out nonsense.  Lewis is definitely active on social media which made it harder to assess 

But seeing Lewis and briefly meeting him at the merch table afterwards, he is the real deal

That’s not surprising- as he seems to be a huge music fan- even recording entire albums to cover counterculture icons like anarcho punks Crass, the Fall and avant garde pioneer Tuli Kupferberg. Lewis’s work is filled with cameos from Kupferberg, Kimya Dawson, Peter Stampfel, Diane Cluck, Kramer and Producer Roger Moutenot (most of Yo La Tengo’s classic 90s/00s albums).  (He took the stage to the sounds of Jim Sullivan’s “UFO”)

I am not sure if Lewis is a depressive but he has the true brain of a comedian and when his music wasn’t funny (or educational) he had plenty of positive and encouraging (but not cheesy) messages in his songs. 

His most recent album is 2019s Bad Wiring but he has released a collection of A-Sides and B-Sides (2014-2018)

It was one of the best shows I have seen in recent years. Support was local and great (to the point) I might just write about them individually- Book of Bees and HD Harmsen