Miles Kurosky

The tale of my love affair with Miles Kurosky's former band, Beulah, had a heartbreaking and tragic climax in the year 2004. My sister and I, both fans of their music, were preparing to catch their NYC date on their tour for their new album, Yoko. We were all set to go when our plans were interrupted by a late breaking development - we were broke. So instead, we stayed home under the misguided notion that we would catch them "next time they're around."

This show turned out to be the band's last.

It isn't even that I missed seeing the band. It's that Beulah is based in CALIFORNIA. They're a San Francisco band. So not only did I miss seeing the band before they broke up; I missed the rarest of shows; A final show not for the home town fans of a band from across the country - nay, I missed a final show that inexplicably and wrongly fell right into my fucking lap. I had been given a gift from above, and spit it on the floor, biting and chomping at the hand that spoon fed it to me.

Let this be a lesson: Tell your family you love them. Appreciate your dear friends. And if a band comes out with an album named after the woman who broke up the Beatles, then go see them quick because they're dropping hints.

All bitterness aside, I still love Beulah to death. Their laid back, beach friendly sound, their contrasting, dark lyrics, their love of the Beatles and the Beach Boys; all elements combine into one of my favorite indie bands of all time, and by far my favorite Elephant 6 act. So of course, I've been hungry for more. In the immediate wake of their passing, people begun whispering rather loudly about the prospect of a Miles Kurosky solo act. Now, usually, I don't get excited over solo stuff. It just ends up being a whole lot of smugness and not a lot of substance. But Miles' reputation as something of a control freak is well known, and from what I understand, Beulah was basically all his baby. So I was definitely waiting for this. That wait ended up taking four years.

So, obviously, the project has been revealed (seeing as how the previous sentence would make no sense if it hadn't been). And after four long years, what do we get? Well, not a whole hell of a lot. Two of the tracks on Miles' Myspace are different versions of the same song. Even weirder, they're by Beulah. Even weirder than that, they're sung by Yoko Ono. Beyond those, we get one completely original track; An Apple for an Apple, which I could swear was named something else a month ago. So how is it? Good! Dreamier and less dark than Yoko, and less produced than either of the last two Beulah records. It's just the catchy pop song you'd expect from Miles, and if it's any indication of what's to come, then Beulah's tragic death might finally be redeemed.

The only thing that worries me is how questionable this future remains. This seems to me more like a pet project of Miles' rather than a serious act, and I have a bad feeling in my gut that we may never see more than one or two tracks manifest from this; a proper album almost feels out of the question, and the proposition of a serious tour schedule sounds downright fictional.

I hope, however, that I'm extremely wrong.

PS: He's looking quite the hipster lately, isn't he? And check out that pic on his Myspace with some hot SuicideGirl-type-hunny. Ouch!

Street Smart Cyclist is breaking up

RIP one of the bands that made me start liking modern music again. You can bet I'll be writing about any new projects they start the second I get a hold of them.

Myspace

The Brave Little Abacus

The Brave Little Abacus is one of the most annoying bands I've ever heard. The singers are nasally and strained, every song is filled with sound effects from Yoshi's Island or Ren and Stimpy, and in an era of crystal clarity, they have the most washy, peaked out recordings, making it almost painful to listen to at an appropriate volume. Hell, even the name kind of bugs me. These factors, then, are a great tribute to just how awesome this band is, because I can't stop listening to their music. The band is so catchy, smart, charming, and are obviously having so much fun doing what they're doing, that they manage to take all these irritating elements and craft amazingly intricate and memorable music with them. It's hard to describe; you should really just go to their Myspace page and take a listen for yourself.

I can't say for sure, but if I had to guess, I would go out on a limb and say this band is made up of 16-19 year old band geeks who just happen to have really good taste in indie rock and traditional rock and roll. There's a youthful energy and nary a hint of cynicism or irony to any of it. Instead, it's positive, upbeat, and makes you want to sing along. The lyrics, from what I've managed to catch, are twisting and introspective, but have a twang of nerd humor underneath everything. This also extends into their abundant use of sound clips, which are all from great sources and, unlike most bands using clips, fit rhythmically into the composition of the songs.



The musicianship and songwriting are both top notch, and their sound doesn't fit neatly into any clever sub-genre modern indie kids use to pigeonhole themselves with. I hear everything from On the Might of Princes to The Who to U2 in this music, but mainly it sounds to me like songs written by an unholy union of Cap'n Jazz and The Flaming Lips, as covered by HORSE the Band. And again, just even writing that horrible sounding description annoyed the crap out of me, but these guys make it work. The off-kilter nasally vocals manage to fit the sound perfectly, despite their roughness, since the vocal lines they come up with are so fun and sung with such conviction. Even the washiness of the recording works in the band's favor, lending a unique, distinguishable contour to the sound. There's a total lack of self-consciousness to it all. They just do what they do really well. After a few listens, I found myself completely buying it, 100%.

Out of all of their songs, my favorite is El Capitano. The 2 second flurry of shredding at 2:14 is what first sold me on this band. Don't ignore the rest though; they're all worth a listen. They just came out with a new split with Matt Aspinwall, and whoever is reading this would be wise to check it out. And if you're in New Hampshire, or hell, within hours of there, try to catch their live show and report back about it. I really want to hear how these guys sound live.