Cretin Hop

Punk may have won several battles during the past few decades, but it's clearly lost the war against mainstream rock. 

I visited a friend who runs the vinyl department at 7th Heaven on my way to Starlight Theatre for last night's concert by Boston and Kansas.  He told me that young vinyl enthusiasts are purchasing scads of Boston records. 

Sure enough, I spotted several groups of teens among the audience that almost filled the venue. 

Boston and The Ramones were both released in 1976.  Thirty-eight years later, Tom Scholz faithfully recreates "Peace of Mind" for thousands of admirers while every original member of the Ramones is dead.  A new album by the post-Boston metal band Godsmack topped Billboard's album charts this week. 

Punk's defeat doesn't bother me much.  While I prefer "I Wanna Be Your Boyfriend" to "Peace of Mind," I've always liked "More Than a Feeling" more than "Smells Like Teen Spirit."


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I reviewed a concert by Chrisette Michele and Raheem DeVaughn.

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I reviewed Joan Sebastian's first and final appearance in Kansas.

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Ziggy Marley performed at Crossroads KC this week.  Here's my review.

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Here's my review of Boston and Kansas.

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I contributed Local Listen segments to KCUR's "Up To Date" featuring The Kansas City Jazz Orchestra and Nuthatch-47.

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Dwight Frizzell's "Slippages" is very nice.

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Kasai Allstars' Beware the Fetish may be my favorite groove-based album of the year.

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Falty DL's In the Wild is as fresh as everyone says.  RIYL: Pole, vertigo, Flying Lotus.

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A lot of people enjoy making fun of Godsmack.  I'm not among them. The new album 1000hp is RIYL: Disturbed, life outside an ivory tower, Shinedown.  Here's the title track.

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Baxter Dury looks and sounds uncannily like his pop in the video for "Pleasure".

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Captain Black Big Band's Mother's Touch is RIYL: Orrin Evans, relevant swing, Charles Mingus.

(Original image by There Stands the Glass.)