Song of the Day: The Naked and Famous - Young Blood

I'm a sucker for music that makes me feel like I am in high school, about to embark upon the most important night of my life.

This is ironic because in high school, the most important night of my life may have been the time Matt Slivka and I (the two un-muscle-i-est guys at Murray High School) decided to go to ShopKo and buy our first-ever wife beater tanktops and wear them around the SugarHouse Movies 9 on a cold January night.

How's that for a music video idea?

Viva Voce: Why Not Start a Band with Your Husband

Viva Voce’s music feels like the embodiment of the Pacific Northwest. The husband-wife duo’s songs rise effortlessly from the damp mist of down-tempo folk into bursts of sun-drenched psychedelia--and then back again. Not bad for a couple of kids from the deep South.

After meeting and marrying in Alabama, Kevin and Anita Robinson pulled up ties and headed to Portland in 1998, the same year they released their first Viva Voce demo tape. Though their new home has certainly found its way into their sound, it hasn’t replaced their Southern charm.

Their new record may bear the ultra-heavy title “The Future Will Destroy You,” but Anita Robinson speaks of it (in a kind-hearted Southern accent) with love and care. In fact, each of her responses--from how to self-produce a record to fighting with her husband about who gets to write the bass lines--is delivered with such humility and kindness that it’s easy to forget that she mercilessly shreds guitars for a living.

Anita holds most of the vocal reigns on “Future,” a task that was shared more evenly between the couple on previous records. “It just worked out that way,” she says of her added time behind the mic. “After doing Blue Giant [the Robinson’s folk band side project] for a year, where Kevin is the singer front and center, I think I was inspired to step up and be more of the front person. It worked out well, I think. I feel very proud of it lyrically.”

The Robisons wrote, recorded, and mixed the new record in their home studio in Portland. Though the band usually welcomes feedback on songs and mixes from friends and musicians, “Future” was an isolated affair.

“With this record, we just sort of hibernated,” Anita says. “We were feeling really confident about it and didn’t feel the need to [seek input]. Hopefully, the fact that we did everything by ourselves and didn’t really look for any outside opinions, people will feel like we did the right thing. We feel like we did.”

Anita says she and Kevin and had the same goal for “Future” that they’ve had for each of their albums. “What we always try to do is put out a record where every song stands on its own and it’s not a record where people say, ‘I really like that second song and I really like the last song.’ We want our albums to be full of songs where you can’t wait to hear the next one.”

The husband/drummer and wife/guitarist also had the same power struggle that they’ve had with all their records, Anita admits with a laugh. “When it comes to tracking the record, it’s usually just a matter of who gets to do what--who gets to play bass lines or melody lines with on the keyboard. We fight a little bit over that because we both like to do those things.” In the end, even that worked out. Kevin got the bass and Anita got the keyboard.

For the next month, Viva Voce will tour the new record throughout the U.S. While most bands suffer from the homesickness caused by leaving loved ones behind, Anita and Kevin run the reverse risk--spending too much time with their significant other. Anita, however, says boredom is never a problem.

“There’s never a dull moment, especially on tour. Every day is a new adventure.” And then she adds, “I can’t get bored with something I’ve dreamed of doing my entire life.”

That dream is what took the Robinsons from Alabama to Portland in the first place. “We lived in Nashville for a while and it just never really felt like home. It didn’t feel like a place where we could put roots down. A lot of people want to travel and go and see what it’s like to live in different places, but just feel stuck and stranded. I’m grateful that I had the freedom to give it a shot. And it worked out great.”

Portland is equally enamored with Viva Voce. Case in point, visit a Portland Timbers soccer match and you may hear the crowd singing the refrain from the band’s ode to Portland, “Rose City,” a capella. (Or, if you’re not in the neighborhood, you can visit their website to hear a recording.)

“It’s kind of an honor,” she says of the song-turned-anthem. “It’s sweet and endearing. It makes us feel, more than ever, that Portland is our home and that we belong here.”

Song of the Day: Streetlight Manifesto - One Foot on the Gas/One Foot in the Grave

Just about every day, I look at the thousands of songs on my iPod and think, "I don't want to listen to any of you."

Scrolling through the tracks this morning, somehow it just felt like a Streetlight Manifesto day.

I'm a sucker for both singer Tomas Kalnoky's clean voice and his raspy punk rock screaming, both of which get a little time on this one. Streetlight Manifesto is probably the only band in punk rock history who actually pull off five-plus minute songs.

P.S. If you can handle a few (well-placed) swears, my favorite track on this album is The Receiving End of It All.

Weezer v. Kermit the Frog

It didn't surprise me at all to see Weezer contributing a song to the upcoming Muppets movie soundtrack--it is called "The Green Album," after all.

I didn't, however, expect to see Alkaline Trio on the track list. Alas, the band who is usually inspired by death (and sometimes thinks I'm their stripper), offers up "Movin' Right Along." I was a little less surprised when I realized bassist Dan Andriano was doing the singing. He's always been a softy. He also has a new solo record out. It's pretty good. You can hear a couple of the songs on his Facebook page.

NPR is streaming the Green Album here.

Song of the Day: David Bazan - Won't Let Go

For much of his Pedro the Lion career, David Bazan used third person narrative for his tales of disception and infidelity. On his first solo full-length, he switched to first person and the songs were about losing his faith, becoming an alcoholic, and generally letting his wife and family down. Maybe that's why this love song to his wife feels so gripping.

Might I Recommend: The One AM Radio

If you like midtempo, melancholy electronica (a la Hot Chip, Postal Service), you should probably give The One AM Radio a listen.

I interviewed the band a couple of week's ago. I got some of the most intelligent music-guy answers in recent memory. I guess the lead singer's Yale education paid off. You can read the full article here.

I love the slightly snarky response to this simplistic question:

ME: Is it a happy album?

HIRWAY: No, it’s not a happy album, but “happiness” and “sadness” rarely ever come to me in pure form. That’s one of the side effects of no longer being a teenager.

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You may want to check out these tunes as well:

When You're Sleeping (YouTube)
Everyone But You (YouTube)

A Boy Named Goo

Have I ever revealed that I'm a closet Goo Goo Dolls fan? Well, now it's out there.

I interviewed Goo Goo bassist Robby Takac in advance of their show in Park City...

Long before the name Goo Goo Dolls was permanently attached to the phrase "platinum-selling artists," the threesome was just another bar band in chilly Buffalo, New York. That all changed, however, thanks to a slew of massive hits in the mid-'90s and early 2000s, including "Name," "Slide," and "Here is Gone."
As the band nears it 25-year anniversary, bassist and founding member Robby Takac wonders where all the time has gone.

"It doesn't seem real," he says of the milestone, from a tour stop in Connecticut. "It's amazing how fast 25 years flies by." Though much of the past quarter-century has felt like a whirlwind, he still remembers the changes brought on by the band's breakthrough hit in 1995.

"After 10 years of driving around in a van, trying to convince every kid in town to come check out your band, [having "Name" on the radio] was huge." Unfortunately, the first thing he did with his newfound fame and fortune wasn't all that glamorous.

"I paid off my studio loans," he says with a laugh. "Those bill collectors were starting to get after me."
"Name" would be only the beginning of the band's reign of mainstream rock radio. Since that time, the Goo Goo Dolls have amassed 14 top-10 singles. Ruling the airwaves, however, does have some disadvantages.

He does have advice for young bands, however. "I hope the thing people take away from playing or touring with us is the idea that you've gotta work to make this happen. You can't stop doing the things that help make the connection with your fans -- reaching out, making people feel a part of what you're doing when you're on stage. Those fans are the ones that are going to make it possible for you to do this thing you love. You can't become so important that it's all about you. It's not about you. It's about everyone."

After 25 years, thousands of shows, and millions of records, there's no doubt the Goo Goo Dolls know a thing or two about keeping fans happy.