I'll meet you where the river forks...shit, I'd meet you in a pit of fucking snakes

There are very few Sunset Rubdown songs (when I say "Sunset Rubdown" I also mean the piss-poor quality solo recordings) I don't have. When I say that, I mean there are like two. That I know of. It's kind of creepy that I have the last few years of Spencer Krug's activity chronicled in my pocket anyways, but it's cool you guys. No big deal.

Rationalization aside, I was trying to figure out those god-forsaken myspace playlist things and found some old-ass songs the Krug probably recorded in the basement of his apartment building (do they even have apartments in Canada, or just huts?) that I imagine is smack-dab in the middle of a town square that looks like that village in Beauty and the Beast. One is called "It Wouldn't Let Them Down" and the other is called "Give Up On Your Ghost." The former is more standard noisy Krug shit involving a guitar and an accordion, while the latter sounds more like David Bowie in Labyrinth and Danny Elfman picked up a player piano and simultaneously Being John Malkovich-ed our Tiger Beat centerfold.



Awwww, look at that guy! It's like one of those pictures of a smiling kitten:

God, I love kitties. In case you didn't catch that link above, THIS was the only place I could find those songs. Seriously, I tried. I might have to e-mail the dudes over at Snakes Got A Blog, 'cause I know they got 'em. One of the places I tried was the Sunset Rubdown threads over at the Wolf Parade forums, to no avail, obvs. but I did find videos people were posting from the shows on the EAST COAST TOUR they recently got to go to. There were a few videos of new songs but apparently Jordan (not the Deep Sleepover dude, he's too busy making good music) asked the youtubers to take them down. Bummer. What are we supposed to do? Y'all don't tour here (or anywhere near the West Coast), so we're supposed to pretend it's not 2008, act like we don't have technology to pry into shit and just sit on our hands 'till the new record comes out? Yes, that would be polite but GODDAMMIT.

I need to go file my talons into points now, so here's a video from two couple days ago, filmed AT A SHOW WE COULDN'T GO TO BECAUSE IT WAS ACROSS THE DAMN COUNTRY AND OUR ECONOMY IS SHITTY AND WE'RE STUDENTS THAT DON'T MAKE ANY MONEY. It's one of our favorite songs, "Shut Up I Am Dreaming of Places Where Lovers Have Wings:"



'stina

Vegan studded belts are a lot higher quality these days than when I was a dumb punk kid

Fall Event is finally over and I can stop doing a fucking "smoky eye" on everyone and their mother, thank you baby jesus. Maybe I can get back to normal stuff, like composing and blogging. Who am I kidding?

We have some crazy stuff going on in the next couple of days, like Megan's birthday shenanigans.

For today (Sunday), I made a few LOLKrugs but I can't decide which one to send. You, readers, must decide.

"They Took a Vote and Said No:"


"Shut Up I am Dreaming of Daniel Day Lewis:"



"Wits or a Moustache:"



"Jason Believe Me, You Can't Trust Your DRUNK Dreams:"



That last picture Megan found on the Listening Party myspace after their summer tour with Wolf Parade. Was Spencer really sick at our show, or was he HUNGOVER? Doesn't matter. Never will.

For tomorrow in birthday week, we will be attending Dirty Monday. Y'all may have noticed we haven't been posting regular recaps, probably because we're all pissed. Not only has it turned into a clusterfuck of people we don't want to see (former lavahhhs, cokey mccokerson, catty bitches, etc) but what the fuck is going on with the music? I am about to re-edit these ponies right out of the Saloon. I know the ultimate goal is to get people to get down because that's what makes an event crackin'. I also know that people get excited by songs they can identify. I'm sick as shit of M.I.A.'s "Paper Planes" right now too because it's on EVERY FUCKING RADIO STATION EVER thanks to Pineapple Gayxpress but it's cool to give a little snippet of the song before catapulting into some ludicrous remix that makes it nearly unidentifiable. Or like, you know, playing the regular song is fine. Not everything needs to make me feel like I should set my internal phasers to "fucking freakout." I'm fine with setting my phasers to "hipster shuffle." You know what else is really cool? The MSTRKRFT remix of Metric's "Monster Hospital." I know it's old, but guess what? IT SOUNDS LIKE AWESOME. Fischerspooner? Always trusty. Trentemollers' remix of Royksopp's "What Else is There?" Genius. MGMT's "Kids?" Fact: People will dance to pretty much anything. Even a 3/4. Fact: "Don't Stop Believin'" is only appropriate in dive bars (eg: Penny Lane) past one something A.M. We're gonna try to suck it up and keep going but it's getting pretty hard to want to. Megan is bitching about starting school again, but I already have and let me tell you, Tuesday morning naps on this bitch suck:


That is one expensive-ass pillow I need to stop drooling on.

Next in birthday week is the Silver Jews show on Tuesday at the Casbah. Megan is working (and doesn't even care about Pavement or related projects), but honorary Pony Girl Jenni and I are going. I also heard the Good Doctor is going. I can only hope the Doctor will not do anything...foolish? I bait you not, Dr. Bubastis.

Rewinding to a highlight of our previous busy week, we stop at Wednesday for the Oddfellows show. Cane's has great sound and the air of Canadian love still wafting about (we could almost visualize Spencer Krug stamping his delicate feet, encased in little Canadian fake Vans upon the stage) but is mostly filled with the scourge of San Diego. The band before the Oddfellows, The Four Kings sucked more dick than Rose McGowan did on the set of "Planet Terror." Not only were they a special breed of earbleed (not even the cool kind) that were out of this atbrosphere (who in their right mind covers the Deftones?), they busted Matt Fitzgerald's tuner after calling his band the wrong name. FUCKING RUDE. I actually linked to their real myspace this time, not the poo button. Go add them on myspace and tell them they're a bunch of fruitcakes. Anyways, the Oddfellows opened their set with this awesome new song called "technical difficulties." That's what happens when you are nice enough to let a guy wearing a muscle shirt AND a headband set your tuner to "suck." I'm just kidding, it's not new. The benefit to starting a set with a bunch of damn problems that you can't figure out is that you turn into a fiery ball of passion waiting to blow your proverbial load of aural assault on your audience. There have also been a few lineup changes since we last visited with the dudes, Ryan Quick and his bunny-soft looking mini-hawk on guitar and a little game of bassist roulette brought us Edgar Chamorro. Unfortunately, due to lack of planning, we forgot to organize the running of the Pony Girl Club gauntlet. Next time. Next time, we'll get you.

The last time I listened to "Accidents Happen" it was before it was mastered and I remember grumbling something about it being mixed too far to one side before Fitz gently reminded me that I'm half-deaf but not much else. They played the sprinkling of the older hits mixed with what I'm going to call "newer songs" and those new songs were really fucking good. I can't say much else about the new songs without hearing them again in the form of a recording, so look out for an album review when there is an album in my hands.

For the most part, these dudes have what it takes to gain a lot of headway in a short amount of time. One thing that is a serious problem is the number of shows they play. The last time I saw them was in February. There was another show sprinkled in there in Santa Monica, but you've got to be kidding me. There are plenty of venues in Southern California that will take you, but you have to take the show. Another issue is the overall appearance of the band being a little off-kilter. Don't look like you just rolled out of bed moments before you went on stage. You're IN a rock band, not PLAYING rock band. And for the love of Satan, face the audience. We don't want to stare at your Costco jeans pockets all night, dude. I heard there might be a video slapped together from that show. Hopefully it doesn't suck ass. I heard someone got a couple really cool shots.

I think it's finally time to wax off for the evening.


Looking forward to falling short of achievement this week,

'stina

You put your ribbons in my hair

My theory teacher is a total nerd (the arrangements for the Star Wars cantina song are on the cover of his syllabus) and I am so into that it's not even funny. I spent so many years fucking up and partying and shit that I take school really seriously and just want to learn really hard. So, if I see you send an instant message to someone else in the class reading "do u think he keeps tlaking to waste tiem?" when homeboy is talking about the differences between Eastern and Western tuning and time signatures, I'm gonna give you the death glare. Bish, plz. That's just rude.

We have a lot of exciting stuff going on around here, you may have noticed that you can now subscribe to the blog! I am in the process of setting up a calendar widget so we can list shows in the greater San Diego area and whatnot soon also. If you have shows coming up you'd like us to list, shoot us an e-mail at ponygirlclub@gmail.com. I also heard something about having a new staff writer. We'll make a big fuss out of it later once we know what is going on and once we haze him and stuff. Lastly, we are trying to flesh out this Race for The Cure nonsense, we'd love to have y'all in attendance and in the video! Let us know if you want to be a part of this tremendous opportunity to raise money to send Fat Bob to fat camp.

I have been uncharacteristically quiet about Spencer Krug lately, I feel like most of the time Megan reeks of fangirl enough for the both of us but "At Mount Zoomer" found it's way back into the CD player in my car and I have been seriously jamming on "An Animal In Your Care." This video does not show a lot of the Krug, but the audio is the best in this one out of the three available. Especially around 2:25. Please note the two biggest "awww" factors; one is when he puts his head down and plays both keyboards at once, two is his wiggly voice. AWWW.



I need to go wash the creepy off now,

'stina

I can play 3 guitars WHATEVER

So, I visited my dad the other day. He's cleaning out his garage and he just gave me a Fender amp. YES PLEASE. He also showed me this really infuriating video.



That's a guy named Stanley Jordan and he is so good at guitar I never want to leave my house again until I can best him. He plays one guitar like it's two and then he goes ahead and plays two guitars. He treats objects like women. Of course I had to say something like, he has to play two guitars because I'm sure nobody wants to play with him anymore, acting out that way, but I know it's not true. It makes me wish I hadn't blown off all the scales and shit my guitar teacher wanted me to do when I was 14 and I was like, "You taught me power chords. You fucked up. I'm just gonna go sit in my room and yell now." Damn it. Stanley Jordan just played at Anthology a week ago, which is a nice place, sort of an upscale version of that club kids were always hanging out at on Buffy the Vampire Slayer. I'm glad I didn't go because I probably would have punched someone. Anyone. I'm a pretty mediocre guitarist.

Also, it's been a few weeks since I personally posted anything Spencer Krug related and I'm getting the shakes or something. Time for a fix.



That's a new Sunset Rubdown song called, "5/4 Silver Moons". See all those camera flashes? It was like that when we saw him too (Full disclosure: some of them were us). I was thinking, he might find it distracting and there are definitely things he can do about it. He could try either being better lit or less adorable. Maybe sunglasses? I don't know. I just want to help.

But seriously, what is it about that guy? Every time he writes a new song and it makes its way into my ears I think, hot damn, that is my new favorite song of all time. Is he hypnotizing me? Is he a magician? Did he make a some kind of deal with the devil? Is he slowly developing an Irish brogue? Whatever it is, he's doing something right. Without pissing me off. That's tricky as fuck.

like a teenager in town

Confession time: I know Wolf Parade's new album came out like last week or the week before or something (I am losing track of time because I am mostly unemployed) but back in May I heard that a certain Paul Peterson had gotten a hold of it early. Once I knew that somebody else had it, and that somebody else was Paul Peterson, I could not rest until I had illegally downloaded it early (I pre-ordered a hard copy too, okay, GET OFF MY BACK). So I've had extra time to think about At Mount Zoomer and yet the most intelligent thing I can say about it has to do with my favorite song, "California Dreamer". Behold, Wolf Parade live:



Please note the Krug's Brett Michaels-esque bandana and at 2:22 I believe his Krugly knee is revealed. He appears to be wearing shants (not shorts not pants). Fetch me my smelling salts!

I'm really digging how the instruments in this song sound like the Doors and then suddenly instead of Jim Morrison's low, booming voice you get Spencer Krug's je ne sais quoi. Incongruous yet apt, I say, and a testament to his stature as a songwriter and performer that the comparison doesn't fall flat or make him look like an ass. It stands, both ironic and true as well as really fun to listen to at top volume in the car with the windows down, yesssss. This song is the reason I can't sit and listen to that album all the way through because it keeps ending up on repeat. True story.

if virgins are still chaste

I don't know if you've heard of the black cab sessions, so I thought I would just take this opportunity to inform you that they're pretty sweet. Simple idea: a band gets in a cab and plays a song. The videos are a little washed out and wobbly but they have an intimate vibe and beautiful music and that makes it all better. The latest video was Fleet Foxes, and Spoon and Scout Niblett have videos up too. There are a few groups on there that I'm less jazzed about coughdeathcabforcutiecough, but nothing will make me less than ecstatic about the Sunset Rubdown video in which they perform the new song "You Go On Ahead".



My feelings for Spencer Krug are drifting gently into scary-fangirl-knitting-you-a-pair-of-mittens territory so I will keep my remarks brief.

I love it.