Ben Green (aka SEAS) is just one of these guys. You work with him, he comes to holiday dinners and helps grandma with the cherry pie.
He doesn't wear sunglasses at night or show up at the coke afterparty with an 18 year old Somalian underwear model. When you find out he plays music you go: Oh really? What do you play? Like other great DC solo artists (Benjy Ferree, Justin Jones) Ben lets his music speak for itself.
His new album is saying lots of things. The surfy psych guitars are saying "Let's Go On A Road Trip!"... the subtle keyboard touches are reminding you of early 90s US dream pop like the Ocean Blue on that mixtape you popped into the tap deck...and the minor harmonies are going "You are way too sad to be driving right now, let's pull over and eat some chili." Plus the fact that he's released the album only on vinyl (with free digital download) makes a pretty clear statement about his level of commitment to making music without industry opportunism or fashionable gloss.
[disclaimer, all assumptions above are based on listening to his record and exchanging a few emails wih him, but i'm 100% positive i am correct]
Valley Of The Fevers (Track 2)
"I left my body by the shore for a different home"
This song is about departure, both from physical lands and from a sense of belonging. It's probably the biggest "rocker" on the record - many, many guitar tracks doing all kinds of irritating things.
Ivakota (Track 4)
"No one here remembers what was here before, just like no one will remember us in time"
I was going to title this "Dance of the Inhabitants of the Invisible City of Ivakota" in homage to John Fahey, but decided to keep it short and sweet, and not steal from him any more than was necessary. This song is for and about the women of Ivakota, and about growing up a few miles from its ruins, spending most of my youth believing they were something entirely different. Like most of the songs on this record, it is about the weird relationship between landscape and memory. It may be the most "dated" sounding song on the record, but from which time period is debatable.
No Shelter (Track 6)
"Going up on that mountain with the trigger of a gun"
This song is vaguely about the killings at the Wapiti Shelter and near Dismal Creek, Virginia, or at least the feeling that comes from thinking about them. Wil Haygood has an excellent article about this subject that was published in the Washington Post a year or two ago. Eerie, eerie stuff. Don't read late at night. There's a little Link Wray kind of thing in the lead guitar here. And a vibra-slap.
Desolation (Track 8)
"If we bury our hands in the frozen ground, can we carry on?"
A pretty obvious attempt (and play on words) to channel the vibe in The Cure's song Disintegration. I'm not sure how successful it is, but nonetheless, I tried! This song is literally about freezing to death.
i don't understand the need for the b.s. fluff at the beginning, especially when the music and subject matter of the music is pretty a-typically interesting and layered. just because this person doesn't show up to all the lame BYT hipster parties, doesn't mean he's some passive, regular ol' dude who meekly helps grandma with the cherry pie (??) and has been under a rock forever. he was in a signed, touring, billboard top-200 ranking band for years, for chrissakes. i would love to see more intelligent, thoughtful, and straight-up writing on this website without the tireless attempts to make things cute or clever for the sake feigning coolness.
Anonymous: i am truly sorry i didnt know who he was, i just saw he was playing at the cat and i really liked his music so we asked him to write this up. as my disclaimer said i knew i was speaking out of ignorance. care to inform me about what band he used to be in? its not in any of his press info that i could see.
now, i think your misreading of my tone in the intro is pretty funny, but ill let michael shower you with insults about your reading comprehension. i dont write straight and i never will so there we must part ways. perhaps you would enjoy this website dcist.com?
There's a good deal of uncessary aggression on here, if I do say so myself!
Also, it's very possible that SEAS doesn't really want to be associated with former projects. Sometimes artists will purposefully omit information from press releases. Just sayin...
Some copies of the record will be for sale at the show, but it will also be available for the rest of the world on January 18th. It will be in most DC indie record stores and at http://decorationdayrecordings.com.
holy pajama pants! cat jack really are kids! awesome kids! what kind of indie rock child star parents must they have? I can only hope to be the same some day...
You guys forgot to mention the headliner, Cat Jack.
i heard that was a bunch of little kids playing indie rock is that true? i couldnt find any info anywhere about it,..
Excellent stuff guys, so well recorded...looking forward to the show
CAT JACK is a 5yr old drummer and 7yr old guitarist/singer who write their own songs(which 90% are about poop). THEY RULE!
http://www.catjack.net/
holy crap thats awesome
i don't understand the need for the b.s. fluff at the beginning, especially when the music and subject matter of the music is pretty a-typically interesting and layered. just because this person doesn't show up to all the lame BYT hipster parties, doesn't mean he's some passive, regular ol' dude who meekly helps grandma with the cherry pie (??) and has been under a rock forever. he was in a signed, touring, billboard top-200 ranking band for years, for chrissakes. i would love to see more intelligent, thoughtful, and straight-up writing on this website without the tireless attempts to make things cute or clever for the sake feigning coolness.
what is straight-up writing? serious question.
Becca, maybe it means not using initial caps?
Anonymous: i am truly sorry i didnt know who he was, i just saw he was playing at the cat and i really liked his music so we asked him to write this up. as my disclaimer said i knew i was speaking out of ignorance. care to inform me about what band he used to be in? its not in any of his press info that i could see.
now, i think your misreading of my tone in the intro is pretty funny, but ill let michael shower you with insults about your reading comprehension. i dont write straight and i never will so there we must part ways. perhaps you would enjoy this website dcist.com?
best of luck,
--Carole King
to be fair though, this was a pretty shitty intro...i was really distracted writing questions for joe rogan when i posted it.
ah well they cant all be pulitzers this is the fuckin internet
ah i see it was the emo band "Fairweather"
...
...
...ok...
......
..
........
.
.
.
.......................
...
.....
cookies?
There's a good deal of uncessary aggression on here, if I do say so myself!
Also, it's very possible that SEAS doesn't really want to be associated with former projects. Sometimes artists will purposefully omit information from press releases. Just sayin...
COOKIES.
Some copies of the record will be for sale at the show, but it will also be available for the rest of the world on January 18th. It will be in most DC indie record stores and at http://decorationdayrecordings.com.
See you at the show!
holy pajama pants! cat jack really are kids! awesome kids! what kind of indie rock child star parents must they have? I can only hope to be the same some day...
emo sucks. i've been listening to "rock" and "dc punk" for AT LEAST 3 years now. you posers and your whiny emo really piss me off!