Indiecast - 10 Years Of Japandroids' 'Celebration Rock,' Plus: Wilco And Sky Ferreira

Episode Date: May 27, 2022

When Japandroids released their sophomore album Celebration Rock in 2012, fans and critics alike weren't expecting such a strong follow-up to their revered debut album, Post-Nothing. Now revisiting Celebration Rock ten years later, Indiecast hosts Steven Hyden and Ian Cohen reflect on the album's legacy and how Japandroids successfully embraced old school rock clichés (29:51).Speaking of veteran indie musicians, Wilco released their new album Cruel Country this week (1:08). It's an album the band essentially recorded live and has quickly become one of Hyden's favorite Wilco projects in the last 10 years. Perhaps the most talked-about song this week was Sky Ferriera's "Don't Forget," (10:15) which marked her second single in nine years. Elsewhere in the episode, Indiecast talk standout movie soundtracks (20:39) and yet another Conor Oberst mishap (15:10).In this week's Recommendation Corner (54:38), Ian spotlights Sweet Pill's new album Where The Heart Is. Steven gives a shout out to Dehd's fourth album Blue Skies, which shows the band's progression to polished songwriting.New episodes of Indiecast drop every Friday. Listen to Episode 90 and subscribe wherever you get your podcasts. You can submit questions for Steve and Ian at [e-mail], and make sure to follow us on Instagram and Twitter for all the latest news. We also recently launched a visualizer for our favorite Indiecast moments. Check those out here.See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Indycast is presented by Uprocks's Indy Mix tape. Hello, everyone, and welcome to Indycast. On this show, we talk about the biggest indie news of the week. We review albums, and we hash out trends. In this episode, we discussed the 10th anniversary of Japan Droid's Celebration Rock. My name is Stephen Hayden, and I'm joined by my friend and co-host, the host that Heaven Built. Ian Cohen. Ian, how are you?

Yeah, the streets need to know who's the Brian King and who's the David Prowse of Indycast. I'm assuming that the average indie cast listener knows that those two people I just mentioned are the two guys in Japan droids I would think so I mean I feel like our show has been building to this episode because I think it's fair to say that this album

is the foundation of our relationship I don't feel like that's a stretch so it'll be fun to get into talking about this record But before we get to that, we should mention that there's a new Wilco record out today. It's called Cruel Country. And I wrote a review of it. It ran on Thursday on Uprocks.

It ran yesterday, but you can still read it today. You can read it whenever you want. In that review, I said that this, well, I called it a great album in my review. And I said that this is my favorite Wilco record in more than a decade. I really like it a lot. I'm curious, like, have you listened to this record at all? Are you into it? Yeah, I listen to this record.

And, you know, I love when you posit it as my favorite Wilco album in a decade or, you know, 15 years or whatever. Because I'm assuming this time period stretches back to Sky Blue Sky, right? Yeah, I mean, I was trying to figure out if I liked it more than the whole love. That came out in 2011. And I think that was the best record of the 2010. for Wilco. So it's close to that one. I think I might like it a little bit more than that one,

but I'd have to listen to the whole love again. I haven't played that in a while. But it's like, yeah, I like it more than like the last three, even though I like the last three. This one I like the most. The thing I like about it is that it is Wilco recording essentially live in the studio.

There's like some overdubs, but it's basically just them in a room. And the last bunch of Wilco records, it's interesting because, you know, Jeff Tweedy, he's been very prolific as a songwriter lately. You know, he's put out a lot of solo records. He had that group with his son called Tweedy.

And at times it's felt like Wilco's like almost like another side project for him. You know, and the Wilco records, to me, have sounded like solo records in a way. And this one sounds like a band record in the way that the whole love is or Sky Blue Sky. I think that's what I really responded to on this record. You have like Nelson Klein playing a lot of pedal steel guitar. I didn't even know he could do that, but he does it really well. And a lot of like warm organ fills. And, you know, it's a double record, 21 songs, which is perfect because we have Memorial Day weekend.

Oh, yeah. A lot of time to digest this record. I mean, have you kept up with like late period Wilco records? I know a lot of people have dropped off. Yeah, apparently I reviewed Star Wars for Pitchfork. the Wilco album from 2015. Now, like, I liked that record. I still do, but, you know, you get to our age and it's, you forget more reviews than most

people will ever write in their lifetime. But I was actually more, like, more excited for this record than I had been for Wilco albums in a very long time for a number of reasons, first of which is that, like, in two weeks, I'm going back to Virginia for my college reunion. And I'm like, this is putting me in a very alt-country kind of mood. I'm like revisiting a lot of that sound from that era like Trace of course Stranger's Almanac

which sadly holds up and you know like when I heard I don't know where I got this from maybe it was the fact that country is in the album title that Wilco is maybe going back more to their early AM slash being there kind of sound and also a double album like I don't care who it is

if you're making a double album that makes me immediately more interested in what you're doing. And also, like, this is the first WICO album that's come out amongst the projects that you mentioned. He wrote that book, How to Write One Song, which, you know, has been a very, both inspiring and intimidating book because, you know, Jeff Tweedy gives you all these little songwriting hints. And then he's like, yeah, I use this word ladder game to write can't stand it in an hour on an airplane. But, you know, I'm sure you'll come up with something great. And, you know, I think it's kind of colored my view of this record because it seems off the cuff in a way that aligns with what he talks about in the book about, like, not being so precious

about lyrics, you know, like Empty Condor is one, you know, another song where he gets a little bit more into surreal sort of like first take kind of lyricism, which, yeah, I think this is an easy Memorial Day listen, but like much in the same way the book lifts the curtain. I sort of wish there was more of that old Wilco magic where I can't figure out like how to, where the fuck did he come up with this. It's good. It reminds me of like, and I know how this is going to come across, but it's similar to the Beach House album that came out this year where it's like 80 some odd minutes of a band doing their late period thing. And it's enjoyable, but it doesn't really move the needle for me the way that their previous work had. Yeah, you know, just to go back to the country thing. I mean, there are country songs on this record. I mean, this is definitely like the twangiest record they've made in a while.

Not every song is countryish. But the single that was released falling apart, that's one of the more country-ish sounding songs. So there are those elements to it. There's also like a jammyness to some of the songs. Like there's, I think my favorite song on the record, it's this song that sounds like Ripple a little bit. Grateful that song and then like with Dark Star in the middle. So it goes on for about I think seven or eight minutes. That song is called Bird Without a Tale,

base of my skull, which is really cool song. And I think the other meaning of country is that a lot of the lyrics are talking about America. Yes. At the moment. Like the title track talks about that. Yeah.

You know, I actually found myself really enjoying the lyrics on this record because I think, you know, some of the songs are pretty dark. The last song The Plains is like a really dark song, I think, about like creeping fascism and people just accepting it because there's sort of like a blandness to the fascism. It doesn't seem scary. It's like a non-threatening fascism that it's like a slow release death capsule that seems very relatable to where the country is now.

But then, you know, there's songs like Lifetime Defined that are, you know, philosophical and kind of funny and remind me of John Prine in a lot of ways, which was how Tweedy wrote. I think earlier in Wilco's career, like a song like Passenger Side. Yeah. You know, he doesn't write as much in that vein these days, but on this record, he's going back to that a little bit. Or, you know, there's like another song on the record

called Hearts Hard to Find where I think the first line is something like, I don't feel bad when some people die. You know, which is kind of like a funny thing, just talking about how you know, some people, when they pass away, they're just kind of awful. and you don't really feel bad about it.

And is that a bad thing not to feel bad about that? It's Jeff Tweety's answer to death cap styrofoam plates. That's what many critics are saying right now. So I would just say, you know, this record, again, I like this record a lot. And I think it's hit me the hardest of anything they've done in, you know, about a decade or so. So definitely check out this album this weekend. I give it a hearty thumbs up. I feel like you're giving it like a sort of like,

unenthusiastic thumbs up. I would say it's a thumbs up in that I probably need to spend more time with it and you know to have it like sink in because you're talking about like you know oh yeah the last song you know that really hits home

like fuck man I don't know if I've even gotten to that song yet you know it's like I there are very very few times where and I think this kind of comes into play with like the Beach House album as well where it's like I don't really know when I have

80 consecutive minutes. And I think one of the things that the big thief album really has going for it is that it really it plays out a lot better being broken up into tiny pieces in a way that I don't think the Beach House or Wilco albums quite benefits from yet. But it's

definitely true that this album probably has about 15 or 16 album tracks and like five or six B-sides that are on the album. Which is true of most double albums, although I don't think that's true of the Big Thief album. I think that's all pretty much all bangers. All pretty much hits.

I wonder if Jeff Tweedy heard an early copy of the Big Thief record and was like, I want to do my own double record. Because this album was made in early, I think it was made in like the early part of this year. Oh. So, and, you know, they share a publicist. And I know Jeff Tweedy is a big thief fan. So he might have been slipped a promo. Maybe he was like, oh, I want to make a 20-song record or 20-some-song record. Just the conspiracy theory, I have no idea if that's true.

I'd like to think it's true. Let's just say it's true until Jeff Tweedy has a press conference to angrily deny this theory. I know you're listening. Jeff, hit us up. I feel like we should talk quickly about the new Sky Ferreira song that dropped this week called Don't Forget. Let's talk about it. a song that is apparently from her upcoming record, masochism, which has, I would say that music critics have had a masochistic relationship with this album.

If one could say, as I loosened my tie here, I just came up with that too. That was not planned. That was not in our outline. That was purely extemporaneous. Because this album cycle, I think this has been going on for about four years now. Like, wasn't her interview and pitchfork that kicked this? off. I think that was 2018. Yeah, gosh. Might have been 19. It's been a while. Yeah, it has been very, well, first off, we said. As Aaron Lewis once said, it's been a while. But the greatest

stain song of all time. No, that, the greatest stane song of all time is for you, but that's neither here nor there. Also, well, we got to get Riley Walker on here to settle this. Yeah, the interview, the interview for Pitchfork came out in 2019, which, okay, it was 19. So, three years. She did an interview with Vulture this week where she said, quote, that she's 100% confident that masochism will drop this year, which probably means that she's like 50% confident. But have you heard this song yet? No, I've not.

It dropped yesterday and, you know, like in real life work interferes. Like, I mean, gosh, it is so hard to keep up with stuff like this if, like, music writing isn't your, or being on the internet isn't a full-time job. It seems to me that, like, you know, people, are a little bit more muted like I don't even know where people are at in the anticipation of this record

is it like can we just like get this out of move on or do they still feel like it's going to top nighttime my time I mean what like I don't know what the Sky Ferreira like stock is at

right now. Yeah it's interesting because I feel like that record when it came out it was it was liked but I feel like the reputation grew in the years where she wasn't putting out music and then

did it peak at some point? I don't know. I mean people this is like a recurring theme on our show I'm always wondering what the young people think because you know critics of a certain vintage we remember her,

we remember that record which is you know that's like nine years ago now it's like 2013. Yeah, 2013. And it is so I think just the aesthetic of its album cover and the sound of it. It is very, I mean, it's dated.

I mean, it still sounds good now, but, like, when I hear it, I still very much hear 2013. I mean, it's interesting because she was part of that class with Heim and Lord of the 1975 and, you know, all, you know, who all put out their first records that year.

We've talked about this before, 2013 being a really pivotal year for a certain kind of, like, pop-friendly, yeah, churches, like a pop-friendly indie. Like, that was, you know, sound zero for for that shift happening and all those artists emerged at that time and I mean sky is obviously like the least famous out of any of those I mean they're all like really successful she's less famous than Lord Heim and the 1975 yeah there's not a that's not I mean that's not

I mean that's not to say she's not famous but she's like doesn't I mean they're playing large venues I mean they're all like pretty prominent still and she's been um she might have been more famous than them in 2013, but like not now. Yeah. There's no way. No. Yeah. I think that, yeah, she occupies like a different sort of space. I would also, I would use this, I would say in the past that, you know, she may be more of like a multimedia sort of fame, but now that Haim was in, uh, you know, liquor, licorice pizza, you know, we can't even say that anymore. So, yeah, I think it's, she doesn't, she doesn't, she doesn't, she's been, and I don't know what the issue is. There's like, allusions to, like, contracts in that Vulture interview. I,

don't know, or if it's just her being indecis, I don't know what the issue is, but hopefully that record comes out. I am curious to hear it. I like the single. I thought it was pretty good. I mean, it didn't blow me away, but I thought it sounded good. So I want to hear that record. Hopefully we'll hear it, you know, this year or by 2029. Who knows? Yeah, or maybe she just won't drop any album and like the reputation of, you know, or the reputation of nighttime, my time will continue to skyrocket. And I think we're going to kind of talk. on this phenomenon when we talk about Japan droids about like what it might be like just never follow up but kind of untopable, uh, album that just crystallizes an entire song, a sound.

So, but I mean, Japan droids did follow it up. Yes. I, and, yeah, people forgot that record by now. I don't know. Um, I want to talk quick about the, uh, train wreck that happened in Houston with bright eyes. Uh, there was a story, I believe it was last weekend. It was. where Bright Eyes was playing a concert in Houston, and after two songs, Connor Oberst walks off stage. And I haven't heard an explanation for that. Like if someone said something to him, he, he can heckles. Yeah, I don't know.

So another person tweeted about his skate shoes and it was relayed to him on stage and he was very upset about it. I don't know. But apparently the band, at least for a little while, continued to play without him, and they did this, like, bright-eyes karaoke where they were inviting people on stage to sing bright-eyes songs, and they would back them up, which would be kind of awesome. No, it wouldn't.

Well, not to watch it, but, like, if you were one of the people that got to sing with Bright-Eyes, the band. What if you got booed, man? Like, what if you're, like, one of the people who, I mean, and at this point, like, no one knew they were going to get refund or whatever, but those tickets aren't cheap, and, you know, there's actually, there's something here in San Diego. I don't know if it exists in other cities

called Death Cab for karaoke, which is like a live band playing a selection. You know, they have like the songbook of like taking back Sunday and whatever type songs and you get up and you sing karaoke. And yeah, I will never fucking go to that.

It just sounds like the most awful shit imaginable. So imagine. Well, do you like karaoke at all? Yes. And... You do like karaoke. You don't like the idea of like a live band?

Because, I mean, that is a common thing in every city like where they have, a live band and you could sing in front of a band. I like doing karaoke more than watching it. Of course. No one likes to watch karaoke. No one's like, oh, I'm going to watch some karaoke tonight.

You know, I'm not going to sing myself. Yeah. But I'm just going to watch. I bought a ticket to see the karaoke. Yeah. I don't think. Maybe there's someone like that. I can't imagine just going to karaoke to watch it.

But anyway, enough with the karaoke tangent here. I mean, Bright Eyes, and Connor Oberst, specifically, he has a reputation for being a bit of a volatile live performer. I remember, I saw him, I think it was 08, it was the Casadega tour. I think it was like the beginning of the

tour. 07,08, yeah. So it was 07, maybe. And he took, apparently took, like, acid before the show and, or maybe during the show. And, like, at the end, he had this, like, little mini orchestra behind him along with the band,

like just like a string section. And he was playing his guitar and he walked away from the mic and he just like walked right into the string section. Like he stormed his own string section and then walked off stage. And this was like at the end of the show. So we saw most of the show. And then I guess afterward he was in the in the street like walking up to cars and freaking out and stuff. That was a weird show.

That was a weird crowd. It was one of the weirdest audiences, like very culting. I don't think it's that bad with him now. I don't know. Maybe it is, but this was like in the aughts. I feel like his following was a little scarier maybe than it is now. Did you ever have an experience with him like that?

No. I've like not seen a lot of bright eyes live. It's really interesting that like a lot of acts from that era, like them, Death Cab, uh, Jimmy Eat World, these very formative,

uh, you know, bands that I loved and like, first started to love in college. I've just not seen them live very often. And when I did see bright eyes, it's been at like festivals where it's been extremely professional. And I had tickets to a show that was supposed to happen. It would like, like one of the ones that got canceled because of COVID. So yeah, I've just not seen them a lot. When I did see them, it was awesome because it had like kind of the bony there, two drummers, like whole string section thing going on. And I mean,

right now it's like sort of like the lemon head story where because of his well-known struggles and erratic behavior it's like a little bit difficult to like think this is as funny as it objectively is to have like people like you know to to have like karaoke rather than shutting it down apparently they played a show in new orleans the next night which was awesome but um i don't know i mean it seems like it's it seems different than the evanando thing because he was screwing up every show whereas i don't think kinder orber screws up every show. He just occasionally has a show where he goes off the rails a little

bit, and I don't know. I mean, like, the show I saw, I didn't necessarily think, oh, this is like substance abuse. I just feel like, oh, he did something kind of crazy. I mean, I loved the show. It was great. And like I said, he played most of the show and band sounded great.

I like chaotic shows. You know, sometimes that's like a fun thing. So, you know, if he hadn't taken acid and stormed his own string section, I'd might not have remembered that concert, but I'll never forget it now. Just for that. Yeah, maybe we need like a Conor Ober, like a bright-eyes Sky-Ferrera tour.

Like, you know, just really just combine those two unstable elements. Could be great. Yeah, it could be great. So should we just skip porn for Pyros? Like, we're 21 minutes. Yeah, we can skip it. Okay. All right, well, let's get to our mailbag segment here.

And thank you all again for writing in. It's always great to hear from our listeners. and we always need more letters. So if you want to hear your first name in City read on our podcast, please send us an email at Indycast Mailbag at gmail.com. Do you want to read our letter today, Ian? So, hi, Steve and Ian. Your recent conversation about the soundtrack for Minions,

The Rise of Gru, got me thinking about the broader state of music on film. Oh, stock-provoking conversation about the Rise of Gru. That makes me feel good. This was provoking dialogue out in our listenership. It feels like music directors have basically given up on using new or recently released music in movies. When I think of notable needle drops in recent years, they're mostly nostalgia-driven, such as the Guardians of the Galaxy, aification of movie soundtracks. Songs from Disney musicals will still chart, but I think the most recent non-musical movie to have a big deal soundtrack was Drive in 2011. It bums me out because I used to really enjoy discovering new songs.

artist via soundtracks. At this rate, I'm not optimistic I'll ever hear another train spotting or Garden State equivalent in my lifetime. In your opinion, is the killer soundtrack officially think of the past. Any recent good ones that I missed. Thanks, Ashley and Baltimore. Ah, so I think we've talked a little bit about this in the past about soundtracks and how, I mean, I think Ashley is right that there are, it seems like there's fewer soundtracks now than there were, say, in the 80s and 90s when that was a big deal. Although, Is there like a resurgence a little bit? Like there was that, you know, the Minion soundtrack that Jack Antonoff is doing.

And the Elvis movie. Oh, yeah. Also has a soundtrack where I guess they're, you know, it's like modern day pop stars doing Elvis songs. Yeah, what could go wrong? Which sounds like a terrible idea. It sounds like an awesome idea. It's like Doja Cat is on there. She doing like Love Me Tender or something?

I hope so, man. Like a tasteful Elvis. I mean, this is like a Boz Lurman movie, and so, like, you can just throw out the possibility that there's going to be any good taste involved. But, man, like, a... Like, Tame and Pala's on there, too, on the Elvis soundtrack. And Tame and Pall's also on the Grue, Rise of Gru soundtrack. Yeah, yeah. It's like, Kevin Parker, he's horny for soundtracks, apparently.

Yeah, get that bad, Kevin Parker. I know you're fucking struggling out there, man, but... Any, like, high-concept soundtrack, Tame and Pala, first in line. Yeah. Get me in there. I wonder what he's doing like burning love, you know, or in the ghetto. Every team and Paul was doing in the ghetto, that'd be great. But I was thinking the other day, actually, even before we got this email about the Batman Forever soundtrack from 95,

where there were like multiple hits on that soundtrack. Hold on. Is that the one with like the U2 song? Yeah, hold me, thrill me, kiss me. That was a pretty good song. smashing pumpkins cover of You're All I've Got Tonight by the Cars is on that album.

And of course, like the big song is Kiss from a Rose by Seal. But it's so funny because, you know, the soundtracks that Ashley mentioned, you know, Garden State and what was the other one she mentioned? A train spotting.

Holy shit. This had Sunday Day real estate and flaming lips. And Method Man. Damn. Yeah, Batman Forever soundtrack is low key. Like pretty good album. Riza produced it?

Whoa. The thing about that album that's interesting to me is that like Batman Forever, just on its own, has no connection to music culture. It's just like cramming

like songs into a movie to sell an album. I mean, there's no real reason for them to be there. Can we just stop first? It's like, I want to read this.

I'm just so fucking blown away. There's Mazzie Star followed by Offspring, followed by Nick Cave, followed by Method, Yeah. Batman forever, baby. That's a big record. I mean, I was also thinking, this is like in the same genre of like a comic book movie that has like a soundtrack for some reason. And I want to make sure I get this title right.

2002's Music from and Inspired by Spider-Man. And I think the most famous song that was inspired by Spider-Man is Chad Kroger with the dude from Josie Scott put some respect on his fucking name Hero which is a banger

that's a good that's a good song that's like the best song Chad Kroger I think is in fuck no this is how you remind me well that's a good song

I take hero over that song I also rock star is a guilty pleasure for me too because I think the lyrics are funny intentionally and unintentionally

and also just as a side sidebar on Hero, is that the hunger strike of the 2000s? Sure. Because you have two prominent male rock singers doing a duet. So it's like 10 years after Hunger Strike. Like that's the 2000s answer to Hunger Strike. Except they're on a building and Temple of the Dog was on a beach.

Well, you know, grunge was a little more gritty and, you know, street level. And this was, you know, they were, you know, it was a little more glamorous, I think, in the 2000s. It's so funny, too, to think about, like, that song came out, like, after the strokes and white stripes. We talk about, like, the return of, like, rock, you know, Interpol, all these bands. But it's like, no, Chad Kroger still dropping bombs. Yeah, it's, like, after Nirvana, after, like, Nevermind came out, you would still see,

like, you know, Aerosmith videos playing, like, 25 times a day on MTV. Oh, yeah. Yeah, it's like, Nirvana killed hair metal. Like, here is Elycea Slius. Silverstone in Cryin. Yeah. You know, that was basically it back then. You would see Richard Mark's videos like as well.

We could go in an entire episode about like the falseness of the Nirvana. Actually, I think we did do it. I mean, it's kind of true. I mean, it's kind of true in a cultural sense. But yeah, I mean, any broad statement you make, it can be broadly true, but then there's exceptions to it. But anyway, like, it seems like that era where you just have a lot. a soundtrack for a movie that you wouldn't think

needs a soundtrack, but it's such a big movie that you know you can sell it, like the album, that seems mostly gone. I mean, you know, there was I guess the Black Panther soundtrack. That was a big deal. That seems like the exception to the rule. The Lion King, I think the live action Lion King

had a big soundtrack as well. I think Beyonce was like very involved. I don't remember a lot of it, but I know it exists. You know, that I guess I guess it's got that going for it. It's not like a memorable soundtrack though. I don't think. At least not to me.

I mean, Black Panther, I remember that because it's got King Dead, which, you know, inspired the, you know, saying, like, I freaked it, which I've used like a billion fucking times on Twitter. So, Black Panther soundtrack, a lot of cultural import. See, like, my theory on this is that the reason why there's not as many in, like, big-time soundtracks is related to the diminishment of music videos. You know, back in the day, you would see the video for Kiss for Kiss from, a rowes a billion times on MTV and they were clips from Batman Forever in the video.

Like I think SEAL is also like on the top of a building singing, if I remember that video correctly. And then you'd see like Nicole Kidman and Val Kilmer and that's the one where Jim Carries the Ridler and Tommy Lee Jones's Two-Face. So it's like a trailer for the movie basically playing over and over again while you're also hearing this song. And you know, there's obviously music videos now, but you know, they're not as significant as they were. I just wonder if movie studios are like, well, what's the point? I mean, we're creating these soundtracks as a commercial, but no one's really watching these commercials anymore. So maybe we should just move on. I think we need an entire Batman soundtrack episode because I'm looking at like the 97, like Batman

and Robin. I mean, it's got smashing pumpkins, bone thugs at harmony, R.E.M., Goo, Dolls, Soul Coughing, a 10-minute Underworld song. This is like indie cast core, this entire movie franchise. Yeah, I mean, I don't think the first two... Well, yeah, I guess the first one, obviously, Prince did that. Batman Returns, I don't remember music being in that one. And then Joel Schumacher started making the movies, and that's like when they started being like proper soundtracks.

Batman Returns is... Batman Returns was Danny Elfman, and there's like one song with Susie and the Banshees. on it. Okay. Well, I mean, I like that Prince album. Yeah.

The Batman movie. Party Man and Electric Chair. Yeah. Some good tunes on that record. All right. Well, let's finally get into the meat of our episode. We're talking about the 10th anniversary

of Celebration Rock, the second album by Japan Droids. This album was released on May 29th, 2012. And it was a acclaimed record the year came out. I believe it came in fourth on the Village Voice, Pass and Job List. You and I are big fans of this record. I used to have a podcast called Celebration Rock. That was the

prequel to Indycast. So obviously a big deal record. For us, we want to talk about it in honor the 10th anniversary. You have a piece running in stereo gum. Will that be up by the time this runs? I'm not sure. I think this is like one of those albums that had like, a digital release and then like an actual release. So, I mean, it's one of those albums where I'm thinking to myself, oh, what's left to say about Celebration Rock? And then like literally 4,200 words later, something will drop on stereo gum. So it's coming.

Oh, yeah. You wrote a book about it. And I actually, I thought about writing about this album, but then I was like, Ian's probably going to write an epic on this. So I'll leave the laid open to you. And this was before you told me. It was 4,200 words. When you told me that, I was not surprised that you wrote that many words.

You could probably listen to the album twice in the time it will take you to read Ian's, what I'm sure is a very insightful appreciation of the record. You know, it's funny, I don't listen to this album all that much. I haven't heard it in a while before last night. I listened to it last night. It's like, I got to listen to this before I talk about it. And I listen to it three times in a row. And I was like, I was drinking some beers because you've got to drink some beers when you listen to Celebration Rock.

It's only about 35 minutes. So, you know, if you listen to it three times in a row, it's about two hours of music. So, you know, a little bit longer than listening to the new Wilco record once. You can listen to this record twice and still have seven minutes left over in comparison to the cruel country, the new Wilco record. You can also listen to the Joyce Man around that's coming out. I think if I'm doing my math correctly four times and still have at least like 20 minutes to go. Yeah, you can listen to it five times. So, you know, again, I haven't read your piece yet, but does this album hold up for you?

Yeah, as far as like whether or not this album holds up, I don't listen to this album very often anymore. But when I do listen to this album, I am put face to face with like, yeah, this is this, this, this, this, this, this, this, this, this, thing fucking rules. It holds up it. And the thing about it is that what, what I think has contributed to its perhaps, like, lowered, um, cachet in the past, uh, in the past 10 years, that it hasn't really in, so you, you feel, wait, hold on a second. Do you feel like it has a lower cachet? Oh, yeah. Absolutely. People like the fact, I think people would be surprised that we're like doing an entire, you know, even though it's you and I that people are doing what we're doing an entire episode about the 10th anniversary of Celebration Rock as opposed. You, like, the fact, you know,

to a new Wilco album. See, I don't think people would be surprised that we're doing it. I think they would expect us to do it. I will say that we're going to, I think this is going to be one thing we talk about it. Maybe we can just talk about it now. I mentioned earlier that this was number four on the Pasadjopoulos, and this was in 2012.

Behind Fiona Apple, Kendrick Lamar, and Frank Ocean. That's it. Yeah, which is a pretty incredible company to be in. And I think it is true that in a way, you know, we were talking about this earlier in the episode, that, you know, we talked about 2013 being a real transitional year in terms of critical appreciation for a certain kind of indie music that was sort of pop-facing, you know, looking towards the 80s, really, in a way, kind of rejecting the traditional indie rock canon. And it does seem like,

if a record like Celebration Rock dropped in 2022, that it would not be number four in the Pazangopolis, that like you and I would like it. A lot of other people, maybe of our ilk, would like it, but like the by and large, like the critical establishment would maybe roll their eyes at a record like this because it really is a record that

pledges unironic fealty to rock and roll and rock history and like, and even like rock cliches. Like looking at rock clichés, taking them at face value. And in my mind, proving that rock clichés,

when done in the right spirit, still work. Like, it can be really effective. Like, when I was listening to this record, you know, in my mind, I was thinking, like, okay, it reminds me a little bit of Springsteen, a little bit of replacements.

I was getting, like, a Siamese dream vibe from the record as well in terms of the sound of the guitar and the drums. But it was like, Siamese dream performed by two guys that are nowhere near as technically gifted as Smashing Pumpkins. But like maybe they love that record.

And like they love that record and records like that, just these anthemic, you know, larger than life, rock records. And it's like we're going to will ourselves to making a record that is like those records. It's like we may not have the money or the technical aptitude to do it. But just because of our love, we're going to make our version of it. And that's what I was getting when I was listening to the record last night. And it just reconnected with why I liked it when it came out 10 years ago. But you really do have to love a certain kind of rock music for this album to connect.

If you don't, I could see it just being, you know, I get sort of like a cornball exercise. It really rides that line. Yeah, I think with if you're not like super, if you don't have any buy-in to that kind of music, you might see it as like more similar to like, Andrew W.K or The Darkness, then, you know, Bruce Springsteen or replacements or quote-unquote real rock. And, you know, you get to like why this album really resonates in a way that those two, like, don't. Because it, this album is really, like, there's a quote that Brian King gave the pitchfork in 2010 about people who are born with that special thing and people who love people with that special thing. I will go to any lengths to get close to people with that special thing.

And that's really what I think resonates about this album. It's like it's not like you're going to listen to Celebration Rock and think, oh, I'm going to start a band. I could do this. Or, you know, it's not like you're hearing a genius at work. Not even like the Robert Pollard or Paul Westberg type, you know, self-deprecating genius. Like a guy who can't get out of his own way but would like drop two albums in a week. in the closet if he was like a janitor or something like that. It's really just about like what it feels like to be, to bear witness to the greatness

of rock music. And I think that's what ultimately, that's a big part of like what's hurt this album in the time since in that I think it's one of the last rock records where the people who made it, and I say this with all love, kind of don't matter. Like Japanroids don't have, like they have a Twitter account, but it doesn't follow anybody. They don't really do a lot of press. You can't really project a hell of a lot onto them. Even to the extent that you can on like a whole steady record or a pup record or, you know, like they made this album and like you don't have to care at all about the people who made it or

think that anything that they're singing about actually happened to them. Yeah. Yeah. There's not like a cult of personality really with Japan droids necessarily. although in a way they are more interesting because they are mysterious. I mean, there's not a lot known about them. I ended up when I did the show Celebration Rock, I interviewed them on their tour bus right when their tour was starting near the Wild Heart of Life, which was the record after Celebration Rock. And yeah, they just seemed like two dudes.

I mean, they were friendly to me. It was nice talking with them. They were on a big tour bus, which was kind of weird to see them. in that context. But yeah, I'm going to disagree with one thing you said, though, a minute ago where I think this is a record

that a lot of people heard it and thought I can do this. I think it is a record that isn't really, there isn't like a high barrier of entry seemingly when you hear this record because, you know, it is like a pretty simple album. You know,

it's not, if you break it down into, in technical terms, it doesn't seem like they're doing a whole lot. But I will say, because there's been a lot of bands in the past 10 years, years that make what you could call Celebration Rock music.

Like lowercase Celebration Rock. Like lowercase C, lowercase R. Lots of like whoaos in the chorus. And it's like, you know, very exultant, you know, and it's like party music, people singing about beer and all that kind of thing. And I like some of those bands. I don't like some of those bands. I don't think any of them have made a record that I like as much as Celebration Rock.

And I realized recently, like, why I think that is. like I was actually interviewed on a podcast. I don't know if this has gone up yet, but I think polyvinyl is doing a podcast about Celebration Rock. And I was interviewed for that. I was not. You were not. I don't know.

Don't talk to me, man. They'll use my name on their fucking t-shirt, but, uh. Well, you got the t-shirt. I got the podcast. That's how we divide the kingdom here. But the host kept asking me about the lyrics and asking me to comment on the lyrics. and I realized that I don't care about the lyrics on this album, but that it's not like a literal experience on this record.

This is all about sensation. This is a record that you put on because of how it sounds and how it makes you feel. Like, it's not a record that you deconstruct. I think if you actually break this record down that way, it falls apart and it doesn't work as well. Yeah, what I'm thinking is that, like, the lyrics, like, do get, like, I don't know, undermine, because,

of like the fact that it's like a big rock record but when you actually like when i look at the lyrics like the substance of them i think it's like quite profound like for example like the house that heaven built like you're not mine you're not mine to die for anymore so i must live uh continuous thunder when they talk about how um you know like if i had the answers and you had the body that you wanted would we love with a legendary fire i mean they're very quotable not so much not just in a high school yearbook sort of way. But in terms of like getting to what the spirit of this album is, which is what separates it from bands like Pup or, you know, Beach Lang or Poo, Poo, however you want to pronounce it,

which is that this album is like not so much about like drinking beers and like, you know, having like a mind-numbing job and, you know, like just wondering if your girlfriend's still going to be there in the morning. It's more about like this kind of like spiritual quest, which owes more to, you know, to, like, you too than anything that I would associate with, like, indie rock or punk rock or metal. It's like, it's disguises, it's like this spiritual journey and this desire to, like, achieve more than you have in life, rather than what I think celebration rock is all about, you know, the lowercase one, which is like, I'm a loser, but that's cool. Like, let's drink

some beers. Let's just kind of have some good times and get on with our lives. And I think that's like why this album has resonated more so than um you know other albums of its ilk so as far as like you know like you've talked about like how last night in order to get to the mood get into like the vibe getting to the mood to like really relisten to celebration rock like you have to have like some beers and get into that way like i don't know if like my experience of this record is fraudulent at all because like i've never once drank a single beer to this album you know i definitely have to um post nothing but, you know, the ones, like, do you have, like, any stories about, like, you know, actually drinking a beer to Celebration Rock and, like, you know, when it came out in 2012, where you really felt like, yes, I am living out my truth to Celebration Rock as it, like, intended? Yeah, I mean, I did it last night when I revisited the album, you know, and I think it's just maybe something I did out of habit because it was fun.

But, yeah, it's weird to me that you've never had a beer to this album. I feel like it really enhances the experience. Yeah, I mean, the one thing that really, I think it's kind of tough to, you know, talk about, like, drinking with this record because it's, like, also, like, a really good record to listen to in your car. So, you know, like, Celebration or Indycast does not condone drinking or driving. But one music writer who I knew, like, came to Los Angeles and I was living there in 2012. He was a fan of the record, but he had no driver's license. You know, live in New York City, never needed to have it. And, you know, we met up, went to a bar.

He had a drink. I did not. Just to make that point clear, so I don't contradict myself. But, you know, he asked me at the end, because he knew I was like a big celebration rock fan. Like, dude, like, can you give me a rock? Like, actually, let's just drive around L.A. listening to the album in your car. And, you know, mind you, this was like a Mazda 2.

So it's not like being a Camaro going down sunset, you know, going down sunset strip. So I think for like, you know, a solid 30 minutes, we just drove around and he, listening to Celebration Rock. Like, he felt like this was what was needed in order to experience the album as intended. And I also wonder if, like, that also determines, like, how, you know, the New York-based music community experiences rock records if they don't have cars. You know, that was it to me. But, you know, I think that it's kind of hard to talk about, like, Japan droids and, like,

what the experience is like without talking about the live show. Like, what was your experience like seeing the live, like Japan droids live? Because this is, like, where you really think it's going to, like, hit home. Like, you're amongst other Japanroids fans from across the city, watching them do their thing. what's that experience been like for you? Well, I saw them on the Celebration Rock Tour. It was like the first day of summer,

like literally the first day of summer, like June 21st, I think, in Chicago. So it was all lined up for like, oh, this is like a record I love. It's at the beginning of summer. It just seemed like, oh, this is going to go great. And that was probably like the worst show I've seen them play. And it wasn't like it was a train record or anything.

It was just, that I remember Brian had to keep tuning his guitar It seemed like he tuned his guitar for like three hours Total during that show After every song I think he only had like one guitar

On that tour It just wasn't working that well So it was just awkward I mean they have a reputation I think as a shaky live act But I've seen good shows by them The first time I saw them was at South by Southwest And that was a good show

they were playing on a stage behind an art gallery I think in like rural Alberta Advantage was on the tour that's like a remember some guys type band and then I saw them you know on the near the wild heart near the wild heart of life tour in like 2017 and I thought that was a good show too but I don't know like have you had good experiences seeing them I think in the same way that like

you don't need to care about Japan The People in It to Love This Record, I don't think... It's almost like the two guys on stage playing the music kind of doesn't matter with the live show. Like, I've had so much fun at Japan droids shows. Like, people just, like, actually hugging each other and so forth. And, yeah, it's not a great... They're not a great live act because on record, like, the woes and the yes, they sound like 500 people. And here it sounds like two people...

Like, it sounds like two people who are just, like, gas because they've been doing this. for like five straight weeks on the road. Also, you know, Japan droids albums are 35 minutes, and the shows are like an hour. And you realize, like, oh, yeah, it makes sense, like, why their albums are no more than 35 minutes.

And I think this was, like, ironically confirmed by the last thing they released, which was live, or it was called Massey Fucking Hall. It's a live album they recorded in 2017 for the near to the Wild Heart of Life tour. And it's like, especially like if you're not it's just a live recording and it's like he can't hit the notes on the

house that heaven built like that's kind of a famous story it's like it's out of his range he can't really hit the notes of any of the songs and um but at the same time it's like more proficient uh more professional and when i went and saw them in near to near near to the heart of wildlife tour in 2018 it was at um the masonic lodge at hollywood forever cemetery um which you know kind of it sounds cooler in theory. And at that show, they played like two what I suppose were new songs. I had heard they were trying to become less perfectionistic, less, you know, less precious about the songs they release.

And it's like, yeah, I don't know if I need a new Japan droids record. I think that was like a real kind of, yeah, if they don't have anything new to say, I'm okay with that. And I think that was sort of the case, the way people felt about near to the hard, Wild Heart of Life in general. I mean... Yeah, it's an interesting thing with that second... With the record that came after near the Wild Heart of Life.

I actually liked that record. I thought they did a pretty good job of, like, trying to expand the palette and move in a different direction while still retaining what was lovable about Celebration Rock. But it does seem like that... Like, maybe that record is just an impossible act to follow. Like, I don't know if expanding the palette is actually a good idea with a pan like this.

Like, if they had just achieved... Because the sense I got from people when that record dropped, the follow-up to Celebration Rock is that people just wanted Celebration Rock again. But I think if they had just stuck to that formula, it would not have hit with the same kind of impact, just because I think that was like a moment in time where they delivered something. like the context of that record as much as the record itself.

Like, I know for me, the thing I really loved about Celebration Rock is that it just seemed, you know, to be totally guileless about what rock music could be at a time where it seemed like a lot of people either thought rock music was dead or that all the cliches of the genre needed to be put to bed. And he was a band saying, like, no, there still can be power in this and we'll show you that there can still be power. And that's the magic of that. But then it's like, well, how do you do that again, you know, once you've already done it? And maybe that's like the larger story of this band. You know, I don't think it's necessarily a bad thing for a band to have one great record. And Post-Nobthing is a great record, too. But, you know, to kind of achieve, like, the perfect example of what you do on an album

and then maybe be like, okay, that's it. You know, I mean, there hasn't been a new record by them in, you know, what, five years? No, in 2000 Who knows if there will be? In 2018, this is part of like my deep dive research for the piece is that I looked at their Twitter account and it's like there's absolutely no way

they post to their Twitter account. It's like the most robotic promo sentences imaginable. In 2018, they said, hey, we're gonna, like late 2018, hey, we're gonna do one more tour before we hibernate and work on the next record. Haven't heard anything

from them since. And they also, this is a key part of the story. They were supposed to do a 10-year anniversary show for a celebration rock at Shaky Knees Festival in Atlanta earlier this month. And I didn't even know they canceled it. In January, apparently, not from their own Twitter account, but Shaky Nees. They said, you know, like, hey, Japan droids have been, like, they've been canceled. And unless, like, given how much it takes for them to make music, you could really naively believe that they're working on LP4, or maybe they're just done. I think one of them lives in Mexico City now, and another lives in Vancouver. But, you know, it's, I think that the reception of the year to the wild heart of life brings up, like, a greater.

I think someone actually asked this in our mailbag one time about, like, whether it's better for a band to have, like, a, you know, six albums, like a career arc, or they just like nail it one time. and then disappear or just like make a bunch of like whatever records. Because you couldn't top Celebration Rock by doing the same exact thing. Like if they released like the antics of Celebration Rock in 2014, I don't know if that would have worked well for them. And they did everything possible to expand their sound in a way that like wasn't ridiculous with near to the wild heart of life. But it had been five years.

A lot of their fans probably aged out of music writing. And it came out like the way. worst possible fucking time, which was like a week after Trump's inauguration. Yeah, I remember there were reviews saying like, you know, this doesn't talk about Trump or like this doesn't, this doesn't speak to the times of Trump. I mean, that was really the beginning of that being a major hobby horse with cultural critics of all stripes that everything had to be interpreted through the lens of Trump, which became extremely tiresome, although I guess like in the wake of his inauguration, the wound was still fresh and people, you know, didn't want to hear

songs about how, you know, living the rock life is really cool. I mean, it just, maybe it just seemed trite to a lot of people at that point. Again, it just speaks to, like, how well-timed Celebration Rock was. I mean, it just came out at a really good slot, I think, for that record. I think if it had come out even one year later, it might have not have hit the way it did. you know, if it had come out in the pack of like Hime and the 1975 and Lord, all these artists that really seemed to be kind of speaking to the times in a way, you know, it might have fallen through the cracks, you know, just by coming out in that year versus 2012.

Yeah, I think maybe they're like sealing if they had come out in 2013 would be like, I don't know, something closer to like what dog legs album received. or, you know, like, maybe, like, a, not even, like, the dream is over. Like, I mean, yeah, it just came out, like, the right time. And it's, I think this is just, like, so much of, like, what we talk about here is just about timing and about context. And, yeah, I'm, like, just really interested to see if anyone else is going to, like, dedicate so much time that's talking about this album's 10th anniversary or whether it's just going to be people who tweet about how much they love the adrenaline night shift in between, like, their stories about the NBA finals. I think this album had a profound impact on sports writers, but like not music writers.

Yeah, we'll see. I mean, but if they don't talk about it, that's good for us. It leaves the lane open. So I'm raising a toast. I don't have a drink in my animal. Raise a toast metaphorically to Celebration Rock. Maybe we'll have a podcast still in 10 years. We could do the 20th anniversary.

We'll see what happens. All right, we now reach the fire of episode that we call Recommendation. edition corner. We're, Ian and I talk about something that we're into this week. Ian, want you go first? All right. So, uh, in a big twist, I'm going to recommend a emo band from Philadelphia on Top Shelf Records. Uh, this band is called Sweet Pill. They released an album on Wednesday. Um, look, I don't know what, I don't know why they released an album on Wednesday, but you know what? It's out there. You can definitely listen to it. Uh, even before we published, but I don't know how you'd hear us. Uh, it's a band called Sweet Pill and, uh, the

album is called from where the heart is. There is this kind of wave of bands, including them and pool kids who just released a new song and announced their new album this week, which does kind of like a mathy emo revival thing with lots of guitar tapping, but the lead singer takes on kind of more of a paramour sort of vibe. And so you get like that, you know, 2005, six fueled by ramen pop. but also 2010 top shelf records, Twinkle. And they put it together in a way that's super interesting and super enjoyable.

It's a low-stakes record. But nonetheless, I think it's indicative of, you know, a wave of bands that you'll probably see like them, where there's that technical aspect, but also kind of a sweetness in the melody. So it's not just like people watching, tapping and, like, you know, moving into 15 over 9 time signatures. So sweet pill, good band. So is Joe Satriani an emo artist now? Pat Muthini has become, like, weirdly associated in, like, with emo bands now. People would say, like, American football.

I know I love your lifestyle, like, we're trying to do some Pat Muthini stuff. Oh, wow. Yeah. So any stuff that, like, seems like kind of nerdy, it's going to end up in there. So. Awesome. Well, I'm excited to check that out. If you drop Pat Mathini, I'm actually intrigued by that.

So I'll get into that. I want to talk about a band from Chicago called Dead. It's spelled D-E-H-D. I got into this band a couple years ago. I think a lot of people started getting to this band when they put out their 2020 record Flower of Devotion. That was a pretty acclaimed record. I know it got the best new music from Pitchfork.

And I guess you could broadly describe this band as like a post-punk band, Although I think there's something more romantic about them. I feel like a lot of post-punk bands now are very pedantic and word-heavy. And we've joked about this on this show, talking about the human condition and very flat, you know, detached language.

Dead doesn't really have any of that. To me, they sound like a cross between, like, the Kier and Roy Orbison. You know, very kind of melodramatic, beautiful, you know, almost like Gothic type, type sounds. Lots of reverb, lots of trebly guitars. Pretty short songs, about two and a half minutes, pretty melodic. I know they've also been likened to like surf rock because of the troubly guitar thing. But their new album is out today. It's called Blue Skies. And it really follows the progression that

they've had. I think this was true of flower devotion. It's definitely true of Blue Skies, where each record sounds more polished and just sounds bigger. The songwriting is sharper. It's just like a good They're definitely moving, I think, more like in a pop direction, but it's still retaining again. That sort of gothy, dreamy vibe of the old record. So definitely check this record out. It's called Blue Skies. The band's called Dead. That's D-E-H-D.

Not like the Grateful Dead, but this is like the ungrateful Dead, perhaps. But anyway, check that out. Check out both records. They both sound really cool. Thank you for listening to this episode of Indycast. We'll be back with more news and reviews and hashing out trends next week. If you're looking for more music recommendations, sign up for the Indie Mix tape newsletter. You can go to uprocks.com backslash indie, and I recommend five albums per week, and we'll send it directly to your email box.