That's Avant. Not Ava.

From 2013, please enjoy irrepressible Australian pop tart Courtney Barnett and her hilarious ode to respiratory trouble "Avant Gardener."



Seriously, I think this song is a freaking riot, and I'm really sorry I'm late to the party. By which I mean that friends of mine had told me this gal was cool several years ago but until I heard this song yesterday in a bar I hadn't really bothered to investigate her.

In any event, what I really want to know now is whether the scorekeeper in the video -- who looks like Cate Blanchett doing the 1966 Bob Dylan -- is actually Ms. Barnett herself.

Closed for Monkey Business

Plumbing problems here at the home of a certain Shady Dame, so no posting today.

Okay, that's the lamest excuse I've ever offered, but in any case regular stuff resumes on the morrow when I'm back at Casa Simels.

Waiting for iTunes

From (originally) 1976, and the just-released 2018 best-of compilation -- Crimes Against Humanity -- by my long-time garage band chums The Weasels, please enjoy our little Firesign Theater-esque promo for one of our earlier low-fi efforts -- the aptly named "This Album Sells Itself."



"Hermie -- he died for The Weasels new album. You will too."

BTW, you can get the album at Amazon, Pandora, Spotify and CD Baby, but those rat bastards at Apple Music haven't posted it yet. I'll get back to you when they do.

Your Friday Moment of Words Fail Me

Forget "Last Train to Clarksville" -- THIS is the greatest song Boyce and Hart ever wrote.



Have a great weekend, everybody!

[h/t Frank Burrows]

Extended Metaphors For Our Time

From 2018, please enjoy Friend of PowerPop and all around very droll fellow Steve Notis as weighs in on a subject that has plagued us all at some point.



Obviously, this has taken on increased relevance in the dawning era of the driverless car.

Closed for Monkey Business

Big night in the studio yesterday.

Regular postings resume on the morrow.

IT CAME FROM JERSEY!!!

Saw the incomparable Willie Nile last Saturday night...

...playing at a club in my hometown of Teaneck N.J....

...that is literally a block away from the apartment where I spent the first 23 years of my life.

Willie and his great band were characteristically transplendent on Saturday (they did an absolutely killer version of Tom Petty's "Runnin' Down a Dream") but the high point for me was a kick-ass version of "Vagabond Moon," the opening track of his very first album. I didn't have the presence of mind to record it, but here's what it sounded like back in 1980 with his original ensemble.



And in case you're wondering what I wore to the gig....

Incidentally, the club has been renamed The Debonair Music Hall since that photo was taken a year or two ago, but it's still a terrific place to hear music and if you're in the neighborhood some evening I highly recommend it.

This is Your Democracy, America. Cherish it.

Jay Semko -- "Mouse in a Hole" (1995).

There's a mouse in a hole
And he's digging his own grave
There's a child with her mother
Teaching her how to behave
There's her brother in the classroom
And he really doesn't give a damn

There's his buddy his name is Alfonse
Who's been worshipping the Son of Sam
There's the teacher with a ruler
And he's bored with all the people in his life
There's the principal in a daydream
He's in love with his best friends wife
There's the best friend - he's on a bender
And his business is going downhill
There's the waitress who thinks he's wealthy
She's moving in for the kill

Then a policeman looks in the window
And he's jealous becoming quite upset
There's the radio in the police car
Predicting crimes that haven't happened yet
There's his partner who's looking forward
To the rock he's gonna smoke tonight
There's his girlfriend who he lives with
And she knows that something ain't right

Something ain't right

There's a tourist with a camera
Eating French fries and a big shake
There's the mother with her children
Teaching them their newest mistake
Then there's Alfonse works at the counter
For this leading hamburger chain
There's the teacher with the principal
And his best friend running in out of the rain
In comes the waitress with the policeman
He's off duty feelin' pretty good
And there's his partner who tried to get straight
With his girlfriend who did all that she could

Then there's this other guy
With a machine gun
In a parking lot
Dreaming about hell
'Cause he knows that
He's gonna go there
When he uses his last shell
He slams the car door - then he walks up
To the front door of the restaurant with a smile

Then he drops dead
On the pavement
Never dreaming
All the while
That there's a mouse in a hole
And he's digging his own grave

And there's a father - with a son
Teaching him how to behave

Something ain't right

There's a mouse in a hole
And he's digging his own grave...

You know, I could be wrong, but this just might be a metaphor for some of the current events of the last week.

I should add that I was originally gonna post The Guess Who's "Guns Guns Guns" or Kinky Friedman's "The Ballad of Charles Whitman." But then I thought -- nah, too obvious.

Just Like Pagliacci Did

And speaking as we were yesterday of Live From Daryl's Place, from 2011 please enjoy the charming host and special guest Smokey Robinson and an utterly astounding performance of Smokey's classic "Tears of a Clown."



And now I have a confession.

If you had told me in the 80s that 30 years later I'd be a total Daryl Hall fan, I would have said you were high.

Seriously -- I didn't dislike Hall and Oates, but they just weren't my cup of tea (I used to joke that Michael Bolton was the kind of singer that made you really appreciate Daryl Hall, which was not meant as a compliment).

But for whatever reason, I now think they're the bees fucking knees. Their hits hold up vastly better than most artifacts of their era, for starters. And the video -- sadly out of print -- of them live at the Apollo with David Ruffin and Eddie Kendricks of the Temptations is one of the greatest in concert things ever filmed by anybody. (I had a VHS tape of it digitized -- if you want one, be nice to me and I'll dupe you a DVD).

In any event, a certain Shady Dame and I have tickets to see H&O later this year, and I plan to enjoy every minute of the show. Have I mentioned that if you had told me that 30 years ago I would have said that you were high?

Have a great weekend, everybody!

Mister, You're a Better Man Than I

From 2012, and an episode of Live From Daryl's House, please enjoy the charming host and the great Nick Lowe in a quite gorgeous performance of Nick's greatest hit.



Pretty remarkable (and apparently the rest of the show isn't archived for some reason, which is too bad.)

In any event, has anybody else noticed that as Nick has aged he's started to look more and more like one of those expat 30s actors who showed up in Hollywood epics about the British in India? Seriously -- I can easily imagine him hanging out with the likes of C. Aubrey Smith.