Kind of Like Spitting - Nothing Makes Sense Without It

I thought it'd be a lot tougher coming up with things to talk about, and yet, here I am, coming at ya with another mediocrity from the 90's. I kid, of course. Nothing Makes Sense Without It is, to put it mildly, an odd entry in the prolific output from Kind of Like Spitting. It's also probably the most fondly remembered (or at least home to the most requested songs) in my recollection. While this album is still available via iTunes and the Liberation Records webstore, I recall Ben Barnett telling me that he had some serious royalty issues with the label who released the CD initially. As in, he hadn't seen a cent in royalties. But I hear that was a constant issue with releases on the Liberation family of labels.

Enough gossip and shit talk. I always felt like Ben Barnett was one of the few unrecognized greats to come out of the Great Emo Revolution of the late 90's. Every record he recorded is unarguably great. However, outside of opening for Braid on their last tour, a later fantastic record that came out on Barsuk and an opening slot with Saves the Day on their first headlining tour, I think a lot of the listening public just missed the boat. Could it be due to the somewhat-schizophrenic nature of Ben's releases? After all, the follow-up to Northing Makes Sense..., Old Moon in the Arms of the New, harkened more to Karate & Low than the Get Up Kids. Is it possible that relative commercial success and a spot in Alternative Press eluded Mr. Barnett due to him following his muse, no matter what the path? Is Kind of Like Spitting the Raging Bull of emo? Or did I just stay up way too late last night?

Here on Nothing Makes Sense..., the Braid & Mineral influences meld neatly with Ben's obvious singer-songwriter talents. Tip of the cap goes to Jamie Arthurs for the initial play of the Birds of a Feather 7" (released on Bob Nanna's Grand Theft Autumn label), which made me go apeshit before some St. Andrew's show back in '99. I felt like this had a chance to be a great crossover...it felt so goddamned important and adult. And this kind of heartbreak...well, it actually felt more approachable than a Smiths song. Plus I'd never heard violins used to such great effect on an indie record. Like some future stereotype, Nothing Makes Sense... is maudlin and beautiful.

I'm sure I'll write more about Kind of Like Spitting in the future. But, for now, listen and enjoy.










Kind of Like Spitting - Nothing Makes Sense Without It

RIYL: Billy Bragg, Belle & Sebastian, Death Cab for Cutie

The Hold Steady - demo

(Editor's note, 9/11/08: I changed the title of this post. Why? Do you have any idea how many goddamn people beat me to the punch when it can to referencing "Certain Songs"? How dumb do I look? Pretty goddamn dumb. Oh, well...on with the show.)

I can't talk about the Hold Steady without talking about Craig & Tad's former band, Lifter Puller. I'll go more in depth on Lifter Puller at some yet-to-be-determined date, but, simply put, I was and still am totally gay for Lifter Puller. While I thrilled to get to see their penultimate show at Brownie's in NYC, it broke my heart to know that I'd never get to see them again. I listen to Lifter Puller now, 5 years after they broke up, and it still sounds fresher than most everything out there now. What a gang of total, complete fucking bad asses.

A few months after L.P. broke up, Dave Voyles told me he'd gotten ahold of the demo for the new project. Said he'd burn me a copy. So what you have here is what he handed me at the Ottobar sometime in the fall of 2002: the Hold Steady demo. I haven't really seen this online to date, but I really haven't been looking. The thing I like most about this recording is that it's recorded as a 4-piece. Franz Nicolay doesn't play keys here, so the E-Street Band influence isn't quite as pronounced. I kinda dig it more that way. Also of note is the appearance of Choking Songs (for Smoking), also known as Milkcrate Mosh. To the best of my knowledge this only appeared on a 7" released by Empirical Recordings, but, again, I could be wrong. What the hell do I know?

Oh, yeah, below's a picture of the Hold Steady at their second show ever, playing to about 100 people at the old Talking Head in Baltimore. I was there, up front and singing along, acting like some hipster scumbag. The Hold Steady smoked my ass. The Oranges Band played that night, too. They also smoked that ass. I figure this show is top-five all time, easily. Do you remember that Simpsons quote, "They'll never know the joys of a monkey knife fight."? Yeah, you'll never know the joys of Craig Finn sweating whiskey onto your cheapo digital camera. And if you do, well, god bless ya.



Yes, what I'm implying basically is that I'm better than you, in this one, insignificant thing.

The Hold Steady - 6 song demo

RIYL: Lifter Puller, Bruce Springsteen, Ellen Foley, Dillinger 4