Tag: Ron Gallo

Top 40 albums of 2016 – 2020: #’s 30 – 26

We reached the top 30 of my top 40 albums of the last five years. Whittling my list down to 40 records was hard enough, how about 30?

#30: Underworld – Barbara Barbara, We Face a Shining Future (2016)

Easily one of the most optimistic and uplifting albums of the last five years, Barbara Barbara, We Face a Shining Future was a triumphant return for Underworld and had all of us look up to a shining light ahead that could be reached if we all worked together. The themes became more important each passing year.

#29: Blanck Mass – World Eater (2017)

Speaking of records built around synths, drum machines, and analog gear – Blanck Mass’ World Eater is a powerful record that expands on Underworld’s optimism and fuels it with some trepidation and danger.

#28: Soulwax – From Deewee (2017)

The electronic music hits keep on coming. This stunning record combines vintage synths with double live drumming to produce a wicked record that was recorded in one take. One. Take. It never ceases to impress.

#27: Cookin’ Soul and MF DOOM – DOOM XMAS (2018)

Made all the more special since the untimely passing of MF DOOM, this is not only a great rap album, but it’s also a great Christmas record. Cookin’ Soul mixes samples and beats with def(t) talent and layers them over freestyles by DOOM. The result is brilliance.

#26: Ron Gallo – Stardust Birthday Party (2018)

Zen punk. It’s the best way I can describe it. Ron Gallo created this album after doing a two-week silent Zen retreat and filled it with great hooks and rip-off-the-veil lyrics about embracing presence and impermanence. It was a shot in the arm well before the COVID-19 vaccine and songs like “Always Elsewhere” will stay relevant until some sort of global consciousness is reached.

What’s coming next? A lot of shoegaze and psychedelia, that’s what. Stay tuned.

Keep your mind open.

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Top 30 Albums of 2018: #’s 10 – 6

Here we are at my top 10 albums of the year.  Read on to see who made the cut.

#10: Khruangbin – Con Todo El Mundo – I was a bit late to the Khruangbin party, but I’m glad I showed up.  This three-piece makes beautiful psychedelic jazz with few vocals.  The tones they produce are so clear they’re almost like Tibetan mediation singing bells.

#9: Janelle Monae – Dirty Computer – Ms. Monae is a genius.  She can blend hip-hop, R&B, electro, jazz, and rock with such ease that it sounds like she’s cloned herself at least five times and each of those clones studied a different genre to mastery.  Knowing her love of androids and science fiction, this wouldn’t surprise me at all if it were true.

#8 – Cookin’ Soul and MF DOOM – DOOM XMAS – I don’t remember how I stumbled upon this album after Christmas Day, but I’m glad I did.  It’s a wicked mix of lyrics by MF DOOM and Christmas-inspired beats by Cookin’ Soul.  Any DOOM is good DOOM, and this collaboration is among his best.

#7: Throw Down Bones – Two – I stumbled upon this excellent electro / industrial / rave album on Bandcamp and it turned out to be the best electronic music record I heard all year.  This will be booming in your favorite club soon if it isn’t already.

#6: Ron Gallo – Stardust Birthday Party – I’ve enjoyed Mr. Gallo’s garage punk music since I saw him open for Screaming Females in a dive bar a couple years ago.  Now he’s put out a Zen-punk record that blew my mind and included my top single of the year – “Always Elsewhere.”

The top five will be revealed tomorrow!

Keep your mind open.

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Top 30 Concerts of 2018: #’s 20 – 16

We’re into the top 20! So, without further ado…

#20: Gong Gong Gong at Chicago’s Hideout – A lot of people were curious about Gong Gong Gong and how two dudes from Beijing could create such a weird, interesting sound. It turned out to be one of the wildest post-punk sets I saw all year.

#19: Prettiest Eyes at Levitation France – This trio put on one of the wildest sets of the entire festival. Just when you thought they couldn’t get crazier, they did.

#18: Oktober Lieber at Levitation France – This electro duo was louder and heavier than I expected and a great surprise at the festival.

#17: Shopping at Chicago’s Beat Kitchen – The first show I saw in 2018 was one of the best. Three post-punk Brits playing jumpy, skittering rock and having a great time with everyone.

#16: Ron Gallo at Levitation Austin – Ron Gallo and his mates were the first band we saw at the 2018 Levitation Austin festival, and we couldn’t have asked for a better opener. Rocking, funny, and just not quite giving a damn what you thought, they put on a great set.

The top 15 are coming your way tomorrow!

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Top 20 Singles of 2018: #’s 5 – 1

Here we go!

#5: “Limp Wrist” by Bev Rage and the Drinks – This queercore punk delivers a wallop in under two minutes. This song floored me when I heard it, and I started telling everyone I knew about Ms. Rage and her band.

#4: “How Did This Happen!? by BODEGA – The return of post-punk continues with this great NYC band and this single that trashes hipsters. I couldn’t stop listening to this once I heard it.

#3: “Blinded by the LEDs” by Lindstrom – If you need an amazing EDM track, floor-filler, workout playlist topper, or just something to be stunned by, look no further.

#2: “Make Me Feel” by Janelle Monae – Easily the sexiest song of the year. I can’t describe it any better than that.

#1: “Always Elsewhere” by Ron Gallo – This Zen-punk jam became my mantra after hearing it. It was a much-needed crack with a Zen master’s stick during months of chaos both local and domestic. Gallo‘s suggestion that we embrace presence instead of the willful scattering of our attention is a battle call.

Thanks for reading. Up next, the top 30 live acts I saw in 2018.

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Review: Ron Gallo – Stardust Birthday Party

Made not long after he attended a week-long silent meditation retreat, Ron Gallo‘s excellent new album of Zen punk, Stardust Birthday Party, arrives at a crucial time in history when the rich are getting richer, the middle class is disappearing, the poor are being left behind, and people are still clinging to material and mental things that ultimately mean nothing.

“Who Are You?  Point to It!” is the short, existential question that opens the record.  Can any of us answer this question without words?  It jumps into the Alan Watts and Eckhart Tolle-inspired “Always Elsewhere.”  It’s one of the best singles of the year and has been my mantra since hearing it.  Everyone nowadays seems to be somewhere other than where they really are in space and time.  The song is a wild, blaring diatribe against this practice that will make you want to throw away your cell phone, take a breath, and experience the miracle happening right in front of you at this moment.

“Prison Decor” reveals Gallo’s love of Devo with the snappy sound and his playful  and slightly weird vocals.  “Party Tumor” brings forth Joe Bisirri‘s fat bass as Gallo sings about someone (himself, perhaps?) who constantly needs to be heard and craves attention (“I just need to be heard anytime, anywhere.”) even though this attention will bring no true satisfaction.

“Do You Love Your Company?” starts with a Tibetan meditation bowl clang and then asks if you truly enjoy being in the moment alone or if you seek verification from the illusionary world around you.  Gallo’s guitars squawk and chug as much as his intense vocals.  “‘You’ Are the Problem” is a wake-up call to everyone who thinks the world is against them but doesn’t realize the issue is within them.

“OM” has the universal chant layered over police sirens, wine bar chatter, and a warning from Gallo’s mind that the mind can’t be stopped, but his relationship with it can be changed.  After all, “It’s All Gonna Be OK.”  That track is full of fuzzed guitar riffs and some of Dylan Sevey‘s biggest rock drumming on the record.

“I Wanna Die (Before I Die)” is a Zen riddle.  “It’s the point of my life,” Gallo sings. It’s the point of all our lives, really.  Dying to illusion and freeing the true self is the only goal of all of our lives.  Caroline Rose guest stars on “Love Supreme (Work Together),” which has her and Gallo singing about the nature of love, what it means to each of us, and how “God loves it when we work together.”

“Everybody’s trying to be some kind of something,” Gallo sings on “The Password” – a quirky track that reminds me of one of Frank Zappa‘s work.  “I don’t even know the password to my own heart,” Gallo says.  We all know the passwords to multiple social media accounts, bank accounts, and shopping clubs, but we don’t know how to unlock our inner treasure house.

“Bridge Crossers” discusses how the fear of death is irrational and seems to be a salute to one of Gallo’s teachers of spirituality.  The album ends with “Happy Deathday,” a celebration of the end of illusions.  “How hard we have to work for a false sense of worth…” Gallo sings.  We all tend to lose sight of the joy inside us and right in front of us because it’s easy to succumb to fear.  It’s relentless and will overwhelm your life if you let it.

If, like the alien mentioned in “Happy Deathday,” you’re wondering “what the fuck happened” to you, your family, your friends, and the world in general, then this album will be a welcome pleasure.  It will remind you that you have what you need within you.  You always have.

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Levitation Austin artist spotlight: Ron Gallo

Art punk Ron Gallo will be playing one of the first time slot at Levitation Austin this year – 6pm at Stubb’s on April 26th.  He’s also playing the next day at 5:30pm on Barracuda, both times in support of Ty Segall.  I caught Mr. Gallo and his crew in Fort Wayne a couple years ago and was immediately impressed with his chops on guitar and witty lyrics wrapped in punk attitude.  His debut album, Heavy Meta, was one of my top picks of 2017.  Check him out while tickets for him are still reasonably priced.

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Top 30 albums of 2017: #’s 25 – 21

Who made the top 25?  Read on!

#25 – Dion Lunadon – self-titled

As the story goes, Dion Lunadon was restless during a break that his band, A Place to Bury Strangers, was taking in-between tour dates.  He focused that restless energy into this powerhouse of a record that mixes everything from noise-rock to psychobilly grooves.  Thank heavens for eager artists.

#24 – The Moonlandingz – Interplanetary Class Classics

A band that started out as a fictional joke between Sean Lennon and members of Fat White Family ended up putting out one of the wildest records of 2017.  It’s a great mix of psychedelia, electro, disco, and otherworldly chaos.

#23 – Jake Xerxes Fussell – What in the Natural World

Good heavens, this album is beautiful.  It’s somewhere between blues and outlaw country and is most Jake Fussell and his acoustic guitar singing heartbreaking songs about being broke, lost loves, and the bravery of river men in old times.  It will leave you wondering why you hadn’t heard of him before now.

#22 – Ron Gallo – Heavy Meta

Ron Gallo is working damn hard to remind you that rock and roll isn’t dead (We are, however, according to him.), so it would do you good to pay attention to his Stooges-inspired riffs, vocals, and attitude.  He’s already planning a release early next year, so get on this now and hear the buzz.

#21 – The Flaming Lips – Oczy Mlody

The Flaming Lips continue their journey through other dimensions and exploration of death, life, and love with this weird mix of psychedelia and shimmering power pop.  The addition of guest vocals by Miley Cyrus is a nice touch as well.

Next up, the top 20!  Come back soon!

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A gift from Ron Gallo.

I took part in Ron Gallo‘s PledgeMusic campaign to help fund his debut album, Heavy Meta.  I’d been a fan of his since I’d seen him live last year and nabbed his RG3 EP.  One of the perks he was offering in his campaign was a download of Heavy Meta and a mix CD he’d make for you for a mere $30.00.  That seemed like a steal, so I jumped on it.

My mix CD arrived today, along with a hand-written note and track list from Mr. Gallo.  The note reads, “Thank you for the support.  Enjoy this eclectic mix of jams that influenced Heavy Meta.  Be well.”

The track listing has a lot of great stuff on it, including tracks from artists whose influence I could immediately hear in Gallo’s work (the Stooges, John Lennon, Minor Threat, the Modern Lovers) and others I hadn’t expected but was delighted to see (Dangerdoom, Lauryn Hill, Duke Ellington).  Anyone who can and would put together a great mix like this is sure to do great things.

Thank you, Mr. Gallo.  I look forward to the future.

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Lollapalooza 2017 lineup announced.

The lineup for Chicago’s Lollapalooza 2017 festival has been announced.  They’ve kept it a four-day festival, and four-day tickets are already sold out.  Individual day tickets are on sale, but don’t wait too long to get them.  They will sell out as well.

It’s good to see Temples playing Thursday night, Phantogram on Friday, Royal Blood, Ron Gallo, and Warpaint on Sunday, and Justice on Sunday.

Make sure to take your sunscreen.  Lollapalooza always seems to fall on the hottest weekend of the year in Chicago.

Keep your mind open.

Ron Gallo – Heavy Meta

I first heard Ron Gallo when I saw him open for Screaming Females last year. I was impressed by his mix of punk, blues, and garage rock and picked up his EP, RG3. That EP was one of my favorite records of 2016, so I was eager to hear his full-length debut, Heavy Meta. I’m sure it will be right up there with my favorite records of 2017.

Beginning with his sure-to-be classic, “Young Lady You’re Scaring Me,” Heavy Meta gets off to a solid start with Gallo’s sizzling surf sound guitar and near-crazed vocals about a crazy lover he fears but just can’t ditch. “Put the Kids to Bed” is a 1960’s psychedelic freak-out / freak-on as Gallo pleads with his lover for a kinky quickie even though he realizes they may have passion but love has long since checked out (“When we were young, we said, ‘One day, honey, you and I we’re going to share a grave.’ I didn’t know it’d come so soon.”).

“Kill the Medicine Man” is blues filtered through a lava lamp in Marc Bolan’s living room. “Poor Traits of the Artist” continues the crunchy fuzz that Gallo and his band mates have not only embraced but mastered stunningly early in their careers. “Why Do You Have Kids?” is a hysterical diatribe against people who can’t take care of themselves trying to take care of children. “The kid’s got nothin’ to look up or forward to, no chance,” Gallo sings. We all know someone like that, and Gallo blares out the words we desperately want to say to him or her.

“Please Yourself” reveals Gallo’s love of sixties garage rock (listen to that near-bop beat for starters). “Black Market Eyes” switches gears and becomes a ballad that would make Wolfmother envious with its desert rock-like sound and rough-edged vocals. “Can’t Stand You” is an angry kiss-off to an ex. “Started a War” is a lazy psych-rock reverb dream about a woman storming out on Gallo for reasons he can’t figure (“Started a war, and all I said was nothin’.”).

“Don’t Mind the Lion” is about another woman Gallo wishes he could comfort after she’s fallen on hard times. The album ends with “All the Punks Are Domesticated,” in which Gallo offers a eulogy for everyone who thought they were going to stick it to the Man and change the world but have instead sold out and opted for smartphone screens and a world in which “Pop-Tarts climb the pop charts” and “No one really has anything to say.” He’s mostly right. Hardly anyone wants to do anything dangerous in the world of art and would rather talk about him or herself than have a conversation about anything that might challenge the fragile ecosystem they’ve built around them. Gallo even thinks that he’ll “be forgotten in two generations.”

He won’t be if he keeps up albums like this, however. He’s not only made a good rock record (which we need more than ever these days), he’s given us a glass of cold water in the face. Wake up and do something. Start with getting this album.

Keep your mind open.

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