Best of 2009: Top 10 Party Jams

Let’s say you’re at this party, right? Dude who’s rocking the music has to jet to pick up another case and he takes his iPod with him. This is your moment, your chance to impress every fine lady at that get-together. You take your iPod over to the stereo pick the flyest jam you have and then watch in anticipation as everyone at the party reacts to your choice of….Tone Loc?!?! Don’t worry folks. If you ever get invited to another party, I’ve got you covered with the hottest party jams of ’09! Throw some of these on, and I pretty much guarantee that it’ll go over well. At the very least, they’ll do better than “Funky Cold Medina.”

#10. “Get Yo Shit” by Black Joe Lewis and the Honeybears, from the album, Tell ‘Em What Your Name Is! – A little bit of humor goes a long way, and this song has quite a bit of it. That’s the good news. The bad news is that there’s a lot of talking that people will have to hush up to understand. Still, if you’re at a party in Austin where everybody pretty much already knows the song, you’ll be fine.

#9. “Swing Tree” by Discovery, from the album, LP – “Swing Tree” has the uncanny ability to appeal to a variety of music fans; hip hop, pop, r&b, heck…maybe even reggae. I threw this on one night much to the admiration of one young lady in particular. Hey, that’s one better than I was doing up until that point.

#8. “Get it Right Now” by Del the Funky Homosapien, from the album, Funk Man – Ahh the ultimate party conundrum! People are demanding that someone put on some rap songs – because, well, they’ve been drinking and are therefore more easily susceptible to bad things – but you don’t want to insult your own intelligence by playing a selection from the 99% of rap music that blows. What to do? Throw on some D.E.L. It always goes down smooth.

#7. “A.T.C.” by Lesbian Fist, from the Lesbian Fist EP – Remember that bit about humor going a long way? Well, let’s hope your party has an open sense of humor because Lesbian Fist is going to bring the goods, wrapped up in a nice little pop package. Keep an eye on peoples’ faces as they ask themselves, “Did I really just hear that?” while simultaneously bouncing to one of the catchiest songs of 2009.

#6. “Little Secrets” by Passion Pit, from the album, Manners – Nobody had heard this song the first time I had played it for my friends at a social gathering. Since then, at least a few of them have picked up the CD because of this one. “Little Secrets” may not not pack the universal appeal of other songs on this list, but I’ll be damned if it ain’t a whole lot of fun singing to when you’re a tiny bit inebriated.

#5. “1901” by Phoenix, from the album, Wolfgang Amadeus Phoenix – Okay, the car commercial pretty much ruined it for me too, but I’ll be damned if this still isn’t one of the best songs of 2009. That applies to whether you’re listening at a party or at a party of one :(. Honestly, who doesn’t love this song?

#4. “Daylight” by Matt & Kim, from the album, Grand – You would think that this song would be more off-putting to some than it actually is. Come to think of it, I don’t recall ever having to change the song due to someone disliking it. It’s a fun, poppy, piano-driven song that I have yet to tire of despite having listened to it several dozen times over the course of 2009.

#3. “ddd” by Wallpaper., from the album, Doodoo Face – Humor, again, does wonders, and “ddd” certainly packs in its share of one-liners. Sure, there may be one cowardly anonymous commenter on this blog who referred to Wallpaper. as “drivel” (most likely without ever listening to it seriously), but I have yet to introduce this song to anyone who has disliked it. Considering I tend to chill with a bunch of Ryan Adams and Regina Spektor fans, I’d say that’s quite the achievement.

#2. “I’m On a Boat” by The Lonely Island (featuring T-Pain), from the album, Incredibad – Experience, just once, a whole room of people simultaneously singing “I Fucked a Mermaid” and you’ll know why this one is awesome. ‘Nuff said.

#1. “I Got Soul, I’m So Wasted” by Wallpaper., from the album, Doodoo Face – There are few songs in the world that have complete universal appeal. Wallpaper’s first single from Doodoo Face has to come pretty close. Besides the fact that everybody (EVERYBODY) I know personally loves it, I still have yet to read a review of the album or the song that dismisses it as less than it is. Wallpaper’s music is all about letting loose and having a good time and it goes about it in a satirical manner. So even those of us who hate most mainstream pop music can enjoy it. Nobody seriously sings about “throwing up in the bathroom stall” as an achievement, but Ricky Reed does. And if you’ve ever been in that sort of situation (guilty), then you’ll be singing right along (also guilty). For me, this the unquestionable party jam of ’09.

What’s yours?

Black Joe Lewis & The Honeybears: "Tell ‘Em What Your Name Is"

I had the priviledge to see Black Joe Lewis & The Honeybears on tour with Mates of State in the Spring of 2008, before anyone outside of Austin, TX really had any idea who this “big band” was. The show was energetic and entertaining, but after about 20 minutes, I felt myself becoming disinterested with the music. Songs started to run into one another, sounding far too similar. The constant barage of brass and sax began to sound more calculated than it should have. Simply put; I got bored. In the front row of a loud, energetic performance; I got bored. When I got my hands on the band’s debut album, my sincere hope was that this was a one time thing; that it was no fault of the band, but just a consequence of an off day on my part.

The album begins with what I feel is its strongest song, “Gunpowder.” With the band fully cranked up to 11, Lewis’ vocals are howled out of the speakers in an exciting, near-unintelligible manner. Everything from the drums to the trumpet just seem to click, and it works! Boy, does it work! “Sugarfoot” tones things down a bit, but for the most part maintains the lead-off’s unfathomable energy and spirit!

Where things go slightly arry is on the song “I’m Broke,” in which Lewis proudly exclaims “I’m broke/ everybody knows.” It’s somewhat humorous, but entirely uncatchy and lacking in the soul of its two predecessors. The album would be fine if it could recover immediately from this disappointment, but it fails to do so. Tracks 4 – 6 are entirely forgettable, and though I get the aim of “Master Sold My Baby,” its execution is ultimately flawed.

Things pick back up with “Get Yo Shit,” a song that is pure entertainment. Joe tells the story of how he comes home to a “crazy” girl, how they have an argument, and how he ultimately leaves the situation. The best line has to be when his girl claims that he never buys her presents. He responds with, “I bought you a box of chicken but I ate it on the way home.” Hilarious! “Humpin’,” a catchy and worthwhile instrumental, and “Bobby Booshay” keep the momentum moving all the way to the final track, “Please Pt. 2.” It’s not the greatest song on the album, but it’s definitely worth listening to.

If the Black Joe Lewis & The Honeybears set out to disprove my original “these songs all sound the same” assessment, they more or less succeeded. However, the diversity of the album is also its downfall, as tracks like “Master Sold My Baby” and “Big Booty Woman” don’t seem to serve any tangible purpose other than to mix things up a bit. The band is at their best when they are loudly careening out of control, keeping the people moving. There are times on the album where they seem to lose sight of that. Despite this, Tell ‘Em What Your Name Is remains an enjoyable introduction to a band heavily influenced by legendary artists like Otis Redding and James Brown. If you find yourself in the mood for some old school funk and soul, you could definitely do worse.

Key Tracks:

1. “Gunpowder”
2. “Sugarfoot”

3. “Get Yo Shit”

4. “Humpin'”

5. “Bobby Booshay”

6 out of 10 Stars

(6/12/08) Mates of State w/ Headlights – Houston, TX

So Mates of State strolled through town last night, their first trip through in a few years, and I was pretty pumped as I had never seen them before.  However, I was just as excited to see Headlights, a band whose first album was my #9 album of 2006, and whose second I reviewed pretty fairly as well.  But disappointment was in the air.  Though I do enjoy Some Racing, Some Stopping very much, I was dumbstruck by the fact that Headlights didn’t play a single song (not one) from Kill Them With Kindness, an album I consider to be better, song for song.

Despite that, the band put on a great show.  Tristan took over most of the vocal work, and really the only song that Erin sang lead on was their big hit from the new album, “Cherry Tulips.”  Seeing the band dance around with such energy and vigor was really fun, and really helped get a crowd who wasn’t all that familiar with their music into the show.  Of course, this dancing came with a downside.  Erin accidentally knocked over her beer, and began to unknowingly dance in the puddle that formed.  The front row got splashed (I got a drop or two), but she was kind enough to apologize afterwards.  Their best song?  Probably “Market Girl,” which is still one of my favorite songs of 2008 thus far.  BTDubs, my camera isn’t the best…so getting a good picture was tough with them moving around so much.

Real quick, I gotta get through this second band, Black Joe Lewis.  A really energetic 7-piece band complete with baritone sax, alto sax, trumpet, you know…all the good stuff.  And the band had a really good sound; kind of like a classic rock mixed with James Brown.  But to me, all of their songs sounded the same.  It was as if they had one song, with different riffs.  The crowd ate it up though, so good for them.

So…Mates of State.  What is there to say?  The band played perfectly, and managed to play a wide range of their music without focusing too much on their newer stuff.  You don’t really get a feel for it when you’re listening to their albums, but the band is incredibly talented.  Seeing Kori tear up two keyboards simultaneously while singing, and Jason do the exact same thing on drums…well, it was impressive.

The band brought along a couple of multi-instrumentalists with them.  They guys played strings on all of their new songs off of Re-Arrange Us, but they also played guitar, trombone, percussion, and whatever else the song called for.  My favorite song that the band did was either “Fluke” or “The Re-Arranger.”  Both were performed with such energy and passion that singing along and resisting the urge to stand perfectly still came incredibly easy.  I’ve been waiting for the band to come through Houston for a while, and I was in no way disappointed.  After 18 songs, which being Mates of State songs, were all pretty short, the band waved goodbye and left the stage.  Then I went home.  I was exhausted.

If you went to the show last night, let me know what you thought.  Leave a comment below!