In the Hause

Loved Ones frontman Dave Hause is playing a free show at the record store of his youth, Main Street Music in Manayunk, Saturday, February 26th. He is promoting his full length solo album, Resolutions, out now on Paper and Plastick Records. This has to be every music geek's dream come true. I mean, Mr. Hause certainly gets the hometown love whenever he plays in Philly, but seriously, to return to your record store and perform where your musical tastes were shaped and formed is really something special. Anyone who takes music and music collecting seriously has that shop of their adolescence where they spent oh so much time browsing the racks, searching for your next fix... Anyway, don't miss this opportunity for see Dave play some acoustic selections from his new record in a super intimate setting. We have also heard that Franz Nicolay, formerly of the Hold Steady (and additional tour member/studio musician for about 8000 other bands), will be playing a short set as well. For those not in the know, Main Street Music is approximately the size of your living room, and when they do shows there, the displays are simply moved to the sides and the leftover space is the performance area. Word on the street is that you should expect this to be crowded, so be sure to show up early; with the extra time, you can peruse Main Street's quality selection of new and used CDs, DVDs and vinyl. Try to spend a couple of bucks to show Pat and the other hooligans that run the store your appreciation for twenty years of indie record store goodness.

Dave Hause
Main Street Music
Paper and Plastick Records

Snow More Delays

After being postponed a month and a half, the Bouncing Souls finally found themselves in a snow free Asbury Park last week and were able to commence with their Home for the Holidays (this year, with the subtitle Snowout Blowout) shows at the legendary Stone Pony. Because of the change in timing, several of the original opening acts were unable to play, and depending on your tastes and point of view, that could be fortunate or unfortunate.

For Mrs. Squeamish and myself, we were positively tickled pink (insert commie pun here) that the first show of the four night stand, which we would be attending, would be supported by none other than Pittsburgh's political punk machine, Anti-Flag. Taking the stage to "Die for the Government" from their first full length, these guys were in top form. Chris #2 was still only long enough to sing his half of the vocals, and in their half hour set, they laid down excellent renditions of the strongest material from each of their albums: "Turncoat," "Press Corpse," "Sodom, Gomorrah, Washington DC," "Drink, Drank, Punk." Souls bassist Bryan Keilen sang some impromptu backing vocals on "That's Youth," the song Bouncing Souls covered on their BYO split with Anti-Flag. "Power to the Peaceful" finished the evening, with drummer Pat Thetic once again hauling his skins over the barricade to play in the middle of the floor.

Coming out to the Rocky theme and a boxing style announcement that they would be playing the Good, the Bad and the Argyle in full, the Bouncing Souls finally took over for their annual celebration. For some Souls fans, this was probably a dream come true; for myself, not so much. Sure their debut album is a classic, but there are just as many misses on it as hits. However, we did get to hear "I Like your Mom" and "Quotes from our Favorite 80's Movies," and "Neurotic" and those were fun. After a brief intermission, the ring announcer and card girl were back to announce Maniacal Laughter in its entirety. This made the night. Solid front to back, Laughter is the pinnacle of the Bouncing Soul's early career, and it had been quite some time since I had listened to it straight through. "The Freaks, the Nerds and the Romantics" featured Chris #2 and Justin Sane doing backing vocals, the track they covered on the BYO split. Just before "the Ballad of Johnny X," singer Greg Antonito announced that there would be no encore, but as a special treat, the man himself, Mr. Johnny X, would come out and sing his own tune. That was more than a fair trade.

The Bouncing Souls held court at the Pony for three more nights, each one continuing through their discography. Thursday, the second night would have been my favorite, with the Souls crashing through their self-titled record and Hopeless Romantic. Two Philly bands made appearances with the Menzingers opening Thursday night and the Loved Ones being the main support Saturday, the conclusion of the four night stand. Hats off the Souls, who continue to tour endlessly. They looked exhausted Wednesday night, but still brought the party and gave fans another chance to see them more intimate venue than normal.