Indy In-Tune #114: The Last Good Year

Explicit content warning

08/26/12 • 59 min

Special treat for you this week: an action-packed show featuring fun, frivolity, and the kind of music that, no matter how bad a mood you're in, makes you nod your head and pound your fist in the air in defiance. The Last Good Year is one of those in your face rock bands that encompasses everything that the genre implies -- crunchy guitar riffs, a rhythm section that gets you moving, and vocals that convey the raw power of emotion, grab your attention, and command you to steal your childrens' money ... er ... ummm ... and drag you in to the song. Had a great time hanging out with these guys, spinning some tunes, and talking about the trials and tribulations of tours, sponsorships, hitting on bartenders, and winning just about every competition the band has ever entered -- or at least earning a pretty damned impressive trophy case of victories over the years. I've seen and exchanged emails/tweets with The Last Good Year a couple of times over the years, but it was the insistence and efforts of Aaron Patrick that finally got these guys on the show in advance of their new single, Steady Road, and subsequent tour. As you may have noticed, with the recent publicity afforded us by the radio station and associated launch party, so far in the month of August, I've put together about as many podcasts as I did in the entire year of 2011. Therefore it seemed only natural to drag Aaron along and give him the quick field promotion to co-host, as he has always been a vibrant personality in his appearances a guest. He did not disappoint. Links referenced in the show: Last good year can be found here: | | | | | Co-host, Aaron Patrick, has previously appeared with on and Steady Road single can be purchased here: | The eponymous 2008 album can be found: here | | The band's Steady Road Tour is made possible through the efforts and support of , , , and who did have a fan featured in the movie . Yes, they are the of indie rock. The Ballad of William and Maxine Tribute video can be found . Does anybody remember the dark times when the ? For those of you who didn't get the reference, we bring you the in pictures. Special shout out to and apologies to for the impromptu advertising. Steve Byroad is a big fan of -- possible a bit too big of a fan. Additional apologies to -- we actually do love them. The Last Good Year's web site was designed by Katie Moon of . Finally, Aaron gives you the .

Previous Episode

Indy In-Tune #113: The New Guilt

I have come to fully embrace the "live format" at last. After years of resistance, I have now come to love the spontaneity, the urgency, and the fact that editing is now so easy I can do it in my sleep. Well, almost. You see, in the case of this week's episode, I apparently did. Literally, I remember editing about half the episode and feeling sleepy, but then when I woke up the next morning, there was a finished episode saved in my out-folder. The fact that I had somehow managed to name it "Dirty Guilt" and had completely messed up the last 15 minutes by leaving two minutes of silence where the fourth track should have been. The bold idea of then playing the fourth track on top of the interview does not speak well for my subconscious' artistic vision. I have since straightened everything out and promise not to let him do any podcasting -- or driving -- for the foreseeable future. As I elude to during the interview, 99 episodes ago, when I was just a wee podcaster, I got to hang out and interview the Dirty Third. Five years later, that is still one of my most-memorable experiences and favorite episodes, though mostly for the stuff that didn't make the final edit -- again we see the advantages of the live format. While The New Guilt does have two D3 members in it, this music is definitely not of that ilk. Their debut EP, Abnormal, is a dark, brooding journey to the not-so-fun side of life, love, and relationships presented with a heavy dose of power chords and virtuoso guitar flash, a rhythm section that hits you like a shot-put in the chest (timely Olympic reference there), and vocals that drip with rage, anguish and desperation as appropriate to the tone of the song. Even if you are not prone to headbanging or air-guitar, this is such a dense album that it will smother you and leave you exhausted by the end. Trust me, if you are a hard rock or alt rock fan, you really need to add this one to your playlist. This is one of the finest releases in the genre in the last two years. Links referenced in the show: The New Guilt can be found here | | | "Slim the Alter Ego" and "Big Play" Ray Ruiz both appeared on as members of the Dirty Third. This is, in fact, Ray's fourth appearance on Indy In-Tune, having appeared twice with his other band, Vilafishburn ( and ). This brings his total word count spoken on mic to, I believe, twelve full words. Brian Shadows is formerly of the band out of Memphis, TN. Yes, it's true, the show was recorded and broadcast live from the bathroom/locker room/shower at . We have . It should be noted that this was not due to any lack of hospitality on behalf of the venue -- they were in fact very good to us -- but it was simply the most sonically accessible place with reasonable seating. The New Guilt is gearing up for a tour of distant realms where they plan to team up with from Cincinnati and from New Jersey. The song "," was not by El DeBarge, but in fact was recorded by the band Ready for the World. Also, there is no evidence that it is about percussionist . The New Guilt will be one of the headlining acts at the . And, you really should be there to see that.

Next Episode

Indy In-Tune #115: Brandon Bowman

I got into a conversation at the Battle of Birdy's the other day where a couple of rival musicians were discussing how many bands there actually are in Indianapolis. Of course, being the numbers geek that I am, I had to chime in with the results of my personal research from six years ago: Including garage bands, studio-only projects, cover bands, solo artists, and bands that had names but never actually finished finding a full lineup, there were between 2800 and 3000 bands active in the metro area ... NOT counting Bloomington, Lafayette, Ft. Wayne, Munice, etc. That seems like a huge number, until you figure in how many great bands disappear, or at least go dormant, as quickly as they appear. Even looking back at the first 20 bands of this podcast series, you see a lot of great music that has been lost and mostly forgotten, which is why it's always a treat to find and give a little exposure to something new. Brandon Bowman is pretty well known in certain circles around the state or up in Chicago, but has, so far, made only a few appearances gigging here in town. Those appearances, however, have garnered enough attention that more than one person has heard him and recommended him to me (even after I put him in my bottomless pile of stuff I need to check out). Aside from his incredible diversity and confidence in both playing and singing, what drew me to Brandon was his energy that, on the night I first saw him, drew in a crowd of people from the other side of the room who had never heard of him before, and who certainly hadn't come there to see him. That's power, folks. Brandon is joined on this interview by his personal videographer, Desiree Longworth, who discusses some of her more-interesting projects over the last few years. Links referenced in the show: Brandon Boman can be found here: | | His first album, Underground Exhibitions can be found here: | | . My first exposure to him was his appearance at my local open mic, where he performed, I believe, . I was sold after about 30 seconds. His album was recorded variously at and locally in Indianapolis. You have to love , especially if you're a lyrical musician. Purple (For Now) was inspired by the film . "Warriors come out to play," is a reference to the 1979 film, The Warriors. . For the record there is nothing wrong or uncool about the movie . You can find here. Highly recommended listening. Not sure where to begin an exploration of ? Me neither. Brandon will be kicking off the at Birdy's on August 31.