Next Monday the Taxpayers and the Annandale Cardinals are going to play here at the shop, and oh yeah we’re excited! Here’s a link to the Facebook page with details.
The Taxpayers are a Portland, Oregon group out on their ninth national tour (!), visiting our little record shop on their way to the Plan-It-X Festival in Bloomington Indiana. We have been playing their newest album, To Risk so Much for One Damn Meal, a lot around the shop. Here’s the first song:
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The Taxpayers are known to be a fantastically fun live group, and we’re looking forward to hosting them – They will also play next week at the Psychic School (2440 Lyndale Ave S) on Sunday night and at the Krondstadt on Tuesday. Neither Laura or I have seen them before, but we’re excited because of their reputation for fantastic, memorable live performances.
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To Risk so Much for One Damn Meal is a great record and you’re going to have a hard time pinning it down even if there’s some obvious influences. One thing that’s especially unique is Rob Taxpayer’s idiosyncratic and lovable lyrics and delivery. Part John Hartford and Part Jeff Ott, he puts together songs you can hear again and again while still hearing something new each time. The band’s instrumentation, which brings in everything from accordions and banjos to the brassy horns on the new album, implies its enormous range of influences. These guys are a dream for listeners that listen to everything.
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These two songs are from the album A Rhythm in the Cages – The first is “Dig Too Deep” and the second “No Lodging for the Mad”. I thought the latter would be hard to play on tour – With its chorus of “Fuck this town / Fuck this city” – But one-time Taxpayer and Hymie’s go-to sound man Eric Frame tells us its a favorite live number because the fans love to sing along.
Along with the Taxpayers, the Annandale Cardinals will play a set, including songs from the just-finished album Feel Better. Laura and I got a little preview of the final mix, and here’s a sample for you – This is “Frostbit, Broken”:
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And while we’re at it, another clip from their Record Store Day performance here on 39th Avenue. These guys really saved the day by playing such a rockin’ set!
We’re celebrating the end of our expansion with next Monday’s show, and so we’re going to cook out for the early birds. You can count on both of these bands to put on a really great show and we hope you can make it!
This is what they asked me to draw.
