Three Imaginary Girls - Cars Can Be Blue

Imaginary Mixtape: NYC and SF Popfest edition {May 2010}

imaginary liz — Tue, 25 May 2010 13:29:59 +0000

May is a magical month here in Seattle. We've got spots of sun teasing us with summer promises, Sasquatch anticipation running rampant, and the warm glows of SIFF oozing with the best international indie films. There's only one reason we'd ever want to leave our emerald city bubble during this sweet spot of the year... a good ole fashioned PopFest!

This year, the month of May brought with it two very enticing reasons to head elsewhere: The New York City Popfest {May 20-23, 2010} and the San Francisco Popfest {May 27-30, 2010}. To mark these special events, we've gathered up some of our favorite songs by folks playing these festivals which includes a couple cover songs, a not-yet-released Math & Physics Club song and some rarities to up the popfest ante. If you were one of the lucky folks that caught any of the NYC or SF Popfest shows, let us know how it went!

***Listen to the Imaginary Popfest Podcast MP3***
{To download the podcast, right click on the link above
and save to your computer}

Athens Popfest 2010 lineup announced

imaginary keenan — Fri, 21 May 2010 09:42:08 +0000

Today is like Christmas morning for indie pop nerds. Today, I am giddy as hell because THE ATHENS POPFEST LINEUP HAS BEEN ANNOUNCED! I've compared Athens Popfest before to indie pop summer camp, but basically, it's the best week out of the year for anyone who loves indie pop. And this year, I think they've really done it with the lineup:

The Wedding Present, Mission of Burma, Apples In Stereo, Go Sailor, Circulatory System, Oh-OK (early Athens greatness), Joe Jack Talcum (Dead Milkmen), Nana Grizol, BOAT, Cars Can Be Blue, Poison Control Center, Gold-Bears, Dream Diary, Eux Autres, Afternoon Naps, World Atlas, Your Heart Breaks and more. Complete lineup after the jump. Commence freaking out and immediately buying plane tickets now. Check out complete band bios here.

A roadtrip to Athens, GA... and other things going on this weekend

imaginary liz — Thu, 01 Apr 2010 22:15:28 +0000

Tomorrow morning, before the crack of dawn, I'll be headed to Atlanta, GA to visit my mom and sister for the weekend (they moved there a few years back, after I had already survived a Delaware childhood). Besides getting to visit with the fams, I am elated that my mom agreed to not only transport me from suburban Atlanta to Lil Five Points to visit ATL's Criminal Records, but also go on a mini-roadtrip to Athens for the day on Saturday!

It's no secret I love all that is Athens, GA. Over the last *cough* decade+, I have enjoyed many a stroll down Lumpkin Street and have worn out more than one 40 Watt Club t-shirt. I really don't think I will ever get over my Athens-obsession.

The highlights this time around? A visit to Wuxtry Records and lunch at The Grit. While running around GA, I will also have my eye out for some thrift stores (the southern ladies usually donate some pretty fly wares) and I might even spot a Nana Grizol or Cars Can Be Blue!

Anything else we should do while in the sweetest of small towns for the day? Any GA local releases I should look out for in the shops?

In case you're not roadtripping this weekend and will be in Seattle with your marshmallow peeps, there's plenty of stuff to keep you busy (hello Miniature Tigers and Surfer Blood!):

Athens Popfest 2010 first lineup announcement!

imaginary keenan — Tue, 02 Mar 2010 22:23:22 +0000

{Robert Schneider from the Apples In Stereo from Athens Popfest 2008}

We here at TIG have been crushing out over Athens Popfest for years. I've been every year since 2006 and Liz went in 2005 and 2007. It's pretty much always the best week of the year, fusing together amazing indie pop, delicious food (seriously, Athens has the best!), and wonderful community. I look forward to the lineup announcement all year long, and the wonderful popfest folks have given us just a taste of what's to come, featuring some of my current favorite bands and lots of TIG favorites (and as always, some newbies I'm so excited to hear)!

Keenan's year end wrap up!

imaginary keenan — Wed, 31 Dec 2008 23:37:56 +0000

I'm always terrible at finishing best-of lists. I have a tendency of being at least half a year behind on albums everyone else loves.

Three Imaginary Girls Podcast {November 18, 2008}

imaginary dana — Fri, 28 Nov 2008 04:57:10 +0000

The setlist for our latest sparkly indie-pop podcast -- enjoy!

42:17 minutes (8 MB)

It's official: Cars Can Be Blue have the worst luck ever, deported.

imaginary liz — Wed, 26 Nov 2008 16:35:57 +0000

Nate and Becky have been denied entry into the UK to play their tour.

Doubly Unbeatable

Chris Estey — Wed, 03 Sep 2008 05:37:28 +0000

7.6

http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B001C3MY5S/?tag=wwwthreeimagi-20

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I love this band. A small dual-ponytailed post-feminist rageaholic ranter frontwoman (Becky Brooks) and her penis-obsessed drummer male band partner (Nate Mitchell), coming off like twisted moral libertarians creating zines in their trailer on the edge of a Southern state industrial lot, meth fumes leaking in from the bikers next door, various poseurs buried in their beer-can littered backyard. Except instead of the small press they write, record, and perform those screeds as pop culture mocking girl group harmonized Borderline Personality Disorder (oh yeah, they got it, or they're fronting real well) Modern Lovers-driven love-hate odes to the haters and shit-lovers of this world.

Doubly Unbeatable follows up their 2005 debut All The Stuff We Do with a broader palette, a bit less angst in some of the tracks, and still contains the magic of a subversively simple sing-along perverted pop duo saying more than you think when you hear them sing.

The messages this time are often more subtle than the grateful odes to abortion and superhero-fucking on their first album, but the sixteen songs here add the production zing of red state production prince Jeff ("Flesh Hammer") Walls (Woggles, Guadacanal Diary). The cruelty of the parody here on the absolutely gut-gouging funny-as-hell but not cool, not cool at all "Cycle of Violence" (in which Mitchell growls uncomfortable lines like "if you want to raise a kid then you got to raise a welt").

Cars Can Be Blue are at their best when Brooks is slapping a sycophant silly ("Pretty Special" with its sweet band-slut bashing lyrics "You get them all with your big vagina / I guess you are their biggest fan" and "Please put that pussy down / because it's been all over town") or even slyly subverting a seemingly hopeful love song (the "sassy" opener, "Sun Blows Up," which is a gorgeous love musical love letter that hides its internalization of atomic annihilation until you've heard it maybe three or four times).

Oddly, some of the nastiest songs are also the most musical, whereas the more merciful tracks are not as catchy. She is one unbelievably mean elf though at times, and Mitchell is one joyful collaborator, injecting each of her poison frosting cake flowers with his own tumescent venom.

There are soon-to-be-classics here ("Pretty Special," "Seems We're Breakin' Up"), redundant satires ("I Think It's A ...," "You're On Drugs") and some things that stretch the band a little farther into "acceptable" touring independent rock band territory ("Sun Blows Up," "Coat Tails"). They even throw in a zombie song for good measure ("Eyeballs") which shows that their selected Schadenfreude may transcend the personal horrors of child-birthing, child-raising, rock band following, and sex in general. The next album might be full on United States Black Metal, with Becky wearing enormous antlers on stage stomping all over a miniature nunnery. CCBB is the kind of band where that wouldn't surprise you at all.

Doubly Unbeatable follows up their 2005 debut All The Stuff We Do with a broader palette, a bit less angst in some of the tracks, and still contains the magic of a subversively simple sing-along perverted pop duo saying more than you think when you hear them sing.

Athens Popfest 2008 - Day Two

imaginary keenan — Thu, 21 Aug 2008 05:09:18 +0000

14 Aug 2008

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Playing first (2pm) on a very long string of bands is always a difficult feat (especially when most folks had been out until 3am the previous night), but St. Louis’ That’s My Daughter brought their Ramones meets Fastbacks meets Bunnygrunt (the band featured Mario-grunt on guitar and guested Matt-grunt on lead vocals for a song) meets Buzzcocks performance to 11pm in a seedy, dark club level, complete with a beer can holder attached to the microphone stand. Needless to say, even my uncaffeinated head was incredibly impressed.

Up next, on the very opposite end of the sonic spectrum were Denton, TX’s Little Birds. Featuring a member of Fishboy, a touring member of Red Pony Clock among other fine Denton folks, their beautifully haunting Neko Case overtop orchestrated indie pop set left me with goosebumps and the desire for more. Here's video of Little Birds from the show:

My desire for food and caffeine overtook my will to see more new music, but I made it back in time to catch a bit of Panda Riot, whose blippy female fronted sound reminded me quite a bit of a softer and more shoegazey Broadcast (in a good way).

Due to having to load in for my own band’s (Patience Please) 40 Watt set, I missed all but half a song of Averkiou, which I was sad about because their mid-90’s noisy power-pop sound was right up my alley.

Later that night, the first thing I caught was Bunnygrunt, who year after year are always a highlight. Their sound of the Buzzcocks meets Blondie always warms my heart and makes me shake my ass and jump up and down a lot (even in heels). (Side note – my bandmates and I took over the Seattle contingent who in past years had showered Bunnygrunt with midset shots and brought Bunnygrunt two rounds of shots on stage. They noted the quality had greatly improved from last year.)

Bunnygrunt photo by Keenan Dowers

Cars Can Be Blue photo by Jon Manning

Next up was a perennial Athens band favorite, Cars Can Be Blue, who played many songs off their new record Doubly Unbeatable, as well as many classic favorites off of their first effort All the Stuff We Do. They’ve tightened their set quite a bit, and very much lived up to their title (or so friends and I decided) as this generation’s even dirtier Vaselines. Their set also included a cover of Peter Bjorn and John’s “Young Folks” featuring Jason and Kay from Casper and the Cookies and members of We Versus the Shark. Here's the video of their song “I Hope You’re Hurting Now”:

Sometimes Athens Popfest is more about having an adventure with your friends than watching the scheduled bands, so because I’d missed Tom Gorrio from Baby Calendar’s set earlier (he was back to back with Cars Can Be Blue), he played a special show for a few friends in the 40 Watt parking lot, filled with some old classic Baby Calendar songs, new solo songs, and even a jam with an older gentleman passerby. (Note – if anyone has video of this, please send it my way!)

Tom Gorrio photo by Eric Boogiepop
(ed note: Yea, I don't know why Eric's timestamp is on this photo and why it is set for 18+ months in the past)

I’ve never cared at all about Dark Meat, besides the fascination that a band like that could be on such a huge record label like Vice, so I missed them. But, this is what their set looked like for those that are curious.

Dark Meat photo by Jon Manning

Due to personal reasons (and maybe some slight intoxication), I missed most of Roky Erickson (my dad’s going to be pissed), but there was a point when I heard the opening chords of “You’re Gonna Miss Me” and I ran into the 40 Watt screaming “Hey! I like this song!”. Dark psych rock isn’t really much of my thing, but from what I can saw (and from what I heard from other folks), it was a great set. I also heard sort of a hilarious rumor from the guy who served me breakfast on Sunday that Roky actually thinks he is a vampire, and it’s not just that song.

With Bunnygrunt, Cars Can Be Blue, Little Birds, Panda Riot, Roky Erickson, That's My Daughter, and Tom Gorrio.

Athens PopFest 2007: Day 3 with Fishboy, Cars Can Be Blue, Daniel Johnston and more...

imaginary liz — Fri, 17 Aug 2007 16:38:00 +0000

11 Aug 2007

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Black Kids were the surprise of the PopFest. And I'm not alone in my Black Kids adulation--everyone in my 8-person group was screaming "I LOVE BLACK KIDS" after their show. They were the opening band on this, the final day of the PopFest and their quick wit banter was disarming and hilarious. Their songs were catchy and well-thought out without being contrived. Visiting from Jacksonville, Florida, the fresh-faced fivesome played a packed set of songs (My favorite being "I underestimated my charm again") and even braved a killer Clash cover.

The two keyboarding ladies danced without abandon, and at one point Ali Youngblood ventured out into the audience with her tambourine and skipped around the elated audience. After the show, the band gave out a bunch of free burned cds of their demos - which unfortunately didn't really capture the magic of their live show. The beguiling Smiths' guitar, unaffected Robert Smiths vocals of lead singer and guitarist Reggie Youngblood, cool cheerleader girl vocals with a zealous rhythm section was lost to less than ideal recording quality. If you listen to them on MySpace, you'll hear some reverb and over synth'd versions of the songs... which in no way illustrate the energy and songsmanship of the band live. This doesn't diminish my urge to evangelize Black Kinds and I still crown them the PopFest highlight.

Jerk Alert were next up. They started their set with a loud cacophony of sound - which I assumed was just a way to grab our attention. Actually, that Bratmobile screaming, fuckpunk loud monster sound continued through the whole set. I retreated to the back and gathered my thoughts during this set, though it should be noted the lead singer wore a spanking red velour outfit.

The electro-melancholy trio The Pains of Being Pure at Heart were part Suburban Kids with Biblical Names, part John Hughes soundtrack, and as the lead singer's t-shirt suggested, part-Belle and Sebastian. Their songs nervously charmed with shy boy distain for encounters of the interpersonal ilk and the midi beats harkening to the bedroom pop they likely pulled influence. The delicate combo was quite delightful.

The Visitations set rounded out the day portion of the Saturday shows and started off with a guy, a guitar and a posterboard guerilla face over the microphone. It got less interesting from there and no matter how much the promise of having the fellow joined by members of Red Pony Clock intrigued us, we needed to head out for our DIY Athens tour (which included stops at indie-rock historical spots - Weaver D's anyone?).

The evening portion of the last night of PopFest started a few hours later at the 40 Watt. Red Pony Clock took the stage and before picking up their instruments, all the guys took their shirts off. The 11-member crew wore coordinated outfits (the boys topless and in matching swim trucks, ladies in striped tank top dresses) and broke into their trademark indie mexicali dance party songs. The group sported several brass (trumpets, trombones), oboe, clarinet, drums, bongos, accordion, guitars, bells, among other instruments.

Lead singer, etc. Gabe charmed with the wit and ended the set with a "Helicopter Shirt Dance" to the song "Don't Forget Who Your Friends Are" which inspired several male audience members to take off their shirts and swing them around like a helicopter through the song.

Denton, TX's Fishboy were next - and by song three they were a favorite of the fest. The band's onstage antics and banter, quick, concise songs and spazzing keyboardist left us breathless. They have a TMBG meets Jawbreaker vibe with nothing slow or subtle about their songs.

They charge forward with literary whimsy and fast-paced guitar rifts and even took their live energy into the physical realm by smashing a DVD player at the end of the set. I've loved their song "Woodward Ave" for some time (and the new songs they recently posted to the website are quite addictive as well) so it was no surprise when the quartet's set left me counting down to the release of their new album, Albatross: How We Failed To Save The Lone Star State With The Power Of Rock And Roll in the fall.

Next up, it was payback for Bunnygrunt. The band has become infamous for supplying multiple rounds of shots to their friends on stage (see Tullycraft's PopFest show in 2005, and the earlier Casper and the Cookies show for evidence), so they were bombarded this time rwith six rounds of shots during their set this year.

Being troopers (or at least well-practiced in the art of shots), they persevered and the only slip up was during banter when Matt said "I'd thank to like..." They blazed through a Warren Zevon cover, which they sup’d up by adding a horn section made up of members from Hat Company and Red Pony Clock. They ended the set with Poison Control Center's "Love is the Answer" and it’s accompanying dancing and singing along a mass of band and indie pop folk on to the stage. It was the best Bunnygrunt show I've seen thus far - not sure if that's due to their songs or their shots.

Everyone had been counting down to the set by imaginary favorites Cars Can Be Blue. Earlier in the night the pair had promised a big ending, so as they made their way through their catalog of non-risque tracks (they were keeping it somewhat clean this night) our anticipation grew. Notable new songs dotted the set included "Coat Tails" which finger points at the locals who drop names to feel important with lines like "I know that you are friends wiht all the right bands" and the self-explanatory "Merch Song" In honor of the PopFests organizers Happy Happy Birthday To Me Records, they covered Cracker's "Happy Birthday to Me."

The finale came with a high-reverb cover of "Purple Rain" and featured Nate and Becky spewing fighting words to each other via a huge newspaper board pad. The song ended with a shower of confetti and balloons dropping from the ceiling (someone was good at the game Mousetrap to set that contraption up!). They didn't disclose when we can expect the next album or tour... but fingers crossed it is soon.

Dark Meat, Dark Meat, Dark Meat. Ah yes, the Dark Meat. The hippy army took full advantage of the stage and blasted out the mayhem with at least 20 folks dark-meating it up. As we've covered in the past, they are an elementary music class production come jam session that fills up a room with sound and are a force to be reckoned with. The songs are filled with mayhem but hints of “In the Aeroplane Over the Sea” trumpet with Polyphonic Spree group vocals / screams are hard to ignore. Oddly, with the room temperature at near boiling, the havoc they reeked was a nice charge to the party and I think I left the fest with a keen appreciation and, dare I say, understanding of the band.

Japan's Elekibass filled the room with as much good will and cutesy charisma as a Hello Kitty convention. The audience, members of my posse included, were enraptured with their uber-happy pop tunes to the point of demanding an encore.

Daniel Johnston took the stage and divided his set up into three even pieces. The first part was him solo with his guitar humbly strumming through his catalog. During the second movement, he was joined by an acoustic guitarist who played while he focused on vocals and mesmerized the audience into silence. Throughout the set, the only peeps made were when the masses riotously cheered between songs.

The third part, arguably the most engaging, Daniel was joined by Casper and the Cookies who acted as his back up band. Not so surprisingly they started with "Casper the Friendly Ghost" and with "Hey Joe" soon following. Not much could have prepared us for when Daniel asked the audience what song we wanted to hear, to which he said, "I bet you want to hear this one" and launched into "Speeding Motorcycle." This version had an easy listening feel and lulled us all into a contented cocoon state.

He ended the set with "Gonna Rock this Town Tonight" which included the addition of Elekibass on stage. The sing-along climaxed into a sweaty riotous crowning point with everyone worked up into a frenzy of rock. Whew. Athens PopFest, a frenzy of rock.

The Athens PopFest ruled... a helicopter shirt dance AND Daniel Johnston AND Japanese Pop AND horns? YES!

igLiz leaves for Athens, TIG posts a Cars Can Be Blue video in her honor

imaginary dana — Thu, 09 Aug 2007 15:55:42 +0000

What is wrong with me? Why won't anyone love me?

Athens PopFest Countown: Spotlight on Fishboy

imaginary liz — Tue, 07 Aug 2007 15:56:41 +0000

You'd think I'd take this opportunity to point you to a bunch of Cars Can Be Blue songs, right? Nah, let's talk about Fishboy.

Athens PopFest Update

imaginary liz — Wed, 20 Jun 2007 13:12:54 +0000

Huzzah! The final wave of bands just added to the Athens PopFest has been announced! In addition to the stellar line up announced a while back (including Ted Leo, Daniel Johnston and, imaginary favorite, Cars Can Be Blue), the PopFest will now feature performances by...

Short attention span songs

imaginary liz — Tue, 12 Jun 2007 15:48:42 +0000

Since the folks at Not Quite Rocket Science began their podcasting a couple months ago, I've been enjoying their comps. Last week's podcast is one of my favorites yet. It is group of their shortie/sweet songs.

Athens Popfest 2007 details announced!

imaginary liz — Tue, 15 May 2007 21:39:51 +0000

The Popfest will fill up two Athens venues (40 Watt Club and Little Kings Shuffle Club) from August 8-11, 2007 and will, as always, be brought to us by the fine Happy Happy Birthday to Me folks.

Tullycraft cover by A Candlelight Vigil

imaginary dana — Wed, 25 Apr 2007 22:44:07 +0000

A Candlelight Vigil are an indie-power-pop duo from Tempe Arizona who have been our imaginary MySpace pals for some time now.

An indie-pop mixtape for super-spring Friday!

imaginary liz — Fri, 20 Apr 2007 17:08:19 +0000

Note to the indie-pop lovers among us: The folks at Not Quite Rocket Science have launched their own indiepop blog / podcasts with an eye on offering high quality indie-pop mixtapes for the masses.

Holy NYC POPFEST Batman!

imaginary liz — Fri, 20 Apr 2007 00:59:15 +0000

The NYC Popfest folks have announced their 2007 line-up and HOLY COW is it fantabulous! IT MAKES ME WANT TO TYPE IN ALL CAPS!
Behold - I'll post the line-up now and comment more once I gather myself.

"Dirty Song" by Cars Can Be Blue

Erik Gonzalez — Thu, 19 Apr 2007 16:55:27 +0000

Cars Can Be Blue have a special place in my heart for a number of important reasons:

(a) They are named after a skit from the shortlived but undervalued MTV skit show The State. In this skit, contestants on a game show win orphans. Of course, both players play to lose and the final question is "Name a form of transportation". One contestant answers "blue" and the judges confer decide "Yes! Cars can be blue!" and every wins!

(b) The lead singer is cute. There, I said it. When I saw CCBB at the Croc in Seattle, I saw her wandering around the bar and thought "she looks like a cute indie girl with glasses" and I was right. What I didn't realize was the filth that would come from what appeared to be a demure lady.

Now, one thing you need to realize about CCBB is that they are very, very dirty. I mean filthy dirty. I mean, the drummer was in the crowd in his tighty whiteys grinding with random audience members dirty. And "The Dirty Song" is exactly what it seems. It starts sounding like a cute little indie rock song only to become a song that might make Chingy blush. For example, we find the lead singer singing lines like:

"You can sodomize me
get behind and ride me
stuff your c*^k inside me
proceed to f$#k me blindly."

Yes, indeed. It's all topped by the slow and tender bridge of "We don't have to anything/if you don't want/we could just look into each others eyes/...and masterbate!" Oh yes. I just get all red-faced thinking about. How I love you, Cars Can Be Blue!

{iPod Roulette is a daily feature from TIG writer Erik Gonzalez, where he highlights the first track his 11,400 track iPod picks for each day. Think of it as your imaginary daily affirmation. For past rounds of roulette, check the iPod Roulette archives.}

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What I didn't realize was the filth that would come from what appeared to be a demure lady.

Ltd Ed. Vinyl = Happy Happy Birthday To Me!!!

imaginary liz — Thu, 22 Mar 2007 17:34:07 +0000

The Happy Happy Birthday to Me Records 2007 Singles Club is limited to 450 copies. Finally - the perfect gift for your hard-to-buy-for vinyl loving friend (let me know if you need my mailing address).