Slingshot Dakota - Their Dreams Are Dead, But Ours Is The Golden Ghost!

I first heard of Slingshot Dakota years ago. My old band, Ladies & Everyone, played a show with them and the now Alternative Press approved, Polar Bear Club. It was a show that to this day has made me hate kids in the scene. It was very unattended. But if this same show was to happen today, it would be shit packed full. But i digress. At that point in time, slingshot was a 3 piece indie group on the lighter side. Except off course for their drummer Tom who seemed to try to hit his drums as hard a humanly possible. Stewart Copeland what? I enjoyed the band and ended up traveling to Oswego, NY to go see a free show they were playing with Damiera a few weeks later. The surprise came for me when i went up to say hi, and there guitarist was no where to be found. It turned out, and i still don't know all of the info behind the situation, he had suddenly quit the band. That show was interesting to say the least. Watching a band perform that was abruptly forced from a 3 to 2 piece without warning can be nothing but interesting. But they made their way through their set despite a lot of the songs feeling like they were missing something. I left the show feeling uncertain about the band and their future. And i was really bummed. I even told Carly I'd move to NYC and play guitar for them. I think she thought i was joking. haha. NOPE! Anyway, Slingshot Dakota did not break up. And they didn't get a new guitar player or any other musicians for the band. They decided to keep it just the two of them. I don't know when it was that I first saw them as a two piece, but i know i was blown away. They were fucking TIGHT! Jazz players would say they were "in the pocket." I was so glad they stuck it out because it seemed like they were able to get to a new level of comfort ability together musically that was/is awesome to see. “Their Dreams Are Dead, But Ours Is The Golden Ghost!" is the first album the band released as a two piece. And I love it. For those not in the know, Slingshot Dakota is a duo consisting of a drummer and keyboard player. Both of the members sing though Carly sings the majority. They play a brand of indie rock that is very heartfelt and passionate, while being very energetic and almost hardcore influenced at times with the crowd's participation. This is another time where my lack a knowledge leaves me scratching my head to who I would recommend this band for. Its so nice to have a "For fans of.." section. I am very bad at that if you havent noticed from past entries on here. I think another problem for me is, i don’t listen to any other duo's consisting drums and keyboards. I saw Mates Of State live and thought they were a fucking joke. So like i said, no comparisons. Personally, this album could be called "Soundtrack to a ongoing love affair" because my girlfriend and I tend to listen to it a lot when we are driving around going place to place. I took her to go see one of their concerts back in May and ever since, she’s been hooked. We are going to see them this upcoming Tuesday. Which is why I chose to write about this album. I’ve become quite found of the album since that May show because it’s one of the first things my girlfriend and I shared shortly after getting together. So yeah, fuck me because I write blogs with my heart. Haha. Just listen to the album. Its good, I swear.

Go and listen to some of their songs on their myspace

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You can buy the album directly from them on their myspace page as well.

Television - Marquee Moon

What you need to understand is that to me, this is real original punk. Not The Sex Pistols. Not The Clash. For some reason I always thought the first punk music was this: NYC 77. I don’t know why. I think it was probably because my first taste of what old punk was, wasn’t all that British stuff. It was all the New York bands. Television being one of my favorites.

I’ve seen interviews in a few movies on the genre of punk, where members of both The Sex Pistols and The Clash admit that they were all at the first Ramones show in England, and then started their bands after seeing that band. At least those “punks” had a blueprint to build off of. God, or the flying spaghetti monster, only knows what influenced Television to play the way they did. Or be able to play what they did. They did things on their debut full length “Marquee Moon” that I cant honestly think of influence for reference. Lets just take the albums title track for instance. It starts with every member coming in and playing on some off beat of one another. Math rock ancestry fodder maybe? The leads and solos in the song are not your typical blues based guitar lines used in popular rock at the time. You can hear it in the song's however many minute long guitar solo. Which leads into a build up and peak that I have to think influenced Sonic Youth on some level. And that’s only one song. Overall, this is a punk rock record, with an emphasis on the rock. Though there are a lot of ideas from other genres of music. Elements of classic pop songs can be heard in “Guiding Light.” While a song like “Elevation” has an almost reggae vibe in the beginning, but completely changes by the chorus. Singer/guitarist Tom Verlaine has such a distinct voice. It works so well with his lyrical style. And both his voice and lyrics work so well with the music the band produced on this album. Like they were all made for one another.

I feel like, over time, people who have wanted something different in the music they listen to have gravitated towards this record. A lot of the ideas contained on this album might not seem like a big deal today. But viewed in context, its kind of outrageous this band did what they did, when they did it. I think the album still holds up as one of the greatest “punk” albums, and maybe one of the best albums of the 70’s.

-matthew st.

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