Ball of Wax 38 Songs of Protest: Mindie Lind – “For Palestine”

Posted on October 13, 2014 by Levi Fuller

I don’t think Mindie knows this, but this song is part of the reason I decided to make Ball of Wax 38 a collection of protest songs. It was one of those particularly awful weeks this summer, when the violence in Palestine and in Ferguson was shocking the world and it seemed like everything was going to get a lot worse before it gets much better (OK, it still mostly seems like that). Mindie Lind (of Inly), feeling as sad and helpless as the rest of us, reached into her soul, pulled forth this mournful meditation, and shared it on Bandcamp. A week or so later I decided on this theme for Volume 38 and hoped she would let me put this song on it. Lo and behold, hers was one of the first submissions I received! I don’t know what good this song – or any of the songs on this collection – will do, but sometimes you just have to do something, and when the result is as beautiful as “For Palestine,” you know that you’ve done a hell of a lot better than throwing more bombs or guns at the problem.

I’m very much looking forward to hearing Mindie play this tune and more on Conor Byrne’s trusty old upright piano on Friday the 17th at the Ball of Wax 38 release show.

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Ball of Wax 38 Songs of Protest: The Harvey Girls – “Cool, Free Water”

Posted on October 10, 2014 by Jon Rooney

Portland’s the Harvey Girls make their first contribution to Ball of Wax with “Cool, Free Water,” a noisy, scratchy collage of sound that declares the seemingly self-evident human right for free access to clean drinking water. Vocal soundbites decrying the notion of privatizing water supplies and the humanitarian imperative for free water drift in and out above a burbling cauldron of percussion, bass, phase-y electric guitar and a grab bag of other instruments. These soundbites never give way to proper lead vocals, but I think that’s part of the point of the song – we shouldn’t need some Apollonian ego to declare that people need water, it’s a shared idea. We all know that “corporations are not people” and water is a right, right? “Cool, Free Water” is a well-formed protest against ideas around public goods that could lead to an awfully dystopian tomorrow.  Pre-emptive protest is the best protest – thanks Harvey Girls.

The Harvey Girls will join us at Conor Byrne on Friday, October 17th for the Ball of Wax 38 release show.

These are not the Harvey Girls – this is a vision of Dystopia. And Tina Turner.

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Ball of Wax 38 Songs of Protest: Julia Massey & the Five Finger Discount – “Nuclear Disarmament”

Posted on October 10, 2014 by Levi Fuller

Singer-songwriter Julia Massey and her gang have been making delightful noises around Seattle for at least a few years now, but this is their first appearance on Ball of Wax. I’m so glad they had a protest song all ready to go! “Nuclear Disarmament,” which will appear on their forthcoming album A.L.I.T.E., is perhaps the most blissfully sweet treatise you’ll ever hear on the terror of living in a world filled with weapons that could destroy the planet many times over. Synthesized melodic percussion and delayed-drenched guitar harmonics and volume swells give Massey’s wide-ranging alto voice a musical backdrop that’s pretty, yet shot through with tension.

Most of the lyrics get lost in the mix (at least to my poor ears), with occasional phrases jumping out, such as “in the hope that trees will outlive me” and “forgive us for the things we’ve done,” but the title alone does a fair amount of work on the protest front. Nuclear disarmament is one of those issues that seems to have sunk below the surface for most people, yet is still incredibly important, still something worth fighting for. Hearing a pretty pop song with the title “Nuclear Disarmament” at least brings it into people’s minds as a thing to care about or hope for, which is, unfortunately, an achievement these days.

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Ball of Wax 38 Songs of Protest: The Foghorns – “Sons and Daughters of the Molly Maguires”

Posted on October 9, 2014 by Jon Rooney

Ball of Wax mainstays the Foghorns gift us all another gem with “Sons and Daughters of the Molly Maguires,” a seething, smart foray into our largely-forgotten history of labor strife and largely-suppressed tradition of class struggle. The Foghorns do righteous anger really well, and “Sons and Daughters of the Molly Maguires” is an outstanding bookend to “Ain’t I A Man.”  Lead Foghorn Bart Cameron sings “when my grandma served your grandma / she was told to wear gloves” with the thrilling, bold-faced scorn that the line deserves. When the chorus of “we ain’t no band of brothers / got no Governors for hire / we’re the angry sons and daughters of the Molly Maguires,” the song blooms into a joyous threat. “Sons and Daughters of the Molly Maguires” is a welcomed reminder of a strain of grounded, resilient, working-class resistance that the US has seemed to lose track of. Why? How? Like all regrettable cultural inheritance, I (probably unfairly) blame the Baby Boomers.

Note: this is not the Foghorns

Recorded at Foghorn and Ball of Waxer Colin J Nelson’s Her Car studio in Fremont, “Sons and Daughters of the Molly Maguires” boasts a lean, mean arrangement befitting the song’s content and tone. Play this song loudly:

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Ball of Wax 38 Songs of Protest: Darryl Blood – “Gimme Some Soul”

Posted on October 9, 2014 by Jon Rooney

Daryl Blood employs Bob Dylan’s cascade of words technique from “Subterranean Homesick Blues” for the verses of “Gimme Some Soul,” a song that seems to vent frustrations about the music industry (or what Adorno would call the culture industry – wait, where are you going?) and the struggle for recognition and some degree of success. For a protest song, the lyrics are pretty vague but still effective. Phrases like “play dead / stay fed / don’t believe what you’ve read” and “can’t get my foot in the door of industry” stream past the listener before the chorus of “oh, oh, gimme some soul” kicks in. The chorus has a similar scrappy, quasi-soul feel as Ga Ga Ga Ga Ga-era Spoon and the rest of the song rumbles along and gets a little noisy in spots too. There’s a rich tradition of railing against the music industry in song, from the Sex Pistol’s “EMI” and Lynyrd Skynyrd’s “Working for MCA” to Destroyer’s whole Streethawk: A Seduction record, and “Gimme Some Soul” is an nice underdog contribution from Mr. Blood.

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Ball of Wax 38 Songs of Protest: Peter Colclasure – “Where’s My Bailout Muthafuckers?”

Posted on October 8, 2014 by Levi Fuller

With apologies to any young listeners who might have joined our ranks with our kid-friendly Songs about Animals project, our friend Peter Colclasure has another take on the current economic state of affairs. Pete takes a less subtle – and less FCC-friendly – approach than Shiv Hurrah, but the result is no less pleasing to the ears. Turns out Mr. Colclasure can’t help but turn out high-quality pop songs, even when he’s railing against the oligarchy and spitting out lines like “you say you won’t pay some loser’s debts / well I will see your contempt and raise you a pound of flesh” (not to mention the reference to Ayn Rand-generated boners and how they relate to the 2006 housing market forecasts). The stomping punk rock coda is priceless, and will have you shouting “where’s my, where’s my bailout muthafuckers?” with proletarian zeal.

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Ball of Wax 38 Songs of Protest: Shiv Hurrah – “Chicken Sip”

Posted on October 8, 2014 by Levi Fuller

The newest volume of Ball of Wax Audio Quarterly – to be released Friday, October 17th at Conor Byrne – is a collection of new and original songs about protest, with folks protesting everything from privatization of water rights to union-busting to Mars Hill Church. The first track comes across the country from Shiv Hurrah, whom we haven’t heard from since back in 2010.

“Chicken Sip” is a delightfully bouncy chunk of indie pop that masks a heartfelt, poetic diatribe against the economic landscape in present-day America. Backed by acoustic guitar, bass, and shuffling snare drum, David Bechle sings “Scales are falling down like arrows from your eyes / and every time the closing bell is rung an angel cries / it’s like a silent song, a story left untold / the city sold the Brooklyn Bridge to pave the streets with gold . . . whatever happened to the chicken in each and every pot?” As economic disparity grows ever wider, I think a lot of people are asking the same question.

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Ball of Wax 38: Friday, October 17th at Conor Byrne

Posted on October 2, 2014 by Levi Fuller

BoW38

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PROTEST! Submit to Ball of Wax 38

Posted on August 14, 2014 by Levi Fuller
Photo courtesy Flickr user Wystan, via Creative Commons license. (Cropped from original)

Photo courtesy Flickr user Wystan, via Creative Commons license.

Is it just me, or does it seem like there’s a lot to protest lately?

For the next volume of Ball of Wax, to be released this fall, I have decided it’s time to get feisty (and no, I don’t mean move to Canada and sing catchy hooks in a coy, pretty voice). I am calling for songs of protest!

Your submissions can be straightforward political songs, surreal, fictional, and/or satirical takes on the form; direct or oblique, earnest or cheeky, angry or sad . . . channel your inner Bragg/Baez/Mingus/Styrene/Riley and get up in arms about something!

Deadline: September 15

Submission guidelines over here.

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Album Review: Meursault – The Organ Grinder’s Monkey

Posted on August 7, 2014 by Jon Rooney

The Organ Grinders MonkeyMeursault – The Organ Grinder’s Monkey
(Song, By Toad Records, 2014)

Back in January, Scottish band Meursault did a Kickstarter to raise money for travel to the USA for SXSW and a two week tour of the East Coast. Despite a goal of 3,000 pounds, Meursault raised over 5,000 pounds (that’s what, like $800 US? The notes have funny colors, it’s hard to tell). The primary thing that folks received for their support was an as-yet unrecorded CD from the band that backers themselves could influence with requests for cover songs. The Organ Grinder’s Monkey is the product of that exercise, and it’s fantastic. In fact, despite the fact that Meursault seemingly had a successful SXSW and tour (they played the mighty Fergie’s Pub in Philly, which is a magical touchstone for me), The Organ Grinder’s Monkey is a hundred times more interesting than the familiar-yet-often-necessary Kickstarter story. Also, as we will see, it serves as an ambitious, vital epilogue to the band’s recorded body of work. Continue reading →

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