Backyard show, Folk Punk, and Fest
October 25, 2021, Vol. 2 Issue 20
Thank you for reading Perfect Sound Whatever. I write updates on the latest music news in New Orleans, feature stories, album reviews, and more. Whether you are from New Orleans or not, my goal is to help you discover new music; provide coverage to local artists, venues, and others creating the music scene in NOLA; and start discussions about music. For questions, comments, or concerns, please feel free to email me at daltonspangler25@gmail.com.
Subscribe for free if you haven’t already. Support me by sharing! I’m also starting a Patreon because I think Substack is way too expensive. Receive benefits like personalized music recs and more for subscribing. More info at the end.
Today in the newsletter: A brief on a backyard show I saw Le Harpe Stings, a lengthy look at folk punk, updates on the NOLA music scene, upcoming shows in NOLA and how deeply sad I am to be missing Fest in Gainesville.
Pull on the Harpe Strings
I caught a show at the backyard venue Le Harpe Strings to see two blooming artists, The Jelly Sisters and Ocean Boyfriend. They were indie/folk artists with fairly stripped-back acoustic sets. The Jelly Sisters have great chemistry, which also made for some genuinely hilarious banter. Ocean Boyfriend harkens back to choir days of old with originals and also 19th-century cover tracks. The stage is a pool deck and there are people watching from the pool as well as the from the backyard gardens all around. Howe cannonballed into the pool much to the dismay of the sound guy. Kristy Magner runs the venue and is donating the proceeds to New Orleans musicians and for the Pointe-au-Chien Indian Tribe which Hurricane Ida impacted.
Hand in Unlovable Hand: A Look Back at Folk Punk
About a week ago, Laura Jane Grace tweeted, “After the ska revival let’s do a folk punk revival (selfish I know).”
If you didn’t already know, her band Against Me! was a folk punk band turned radio sensation in the 2000s, but she may be getting her wish. On the same day, a TikTok user @13leu uploaded a video of him in some backroom of a nondescript restaurant dancing to a snippet of The Mountain Goat’s “No Children.” TikTok did what TikTok does and made the sound/dance viral, introducing thousands of people to the genre of Folk Punk.
Bands like DaysNDaze, Pat the Bunny and tons of others have been getting mentions all the time as people seek out more music recommendations. The search terms “folk punk,” “Days N' Daze”, “Pat The Bunny Schneeweis” and “the mountain goats” have seen a spike to almost all-time highs on Google Trends as niche communities focus on the topic this week.
With the hype building around folk punk, I thought it’d be fun to revisit the genre and document some of its history, the good and bad. It’s been praised for being truly DIY, anticapitalist, and anarchist. But it’s also been criticized for attracting rebellious “trust fund kids” and other wannabes. But between these two tropes is the reality of specific bands that have popularized the sound and spread their beliefs.
Folk Punk gets thrown around a lot to describe a ton of music in the punk scene. It’s usually thought of as any punk band with stereotypically folk/country instruments like mandolins, washboards, fiddles, accordions, steel guitar and banjo. But there’s a bit more depth than that to the genre. Lyrically, Folk Punk tends to be more despondent and personal than punk while still being just as irreverent, angry and political. How well you play your instruments usually doesn’t matter with many recordings being off-key and lo-fi.
Out of the punk boom in the late 70s and early 80s came the first folk punk bands. Violent Femmes combining influences from rockabilly, The Velvet Underground, Appalachian folk music and Hank Williams created the most commercially successful “unplugged” punk bands in the United States. Most of the tracks off their self-titled debut sound like an angsty teen’s diary but the rebellious attitude inspired generations of punks to pick up acoustics rather than electric.
The “cow-punk” aesthetic grew out and proliferated from these early successes. In the West, the scene helped launch careers of country artists like Dwight Yoakam. In the midwest, Plan-It-X records would launch in 1994 to become the definitive folk punk label releasing titles from several notable bands like AJJ, Ramshackle Glory, Pat the Bunny and Defiance, Ohio.
Samantha Dorsett and Chris Clavin founded Plan-It-X following strict DIY beliefs about making music and selling it, defying convention set by major labels. They adopted the slogan “If it ain’t cheap, it ain’t punk” and their prices reflected that selling recorded music at half the price of most labels.
It’s worth noting both the tragic and infuriating history of Plan-It-X. Dorsett died of suicide in 2009. She was called a scholar, activist and troublemaker in the best sense of the word but dealt with physical and mental ailments as well as trauma. She created communities but still struggled to find a fulfilling place in this world.
The other co-founder, Calvin was outed in 2017 for years of sexual misconduct, which marred the label’s memory and pushed some bands to pull out of it altogether. He stepped down shortly after but the label had already folded in 2016 only doing rereleases from that point on.
Both co-founders are representative of many common issues intertwined with the legacy of folk punk and alternative culture in general. Not to equate the two as the same or even related but it is strange how two people with such similar beliefs and ambitions found one another and created this amazing label while also ending up where they did. I’m not sure there is a point in bringing up any of this but I want to address what happened to Dorsett and what Calvin did. In retrospect, the community at large failed to call out a predator and who knows what could have been done for Dorsett.
Despite the successes and failures of Plan-It-X, folk punk went on to transcend the label which helped bring it back to the mainstream. Harley Poe and Larry and His Flask toured the country with Warped Tour in the 2010s inspiring new folk punk bands to continue to crop up.
Other new and old bands commonly credited for being popular folk punk acts are Dead Milkmen, Johnny Hobo and the Freight Trains, Frank Turner, The Pogues, Flogging Molly and a ton more. There’s also been plenty of crossover between other punk, emo and indie artists that could classify as “folk-punk” or at least folk-punk influenced. Some bands that fall into this category are Jeff Rosenstock, The Front Bottoms, Crywank, Daniel Johnston, The Microphones, Neutral Milk Hotel, Jordaan Mason & the Horse Museum, Viagra Boys and so many more.
The genre’s influence has also spread into hip-hop with Ceschi representing the fusion well. Close friends with Pat the Bunny, Ceschi’s heavily political lyrics are searingly self-reflective while capturing folk punk’s ethos and acoustic energy.
Andy the Doorbum, a more theatrical, doomer has captivated audiences with his vivid, one-person light shows and costumes paired with melancholy lyrics.
Goodwin Rainer, although not preferring the term, fits the bill as well. They perform with a big band featuring horns and all the typical folk punk acoustics overtop fun and energetic songs.
This genre has always meant a lot to me as someone who grew up where cul-de-sacs and cow pastures literally met. It culturally bridges the gap between urban and rural spaces which often get overlooked. It connects the lives of suburban dorks like me to crust punks in places like the French Quarter. Ultimately, folk punk is humanist music that doesn’t care about who you are but rather what you do. I’m happy people are discovering it for the first time and I hope to see folk punk continue to flourish.
Updates:
The Krewe of Boo parade went down Decatur street last Saturday, October 23. The event was the first Mardi Gras-esque parade to take place in the city for nearly 2 years. It served as a trial run for city leadership to decide on a return of Mardi Gras in 2022.
Local Jazz Pianist hosted his album release show at Snug Harbor for his debut record “Inertia.”
The Latest from New Orleans/Gulf Coast Music:
Upcoming Shows in New Orleans:
Sierra Ferrell @ Gasa Gasa - Monday (Sold Out)
Imperial Triumphant @ Santos - Tuesday - 10 p.m. ($8)
Mo Lowda & the Humble @ Gasa Gasa - Wednesday - 8 p.m. ($16)
Black Midi @ Republic - Wednesday - 7 p.m. ($16)
Thundercat @ Joy Theater - Thursday (Sold Out)
The Joy Clark Trio @ Live Oak Cafe - Friday (Cover)
Wasteman @ Belly Up 2635 Gravier St - Friday - 8 p.m. (Unsure)
Galactic @ Tipitina’s - Friday - 10 p.m. ($38)
Emo Night 4 Year Anniversary - Republic - Saturday- 10 p.m. ($6.66)
George Porter, Jr. & Runnin' Pardners Will Funk You To Death! (Halloween) @ Tipitina’s - Sunday - 10 p.m.($30)
The Palace of Tears with Come To Ruin and Death Church (Halloween) @ Gasa Gasa - Sunday - 8 p.m. ($10)
Fest Folks:
I’m sad to miss Fest this year but to my folks going here is a list of bands I would want to see out of the 300 whatever bands playing. Even if you aren’t going, there are some worthwhile bands to check out here:
Frank Turner, Baroness, Bully, The Wonder Years, Torche, Modern Life Is War, A Wilhelm Scream, The Appleseed Cast, Mustard Plug, Eve 6, Pears, Spanish Love Songs, Skatune Network, Bad Operation, Joystick, Dikembe, We Are The Union, Prince Daddy & The Hyena, Zeta, Such Gold, Pool Kids, Kill Lincoln, Zeta, Radon, Taking Meds, Gillian Carter, Origami Angel, Days N Daze, Catbite, Ceschi, Gully Boys, Insignificant Other, Machinist!, Niiice, New Junk City, Palomino Blond, The Pauses, The Sonder Bombs, Sports Reference, Supertwin, Cursed Birth, Flying Racoon Suit, Soft Clicks, and Wet Nurse.
I know it’s an absurdly long list but I hope to be there next year! I only pray the lineup is half as good.
Support my work
I started a Patreon because Substack’s minimum subscription cost is way too much. There are personalized benefits and exclusives available. Pay what you can by emailing me daltonspangler25@gmail.com and I’ll send you a year’s subscription.
Patreon link: https://www.patreon.com/perfectsoundwhatever
Big thanks to Brett Fountain and family members who have supported me so far!
Sharing helps a ton too!
Let me hear from you!
Send me love, hate, music recommendations, story tips, musicians you want to see interviewed, shows you want to see promoted, etc. by emailing me at daltonspangler25@gmail.com