Twitter

Tying the blog to my incipient Twitter account, which I guess is kind of like going fully public online. I expect to keep lurking in the shadowed alleys of Facebook avoiders. Even online communities have their margins and outliers.

Twitter: @allistelling

Georgia Tech bathrooms smell refreshingly like Necco wafers sometimes. How?

Ha Ha Tonka cancels solo tour dates after Mar. 3

It's not bad news, except for those of us who will miss them (read: me and some other Atlantans on Mar. 5). According to their manager, the folk-rockers have signed on to play on a different tour that will give them more exposure. More on who you can catch with Ha Ha Tonka as details are released.

Surfer Blood at Criminal Records, Atlanta, Feb. 19

Unfortunately we missed the actual show at the Drunken Unicorn. You can watch video clips below for the following songs (or pieces of songs) at the mini-show inside Criminal Records, Little 5 Points:

Floating Vibes
Swim
Twin Peaks
Take it Easy

Surfer Blood seemed young, fresh, and charmingly unprepared for the kind of attention that the media machine is throwing at them. Their percussionist has the most interesting and developed stage presence, but you can't tell much from a short, free record store show. I will pay attention to their next effort because I still can't get a couple of their guitar hooks out of my head.

You can see clips from other shows I've seen in the past year on my YouTube channel, here.

Surfer Blood washes into Atlanta this Friday

Surfer Blood, from West Palm Beach, FL, is touring behind their debut album Astro Coast, released last month. They will be playing the cozy Drunken Unicorn in Atlanta this Friday, Feb. 19.

Surfer Blood has filled an interesting niche in my music diet for the last couple of weeks. Though they garner comparisons to Weezer or Built to Spill, they scratch the itch left by Ambulance LTD, whose first LP several years ago left me dazed and satisfied for months. They build nicely layered, thick, sound walls and smart concise hooks. They have passed our immediacy test, remaining equally interesting to me and my three children (whose musical tastes are diverse). Check out their single "Swim" here; everyone writing about them calls it anthemic, and I can't disagree. My favorite track, however, is "Floating Vibes" because it's rich in surf punk reverberations. Pitchfork's review of the album is here.

Next week's music post will more than likely about Nneka's "Concrete Jungle," released two weeks ago. With comparisons to Tracy Chapman, Lauryn Hill, and Neneh Cherry, I just could not resist pulling it down from Emusic today. Here is a New York Times review of a recent performance.

Snow in Atlanta . . .

. . . is like a fish that needs a bicycle. Or something.

Doc Chey's opens in Grant Park today!

Peace, love, and noodles for all!