Truckers Do Letterman

[mp3] Drive-by Truckers: "Used to be a Cop"

Don't they look sharp? Playing album standout, Eddie Hinton's "Everybody Needs Love" from their excellent Go Go Boots album out now.

Justin Townes Earle and Jason Isbell Do Letterman

[mp3] Justin Townes Earle: "Harlem River Blues"

Justin Townes Earle hit Letterman with Jason Isbell last night for a rousing rendition of album highlight/title track "Harlem River Blues" - which also happened to make our top albums of the year. Nice to see Justin recovering from a rough few months, glad to have him back in the hood - and clearly, well dressed. Also great to see Mr. Isbell taking the lead lines here - waiting on some new tunes from him!

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Soft Pack This, Soft Pack That

Photos by Karp
Where haven't you seen or heard about The Soft Pack (formerly known as The Muslims) these days? Be it their infamous "ten shows in one day" concert, their performance on Letterman (video after the jump), their newest self-titled release on Kemado, or perhaps their free live show at the Cake Shop last Friday; if you have ears, you've heard the name. We at Stark have big ears (sometimes mouths) and have been thoroughly saturated with Softness.

Last Friday, we at Stark made the decision to drink to get drunk; our evening plans were laid before us effortlessly and almost a week in advance. We were going to see the Soft Pack, we were going to get drunk and we were going to have fun. Our pre-conceived notions of Soft Packiness were influenced mainly by a CMJ set and their self-titled vinyl released under The Muslims moniker. The album came equipped with 9MM bullet holes in the front, and the sound ripped through our speakers, smacking us in the face with snark upon first listen. We were hooked.

More photos, show review and Soft Pack's Letterman performance after the jump.



On Friday evening, after fighting through a seemingly impenetrable throng of people more reminiscent of a dreaded morning subway commute than a concert, we reached our haven -- the dimly lit, and for a brief moment, cool, basement of the Cake Shop. Soon enough, our preconceived notions were met by the raw emotion and snotty sound that was and is now The Soft Pack.

We should have known what we were getting ourselves into when we signed on to attend a midnight, FREE show. In the sea of green Rolling Rock cans, we made our way to the front of the Cake Shop crowd in hopes of maybe getting elbowed in the face, our asses grabbed, or at least a shirt tug. None of the latter occurred however (to our dismay) during their set.

Occupied evenly by both new and old material, it was clear that the 'Pack were comfortable in such a stripped down setting. They had the energy of a high school punk band playing in the garage of their parent's house. Ripping through a set that recalled early Strokes, and donning wardrobe expected more from Vampire Weekend (blue Oxford button-downs) The Soft Pack shredded classics such as "Red Rum" which was lightning fast, and newer tunes like "Pull Out" and the single "Answer to Yourself". As fellow Stark editor, Matt, stated, "Ezra Koenig eat your heart out" and "this sounds like when the Kings of Leon were a good band." Well, hearts were eaten, and we were pleased by watching a band live up to expectation.

Kings of Leon Graduate to Full Blown Rock Stardom

Kings of Leon - "Sex on Fire" - mp3
Admittedly, I sort of stopped listening after, well, their first record. I thought Youth and Young Manhood was amazing, and honestly still sounds great. Yeah, they had that whole "Southern Strokes" thing going that's been talked about to death - but it worked. Then they proceeded to put out, what I thought was a pretty weak follow-up record. Perhaps I had just grown out of that sound, but I kind of stopped paying attention after that, despite the mountains of press they got. Yet, during my period of ignorance, KOL have become legit and unadulterated rock stars in the mainstream Aerosmith sense of the word. They have established a huge US and UK fanbase and are poised to be one of the biggest rock acts of the next 5-10 years. Some would argue, they already are. So, it's time for me to once again turn my ear towards them, despite the nay saying that I come across.

Just to give you a little run down of what's going on with the Kings of Leon right now, in case you have been in a cave for the past few weeks.
- Their new record Only By the Night comes out Tuesday 9/23 (RCA).
- They are the musical guest on SNL this Saturday.
- "Sex on Fire" is the #1 single in the UK.
- They will be on Letterman and Leno during release week.
- They are on the cover of Spin magazine.
- They are on every blog, good or bad reviews.
- They are playing a sold out Webster Hall on release day.
- They then launch an extensive US and UK tour.

I imagine this will be the last time you will see them in a place like Webster. Yeah, like I said - Aerosmith baby. For those who say you can't break bands in today's market, my advice to you is to find better bands. Just ask the KOL and My Morning Jacket about it.