Yesterday, I came across several things that support the argument that Cincinnati-based music is garnering the most national attention it has in a very long time.
I had to go to Kroger to fill some subscriptions, so I fought my way through the obstacle course of elderly people (afternoons at the grocery store is like an old-people singles night) and set up shop at the magazine rack while I waited. There, I thumbed through Spin and Rolling Stone, which each had glowing reviews of the new Heartless Bastards’ album, The Mountain. —-(Read the Rolling Stone review here and the Spin one here.) Earlier in the day I had read the cover story on the band in the Austin Chronicle (check it here). Yeah, they’re technically from Austin now, but with roots here (plus two other Cincinnatians in the band), we’re still going to claim them as our own.
Back at the magazine rack, I thumbed through an issue of Alternative Press, which had a “bands to watch” blurb on locals The Flight Station plus a funny “how-to” piece about Punk Rock basement shows written by Jon from the Glendora House, the late D.I.Y. venue in Clifton.
As if that wasn’t enough, later that night I was watching the interesting documentary, 199 Lives: The Travis Pastrana Story, about the young, already-legendary motocross daredevil, on MTV. I guess this has been out for a while, but was just recently being shown on TV and being released on DVD. As the film winds down, there’s a dramatic, sweeping shop of a big jump. I instantly recognized the power guitar riffs as being from “The Regret,” the 500 Miles to Memphis song that ends the band’s brilliant Sunshine in a Shot Glass album. The song not only plays over the final scene but actually scores the entire end credits.
Nice start to 2009, local music.
This article appears in Feb 4-10, 2009.
