Author: Shrie Bradford

The Trucks Interview

| Shrie Bradford

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Photo courtesy of The Trucks

Ladies and Gentlemen, fresh out of Bellingham, Washington.…. we have THE TRUCKS!

No, The Trucks aren’t a group of man-bears out for revenge against your mom because she caught your little sister humpty humpin’ in the back of their skanky, and sickeningly smoky, VW Bus. They’re four luscious ladies who will win you over with their boisterous fishnet electro-pop. Touted as the bastard love children of Peaches, Debbie Harry and The Bangles (with a little Kate Bush thrown in for good measure), The Trucks are sassing their way into our hearts, our pants and certainly our dancing shoes.

Shrie Bradford: So how did you decide on the name The Trucks? It wouldn’t happen to be because you all drive Cummins Turbo Diesel 4×4 Dodge Ram extended cab pickups complete with Superwinchs and KC lights, would it?

The Trucks: Marissa, our keyboard and xylophone player, just blurted out that name when we were first asked what our name was. She’s so clever.

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Fujiya & Miyagi Transparent Things [Deaf Dumb & Blind]

| Shrie Bradford

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Rating: 8.2

So now, for the question of the day: (All of you indie rock stalwarts will already have heard this story. Bear with me.) What do old record players and the infamous Karate Kid have in common? You guessed it, (or didn’t): the fab new kraut-electro-straight-outta-1971 (hello Can and Neu!) threesome of David Best, Steve Lewis and Matt Hainsby – Fujiya & Miyagi. Best and company melded Fujiya, the name of a record player, and Miyagi, the all-knowing sage of Karate Kid fame, into a name for themselves and separated the two with an ampersand. Matt Hainsby got the luck of the draw and is cleverly known as “&”. Their new album, Transparent Things, is anything but transparent. And they aren’t Japanese. They’re British.

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Samuel Smith’s Nut Brown Ale Review

| Shrie Bradford

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Nuts + Ale = A fine drinking experience

Until recently, I only took a slight interest in what I call artisan beers. My boyfriend is a former homebrewer of beer and a real fan of your more independent and smaller beers. To me, beer had always been a beverage that I drank with meals or quickly in order to get properly fucked to the curb. And while it tasted good, I was more interested in getting it down my gullet and into my tummy efficiently as opposed to pleasurably. That being said, I’ve had a change of heart! I now truly enjoy drinking beer for its taste and the atmosphere that I enjoy in its presence.

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Shrie Bradford’s Top 10

| Shrie Bradford

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If you give a raccoon a block of sugar, it will take the block of sugar to the nearest source of water and wash it until it completely dissolves.

(in no particular order)

The Knife – Silent Shout
This album has a delicious dark frenzied feel to it that just grabs me. I picture aliens, dark railroad crossings, arson and gleaming sweaty bodies.

Junior Boys – So This is Goodbye
This is just a kickin’ electronic album. It’s low key enough to listen to while simply hanging out, and catchy enough to drive and sing along to. I highly enjoy In The Morning.
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Robert Pollard Normal Happiness

| Shrie Bradford

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Some things about Bob Pollard never change: His songs are still short… most under two and a half minutes, his lyrics joyfully random and his crazy voice is still slightly off key.

That being said, the greatness of some of his Guided By Voices albums like Alien Lanes and Bee Thousand and some of his solo works like From a Compound Eye, isn’t as apparent, or maybe not even there, in his new offering Normal Happiness. 

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