Do you like Green Day, The Jam and Social Distortion? SDMB's own Yell County

Cafe Society
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Disclaimer: Longtime Doper of good standing **An Arky **and I tend to find each other in music and guitar threads. We have traded emails related to threads and such. He’s a cool online acquaintance.

In various threads where Dopers have been asked to post their music, I have listened to the cuts supplied by **An Arky ** by his band, Yell County. He had mentioned that they were working on a CD so I had looked for it, but really only noticed a reference to it being released in his SDMB sig one day. Well, I finally got it, and finally had time to give it a hard listen.

The name of the CD is A Real Fine Hole (link to Amazon download page)

It totally rocks.

The songs are great - tight, compact bursts of energy, hooks and emotion. They get you humming along to lyrics about lost lives, American capitalism gone awry and attempts at hope. Think Social Distortion’s Bad Luck or Story of My Life - but set to the melodic Brit-pop hookiness of The Jam. It is a consistently well-written CD - no clunkers. And they vary from straight-up rockers like Conveyer Belt to Look Sharp-like New Wave We’re History Now.

And this CD sounds great. Okay, so maybe the vocals could be mixed bigger and the harmonies teased out a bit (okay, a lot) more. But the overall sound of this CD is big, ballsy and natural. The drums are live and bouncy - a lot of Tre’ Cool from Green Day to my ear, which is high praise - he is an excellent drummer. The bass is melodic and jumpy but isn’t afraid to hold down the low end - really reminds me of the fella from The Jam - Bruce Foxton, right?

And the guitar - what a f****n great guitar tone, dude. Big and crunchy, with a ton of layers that make it sound like a full orchestra all by itself. When Green Day launches into American Idiot, I love the big blocky chords - you deliver that but your Rickenbacker + AC30 set up makes arpeggios sound amazing too. Right now, my favorite tone moment is the chorus to Hide - man that just sounds so good.

So - it’s a set of great songs that sound great - and it’s by a Doper - what more do you need to know?! Check it out!

:smiley: :smiley: :smiley: :smiley:

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Thanks for the heads up, WordMan, and for the link to the Amazon download page. I was able to listen to a bit of each song there, and I ordered a CD based on what I heard. Good stuff. Way to go, An Arky.

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Thanks for the kind review, WordMan! And thank you, Crotalus, for taking the plunge. BTW, I hope you aren’t expecting a real CD from Amazon. It’s just an mp3 download. If you want a physical CD, since you’re a doper and all, PM me and I can hook you up. I think we’re going to be up on Dischord and some other places soon for physical CDs, and there will be links on my band’s MySpace site when that happens.

We’re also making the rounds with A&R types (for what, I don’t know), but feedback on that end has been far more positive than I ever dared expect. But they could just be a bunch of Artie Fufkins, for all I know. Besides, I’m pretty sure signing a record deal would be a pay cut for me if they expect me to quit my day job (ha!).

Needless to say, I’m excited, proud, worried, relieved, and exhausted from the process. It’s not every day a geezer like me does something like this, but I had to do it before I croak and while I can still beat on my instrument with something resembling vigor. Three guys with wives, jobs, bills, kids (I have 3 - kids, not wives) and varying schedules aren’t usually up for this, and it got crazy at times (still is).

It’s been wonderful to hear encouragement from people from all over and playing gigs and getting press. I should have done this a long time ago ( :smack: ), but then again, my stuff wasn’t as actualized back then, so I’m kind of glad I waited.

For a little doper inside joke, the CD cover art is a takeoff on a Chick Tract…design-wise, anyway.

Thanks to anyone who takes the time to listen; that’s all I ever wanted, anyway. I’d also be happy to answer any questions or whatever if any gearheads or otherwise morbidly curious folks have any.

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Just downloaded it. I liked every sample on Amazon, which is practically unheard of (for me) these days. It’s on my Blackberry and will get a full listen tomorrow.

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I just bought it on itunes, Just wonderful!!! fast and punchy. Great lyrics.
Everything Wordman said it was and maybe just a dash of Vandals also… but i could be wrong, Thanks AnArky just made my day!!!

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…a little buzz on the SDMB, more online momentum - just a hop, skip and jump away from guesting on Saturday Night Live or sumthin’…

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I just bought it – good stuff!

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Wait 'till you hear his tone, **squeegee ** - you will love it.

Hey, **An Arky **- anything in your rig we need to know about? Your Ric through your Vox amp - anything else? How freakin’ loud is that amp? I sounds like you recorded it LOUD and mic’d up close…

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Hey -

Hate to burst your bubble, but I used a variety of amps…

For Gonna, Janelle Marie and Buried Standing Up, I used one of those hand-wired Vox A30 heads & a Vox 2X12 cab, with the underlying tracks using an Orange head and the same cab. For the rest, which we recorded a few months later, I used a Cage head along with the Orange head and the same Vox cab. For one track (We’re History Now, IIRC), I used a Hiwatt head along with the Cage and Orange. I mostly used my Rick 330, but on the solo on Led Zeppelin Says, I used an Epiphone E-335 (at least that’s the Gibson model it’s like) and for an extra rhythm track on Conveyor Belt, I used a Tele. Also there’s this cool 60’s 12 string Strat I used on We’re History Now and Hide. Oh, yeah, I used a Divided by Thirteen amp for something; can’t remember what…it’s kind of like a Matchless. All of that stuff (except my Rick)belongs to the guy who recorded us, an old friend of mine who’s a walking Rock Encyclopedia and Gets It and is a really cool guy. I play live through an AC30 which I just got; previously I was using a Marshall head and cab.

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Oh, I forgot - I didn’t use any effects except for some stuff in the freakout part of We’re History Now and the 12 string solo at the end of Hide, both of which were software thingies which I think were ProTools add-ons or something.

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Ah - an amp smorgasbord - cool!

I love some of the Orange amps I have played - one was a Rockerverb 1x12 (??) that was just excellent - would’ve bought it if I had the ready cash.

And you played a Div/13? What model? Those things were all the rage a couple of years ago and are still really highly respected - apparently the builder (a guy named Taccone?) cut his teeth doing amp repair and customization for LA studio guys, so his amps are well-regarded in those circles…

One model is the JRT 9/15 - man do I GAS for that amp hard - please tell me you did not play one of those! Also - what were you playing for the chorus of Hide? That is the best tone I heard - and there are a lot to choose from!!

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Are you playing anywhere localy soon? I may have to crank the old bones out to see what the kids are listening to these days.

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The Div13 was…white with a black face (haha!)…I can email my friend and he can tell me what it was.

The chorus for Hide was the same combo of the Cage/Orange, I think, although now that I think of it, there might have been the Hiwatt in there somewhere and the Div/13 was what I actually used on We’re History Now. Isn’t it great that I used so many sweet amps that I forget which ones I used where? It’s kind of like going to the Playboy Mansion and forgetting who all you hooked up with. :o

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Yeah - email your buddy, you non-gear-geek loser! :smiley:

Next time, I expect a full gear run down, dagnabbit. :stuck_out_tongue:

I have never heard of a Cage amp - gotta check that out…

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God, I’m a real beanbag posting in this thread so much, but yes, we’re playing at the Quarry House Tavern in Silver Spring on July 18, opening for 7 Door Sedan.

Oh, and don’t worry about the age thing…I’m rather superannuated, myself.

Oh, and thanks, squeegee!

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[hijack]

What does “beanbag” mean in this instance - is that online jargon this old whippersnapper is unfamiliar with? (get off my lawn!)

If you are just commenting on the fact that you are posting to a thread which reviews your CD, don’t worry about it - I am sure folks appreciate the opportunity to hear about cool new music from one of our own - and the ability to ask questions, etc…

[/hijack]

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beanbag, corndog, douchebag, numbnuts, nimrod, blockhead…take your pick!

I shan’t be answering questions about hair care and underwear ::sniff::

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Ah - wingnut, hockey puck - what have you. Got it.

And *au contraire, mon frere * - I need not know about your hair care or underwear - let’s not go there; fair? :cool:

Semper ubi sub ubi… :smiley:

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I’d heard you don’t wear spandex. But I never gave it much thought.

Nice (sarcastic?) Zep guitar reference.

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Ah, crappy timing, and Maryland scares me. :smiley:

Hopefully some time in the future, then.