That being said, last night I saw Albert Hammond Jr. at Virgin in U.Square. Not sure of the setlist since I don't have the new album memorized yet, but he played In My Room, GfC, Everyone Gets a Star, Rocket, Victory At Monterey (which is awesome) G Up, and I think a few more.
After the show, Albert, Matt Romano, Marc Philippe Eskenazi, and the two touring musicians (sorry, don't know their names) talked to fans and signed albums.
Matt Romano gave himself a Cindy Crawfordesque beauty mark, ooh la la.
Needless to say, it was a pretty great short concert, and I got to meet another member of The Strokes.
Today I realized that it's almost a year to the day that the Cribs released Men's Needs, Women's Needs, Whatever. Anyone who knows me knows I played that record out in the best way possible last summer, and for me that album will always have the nostalgic honor of being the one I listened to while I learned how to navigate the MTA. So for old time's sake, here's a photo Scott took of Ryan Jarman from last summer's show.
So I started thinking about this summer's album, and hand's down, it's the debut album by The Virgins. I've been conflicted since seeing them live this NYE at the Mercury Lounge, the conflict being that their EP The Virgins-07 sounded a hell of a lot better than their live act. However, they have two things on their side:
1. A Strokes-lite sound mixed with the Rolling Stones circa "Emotional Rescue" and a little Elvis Costello thrown in the mix. And while I am the first to resent bands that get early buzz with all media outlets comparing lead singers' lazy drawls to that of Julian Casablancas (I foolishly boycotted Arctic Monkeys for a while because of this), here the comparison is mildly admissable but a little misleading.
and 2. Donald Cumming is a lead singer as sublime as Mick Jagger. He's got just the right amount of ugly like Ryan Jahhhman, and he's as bored on stage as J-Fats circa the Room on Fire tour. A google search of "Donald Cumming" yields more results than Rebecca and I walking out of American Apparel. The guy has been Ryan McGinley's muse (which is enough of a kicker on its own), a film star (Bugcrush), a cinematographer (Billy the Kid), a model (see DNA Models), and just generally intriguing. Plus from all accounts found thru google (gotta love it) he's serious about making music. Donald has time to work on it, and thanks to his passion and fucked up teeth (a vice of mine since Billy Corgan) I can let his skills from 7 months ago slide.
(image from http://nylonmag.com/summertour)
So check out The Virgins if you get a chance. The album is addicting, especially the closer "Love Is Colder Than Death," which accompanies me on my commute to Chelsea on repeat.
