Mother's Day Grab Bag: Paul Stanley, Cowboy Junkies, The National, Split Enz, Pernice Brothers

photo by Icemanfr75

What mother doesn't want some Paul Stanley? Captains Dead has offered up 70tracks of Paul Stanley's between-song banter. What says Happy Mother's Day better than a hairy chest and Stanley's unique mix of falsetto speaking/singing/shouting? Here's one that shows that Stanley is all about love and romance. I think.
http://captainsdead.com/paul-stanley-people-let-me-get-this-off-my-chest.html

Paul Stanley - Song Intro Lick it Up by scruffy the yak

If ridiculousness is not your bag (or your Mom's), here's a couple tracks from the new Cowboy Junkies album, Renmin Park (out June 15). I've gone back and forth about this band; liked The Trinity Sessions, enjoyed the rocky pop of Miles from Our Home, and was re-introduced when they re-did Trinity with folks like Ryan Adams and Vic Chestnutt. I respect a band that's pretty much done whatever band members wanted, staying together and trying new things.

Cowboy Junkies-Stranger Here by scruffy the yak

Cowboy Junkies-Cicadas by scruffy the yak

If your Mother's a hipster (or you're the mother), she may already be into the new stuff out there from the National's new album High Violet (out Tuesday, May 11). The band is pretty hyped, but so far, I really like Blood Buzz Ohio, with its insistent percussion, sturdy piano, and vocals that somehow seem simultaneously joyous and melancholy.

The National "Blood Buzz Ohio" by modernmysteryblog

Here's Terrible Love, also from the new album. Sorry about the Pitchfork comedy stuff at the end.



Here's a couple of older songs. I like Apartment Story, because it's like the simple formula for thousands of other rock/metal videos over the years - band plays, no one pays attention or cares, gradually listeners are won over, including babies and/or the elderly.



Here's a live in-studio version of Fake Empire, just skip Jian's rambling intro, I did (it ends about 1:12 in).



If your mom doesn't care about anything new, how about some old Split Enz? The always-excellent Music Ruined My Life blog is giving the world an Enz album called The Rootin Tootin Luton Tapes, recorded in 1978. The album showcases the band's early arty side as well as its increasingly accessible pop genius.

Split Enz - Remember When by scruffy the yak

If that's not the kind of old-school rock your mother falls for, maybe she was a goth? The Cure's rereleasing Disintegration as a 3-disc set soon, here's a taste of one of the previously-unheard tunes care of Slicing Up Eyeballs.






Lastly, every Mom should listen to Jacqueline Susann, the new Pernice Brothers song (via Stereogum).

Pernice Brothers - Jacqueline Susann by scruffy the yak