Author Archives: Charlie Rifle

With all of the good weather, you may wonder to yourself, “My, what will I ever do during the weekend in Cleveland?” And as soon as you finish this sentence, in your head I hope you hear my voice ringing out loud and clear, “Why, go to a concert, of course!” You’ll thrust your hand into the air with an extended index finger and shout, “By golly, of course!”

After holding this pose for no less than 46 seconds, you will then gasp, put your hand over your mouth, and say, “But what concert will I go to!?” Ah, yes, now this is a good question. Let us here at The Vinyl District tell you that whilst in the drunken stupor that so many people are likely to fall into on March 17th for some reason, you should stagger your way over to the Happy Dog to catch three local acts: Shit-Box Jimmy, Tinko, and Prisoners.

Tinko is a great rock band comprising members from legendary Cleveland bands such as Viva Caramel, Grain, Coffinberry, The Swills, and Confront. They have two excellent releases under their belt (2007’s If It Ain’t Fixed Don’t Break It and 2011’s Empty Furnace Bucket) and are sure to please fans of Built to Spill, Neil Young, and My Morning Jacket.

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February is almost over!? It went by so fast! This is depressing, and a bit alarming, but what else could you expect from the shortest month of the year? It’s a leap year though, so that’s kind of cool. But here it is, Cleveland’s music agenda for February’s final weekend.

Our featured show of the week is the Del Fuegos and Rosavelt at the Beachland Ballroom. The Del Fuegos were a well-respected garage pop band from Boston in the 1980s. Tom Petty even liked them so much that he played with them and brought the band along as his opener in 1987. They broke up in 1990, and then they reunited in June of 2011. Now, they are on their first tour in over 20 years.

The show on Friday will feature Cleveland roots-rockers Rosavelt in the opening slot. Since it’s at the Beachland, try to get to Waterloo a little early so you can scope out Blue Arrow Records (down the street a little), Music Saves, and This Way Out. You never know what insanely rare records you’ll find there.

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It’s the first weekend in February, and the forecast claims that there won’t be any snow to spoil it. So, you know, you might as well get out and do stuff. When it comes to stuff, obviously your first choice is to see as much live music as possible (or if you’d rather see a movie, see a matinee showing of Chronicle, then buy a Coke with your savings that night at one of these clubs).

“But Prof. Rifle, what shows are there to see!? I don’t want to use too much data on my phone by searching a bunch of different sites!” Well fear not, because our crack team of internet scientists has Googled a slew of venues and posted them in one convenient place.

“Oh, glorious day, Capt. Rifle! But with all of these choices, how will I know which show I should attend!?” Stifle yourself, Edith, because it just so happens that our featured show of the week is the 3rd Annual Waterloo Alley Cat Project Fundraiser at the Beachland Ballroom.

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I first heard of Tunabunny when I was told that they had performed a 20+ minute version of the Andy Kaufman hit single, “I Trusted You,” at the 2010 Athens Pop Fest. When the opportunity came up to review their second album, Minima Moralia, I had to take it. Having not heard anything besides the previously mentioned cover, I wasn’t entirely sure what to expect.

Opening track “Hurry Up” is quick to establish the feeling of a live band that goes through the entire album. After a short build-up of guitars and drums, the singer starts in a worried whisper that changes into a yell, then into more of a yelping.

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The 90s were great. Well, they may have been. I was relatively young during that time, so I really only remember the music, movies, and TV shows, but those things were great. 

It may be unfair, but Yuck is an English band that has been lumped in with a group of 90s revival bands. Based on their debut self-titled album, one can quickly notice the similarities to Dinosaur Jr (when the tambourine came in the first time I heard “Get Away”, I thought I might be listening to a deluxe edition of Green Mind), Teenage Fanclub, and Sparklehorse (“Pig” especially comes to mind).

Even though they seem to wear their influences on their sleeve, the record stands as a great piece of work within itself; or in other words, don’t let critics’ name-dropping dissuade you from listening to this excellent record. The record has gained such praise that the band is re-releasing it as a deluxe edition (which includes the B-sides and a few other new songs) through Fat Possum.

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The Pains of Being Pure at Heart were formed in 2007 by Kip Berman, Peggy Wang, Alex Naidus, and a drum machine. (I don’t know its name/model no.) They released a 5-song, self-titled EP under the Painbow label and two of those songs were re-recorded by the band after Kurt Feldman took the drum machine’s place and released on their breakthrough self-titled LP in February of 2009 through Slumberland Records.

That April, they came to Cleveland for the first time to a packed show at the Beachland Tavern. That night Berman asked whether the Browns should go with Anderson or Quinn, the Afternoon Naps played a great set, and the whole show was a terrific experience.

In June of 2010, touring behind their Say No to Love 7”, the Pains came back to the Beachland Ballroom with Surfer Blood and Hooray for Earth (whose records you probably have heard already, and if you haven’t, you should). The crowd didn’t seem nearly as packed, which makes sense due to the size of the room, but it was still a good show.

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Grass Widow is an all-female post-punk trio from San Francisco who formed in 2007.  In 2009, they released their self-titled debut LP on Make-A-Wish Records and a follow-up on Kill Rock Stars in 2010 entitled Past Time.  

They are currently touring in support of their newest release, a 7” entitled Milo Minute (the first in a series of releases entitled Common Chord, which will be on the HLR imprint), which includes two covers—Wire’s “Mannequin” off of the classic LP, Pink Flag, and “Time Keeps Time” by Neo Boys, an early 80s post-punk band that Grass Widow claims is a large influence.

All of these facts aside, I had never listened to them before aside from one song that I cannot name.  My friend talked me into going by telling me that this show is sandwiched within a tour with the Raincoats. 

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