I am a whore for acoustic music. That’s not saying so much – I’m a whore for every-other style of music out there too. Recently I’ve been extra into acoustic stuff, though. When I stumbled across Heathers opening for the Ghost Mice… Damn.

I picked up their CD at the show, and was listening to it within minutes of getting home from the concert. The opening of the CD is just as simple and powerful as the opening of their set.

Well played acoustic guitar lays the perfect backdrop to their voices. Perfect harmonies cut in, and the song is off, running in places, strolling leisurely in others. It’s simple, but masterfully done. I feel as if any other band attempted to produce an album like this it would end up being boring, whereas this is exhilarating.

Being from Ireland, there is a hint of Irish influence. It slips into their singing and their melodies, and leaves me unbelievably happy.

Generally I’m overly picky about female vocalists. I don’t know why I hold women to a higher standard than I do men…I just feel like most female singers share the same generic nasally singing. These women have none of that. Their voices are as far from generic as possible.

As is the case with most acoustic music, their voices are what make the record. That’s not to say their accompanying music is boring. Far from it. It’s just kept simple so their voices are the main attraction.

I am absolutely mesmerized by how complicated their music sounds, given their only instruments are their voices and an acoustic guitar.

This album makes me think of summer, picnics, and laying outside in the sun, full of food and drink, surrounded by awesome people.

Some day soon I want to do cartwheels through the park to this album.

What to take away…

Heathers has powerful vocals that are incredibly harmonized and fantastical. Irish influences slip in regularly diferentiating this album from most of the others in the Plan-It-X catalog. It is the perfect blending of folk and folk punk, leaving it perhaps on the other side of folk when it comes to instrumentation. The lyrics ought to resonate with even the most die-hard folk-punker.

What should you expect?

Acoustic Irish influenced folk with a slight glaze of folk-punk.

What drink would they pair with?

Perhaps a Bulmers Irish hard cider. Delicious, refreshing, and tasting distinctly of summer.

Favorite song?

I have such a hard time playing favorites.

“Remember When” however perhaps inches slightly higher than the rest on my list. It’s one of their faster songs. I will forever remember them kicking off their set with it. It grabbed my attention and held it hostage.

“Slices Of Palama” is slower, and has another instrument, a string of some manner, that sucks me right in. It’s almost melancholy, but just misses that vibe. I think it’s lingering feeling is that of earnestness.

When it comes to songs that reference The Little Prince, I’m a total softie. Believe it or not, this topic doesn’t come up in music as much as you’d think.

To date, Andrew Jackson Jihad is the only band I know to have referenced that lovely book.

Andrew Jackson Jihad also has the best opening line for a song that I’ve ever heard. It goes “Hey Everything, Fuck You.”

Coincidentally, those two songs are one in the same. “Little Prince (El Principito)“.

Andrew Jackson Jihad is yet another folk-punk band. Oh how I enjoy the folk punk. Unlike Ghost Mice, their are not overwhelming optimistic (see paragraph three). They are positive, though. They cover really morbid topics, but somehow manage to stay positive.

Perhaps there is the realistic view that everything sucks, but we may as well make the best of it.

I was lucky enough to be tipped off on an Andrew Jackson Jihad sighting in Pittsburgh this past weekend by a high-school friend’s boyfriend’s little brother. Aaron. By congress, I love Facebook sometimes.

So I packed up my things and headed east, since Cleveland was not to be blessed with a stop on this tour.

The show was being held at 222 Ormsby, a wonderful little venue. Not only did $5 gain me entrance into the concert, it also gained me a wristband and unlimited access to a keg in the back room.

I’m gonna go ahead and admit I was a bad concert-goer this time around. I had just driven about 3.5 hours to be there. There were dogs and beer in the back. A high-school friend showed up. I spent the opening bands time slots in the back with the beer, dogs, and friends.

The openers were Delay, The Code Orange Kids, and Shady Ave.

I did, of course, meander to the main room for Andrew Jackson Jihad’s set. And what a set it was. They kicked it off with “Little Prince (El Principito).” I kind of like these folk punk bands kicking off the show with my favorite songs. I’m not sure whether they know what they’re doing or if it’s coincindental, but i hope they keep it up.

Once again, the show contained a bunch of songs hitherto unknown by me. They played a bunch of songs I did know, though. They just played a lot of songs.

The lead singer kept forgetting his lyrics. It was rather amusing, but as i’ve said before this doesn’t bother me. He was laughing and tripping over the words. It just made me smile.

One unique fact of this show was that I could actually understand the singer without a previous knowledge of his songs. As folk punk shows aren’t normally a riot, they can tend to become a tidge dull if you’re unfamiliar with the music at hand. This wasnt the case at all, I just listened to the lyrics and giggled at their morbid optimism.

What to take away…

Probably a nasty hangover from all that horrible cheap beer.

What should you expect?

Folk punk kids who actually drink.

What drink to pair with it?

Cheap, horrible, all-you-can-drink beer from a keg that everyone agrees is terrible, but keeps drinking anyway.

Favorite Song?

“Little Prince (El Principito)”. I enjoy that he doesn’t leave anything out of his condemnation. Hey everything, fuck you.

Ghost Mice with special guest Heathers hit the mean streets of Cleveland on June 24^th, and of course I had to be in on this folk punk action. I was rolling three deep; my unofficial couchsurfer, two and a half week roommate Shu and my 15 year old cousin Taylor were in tow.

The very nice looking duplex that was purportedly the venue of the evening was touting a sign that redirected us to Lakewood Park…wherever that was. Luckily a nice woman with some Basset hounds directed us, and before long our ears were being caressed by the soothing strum of an acoustic guitar.

Except…well. I started out with Ska and Street Punk. Those concerts, no matter their arguable flaws, had lots of energy not only in the band but in the crowd as well. So why the hell were all these people sitting in the grass!? You can’t dance sitting in the grass! Hadn’t they gotten the memo?

Two Hand Fools was playing, presumably the first opener. He was pretty good from what I heard, though my arrival was a bit into his set. Soulful crooning to acoustic guitar.

When he concluded, everyone moved up to the floor of the outdoor amphitheater, and I was excited that people may stand for the next set. I was wrong. While the next band, Heathers, broke out their fabulous voices, most of the audience was sitting down, leaning against something, looking bored. Apathetic little teenage assholes. Don’t get me started…

Heathers was seriously awesome. Their Irish accents were audible while they were singing, and their voices worked together beautifully. Harmonious beyond reason. While they occasionally forgot a lyric, or how that next part of the song went, I found these little mistakes endearing. I like it when musicians are believable. It was just the two of them and an acoustic guitar, singing what I will dub as Irish infused alt-folk. No amps, mics, nothing. I was enthralled. the apathites (I thusly dub “apathite” the official term for those who go to shows determined to look bored) just sat.

Immediately placed on the top of my to-do list was buy a Heathers CD. It was the first thing I’ve crossed off my to-do list in weeks.

Heathers played their last song with Ghost Mice’s help, and Ghost Mice played their first song with the accompaniment of Heathers.

Ghost Mice’s musical tradition is one of almost painful optimism…at least if you’re a relentless pessimist and cynic like me. With songs like “Hang on Kids” aimed at high-school kids, “Please Quit Smoking Mom“, and “Up the Punks“, sometimes they’re so doggedly positive I almost feel they’re being sarcastic.

Pairing their songs about riding bikes and climbing trees with an acoustic guitar, a violin, and a Playskool xylophone, in an outside amphitheater on the shore of lake Erie…it was obvious they weren’t being sarcastic.

Their style is that of Folk-Punk, and with lead singer “Chris Clavin” being a co-founder of Folk Punk record label/collective Plan-it-X Records, it seems logical that they stay incredibly true to their ideologies. They play strictly heartfelt acoustic music, eschewing amps and mics for all but one festival where without the electrical intervention only a few would have been able to hear. Their music is vocal and lyric heavy, as most folk punk is. What they’re trying to say is the most important aspect – the music just helps underline it.

They make me think of camp. That we should have been sitting on logs around a fire, quickly on our way to becoming really good friends. Well, if not for those apathites, anyway.

After making all the apathites stand up, they quickly broke into “The Moon Will Rise“. I love that song. It’s their only angry song, and it’s mostly about turning off your TV, enjoying your life, and standing up for yourself. And half way through the song, right after they sing the line “and the moon will rise”, there’s a little howl. I’ve been wanting to howl to that song live since the first time I heard it. My dream came true. Ahooooo!

Unfortunately Ghost Mice’s set was rather short. Without amps and microphones, I assume they’d have to hit harder and sing louder than the average musician. Or maybe they just don’t dig long sets. Either way they broke out some classics, and left me walking away happy.

What you’ll take away…

A freakishly optimistic mood and the desire to quit your job in favor of climbing trees and building forts.

What should you expect?

Hippies, these days known as folk punkers. Cut off shorts. Genuinity.

What drink to pair it with?

Water, from your Eco friendly non-leaching Klean-Kanteen. Beware packing a bottle of Aquafina to this show.