Day Tripper: "Well, turn it up, Man"

No trip to southwest Iowa is complete without seeing the Freedom Rock.

The Freedom Rock is a60-ton boulder that Ray "Bubba" Sorenson paints every year to honor veterans. His eventual goal is to paint a rock in all 99 Iowa counties.

You are probably thinking the same thing I was. Every day on Facebook, I see 'tributes' that are cheap, overly sappy, mawkish, even jingoistic. A rock painted by a guy named Bubba doesn't sound like much.

That said, it is actually an impressive tribute to those who served. Sorenson's detail is impressive (especially given the canvas) and quite even-handed, which means it is an inspiring patriotic tribute to all branches, all wars, and all that served.






We travelled to the next town over and saw a mural he painted on the side of a building. The local resident there said that the rock had been the re for years and was always the target of rival high school trash talk graffiti, until one year, Bubba, a high schooler, decided to paint it for Memorial Day.  It has turned into an annual tradition that is really inspiring.

On the Shelf 98; Foxygen

I spent the last few months of 2012 spending probably talking too much about Foxygen and their Take the Kids Off Broadway album.

This January, they released the much anticipated We are the 21st Century Ambassadors of Peace & Magic.

Although most bands with obvious influences can get it annoyingly wrong (say Rancid's Clash-isms or John wesley Harding never escaping his Costello-isms), Foxygen make it work.

In a lot of way, I prefer the amateurism of take the Kids in whihc the band would shuffle through Roxy Music, T Rex, Hot Rocks -era Stones, and 3rd album- Velvet Underground on each track, and some times, even mid song.

21st Century finds the band making sense of their style and turning it into something a bit more listener friendly, and slightly less categorizable. They also do it very well. For instance, closing track "Oh No 2" would slip in unnoticeably on Magical Mystery Tour, Ziggy Stardust or the Rocky Horror Show.

Of course, influence #1 is Lou Reed at his most Dylan-ish. Something I wouldn't advise any band to try, but Foxygen does better than any band since Alias Records' early 90s heyday.

Foxygen started the year being heralded by Pitchfork and all the usual suspects, and making rounds on the usual indie outlets; though things went south with an awful Live at Coachella appearance and tour date cancellations.

So maybe live music isn't their thing yet, but 21st Century is still one of the year's best.

"" (Watch on YouTube)

"" (Watch on YouTube)