STRANGE YOUNG THINGS

When I heard it was Corey Gloden of Strange Young Things’ 30th birthday bash at Yucca Tap Room in Tempe I knew things would get crazy. Every time I see Strange Young Things more chaos ensues. Don’t worry, the good kind of chaos. Chaos like lead singers climbing into bar areas and throwing themselves all over the place. Before Strange Young Things played I got there in time to see Dry River Yacht Club and Black Carl, two of my favorite local bands. Check out a review of both of them here or just DRYC here.

As I walked in Tramps and Thieves just finished playing. I wish I saw their whole set. Check out their website here.

Some of my friends argue that there are no true rock stars left in our times. When it comes to musicians such as Mick Jagger, Keith Richards and Jim Morrison, my friends have said no one can create the same rock star persona. But for them to truly make their claim they’d have to see Strange Young Things.

While performing, the lead singer, Gloden, sporadically jumps in the crowd and throws himself on the floor while belting his lyrics, sometimes into the microphone, sometimes not. It doesn’t matter who’s in his way. Strange Young Things just want to rock… and roll (even if it means rolling on the floor.) Check out my review and footage of their performance at the 6th annual Rock for Tots Music Festival here.

Decked in matching sailor outfits, they closed out the night with some original songs, a Stevie Wonder cover (“Sign, Sealed, Delivered I’m Yours”) and a cover by The Strandells (“Dirty Water”).

Of course the lyrics “Boston, you’re my home” turned into “Tempe, you’re my home” and sometimes “motherfucking home.” Gloden climbed into the bar to sing a majority of the song. Sorry for poor lighting quality.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=veeubBOjaok&feature=player_embedded

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZZ4TjIkTvOw&feature=player_embedded - dose of rock

Strange Young Things

This wild, rowdy and rambunctious rock band closed the night by making sure everyone had a good time. As the lead singer stepped into the audience and sung from a lying position on the floor it was clear that they were having an awesome time. Exactly as it should be.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VoSNEy1mKeM&feature=player_embedded - dose of rock

?Bass player Adam Gross of Strange Young Things managed to pull together a great flier that looks casual yet celebratory in honor of his bandmate Corey's birthday.

"I wanted to make the poster embody that spirit," Gross said. "I always associate bright colored text and confetti-like imagery with birthdays. I felt this image, which includes a bunch of broken records that almost appear like confetti, along with the text in bright green, blue, and pink/purple symbolized a birthday celebration."

The show will be the sixth annual Glodie's Birthday Bash. Strange Young Things takes pride in the celebration, calling it "one of the best shows we play." Corey Glodie is lucky to have so much great local talent at the event to help him get his party going. Joining Strange Young Things will be Black Carl, Dry River Yacht Club, Tramps and Thieves, and Elizabeth Rose.

"[The show is] always with bands that are an amazing and eclectic mix that really represent the Valley's music scene," Gross explained. "This year we have some of the best in town to help us continue the tradition."

Here's the scoop: the showdown starts at 9 p.m. at the Yucca Tap Room. It's a 21-and-over gig. The best part of the show is that it's free! More information can be found here. While you're awaiting Glodie's party show, check out Strange Young Things performing an early version of their catchy-as-hell song "Get Your Fire For Free." - Phoenix New Times

FRIDAY, SEPTEMBER 24, 2010

22 Sept 10
...good morning, welcome to the rock show...
Strange Young Things


Hey, blogspot readers, welcome to the 100th show for this On The Town review! Tonight, SouthSide celebrated this momentous feat (second year hitting 100 shows) with her very first and last (tiny) shot of whiskey before heading downstairs to see Strange Young Things (from AZ) rockin' the stage. However, she highly recommends checking out the eclectic rock-n-roll style of The Love Shots. Though recently reviewing this band as headliner at Subterranean, SouthSide enjoyed once again their vibrant mix of the old (think 50s/early rock-n-roll) and the new (punk/rock) together. She suggests listening to her favorite song, Husband Undercover, Banshee and Good Girl Gone Insane. Also at The Shots' live performances, listen out for their rockin' renditions of Pearl Jam's cover of Ricky Nelson's Last Kiss and The Ronettes' Be My Baby. For more information, visit http://www.theloveshots.com or http://www.myspace.com/theloveshots.

Who are Strange Young Things? They're not strange ...hardly, but they do love to rock down a stage with an eclectic rock sound that's all over the map, blogspot readers. This quartet from Arizona exploded (literally) with a LOUD bang of energy and momentum ...vibrant guitar riffs and thundering percussion rhythms which this reviewer has a devil of a time writing and observing the action in front of her at the same time. There was so much happening on stage before slowing things down in the middle SouthSide had to stop writing for a minute. And this was just the opening song! Now simply imagine the rest of the set being like this and you'll have the type of performance Strange Young Things had at Elbo Room. This band pumped LOTS of rock music ranging from Americana to Country/Bluegrass ...even some R&B/Soul groove to funkified the audience. SouthSide was thoroughly wowed by the twittering riffs/chords in her ear to the toe-tappin' music vibe as well as the deep raspy vocals by Corey (front man on guitar). There's no way a band like Strange doesn't instantly grab your attention. And, ladies, you too will be melting from the sexy charismatic charm and stage presence when Corey's not behind the guitar. He did that and more while blowin' some sweet harmonics rhythms in the microphone to give one particular song its Americana/rock groove. Strange was on fire tonight, blogspot readers ...everyone on stage was feeling that rock vibe especially during songs Not That Kind and The Spoils Of War (look for that to be the title track of their next album). Off Strange's current CD, Look What They've Done To My Champagne Music, SouthSide suggests listening to track 1, Lonely Hearts Are Wild (the live version was a rousing set closer), track 3, Get Your Fire For Free (two words - smokin' hot), and the delightfully amusing track 9, You've Tripped On My Words For The Last Time (Don't It Hurt). The rest of the CD has plenty of toe-tappin' songs for you to groove while admiring the cover art ...and do follow Strange's advice printed behind the CD - play this album LOUD! SouthSide highly recommends fans in Arizona to head to Prescott where Strange Young Things will be rockin' the stage there. For more information, visit http://www.strangeyoungthings.com or http://www.myspace.com/strangeyoungthings.


Until next time, support your local scene,
SouthSide - SouthSide On The Town

It's not uncommon to find Strange Young Things' frontman Corey Gloden amid the crowd, frequently, while performing. Slithering around feet, jumping on the bars and tables, or just dancing around on stage we love him for his lively, fun-luvin’ abandon in front of a crowd. The rest of the band cohesively responds be it musically, stylistically, or with sailor suits. And, as an added bonus, the band’s pretty fucking rocking too. - YabYum Music

Fealess Radio Interview - Fearless Radio

Say you are a "winter visitor" to Arizona, sitting in your Buick at a stoplight in east Mesa, listening to Sean Hannity on your factory-installed radio. There you are, enjoying your retirement, when you notice the car in front of you has a "Fuck Strange Young Things" sticker in the back window. Your pacemaker bucks and kicks. Just what in the world does that mean? Mercy!

During a month when plenty of cars are plastered with McCain and Obama stickers, "Fuck Strange Young Things" is one of the more creative campaigns in local rock music, along the lines of the old "Primus Sucks" crusade in the Bay Area in the late '80s.

"It's instructions," insists Strange Young Things guitarist Patrick Kelly, pulling sips of a Budweiser in the band's Tempe rehearsal space. "Fuck Strange Young Things."

"What's funny is I put that on my front window (at home) and the landlord complained about it a few times," says drummer Richard Polmans, who grew up surfing in Durban, South Africa, before discovering his idol, Led Zeppelin's John Bonham, and turning to drums. "He said, 'It's offensive. You need to take it off,' and when I came back one day, it just said 'Strange Young Things' — the 'fuck' part was ripped off."

"We had a lot of people who would say it," says bassist Adam Gross of the slogan's somewhat negative origins, "so we said we might as well just put it out there."

"It's our pants," says singer/songwriter Corey Gloden. "They're just jealous of our skinny pants."

The attitude inherent in the "Fuck Strange Young Things" slogan ("We're cocky," admits Kelly) fully illustrates the band's attempts to inject a sorely needed Stones-esque swagger back into the Tempe rock scene, where more and more flop-haired shoegazers and sensitive emo boys permeate Valley clubs with their psychiatry-couch rock. Though still in their 20s, the members of Strange Young Things count among their influences bands that had been around for a decade or two before they were even born. A quick peek at the extensive vinyl collection in Kelly's house turns up LPs by Aerosmith, The Who, Prince, and even '70s R&B diva Roberta Flack.

"There's always gonna be a niche for [emo], there's always gonna be moody teenagers," says Kelly. "There's a place for that, and [those bands] are trying to relate their moodiness, but I wouldn't go see the shoegazer thing so much."

"I like to go see a show when I see a show," adds Gross. "I mean, if [shoegazing] fits the music and it's something you can feel, then great. But a lot of those bands, I just don't feel that music from. A show is separate from the music — everybody says they want to see Led Zeppelin and The Rolling Stones because they want to see a show.

"I think, at the end of the day, if you're feeling your music, you're gonna start moving."

"I'd rather go see something exciting," says Kelly, "than something that makes me feel like shit."

A Strange Young Things show is a gloriously ragged mix of hard-rock riffs, catchy power-chord pop, and cocksure strutting à la early-'70s bands such as The Faces and New York Dolls (minus the makeup and fuck-me pumps). Gloden's bluesy, vein-popping wail, Kelly's fluid Strat lines, and the shock-haired Gross' bass grooving in tight lockstep with Polmans' steady beats create an impossible-not-to-move sonic landscape.

"It's kind of become a trend in rock 'n' roll; it's become kind of a fad to step back [onstage]," says Gloden. "But there's always gonna be dirty bastards who go onstage and tear shit up."

"We like to jump around and play up the image, being wild and with the clothes," says Gross. "But at the end of the day, if we're going to put our music on a record, it better sound good."

After tearing shit up on Valley stages since 2005, SYT have finally released their debut disc, Look What They've Done to Our Champagne Music, which proves that the band can carry over their stage energy and tear up shit in the studio, too. Recorded with Tempe producer Jamie Woolford in his Room Sound studio, the disc was two years in the making, during which time Kelly, formerly of Tempe combo Bluejay, replaced original guitarist Dwight Ziegler.

Kicking off with the "Brown Sugar"-like "Only Hearts Are Wild," the disc is a tour de force of classic-rock pastiche, with tunes such as the country-ish "Left Breast Pocket" sounding like an outtake from Rod Stewart's Every Picture Tells a Story, "Get Your Fire for Free" buoyed by a bluesy, hard-rock riff that would make Mott the Hoople jealous, and acoustic-driven numbers like "Jonesing for a Good Time" and "No Limits, No Laws," reflecting Led Zeppelin's dabbling in English folk.

"For our first record, I'm really happy with it," Gloden says. "But slowly, for the last couple of years, I've been throwing together these other songs, and now we're bringing them to the band while we're promoting (Look What They've Done to Our Champagne Music). I can't wait to record them." - Phoenix New Times

FRIDAY, SEPTEMBER 24, 2010

22 Sept 10
...good morning, welcome to the rock show...
Strange Young Things


Hey, blogspot readers, welcome to the 100th show for this On The Town review! Tonight, SouthSide celebrated this momentous feat (second year hitting 100 shows) with her very first and last (tiny) shot of whiskey before heading downstairs to see Strange Young Things (from AZ) rockin' the stage. However, she highly recommends checking out the eclectic rock-n-roll style of The Love Shots. Though recently reviewing this band as headliner at Subterranean, SouthSide enjoyed once again their vibrant mix of the old (think 50s/early rock-n-roll) and the new (punk/rock) together. She suggests listening to her favorite song, Husband Undercover, Banshee and Good Girl Gone Insane. Also at The Shots' live performances, listen out for their rockin' renditions of Pearl Jam's cover of Ricky Nelson's Last Kiss and The Ronettes' Be My Baby. For more information, visit http://www.theloveshots.com or http://www.myspace.com/theloveshots.

Who are Strange Young Things? They're not strange ...hardly, but they do love to rock down a stage with an eclectic rock sound that's all over the map, blogspot readers. This quartet from Arizona exploded (literally) with a LOUD bang of energy and momentum ...vibrant guitar riffs and thundering percussion rhythms which this reviewer has a devil of a time writing and observing the action in front of her at the same time. There was so much happening on stage before slowing things down in the middle SouthSide had to stop writing for a minute. And this was just the opening song! Now simply imagine the rest of the set being like this and you'll have the type of performance Strange Young Things had at Elbo Room. This band pumped LOTS of rock music ranging from Americana to Country/Bluegrass ...even some R&B/Soul groove to funkified the audience. SouthSide was thoroughly wowed by the twittering riffs/chords in her ear to the toe-tappin' music vibe as well as the deep raspy vocals by Corey (front man on guitar). There's no way a band like Strange doesn't instantly grab your attention. And, ladies, you too will be melting from the sexy charismatic charm and stage presence when Corey's not behind the guitar. He did that and more while blowin' some sweet harmonics rhythms in the microphone to give one particular song its Americana/rock groove. Strange was on fire tonight, blogspot readers ...everyone on stage was feeling that rock vibe especially during songs Not That Kind and The Spoils Of War (look for that to be the title track of their next album). Off Strange's current CD, Look What They've Done To My Champagne Music, SouthSide suggests listening to track 1, Lonely Hearts Are Wild (the live version was a rousing set closer), track 3, Get Your Fire For Free (two words - smokin' hot), and the delightfully amusing track 9, You've Tripped On My Words For The Last Time (Don't It Hurt). The rest of the CD has plenty of toe-tappin' songs for you to groove while admiring the cover art ...and do follow Strange's advice printed behind the CD - play this album LOUD! SouthSide highly recommends fans in Arizona to head to Prescott where Strange Young Things will be rockin' the stage there. For more information, visit http://www.strangeyoungthings.com or http://www.myspace.com/strangeyoungthings.


Until next time, support your local scene,
SouthSide - Southside

The Modified Arts music venue in central Phoenix has to be one of the city's least pretentious and uncluttered spaces reserved for artistic undertakings, featuring a white-walled room that culminates in a simple, though adequate stage on one end. Recently the band Strange Young Things occupied Modified's confines for the first time, and it was apparent that the two were custom fitted for each other.

Strange Young Things - composed of frontman/guitarist Corey Gloden, guitarist Patrick Kelly, bass player Adam Gross, and drummer Richard Polmans- is a refreshing testament to the appeal of good 'ol blue jeans and booze rock 'n roll. At a time in American music when a visceral resurgence from post-grunge/emo/electronica/pop has taken form in band like the White Stripes and Jet, Strange Young THings offers the local fan their own flavor of a stripped-down approach to engaging ears.

Mixing tracks from new album, Look What They've Done To My Champagne Music along with new tunes currently in the production stage, Gloden and mates unleashed a furious energy onstage with "Bang the Dash" that didn't let up until their closing song, "Lonely Hearts Are Wild."

Featuring melodic changes and hooks, jam style crescendos, and all-stop beats setting up haunting, pleading vocal affirmations of disillusion and heart-break, Strange Young Things effectively combined the best aspects of a rock show into a one and a half hour set. Gloden's vocal range and showmanship took center stage during the performance, and he supplemented his act with snakeskin boots, leather vest, beret, and intermittent forays into the crowd with harmonica in hand during songs like "Left Breast Pocket."

Though they adhere to the aforementioned M.O. of gloriously stripped-down rock 'n roll, Strange Young Things is also capable of securing its appeal through diversification: overtones of metal populated songs like "Dabble In The Mix"; punk tendencies were demonstrated in "Get Your Fire For Free"; and road trip folk stylings colored the reflective ethos of "Suitcase."

The technically-sound musicianship apparent in each member of the band came together in a magically cohesive, yet purposefully raw and emotionally-intensive presentation of quality entertainment. What a show! Valley music fans need to celebrate bands like Strange Young Things; a group that will rock 'till they drop, and then keep rocking some more on the floor.

-krl
- AZ Weekly

STRANGE YOUNG THINGS: Quite Possibly the Valley's hottest new act (formed March 2005), Strange Young Things is making even veterans of the community stand up, take notice and comb over their own work in attempt to step it up a notch. SYT is a refreshing combination of pure, soulful, good 'ol rock. Unlike similar genre-based bands, each member - Corey Gloden, Adam Gross, Richard Polmans and Dwight Ziegler - puts on a show while functioning as a solid "rock unit." Maybe they're a success because they exude chemistry and passion that commands the audience to move. Maybe it's just the pure and honest songwriting played by a group of talented guys. Perhaps it's that they are just a little bit "off." - 944 Magazine Phoenix