RTP-area local music and culture

["Todd Morman" <tmorman AT nc.rr.com>]

> Cartridge Family released their 2nd album at the tail end of 2007, and I
> still haven't heard it (it's a long damn way from Raleigh to Chapel
> Hill, I guess), which peeves me, since their debut, "Here Come the Rock
> Stars," was one of my faves of 2006. Total Blonde on Blonde - meets New
> York Dolls - meets Exile on Main Street rocknroll.

Can I just mention that this is a spot-on description of the Cartridge
Family? They seem to be playing around a lot lately, so I'll just step in to
say if you like American roots and punk music and haven't seen them, go. I'd
heard it was quality Exile-ish rock, but wasn't really prepared to be blown
away like I was. What's even funnier is that just a week or two earlier, I'd
been stuck on a Greyhound coming back from Asheville, listening to the
entire Blonde on Blonde album on a walkman and falling completely in love
with it all over again. I hadn't heard it in years, and it was like
listening to something brand new - incredibly powerful, angry, heartfelt and
touching, and with constantly shifting layers of sound and meaning. Ok, the
half a Percoset I took to kill the motion sickness probably helped, but I
mean, wow. What a fucking album.

Anyway, I'm an idiot and out of touch, so I hadn't heard that Blonde on
Blonde was relevant here, so when I stopped my bike at Sadlack's on the way
home from work that cold, cold night - damn, was I happy to listen carefully
to the Cartridge Family live. It was loose and boozy, sharp and clear,
aggressive and full of heart all at the same time. Great lyrics, too, and
that organ, holy shit, it was perfect. Surprised no one mentions Green on
Red in reviews (one of the great lost bands of the 80s, or one of my faves
looking back, anyway). I've always had a soft spot for that chunky, rootsy,
full-on sound. I just checked the Allmusic review of "Gas Food Lodging" and
saw the phrase "sheer bloodshot sincerity." That seems to fit the Cartridge
Family nicely.

todd they actually got me visiting MySpace now *that's* an endorsement
morman