Sup.
I'm Albert, and I'm the new music editor of OC Weekly. I'm pretty tickled to be here - I'm coming from the suburbs of Phoenix, Arizona, which means I'm sadly giving up some radical shows like this weekend's Festival in the Desert. (Pat Benatar and Boz Scaggs on the same stage on the same day? Dreams really do come true.) So if you ever need any music editor-y type things, feel free to e-mail me at aching@ocweekly.com.
But what I really want to do is dance, dance, dance.
Over in the Val
There's no denying it: Bands have a huge boner for naming themselves after Smiths songs.
Tonight, LA's Sweet and Tender Hooligans are playing at the Grove of Anaheim (opening up the second of Tiger Army's five night stand). They get their name, natch, from "Sweet and Tender Hooligan," but it's not just their moniker they got from Morrissey, Marr and Co. - they're a Smiths cover band, and their lead singer makes an admirable attempt at an unenviable task; replicating Moz's distinct vocal style.
It's time to rank the best of what went around and came around again.
BILLY JOEL
The Stranger
(Columbia/Legacy)
As punk and disco exploded, the Piano Man's deeply unhip 1978 breakthrough proved that top-shelf Broadway/Brill Building songwriting could still sell - and, occasionally, rock. "Scenes From an Italian Restaurant" and "Anthony's Song (Movin' Out)" remain priceless snapshots of Annie Hall-era NYC, the title track bares real teeth, and the Kenny Chesney fave "Only the Good Die Young" -
