Against Strong Odds

Remember Counting Crows? Revisit August and Everything After for one of the best albums of the 90s. Seriously. It holds up beautifully.

Now ... they're back, they're independent, and they're embracing the web. Their new album Underwater Sunshine (or What We Did On Our Summer Vacation) is a typical mid-career jaunt into the world of covers. Call it lazy. Call it reverent. But check out the tracklist and keep an open mind. Teenage Fanclub, Travis, and Big Star? Too Poppy is paying attention.

Underwater Sunshine is out April 10 but will be readily available across the web until then for your streaming pleasure.

Official site

Somewhere in Middle America

Counting Crows rolled through town last weekend with Collective Soul and Third Eye Blind. I passed due to the $50 ticket price and I heard from a colleague that I didn't miss much. The Crows played quite a bit of new music, which evidently sounds like their old music. Here's more on their new album Saturday Nights, Sunday Morning due out in November.

"This album is really starkly divided, not just musically but thematically," Duritz says. "The first half is pretty dark stuff and 'Sunday Mornings' is not a side about redemption either. 'Sunday Mornings' is about sorrow and grief."

Also worthy of note, a remastered set of August and Everything After (their first and likely career best album) is due in stores September 18 and will include demos and a live performance. If you haven't in a few years, be sure to revisit this great album. It holds up quite well.

I Think You Better Turn Your Ticket In

It's time to get nostalgic for the 90s! I actually think the early to mid 90s was one of the greatest music periods in my lifetime, but that could be more about the place I was in my lifetime (high school, college) than the overall quality of the music. Three bands that had a big presence at that time are coming to Sec Taylor Stadium / Principal Park (the Triple A baseball park for the Iowa Cubs) in Des Moines on August 11. Rock n' Roll Triple Play (gack) will feature Counting Crows, Collective Soul, and Third Eye Blind. Ok, two out of three ain't bad.

Counting Crows' August and Everything After easily ranks up there as one of the best 90s mainstream albums. I hated Collective Soul early on (turn your head now baby just spit me out - awful), but 1999's Dosage is stellar. Third Eye Blind ... well, if memory serves, I think Stephan Jenkins got to go out with Charlize Theron for awhile. That's kinda cool.

There are a couple problems, though. Evidently Live is on this tour as well, but for some reason is not making the stop in Iowa (instead, we get Third Eye Blind.) That's a real pisser. Even though they'll never again match the glory that is Throwing Copper, their live show is phenomenal. Oh, and the ticket price will be cost prohibitive for many of us who would go for the sentimental fun of it, but not because we're die-hard fans. $50?! That leaves precious few dollars for the requisite beers needed to get through the Third Eye Blind set. The last legitimate hit any of these bands had was Counting Crows' Accidentally in Love from 2004's Shrek Two soundtrack. C'mon! Thankfully, they're the headliners.

Most of the other dates are in the Northeast. Check 'em here or here. Also, if you buy your tix from countingcrows.com, you'll get into the venue earlier than others. Otherwise, tix go on sale through Ticketcrapper June 9 for the Des Moines show.