Last night my woman took me to see A Camp at Union Hall. Union Hall’s music space is teeny-tiny making the show very intimate. I had never heard any A Camp music, but I’ve been a big Cardigans fan since Gran Turismo. So I was hoping for some great tunes and Nina delivered with a collection of light in sound, but heavy in message tunes that’s got me looking to pick up an album from them.

I should try to remember to catch a full-blown Cardigans show some time.

Update: Better photos here from the annoying guy right in front of us who wouldn’t stop taking pictures.

Back when I heard Siamese Dreams for the first time, I was blown away. Mixed with an almost magical post high-school graduation summer, it cemented itself permanently into not just my musical tastes, but somehow into my very personality. It’s hard to explain. Anyway, when I discovered the previous album Gish while in college, it became official: Smashing Pumpkins had become my favorite band of all time.

Then came the wave of b-sides and the fantastic bootleg performances some of which I still quote to this day: “I hear you and I’m getting the message!” It was some kind of perfect musical mirror for my life as my world expanded further and further out from the tiny island I grew up on where I first heard Today. Towards the tail end of this period I even ran into James Iha at a house party out in Brooklyn where… uhm… nefarious activities took place. All these things continued to build up the band in my mind.

Then one day… they just didn’t matter anymore.

Yeah, I bought Adore and enjoyed it, but something had changed. When Machina came out, I didn’t even bother picking it up and to this day, I don’t think I’ve listened to the whole thing.

Now, Smashing Pumpkins returns with an album pompously entitled Zeitgeist. I downloaded it yesterday, turned up the speakers, and blasting it, tried to re-open myself to the experience of bombastic drumming, fuzzy guitars and Billy Corgan’s eclectic vocals.

I have to admit, it rocked (especially tracks like United States and Tarantula).

It almost got me back to the magic I used to feel for the band… Almost. I don’t know. Some small thing was missing. Was that small thing missing from me and not from the music? Maybe.

Without a doubt, Zeitgeist is Smashing Pumpkins best album since Melon Collie, but that’s not saying much.  I should try to remember Smashing Pumpkins as the band I loved in the 90’s (complete with D’arcy and James Iha), not worry too much about the band they’ve become, and just enjoy these new tracks for what they are: some damn good rock songs.