Dumbfound Me

i do believe you've got something to lance

2010-06-27T20:56:00.006-04:00

April 26 at the Matchless Bar in Greenpoint, Brooklyn. Major, Ghana-style props to TheEastVillagerNYC for uploading this.

i swear to god that i don't mean to cry

2009-10-17T15:54:00.009-04:00

Someday, I hope, someone will fill me in on who this "balloon boy" is that everybody's been going on and on about lately. But meantime, I know why I've floating aloft all this week in my own emotional homemade experimental aircraft -- it's sheer, full-bore ecstasy, inspired by the knowledge that the long drought is over, the aquifers are replenished and the mighty Caulfield Sisters spring tide

have we got contact, you and me?

2009-10-10T17:59:00.001-04:00

In the words of a Persian poet:The spider weaves the curtains in the palace of the Caesars;the owl calls the watches in the towers of Afrasiab.And the Caulfield Sisters? Why, they're heading back on stage where they belong, ready to win the Nobel Prize for rocking your motherfucking ass off.Last time we heard from the Sisters, way back in the yonder days of Ought-Seven, it was still George Bush's

she’s gonna be a writer and no one can stop her

2008-03-16T14:40:00.009-04:00

You know, I think those remarks by Obama's pastor are getting misconstrued by the media. Clearly, what he meant is: "God damn! America is so totally ready to see and hear more from those Caulfield Sisters!" And who could possibly quarrel with that? (Yes, Senator McCain, I'm looking at you. But is there any truth to the rumors that Hillary's a fan and, if nominated, plans to give an acceptance

no, she can do it with her eyes

2008-01-21T15:16:00.000-05:00

I hope everyone is having a good MLK Day. Here's a treat for y'all: Someone has uploaded a second live video of the Sisters onto YouTube, this time showing them performing at Pianos, which I'm guessing was a few years ago.The camera moves around a lot and offers a good look at all three, each seeming very serious but rocking out nonetheless. Is Mary amazing on that bass or what? Kristin's got her

the flood will take us when we're in our sleep

2008-01-15T01:29:00.001-05:00

Let's just say, hypothetically, that you drive five hours across the state to see a wonderful band whose debut album has been immeasurably enriching your life during the past couple of months, but then because of some absurdly inaccurate Google Maps driving directions coupled with extreme fatigue and your usual stupidity you arrive just in time to catch the last song and a half of their set, for

from my east side, from my west side

2007-11-11T07:24:00.000-05:00

I'm running out the door to go listen to Paul Krugman (who's basically the Mary Catherine Guidera of John Bates Clark Medal-winning Princeton economics professors who write columns for The New York Times) speak at the Miami Book Fair. But when I get back, looks like I got some downloading to do, thanks to our friends at American Laundromat:We promised you we'd be releasing the "Deal Breaker Demos

now that's a thought i can follow

2007-09-21T13:35:00.000-04:00

I have nothing constructive to add, just thought it worth noting that a cool person named Stacey took some photos at this month's Caulfield Sisters/Hornrims show at Don Hills. Besides the one above, you can see the others in their natural habitat here.Did anyone else know that besides Look It, Cindy and the flute goddess Suzanne Thorpe were in a second band called The Forest For the Trees?

but when she falls, she's lighter than air

2007-09-08T21:04:00.000-04:00

I'm guessing that the Sisters have departed the stage by now, that their faithful fans have enjoyed the comeback show at Don Hills, and that the Earth has resumed spinning on its proper axis. I hope it was everything a Caulfield Sisters performance should be -- life-changing, psoriasis-curing, the type of experience that leaves you with your soul cleansed, your hedges trimmed and your cuticles

i hope it's got a face that i know

2007-07-11T02:53:00.000-04:00

Yowza yowza yowza. I mean, damn -- when those Sisters pull a comeback they don't fuck around. No, they just go ahead and stage the most glorious resurrection since a certain Nazarene kicked a stone out of his way a couple of millenniums ago. Here are the tidings of joy from American Laundromat:"The Caulfield Sisters will be playing a show on September 8th at Don Hills in NYC.""In the next few

days grow long as the days go on

2007-07-03T05:30:00.000-04:00

Great news: Various folks who know much more than I do say the Caulfield Sisters juggernaut is getting ready to roll, to which all I can respond is a mighty yee haw. See these snippets from the American Laundromat message board plus the comments to my prior blog post for more. Really, I was just expressing my fears out loud so they'd turn out not to be true.Meanwhile, anyone looking to get their

the girl's in the ground now

2007-06-12T22:15:00.000-04:00

So is this the end of the Sisters? Have the Caulfields gone off to that great musical-literary rye field in the sky? Is it possible that a band that hasn't performed in public for almost two years might not technically, you know, exist? Interpret this as you will, but Cindy's gone off and formed yet another band, according to this alert passed on by Caulfield Sisters mega-fan madtempest:From:

it's a sausage grinder

2007-05-19T15:21:00.000-04:00

A few more thoughts on the no-longer-lost video:Comparing the Pee Shy video with the Caulfield Sisters' concert footage can be both fun and educational. For instance, ponder Cindy's sultry swaying-back-and-forth in "Little Dudes" (perhaps amped-up for purposes of the video) versus her ironclad gravitas when playing the accordion in "Some Candy Talking." In the latter, I was struck especially by

i told you, so don't lie

2007-05-19T03:45:00.000-04:00

Oh. My. Fucking. God. Part II.After 11-12 years of being locked in some forbidding, Dick Cheney-style netherworld in some record company's vault, the video for Pee Shy's "Little Dudes" single has finally surfaced. So for anyone who ever wondered what the Sisters were like before they were Sisters, back when Jenny was still in the mix, Bil was just being Bil and the Shy's classic configuration was

trying hard not to be the piece of cloth that it is

2007-05-15T03:24:00.000-04:00

For anyone who's interested, looks like those message boards at American Laundromat are finally back. And there's a special corner all set up for discussions of everyone's favorite accordion-, bass- and drum-slinging trio -- even though it's accompanied by some disquieting hints that the Holy Trinity have retreated into their own state of Salinger-like seclusion:What can we say about these ladies

there's a hand from behind and it cups my mouth

2007-04-27T08:46:00.000-04:00

So I finally got around to packing and took a cab to the airport and now my Southwest flight has been delayed at least an hour because of bad weather and I figure, hey, I might as well use this free wifi connection they have here, and then I start to think about the YouTube video I posted here a few hours ago and start to wonder if maybe, just maybe some performance of the Sisters has been

in is the opposite of out

2007-04-27T05:30:00.000-04:00

Believe it or not, I've had a lot of things to say here, just haven't been motivated to say them. But I hate doing what I really should be doing right now, which is packing, so here goes:American Laundromat got a new website a while back. Yay! But apparently they're running out of Say It With Fire, so y'all better hurry and stock up.Um, what's the deal with the Sisters' official site?Kristin's

it's too much for a young heart to take

2006-12-06T02:15:00.000-05:00

Or even a no-longer-young one. But let me start at the beginning:I knew something was up tonight when I saw my screen door ajar. A bundle of something was propped up inside, gently swaddled by rubber bands and a concealing blanket of magazines and a Cushman's citrus catalog, left on the front porch like an offering to some neglectful god. Its secret lay deep inside, in the exact center of the

all the way to china, and i dug

2006-12-04T06:23:00.000-05:00

Wow. Whatever happened to summer?No matter, and don't mind me while I dust some of these cobwebs off. Once again I find myself apologizing for all these months of blog silence, but this time I have an excuse: I had sworn upon the altar of God that I would not post again until A) Nancy Pelosi was elected Speaker of the House; B) Thomas Pynchon came out with a new novel (admittedly Salinger would

nobody looks when eternity's dying

2006-07-27T21:48:00.000-04:00

"Somebody laughs again,somebody's hurt again,somebody's stranded or just breaking downand you in you're bubble,you're offshore in your bubbleand rolling away"-- Nailbiters, "Someone Else"This has been a week of mourning for Mike O'Neill, the astonishingly gifted songwriter, guitarist and singer who led some of the greatest bands ever to come from Tampa Bay -- Monday Mornings, Nailbiters and The

maybe i'd sleep at night

2006-05-14T15:45:00.000-04:00

Belatedly, some more actual Caulfield Sisters news from Joe, indicating that the Lost Three Wheeler Demos may soon resurface:... you'll be happy to know the Caulfield Sisters are rehearsing again after a long hiatus. No news on new recordings yet but I can assure you I will gently guide them into a recording studio within the next several months.In related news... as you know, before Cindy and

we're like orpheus and what's-her-name

2006-05-12T01:46:00.000-04:00

Could there be a Pee Shy Curse, similar to the Seinfeld one? 'Cause not only did Pee Shy break up, but now -- a mere 12 years after she and Helen A.S. Popkin shared the stage with Cindy, Jenny and Bil one glorious night at the Stone Lounge in Tampa -- Gina Vivinetto has gotten the boot from the St. Pete Times.Her crime? Blogging.Yes -- imagine that! By day, Gina called herself a responsible

hide my mood in the bright and blue

2006-04-24T02:21:00.000-04:00

Yet another triumph for the good folks at American Laundromat: Joe announces that the Sisters are releasing Say It With Fire on iTunes, including a whale of a bonus track -- a rereleased, remastered, remixed, re-whatevered version of the greatest song in the universe, "First Bridge of Summer." Peter Katis is doing the production honors at Tarquin Studios, just like in the old school Caulfields

fight the things that bite

2006-03-23T21:52:00.000-05:00

That last post inspired a mighty cool response from Michael Hussey, the Tampa fan who posted such kind words about the Sisters and started that discussion on Monkeyfilter. But I do need to clear one thing up real quick: This is not the Sisters' blog. It's a fan blog about the Sisters. They've neither approved nor authorized anything on here, nor do they seem to be into the whole blog concept. (To

white, female and godless

2006-03-22T23:52:00.000-05:00

Dang but it's been quiet in Caulfield land, the kind of extended, awkward pause accompanied by much coughing and shuffling of feet that one might expect to encounter if one were Katrina Vanden Heuvel at an Ann Coulter sound-alike contest. But I'm not; and, I trust, neither are you. So on to the nearest developments, shall we? (In ascending order of significance.)Cindy has been communing with

le pistolet est dans ma bouche maintenant

2005-12-05T07:58:00.000-05:00

As Steve Martin used to say: Those French!Sure, you may have France stereotyped as the land of snooty sommeliers, Arab riots in les banlieux and those cheese-eating surrender monkeys who tried to stop the U.S. from launching our wildly successful invasion of Iraq. But this corner of Old Europe is also the newest fountain of Caulfieldmania, according to this posting from a Francophone blogger

sure wish you'd take a swing

2005-11-10T21:50:00.000-05:00

Even more news about the exploits of Her Wheelerness: "Just a quick note to let you all know that Cindy will be performing with Look It on Friday, December 2nd at Pianos. Show your support and come on out for a great night of music!"Pianos' calendar says the Looky-Loos play at 10:30. Blythe Hollow, Sing Sing and Haley Bonar play earlier if you wanna make an evening of it. Come along and bring

the sting will never last

2005-11-08T22:56:00.000-05:00

If wishes were horses, or cliches were original, we'd all be galloping to buy Caulfield Sisters CD's right now. But today we have the next best thing, the first electronic missive in months from As Irmãs:Hello Dear FriendsWe sure have missed you!!! Just wanted to let you know that the Caulfield Sisterscover of the Smiths song "Please, Please, Please Let Me Get What I Want"will be appearing on the

and i say dance motherfuckers

2005-11-06T21:51:00.000-05:00

Don't you hate it when blogs go silent all of a sudden? When the news and commentary just stop without even a fare-thee-well, leaving that big ol' stale August 21 date staring you in the face like a blinking 0:00 clock on the over-the-range microwave?OK, not all blogs surely -- I mean if a certain self-styled muckraker or a particular apologist for racist internment camps were to go into an

held a knife to my throat and told me to choose

2005-08-21T00:56:00.000-04:00

Much to say, much to say, but not a lot of time to say it. So here's the Reader's Digest version, Mac:1) Look It, everybody's favorite Caulfield Sisters/Home/Mercury Rev/Company spinoff band, is playing a second, "secret" show this coming Friday (i.e., August 26) headlined by The Comas at an NYC club called Otto's Shrunken Head. (Is it just me, or is it sometimes a bit too difficult to tell the

photographs of people i don't know

2005-08-06T08:24:00.000-04:00

With another month left in the postpartum Sisters drought, those of us looking for a Caulfields fix will have to settle for other means. Fortunately, some new photos have surfaced from last November's show at Sin-e -- and this time the shooter is a guy named Brian, not Jasper.Whatever happened to Mr. Coolidge, anyway? He takes some amazing concert photos, and he deserves credit for spreading the

this is the country western bar of the dead

2005-07-31T18:38:00.000-04:00

Hey, who says Kristin is the only Caulfield Sister who can be in a dozen bands simultaneously? According to these grammatically challenged folks, Cindy has gone off and formed a side project with members of Home and Mercury Rev. The new band is called Look It, apparently:While waiting for Caulfield Sister bassist Mary Guidera to adjust to new Motherhood and preparing for Cindy Wheeler from The

my tongue has turned black from tasting what's not mine

2005-07-22T02:47:00.000-04:00

The Caulfields camp has made a new convert. It seems the proprietor of the Music Cherry blog was looking for something with a Mazzy Star/My Bloody Valentine vibe, and boy, did s/he find it:The Caulfield Sisters definitely carry on the tradition of Mazzy Star and other similar bands. The music is drifting and washed-out (and I mean that as a compliment), and the vocal work is wonderfully relaxed

gonna send a paper airplane to you

2005-07-06T01:51:00.000-04:00

I just couldn't let this evening pass without welcoming Tropical Storm Cindy to the mainland.Now, Dennis, will you please go the fuck away!!!

some whispered news in darkness

2005-07-02T14:06:00.000-04:00

So I'm watching U2 playing on Live8 right now and wondering why, oh why, the Caulfield Sisters aren't up on that stage.But now I know: Mary is preggers! Yes indeed, a Caulfield Daughter or Son will be arriving in about two weeks. (If it's a daughter, will they name her Phoebe? Or Esme? Franny?)Since even music must yield to parturition, the Sisters are on a break. But Cindy in all her Wheelerian

find the sun when there's no you

2005-06-18T01:10:00.000-04:00

"First Bridge of Summer"by the Caulfield SistersI just tried to cross the first bridge of summerbut the rain was in my eyesand the mist it hid the towersI can't tell my east side from my west sidefrom my east side from my west sideAnd it's hard to do,find the sun when there's no youAnd you can tow my car awayIt doesn't matter 'cause I'm gonna stayIt doesn't matter, I'm not leavin' anywayI just

do you remember the days when the rains came?

2005-06-09T01:33:00.000-04:00

Deep in the country, amidst the large white house and barns surrounded by fields, forest, and lake—not a house or a human within shouting distance—a lonely daughter, at the distant bottom of a triad, longed for company. Animals and pets abounded on the pretended farm, but regular society eluded her outside of school, a half hour’s bus ride from home; hence the arrival of "Judy."So begins "Judy,"

with my own bloodstains on the wall

2005-05-05T01:22:00.000-04:00

The Caulfield Sisters played at the Mercury Lounge last night. I wasn't there (this not living anywhere near NYC thing has become a *serious* impediment). But I did have a cool dream about the Sisters the night before. They were playing in some sort of hulking government building in Manhattan (like maybe a water utility administration office complex near Grand Central Station), all soot-stained

sure leave a pretty silver trail

2005-04-09T02:08:00.000-04:00

That KEXP show just gets better and better the more I listen to it. Sigh. For those who missed it, the Sisters have made it available for download on their official site, and KEXP has photos. Cindy flinging that Bernini accordion is always a sight to treasure.Sigh.

did you say "broke wind"?

2005-04-05T22:47:00.000-04:00

Flatulatory interlude and all, what a wonderful performance today by die Schwestern on KEXP. So great to hear Cindy and Mary live again (as the Feelies once sang: "Seven years, way too long"), and finally to gain aural witness to their atmospheric, somewhat spacey, much-written-about version of "Some Candy Talking," not even to mention the gripping new coda to "Dumbfound You":I try and try and

somehow i'm not impressed

2005-03-21T09:59:00.000-05:00

Actually I was pretty damn impressed by the former Mr. Wheeler's band when I saw them play at Revolution in Fort Lauderdale the other night. Crowd was nuts and the band was spot-on, though typically uncommunicative; highlights (for me, anyway) included "Obstacle 1," "Roland" (which they ended with) and "Smells Like Teen Spirit" ... oops, I mean "Evil." I wore my Pee Shy "Don't Get Too Comfortable

what's invisible trips me up

2005-02-23T20:53:00.000-05:00

They live!Great news today from the official site. After a disquieting post-election silence, the Sisters announce that they are alive and active, they've been writing a bunch of new songs, and they will soon be recording a full-length album, to be released by those discerning folks at American Laundromat.And they'll be playing a show April 8 at Pianos. Come one, come all.Speaking of the

never, ever the avon lady at your door

2005-02-14T23:46:00.000-05:00

Is this, yikes, the beginning of a groundswell? Whatever it is, American Laundromat Records are not only putting the Sisters on their Eighties covers album but also suddenly promoting the shit out of Say It With Fire, and selling it on their site with a special page loaded with critical praise and some cool Jasper shots.Somebody from pixiesmusic.com is co-sponsoring this effort, and a

you can tow my car away

2005-02-12T01:45:00.000-05:00

Some music fans from the Great White North caught the Sisters at CMJ back in October and wrote this review (accurate except for the confusion of Tampa with Miami -- then again, how many of us U.S. folks could tell Edmonton from Winnipeg without help?). It's good to see the enchantment spreading across North America.This New York trio’s slow-burning indie rock tunes seemed to levitate, like

double line means no passing, except

2005-02-09T22:11:00.000-05:00

My, isn't the web just filled with love for the Caulfield Sisters these days? Another blogger, an old Pee Shy fan who just found out about the successor group, relates his glorious online encounter with the ever-so-gracious Ms. Wheeler.Said blogger adds:I <3 small Indy bands. They treat their fans awesomely.(And yes... I used to have a slight crush on Mary Guidera... the bassist)Well, yeah. Who

not through beauty, but through blood

2005-02-08T19:02:00.000-05:00

Some actual Caulfields news today: The Sisters are going to be on a compilation album with the likes of Kristin Hersh, Lori McKenna and one of the Blake Babies. And they'll be performing, believe it not, the Go-Go's song "We Got the Beat" -- though perhaps, in deference to Cindy's poetry background, they should retitle it "We Got the Beats."While I never in my most twisted, spackle-induced

2005-02-08T03:13:00.000-05:00

"the next big pop movement will not involve accordions" The New York Times, Sunday, 2/6/2005

sounds to me like you're calling your dog

2005-02-07T23:01:00.000-05:00

OK, now that my digression with the rest of the East Seventh Avenue Diaspora is done with, I'd really like to give a big old Caulfields Blog thumbs-up to that Deli interview with Cindy -- easily the best article about her that I've ever read (sadly, there have been too few, although here's an older one that turned out pretty OK). Among other relevations, Cindy talks about: 1) the meaning of "

yeehaw junction. where nothing is. and everything is.

2005-02-06T13:39:00.000-05:00

Well, I just went to Tampa and Came The Freak On. Whew! The executive summary: Giants still walk the fucking earth. Bound, Jarvic 7 and Baby Robots were mesmerizing. Dumbwaiters and Home rocked the house, hard. (Is it possible for human hands to move so fast, so blur-inducingly, for so long as the 'waiters did in their final song? And whatever happened to the plowing-new-fields-of-subtlety

you were supposed to enjoy it

2005-02-02T22:58:00.000-05:00

People at work were writing haikus today for some reason I absolutely do not want to inquire about. Better it is, I think, to revive the three classics that Cindy presented at the Blue Chair haiku slam on November 5, 1994:Generation X:If I wanted a labelI'd shop at the GapI want a flat chest.Those old-man white undershirtslook best with no braWe're in yuppie hell!Guavaween every weekend.Ybor City

this is what comes with your salt water lung decision

2005-01-28T04:04:00.000-05:00

There's news to discuss and lots of reminiscing to be done, but right now I need to crash. So to tide y'all over, here's some vintage Cindy poetry. Enjoy! I Wanted to Go Out Dancing But The Music Was Lame Sakes Alive, I've come back down to the ground because I'm empty but watch me while I do the helium bloat and float back up like a resurrection like a bubble from a plastic dog's mouth I'll

the volatile stuff that comes from something small

2005-01-26T01:14:00.000-05:00

Why create a blog for the Caulfield Sisters? Because they’re the first great band of the 21st century. Because they deserve one, yet have not created one for themselves. Because their official web site, while lovely and amazing and containing all those wonderful clips and photos, has not been updated for months, and the online record store that carries their ep is stuck in a time warp circa June

2004-01-13T03:04:00.000-05:00

Coming soon! A diary of occasional musings about the first great band of the 21st Century.