The O-town Scene

Laygirl Fashion|By Emily Popek New Music Notes By Mark Boshnack Thee Oh Sees' Latest Leaves Me Wanting More A screenshot of the Swapdom website. Do You Swapdom? Do you have "guilt" outfits? You know, those clothes you wear only because you feel like you "should," maybe because you spent a lot of money on them, or they were a gift, or they're trendy? Well, now you have a really good excuse to get rid of those sartorial albatrosses. And it's called Swapdom. I've written before about my love of clothing swaps. In fact, I'm hard at trying to organize another O-Town Scene swap, which I hope will be sometime this spring. But in the meantime, I've found another way to satisfy my swap bug. You might have heard of Swapdom.com already, although I was surprised to learn that it's actually still quite new. Within the last couple of months, it seemed like all my favorite fashion bloggers were mentioning it, so I just assumed that I was late to the cool party as usual. But, no, the site just launched in the fall, so I can almost say I'm in on the ground floor of this one! The concept of Swapdom is pretty simple: You list clothes that you want to get rid of, and find clothes that other people have listed that you want. When everyone can agree to a swap, you put your old clothes in the mail and get some new ones back. Pretty slick, eh? Of course, this does not actually enable you to get rid of clothes in a macro sense; you're just exchanging one garment for another. But look at it this way: it's cheaper than shopping (you just pay for postage), and it feels good to get those un-worn, un-loved items out of your closet. And if you (like me) are really conniving, you can swap something that you bought for 10 cents for something that you can sell on consignment for, like, $4. Which I realize still isn't much money, but it's a heck of a markup, and $4 is nothing to sneeze at. But whether you want to revamp your wardrobe, get rid of some unstylish togs or make a few bucks, Swapdom is easy and fun. I've only listed a few items so far, but if you want to check me out, my user name is bonmarchecouture. Emily F. Popek still has clothes in her closet from the last O-Town Scene clothing swap. She is also assistant editor of The Daily Star. Like the O-Town Scene on Facebook for event updates and general merriment 4 O-Town Scene January 9, 2014 The first New Music Notes album for the new year is one that came to my attention before the flood of "Best of 2013" lists overwhelmed my listening. Thee Oh Sees started more than 15 years ago as an outlet for Rhode Island native John Dwyer, but it has evolved into one of the best garage/punk bands I have heard in a long time. Their album "Floating Coffin" was released in April and I am surprised I did not see it on many "Best Of" rankings. It's full of infectious riffs, solid drumming and all around high-energy music. Lately I have discovered several bands that fit that bill, such as Mikal Cronin and Ty Segall. Its amazing how much good music came out this year. But back to this month's album. It gets off to a great start with "I Come From the Mountain," a song that Dwyer alluded to in a Pitchfork interview about the influence of an obscure Mexican psych prog band Los Dug Dugs. I'm not sure if he was serious, but the mix of sparse metaphysical lyrics and churning guitars, at times echo the sound and feel of that group. Thee Oh Sees recently announced that after five years on the road, they were taking a break to recoup. If the energy they display on this album, starting with the opening track, is any indication of their live shows, they probably need a break. I like a band that can follow up a good, kick-out-the-jams opening with a great segue, and the band pulls it off with "Toe Cutter-Thumb Buster." With its feedback, dirty bass line, and solid riffs that trade off with its spacey lyric, its hard to know what the song is about. But who but who cares when the music can tell the story? A song like "No Spell" shows the band's ability to get in a groove and craft a song that never lags. "Maze Fancier" is one of my favorites, after the opening tracks, with its twin guitars, and solid rhythm, and a vocal that reminds me of Tom Tom Club. I don't know if the band will be back, but after a prolific few years, they have left a legacy, and "Floating Coffin" is a good place to start to get to know them. Mark Boshnack is a reporter for The Daily Star, and a music fiend. He can be reached at mboshnack@ thedailystar.com. COMING IN FEBRUARY: THE SKA ISSUE

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