Live in JC: Joe Jack Talcum and Any Day Parade at the Iron Monkey
By Vincent Berrini • Mar 9th, 2010 • Category: Arts, Featured
Photo: Amanda Thackray
It’s not every day that a co-leader of the Dead Milkmen plays in Jersey City, but it does appear to be happening more and more frequently. Joe Jack Talcum‘s show with local faves Any Day Parade at the Iron Monkey on Friday, March 5 was in fact his second appearance (so far) at a JC Fridays event.
Talcum wrote and sang lead on many of the Milkmen’s most beloved classics including probably their biggest song, “Punk Rock Girl.” Performing acoustically and solo really allowed Talcum to highlight just how good his songcraft has been all these years. Covers of Bob Dylan’s “Love Minus Zero/No Limit” and Daniel Johnston’s “True Love Will Find You In The End” sat shockingly comfortably next to Milkmen classics like “Watching Scotty Die” and “Methodist Coloring Book.” The set also included some of Talcum’s solo material (he been self-releasing his solo work since his DIY cassette days of the mid-80s.) The night came to a close perfectly as Any Day Parade drummer Pat Byrne joined Talcum on the encore of “If I Had A Gun.”
The aforementioned Any Day Parade opened the night with a great set in perfect urban honky-tonk style, with lead singer and geetar player Tree occasionally channeling the spirit of X when harmonizing with her frontline companions Larry Brickman and Joe Daly while Chuck Daly and Byrne laid down the foundation. This Jersey City band has written a lot of classics in a short period of time and it feels like it is only beginning for them. They are currently prepping for a trip to South By Southwest in Austin later this month. Indeed, they even had a can at the door to accept donations to help fund the trip (gas isn’t exactly cheap, you know.) So if you see them around town, why not slip a few dollars in their back pockets while they’re not looking?
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Vincent Berrini is a musician who plays in the bands the Jeff Humphrey Trio and All You Horseriders, as well as a Paul Gigliano tribute band. He is also an occasional DJ and rock writer, and has been known to work as a paralegal.
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