Or, the Whale (myspace), the Silent Comedy (myspace) and Harbours (myspace) at the Cafe du Nord is already a pretty good bill (with, let’s be honest, sort of bad names). One’s an ipickmynose fav, one I’ve seen before and liked and one’s a band that a friend is a fan of that I haven’t had a chance to see.

Joe Pug in promo photo

But a few weeks ago, they sneaked Joe Pug (myspace) on as an opener. I’ve been obsessed with his track “Hymn #101″ before. While that’s a song that hits one quickly and still remains my favorite, the rest of his EP Nation of Heat has grown on me since I first got it. The rest of the songs are more subtle, but show similarly timeless lyrics and a melodic folk sensibility. One feels that “I Do My Father’s Drug’s” could have been just as easily been written long ago as now.

Joe Pug – Hymn #101 (mp3)

Joe Pug – I Do My Father’s Drugs (mp3)

What’s more, his talents seem to just be maturing and growing. One can hear new songs from Pug at NPR Mountain Stage and Laundro Matinee (MOKB’s new video site). These songs show that he’s continuing to grow as a songwriter. For instance, “Bury Me Far from My Uniform” (get the mp3 here) uses parallel structure and religious imagery in the lyrics in a way that’s powerful and recalls Dylan songs like “With God on Our Side”.

So head out to the show on Friday:

11/21 Or, the Whale; Silent Comedy, the Harbours, Joe Pug @ Cafe du Nord, 9:30pm, $10, 21+

Buy Nation of Heat.

This entry was posted on Tuesday, November 18th, 2008 at 10:27 pm Posted by adrian in SF bay area, blogs, mp3s, photos, radio, tour dates. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.