When I was twelve or so, upon returning from a family trip to Washington DC, my dad asked if my sister and I wanted to see a “real life ghost town.” As we made our way through the vacant streets of Asbury Park, my mom gushed about seeing The Rolling Stones at The Convention Hall when she was a teenager. My dad remembered crowded Friday nights on the boardwalk and games of skeeball.

At the time I would have never guessed I would end up spending most of my own teenage years in Asbury Park. I religiously made my way down to catch a show at the Lanes or the Stone Pony or just take in a quiet day on the nearly desolate beach. My friends never understood why I always wanted to go there and I’m not sure I did either. But there was something about the town that kept me coming back.

As Asbury Park began to transform into something new, I realized I wanted to capture the Asbury Park I had experienced, or at least what was left of it. These photos, taken between 2005 and 2008, are part of that effort. Some of these things have changed, some remain and some are gone. Regardless, after all these years I’m still coming back to Asbury Park.

I’ve recently opened a print shop and if you happen to enjoy any of these photographs, 8×12 prints are now available for only $20 with free shipping. Check them out here: The Lobo Jones Photography Print Shop

Check out all of the prints below.

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For my first official post with Late Night Wallflower, I figured I would start things out with some pics from The Horrible Crowes‘ Bowery Ballroom performance last Thursday.

Given The Horrible Crowes frontman Brian Fallon’s strong belief in the sanctity of the live performance, I almost feel guilty for posting these photos. The man is not naive, he’s well aware we live in the Youtube age. Yet he confesses a yearning to go back in time, a time when the only way to see your favorite artist was by standing in front of their stage.

The band’s performance this past Thursday at Bowery Ballroom was the first of only two US dates. I really don’t want to give anything away for fear of ruining what the band may have in store for the lucky folks attending the LA show. I will say you are in for a treat. The band is tight, the music is right, and there’s couple of choice covers to round out the night. Enjoy.

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I’ve been saying this for a while now, but New Brunswick, NJ has one of the best music scenes in the country. Kicking Spit are yet another example of this. The band’s latest (and amazingly titled) EP Psychrockbullshit has been a personal favorite over the last few months.  The band has described their sound as “SST worshipping” so the comparisons to Dinosaur Jr, Husker Du, later Black Flag, and Meat Puppets are appropriate. As a fan of all those bands, the familiar feeling that comes when listening to Psychrockbullshit is what makes it so refreshing. Psychrockbullshit is loud, spastic, catchy, and one of the best damn things I’ve heard this year.

You can buy the 12″ from Tank Crimes and  check out the song “Skulls” below.

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One album that I loved when I was young and constantly return to is Oasis’ (What’s the Story) Morning Glory. Oasis are just going to be “cool” in my book forever.

Like I said, I appreciated them when I was younger, but not for the same reasons I do now. The Gallagher brothers relationship is just so shitty and awesome; pretty much one of the worst. Yet they somehow managed to churn out some of the catchiest, thought-provoking shit on that record.

What’s the Story is pretty drug induced and almost less rocky than their previous releases up to that point, but damn it was well-rounded. The real gem off the record is “She’s Electric” to me. It never was pushed as a single, but I guess there were like four songs off that record that made it to the radio.

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I grew up in Cherry Hill, NJ. It’s a big middle class suburb about 10 minutes from Philadelphia. If you don’t make your way out of it, the town can seem pretty sheltered. You have to drive everywhere. It’s mostly a suburban sprawl. The only thing really cool about Cherry Hill was that you’re always 10 minutes from Philadelphia, 45 Minutes from the beach, 2 hours from NYC, 2 hours from Baltimore, 3 hours from DC, 4 hours from Richmond, 5 hours from Boston. You’re right in the middle of everything. This is a huge bonus once you turn 18 but not enough to want to stay.

In the summer of 1997, I was about 13 years old. I had grown up in a pretty cool home. I have awesome parents who exposed to punk music/ethics at a pretty young age. At the time, I was in LOVE with grunge music. I was as angsty as I could get. A classic case of “I’m misunderstood, nothing makes sense to me and I’m from the burbs.” I remember that summer, taking a trip to the NJ shore for a week with my buddy Matt Williamson and his family. On the final day of the trip, we all went to the CD store (Tunes On The Dunes) for a quick stop before leaving to go back home. When we walked in, something was playing on the stereo that I’d never heard before and would never forget. It was beautiful and angry at the same time. It felt emotional and desperate without seeming fake or manufactured. It was Sunny Day Real Estate.

I’d never heard anything like it. THIS made sense to me. My buddy Matt had heard of them before. He turned to his older brother (who was 18 at the time) and confirmed who it was. I wrote it down and then cursed Matt out for not showing me this band sooner. The following week, I was able to convince my Dad to drive me to the local record store Tunes (just regular Tunes). The record I’d heard down the shore was LP2. But I didn’t write down the name of the album that was playing. I was on my own. I flipped through the cd’s and the only ones they had in stock were Diary and How It Feels To Be Something On (which had JUST come out). I got both.

Diary is an incredible record. I mean, they are all incredible records but there was just something about How It Feels To Be Something On that blew me away. The melodies, rhythms and details are so unbelievably thought out and intentional. From the opening riff in “Pillars,” to the screaming vocal melody in “100 Million,” to the syncopated outro of “Days Were Golden,” every note and every hit are so carefully planned.

I wore out my first CD copy of the record in a couple months. I was constantly finding new things to love about the record. Music written with this sort of craftsmanship and passion was all I wanted to hear or be a part of from that point on. This was how I wanted to write and create. It was/is breathtaking how SDRE are able to balance beauty, angst and emotion. They are able to write complex and interesting songs while still remaining catchy and memorable. It is a talent and technique that is not easily copied. It’s what sets them apart and what makes them so special/personal to so many people.

I can safely say, that in my lifetime, I will never have another life changing music experience like what How It Feels To Be Something On did to me. It’s the record that single-handedly changed me as a person. It shaped what I would grow up to be. It was responsible for kickstarting my interests as an adult and for how I write music now. For me, they are the most important band that has ever existed and it all started with this record. I really owe them everything. I don’t know what kind of person I would have become without that record.

Into It. Over It. just released Twelve Towns on Topshelf Records. Check out the track “Augusta, GA (Acoustic)” below and pick it up.

“Augusta, GA (Acoustic)”

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The debut full-length Proper comes out September 21st on No Sleep Records. Pre-order it!