July 18, 2008 | Posted by David B. at 7:17 AM

In a moment of weakness

action versus action

Oh hell yes it's Friday! There's no other day to post music like this.

Action Versus Action - The Last Time You Were Here.

I wrote about Minneapolis' Action Versus Action for Rift Magazine a couple of years ago. This was shortly after I saw them play at the Uptown Bar. My thoughts went in this order: hey, there's music in the other room, and it sounds good. Kind of like Weezer, but faster. Whoa, that guy is holding a broomstick - wait, he's "playing" that broomstick. And hey, the bassist has a jet fighter helmet! But the visor isn't down. Oh, now it is.

Singer Ben Krueger does indeed "play" a broomstick (it's actually a dowel rod, for the record) by fingering imaginary frets, but you get used to it fast. It's no gimmick or joke, either, it's just so he has something to do with his hands. It's a similar situation with the jet fighter helmet - it's just what they do.

And damn, they do it well. I think of them as Cheap Trick with a pinch of Foo Fighters (or is it the other way around?), hard rock with almost no irony. Sentimental City is the band's first full-length, though they've been around for several years now. (They also have the EP Solid State Stereo under their belts.)

The new one was produced by Darren Jackson, the frontman of Kid Dakota and The Hopefuls. You can buy it from the band; I highly recommend it.

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