The Dean's List

A Sea of celebration for Heliotropes at Glasslands

Wed, 19 Jun 2013 11:09:00 -0600

Brooklyn’s own high-voltage darlings of girl-powered rock called Heliotropes threw a party for the release of their long-awaited first full-length album A Constant Sea last night, surrounded by happy faces, good friends, and a whole-hearted praise from their fans who had seen their steady climb up through the NYC scene to one of the most buzz-worthy bands in the industry. At the former factory spot turned killer venue on Kent Ave in Williamsburg called The Glasslands Gallery, many familiar faces appeared grinning from ear to ear, from members of other bands they had so often played with like Quiet Loudly, Crazy Pills, and pow wow!, to good friends that had supported them all along, to some first timers who had just heard about this amazing all-girl band, all nestled together into the grand rustic open room with spacey light fixtures swarming overhead to enjoy a truly joyous night of music, hugs, and revelry.

FAN-TAN/Bad Cop/Heliotropes album release party, Glasslands Gallery, Brooklyn 6/18/13

Starting off the night was the Brooklyn trio called FAN-TAN, who had also come through the scene with the headliner, and I have also seen them play together a couple times in the past. The echoed vocals and guitar twists and sustained icy wails of Ryan Lee Dunlap, the little lady with the big bad bass Sandee Kooks, and the straight-up power-drummer Michael Sherburn combine to form a dreamy sound that beckons of wistful recollections of classic 80’s teen heartbreak movie soundtracks, not only because of the Cure-like guitar chimes and anthem-like courses, but also because Dunlap’s voice gives off this eerie feeling that you know that melodic inflection like a memory of a dream still burnt into your brain, resembling a Jesus and Mary Chain or My Bloody Valentine vision in tone and texture. Their sound does have that new shoegaze sway or nu gaze veneer but also breaks out with an edgy post punk rawness and an artsy prog rock sustain that often builds gradually through a heavy bass current to epic climaxes. A powerful 10 minute long art rocker graced their latter set, as did their spirited single “1969” from last year, all ending with a perfect cover for Ryan’s ghostly voice in New Order’s “Age Of Consent.” I highly suggest checking out their debut LP, A Strange Game that was just recently released, as it will soon enough become your favorite Summer soundtrack or bitter break-up album too.

Bad Cop was up second and added a very different spicy south flavor to the darker NY’er sounds heard from the other two. Hailing from Nashville, Tennessee, they have a bass-heavy classic rock funk, like a MC5 mixed with mid-60’s soul outfit. Duel guitarists trade loud leads and funky rhythms, lead singer Adam Anyone Moult took all opportunities he could to step out into the edge of the stage or into the audience to get the enthusiasm going, and some in the audience took the bait, while others seemed less into the rather drastic change of sound, but they did manage to keep the energy up throughout. They did have some very catchy pop melodies too, and some touches of a mellower post punk as well. Their EP The Light On is ready to be released on July 23^rd and will serve as an interesting listen.

Heliotropes’ lead singer and guitarist Jessica Numsuwankijkul started by thanking everyone, of course, but also saying given the special night, they were prepared to play the longest set they’d ever played, as they were often used to 25 minute long sets, and with the rattle of Amber Myers’ tambourine and a wail from Jessica’s axe they were off, with Nya Abudu laying it all down on the bass, and Cici Harrison tearing through the drums like a gale force wind, this all-girl rock quartet is truly a force of nature, especially as they get into their choice power-rocking tracks. I’ve heard them described as psych-rock recently, and I suppose that’s not far off, as they certainly rock harder than other shoegazed outfits, but Jessica’s singing can also often come off as darkly dry and deeply sorrowful, but with Amber’s barefoot backing harmony and touch of tambourine-fueled bluegrass flavor, the music lifts off and by the end and Jess is often swinging her impressive hair around like a tempest of deep black locks while she wails into a choice axe solo that beckons of their contemporaries like Screaming Females or UME. It’s that mix of dark early heavy metal, 60’s blues rock, and breathless ballads that produce a truly unique mixture, held together with lots of guitar fuzz of course. The 50’s girl-group ballad opener (that had John from Friend Roulette on keyboards for one brief moment) was a little slow for the their often bombastic onstage bursts, but the of godly rocker “Psalms” pounded out ghostly rhythms combined with some choice banshee vocal wails, and the lengthy closing song combo that included “Ribbons” was so earth-shattering and seductive it put all else in it’s tidy place. A Constant Sea is really a stunning epic for such a young band, and truly with all the buzz this band has been wrapping in over the last couple years, and it’s good that a band finally lives up to the hype. Amber called attention at one point to her Mom standing up front, who had trained in just to see the show, and got unanimous cries from the packed house of “Awesome Mom!’ over and over again. There were so many joyous cheers sent through the air towards the stage that regardless of how they got here, or however they got so many dedicated fan friends, they proved Tuesday night they were here to stay, and they had just gotten started.

Reaching that state of grace with The Shins

Thu, 30 May 2013 16:33:00 -0600

The Shins opened up the summer concert series on the big dedicated stage set on the Brooklyn side of the East River waterfront now known simply as Williamsburg Park with a brilliant performance set to crystal clear skies, vividly bright sun rays, and cool sea breezes off the ocean, all after a week straight of pouring rain in NYC. Providing a glorious Memorial Day that seemed to pull a big crowd away from their cook-outs and parties would be tough for many bands, but not so for a band with as many devoted fans as the Shins. The scene was a perfect blissful set, full but not too crowded, beer and food lines moved swiftly, and, of course, the music everyone came to see was a perfect fit for the introduction to a beautiful new season of big concerts for all to enjoy.

The Shins, Williamsburg Park, Brooklyn, 5/26/13

The opener Man Man clustered up the center of the stage with an impressive clutter of instruments both big and small, together conventional and newfangled, often adorned with bright tapes and symbols and other strange frills, and thusly playing an uproarious set of intensely insane piano-driven and percussively experimental lunacy. The Philadelphia band has always been know as something to behold live, and they certainly lived up to the hype as frontman Honus Honus stormed the stage in a big fur coat to play and sing many of the first songs wiggling behind his keyboards. As impressive as his playing was, from concerto-styled brilliance to child-like hammering, and he did eventually break free around the time they played “Teleport” and changed from red capes tossing out generous amounts of glitter into the audience, then to an alien mask exhibiting antics that may have seemed odd to many who have not heard or seen them before, but such a truly manic mix of music, with their drummer Pow Pow kicking and tickling many many of his percussives with his feet and literally leaping from his seat often, to keyboardists T. Moth, Brown Sugar, and Shono Murphy switching from saxes, flutes, xylophones to banging garbage can lids and hubcaps, may have all seemed a frenzied mess to some, but to me always came through in the end. From the opener of “Dead End Dreams” to the Willie Wonka wackiness of “Rare,” to a crowning closer of “Montrose,” they always proved that zany could be classical too. As strange of an opener as they may have been to mellower straight-forward Shins, it seemed that many in the audience were big fans, as many were singing right along the whole way through, and they did indeed transfix me, and perhaps even set a tone for the headliner that would be a bit more experimental than most expected.

The Shins took the stage as if they had just walked into an old friend’s living room, as frontman James Mercer and company emerged from backstage sporting grins and cups of beer looking as if they had just walked into an old friend’s living room. For as laid back and chill as the band seemed when they came out, they wasted no time rocking right into the set, opening with a somewhat surprising wall of jarring sound that bled effortlessly into a new track “The Rifle’s Spiral.” They did, in fact, seem a little withdrawn at first, comfortable but smoothly rocking away, but a few songs in, they did find their stride, and they also seemed to loose themselves in it. They began to not only stretch out songs well past their arrangements on their records, but they seemed to totally reinvent many, gutting them deep, and rebirthing them as though they were truly brand new, both with new tracks like “Simple Song,” “It’s Only Life” and ”Bait and Switch,” but also with fan favorites like “Phantom Limb,” ‘Caring Is Creepy,” and “Sleeping Lessons,” all of which featured Mercer’s wonderful falsetto harmonics, like “Kissing the Lipless” that truly washed through me with those uniquely direct yet cryptic lyrics and undulating high notes.

A few seriously fans I was standing with (whom were exceedingly enthusiastic) seemed to feel as though they were presenting themselves as the new Doors, as many of the songs were drenched in heavy organ and spacey sounding, but to me, their reborn sound reminded me of a classic Pink Floyd, especially as three female singers came out to add harmonic gravitas with intense musical landscapes shimmering with grand piano on long epics that would often flow from one song to another effortlessly. A perfect example is how they ended the set, featuring a reverb-drenched jam of marathon proportions which was the title song to their last album Port Of Morrow, whose “ohhhhyaaa”’s flowed straight into their sing-along classic “New Slang.” To see The Shins trying new things, as almost every song was tinkered with, and done so very effectively, really give you a new respect for this band, as many as big as them sometimes have a hard time walking the line between pleasing people by playing “the hits” while not becoming simply a nostalgia act that mindless crank out songs.

It was a glorious night that really felt like the first touch of the new Summer, and the organizers of Williamsburg Park provided a great place to enjoy it in the rocking fashion it should be embraced, with grace and fun.

DIY culture revealed with Corita & Crazy Pills

Wed, 29 May 2013 00:00:00 -0600

The small DIY spot called Fort Useless in Bushwick Brooklyn with it’s smooth harmonics of a living-room sized main gallery space, tiny well-stocked and inexpensive bar, and great genuine crowd hosted a show celebrating the release of a book called GROW, which happens to aptly be all about the “Do It Yourself” culture. Of course, the book’s author Eleanor Whitney was in attendance, and so was her band Corita, whom were to play their first show in quite some time and their official last show ever. She had also gathered a couple other prized bands to rock away the night with in style.

GROW book launch with Corita, Crazy Pills, and Paper Fleet, at Fort Useless, Brooklyn 5/25/13

Paper Fleet was up first, and this charismatic trio comprised of bassist and vocalist Jim Campbell, guitarist Jon Mann, and drummer/vocalist Josh Inman does a straight ahead brand of catchy garagey alt rock. Mann was a slamin’ guitarist axe man and quite the joker throughout, providing levity from revealing his wife-beater saying he forgot to get all classy for night, to a tender moment saying how most of their shows over their 4 years together had been opening for Corita and that they would miss them most of all. Campbell had a more boyish charm, and his occasional fronting was pretty tepid. Much of the music surprising rested more on the weighty speckled drummer Inman, who really drove the songs with rim-shot prowess that would often break into divergent heavy jams and some cool harmonies of his own. They clearly all have a lot of talent and great songs to match and I look forward to seeing them again.

Ms. Whitney did come in between songs to explain whet the book was all about. Keeping her comments brief, she did get into what has drove her to write the book, from starting a simple cheap cassette label to promoting bands in her hometown of From Pownal, Maine, and what it all meant to her. As the tagline read, “’How to Take Your Do It Yourself Project and Passion to the Next Level and Quit Your Job’ is a practical field guide for creative people with great ideas for independent projects that shows the way to success and sustainability on your own terms.” That was pretty interesting for someone like me who runs amongst this scene and has tried similar directions with my own life: doing what makes you happy, and making a living from it.

After that, there was a different kind of power trio, aptly named Crazy Pills, who both thrilled and captivated me before, and having really enjoyed seeing this band before, I knew they are always a super fun experience to behold. Frontwoman and guitarist Tha Kitten is a true wonder of this world, wailing on guitar or behind the mic, she’s a powerhouse and an unstoppable magnetic force of nature. Her boyfriend Edward Anthony plays bass for her, which is funny, because in their other extraordinary band called Pow Wow! their roles are reversed, with Tha on backing guitar and him upfront on leads. Jim Wood rounds out the line-up, and the big bald man knows how to work over those drums. Watch out though, as impressive as they all are, the Kitten will transfix you, as she shuffles, jumps, and frolics about. Like a modern-day Joan Jett or Johnette Napolitano in strength and witchy ways, she makes her strong feminine will be well known, as her voice is always beguiling and her lyrics always captivating, but her guitar playing inevitably dominates all, as it howls, moans, and cries to a rocking delight. They have a lot of hot songs, from hard rockers to love songs (that still rock), and they revealed this night that they have their first full-length album now under construction. Now that I really look forward to!

Corita’s last show was a pretty powerful event, as Eleanor even admitted the now packed room of at least 50 people was probably the most people they ever played to a one time. The trio frontwoman band of Aileen, Eleanor, and Marisha provide a female empowerment overdose of coolness and Nick’s drumming just muscles it along at full speed. Their sound is lost somewhere between Riot Girl rock of the 90’s, modern shoegaze, with jangly melodies and slithering post-punk rhythms, some jazzy touches (as Eleanor is a trained jazz musician), and the choruses that at time can be quite chilling and angelic, all set to some intense lyrics about everything from the dangers of capitalism, socialist musings, pets, and human enemies. Their overall appeal reminds me of Sleater-Kinney mixed with the classic 70’s punk band X, and they put on a set that both wooed and ignited, and what more would you want from a good rock band.

It was a great intimate night of local Brooklyn bands, and one I’d love to relive all over again.

JEFF the Brotherhood skewed & interviewed

Tue, 28 May 2013 15:00:00 -0600

After a long two-day stretch of all-day shows at the Great GoogaMooga festival in Brooklyn, I made my way to the Lower East Side of Manhattan to catch a late show at one of the most famed small stages of all of NYC, called Mercury Lounge, and this night they had a special sold out late show with one of the hottest rising rock bands in the industry by the name of JEFF the Brotherhood. After meeting with their managers whom had just rolled into town, and a bit of figuring out where everyone was, we descended into the steamy caverns of the Mercury, through the twists and bends of pipe and supply rack enclosed hallways of their basement, we came across a back room where the brothers Orrall were already drinking beer from plastic cups and relaxing with good friends as they came in to welcome them. So, we sat down and had a great conversation about the past and the future of singer and guitarist Jake Orrall and drummer Jamin Orrall.

Shellshag, Hunters, & JEFF the Brotherhood, Mercury Lounge, NYC 5/18/13

The Interview:

So, how did you guys start playing music?

Jake: Oh, just mostly in our parent’s house, when we were kids just playing around.

Your father Robert was pretty known in the music industry too?

Jamin: Yeah, he was a songwriter. He was a country artist, well, he was a rock artist then a country artist, but he was best known as a songwriter.

Who started playing instruments first then and who influenced whom?

Jake: We both kind of did at the same time. It was the same band, really, but it was under a couple of different names. Jamin originally played bass, and I think I started on the drums.

Now that you’ve been touring and recording for a while, do you guys feel like you’ve changed or evolved as songwriters or musicians yourselves?

Jake: Well, we’ve only been at it for ten years. I think I personally have only ever devolved.

Jamin: I think we evolve every six months.

Do you think the recent move to a bigger label has done anything to your music?

Jake: Yeah, definitely

Jamin: Yeah, it’s definitely given us a lot more opportunities to do really cool stuff.

Jake: Yeah, more help, more money, more enthusiasm. We have evolved to the idea of trying to, you know, make a career out of it, which is far than just having fun partying back in 2001 when we started.

The new album Hypotonic Nights definitely seems to have a bigger array of instruments, more arrangements and such…

Jake: Not really, like there was some sitar on the last album too…

Jasmin: Yeah, the only thing that’s different on this album is there’s a bit of saxophone on this one. It was this amazing guy Brain Olive from Cincinnati.

Jake: Yeah, he’s an incredible instrumentalist. I do appreciate getting to play with his caliber whenever I’m lucky enough.

Now, this album you produced with Dan Auerbach of The Black Keys. Do you guys feel that brought anything new to the process?

Jasmin: Yeah…

Jake: Yeah, Just being associated with the biggest rock band in the country I find very beneficial (laughs). You know all his hardcore fans will ask, “Hey what’s this project Dan’s been working on?” Then, they’ll be addicted to us in no time.

Jasmin: And he is really making a name for himself as a major producer.

The new album even has a more stunning illustrative-photographic cover than most of your past ones that had more simple graphic solutions. The cheetah looks pretty badass!

Jake: Well, we just thought it looked cool. We actually just ripped off an old 7 inch cover (laughs).

Oh yeah? What album?

Jake: Sonja Kristina, she was the singer for this band Curved Air, which was this really amazing progressive rock band.

Jasmin: She had this really cool pop career after Curved Air, but it was a rather short-lived, unsuccessful career (laughs).

So, now that you’ve been touring this album for about a year or so, is there anything new on the horizon?

Jasmin: Yeah, we’re about halfway done writing a new record, and after this touring we’re gonna finish writing and record it in the fall.

Jake: But first we’re going to play Bonnaroo, when we’re back home and all. Oh, after this we will have a one-off show in Chicago too, a festival show, then Bonnaroo, then no more shows until…it’s ready I suppose.

Do you have a producer for this one yet?

Jake: Naw, it is totally in beginning stages so far.

Great! Are you gonna be playing any of the new songs live tonight?

Jake: If we’re feeling reckless enough. Maybe.

You’re also having Hunters opening for you, have you ever seen them before?

Jasmin: Oh yeah, we’ve toured with them before, and we love them. They’re great fun. Super nice people too.

Jake: Yeah, them and the Kills on one tour.

They have a real record deal now too!

Jake: Yeah, Mom+ Pop Records, I hope they blow up big of course. They definitely deserve it.

The Show:

The greatest thing about getting to a late NYC show like this one nice and early is that you get to appreciate lounging out on the comfy couches of the Mercury that line the room in total dry and air-conditioned solitude with a refreshing beer. It was true nirvana after an already lengthy weekend and some increasingly soaked and stormy weather outside.

JEFF the Brotherhood did bring an impressive duo of bands to make this easy sell-out show the night before a far bigger show in Brooklyn even more explosive. An unusual BK duo named Shellshag started the night off. Immediately obvious was the big satellite-like oracle construction they have plopped right in the middle of the stage, with drums, mics, and a couple cups of beer hovering atop its apex, and covered in speakers surrounded in bright white lights with their frosty logo glowing across two sides of it’s front. Obvious from that alien construct, there’s only two people in Shellshag, the bearded Shell plays a mean guitar and sings, while the brunette powerhouse Shag (wearing a bad-ass Screaming Females cutoff) plays stand up drums and also chimes along with her own bombastic voice, in between chanting and shaking abouts with bells on her belt and ankles, bounding around the stage like a true free spirit. Together, they produced a blistering blend of raw post-punk and a generous helping of loud White Stripes brouhaha. They have a new full-length album called Shellshag Forever, and it may be one of the most unique pairings you’ve heard in quite some time. They brought the set to a cool close with a potent version of the Cure’s “Just Like Heaven,” just before both of them tore down their whole setup amid loud distortion; Shell hanging his guitar up on the back wall and getting one young fan to come up and bang on it with a drum stick, while Shag built a towering sculpture out of their instruments, amps, chairs, and then they smashing it all down in the end. They were indeed a very wild and fun experience to behold.

The Brooklyn band Hunters I have been blessed to see before many times, and I already new what wonderfully wild times were to come with them. Since releasing the Hands On Fire EP a couple years ago, there has been this steady, yet mounting, buzz about the guy/girl harmony duo that defies all logic and reason, with Derek Watson blazing away of the axe and often vocally setting the songs up and Isabel Almeida killing the choruses (or the other ways around) and swooping in like a hurricane of punk-pink hair, taped up fingers, and raw unleashed power; bounding, jumping, gyrating, slithering, rolling, and generally leaping out of her own skin as she gives every possible iota of power left in her lean frame, literally collapsing towards the end, both on stage and in the audience. She really does exude true raw sensuality on stage in the hotest and most primal form, and you will be seduced to her too! As I said before, Derek and Isabel (joined by an aptly bombastic rhythm section of John Mikulak III and Gregg Giuffré) have just signed with their first label and are in the amidst of recording their first full-length, and did, indeed, bless all of us present that night with many new songs, some played for the very first time. Still, that single from last year called “Street Trash” is one of my favorite rocking tracks to see live, with a heavy beat that makes your mind automatically unhinge and slip into a deeply bewitched frenzy. Take it from me; NEVER miss a chance to see these wild things!

Then JEFF the Brotherhood came out, and the brothers, amidst their blinding floored floodlights, blared away their first set with their ultra-cool clear drums and guitars instruments. They did seem a little flustered at times in the beginning; from their normal deep fog machines not working, to some equipment issues stalling things between songs, to some jams not naturally exploding as they usually do. It seemed that changed a few songs in and especially out about half way through when a keyboardist and a guitarist/bassist came out, and suddenly they were a four-piece line-up, especially surprising as I had only ever seen them perform as a duo, and it really did expand their sound live. Also, the gorgeous raven-haired and leggy keyboardist turned out to be Tina from the all-girl goth band Black Belle. Lots of ruckus-causing party-rousing songs like “Sixpack” and “Hey Friend” got things in the properly insane mood, complete with cute girls up front whipping their hair manically through the steamy air, and a mosh pit swirling dangerously especially being smack in the middle of such a small, packed room. They are a band with a short fuse set to blow at any time. One of my favorite things about living in NYC is being able to see a band of this caliber in such a surprisingly intimate setting.

Evolutionary powers of Telekinesis at Bowery

Tue, 21 May 2013 09:08:00 -0600

Seattle’s one-man wonder called Telekinesis came to NYC’s Bowery Ballroom on the heels of releasing my still favorite album of the year (so far) called Dormarion. It was with great glee that I get to come and see Michel Benjamin Lerner and his constantly evolving project once again as though it was the very first time.

Deep Sea Diver/Telekinesis, Bowery Ballroom, NYC 5/9/13

Another great Pacific Northwest Seattle band called Deep Sea Diver opened the show. The impressive line-up was led by a unique treasure Jessica Dobson, who at first reminded me of the frizzy-haired late-70’s Kate Bush, then that white hot mouth of PJ Harvey behind her guitar, but then even a wiggling tortured soul of Tori Amos behind the keyboards. Clearly, this singer had a stunningly diverse talent within her itching to explode out, and it wasn’t until afterwards that I actually knew of her work before, as she had been vocally involved in not only a couple of my favorite Shins songs, but also on some choice Beck tracks, not to mention past collaborations with Connor Oberst and the Yeah Yeah Yeahs. Of course, her music got pretty funky at points, and her guitar could sonically wail too, but her forceful yet feminine vocals are highlighted by consistently intricate and alternating tender and raw textures and harmonies, with lyrics that are both profound and contemplative, each track bluring the line that stands between ballad and true rock. The rhythm section of Peter Mansen (her husband) on drums and John Raines on bass and another guitarist and a keyboardist I never caught the name of, were all amazingly powerful and very charismatic and really brought the compositions out to full strength, as they did with an upbeat track called “You Go Running” that had an addicting bass-line that made you wanna bop around like a Tigger. History Speaks is their first full-length album (released last year) and is a truly impressive listen and is high on my suggestion list to my friends, much as I highly recommend them to you too.

Just so you know, Telekinesis is a different kind of rock band. First, it is, in fact, one guy, Michel Benjamin Lerner, who has joined a growing number of lead singing drummers that set themselves apart from those Phil Collins and Don Henleys we know of from our rock past, by being the adamant drummers on stage and not getting people to replace them behind the kit the moment they take stage so they can do the egotistical frontman thing. That being said, Lerner is a diverse musician, who does play a variety of instruments, as he had played most everything on his 2009 album Telekinesis!, which was an impressive disc, with lots of ultra-catchy compositions, and his lyrics and voice did have a complexity that resonated. Still, the last I saw him, he was playing with a rough trio he just pulled together at the spur of the moment (that included SNL comedian Fred Armisen on bass) and playing the tiny Mercury Lounge. This time around was clearly a different story. The new album Dormarion is a stunning breakout, adding much greater complexity; both in the compositions, with an array of synth and additional instruments forming an incredibly rich soundscape, as well as lyrics that speak to deeper subjects of getting older and maturing, that still manage to resonate in your head for hours, days, weeks, and even months (so far). Then, there’s the band, as this time out he had a full trio backing him, and impressive they were, a synthy female keyboard player, a deep driving bassist, a charged-up guitarist, and, of course, Lerner’s big drum kit center stage, with a huge opposable swivel-armed mic that allowed him to stand up and move around often while still singing.

28The setlist was amazing, weaving together tracks from both albums, as with new album’s opener of reflection and evolution called “Power Lines” that was even more chilling and driving than on the album, and one of the most impressive singles of the year so far in the form of the new wave-flavored synth/keyboard driven “Ghosts and Creatures” that gave him a change to stand up and play the maracas in-between playing with an assortment of synthesizers, and “Tokyo” was just a down-right bio-hazard infection. After playing the more straight-ahead rocker “Empathetic People,” he revealed that he hated playing that exhausting drum-driven song and even didn’t want that to be included on the album, but the record company heard it and insisted on making it the lead single. He took a time out in the middle of the set to have a little solo acoustic set, where he and his guitar came to the left side of the stage to play the last LP’s opener “Rust,” which was an apology to his partner about his fear of admitting that he may have been overcome with that “L-O-V-E” word, and after someone in the girl-heavy audience tossed up a flower onto the stage, which he promptly stuck in his ear as he serenaded the crowd with one of the most touching love songs of recent called “Symphony.” You may have not thought it could have gotten much better, but just before the end they gathered together to play a new wave classic INXS’s “Don’t Change,” which was a gorgeously fantastic connection to their own airy vocal/synth keyboard/drum-heavy sound on the new album and with this on-stage ensamble. Then, just when they came onstage for one more song Fred Armisen was welcomed on to the stage, this time to play drums while Michel got to stand up and sing straight to the crowd. It was a beautifully whimsical and intense show, and I highly suggest checking out this band both on stage and on record.

The Kitten purrs and roars at Rock Shop

Mon, 20 May 2013 00:00:00 -0600

It was a rather chill night to head down the slope in Brooklyn to the Park Slope venue called Rock Shop for a fun line-up of bands to fill up the night with joyous rock.

Crazy Pills, Stereo Off, & Auto Bonfire at The Rock Shop, 5/3/13

First off was the band Auto Bonfire, who felt like tripping into a time machine and zooming back to the 1980’s, but not in a bad way, rather emulating the more worthy parts of that decade. True, their sound was heavy in the new wave, but they delved heavy into the darker and admirable parts of that genre, feeling like a delightful combination of Souixie And The Banshees, The Human League, and Blondie, none of which are undeserving of emulating. Led by the feminine sandy voice, synthy Buggles-ish keyboards, and bright pink leg-warmers of Esther Crow, the band was all clearly comprised of veteran musicians, all of whom often broke out into lengthy jams that no single one of them could contain, especially the rhythm section, as the drummer almost always seemed to have the last say when a song would really end, and which gave it all a bit of a post-punk edge. Their song “Photograph” is actually a popular single and video, but came off as more contrived than the rest of a rather impressive set. Much to my surprise, I found out afterwards that Crow was only a couple months from giving birth to a baby, which made her appearance and performance this night even more impressive.

Stereo Off was up second, and they had a distinctly different appeal, but still holding a confident direction. Lead singer Sebastian Marciano liked to get funky, and it wasn’t until afterwards I found out he actually had a rap interest before (with a electro-rap group called Vinyl Life) before this more synth-rock driven band, which actually made perfect sense, given his dominant bombastic on-stage presence. He was also backed by a standout band that knew how to jam out a composition in style, but most surprising was when he revealed a couple songs in that he had recently lost his synthesizer, that often governed over many of their songs, but instead of going into hock for a replacement, he found a gorgeous viola player who learned up all the parts in just a few days. To hear those kind of deep atmospheres translated by a heavy string instrument was simply remarkable and truly made their set and sound for me. I hope they continue with this line-up, as they really create a powerful heat together. They too had a catchy single called “Photograph,” to which he called attention to, but to say these two bands were worlds apart, despite their common love of the synth, would be an understatement.

Finally, there was the headliner, a power trio, aptly named Crazy Pills, whom I hadn’t seen before, but I had known of them through their frontwoman and guitarist Tha Kitten, a cute cat that both purrs and roars, wailing on guitar or behind the mic, she’s a powerhouse and fierce creature. I am a big fan of her other band that she also plays in with her boyfriend Edward Anthony who plays bass in this band, but in the other ensemble called Pow Wow!, their roles are reversed, with her on backing guitar and him upfront on leads. Jim Wood rounds out the line-up as the big bald dynamo drummer, and together they really do push the sonic barrier. As loud and as hullabaloo-causing they are, they are still an impressively tight trio, with plenty of catchy pop-appealing choruses, wailing rock solos, and a punk rawness, all of which also allows them to transcend genres. Kitten will often transfix you, as she shuffles, jumps, and frolics about the stage with bombastic energy, and this night sporting a short cut 60’s greaser look she comes off as one badass female punker, like a modern-day Joan Jett, Johnette Napolitano, and Siouxsie Sioux all in one. She’s always amusing, whether telling bad Vampire jokes or when putting hecklers in their place; like when a sloppy drunk guy in the audience kept trying to give her drinks and hit on her, she humorously said “Hey, my boyfriend is only five feet away, I didn’t get this far in the music biz by (blowjob gesture).” With bravado strength and witchy ways, she makes her strong feminine spirit be well known, with a beguiling voice, captivating lyrics, and guitar brawling, moaning, and crying to a sonic orgasm. Even though Edward’s Hofner McCartney-style bass pooped out a few songs in (as they have been known to do, as they were stylish, but cheap basses in their day), he got a bass from the previous bassist and still managed to kill it even with an extra 4 stings to play with. They have a lot of hot songs, from hard rockers to love songs (that still rock), and they have their first full-length album now under construction. That will make these ears and eyes very happy indeed.

Reunions & trips w/ Robyn Hitchcock & Peter Buck

Tue, 30 Apr 2013 12:19:00 -0600

Robyn Hitchcock has had an amazing career, and at 60 years old, he has shown no signs of slowing down now. On the heels of one of his finest works yet, the gloriously trippy Love from London, he stopped by NYC’s Webster Hall with a star-studded line-up he calls The Venus 3 to help celebrate its release, and in the embrace of even more experimentations convergences to come, as he had even recently admitted, “What makes this record for me is the musicians I was able to gather.” Thusly, it was to be a night of unexpected reunions and guests to thrill the devoted fans who were lucky to experience it.

Robyn Hitchock/Peter Buck, Webster Hall 4/26/13

Opening the show was a set by Peter Buck, founding guitarist of 80’s alternative legends R.E.M., and although that archetypal band officially broke up in 2010, he hasn’t stopped his artistic charge either, as he has recently been involved in many assorted group projects. This time, Buck is going by his own name, but still surrounding himself with some trusted cohorts who have been with him for quite a bit of his long musical journey, including guitarist Scott McCaughey, who had been R.E.M.’s resident 5^th member since the mid 90’s and Buck’s most recent supergroup arrangements The Baseball Project and The Minus 5, also joined by guitarist Kurt Bloch who was also in a pinnacle 80’s alt-rock group called Young Fresh Fellows (with McCaughey), and long-time comrade and drummer Bill Rieflin, who had been known for many heavy industrial contributions to band’s like NIN, KMFDM, and Ministry, but had also been a touring member of R.E.M. since the late 90’s and also part of Minus 5. Together, they performed a number of songs from Buck’s recent self-titled debut album, but what stuck in most people’s minds was the special guests that made the opening set almost more miraculous than the headliner. When Buck welcomed R.E.M. bassist and vocalist Mike Mills onstage, they house totally erupted, and when they played a beloved classic of that group called “Near Wild Heaven” from 1991’s Out of Time, an upbeat harmonic track in which Mills took over the lead vocals on the studio original, and with Sean Nelson (of Harvey Danger) handling R.E.M. frontman Michael Stipe’s harmony vocals, it almost brought many in the crowd to tears. It stands to question why Stipe himself did not also pop up on stage, since he is also a strident NY’er as well, but that did not diminish the astonishing moment for the fans in the gathering. Convincing Mills to stay on stage for some guest vocals and tambourine, he then invited Patti Smith Group guitarist Lenny Kaye to come up and crank out a powerful cover of The Seeds’ “Pushin’ Too Far,” and to finish it out they all jammed out a resounding Buck solo closer called “I’m Alive,” which like most of his other solo material was straight ahead power-riffing rock.

Of course, Robyn Hitchcock has had an even longer musical legacy, coming to prominence in the late 1970’s with the seminal art rock group The Soft Boys, afterwards launching a prolific solo career, which often involved many other groupings of his own calling, and many complex alliances and reunions of his own as well. With that in mind, it was rather suiting that he started off his set all by his lonesome, with an acoustic guitar, a purple polka dotted shirt, and some stripped down classics of his own, like “Alright, Yeah” with the apt lyrics of “I gotta go, But it won’t be so, I won’t be back again, I gotta leave, But I don’t believe, We won’t be back again,” which pretty much said it all. “The Wreck of the Arthur Lee” and “So You Think You’re In Love” were other classics performed acoustically with his pristinely rippling voice unbroken by his many years of relentless performing.

Then, as musicians began to pile on stage, he was given a plate, for which he exclaimed, “One of the best things about turning 60 is being delivered food on stage.” The robust Minus 3 line-up was, as he put it, “3/4ths of the Minus 5 and half of R.E.M.” Truly, Peter Buck was a target power figure of the line-up, scorching the songs with a finely tuned guitar noise, which certainly helped the new LP Love from London become so extraordinary, but also joined by Scott McCaughey once again filling in bass and guitar, Bill Rieflin returning to the drum kit, and Sean Nelson returning as the Garfunkel harmonist, and making many of Hitchcock’s memorable dueling vocal high/low coherences possible on stage. For the next electric band set, he started right off with a couple Soft Boys classics, ”Kingdom of Love” and “Queen of Eyes,” then played many of his previous accomplishments, broken up by new tracks throughout the set, including the enchanting “Be Still” with a somewhat Indian Hindu rolling musical and undulating vocal style with a chilling lyrical hook “Be still, let the darkness fall upon you,” and “Fix You” being more influenced by a harder industrial music drive mixed with a vocal style somewhere between to of his all-time musical heros The Beatles’ John Lennon and Pink Floyd’s Syd Barrett and generally being one of the catchiest songs of his entire career.

Mike Mills, Lenny Kaye, and the Baseball Project’s drummer Linda Pitmon returned to the stage for the encore, which Hitcock said “was chosen for Margret Thatcher’s funeral,” with a scathing Soft Boys classic called “I Wanna Destroy You,” followed by covers of The Velvet Underground’s “Waiting For The Man” and The Beatles’ “She Said She Said,” rightfully paying homage to those who have inspired him in the past as he has clearly influenced many in his long and powerful wake.

Peter Buck Setlist:
So Long, Johnny
It’s Alright
Give Me Back My Wig
10 Million B.C.
Planet of the Apes
Monkey Man
Vaso Loco
Outta The House
Near Wild Heaven (w/ Mike Mills)
Pushin Too Hard (w/ Lenny Kaye)
I’m Alive

Robyn Hitchcock Setlist:
Acoustic set:
Alright, Yeah
The Wreck of the Arthur Lee
So You Think You’re In Love

Electric set:
Kingdom of Love (The Soft Boys song)
Queen of Eyes (The Soft Boys song)
Be Still
I Love You
Adventure Rocketship
Underground Sun
Up To Our Nex
Fix You
Airscape
Madonna of the Wasps
Goodnight Oslo
Encore:
I Wanna Destroy You (The Soft Boys song)
Waiting For The Man (Velvet Underground)
She Said She Said (The Beatles)

Breaking in and out of the scene with Veda Rays

Sun, 28 Apr 2013 11:17:00 -0600

A hot and sweaty show overtook the intimate out-of-the way Williamsburg DIY spot called Muchmore’s, whose cheap bar and welcoming opening café that opens to the adjacent dimly lit stage room lined with couches and mural art sprawled across the walls. On the bill was a number of local Brooklyn bands that often appear in extremely muted lighting together, but none of them are formed from the same cookie cutter genre labels, sounds, or looks, and each were certain to bake your face off with amazing rock.

The Veda Rays/Grand Resort/Eastern Hollows/Fan-Tan/Rob Karpay, Muchmore’s, Brooklyn, 4/19/13

A young musical prodigy from Baltimore by the name of Rob Karpay opened up the night heading a trio called Scherzo, taking time from his studies at Manhattan School of Music to play some whirling keyboards and fuzzed-out vocals that reverbed of multifaceted new wave and punk, like a bizarre combination of 80’s King Crimson and early Devo with a dash of X. He has a number of highly experimental recordings out there, and really seems to have many faces of musical expertise in his freshly talented palate, going from ambient sound layerings to concerto-styled keyboarding to loud boisterous punk howls in the drop of a hat, with the aid of a true force of nature drummer who plays like a complex hurricane of swirling blond hair, like if Janice switched places with Animal from the Muppet Show’s Electric Mayhem band, and a bearded guitarist, who reminded me of a sonically rich Robert Fripp carrying a weight of twisting guitar lines and electrified shrieks that were hard to ignore. Overall, their music easily breaks beyond the academic and into zones that can be quite rich and surprising.

Fan-Tan was one of those bands that I’ve kept meaning to see, but something always inevitably stood in the way, from shows where they didn’t show up, to a date who got to drunk and I had to take home before they came on, to even getting lost on my way to one show and missing entirely. Who would have known how much I was missing?!? The power trio of vocalist and guitarist Ryan Lee Dunlap, bassist Sandee Kooks, and drummer Michael Sherburn were jaw-droppingly amazing. They had their new debut LP A Strange Game on-site for an early listen, and from the sounds of the material on stage, they are truly a band to watch, and of course, listen to, with great zeal. Their sound is somewhat less shoegazy and alt-pop than their local contemporaries, hazy and catchy but more punk and rawness, with howls of guitar noise and powerful time and tempo changes that easily set them apart. Especially impressive was a 10-minute long jam that almost closed their set, which I do believe was called “Begin,” that managed to never stagnate to long, with yowls of harmony and elated with great emotion and swaying melancholy, served with many finely stitched movements of different tempos with high peaks and low valleys that reminisced of progressive rock epics of the 70’s with a more modern contemporary charm. They finished up their set with their first single from a couple years ago, which was far shorter and catchier, called “1989,” which felt like a ray of sunshine bursting into the dark hallows of the barely lit back room. This is a band that should be caught if at all possible, and take it from me, don’t regret having missed them.

Eastern Hollows were the band I was there for that night, and they did not disappoint, as they have always delivered an impressive set every time I’ve seen them play, often performing with any number of other highly impressive local bands I’ve gone to see, many of which have formed a tight upcoming scene of their own, even members of some of those bands such as Dead Stars and Heliotropes also showing up to lend support. Packing the stage like extremely flavorful sardines, you had frontman and guitarist Travis deVries, who’s often stoic onstage persona broke into wide smiles many times in the night, Martin Glazier blazed on vocals and guitar, Sean Gibbons gave an additional 3^rd layer of shimmering guitar, the hairy bass beast Brian J. Brennan who can always be scene in the audience jamming out to the other bands, and Jeremy Sampson (aka Cheddar J. Magnificent) on drums and who was all but hidden behind the wall of guitars in front of him. The lush shimmering noise produced by this trio of fine axe crafters really generates a haunting blend of timeless jangle-pop, which I find extremely reminiscent of late-80s/early 90’s Manchester shoegaze rock bands like My Bloody Valentine, Slowdive, and Ride. They have an album all but ready to drop called Days Ahead, and on early hearings of the material, it reverberates with a pertinent prevalence, producing an undulating brilliance on songs like the one single they’ve released from it called “Summer’s Dead,” with mountains of vocal layering, twisting guitar flickers, and dropping rhythms that both drive and change in complex, progressive ways.

Grand Resort was up next, and although they had an impressively dense sound too, less of their set stuck with me. Many of the songs were from their debut EP Vanguard Dreams, and listening to it now, proves that some did in fact stick with me, but sound much better in a more produced environment. It was another packed stage with Andrés M. Pichardo, who played an impressive array of instruments: from guitar, to bass, to keys and drum machine sounds, not to mention singing the vocals, and Jorge Strofer played a commanding lead guitar with lots of superior solos, with Rony Bonilla on drums and Steve Brown on bass. Overall, they had a sort of a 90’s synthy shoegaze sound that merged with some 80’s new wave luster that did a blender mix of the last three decades of alternative sounds, even as Pichardo’s Dominican Republic roots shone through on some of the Caribbean rhythms that intertwined, his appreciation of English jangle pop, C86, and shoegaze scenes tended to haze it up at times, but the combination got rather muddy at points, even though Strofer’s intense solos tended to bust through those more tame labels, and, in the end, you had a seriously complex combination of tastes and tones that are all very cool, and do sometimes converge quite well. I look forward to seeing them again to see if the deep flavor sets in better with a second taste.

Headlining was the local Brooklyn band that brought the night together called The Veda Rays, who are an experimental duo consisting of Jim Stark, with his distinctively mod blond mop hair, black specs, and Warhol flair, who fronts on vocals and guitar, and Jason Gates rapping away in the dark recesses of the stage on drums. Together they produce a distinctive and prominent performance, with a sound that mixes art rock, roots alternative, raw post punk, and fuzzy power pop together very smoothly. The opening cut off their last year’s LP Gamma Rays Galaxy Rays “All Your Pretty Fates” started off dark and gloomy but pushed into the clouds as Stark’s vocal range warbles into ethereal zones and Gates’ drums drive you in ultimate comfort. The songs are short despite heavy jams, but exceptions like “Cop Knock,” from one of their many recent EP releases (Songs From) Die Fast sails through the ears like a tranquil sea of emotion that just makes you glide for what seems like eons and ultimately reminded me of Radiohead vocally, but with a rawer garage-ish production. Named after a disorder that effects the inner ear and thusly the brain’s sense of balance, turned into a ray, you pretty much get a sense of their musical intent, a sonically intense experience with an angelic vocal quality and a reverb that swims through your consciousness and leaves you rather unsteady but impressed. They were certainly worth sticking around late for, and they’re very libel to stick around for quite some time, so catch them before they start headlining larger venues.

The Presidents Of The United States of America erupt in NYC

Tue, 23 Apr 2013 13:31:00 -0600

The Presidents Of The United States of America came to NYC in a grand buffet of a show at Irving Plaza for their first tour in several years welcomed by the ecstatic wide-open arms of their rabid fans, joined by a couple high-flying local favorite bands to help cook up this savory selection of tasty delicacies. The PUSA was one of those big bands from Seattle in the mid 90’s that got lumped into the explosive genre known as grunge, despite them having little in common with most of those other bands, standing out like an blissfully fun sore thumb both in both looks and sound, more accurately resembling bass master space nuts Primus with a generous helping of the silly wacks They Might Be Giants. The exploded out of the scene in ’95 with the catchalicious self-titled debut, which supplied them with radio hits galore, and even though all gone through many break-ups and re-formations and released several albums since, they are still largely known for that first inaugural, and they are revisiting that release for their devotees by playing it in it’s entirety, but as any of their fans know, they are anything but predictable on stage, so anything could, and most probably would, happen.

Pow Wow!/Eternal Summers/The Presidents Of The United States Of America, Irving Plaza, NYC 4/15/13

The PUSA brought out a couple beloved alt-rocking bands to help welcome the them back to NYC, and it turns out both are big PUSA enthusiasts as well, which helped add to the fanaticism of the night for everyone. First, you got served a generous helping of a highly entertaining quintet called Pow Wow! This Big Apple band has been beating the pavement since 2006 and have several recordings under their belt already, but are celebrating the recent release of their awesome debut long play called Don’t Stop To Look, which is a wondrous romp that cranks a power pop harmony with a retro Brit pop glare and a fuzzy fun-time appeal. Centered around the brothers Eddie (guitars and lead vocals) and Jeff (keyboards, guitars, and a couple vocal leads) Nazareno, but also fruitfully cultivated by bassist John-Paul Anthony, an alluring beauty Tha Kitten (who also has a band of her own called Crazy Pills) on guitar and backing vox and even switching to bass at one point, and distinctive drummer Sal Garro (who is part of another of my favorite Brooklyn bands called Quiet Loudly), they really bring on an exotic flavor that grows with each taste. With such a highly talented line-up, the music is bound to be power-packed, but what is most surprising is how smoothly refined and tight they are together on stage, despite trading off leads, style changes, rhythms, and changing instruments repeatedly throughout their scrumptious set. Big stand outs were the reverbed rumpus funk of “Ghosts” that really did get the feet to uncontrollably shuffle, the catchy country sway of “Like I’m Sayin’,” and the slick upbeat Echo And The Bunnymen sounds of their new title track “Don’t Stop To Look,” always doting the fun and uncanny aspects of being a NY’er with a special party soul vibe. Halfway through their set, the usually soft-spoken drummer Sal stopped to say a few words of his personal elation of playing this night, explaining that PUSA was the first cassette he had ever purchased and they were the very first show he had ever seen. Proving it’s good to having diehard fans opening for you, Sal and many of the others of Pow Wow! (and even Quitet Loudly) could be seen grinning from ear to ear on the side of the stage, taking in the whole night with unbridled delight.

Next up was a phenomenal Roanoke, VA trio treat called Eternal Summers, whom have also been around for a few years, have several impressive releases, and also have large fan bases of their own, but are already concocting the follow-up to their truly tasty LP Correct Behavior that dropped early last year. They first came to my attention seeing them open for Nada Surf last year, and from that very first exposure, I was blown by their alluring shoegazing dream-pop sound with a spirited blast high-energy post-punk blare. The charge is led by seriously bewitching frontwoman Nicole Yun’s ethereal vocals and unstoppable guitar momentum, both of which shimmer effortlessly through your ears until the volcano inevitably explodes and she wails into godly zones of rebellious rock godliness on her axe. Not to be outdone, agile power-drummer Daniel Cundiff and the wacky player of the BIG bass Johnathan Woods propel the songs past diso-ish and new wave areas they could probably languish and linger in into a taste smorgasbord, blowing the songs into those stormy rocking skies that still blow with dreamy fun as they sweep you away into their whirlwind. None of their earlier, more punkish material was present this night, but some of Correct Behavior was still wooing me away in the set, from the funky-fun vitality of “Wonder,” to the chillingly righteous call of “You Kill,” to the shimmering undulations of “Millions” that ends up going into berserk other universes of distortion at the end. Much of the set was new material, sounding as if, once again, they are freewheeling that razors edge of fun fervor and destructive devilishness, and I look forward to grabbing that vinyl with all zealousness once it’s released. It did seem like they were thrown a bit towards the end of their set, as they clearly had far more time to jam away than they anticipated, and thusly they kept adding on one last song, which did mess with their normally very slickly climatic flow arch, but they always seem to shine no matter what gets thrown their way, as it will all inevitably get swept up in the windstorm too.

It was still awhile to wait for the President’s arrival with the main course, but shortly after 10 the Three Funkateers came strolling out to resounding applause and a hilarious mock radio announcer breaking news report being piped in. Although most seemed aware they’d be playing that first album, the boys instead started things off with some other lively fan-favs. Kicking it off by questioning the packed place simply “Well, we’re the rock n’ roll band, are YOU the rock n’ roll audience?!?” and off they went with one of their more straight ahead rockers called “Tiki God” with a great “na-na-na” sing/clap-athon, then the strangely alluring off-time rhythm signatures of “Volcano,” and even a call out to a “Thieving, conniving government employee” called “Some Post Man.” From the very first note, the Mr. Clean bald frontman and bass guitar hybrid “basitar” player (it has a unique two bass string arrangement) Chris Ballew was an unstoppable force of nature. Never standing still for more than a moment without a funny gab with the band or the audience, a hilarious eccentric dance move, or a gravity-defying leap into the air, and the man is still clearly a charismatic powerhouse of which there is no comparison, as on “Jennifer’s Jacket,” during which he was literally charging up the walls like Sonic The Hedgehog. Of course, there was also founding drummer, trickster, and vocalist Jason Finn, but also “guitbassist” (which has a three guitar string setup) and vocalist Andrew McKeag (whom took over for Dave Dederer almost a decade ago), and that unusual dichotomy and clash of the rhythms and leads always kept the music unpredictable, loose, and fresh, an intangible element that has been one of the mainstays of this band’s appeal since their very beginning.

And beginnings is where the middle ended up in this topsy-turvy PUSA world, when, several songs in, Ballew nonchalantly quarried “Hey, we were supposed to play that first album weren’t we?” and subsequently launched straight into the saucy sexual metaphor of the opener “Kitty” with the endless “meow” chorus resounding from every cute fuzzy corner of the house ending with “Kitty kitty kitty kitty kitty kitty touch it! Kitty at my foot and I want to touch it!” rising into the air from every pair of lips present. He also revealed that some of their landmark work got recorded right here in NYC, “but not this one” as they hopped around the stage for “Feather Pluckn.” Still, as fun as their other material is, nothing compares to the unflappable catchiness of “Lump,” that had the place shaking so hard with unified stomping of hundreds of enthusiastic fan’s feet I thought the house’s giant chandeliers might fall from the heavens. The country hoedown of “Boll Weevil” produced a swirling mosh pit that you’d properly expect from a show of this caliber, but it was the super-catchy mega-hit that everyone had playing on repeat in their heads since the mid-90’s called “Peaches” that was so delightfully tasty, it was like an ear-gasm. All throughout, they remained loose, with teasers of other songs that seemed to just pop-up naturally as though they belonged there, from a snippets of the Mary Tyler Moore Theme imbedded in “We Are Not Going to Make It” or sticking Tears For Fears’ “Shout” in with MC5’s classic rocker “Kick Out the Jams,” not to mention bits of everything from Zeppelin to Morphine scrambled in the saucy mix.

As a touching tribute to the tragedy that had occurred just earlier that day in Boston, which the amazingness of the show had managed to get many to forget, if just for a moment, Ballew dedicated the touching “Ghosts are Everywhere” to everyone still reeling from the senseless deaths, but also to his old close Beantown comrade Mark Sandman, frontman and bassist of one of my fav 90’s outfits Morphine, who dies on stage almost 10 years ago, the two even being close bandmates in a side project called Supergroup, developing their complex bass instrumentations together. Still, a round of covers pounded in the closer of the night with proper abandon and fervor, starting with the Ramones “I Wanna Be Sedated,” absolutely destroying their famed popular cover of the Buggles’ “Video Killed the Radio Star,” and even plowing through Motörhead’s “Ace of Spades” and Iggy Pop’s “T.V. Eye” for proper rock godliness! It was without a doubt one of the most downright killer shows I’ve experienced all year, and one of the only shows I can remember that could wipe away the uneasiness and fear of such a bloody day for Americans and replace it with joy and optimism. The PUSA might not always get their props for being such a pinnacle rock n’ roll powerhouse, but go see them once and I dare you not to walk away a fan.

Setlist:
Tiki God
Volcano
Some Postman
Last Girl on Earth
Bad Times
Flame Is Love
Finger Monster
Jennifer’s Jacket
Kitty
Feather Pluckn
Lump
Stranger
Boll Weevil
Peaches
Dune Buggy
We Are Not Going to Make It (With a snippet of Mary Tyler Moore Theme)
Kick Out the Jams (MC5 cover) (Snippet of Shout)
Body
Back Porch
Candy
Naked and Famous

Encore:
Mach 5
Ghosts are Everywhere
I Wanna Be Sedated (Ramones cover)
Video Killed the Radio Star (Buggles cover)
Ace of Spades (Motörhead cover)
T.V. Eye (Iggy Pop cover)

Yeah Yeah Yeahs bless NYC’s rock n’ roll heart

Thu, 18 Apr 2013 08:27:00 -0600

The NYC native punkalicious alt-rockers Yeah Yeah Yeahs made their official tour debut at the intimately small venue Webster Hall while giving much love and thanks to the city that started them off on their journey almost 13 years ago. It was way back in 2009 when they last toured, so anxious fans have been devotedly craving another chance to see the power trio with a pop sheen and, of course, the madcap punk snarl of their frontwoman Karen O. In a show that sold out in less than the blink of an eye, this was to be an extra special preview of their new album called Mosquito which was to be released a couple weeks later, and only the second official US date after a set at SXSW just a few weeks prior.

Yeah Yeah Yeahs, Webster Hall, NYC 4/7/13

The show opened with a set by another local NYC band called Xray Eyeballs, whose exotic mix of synthy party punk funk I have reveled in many times before, and whose last album, Splendor Squalor, I’ll admit grooving to many times. The band is largely based on the dueling fronting of the yelping guitarist O.J. San Felipe and the leggy raven-haired bassist with spiked leggings Carly Rabalais, whom you may remember from another Brooklyn phenomenon called Golden Triangle, along with the straight-faced redhead Liz Lohse on synths and occasional guitar, and the always amusing Tom, who stands up to play his drum kit, and spent most of the set with his head covered in a black shroud, and together they produce a sound a lot like The Jesus and Mary Chain mixed with a karate chop of B-52’s. There were issues with the sound early on in their set, as one of the strangest metallic-sounding feedbacks crept up in the mix, to a point where the Cylon noise seemed to become part of their overall sound, and their vocals were far to low to be as impactful as they are on their albums. Because of that loss of audio refinement, their set did become a bit more cyclical, less polished and fun-loving than the levels I’ve seen them play before, but thus is the danger of being the opening act, especially to such a major sensation as the YYY’s, as you’ll usually get muddied up by some uncaring soundboard guy, and so some people in the crowd won’t “get” you. However, in a couple years, you’ll be the one headlining, and with insanely catchy hooks like they have, such as “Downtown is such a drag!” (on “Gator”) or “I control you! You control me!” (on “X”), I do believe this quartet could someday be top on the bill.

Since their arrival on the scene in 2000, vocalist Karen O, guitarist and keyboardist Nick Zinner, and drummer Brian Chase, collectively known as the Yeah Yeah Yeahs, have electrified fans with a aggressively raw sound that personified their first rebel yell in 2004 that was Fever to Tell. Their 2007 album Show Your Bones began to show signs that they could also be pretty intensely emotional and catchy as hell, a tightrope they further balanced with 2010’s commercial blockmonster and downright groovalicious It’s Blitz! Since then, many have wondered which road they would travel down next, the sensitive pop or the power punk, and, with Mosquito, it seems like they, once again, attempted to walk the razor’s edge, with a somewhat less enthralling outcome. Still, I had only heard it a couple times at this point, and was prepared to let the new material sink in the manner it should, in all of it’s sweaty rocking live glory. This was to be a far different show than the last time I managed to catch them, at a surprise 10^th anniversary show, packed in tiny, extremely hot and soaked 100-capacity art gallery called The Secret Robot Project in Williamsburg, playing mostly early stuff, and providing one of the ultimate rock shows of my entire life. Still, this was pretty intimate show, at a capacity of about 1,500, and was sure to be all about the worship of one of rock’s most prolific acts of the last decade.

Bring the energy they did, in front of the sold-out Webster Hall crowd, from the new opening title track “Mosquito” (with that chorus of “suck, suck you dry!” now forever stuck in my brain), through one of my best loved Bones stomps “Gold Lion,” Karen O, dressed in huge shades, a heavily bedazzled yellow short suit, and B/W tiger cape, had apprehended the mob’s full attention, with a wildly energetic presence, that could only be described as frantic, as she leapt and twirled about. She also reminded everyone early on (especially the pro photographers up front) of yet another big no-cameras request at a major show, “After these couple songs, please put the cameras down, and enjoy the show with me. It would mean a lot to us, and I’ll love you even more for it.” In that vein, the first few songs were performed in near nocturnal shades, even messing with photographers more by playing another new one called “Under The Earth,” shrouded in complete darkness with a blinding light shinning on Karen’s forehead. Still, it was their early classic “Black Tongue,” performed in dark blood red light, that most fans really went nuts for, jumping and yelling in unison to the chorus “Girl, you’re just a no good dick,” during which the floorboards felt like they would give way from all the pounding of over 1,500 people stomping in unison.

Through their first single off the new album, “Sacrilege,” even with a piped-in choir sound, Karen’s voice remained god-like, especially though classics like “Cheated Hearts” (with a nice “woowaaahoohoo” sing-along) and the catchious maximus “Zero,” but especially on “Turn Into,” her voice sounding like a siren wooing you in only to devour you whole, done acoustically with second guitarist David Pajo. The always slick lead guitarist Nick Zinner, who was often lost in his own private world of sonics and not very up-front and charismatic (apart from taking pictures of the crowd a couple times), gave real life to new songs like “Wedding Song,” “Despair” and “Slave,” which I really warmed up to. The surprisingly hippie-looking Brian Chase was so powerful on drums you would almost get blown away by the sound waves, especially on “Miles Away” and “Heads Will Roll” which cranked in the end with unbridled energy as Karen, now dressed in a “KO” studded leather jacket, spent copious amounts of time loving on the audience as much as giving every ounce of energy she had into the performance.

The crowd went as crazy as a bag of sentimental cats when the guitar intro from “Maps” came on for their encore, as Karen, now dressed in a mass amount of pompom glitter, stopped everything early on to sing “Happy Birthday” to their sound guy. Then they ended on an explosive note with “Date With The Night,” during which Mistress O totally destroyed her mic over the span of a few very destructive minutes, only after swallowing, twirling, spinning it like a propeller, and screaming at maximum volumes into it. The Yeah Yeah Yeahs continue to be one of the most vibrant live bands on the scene, and one you shouldn’t miss if you know what’s best for your rock n’ roll heart.

Setlist:

Mosquito
Gold Lion
Under the Earth
Slave (First time played)
Black Tongue
Sacrilege
Cheated Hearts
Soft Shock
Wedding Song (First time played)
Zero
Turn Into
Despair
Miles Away
Heads Will Roll
Encore:
Maps
Date with the Night

A French revolution with Phoenix in Brooklyn

Sun, 14 Apr 2013 07:00:00 -0600

It was another surprise French revolution taking over Brooklyn, as the shaggy-suave Parisian alt-rock band Phoenix announced a surprise free show at the Music Hall Of Williamsburg in Brooklyn just the day before, whisking them from their West Coast tour in just a day to race cross-country to NYC to play “The Late Show With David Letterman” latter that same evening, as well as get in a little extra promotion for their new album Bankrupt by playing a streaming telecast of their show for Sirius XM. It was a fun Friday morning to get in line to wait for wristbands early, as they were only being giving out one per customer, for a hundred or so lucky early rise-and-shiners, as the venue only holds just over 350 people. Some got there as early as 2AM, though the eager crowd only really started mass assembling around 7AM, and by 9, the line had grown to well over a mile long, twisting around several of the dusty Williamsburg blocks. Those lucky enough to get their bands only had to come back a few hours later to line up for the actual concert, so you knew these were seriously die-hard fans involved.

Phoenix, Music Hall Of Williamsburg, Brooklyn 4/5/13

Just after 6PM, Jeff Regan of Sirius XM’s Alt Nation, introduced the show, commanding all to make noise, sing along, and get wild. Phoenix was one of those bands that had time to mature over the last decade, making their big breakthrough via soundtrack, finally getting some US play after appearing on the Lost In Translation soundtrack in 2004, and since then, they have broken into international rock stardom behind several impressive albums and radio play conquests. By now, they can probably be best described as the biggest rock band you know but don’t know that you know. Last time they came through NYC they sold out Madison Square Garden in seconds, which is a good marker that you’ve finally made the big time. For this time on tour, they’ve made no less than three local dates, but this one that was far in advance of those, a week before the release of the new album, and the greatest chance for any true fan to catch these guys close-up and intimate in a smaller venue, which has now become a truly rare chance indeed.

So, with no opening act, they strolled out on stage amidst pulsating stage lights and the unbridled screeching of hundreds of girls, especially for the tousled hair and big beguiling eyes of frontman Thomas Mars, who was joined by Deck d’Arcy who briskly switches between bass and keys, and guitarists Laurent Brancowitz (also well known for his Daft Punk work) and Christian Mazzalai flanking both sides of the stage with undulating axe sounds, joined by power-drummer Thomas Hedlund, who looked and sounded like a cut dark bearded beast behind the set. All together, they create a sound that does have a sort of electro-punk take on the 80’s new wave sound that proves both looser and more raw than many of their scene contemporaries like The Strokes, The Hives, and The Killers. They started off with the lead single off their new album called “Entertainment,” which is the only song many in the audience had heard off Brankrupt!, except those who found that leaked version of the full LP on the web, but they did consecutively dip into their last album with “Lasso” and the insanely catchy “Lisztomania” and even “Long Distance Call” from their 2006 album It’s Never Been Like That, before giving the rabid fans in the audience more first tastes of the album with a few newbies in a row, but only after Mars seemed to plop down for a power nap, hidden mid-stage with his head propped on his monitor for several minutes, as the band slowly built up the tension for the new mostly-instrumental title track which merged into “Love Like Sunset.” With that first listen, I must say, the new material sounds much more straightforward than their last couple successful discs, with less grandiose pop anthems and more direct tracks of airy experimentation with darker themes of the downsides of greed and fame. The rest of the setlist seemed pretty finely granulated between this and their last Wolfgang Amadeus Phoenix from way back in 2009 which was literally packed with hits. In fact, there was nothing off their initial electronic work like United from 2000 or their second Alphabetical from ’04, which did kind of disappoint me, but this was a far more of a trimmed set than what they’ll probably be playing on their full tour. Mid-set classics “The Real Thing” and “Girlfriend” tended to be the energetic high points for me, as Mars jumped out into the crowd a couple times, stood atop of his amp, and generally throttled the high energy all throughout to the ender of unbridled power that was “1901,” which was definitely the night’s strongest rocker.

They did supply an intimately short encore, as Mars returned to the stage, plopping down on the edge of the stage to do a ballad version of “Countdown,” with a wonderfully spaced out look in his eyes, surrounded by a huge group of girls cooing all over him as Brancowitz played an acoustic guitar above him on stage. Then the whole band came out to launch into “Rome” as Mars leapt into the crowd again, as they gratefully parted for him and his extra-long microphone cable as he ended up standing high atop the back of the venue on the soundboard, thanking all for coming out this afternoon. They did finish by playing their new single “Entertainment” again, undoubtedly for their video partners and future promotion. At the very end, Mars thoroughly smashed his microphone into pieces and gave fans up from pieces of it. There’s no way to be more intimate with a prominent up-and-coming band like this, and when you get a chance to witness a uniquely special event like this, you count yourself lucky.

Setlist:

Entertainment
Lasso
Lisztomania
Long Distance Call
Don’t
S.O.S. In Bel Air
Sunskrupt! (mash-up)
The Real Thing
Girlfriend
Trying to be Cool
Drakkar Noir
Chloroform
Armistice
1901
Encore:
Countdown
Rome
Entertainment (reprise)

The deets of The Breeders' Brooklyn tour debut

Sun, 07 Apr 2013 11:02:00 -0600

The Breeders’ 1994 album The Last Splash was one of those first few albums that broke down the walls of the cheesy pop music dominated industry, bounding from the consigned realms of college radio and MTV’s “120 Minutes” into almost everyone’s ears and walkmen, exemplified by that almighty catchy hit single “Cannonball.” Still, to those that caught its magic fever; it was a perfect album from beginning to finish, embodying the riot grrrl esthetic of free female power and post punk prowess that defined the 90’s generation’s counter-pop revolution. It was a surprise and a delight to many that just a couple months ago, it was announced that they would be touring the album, with that album’s full line-up, in its entirety, as part of the promotion of a 20^th anniversary deluxe double disc re-release of that album called LSXX. What more, NYC was to be blessed by the tour’s very first official performance (after a warm up rehearsal in Kentucky), playing nearly a month before any other dates, at the modest out-of-the-way venue in the old Gowanus section of Brooklyn called The Bell House that holds only a couple hundred people, and which, unsurprisingly, sold out in the literal blink of an eye after going on sale.

The Breeders, The Bell House, Brooklyn, NY 3/29/13

The Breeders actually started off as a side project for Dayton, Ohio native Kim Deal, who was the gender bending bassist and tomboy hell raiser riot grrrl voice of the defining 80’s alternative rock band from Boston called The Pixies, along with Throwing Muse’s Tanya Donelly, forming during various breaks from their respective bands. It largely grew from Kim’s struggle to work out radically different mindsets with the controlling Pixies’ frontman Frank Black, whom she felt wasn’t giving her enough of a creative voice. They both used the group as a vehicle to grow their writing chops, as Kim switched to guitar, and with a revolving list of other musicians, including The Perfect Disaster’s bassist Josephine Wiggs, produced a raw rocking, bluegrass swinging, yet strangely alluringly harmonic debut album Pod, that became one of the most highly acclaimed “alternative” albums of 1990. For their ’92 EP Safari, they were joined by Kim’s twin sister Kelly as lead guitarist (even though she had never played one before), but afterward Tonya went on to form her own project called Belly, and the Pixies went on without Kim. So, along with drummer Jim Macpherson, they produced the runaway hit Last Splash in 1993 that redefined what was considered to be alt-rock and mainstream in the 90’s. They suddenly went from playing small clubs, to opening for the emerging juggernauts Nirvana, to headlining large-scale venues and festivals. However, as VH1’s “Behind The Music” would put it, at the height of their victory, they fell down just as fast, as Kelly went into rehab for heroin addiction, and Kim ended up going forth with the next Breeder’s album as another impressive spin-off called The Amps, and her sister eventually forming the Kelley Deal 6000. Over the course of the next decade, the Deal sisters did manage to get their collective acts together long enough for two more albums: Title TK in 2002 and Mountain Battles in 2008, but most admit they never managed to recapture the magic of their masterwork Last Splash. Now, as middle-aged adults, they are doing what Kim’s other band, The Pixies, has been doing over the last several years as well, touring the whole of their best albums from beginning to end.

So, the stage was set, and I got there early enough to see the nondescript white van with Ohio license plates pull up, and the sisters pile out, saying they had just drove here all the way from Dayton, but that it was actually an easy drive, and being a total delight to talk to, even as it was obvious they had just woken up. This night was to be even more special, as the album would be played by that specific album’s original line-up. Once the doors opened, the vast interior with fancy barn-like woodwork filled up very quickly, mostly with late 30’s and 40-somethings, all recollecting their best “I remember when” stories. There was an usually strict no photos policy in effect, being posted everywhere, said numerous times from the stage, and by a middle-aged woman manager type that kept swooping into the crowd to warn people about using their cell phones, as anyone caught snapping would be tossed (and apparently some were) from the show, and even the pro-photographers were being shoved into the back corner of the room and forced to leave after three songs with no exceptions.

Opening the show was a folksy violinist and vocalist by the name of Julia Read, who came armed with an impressive and humorously expressive drummer Liz Kelly and very chill guitarist Melody Olsen, although they didn’t get nearly enough play, as the music was pretty stripped down and extremely mellow. I actually really did like her lyrical sense and many of her songs, but the overall tone was so chillaxed, it made me want to curl up and sleep. That wasn’t really the tone most were looking for with the raw upbeat power of The Breeders coming, and I felt there should have been another opener to liven things in between, but nonetheless, everyone was obviously there for the headliner, so it was on with the show.

Right on time, and looking fine, Kim, Kelly, Josephine, and MacPherson trotted out on stage, joined by violinist and keyboardist Carrie Bradley, whom, as Kim explained, was the one responsible for the swinging fiddle on that and most of the other Breeders albums, just after simply introducing them to the audience, “Hi, we’re the Breeders, and we’re going to play the Last Splash album.” And with that brief intro, they were off, playing “New Year” with all the noisy abandon it deserved, as it twisted vocally and musically through some very tricky time and harmony changes. It should be said, that I did notice a bit of nervousness and trepidation in Kim especially at first, as it was clear they had rehearsed well, but touring was something she doesn’t do everyday now. Furthermore, their ages were showing a bit, more wrinkles, and more pounds on some, but honestly, they’ve aged very well on both counts to me, and looking how you’d naturally think each of them would age, plus, looks were never what they were about anyways. The music did still shine clearly, and I even noticed a few of the girls standing around me balling with tears of total joy during the first couple songs. Kim leaned down to blare out “Check check check, One two!” to that massive hit “Cannonball“ through a styrofoam cup over a mic, and it was “ON!” Still, through the slower rocker “Invisible Man,” there was a still a sense of apprehension, and it wasn’t until the jovial kidding around started that things started loosening up on stage, as Kim remarked on Jim’s wind chimes that he blew on at the end of the song, which actually made Josephine crack a smile for the first time in the show. Maybe it was also that they knew at this point they wouldn’t have cameras on them anymore, and they appropriately relaxed a bit with “No Aloha,” as Kim audibly exhaled more than just a bit of the stress built up from the first show of the tour. There was then a lot of joking before they started the distortion-heavy instrumental of “Roi,” as Wiggs and MacPherson switched instruments, which Kim revealed was what happened on the album, and furthermore explained that MacPherson’s mini-moog had gotten lost in travel, but they had managed to locate an identical one which he grinned from ear to ear about throughout his noisy solo in the drone section, and the whole song really just kicked ass, and I saw this general expression on all their faces after it was done, “Wow, we actually nailed it!” Even though Josephine messed up the beginning bass line of “Do You Love Me Now?,” it turned out flawless after they restarted it, and even Kelley, who actually had the funniest expressions through the night (and who, by the way, looks amazing these days), looked astonished after nailing the soaring “Ahs!” at the end. From that point on, it really just felt like they were playing in their living room for a few friends, even as some loud drunk jerk yelled for them to play “Doe” and Kim just picked up the setlist and handed it to me to pass over to him, which I instead gave to the cute girls next to me. The next instrumental “Flipside” was so perfect MacPherson even shouted the background “OH!”s right on time with the original, which got an obvious laugh from most everyone who noticed. “Justin Bieber wrote this one,” Kim joked while introducing “I Just Wanna Get Along” which also pile-drove through perfectly in it’s ultimate sarcasm. Kim asked Josephine “Could you walk here from your apartment?,” and she nervously replied “I could have, but I did not today,” which was is what Kim had revealed to me outside her van, that JW actually lives a mile away, but that actually got her to break the stone-face scowl she had pretty much since the beginning of the show and make with a bit of the smile which continued to lighten the mood more and more. On “Mad Lucas” Kelley played her guitar-part through a tiny amp as Kim did seem to kind of loose her place for her little bizarre guttural whispers. My favorite song “Divine Hammer,” along with the following “S.O.S.,” and “Hag,” all had the sisters continually flashing silly smiles at each other, mouthing secret messages, and obviously having a ball, which was something different from the quip-heavy sibling rivalry relationship I had seen with them on stage before. Before they started up “Saints,” Kim explained that Kelly wrote the song about great sweaty sex, to which they gave each other hi-fives after Kelly did her great raunchy lead vocal job, which I always wish she did more of on their other albums as well. Still, it was the wistful acoustified job on “Driving On Nine,” which Kim explained was written by Dan Leone of Ed’s Redeeming Qualities, who had recently passed away, that really did bring tears to my eyes, as Carrie Bradley, whom, to my surprise, happened to have been in that very band, really broke open the skies with her stunning fiddle work. They finished up with a jammed out version of the closing instrumental “Roi,” and waved their way off stage.

After a short intermission, they all came back on to play what was either a short second set or a long encore depending on whom you talked to. They started off with a one from their last release, 2009’s EP Fate to Fatal, with the loud drum-heavy rocker Guided by Voices cover of “Shocker in Gloomtown,” and continued with a catchy one from their ’92 EP Safari “Head To Toe,” followed by many others from their early incarnation with tracks like the girl power Beatles re-covering of “Happiness is a Warm Gun,” during which Carrie Bradley even threw in a generous loud yelp in the “mother superior” section as it was in the studio version, joined in unison by just about everyone in the house. Then on “Safari” everyone on stage laughed as they traded “ahhhhs,” that sexy snarl and blaring Kelly guitar on the unified sister harmonies with “Lime House” just killed me. Once again, Carrie’s violin literally made a song come to life through the sexy squeal of “Oh!,” and then they did manage to get it back up to rumpus rocking volumes with the vocal murmurs of the closer of “Don’t Call Home.” It turned out to be a perfect night for any true fan of the band. Sure, the show was raw and rough, but the personalities of the band were really exposed, before the drudge of life on the road took it’s toll, and with appropriate amounts of nervousness keeping them on their toes, when else would you ever get a chance to see that up close and personal like this? Truly a once in a life show for sure!

Setlist:
1) The Last Splash:
2) New Year
3) Cannonball
4) Invisible Man
5) No Aloha
6) Roi
7) Do You Love Me Now?
8) Flipside
10) I Just Wanna Get Along
11) Mad Lucas
12) Divine Hammer
13) S.O.S.
14) Hag
15) Saints
16) Drivin’ on 9
17) Roi (Reprise)

Encore:
18) Shocker in Gloomtown (Guided by Voices cover)
19) Head To Toe
20) Happiness is a Warm Gun (The Beatles cover)
21) Safari
22) Lime House
23) Oh!
24) Don’t Call Home

Weaving a complex tapestry with Hundred Waters

Sat, 06 Apr 2013 12:25:00 -0600

Weaving a complex tapestry can be an amazing experience, even just witnessing the amazing results, and Hundred Waters covered us all snugly in their unusual blend of exotic sounds, coming all the way from their sunny home of Gainesville, Florida to warm up the cold NYC winter chill at a show at the small former factory spot in Williamsburg, Brooklyn called Glasslands the night before they were to open for Alt-J at the far less cozy Terminal 5 in Manhattan. Here, the sell-out crowd packed the appropriately outlandishly ethereal interior of the venue with a truly enthusiastic manner to see these strikingly impressive artists spin their breathtaking fabric.

Hundred Waters, Glasslands, Brooklyn 3/23/13

Brooklyn’s own Salt Cathedral opened the show, and the last time I had seen them they were known as Il Abanico, but now they seem to be an even more confident unit, with the same members, but a new outlook. Undulating between swelling and surging, they produce a brilliantly deep sound with intertwining guitar jangles creating a deep and often ethereal patch-work texture with blends of global sounds, pop, and post-punk. From the large entrancing gaze of the charming frontwoman Juliana Ronderos, the heavy-metal looking guitarist Nicolas Losada’s wailing solos offset by the clean-cut stylings of Silvio Vega, with Stefan Bildy and Tommy Hartman kicking in some seriously beautiful rhythms, there was a defiant talent bursting outwards. I did recognize some of the old Il Abanico material, but even that sounded far more rich and intense now. Perhaps it was the divine sound quality of the Glasslands acoustics, perhaps it was the name change, but this band is clearly growing and evolving, and they’re really proving it more and more every time I see them.

Far less easy to define is the headliner Hundred Waters. They are a band that has a defied explanation, although the closest comparison I have heard is that of Icelandic queen of experimental pop Björk, especially in the vocals of her slower atmospheric work. Vocalist, keyboardist, and flautist Nicole Miglis has a partially Asian physical look, and although her humble and soft-spoken discourse accent would not give you that impression, her music does take on a somewhat Oriental tapestry feel to me. There is some impressions of British progressive rock, although I find it to be less of the late 60’s King Crimson sort, and more of the 80’s Tangerine Dream kind, as they do have a weightier ambient presence, but there is still some serious compositional play with intricate rhythm and beat changes that play off the often improved jazz timings that only the most accomplished musician could identify, and that is also due to the rest of the bands powerful presence: Trayer Tryon (electronics, guitars) and Paul Giese (electronics, guitars), both of whom bob their heads in a trance as the play off each other, especially when they craft deep blankets of atmospheres and beats behind their computer boards, and somehow drummer/vocalist Zach Tetreault manages to hold it all together. Imagine Animal Collective combined with the early surreal Genesis with an exotic female singer instead of Peter Gabriel playing that mellow flute during some gorgeous mellow interludes, and you may be close to the end result of their sound. To give you a further idea of Nicole Miglis’ overwhelming talent behind the piano, she is a graduate of the UF School of Music, where she earned a Bachelor’s of Fine Arts in Piano Performance and participated in the Chinese-American Piano Institute at the Sichuan Conservatory of Music in Chengdu, China, and whom is also heavily influenced by classical pastoral England, in terms of harmony and language, which the remaining band members infuse with intricate electronic instrumentation for those jazz-like improvisations.

The first thing Nicole had to admit when she came out on stage is that the group was lacking one essential piece to their puzzle, in that keyboardist and vocalist Sam Moss, who often proved a pivotal counterpart to Nicole’s own twisting harmonies and keys was not going to play, and she admitted to the packed room that Sam had lost her voice, and after pointing her out in the crowd, said she would miss her up there, and with a nervous laugh, claimed that they were going to try something a little different this night. She was clearly terrified at points, as trying to conquer some of the intricate songs off their impressive self-titled debut LP from last year without all the essential tools must be like painting the Mona Lisa with a screwdriver, but since painting is kind of what they do with their music (even their name is an ode to European painter Friedensreich Hundertwasser), they did their best to sketch those songs in a new way, and, in the end, it came off very picturesque. With the Glasslands appropriately cloud-like sculpture floating behind them, they knitted away, playing at least two new songs (or at least ones I had not heard of before) on the setlist, called “Caverns” and “Perched,” but much of the rest of the set was from their aforementioned amazing LP, from the mellow openings of “Visitor” to the godly drop-beat of “Thistle,” to the gentle pirouette of “Sonnet,” to the slowly-building climax of “Boreal.” Coming back out for a short encore, they ended the night with the elegant, piano-laden ballad of “Gather.” I look forward to greeting their sophisticated blend of embroidery and lushly decorated fabrics next time they come and cover me in its warmth.

Video Daughters lead the charge at Death By Audio

Thu, 04 Apr 2013 10:02:00 -0600

The Brooklyn trio Video Daughters headed up a show at the virtually hidden DIY spot in Williamsburg called Death By Audio with a hefty list of hard-hitting bands. It was a show of unexpected treats and debauchery in the dimly lit back room venue that took some endurance to make it through, but turned out to be well worth it in rock n’ roll libations galore!

Video Daughters, Anwar Sadat, IYEZ, Slippertails, Death By Audio, Brooklyn 3/16/13

The central Jersey artist that goes by the name slippertails started off the nights festivities and came in the form of a very large, largely bald Hispanic man with a guitar. Yes, he had some physical similarities with Frank Black of the Pixies, and especially after a couple solo tracks, when he was joined by Video Daughter’s Randolph Riback on drums, that parallel took on a distinctly deeply dark authenticity with face-melting feedback and headbanging demand. He has an impressive long play album for download called there’s a disturbing trend and I’ve been listening to it on repeat as he really does produce a powerfully raw and meaty sound.

IYEZ was up next, and they proved to be more of a slowly building experience, building a swaying and undulating structure with rippling guitars and spacy keyboards with layers of trippy chanting and deeply churning beats. Not to say they don’t have some rockers too, but lead vocal man and keyboardist Jon Erickson seems to love loosing himself in the trance with eyes shut tightly and head swaying uncontrollably to the sounds. They actually have several releases under their belt, including the recently released Psychic Jungle, which is certainly worth the trip out of consciousness and into deep space.

One of the biggest surprises of the night was the Louisville, KY trio Anwar Sadat. Instead of setting up on stage they put down a rug on the floor in front of stage and raged a half an hour set full of power punk. Surprising with a sound that sounds like the level of Helmet of Crowbar. Shrouded in darkness, the geeky waif of a bassist with thick-framed glasses. Shane Wesley turned into the unlikely blaring frontman with a majorly powerful voice, William C literally attacked his drums that had a big stuffed tiger attached to the floored bass drums, and balding Clay Farris literally wailed on guitar solo after solo. They are an implicitly powerful band, and I hope to see them again, as they were really amazing. Their latest LP Gold is out on the Sophomore Lounge Records label and is ridiculously hot!

Video Daughters started during the winter of 2008 as three rival newbies hocking swiped copies of the Onion and Village Voice decided a far better way to lose money was to form a band. They recorded the Birds, Sing the Car Alarm EP in Gowanus, Brooklyn and then the power trio expanded to a quartet, then an ensemble of 40 singing in white robes, then to a super group, then back to a power trio, sans trio. Amidst the morphing they recorded ZooS in fall 2010 with master engineer Ben Greenberg (The Men) at the helm. Michael Green heads up the band with a slick charismatic power on guitar and vocals, but does switch leads and vocals over to bassist Scott Townsend on a few tracks, and with Randolph Riback pounding away on the skins, and together they produce a potent psychedelic sound with a garage rock edge. Although there was another band added on at the last minute, after VD, my rocking quotient was spent, what a great show!

Veronica Falls at Bowery Ballroom with interview

Tue, 02 Apr 2013 09:47:00 -0600

The Brit Pop duo Veronica Falls graced NYC with an appearance at Bowery Ballroom in the Lower East Side, and it was a night of fantastic angelic highs and even some disappointing lows. I had the remarkable opportunity to sit down with Roxanne Clifford and James Hoare before the show to discuss their evolution, their beginnings, and their enthusiastic future. I’ve included that interview at the end of this review.

Veronica Falls, Bowery Ballroom, NYC 3/8/13

The show itself started of with The Beets’ frontman Juan Wauters’ first solo project, and to say it was a mixed bag doesn’t quite explain it. At first, he came out dressed in a poncho, propped his leg up on a stool, and while lit by one dim light bulb under his mic, he strummed out a couple songs on his crusty old acoustic guitar that no doubt harkened back to his Uruguay roots. If he had kept it to those authentic ethnic roots, this may have been an interesting opener, but instead, he dove off stage and returned dressed in his best Lou Reed black turtleneck and thick sunglasses, joined by a woman who stood stoic and emotionless on the mic opposite him, only to occasionally wail out some massively out-of-tune vocals that made my ears literally bleed, as well as some “lighting tech” guy who plopped himself on the floor cross-legged, all just to activate and deactivate a few sporadic light bulbs and a backlit American flag sprawled across the stage, all of which often made the eyes want to bleed. All in all, it was only a barely tolerable set, and it was a sad and unwelcome opening to such a great show.

Then there was the LA band Cold Showers, who proved to be a more appropriate opener. Sounding like Depeche Mode on vocals, The Cure on guitars, and Jesus and Mary Chain on rhythms, they certainly had their great influences in line. With a stage front lit by spacy shape projections, the trio put on a great show, although, their sound often fell into that zone that I’ve found happens with many openers who usually don’t have their own soundboard techs, the overall soundscape was at times harsh and at others just far to loud for their gentler tones. Still, their dark pop melodies were very entrancing, and I really liked what I heard in substance.

Still, it was Veronica Falls and the undying love of their fans that was the night’s true redemption. As I said before, the band consists of the duo Roxanne Clifford and James Hoare, both on vocals and guitar, joined by Marion Herbain who apparently learned how to play bass almost overnight to go out on tour with them a couple years ago, and a delightfully charismatic Patrick Doyle on drums and backing vocals. The band released several successful singles in the United Kingdom and the United States throughout 2010 and came to prominence with the release of their magnificent self-titled debut album in 2011. Now, they are touring behind one of my favorite albums of this virgining year called Waiting for Something to Happen, and I am very grateful to be able to finally see them. Amidst an appropriately moody and darkly lit stage with shimmering highlights, they started out with the catchy harmonic opener of this new album called “Tell Me,” with Roxanne widely smiling as she twirled about and the packed Bowery reciprocated with sending the joy right back. They pretty much spent the rest of the set switching back and forth between songs of both albums, and it was shocking how well it all flowed together in a seamless way. Roxanne played the part and the wonderfully lighthearted yet somehow blue soul and James played the darker more troubled soul part, often backlit and generally appearing like Pink Floyd’s founding frontman Syd Barrett with his erratic hair and darkly sunken eyes, and thusly the dichotomy of the two halves of the whole was set, and along with the drummer Marion being the one who actually the one who usually chimed in between songs with some levity, and the combination was simply brilliant, angelically harmonic and pristinely performed. My favorite moments were the duo play in “Broken Toy,” the incredible jam of “Buried Alive,” and the essential closer to the show, their hot new single “Teenage,” which playfully recounts youthful recollections of driving in the car with your love and listening to music. There was a sad moment at the end, when they intended to break into a Roky Erickson cover called “Starry Eyes,” but Roxanne had such problems with her feedback-ing amp, they ended up going ahead with the song sans guitar in an obvious fit of frustration. Still, all-in-all, it was a powerful and gorgeous show, and I look forward to seeing them again.

Setlist:

1) Tell Me
2) Right Side of My Brain
3) My Heart Beats
4) Beachy Head
5) Broken Toy
6) Waiting For Something To Happen
7) Bad Feeling
8) Found Love in a Graveyard
9) If You Still Want Me
10) Buried Alive
11) Wedding Day
12) Teenage
13) Come Over
14) Starry Eyes (Roky Erickson)

The interview with Roxanne Clifford and James Hoare:

You guys have been in bands before, when did you start writing together?
Rox: Around 4 years ago?
James: Yeah, around 2009? Yeah.
Rox: Me and Patrick were in a band before too, he’s the drummer…

How do you think your music or your writing style has changed or progressed since then?

Rox: I dunno, I think we just progressed quite naturally really, kind of just steadily being able to gain a fan base has been quite nice.
James: We certainly never had to felt like we had to do this, or we need to go in this direction, you know?
Rox: I think we’ve been quite lucky in that, in people began to sort of sought us out and started to love us for the right reasons, as opposed to never having got over got over one song, kind of like a slight burner.

That’s great, so they allowed you to be yourself!
Rox: We could never be anything else! (laughs)

You guys are recording with Roy Atwell now, do you think that has changed your sound?

Rox: Right, we did our last album with him. It’s funny, because we actually recorded our first ever demos with Rory. He’s an old friend of ours. So, actually you could see it as a step back.
James: I don’t think it’s really changed our sound either, if there is a difference, it may be in the mixing, like, maybe it’s a little bit cleaner sounding, but we recorded it in a very similar way to our first, very similar.
Rox: We generally produce the records ourselves, so anybody who’s been recording with us has generally been mainly like engineering, but Royie is really good to record with as he lets us be and sound like ourselves.
James: Yeah, but we normally record with people more in the engineering role and we handle the overall production.

The first single from this album “My Heart Beats” was released early last year, and your full album Waiting for Something to Happen wasn’t released till the end of the year. Was the time in between intentional, or was the album done well before then, and, if so, does that mean you have new material on the horizon?
James: Oh yeah, it was released to bridge the gap of time between the two, because we had this song we liked, and our manager was like, maybe you should release that. Seems now like kinda a strange thing to do, but it was too good to wait on.
Rox: We did sorta think we’d put on the record, but we sorta just did a single and we didn’t have the album ready yet, but we wanted to keep releasing stuff…
James: Yeah, I think it’s good to just keep releasing stuff to keep the word out there.

So, is there any new material then, even though there hasn’t been much time since the full release?
Rox: Well the records just came out (laughs), and we really haven’t been writing much as we’ve been pretty busy touring, but there’s always little seeds of ideas here and there that may grow given the time.

So, how long are you on tour for this album then?
James: We’re in America for less than a month and then a couple weeks back in Europe for some UK dates, then maybe some festivals.
Rox: Yeah, so we’ll probably be back to the States before the end of the year.

How do you define yourself genre-wise, as there’s been so many styles attributed to your sound like the C80 scene, alt pop, shoegaze, and so on?
Rox: It’s kind of hard to categorize yourself, but, um, I think when we got together there were certain touchstones that we agreed upon, and it was quite natural, and we never set out to sound like anything in particular, so I guess our influences came to us in a different way, I guess The Feelies with those stellar guitars…
James: The Velvet Underground was always a big influence. It seems to me we’re always categorized as an indie pop band, which I don’t think we have a problem with, but I don’t think we’re that indie-pop, you know what I mean? I think maybe we’re a bit darker or a bit heavier, because a lot of the bands that you think of as indie pop or quite soft, like really sweet, and sometimes a bit to saccharin, you know?
Rox: The thing is, I think it might have something to do with girl/boy band form…
James: Yeah! Like maybe if we were all male, we would have that kind of rep…
Rox: I think if we didn’t have my shrill voice (laughs) we would probably be quite tough…
James: Yeah, if we were all dressed in leather, and we sounded a bit more garage(y) we would probably be called a garage ROCK band. It is that kind of thing, if I, especially when we play live, I really don’t think people see us as…
Rox: It’s tricky when you have female vocals to make it sound “rock,” unless you have like a Karen O up front….
James: We were at a specialist indie pop festival…
Rox: We headlined!
James: You could really tell a lot of the rest of the bands there were really like, not like, well, playing with ukuleles and recorders and such, and we’re really not like that, it’s like we’re listening to Lou Reed and The Feelies, there’s definitely more of a sixties influence behind what we’re doing than I think most people realized on the first record.

Heliotropes head up a killer Death By Audio show

Mon, 01 Apr 2013 09:25:00 -0600

It was a ridiculously cool line-up scheduled to appear in one night of debauchery behind the nondescript door that leads you to the dimly lit DIY spot called Death By Audio in Brooklyn, where a small bar dispenses cheap drinks and a nice sized stage covered in graffiti bestows a surprisingly impressive sound. The exciting list of popular Brooklyn bands headlined by one of the most highly beloved fresh bands on the scene by the name of Heliotropes went through some last minute changes, as Fan-Tan was supposed to play but then pulled out, and after a last-minute call-out the night before, a couple other highly impressive bands signed on to help fill out the night’s hefty bill of kick-ass artists.

Heliotropes, Beliefs, Quiet Loudly, and Eastern Hollows at Death By Audio, Brooklyn 3/6/13

I was already overindulging in NYC, and thusly showed up a little later than my usual, and I apparently missed Lazyeyes drummer Cheddar J. Magnificent’s opening solo set, but did manage to catch a majority of his other band’s following set, as he stated the night before, when they had just signed on to play, “The only thing I like more than an Eastern Hollows show is an Eastern Hollows show I find out we’re playing 24 hrs. before it happens.” Their blend of classic brit-pop sounding shoegaze resembles the super-mellow gangly parts of Stone Roses songs and really does carry a mesmerizing weight, and the single “Summer’s Dead” from their forthcoming debut LP does make me highly anticipate what they have in store.

Quiet Loudly was up next, and they have supplied one of my favorite new releases Go Into The Light Smiling to my very thankful ears. Much like on the album, their songs take you on a very soulful journey, with Max Goransson’s lead vocal and shimmering axe sound that chimes of the great Echo and The Bunnymen and a deep piano/bass driven rhythm that has an easy-going yet sometimes progressive rock appeal, they all draw you into their lush sound like a dream that all at once comes into focus, from the sharp catchy jam of “Deleting People Is Easy,” to “It’s Not the End of the World” that really got people grooving and chanting along to its fantastic howls, and the deeply chilling regress of “Sometimes I Forget” almost brings on the tears every time I hear it. I look forward to seeing how this band evolves over time after such an impressive debut.

Toronto’s Beliefs followed, and they proved to be a truly perfect follow-up, as their dreamy nu gaze jams really lulls the listener into a journey through a star-filled sky. The sloppy wet kiss of an exchange of angelic harmonies and twisting guitars of Josh Korody and Jesse Crowe also brings on a whole host of dreamy 90’s comparisons, like The Jesus and Mary Chain and My Bloody Valentine. Their debut self-titled release provided much of their set, but there were many unexpected treats, as they are apparently deep into creating their follow-up sophomore album, and have recently released a single, from which “Catch My Breath“ is a literally breath-taking distortion-filled track that drives you into wonderfully mysterious zones.

As I mentioned before, the all-girl band Heliotropes was headlining, and the amount of buzz they are receiving is as awe-inspiring as their sound is live. They seem to be on everyone’s must see and/or listen to list these days, and were, at this point, raising money to head out on the road for their first cross-country tour (which they are currently on) to spread their word from SXSW to the West Coast and beyond. At this point, there is only a couple of highly impressive singles to their name, but they do have a full-length all but ready to go, and, according to the band and their manager, it has a tentative release date sometime this Summer on the Manimal label, and personally I can’t wait, especially after hearing the tasty new material that has popped up in their set. Frontwoman Jessica Numsuwankijkul intensely kicks ass as the singing and wailing axe master, seeming seriously transfixed into the songs and then, in a hurricane of whipping of hair, rips into a furry of aggressive solos, joined by Amber Myers, who, despite having a pretty bad cold, faithfully backed up the vocals with a whimsical touch of tambourine, Cici Harrison literally blew the house down with her aggressive drumming, and Nya Abudu somehow kept it all together with her tasty bass licks. Together, they produce a powerful brew of garage rock, mixed with touches of joyful bluegrass, Breeders-style riot grrrl aesthetic, and a generous helping of raw aggressive rock! They worked themselves and their audience into fantastic states of ecstasy by the end each song, finishing up strong with a pile-driving rendition of one of their finest cuts called “Ribbons.” You should try to catch these young ladies soon, as they are sure to blow up, and seeing all of these bands at a small venue for easy-going prices will undoubtedly change soon, and you shouldn’t miss your chance!

The post-punk shockwave by Bob Mould at Bowery

Wed, 20 Mar 2013 10:29:00 -0600

Bob Mould brought his vast rock expertise to NYC, playing from his ground-breaking 80’s punk group Hüsker Dü to his further trailblazing band of the early 90’s called Sugar, and his many remarkable solo LPs since, including tracks from his new album Silver Age, as well as continuing his “Farwell To Copper Blue” tour, which started last year as a good-bye to many of his beloved classics, stating recently “I’m not retiring the songs — many of them will be in my live sets forever — but I am putting the “start to finish” reading of Copper Blue (the classic Sugar album) to rest.” So, it seems as though he is truly attempting to move on with his career, even as both of those definitive groups only had a couple definitive albums apiece, but the songs from which typically filled the set lists of his last few tours. This night, the wonderfully striking venue Bowery Ballroom in the LES of Manhattan seemed to be largely filled with serious-looking older men in thick army coats, with arms folded and stern looks on their faces, and thusly impressing these serious fans seemed a daunting task indeed.

Opening the show was the Brooklyn trio Bear In Heaven, who have a strong reputation for their aggressively complicated dance music, and whom have a new album out named I Love You, which Mould called his favorite album of last year during his set, and thusly Bob was spotted in the audience at stage right in a big winter hat, bopping around to their poppy sounds. Most would have expected a more straightforward rock band as an opener, but they were impressive on their own right, mixing an acid house beat with a psych pop appeal and a krautrock edge. The super-handsome Jon Philpot was clearly the band figurehead, and the one who started off the whole project back in in the early 2000’s, as his cool little groove dances raved with a wide smile, displaying the groovy happiness of playing his creations on stage, as he switched between a big bass, heavily synthed keys, and his tenderly bittersweet times at the mic. Completing the sound was Joe Stickney as a complex drummer with some almost prog rock time changes and guitarist Adam Wills whom did take things to a whole new level, together creating a splendid sound and drawing from an impressive discography of their own including an album that has been played on my turntable many times in repeat called Beast Rest Forth Mouth.

Bob Mould had an impressive power trio of his own, with Jason Narducy (of Verbow) on bass and Jon Wurster (of Fugazi) pounding away on drums, all of whom blew out of the starting gate with a wall of noise and the first half of that afore-mentioned classic 1992 Sugar album Copper Blue, from the bombastic opener “The Act We Act” to the timeless “Hoover Dam,” almost as an ecstatic thank you to that archetypal project’s fans. Playing with ear-shattering volume and aggression, the now shaved bald Mould with a largely grayed beard raged with an extraordinarily in-your-face sound that blew right through you like a shockwave of a nuclear bomb, which, after a few songs of thrashing about the stage between vocals and swinging his axe about, had him covered in sweat and his glasses fogged up beyond viewable limits, and even got the legions of those stiff guys to loosen up and boogie or at least head bob in approval. Then, of course, it was time to promote his impressive new effort released late last year called Silver Age, with its themes of maturing, reminiscing, and contemplation, like the opener “Star Machine” and the catchy radio-friendly rocker “The Descent.” With nary time to take a breath between songs, he lurched headlong into a non-stop full-volume set, pulling tracks from throughout his extensive career, like “One Good Reason” from one of my favorite Mould efforts, 1990’s Black Sheets Of Rain, to “Egøverride” from his self-titled album (aka “Hubcup), as well as Hüsker Dü punk masterpieces like “Hardly Getting Over It,” “I Apologize,” and “Chartered Trips,” which at the end broke into an all-classic set of his first two bands, which included “If I Can’t Change Your Mind,” “Flip Your Wig,” “Hate Paper Doll,” “Divide & Conquer,” and “Makes No Sense At All.” It was a blistering show and Mould truly showed his continuing endurance and reputation as the king of high-volume post punk.

As a side note, the next night at the Bowery apparently had a surprise appearance by SNL comedian Fred Armisen, who seems to love appearing with 90’s punk/rock musicians when they come through NYC, as I have seen him recently pop up on stage with Dinosaur Jr., Telekinesis, and a host of other grunge-fueled groups.

Setlist:

1. The Act We Act (Sugar song)
2. A Good Idea (Sugar song)
3. Changes (Sugar song)
4. Helpless (Sugar song)
5. Hoover Dam (Sugar song)
6. Star Machine
7. The Descent
8. Round the City Square
9. Fortune Teller (Sugar song)
9. Steam of Hercules
10. Hardly Getting Over It (Hüsker Dü song)
11. One Good Reason I Apologize (Hüsker Dü song)
12. Chartered Trips (Hüsker Dü song)
13. Keep Believing
14. Silver Age
15. Circles
16. Egoverride
17. If I Can’t Change Your Mind (Sugar song)
18. Flip Your Wig (Husker Du Song)
19. Hate Paper Doll (Husker Du song)
20. Divide & Conquer (Husker Du song)
21. Makes No Sense At All (Husker Du song)

Rocking one wild ladies night with Vivian Girls in Brooklyn

Wed, 27 Feb 2013 10:09:00 -0700

It was a wild and rocking ladies night to remember! On February 15th, Converse Rubber Tracks put on a free show at the Music Hall of Williamsburg featuring some of the best Women in modern NYC woman rockers, and it was sure to be one of the best shows of the year, with four full bands ready to rock the capacity crowd till they were spent physically and mentally.

Vivian Girls, Widowspeak, Eternal Summers, and Heliotropes at Converse Rubber Tracks Live, Music Hall of Williamsburg, 2/15/13

Opening the show was one of the hottest up-and-coming bands on the Brooklyn scene in the form of the stunning all-girl quartet called Heliotropes. Jessica Numsuwankijkul simply kicks ass as the singing and wailing axe master in a hurricane of whipping of hair, Amber Myers backs up the vocals with a whimsical touch of the playful tambourine, Cici Harrison literally blows away with the aggressive drums, and Nya Abudu lays down the sure and steady bass licks. Together they produce a powerful brew of garage rock, mixed with touches of joyful bluegrass, Breeders-style riot grrrl aesthetic, and a generous helping of happy-go-lucky-good-time-fun! They swing and twirl about, working themselves and their audience into fantastic states of ecstasy with each song. There was lots of new material in their set, not to surprising as they only have a couple official singles released so far, but they finished up strong with a pile-driving rendition of one of their finest cuts called “Ribbons.” If you’re smart, you’ll keep your eyes on these young ladies, as their debut LP is ready to thrill us all on the Manimal label in Spring 2013, and they may be sweet on they eyes, but they’re even tastier to the ears, and the two will surely battle it out in an epically fun battle royale.

I managed to catch Eternal Summers recently opening for Nada Surf, and this rocking trio can easily woo you too. Made up of a punky brew of dreamy rock, guitarist Nicole Yun takes commanding yet unassuming lead, slinging up and down the guitar with the smooth ease and control as she belts powerful and catchy lyrics (and yes, she is adorable!), in between her blistering solos, the vigorous off-time drummer Daniel Cundiff took a couple impressive lead singer turns as well, and Jonathan Woods kept the power backbeat thumping with an amusing silliness (even creating one of the funniest setlists I’ve seen in quite some time mocking the song names). Their set also featured a lot of new songs, especially as they’re set to record their next album with Guided by Voices’ Doug Gillard producing soon, but they did play some from last years’ remarkable Correct Behavior LP, like the chopping air of “Wonder,” the breathy guitar drive of “You Kill,” and bouncy fervor of “Millions,” but be careful of becoming to entranced, as they may bewitch you too.

Widowspeak, have no new LP on the horizon, they are actually supporting their just released and highly praised second album Almanac, and they were blissfully poised this night in particular. One thing I can’t get over is how much lead singer Molly Hamilton’s voice reminds me of Mazzy Star’s Hope Sandoval, mournful and aloof, yet enchanting and alluring, with breathy haunting highs descending into ghostly howling valleys, her singing guides you through the songs like a shaman conjuring spirits. She does look much more clean-cut and less witchy than Hope, and the over-all sound she generates with her partner and guitarist Robert Earl Thomas is far more rock folk, felling more like a deep organic haze of a warm summer daydream. They have a sizable band supporting them too, and during one of the coolest moments of the night all three guitarists got behind the piano to play as Molly belted out the haunting ballad “Thick As Thieves,” but they showed moments of great energy as well, kicking it way up with the energetically upbeat “Devil Knows,” or the driving “The Dark Age.” This band may not have exactly fit in with the other groups of the night, but they really were impressive, and with such great songs, and such a strong presence, you can definitely tell this is a band you should go see, especially with a close date.

Vivian Girls were the ones many came to see of course, and were appearing not in support of any project at all, as their last album was released back in 2011, and even more unexpected because all three in the trio have side projects going presently: Frontwoman/guitarist Cassie Ramone has a side project called The Babies with Woods bassist Kevin Morby and they have released two 7” singles and a self-titled debut album (and I even saw her do an acoustic set the night before), bassist Katy Goodman (Kickball Katy) formed a side project with Cat Power’s Gregg Foreman named All Saints Day, the band has digitally released one self-titled EP, and she now has a solo project La Sera, and drummer Fiona Campbell also plays in Coasting and Chain & The Gang, and is co-owner of M’Lady’s Records. With all these other diversions, it was a surprise to see the three riot girls come out and play, and sound so practiced and tight, in a rough and loud riot grrrl kind of way that is, and generally have so much fun doing it. Cassie seemed pained at points, but she still had fun rolling around the floor, and Katy was all smiles and even joined in with the floor rocking at one point, and it proved to be a strong and loud closer to one heavy night of girl power rocking.

A My Social List Valentine's Day party at Webster Hall

Sun, 24 Feb 2013 10:20:00 -0700

There was a special party on Valentine’s Day at the secretive basement venue called The Studio at Webster Hall, just underneath the larger venue/nightclub complex, thrown by My Social List for all those looking to have a little nitro thrown in with their sweet hearts. A spirited energy was set by cheap drink specials and some impressively groovy DJ’ing by Serpent (of DIIV) and Rambo, and everyone seemed to get into a festive mood.

Cassie Ramone/Xray Eyeballs/Hunters/Total Slacker at Valentine’s Day at The Studio at Webster Hall 2/14/13

Opening the show was an acoustic set by Cassie Ramone, and sitting on a lonely seat in the middle of the stage you could tell that this wasn’t any usual singer/songwriter artist. In fact, as I soon recognized, she was the frontwoman/guitarist of the band Vivian Girls, who I was to see the very next day in Brooklyn. Earlier this year she turned out an unexpectedly somber single called “I Don’t Really Wanna Go,” which really was really unlike her punker girl group alter-ego, and was, actually, a tribute to Ariel Panero, the recently deceased Tough Knuckles guitarist. It seems as though she has some more similarly gloomy songs ready to go, as she played enough new music for a full release. She seemed a bit disconnected with her audience, perhaps a bit shy, maybe wary of being onstage alone, but the material was strong, and spoke for itself.

Next was Xray Eyeballs, an unusual quartet who produce an uncommon blend in a playful brew, and who, like Cassie, have recently opened for Cat Power. Comprised of O.J., Carly Rabalais, Liz, and Tom, they are part punk, part driving power ballad, part ridiculous new wave throwback, but full-on fun. The diverse line-up provides an excitable agile Asian guitarist guy at the helm, an insanely leggy brunette towering over the bass (both of whom trade the harmonies), a cute redhead mingling keys and synths, and a drummer in back who stands while tapping out ridiculously catchy rhythms. They actually have several releases out, and I must say, they are ridiculously addictive, and I’ve been a disciple of their newest release Splendor Squalor. They were rough at times, but that gave it a needed textured thickness, and in the end, I was a fan.

Then the Hunters came on, and clearly most of the heavily male crowd was there to fawn over them in particular. Like many bands in the modern punk/pop genre, they built off the guy/girl power dueling couple dynamic, in the form of guitarist/singer Derek Watson and singer Isabel Almeida, but as cool and as slick as the dread head Watson’s presence is, he is clearly overshadowed by the boundless energy that is Almeida. It is her dramatic posing, leg kicking (getting to my head without kicking it clearly took some talent), jumping and bopping about, falling all over herself, the stage, and even in the middle of the audience, along with that wonderfully off-color pink hair, taped up fingers, and ludicrously cute smile, that really astonishes the audience. I’ve been lucky enough to catch this terrifically terrible twosome before, and they really do leave their mark. Beginning with the opener to their awesome Hands On Fire EP called “Deadbeat,” the debautchery started right off, with Isabel whipping her head about in a whirlwind of pink reckless abandon, then transforming into aggressively sexy swoon, and by the end rolling around the stage floor in post-orgasmic bliss. They were joined by an impressive rhythm section of Tom Martin and Gregg Giuffré, who helped propel the show forward at deeply heavy punk speeds, especially with songs like “Black Hearts,” which got a cute prelude by Isabel, saying “this is a Valentine’s song, not really, that guy over there just told me to say that.” They closed out with an impressively reckless track, which many in the audience called out for, called “Crazy Cats.” There was a lot of material played that was either new or not on the two releases they’ve done, which makes me think they’re up to a new album, which indeed is VERY exciting.

The headliner for the night was Total Slacker, and they also proved to be a pretty fun and diverse outfit. Emily was the super cute bassist and vocalist, Tucker Rountree was the solid guitarist and vocalist, Zoë Brecher was the commanding drummer, and David Tassy was the madman lead guitarist, thrashing about the stage in an entrancing style. They just finished work on their second album, and were playing many of the new tracks for the first time, which gave their whole set a feeling of fresh and decadent energy. Both “Keep the Ships at Bay” and “Out of Body Experience,” off that new LP, Slip Away were big stand outs of the set, whirling in potent grunge-fueled rock power mixed with a slick pop gazing catchiness. It was all so good it made you want the whole night to play over again, but for many lucky ones in the audience, it was time to go make out with a special someone, with the proper Spanish fly arousings produced by a night of amazing music like the bands heard this night. Happy Valentine’s indeed!

Causin' a brouhaha with the Dead Kennedys

Fri, 22 Feb 2013 18:44:00 -0700

On February 12, the radical late 70’s-mid 80’s Cali skater punkers and anti-commercial veterans Dead Kennedys played a rather packed Gramercy Theatre in NYC as part of a mini East Coast tour celebrating their rebirth, emerging victorious from both health and legal matters that has dogged the band for years. The first thing that comes to the lips of people when you say that DK is playing is “Is Jello singing with them again?” The answer is, of course, no, founding frontman Jello Biafra has not reunited with this band that all but defined 80’s rebellion. The legal disputes that embroiled the band in the early 2000’s did give founding DK rockers guitarist East Bay Ray and bassist Klaus Flouride the rights to go on as with the moniker. This night, they were joined by long-time drummer D. H. Peligro and a virtually unknown singer Ron “Skip” Greer, who did bring on the energy, despite seeming, perhaps, a bit to clean-cut to front such a infamous bunch of ruckus and brouhaha causers.Dead Kennedys, Gramercy Theatre, NYC 2/12/13

The Welch Boys opened up the show with a powerful set, thrashing away with street punk band abandon. The five-piece from Boston band features members of other well-known punk outfits like Slapshot, The Blue Bloods, and Toxic Narcotic. They burn with a sound that is a perfect mix of punk rock, Oi!, and east coast hardcore, andrevealed on stage that Bring Back The Fight would be the band’s third studio full-length album, which is due June 11 on Sailor’s Grave Records. They proved to be very robust and frontman Ed Lalli really dragged the audience into getting in the hell-raising moshing spirit.

“Take a look around you at the generations of punk fans brought to you by these five guys up here,” said Greer as The Dead Kennedys pounded through so many songs so fast, it almost made your head spin. A couple songs in they broke into a favorite called “Police Truck” that finally got everyone’s approval and “Too Drunk to Fuck” had everyone so energetically bopping, moshing, fist pumping, and pounding against each other you may have thought the place would explode. Greer had a lot to make up for in the eyes of his audience, but after some really powerful stabs at the system and the powers that be, he diatribed about the dirty music industry and went into their classic “MTV Get Off the Air “ and shouted out “f@ck those jocks!” before lurching into “Kill the Poor,” and with many leaps into the ravenous crowd to sing along with everyone, he did win them all over. Their explosive cover of “Viva Las Vegas” that merged into “Holiday in Cambodia” closed out the show, and a brief encore of “Chemical Warfare,” the crowd staggered away sweaty and bruised, the way it should be.

1)Forward to Death
2)Winnebago Warrior
3)Police Truck
4)Buzzbomb
5)Let’s Lynch the Landlord
6)Jock-O-Rama
7)Kill the Poor
8)MTV Get Off the Air
9)Area 51
10)Too Drunk to Fuck
11)Moon Over Marin
12)Nazi Punks Fuck Off
13)California Uber Alles
Encore:
14)Bleed for Me 15)Viva Las Vegas
16)Holiday in Cambodia
Encore 2:
17)Chemical Warfare