woodsist1

Ganglians, Fresh & Onlys, Brilliant Colors, Bachelorette, lots of Woodsist bands & more in This Week in Indie

by Bill Pearis

DOWNLOAD: The Fresh & Onlys – Fog Machine (MP3)
DOWNLOAD: The Fresh & Onlys – Love & Kindness (MP3)
DOWNLOAD: Ganglians – Hair (MP3)
DOWNLOAD: Bachelorette – Mindwarp (MP3)

Woodsist

It used to be Independence Day weekend was dead in NYC, the city emptying out, leaving only tourists and those unfortunate enough not to have some sort of beach hookup. There was nothing to do but barbeque with fellow left-behinds and see whatever Will Smith movie had just been released. (Actually, I like it when the city is empty.) And the only show would be whatever was at Battery Park on the 4th. Not this year.

The Woodsist/Captured Tracks Festival is two days of just about every band on the two label’s roster and also manages to be one of the best collections of reverb-lovin’ lo-fi/pych/garage bands you’re likely to see, including many names you may recognize if you read this column on a regular basis. You can buy a two-day pass for $25 or buy individual $15 tickets for Friday or Saturday.

As both Woodsist and Captured Tracks are Brooklyn labels, a lot of the bands are local and chances are if you’re into this kind of music at all you’ve probably managed to already see some of these bands, probably more than once: Crystal Stilts, Vivian Girls, Blank Dogs, The Beets, caUSE co-MOTION, Kurt Vile, and Woods.

The Fresh & Onlys @ SXSW 2009
The Fresh & Onlys

But there’s also a bunch of great West Coast bands who have yet to hit NYC, which is what makes it most exciting for me. First and foremost are San Francisco’s Fresh & Onlys who I caught at the Todd P/Woodsist party during SxSW and have become one of my favorite new bands. They play the Saturday (7/4) which is definitely the more essential line-up of the two days. The band features members of Skygreen Leopards and Black Fiction, and have also spent time recently backing up Rodriguez and Ty Segall (though not on the East Coast.)

The band’s first album of 2009 came out in April on John Dwyer’s Castle Face label, with a sound not that far off from what you might expect from cohorts of The Oh Sees (who headline the Saturday show), though The Fresh & Onlys are definitely more pop and less psychedelic freakout. Their second album of 2009, Grey-Eyed Girls, is out in August and they’ve also got 7″‘s out or out soon on Chuffed, Dirty Knobby, Hozac and Captured Tracks. If you like 13th Floor Elevators, The Chocolate Watchband and other Nuggets era bands, I think you’re going to dig them. I interviewed bassist Shayde Sartin a couple months ago on my blog if you’d like to know more.

If you can’t make the daytime show, The Fresh & Onlys also play a post midnight show that same day at Market Hotel that also features Babies (members of Woods, Vivian Girls and Bossy) (does anyone know which members?) and Pink Reason, and maybe a solo performance from Crystal Stilts drummer Frankie Rose. And The Fresh & Onlys will be here again in October when they’ll be on tour with fellow San Franciscans Thee Oh Sees.

Thee Oh Sees are also playing Siren in July, and playing maybe the best of the Woodsist fest’s offshoot shows on Thursday night (7/2) at Glasslands. They’re headlining the Glasslands show and Saturday night of the fest, and are definitely worth seeing twice, or even thrice. Also playing Glasslands: Golden Triangle who are working on their debut album for Sub Pop offshoot Hardly Art; The Beets who, the last two times I’ve seen them, have had Crystal Stilts’ JB Townsend filling in on drums for an absent Jacob Warstler; and German Measels which features half of caUSE co-MOTION wearing fake moustaches.

Ganglians
Ganglians

A little earlier at Woodsist Fest on Saturday (3:45 if they keep to the posted schedule) are Sacramento’s Ganglians, who just released an EP and an album on Woodsist. Not all that far off from The Fresh & Onlys, Ganglians have equal worship for solid songwriting and trippy arrangements/production. I think both records are worth picking up: the self-titled EP shows off more of their rocking side (which they favored when I saw them at SxSW), like the surfy, Kiwi-esque “Hair” of which there’s an MP3 at the top of this post. The album, Monster Head Room, is more acoustic and owes a lot to Brian Wilson. If you can’t make the July 4th show, they’ll be playing the next night (7/5) at Monster Island basement with Psychedelic Horseshit.

In between Ganglians and Fresh & Onlys on Saturday (4:30PM) are San Francisco’s Brilliant Colors, an all-girl trio who play short, scratchy pop with a definitely New Zealand vibe. They also play the late show that night at Market Hotel, and will be on WNYU on July 8.

Dum Dum Girls, who play after the Fresh & Onlys at 6PM, are from L.A. and owe much to the C-86 scene that has been an influence on Pains of Being Pure at Heart and Vivian Girls. Actually, Dum Dum Girls is just one girl, Dee Dee, who may or may not have a band with her when she plays. Dee Dee is also in The Mayfair Set, a collaboration with Blank Dogs (and Captured Tracks domo) Mike Sniper, who will make their live debut (I think) Friday (7/3) at 6:30.

I’ve got MP3s for most every band playing the Fest over at my blog.

Brilliant Colors
Brilliant Colors

A couple non-Woodsist/Captrax Fest recommendation for the Fourth weekend. New Zealand’s Bachelorette is back in town, playing the kickoff show of this year’s Seaport Music Festival, opening for Here We Go Magic. I saw Bachelorette at Cake Shop a couple weeks back and was so smitten I bought everything at the merch table. There was a fair amount of laptopping going on, but Annabel Alpers’ breathy, fragile voice was definitely live and the three-piece oozed unassuming charm. Bachelorette also play the sold-out Rooftop Films Fourth of July party Saturday night which happens on the roof of the Chelsea Art Museum.

And Thursday (7/2) starts The Feeliesthree-night run at Maxwell’s. Friday’s show (7/3) is sold out but you can still get tickets for Thursday and for Saturday (7/4). Bring comfortable shoes — they’re doing two sets each night. The excitement of their reformation may have faded a bit since this time last year, but their great songs — and still-awesome guitar interplay — have not.

Full Woodsist/Captured Tracks Festival schedule and other tour dates after the jump…

Glasslands

Friday July 3rd @ 979 BROADWAY BACKYARD
:: WOODSIST / CAPTURED TRACKS FESTIVAL

9:30pm : CRYSTAL STILTS
8:45pm :: Blank Dogs
8:00pm ::: Psychedelic Horseshit
7:15pm :::: caUSE co-MOTION!
6:30pm ::::: the Mayfair Set
6:00pm :::::: Gary War
5:30pm ::::::: Little Girls
5:00pm :::::::: Kid Romance
4:30pm ::::::::: Beachniks
4:00pm :::::::::: the Gutsies
| 979 BROADWAY BACKYARD |
979 Broadway btwn Myrtle Ave & Ditmars St | Bushwick, Brooklyn
JMZ-Myrtle, L-Jefferson, G-Myrtle-Willoughby | DOORS -4PM- | $15 | all ages
RAIN OR SHINE

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Saturday July 4th @ 979 BROADWAY BACKYARD
:: WOODSIST / CAPTURED TRACKS FESTIVAL

9:45pm : THEE OH SEES
9:00pm :: VIVIAN GIRLS
8:15pm ::: Kurt Vile
7:30pm :::: Woods
6:45pm ::::: Tyvek
6:00pm :::::: Dum Dum Girls
5:15pm ::::::: the Fresh & Onlys
4:30pm :::::::: Brilliant Colors
3:45pm ::::::::: Ganglians
3:15pm :::::::::: the Great Excape —- reunion, pre-Home Blitz
2:45pm ::::::::::: the Beets
2:15pm :::::::::::: Real Estate
1:45pm ::::::::::::: German Measles
1:15pm :::::::::::::: Beach Fossils
| 979 BROADWAY BACKYARD |
979 Broadway btwn Myrtle Ave & Ditmars St | Bushwick, Brooklyn
JMZ-Myrtle, L-Jefferson, G-Myrtle-Willoughby | DOORS -1PM- | $15 | all ages
RAIN OR SHINE

Saturday July 4th – late! MIDNIGHT @ MARKET HOTEL

:: ONADDES ——— tentative
:::: Fresh & Onlys
:::::: Brilliant Colors
:::::::: Pink Reason
:::::::::: Babies ——- mems Woods, Vivian Girls, Bossy

| MARKET HOTEL |
1142 Myrtle Ave @ Bdwy | Bushwick, Bklyn
JMZ-Myrtle, L-Jefferson, G-Myrtle/Willoughby | -12AM- | all ages | $5 w/fest stamp, $8 w/out
| MYSPACE |- http://myspace.com/markethotelnyc

Ganglians – 2009 Tour Dates
Jul 4 Woodsist/Captured Tracks Fest Brooklyn, New York
Jul 5 MONSTER ISLAND BASEMENT @ w/ Psychedelic Horseshit/ Wet Hair/ John Maus Brooklyn, New York
Jul 6 PHILADELPHIA w/ Brilliant Colors Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
Jul 7 Golden West w/ Jana Hunter Baltimore, Maryland
Jul 8 CONNECTICUT-Help Boston, Connecticut
Jul 14 TBA w/ Meth Teeth Sacramento or Davis, California
Aug 20 OLYMPIA -TBA Olympia, Washington
Aug 21 SMMR BMMR (smmrbmmr.com) Portland, Oregon
Aug 22 SEATTLE -TBA Seattle, Washington
Aug 26 TBA w/ Christmas Island Sacramento, California

Brilliant Colors – 2009 Tour Dates
Jul 3 – Woodsist/Captured Tracks Festival in Brooklyn brooklyn, New York
Jul 4 – Woodsist/Captured Tracks Festival 4th of July Independence Day Hey Hey Festival in Brooklyn Brooklyn, New York
Jul 8 – “live” on wnyu radio in new york new york, New York
Jul 18 – with the Urinals & rank xerox @ the Hemlock san francisco, California
Aug 6 – TBA with Mutating Meltdown Los Angeles, California
Aug 7 – @ the Casbah with Mutating Meltdown & Quintron San Diego, California

Thee Oh Sees – 2009 Tour Dates
Jul 2 glasslands brroklyn, New York
Jul 4 979 broadway, brooklyn brooklyn, New York
Jul 16 the eagle with ty segall meth teeth buzzer and fresh&onlys sf, California
Jul 18 coney island siren music fest brooklyn, New York
Jul 24 THE DRUMS @ The argus (not thee oh sees) sf, California
Jul 27 THE DRUMS@el ricon with XYX from mexico sf!!!!!!!!!!!!!!1, California
Aug 5 THE DRUMS @El ricon again with bare wires death sentence:panda! and mutating meltdown sf, California
Aug 8 potrero del sol park sf, California
Aug 19 sam bonds w/ sic alps eugene, Oregon
Aug 20 fun house w/ sic alps seattle, Washington
Aug 21 smmr bmmr fest portland, Oregon
Aug 22 arcata theater lounge arcata, California
Sep 21 house show with fresh and onlys provo, Utah
Sep 22 – Larimer Lounge * Denver, Colorado
Sep 25 goner fest 8 memmmmmfis!, Tennessee
Sep 26 – Uncle Fester’s * Bloomington, Indiana
Sep 27 – Schubas Tavern * Chicago, Illinois
Sep 30 – Magic Stick * Detroit, Michigan
Oct 3 – Pop Montreal Fest * and beyond! Montreal, Quebec
Oct 5 – Tranny Bar * Providence, Rhode Island
Oct 8 – Mercury Lounge * Manhattan, New York
Oct 9 – The Bell House * Brooklyn, New York
Oct 14 e.a.r.l. atlanta, Georgia
Oct 18 beerland austin, Texas
Oct 24 bottom of the hill BUDGET ROCK FESTw/gris gris ,dan melchoir frsh and onlys san fran back home!, California
Oct 29 bar pink elephant san diego, California
* w/ fresh and onlys

The Fresh & Onlys – 2009 Tour Dates
Jul 4 Captured Tracks/WOODSIST Festival w/ Crystal Stilts/Blank Dogs/Vivian Girls/Thee Ohsees etc… Brooklyn, New York
Jul 11 – El Rio w/ Hank IV/A.F.C.G.T San Francisco, California
Jul 16 – The Eagle w/ Meth Teeth/Ty Segall/Thee Ohsees San Francisco, California
Aug 6 – Mezzanine for SF Bay Gaurdian Awards San Francisco, California
Aug 27 – The Knockout w/ Box Elders//Sex Church and The Defektors San Francisco, California
Sep 21 – House Party w/ Thee Ohsees Provo, Utah
Sep 22 – Larimer Lounge * Denver, Colorado
Sep 24 – Goner Fest Memphis, Tennessee
Sep 26 – Uncle Fester’s * Bloomington, Indiana
Sep 27 – Schubas Tavern * Chicago, Illinois
Sep 30 – Magic Stick * Detroit, Michigan
Oct 3 – Pop Montreal Fest * and beyond! Montreal, Quebec
Oct 5 – Tranny Bar * Providence, Rhode Island
Oct 8 – Mercury Lounge * Manhattan, New York
Oct 9 – The Bell House * Brooklyn, New York
Oct 10 – Garfield Artworks w/ The Box Elders Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania
Oct 16 – Vice Garage Festival w/ everybody! Portland, Oregon
Oct 18 – Funhouse w/ Dan Melchior und das Menace Seattle, Washington
Oct 20 – Stork Club w/ Dan Melchior und das Menace Oakland, California
Oct 21 – Bar Pink Elephant w/ Dan Melchior und das Menace/Thee Oh Sees San Diego, California
Oct 25 – Bottom of the Hill-Budget Rock! w/ Dan Melchior/Gris Gris/Thee Oh Sees San Francisco, California
* w/ Thee Oh Sees