Wave Pictures, Casiokids, Slow Club (Moshi Moshi on tour), Joe Pernice, the xx & more in This Week in Indie (part 2)
by Bill Pearis
DOWNLOAD: Casiokids – Finn Bikkjen! (MP3)
DOWNLOAD: Casiokids – Fot I Hose (MP3)
DOWNLOAD: Casiokids – Verdens Storsteland (MP3)
DOWNLOAD: The Wave Pictures – Avocado Baby (MP3)
DOWNLOAD: The Wave Pictures – Just Like a Drummer (MP3)
DOWNLOAD: Slow Club – It Doesn’t Have to Be Beautiful (MP3)
DOWNLOAD: Slow Club – Because We’re Dead (MP3)
DOWNLOAD: The XX – Basic Space (MP3)
Slow Club in the crowd @ the Moshi Moshi showcase, SXSW 2009
There is one unmissable show this week, in my opinion, and it’s a free one: Friday’s Seaport Music Series (8/7) with three excellent bands from the Moshi Moshi label: Casiokids, Slow Club and The Wave Pictures. This is part of a tour celebrating the UK label’s 10th Anniversary that kicks off in full tonight in Toronto (8/5). Moshi Moshi, and their influential Singles Club, has launched the careers of Bloc Party, Hot Chip, Kate Nash, Lykke Li, Au Revoir Simone, Friendly Fires , Florence and the Machine and others.
I’m well documented as a big Casiokids fan and these Norwegians are a lot of fun live (like when they played a BrooklynVegan party at SXSW this year). There’s a couple MP3s at the top of this post, including their brand-new single “Finn Bikkjen!” (Though “Fot I Hose” is the real jam, also above.) I’ve also written about Slow Club before who are one of the most charming bands I’ve seen this year. Their album might be a bit twee for some, but I dare anyone not to be won over by their live show. They were at SXSW too (picture from one of their shows above).
But I am super excited for The Wave Pictures who’ll be making their U.S. live debut at the Seaport. Their album Instant Coffee Baby made my Top 20 Albums of 2008, to which I wrote:
Wave Pictures’ frontman David Tattersall has the angst of Hefner’s Darren Hayman, and the witty wordplay of the Morrissey (“My tongue is on the run and it’s only just begun” may be this year’s “Bigmouth Strikes again.”), and band play it fast and loose like early Modern Lovers. Tattersall’s vocals may be too idiosyncratic for some at first, but so were Moz and Hayman’s probably, so keep listening, because they’re excellent! And if you like this, there’s about five more albums where that came from. (And if the Hefner comparisons intrigue, Tattersall and Hayman have a bluegrass band too. Don’t wince, it’s good too.)
The Wave Pictures have a new album out, If You Leave it Alone, which is nearly the equal of Instant Coffee Baby. The band have almost played here at least three times only to drop out, but I’m told they’re really going to play this time. And it’s not just NYC that’s getting them: The Moshi Moshi Road Trip features all three bands, though some dates don’t feature Wave Pictures and some don’t have Casiokids, but any permutation of the three is still a good time. Check the tour dates below to see which bands will hopefully be near you on this tour. Weather looks to be nice, but the Seaport fest folks have said that if it does end up looking like rain… it will move indoors, locale TBD. But let’s hope for sunny skies.
The Wave Pictures
Joe Pernice plays Bowery Ballroom on Friday (8/7) as part of his book tour promoting his enjoyable debut novel, It Feels So Good When I Stop which I just finished reading. It’s about a twentysomething slacker as he tries to figure his life out in mid-’90s Amhurst, Mass. There’s not a lot of plot, it’s more a snapshot of a time a lot of us have been through (or will soon), but he gets the details right and there’s a lot of well-observed humor, as well as a lot more filthy talk than I was expecting. It also features a cameo (I know that’s not the right term) from Lou Barlow (who has a new album coming out and tour dates announced). While it’s not about a musician per se, music figures heavily into the characters lives and Joe has just released a companion album with covers of some of the songs written about in the book, including The Dream Syndicate‘s “Tell Me When It’s Over” and Del Shannon‘s “I Go to Pieces,” all done in that lush, breathy style Pernice is known for. There’s also a Sub Pop single out this week credited to the fictional band Young Accuser who also figure into the story’s proceedings. Confusing I know, but it’ll make more sense once you read the book. Which I recommend you do. The Bowery Show will feature songs from the It Feels So Good album but I’d imagine he’d throw in some Pernice Brothers songs as well. Tickets are still on sale.
the xx
And finally, this Friday (8/7) is the first of UK band The XX‘s many upcoming NYC shows at Mercury Lounge with Philly’s ’80s-rockin’ Free Energy. I’ve been listening to the XX’s self-titled debut a lot lately, and I dig the minimalist approach they bring to their songs which reminds me a little of Young Marble Giants with a twangy Chris Isaak thing going on too. There’s a lot of space in their songs and that breathing room is nice in today’s climate of over-processed, over-compressed recordings. You can download their new single, “Basic Space” at the top of this post. Will they be any good live? One would think you wouldn’t play six shows in a week without being able to make an impression with an audience but I guess we’ll find out soon enough. Their show at Bruar Falls on Saturday is free, and they’re also opening for School of Seven Bells at next week’s final Seaport show of the season. And five shows in between. The August 13th show at MHOW is with Friendly Fires who they’ll be back in the States in November and December for some more touring. A December 5th Friendly Fires show at Webster Hall was announced yesterday (though the opener wasn’t listed), but then disappeared. Stay tuned to see if that comes back.
Tour dates for all the bands in this post and select video after the jump…
Joe Pernice – 2009 Tour Dates
Wednesday, August 5, 7 and 9:30 p.m. (two shows)
Brattle Theatre, Cambridge, MA
Friday, August 7, 9 p.m.
Bowery Ballroom, New York, NY
Saturday August 8, 7:30 p.m.
Tin Angel, Philadelphia, PA
Sunday, August 9, time TBA
Iota Club, Arlington, VA
Tuesday, August 25, 9 p.m.
Tractor Tavern, Seattle, WA
Wednesday, August 26, 9 p.m.
Doug Fir Lounge, Portland, OR
Tickets: www.dougfirlounge.com
Friday, August 28, 7:30 p.m.
Café du Nord, San Francisco, CA
Saturday, August 29, 8 p.m.
McCabe’s, Los Angeles, CA
Friday, September 11, 7 p.m.
Schuba’s, Chicago, IL
Saturday, September 12, 9 p.m.
400 Bar, Minneapolis, MN
Casiokids – Fot I Hose
Slow Club – It Doesn’t Have to Be Beautiful
The Wave Pictures – Just Like a Drummer
Slow Club in the crowd @ the Moshi Moshi showcase, SXSW 2009
Moshi Moshi 2009 Road Trip
Aug 05 El Mocambo Toronto, ONT *#$
Aug 06 La Sala Rossa Montreal, QC *#$
Aug 07 South Street Seaport New York, NY *#$
Aug 08 Spaceland Los Angeles, CA *#$
Aug 10 Bottom of the Hill San Francisco, CA *#$
Aug 11 R Bar San Francisco, CA #$
Aug 11 Doug Fir Lounge Portland, OR *
Aug 12 Media Club Vancouver, BC *
Aug 13 Crocodile Café Seattle, WA *
* = Casiokids
# = Slow Club
$ = The Wave Pictures
Casiokids – Additional 2009 Tour Dates
Aug 28 Døgnvillfestivalen Tromsø
Aug 29 Vibe bar London (UK)
Aug 30 Creamfields festival @ Annie Mac stage Daresbury (UK)
Sep 5 Jersey live Jersey (UK)
Sep 6 Jersey live Jersey (UK)
Sep 10 Numusic @ Folken Stavanger, Rogaland
Sep 11 Blå Oslo
Sep 12 2Bestival Isle of Wight (UK)
Sep 17 Uniosaal Basel (CH)
Sep 18 Dampfzentrale Bern (CH)
Sep 19 Tap tab Schaffhausen (CH)
Sep 30 Cabaret Sauvage w/Au revoir simone Paris (FR)
Oct 14 Deaf Institute Manchester (UK)
Oct 16 Iceland Airwaves / Moshi Moshi night Reykjavik (IS)
Slow Club – Additional 2009 Tour Dates
Aug 22 V festival tbc
Aug 23 V festival tbc
Sep 15 cavern club Exeter
Sep 16 joiners southhampton
Sep 17 barfly cardiff
Sep 18 the loft maidstone
Sep 19 guildhall gloucester
Sep 22 roadmender northampton
Sep 23 plug sheffield
Sep 24 scala-Headline show london
Sep 25 forum tumbridge wells
Sep 26 classic grand glasgow
Sep 27 moshulu aberdeen
Sep 29 brudenell social club leeds
Sep 30 York City Screen York
Oct 1 rockhouse derby
Oct 2 crauford arms milton keynes
Oct 3 south side reading
Oct 6 moho live manchester
Oct 7 central station wrexham
Oct 8 Mclusky’s Kingston
Oct 9 the box crewe
Oct 10 moles bath
The Wave Pictures – Additional 2009 Tour Dates
Sep 3 Soundlabs Festival Italian Adriatic Coast
Sep 4 Soundlabs Festival Italian Adriatic Coast
Sep 5 Holland Festival Vlieland
Sep 23 La Lata de Bombillas Zaragoza
Sep 24 La Lata de Bombillas Zaragoza
Sep 25 Savoy Gijon
Sep 26 Daisy Market/Expo Coruña A Coruña
Oct 30 The Garage with support from Stanley Brinks and Freschard London
Nov 27 Neu! Club Madrid
Nov 28 Neu! Club Madrid
The XX – Crystalized
The XX – 2009 Tour Dates
Aug 7 Mercury Lounge w/ Free Energy New York, NY
Aug 8 Bruar Falls BBQ Brooklyn, NY
Aug 10 Monkey Town Brooklyn, NY
Aug 12 Pianos New York, NY
Aug 13 Music Hall w/ * Brooklyn, NY
Aug 14 South St Seaport New York, NY
Aug 17 Hoxton Hall (First London Headline Shows) London
Aug 18 Hoxton Hall (First London Headline Shows) London
Aug 29 Leeds Festival Leeds
Aug 30 Reading Festival Reading
Sep 17 O2 Academy w/ Florence and The Machine Bristol
Sep 18 O2 Academy w/ Florence and The Machine Bournemouth
Sep 20 O2 Academy w/ Florence and The Machine Birmingham
Sep 21 O2 Academy w/ Florence and The Machine Leeds
Sep 22 ABC w/ Florence and The Machine Glasgow
Sep 24 O2 Academy w/ Florence and The Machine Newcastle
Sep 25 O2 Academy w/ Florence and The Machine Manchester
Sep 27 Shepherds Bush Empire w/ Florence and The Machine London
Sep 28 Shepherds Bush Empire w/ Florence and The Machine London
Sep 29 Shepherds Bush Empire w/ Florence and The Machine London
Oct 1 Cooler Bristol
Oct 2 Jericho Tavern Oxford
Oct 3 Cluny Newcastle
Oct 4 Deaf Institute Manchester
Oct 5 Captain’s Rest Glasgow
Oct 6 Korova Liverpool
Oct 7 Bodega Nottingham
Oct 13 Lido Berlin
Oct 14 Gruner Jager Hamburg
Oct 15 Luxor Cologne
Oct 16 59-1 Munich
Nov 19 The Mohawk Austin TX *
Nov 20 Casbah San Diego CA *
Nov 23 The Independent San Francisco CA *
Nov 24 Sacramento State University Union Ballroom Sacramento CA *
Nov 25 Doug Fir Lounge Portland OR *
Nov 26 Venue Vancouver BC *
Nov 30 Triple Rock Social Club Minneapolis MN *
Dec 03 Les Saints Montreal QC *
* w/ Friendly Fires
Friendly Fires – 2009 Tour Dates
Sun 08/09/09 Lollapalooza 2009 Chicago IL
Mon 08/10/09 Lees Palace Toronto ON *
Mon 08/10/09 The Social Toronto ON (DJ Set)
Wed 08/12/09 LPR New York NY **
Thu 08/13/09 Music Hall Of Williamsburg Brooklyn NY +
Sun 08/23/09 The Glass House Pomona CA **
Mon 08/24/09 El Rey Theatre Los Angeles CA
Thu 11/19/09 The Mohawk Austin TX +
Fri 11/20/09 Casbah San Diego CA +
Mon 11/23/09 The Independent San Francisco CA +
Tue 11/24/09 Sacramento State University Union Ballroom Sacramento CA +
Wed 11/25/09 Doug Fir Lounge Portland OR +
Thu 11/26/09 Venue Vancouver BC +
Mon 11/30/09 Triple Rock Social Club Minneapolis MN +
Thu 12/03/09 Les Saints Montreal QC +
* w/ Esser
+ w/ the xx
** w/ The Phenomenal Handclap Band
