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Woven Bones, Intelligence, Desolation Wilderness, Kings of Convenience, Box Elders, SFA & more in This Week in Indie

‘this week in indie’ PART TWO actually

by Bill Pearis

DOWNLOAD: Super Furry Animals – Inaugural Trams (MP3)
DOWNLOAD: The Intelligence – Thank You God for Fixing the Tape Machine (MP3)
DOWNLOAD: Desolation Wilderness – Boardwalk Theme (MP3)
DOWNLOAD: Woven Bones – Yr Sorcery (MP3)
DOWNLOAD: Box Elders – Hole in My Head (MP3)
STREAM: Kings of Convenience – Boat Behind (asx STREAM)

Kings of Convenience

Earlier this week we had two nights with Sondre Lerche and tonight (9/10) is more Norwegian jazz pop when Kings of Convenience play a sold-out Bowery Ballroom, their only U.S. show, that I’m guessing they’re playing while in NYC doing press for their new album, Declaration of Dependence, which is out next month. Quiet remains the new loud for Eirik Glambek Bøe and Erlend Øye if the reports are true that the single “Mrs. Cold” is the really the most upbeat track on the record. If so, it’s going to be a super mellow one, though really you could say that about all their records. I think we tend to remember singles like “I’d Rather Dance With You” and forget that the rest of Riot on an Empty Street was pretty spare too. I’ve only heard a few tracks from the new one, so I’m looking forward to more tonight. Hopefully we’ll get a lot of everything, as they don’t play America very often. As there’s no opener, we can hope for an epic “evening with Kings of Convenience.” The band’s on at 9:30.

Super Furry Animals

As I’m sure you’ve heard if you read this site with any regularity, this weekend is All Tomorrow’s Parties and if you’re not going there’s a little runnoff with bands playing New York shows around it. Case in point: Super Furry Animals will do their only U.S. shows in support of new album Dark Days/Light Years. Specifically, tomorrow’s (9/11) show at Highline Ballroom (Tickets still available) is the “only U.S. club show for 2009” and Saturday (9/12) at Maxwell’s (tickets) is the “only U.S. restaurant concert this year!”

I’m a huge SFA fan, think they’re one of the most consistently great bands of the last 15 years. I’ve seen them upwards of 20 times and they’re always entertaining. Their live shows got a little over-the-top around 2005’s Love Kraft with electric jumpsuits, synched video projections and prerecorded backing tracks, but they’ve scaled back the last couple years and there’s a more spontaneous vibe these days. And the new album is really good, a nice mix of punchy rockers, sunshine pop, epic space rock, Welsh boogie, and weird disco. In other words, a Super Furry Animals album.

Woven Bones
Woven Bones

Did I mention this weekend is super-packed? Austin’s Woven Bones are on a fairly extensive U.S. tour, making two stops in NYC this weekend with Seattle’s The Spits. They play the brand-new Knitting Factory on Friday (9/11) and Cake Shop on Saturday (9/12). Woven Bones spew out dirty, fuzzed-up blues-punk surf rock. Their new EP, which they will hopefully have for sale this weekend, is on San Diego’s Zoo Music who put out the first Crocodiles single and a Dum Dum Girls EP, so that right there should give you an idea what to expect. You can download the a-side from their “Yr Sorcery” single at the top of this post. The Spits, meanwhile, straddle the line between straight-up garage punk and Devo-esque lo-fi keyboard proto-punk. Both are pretty catchy, but I think the latter is more interesting as you just don’t hear that sort of thing so much these days. And something tells me their show might lean toward the theatrical. If you can’t make either of these shows, Woven Bones play Monster Island Basement next Wednesday (9/16) with Box Elders, and then Cake Shop again next Friday (9/18) with Girls at Dawn and Reading Rainbow.

The Spits
The Spits

Fake SurfersWe’ll continue with the garagey sounds because Seattle’s mighty Intelligence hit New York this weekend too, playing Market Hotel on Friday (9/11) and Cake Shop on Sunday (9/13). The Intelligence’s new album, Fake Surfers, has yet to get old for me, I listen to it at least once a week. I think it’s one of the year’s best. While the building blocks are the same (surf, garage, reverb, distortion), Lars Finberg exists in his own weird universe of lyrics and sound and his songs just come out different than your Oh Sees or Sic Alps or Ty Segalls. (All of whom I love too, btw.) I know this weekend is choc-full of must-see shows, but make some time for the Intelligence.

The Market Hotel show also features Brooklyn’s own (and awesome) Golden Triangle, plus Wild Yaks, Arrington de Dionyso (of Old Time Religun) and Smarts.

Desolation Wilderness
Desolation Wilderness

The Intelligence Cake Shop Show on Sunday is with fellow Seattle band Desolation Wilderness who are worth seeing as well. If you like the breezy beach music that is coming out of NJ’s Underwater Peoples (or anything Dean Wareham’s ever done), then you’ll probably dig Desolation Wilderness if you if you’re not already familiar with them. Their new album, New Universe, is their second for K Records and is just lovely stuff — languid, dreamy melodies, with guitar flourishes that ebb in and out, perfect for this late summer weather. You can download “Boardwalk Theme” from the new album at the top of this post. They also play Silent Barn on Saturday (9/12) with Real Estate and “The Maze” at Death by Audio on Monday (9/14).

Box EldersAs mentioned fleetingly in the bit about Woven Bones, Omaha, Nebraska trio Box Elders are here next week before hitting their record label’s garage rock extravaganza, Gonerfest in Memphis from Sept. 24 – 26. They play Cake Shop on Tuesday (9/15) and Monster Island Basement the next night. These are their first NYC shows since April, and their first since the release of their debut LP, Alice and Friends. With that Leslie speaker keyboard sound and their major chord melodies, Alice and Friends is like ’60s bubblegum and R&B as reproduced by a bunch of kids in a basement. Which I guess it kind of is. They are really entertaining live, with drummer Dave Golberg simultaneously manning his kit as well as the keyboards, and brothers Jeramiha and loin-cloth clad Clayton McIntyre rocking and bouncing in the foreground. It’s a fun show.

So that’ll do it for this weekend. For more picks (Marmoset, Wild Beast) see yesterday’s TWII Pt 1. Videos and tour dates for most bands mentioned can be found below…

Kings of Convenience – “Mrs. Cold” live in Seoul, Korea April 2008

Super Furry Animals – “The Very Best of Neil Diamond” Cardiff, Wales May 2009

Super Furry Animals – 2009 Tour Dates
sep 11 highline ballroom only us club show for 2009 new york, new york
sep 12 maxwell’s only us resteraunt concert this year! hoboken, new jersey
sep 13 atp – exclusive us festival appearance for 2009 monticello, new york
oct 15 abc glasgow, scotland glasgow
oct 16 ritz ballroom manchester
oct 17 prifysgol bangor bangor aye
nov 7 sound city dubai dubai

Woven Bones – “Yr Sorcery”

Woven Bones – 2009 Tour Dates
Sep 10 The Bug Jar w/The Spits Rochester, New York
Sep 11 The Knitting Factory w/ The Spits Brooklyn, New York
Sep 12 Cake Shop w/ The Spits Manhattan, New York
Sep 14 The Lagerhouse // ‘curated by x! records’ Detroit, Michigan
Sep 16 Monster Island Basement w/ Box Elders Brooklyn, New York
Sep 17 LIVE WFMU RADIO, New Jersey
Sep 18 Cake Shop w/ The Girls at Dawn (midnight til death party) Manhattan, New York
Sep 19 The Pilam w/ Reading Rainbow Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
Sep 20 THE GOLDEN WEST w/ READING RAINBOW Baltimore, Maryland
Sep 21 TREETOWN, HOUSE SHOW Rliegh, North Carolina
Sep 22 The Earl w/ The Intelligence Atlanta, Georgia
Sep 23 Glenn Danzigs House w/ Yusef Jerusalem Nashville, Tennessee
Sep 24 The Buccanner // early day show Memphis, Tennessee
Sep 25 House Party Fayetteville, Arkansas
Sep 26 EMOS w/ The Horrors and Crocodiles Austin, Texas
Oct 2 The Mohawk w/ The Intelligence Austin, Texas

The Spits – “Alienize”

The Spits – 2009 Tour Dates
Sep 10 bug jar rochester, ny
Sep 11 knitting factory brooklyn, ny
Sep 12 cake shop ney york, ny
Sep 13 Cafe Nine New Haven, Connecticut

The Intelligence – 2009 Tour Dates
Sep 10 o’brien’s boston, Massachusetts
Sep 11 market hotel brooklyn, New York
Sep 12 danger danger gallery philadelphia
Sep 13 cake shop new york, New York
Sep 14 live on viva radio new york, New York
Sep 14 live on wnyu new york, New York
Sep 16 cafe nine new haven, Connecticut
Sep 17 sonar balitmore, Maryland
Sep 18 comet pizza and ping pong washington dc, Washington DC
Sep 19 the triple richmond, Virginia
Sep 20 the new french bar asheville, North Carolina
Sep 21 jj’s bohemia chattanooga, Tennessee
Sep 22 instore at criminal records atlanta, Georgia
Sep 22 the earl atlanta, Georgia
Sep 23 club down under tallahassee, Florida
Sep 24 alabama music box mobile, Alabama
Sep 25 hi tone/gonerfest 6 memphis, Tennessee
Sep 26 saturn bar new orleans, Louisiana
Sep 28 spanish moon baton rouge, Louisiana
Sep 29 the ten eleven san antonio, Texas
Oct 1 la sala rossa montreal, Quebec
Oct 2 mohawk austin, Texas
Oct 3 handsome kitten dallas, Texas
Oct 4 the conservatory oklahoma city, Oklahoma
Oct 5 record bar kansas city, Kansas
Oct 6 medowlark denver, Colorado
Oct 7 meow wolf santa fe, New Mexico
Oct 8 club congress tucson, Arizona
Oct 9 modifided phoenix, Arizona
Oct 10 bujwha el centro, California
Oct 11 part time punks festival @ the echo los angeles, California
Oct 12 the casbah san diego, California
Oct 13 the hub sacramento, California
Oct 15 house of nostromos oakland, California
Oct 16 elbow room san francisco, California
Oct 17 garage/vice scion festival portland, Oregon

Desolation Wilderness – 2009 Tour Dates
Sep 10 3rd Floor Concert Hall, Community School of Music & Arts Ithaca, New York
Sep 11 Bennington College Bennington, Vermont
Sep 12 Silent Barn w/ Real Estate Brooklyn, New York
Sep 13 Cake Shop w/ The Intelligence, City Center, Gary War New York, New York
Sep 14 Death by Audio w/ Calvin Johnson, Arrington de Dionyso New York, New York
Sep 15 Philadelphia w/ Catholic Block Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
Sep 16 Twisted Branch Tea Bazaar Charlottesville, Virginia
Sep 17 Gallery 5 w/ Cold Toast Richmond, Virginia
Sep 18 Snug Harbor w/ Sian Alice Group Charlotte, North Carolina
Sep 19 the Green Bean Greensboro, North Carolina
Sep 21 JJ’s Bohemia w/ Forest Magic! Chattanooga, Tennessee
Sep 22 Little Hamilton Nashville, Tennessee
Sep 23 Starlight House (3219 W. 7th Street) Little Rock, Arkansas
Sep 24 The Gallery (120 North 9th) w/ Real Live Tigers Fort Smith, Arkansas
Sep 25 Mountain House Dallas, Texas
Sep 26 Lamberts Austin, Texas
Sep 28 Hangart w/ Stephen Steinbrink Tucson, Arizona
Sep 29 ‘Ye Olde Bike Saviours House’ – 519 W. 19th St. w/ Stephen Steinbrink Tempe, Arizona
Sep 30 UC Irvine w/ Christmas Irvine, California
Oct 1 Silverlake Lounge w/ Christmas, Devon Williams, Infinite Body Los Angeles, California
Oct 2 Biko Garage w/ Christmas Santa Barbara, California
Oct 3 Center for Non-Violence w/ Christmas Santa Cruz, California
Oct 4 Mosswood Ampitheatre (early show) Oakland, California
Oct 5 Sacramento w/ Christmas Sacramento, California
Oct 6 The Green House w/ Christmas Arcata, California
Oct 8 Punx w/ Christmas Portland, Oregon
Oct 9 The Northern w/ Christmas, Lapuda Olympia, Washington
Oct 26 Old Blue Last London, London and South East
Oct 27 Meze Festival Newport, Wales
Oct 28 The Library Leeds, Midlands
Oct 29 The Basement York, Midlands
Oct 30 The Chameleon Nottingham, Midlands
Oct 31 Delawab Belfast, Northern Ireland
Nov 1 Start Together Studio Belfast, Northern Ireland