photos by Kyle Dean Reinford

DOWNLOAD: Bearsuit - I Thought You Said You Were Blind (MP3)

"The UK 6-piece band blew me away with their catchy tracks and shiny capes. They were clearly my highlight of the show, though the other bands all held their own." [Kyle]

"If there's any band that embodies the old punk ideal that anybody with ideas and a bit of imagination can make music, it's Bearsuit. On 2005's Cat Spectacular and this year's Oh:Io, they've shown themselves to be among the finest purveyors of explosive, schizoid, kitchen-sink indie pop, sort of like Los Campesinos! with more Deerhoof. And more BIFF! BANG! POW!: They played at Cake Shop wearing capes and face paint." [Marc Hogan]

"I had taken the kids in Bearsuit to be in something of the Los Campesinos! variety (clever, poppy, workin'-class-accented twee from Britain's young has seemingly become a genre) but when I arrived to catch their 6:30 set at Cakeshop I discovered that some of them were older (it was a six piece, even split in gender and age, it seemed), and that they sounded a good tic angrier. But still earnest (the central lyric of one cut being "we're gonna make it this time"), sincerety sabotagingly humorous ("that last song was about Michael Jackson commanding an army of bees") and fun (they were wearing capes and prone to thrust their hands in the air)." [Greg @ NY Press]

"Thursday, I went down to the South Side Seaport, and after getting terribly lost, I was only able to catch Bearsuit. The band was a fat waste of time musically. However, the band did tell a zinger related to technical difficulties:
'We're having problems with American Power.'
'A lot of people are.'" [KSCR Los Angeles]

More pictures from Bearsuit's Seaport show below...

Continue reading "Bearsuit @ 'On the Side' @ SSSeaport, NYC - pics "

Wye Oak

In the short time Bill has been here, many bands have been featured in his Week In Indie column on BrooklynVegan. At least 19 of those bands are playing shows for, and during, CMJ in NYC this week. Each of those bands is listed below with links back to what Bill said about them...

Continue reading "'Week in Indie" bands playing CMJ this week "

by Bill Pearis

DOWNLOAD: Crystal Stilts - Shattered Shine (MP3)
DOWNLOAD: caUSE co-MOTION - Which Way is Up? (MP3)
DOWNLOAD: Bearsuit - I Thought You Said You Were Blind (MP3)

Crystal Stilts

A few items of note that I neglected earlier in the week. Brooklynites and Slumberland Records labelmates Crystal Stilts and caUSE co-MOTION are playing Death by Audio on Saturday (10/4) which is a warm-up, of sorts, to their nine-date U.S. tour together that officially kicks off two weeks later with some shows at CMJ.

Both bands have their Slumberland debuts coming out on October 28: Crystal Stilts' much-anticipated full-length debut, Alight of Night, which I think is one of the year's best albums, reminiscent of The Chills and Felt, but also late '50s twangy rock and, yes, Joy Division; and caUSE co-MOTION, who don't have a song yet over to hit the two-minute mark, compile their five, brittle Glasgow-influenced pop 7" singles for a 14-song, 20-minute blast.

caUSE co-MOTION (yes, the capitalization is annoying to type) will also be opening for Franz Ferdinand on Wednesday (10/8) at the Music Hall of Williamsburg show, which seems a good match. Both bands (CS and CC) are playing a load of shows at CMJ, including what is maybe the show on Thursday, Oct. 23, the Force Field PR showcase at Pianos that also includes Au, Duchess Says, Fight Bite, Physics of Meaning, Donovan Quinn & the 13th Month, and Stars Like Fleas.

caUSE co-MOTION

If you want to make an entire day of it in Williamsburg on Saturday (10/4), come in the afternoon to bookstore Spoonbill and Sugartown where Peter Saville will be signing stuff and talking to people from 1 - 3PM. If you're a Factory Records aficionado or just saw 24 Party People, you probably know Saville is the man who designed all of Joy Division and New Order's album covers, as well as Section 23, A Certain Ratio, Happy Mondays and also records for Pulp, Suede, and, uh, Gay Dad.

Saville deserves a place in history if for nothing else than the famed floppy disc replica that was New Order's "Blue Monday" 12" single. He's got a couple recent coffee table books, including Art, Fashion and Work for Hire: Thomas Demand, Peter Saville, Hedi Slimane, Hans Ulrich Obrist and Cristina Bechtler in Conversation, and last year's Peter Saville: Estate 1-127, though if you brought a copy of Unknown Pleasures he'd probably sign that too.

If you have interest in Saville's work, which includes typography, you might also want to swing by his website which includes free downloads of most of the fonts he created for New Order and Joy Division over the years. Pretty cool.

Bearsuit

Lastly, UK band Bearsuit are coming over later this month for their first-ever American tour, including NYC stops before and during CMJ. The six-piece, who hail from Norwich, are not unlike Los Campesinos! with their shouty, girl-boy vocals, manic pace, and catchy songs. They also have adorable, cutesy-poo graphics, tend to dress in matching costumes (though not in bear suits), and often have giant inflatable BEARSUIT letters with them onstage. It's the kind of thing you either find totally endearing or totally vomitous. I'm on the endearing side and can't wait to see them.

Bearsuit's show at Cakeshop is with local Brooklyn band Boy Genius who I've meant to write about for some time but haven't. Boy Genius are definitely within the indiepop realm but not too sugary, not too precious, relying on well-crafted melodies and gentle, mostly-acoustic instrumentation to carry the songs. They'll also be playing with Elk City (featuring former Luna guitarist Sean Eden) at Union Hall on October 18th. You can get a new Boy Genius song, "Eleanor," for free on the new mix from Norwegian indiepop blog Eardrums (also featuring Pains of Being Pure at Heart, Pelle Carlberg, the Lodger and loads more, worth the download.) Boy Genius deserve more attention than they've gotten, hopefully that will come soon.

All tour dates below...

Continue reading "caUSE co-MOTION, Crystal Stilts, Bearsuit, Peter Saville, Boy Genius and more in this Week in Indie"