by Bill Pearis

DOWNLOAD: Twin Shadow - Slow (MP3)
DOWNLOAD: Total Slacker - Cops Freak Me Out (MP3)

Summer Blondes

Ok it's a busy weekend of shows. It always is, I always say that. But this TWII is seems more packed than most. No doubt, it is time to try a little harder in the band name department. Especially when it comes to beachy ones of which, anyone who even casually checks in with Pitchfork can tell you, there are too many of. Adding to the band name clutter and confusion are Oakland, CA's Summer Blondes who are visiting us this weekend. They play tonight (7/21) at Shea Stadium, a house party in Bushwick on Friday (7/23) and Bruar Falls on Saturday.

Given their name and hometown, it may not surprise you learn that Summer Blondes (who are dudes, maybe that's a surprise) make low-fi surf garage rock. That said, and lack of moniker originality aside, I like these guys. Alternating between laid back instrumentals and blown-out rockers (and some that most interestingly fall in between), there's more musicality going on here than you might expect. Also: their drummer is a manic powerhouse, and their singer/screamer appears to be a little nuts. No records out yet, but the band do have CDR demos they've been handing out at shows so keep an eye/ear out for those.

Pujol

Also playing that Saturday Bruar Falls show are Nashville's Pujol who are on JEFF the Brotherhood's Infinity Cat label. Is it just me or does it seem like there's a Nashville band in town every weekend? Bye bye JEFF and Heavy Cream, but hello Pujol. You may know him from Wizardz or MEEMAW if you follow the Nashville scene closer than I do. Like all the bands on the Infinity Cat roster, Daniel Pujol makes poppy, punky party rock that is hard to dislike.

If you can't make the Bruar show, Pujol also play Silent Barn on Sunday night and that one's with The Beets, Knight School, and Moonmen on the Moon, Man. Check out a couple Pujol music videos at the bottom of this post with all dates.

Moving from Nashville to Memphis, as mentioned in the previous post, we've got Magic Kids in town for a couple of show. Read more about that there.

Twin Shadow

For being in a band who have never done a whole lot for me one way or the other (there, I admit it), I like every band on Chris Taylor's Terrible Records.  The label's next release is the debut from locals Twin Shadow which will be out September 28. The brainchild of stylish New Yorker George Lewis Jr., Twin Shadow mix a variety of '80s influences into a pretty distinctive sound. For example, on "Slow," which you can download at the top of this post, you can hear a little Joy Division in the drumbeat, and the arpeggiated, delay-effected guitar is straight out of The Chameleons or U2's playbook. You can even hear a little Prince ("I Would Die 4 U") and Bruce Springsteen ("I'm on Fire") in there too. But he makes it all into something new.

Lewis, who sounds like The Blue Nile's Paul Buchanan but looks more than a little like Phil Lynott, is a charismatic cat on stage... see them now in small places while you can. Twin Shadow play Cake Shop Thursday (7/22) and Coco 66 on Friday (7/23). Both shows are with Hooray for Earth.

Free Energy @ the Pitchfork Festival (more by Kate Gardiner)

And last but certainly not least, this Friday's edition of the Seaport Music Festival might just be the biggest of the Summer with Free Energy, Best Coast and Loose Limbs. Best Coast couldn't be any hotter right now with just about every media outlet writing about their debut album which comes out next week. It's a fine showcase for Bethany Cosentino's natural way with a melody, her great Loretta Lynn-ish voice, and her ability to rhyme the word "crazy." Much has been made of the single-minded lyrical themes -- a very bad breakup, weed -- but I prefer to focus on those melodies and her voice which can stop you in your tracks. It a gorgeous record in that respect, and Best Coast, now with full-time drummer Ali (swiped from Vivian Girls), have been good the three times I've seen them this year (twice at SXSW, once at Knitting Factory). It's also Best Coast's only NYC show (not counting the invite-only one last night) until they return at the end of September. All tour dates are below.

Headliners Free Energy should be right at home on a big outdoor stage, as their album is loaded with festival-ready fist-pumping rock anthems, stealing the best bits of Thin Lizzy, ELO and '80s stadium rock. Perfect summer music, that goes down easier than Bud Light. Get there early for trio Loose Limbs (who are signed to Seaport Music Records), and I'll be DJing a second week in a row. Will I play The Darkness? Seems likely.

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That's gonna do it for this edition. There's some more daily picks of things worth checking out that I didn't cover above:

WEDNESDAY, JULY 21

Montreal's Parlovr and Suuns play the first of their two shows this week at Mercury Lounge and both are worth catching (and one is now signed to Secretly Canadian). It's an early show.

You could make a Montreal night of it by then heading over to Home Sweet Home for the Wierd party where Automelodi play at Midnight.

Sludgy noisemerchants Total Slacker (check out new MP3 "Cops Freak Me Out" at the top of this post) and funky Ava Luna (who impressed during Northside) headline a bill at Glasslands that also includes Mala Strana and Baltimore's loud Weekends.

Diehard, who'll have a new EP out soon of catchy, classic-sounding indie rock,  at Union Pool with The Waylons and World War.

continued below...

Continue reading "Summer Blondes, Twin Shadow, Violens, Free Energy, Pujol, Best Coast, Midnight Juggernauts, more in This Week in Indie"

You may have heard by now that Vampire Weekend, XL Recordings and a photographer named Tod Brody are being sued for 2 million dollars by Contra cover model Kirsten Kennis. She claims that she never gave permission for them to use a picture that was taken of her in 1983 (back when she was actually a model), and that the photographer basically tricked the band and label into thinking they were buying it legally. She says the band and label are also at fault for not doing due diligence when they paid $5000 for the picture from Tod. She thinks she deserves 2 million because her picture was obviously the reason the band's album was so successful... That's basically the info that most sites are posting, but I obtained a copy of the court documents and there's more...

First of all, her full name is Ann Kirsten Kennis, though when she was a model she just went by "Kirsten". She was a "high-fashion model under contract with prestigious agencies in New York City" in the 80's and early 90's. Her picture has appeared in clothing, jewelry, cosmetics and automobile ads, and for that she was "highly compensated" and "enjoyed numerous assignments".

She lives in Fairfield, CT, and most interestingly, she claims Tod didn't even take the picture. Her real last name doesn't even appear in the contract Vampire Weekend signed when they bought it. The allegedly forged/fake contract is with "Kirsten Johnsen" and signed by "Kirsten Johnson" (yes, the document has the last name spelled two different ways).

If Tod didn't take the picture, I'm not sure how he thought he would get away with it since she would obviously eventually see it. Whether he took it or not, it's still displayed in his portfolio (with "kirsten" in the file name), though his page that displayed the Vampire Weekend album cover is now gone.

Not content with all that, I went on a search for another picture of Kirsten, but unfortunately I came up dry though I do think I found a picture of her dog, and what might be her not-quite-operational "Cosmic Cubs" teddy bear website (which would be consistent with the possibility that her family is in the toy business). It's also possible that back before she was married, her name may have been Ann Klendshoj which is the name of someone who had a nasty run in with a creepy doctor in 1994. Speaking of creepy, I'll end this paragraph here.

Rostam from Vampire Weekend, Kid Cudi & Bethany of Best Coast made a new song for Converse. The video for that track, "All Summer", is below...

Continue reading "Who is Ann Kirsten Kennis? (besides the Contra album cover model suing Vampire Weekend, XL & photographer Tod Brody)"

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1. Feb 2008: Vivian Girls start making a name for themselves on the scene
2. Sep 2008: Frankie Rose leaves Vivian Girls to play with Crystal Stilts full time
3. Sept 2008: Ali Koehler replaces Frankie Rose in Vivian Girls
4. July 2009: Frankie Rose makes her 1st appearance as Dum Dum Girls member
5. Sept 2009: Frankie Rose leaves Crystal Stilts & starts Frankie & the Outs
6. Dec 2009: Best Coast getting popular, announce tour w/ Vivian Girls
7. June 2010: Frankie Rose leaves Dum Dum Girls to focus on Frankie & the Outs
8. July 2010: Ali Koehler leaves Vivian Girls and joins Best Coast
9. July 2010: Fiona from Coasting replaces Ali in Vivian Girls

A video of Best Coast covering WAVVES' "I'm So Bored" at Primavera Sound in May, and a picture of Coasting, below...

Continue reading "Vivian Girls drummer Ali Koehler leaves VG for Best Coast! (Frankie Rose still just in the Outs)"

by Andrew Frisicano

Best Coast & WAVVES @ Wrongbar Saturday night - NXNE 2010

Best Coast played a few shows at NXNE in Toronto last week, including a Saturday night (6/19) set as the 'secret guest' after Les Savy Fav and Surfer Blood. Nathan from WAVVES, romantically linked to Best Coast and also in town for the fest, watched the set from the side of the stage (and is in a bunch of pictures as a result). Members of Surfer Blood stuck around too, though the 2am crowd did thin out after Les Savy Fav (Canadians go to bed early?). Best Coast played a few new songs and with a new (permanent?) drummer.

Best Coast's tour with Male Bonding comes through NYC for September 29th and 30th shows at Bowery Ballroom and MHOW, respectively. Tickets are now on AmEx presale now, and go on general sale Friday at noon. The new Best Coast album is available for preorder in a bunch of packages (with a t-shirt, tote bag, etc.).

WAVVES plays NYC tonight (6/24) as part of the Northside Festival (with the recently interviewed Dom and Cloud Nothings) at Knitting Factory. The show is sold-out, though a limited-number of Northside badges will be let in. There's also a 'WAVVES afterparty' at Shea Stadium with DJs RAVVES (Pitchfork's Ryan Schrieber) and Patrick Stickles from Titus. If you're more interested in the actual band, WAVVES will play a last minute show at Meat Locker (8 Park Street) in Montclair, NJ on Sunday, June 27th ($10, doors 7pm, openers TBA).

More pictures from NXNE and a WAVVES video are below...

Continue reading "Best Coast played NXNE (pics), WAVVES adds a NJ show "

Best Coast @ Knitting Factory in April (more by Dominick Mastrangelo)

Greetings from Toronto. NXNE, the Toronto music/film/interactive fest is happening this week. It kicked off its music programming last night, Wednesday, June 16th, and runs through Sunday with shows at 50+ venues (here's a map of the spots). The festival also coincides with the now-affliated Broken Social Scene-helmed Toronto Island concert that features Pavement, Band of Horses, Beach House and others on Saturday, June 19th.

There weren't many Wednesday night shows. The official kick off party was just Eagles of Death Metal (sadly, without their normal bass player) at The Phoenix. And there was a gig or two with Canada's Hollerado (who have at least six shows at the fest lined up). One of them was up in the CN Tower.Still Life Still played the Mod Club with Denmark's The Blue Van.

One of the main hubs will be the free-to-anyone outdoor stage at Yonge-Dundas Square with headliners Thursday night X and Mudhoney, Friday night Sloan and k-os, Saturday night Iggy and the Stooges preceded by The Raveonettes, Wavves, Surfer Blood and others, and Sunday's De La Soul, Kid Sister, Phenomenal Handclap Band and NOLA rapper Big Freedia.

continued below...

Continue reading "NXNE is underway in Toronto -- a quick guide to the music "

Best Coast 'Crazy for You' & WAVVES 'King of the Beach'

Newly christened indie power couple, WAVVES and Best Coast both have new music and plenty of shows planned for summer 2010.

Best Coast's debut, Crazy For You, comes out July 27th on Mexican Summer, while WAVVES' new album, King of the Beach, is out August 3rd on Fat Possum (and on Bella Union in the UK). The song "Post Acid" from WAVVES' new one was released as a free single by Mountain Dew's Green Label Sound.

Both bands are playing NXNE in Toronto this week (June 16-19th) and have NYC shows coming up. WAVVES' upcoming gigs include a show on June 24th at Knitting Factory - it's for Northside Fest and the openers are Cloud Nothings and DOM. Tickets are still on sale.

Best Coast has a free July 23rd show at Seaport Music Festival with Free Energy and Loose Limbs.

Best Coast will go a US & Canada tour with Male Bonding in September. That includes a September 29th show at Bowery Ballroom and a September 30th show at Music Hall Of Williamsburg. Ticket info to come on those. All dates below.

Male Bonding will be in NYC much sooner, for a Saturday, June 26th show with Cults and Titus Andronicus, also part of the Northside Festival.

WAVVES just put out a behind-the-scene video of his album recording process (lots of weed, basketball and some music too). That, all tour dates and album tracklists (and a Best Coast interview recorded in Paris) are all below...

Continue reading "Best Coast, WAVVES & Male Bonding releasing music & playing shows - 2010 Tour Dates "

South Street Seaport (more by Chris La Putt)

South Street Seaport, NYC (part of the River to River Festival)
July 02 - TBA
July 09 - Bear in Heaven & TBA Zola Jesus
July 16 - Thee Oh Sees & Golden Triangle
July 23 - Free Energy & Best Coast & Loose Limbs
July 30 - Avi Buffalo & TBA Chad VanGaalen
Aug 06 - YACHT & TBA

Also, "The annual Children's Day at the Seaport culminates with the spectacular Target Fireworks, featuring a special performance by The Apples in Stereo accompanied by the Brooklyn Youth Chorus. During the day, families can enjoy performances by Gordon from Sesame Street, Angelina Ballerina, and more, while meeting their favorite storybook characters like Clifford the Big Red Dog, Curious George, and Madeline. (June 26) "

And, there will be a July 4th show with the Old 97's.

DOWNLOAD: Fol Chen - In Ruins (MP3)

Liars @ SXSW 2010 (more by Bryan Bruchman)

tonight in NYC
* Cypress Hill @ SOB's
* Questlove (DJ) @ Brooklyn Bowl
* Liars, Fol Chen @ Bowery Ballroom
* Sisters, Darlings @ Brooklyn Bowl
* Fan-Tan, Hopewell, Fuxa, Floorian @ Cake Shop
* Maps & Atlases, Drink Up Buttercup @ Maxwell's
* Krishna Das, Deva Premal & Miten @ Webster Hall
* 25 O'Clock Band The 25-year reunion @ The Stone
* Surfer Blood @ Terrace Club Princeton
* Mountain Goats' Life of the World to Come @ IFC Center
* Das Racist, Nvr Frvr, Cameron Hull (late) @ Glasslands
* North Highlands, Unwed Sailor, Common Loon @ Union Hall
* Brother Ali, Fashawn, BK One @ Knitting Factory Brooklyn
* Fixed w/ Matthew Dear, JDH & Dave P @ Santos Party House
* The Dirty Pearls, The Party Death (late) @ Mercury Lounge
* Live Footage, Setting Sun, Quitzow, Rykarda Parasol @ Pianos
* Kaki King, An Horse, Glass Ghost @ Music Hall of Williamsburg
* John Wesley Harding's Cabinet of Wonders @ (Le) Poisson Rouge
* We Are Country Mice, Your Youth, Apollo Heights @ Bruar Falls
* The Dirty Pearls, The Click Clack Boom (early) @ Mercury Lounge
* Liquor Store, Roman Gabriel Todd's Beast Rising Up Out Of The Sea @ Don Pedro
* Caspian, Arms and Sleepers, Sainthood Reps, Golden City @ Studio at Webster Hall

More in THIS WEEK IN INDIE.

Best Coast will be playing a Seaport show on July 23rd with Free Energy - their new video for "When I'm with You" is below.

Tickets to see Kele of Bloc Party at Webster Hall are now on AmEx Presale.

Tonight's "Cabinet of Wonders" at LPR features John Wesley Harding and his Band, The English UK along with Larry Murphy, Sondre Lerche, Ben Greenman, Rick Moody, Nicole Atkins, Daniel Felsenfeld and Leona Naess.

For Nicole Atkins and Sondre Lerche, it will be at least the second time they've shared a bill in the past month.

Mountain Goats' concert film The Life of the World to Come, filmed by Brick director Rian Johnson, plays at IFC Center tonight. The flyer is below.

What else?

Continue reading "What's going on Thursday?"

Free Energy @ SXSW 2010 (more by Dominick Mastrangelo)

There is much touring in DFA band Free Energy's future including that series of Daytrotter Barnstormer dates with Nathaniel Rateliff and others, the Pitchfork Festival, and three weeks on the road with Jukebox the Ghost which brings them to Bowery Ballroom on May 29th. Tickets are on sale. Miniature Tigers, who open a portion of that tour, are also on the NYC bill.

We'll also get the chance to see Free Energy this summer when they play a free show at South Street Seaport with Best Coast on Friday July 23rd, part of the annual Seaport Music Series that kicks off on July 2nd (that day's lineup and the rest of the summer's will be announced, at least in part, soon). Best Coast, who are also playing the Pitchfork Fest, recently passed through NYC and played to packed houses at Knitting Factory and Mercury Lounge.

All tour dates below...

Continue reading "Free Energy tour dates w/ Jukebox the Ghost, co-headlining Bowery, playing South Street Seaport w/ Best Coast, more"

Modest Mouse @ Terminal 5 in March 2009 (more by Chris La Putt)

Modest Mouse will join Faith No More and Nas & Damian Marley (tickets) as one of the acts set to play at Williamsburg Waterfront in Brooklyn this summer. Their Friday, July 23rd show will be ticketed/non-free (like the others mentioned). Tickets go on sale Friday at noon (which is when the just-added Faith no More show goes on sale too).

Modest Mouse's Brooklyn show is a week after they play the Pitchfork Festival which recently updated its lineup. New acts playing the Chicago fest include Big Boi, Major Lazer, Neon Indian, Beach House, Free Energy, Local Natives, Robyn & more. Check that out in full below. Single day tickets are still on sale.

UPDATE: Modest Mouse's Brooklyn show is one day after they play one in NJ.

Modest Mouse will be reissuing their third album, The Moon & Antarctica, on vinyl for its 10th anniversary, on Record Store Day - this Saturday, April 17th. "The album features restored original artwork and replicates the infinite lock groove found in the original vinyl pressings of 2000. The new vinyl reissue includes a download card for the album." All dates the the P4K Fest lineup, below...

Continue reading "Modest Mouse playing Williamsburg Waterfront, the Pitchfork Festival (updated full lineup) & other tour dates"

by Dominick Mastrangelo

Best Coast

"The three-piece [Best Coast] are definitely a good time, packing thick, retro bass and drum lines that could have been ripped from '60s girl groups, and then speeding it all up for scruffy, Ramones-inspired power pop. It's a proven winning formula when it works, and work it does on humorous, peppy anthems such as "Wish He Was You."" [La Times]

The Bitters and Best Coast share a bill again tonight (4/7) at Mercury Lounge. More pictures from last night including one of the BC setlist, below...

Continue reading "Best Coast, the Bitters & the Babies @ Knitting Factory (pics) "

by Bill Pearis

DOWNLOAD: Best Coast - This is Real (MP3)
DOWNLOAD: Zoos of Berlin - Electrical Way (MP3)
DOWNLOAD: Mr. Dream - Knuckle Sandwich (MP3)

Best Coast

This week is extra-packed with musical goodness, so I'm breaking up TWII into two parts. Here's your mid-week edition.

Best Coast are here, playing Knitting Factory tonight (4/6) and Mercury Lounge tomorrow (4/7). Initially a solo project for onetime Pocahaunted singer Bethany Cosentino, Best Coast is now a collaboration with producer/guitarist Bob Bruno. Bethany is a talented songwriter with an amazing voice that has a Linda Ronstadt quality to it (maybe even a little Loretta Lynn in there). It's unfortunately buried under a spill reverb and low fi sludge on her first couple singles. That they were still worked is a testament to the songs, I think. But both sides of Best Coast's latest 7", on the Black Iris label, are knockouts, somewhere between the Everly Brothers and '60s girl groups. Sonically, it hits that Goldilocks sweet spot of sounding produced but not slick in any way. You can download the b-side, "This is Real," at the top of this post.

Live there's even less reverb than the recordings (or at least there was both times I saw them at SXSW) and you're really hit with the songs and that voice. Ali Koehler, on loan from Vivian Girls, will be on the drumkit (they had a dude playing drums in Texas) and The Bitters (member of Fucked Up) open both shows, with The Babies also playing tonight (which means at least 2/3 of the Vivian Girls perform at the show tonight).

As previously reported, Darwin Deez's show tonight has been relocated from Market Hotel to new DIY space Party Expo (929 Broadway, the Myrtle stop on the JMZ), which seems appropriate in this case as it's his birthday. I'll be the first to say Darwin looks kinda like a hipster dufus, but there's no denying he's a talented guy and I think his self-titled album, out May 10, is pretty great. And despite his look, his music is not some '80s throwback. He's carved out a very distinct sound for himself, staccato guitar pop with thoughtful lyrics and Darwin's warm voice smoothing things out. It's pretty charming stuff.

Zoos of Berlin

Zoos of Berlin are back in town and were scheduled to play Market Hotel on Wednesday (4/7) and that has since been relocated to Shea Stadium.  I've written about them before, and I really urge you to check them out. Nobody else sounds like them, a regal mix of Bowie's Berlin period and Steely Dan funk. No really. They're pretty awesome. ZoB have brought fellow Detroiters Child Bite (kinda punk, kinda jazz) with them. The two bands are on tour together and all remaining dates are at the bottom of this post. The Shea Stadium show also features Electric Tickle Machine, who are better than their name might suggest.

A couple more Wednesday, 4/7, picks. At Cake Shop, there's a good line-up of Florida's Tough Knuckles, local '90s throwbacks Mr. Dream and South Korea's 10 (with help from Brown Wing Overdrive), plus Effing and Your Youth. Check out the rockin' MP3 of Mr. Dream's "Knuckle Sandwich" at the top of this post.

And one last chance to catch Irish indie poppers So Cow, playing at Death by Audio with The Babies, Surprisers and San Diego's Sunday Times.

Look for the weekend edition of TWII on Thursday. Till then, there's tour dates, flyers and videos after the jump.

Continue reading "Best Coast, Darwin Deez, Zoos of Berlin, Mr. Dream & more in This Week in Indie (part 1) "

"Market hotel busted by twenty cops!" - The Smith Westerns

Saturday night's Smith Westerns show at Market Hotel got cut short thanks to a group of cops that showed and told everyone to leave (possibly due to a noise complaint, possibly due to "business inspection", maybe because The Smith Westerns were peeing all over the place, or possibly just because the cops felt like shutting it down). What this means for the large DIY venue remains to be seen. Upcoming shows there include High Places (April 8), Trans Am (April 18), Harlem (April 23), Sleigh Bells (May 11), and Pissed Jeans (June 19). The next scheduled show is Tuesday, April 6th with Darwin Deez. Hopefully it's still happening.

UPDATE: Market Hotel is going to close while they figure things out. All upcoming shows are being relocated.

As of this writing I'm not sure if The Smith Westerns ever got to play anywhere Saturday night. There was talk of the show moving to Party Expo, but that didn't seem to happen. Regardless, you can catch the band at their next NYC show which takes place tonight, Easter Sunday, at Mercury Lounge with Male Bonding (who played MHOW with The Soft Pack last night) and So Cow.

For So Cow it's one of two NYC shows on his current tour (all dates below). The next one takes place a few days later, April 7th at Death By Audio with Sunday Times, The Surpriser (ex Cause-comotion) and The Babies (pictured above).

For The Babies the Death By Audio show is one of many chances to see the Vivian Girls/Woods side project this month. The very next chance happens to be tonight (4/4, Easter) at Don Pedro with WetDog who Bill said were good the other night (they played Glasslands and Death By Audio). If you don't remember that Wetdog were playing this third NYC show tonight, that's because it's actually not in their tour dates (but it is listed by the venue and the Babies).

The Babies are also playing with Best Coast and The Bitters at Knitting Factory on Tuesday (4/6) (tickets still on sale). Maybe you caught Best Coast when they opened for Japandroids at Bowery Ballroom. You can also catch them Monday night (4/5) at the Meatlocker in Montclair and Wednesday (4/7) at Mercury Lounge with The Bitters again (tickets) (no other Bitters dates anywhere).

The Babies will soon also kick off a very short tour with Titus Andronicus in CT on April 11th. That tour hits Rodrigues Coffee House at Fordham University in the Bronx on April 13th and SUNY Purchase the next day. Titus also plays a Babies-less early Men Can Stop Rape Benefit show at Red Hook High School on Sunday, April 11th (before the CT show).

Red Hook flyer and lots of dates below.

Continue reading "cops shut down Market Hotel, So Cow here, upcoming Babies gigs, Wetdog, Titus Andronicus school shows & other dates"

by Bill Pearis

DOWNLOAD: Beaters - Fishage (MP3)
DOWNLOAD: Nodzzz - True to Life (MP3)
DOWNLOAD: Dom - Jesus (MP3)
DOWNLOAD: Golden Girls - Newports (MP3)

The Soft Pack @ Cake shop in Feb (more by Gabi Porter)

The Soft Pack are here again, the first real shows in town they've played since releasing their debut album on Kemado: tonight (3/31) at Maxwell's, tomorrow (4/1) at Mercury Lounge, and Saturday (4/3) at Music Hall of Williamsburg. I've seen these guys a zillion times (and written about them nearly as much) but they remain one of my favorite current live acts. That said, I'm just a tad bit more excited about the bands who they've brought with them on tour: Nodzz, Beaters, and Male Bonding.

Geeky, funny, tuneful Nodzzz were relatively quiet in 2009 -- at least compared to some of their San Franciscan brethren -- touring early in the year and only releasing one single. Mind you, it was an excellent one, "True to Life," which made by Best of the 2009 list. They're bound to have a new record in the works,  so hopefully we'll get a bunch of fresh tunes.

Beaters

Beaters, from The Soft Pack's hometown of San Diego, are signed to Zoo Music, the label run by husband/wife duo Brandon of Crocodiles and head Dum Dum Girl, DeeDee. If you're familiar with their roster at all, you'll have a pretty good idea what to expect: dark, over-caffeinated, paranoid, heavy on the reverb. You can check out their single "Fishage" at the top of this post.

The Music Hall of Williamsburg show adds UK punks (and Sub Pop signees) Male Bonding who also play with The Smith Westerns and So Cow on Sunday (4/4) at Mercury Lounge.

Golden Girls

Two bands from Worcester, Mass are here this weekend -- Dom and Golden Girls. -- who play together tomorrow (4/1) at Pianos and then on Monday (4/5) at Cake Shop.

Of the two, I find Dom a little more interesting. There's some of that fifth-generation cassette tape chillwave sound going on, no doubt (which I'm getting a little waterlogged from frankly).  But they've got some good songs under that hiss (check out "Bochicha" on their MySpace) and appear to play real drums and guitars (as well as crappy old synths) so I have hopes that their live show will prove less gauzy.

Golden Girls are more straight-up indie rock, a duo on recordings but are a four-piece live. Raucous and on the sloppy side,  and with a single about cigarettes, you can draw a line from Golden Girls back to the Replacements pretty easily. They've only got two singles out so far, and I'm definitely curious to hear more.

A few more picks, by night, to take you through the weekend, along with tour dates and videos and stuff, below...

Continue reading "Beaters, Nodzzz, Best Coast, Ash, Abe Vigoda, Dom, Dum Dum Girls, Golden Girls, Soft Pack & more in This Week in Indie"

by Dominick Mastrangelo

"Hello, and welcome to Portland, Oregon," quipped James Mercer, as he and Danger Mouse greeted the freezing crowd at Mog Day Party on the final day of SXSW. A 40-degree drop in temperature from Friday caused flip-flops and t-shirts to be replaced by hoodies, coats and gloves. Broken Bells were just one of several excellent bands that filled the indoor and outdoor venues of the Mohawk.

I finally made it downtown before 2pm by taking the rather efficient Metro Capitol bus. Traffic along I-35 into downtown took almost an hour the day before from just 10 minutes north. Arriving a little after noon Shilpa Ray and Her Happy Hookers were already on inside. Ray was squeezing the hell out of that squeezbox and her raspy, scowling voice was alarming so early in the day. It certainly set a tone. And Free Energy complete with free cassettes started things outside with their unabashed good times garage rock.

Back inside The Dum Dum Girls were up next with more of the same hazy lo-fi pop that drummer Frankie Rose was laying down the night before on the same stage with her band. I skipped back outside for Demolished Thoughts though Andrew WK (an advertised member along with Thurston Moore and J Mascis) was absent and the bassist for Fucked Up was filling in. It was thrashing punk stuff with silly songs like the 45-second "I Hate Kids" (those were the lyrics) followed by the 45-second "I Hate Sports" (some videos below).

Then it was back inside for a little dance - hip hop with Rye Rye and then back outside for Broken Bells - who kept busy at the festival. For a band only a couple months old they were tight and the songs sounded great. Inside again for Freelance Whales and then back outside for The Antlers, back inside for Real Estate and finally back outside for the Black Keys who straight up killed. Mercer and Danger Mouse (who produced the Keys' Attack & Release) and members of the Antlers were sidestage rocking out. The crowd was hanging over rails and pushing in toward the stage. Dan Auerbach and Patrick Carney had everyone riveted and rocking. Certainly the most polished performance of the day, perhaps the festival.

Unexpectedly, as I ventured back to the convention center, I stumbled upon Fanfarlo about to perform in Brush Square with free drinks (Shiner Bock!) and heaters to keep the tent warm. Fantastic live show. "If we knew there were going to be so many photographers, we'd have done better," quipped multi-instrumentalist Cathy Lucas about the the band's appearance.

For the evening it was all about finishing strong. I made my way to the Victorian Room at the Driskill for Miss Li who was great and her band was stellar, over to St. David's Bethel Hall to see some Texas bands as part of the Western Vinyl Showcase, including an unimpressive Matthew and the Arrogant Sea. I decided to go all out and dashed over to Barbarella for the excellent Best Coast who also played a couple of new songs that sounded really good. Back to St. David's for the ambient Sleep Whale (formerly MOM) from Denton, TX down to Paradise for crazy afro-beat inflected dance music courtesy of New York's Tanlines (it was a full-on dance party.) Finally, it was back over to St. David's for the beautiful, classical-leaning experimental band Balmorhea.

Day One HERE. Day two HERE. Day Three HERE. Day Four pictures and videos continued below...

Continue reading "SXSW 2010 day 4 pics & review (Black Keys, Dum Dum Girls, Broken Bells, Demolished Thoughts, Antlers, Fanfarlo, more)"

Best Coast @ a benefit in L.A. on February 7th (more by Rachel Carr)

Bethany Cosentino is a Los Angeles native with a brief stay in Brooklyn, and Best Coast's influences reflects that Beach Boys vibe with East Coast 60s girl group such as the Ronnettes and Shangri-Las. Best Coast is brought to life with the help of her long-time friend/guitarist/producer Bobb Bruno and guest drummer for these dates Ali Koehler (Vivian Girls).

While in NYC Best Coast are also playing other shows as well. They're at Montclair, NJ's Meat Locker on April 5th, Knitting Factory Brooklyn on April 6th and Mercury Lounge on April 7th. That Knitting Factory show is with Fucked Up side-project The Bitters and Vivian Girls/Woods side-project The Babies. Tickets are on sale now.

Before that, Best Coast will be at SXSW - one of their shows will be a showcase put on by their label PPM (who put out Best Coast's now sold-out 7-inch, which is being re-pressed). That show happens Saturday, March 19th at Barbarella with Gun Outfit, Total Abuse, KIT, Abe Vigoda and No Age.

Best Coast toured the West Coast with Vivian Girls earlier in February. Their full-length debut is expected sometime this year. Videos of the group and all tour dates are below...

Continue reading "Best Coast tour dates include multiple NYC-area shows, Babies, Bitters, SXSW & more (dates)"

Harlem @ Union Pool over the weekend (more by Andrew Frisicano)

Local Natives will headline Bowery Ballroom on May 6th. Tickets go on AmEx presale at noon.

Best Coast & Midnight Masses were added as openers to the April 1st Japandroids show at Bowery Ballroom. Tickets are still on sale.

Midnight Masses continue a February residency at Union Pool tonight (2/17).

Japandroids are also playing Sasquatch.

Crystal Stilts have been added to the March 27th Love is All bill at Maxwell's in Hoboken. Tickets are on sale.

Catch Crystal Stilts much sooner at Music Hall of Williamsburg with The Beets / Christmas Island / Beach Fossils / The German Measles on February 20th. Tickets are still on sale.

Beach Fossils and The Beets will open for Love is All at Knitting Factory on March 28th. Tickets are on sale.

Phosphorescent will play Maxwell's for the first time on April 2nd. Tickets are on sale.

MusicSnobbery celebrates his 5th birthday with a show featuring the Vivian Girls at Maxwell's on April 23rd. Tickets are on sale.

Titus Andronicus and Harlem play the NJ club the very next night (4/24). Tickets are on sale.

Tickets are also still on sale for Titus's headlining show at Bowery Ballroom on March 6th.

photos by Rachel Carr

The sold-out event, concisely named "No Cancer!" hoped to raise money for Irene Garcia, the mother of a prominent L.A. scenester who was recently diagnosed with what an event volunteer would only call "an extremely rare form of cancer." All proceeds from the daylong festival -- including ticket revenues and merchandise sales -- went directly to the cause.

Organized by local indie promoting giant Sean Carlson and his team at FYF Fest [I HATE ROCK N ROLL RECORDS and VIDEOTHING.COM], "No Cancer!" brought together an eclectic group of well-known and under-the-radar bands from Los Angeles and across the country, with acts hailing from New York and Texas performing over the course of the afternoon. [Daily Trojan]

Continue reading "No Age, Vivian Girls, Abe Vigoda, Best Coast & others played a benefit for Irene Garcia in LA - pics"

Abe Vigoda @ The Smell in October (more by Rachel Carr)

If you happen to be in L.A. on Saturday, February 7th, "No Cancer: A benefit for our Friend's Mom" will be happening at a "secret" location (e-mail for info, below). Playing sets will be No Age, Vivian Girls, Abe Vigoda, Cowabunga Babes, Best Coast, Nodzzz, Darker My Love and others. A flyer and how to get info on the venue are below.

If you're in NYC, Abe Vigoda visit March 31st for a show at Mercury Lounge with Effi Briest and Cloud Nothings (who have plenty of dates coming up, listed below). Tickets are on sale now.

That show is sandwiched between dates Abe Vigoda opens for Vampire Weekend in March and April. Before those, the band plays the West Coast and Texas in early March with Lovvers.

All tour dates are below...

Continue reading "Abe Vigoda playing cancer benefit w/ Vivian Girls & No Age in LA, touring w/ Vampire Weekend, playing NYC (dates)"

by Andrew Frisicano

Mika Miko @ their almost-last performance at Fun Fun Fun Fest

L.A. punk band Mika Miko announced in October that their set at Austin's Fun Fun Fun Fest (on November 8th) would be one of their last, but that they were in process of scheduling an official "last show" for their hometown at The Smell. They've booked three shows there for December 30th, December 31st and January 1st. The third, with Hello Astronaut Goodby Television, My Little Red Toe and OG Silver Daggers, is sold out, but you can still grab a ticket for the first show (openers TBA) and for the New Years Eve show, with Staring Problem, Ima Fucking Gymnist and DiGiTS. Mika Miko also previously mentioned a new 7" in the works through PPM.

Mika Miko's Jennifer Clavin guest drumming for Best Coast...

PPM will also be releasing a 7" by from female-fronted lo-fi duo Best Coast. Best Coast join Vivian Girls on a West Cost tour this February. That swings by the Smell on Feb. 6th. Vivian Girls are in UK from the second week of January right up to their performance at the BAM Sounds Like Brooklyn Fest, where they play at Howard Gilman Opera House with Les Savy Fav on January 29th. Tickets are on sale.

Flyers for the Mika Miko shows, a Best Coast clips and all tour dates are below...

Continue reading "Mika Miko playing THREE final shows @ The Smell including New Years Eve (tix), Best Coast touring w/ Vivian Girls"