by Bill Pearis

Surfer Blood

NIGHTTIME

As I mentioned in that big post about Montreal bands at CMJ, The High Dials are among them and are just great live -- sort of country-tinged jangly shoegaze -- and they're impressive live. They play Lit Lounge at 10:15 and then Arlene's Grocery at 12:30AM. If you like Ride, The Byrds, or Brian Jonestown Massacre, you shouldn't miss these guys. Also playing at Lit Lounge, earlier in the evening (8:30) are Montreal's Black Diamond Bay which features a couple former members of the Dears and feature a similarly bombast rock sound. They're very good live too, especially if you have an appreciation for the live musician O Face.

If you like electro /dance there is an insane lineup at Santos tonight. And it's free. No badges required. The killer lineup includes three UK dancepop acts: Dan Black whose album Un is pretty fun; the borderline-novelty (but fun) Man Like Me and trio We Have Band who played here back in March. It keeps going: there's also Australia's Midnight Juggernauts, Montreal's We Are Wolves, Denmark's Spleen United (somewhere between Placebo and Presents), Toronto's Parallels, and LA's Paparazzi. There's also a slew of NYC acts: Maluca, The Terror Pigeon Dance Revolt, Lemonade,Heartsrevolution, Javelin, and The Golden Filter. Did I mention it was free?

At Union Pool, the folks at Panache Booking are showcasing a big handful of their bands, many of which have unnecessary repeated consonants: recent Brooklyn Vegan Day party veterans JEFF the Brotherhood and Lovvers, plus Flexions, zZz, Turbofruits, UUVVWWZ, and Dark Meat. Having seen at least half of these bands, I'm going to go ahead and say this'll be quite a party, whether you like it or not.

If you're going to the Pitchfork/Showpaper show at Market Hotel and wished that it was rock all night instead of switching over to electronic acts/DJs after midnight, your admission will also get you into the show happening down the street at Todd P's Above the Auto Parts Store venue (600 Bushwick), which has four great bands: Sisters, Screaming Females, Surfer Blood (again) and JEFF the Brotherhood (again). To get in for free you need to get there before 11PM; afterwards it's $10.

Or, you might think about heading to Silent Barn before or after (or instead of). Popjew has a great line-up of bands, including much-loved-by-me Let's Wrestle, A Classic Education (who were great at our Thursday day party), twangy West Coasters Slang Chickens, My Teenage Stride and the electro-rock of Jacques Detergent.

And at The Bell House, there's Au Revoir Simone and the related (literally, by marriage) Pursesnatchers; the lush, 60s-ish chamber pop of Florida's The Postmarks, indiepop ska band Still Flyin' and Brooklyn-via-Australia band The Miracles of Modern Science. The Bell House may seem like truly dedicating your night to one venue, but luckily it's one of the nicest, most comfortable in the city.

Other shows tonight include Mum, Sufjan's BQE screenings, the Sub Pop showcase, the Kemado/Mexican Summer showcase, and the Topman party with the Almighty Defenders and Neon Indian.

And then we rest. Saturday day parties HERE. Hip Hop shows HERE. Flyers and set times below.

Continue reading "CMJ 2009 - Bill's Saturday nighttime picks"

DOWNLOAD: Organs EP (Mediafire zip)
DOWNLOAD: Knight School - Pregnant Again (MP3)
DOWNLOAD: Right on Dynamite - Mantra for the Madness (MP3)

by Bill Pearis

Black Diamond Bay

We've been having pretty wintry weather here lately but it's nothing compared to the cold snap much of Canada has faced in the last week -- Montreal hit record lows last week. Which will probably make the mid-20s feel balmy for Black Diamond Bay, who have trekked down across the border to play a few U.S. shows over the next week. When last we checked in with the band (featuring ex-Dears members Patrick Krief and George Donoso), they had finished their home-recorded debut album, which they were only selling on tour from the merch tables.

In the interim, they went back, recorded a couple new songs and had it mixed by some big-time pros. This new version, now called Calm Awaits, will be out officially in March but you can hear about half of it on BDB's Myspace as we speak. Black Diamond Bay play Fontana's tonight with The Depreciation Guild (Wednesday, 1/28) and an early set at Mercury Lounge on February 5. They were great at Pianos back in November, and as I've said before, you really have to see them live to experience Black Diamond Bay in all their drum fills n spiraling solos glory.

Organs

This weekend has two good shows at Williamsburg's Don Pedro's. Friday night (1/30) has garage- trio Organs who describe themselves as "If Hank Williams listened to the Stooges while fucking Little Richard." I guess that works as well as anything, and definitely gets you in the right ballpark. You can listen and judge for yourself, though, as the band have their debut EP available to download for free -- the link to which is at the top of this post. Also playing Friday night are The Specific Heats who take their cues from '60s flower-power pop like Strawberry Alarm Clock and the Chocolate Watchband as well as '80s Creation Records indie (which is sorta the same thing). Frontman Matt Patalano has also been in loads of other bands concurrently, having just recently given up his bassist gig in My Teenage Stride. Opening is Boston singer Elizabeth Butters who makes what I'd call "old timey" folk. Take a listen at her MySpace.

Knight School

Saturday (1/31) at Don Pedros more local indiepop worth checking out. I caught openers Knight School back in December at Cake Shop's Christmas party and thought they were great. They're lo-fi pop in the same vein as Television Personalities, the Vaselines or the Pastels -- all of whom I'm going to guess they love. Their album, The Poor and Needy Need to Party, just came out on Lost Music Records which is run by the folks from the recently defunct Indie MP3 blog. There's an MP3 at the top of this post and you can stream the whole album at Last.fm. In addition to some other upcoming shows (including 2/17 at Glasslands with Specific Heats), they're playing with The Pains of Being Pure at Heart and UK's awesome Let's Wrestle at The Bell House on March 13 which you don't want to miss. Tickets are on sale.

Also playing that night: reverb-drenched Jackson Heights duo The Beets, and then the night gets heavier with The Juggs (deep-fried riff rock), and The Gulf of Michigan (who sound a bit like Leonard Cohen fronting the Stooges).

Friday, January 30 is pretty busy. But a fun way to start the night, potentially, would be to skate to the sounds of Neckbeard Telecaster and Grand Mal at Seaport Ice. The weather is supposed to be in the 30s, pretty nice, though I wonder what windchill will be like when you're right by the river. I'm looking forward to finding out the rest of Seaport Ice's schedule (what bands would you want to skate to?), as well as getting some exercise at a show for once, instead of just drinking beer.

And one last option for Friday night: Brooklyn band Right on Dynamite are playing Pianos. You may have seen them open for Frightened Rabbit at Bowery Ballroom earlier this month. There debut EP is pretty catchy stuff, and while you rarely read a piece about them that doesn't mention The Strokes, if you ask me the most obvious comparison would be The Cribs (who I love), but with a few less "whoa-oh" choruses. You can download EP track "Mantra for the Madness" at the top of this post.

All tour dates below...

Continue reading "Black Diamond Bay, Organs, Knight School, Right on Dynamite & more in This Week in Indie"

by 'Week in Indie' Bill Pearis

DOWNLOAD: Black Diamond Bay - "Blue Mace" (MP3)

Watching the new line-up of Dears at Hiro Ballroom two weeks ago during CMJ, as good as I thought they were, it was definitely a bit strange to hear older songs like "Lost in the Plot" and "22: Death of All the Romance" and not see the old band up there, especially emotive guitarist Patrick Krief and fill-loving drummer George Donoso. They were definitely part of what made the Dears (circa 2003 - 2006) so amazing.

So it's good to know Krief and Donoso are still playing together in Black Diamond Bay who are on a short East Coast tour this week, including three dates in NYC. What started as a Patrick Krief solo project while still in The Dears has become a full-blown band (rounded out with bassist Andre Bendahan and keyboardist Roberto Piccioni) with their self-titled debut out soon. (They're selling it at their shows now.) Krief's style isn't that dissimilar from what he did in his former band, heartfelt songs with a sort of epic swagger to it. Check out the MP3 above and video after the jump to see what I mean. And go them live. Dates follow as well.

Continue reading "Black Diamond Bay (ex-Dears) - 2008 Tour Dates (3xNYC)"