Tickets are on sale at 10am for the Wolf Parade show at Terminal 5.

The Clipse are playing Highline Ballroom on May 6th with Ninjasonik. Tickets are on sale.

Tickets go on sale at the same time for a July 22nd "US Air Guitars Finals" show at Irving Plaza.

Tickets are on sale for the Buzzcocks show at Irving Plaza.

Tickets are on sale for the Goldfrapp show at Hammerstein Ballroom.

The final episode of Lost airs Sunday May 23rd. Tickets are on sale if you want to watch it at the Bell House.

Crystal Stilts, The 1990s, and Tanks Amigo plays The Bell House on April 22nd. Tickets are on sale.

The Middle East, Neon Indian, Crystal Castles & Local Natives tickets also went on sale.

Hold Steady & Willie Nelson tickets also went on sale.

Only three tickets left for the Will Johnson & Anders Parker NYC living room show.

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.

words by Andrew Frisicano, photos by Erez Avissar

DOWNLOAD: Christmas Island - Bed Island (MP3)
DOWNLOAD: Beach Fossils - Time (MP3)

Beach Fossils @ Shea Stadium

Tickets are still on sale for the Crystal Stilts MHOW show on Saturday, February 20th. Opening up for that show are The Beets, Christmas Island, Beach Fossils and The German Measles (who have a gig with Bishop Allen coming up, more on that soon).

Leading up to that show, Christmas Island (whose debut came out this October on In the Red), The Beets and Beach Fossils are all on tour together this February. The MHOW show is the last of three separate NYC dates for the tour. The other two come February 9th at the Cake Shop and February 13th at Death by Audio.

The Beets have already had a pretty busy December as far as NYC shows go. And the month isn't over for Beach Fossils, who'll ring in the New Year with Frankie and the Outs, Surfer Blood and We Are Country Mice at the Cameo. Beach Fossils (aka Dustin Payseur) has a full-length on the way from Woodsist/Captured Tracks in March, and the song above is from a forthcoming Woodsist 7".

Looking ahead to SXSW, Christmas Island also lists an In the Red showcase at Austin's Beerland on March 19th. The song "Bed Island," a tuneful love song, is above.

All tour dates along with the rest of the pictures from the show at Shea Stadium last Wednesday (12/9), below...

Continue reading "Beach Fossils played Shea Stadium (pics), touring w/ Christmas Island & The Beets (dates) ++ MP3s"

Norah Jones is playing the WaMu Theater At Madison Square Garden on March 27th. Tickets are on sale (@ 10am).

Eric Clapton and Jeff Beck are playing two nights at Madison Square Garden in February. Tickets go on pre-sale on Monday.

Crystal Stilts are playing MHOW on February 20th. Tickets are on sale (more about this show later).

Tickets are on sale for the upcoming Mumford & Sons show at Bowery Ballroom.

Omara Portuondo is playing Town Hall on February 27th. Tickets are on sale (@ 10am)

Tickets are on sale for the upcoming Those Darlins show at Bowery Ballroom.

Tickets are now on sale for BOTH All shows happening in Brooklyn (early and late).

Tickets are on sale for the recently added Final Fantasy show at Bowery Ballroom.

Tickets are on sale (@ noon) for the two Pat Metheny shows coming up at Town Hall.

Tickets are on sale for the recently added Wild Beasts / Still Life Still show at Music Hall of Williamsburg (and tix are still on sale for their Bowery Ballroom show too).

Saturday (12/5) night shows HERE.

photos by Tim Griffin, words by Bill Pearis

Amy Linton

Frankie Rose

Influential indie label Slumberland Records turned 20 in 2009 and celebrated this landmark with two big birthday shows -- one in Washington DC (where it got its start) and one in Brooklyn (where much of Slumberland's current roster reside). The Bell House show was a cardigan-clad indie marathon, with a nice mix of Slumberland bands (and fans) old and new. It really did feel like a party. There were favors for the guests (a Slumberland rarities compilation CD) and even a few surprises. Slumberland head honcho Mike Schulman joined Philadelphia's Brown Recluse on stage for some well-played tambourine, and Amy Linton, conspicuously absent from the listed proceedings, turned up for an unannounced, too-brief (and crazy loud) set of Henry's Dress and Aislers Set songs with help from Crystal Stilts. There might've even been a cake. With the label going strong, another 20 years doesn't seem entirely out of the question.

Videos (including the entire Henry's Dress/Aislers Set set), plus pictures of all the bands from the whole long, fun night are after the jump....

Continue reading "pics & video from Slumberland's 20th Anniversary party "

by Bill Pearis

DOWNLOAD: The Cribs - We Were Aborted (MP3)
DOWNLOAD: BOAT - Prince of Tacoma (MP3)
DOWNLOAD: BOAT - We've Been Friends Since 1989 (MP3)
DOWNLOAD: BOAT - Lately (MP3)
DOWNLOAD: BOAT - I'm a Donkey for Your Love (MP3)
DOWNLOAD: BOAT - Last Cans of Paint (MP3)
DOWNLOAD: Pants Yell! - Cold Hands (MP3)
DOWNLOAD: Frankie Rose - Thee Only One (MP3)
DOWNLOAD: Brown Recluse - Night Train (MP3)
DOWNLOAD: Brown Recluse - Contour and Context (MP3)
DOWNLOAD: The Ropers - Revolver (MP3)
DOWNLOAD: Nord Express - The Natural (MP3)
DOWNLOAD: Lorelei - Stale Houses (MP3)
DOWNLOAD: Max Tundra - Which Song (MP3)
DOWNLOAD: Deastro - Reaction To Substance M (MP3)

Tonight (11/11) and tomorrow are the last two shows of The Answering Machine's extended NYC visit, playing Bruar Falls tonight (with Dinnosaur Feathers and Zambri) and Cake Shop tomorrow (11/12, with Sholi). As I've said before, this Manchester band make superior Brit Indie and like their debut album, Another City, Another Sorry, quite a bit. You can get the whole thing at their bandcamp.com page.

The Cribs

Speaking of superior Brit Indie, The Cribs fourth album, Ignore the Ignorant, was released this week, just in time for their shows at Bowery Ballroom on Thursday (11/12, still tickets available) and Friday (11/13, sold out). As you may know, The Cribs are now a four-piece, having added Johnny Marr to their otherwise all-Jarman lineup for the writing and recording of the new album which actually does sound like what you might expect it to. You've still got the big choruses and raw energy The Cribs are known for, but now with the flourishes and panache the onetime Smith is known for. I'd even say Ignore the Ignorant finds Johnny Marr sounding like Johhny Marr for the first time since his days in The The. It's a really strong record. But The Cribs are almost always better live than on record. I will be curious to see how Marr will affect the usual antics of Gary, Ryan, Ross. Will brothers still act like brothers when there's a legend nearly twice their age on stage?

The shows I'm most looking forward to this weekend are from Seattle's BOAT, a truly fun live band whose new album, Setting the Paces, is just terrific, loaded with irresistible indie pop, as much as you can fit on tangerine-colored vinyl. We're talking giant hooks, lyrics that are funny without being novelty (and have just enough of the crying-on-the-inside clown thing going on too), and production that is neither slick nor low fi. This is how it's done, and I've no doubt this will find its way into my Best of 2009 list.

BOAT play Union Hall on Friday (11/13) and Bruar Falls on Saturday (11/14) and you really should do yourself a favor and go see one of these shows. They don't make it East very often. Their live shows are fairly interactive -- they pass out bags of confetti and homemade shakers, and often work with signs and props -- but it never feels forced. They just want you to have a good time. The Union Hall show on Friday is with How I Became the Bomb; Saturday's Bruar Falls show is with Miniboone and Shark?

Pants Yell!

I feel a little bad that BOAT's show on Saturday is competing with the Slumberland 20th Anniversary show at The Bell House for the indie pop consumer's dollar. As someone who spent his college years going on road trips to Washington DC to see shows and go record shopping, Slumberland is intertwined with my musical upbringing, be it thumbing through Velocity Girl, Henry's Dress and Aislers Set 7"s at Arlington's Go Records, or hearing Stereolab's Switched On for the first time at Smash on M Street.

It's kind of amazing that, after a few years of dormancy, Slumberland has come back stronger than ever in the last year with records that have achieved a national level of attention that seemed impossible in the '90s. I'm still stunned at how popular Pains of Being Pure at Heart have gotten. It's a label that continues to be a labor of love for owner Mike Schulman. Maybe the listening public (now with the wide-reaching abilities of the internet) has come around to his way of thinking.

Anyway, Saturday's eight-band spectacular is a hard-t0-pass-up bill for any indie fan, featuring label heavy hitters The Pains of Being Pure at Heart (previously unannounced) and Crystal Stilts. There's also Boston's Pants Yell!, whose new album Received Pronunciation was just released and is what I'd call a textbook "grower," one whose many pleasures don't reveal themselves till maybe the third listen. The band are also swearing it's their last, and plan to break up next year (Check out an MP3 of "Cold Hands" above). Additionally, the show has Philadelphia's baroque-ish Brown Recluse from the label's current roster, and what is likely to be most people's first time seeing Frankie & the Outs, who were really good opening for Grass Widow at the Woodser a week ago.

There's also sets from three bands from Slumberland's dreamy '90s era: Lorelei, who have been back together since 2003, and The Ropers, and Nord Express who I'm pretty sure are playing their first shows since disbanding. While I know some Slumberland fanatics were hoping, wishing, crossing their fingers Schulman and Bell House booker Skippy might pull a rabbit out of their hat with more classic Slumberland bands (The Aislers Set, Black Tambourine, Velocity Girl or Rocketship), it's hard to argue with this lineup. It's gonna be a great night.

Versus

While on the subject of '90s indie rock, Versus are playing at Knitting Factory on Friday (11/13). Now augmented with a violinist (at least at their fantastic Seaport set this summer), they're sounding as good as they did in the '90s. Maybe even better. I'm told there's a new Versus album in the can and they're just trying to work out the whens and wheres of its release. The whole line-up at the Knit is TeenBeat related actually, with label head (and former Unrest frontman) Mark Robinson's new band Cotton Candy; Plus Minus which features Versus' James Balyut and ex-member Patrick Ramos and who are equally popular in their own right; The Solitary Cyclist which includes John Lindaman of True Love Always, Plus Minus drummer Chris Deaner, and food blogger (and friend of mine) Ganda Suthivarakom who has also performed with Miho Hatori, as well as in David Byrne's Imelda Marcos opera, Here Lies Love. Which leads us to the other band on the bill: Filipino indiepop band Ciudad. They've been playing shows here for the last month or so but this looks to be the final one before they head back to the Philippines.

GhostDigital

A couple other quick shows of interest. If you ever wondered what became of Einar, the other vocalist in the Sugarcubes (the one who shouted things like "I really don't like lobster!"), his current gig is GhostDigital which matches weird electronics to his particular style of vocals. They play tonight (11/11) at Monkeytown with fellow homemade diode musician Caspar Electronics.

GhostDigital also play on Thursday (11/12) at Town Hall as part of Music For 16 Futurists, which is further described as:

An evening-length concert of original scores and newly commissioned compositions for the intonarumori, or "noise-intoners" As part of its celebration of the 100th anniversary of Italian Futurism, the Performa 09 biennial, in collaboration with the Experimental Media and Performing Arts Center (EMPAC) and SFMOMA, has invited Luciano Chessa to direct a reconstruction project to produce accurate replicas the legendary instruments (8 noise families of 1-3 instruments each, in various registers) that Russolo built in Milan in the summer of 1913. As the first instruments capable of creating and manipulating noises through entirely mechanical processes, the intonarumori can be considered to be the original analog synthesizer, and the ancestors to the latest electronic synthesizers used today.

Sounds pretty cool. Aside: I used to fantasize that Einar formed a band with Fred Schneider. The most annoying band ever created.

OK that's it for this week. Videos and tour dates follow....

Continue reading "The Cribs, BOAT, Slumberland, Pants Yell!, GhostDigital, Versus, Music For 16 Futurists & more in This Week in Indie"

by Bill Pearis

DOWNLOAD: Grass Widow - To Where (MP3)
DOWNLOAD: Frankie Rose - Thee Only One (MP3)
DOWNLOAD: The Mary Onettes - Puzzles (MP3)
DOWNLOAD: The Mary Onettes - Dare (MP3)
DOWNLOAD: Carsick Cars - You Can Listen You Can Talk (MP3)
DOWNLOAD: Carsick Cars - Zhong Nan Hai (MP3)
DOWNLOAD: PK-14 - Behind All Ruptures (MP3)
DOWNLOAD: Xiao He - MTV (MP3)
DOWNLOAD: The Answering Machine - Another City, Another Sorry (MP3)

Frankie & the Outs - debut show @ The Woods on Halloween

I'm barely recovered from post-CMJ cold and we've got a week that is so packed with good shows it feels like another festival is in town.

Mercury Prize nominees The Invisible are playing their first U.S. shows this week, starting with a free one tonight at Brooklyn Bowl. Their lauded debut album doesn't fit into one easy category, which befits a band on Matthew Herbert's label. It's all fairly warm and soulful, but with forays into funk, sparse ballads, electro and Krautrock. There's a lot going on and I'll be curious to see how a three-piece can pull it off live. The Invisible also play Santos tomorrow (11/5) opening for Dragonette, and then on Friday at Pianos (11/6) where they'll be on the same bill as Freelance Whales.

The Mary Onettes, here from Sweden, play their first NYC show this year, tonight (11/4) at Union Hall where they'll play with Blacklist. As I said before, like a lot of the bands on Labrador, The Mary Onettes love the '80s and wear those influences on their black-clad sleeves. But their second album, Islands, wears them a little more subtly, though they are still writing reach-for-the-stars chorus -- now with strings. I like them a lot. They also play Friday (11/6) at Studio @ Webster Hall and then Sunday (11/8) at Mercury Lounge.

Grass Widow

San Francisco's awesome Grass Widow are also in town this weekend for a string of dates, starting tomorrow (11/5) at The Woodser with Frankie & the Outs, Air Waves and Hot Box. (There was to be a second show tomorrow, late at Monster Island, but that has been cancelled.) There are more than a few all-girl trios out there playing vaguely C-86 style indie (including fellow San Franciscans Brilliant Colors), but Grass Widow write better songs than most, and I really like both 12" EPs they've released this year.

The Woodser show was to be notable as the live debut of Frankie & the Outs, but then they went and played Halloween night at similarly named Willliamsburg bar The Woods (picture above). Frankie's debut single, "Thee Only One," is out now and is worth picking up -- though I think more for the dreamy b-side "Hollow Life" than the A-side (good as it is, and downloadable above) which is a little more of what you'd expect from someone who spent time in Vivian Girls and Crystal Stilts. Frankie's got a way with harmonies, and the less that gets in the way of them, the better. There were a couple of songs The Outs did Saturday which were similarly laid back, and the best songs of the night.

The Bitters

Grass Widow also play Market Hotel on Friday night (11/6) along with Vivian Girls, The Bitters and Stupid Party. If you haven't heard The Bitters, the Toronto duo feature Ben Cook of Fucked Up (who play Thursday at Masonic Temple) and Aerin Fogel. They've got a single and an EP on Captured Tracks, the latter of which I dig (haven't heard the single yet). While definitely on the "low" end of the "fi" scale, Bitters are different from anything else on Captured Tracks with an early-'60s rock n' roll vibe (or early '80s West Coast punk), and Ben and Aerin's harmonies front-and-center.|

Grass Widow also play Saturday (11/7) afternoon at the Brooklyn Museum with Crystal Stilts and the Beets, a show which finally today was officially announced by the museum...

"Inspired by Gail's idea, and because we love Brooklyn photographers, on First Saturday we are inviting local photographers to come and shoot the bands that are playing and post their photos to the Brooklyn Museum's flickr group. Afterwards, Bob Gruen, a rock photography legend who is featured in the exhibition and has shot the likes of Bob Dylan, John Lennon, and The Clash, will look at the photos and blog about his favorites here!" [Brooklyn Museum]

Carsick Cars

There's also the China Underground Invasion tour this weekend, with three of Beijing's best indie rock bands: Carsick Cars, PK-14 and Xiao He. In particular, I'm excited about Carsick Cars who I've actually heard of prior to this tour thanks to a friend who is living in Beijing and occasionally sends me music. They're definitely of the Sonic Youth/Dinosaur Jr school of noise n' drone. I only just got their new album, You Can Listen, You Can Talk, but have been listening to their 2008 debut a lot, and am told that its "Zhong Nan Hai" is like the Beijing indie anthem. The tour hits PowerHouse Arena tomorrow (11/5), Glasslands on Friday (11/6) and Santos on Saturday (11/7).

Tonight (11/4) is also the second week of The Answering Machine's three-week residency at Coco 66. The band has also added three more NYC dates while they're here: Nov. 9 at Pianos, Nov. 11 at Bruar Falls and Nov. 12 at Cake Shop.

Tahiti 80

And finally, Saturday night (11/7) French pop band Tahiti 80 play Mercury Lounge (tickets). When it comes to Franco-pop, Phoenix get the lion's share of the attention, but Tahiti 80 have been at it almost as long (if not just as long) and have made four danceable, hook-filled albums. The most recent of which, Activity Center, came out last year in France but is just now getting an American release. The band have retreated a bit from the full-on disco that was 2005's Fosbury, and gone back to the '60s sunshine of 2002's Wallpaper for the Soul which definitely suits them better. I haven't seen them play in ages, but they were always a good live band. Opening is Brookville, the other band from Ivy's Andy Chase -- who also produced Tahiti 80's first two albums.

Videos, tour dates and flyers are after the jump...

Continue reading "The Bitters, Grass Widow, Tahiti 80, The Mary Onettes, Frankie Rose, The Invisible & more in This Week in Indie "

by Bill Pearis

As I just mentioned, the November 7th Frankie Rose and The Outs show at the Woodser will be with San Francisco's Grass Widow who will be in town for a week's worth of shows. Frankie was in a band with most of them, called Shitstorm, who basically became Grass Widow after Frankie moved to NYC.

Grass Widow have put out two records this year -- an LP on Make a Mess records which came out over the summer, and a new EP on Captured Tracks. They're both worth picking up, especially for fans of Brilliant Colors, Vivian Girls (with whom they'll play at Market Hotel on Nov. 6) and Liechtenstein. There's also a free afternoon show at Brooklyn Museum on Nov. 7 with Crystal Stilts and The Beets.

The November 7th date coincides with the museum's Who Shot Rock: Photographers of Rock and Roll exhibition which opens at the end of October.

All upcoming Grass Widow and Crystal Stilts dates, and a video, below...

Continue reading "Grass Widow is coming -- Brooklyn Museum w/ Crystal Stilts, Market Hotel w/ Vivian Girls, Woodser w/ Frankie Rose"

by Bill Pearis

Frankie Rose is mainly known as a drummer, having played in Vivian Girls, Crystal Stilts, and Dum Dum Girls, but she's also a songwriter (she wrote VG's "Where Do You Run To?") and will be releasing her debut single, "Thee Only One," on Slumberland Records on October 27. She's also got a new band, Frankie and the Outs, who will make their live debut November 7th at The Woodser which will be the first show in a longtime for that South Williamsburg spot. Grass Widow is also on that bill.

With the new band, Frankie is sadly no longer drumming for Crystal Stilts. The split was amicable, guitarist JB plays guitar on her single. I'm told Crystal Stilts have a new drummer already, and the new Stilts lineup will even share a bill with Frankie and the Outs at two east coast Slumberland 20th Anniversary parties -- November 13th at the Black Cat and November 14 at the Bell House. (More on those further down the post.)

The Outs are a five piece, all girls, with whom Frankie will move from the drum kit to guitar (and vocals). The single's A-side is a two-and-a-half minute wall-of-sound pop that is what you might expect from someone who spent time in Vivian Girls and Crystal Stilts. (It could be the sister of CS's "Love is a Wave.") The B-side, "Hollow Life," is more unexpected -- organ-driven, harmony-laden, dreamy and drum-free, owing a lot to Spacemen 3.

Neither the A-side or the B-side of Frankie Rose's single has made it onto her MySpace page, but you can listen to her demo of "Where Do You Run To," a track the Vivian Girls only played once live. However, Frankie says it will be part of the The Outs live repertoire.

Frankie will be behind the drum kit, though, for the Dum Dum Girls upcoming CMJ shows. This will be an all-girl line-up, apparently, unlike DDG's live debut at the Woodsist/Captured Tracks Festival this summer that included Crocodiles' Brandon Welchez on guitar and Captured Tracks major domo Mike Sniper on bass. But that's only for these shows.

As mentioned above, Frankie and the Outs will play the two Slumberland Records 20th Anniversary shows at the Bell House and Black Cat. The full line-up for both shows is : Crystal Stilts, Brown Recluse, Pants Yell!, Frankie and the Outs; plus some reunions of classic Slumberland bands The Ropers, Nord Express, and Lorelei. It will be the first Ropers and Nord Express shows in ten years. Additionally, the Bell House show features a "special guest headliner." And as D.C. was the original home of the label, I wouldn't be surprised if some different special guests played that one too.

I think that is enough for one post. Tour dates and some videos below...

Continue reading "Frankie Rose leaves Crystal Stilts, starts band, playing Slumberland Anniversary parties - full lineups & MUCH MORE "

photos by Leia Jospe

"Hey everyone! We just started the first leg of our crazy nine week tour (which ends in NYC on Halloween). These next few weeks we will be joined by our brothers, the Beets, on what we've named the Nightmare of Sound tour. [Tuesday] night was our kickoff show in Brooklyn at Death by Audio.

Cassie made new shirts for this tour. We have our Moped Girls 7"s, WFMU LPs, The World's Lousy comps, tote bags, pins, and soon (Sept. 8th) our new album, Everything Goes Wrong, on vinyl and CD. We played with Real Estate, Best Fwends, and the Beets." [Vivian Girls blog posting]

Real Estate play again tonight (8/27) at Brooklyn Bowl. Best Fwends played a few shows for the week they were in town from Texas. Another one was at The Studio @ Webster Hall.

More pictures and some videos from Tuesday night's show at Death By Audio, a Beets/Vivian Girls tour video, and all tour dates, below...

Continue reading "Vivian Girls & The Beets played Death by Audio w/ Best Fwends & Real Estate (pics), now on tour (dates & video!)"

DOWNLOAD: Vivian Girls - When I'm Gone (MP3)

photos by Joseph Xu, words by Andrew Frisicano

7:07 p.m.: The Vivian Girls put out one of my favorite albums of 2008, and their brief but hard-hitting set [at the Pitchfork Festival] doesn't disappoint. Big, melodic bass lines provide a foundation for innocent harmony vocals, a mix of tart and sweet that proves irresistible. Only disappointment, they didn't play "Where Do You Run To." [Chicago Tribune]

After a set of September/October tour dates in Japan & Australia, Vivian Girls are also tentatively scheduled to play a Halloween show that will "tentatively" (how Todd P lists it) happen at the Ridgewood Temple (1054 Bushwick Ave). Todd also lists two other shows that same night: Mount Eerie at the Market Hotel with Malkuth and Liturgy, and a show with Wooden Shjips, Religious Knives, and Crystal Stilts (who feature ex-Vivian Girl Frankie Rose on drums) at a venue TBA.

Meanwhile over in South Brooklyn, the Bell House will host a late show with Junior Boys and an early show with the King Khan & BBQ Show and Dum Dum Girls (who feature ex-Vivian Girl and current Crystal Stilt Frankie Rose on drums) (maybe not again though), on a Halloween that is shaping up to be a big night for NYC concerts this year (many that should not be competing).

Mroe pictures and interviews of the Vivian Girls at the Pitchfork Festival, with all tour dates, are below...

Continue reading "Vivian Girls vs Crystal Stilts vs Dum Dum Girls - Halloween 2009 in NYC & tour dates & pics & stuff"

by Bill Pearis

DOWNLOAD: Yellow Fever - Culver City (MP3)
DOWNLOAD: Yellow Fever - Joe Brown (MP3)
DOWNLOAD: Fergus & Geronimo - Harder Than It's Ever Been (MP3)
DOWNLOAD: Magic Kids - Hey Boy (MP3)
DOWNLOAD: Coconut Coolouts - Party Jail (MP3)
DOWNLOAD: Seaport Music Festival Sampler (Zip)

YellowFever @ Death By Audio - July 22, 2009 (by Bryan Bruchman)

There are a lot of out-of-town bands I'm looking forward to seeing this weekend, and luckily they're all playing more than once, and many are sharing the same bill.

First is Austin duo Yellow Fever who I have caught a few times in the last year and they are really something special I think. I wrote this the first time I saw them: "Their sound couldn't be more spare -- usually just drums, the simplest guitar (often just single notes, not chords), and Jennifer Moore's understated, kinda haunting voice. It's that space in between the instrumentation that makes them so special. It's a little bit like Young Marble Giants if Beth Orton was the singer instead of Alison Statton." My only complaint would be they are slow on releasing records, but I look forward to hearing new stuff from them while they're here. They played last night at Death by Audio, where Vivian Girls said this via Twitter: "Yellow Fever were amazing tonight! Don't miss their other NYC shows this week." So, yeah, don't miss 'em -- you've got four more chances, including tonight at Cake Shop. All dates HERE.

Fergus & Geronimo

While we're in the Lone Star state, let's talk about another duo, Fergus & Geronimo, who are from Denton, TX and are playing two NYC shows this weekend. Andrew Savage and Jason Kelly are also in such Denton bands as Wax Museums and Teenage Cool Kids respectively, bonded over a love of '60s pop, Motown and psych-rock (a Texas specialty). Those influences come through loud and clear in their music, most of which is, at this point, only available on their MySpace, which was enough to get interest from Tic Tac Totally, Transparent, and Woodsist all of whom will be putting out their records. The Woodsist 7", "Harder Than It's Ever Been," is out now and you can download the A-side at the top of this post. It's a 1:47 pop gem, one of the best of its kind since Box Elders' "Hole in My Head." This is super-catchy stuff, and I'm really looking forward to seeing them this weekend.

Fergus & Geronimo, who are a five-piece when they play live, are at 92 Y Tribeca on Friday (7/24) with Crystal Stilts, Portland's Little Claw and Memphis' Magic Kids who I'll get back to in a second. They also play Saturday (7/25) at Market Hotel, also with Magic Kids, as well as YellowFever and the ever-present (and very good) Beets (who have a tour coming up with the Vivian Girls). Tickets are still on sale for Friday's show.

Magic Kids

Now onto Magic Kids. They're from Memphis and I first heard of them from a MySpace bulletin from Girls who played a show with them and enthusiastically raved about them. There's not a lot of bio info out there, but there seem to be a lot of them, and they clearly love '60s pop: Beach Boys, The Association, Tommy James & the Shondells, etc. The band have a record coming out sometime on Goner (home to Ty Segall and Box Elders and others) and you can download their single "Hey Boy" at the top of this post. They play Cake Shop tonight (7/23), that 92 Y Tribeca show tomorrow (7/24) and Market Hotel on Saturday night (7/25).

Personal and the Pizzas

Also this weekend we've got a couple West Coast bands, both of whom love a good slice, neither of whom seem to mind a little extra cheese, and they play together at Silent Barn on Friday and Cake Shop on Saturday.

Looking like greasers and sounding like New York 1975, Personal & the Pizzas originally hailed from New Jersey but now seem to call San Francisco their home. I'm not sure that there's a whole lot you need to say about these guys, you see their name you hear one song and you kind of know whether you're gonna like it or not. Maybe not for a whole album, but tracks like "I Don't Wanna Be No Personal Pizza" or "Brass Knuckles" would add flavor to any mix, and you just know they'll be fun live. Pizza Slayer interviewed them:

PS: Do you have pizza at all your shows? How does it enhance the experience?

P&P: Everybody loves the pie!! We probably order it like half and half..we're usually pretty broke so it's kinda hard to shell out like 70 or 80 bucks just for the love of it, but we'll do it. We don't care. Everyone loves Pizza and Pop. One time we was all dressed up in haWaiian shirts and coconut tits and all, and then we ordered some a them hawaaiian pizzas and then that delivery chic delivered the pies to us while we was playin with them shirts on and and she didn't know what the hell was goin on.

The Coconut Coolouts remind me of the Nuggets box set, where there are so many great bands with seminal songs on those cd's that I had never heard, it's hard to believe that the bands weren't bigger than their regional popularity. The Coconut Coolouts will likely be on on a Nuggets comp sometime in the year 2040 and people will be wondering why they had never heard of these guys with classics like Spinaround, Coconut Weekend, Party Jail and Stickup. Apparently they sometimes dress in banana costumes for gigs, no bananas were on stage but they were throwing out lifesavers saying they were acid.

Coconut Coolouts

A few more shows of interest this weekend. Black Moth Super Rainbow make their second Seaport Music series appearance on Friday (their first was in 2007 opening for Fugiya & Miyagi), this time headlining. Their latest album, Eating Us, was produced by Dave Fridman (Flaming Lips, MGMT among other things) and is pretty good. Opening will be low fi electro goths Blank Dogs whose new album, Under and Under, on In the Red Records I like a lot. They are also a band that benefits from good sound, something the Seaport has brought to every show this year. (Here We Go Magic in particular sounded stellar.) Also playing is one-man experimental band Dan Friel. Between the three acts there's gonna be a lot of temperamental old synthesizers, patch bays and homemade equipment on the Seaport stage -- let's hope it doesn't rain. I should also mention that Seaport Music has a "digital mixtape" you can download via Insound that features 15 of the acts playing this year, including all three of this week's acts (plus Superchunk, Casiokids and more). Download link is at the top of this post.

And don't forget Sissy Wish has added another show while in NY -- she plays Union Hall on Saturday night. She's better than her name.

Tour dates and video after the jump...

Continue reading "Fergus & Geronimo, Coconut Coolouts, Magic Kids, Personal & the Pizzas, YellowFever & more in This Week in Indie"

photos by Tim Griffin

The Mayfair Set

"Festival is a very misleading term to describe this showcase because this wasn't really a festival. There were a lot of bands playing which is a prerequisite for a festival, but beyond that there wasn't a whole hell of a lot that qualified this as a festival. It was basically just a really kick-ass show that lasted for two days. There was rain on Friday, and the show was moved indoors. I discovered this after circling the block several times. I could hear the music, and I could tell something was definitely going on but for the life of me I could not find the fucking place. Finally, I stopped two people who looked like they would definitely know where the show was and when I asked them "Do you know where the show is?" they responded by saying "Show? What show?" and then I tried again, this time clearing my throat before speaking, "I am looking for the Woodsist/Captured Tracks Fest-i-val. Would you happen to know where it is located?" and then the bro gave me an approving nod and explained to me that the show was going on above a grocery store called Mr. Kiwi's and that the way to get there is to slip through the door on the side. Many thanks to that dude because I found what I was looking for shortly there after." [no gift for the gab]

Bands on the bill for that first day were Blank Dogs, Psychedelic Horseshit, caUSE co-MOTION!, the Mayfair Set, Gary War, Little Girls, Kid Romance, Beachniks, and the Gutsies. What were the highlights?

As Bill pointed out, the Mayfair Set is "a collaboration with Blank Dogs (and Captured Tracks domo) Mike Sniper" and Dee Dee from Dum Dum Girls, who, as I just pointed out, is actually Kristin Gundred from Grand Ole Party. Live it was Kristin, Mike, JB from Crystal Stilts, Jeremy from Woods, and Jarvis Taveniere from Woods, Meneguar & other bands. For Mike and Kristin, it was the first of two bands they debuted at the fest over the weekend. On Saturday it was Dum Dum Girls. Both new bands were filled out by members of other bands (Dum Dum Girls had a Crystal Stilt and a Crocodile).

More pictures from Day One (minus the first three bands), below...

Continue reading "Woodsist/CT Fest Day One in pics (Mayfair Set's debut, Crystal Stilts, Blank Dogs, PH, caUSE co-MOTION! & more)"

Dum Dum Girls @ Woodsist Fest - July 4, 2009 (bajapuntos)

The two-day Woodsist & Captured Tracks Festival happened in Brooklyn on Friday (7/3) and Saturday (7/4). Both days were supposed to take place at 979 Broadway Backyard, but Friday was moved to the very hot Market Hotel due to the threat of rain. Pictures of both days coming soon, but first here is video Bill took on Saturday during the first-ever performance by Dum Dum Girls.

Dum Dum Girls is really just one person - Dee Dee.... aka Kristin Gundred from Grand Ole Party who is married to Brandon Welchez of Crocodiles who she released a duet with (video below) and who was one of the members of the Dum Dum Girls band at Woodsist. The other two members of the band were Mike Sniper of Blank Dogs and Frankie Rose of Crystal Stilts (and a former Vivian Girl)...

Continue reading "Woodsist Fest happened - Dum Dum girls (Grand Ole Party + Crocodiles + Blank Dogs + Frankie Rose) debuted - video "

DOWNLOAD: Woods - To Clean (MP3)

"...it has been damn near impossible to keep up with [Blank Dog] Mike Sniper's Captured Tracks label, who have hit the ground running with eight releases since the start of the year and many more slated for the near future. Captured Tracks is, to put it plainly, an outlet for Mr. Sniper to release records by bands he loves. In his mind it is "not a boutique label, " and by that he means that the releases are not meant to become instant eBay collectables, and will remain in print as long as there are people buying them. Some will have limited edition versions with alternate artwork or bonuses, but even these editions are easily and widely available. Affordable, available and well made, Captured Tracks is the populist record label. " [Agit Reader]

Continue reading "Woodsist/CT Festival - final 2-day lineup, set times, tickets "

by Bill Pearis

DOWNLOAD: Amazing Baby - Smoke Bros (MP3)

Amazing Baby

"I actually miss the days when you just wrote about Amazing Baby in eeevery post." - BV commenter Eric Serpa | June 4, 2009 4:59 PM

Do they have questionable taste when it comes to fashion, their album covers and music videos? Maybe, but I don't think you can accuse Amazing Baby of the same, musically, or jumping on any bandwagons. Rewild is psychedelic without being being retro, danceable at times, heavy, glammy, catchy as hell and full of inventive arrangements and production. It rocks and swoons and sounds great loud. And they don't sound like any single other band out there. You can download "Smoke Bros" (which reminds me of Shriekback a little bit) at the top of this post. And you can stream the whole album at their MySpace.

Lightspeed Champion

Still reading? Phoenix's openers at tomorrow's (6/18) Music Hall of Williamsburg is Lightspeed Champion. That show is beyond sold-out, but tonight (6/17), he's playing a warm up show at Mercury Lounge, which will be his first in a long time. Dev has become a Brooklyn resident in the last year, which is where he also recorded his still-untitled second solo album (due in Oct.) with help from the Spacecamp boys who will also be his backing band at both shows. As a fan of last year's underrated Falling Off the Lavendar Bridge, I'm anxious to hear Dev's new material. Tickets are still available.

Spacecamp are also playing a set of their own at Mercury Lounge, opening the night, though you'd think it would've made more sense for them to play next-to-last and just have Dev come out and join them for a seamless transition, but I am a blogger not a stage manager. The band now have a full-time keyboardist in the mix which has made them a bit funkier (clavinet tends to do that). You can can get an idea of that in the footage Joly shot from Spacecamp's Annex show two weeks ago (below). In between Spacecamp and Lightspeed are Apache Beat and New Orleans' Hurray for the Riff Raff.

Nobunny

The show I'm most looking forward to this week, though, is this Friday (6/19) at Bruar Falls: Nobunny, Hunx and His Punx, German Measels, Baby Shakes and The Beets. I wrote about Nobunny the last time he was through town, having just caught him at SXSW, and his shows are fun and creepy all at the same time. (It's that mask.) If you haven't heard his debut, Love Visions, it's a lot of fun if you like bare-bones Ramones style punky pop. He recently put out a cassette-only album, Raw Romance, of demos and outtakes that was also pretty good -- it's sold out but maybe he'll have copies on tour with him. Nobunny also plays an all-ages show at Death by Audio two nights later (6/21).

The whole evening at Bruar Falls sounds like fun. Hunx and His Punx look and sound like they lept out of a John Waters movie and judging by their music videos I can only hope they bring that level of camp to their live show. Hunx has a new single out, "Teardrops on My Telephone," on Jay Reatard's Shattered label (also home to Nobunny). You can see the video for that song below. Hunx is playing a bunch of shows and parties this week, and all his dates are at the bottom of this post.

Also: the girl group punk of Baby Shakes; German Measels' fake mustache pop; and The Beets who seem to play every four days but I've enjoyed every show I've seen of theirs (including two previous at Bruar Falls).

Other shows of note: there's a TWII-approved line-up at Glasslands on tonight (6/17): Sisters, My Teenage Stride, and Knight School. All the bands are good, but if you haven't seen Sisters yet, you should really rectify that as soon as possible. On of my all time favorite new local bands of the moment.

Crocodiles are back in town, playing Union Pool on Thursday (6/18) and Mercury Lounge on Saturday (6/20). I don't care what Pitchfork says, I think their album is pretty good and they were fun at Pianos earlier this year.

And it wouldn't be a proper TWII column without mentioning this year's Twee as Fuck party at Cake Shop. TaF is a monthy party in London, as well as a fanzine and label, and they bring it over here in June. I went to last year's moderately-attended event which featured Afternoon Naps, Bears, and Pains at Being Pure at Heart who are headlining again this year though it's an understatement to say that things have changed for them. Not that they don't totally deserve it, but it still boggles my mind that the Pains have become a big as they have. TPOBPAH just announced a fall tour and those dates are below. Their next NYC show after Cake Shop is at South Street Seaport (home of tonight's Jon Spencer Blues Explosion Show).

With a lineup that also includes their Slumberland labelmates Crystal Stilts and Cause Co-Motion, as well as London's Hatcham Social, this is gonna be one super-packed, sweaty night at Cake Shop. Advance tickets are sold out, but there are a few available at the door if you get there early. Doors are at 7pm.

That's it for this week. Flyers, videos, and tour dates are after the jump....

Continue reading "Amazing Baby, Nobunny, Hunx & His Punx, Lightspeed Champion, TPOBPAH & more in This Week In Indie "

by Bill Pearis

DOWNLOAD: Hatcham Social - So So Happy Making (MP3)

London's Hatcham Social are direct musical descendants of Orange Juice, Echo & the Bunnymen or, more recently, Clearlake: scratchy but melodic, with an occasional flair for the melodramatic, and very, very British. In the UK, they're signed to Fierce Panda, the label that first gave us Art Brut and, um, Coldplay; in the U.S they're with TBD Records, home of White Rabbits and Radiohead. Hatcham Social's long-time-coming debut, You Dig The Tunnel, I'll Hide The Soil, was co-produced by Tim Burgess of the Charlatans with whom they'll be touring this fall.

Before that, they'll be playing a handful of choice NYC shows over the next week or so, including Thursday's (6/18) Twee As Fuck party at Cake Shop that also features most of Slumberland's current roster: The Pains of Being Pure at Heart, Crystal Stilts, and Cause Co-Motion. Tickets ($10) to that show, by the way, can be bought in advance at either Cake Shop or Bruar Falls daily from noon to 10PM. Please note: "ONLY 200 TIX AVAILABLE!" Um... 200 people can fit in Cake Shop? UPDATE: Sold out, but tickets will be available at the door. Go early if you don't already have a ticket and want to get in.

Additionally, Hatcham Social are playing Mondo @ Don Hill's this Friday (6/19), and two dates with The Maccabees and Miike Snow: Saturday (6/20) at Music Hall of Williamsburg and Monday (6/22) at Mercury Lounge.

Check out the MP3 of "So So Happy Making" above, and there are videos, flyers and tour dates after the jump.

Continue reading "Hatcham Social - MP3 & 4 NYC shows including Cake Shop w/ Crystal Stilts & TPOBPAH, Merc/MHOW w/ Maccabees"

by Bill Pearis

Chris La Putt's pictures on the wall of MHOW (by Maryanne Ventrice)

I'm gonna keep this Sunday (6/14) post short and sweet, or try to. First a couple announcements. The So Cow at Shea Stadium is now officially part of the Northside Fest, happily taking badges (hopefully). They're on at 10:30P. The rest of the evening is The Specific Heats at 7:30, the Gutsies (not the Gusties as I had called them before, sorry guys) at 8:30, and Knight School at 9:30. That should be a fun show.

And Crystal Stilts have been added to the Ponytail-curated bill at Studio B (moved from its original location at the Shank) which seems the place to be Sunday night. The lineup is: Cool Dads at 9:30, Thank You at 10:15, Ponytail at 11:15, at Crystal Stilts at 12:15. You could also spend your whole Sunday at Studio B, the day party features the fun Phil & the Osophers (3PM), Oregon folkie Laura Gibson (4PM) and The Dodos (5PM) who'll hopefully be playing a lot of songs from their new album which is due out later this year.

A couple other recommendations: Bruar Falls plays host to an afternoon of bands curated by 1928 Recordings. No Soft Pack (who are now signed to Kemado), unfortunately, but the awesome Browns (3PM), plus Air Waves (4PM) and the Sundelles (5PM).

And while it should come as no surprise that metal isn't really my thing, Black Bubblegum assures me the line-up he's put together at Europa would crush me like a bug. In a good way?

There is of course lots more going on at Northside on Sunday. Am I missing anything crucial?

Dodos video below...

Continue reading "Bill's Northside Festival Picks - Day Four (Crystal Stilts, So Cow, Ponytail, The Dodos... BV metal show & more) "

Broadway Backyard (more by Tim Griffin)

Woodsist and Captured Tracks have joined forces with Todd P to present a two-day festival of bands at Broadway Backyard in Brooklyn this July 3rd and 4th. More info and full lineup (so far) below....

Continue reading "Woodsist & Captured Tracks throwing a festival in Brooklyn"

Thao @ Mercury Lounge last year (more by Kyle Dean Reinford)

tonight in NYC
* DANCE
* THIS WEEK IN INDIE
* The Damned @ Irving Plaza
* P-Bingo Night @ the Living Room
* Lez Zeppelin @ Webster Hall
* The English Beat @ Maxwell's
* Dave Deporis @ Mercury Lounge
* Grand Mal, Team Genius @ Union Hall
* Paleface, Creaky Boards @ Joe's Pub
* Bill Frisell Trio @ Village Vanguard
* Local Correspondents Festival @ Bar 4
* Womb Sharks, (Lone) Wolf and Cub @ Union Pool
* Mice Parade, Hauschka, Acme @ (Le) Poisson Rouge
* Steve Curtis (of Hem), Erikia Simonian @ Sycamore
* Black Strobe, Arnaud Rebotini @ (Le) Poisson Rouge
* The Dig, Pretty & Nice, Middle Distance Runner @ Union Hall
* The Bad Plus, Benevento/Mathis/Barr Trio @ Merkin Concert Hall
* Club NME w/ Terror Pigeon Dance Revolt, Gildonworks @ The Annex
* Acrylics, Pursesnatchers, Joe & Flying Spoons, Sisters @ The Cameo
* Surfrider benefit w/ Weird Owl, Condo, New Idea Society @ Fontana's
* Great Night in Harlem w/ Lou Reed, Dr. John, more @ Apollo Theater
* The Sundelles, Rifle Recoil, The Tony Castles, Darlings @ Bruar Falls
* Thao With The Get Down Stay Down, Sister Suvi, Samantha Crain @ Bowery
* Marc Ribot plays Frantz Casseus w/ Marc Cappelli, Ribot's Sun Ship @ the Stone
* Spiral Beach, Chandeliers, Buffalo Stance, Brother Raven, @ Death By Audio
* Impose show w/ Crystal Stilts, Gary War, Nerve City, Nice Face @ Don Pedro
* Miracles of Modern Science, Kittens Ablaze, Phil & the Osophers @ Public Assembly
* Goes Cube, Red Beard, Constants, Austerity Program, Jones Street Station @ the Studio
* NYC Popfest: The Ballet, My Teenage Stride, Metric Mile, Dream Bitches, Soft City, Knight School @ Cake Shop

Crystal Stilts are a local band that prove just because you can play bigger venues, doesn't mean you should stop playing regularly in your hometown. Catch them at Don Pedro's tonight.

The Punch Brothers have the same point of view.

Dave Deporis surfaces once again. Tonight at Mercury Lounge.

Marc Ribot's birthday week continues.

The Damned are here!

The English Beat are here!

Jarvis Cocker's new video for "Angela" below...

What else?

Continue reading "What's going on Thursday?"

Crystal Stilts @ The Shank - Sat, April 25 (Ryan Muir/Metromix)

Crystal Stilts are playing Cake Shop tonight (4/30). This show is not to be confused with the previously announced CS Cake Shop show which isn't until June. ,

Tonight's show, which was curated by Liam of caUSE coMOTION, is also Cake Shop's The World's Birthday Party show which means if you were born in April, you can get in for free. Prince Ruperts Drops (formerly The Woods and The Frams) and Beachniks are also on the bill.

Crystal Stilts last few local shows were Sunday night at Maxwell's (happy birthday Musicsnobbery), Saturday night at The Shank (courtesy of Topman), and opening for The Dead Weather at Bowery Ballroom. All future dates below...

Continue reading "Crystal Stilts, who just played the Shank & Maxwell's, are playing the Cake Shop birthday show tonight/Thursday"

WAVVES SUXX (Psychedelic Horseshit) @ BV day party @ Emo's - March 18, 2009

Washington Post: Vivian Girls, Wavves - why is everyone in a lo-fi band now?

Psychedlic Horseshit's Matt Whitehurst: I have no idea. I don't know. It became in vogue sometime in the last year due to a few figureheads talking a bunch of [expletive] on Terminal Boredom. And now it's exploded into this thing there where Wavves is getting $30,000 to [expletive] crank out this [expletive] generic [expletive].

There's a lot of one-person things now.

Right it's one person with GarageBand and a few chords and like -- Wavves to me sounds like [expletive] TV on the Radio. That band sucks [expletive]. It's one of the worst bands to get popular in a long time. They [expletive] trump No Age because I think it's worse than No Age. No Age is just like, [expletive]. It's really [expletive].

But you're playing at least one show with Wavves down here.

Three of them, yeah.

So how do you reconcile that?

We made "Wavves Suxx" t-shirts with it spelled S-U-X-X. We got tons of people taking pictures with us in those. People are all into it. And actually Wavves came up to our drummer and our drummer had no idea it was Wavves. And Wavves took like six pictures with Rich with the "Wavves Suxx" t-shirt on. So, you know, that little [expletive]'s probably into it or something. And is probably like, Oh, it's like hip-hop, man!

Psychedelic Horseshit is on tour with Quintron. They played Santos Party House the other night. Tonight (4/24) it's at Market Hotel. Bill just talked about Wizzard Sleeve. They're also on the bill.

Friday April 24th @ MARKET HOTEL

:: QUINTRON
:::: Psychedelic Horseshit
:::::: Wizzard Sleeve

| MARKET HOTEL |
1142 Myrtle Ave @ Bdwy | Bushwick, Bklyn

Updated WAVVES flyer and Psychedelic Horseshit dates below...

Continue reading "Psychedelic Horseshit (here) hates WAVVES (tix today)"

Topshop (TURBOW)

There's a free show Saturday, April 25th at The Shank (98 Bayard St @ Leonard St) with Crystal Stilts, Wavves, These Are Powers, Crash Diet Crew, and Muggabears (who are apparently now called Grooms).

It's free...but you have to have a ticket. The Topshop/Topman store in Soho will be giving the tickets away on Friday, April 24th between 2-7pm to those who present a college ID.

Crystal Stilts also have shows coming up at Maxwell's, The Bell House, and Cake Shop. WAVVES, who lives in California, was just here in March.

Topman flyer below...

Continue reading "Crystal Stilts, WAVVES, These Are Powers & others playing a free TOPMAN show @ the Shank (tix for students) "

"met jack white for the first time tonight at the dead weather show." -David Pajo

"It's only fitting that it was a gloomy and rainy on the night of the first ever public performance by music supergroup The Dead Weather. And while the cold clammy weather was bummer for those hovering by the entrance of the Bowery Ballroom in hopes of snagging an extra ticket to the sold out performance, for the lucky folks who made it inside the outlook was positive.

Judging from the pre-show audience chatter it seemed as though the major draw of the night was to see Jack White strut his stuff with his new side project, but as soon as the band came out on stage and started in on the first rock-fueled tune, all eyes were on frontwoman Alison Mosshart.

Known as the female half of the rock duo The Kills, Mosshart is familiar with being in the (shared) spotlight. But where The Kills's energy comes from the push and pull between Mosshart and her bandmate Jamie Hince, the dynamic of the Dead Weather is hinged upon Mosshart's role as the ferocious, fearless leader and the rest of the band acting as her dutiful, capable soldiers."
[The Modern Age]

By 10:05, The Dead Weather were on stage and playing. Before the two-song encore that would end their hour-or-so (12 songs total?) headlining set, Jack White came out from the drums (his main instrument in this band) and played a song (as everyone hoped he would) on guitar. He also sang a bunch, mostly while playing drums.

More pictures from the show, and some videos, below...

Continue reading "The Dead Weather @ Bowery Ballroom, NYC - pics, video"

photos by Tim Griffin

Comet Gain

NY Press: This is the 17th year of Comet Gain's existence. How has the band changed in that time?

David Feck: We lost a few and the ones that have stayed got hairier. There was a moment in our history where it became clear that Comet Gain was going to be a band about carrying on. That for every joy and blunder and hard time that goes on we have our songs for it... and that keeps happening... unfortunately there are more blunders and hard times but fortunately there are tons good times

...

Is there anything in New York that you're excited for? When was the last time you were here?

We were here 10 years ago...and it's been about that long since we've seen a lot of friends.

The venue was not packed, but the cluster of fans were enthused--a cult defined.

The New York label What's Your Rupture? recently issued Broken Record Prayers, a compilation of singles that Comet Gain released over the past decade. It's an apt showcase for the sloppy band, and the ostensible reason for its presence in Brooklyn last night. Comet Gain came to town short a member--guitarist Jon Slade does not fly--appearing as a five-piece. They were fronted by singer-guitarist David Feck and Rachel Evans, who stands at center stage, singing and vigorously clapping like a cheerleader. Feck is Comet Gain's songwriter and sole original member; Evans is its secret weapon. The interplay between the two singers, along with the group's ragtag charm, was reminiscent of the Mekons. Its tiny jumpy songs, with Velvets guitars and drone from a Vox, funnels an army of the stubborn and underappreciated: the Clean (whose "Beatnik" is covered, beautifully and loudly, on Broken Record Prayers); the Pastels (namechecked onstage during a Hitler joke); and Television Personalities (whose "Part Time Punks" was requested and performed, briefly, as an audience sing-along led by Evans).

And speaking of Crystal Stilts, they were added as the lucky opener for Dead Weather at Bowery Ballroom on Tuesday.

More pictures from Sunday's show below...

Continue reading "Comet Gain & Crystal Stilts @ MHOW, NYC - pics "