Michael Berdan of Believer/Law @ Saint Vitus (more by Caroline Harrison)

Synth-driven gothic beats from Believer/Law (mem Drunkdriver, Veins and the recently added Sean Ragon of Cult of Youth) will team with John Sharkey III, TIERS (also mems of Cult of Youth) and Soren (of Rosenkopf) for a show on April 27 at Saint Vitus. The John Sharkey appearance is the first solo outing for the Clockcleaner/Puerto Rico Flowers member, who will perform material from his previous ventures as well as new solo material. Tickets are still available.

The show will be the last B/L show for a while, as the band will head to the studio to record their debut LP for Ragon's Blind Prophet Recordings. Details on that release are on the way.

Michael Berdan of B/L will also perform a solo set on the May 1 edition of Nothing Changes, the Wednesday late-night party at Home Sweet Home. The remainder of April at Nothing Changes will feature sets from Bain Wolfkind/Degreaser on Wednesday (4/17) and 4th Sign of the Apocalypse/House of Blondes on 4/24.

by Fred Pessaro // BBG

Cult of Youth at Union Pool, Dec 2012 (more by Lukas Hodge)

Cult of Youth recently taped an episode of popular Blogotheque's popular "Take Away" series, performing a stripped-down rendition of "Garden of Delights" from last year's Love Will Prevail. You can watch that below.

The band have also announced a set of dates that will kick off with a headlining show at 285 Kent on March 2. There the band will team with Alberich (who recently played Saint Vitus), Herzog Rising, and psychedelic noise-punks Destruction Unit.

The show is one of two NYC shows scheduled for CoY. This week you can catch them at Europa on Thursday (1/24), supporting the Hirsute Pursuit with the ever controversial Boyd Rice / NON, and House of Blondes. Tickets are still available.

Speaking of Destruction Unit, you can stream some of their material below and look for their new LP, Void, on Jolly Dream soon.

In related news, Sean Ragon (of CoY) recently celebrated the one year anniversary of the opening of Heaven Street Records at its current location. Congrats Sean!

A list of all tour dates, the "Take Away Show" featuring CoY, and some streaming Destruction Unit material are below...

Continue reading "Cult of Youth made a "Take Away Show" video, playing shows (dates, streams)"

Tickets for the Iceage, White Lung, and Parquet Courts show at Bowery Ballroom go on AmEx presale today at noon.

Tickets for the Solange show at Webster Hall go on AmEx presale today at noon.

Tickets for the Liars show at Brooklyn Masonic Temple are on ale now. Tickets for their show at the Met are still available too.

The Queers are going on tour with fellow Ramones worshippers Teenage Bottlerocket and Masked Intruder which hits NYC on March 2 at Santos Party House. Tickets for that show are on sale now. All dates are listed below.

'90s alt-lite faves Sixpence None the Richer play Knitting Factory on February 6. Tickets for that show are on sale now.

Toots & the Maytals are playing with Galactic and Nigel Hall Band at Terminal 5 on April 13. Tickets for that show go on AmEx/Ticketmaster presale today at noon with a general on-sale starting Friday (1/11) at noon.

Birthmark (aka Nate Kinsella) has been added as an opener to the Tim Kasher shows at Knitting Factory and Maxwell's. Tickets for the Knit show and tickets for the Maxwell's show are still on sale.

Hirsute Pursuit (mem of Thee Majesty) will team with the ever controversial Boyd Rice/NON as part of a show at Europa on January 24th. Support will come from Cult of Youth and House of Blondes. Tickets for that show are on sale now.

Tickets for the Gojira, Devin Townsend, and The Atlas Moth show at Music Hall of Williamsburg go on AmEx presale today at noon.

Tickets for the Dawn Richard show at SOB's are on sale now.

Tickets for the Rockie Fresh and Lunice show at SOB's are on sale now.

Tickets for the Amon Tobin DJ gig at Le Poisson Rouge are on sale now.

Celtic punks The Tossers are playing Mercury Lounge on March 8 with Continental. Tickets for that show go on AmEx presale today at noon with a general on-sale starting Friday (1/11) at noon.

XXYYXX and Teen Daze are playing 285 Kent on February 21. Tickets for that show are on sale now.

All Queers, Teenage Bottlerocket, Masked Intruder dates are listed below...

Continue reading "tix on sale: Iceage, Solange, Queers, Sixpence None the Richer, Toots & the Maytals, Gojira, Teen Daze & more"

JANE PAIN: American label Sacred Bones is about to reissue Growing Seeds. How do you feel about the US? Why have you decided to write your songs in English and do you think it is significant at all? Are you looking forward to your upcoming American tour dates? What American bands/projects are you into right now?
HANNES NORRVIDE (of Lust for Youth): I'm excited to visit US, I've only been there when I was very young. I'v met some really sweet people that are from the states so I hope the rest of US is like them, I don't know.
Well, writing in english feels more safe than writing in my native language. And of course I've listened to a lot of music my whole life which most have been in english so it got kind of natural.
I got this 12″ by Hieroglyphic Being, I really liked that one, Gatekeeper.

After a show in Tempe with Pharmakon, Soren and Foreplay, the final Lust for Youth date in the US in 2012 will appropriately come at the Sacred Bones 5 Year anniversary party on 12/21/12. There the band will join Zola Jesus, Cult of Youth (who just played Union Pool), Psychic Ills (who play NYC on New Year's Eve) and many more as fire rains down upon the earth during the impending apocalypse (if you follow the Mayan calendar).

Head below for some streaming tracks from Lust For Youth, The Men, and a Sacred Bones 5th Anniversary mix, right beside the LFY tour schedule.

Continue reading "Lust for Youth are here, play WIERD tonight (dates)"

photos by Lukas Hodge, words by Lauren Jackson

Cult of Youth @ Union Pool, 12/9/2012

On Sunday night (12/10), Brooklyn's Cult of Youth played a sold out show at Union Pool, with support from Seattle's King Dude (who also played Europa), and new band Boca Raton (playing their first show ever).

After going through shifts in line-up throughout the year, Cult of Youth has settled comfortably as a four-piece and, though frontman Sean Ragon's creative vision remains the same, their live performance has transformed, too. With fewer members onstage, the natural assumption would be that the band's performance lacked some element of its previous manifestation. The presence of fewer members, however, did not come off as something lost, but something gained. The quartet had room to breathe, and not just literally. The stripping away made each member's contribution more vital, and turned the focus entirely on what makes Cult of Youth's music so awesome--the unrelenting, battle march quality of their songs, wrapped up with Ragon's snarling lyrical delivery. No matter what stage they take, CoY marries American folk and American disillusionment perfectly, and now--in their new, less cluttered form--that's clearer than ever.

Supporting band King Dude helped to solidify that sentiment, too. If the Johnny Cash crooning and folk-drenched guitar playing didn't make it clear enough, the tattered American flag washed in black certainly did: this was a band singing about the America found in sad, small towns off highways in the middle of endless plains or desert. When asked what the flag meant to him, frontman TJ Cowgill aptly replied, "Well, we're an American band." In spite of the questions their aesthetic (black clothes, slicked back hair, Perkins and Cash Xeroxes) may call up, there really is very little to wonder about King Dude... a band with a simple name, singing beautifully sad songs about simple things, simple people and a simple way of life.

More pictures from CoY/King Dude below.

Continue reading "Cult of Youth played Union Pool w/ King Dude and Boca Raton (pics, review)"

King Dude at Home Sweet Home, April 2012 (more by Phil Maler)

In addition to a recently acquired opening slot for Psychic TV on 12/7 at Europa (tickets), King Dude has also added a headlining show of his own at Union Pool on 12/9 with Cult of Youth. No word on advance tickets just yet. The show is part of a string of dates for the gothic crooner, who will play select cities on the eastern seaboard, as well as a stop in Chicago a month before his other stop in Chicago. Full tour dates are listed below.

King Dude recently released Burning Daylight which you can order a copy of at bandcamp and stream in full below.

Continue reading "King Dude touring, playing Union Pool w/ Cult of Youth (dates)"

Zola Jesus at Austin City Limits, Oct 2012 (more by Glen Brown)

While metal fans/bands (not to mention others) are pouncing upon the Mayan prophecies regarding the end of the world, the tongue-in-cheek attitude isn't limited to the distortion pedal set. Sacred Bones Records will use the occaision to celebrate their five year anniversary, scheduling a show the Mojave desert. Specifically, it goes down at Pappy and Harriets Pioneertown Palace on December 21 with an impressive array from their current lineup: Zola Jesus, Cult of Youth, Lust For Youth, Psychic Ills, Wymond Miles, Pop 1280 and "special guests." Tickets are on sale now.

Congrats to Sacred Bones on their anniversary, maybe we'll see you on the other side... or maybe not.

by Fred Pessaro // BBG

Slug Guts, not Sisters of Mercy, @ Home Sweet Home, 10/17/2012

Post-punk maniacs Slug Guts joined headliner Cult of Youth with Soren (of Rosenkopf) for an appearance at the hazy, fog-dense basement of Home Sweet Home for the WIERD party last night (10/17), the first of three area appearances. Though Cult of Youth and Soren both ripped excellent sets, Slug Guts were mesmerizing in the tiny space, packing it to the gills.

If you missed the Australian band, make sure and catch them at either The Acheron on Friday (10/19) with Pop 1280 and Vaz or at the Life or Death showcase at 92Y Tribeca on Saturday (10/20).

More pictures from last night's WIERD are below.

Continue reading "Slug Guts played WIERD with Cult of Youth and Soren of Rosenkopf (pics)"

Australia's Slug Guts are currently touring the US on the strength of their recent Sacred Bones release, Playin' In Time with the Deadbeat, a slab of noisy post-punk misanthropy a la The Birthday Party and early Christian Death. The band will hit NYC next week during the CMJ festival, including October 20 at the Life or Death PR party at 92YTribeca, October 19 at Acheron with Pop 1280 & Vaz, and also WIERD on Otctober 17 at Home Sweet Home with Rosenkopf and Cult of Youth.

For those who can't make it out to the shows, make sure and catch the band on WNYU on Oct 18th (89.1FM, or streaming) at 4PM as part of the New Afternoon Show.

All tour dates and  audio/video from Slug Guts recent LP are below.

Continue reading "Slug Guts on tour, playing 3 NYC shows during CMJ (dates)"

by Lauren Jackson

Cult of Youth at Public Assembly 9/7/2012

Friday evening at Public Assembly (9/7) saw a motley crew of performances to celebrate the
release of Cult of Youth's new album, Love Will Prevail, out now via Sacred Bones.

At the start of the night, crusty noisemakers Zatsuon pierced through the sparse crowd with a blisteringly short set that involved a lot of caterwauling, a lot of blown out bass and a lot of thrashing about (though almost entirely by the band's frontman who violently threw himself into and out of the less-than-willing crowd on more than one occasion). Polarizing the small crowd, the open-minded stayed throughout their set while the rest-- no doubt Cult of Youth fans expecting something less aurally assaulting--retreated to the back of the venue. Summed up well by a small and very concerned-looking concertgoer after Zatsuon's frontman jumped from the stage into the crowd, "Do you know if all the other bands are going to be like this? I don't want to get hurt."

Whether or not she preferred what Pink Reason brought to the stage next is uncertain, but they did set the concert on a less sinister path--at least on the surface. The set hearkened to a time of a laid-back punk affectation, less encumbered by fashion statements and more about the familiar devil-may-care attitude. Jangling, bluesy at times, Pink Reason were, above all, quite fun to watch--a far cry from the hollow alienation that characterized the band's earlier "shitgaze" records. Someone familiar with the band's discography might even say that Pink Reason's performance spoke to a newfound control over the uninhibited anomie of their earlier work; a sign that the band is not less nihilistic these days, but more at ease with that nihilism. True to that, frontman Kevin DeBroux introduced one of his upbeat, pogo-ready punk songs with, "This song is about the American prison system...I just wanna say: fucking kill cops."

Pharmakon

Though it may have been an odd choice to add noise project Pharmakon to the bill, it proved an awesome one. Easily the most unexpected and powerful performance of the night, solo noise artist Margaret Chardiet commanded the attention of the of the audience more than any other. Ghoulishly swaying back and forth with her long blonde hair concealing her face, her distorted, reverberating vocals cascaded through harsh industrial beats. It was less a performance and more a display of demonic possession, the spilling over of a rage so pure, powerful and misanthropic that it seized total control over all.

It was as if Pharmakon delivered the opening liturgy for headliners Cult of Youth who did, in fact, preside over the show much like a priest at the altar. By the time they went on, the stage was smoky, the smell of incense pervading through the dark room. The bands raw pastiche of rugged Americana, neo-folk and exotic psychedelia are haunting enough alone, but coupled with their spectral appearance on stage -- lit only from below, shadows casting into the hollows of each musician's face -- one could believe they were quite literally channeling the spirits of long-dead saints, criminals and poets. Though now short the disturbingly beautiful violin arrangements of Christiana Key, Cult of Youth proved no worse for wear and the songs played from their new album may very well be their richest yet.

Cult of Youth head out on tour in early October, including a stop at FFF Fest in Austin. Tour dates are below.

Continue reading "Cult of Youth played Public Assembly with Pharmakon, Zatsuon and Pink Reason (review)"

Pharmakon (photo by Jane Chardiet)

One-woman noise wrecking crew Pharmakon will join a stellar support cast of Pink Reason and Zatsuon as part of the previously discussed Cult of Youth record release party that happens tonight (9/7) at Public Assembly. Tickets are available at the door for or you can try your hand at winning a pair! Details on how to win are below.

If you can't celebrate Cult of Youth's new LP with the band, live vicariously through their recorded material; Love will Prevail is out now via Sacred Bones. Stream a couple of tracks and check out video of Pharmakon's live set below.

Cult of Youth is on tour in Europe in September and will cross paths with labelmates and fellow Brooklynites Amen Dunes. Amen Dunes' US tour leads up to and follows those dates in the EU, includes a stop at Hopscotch this weekend,.

Dates for Amen Dunes and CoY are listed below.

Continue reading "Pharmakon added to Cult of Youth record release party tonight (win tickets)"

Pharmakon (photo by Jane Chardiet)

One-woman noise wrecking crew Pharmakon will join a stellar support cast of Pink Reason and Zatsuon as part of the previously discussed Cult of Youth record release party that happens tonight (9/7) at Public Assembly. Tickets are available at the door for or you can try your hand at winning a pair! Details on how to win are below.

If you can't celebrate Cult of Youth's new LP with the band, live vicariously through their recorded material; Love will Prevail is out now via Sacred Bones. Stream a couple of tracks and check out video of Pharmakon's live set below.

Cult of Youth is on tour in Europe in September and will cross paths with labelmates and fellow Brooklynites Amen Dunes. Amen Dunes' US tour leads up to and follows those dates in the EU, includes a stop at Hopscotch this weekend,.

Dates for Amen Dunes and CoY are listed below.

Continue reading "Pharmakon added to Cult of Youth record release party tonight (win tickets)"

Brooklyn's Cult of Youth have shared a new track from their forthcoming Love Will Prevail LP, due via Sacred Bones on Sept 4. Stream "Garden of Delights" along with the previously-released "Man and Man's Ruin" below.

CoY will play a record release show on at Public Assembly on September 7. No openers have been announced yet but tickets are on sale. After a month away from the road, look for Sean Ragon and crew to hit the road for a month-plus US tour. So far no additional NYC dates, but other shows from coast to coast are listed below.

Continue reading "Cult of Youth release another track from new LP (stream it), announce US tour (dates)"

After teasing folks with a few names here and there -- like Run DMC most recently -- Austin's annual Fun Fun Fun Fest (Nov 2 - 4) has revealed it's full line-up, including Public Image Ltd, De La Soul, Superchunk, Santigold, Refused, X peforming Los Angeles, and lots, lots more. 3-day passes go on sale at 10AM CST.

Full FFF Fest lineup is below.

Continue reading "Fun Fun Fun Fest full lineup (De La Soul, Refused, Fucked Up, Public Image Ltd, Santigold, Sharon Van Etten, Rakim, X, Converge, Japandroids & more)"

by Fred Pessaro // BBG

'Love will Prevail' art

On a recent trip to the awesome record store Heaven Street Records (owned by Sean Ragon of Cult of Youth), Ragon showed me around the studio built in the back of the store. Its this same studio where the Cult of Youth honcho recorded all of the new LP Love Will Prevail (he plays all of the instruments and recorded it himself), which includes the new track "Man and Man's Ruin" streamable below. Look for Love will Prevail on Sept 4th via Sacred Bones.

Cult of Youth will play a record release show in celebration of the new LP at Public Assembly on September 6th. Tickets are on sale.

Stream that new CoY song below.

Continue reading "Cult of Youth releasing 'Love will Prevail' (stream a track), playing NYC record release show"

by BBG

Art for Old Man Gloom's No

Old Man Gloom will welcome a new LP NO via Hydra Head this year! The band, who is currently on tour and heading towards a decimation of Brooklyn this coming week, will have copies of the record at the merch table. Unfortunately, those who can't make it to the shows will have to wait until June 16th to snag a copy. Check out a teaser trailer for the release below.

Black metal crew Assymmetry will team with Gravfolluth for a rare show at The Acheron on May 12th. $8 gets you in. The band has two demo releases on Kuunpalvelus, a label run by members of the mighty Circle of Ouroboros, and you can stream some material from them below. May 12th is a busy night, but this is their only US appearance scheduled so far... its a doozy.

Noise and ambient meets powerviolence on Gas Chamber's new 7" The Modern Vision of the Erect Nightmare, out now via Nerve Altar. The record is currently streaming in full below and available for purchase via the label. Make sure you catch them when the band hits Chaos in Tejas this year (if you're heading down that way).

Vattnet Viskar and Yellow Eyes will team up for a Broken Limbs showcase at Lit Lounge on May 14th. The band, who seemingly plays Precious Metal monthly, recently released a well-received self-titled EP which available for stream below.

Mark your calendars for May 16th at Home Sweet Home, I'll be DJing alongside Glenn from Cult of Youth and Zach from Freshkills as part of Wierd Wednesdays. The show is part of a Toxic State/Katorga Works event that will feature appearances from Massachusetts' own Cleansing Wave and Brooklyn's Nomad. More details are available on the Facebook event. My involvement aside, it's a hell of a night of punk rock.

More suggested shows and streams are below. What did I miss?

Continue reading "Evillive (Old Man Gloom, Assymmetry, Gas Chamber, Vattnet Viskar & more)"

by BBG

Pop 1280 mine the dark chasms of punk and no-wave on their new LP The Horror, due on Sacred Bones on January 24th. The band previously released the song "Bodies In The Dunes" from that album, and we are now proud to premiere another track today called "New Electronix". Stream both below.

Pop 1280 have THREE NYC shows scheduled for the next couple of months. Most imminently, the band will play Sunday at Music Hall of Williamsburg (1/22) with Pissed Jeans & Protect-U. Tickets are still available. The band will ALSO play a record release show that week at the WIERD party at Home Sweet Home on January 25th with DJs Caleb Braaten (of Sacred Bones) + Glenn Maryansky (of Cult of Youth), more details are available at the Facebook invite. Last but not least, look for Pop 1280 at Saint Vitus on March 3rd with Velvet Condom and Bootblacks. Tickets are on sale.

Speaking of Cult of Youth, vocalist/guitarist Sean Ragon will re-open his record store Heaven Street on Friday (1/20). The opening of the new location (184 Noll St, near Flushing Ave, off the Morgan L) will be accompanied by free beer, and DJ sets from Glenn Maryansky, Sybil Disobedience, Chris Prorock, Ning Nong and Gasface. The grand re-opening kicks off at 4PM and more details are available at the Facebook invite.

All streams and some video is below.

Continue reading "Pop. 1280 prepare 'The Horror' (song premiere) & a trio of NYC shows (one with Pissed Jeans); Heaven Street re-opening"

words by Lauren Jackson, photos by Greg Cristman

Psychic TV @ Europa

Psychic TV assembled something of a hodgepodge of people sporting vampire fangs, black clothing and, of course, a fair share of pale, sad faces at Europa on December 15th (one of three December PTV shows. The other two were in Chicago and Austin).

An attendee with no previous knowledge of their legacy might think they were in for a dark and dismal performance, but this latest manifestation of the experimental outfit was undoubtedly more colorful than the people in attendance. Although the band played a set of entirely new songs, the crowd (and I, alike) thoroughly enjoyed the psychedelic spectacle on stage. Through guitar solos and graphic projections, the focal point of the set was always on Genesis Breyer P-Orridge, the only remaining original member.

Genesis conducted the band like a cult ceremony - frenetic at times with vaguely epileptic gestures, and subtle at others. They performed all new "deeply psychedelic" material. Pairing that along with Genesis' heavy presence and ten minute guitar solos, it was easy to fall into a trance. Watching them perform, I was hardly aware of where I was or what was going on, but kept focus solely on how elastic the music sounded.

It was a peculiar follow to the two opening bands, Cult of Youth and Bryin Dall. The night started strong with Cult of Youth performing an impassioned neofolk set that felt more like a sermon than a performance, thanks to frontman Sean Ragon. That fire sputtered a bit with the solo set by Genesis's Thee Majesty band-mate Bryin Dall, but came back strong during the Psychic TV experience.

I suspect it's not the Psychic TV many hoped to see, but the night left me satisfied.

More pictures and setlists, below...

Continue reading "Psychic TV, Bryin Dall & Cult of Youth @ Europa (pics, setlists)"

Religious to Damn at Glasslands in January (more by Harriet Roberts)

More and more Jonathan Toubin benefits are continuing to appear, including one happening TONIGHT (12/20) at Lit Lounge with performances by Religious to Damn, Sean Ragon (of Cult of Youth), Anasazi, Bootblacks, and Jailbait, and DJ sets by Josh Styles, Cowboy Mark, and Andy Animal. All proceeds and donations from Lit go to the IHeartJT fund for Jonathan's medical expenses.

Another benefit is taking place on Christmas Eve (12/24) at Zebulon with a midnight dance party by Ian Svenonius and friends.

by BBG

Monster Island Block Party (photo by Johnathan Percy)

Cult of Youth (who played the recent final Monster Island block party) will return to the space to join forces with King Dude (aka the goth-y folk project of TJ Cowgill of Book of Black Earth) and Alice Cohen to play 9/22 at Live with Animals, one of the last shows scheduled for their current space, 210 Kent Ave. But don't worry, Secret Project Robot has already secured their future:

Following the end of their lease, Secret Project Robot will be moving to 389 Melrose Street. The art gallery and peformance space's new home will be smaller than its current location, but is adjacent to a 4,000-square-foot lot, which will probably be quite nice come next summer. Moving with them are experimental art rock band Oneida and the Live With Animals gallery. Venue Monster Island Basement will be closing. -[BushwickBK.com]

Cult of Youth will also play Saint Vitus on 10/1 with Lost Tribe, Anasazi, and Dead Reich. The show is the record release show for Lost Tribe's LP which is out now on Sean of COYouth's label Blind Prophet Records. Stream some material below.

Continue reading "Secret Project Robot has a new space, but first some more events in the old one..."

Details below...

Continue reading "final Monster Island Block Party reminder"

Chelsea Wolfe @ St Vitus (more by Amanda Hatfield)

Well, technically it's not a CMJ show, but it's during CMJ. Chelsea Wolfe (and her full band) plays Europa on Wednesday, October 19th. Tickets are on sale. Stay tuned for more dates and Brooklyn show details TBA.

Cult of Youth are opening for Psychic TV at Europa on December 15. Tickets are on sale.

Chelsea Wolfe made her NYC debut, before a headlining set by Cult of Youth, at St. Vitus in August. Psychic TV (sort of) played a show in Manhattan on the same night.

photos by Amanda Hatfield, words by BBG & Andrew Sacher

Chelsea Wolfe @ St Vitus

Cult of Youth (who headlined), Chelsea Wolfe, and one-man show Planning for Burial (who opened) played Saint Vitus in Brooklyn on Wednesday (8/17). The packed out BrooklynVegan-presented show also featured opening and between set DJing from Robin of Tri Angle Records.

Though unfortunately without her band, who she prefers to play live with, Chelsea Wolfe still made a strong NYC debut. Conjuring up images of the demons she sings about, Chelsea stood veiled in a sea of fog before a backdrop of blood red visuals, as Ben Chisolm casted beats and atmospheres into the mix. Her set was way too short, but I enjoyed every second of it. She played some standouts off the upcoming Apokalypsis, which comes out this Tuesday, and some reworked material off the self-recorded The Grime and the Glow. Chelsea removed her veil for the last song, revealing a hypnotizing stare that never wavered for the entire song.

Cult of Youth started no later than 10 minutes after Chelsea's Set came to a close, with the band blazing through a heavy folk set indebted to gothic greats like Death in June, Angels of Light, Current 93, and others. Violinist Christiana Keys punctuated vocalist/guitarist Sean Ragon's fire-and-brimstone delivery (sidenote, how does he not break a string every song?) with similarly passionate string touches and texture, while the galloping rhythm section moved things along with a healthy thump. Despite the lack of a distortion pedal and even a guitar amp, it is clear that Cult of Youth is definitely a punk band.

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

Continue reading "Chelsea Wolfe, Cult of Youth & Planning for Burial played Saint Vitus (pics & video)"

photos by Dominick Mastrangelo

Cold Cave @ Bowery Ballroom

After much speculation about who the "xxxx xxxx" was in the previously announced Converge/All Pigs Must Die House of Vans lineup, Converge has confirmed that the two word, eight letter mystery band is in fact Cold Cave (and strangely not Trap Them). What's more, according to Converge, the August 25th show has been moved to August 24th. The RSVP for the new date, unconfirmed by the Vans website at the moment, is still open.

Oh, and if you do RSVP, you might notice that the confirmation email spits out the following lineup: "Converge, **** **** (SPECIAL GUEST), ***** (SPECIAL GUEST) and All Pigs Must Die". Is there one more five letter band still to be announced? .

RSVP is also still open for the previously discussed Tokyo Police Club / Against Me! / Big Freedia / Japanther / Team Robespierre show happening at House of Vans on 8/18.

Cold Cave played Bowery Ballroom over the weekend with Austra and Cult of Youth...

Before Cold Cave was ready to melt faces, Canadian new wavers Austra opened the show, pleasing the crowd with their stellar chops. Led by singer songwriter Katie Stelmanis, the band's sound could be described as beautifully haunting and catchy. We stood in awe as Stelmanis began to belt out the lyrics to "Lose It," the song that will end up being their break out hit....

When the clock struck the witching hour, Cold Cave took the stage to a massive roar of applause. The show started with Eisold tossing sunflowers into the crowd to the pleasure of fans of both sexes...

The capacity crowd hung on each note and each hardcore synth beat. The front of the house was literally shaking, as concert goers jumped in unison. The tight three piece, all dressed in black, flawlessly recreated songs like "Love Comes Close" and "Confetti" for a live audience, while at the same time extending them into danceable jams. Our only complaint about the show, was the duration of the set as it only clocked in at a touch over an hour. The next time the band returns, we need a two plus hour blistering set. -[Local Bozo]

The Bowery show, the end of a month-long tour for Cold Cave, was also Austra's second NYC show in a month after their appearance at Pier 54.

Cult of Youth plays NYC again on August 17th at Saint Vitus along with the NYC debut of Chelsea Wolfe, and Planning for Burial. Tickets are on sale.

More pictures from Bowery Ballroom and the Cold Cave set list, below...

Continue reading "Cold Cave played Bowery w/ Austra & Cult of Youth (pics), playing House of Vans w/ Converge (on a new date)"

photos by Philip Cosores, words by BBG

DOWNLOAD: Chelsea Wolfe - "Movie Screen" (MP3)

Chelsea Wolfe at recent LA show

Chelsea Wolfe is preparing to release her debut LP Apokalypsis via Pendu Sound on August 23rd, the follow-up to her impressive The Grime & The Glow which dropped last year. Stream "Mer" from said release below.

After a string of dates overseas, Chelsea Wolfe will make her NYC debut on August 17th at Saint Vitus (1120 Manhattan Ave in Brooklyn). Brooklynvegan is proud to present this rare East Coast show, with Cult of Youth and Planning for Burial also on the bill. Robin C of Tri Angle Records will DJ. $8 will get you in the door. Tickets are on sale.

Cult of Youth is also scheduled to play Bowery Ballroom this weekend (August 6th) with Cold Cave and Austra as part of Cold Cave's larger US tour. Tickets are still available.

Planning for Burial will hit the West Coast in September, bringing along with them a demo cassette entitled Late Twenties Blues. Pick up a copy at Saint Vitus, and look for a full-length in the months ahead.

Chelsea recently played some West Coast dates with Liturgy. A few pictures from her LA show at The Echo are in this post. More of those, all tour dates and a teaser video for Apokalypsis , below...

Continue reading "Chelsea Wolfe making NYC debut @ Saint Vitus w/ Cult of Youth & Planning for Burial (BV Presents)"