by Gabi Porter

Free Energy

I had no idea that Foreign Born was composed of several of the same members as Fool's Gold. That's what I get for not doing my homework. Lewis Pesacov brings his trademark African-inflected guitar sound to both bands to different effect. While Fool's Gold sounds like a complex mishmash of many seminal African bands, Foreign Born is more subtle with those influences and oddly less foreign. Fool's Gold sounds like a vacation in far off (warm) places, while Foreign Born sound like the best backyard party you'll ever go to in more temperate climates. And frontman Matt Popieluch sounds like a blond and bearded Lou Reed.

Free Energy play music with the same energy as a happy dog with his head hanging out of a car window in the summer time. I think they get a lot of flack for being too X and not enough Y (which are different things depending on who you talk to), I've heard from some that they sound like someone's little brother's band playing REO Speedwagon covers at a basement party in high school, and I've heard from others that they are the best live band to hit this year. And both are true. The best thing about Free Energy is their complete lack of pretension, their simple glam rock influenced hooks and just how infectiously happy they are to get up on stage and play.

Clovers sound a little bit surf rock, a little bit punk, sort of like a John Hughes soundtrack played by a combo of Roy Orbison and Echo and the Bunnymen, with Dick Dale's son noodling in the background.

All three of those bands played Knitting Factory on March 12th, which is where the pictures here are from, and Mercury Lounge a night earlier. Free Energy continue on to SXSW. More pictures below...

Continue reading "Foreign Born, Free Energy & Clovers played Mercury Lounge & Knitting Factory (pics)"

by Bill Pearis

Free Energy

Philadelphia's Free Energy's debut album, Stuck on Nothing, was released digitally this week (vinyl and CD lovers will have to wait till May 4). Produced by LCD Soundsystem's James Murphy, it's a top down and the volume up summer album if I ever heard one, ten songs about living in the moment, being young, and not wasting a minute of it -- all set to super-catchy, late '70s twin-lead, fist-pumping, anthemic rock. I've been listening to it a lot. The band are good live too.

Free Energy play tonight at Mercury Lounge and tomorrow (3/12) at Knitting Factory. Both shows are with L.A.'s underrated Foreign Born who are worth seeing in their own right. (Read more about them in a previous TWII.) Free Energy are going to SXSW too, and all tour dates are with their album cover art, below...

Continue reading "Free Energy in NYC, on tour w/ Foreign Born, playing SXSW "

DOWNLOAD: Foreign Born - Vacationing People (MP3)
DOWNLOAD: Foreign Born - Early Warnings (MP3)
DOWNLOAD: Free Energy - Something In Common (MP3)

"What about FOREIGN BORN-Person to Person!!!" - JarretP

Foreign Born

L.A. band Foreign Born will be taking Philly DFA party rockers Free Energy on tour with them this February and March. The bands roll into NYC for two shows, the first of which is March 11th at Mercury Lounge. Tickets are on sale. The second is the next night (3/12) at Knitting Factory. Tickets for that are up too.

Foreign Born's latest album, Person to Person, came out over the summer (two tracks from it are reposted above). Their new, vacationy/mock-adventure video for the summery song "Early Warnings" (it's always summer in L.A. I suppose) is posted below.

Before the tour, Free Energy will be playing other shows around NYC. They do a live set at the DFA Holiday Party happening at (Le) Poisson Rouge on Saturday, December 19th. Also at the party will be Special Disco Version (DFA's James Murphy, who produced Free Energy's forthcoming Stuck on Nothing, and Pat Mahoney), Holy Ghost, Matt Cash and Justin Chearno. Tickets ($5) are on sale. Flyer is below.

Free Energy, whose last NYC show was also a holiday party, are also playing Pianos on January 21st (tickets) and Brooklyn Bowl on Jan. 22nd (tickets).

The Juan Maclean isn't playing the DFA holiday party, and isn't playing Music Hall of Williamsburg on December 18th as originally scheduled. The Brooklyn show was cancelled after the untimely passing of Jerry Fuchs.

All tour dates, fliers and videos below...

Continue reading "Free Energy playing the DFA Holiday Party, touring w/ Foreign Born, playing other shows - dates ++ MP3s, video"

by Bill Pearis

DOWNLOAD: The Veils - Killed by the Boom (MP3)
DOWNLOAD: Foreign Born - Vacationing People (MP3)
DOWNLOAD: Foreign Born - Early Warnings (MP3)
DOWNLOAD: Jaguar Club - Sleepwalking (MP3)
DOWNLOAD: Hospitality - Betty Wang (MP3)
DOWNLOAD: The Horse's Ha - The Piss Choir (MP3)
DOWNLOAD: Polvo - Beggar's Bowl (MP3)
DOWNLOAD: Obits - Two-Headed Coin (MP3)
DOWNLOAD: Obits - Pine On (MP3)
DOWNLOAD: Blacklist - Flight of the Demoiselles (MP3)

Jarvis Cocker @ MHOW in 2008 (more by Ryan Muir)

There is a ton of stuff going on this weekend, but clearly the gig of the week is Jarvis Cocker (who is also on Jimmy Fallon tonight) at Music Hall of Williamsburg (7/30). The last last two years Jarvis held my top spot for Show of the Year and I have no doubt he will deliver tonight as well. He's truly on another plane of existence when it comes to performers. But I'm like a lot of you this year, I didn't buy tickets for Terminal 5 (a venue I'm kind of proud I've never been to) and then kicking yourselves when the show got downgraded to MHoW. It's kind of killing me that I won't be at this show, but luckily there are a lot of other good options.

The Veils

If you are an Anglophile, I think your best bet tonight (7/30) is at Mercury Lounge for The Veils and Foreign Born. Tickets are still available. The Veils' new album, Sun Gangs, is a little more palatable, in my opinion, than 2006's Nux Vomica with singer Finn Andrews' vocals a little more reigned-in and less histrionic, though I realize that was a selling point for some people. (I was more of a fan of the first album, The Runaway Found, than the second album.) The new record is good, for fans of moody, heart-swelling anthemic rock. Check out "Killed by the Boom" at the top of this post. Having seen The Veils play for both previous albums (and both times at Mercury Lounge) I have not doubt that Andrews (son of XTC/Shriekback's Barry Andrews) will give 110%, if only that were possible. He will also likely wear a big hat.

Foreign Born

Foreign Born, meanwhile, are from L.A. but clearly were raised on classic KROQ and the influence of The Smiths, Echo & the Bunnymen, and House of Love was an undeniable presence on their 2007 debut, On the Wing Now, of which I was a fan. Their new album, Person to Person, still bears those influences but they've folded them in more delicately with their distinctly American sound so that it's more nuances than nods. (I do still hear a lot of House of Love in the guitars, though.) It's a really good album. They got a boost back in March when Ed Droste gushed about their new record on Grizzly Bear's blog:

I was pretty vocal about my love for their last album On the Wing Now, and this time around it's even better. I gotta say, something about the production of this album is really doing it for me. Crisper sounds, and Matt's voice sounds wonderful. This track "Vacationing People" is a lovely little pop gem, and it's not even scraping the tip of the iceberg when it comes to the album. I hope that you all enjoy the song and check these guys out.

You can download Foreign Born's "Vacationing People" and "Early Warnings" at the top of this post. If you are going, do try and go early and catch locals Jaguar Club who definitely fit well with the night's proceedings. Their debut, And We Wake Up Slowly, is out September 1 and is a nice distillation of various gloomy Brit-rock influences. They're young, still evolving, but worth checking out.

If you can't make Mercury Lounge tonight, both Foreign Born and the Veils are playing on Monday at The Bell House and you can get tickets here.

The Horse's Ha

Another good option tonight (7/30) is at Bruar Falls which has the first Hospitality show since late May, as their bassist pulls double-duty in White Rabbits who were on tour the last two months (and play Saturday at All Points West). I previously wrote in May: "Singer Amber Papini's delicate, airy voice matches so perfectly with her songwriting: jazzy pop that kind of reminds me of '60s chanteuse Claudine Longet or Austin's Yellow Fever. I've yet to see them live but I'm kinda in love with the songs." I've listened to their swoon-worthy CDR EP I don't know how many times since then and was quickly won over when I saw them live. Check out "Betty Wang" at the top of this post and see if you don't feel the same way. They've promised to play a whole bunch of new songs tonight, too.

Also on the Bruar Falls bill are Chicago's The Horse's Ha which is reason enough to go. Primarily a duo of James Elkington of The Zincs (kind of the Windy City's American Analog Set), and Janet Beveridge Bean who has spent time in the great '90s indie rock band Eleventh Dream Day as well as '00s folkies Freakwater. The Horse's Ha are their homage to late-'60s/early '70s Euro-hippy-folk like Fairport Convention and Pentangle, and their voices sound great together on their debut album, Of the Cathmawr Yards, which, like their name, is a Dylan Thomas reference. With a backing band of ace improv-jazz players (Fred Lonberg-Holm, Nick Macri, and Charles Rumback), this should be something. You can download their song "The Piss Choir" at the top of this post.

The Mekons

The Horse's Ha are also playing two more shows this weekend, both of which are opening slots for The Mekons who also call Chicago home these days: Friday at The Bell House and a sold-out show at Mercury Lounge on Saturday. What do you say about the Mekons these days beyond that they are probably the only band from the original punk/post-punk era to rival The Fall on longevity, relevance, line-up changes, and essential output -- the only constant being change. The band are working on their 27th album, recording in Wales, so expect some new tunes at these two gigs: the Bell House show being semi-acoustic, the Mercury Lounge being full electric. Anyone who's seen the Mekons before should know to be prepared for a marathon, booze-soaked performance with a crowd of die-hard hard fans who match the band shot-for-shot, pint-for-pint. It can be a bit much for the uninitiated (or casual fan) but worth the effort. They are legends.

Obits

It's a great double-bill at the Seaport Music Series on Friday: Polvo are in town fresh off their appearance at XX Merge, have just re-signed to the label who will put out In Prism, the band's first album in ten years. You can check out "Beggar's Bowl" from it at the top of this post and if it represents the rest of the album, it definitely sounds like the Polvo I remember: intricate guitar lines, rhythmically complex, shredding indie rock. And Obits have put out one of my favorite rock albums of the year: full of pedal-to-the-metal, cheap trucker's speed style jams. I've seen them twice already this year, and Rick Froberg hasn't lost any snarl. Two downloadable tracks off their I Blame You album at the top of this post.

A complete 180 from Obits are... Modern English. Yes that Modern English, whose classic '80s single "I Melt With You" has been used at least twice in commercials to sell various things with cheese on it over the last 10 years, will be performing at The Studio at Webster Hall on Friday CANCELLED. While that may be the only thing anyone remembers about them, the album that song came from, After the Snow, is actually a really solid platter of goth-tinged pop which, you may not remember, came out on 4AD (home of Cocteau Twins, This Mortal Coil and The Wolfgang Press). It also contains the absolutely brilliant single "Life in the Gladhouse," probably the best thing the band ever did. The two albums that surrounded it (1981's Mesh and Lace and 1984's Ricochet Days) aren't bad either. I have no idea who is in this version of the band -- certainly singer Robbie Grey, probably guitarist Matthew Shipley -- or whether they're any good, but Modern English were more than a one-hit flashback fave.

Blacklist

I wonder if the members of Blacklist wouldn't be watching Modern English if they weren't playing at Cameo on Friday (7/31). Surely they've got a copy of Mesh & Lace in their record collection somewhere. Blacklist's debut, Midnight of the Century, was released this week and would've sounded at home on 4AD or Beggars Banquet in 1984. They've worked out the best bits of '80s goth: killer pumping basslines, effects-drenched guitars, the just-melodramatic-enough singing, and giant anthemic choruses. If you ever liked Sisters of Mercy, The Bolshoi, Death Cult, Xmal Deutschland, you're gonna dig Blacklist. It's pastiche, but it's done to perfection. You can check out "Flight of the Demoiselles" at the top of this post.

The Cameo show also features Austin's loud-as-hell shoegazers Ringo Deathstar who are way better than their name might suggest. Might be a good way to prep your ears for the My Bloody Valentine aural assault that will happen at All Points West on Saturday (7/31).

Justin Ripley

This is a big column this week! And it's almost over. Seattle's Justin Ripley is also in town this weekend. You may remember The Pamonas, the band he had in Lawrence, KS a couple years ago. Since relocating to Seattle, he went on a songwriting binge and has released three downloadable albums this year so far. It's a lot of material, wildly ranging in styles and fidelity, but quality across the tracks is surprisingly high. Plus, he's got power pop at his core and I'm gonna guess that's what you can expect from this weekend's shows, especially with half of the awesome, raucous Rooftop Vigilantes as his backing band. He plays Glasslands on Friday (7/31, with Midnight Masses), the Alphabet Lounge on Saturday (8/1) and Monkeytown on Sunday (8/2).

And finally I would be remiss to not mention All Points West, which is at Liberty State Park this weekend as I'm sure BV readers are already aware. I think it's a better lineup overall than last year (no Jack Johnson) and Saturday and Sunday are both pretty strong, though I'd have to give a slight edge to Sunday, what with Echo & the Bunnymen, Elbow, MGMT, Slilversun Pickups, Mogwai and Lykke Li. (Also La Roux, who I'm curious as to what they're like live.) I am no fan of outdoor festivals, but I had fun last year and am looking forward to this weekend.

Tour Dates and videos after the jump....

Continue reading "The Veils, Foreign Born, Hospitality, Horse's Ha, Mekons, Polvo, Obits, Modern English, Blacklist, Jarvis, Justin Ripley, Ringo Deathstarr, APW & more in in This Week in Indie"

DOWNLOAD: The Veils - Killed By The Boom (MP3)
DOWNLOAD: Foreign Born - Early Warnings (MP3)

UK band the Veils are coming to North America this July with LA band Foreign Born. That tour has two NYC stops. The Veils and Foreign Born play the Mercury Lounge on Thursday, July 30th and Brooklyn's Bell House on Monday, August 3rd. Tickets to the Merc Lounge show are on sale.

The Veils just released a new album, Sun Gangs, on Rough Trade in April. The BBC is not totally sure why...

"Rough Trade maintain the faith by continuing to issue The Veils' albums to little commercial or critical acclaim so label-boss Geoff Travis must see some worth in them. Yet the real problem lies in their lack of real development in the last five years. Unless Finn and Co. can get a move on - creatively speaking - their days may well be numbered." [BBC]

The MP3 above, "Killed By The Boom," is from that record, as is the video below for "The Letter."

Foreign Born's new album Person To Person is due out June 23 (and June 15 in the UK) via Secretly Canadian. The first single, "Early Warnings", is the free download above.

All Veils & Foreign Born tour dates, the Veils video and a short film on the new Veils album, below...

Continue reading "The Veils & Foreign Born - 2009 Tour Dates, MP3, new album"

photos by Kyle Dean Reinford

More photos of last night's Music Hall show @ Flickr. St Vincent & Foreign Born do it again tonight @ Bowery Ballroom. St. Vincent is also playing the Plug Awards. Watch the "Jesus Saves, I Spend" video below.....

Continue reading "St Vincent & Foreign Born played Brooklyn, Manattan tonight"

Tickets are on sale for a St Vincent (now from NYC) and Foreign Born (from LA) show at Bowery Ballroom in NYC on February 29th - it's part of a tour the two artists are going on together. St. Vincent's new video is up for a plug award. Her last NYC show was at Knitting Factory. She played at one of Muzzle of Bees' favorite concerts this year. More tour dates below...

Continue reading "St. Vincent & Foreign Born - 2007/8 Tour Dates"