photos by Amanda Hatfield

To quote Amanda (who took these pictures Friday night at Bowery Ballroom), "Frankie Rose & the Outs were kinda fab. Frankie's facial expressions = amazing." To quote Bill, "Frankie Rose has dropped The Outs from her name... and the band. This show will mark the debut of her new group."

So to recap, ex-Vivian Girl/Crystal Stilt Frankie Rose, who was originally billed on the show as "Frankie Rose and the Outs" (because at some point she changed the band name from just "Frankie and the Outs"), debuted a brand new band lineup (except for the keyboardist who used to play guitar) during her opening set for the Dum Dum Girls (that she also used to be a member of) at Bowery Ballroom in NYC on Friday.

And the new group is no longer all female, as you can see in the pictures that continue below...

Continue reading "Frankie Rose debuts new band @ Bowery Ballroom (pics)"

by Bill Pearis

DOWNLOAD: Dirty Beaches - Lord Knows Best (MP3)
DOWNLOAD: Dum Dum Girls - He Gets Me High (MP3)
DOWNLOAD: Widowspeak - Harsh Realm (MP3)
DOWNLOAD: Esben & the Witch - Warpath (MP3)
DOWNLOAD: Wise Blood - B.I.G. E.G.O. (MP3)
DOWNLOAD: Mr. Dream - Crime (MP3)
DOWNLOAD: Duzheknew - Came Out the Other Side (MP3)

Dirty Beaches

We're 1700 miles and two weeks away from the eye of the storm, but you can feel the SXSW hurricane forming from here. People have begun talking about breakfast tacos and the clubs are filling with bands from Canada, Scandinavia and the UK. Even moreso than normal.  There is too much going on. Decisions, decisions. Let's get into it.

Tonight (3/2) marks the American debut of UK duo Summer Camp who play an early show at Mercury Lounge with High Highs.

Dirty Beaches play two shows this week: a headlining slot at Glasslands on Thursday (3/3) and then opening for Dum Dum Girls at Bowery Ballroom on Friday (3/4). The pseudonym of Montreal artist Alex Zhang Hungtai, Dirty Beaches sound like a band invented by David Lynch (or maybe Jim Jarmusch), like a half-remembered dream infected by an oldies station playing on a vintage transistor radio. It also kind of sounds like Suicide. Dirty Beaches' forthcoming album, Badlands (out March 29 and pictured above), is at times pretty, twangy and vaguely sinister. He's definitely got a vision to what he's doing. Check out "Lord Knows Best" at the top of this post for a sample.

The Glasslands show also has Austinites (and TWII faves) YellowFever on the bill, as are Widowspeak whose new single is out now on Captured Tracks (the a-side is downloadable above), and Ela Orleans. Plus, Dee Dee of Dum Dum Girls is DJing. This should be a good night.

As should Dum Dum Girls' show on Friday. Their new EP, He Gets Me High, came out on Sub Pop this week and you can download the title track at the top of this post. I loved DDGs' debut, but I think these new tracks are a definite improvement: a little tougher, the production's better and the songs are solid. And I dig the Smiths cover as well.

Former Dum Dum Girls drummer Frankie Rose is also on the bill, and she has dropped The Outs from her name... and the band. This show will mark the debut of her new group and perhaps a new sound? We shall see. Frankie is promising mostly new songs for this one and I'm curious as to what Frankie Rose Mark 2 will be like.

Rounding out the Bowery line-up are MINKS. Tickets are still available.

Esben and the Witch

Also here this week are UK neogoths Esben & the Witch who play The Bell House on Friday (3/4) and then Mercury Lounge on Saturday (3/5). While I'm not crazy about their debut album, Violet Cries, which meanders a bit and generally takes too long to get going, I do recommend going to see them live. Guitarist Daniel Copeman rivals The Edge or Kevin Shields for the Most Effects Pedals award and the sounds he creates with them is genuinely mesmerising. He is also a whirlwind onstage. They are so much more compelling live, and worth giving a shot even if the record does nothing for you.

Opening the Mercury Lounge show is Wise Blood who has gotten a lot of love from Pitchfork, Altered Zones, GvB, etc. The alter-ego of Chris Laufman, Wise Blood is firmly in the low fi sample-based collage world. Some of it is pretty interesting for sure  -- check out a track at the top of this post --  but I'm always a bit dubious about seeing this kind of stuff live. Maybe he'll pull it off. Maybe he'll be the next How to Dress Well. How was he last night at Glasslands with Young Magic? Wise Blood will also be at SXSW.

Duzheknew

Representing Canada this week are Duzheknew and Cousins who play Bruar Falls on Sunday (3/6) and Death by Audio on Monday (3/7). Both bands hail from Halifax, Nova Scotia -- a town that hasn't had much of a scene (from what I can tell) since its '90s heyday of Sloan, Eric's Trip, Jale and Thrush Hermit. Duzheknew, from the tracks I've heard (like the one at the top of this post), sound somewhere between Wolf Parade (vocally), early Talking Heads and their hometown indie elder statesman. Cousins are a little more straight-up garage rock. Both sound pretty good.

Mr. Dream

And now onto some local action. Mr. Dream's debut album, Trash Hit, was released this week and will certainly appeal to those with a fondness for early '90s indie rock, be it Nirvana, The Pixies, Jesus Lizard, etc. Which is to say it's loud, it rocks, there is some yelling and snarling... but it's also got hooks,  no shortage of tunes, and badass flinty basslines all over the place. You don't have to remember the early days of Late Night with Conan O'Brien to dig Mr. Dream. As far as I'm concerned this kind of stuff is timeless. You can download "Crimes" at the top of this post and stream the entire album via a widget below.

Mr Dream celebrate Trash Hit's release this Friday (3/4) at Glasslands, with Sleepies and Fort Lean (making their debut) along for the ride. I also hear Derek from Sleigh Bells will be performing as well, but not sure exactly in what capacity. Mr. Dream will tour with Sleigh Bells in April.

Shark?

Another Record Release show is happening Friday night, this time at Cake Shop where Shark? celebrate the birth of their new 7" single "Kreegah." It's too bad Shark? and Mr. Dream couldn't have coordinated their parties together as Shark?'s straight-up, super-catchy indie rock would have made a great opening act. You can stream both sides of the single below. Personally, I'm partial to the b-side, "You Don't Love Me (Anymore)." Both songs will be on the band's debut album, True Waste, which was produced by Pere Ubu bassist Tony Maimone and should be out sometime soon?

Shark? hit the road next week, touring with the Sundelles on their way down to SXSW. Sundelles also have a show coming up at Glasslands with Cloud Nothing and Craft Spells. All tour dates are below.

And that is basically it for this week. Expect an equally-lengthy TWII next week. A few more day-by-day picks below:

WEDNESDAY, MARCH 2

Tennis, La Sera, and Holiday Shores team up for their first of two NYC shows together, tonight at Bowery Ballroom. They then play The Bell House on Thursday (3/3).

Norway's Heroes & Zeroes play Pianos tonight before heading to Alaska to play a string of gigs in Alaska, believe it or not. Tonight's show is an eclectic bill to say the least, with with French psycho noiserockers Headwar and Koonda Holaa adding to the strangeness.

continued below...

Continue reading "Mr. Dream, Dirty Beaches, Wise Blood, Esben & the Witch, Frankie Rose, Duzheknew, Shark? & more in This Week in Indie"

photos by Jessica Amaya

DOWNLOAD: Pregnant - Self-titled LP (ZIP)

"King Tuff totally rocked it at the knitting factory tonight.
Glad I didn't miss it!" - BeyondBeyondisBeyond

King Tuff (aka Kyle Thomas who also happens to be in Witch and Feathers and Happy Birthday) headlined (an actual birthday party) at Knitting Factory in Brooklyn last night (1/20) with support from Frankie Rose & The Outs and Nude Beach. That's Tuff above, and more pictures of the show are below.

Frankie Rose & The Outs' next and only upcoming show is with MINKS and Dum Dum Girls at Bowery Ballroom on March 4th. Tickets are still available.

Nude Beach (the NY band) will join Nomos and The Men for a FREE show at Generation Records at 2PM on Sunday (1/23). Nude Beach is replacing Pregnant on the in-store bill, who recently dropped off of the show but is still scheduled to play Cake Shop on Mar 18 with Black Wine & Big Eyes. Bone up for Cake Shop by checking out their self-titled LP, out on vinyl now, but you can preview that LP on digital form above.

Generation Records is also a bit of a homecoming show for Nomos and The Men, as both bands recently came back from a two week tour of the West Coast which saw them share dates with Mammoth Grinder, Hatred Surge, Skin Like Iron, Walls, and many others. Both bands released LPs in 2010; Nomos dropped Notes From The Acheron in September (order it) while The Men are currently on their second pressing of Immaculada after initially releasing it in May (snag one).

Witch, in addition to Tuff, also features J Mascis, who just announced some solo acoustic dates, as did his Dinosaur Jr bandmate Lou Barlow with his project, Sebadoh.

More pictures and a video from Knitting Factory, below...

Continue reading "King Tuff played Knitting Factory w/ Frankie Rose & the Outs & Nude Beach (who replaced Pregnant on an upcoming instore) -- pics & video"

Ducktails at Glasslands (more by Erez Avissar)

As you may have noticed at the bottom of the recent set of Ducktails tour dates we posted, there was a tour with Woods planned, but no actual dates. That is no longer true. Woods and Ducktails will hit Maine, Vermont, Philly, Baltimore and their hometown of Brooklyn together in February. The NYC show is 2/4 at Monster Island Basement, but you don't need to wait that long to see Ducktails. As previously discussed, they play with Gary War at Union Pool tonight (1/8) and at Glasslands on 1/18 with the Smith Westerns. All dates are below.

In semi-related news, Blank Dogs also have a hometown date at Monster Island Basement one week prior, on 1/28, with their Captured Tracks labelmates from San Francisco, The Soft Moon, who they'll also play Boston and Philly with that same week. All dates are below.

And speaking of Captured Tracks, as previously mentioned, MINKS have a few shows in the near future as well, including supporting Frankie Rose & The Outs at Bowery Ballroom with Dum Dum Girls on March 4th (tickets), and Jan 21st at Glasslands with Big Troubles.

Frankie Rose & The Outs also have another show a lot sooner. It happens on January 20th with King Tuff at Knitting Factory in Brooklyn. Tickets are on sale.

All tour dates and some videos below.

Continue reading "more Ducktails, Woods, Blank Dogs, The Soft Moon & Frankie Rose & the Outs shows (dates)"

photos by Andrew St. Clair

"It's a scene here at coco66 for frankie/tamaryn/glasser" - Bill

"The cops shut down coco66. I am SO pissed!!!!! Aghhh Tamaryn didn't finish the set and they were amazing" - gina

"NYPD just shutdown the Coco66 show 3 songs into Tamaryn's (unofficial) CMJ set. Supposedly due to over capacity. Crowd, band bummed." - marvic paulo

Tamaryn / police

Tamaryn's exclusive Brooklyn CMJ show, which wasn't actually part of CMJ, took place at Coco66 on Friday night (10/22). Light Asylum and Frankie & the Outs were both openers. Glasser was added at the last minute, but never ended up getting to play. Tamaryn, as you can read in the above tweets, barely got to play after the cops busted in after three songs.

The venue, which reportedly was either over capacity or not up to code, remains shut as of Sunday night. There's a rumor that they might not open back up for a while, though they are still advertising Monday's Superhuman Happiness show.

If this happened in Texas during SXSW, one might speculate that Coco66's closing had something to do with the "unofficial" nature of the show, but it would probably be silly to guess that CMJ has that much influence with the NYC government.

More pictures from the part of the show that happened, below...

Continue reading "Coco66 shut down during Tamaryn/Glasser show (pics)"

by Bill Pearis

DOWNLOAD: Mystery Jets - Flash a Hungry Smile (MP3)
DOWNLOAD: Mystery Jets - Dreaming of Another World (MP3)
DOWNLOAD: Dominant Legs - About My Girls (MP3)
DOWNLOAD: Frankie Rose & the Outs - Candy (MP3)
DOWNLOAD: Red Mass - Saturn (MP3)
DOWNLOAD: Tony Castles - Black Girls in Dresses (MP3)

Blanche?

Looks like there are still a few tickets to go see Mystery Jets tonight at Mercury Lounge now that the band have sorted out their visa issues after having to cancel last night's show (which I was going to go to). Frank at Chromewaves caught them in Toronto on Monday night:

Over the course of an hour, they split their set evenly between Serotonin and its predecessor, 2008's Twenty-One, and gave the respectably-sized crowd something to get boisterous about - which they did, right through to the soaring encore-closer "Dreaming Of Another World". Any concerns about what would happen to the rest of the tour were set aside in favour of just enjoying the moment.

Looking through Frank's photos of the show, I was happy to see Mystery Jets aren't sporting any fashion disasters (see above) like when they played at Bowery Ballroom last year. That may sound superficial but it is distracting when a band you really like dresses like Blanche from Golden Girls. As I've said before, I was a huge fan of 2008's Twenty One and think their new one, Serotonin, is maybe better even if nothing on it quite reaches the highs of "Young Love" and "Two Doors Down."

If you're going, be sure to get there early for L.A.'s Dominant Legs whose new EP on Lefse records I like a lot. Any band that lists The Style Council as an influence is gonna grab my attention, at least enough to listen to it. They played last night at Mercury Lounge, their first NYC show, and reports on Twitter seemed to be pretty positive.

Frankie & the Outs @ SXSW 2010 (more by Tim Griffin)

Mystery Jets' cancellation last night has thrown a wrench into my schedule. I had planned on spending the evening at Glasslands for the Frankie Rose & the Outs' record release party but now I'm gonna hope the show goes late enough that I can do both tonight (9/15). We'll see how this works out. If nothing else I can pick up the record a week early tonight at the merch table. It's a really good album that, if maybe a little economical in the lyrical department, definitely showcases Rose's ease with hooks and harmonies. Check out an MP3 of the single "Candy" above and you can watch the Carrie-inspired video for the song -- which just premiered -- at the bottom.

It should be a fun night all around. Light Asylum, who the Outs shared the bill for their first-ever show last Halloween, headline the party, with opening slots from psych mystics Mirror Mirror and Pigeon who I can't find any info on. (But there are at least three other bands currently called Pigeon so you might want to rethink the name.)  MINKS were originally supposed to play but seem to have fallen off the bill.

Dum Dum Girls

I have to imagine Frankie's pals Dum Dum Girls will be in attendance tonight (you can spot Dee Dee in the "Candy" video near the end) if they can make it in time following the first of their three gigs opening for Vampire Weekend this week at Radio City Music Hall. I would kind of like to see DDGs there, actually, as their echo-y girl group vibe could sound amazing with the venue's acoustics. But I'm not gonna. I might, however, try to catch them on Saturday night (9/18) at Knitting Factory where they'll play with Girls at Dawn and Reading Rainbow. Their self-titled Sub Pop debut has stayed in constant rotation since coming out out in March.

While we're on the subject of bands with whom Frankie Rose used to play drums, Crystal Stilts finally seem to be getting around to making a second record. A new single, "Shake the Shackles," is due out on Slumberland Records on October 21, their first new material in 18 months. The band have struggled a bit post-Frankie, and the last time I saw them play live (Fall 2009 I think) they seemed pretty out of sorts. But both sides of the new single is good -- you can listen to it at the bottom of this post -- and hopefully they've really shaked those shackles and rebounded.

You can find out for yourself when Crystal Stilts play Knitting Factory on Friday (9/17) with drony, motoroik San Franciscans Moon Duo.

Red Mass @ M For Montreal 2009 (more)

What else? Montreal art punks Red Mass will be here this weekend for two shows: Friday at Party Expo and Saturday at Death by Audio. Both shows are with X-ray Eyeballs. Somewhere between the Damned's goth-tinged punk and Nuggets era psych-garage, Red Mass also bring a sense of theatrics to their live performances. Frontman Choyce (late of CCP Gangbangs) has no problem with high concept and brings the Red to the stage -- both times I've seen them, the band dressed entirely in shades of crimson. But the music still does most of the talking. If you like this kind of thing at all, Red Mass are not to be missed.

Red mass are on their first real tour of the States -- well, the East Coast -- and they'll hook up with King Khan & the Shrines along the way. All tour dates are at the bottom of this post.

---

And finally, Superchunk are here this weekend, playing Bowery Ballroom on Saturday (9/18) and MHoW on Sunday (9/19). Both shows are sold out, but you can still see them at Other Music on Sunday afternoon (1PM). I've also had good luck getting tickets at MHoW at the box office day of show, so if you're without a ticket it's worth a try.

Even if you don't get to see them, you've still got their seriously awesome new album, Majesty Shredding. No phoning it in here, this is classic Superchunk. Over at Emusic, Michaelangelo Matos wrote a great review of the record and the opening paragraph really nails it:

Superchunk sound like they've been listening to a lot of Superchunk. Well, of course -- what else would they sound like? But think about that for a second. Most bands slow down as they age because most people slow down as they age: Sonic Youth isn't about to start flirting with hardcore again; the Rolling Stones will never cut another "She Said Yeah." That's nature. But Superchunk 2010 could be easily mistaken for Superchunk 1991 -- the tempo hasn't moved and the scrappiness hasn't budged. And scrappy is what this band does.

Majesty Shredding is loaded with classic Superchunk Moments, from new single "Digging for Something" (you've seen the video by now, right?) to the manic "Crossed Wires" (a 7" from last summer) to my favorite song, the anthemic "Hot Tubes." It's so great to see a band 20 years into its career knock one out of the park.

Translations

That's enough for this week. A few more picks for the week, of things I didn't cover above, day by day:

WEDNESDAY, SEPT 15

I've been listening a lot to this Translations digital single which you can download for free. Both "sides" are really good, kind of Flying Nun/GbV style indie. Haven't seen them live but they play tonight at The Woods in Williamsburg. It's a free show.

Power pop fans should head straight to the Rock Shop for Tommy Keene, Title Tracks and Valley Lodge.

continued below...

Continue reading "Dum Dum Girls, Red Mass, Crystal Stilts, Superchunk, Frankie & the Outs, Radical Dads & more in This Week in Indie"

DOWNLOAD: Frankie & the Outs - Little Brown Haired Girls (MP3)

Frankie & the Outs @ Tip Top in July (more by Rebecca Smeyne)

There have been multiple instances (and multiple bands) where Frankie Rose (currently of Frankie and the Outs) has performed in revealing clothing (see above), but as far as I know this is the first time she's gone publicly topless, and by publicly I mean on countless NYC street corners via the cover of free weekly newspaper NY Press... which is pictured below...

Continue reading "Frankie Rose goes topless for NY Press, on a corner near you"

words by Bill Pearis, SXSW photos by Tim Griffin,

DOWNLOAD: Frankie Rose and the Outs - Little Brown Haired Girls (MP3)

Despite her dislike of touring, Frankie Rose is taking the Outs on the road in October to support their self-titled Slumberland debut which is released September 21. You can download "Little Brown Haired Girls" from the album at the top of this post. The East Coast tour launches October 18 in Chapel Hill but more dates seem likely to be added, certainly on the way down to North Carolina. Before that, the Outs have two local shows scheduled: Saturday, August 14 at the Jelly's Rock Yard with Chief, Minks and Total Slacker; then an official record release show at Glasslands on September 15 with Light Asylum, Minks and Mirror Mirror (tickets).

The Outs have slimmed to a four-piece (no more keyboardist) and have become a pretty solid band in the last year. Maybe you caught their last-minute late night set this past Saturday (7/24) at Cameo, sharing the bill with Magic Kids and Xray Eyeballs. (Video from that below.) The album, 11 songs clocking in just under 30 minutes, has a definite through line of all the bands Rose has been in over the last three years (Vivian Girls, Crystal Stilts) but she is definitely doing her own thing, with an emphasis on multi-part harmonies. (Most evident on their gorgeous cover of Arthur Russell's "You Can Make Me Feel Bad" which there's live video of below.) It's more mellow, dreamy, than anything she's done before. Twangier too.

All Frankie Rose and the Outs tour dates, plus album art and a couple live videos, and a set of unplublished pictures from SXSW this year, are below...

Continue reading "Frankie & the Outs album info, MP3, video, tour dates & pics"

photos by Rebecca Smeyne

Golden Triangle

After Thee Oh sees played a Vice party (Thursday), South Steet Seaport Friday, and Rock Yard on Saturday, they completed their NYC stay with a hot and sweaty performance at the 'Bikini Bash' at Bed Stuy's Tip Top (432 Franklin Ave).

The party, were people were literally encouraged to wear bikinis (those in bathing suits paid $5 less) was produced by new party promotion company ABRACADBRA (of which photographer Rebecca Smeyne is a partner in). Golden Triangle (who also played the Seaport on Friday) and Frankie and the Outs (who have performed in bikinis before) were also on the Saturday night bill.

More of Rebecca's pictures from the show, below...

Continue reading "Golden Triangle, Frankie & the Outs & Thee Oh Sees played Bed Stuy in their bathing suits (pics) "

--------------------

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

(note: dates may not be exact)

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

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

Frankie Rose as Dum Dum Girl @ Webster Hall (more by Brian Reilly)

WebCuts Music: You've just had band practice -- how are you sounding today?

Dee Dee Dum Dum Girl: We're sounding great. I'll let you in on a secret we've had a line-up change so we have a new drummer and our bass player is now singing. It's been a pretty intense week of rehearsals. We've had a lot of ground to cover.

WebCuts Music: What's going on there? Is it musical chairs in Dum Dum Girls?

Dee Dee Dum Dum Girl: Not so much musical chairs, Frankie Rose was drumming for us and she also sang, so we have a drummer now who's just drumming. So it was a matter of teaching Bambi the high harmonies so that we would still have those.

WebCuts Music: Was that because Frankie was just too busy? She's spent that much time in that many times, did she have other stuff to do?

Dee Dee Dum Dum Girl: She finally has got her own project underway and has been working on a record and she's not the hugest fan of touring, she would probably do it for her own band. But it was probably time to do her own thing.

Thanks Anonymous for the link to the above interview which confirms that Frankie Rose is no longer a member of the Dum Dum Girls who are about to tour with Crocodiles and Vampire Weekend.

As previously also mentioned, Frankie (Rose) & the Outs play a Northside Festival show on June 26th. They also play another Brooklyn show on July 17th with at "TBA" with "Special Guests".

UPDATE: There's also a mysterious show this Wednesday night, June 16th, at Death By Audio which Frankie may or may not know something about.

PREVIOUSLY: Frankie Rose leaves Crystal Stilts, starts band

DOWNLOAD: Crocodiles - Sleep Forever (MP3)

the Crocodiles, a Dum Dum Girl & Santa...

Crocodiles will be geting ready to release their new album, Sleep Forever, while on tour with Dum Dum Girls this summer along the West Coast. The LP will be out September 14th on Fat Possum. The above title-track will be released as a 7" before that, on August 17th with (double?) b-side "Groove Is in the Heart/California Girls." The album was produced by Simian Mobile Disco's James Ford (whose also worked on albums by Arctic Monkeys, Peaches and Klaxons). Live, the group has expanded into a five-piece, with drummer Alianna Kalaba, bassist Marco Gonzalez and keyboardist Robin Eisenberg.

After their tour with Crocodiles, Dum Dum Girls hit the road with Vampire Weekend and Beach House on an August/September tour that includes three nights at Radio City. Tickets are still on sale for those.

Dum Dum Girls now also have a headlining show of their own the night after the Radio City run set for Saturday, September 18th at Knitting Factory. Philly's garage duo Reading Rainbow open. Tickets are on sale.

Dum Dum Girls member Frankie Rose has a show coming with The Outs up as part of the Northside Festival on June 26th... which is odd because that is when Dum Dum Girls are in Washington... All tour dates below...

Continue reading "another Dum Dum Girls show & a free Crocodiles MP3"

by Bill Pearis

DOWNLOAD: Dum Dum Girls - Jail La La (Mp3)
DOWNLOAD: Happy Birthday - Girls FM (MP3)
DOWNLOAD: The Bloodsugars - Light at the End of the Tunnel (Mp3)

Bear Hands

It's another jam-packed week of shows. In addition to Taken By Trees, El Perro Del Mar and The Soundtrack of our Lives, here's some of the ones I'm excited about.

tonight (2/16): New Cantora Records signees Bear Hands play The Studio at Webster Hall. You can download the band's percussion-heavy new single "What a Drag" for free from their website if you're willing to give them your email address. You can also watch the video at the bottom of this post.

Also tonight (2/16), Beast kick off what is now a run of three NYC shows. As we pointed out earlier today, "Beast are at the Living Room tonight. They play the Cameo tomorrow night late...and they've added an early set at the Mercury Lounge on Wednesday, where the show is with Fight Like Apes, Honor By August, Stationary Set and Tryptics."

The Bloodsugars

This week is last of Savoir Adore's February Thursdays residency at Cake Shop and we've got a pair of tickets up for grabs. Just email BVCONTESTS@HOTMAIL.COM and we'll pick a winner at random. In addition to Savoir Adore (have I mentioned their album made my Best of 2009 list?),  it's another good group of openers. The Bloodsugars make '80s-inspired widescreen pop that at times sounds uncannily like Prefab Sprout -- and good Prefab Sprout, not "hot dog jumping frog Albequerque" Prefab Sprout. Which is to say these folks know their way around big pop hooks, and are kind of a perfect match with Savoir Adore. You can download "Light at the End of the Tunnel" from last year's underrated I Can't Go On, I'll Go On at the top of this post.

Also on the bill: Pittsburgh's chilled-out Ennui and Brooklyn's synth-heavy Red Wire Black Wire with between-sets DJing from Nora of blog I Rock I Roll.

Also on Thursday (2/18), Dan Black is in town at Mercury Lounge. There's a new version of Dan's single "Symphonies" that features Kid Cudi, and you can watch the new video for it at the bottom of this post.

Bear in Heaven @ Mercury Lounge in January (more by Kyle Dean Reinford)

A few more shows. Bear in Heaven, who were just great at Mercury Lounge a couple weeks back, play Glasslands on Friday night (2/19) with Secret Machines. What I like about them live is that you can tell they all really enjoying being in Bear in Heaven and playing these songs. They're just a lot of fun to watch, and they're pretty tight too with a drummer beats the shit out of his instrument.

Secret Machines are headlining, a band I haven't seen play in some time but have always liked. They've got a trippy, string-heavy new single, "Like I Can," that you can listen to on their website. Also playing what sounds like a full evening are electro rock quintet Mon Khmer, Noveller and Papa.

Saturday (2/20) marks the end of The Beets/Beach Fossils/Christmas Island tour where they'll play Music Hall of Williamsburg along with German Measels and headliners Crystal Stilts who I still haven't managed to catch since Frankie Rose left the drummer's chair.

Dum Dum Girls

Speaking of Frankie, she'll be pulling double duty Sunday night at Mercury Lounge where her own bandThe Outs will open for Dum Dum Girls (she's their drummer). DDG's debut album for Sub Pop is about six weeks away but you can download the album's first single, "Jail La La," at the top of this post. (It's out on 7" today with a nice cover of the Stones' "Play With Fire" on the flip.) I'm usually not one for re-recording songs that have already been released, but I actually think this recording is spruces things up just enough without unraveling their reverby gauze. After heading to London for a few shows, Dum Dum Girls will be back for SXSW and then will go on tour with Girls in April. All dates are at the bottom of this post.

Frankie & the Outs are really coming along as a band too, and thought they were fantastic at Monster Island this past weekend. The vocal harmonies in particular are the band's strong point, with a bit of soul in there too actually, kind of like some late-'60s girl rockers. I'd love to hear them cover The Kelly Affair/Carry Nation's "Sweet Talking Candy Man" from Beyond the Valley of the Dolls. But maybe that's just me.

Also playing are Dum Dum Girls' Sub Pop labelmates Happy Birthday, whose super-catchy song "Girls FM" is downloadable at the top of this post. It's power pop, but kind of gritty/garagy and makes me anxious to hear more.

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

Continue reading "Bear Hands, Dum Dum Girls, Happy Birthday, Bloodsugars, Bear in Heaven, Beast & more in This Week in Indie"

by Bill Pearis

The Primitives

The '80s-era indie power-pop band The Primitives have reformed and will be playing The Bell House on May 8. Tickets are on sale now. The band, fronted by platinum blonde Tracy Tracy, was best known for their hit "Crash" which was inescapable on modern rock radio in 1988 and has since been covered by nearly every pop punk band in existence. They went on to make three albums, and called it quits shortly after 1991's Galore. The Primitives reformed late last year, playing their first reunion show in their hometown of Coventry on October 2. The Bell House show will be the first American show since their split.

Opening the show are Frankie & the Outs who are currently recording their debut album for Slumberland, and also just posted a bunch of new dates, including February 13 with So Cow at Market Hotel, and February 19 with Kurt Vile and Fucked up at Europa.

Frankie herself (who we recently interviewed) will pull double duty on February 21 as the Outs open for Dum Dum Girls (Frankie's the drummer) at Mercury Lounge. Tickets go on sale Friday.

Frankie (and the Outs) pulled double duty on New Years Eve as well. They played both Cameo (a beach party w/ Surfer Blood and others) and Cake Shop (with Screaming Females, etc) that night.

Frankie & The Outs @ Cameo on New Years Eve (Abby Braden/PunkPhoto)

Dum Dum Girls' debut LP, I Will Be, comes out via Sub Pop on March 30. Both of Frankie's bands will be hit SXSW in Austin this year too.

Video from the NYE show at Cameo, a couple Primitives videos, all Frankie & the Outs tour dates, plus video of Dum Dum Girls playing Boston back in October, below...

Continue reading "The Primitives return. Frankie & the Outs will open the Brooklyn show, for Dum Dum Girls @ Merc & other dates "

by Bill Pearis

DOWNLOAD: Frankie Rose - "Thee Only One" (MP3)

Frankie & The Outs @ The Bell House (more by Tim Griffin)

Having spent time on the drumkit for both Vivian Girls and Crystal Stilts, Frankie Rose went solo this year with her debut single on Slumberland, "Thee Only One," (downloadable above) and her new band, The Outs. And just when she thought she was off the drums for good, she went and joined Dum Dum Girls whose debut for Sub Pop is due early next year.

You can see Frankie and the Outs on New Year's Eve at Cameo Gallery along with Beach Fossils, We Are Country Mice, Lemonade and Surfer Blood -- a pretty hot line-up for such a tiny club (Advance tickets now available). It's one of three upcoming shows for Frankie including a house party with Screaming Females and Talk Normal on New Years Day and a February gig in Brooklyn with Austin's Harlem (two days after they play Mercury Lounge)

Those dates and Frankie's answers to a few questions, below...

Continue reading "an end of 2009 interview w/ Frankie Rose (who has 3 upcoming shows including New Years Eve w/ TIX ON SALE) "

The Drums - new band picture

The Drums went from playing a lot of shows a few month ago, to disappearing for a while. That hiatus ends next year when they return to headline Bowery Ballroom on January 13th. Tickets go on sale Saturday at noon. Maybe the band is currently on vacation in their previous home state of Florida because they're also scheduled to play a show tonight (12/4) at the Deauville Beach Resort in Miami. Their only other show between now and NYC is on New Years Eve in Chicago (the city with all the best New Years Eve shows this year).

Opening the Bowery show will be Surfer Blood who were most recently in town to open for Art Brut at Brooklyn Bowl. Surfer Blood also have a New Years Eve show scheduled, but theirs is in NYC at Cameo Gallery with Frankie (Rose) and The Outs, Beach Fossils, and We Are Country Mice. It only costs $10 which is a bargain for that night, though the venue is kind of small. Set times and other details about that show below.

A list of the the other New Years options in NYC (and elsewhere) is HERE. All SB & Drums dates below...

Continue reading "Surfer Blood playing New Years Eve w/ Frankie Rose, opening for the Drums @ Bowery ++ other tour dates"

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: 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]

Grass Window then play again at Market Hotel that night, for a show with Small Black, Pictureplane, Girls at Dawn and Cale Parks (formerly of Aloha). They're also going to play somewhere on Sunday (11/8)... venue TBA. Go see them if you can.

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 "

Woodsist pic by Tim Griffin, CMJ pics by Ryan Muir (for Metromix)

THEN...

July 2009 - Dum Dum Girls @ Woodsist Fest in Brooklyn (more by Tim Griffin)

AND NOW...

October 2009 - Dum Dum Girls @ AAM CMJ party in Brooklyn

"Dum Dum Girls = West coast Vivian Girls with a tighter beat, black mini-dresses & lacey tights. Total girl-crush." So Melena Ryzik posted to Twitter Saturday night from the Mercury Lounge as I looked over her shoulder.

Totally true, of course. The tights, in particular.

Dum Dum Girls, from Los Angeles, is the project of singer Kristin Gundred, who goes here by Dee Dee, and who sings tart lyrics in a sweet tone buried beneath layers of haze. She has a knack for flawless song construction, her rigor dating somewhere to the late 1950s. And unlike the Vivian Girls, who manage to muster a slight optimism with a similar toolbox, Dum Dum Girls never appear happy, almost gothically gloomy. "Blissed out buzzsaw" is the descriptor on the group's MySpace page.
[Jon Caramanica @ The NY Times]

That NY Times blurb refers to the Dum Dum Girls' not-full Saturday night Mercury Lounge show. It was the Sub Pop / Hardly Art showcase and they were 2nd on the 8-band bill. The tights picture is from their not-full (private) AAM party they played at Music Hall of Williamsburg earlier that day (10/24). More pics from that below.

According to their MySpace, the Sub Pop-signed band's full member list is Dee Dee, Jules, Frankie Rose, and Bambi. And though I'm pretty sure Frankie will continue to play with the band for their upcoming short tour with King Khan and BBQ (including at Bowery Ballroom and The Bell House), and at their Monday (10/26) Brooklyn show at Bruar Falls (with The Girls at Dawn), it is unclear if Frankie will continue with them after that. As you can see above, the band has already gone through one major change since their first-ever show at the Woodsist Festival, and Frankie (ex-Vivian Girl, ex-Crystal Stilt) may be looking to just focus on her own new band (who play the Woodser on November 7th).

More AAM party pics and all Dum Dum Girls dates below...

Continue reading "Dum Dum Girls played CMJ - all girls, all in black (pics) ++ playing Bruar Falls Monday before King Khan & BBQ tour"

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 "

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]

That's a review of the Vivian Girls' July 19th set at Pitchfork Festival. The group will be kicking off their (relatively) short North American tour on August 25th with a show at Death By Audio. The Beets, who join them on most of their tour, open that gig. The trip leads up to the release of their sophomore album, Everything Goes Wrong, which comes out September 8th on In the Red. A track from that is above.

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"

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]

Considering all the rain we've been having, it's amazing how nice it ended up being over Fourth of July weekend. Saturday's show in Battery Park, as well as the 2nd day of the Woodsist/Captured Tracks Fest at 979 Broadway Backyard had beautiful weather. Friday's show at South Street Seaport was completely dry and breezy as well. Unfortunately though, there was some rain earlier on Friday (6/3), and so the Woodsist Fest organizers were forced to make a decision, and that decision was to move the day's festivities to Market Hotel... the very, very hot Market Hotel.

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 "

by Bill Pearis

DOWNLOAD: The Fresh & Onlys - Fog Machine (MP3)
DOWNLOAD: The Fresh & Onlys - Love & Kindness (MP3)
DOWNLOAD: Ganglians - Hair (MP3)
DOWNLOAD: Bachelorette - Mindwarp (MP3)

It used to be Independence Day weekend was dead in NYC, the city emptying out, leaving only tourists and those unfortunate enough not to have some sort of beach hookup. There was nothing to do but barbeque with fellow left-behinds and see whatever Will Smith movie had just been released. (Actually, I like it when the city is empty.) And the only show would be whatever was at Battery Park on the 4th. Not this year.

The Woodsist/Captured Tracks Festival is two days of just about every band on the two label's roster and also manages to be one of the best collections of reverb-lovin' lo-fi/pych/garage bands you're likely to see, including many names you may recognize if you read this column on a regular basis. You can buy a two-day pass for $25 or buy individual $15 tickets for Friday or Saturday.

As both Woodsist and Captured Tracks are Brooklyn labels, a lot of the bands are local and chances are if you're into this kind of music at all you've probably managed to already see some of these bands, probably more than once: Crystal Stilts, Vivian Girls, Blank Dogs, The Beets, caUSE co-MOTION, Kurt Vile, and Woods.

The Fresh & Onlys @ SXSW 2009

But there's also a bunch of great West Coast bands who have yet to hit NYC, which is what makes it most exciting for me. First and foremost are San Francisco's Fresh & Onlys who I caught at the Todd P/Woodsist party during SxSW and have become one of my favorite new bands. They play the Saturday (7/4) which is definitely the more essential line-up of the two days. The band features members of Skygreen Leopards and Black Fiction, and have also spent time recently backing up Rodriguez and Ty Segall (though not on the East Coast.)

The band's first album of 2009 came out in April on John Dwyer's Castle Face label, with a sound not that far off from what you might expect from cohorts of The Oh Sees (who headline the Saturday show), though The Fresh & Onlys are definitely more pop and less psychedelic freakout. Their second album of 2009, Grey-Eyed Girls, is out in August and they've also got 7"'s out or out soon on Chuffed, Dirty Knobby, Hozac and Captured Tracks. If you like 13th Floor Elevators, The Chocolate Watchband and other Nuggets era bands, I think you're going to dig them. I interviewed bassist Shayde Sartin a couple months ago on my blog if you'd like to know more.

If you can't make the daytime show, The Fresh & Onlys also play a post midnight show that same day at Market Hotel that also features Babies (members of Woods, Vivian Girls and Bossy) (does anyone know which members?) and Pink Reason, and maybe a solo performance from Crystal Stilts drummer Frankie Rose. And The Fresh & Onlys will be here again in October when they'll be on tour with fellow San Franciscans Thee Oh Sees.

Thee Oh Sees are also playing Siren in July, and playing maybe the best of the Woodsist fest's offshoot shows on Thursday night (7/2) at Glasslands. They're headlining the Glasslands show and Saturday night of the fest, and are definitely worth seeing twice, or even thrice. Also playing Glasslands: Golden Triangle who are working on their debut album for Sub Pop offshoot Hardly Art; The Beets who, the last two times I've seen them, have had Crystal Stilts' JB Townsend filling in on drums for an absent Jacob Warstler; and German Measels which features half of caUSE co-MOTION wearing fake moustaches.

Ganglians

A little earlier at Woodsist Fest on Saturday (3:45 if they keep to the posted schedule) are Sacramento's Ganglians, who just released an EP and an album on Woodsist. Not all that far off from The Fresh & Onlys, Ganglians have equal worship for solid songwriting and trippy arrangements/production. I think both records are worth picking up: the self-titled EP shows off more of their rocking side (which they favored when I saw them at SxSW), like the surfy, Kiwi-esque "Hair" of which there's an MP3 at the top of this post. The album, Monster Head Room, is more acoustic and owes a lot to Brian Wilson. If you can't make the July 4th show, they'll be playing the next night (7/5) at Monster Island basement with Psychedelic Horseshit.

In between Ganglians and Fresh & Onlys on Saturday (4:30PM) are San Francisco's Brilliant Colors, an all-girl trio who play short, scratchy pop with a definitely New Zealand vibe. They also play the late show that night at Market Hotel, and will be on WNYU on July 8.

Dum Dum Girls, who play after the Fresh & Onlys at 6PM, are from L.A. and owe much to the C-86 scene that has been an influence on Pains of Being Pure at Heart and Vivian Girls. Actually, Dum Dum Girls is just one girl, Dee Dee, who may or may not have a band with her when she plays. Dee Dee is also in The Mayfair Set, a collaboration with Blank Dogs (and Captured Tracks domo) Mike Sniper, who will make their live debut (I think) Friday (7/3) at 6:30.

I've got MP3s for most every band playing the Fest over at my blog.

Brilliant Colors

A couple non-Woodsist/Captrax Fest recommendation for the Fourth weekend. New Zealand's Bachelorette is back in town, playing the kickoff show of this year's Seaport Music Festival, opening for Here We Go Magic. I saw Bachelorette at Cake Shop a couple weeks back and was so smitten I bought everything at the merch table. There was a fair amount of laptopping going on, but Annabel Alpers' breathy, fragile voice was definitely live and the three-piece oozed unassuming charm. Bachelorette also play the sold-out Rooftop Films Fourth of July party Saturday night which happens on the roof of the Chelsea Art Museum.

And Thursday (7/2) starts The Feelies' three-night run at Maxwell's. Friday's show (7/3) is sold out but you can still get tickets for Thursday and for Saturday (7/4). Bring comfortable shoes -- they're doing two sets each night. The excitement of their reformation may have faded a bit since this time last year, but their great songs -- and still-awesome guitar interplay -- have not.

Full Woodsist/Captured Tracks Festival schedule and other tour dates after the jump...

Continue reading "Ganglians, Fresh & Onlys, Brilliant Colors, Bachelorette, lots of Woodsist bands & more in This Week in Indie "