by Dominick Mastrangelo

SXSW Day Three started over at the free Dickies Sounds Day Party. Free silk-screened posters with all the bands playing that day (including She & Him and Surfer Blood at the official showcase that night) were printed up and handed out on the spot. People played ping pong next to the house while around the corner Greg Laswell played a few new songs, several old ones, as well as his incredibly depressing take on Cyndi Lauper's "Girl's Just Wanna Have Fun". After a quick dash over to the convention center it was back to Dickies, where there was suddenly a long line, to catch the all-girl quartet, Warpaint, who were fantastic. Then Rogue Wave closed out the day portion. I still can't get excited about their new record, but live Zach Rogue and his newly configured lineup have it down and the crowd we're into it from the start. The highlight being "Lake Michigan" and a slow-building, two-minute intro.

For the evening I set up camp at the Mohawk for the Slumberland/Cake Shop Showcase. Sheffield's indiepop trio Standard Fare opened inside and their performance was great. A better batch of indie pop songs you'll be hard-pressed to find this year. Philadelphia drum-guitar duo Reading Rainbow were next and another indie pop band, the excellent Summer Cats (from Australia), followed. Frankie Rose and the Outs were up next with their hazy, lo-fi rock. I skipped out after that to nip over to the Galaxy Backyard to catch The Antlers (completely forgetting I would see them the following afternoon at another Party.) Their third show of the festival and they just nailed it. People around me who had not heard of them were won over after just one song (the increasingly uptempo "Sylvia".) By the end, one girl put her hands up in the shape of a heart right in front of Peter Silberman, eliciting a smile from the frontman mid-verse. From there it was a quick dash back up Red River to the Mohawk where both inside and outside were at capacity with Miike Snow about to go on outside (followed by Mayer Hawthorne, neither of who I caught) and Pains of Being Pure at Heart inside. "Welcome to the Cake Shop," said Kip Berman at the start of the New York indie pop band's set, pointing at the Cake Shop banner on the wall behind them.

Day One HERE. Day Two HERE. Day Three continued below....

Continue reading "SXSW 2010 day 3 in pics & review (Pains of Being Pure of Heart, Rogue Wave, Antlers, Cake Shop, Warpaint, more) "

photos by Brian Reilly, words by Andrew Frisicano

Apologies to the DJ who went on after Fucked Up last Friday (2/15) at Europa. The balloons he or she carefully inflated, stuffed into bags, taped to the ceiling and rigged up with string to the DJ booth didn't make it through the set. "Last time I was here the bouncer beat me up," said one hopeful crowd member. Nothing like that happened - though there was some pushing and shoving, some ill advised but inevitable backflips off the stage, and the reasonably levelheaded bouncer in front, not beating anyone up.

Fucked Up treated the crowd to its standard repertoire of songs new and old (a partial setlist is below). Surprises included some songs off their just released Couple Tracks compilation and a devout cover of Sex Pistols' "Bodies."

The show was one of two NYC-area dates on their tour with fellow Matador artist Kurt Vile (Frankie & The Outs also opened at Europa). The other was the night before at Maxwell's. Vile opened both with airy, gutted versions of his full-band songs using only an acoustic guitar and some light effects. He opens for Panda Bear in Europe this March.

Fucked Up will be down at SXSW in March. One stop will be the BrooklynVegan Day Show on 3/17 at Emo's, where they'll play alongside Torche, Javelina, Salome, The Atlas Moth and Dark Castle. They'll also be at their own showcase, and MtyMx the following Sunday.

They recently announced a limited-run Record Store Day 7-inch (April 17th this year), with custom covers for each of 10 stores (including NYC's Generation Records) and one generic cover. Check out the artwork at their site. More pictures from Europa are below...

Continue reading "Fucked Up played Maxwell's & Europa w/ Kurt Vile (pics), releasing Record Store Day 7-inches & more"

Canadian punks Fucked Up play Maxwell's tonight (2/18) and Europa in Brooklyn on Friday (2/19) with Kurt Vile and Frankie & The Outs. Tickets are still available or, if you're feeling lucky, We have four pairs of tickets for giveaway! Details on how to win them below...

Continue reading "Fucked UP & Kurt Vile are here, win tix to the Brooklyn show"

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

DOWNLOAD: Harlem - Friendly Ghost (MP3)
DOWNLOAD: Christmas Island - Bed Island (MP3)
DOWNLOAD: North Highlands - Sugar Lips (MP3)

Harlem

It's a good week in New York for lovers of no-muss-no-fuss garage rock -- there's a lot of it in town. Austin trio Harlem are playing a trio of shows, the first of which is tonight (2/10) at Mercury Lounge with Girls at Dawn. They then play Friday (2/12) with Frankie & the Outs and The Siberians at Monster Island, and then hit Union Pool on Saturday (2/13) with Jemina Pearl. The band's second album (and first for Matador), Hippies, is out in April and doesn't stray too far from the greasy lo-fi of their debut, but with a bit more, um, finesse. They haven't polished the furniture, just tidied up a bit and the songs don't substitute reverb and distortion, for songwriting chops and attitude. It's a good record.

I'm going to see them tonight Mercury Lounge, but if I had to recommend one of the three shows, Monster Island on Friday seems like the right place to see them with the best and most economical ($7) of the overall line-ups. The Siberians make the kind of garage you would've heard at Cavestomp ten years ago before the genre became cool again -- more Lyres-style organ, less scuzz. Stupid Party are molasses-thick with extra sludge.

The night starts with Blacksburg, VA's Wild Nothing whose dreamy new single, "Summer Holiday," was just released on Captured Tracks. Think a slightly less wimpy Trembling Blue Stars and you're in the general sonic ballpark. Maybe you've already heardhis cover of Kate Bush's "Cloudbusting" that made its way around the internet last year.  I'm pretty sure on record it's just one guy, so what guise Wild Nothing will take live is anybody's guess. And Frankie & the Outs have really come along as a band over the last five months and are coming into their own -- and apparently they've just wrapped up recording their debut album. Hopefully that will be out sooner than later.

Wild Nothing

Both Wild Nothing and the Outs will play Monster Island again the next night (2/13) for another great show, this time with Blank Dogs (who haven't played in a while), Sisters and Ireland's So Cow. This will be the first NYC appearance from So Cow since his assault on the U.S. last summer where he charmed nearly everyone who went to see him play.  His new album, Meaningless Friendly, is supposedly out this month though there's no mention of it on the Tic Tac Totally website. Ask him what the hell's up with that at the merch table, won't you? If you can't make it Saturday night, So Cow plays again on Sunday (2/14) at Cake Shop with Vivian Girls/Woods side project The Babies, the Nick Cave-y Preacher and the Knife (who are also playing a fashion show on Friday) and retro doowop stylings of White Blue Yellow and Clouds.  So Cow will be in here for nearly six weeks (including SXSW), playing just about everywhere in North America so do go see him if you can.

Christmas Island

Monday night at Cake Shop was the kickoff show for Christmas Island / Beets / Beach Fossils tour which will take them down and up the East Coast over the next ten days. If you missed that show, all three play again on Saturday (2/13) at Death by Audio and then will close the tour on 2/20 at Music Hall of Williamsburg with Crystal Stilts and German Measles (tickets are still on sale for the latter). Matt Volz, who does all the The Beets' artwork, designed a great poster for the tour which you can actually buy via Captured Tracks website and at the merch table on this tour (and is given a CT release number a la Factory Records). You can see a big version of it here.

I've written plenty about Beach Fossils and The Beets before and both bands play here often, they live here, so the real draw here is San Diego's Christmas Island. Their album from last year, Blackout Summer, didn't get much attention but is well worth checking out. You can download a track from it at the top of this post. Not unlike fellow Californians Nodzzz, Christmas Island make somewhat surfy, definitely nasally/nerdy indie rock that at times reminds me of the Dead Milkmen (when Joe Jack Talcum sang).  They were good when I saw them at SXSW last year and look forward to seeing them again on Friday. All tour dates are at the bottom of this post.

North Highlands

Tomorrow (2/11) is the  second of Savoir Adore's three Thursdays in February residency at Cake Shop and I've got another pair of tickets to give away. Just email BVCONTESTS@HOTMAIL.COM with "Savoir Adore" in the subject and I'll pick a winner at random. Openers this week are really good. Both CYHSY/Savoir Adore side project Uninhabitable Mansions and We Are Country Mice have been written about by me before, but I'll like to highlight Brooklyn band North Highlands who make rather lovely piano-driven orch pop. Singer Brenda Malvani has one of those airy but strong voices that seems to have dictated the sound of the band, it all just goes down so well together. They're good live too. You can download title track from their Sugar Lips EP at the top of this post. In between bands this week, Pat from Pop Tarts Suck Toasted (a victim of this week's nasty "Music Blogocide 2K10") will spin tunes. Should be a great night.

A couple more. The Obits anniversary shows are at Cake Shop Friday and Saturday night. Sure to be awesome.

And finally don't forget about Diamond Nights and Cheeseburger (with guest vocalists) this Saturday (2/13) at Brooklyn Bowl. If ever there were two bands to see at a bowling alley, it's these two. The Coco66 show Diamond Nights were originally booked to play on Friday isn't happening so this may be your only chance ever to see them rock it again, as the band has been defunct for over two years. They definitely went before their time. Really looking forward to this one.

That's it for this week. Flyers and tour dates below.

Continue reading "Wild Nothing, So Cow, Obits, North Highlands, Christmas Island, Harlem, Diamond Nights & 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 "

Screaming Females @ Terminal 5 in December (more by Chris La Putt)

New York Night Train, the almost-nightly dance party run by DJ Jonathan Toubin, will be hosting New Year's Eve events at three LES venues this year. Cake Shop, Home Sweet Home and Motor City (127 Ludlow) are signed on for the event with all-night liquor licenses. Cake Shop is the real highlight though. Bands playing the basement there include Talk Normal, Screaming Females, Frankie and the Outs and CSC Funk Band (ex-USAisamonster), while the other two venues get a few bands (like A.R.E. Weapons) and a slew of DJs, comedians, burlesque performers and more. More details are below.

For Frankie & The Outs, it's one of two New Years Eve shows. They'll also be at the Cameo Gallery in Brooklyn with Beach Fossils, We Are Country Mice, Lemonade and Surfer Blood. Tickets are on sale.

Screaming Females have a few upcoming shows too - they play with Bouncing Souls in Asbury Park on December 29th, and kick off their February tour with JEFF the Brotherhood with a Feb. 6 Bowery Ballroom showcase for their label Don Giovanni.

Before then, there are plenty of chances to catch the NY Night Train crew in holiday party mode. Tonight (12/21) Jonathan Toubin DJs with Revered Vince Anderson at his weekly Union Pool residency. Toubin will also be spinning at the BV-sponsored Jewltide 7 party happening at Southpaw on Christmas Eve (12/24). Tickets are on sale and the flyer is below with a full schedule...

Continue reading "Screaming Females, Frankie & The Outs & Talk Normal playing Cake Shop NYE ++ other New York Night Train events "

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) "

by Bill Pearis

DOWNLOAD: Obits - Two-Headed Coin (MP3)
DOWNLOAD: Obits - Pine On (MP3)

So we asked a load of NYC-area bands to tell us how their 2009 went, via a handy questionnaire. As we get them back we're gonna post them.

Obits on the Jimmy Fallon show - November 2009

This one is from Brooklyn's Obits, a band that features a bunch of indie rock veterans, including frontman Rick Froberg (Hot Snakes, Drive Like Jehu), guitarist Sohrab Habibion (Edsel) and drummer Scott Gursky (Shortstack). Legend has it, a bootleg of their first gig (Cakeshop, Jan 2008) got them signed to Sub Pop, who earlier this year put out Obits debut, I Blame You -- one of my favorite straight-up rock records of 2009. Obits' next gig is New Years Eve Rock n' Soul Party at The Bell House that also features Eli "Paperboy" Reed (tickets are still on sale).

Sohrab (who you may have caught solo on Saturday when he opened for That Petrol Emotion at the Bell House) was kind enough to answer the questionnaire below... very candidly I might add...

Continue reading "an end of 2009 interview w/ Sohrab Habibion of Obits"

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

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

The Cribs

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

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

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

Pants Yell!

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

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

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

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

Versus

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

GhostDigital

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

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

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

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

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

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

by Bill Pearis

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

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

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

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

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

Grass Widow

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

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

The Bitters

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

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

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

Carsick Cars

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

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

Tahiti 80

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

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

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

tonight in NYC
* Maskarave
* Tegan & Sara @ Town Hall
* Tim Fite, Via Audio @ Union Hall
* Thievery Corporation @ Terminal 5
* "The Misfits," Stigma @ BB King's
* Junior Boys, Woodhands @ The Bell House
* The Long Count @ BAM Gilman Opera House
* Fixed w/ Boys Noize @ Santos Party House
* Karl Denson's Tiny Universe @ Bowery Ballroom
* Mike Doughty, Porter Block @ (Le) Poisson Rouge
* Wizardry, Pink Noise, Akris, Occultist @ Union Pool
* King Khan & BBQ Show, Dum Dum Girls @ The Bell House
* Weezer, Matt & Kim, PT Walkley @ Hammerstein Ballroom
* Black Heart Procession, Bellini, The Mumlers @ Maxwell's
* DFHC, Stupid Party, The Weird Fantasy Band @ Bruar Falls
* The Vandelles, Toys in Trouble, Dragons of Zynth @ Warsaw
* The Get Up Kids, Kevin Devine, The Life & Times @ Irving Plaza
* The Figgs, Teenage Prayers, Ghost Front @ Knitting Factory Brooklyn
* Mount Eerie, Liturgy, Malkuth, Tara Jane O'Neil, No Kids @ Market Hotel
* World/Inferno Friendship Society, O'Death @ Manhattan Center Grand Ballroom
* Halloween Party w/ The Very Best, Stretch Armstrong @ Brooklyn Masonic Temple
* Vivian Girls, Wooden Shjips, Crystal Stilts, Religious Knives @ 171 Lombardy Street
* Golden Triangle, Cry Try Cry, Knyfe Hyts 81 & Insane Secret Performance from BBQ of hell @ Secret Robot Project
* Deer Tick as The Sex Pistols, Sonic Youth & Michael Jackson tribute bands @ Brooklyn Bowl
* The Dead River Company, Dinosaur Feathers, The Morgues, Hannah Fairchild @ Pete's Candy Store
* Vice 15th Anniv. Party w/ Bad Brains, The Jesus Lizard, Dave1, Peanut Butter Wolf, Nick Catchdubs, Titus Andronicus & Children in Williamsburg

Happy Halloween! The parade starts at 7:00.

Frankie and the Outs weren't supposed to be debut their live band for another week, but it looks like a last minute show has been added tonight! Flyer below..

What else?

Continue reading "What's going on Saturday? (Halloween)"

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 "