"The Straight Arrows play no frills spazz rock and have grown up on a healthy diet of the Ramones and Hüsker Dü, culminating in a fearless, boozy punk. They used to play on the scungy fringes of Sydney's live scene and have since released several fuzzy 7" records. They didn't need an intro [at Manning Bar in Sydney in February] and didn't waste their time with one. They exploded on stage, stabbing the fret boards and punching out stripped back songs at ridiculous volume. It was about texture, not content. Loud, abrasive, loose, obnoxious, immature and really, really good." [Faster Louder]

All dates on the tour don't have venues yet, but they are listed below...

Continue reading "Straight Arrows touring US around Gonerfest (dates)"

DOWNLOAD: Royal Headache - Down the Lane (MP3)

Sydney's Royal Headache are visting the US for a September tour around Gonerfest 2011. They kick things off at Brooklyn's Death By Audio on 9/8 with France's Cheveu, Black Marble & Family Curse, and then continue to Manhattan's Ding Dong Lounge on 9/10 with Home Blitz before continuing on (dates below).

These dudes have been one of the best things about Sydney's resurgent DIY punk scene for a while, on the strength of a self-produced 7" and some pretty amazing live shows, and their album, produced by Mikey Young of Eddy Current Suppression Ring and Straight Arrows' Owen Penglis, delivers on their early promise pretty comprehensively. There's a '60s pop hue to punk jams like Down The Lane, but they don't come across as revivalists - you can put that down to a combination of a thick romantic streak and a totally prosaic lyrical style which is so terrifically unpretentious that it makes you wonder why so few other songwriters have been able to write like this. [Rose Quartz]

Continue reading "check out Royal Headache (touring US around Gonerfest) ---- dates & songs"

words by Andrew Frisicano, photos by Andrew St. Clair

Ty Segall @ Death by Audio

Ty Segall and band stopped by on their current SXSW-inclusive tour for a pair of NYC gigs on Tuesday and Thursday. The first of those happened at a crammed Mercury Lounge, where the band played a 45-minute set that mixed Melted gems with new tunes. Last time I saw Ty, his voice was shredded from a day of grueling CMJ performances, and the set ended with a guitar-smashing outburst. Here, coming off a (hopefully relaxing) cruise, there were no such issues; Ty hit all the falsetto cues and edged down to a whisper for the quieter moments. Those lulls always have a way of roaring back, which is part of what makes Ty Segall such a compelling live act: the briefly empty spaces that explode into hair-flailing shred-work. The other part is the melodies, which are catchy and incredibly memorable, even if you can't tell what he's saying, or even what the songs are about ("Finger" something....??).

Ty's Thursday NYC show was at Death by Audio with Heavy Cream, Liquor Store, and Home Blitz. Hopefully Ty and the band will be back in New York soon (or at least by the release of his new disc, Goodbye Bread, on June 21). Heavy Cream (who have a new drummer) return to Death By Audio on April 2nd.

All tour dates, and more pictures and videos from the DBA show, below...

Continue reading "Ty Segall played Mercury Lounge & Death By Audio w/ Heavy Cream, Liquor Store & Home Blitz (pics & video)"

by Bill Pearis

DOWNLOAD: Fergus & Geronimo - Girls with English Accents (MP3)
DOWNLOAD: Fergus & Geronimo - Harder Than It's Ever Been (MP3)
DOWNLOAD: Ty Segall - Girlfriend (MP3)
DOWNLOAD: Ty Segall - Caesar (MP3)
DOWNLOAD: Royal Baths - Nikki Don't (MP3)
DOWNLOAD: Eternal Summers - Pogo (MP3)
DOWNLOAD: Rayon Beach - The Memory Teeth (MP3)
DOWNLOAD: Dog Day - Synastry (MP3)
DOWNLOAD: Dog Day - Wait it Out (Mp3)
DOWNLOAD: Deerhunter - Revival (ZIP)
DOWNLOAD: Versus - Invincible Hero (MP3)
DOWNLOAD: How to Dress Well - Ecstasy with Jojo (MP3)

Wild Beasts @ Lollapalooza 2010 (more by Josh Darr)

Just like the August bounty of tomatoes, corn and zucchini that can be currently found at your local farmer's market, we looking at five extremely fertile days of live music, much of it free. Take advantage now -- this crop is extremely perishable.

Wild Beasts are stopping in NYC tonight on their way back from Lollapalooza, playing Highline Ballroom. Their second album, Two Dancers, was my favorite album of 2009 and a year later I'm still listening to it. It's up for this year's Mercury Music Prize and if anybody is going to beat The xx it'll be Two Dancers. If you missed their shows last September, or their appearances here in February , don't miss them this time. Tickets are still available. The fluid interplay between the band is something to behold -- a real case of four people working as one mesmerizing whole. And those who still haven't gotten used to their vocal style, I say go see them live and everything makes more sense.

Domino Records is offering a free downloadable four-song EP featuring "We've Still Got the Taste Dancing on Our Tongues" in original and remixed form, a track previously only available as a Japanese b-side and an acoustic version of "The Devil's Crayon." The download widget is at the bottom of this post and expires August 14 so get on that. And do go see them live tonight if you can. Denmark's The Kissaway Trail and UK artist Lone Wolf are also on the bill.

Fergus and Geronimo

It's been a year since Denton, TX's Fergus & Geronimo were last in town, and while they haven't released anything new since last summer's initial flurry of singles, that should change soon. The band have signed with Sub Pop subsidiary Hardly Art who will hopefully be putting out a record sooner than later. In the meantime, UK label Transparent (who put out "Tell it in My Ear" last year) have offered up a new F&G track "Girls with English Accents" that you can download at the top of this post. Maybe a little more dreamy/folky and less soul-tinged than their previous output, it's still another winner from this excellent four-piece.

I saw them at 92-Y Tribeca last summer and thought they were terrific. Fergus & Geronimo play Cake-Shop tonight (8/11) with Radical Dads and Little Gold. They then play Saturday (8/14) at Don Pedro's with Liquor Store, Home Blitz, Moonmen on the Moon, Man, and Nashville's Pujol. That sounds like a party.

Also here from Texas this weekend are Austin's Rayon Beach who play Bruar Falls on Saturday (8/14) and Death by Audio on Sunday (8/15). Like a lot of the bands on Hozac Records (or bands from Austin for that matter), this trio fit under the psych/garage umbrella but there's a decided Brit bent to their music. Baroque garage, is that a thing? Think Syd-era Pink Floyd or The Pretty Things more than Woven Bones. Make no mistake -- Rayon Beach can and do get plenty loud. It's just sometimes with pinkies extended. Check out Memory Teeth's title track at the top of this post.

The Bruar falls show is with Girls at Dawn and Xray Eyeballs; the Death by Audio show also features The Beets and Andrew Graham & Swarming Branch.

Ty Segall

We're just getting started. Ty Segall and The Royal Baths are here from San Francisco, playing Cake Shop on Thursday (8/12) and Death by Audio on Friday (8/13). For my money, it doesn't get much better in the new garage scene than this guy, who has been cranking out records over the last two years. Amazingly, they're pretty much all good, and each record goes somewhere new. The latest, Melted, just out on Goner Records, adds some nice '60s paisley pop touches. You can download two tracks from it at the top of this post. And he's great live.

The Royal Baths, meanwhile, are sort of the flip side to Ty's sunshine pop. I wrote before that they're "kind of bad trip acid rock, dark and seedy but not atonal. But it's definitely down the rabbit hole. In a good way." Royal Baths debut LP is due out on Woodsist in September and you can check out album track "Nikki Don't" at the top of this post.

Eternal Summers

Still more. Roanoke, VA's Eternal Summers are back -- they were last here for the Northside Festival -- for two shows: Thursday (8/12) at new Williamsburg venue The Pyramids and then Friday night (8/13) at Cake Shop. The band have signed with Kanine records who will put out their first full-length, Silver, in September. You can check out the album's first single, "Pogo," in the popular MP3 format at the top of this post. If you dig C-86 inspired pop like Brilliant Colors or Liechtenstein, you should definitely seek this duo out. Absolutely worth seeing live and nice folks too.

Both shows Eternal Summers are playing have pretty stacked bills. The Pyramids gig is with Philly's Reading Rainbow, all-girl quartet Rescue Bird, the shambly goodness that is German Measles and the wistful surf of Family Trees; Friday's Cake Shop show also has new-ish Brooklyn duo Yvette, the tinny, witty pop of Knight School and Halifax, NS band Dog Day.

Dog Day

Dog Day are actually here playing two shows. They play Thursday (8/12) at Bruar Falls in addition to the Cake Shop show on Friday. It's been a while since Halifax's mid-90s indie explosion that gave us Sloan and Thrush Hermit, but Dog Day are helping put the coastal city back on the map. Led by husband-and-wife team of Seth Smith and Nancy Ulrich, the quartet make moody, melodic indie rock that is not too dissimilar from The Figurines or The Comas. Last year's Concentration was one of 2009's lost gems. There's two songs to download at the top of this post and I highly suggest you do. You might find yourself saying "why haven't I heard these guys before?" Normally a quartet, for these NYC shows Dog Day will just be a duo of Smith/Ulrich and they'll be testing out new songs for their upcoming album.

Savoir Adore @ Coco66 for Northside (more by Don Gochenour)

And last but not least, Friday is the last Seaport Music Festival show of the season but they are really going out with a bang with The Wedding Present and Savoir Adore. I'm told we're getting a full 90-minute set from the Weddoes pretty close to what they played at Bowery Ballroom back in April: a career-spanning "hits" set and then they'll play 1989's Bizarro in full.

I saw the Bowery Bizzaro show and it was fantastic, especially the stuff from Side Two of the LP, the long, jangle-on-speed workouts of "Bewitched" and "Take Me!" David Gedge may be 50 but he can still tear into his guitar like Thatcher was still in office. There's video of "Take Me" from Bowery at the bottom of this post. The hits set was peppered with a few new songs too, which I thought were pretty good.

Savoir Adore, one of my favorite new NYC bands of the last few years, are always good live. If you have yet to check out their self-titled debut from last year, you definitely should.

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

As if this wasn't enough, here are a few more picks by day that weren't already covered above:

WEDNESDAY, AUGUST 11

Two of the best new bands of the last year -- Twin Sister and Oberhofer -- play Mercury Lounge with Ontario's MemoryHouse. Twin Sister and Memory House also play together on Thursday (8/12) at Monster Island Basement, the start of a two-week tour together. All dates at the bottom of this post.

At Coco 66 it's another installment of Show Off Your Sugar which pairs one band and one author to benefit 826NYC, a non-profit writing center for New York City students. Rock critic Chuck Klosterman reads and Here We Go Magic will rock.

continued below...

Continue reading "Wild Beasts, Fergus & Geronimo, Rayon Beach, Ty Segall, Eternal Summers, Dog Day, the Wedding Present & more in This Week in Indie "

"Oh hey, just me and Britt Daniel, checking out Pissed Jeans and Eddy Current Suppression Ring at Death By Audio. Whatevs. #itshotinhere" - rachelcperry

photos by Diana Wong

Eddy Current Suppression Ring...

Eddy Current Suppression Ring and Pissed Jeans played two shows in NYC over the weekend. The first of those sweaty shows was Friday night (6/18) at the Cake Shop with Home Blitz and Bloody Gears. The pictures here are from that hot and sweaty gig. The second was the next night at Death By Audio which is referenced in the above tweet.

More pictures and video of Pissed Jeans at Cake Shop are below...

Continue reading "Eddy Current Suppression Ring, Pissed Jeans, Home Blitz & Bloody Gears played Cake Shop - pics & video "

words & photos by Andrew Frisicano

Wednesday - The Middle East @ Club DeVille (more by Tim Griffin)

I started toward MtyMx about 4 hours after my last SXSW show, so I haven't had much time to reflect on what happened in Austin - but before they become too irrelevant, here are some quick pictures and words of my personal highlights at the fest.

The Middle East covered the stage with an arsenal of instruments and percussion, bringing out a flute, a banjo, keys, an accordion, and a rain stick covered in bottle caps. Their set kicked off with a wobbling country-western number. "The Darkest Part" was a solemn, two-member affair, with the others jumping in as it progressed. And the barn-burning jams that built up to their finale, "Blood," brought to mind the more unhinged tunes Mumford & Sons (it clicked a moment later that they're touring together this May). Overall: a tight, short set (with a few nervous slips) in front of Club DeVille's cave-wall backdrop, which hopefully will lead into an engaging debut and tour.

Thursday - Thee Oh Sees @ (Spider House &) Lamar Pedestrian Bridge

I caught Thee Oh Sees twice on Thursday - once on the gorgeously sunny garden stage of the Spider House; once on a footbridge over Austin's Lady Bird Lake at 2am - and they played other shows as well. On the bridge the band traded songs with Home Blitz, who looked not-exactly-pleased to be standing in the freezing wind at 3am. Amps, a PA and a few worklights ran through a generator, and the assembled equipment threatened to topple over from the surging crowd. The band stretched out into extended jams that made the bridge literally shake. After a more than generous set, the crowd still prodded Dwyer and Co. for more, which they gave.

Friday - Billy Bragg @ MWTX Festival

Billy Bragg's set, to the wristbandless masses of MWTX (formerly Mess with Texas) focused nearly as much on politics as it did on music. He buttered up the crowd with "Help Save the Youth of America" and "To Have and Have Not" before speaking about healthcare reform, defeating the BNP and the ubiquity of corporations at SXSW ("This set is brought to you by my sponsor: Woody Guthrie."). His inspiring asides were genuine and welcome, and they lead into the crowd-pleasing closer, "A New England." He played again later on Friday night with a ton of guests.

Friday - Man or Astroman? @ MWTX Festival

On a completely different note, Man or Astroman? (back after a bit of a hiatus) headlined MWTX's south stage in full space regalia, with video flashing in the background and a pre-recorded narrator between songs. Their short burst of mostly instrumental surf-rock was anything but boring, and they closed it out by flicking on a huge Tesla coil.

Saturday - Major Lazer @ Carniville

My expectations were pretty low for Major Lazer, who were playing to an iced-over crowd on the massive, corporated-out stage at the Mexican-American Cultural Center (aka the Mad Decent/Iheartcomix/Jelly-presented Carniville for the fest), but they proved me wrong. The antics of hypeman Skerrit Bwoy and dancer Mimi made the frozen crowd erupt (the free T-shirts and foam guns being thrown off the stage helped too) - they mounted and humped everything in sight including crowdmembers, the rigging for the lights, and a ladder, which they used to dive onto each other for more dryhumping. Diplo got through most of Guns Don't Kill People, Lazers Do, with a brief assist from Ninjasonik. Did I mention the huge pink, furry monster on stage? He got some too.

Saturday - The Very Best (and then Freddie Gibbs) @ Scoot Inn

At Scoot Inn, the frigid evening grew on and most of the crowd there for the Pitchfork showcase stayed huddled around a campfire or in the bar's sauna-like interior - until The Very Best (who I missed opening for Major Lazer a few hours earlier). Esau, with a huge grin on his face, his co-mic-man (whose name I can't remember), a pair of dancers and DJ Johan Hugo all made good use of the short set. Their energy passed through the mic into crowd members for songs like "Julia" and "Warm Heart of Africa," which finished with plenty of the crowd on stage.

Freddie Gibbs, who I had never really gotten into before, was up next and seemed similarly unfazed by the cold as he rapped confidently about gangsta life. A handful of friends passed around a blunt and ceded the floor to Gibbs, who cooly made converts with his laid-back approach.

Saturday - Sleigh Bells @ Scoot Inn

Sleigh Bells brought the energy back up for the last set of the night (and for some, of SXSW). Despite being a relatively new commodity, both the band's halves, Alexis Krauss and Derek Miller, are assured, polished performers, and they made their appreciation for the crowd clear with their faultless set.

My many other highlights (bands I'll definitely be catching again in the future) included Califone (in NYC 3/30 & 3/31), La Strada, The Sandwitches, Kid Congo Powers, Private Life/Katie Stelmanis, Happy Birthday, Avi Buffalo, Man Man (who I've seen before, but seem to have a new thing going on) and Think About Life.

More pictures from all the sets above (and a ML video), are below...

Continue reading "SXSW 2010 highlights by AF (Thee Oh Sees on a bridge, Man or Astroman?, Major Lazer, Sleigh Bells, Billy Bragg, more) - pics"

by BBG

DOWNLOAD: Eddy Current Supression Ring - "Anxiety" (MP3)
DOWNLOAD: Pissed Jeans - "False Jesii Part 2" (MP3)

Pissed Jeans at WFMU (more by Chloe Rice)

Tickets are still on sale for Pissed Jeans at Knitting Factory in April and now the band have added two more NYC shows in June, both of which are opening slots for Australian punks Eddy Current Suppression Ring:

If you were looking for a day job that would reinforce the credibility of your garage punk band, you could hardly do better than to follow the example of Eddy Current Suppression Ring -- the four members of the group met when they were working at a vinyl pressing plant in Ormond, Victoria, Australia. Inspired by hard-edged, primitive rock in the manner of the Troggs, the Pagans. and X (the Aussie band, not the California punks of the same name), Eddy Current Suppression Ring got its start in late 2003 [and] ...after lots of local gigging and a handful of 7"s and EPs, the band issued their self-titled debut LP on Dropkick Records in 2006. ...The group formed their own label, Aarght Records, to release their second full-length album, 2008's Primary Colours. The album became an unexpected crossover success, rising to number six on the Australian charts and earning ECSR a nomination for Best Rock Album of 2008 at the Australian Music Industry Awards.

ECSR is readying a new 7" for Mexican Summer, "Wet Cement" b/w "Hey Mum" + "Through The Trees", due this week. In addition, the band rill release Rush To Relax on Goner in March, dig on one of those tracks, "anxiety", above.

Dig on full ECSR and Pissed Jeans dates, as well as a few videos, below.

Continue reading "Eddy Current Suppression Ring (Goner/Mexican Summer) touring, playing 2 NYC shows w/ Pissed Jeans (dates) "

by BBG

Salome at BV-BBG at CMJ (more by Samantha Marble)

Wow just turned into OMFG. Wolves In The Throne Room and Salome have been announced as support for the previously discussed 3/11 Shrinebuilder show at NYU. Ticket Info is forthcoming, but NYU students can expect to pay $2 and non-NYU-ers pay a whopping $5.

And while we are on the topic of killer bands, we'd like to announce that Salome will play the two-stage BrooklynVegan Day Party on March 17th at Emo's in Austin, Texas! For those counting at home, that's Salome plus Torche and Fucked Up! More artist announcements are on the way.

Salome will also play the 20 Buck Spin / Profound Lore official SXSW showcase at Headhunters in Austin on 3/19. As expected, the labels have teamed up for a killer lineup of underground metal greats: Yakuza, Liturgy, The Endless Blockade, Coffinworm, White Mice, + two more bands TBA.

That same night (3/19) at Spiro's, just down the street from the 20 Buck Spin/Profound Lore Showcase will be the WFMU/Aquarius showcase which, much like last year, is brimming with great and forward thinking music of heavy/punk persuasion. Liturgy will also be featured at the two-stage show along with Speedwolf, Iron Man, Moon Duo, Shit and Shine, Pierced Arrows, Dengue Fever, Epileptinomicon, Drunkdriver, Home Blitz, Headdress, Sonny & the Sunsets, True Widow, and Todd. For more on the upcoming WFMU show, head to their site. Decisions!

Drunkdriver's other upcoming shows include other SXSW gigs and Cake Shop in NYC on 3/14 with Todd.

Pierced Arrows are scheduled for two NYC area shows with Lullabye Arkestra, March 5th at Mercury (tix) and March 6th at Maxwell's (tix).

Tyvek @ Cake Shop in July (more by Tim Griffin)

Detroit garage punk band Tyvek will be in New York for a show at the Silent Barn on Saturday, December 12th. Also on the bill are Home Blitz and The Beets. The last time they were in town, in July, Tyvek played a show at Silent Barn and a set at Cake Shop.

The Beets have a string of dates coming up including a show with Titus Andronicus at NYU on December 2nd, a set at the Degenerate Craft Fairlaunch party at Silent Barn on December 4th, the Panache & New York Night Train Holiday Party at Glasslands on Dec. 5th (w/ Stalkers, War Party & DJ Jonathan Toubin), and a show at the Brooklyn Tea Party (175 Stockholm St, #303) with The Wowz and Great Lakes on Dec. 11th.

Videos of Tyvek in two settings - a house party and opening for the Dead Weather in August - are posted with tour dates below...

Continue reading "Tyvek coming to NY (dates), playing Silent Barn w/ Home Blitz & the Beets (who have lots of other shows too)"

Kurt Vile (in orange) @ Woodsist/CT Fest on July 4th (more by Tim Griffin)

At [D.C.'s] the Black Cat Backstage [Nov. 5th], [Kurt] Vile ambled through the final date of a month of shows with his three-piece band, The Violators, for what he said was the largest crowd he'd played. Double digits, still -- right-sized. He opened the 70-minute set with a solo take of "Peeping Tomboy," which, like so much of the spectral folk side of his songbook, seemed to waft in from some phantom radio. Even when the combo joined him for the stouter stuff -- like "Freak Train," the self-explanatory centerpiece of his just-released "Childish Prodigy" album -- the cacophony was more ethereal than kinetic.

After innumerable self-releases, his songs still sound like their paint's still wet, which is part of their appeal. It remains to be seen whether they can, or should, expand beyond the cult of sober head-nodders who paid their respects last night. The only person dancing was a British girl whose accent was pitched just-so to be perfectly audible through the din.

"They're really quite good," she chirped. Cheers. [Washington Post]

The gig comes one day before Vile opens for Big Star at Brooklyn Masonic Temple (11/8). Tickets to that appear to be gone.

In non-New York news, Vile will be playing a New Year's Eve show at Chicago's The Riviera with The Black Keys. Tickets are on sale. Half of the Black Keys, Dan Auerbach, plays Webster Hall on Wednesday, November 11th.

A flyer for Vile's Europa show and all upcoming tour dates (in which Vile goes to Europe this December) are posted below...

Continue reading "Kurt Vile playing Europa, opening for the Black Keys on New Years Eve (in Chicago) - 2009 Tour Dates"