by Andrew Sacher

Hop Along

As mentioned, The Thermals are releasing a new album, Desperate Ground, on April 16 via Saddle Creek, and they'll be going on a tour to support it which hits NYC on May 28 and 29 at Bowery Ballroom. When those dates were first announced, no openers had been revealed yet, but we now know that support on the 5/28 show will come from Hop Along. Their 2012 album, Get Disowned, was one of the great and often overlooked albums of that year, and they'll be a solid fit on a bill with The Thermals. Tickets for both Bowery Ballroom shows are still available.

UPDATE: You can now stream Desperate Ground in its entirety at Pitchfork

The Thermals are also putting out a Record Store Day release, Desperate Ground Demos, which includes demos of four tracks -- "The Sword By My Side," "Born to Kill," "You Will Find Me," and "The Sunset" -- from the new album that were recorded at home by the band on a 4-track. The album art for that 7" is below.

Hop Along also open The Thermals' Philly date, but both of those shows happen after they tour Europe with The Sidekicks. All dates are listed, along with a stream of Get Disowned and the Thermals album art, below...

Continue reading "Hop Along opening for The Thermals (who have a Record Store Day 7" & are streaming their new LP) & playing other shows"

by Andrew Sacher

Hop Along (via)

We're reaching the point of the year where all of the exciting music has pretty much finished coming out and you've got some time before next year to check out all of the stuff that might have flown under your radar over the course of the past twelve months. If you've been doing that and haven't already checked out Hop Along's unfairly overlooked (and great) Get Disowned, you should do yourself a favor and give it a listen. I caught the band back in September and they bring it live too. If you like your indie rock of the Don Giovanni variety (Lemuria, Waxahatchee) with a dash of Neutral Milk Hotel, you'll dig Hop Along. You can stream the whole record below ("Tibetan Pop Stars" is a standout).

Before the year ends, Hop Along will make their way over to NYC for one more show here on Wednesday, December 19 at Public Assembly for Bomb the Music Industry!'s fifth annual holiday toy drive. Franz Nicolay (Hold Steady, Against Me!, and more) is also on the bill. Tickets for that show are on sale now. The only other show Hop Along have scheduled at the moment is in their hometown of Philly as an opener at Up Up Down Down Left Right Left Right B A Start's reunion show in January.

A list of all dates and the album stream are below...

Continue reading "Hop Along playing shows, including Bomb the Music Industry's annual holiday toy drive in Brooklyn (dates & LP stream)"

by Andrew Sacher

Swearin' at SUNY Purchase - 9/9/12

After taking about a month-long break since their last show, Brooklyn's Swearin' kicked off a short September run of the NYC area and Philly at SUNY Purchase last night (9/9). The NYC shows on that run include one TONIGHT (9/10) at Mercury Lounge as a support act for the previously discussed Jaill and Fergus & Geronimo show with Home Blitz. Tickets for tonight's show are still available. They'll also play a TBA Brooklyn show on Wednesday (9/12) with Tenement, and will open for Chomp at their record release show at Cameo on September 21. Tickets for that show are on sale now. In November, Swearin' will head out as an opening act for Japandroids on their previously discussed tour, but their last scheduled date at the moment is the Asheville, NC show (12/2) which happens right before Japandroids play Webster Hall in NYC (12/4). No other opener for the Webster Hall show has been announced yet either. All Swearin' dates are listed below.

I caught Swearin' at SUNY Purchase last night and they put on a super fun show. Sometimes calmer sounding on record, the band never ceased to be punchy and in your face live. They play crunchy pop punk the way it's meant to be played and the crowd was into it the whole time. Their set relied primarily on their recently released self titled debut LP, but also reached back to 2011's What a Dump EP for some old faves like "Irrational." Allison Crutchfield had already cut her teeth for years in P.S. Eliot so she's got the experience and is fully able to be a totally confident frontwoman and charming performer.

Hop Along at SUNY Purchase - 9/9/12

At the Purchase show, Swearin' were opening for Philly's Hop Along, who are touring in support of their excellent new album, Get Disowned, which I recently wrote about on BV Austin. Both bands (and Laura Stevenson and the Cans, Shellshag, etc) have a notable amount of sonic compatibility, but while Swearin' are reliving the glory days of pop punk, Hop Along often recall the fuzz folk of Neutral Milk Hotel and The Microphones. Frontwoman Frances Quinlan is a powerhouse live, howling away at her intimate lyrics and also proving to be a pretty killer guitarist. She's backed by an equally impressive band -- Mark Quinlan (drums) and Tyler Long (bass) -- who play as a three-piece that sound as large and diverse as a six-piece. Highlights of the show came during "Get Disowned" and album standout "Tibetan Pop Stars," during which a mosh pit immediately broke out, knocking over Frances' mic stand within seconds and causing the band to restart the song. Luckily they were in good spirits about it and once the song did continue, the entire room could be heard shouting along to the song's chorus and explosive bridge. Hop Along's tour continues this week, hitting Bard College on Friday (9/14), and wrapping up in November. All of their dates are listed below.

You can purchase the Hop Along album at bandcamp, the Swearin' album also at bandcamp and stream both, along with lists of dates for both bands, below.

Continue reading "Swearin' played SUNY Purchase w/ Hop Along, playing more shows (review, dates and streams)"

Hilly Eye at Acheron earlier this month (more by Andrew St. Clair)

Annual all ages, DIY music festival Hillstock is returning to Brooklyn this year from June 22-24 across four spaces in Clinton Hill. Day 1 (6/22) begins with a kickoff party at Free Candy on 905 Atlantic Ave with Math the Band, Ava Luna, Hop Along, Heaven's Gate, and more. On day 2 (6/23) we'll get the free block party at 106 Emerson Place with Hilly Eye, The Suzan, Life Size Maps, Swear and Shake, surprise guests and more, followed by a $5 afterparty with Terror Pigeon Dance Revolt, Twitchers, Nuclear Santa Claust, and Sega Genocide. The fest wraps up on 6/24 with a backyard picnic at 402½ Park Avenue headlined by surprise guests and also featuring Archipelago, Emilyn Brodsky, Modern Hut, and more.

The full schedule, flier and a trailer video are below...

Continue reading "Hillstock returning to Brooklyn in June (Hilly Eye, The Suzan, Math the Band, Ava Luna & more)"

photos by Lauren Monaco

"wow. being blown away by screaming females. all nyu folks, strawberry fest is FREE and happening now." - Jason Lindy, April 30th

JEFF & strawberry

As mentioned a few times, NYU held their annual Strawberry Festival on Friday. The free concert included sets by Screaming Females, Hop Along, Little Lungs, Fiasco and JEFF the Brotherhood. JEFF are back in NYC in June as part of a tour with Quintron and Miss Pussycat. More pictures from Friday below...

Continue reading "JEFF the Brotherhood, Screaming Females, Fiasco & friends played NYU's Strawberry Festival (pics) "

by Andrew Frisicano

Cold Cave @ Market Hotel during CMJ (more by Leia Jospe)

Cold Cave and a surprise headliner will top a free concert on Saturday, April 24th at Solar One (same location as the annual CitySol, 23rd Street at East River) as part of NYU Earth Week. Also on the bill are lightly orchestral, layered pop band North Highlands and echo\y, tuneful Oberhofer. The show starts at 4pm and Andrew WK DJs between bands. The headliner will be announced the day of the show.

Columbia University is hosting a show with Of Montreal, Wiz Khalifa and Ghostface Killah the same day.

Cold Cave also playing the WBAR-B-Q the next day (4/25) and LPR on April 29th.

Also NYU-related is the annual Strawberry Festival on Friday, April 30th, noon to 4pm, outdoors on LaGuardia Place between W 3rd and 4th Sts. The show (an "NYU only event") includes music from Hop Along, Little Lungs, Fiasco, Screaming Females and Japanther.

Video from last year's Strawberry Fest and a recent gig by Japanther at Party Expo are below...

Continue reading "Cold Cave, a surprise headliner, Screaming Females, Japanther & other bands playing upcoming free NYU shows"