Japandroids @ BV SXSW 2010 (more by Tim Griffin)

Japandroids are about to be up to #3 in a 5 part series...

Heavenward Grand Prix is the 3rd installment of the 5-part Japandroids 7" series being released throughout 2010. The A-side features the title track and the B-side features a cover of PJ Harvey's "Shame." This one comes on clear vinyl + MP3 and is limited to 2000 copies.

And you can see Japandroids live on tour right now. That tour comes to Brooklyn for a show at Death By Audio on 10/26 with A Place to Bury Strangers (one of three upcoming NYC shows for the local band), and then visits Maxwell's in Hoboken the next night with Oberhofer (tickets).

All dates below...

Continue reading "Japandroids touring, releasing 7"s"

photos by Peter Applebaum

The Walkmen in Camden, July 2010

"Lisbon, the fifth album by critically acclaimed band The Walkmen, is due September 14 with iTunes pre-orders beginning August 10. The album's first single "Angela Surf City" is currently available via iTunes. This summer and fall the band will embark on a nationwide tour in support of the record including newly announced stops in Montreal (October 8) and Chicago (October 13).

The band will also be appearing on Late Night with Jimmy Fallon on August 12, the same day they perform in New York City at Governors Island with Grizzly Bear. Additionally, they [were] on WNYC FM's Soundcheck on August 10 at 2:30pm EDT;

Lisbon was recorded over a two-year period in warehouses on Girard Ave. in Philadelphia and on the Gowanus Canal in Brooklyn." [PR]

The Walkmen's recent appearances included the WNYC thing and Camden's XPoNential Music Festival in July. The pictures in this post are from the latter. More of them, along with a stream of the WNYC appearance (which includes new songs), updated tour dates (many with Japandroids), and info on how to take the ferry to Governors Island tonight (8/12), below...

Continue reading "updated Walkmen tour dates, Governors Island ferry info, Fallon tonight, a WNYC stream & XPoNential Fest pics"

Memorial Day Weekend officially opened the summer, and for those in the Pacific Northwest it also brought Sasquatch Music Festival (pictures from all three days are coming soon). Now the lineup for its Labor Day cousin, Bumbershoot 2010, has been announced. That fest, happening at Seattle, WA's Seattle Center September 4th-6th, will include headliners Bob Dylan, Mary J. Blige, Weezer, Hole, Rise Against, Neko Case, The Decemberists, J. Cole and "one more very special guest to be announced soon."

Tickets (including non-Mainstage 'economy' passes) are on sale now. The rest of the lineup (by day) for the seven-stage festival is posted below...

Continue reading "Bumbershoot 2010 lineup (Bob Dylan... Hole... Mary J Blige)"

photos by Rachel Carr

All Leather

All Leather, the dude (Justin Pearson) from the Locust, was supposed to play Market Hotel tonight. As you know, Market Hotel was closed and shows have been relocated - most to other Brooklyn venues, and one to a boat. $10 tickets are still available for tonight's show (Friday, 5/7) on the Half Moon. I don't know too much about the Dim Mak-signed All Leather (hence the procrastination that led to this last minute post), but at a minimum I wouldn't mind seeing the opener The Death Set out on the high seas.

All Leather was the opener at a show with with NoBunny and Japandroids at the Echoplex in LA earlier on his tour. Pictures from that show, with an All Leather video and all dates (most with Yip Yip) below....

Continue reading "All Leather played LA w/ Japandroids & NoBunny (pics), playing a boat in NYC TONIGHT (and other dates)"

by Bill Pearis

DOWNLOAD: Beaters - Fishage (MP3)
DOWNLOAD: Nodzzz - True to Life (MP3)
DOWNLOAD: Dom - Jesus (MP3)
DOWNLOAD: Golden Girls - Newports (MP3)

The Soft Pack @ Cake shop in Feb (more by Gabi Porter)

The Soft Pack are here again, the first real shows in town they've played since releasing their debut album on Kemado: tonight (3/31) at Maxwell's, tomorrow (4/1) at Mercury Lounge, and Saturday (4/3) at Music Hall of Williamsburg. I've seen these guys a zillion times (and written about them nearly as much) but they remain one of my favorite current live acts. That said, I'm just a tad bit more excited about the bands who they've brought with them on tour: Nodzz, Beaters, and Male Bonding.

Geeky, funny, tuneful Nodzzz were relatively quiet in 2009 -- at least compared to some of their San Franciscan brethren -- touring early in the year and only releasing one single. Mind you, it was an excellent one, "True to Life," which made by Best of the 2009 list. They're bound to have a new record in the works,  so hopefully we'll get a bunch of fresh tunes.

Beaters

Beaters, from The Soft Pack's hometown of San Diego, are signed to Zoo Music, the label run by husband/wife duo Brandon of Crocodiles and head Dum Dum Girl, DeeDee. If you're familiar with their roster at all, you'll have a pretty good idea what to expect: dark, over-caffeinated, paranoid, heavy on the reverb. You can check out their single "Fishage" at the top of this post.

The Music Hall of Williamsburg show adds UK punks (and Sub Pop signees) Male Bonding who also play with The Smith Westerns and So Cow on Sunday (4/4) at Mercury Lounge.

Golden Girls

Two bands from Worcester, Mass are here this weekend -- Dom and Golden Girls. -- who play together tomorrow (4/1) at Pianos and then on Monday (4/5) at Cake Shop.

Of the two, I find Dom a little more interesting. There's some of that fifth-generation cassette tape chillwave sound going on, no doubt (which I'm getting a little waterlogged from frankly).  But they've got some good songs under that hiss (check out "Bochicha" on their MySpace) and appear to play real drums and guitars (as well as crappy old synths) so I have hopes that their live show will prove less gauzy.

Golden Girls are more straight-up indie rock, a duo on recordings but are a four-piece live. Raucous and on the sloppy side,  and with a single about cigarettes, you can draw a line from Golden Girls back to the Replacements pretty easily. They've only got two singles out so far, and I'm definitely curious to hear more.

A few more picks, by night, to take you through the weekend, along with tour dates and videos and stuff, below...

Continue reading "Beaters, Nodzzz, Best Coast, Ash, Abe Vigoda, Dom, Dum Dum Girls, Golden Girls, Soft Pack & more in This Week in Indie"

photos by Bryan Bruchman

DOWNLOAD: Harlem - Gay Human Bones (MP3)

Japandroids

I do too many BV parties to make it to the Fader Fort anymore. This is the second SXSW in a row I completely missed it (didn't even get to see Bone Thugs). Luckily I have these pictures and videos (and stories about a band being booed off stage)...

Continue reading "Japandroids, Harlem, Salem (before they were booed) & others @ the Fader Fort (SXSW 2010) - pics & video "

photos by Tim Griffin

"Just saw Fucked Up tear it up at Emo's, with a cameo from two of the Wu Tang Killa Bees. That's gonna be hard to top" - mehan jayasuriya

"FUCKED UP: Frontman Pink Eye says Emo's was first place he ever went shirtless. "Fat guys everywhere felt a little bit skinnier."" - Rolling Stone

""GZA? He just couldn't make it," Killah Priest told BrooklynTheBorough.com later. "He told us to come and help him out. He'll be here though - somewhere - he'll be here.""

"The first show I caught at South by Southwest was The Morning Benders at Emo's for the Brooklyn Vegan day party. I talked with Christopher Chu, the lead singer and while he was warming up near the stage, I snapped a few pictures. If you have not purchased Big Echo, their latest album it is worth the dinero." [Harmon Drive]

The last few bands got slightly longer sets due to the gap in the schedule that GZA created. The capacity crowd enjoyed free Magic Hat beer, Firefly Sweet Tea Vodka, Vitamin Water, Mr. Natural breakfast tacos, Nadamoo coconut milk ice cream, Daily Juice catering, Raw Revolution bars and Hail Merry granola. It was an amazing first day at the festival that was quickly followed by our official showcase right down the street at Club DeVille. More pictures from this stage (metal coming later), and a video clip of the Killah Priest part, below...

Continue reading "BrooklynVegan Emo's day party pics (SXSW 2010 - Fucked Up, Titus Andronicus, Japandroids, Morning Benders, more) "

As previously mentioned, we've lost our minds and are doing seven shows in Austin during SXSW this year. The first of those parties kicks off at Emo's at noon on Wednesday, March 17th, 2010 (doors @ 11:30am) on two 100% FREE stages:

Outside/Main Stage
12:00 YellowFever
12:45 The Rural Alberta Advantage
01:30 The Morning Benders
02:15 Japandroids
03:00 Titus Andronicus
03:45 The Black Angels
04:30 GZA
05:15 Fucked Up

DJs: Finger on the Pulse

Inside/Metal Stage (Emo's Jr)
12:00 - Kill The Client
12:35 - The Atlas Moth
01:20 - Javelina
02:05 - Dark Castle
02:50 - Salome
03:35 - Landmine Marathon
04:20 - Withered
05:05 - Torche

FREE DRINKS COURTESY OF: Magic Hat & Firefly Vodka & Vitamin Water (while supplies last)
FREE VEGAN BREAKFAST TACOS COURTESY OF: Mr. Natural
(starting @ noon. while supplies last)
MORE FREE FOOD COURTESY OF: Daily Juice (catering from 2-5)
MORE FREE FOOD COURTESY OF: Raw Revolution Bars
MORE FREE FOOD COURTESY OF: Hail Merry

Thanks Zach Jaeger for the sweet flyer.

The Morning Benders, The Rural Alberta Advantage, Austin's own YellowFever, AND GZA are all being announced for the first time in this post. Those following along already knew about Fucked Up, The Black Angels, Titus Andronicus, and Japandroids.

It should be a wild first day in Austin and needless to say, we're very excited for this one. And did we mention this was all free? No RSVP. No Badges. Just stop by. Get there early if you want a free vegan breakfast taco. Stay around if you want even more catering by Daily Juice. Drink for free from our 10 kegs of Magic Hat beer and the many bottles of Firefly Sweet Tea Vodka that we'll be pouring. Then after the show, if you're still hungry (and standing), get dinner quickly and head over to the official BrooklynVegan SXSW showcase at Club DeVille right down the block (Dawes go on at 8, Serena Maneesh finish things off at 1am). Then get some rest because you've got 19 more bands to catch on Thursday afternoon at Spider House.

And for those in NYC, don't forget that we're also hosting a free Morning Benders show, TONIGHT (3/8).

We also just announced the full lineup of our Saturday day party at Red 7 which is happening at the same time as our Saturday day party at Galaxy Room.

GZA's "Liquid Swords" video below...

Continue reading "BrooklynVegan presents a day party @ Emo's (Fucked Up, GZA, Black Angels, Torche, TRAA, Withered & much more) "

Best Coast @ a benefit in L.A. on February 7th (more by Rachel Carr)

Bethany Cosentino is a Los Angeles native with a brief stay in Brooklyn, and Best Coast's influences reflects that Beach Boys vibe with East Coast 60s girl group such as the Ronnettes and Shangri-Las. Best Coast is brought to life with the help of her long-time friend/guitarist/producer Bobb Bruno and guest drummer for these dates Ali Koehler (Vivian Girls).

While in NYC Best Coast are also playing other shows as well. They're at Montclair, NJ's Meat Locker on April 5th, Knitting Factory Brooklyn on April 6th and Mercury Lounge on April 7th. That Knitting Factory show is with Fucked Up side-project The Bitters and Vivian Girls/Woods side-project The Babies. Tickets are on sale now.

Before that, Best Coast will be at SXSW - one of their shows will be a showcase put on by their label PPM (who put out Best Coast's now sold-out 7-inch, which is being re-pressed). That show happens Saturday, March 19th at Barbarella with Gun Outfit, Total Abuse, KIT, Abe Vigoda and No Age.

Best Coast toured the West Coast with Vivian Girls earlier in February. Their full-length debut is expected sometime this year. Videos of the group and all tour dates are below...

Continue reading "Best Coast tour dates include multiple NYC-area shows, Babies, Bitters, SXSW & more (dates)"

Harlem @ Union Pool over the weekend (more by Andrew Frisicano)

Local Natives will headline Bowery Ballroom on May 6th. Tickets go on AmEx presale at noon.

Best Coast & Midnight Masses were added as openers to the April 1st Japandroids show at Bowery Ballroom. Tickets are still on sale.

Midnight Masses continue a February residency at Union Pool tonight (2/17).

Japandroids are also playing Sasquatch.

Crystal Stilts have been added to the March 27th Love is All bill at Maxwell's in Hoboken. Tickets are on sale.

Catch Crystal Stilts much sooner at Music Hall of Williamsburg with The Beets / Christmas Island / Beach Fossils / The German Measles on February 20th. Tickets are still on sale.

Beach Fossils and The Beets will open for Love is All at Knitting Factory on March 28th. Tickets are on sale.

Phosphorescent will play Maxwell's for the first time on April 2nd. Tickets are on sale.

MusicSnobbery celebrates his 5th birthday with a show featuring the Vivian Girls at Maxwell's on April 23rd. Tickets are on sale.

Titus Andronicus and Harlem play the NJ club the very next night (4/24). Tickets are on sale.

Tickets are also still on sale for Titus's headlining show at Bowery Ballroom on March 6th.

We'll get a more complete press release in the morning (and confirm what is listed below is 100% correct), but in the meantime below is a picture of the 2010 Sasquatch poster (that someone Tweeted) and the lineup as read by Bradford Cox at tonight's Atlas Sound show in Seattle (and being listed all over the Internet)....

Continue reading "Sasquatch announces 2010 lineup (includes Massive Attack & My Morning Jacket) (and many more) "

After a hectic day of updating the constantly updating Bonnaroo lineup page, the entire thing has been announced. Gwar, Norah Jones, and the rest of the lineup below...

Continue reading "the complete 2010 Bonnaroo lineup (Stevie Wonder, The Melvins, Kings of Leon, Isis, Local Natives & many more) "

by Andrew Frisicano

DOWNLOAD: Love Is All - Kungen (MP3)

Hello All,

I hope your new year has started well. Gothenburg has been unusually cold lately.
Well here's a piece of very exciting news that makes everything around us seem a little brighter and warmer:

On March 23 our third album, Two Thousand and Ten Injuries, will be released by Polyvinyl. We are very excited and proud and can't wait for you all to hear it in its entirety. But for now we give you "Kungen," a true story about the time I spotted the king of Sweden in the street here in Gothenburg. Head over to our Myspace [and above] to hear it!

We really hope you like it. [Love Is All]

The poppy Swedes have tour dates with Japandroids this March & April, but the groups are playing NYC separately. Japandroids perform at Bowery Ballroom on April 1st (tickets are still on sale). Love Is All come to NYC earlier, with a Saturday, March 27th show at Maxwell's and a Sunday, March 28th show at Knitting Factory. Tickets to the Maxwell's show are on sale. (Knitting Factory still on the way).

Both of those bands are on Polyvinyl, as is another band that's touring even sooner: in less than a week, Of Montreal kick off a series of shows that include a January 26th performance at Highline Ballroom. Of Montreal's James Husband opens.

Album info and all tour dates are below...

Continue reading "Love Is All - new Polyvinyl album (MP3) & updated tour dates w/ 2 NYC-area shows"

Beach Fossils @ Shea Stadium (more by Erez Avissar)


today in NYC
* Dave Hill: BIG IN JAPAN @ UCB
* Ben Perowsky Quartet @ Barbes
* Islands video party @ Legion Bar
* Lichens, Lucky Dragons, Zomes @ Zebulon
* Lucy Wainwright Roche, Girlyman @ Littlefield
* Des Roar, The Dead Sparrows, Still Life Still @ Mercury Lounge
* Diet Cokeheads, White Suns, Twin Stumps, The Men @ Death By Audio
* Robert Stillman's Station-Wagon Interior Perspective @ The Stone
* Jason Lescalleet, Sean Meehan, Pauline Monin @ Issue Project Room
* Babies, Total Slacker, Beach Fossils, True Womanhood, The Sundelles @ Glasslands
* Bleak End At Bernie's, Kate Ferencz, Bigger Princess, Mad Mouth, Wisdom Tooth @ Silent Barn

Band names of the day: Diet Cokeheads and Bleak End At Bernie's.

Still Life Still play their first Mercury Lounge residency show.

Dave Hill performs his "Big In Japan" show at UCB tonight. His friend Lucy Wainwright Roche performs at Littlefield.

Pianos is still closed for renovation.

Lucky Dragons made one of Dan Deacon's favorite albums of '09. They play Zebulon tonight with Lichens and Zomes. Dragons vids below.

Japandroids are touring and playing Bowery Ballroom in April. They were on Jimmy Fallon Monday - their live TV rendition of "Wet Hair" is below.

What else?

Continue reading "What's going on Wednesday?"

DOWNLOAD: Japandroids - Young Hearts Spark Fire (MP3)

Japandroids @ the 2009 Pitchfork Festival (more by Joseph Xu)

Japandroids will be busy touring the world in January, February, March and April. They'll visit Russia and Europe and much of the United States including Austin for SXSW and NYC for a show at Bowery Ballroom on April 1st. Tickets for the NYC show go on AmEx presale on Wednesday and then general sale on Friday.

Sweden's Love is All will be touring with the band before and after the Bowery show, but unlike in Philly, Boston, Montreal and other places, the two groups won't be sharing a bill here. Stay tuned for Love is All to announce their own show at a different venue on the same night?

You can catch Japandroids on Late Night with Jimmy Fallon tonight (1/4). They'll be playing "Wet Hair" live for the first time for the show. All dates below...

Continue reading "Japandroids - 2010 Tour Dates, shows w/ Love Is All, SXSW, Fallon tonight & more "

photos by Joseph Xu

Happy Holidays! I take on more than I can handle. That results in a lot of unposted content. In the name of catching up, while also taking it easy during this final week of the year, here's some of that lost material.

More pictures from the 2009 Pitchfork Music Festival, below...

Continue reading "pictures from the 2009 Pitchfork Festival "

Trend You Wish Would Go Away

1. 90s revivalism (No Age, Japandroids, Cymbals Eat Guitars)
2. Afropop indie (Dirty Projectors, Fool's Gold, Abe Vigoda)
3. Animal Collective acolytes (Blind Man's Colour, Our Brother the Native, USF)
4. Balearic (jj, John Talabot, Windsurf/Hatchback)
5. Chillwave/glo-fi (Washed Out, Neon Indian, Nite Jewel)
6. Dubstep and its offshoots (wonky, funky, bassline)
7. Post-Lily Allen UK pop (La Roux, Little Boots, Florence and the Machine)
8. Prim, buttoned-up indie (Grizzly Bear, Andrew Bird, St. Vincent)
9. Shitgaze/lo-fi aesthetics (Times New Viking, Wavves, Vivian Girls)

SXSWeek 2010: March 12-21
Interactive: March 12-16
Film: March 12-20
Music: March 17-21

Continue reading "SXSW 2010 - dates & initial band lineup "

by Andrew Frisciano

The first of Japandroids' two NYC, CMJ-week shows was a Thursday night (10/22) double bill with Real Estate at Glasslands' Death+Taxes party. Singer/guitarist Brian King noted that the show was a year to the week since their first ever NYC appearance, and he held up two fingers to indicate the number of attendees. The packed floor at Glasslands counted many more - undoubtedly a credit to the live show King and drummer David Prowse put on. With a huge full-stack behind him, King strategically set up a floor fan at the foot of the stage to create an ersatz wind tunnel for his flowing locks. The venue was just below sweltering, but it was one of the showmanship touches throughout the set. The band unappologetically sings its pop-punk hooks as two-man gang vocals, cue not lost on the attendees. "Young Heart Spark Fire," among the best of the band's sing-alongable songs, sent the crowd into a frenzy.

Japandroids' played their second CMJ-week show on Friday, October 23rd, a showcase for their label, Polyvinyl, with Cale Parks, Headlights, Owen, Asobi Seksu and James Husband. Their current tour plans include UK shows with A Place to Bury Strangers and a West Coast-centered run with Surfer Blood. All dates and the rest of the pictures below...

Continue reading "Japandroids played CMJ @ Glasslands (pics) & the Bell House"

Califone

One of the CMJ shows I'll most regret missing tonight (10/23) is the "Evening with Califone: All My Friends Are Funeral Singers" It's "a multimedia event" at 92YTribeca. And actually, I don't think it's part of CMJ, and tickets are still on sale.

Yesterday (10/22) Ted Leo could be found enjoying a set by his tour-mates JEFF the Brotherhood at the BrooklynVegan party at Pianos. Tonight (10/23) is his set at the Matador CMJ showcase at The Suffolk. Flyer below.

JEFF the Brotherhood also play tonight, and then four more shows on Saturday,

Also playing that Matador party are Cold Cave who so far also played the Stereogum party at The Studio, canceled their appearance at Public Assembly for Vice, and were just added to the Pitchfork party happening at Market Hotel. Flyer below.

Also playing the Matador showcase are Harlem who play the Vice party tonight (10/23) and haven't cancelled so far that I know of.

Japandroids are back in town. Last night they gigged at Glasslands with Real Estate. Tonight they do it at The Bell House for the Polyvinyl showcase with Headlights and others. Flyer below.

Continue reading "Ted Leo, Califone, Cold Cave & Japandroids too (CMJ Friday)"

No Age @ ATP NY in September (more by Ryan Muir)

tonight in NYC
* Lenny Kravitz @ Irving Plaza
* Uninhabitable Mansions @ Cake Shop
* Nick Lowe, Bill Kirchen @ City Winery
* Erin McKeown, Jill Souble @ Union Hall
* Boy Crisis, Das Racist, Paenus @ Pianos
* The Dodos, The Ruby Suns @ Bowery Ballroom
* The Raveonettes, The Black Angels @ Webster Hall
* No Age, Woods, Silk Flowers @ (Le) Poisson Rouge
* Titus Andronicus, The So So Glos, Eula @ Maxwell's
* So Percussion: Imaginary City @ BAM Harvey Theater
* Regina Spektor, Jupiter One @ Radio City Music Hall
* Trampled By Turtles, Jennifer O'Connor @ 92YTribeca
* A Rose Parade, I.U.D., Here We Go Magic @ Union Pool
* Georgiana Starlington, Boysen Girls, more @ Don Pedro
* Daniel Johnston, The Capitol Years, Hymns @ Highline Ballroom
* Sea Wolf, Port O'Brien, Sara Lov, Sarah Jaffe @ Mercury Lounge
* Built to Spill, Disco Doom, Violent Soho @ Music Hall of Williamsburg
* Tayisha Busay, DJ Melissa from Telepathe, Bad Brilliance @ Glasslands
* Real Estate, Big Troubles, Honeydos, Oneohtrix Point Never @ Monster Island Basement

Here We Go Magic got kind of big in the last year, so that's kind of cool that they're playing a low key show at Union Pool tonight with A Rose Parade. A Rose Parade is a collaboration between Gerard Smith of TV on the Radio and Shannon Funchess of Chk Chk Chk.

Daniel Johnston tours behind his new record with a show tonight at Highline Ballroom. The Capitol Years and Hymns open.

Uninhabitable Mansions, which has members of Au Revoir Simone, CYHSY!, and ex-Dirty on Purpose, play Cake Shop tonight (and a CMJ show next week).

Real Estate, full-length on the way, kick off their tour at Monster Island Basement with Big Troubles, Honeydos and Oneohtrix Point Never.

Sea Wolf (aka L.A.'s Alex Brown Church) plays Mercury Lounge tonight and Union Hall Friday, both with Sara Lov and Port O'Brien.

Port O'Brien is playing a free in-store at Sound Fix tomorrow (10/15) at Sound Fix Records.

Built to Spill, Disco Doom and Violent Soho are at Music Hall of Williamsburg for a show tonight and one more tomorrow. Pictures from last night are HERE.

It's been an amazing week for Regina Spektor. First SNL, and snow tonight she plays Radio City Music Hall with Jupiter One.

Speaking of SNL, Steve Martin and The Steep Canyon Rangers were scheduled to play a show at Wellmont Theatre but they canceled.

Nick Lowe and Bill Kirchen play City Winery.

The Dodos and The Ruby Suns play Bowery Ballroom. Pictures from last night's Music Hall show with the same lineup, HERE.

Titus Andronicus and The So So Glos are on tour - the first show of that was at Monster Island in early September. Tonight they play Maxwell's tomorrow and tomorrow the tour wraps at the new Knitting Factory. Titus will then join Fucked Up and guests at that band's Nov. 5th event.

No Age have four NYC shows lined up for this week - tonight's is with Woods and Silk Flowers at (Le) Poisson Rouge in Manhattan. Details on the rest HERE.

Peasant and others are playing a "Jingle Punks" party tonight. Flyer below..

So Percussion's BAM Next Wave show Imaginary City begins tonight, and play through Saturday, at BAM's Harvey Theater.

The BrooklynVegan CMJ show at Music Hall of Williamsburg is less than a week away.

Then three night after the Music Hall show is the BBG/Relapse official.

Japandroids, who have a long list of CMJ and non-CMJ shows coming up, played "Heart Sweats" and "The Boys Are Leaving Town" on Pitchfork's A>D>D, posted below.

A video of Micachu & The Shapes from their October 2nd show at Littlefield is posted below.

What else?

Continue reading "What's going on Wednesday?"

photos by Oren Loloi

"Thursday had been a long day by the time 11:00 rolled around and I was in need of some energy. I got to the Mercury Lounge just in time to catch the end of Mt. St. Helens Vietnam Band, so I grabbed some beer and waited for the Vancouver duo to take the stage. A little after 11:00 [Japandroids] came on stage plugged in and began to power away at their loud fuzzy guitar and palpitating drum sound. It was the night before their friend's wedding so they were in an extra special mood. They turned the shoegaze guitar sounds way up and Brian danced around the stage creating great energy that flowed right into the crowd. From the opening chords of "Heart Sweats" the crowd was swaying and eventually the full on rock was delivered. It has been a while since I've been to a show where not only the crowd was having a good time, but based on the actions of the band I think it is fair to say that these two guys really seem to enjoy what they are doing. They played with such passion and had everyone screaming along to "I don't want to worry about dying/I just want to worry about those sunshine girls" that you would think these guys have been stressed about this problem for twenty years. The club nature of the show was also an intricate part of the performance as it felt like these were two guys who just genuinely enjoy rocking out for their friends." [OMGNYC]

Continue reading "Japandroids played Mercury Lounge w/ Mt. St Helen's Vietnam Band (pics), play again tonight (tix available)"

Japandroids @ Siren Fest in July (more by Chris La Putt)

Tickets are sold out for Japandroids' September 24th show with Mt. St. Helen's Vietnam Band at the Mercury Lounge. Fret not - the band has added another night at the venue. They play an early show at the Mercury Lounge on Sunday, September 27th. Tickets are on sale now.

Those are both before Japandroids' CMJ NYC run in October, which is just a small part of the band's long list of upcoming shows, posted below. Upcoming dates include early October shows with the Coathangers and UK/Ireland gig with A Place to Bury Strangers) in November.

All dates with video of the band at August's KEXP BBQ are posted below...

Continue reading "Japandroids add a 2nd Merc show - updated 2009 Tour Dates & videos from the KEXP BBQ"

DOWNLOAD: Coathangers - Toomerhead (MP3)

Coathangers @ Pianos CMJ08 (more by Faith-Ann Young)

The Coathangers are going on tour this October with Japandroids (who will come to NYC on Sept. 24th with Mt. St. Helens Vietnam Band). But before those joined dates, The Coathangers will be in NYC for shows of their own on September 29th, when they play Death By Audio's The Maze, and September 30th, when they play Cake Shop. Also on the bill for the Cake Shop gig are DC shoegaze-inspired Prisms and BK's Ex-Humans. For the DBA gig, they'll be joined by '80s-style-punks Xray Eyeballs, a band called Swimmingcitiesoceanofblood (?) and Nervehunt, which features Justin from Teeth Mountain and Ryan Ulsh from Wavves. The gig will be Nervehunt's first show in a while (Flickr has a pic and a brief, blurry video of a show, apparently of them, at the Charleston last year).

Ryan Ulsh was the drummer of WAVVES that you might most remember from his appearance with Nathan at this year's Primavera Festival. Not surprisingly, things didn't work out between him and Nathan, and now the prolific Zach Hill (of Hella, etc.) is playing in WAVVES.

WAVVES' fall tour with new drummer Zach is also happening soon. The pair will play NYC shows at Santos Party House on Thursday, September 24th (tickets still on sale) and a Todd P show, now confirmed for Market Hotel, on Friday, Sept. 25th. Support for both comes from Ganglians, with Beach Fossils also playing the Market Hotel show.

"Toomerhead," the opening, dance-punk-sounding track to the Coathangers' newest record, Scramble, which came out in April, is posted above. An interview with the band from last year and a clip of them live in Vancouver (with an incredibly strange and extended intro) are posted with all tour dates below...

Continue reading "Coathangers touring (dates), Zach Hill in WAVVES (Market Hotel show confirmed), Ryan from WAVVES in Nervehunt"

Future of the Left @ Siren Fest (more by Chris La Putt)

"The only bad part about the [Future of the Left] set [in San Francisco] was how quickly it was over; each opening act played for roughly 40 minutes and it seemed like that FOTL played for maybe five or ten more. There was easily enough time for another song or two (I would have liked to hear "The Lord Hates a Coward" or "I Am Civil Service"), but the last song ended in the bassist jumping off the stage, giving his bass to someone in the crowd, and doing push-ups while feedback kept coming through the guitar amp, the drum set was taken apart on stage while still being played and the whole thing was a myriad of confusion and awesomeness." [PunkNews]

The band's last NYC show was at Siren Fest on July 18th, where they shared a bill with Japandroids. Japandroids are coming back soon too - they play September 24th at the Mercury Lounge with Mt. St. Helen's Vietnam Band. Tickets are still available.

And for CMJ, which is quickly coming up, Japandroids will play an October 22nd Death+Taxes Party at Glasslands, and a Polyvinyl Records CMJ show on October 23rd at the Bell House (and more dates TBA). Joining them at the latter will be Headlights, the currently-on-tour Cale Parks and James Husband. Tickets are on sale now.

FotL will be touring the US and Canada this October with Trail of Dead (who didn't get to play their Pool Party show due to lightning, but did get to play a set at All Points Wet). Trail of Dead's next NYC shows are September 18th and 19th at Webster Hall and Music Hall of Williamsburg with Secret Machines.

All tour dates below...

Continue reading "Future of the Left touring in October, Japandroids too - Polyvinyl @ CMJ, Trail of Dead & other 2009 tour dates"