by Bill Pearis

DOWNLOAD: The Pains of Being Pure at Heart - Young Adult Friction (MP3)
DOWNLOAD: Japandroids - Young Hearts Spark Fire (MP3)
DOWNLOAD: Little Girls - Tambourine (MP3)
DOWNLOAD: The Brunettes - Small Town Crew (MP3)
DOWNLOAD: Sharon Van Etten - For You (MP3)

Japandroids

With the weather today in NYC being just about perfect, I imagine the Seaport will be super packed for tonight's show with Pains of Being Pure at Heart (7/10), which will be their biggest hometown show yet. (Jay Reatard may not be there, though.) I don't think a year ago anybody, even those who've loved them from the start, would have thought TPOBPAH would have gotten as big as they have. Their minds have to be kind of blowing, but from what I can tell they're taking it in stride. The band are gearing up for a West Coast tour with Girls (most of TPOPBAH were at Girls' Mercury Lounge show two weeks ago) and then a bigger fall tour with Cymbals Eat Guitars and drummer Kurt's other band, The Depreciation Guild. Kurt has also been known to help out with gothy, atmospheric duo ZAZA who are also on tonight's Seaport Music Festival show.

But what to do after Seaport? Canadian duo (and Pitchfork Best New Music recipients) Japandroids are in town and while Saturday's show at Pianos is sold out, there's still tonight's show at Cameo Gallery in Williamsburg. I'm not 100% sold on the record, though every time a song comes up on shuffle I'm always like "oh who's this?" which makes me more than curious enough to check them out. That loud-and-anthemic quality of their music reminds me both of '80s STT bands like Husker Du or fIREHOSE, and the '90s Halifax scene (Thrush Hermit especially) and I have a feeling Japandroid's live show will put me over into the full-on "yes" category. Tonight's show also features fellow Canadians Little Girls who I wrote about a few weeks ago when they played Littlefield, and local noisemongers Dinowalrus who recently signed to Kanine.

"We just signed to Kanine to put our debut album called "%". it will come out in October.

we already have two 7"s out. one was self-released, the other was a split 7" put out with Bachelor of Arts from Melbourne Australia on EXO (apache beat, slits, japanther)" - Dinowalrus

Cameo's a nice addition to North 6th St, and if you ever find yourself bored by a band there, you can always just stare at the giant hypnotizing psychedelic fiber optic Snuffleupagus head that hangs above the stage.

Japandroids are also playing the Siren Festival next weekend. They go on at 3:00 pm.

Jason Lytle

Over at Union Hall, former Grandaddy frontman Jason Lytle plays, supporting his solo debut, Yours Truly, the Commuter. If he'd released it as a Grandaddy record I don't think anyone would've flinched, as it's more of the stoner spacerock about suburban ennui that is Lytle's forte. Maybe it's a little more acoustic based than Grandaddy were, but it's not like he's decided to do anything radically different here. That isn't a criticism per se, as he's really good at it. If you liked Grandaddy, you'll like this. It's a good record. Tonight's show is with The Albertans, who you may remember as one of The L Magazine's 8 NYC Bands You Need to Hear. Jason also plays Bowery Ballroom Saturday (7/11).

The Brunettes

New Zealand's charming Brunettes have been camped out in New York for a few weeks and I keep meaning to write about them and then I forget. They play tonight (7/10) at The Bell House and if you've never seen them before, here would be a good chance to rectify the situation. They are cute as a button and mix lush, Bacharachian pop and '60s girl group sounds with a bit of New Wave. I guess you could call them the Kiwi Bird and the Bee, but Brunettes have been doing it longer. They are very engaging live (maybe you saw them open for the Ting Tings at Union Hall last year?) and The Bell House seems like a nice place to see them. A new record is due out any time now, and they're heading out on a big North American tour soon, and those dates are at the bottom of this post. Also on the bill: Great Lakes, BV fave Sharon Van Etten and Animal Hands.

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And then of course Sunday is the first of this year's Pool Parties, with what could be the loudest, noisiest of the summer: Mission of Burma, Fucked Up and Ponytail. While I'll miss the decayed allure of the McCarren Pool, the new location at the riverfront park has it's own appeal, and looks to be a pretty spectacular setting. No slip-n-slide I hear, but surely they'll come up with something else cool to replace it. Let's hope. And remember: no hand grenades, Krull stars, or cargo shorts. See you there.

Tour dates, flyers and videos after the jump....

Continue reading "Japandroids, Brunettes, Jason Lytle, TPOBPAH, Little Girls & more in This Week in Indie (part 2) "

Grandaddy frontman Jason Lytle is opening for Neko Case on the summer leg of her Middle Cyclone-supporting tour. Lytle also has his own headlining shows planned. Those include NYC shows on July 10th at Union Hall and July 11th at Bowery Ballroom. Union Hall tickets are on sale now; tickets for the Bowery show go on sale Thursday (today) at noon.

Lytle released his solo debut, Yours Truly, the Commuter, in April on Anti (also Case's label). He'll be on NPR's Talk of the Nation this afternoon (6/11).

The Decemberists, who played Radio City June 10th, will also be on NPR today. They're broadcasting live at 2pm from the Greene Space in Manhattan for WNYC's Soundcheck. Tickets to watch the show "sold out" yesterday in 10 minutes after Colin Meloy announced the show on the air, however, Greene Space writes, "Doors will open at 1:15 and will close at 1:45. Any ticket not claimed by 1:45 p.m. will be released to the public."

All tour dates for Jason Lytle and Neko Case (who's playing APW, Bonnaroo, Newport Folk Festival and more) below...

Continue reading "Jason Lytle (Grandaddy) tour dates (with & without Neko Case) ++ Decemberists at WNYC Greene Space today "

DOWNLOAD: Neko Case on AOL's The Interface (MP3)
DOWNLOAD: Neko Case - People Got A Lot of Nerve (MP3)

Neko Case's latest tour has arrived in NYC. Crooked Fingers open for Neko at the
Nokia Theatre tonight (4/13). Joan as Policewoman open for Neko at the same venue tomorrow (4/14). Tickets for both shows are still on sale. I also have a pair for each show to giveaway. Details below.

Wondering what it will sound like? NPR is now streaming Thursday's DC show in its entirety. As a bonus, Will Sheff opened at that one, and you can listen to that @ NPR too.

The stage was set in something out of a nature cartoon with trees painted on long banners and an owl overseeing it all. Behind them videos of cyclones, airplanes and anthropomorphic animals were projected on a screen. But the attention was clearly on Case, her stunning voice, as well as her solid backing band. [NPR]

Neko will next be in the NYC-area to play a set at the All Points West Festival this summer.

You can also listen to Neko on WFUV on Tuesday at 1pm, and on a recent episode of AOL's The Interface (MP3 above).

Recent collaborators for Neko include Dexter Romweber and Marianne Faithful.

All Neko dates, her new video, and contest details, below...

Continue reading "Neko Case is here (win tix) - NPR show stream, dates & stuff"