Hunx as Gayracula

All things considered, we hope you had a Happy Halloween. You already saw what John Vanderslice and Freelance Whales dressed up as, and Dum Dum Girls' nun costumes (Crocodiles in there too). We also already posted Deap Vally, Those Darlins & the Mountain Goats in Halloween attire, and you saw Vampire Weekend all decked out for Kimmel. Here's a whole bunch more. That's Hunx and a punx above. See the rest (sort of NSFW), below...

Continue reading "more pics of Bands in their Halloween Costumes -- (Wayne Coyne, Kickball Katy, Dirty Projectors, Hunx & more)"

DOWNLOAD: La Sera - "Please Be My Third Eye" (MP3)
DOWNLOAD: La Sera - "Break My Heart" (MP3)

La Sera at the Bell House in 2011 (more by Jessica Amaya)

Vivian Girl Kickball Katy Goodman released her second album as La Sera, Sees the Light, earlier this year via Hardly Art. The album continues in the vein of the catchy indie pop of her 2011 self titled debut. You can grab two tracks from the new album, "Please By My Third Eye" and "Break My Heart" above or stream them below.

La Sera will kick off a tour this month in support of the album which culminates in a NYC show at Cameo Gallery on May 19 with Life Size Maps and The New Lines. Tickets are on sale now.

Vivian Girl Cassie Ramone's band The Babies plays Glasslands on June 6 with Nude Beach.

All La Sera dates and streams below...

Continue reading "La Sera going on May tour (dates & MP3s)"

words & photos by Gabi Porter

If you're just joining us, start with PART ONE before continuing on....

Saturday morning we all woke up in the Bahamas, hit the buffet and the pool before the next show, fueling up for a day on the beach and a night at Senor Frogs. Situated on deck chairs with coconuts in hand, two pro-surfers were up-and-at-em bright and early. Alek Parker and Dylan Graves were there to judge Jonathan Toubin's late-night Soul Clap party, along with John Norris, Ben Blackwell from the Dirtbombs and others. Parker and Graves set the tone and brought the party - and their bathrobes - to the Lido Deck.

The Vivian Girls held court poolside and Kickball Katy (aka Katy Goodman aka La Sera who plays NYC shows with Tennis this week) won the hearts and lots of hugs from all the kids on board. In their set on Saturday at Senor Frogs they sounded more confident and melodious than I'd ever seen them before, finally growing into their echo chamber garage sound, or maybe it was the fruity "yard long" drinks their biggest fan (seriously, he had a different Vivian Girls t-shirt for every day of the cruise) bought for each of them before the show. Watch out for a cameo from them in the forthcoming Black Lips video.

New Orleans based Quintron and Miss Pussycat closed out the Bruise Cruise with their psychedelic organ fest. Miss Pussycat brought along her absolutely delightful puppet show for that morning's "Pancakes and Puppets" breakfast. I didn't see enough of The Strange Boys - if they'd played just one more set I suspect they might have been my faves, but at least that means I have something to look forward to the next time they play New York. They were on the bill at Senor Frogs and I loved their jangly guitars, open sound and the tight and twisted vocals from Ryan Sambol. And ditto for Miami youngsters The Jacuzzi Boys who were loved by many, including John Dwyer from Thee Oh Sees. After all the bands had finished playing at Senor Frogs on Saturday, Dwyer grabbed his beer and said he was off to tell The Jacuzzi Boys "they were the best thing [he'd] seen at this thing."

Ty Segall's one short set on Saturday before Thee Oh Sees wasn't enough - Ty Segall opened the festival on board the ship that day and played a restrained and somewhat shy set behind his curtain of hair. Someone commented that if they work on their stage presence one day they might grow up to be like Thee Oh Sees.

Everyone was curious how the Bruisers (aka the people there for the bands) would get along with the "normal' cruisers (who were also on the same ship) (Bruisers were given wristbands so the cruise staff knew they were allowed in the shows), and I'd like to think that we brought a little something-something to people's normal, regular vacation. Poolside at a photo shoot with Turbo Fruits (see above) one very nice lady asked me, completely unperturbed about the quadruple cannonball photo-op that splashed everyone, "Is that one of the bands on the Bruise Cruise?" I told her it was Turbo Fruits. "Oh, I've never heard of them," she said a little sadly, then she looked at the bright side, "But at least now I can tell people I saw them!"

You already saw one set of pictures. The rest of the pictures from the Bruise Cruise continue below...

Continue reading "the Bruise Cruise in pics & review (part 2)"

DOWNLOAD: La Sera - Never Come Around (MP3)

Vivian Girl Katy Goodman is La Sera, and she pulls through with a contender for video of the year, just in time for Halloween. Check it out below...

Continue reading "sexy, gory new La Sera video in time for Halloween"

La Sera

"La Sera - the brand new project of Katy Goodman (Vivian Girls, All Saints Day) - has signed with Hardly Art for their debut LP. La Sera makes lush, dreamy songs of heartbreak, love, and death, all written by Goodman and recorded with Brady Hall in Seattle. Hardly Art will release the first original material by La Sera on November 16th via a 7" featuring the album track "Never Come Around" b/w exclusive b-side "Behind Your Eyes", which will be followed by a debut full-length in early 2011 (release date tbd). La Sera will also have a cover of "Watch Me Jumpstart" on an upcoming Guided By Voices comp, though I don't have further details on that release.

Further! Related to both new projects, the unofficial Hardly Art CMJ showcase - AKA The Great All-Nighter - will be presented by Todd P and will take place on Thursday, Oct 21 at Shea Stadium (20 Meadow St.) in Brooklyn. The lineup is:

Xray Eyeballs
Circle Pit
La Sera
Fergus & Geronimo
Secret Special Guest
Woven Bones
Golden Triangle

So, that makes both main Vivian Girls members solo for now, though Cassie Ramone hasn't announced any signings, but she is playing a show too (tonight).

The show was outside, in the afternoon, and it was raining. Even worse, the band forgot their telephone mic in LA! Neither of those factors stopped Mika Miko from putting on a great 2nd-to-last (unless they add more) punk show at Fun Fun Fun Fest in Austin on Sunday (11/8). "This will be the last time you see us... or maybe the first time..." they announced to the crowd, though I'm sure at least some people in attendance (like No Age for instance) will be at their very last show at the Smell (whenever they have it). As previously posted...

"In sad news for telephone-microphone hybrid fans everywhere, the L.A. art-punk quintet Mika Miko is calling it a day. The group, known for its breakneck rhythms, trashy guitar riffs and the slumber-party romp of its dueling vocalists, will wrap up their career after playing Austin's Fun Fun Fun Festival and, according to a band representative, a last 7-inch single and a show at the Smell."
[LA Times]

Co-vocalist Jennifer Clavin, when not moving to the side with a guitar, spent most of the show center stage with a mic and tambourine. She cleverly wore a Misfits shirt while performing on the very stage that Danzig would headline on six hours later (Mika Miko are also known to cover the Misfits).

Co-vocalist and saxophone player Jenna Thornhill did just fine with a standard microphone, both at this show, and later in the day when she played with her new band, the Strange Boys. Drummer Seth Densham is also now in both bands (but more about that later).

To add to the specialness of the show, many of Mika Miko's friends supported on the side of the stage including both members of No Age (who performed on day one of the festival) (Dean Spunt and Jennifer also happen to be a couple). Mika Miko encouraged everyone to crowd surf. One kid did so with the help of a skateboard. Dean even stage dove - over the security/photo pit, and into the crowd where he watched some of the show from the front row. He returned to the stage in time for the ending though. There were hugs all around and everyone was really wet and muddy. More pictures below...

Continue reading "Mika Miko's almost-last show was @ Fun Fun Fun Fest in Austin - pics (Dean Spunt stage dive included)"

Kickball Katy playing with Fucked Up (more by Chris La Putt)

The L Magazine (aka Marc Hogan): I know you've covered one of the Wipers' songs. Is there an album in particular of theirs that you guys are big on?
Kickball Katy (aka 1/3 of Vivian Girls): We love Youth of America. Like, the first couple. Youth of America, the Over the Edge album and Is This Real, those are three of the best albums ever made, in my opinion. Cassie definitely agrees, and so does Ali. We just wanted to write some crazy songs like that. We're not that good, but we do like those albums a lot, and those are the things that we really had in common. We also really liked Dead Moon. They're in that new band, what is it? Pierced Arrows. I haven't seen them yet, but I saw Dead Moon like two years ago and it was awesome.

...

The L: Not to belabor the point, but with Frankie, that was officially a "kick out" not an "I'm quitting" kind of thing?
KK: Yeah, I wouldn't want to harp on this too much, but yeah, we had to ask her to leave. For various reasons that I won't get into.

The L: You guys are still friends with Crystal Stilts?
KK: We love Crystal Stilts. JB [Townsend, guitar], Brad [Hargett, vocals], and Andy [Adler, bass] are three really, really cool dudes. We were just hanging out with them the other night. We're still good friends with them. Things are cool, still.

Pierced Arrows play Maxwell's in Hoboken tonight (Oct 17). All tour dates below...

Continue reading "Vivian Girls, L Magazine, Crystal Stilts, Pierced Arrows"