photos by Lukas Hodge

Merchandise / Destruction Unit @ 285 Kent, 6/15/2013

The dream pop band with the punk rook roots, Merchandise, brought their North American tour with Milk Music and Destruction Unit to 285 Kent on a very busy Saturday night (6/15), as part of Northside Festival. The sold-out show was one of two gigs for first band of the night, Destruction Unit, who by all accounts came out looking more like a headliner than a band warming up for the "real attraction." (Destruction Unit played higher on the bill one night later at Shea Stadium) Pictures from 285 Kent are below.

The jaunt included recent stops to Chaos in Tejas and NXNE, and two of the three bands recently released videos during their tour (Merchandise for "Totale Night" and Destruction Unit for "Sonic Pearl").

More pics from Saturday night are below...

Continue reading "Merchandise, Milk Music and Destruction Unit played 285 Kent during Northside Fest (pics)"

photos by David Andrako

Dan Deacon / Merchandise @ Horshoe Tavern, Toronto 6/13/2013

While many of us are running around Williamsburg and Greenpoint for the Northside Festival and others are in Tennessee for Bonnaroo, David Andrako is up in Toronto for the annual NXNE festival. Much like NYC, it was a rainy night in The Queen City Last night (6/13) and he stayed put at Horseshoe Tavern for the extra-solid bill of Nu Sensae, Dan Deacon, Merchandise, DIANA and Moon King. Pictures from Horseshoe Tavern in this post.

Merchandise and Nu Sensae are heading this way for Northside. Merchandise play 285 Kent on Saturday (6/15) with Milk Music and Destruction Union which is sold out but you can try to get in with your Northside badge. Nu Sensae, meanwhile, also play with Destruction Unit, and Big Ups and Psychic Blood at Shea Stadium on Sunday (6/16). Advance tickets are still available or use the old Northside badge.

UPDATE: Pictures of NXNE day 2 are HERE and HERE. More coverage on the way.

More pictures from NXNE day 1 below...

Continue reading "NXNE day 1 in pics (Dan Deacon, Merchandise, Nu Sensae, Moon King & more)"

Destruction Unit at Chaos in Tejas 2013 (more by Sarah Frankie Linder)

Southwestern psychedelic punk favorites and live juggernaut Destruction Unit have released the video for "Sonic Pearl" from the band's Two Strong Hits 7-inch out via Suicide Squeeze. Check that out below. The release is not the only new tracks that the band will add to their repertoire in the near future, as DU will also welcome the forthcoming LP, Deep Trip, which is due on Sacred Bones on August 20. Check out the art for Deep Trip below.

As mentioned, Destruction Unit will play NXNE as well as NYC twice this weekend, at a sold-out 285 Kent on Saturday (6/15) with Milk Music and Merchandise, and Sunday (6/16) at Shea Stadium with Nu Sensae (tickets). Both NYC shows are part of Northside Festival. Highly recommended.

That video and remaining dates are below.

Continue reading "Destruction Unit release video for "Sonic Pearl" playing NYC twice this weekend for Northside Festival"

While Bonnaroo is happening in Tennessee and Northside is going down here in Brooklyn, up in Toronto, ON it's time again for NXNE. Much like SXSW, the festival spans film, interactive, comedy and art, but the music portion runs tonight (6/12) and runs through Sunday (6/16) at various venues all over city. The centerpieces are the free big concerts thrown at Younge Dundas Square. This year's Social Distortion on Thursday (6/13), The National on Friday (6/14), Billy Talent on Saturday (6/15), and Ludacris with Joey Bada$$, Deniro Farrar, The Underachievers, Fat Tony, and more on Sunday (6/16).

Our friends at M for Montreal are throwing two parties at NXNE. The first is at Sneaky Dee's on Friday with with Mauves, Webster, UN, Brazos, plus Julian Lynch and The Luyas who are on a collaborative tour (that plays Northside too). There's also a "special guest" at 2 AM and for the real partiers, Psyche Tounge at 3 AM.

Then on Saturday (6/15) its the Panache Booking and M for Montreal Bruise Cruise (which they did last year too) with Mikal Cronin, We are Wolves, Odonis Odonis and Fat Tony... on a boat! Flyer for both parties is below.

There are over 1000 acts playing NXNE this year, including Fucked Up, Dan Deacon, Villagers, Still Corners, FLAG, Mikal Cronin, Calexico, Why?, Merchandise, just to name a new -- check out the full NXNE schedule. BV photographer David Andrako will be there covering the action so look for pictures in the coming days.

Sloan, who moved from Halifax, NS to Toronto a long time ago, are celebrating the 21st anniversary of their label, murderecords, with a party at Great Hall on Friday June 14. Sloan will perform the entirety of their first EP, Peppermint, which was the label's innagural release, The Super Friendz (which at times included Sloan's Chris Murphy) and and Mike O'Neill who some of you may remember from his '90s band The Inbreds. There's also a limited-edition box set of murderecords 12 7" singles they released in the '90s that will come with a commemorative book. Only 500 of these are being made and will go on sale next week via Sloan's Website. Sloan, you may remember, also recently released a hardcore tribute 7". You can check out a video about the murderecords box set, along with a flyer for the NXNE party, below.

In addition to those free shows (and the other ones we mentioned above), there's a bunch of other shows we're looking forward to at NXNE. Take a look at what those are, and where/when you can see them, below...

Continue reading "NXNE is kicking off in Toronto this week: The National, Bruise Cruise, Sloan 'murderecords' party & more"

Merchandise at Chaos in Tejas 2013 (more by Sarah Frankie Linder)

Just a few days after ripping Chaos in Tejas alongside a stacked bill of The Men, Total Control, Destruction Unit, Lower and others, Merchandise are back out on the road with Milk Music, Destruction Unit and more, poised to hit 285 Kent next week (6/15) as part of Northside Fest. Tickets are still available.

The band recently released a video for the title track of their 12", Totale Nite. Check that out, alongside updated tour schedule, below.

Continue reading "Merchandise release new video, expand tour dates"

Infest @ 1100 Warehouse (more by Fred Pessaro)

Destruction Unit at Cheer Up Charlies (more by Sarah Frankie Linder)

Kromosom on the Lamar Bridge (more by Fred Pessaro)

Chaos in Tejas 2013 has come to a close, taking over Austin for four days across multiple venues and featuring bands as varied as Andy Stott, Kromosom and Framtid. If you missed it, live through the experience in pictures by checking out photos of The Damned and The Marked Men at 1100 Warehouse and The UV Race at Red 7 on 5/30; DIIV, Deep Time,  Survive and more at Mohawk; Bolt Thrower , Full of Hell, Iron Lung and more on 5/31.

Wait, there's more: check out pics of  The Men, Merchandise, Total Control and more at Cheer Up Charlie's; Framtid, Crudos, Criminal Damage, Akitsa and more on 6/1; and Infest, Manilla Road, Mind Eraser, Rival Mob and more Day 4 (6/2) coverage.

by Andrew Sacher

KIngston, PA punks Title Fight, whose 2012 emotionally charged post-hardcore record, Floral Green, was one of the best of its kind that year, just returned home from a European tour with Whirr and they've now got some upcoming US shows scheduled for the summer. A full tour announcement hasn't come yet, but they were recently announced for LA's FYF Fest. They've got East Coast shows happening sooner than that though, including the PA stop (6/14) on the Merchandise, Milk Music, and Destruction Unit tour (tickets) and a NYC show aboard a Rocks Off Cruise on June 16. That show is being presented by Shirts for a Cure and tickets for it are on sale now.

As mentioned, on Record Store Day, Title Fight released a split 7" with Touche Amore where the two bands covered each other, and you can now pick up that 7" on grey or pink vinyl at the Deathwish E-Store. The purchase comes with an instant MP3 download of the release. You can also stream a sample of each song below.

Touche Amore, who also play FYF Fest, are working on a new album which is due out this fall via Deathwish. They recently began work on it with producer Brad Wood (Sunny Day Real Estate). Check out a trailer video of the band in studio below.

All Title FIght dates are listed, along with a full stream of Floral Green and all other streams/videos, below...

Continue reading "Title Fight playing shows, released a split w/ Touche Amore (who are working on an LP)"

The great Destruction Unit will batter us yet again with new material, most imminently a 7" due on Suicide Squeeze. Featuring two new tracks of psychedelic punk, you can stream half of the Two Strong Hits 7" in the form of "Sonic Pearl" below. In ADDITION, look for the band to release an LP via their new label home Sacred Bones on August 20. Details are sketchy thus far beyond that.

As mentioned, DU are on the road soon, and will play TWO NYC dates: June 15 at 285 Kent with Merchandise and Milk Music (tickets) and June 16t at Shea Stadium with Nu Sensae (tickets).

Updated dates are listed, along with  that stream. below.

Continue reading "Destruction Unit announce new single for Suicide Squeeze (stream a track)"

photos by Lukas Hodge

Mission of Burma @ Strawberry Festival, 5/10/2013

Mission of Burma and Merchandise joined Library Time to play Strawberry Fest off of NYU's campus during the day on Friday (May 10th). The free show was one of two scheduled for the Merchandise guys, who performed solo sets at 285 Kent later that night.

Though Mission of Burma currently have no plans to return to NYC, Merchandise do, and with Milk Music and Destruction Unit to play Northside on June 15 at 285 Kent (tickets).

More pictures of MoB and Merchandise from NYU's Strawberry Festival are below.

Continue reading "Mission of Burma & Merchandise played Strawberry Fest (pics)"

Merchandise on Lamar Pedestrian Bridge (more by Amanda Hatfield)

Merchandise are here now, and getting geared up to play this afternoon's Strawberry Fest at NYU with Mission of Burma, followed by solo sets later tonight at 285 Kent (tickets).

In addition, the band dropped off a new short film for "Rush of Blood," available for viewing below. The film was "conceptualized, directed, and edited by frontman Carson Cox with an original score by guitarist Dave Vassalotti."

Merchandise will also be back in NYC to play Northside with Milk Music and Destruction Unit on June 15th at 285 Kent (tickets). All tour dates are listed below...

Continue reading "Merchandise are here, touring, released a new short film"

Merchandise at Mohawk during SXSW 2013 (more by Chad Wadsworth)

Two members of Merchandise, namely David (as D. Vassalotti) and Carson (as Blonde God), will step out from behind their band to both play solo sets at 285 Kent on Friday (5/10), joined by support from Horoscope. The show lists the headliners as "tba??" but we have assurances that the remaining appearance will NOT come from Merchandise themselves (despite the fact that they play NYU earlier that night with Mission of Burma). Tickets are on sale.

Merchandise are also scheduled to play Northside this year, joining Milk Music and Destruction Unit for a show at 285 Kent on June 15 and tickets are still available.

Mission of Burma at Bowery Ballroom in January (more by PSquared Photography)

We just mentioned that Merchandise will be playing NYU's Strawberry Festival, which goes down on May 10 at LaGuardia Place from 12:30-4:30 PM, and is free, all ages, and open to the public. It's since been announced that post-punk veterans Mission of Burma will headline the festival, which is even more reason that this is going to be a good show. The bill also includes Library Time and one more TBA.

It's Mission of Burma's only North American date that we're aware of before the band heads over to Europe in June. Meanwhile, MoB member Roger Miller's old band Sproton Layer has shows coming up too, including one in NYC on July 26 at Mecury Lounge. Tickets for that show are still available.

All dates are listed, along with a video, below...

Continue reading "Mission of Burma added to NYU's Strawberry Fest (dates)"

by Andrew Sacher

Merchandise on a bridge during SXSW (more by Amanda Hatfield)

Merchandise, whose recently-expanded lineup puts on way more killer shows than when they were a three-piece, are touring like crazy this year. Their run with fellow punk-minded bands Milk Music and Destruction Unit hits NYC on June 15 at 285 Kent as part of the Northside Festival (tickets), but you'll be able to catch Merchandise in NYC even sooner and for free when they play NYU's Strawberry Festival on May 10 at LaGuardia Place between Washington Sq. and West 3rd St. Library Time is also on the lineup and more bands TBA. The show runs from 12:30 to 4:30 PM and is open to the public.

Merchandise released their new album, Totale Nite, earlier this month via Night People. It's the followup to last year's Smiths/Joy Division-indebted Children of Desire, and brings new elements to their sound like bluesy harmonicas, weird sax freakouts, and a Sabbathian interlude. I'd say it's a pretty worthy followup to Children of Desire. What did you think of it? Did you think it was the worst? If you haven't heard it yet, you can stream it via Spotify, along with an updated list of tour dates, below...

Continue reading "Merchandise playing NYU's Strawberry Fest (updated dates)"

White Fence

As mentioned, White Fence's new album, Cyclops Reap, is out this week on John Dwyer's Castle Face label. Tim Presley doesn't seem to be running out of songs and this is another quality batch of paisley-scented psychedelia. You can stream "To The Boy I Jumped In The Hemlock Alley" below and hear the whole record over at Pitchfork.

White Fence will be in Brooklyn for the Northside Festival in June, playing two shows: the Panache showcase at Brooklyn Bowl on June 13 and then a late show at Knitting Factory on June 14. Tickets to the Knitting Factory show are on sale now; no word on Brooklyn Bowl tickets just yet.

The whole Panache showcase line-up is still forthcoming but we do know its being headlined by Mac DeMarco and we have updated dates for him below as well.

These are just a couple of the additions to the 2013 Northside line-up that includes that free Walkmen show in McCarren Park. Other new additions, Kylesa, Torche, Sonny & the Sunsets, Nü Sensae, Kisses, The Luyas and more. Northside line-up as it stands now is below.

Continue reading "White Fence streaming new LP, added to Northside Fest line-up (Mac DeMarco, Nu Sensae, Kylesa, Torche & more too)"

Pitchfork Festival 2012 (more by Fred Pessaro // BBG)

The final Pitchfork Festival lineup has now been announced, and in addition to previously announced acts like R. Kelly, Joanna Newsom, and Swans, it now includes M.I.A., Lil B, Solange, Wire, Yo La Tengo, Low, Savages, Toro Y Moi, Phosphorescent, Metz, Autre Ne Veut, Mikal Cronin, Parquet Courts, Merchandise, Woods, Julia Holter, Glass Candy, Andy Stott, Pissed Jeans, Frankie Rose, Ryan Hemsworth, Waxahatchee, Blood Orange, Daughn Gibson, Evian Christ, White Lung, KEN Mode, and DJ Rashad.

Three-day passes and single-day tickets are still available.

In other Chicago music festival news, Lollapalooza early bird passes went on sale today, sold out, and then regular 3-day passes went on sale and sold out. Single day tickets go on sale April 9.

Full Pitchfork Festival lineup and schedule below...

Continue reading "M.I.A., Solange, Wire, Savages, Phosphorescent, Julia Holter, Waxahatchee, KEN Mode & more added to Pitchfork Festival"

photos by Amanda Hatfield; words by Andrew Sacher

Parquet Courts / Merchandise @ Pedestrian Bridge, Austin, 3/15/2013

We at BrooklynVegan teamed up with Chaos in Tejas for a show on the Pedestrian Bridge in Austin last night (technically this morning, 3/15, at 2 AM) with Destruction Unit, Merchandise, and Parquet Courts. The show was packed with people literally everywhere from in front of and behind the band, on lamposts, benches, railings, and even hanging outside of railings. All three bands were great, definitely feeding off the high energy from the crowd, and the show got heavier and heavier as it went on. Parquet Courts kicked things off with some driving indie rock, followed by Merchandise, whose current lineup has a great drummer, a saxist, and includes frontman Carson Cox playing second guitar (it's way more punk than their record and their drummer-less shows), and Destruction Unit were so heavy that you just have to see them because there's nothing I can say to do last night's set any justice.

More pictures of the craziness below...

Continue reading "Parquet Courts, Merchandise and Destruction Unit played a BV/Chaos-in Tejas presented bridge show in Austin (pics)"

SXSW is in ful, nutty swing and and while we've already announced our slate of official nighttime showcases and day parties, we've got one more for ya. BrooklynVegan and Chaos in Tejas are proud to present tonight, March 14 (technically 3/15 in the AM) a show on the Pedestrian Bridge (Lamar & Riverside) featuring sets from Destruction Unit, Merchandise and Parquet Courts. The FREE, all-ages show kicks off at 2AM. Get there!

In addition to this, Chaos in Tejas have quite a few shows of their own during SXSW as well.

Meanwhile, our free Thursday day party at The Main and The Jr. starts at noon CDT, and kick off with sets from Jacco Gardner and Single mothers. If you're in Austin, stop by!

Merchandise have released "Who Are You?" -- the new track from their forthcoming Totale Nite LP. That's the album art from the LP above. Look for Totale Nite on April 2 via Night-People Records.

Merchandise are currently touring the East Coast on their way to SXSW. Look for the band to head back up towards NYC later this year at 285 Kent on June 15th with Milk Music and Destruction Unit as part of the Northside Festival. Tickets are on sale or get in with your Northside Badge.

All dates are listed below.

Continue reading "Merchandise streaming track from new LP, expand tour"

Swans at Music Hall of Williamsburg, Feb 2013 (more by Fred Pessaro // BBG)

As mentioned earlier today, The Northside Festival will return in 2013, and have announced the initial lineup for the June 13 - 20th festival. The musical program will run from June 13-16 and besides the previously discussed Iceage and Son Volt, will also feature Black Flag (with Greg Ginn and Ron Reyes, not to be confused with FLAG) Swans (who are playing Bonnaroo), The Men, Rhys Chatham and Oneida (collaborating), Merchandise, Lambchop, Twin Sister, Lower, Milk Music, WHY?, Chelsea Wolfe, the Soft Moon, Destruction Unit, and more.

The festival will take place across venues in and around North Brooklyn, with free concerts in McCarren Park, portions of Williamsburg streets shut down and Pitchfork taking over Saint Vitus for three nights of shows. More details are on the way.

As part of it, Swans play Warsaw on June 13 with Chelsea Wolfe. Tickets for that show go on sale Friday (2/22) at noon.

Tickets for the Black Flag show, which happens at Warsaw on June 14, go on sale Friday (2/20) at noon, featuring appearances from Good For You, The Men, and Netherlands. The show is one of two scheduled for The Men, with the band also scheduled to headline Bowery Ballroom in March.

Badges for Northside 2013 go on sale Friday (2/22) at noon. A full listing of today's announcement of Northside bands is below.

Continue reading "Northside Festival announces initial 2013 line-up (Black Flag [Ginn/Reyes]), Swans, Merchandise, Lambchop + more"

Destruction Unit have announced their new LP, Void, which is out via Jolly Dream on Feb 19. Order yours via the label and check out the new track and video for "Evil Man." Fans of Leave Home / Immaculada-era of The Men will dig this psychedelic-punk ripper.

As discussed, Destruction Union will team with Cult of Youth and Alberich for a show at 285 Kent on March 2. Following that NYC date, Destruction Unit will head southbound to play SXSW and and then hit Austin again for Chaos in Tejas. Then this summer DU will join Merchandise and Milk Music for an East Coast tour, though no NYC dates as of now.

Full tour dates are list below, along with the new video and song streams.

Continue reading "Destruction Unit ready 'Void,' release new video, touring with Merchandise and Milk Music (dates)"

SXSW is no doubt a great way to see a lot of bands in a short amount of time and can be a lot of fun. But it can also be a little much for some. If you'd like to see many of the same bands but in a more genteel setting, you might be interested in The Savannah Stopover which happens the weekend before SXSW (March 7 - 9) in at various clubs in Savannah, Georgia. Over 100 bands will play, including Of Montreal, Merchandise, Mac DeMarco, Chelsea Light Moving, Hunters, Braids, Delicate Steve, Turbo Fruits, Ducktails and loads more.

Tickets ($30 per day or $75 for three-day pass) are on sale now and more info is at Savannah Stopover's website. The full announced lineup is below.

Continue reading "of Montreal, Chelsea Light Moving, Merchandise, Mac DeMarco, & more playing Savannah Stopover before SXSW"

Primavera Sound have announced their 2013 lineup, set to go down on May 22-26 in Barcelona, Spain. The announcement came via an animated video and artists performing include Phoenix, The Postal Service, Blur, Nick Cave & the Bad Seeds, My Bloody Valentine, Tame Impala, Wu-Tang Clan, Dead Can Dance, Grizzly Bear, The Knife, and loads more. Current lineup is below along with the flyer and video...

Continue reading "Primavera Sound 2013 line-up announced"

Laurel Halo

Shapeshifting art pop producer/singer Laurel Halo has a few shows coming up this year including the previously discussed NYC date at the Merkin Concert Hall on February 23, where she'll be playing a collaborative set with fellow art pop mastermind Julia Holter and members of Daniel Wohl's TRANSIT collective as part of the Ecstatic Music Festival. Tickets for that show are still available.

Laurel Halo's other upcoming shows include a couple festival appearances, like Barcelona's Mutek [ES] in February and Katowice, Poland's OFF Festival in August with Deerhunter, Jens Lekman, METZ, Merchandise, and more TBA. And around the time of the Ecstatic Music Fest show, Laurel will play a more traditional show in NYC at Le Poisson Rouge on Valentines Day (2/14) with fellow Brooklynites Teengirl Fantasy, TGF's collaborator Kelela, and Fatherhood. Tickets for the LPR show, which Bandshell is presenting, are on sale now.

Like her Hyperdub labelmate Burial, Laurel Halo capped off 2012 with a last-minute single, "Sunlight On The Faded." You can stream that single and check out a list of all upcoming dates below...

Continue reading "Laurel Halo playing shows (one w/ Teengirl Fantasy) (dates)"

Frightened Rabbit @ T5, Nov. 2010 (more by Lionel Bergeron)

SXSW has just announced another round of bands for the 2013 edition of the annual music festival that will happen March 12 - 17. This brings the total current number of acts to around 1300. Someome of the highlights include Vampire Weekend, Frightened Rabbit, The Thermals, Black Lips, Camera Obscura, Merchandise, Bleached, Mr. Muthafuckin' eXquire, Eagles of Death Metal, Parenthetical Girls, Indians, Night Beds, IO Echo, KEN Mode, Prince Paul, Pure Bathing Culture, Sepalcure, UK motorik post-punks TOY, Finnish instrumentalists K-X-P, Toronto's Moon King, UK indie rockers Splashh (not Brooklyn Splash with one "h") and loads more. Head to BV Austin for the whole Round 3 list.

by Bill Pearis

Merchandise @ WIERD, 9/13/2012 (more by Phil Maier)

Merchandise, who just played a couple NYC shows right around New Year's, have announced the follow-up to last year's Children of Desire. The new record, a five-song 12" titled Totale Nite, will be out on the Night People label sometime this spring. They're calling it an album and if it contains two 10-minute plus tracks like Children of Desire did, I guess it could be.

The first taste of Totale Nite, "Anxiety's Door," clocks in at seven minutes, and picks right up where the last album left off with heavy romance and mid-'80s sounding gothy alt-rock vibes. You can stream it below. The drum machine is still there, for those hoping Elsner Nino would make his recorded appearance here. While I like a real drummer in the live setting, I actually really like a drum machine with this kind of music, especially the syn-toms.

Merchandise will be spending much of the spring on tour, hitting SXSW pretty hard and heading West from there. No new NYC dates have been announced, but you can check out their schedule below, along with that new song stream.

Continue reading "Merchandise announce new LP and 2013 tour (dates, stream)"