by Bill Pearis

Local indie rockers Old Monk are busy finishing the follow-up to 2012's Birds of Belize, a record that should be out in early 2014. Meanwhile, the band have a stopgap single out now on Eenie Meenie, the very catchy "Seymour." We've got the premiere of its video in this post. Using 8-bit graphics it works in references to Pitfall!, plus a slew of classic films (Safety Last, Annie Hall, The Good, the Bad & the Ugly to name three) and was directed/animated by Josh Carrafa who you may know from his Music History Gifs website. You can check it out below.

Old Monk also have a few NYC shows coming up: June 8 at Knitting Factory with The Vansaders, The Marshmallows and The Brooklyn What (tix); then June 18 at Cameo; and June 28 at Ludlow St. club Leftfield. Those dates are listed, along with that video, below.

Continue reading "watch a new 8-bit video from Old Monk ++ upcoming shows"

by Andrew Sacher

Boston's Fat Creeps have been playing around their hometown a bunch since forming in 2011, and this month they're set to kick off their first-ever tour, which brings them for a quick four-date trek around the Northeast. That tour culminates in NYC with a show on September 30 at Cake Shop with Old Monk, The Blue Dress, and Other Factors. Admission is $7 at the door. All dates are listed below.

Fat Creeps released their debut EP last month, which you can stream below or purchase for $5 at bandcamp. It opens with "Secrets," a rocker indebted to early riot grrrl and Kim Gordon, but after that the EP continues in a less heavy manner, playing indie rock the way it sounded on college radio stations about two decades ago. It's an enjoyable listen and should appeal to fans of likeminded '90s throwbackers Dum Dum Girls, The Pains of Being Pure at Heart, and other pieces of the Slumberland roster.

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

Continue reading "Fat Creeps released an EP, going on tour (dates and streams)"

by Bill Pearis

Field Mouse

It's late April, time for The L Magazine's annual "8 Bands You Need to Hear" list. Like always, there's a few you've probably heard, a few you've heard of, and a few who may be new to you entirely. Here's the list, with the artists' next next NYC area show (where applicable)

Field Mouse (May 3 at the Rock Shop)

Ski Lodge (May 24 at The Rock Shop)

Daytona (April 27 at Death by Audio)

Evi (5/3 at Brooklyn Bowl opening for James Chance)

Black Marble (May 3, opening for Light Asylum)

Starlight Girls (May 26 at Cameo Gallery)

Plates of Cake (No upcoming shows)

Ravens & Chimes (June 1 at WNYC Green Space)

If you'd like to hear these 8 bands "right now" there are Bandcamp streams for all of them at the bottom of this post. This year's Honorable Mentions list includes ">The Immaculates, Old Monk, Hunters and Trailblazer.

Also, The L Magazine's Northside Festival (June 14 - 21) announced its initial 2012 line-up last week. In addition to GZA, Ceremony and Neil Hamburger (whose Northside shows we mentioned already), bands confirmed for the music portion of the Fest (June 14 - 17) include Of Montreal, Tinariwen, ?uestlove, Dam-Funk, Kool Keith, Chain & the Gang, Magrudergrind and more. Badges are on-sale now.

Click through for streams from all "8 Bands You Need to Hear"

Continue reading "L Mag picked 8 more 'Bands You Need to Hear Right Now', announced some Northside bands"

Teenage Cool Kids

Denton, TX indie punk outfit Teenage Cool Kids, whose members include Andrew Savage of Fergus & Geronimo, kick off a Northeast tour with their first show in the last year and a half TONIGHT (2/22) at Cake Shop in NYC. The show is part of Old Monk's residency at the venue and Little Gold is also the on the bill. The tour also includes a Brooklyn show happening on Friday (2/24) at Death by Audio with Mannequin Pussy, NT, and Priests.

All dates, tour flier, and a live video of the band from SXSW 2010 below...

Continue reading "Teenage Cool Kids begin short tour in NYC tonight, playing Cake Shop, Wesleyan & Death By Audio (dates)"

by Bill Pearis

DOWNLOAD: Cate Le Bon - Puts Me to Work (MP3)
DOWNLOAD: Ed Vallance - Crystaline (MP3)
DOWNLOAD: Old Monk - Warm Moustache (MP3)

Veronica Falls

Veronica Falls are back for what is, by far, their biggest NYC show to date: they play Music Hall of Williamsburg on Thursday. The band's debut was my #2 Album of 2011:

"Found Love in a Graveyard" made my Favorite Tracks of 2009 list and have been waiting a full-length ever since. The band does not disappoint. There's not a dud in Veronica Falls' 36 minute running time. New songs are equals to early singles which appear here in newly recorded versions that might actually improve on the originals. This is haunted pop, a brisk October breeze that calls for a nice cardigan.

Veronica Falls just released a new track, "My Heart Beats," to coincide with their North American tour and you can stream it at the bottom of this post. The song is sunnier than what they normally do but still fits within their sound. Sounds like a single to me. The band are touring with Slumberland labelmates Brilliant Colors (in from San Francisco) and local noisemakers Grooms are also on the bill.  Tickets are still available. Veronica Falls look timid in their press photos, but they whip up a storm live. Go see 'em.

Bleached at BV CMJ 2012 (more by Chris La Putt)

After the MHoW show, Bleached will also be part of the Veronica Falls/Brilliant Colors tour. (Dates at the bottom of this post.) The band are currently on the road with The Black Belles, a tour that rolls into town onSaturday (2/11) at Knitting Factory that also has Bleeding Rainbow (formerly Reading Rainbow) and Habibi on the bill. I caught Bleached at the BrooklynVegan day party during CMJ last year and thought they were a lot of fun in a Runaways kind of way. Good snarly attitude and big hooks. Maybe you caught them last week opening for Smith Westerns at Webster Hall?

Habibi

It's worth showing up early for Habibi, whose debut single (streamable below) is a cool, understated take on '60s girl group sounds. You can stream it below.

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Cate Le Bon

As excited as I am to see Veronica Falls on Thursday (2/9) , I might be slightly more pumped to catch Cate Le Bon's early set at Mercury Lounge that same night. (She also plays Maxwell's on Friday [2/10] as part of her tour) I've been pretty enamoured with the Welsh singer's new album, Cyrk, that came out a few weeks ago. The spare, detached vibe is a little like the Velvet Underground or Electrelane or Stereolab, but there's a hint of pastoral psychedelia in there too. (Shades of Welsh indie royalty Gorky's Zygotic Mynci). The record is loaded with wonderful little touches that reveal themselves with repeated listens. It's a fantastic album.

You can download single "Puts Me to Work" at the top of this post and stream Cyrk at Spotify. Cate has played New York a few times, usually solo, but for this tour she's got her band with her which should be pretty special. Both shows are with local band Pigeons.

Ed Vallance - 'Volcano'

What else is going on? London born, Brooklyn-based singer Ed Vallance released his second album, Volcano, this week and plays a record release show tonight (2/8) at Pianos. The record is dramatic turn from the indie folk of his debut. I bet he still writes his songs on acoustic guitar, but the approach to the arrangements and production are definitely have definitely taken a pop approach this time. While this sort of stuff isn't in vogue so much these days (it's got a distinct early '00s post-Radiohead vibe) it's quite lovely nonetheless. You can download the single "Crystaline" at the top of this post and stream the album at Spotify.

In addition to tonight's show at Pianos, an early show with Pursesnatchersopening, Ed's doing a month-long residency at the Ace Hotel, playing every Sunday in February.

Jeremy Jay

And finally, K Records artist Jeremy Jay is in town this week, playing Glasslands tonight (2/8) and Cake Shop tomorrow (2/9). Jeremy's most recent album is Dream Diary, which came out about a year ago. Like most of his work, it's minimal folk rock with a strong '80s influence. He's an engaging live performer, and tonight's Glasslands show is a stacked bill with Boston psych-folk band Quilt, quality locals Slowdance and Backwords. The Cake Shop show is with Sapphire Mansions and a couple TBDs. (Cake Shop's website isn't especially updated these days.) Jeremy lives in London these days, so go see him while he's here -- all tour dates are at the bottom of this post.

That's the big stuff this week. Some more day by day picks, of things not already covered, are below.

Old Monk

WEDNESDAY, FEBRUARY 8

The second week of Old Monk's Cake Shop residency is tonight. These guys are good! Tonight's with Haybaby, elctro-rockers Year of the Tiger and Code Name Viper.

continued below...

Continue reading "Veronica Falls, Bleached, Habibi, Cate Le Bon, Ed Vallance, Jeremy Jay, Ida & more in This Week in Indie"

by Bill Pearis

DOWNLOAD: Old Monk - Warm Moustache (MP3)
DOWNLOAD: Old Monk - Butter and Toast (MP3)
DOWNLOAD: Old Monk - Sacred Birds (MP3)

Brooklyn trio Old Monk start their month residency at Cake Shop tonight (2/1), playing the first four Wednesdays in February. Tonight's show is with Black Forrest and the Dearloves.

Old Monk just released their debut album, Birds of Belize, on Eenie Meanie Records a couple weeks ago. It's choc-a-bloc with big riffs and sticky choruses, with a little of Pavement's brainy cool, and surprisingly complex structure (there's a whiff of prog) given that most of the songs are well short of the three minute mark. Some serious chops too. There's three tracks from the album available to download at the top of this post. "Warm Moustache" is particularly catchy.

Click through for streamable versions of the MP3s, plus Birds of Belize cover art.

Continue reading "check out Old Monk who begin a Cake Shop residency today"