by Andrew Sacher

Pop. 1280 at Public Assembly in 2012 (more by Erez Avissar)

NYC post-punks Pop. 1280 have announced that they will release the followup to 2012's The Horror with a new album, Imps of Perversion, on August 6 via Sacred Bones. On the first single, "Lights Out," they've got way thicker production than on the last album, and it only benefits their sound, which is dark and angry as ever. Stream that track, along with the album artwork and tracklist, below.

Pop. 1280 will be playing a hometown show as part of the Northside Festival, opening for like-minded band The Soft Moon at their previously announced 285 Kent show on Sunday (6/16). Another local band, Grooms, who also play a Exploding In Sound/Gimme Tinnitus show today (6/14), are on the bill too. Tickets for the 285 Kent show are still available.

Pop. 1280 also have another upcoming local show opening for Chrome Cranks at Mercury Lounge on August 16. Twin Guns are on that bill too. Tickets for the show are still on sale.

That new song stream, album art, and tracklist, below...

Continue reading "Pop. 1280 announce new album, playing with The Soft Moon on Sunday, and with Chrome Cranks in August"

Zola Jesus at Austin City Limits, Oct 2012 (more by Glen Brown)

While metal fans/bands (not to mention others) are pouncing upon the Mayan prophecies regarding the end of the world, the tongue-in-cheek attitude isn't limited to the distortion pedal set. Sacred Bones Records will use the occaision to celebrate their five year anniversary, scheduling a show the Mojave desert. Specifically, it goes down at Pappy and Harriets Pioneertown Palace on December 21 with an impressive array from their current lineup: Zola Jesus, Cult of Youth, Lust For Youth, Psychic Ills, Wymond Miles, Pop 1280 and "special guests." Tickets are on sale now.

Congrats to Sacred Bones on their anniversary, maybe we'll see you on the other side... or maybe not.

Almost everyting was cancelled on Sunday and Monday, and now Tuesday (10/30) is also shaping up to be a mostly-showless night in NYC (and NJ and elsewhere too).

The Rock Shop in Park Slope is open for drinking. Show is cancelled though.

Cypress Hill and Action Bronson at Best Buy Theater is postponed (new date TBA).

Public Assembly, who have another Action Bronson show coming up, will be closed Tuesday night.

Deftones and Scars on Broadway at Terminal 5 is postponed (new date TBA)

Dita Von Teese may or may not postpone Tuesday's show, one of four this week. UPDATE: Dita's Tuesday night show is cancelled, and a 2nd Thursday night one was added.

Journey and Pat Benatar/Neil Geraldo at the Barclays Center is cancelled.

The Freedom to Love Concert at Beacon Theater (with tons of artists scheduled to play it including Rufus Wainwright) is postponed (new date TBA).

The Tell Your Friends comedy show with Gilbert Gottfried, Myq Kaplan, Liam McEneaney, Rena Zager & more at The Bell House is postponed. (new date TBA)

Kitsune Club Night at Le Poisson Rouge with The Twelves, Yuksek, New Moods, JDH & Dave P is cancelled.

Le Poisson Rouge also says that Sean Hayes and Behind the Groove events have been canceled but "The Sean Hayes show will be rescheduled. All tickets will be honored."

Ute Lemper at Joe's Pub is cancelled.

Everything at 92nd Street Y is cancelled.

Lincoln Center will remain closed Tuesday.

All Rocks Off Concert Cruises are cancelled.

All events at BB King's are cancelled.

As of this post, Aimee Mann & Ted Leo's Music Hall of Williamsburg show is still on (their Monday Bowery show was rescheduled for Wednesday), as is the Soft Moon/Pop 1280 show at Bowery Ballroom.

UPDATE: Aimee Mann and Ted Leo are now also cancelled.

UPDATE: The Soft Moon/Pop 1280 show at Bowery Ballroom is cancelled.

UPDATE: Rita Ora, Iggy Azalea, and Havana Brown at Highline Ballroom "is postponed due to weather complications Rescheduled date will be announced as soon as possible. All tickets will be honored." Rita Ora's Philly show was also cancelled.

Keep checking this post for updates.

Monday's cancellations are listed HERE.

by Bill Pearis

DOWNLOAD: Cold Showers - Violent Cries (MP3)

Los Angeles' Cold Showers are currently on tour, playing Glasslands tonight (9/20) with The Soft Moon and ERAAS on their way to the Pop Montreal which started last night and runs through the weekend. Tickets are still available.

After Pop Montreal, Cold Showers will head back across the Canadian border, playing the Midwest before heading back to NYC to play WIERD night at Home Sweet Home on October 2. It will be a release party for Cold Showers' debut album, Love and Regret, which comes out 10/9 on Mexican Summer. Recalling late-'80s bands like Red Lorry Yellow Lorry and Sisters of Mercy, it's dark and brooding but with ample hooks and melody, perfect for the fall weather ahead. The group just released a new track from the album, "Violent Cries," which you can download above or stream below along with previously-released "BC."

Meanwhile, ERAAS' self-titled debut will be out October 2 and is on the shadowier side of the street, relying on heavy atmosphere, tribal rhythms and plaintive vocals to pull the listener into their world. You can stream a couple tracks from their album below. ERAAS will also open for San Francisco post punks Weekend at Cameo on Tuesday (9/25) (rescheduled from August) and tickets to that show are still available.

And headliners The Soft Moon release their second album, Zeros, on October 30. Like their debut, it owes more than a little to mid-'80s 4AD and WaxTrax! discographies and is maybe even more creepy/claustrophobic than their first, loaded with driving, watery basslines and deep-freeze synths. Check out recently-released track "Insides" from the album below. If you can't make it to the show tonight, The Soft Moon will be back to play Bowery Ballroom on October 30 with Pop. 1280 and Group Rhoda. Tickets are still available.

Continue reading "Cold Showers add NYC LP release show after Pop Montreal, playing tonight w/ The Soft Moon & ERAAS (dates, streams)"

by Bill Pearis

DOWNLOAD: METZ - Headache (MP3)

As mentioned before and worth doing so again, Toronto's METZ are on tour and in town, with two chances to see them in NYC: tonight (8/31) at Pianos with Birds & Batteries, Writer and ILLUMNTR (tickets); and then Saturday (9/1) at Death by Audio with Pop. 1280 and Herzog Rising. Updated tour dates are listed at the bottom of this post.

METZ's debut album for Sub Pop is due out October 9 and jettisons through 11 songs in under a half an hour and does a surprisingly good job of bringing the band's propulsive, concussive live energy to tape. There's a big dose of AmRep style punk, but there's a hooky-ness to the white squall. Still, it's no match for their live show which is intense and frighteningly loud. Sometimes sheer volume is needed for that crushing feeling in your chest, not your ears. (Earplugs are suggested, unless you wanna fast-track tinnitus.) You can download "Headache" at the top of this post.

For tonight's show, METZ are on one of the earlier slots. You could probably slip out afterwords and still make it to Italian glampunks Giuda's set down the street at Cake Shop, which would make for a pretty fun night.

A list of all tour dates and an album teaser video are below.

Continue reading "METZ are here, playing 2 NYC shows (updated dates, MP3)"

Xeno & Oaklander at BV-CMJ 2011 (more by Amanda Hatfield)

NYC synth goth vets Ike Yard played a NYC show earlier this year with contempory NYC synth goths Xeno & Oaklander, and now the two will team up again, this time bringing along another group of goth newcomers, Led Er Est. The three groups will play a late show at 285 Kent on September 7, which starts at midnight (so technically Saturday, September 8). No advance tickets for this one at the moment ($9 at the door), and more details on the show are below.

Xeno & Oaklander have a few other upcoming NYC appearances as well. They'll give a lecture at Public Assembly on September 16 called 'Analog as the New Folk,' where they'll discuss the analog synthesizer as the new folk instrument. The lecture is free and all ages. As mentioned, Xeno & Oaklander will also open the first of two Silver Apples shows in NYC. They support the band at their Public Assembly show (10/4) with Man Forever and La Big Vic (tickets), which happens one day before Silver Apples plays 92YTribeca (10/5) with CFCF and Win Win (tickets).

Meanwhile, Led Er Est member Shawn Devin O'Sullivan will play Death by Audio's Modular Synth Winter Solstice on September 22 (though we're pretty sure that's actually the fall solstice). This event follow's DbA's Modular Synth Summer Solstice, which went down this past June. Joining Shawn Devin O'Sullivan on the lineup will be DeTrop (Ryan Martin of Dais Records), Retribution Body, Matthew Regula (of Telecult Powers), and Nathan Cearley (of Long Distance Poison).

In related news, Led Er Est's Sacred Bones labelmates Pop. 1280 will be going on a short tour this September. The tour kicks off on September 1 at Death by Audio with METZ and Herzog Rising, and culminates in their appearance at Hopscotch Music Fest. After that tour, Pop. 1280 will support The Soft Moon at their previously discussed Bowery Ballroom show (10/30). That show is also with Group Rhoda and tickets are still available. The Soft Moon also play Glasslands on September 20 with Cold Showers and ERAAS (tickets).

A list of all dates, plus videos, are below.

Continue reading "Ike Yard, Xeno & Oaklander and Led Er Est playing shows & stuff (some together, some separate); Pop. 1280 touring (dates)"

photos by Phil Maier, words by BBG

King Dude @ Home Sweet Home

King Dude played his first NYC show with a full band in tow at Home Sweet Home on April 11th as part of "Wierd Wednesdays" at Home Sweet Home. The show was a rare one-off on the East Coast for the Seattle-based goth artist, and one of a very small number of shows for TJ Cowgill (also Book of Black Earth) overall, though you can catch him in Austin at Chaos in Tejas this year as part of a bill that includes Iceage (who play NYC twice in the coming months), Xeno & Oaklander, Pop. 1280, Kindest Lines, Dangerous Boys Club, Anasazi (who play Acheron next week), RØSENKØPF (them too), and YOU.

Pop 1280, who will embark on a US tour in May, play a NYC show at Death By Audio on Saturday (4/14) as part of a record release celebration for White Suns's new LP Sinews. Stream that release in its entirety at Spin now. Pop 1280 also play a Brooklyn show with O'Death in May.

King Dude pictures from Home Sweet Home are below.

Continue reading "King Dude played Home Sweet Home (pics); White Suns celebrate new LP in Brooklyn Saturday"

King Dude

King Dude "will be playing his first show with an accompanied band" TONIGHT at Home Sweet Home (4/11) as part of the ongoing Wierd Wednesday at the venue. The show is a one-off for the gothic crooner, who is also scheduled to play Chaos in Tejas in Austin with Iceage Xeno & Oaklander, Pop. 1280, Kindest Lines, Dangerous Boys Club, Anasazi, RØSENKØPF, and YOU.

King Dude released the Love LP last year and is prepping the new "You Can Break My Heart" b/w "Devil's Tail" 7", a new LP due this summer, and a split with the mighty Urfaust soon. Stream all of Love below.

In other news, RØSENKØPF have released a new song from their self-titled debut for Wierd Records. Stream "Burning Spirits" from that record below. Look for RØSENKØPF to play NYC next on 4/20 at Acheron with Puerto Rico Flowers (ex-Clockcleaner, their final show), Anasazi and York Factory Complaint.Catch RØSENKØPF in July when they open for Iceage at one of their two just-announced NYC dates.

All streams are below.

Continue reading "King Dude plays Home Sweet Home tonight; RØSENKØPF releases new track from WIERD debut"

by BBG

Balaclavas

Don't confuse Balaclavas with another similarly-named band that played our Deathmatch day party in Austin recently. The Houston band with the plural name, who dabble in Birthday-Party like post-punk, are currently on the road after a round of dates surrounding SXSW, and will team with In School (ex-Household), Herzog Rising, and Rutilated Powerhaus (mem of Rosenkopf) to play Death By Audio TONIGHT (3/27). The shows are in support of the band's Second Sight EP, which is streamable in full below.

As discussed, Herzog Rising is also scheduled to play a second show at Death By Audio soon (on April 7th), this time with Kim Phuc, Pop 1280 and Family Curse.

Stream the new Balaclavas EP and the Herzog Rising Demo below alongside all tour dates and some video....

Continue reading "Balaclavas (not Balaclava) on tour, play tonight at Death By Audio w/ Rutilated Powerhaus & others"

by BBG

A Storm of Light at the Tone Deaf showcase (more by Greg Cristman)

A Storm of Light plays NYC TONIGHT as part of a round of dates with Mustard Gas & Roses (mem Isis) and Magic Circle. Tickets are still available for the Saint Vitus show. The band recently played a round of dates surrounding SXSW including the Tone Deaf showcase (pictures). Tonight's show is in direct competition with Hull, Mutilation Rites, Batillus and Trenchgrinder at Acheron, the latter two of which played Lovejoy's as part of the BV Day Party. Hull also played Red 7 with Fear on 3/15, which was down the street from Pallbearer, Screaming Females, Ringworm & Power Trip (pictures).

Punk rock crew Kim Phuc will team with Family Curse and Herzog Rising to play Death By Audio on April 7th. The show is one of a few notable and recently added shows at the space, including April 14th with White Suns (who have a new LP on Load, stream a song below), Pop 1280, and Richard, April 28th with Dysrhythmia, Kayo Dot & Vaura, and 4/29 with a mystery guest, Child Abuse, Behold...The Arctopus and PAK.

Check out the recent Decibel Flexi of In Solitude covering Samhain's "Mother of Mercy".

Youth Attack have updated their site with orders for the new Salvation House of the Beating Hell EP, new second Hoax EP, a new ARTS LP Thousand Wounds of War, and so much more. Head to their site for more details (I recommend the Hoax, ARTS and Salvation records).

If you missed it, we posted two sets of pictures from Deatmatch during SXSW (SET 1, SET 2), a set of pictures from Lovejoy's during SXSW, my official showcase during SXSW, and pictures from our bridge show. We welcomed a new EP from Cop Problem, interviews with Black God, new shows from Ilsa, Rorschach, Old Man Gloom, D-Clone, Young Widows, Autopsy and more. Got stoked and then immediately diappointed with the Kiss it Goodbye reunion and scratched our heads in disbelief at the "Death to All" reunion and Wolvhammer cover of The Cure (the latter in a positive way).

More suggested shows, a stream of a new Horseback song, the Split Cranium LP (with Aaron of Isis and members of Circle) a 16 song, an Author & Punisher song, a White Suns song and more is below. What did I miss?

Continue reading "Evillive (Kim Phuc, Horseback, Salvation, Split Cranium, 16, more)"

by Bill Pearis

DOWNLOAD: Mac DeMarco - "Baby's Wearin Blue Jeans (MP3)
DOWNLOAD: TOPS - Turn Your Love Around (MP3)
DOWNLOAD: Korallreven - Sa Sa Samoa (MP3)
DOWNLOAD: Korallreven - Sa Sa Samoa (For Real For Sure For You) (MP3)
DOWNLOAD:  Young Prisms - Floating in Blue (MP3)
DOWNLOAD: Boy Friend - Egyptian Wrinkle (MP3)

Mac Demarco

It begins. Bands from all over the world -- England! Canada! Sweden! New Zealand! Virginia! -- descend on New York as they beat a path to Austin for this year's SXSW. Which is good for those who aren't going, as well as folks who are but want to see bands play longer than 25 minutes and aren't strung out on a four-day diet of free breakfast tacos, Vitamin Water and Amstel Light. There's lots more going on than what is covered below, but it's what I'm interested in over the next few days.

New Captured Tracks signee Mac DeMarco is in town from Vancouver to play a couple shows. He plays an all-C/T bill tonight (3/2) at Music Hall of Williamsburg with DIVE, Hoop Dreams and headliners Beach Fossils (sold out), and then Glasslands tomorrow (3/3) with  headliners Widowspeak and  Quilt.

Demarco, who used to record under the name Makeout Videotapes, has a smoky baritone that is part Chris Isaak and part Tindersticks. His music owes a little to Isaak as well, with an early '60s vibe (Ricky Nelson, Gene Vincent) by way of '80s neon, all on a four-track budget. You can check debut "Baby's Wearin Blue Jeans" from his debut, Rock n' Roll Hotel (out 3/20) at the top of this post, which is indicative of what Demarco is all about. You can also watch the video for "Only You" which is kind of NSFW. Dude's a provocateur.

Hoop Dreams

Tonight's MHoW show is the first NYC show we've had from Blacksburg, VA's Hoop Dreams in a long while. They were good when I saw them at Glasslands last year and have the potential to be breakouts for the label if they ever get around to releasing another record (only a single so far). Live, they're more in the Arcade Fire/Editors anthemic style than the single might suggest. It will also be a good opportunity to hear new music from Beach Fossils who are busy at work on their second LP.

And of course, DIVE, who are probably one of the more exciting live bands in Brooklyn right now and are a definite SXSW must-see if you don't live here and have the opportunity to catch them twice a week like we currently do. (They're also touring with Frankie Rose in April.) The show is sold out tonight, but I'd be shocked if there weren't tickets at the door at least when the box office opens.

TOPS

Montreal band TOPS are playing 285 Kent tomorrow night as part of a killer bill that includes Blood Orange, Phone Tag and  Caged Animals. The four-piece is comprised of most (if not all) of MTL's Silly Kissers who played here a few times over the last few years and were a little on the precious side (they sometimes wore mime makeup). TOPS, however, are more in the Ariel Pink/Puro Instict brand of minimal keyboard pop. Their debut, Tender Opposites, came out this week on Artibus Records, which is also home to Grimes (in Canada). You can download "Turn Your Love Around" at the top of this post and stream the whole thing (and watch the further down.

As you may have read, 285 headliners Caged Animals will open the Official BrooklynVegan SXSW showcase on March 14 at Bar 69 which also includes Titus Andronicus, Screaming Females, 2:54, The Young and one more TBA. If you haven't heard their tuneful, charming debut Eat Their Own yet, it's still streamable at their BandCamp. And they're terrific live.

So is Blood Orange, despite it just being Dev Hynes, his guitar and a laptop. I saw him last weekend at Glasslands where he spent as much time in the crowd as he did on stage. I do wish he'd get a band, but the one-man Blood Orange is a lot of fun. I haven't seen Phone Tag in a while, but I dig their brand of '80s synthpop.

Korallreven

Sunday night (3/4) at Bowery Ballroom is the NYC debut of Swedish duo Korallreven, one half of which is The Radio Dept.'s Daniel Tjäder. I like their debut album a lot, all lush, synth-driven dream pop but, like a lot of music like this, I wonder how they're going to make it an interesting concert experience. I envision two guys behind laptops and keyboards bobbing their heads and singing, with some projections and hopefully smoke machines.  Maybe they could move the downstairs couches to the main room? Maybe I'm wrong. We'll see. I'm sure it will sound great in any case.  If you haven't heard them yet, you can download "Sa Sa Samoa" in regular and remixed form at the top of this post and watch the video at the bottom of this post. Also playing: Lemonade and Young Magic.

Bachelorette

Also playing Sunday night, at Cameo, is Bachelorette -- aka New Zealander Annabel Alpers who I think lives here now. Buoyed by Alpers delicate, breathy voice, Bachelorette make ethereal synthpop not miles away from The Magnetic Fields, with whom she's going on tour for seven shows. (All dates at the bottom of this post.) I liked it better when she had a band, but the loop pedal incarnation is pretty lovely too. You can check out a couple videos below or stream her most recent album on Spotify.

Young Prisms at the Comet, Seattle (photo by Finest Kiss)

And looking into early next week, San Francisco's Young Prisms and Austin's Boy Friend are at Glasslands on Monday (3/5). Young Prisms new album, In Between, is out March 27 on Kanine and is a real step forward for the band. Their still mining first-wave shoegaze, but the songs are much stronger this time out with a couple that go for jangly Velocity Girl style pop. They will be very loud I guarantee you. Boy Friend will make a nice opener, with their hazy, 4-AD miasma vibe. You can download MP3s from both bands at the top of this post. Also playing, seemingly from another show, are Alex Bleeker & the Freaks and Tanks Amigo.

That's the big stuff for the next four days. But wait, there's more. Day-by-day picks of things not covered above:

The Young Empires at M for Montreal 2011

FRIDAY, MARCH 2

Like Friendly Fires and Foals? Check out Toronto's Young Empires are at Glasslands, with Saint Motel, Fan-Tan, and Transmission NYC (DJ set).

Expect a wild evening at Death by Audio with "original line-up" Tyvek, plus Habibi, Feelings and the Numerators. Stick-in-the-muds, go see something else!

Boston's pop veterans The Figgs play Littlefield. The band's new double album, The Day Gravity Stopped, is out sometime soon.

continued below...

Continue reading "Mac DeMarco, TOPS, Korallreven, Bachelorette, Young Prisms, Boy Friend and more in This Week in Indie"

photos by Erez Avissar

Since the late-'70s, WILLIAM BENNETT has released and performed extreme noise and industrial music. He played guitar for sax-driven post-punkers ESSENTIAL LOGIC in their early days and formed an industrial group named Come, who are now remembered for their alumni (including J. G. Thirwell a.k.a. Foetus and Mute label head Daniel Miller) rather than their output. In 1980, Bennett's project WHITEHOUSE released their first two, Birthdeath Experience and Total Sex, LPs that marked the end of industrial's first wave and heralded a new genre -- extreme noise -- built with shuddering, arrhythmic bass-rumbles and probing feedback assaults. [The Phoenix]

Cut Hands, William Bennett of Whitehouse, has completed his round of US dates including a show on 2/24 at Public Assembly in Brooklyn. The show, which also featured appearances from Xeno & Oaklander, Pop. 1280, Veiled, & David E. Williams in addition to DJs Pieter Schoolwerth, Caleb Braaten & ning nong, was the second-to-last stop on his US round of dates that kicked off earlier in February. Pictures are in this post (though no photos of either Veiled or David E Williams).

In related news, Liz Wendlebo of Xeno & Oaklander serves as half of Liz & Laszlo, a band also comprised of Automelodi's Xavier Paradis. L&L are preparing to release the Rien ˆ Paris single via Wierd Records and you can stream it at Pitchfork.

Catch Xenu & Oaklander again this weekend when they help pay tribute to Fad Gadget.

Catch Pop. 1280 at Saint Vitus on March 3rd and with Vaz, Metz, and Teenanger at Death By Audio on March 9th.

More Public Assembly pictures below..

Continue reading "Cut Hands played Public Assembly w/ Xeno & Oaklander & Pop 1280 (pics)"

by BBG

Big Freedia at Brooklyn Bowl (more by Erik Erikson)

Austin, Texas fest Chaos in Tejas (5/31-6/3) have announced another round of bands including Absu, Big Freedia (who recently played Brooklyn Bowl), Ceremony (who recently played LPR), the Creamers, Dangerous Boys Club, GG King, Kindest Lines, King Dude, Main Attrakionz, Pop. 1280, Shoppers, Teenage Cool Kids, Thomas Jefferson Slave Apartments (reunion), and Thousand Foot Whale Claw. Multi-day passes are on sale now and single-day passes are on the way, and the schedule (which is updated as more bands sign on) is now available.

Speaking of Ceremony and Austin, Ceremony are one of many bands playing our SXSW day show at Scoot Inn in Austin even sooner.

Hip Hop duo Main Attrakionz have a bunch of shows coming up even sooner including two in NYC and 35 Denton and SXSW. They're all listed below.

Current lineup of Chaos in Tejas and some videos below too...

Continue reading "Chaos in Tejas expands again - adds Big Freedia, Main Attrakionz, Ceremony & more"

by BBG

Cut Hands, who you may know as William Bennett of power electronics juggernaut Whitehouse, will play a select set of shows in the US in February. The tour, which mostly focus on the East Coast/Midwest, will kick off in Los Angeles on 2/14 (how romantic!) and eventually make its way to Brooklyn's Public Assembly on February 24th. The show will also feature appearances from Xeno & Oaklander, Pop. 1280, Veiled, & David E. Williams as well as DJs Pieter Schoolwerth, Caleb Braaten & ning nong; tickets are on sale.

Pop. 1280 recently celebrated the release of their new LP, and will play Saint Vitus on March 3rd (tickets).

Meanwhile, power electronics, noise and the avant garde are the focus of the ongoing Hospital Productions curation at The Stone. Tonight (2/3) the space will welcome Hell Hoarse and Luke Moldof + Reuben Son.

Check out a version of Xeno & Oaklander's "Sets & Lights" recorded in London last July , alongside all tour dates below...

Continue reading "Cut Hands going on tour, playing Public Assembly with Xeno & Oaklander, Pop. 1280 & more (dates)"

by BBG

The Men at Bowery Ballroom (more by BBG)

The Men have announced the follow-up to their amazing Leave Home. Open Your Heart is due via Sacred Bones on March 6th. The day after its release, look for the Brooklyn four-piece to hit the road for a string of dates on their way to SXSW which will include 285 Kent on March 7th with Nude Beach. All tour dates, the album art and tracklisting is below.

UPDATE: The Men are ALSO scheduled to play Union Pool on 1/13 with Pygmy Shrews, Organs, and Call of The Wild (ex-Awesome Color).

In related and more imminent news, Sacred Bones will release the new LP from the great Pop 1280 entitled The Horror on Jan 24th. The album features "Bodies In The Dunes" which is downloadable above/streamable below. Look for Pop 1280 to play a set of dates of their own as well, including a Record Release party (details forthcoming).

All tour dates, album info for both records and a Pop 1280 stream, alongside a live video of The Men playing the title track from the new LP, below...

Continue reading "The Men announce new LP & tour dates; Pop.1280 too"

by BBG

Pop. 1280 at Public Assembly (more by Tamara Porras)

NYC's Pop. 1280 successfully married post-punk, screeching synth discharges and noise on their current EP The Grid, out now via Sacred Bones. The band will follow-up that EP with the new Thirteen Steps 7" for Blind Prophet Records (run by Sean of Cult of Youth), currently available for preorder with some streaming samples.

Pop. 1280 are scheduled to play TONIGHT at Cake Shop (9/14), supporting K-Holes and Grave Babies who are on tour.

If you miss them, then make sure and swing by their next tour-ending show at Shea Stadium on 10/29 when they play with Sex Church, The Men, Unholy Two, and Dead Farmers.
The Men are also scheduled to play Saint Vitus on 9/17 with Pygmy Shrews and Vaz.

All tour dates and some videos below.

Continue reading "Pop. 1280 releasing new 7", playing shows"

by BBG

Blank Dogs at South Street Seaport (more by Chris LaPutt)

Pendu presents: NY EYE & EAR FEST III
...a massive Annual Music and Arts Fete showcasing some of the most exciting bands, artists, and filmmakers currently living and working here in NYC. In addition, NYE&E assembles a Record Fair featuring NYC-based Record Labels and Vendors selling LPs, CDs, 7?'s, cassettes, lathes, comics, zines, stickers, and art prints. NYE&E exists to facilitate the introduction of new artists placing them side-by-side with the more well-known like an eclectic living mixtape of sound and vision. This is a festival for discovery - discover new bands + discover new art + buy new records + meet new people...

The title of the fest is inspired from the 1964 NY Eye & Ear Control soundtrack by Albert Ayler as well as the all-too-familiar signs seen daily in the subway tunnels by riders of the L-train of the infamous NY Eye & Ear Infirmary.

2009's NY Eye & Ear Fest happened in July of last year and featured performances from Magik Markers, Liturgy, Drunkdriver, Child Abuse, and tons of others. This year, the fest will spread over two days (May 22-23) at the Knitting Factory in Brooklyn and will feature appearances from Blank Dogs (one of two NYC shows in May, the second being May 12th at 131 Chrystie St.), Liturgy, Twin Stumps, Effi Briest, and others on the first day, with Xeno & Oaklander, Figure Study, Naam, Freshkills, Effing, and others rounding out day two. Full lineup by day is below. Get your tickets for day one or day two or both. Stream songs from every band on the bill at the Eye & Ear site.

Show flyer, full lineup and some vids are below.

Continue reading "NY EYE & EAR FEST III is coming to Brooklyn (lineup, tickets)"

by Bill Pearis

DOWNLOAD: Lights On - John and Anne (MP3)

Trashcan Sinatras

Glasgow's Trashcan Sinatras have been with us for 20 years now, having perfected their brand of sparkling, literate guitar pop that initially garnered them comparisons to The Smiths. Like fellow Glaswegians The Blue Nile, the Trashcan Sinatras take their time between albums -- the brand new In the Music is only the band's fifth. (It should be noted that time between albums is not entirely their doing -- the band have had colossally bad luck with record labels.) The band made the album here in New York with Ivy guitarist Andy Chase behind the boards. Like their other four records, it's loaded with gorgeous songs, arpeggiated guitar lines and swoon-worthy harmonies. Weirdly, it's also got Carly Simon singing backing vocals on the song "Should I Pray?" How did that come about? Guitarist Paul Livingston explained to Bullz-Eye.com:

PL: Well, after we recorded the backing tracks in New York, the producer, Andy Chase, was going to set up a studio at his house in Martha's Vineyard. And he said, "Come on, Carly Simon lives here." And we were floored, and thought, "That would be great if we could meet her." And so he asked her to sing on a song, and we got her a lot of the songs we were working on. But the disappointing thing was, when we were in Martha's Vineyard, she was in New York. So we didn't meet her, which is kind of a bummer.

BE: Oh, that's no fun.

PL: Yeah, that's shit, isn't it? The idea was that she'd come to Martha's Vineyard and sing, and that'd be great. And then when people asked us in interviews, 'what was it like,' we thought we'd have a better answer than, "We didn't meet her." But we're going to invite her to some of these gigs, see if she'll come. But it was really nice of her to be so into the music.

Maybe Carly will show up at Trashcan Sinatra's show this Saturday at Bowery Ballroom (8/15). Tickets are still available. Either way, they tour here about as often as they make records so don't miss this chance to see them. Opening is Andy Chase's other band, Brookeville, who definitely owe a little to Trashcan Sinatras and other pristine '80s pop.

Miles Hunt

You could make it a night of late-'80s/early-'90s UK pop Saturday (8/15) if you bolted from Bowery Ballroom right after the Trashcans and hit Cake Shop where former (and sometimes current) Wonder Stuff frontman Miles Hunt will be performing. For those who don't remember, the band were originally part of the short-lived UK "grebo" scene (bands that looked like hippies but sounded punk-ish) that also included Pop Will Eat Itself (Hunt was their original drummer) and Neds Atomic Dustbin, but the band soon developed a celtic pop sound that got them into the British charts many times. In those days of the most unfortunate fashion in modern history, The Wonder Stuff were staples on U.S. college and commercial alternative radio too, with cheeky songs like "A Wish Away," "Don't Let Me Down Gently," and "Welcome to the Cheap Seats." Miles is touring with Wonder Stuff violinist Erika Nockalls which is nice since fiddle played heavily into their sound.

Lights On

Also this week: San Diego's Lights On make their first trip to NYC, playing four shows starting Thursday night (8/13) at Club NME at the Annex. I don't know a whole lot about them, but their self-released debut EP is a nice collection of '80s-influence pop -- most reviews I've read bring up New Order and Echo & the Bunnymen, both of which are pretty easy to detect in their sound. But it's definitely more influence than imitation, and I like them enough to check out one of the four shows (all dates at the bottom of this post). If you could go to any of the four, I'd recommend the Saturday (8/15) show at Union Hall in which they're part of a solid lineup that also includes Philly's can-banging Drink Up Buttercup, Kiwi-influenced Brooklynites Beach Fossils, and Florida buzz band Blind Man's Colour.

Blind Man's Colour

Blind Man's Colour make the sort of cut-n-paste psychedelia that gets you quick comparisons to Animal Collective, and they've been praised by Kanye West ("SOME DOPE SHIT FOR MY APARTMENT"), as well as by people you might more expect (Ed Droste, Stereogum, Pitchfork). Their debut album, Season Dreaming, which I like about half of, is out next week on Kanine Records (Grizzly Bear, Chairlift, Princeton) but I'd have to imagine they'll be selling it at the merch table. These guys had their first-ever live show a couple weeks ago, so you might want to go in with lowered expectations. BMC are playing a number of shows this weekend, and all area dates are listed at the bottom of this post.

Other shows happening this weekend: Tonight (8/13) at Hudson River Park at Pier 54 we've got a free River Rocks show with Yeasayer and Amazing Baby. I haven't seen Yeasayer since All Hour Cymbals was still fresh (circa CMJ 2007?), so I'm curious to hear some of their new material and check out the now five-strong lineup. As for Amazing Baby, it's well documented on this site I'm a fan but realize many are not. Chacun à son goût.

Friday is the final show of this year's Seaport Music series, ending strong with School of Seven Bells and The xx. The forecast looks good, and shows have been sounding great at the Seaport all summer so this is how I'd recommend you kick off the weekend, though I realize many will be at Prospect Park for Animal Collective. But Seaport is free.

Too much going on Friday. If you want to dance, Littlefield has Canada's slightly nerdy duo Woodhands and the Latin-loving Project Jenny/Project Jan.

And if shambly DIY pop is more your thing, The Beets (who will soon be hitting the road with Vivian Girls), German Measles, Pop.1280 and the new-but-quite-promising Fluffy Lumbers play Silent Barn. It's a birthday bash for my pal Rachel (full disclosure!) but everyone's welcome. Flyer below.

I think that about does it. Tour dates, videos and flyers are after the jump...

Continue reading "Trashcan Sinatras, Miles Hunt, Lights On, Blind Man's Colour, Yeasayer, School of Seven Bells & more in This Week In Indie"