written with Andrew Sacher

DOWNLOAD: Puro Instinct - "Stilyagi" (Feat. Ariel Pink) (MP3)
DOWNLOAD: Purity Ring - "Ungirthed" (MP3)
DOWNLOAD: Purity Ring - "Lofticries" (MP3)

Pure X

Caves are so 2010, and animals names are prehistoric to the point that people are probably digging up their fossils. 'Pure' is totally in right now (even more so than 'Twin'), as Cave must have realized when they named their latest release "Pure Moods". The Pains of Being Pure at Heart (who have a new video and tour dates below) may have been on to something in 2007, though they have too many words in their name to really focus in on pure. Lately bands have been zeroing in on this phenomenon. Pure, if you're listening, maybe it's time to reunite again.

Pure X (formerly Pure Ecstasy) released their first full length Pleasure on Tuesday (7/5) and will be in NYC this week to play 285 Kent on Friday (7/8) and Ding Dong Lounge on Saturday (7/9). Bill talks more about both shows in This Week In Indie. Pleasure is streaming below along with both NYC show flyers.

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Puro Instinct @ Mercury Lounge (more by Amanda Hatfield)

A slightly less pure version of the word can be found in the Mexican Summer-signed Puro Instinct who, probably to get closer to pure, recently changed their name from Pearl Harbor. Their debut LP under Puro Instinct, Headbangers in Ecstasy, was released back in February. They played four NYC shows last week. Stereogum likes them, but not as much as they like Pure X. Gorilla vs. Bear thinks they're way better than Pure X though. Bill says, "They can really sing and play...better songs will come with time. They're young." Ariel Pink likes them too. They opened for him on tour and at Irving Plaza back when they were still called Pearl Harbor (and are touring now with Ariel's friend John Maus). Ariel also collaborated with the band on the single "Stilyagi." Grab that MP3 above and watch the video for the track below.

So, Pure X, formerly Pure Ecstasy, who released Pleasure, are not to be confused with Puro Instinct, formerly Pearl Harbor who released Headbangers in Ecstasy. But that's not all...

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Purity Ring (photo by Chris Tait

Corin Roddick from Gobble Gobble wised up earlier this year, and formed the duo Purity Ring with Megan James. They played their first show last month at Sled Island in Calgary, AB. They were the secret guest the last night of the fest at Hifi Club before Twin Shadow played. They're pictured above in an alleyway outside of the show taken right after they played. They've got a few other festival appearances scheduled including Bumbershoot, FYF Fest, MusicfestNW, and POP Montreal. All of their tour dates are listed below (and that includes a show with Twin Sister who the Pains of Being Pure at Heart also have dates scheduled with). Their only release so far is the single for "Ungirthed" b/w "Lofticries." Both tracks are pretty awesome dubsteppy electropop that the group have dubbed future pop. Grab both MP3s above, one of which also appears on Gorilla vs Bear's mid-year list.

Though older and a bit noisier, it's not unlikely that the similarly named Prurient (aka Dominick Fernow) could end up on the same bill as any of the aforementioned artists - especially considering Prurient just played Public Assembly on June 17 as part of a Stereogum Northside show, and Stereogum's Top 20 Albums of 2011 (so far) list includes not only Prurient, but also Puro Instinct, Pure X, and even an honorable mention for the Pains of Being Pure at Heart. Prurient aka Dominick was smart to return with a new album this year to distance himself from his other band with the now outdated name, Cold Cave. Prurient's new LP Bermuda Drain drops July 19 via Hydra Head. Grab the track "A Meal Can Be Made" from that here.

Videos, dates and album stream below...

Continue reading "It's all about being 'Pure' (Purity Ring, Pure X, Puro Instinct, The Pains of Being & even Prurient)"

by Bill Pearis

DOWNLOAD: Mickey - For You (MP3)
DOWNLOAD: Fungi Girls - Doldrums (MP3)
DOWNLOAD: Pure X - Dry Ice (MP3)
DOWNLOAD: Grooms - Tiger Trees (MP3)
DOWNLOAD: The Wake - Oh Pamela (MP3)
DOWNLOAD: Weekend - End Times (MP3)
DOWNLOAD: pow wow! - It's Not That Easy (MP3) 

Mickey

Ok it's really hot out but don't let that stop you from seeing some great stuff this weekend. We've got a couple bands on the Hozac label in town this weekend. First is Chicago glam punks Mickey whose debut Rock n' Roll Dreamer just hit the racks. It's a sleazy vision of excess that is part The Sweet, part Johnny Thunders, part Schlitz malt liquor and three bags of glitter dumped on top. It's hook-filled debauched fun. Check out "For You" at the top of this post for a taste. I have not seen Mickey live but all signs point to chaos.

Mickey play Death By Audio tonight (7/7) with Liquor Store, Ex-Humans, The Fucking Ocean and Sleepies (this show sounds like trouble), and then Friday (7/8) at Cake Shop with Habibi, Jigglers, Teardrops and Siberians.

Fungi Girls

The other Hozac band is Austin trio Fungi Girls who I've been wanting to see for some time. They play Friday night (7/8) at Death By Audio with Xray Eyeballs and The Beets, and on Saturday (7/9) at Ding Dong Lounge as part of a Group Tightener curated show with the label's bands Pure X (more on them below) and Expensive Looks, plus Cool Cough.

Still in their teens, Fungi Girls seem to have already digested a lifetime of psych-pop influences and make a racket that sounds fresh and well beyond their years. (Why aren't these guys on Slumberland?) 2009's Seafaring Pyramids was excellent and I can't wait to hear the new album, Some Easy Magic, which is out next month. You can download "Doldrums" at the top of this post which was the b-side to a Hozac 7" that came out last year.

Pure X, who play with Fungi Girls on Saturday, are also from Austin and maybe you knew them as Pure Ecstasy which they used to be called. (A San Francisco cover band laid claim to the name.) Now Pure X, the band just released their debut LP, Pleasure, this week and you can download "Dry Ice" from it at the top of this post. Altered Zones has a stream of the whole thing. Recorded live with no overdubs, Pleasure is lovely and languid, not unlike the first Cowboy Junkies album or Galaxie 500. It's a nice Sunday morning kind of album as I'm fond of saying.

The band are in town for two shows. In addition to the previously mentioned Saturday show with Fungi Girls, Pure X also play Friday (7/8) at sweaty 285 Kent for a Chocolate Bobka curated show with Tonstartsbandht, Forma, and Run DMT.

Grooms

If you go see Mickey tonight, Fungi Girls tomorrow and wanna make it three smoky nights in a row at Death By Audio, on Saturday (7/9) it's the record release party for Grooms' very good second album, Prom, which officially comes out next week on Kanine. The show is with Pterodactyl and The Immaculates.

The new album is a big leap from the band's debut, Rejoicer. The overt Sonic Youth-isms have melted and Grooms have come into their own with this one which feels confident and accomplished. It rocks pretty hard too, at times, but has pretty moments as well. Check out album opener "Tiger Trees" at the top of this post. Grooms were fantastic when I saw them at Northside but I imagine they'll be even more on their game at their Death By Audio home base.

The Wake @ NYC Popfest 2010 (more by Dominick Mastrangelo)

And finally a bunch of Seaport-related shows. Friday (7/8) is the third installment of the Seaport Music Festival with Scotland indiepop legends The Wake. As I wrote when they played Popfest last year:

"While they didn't get the attention their Factory Records labelmates New Order and Happy Mondays (or even A Certain Ratio) received, The Wake's catalog is well-regarded, especially 1985's Here Comes Everybody which is a bona fide  indie classic. Check out "O Pamela" at the top of this post. The band's hazy, reverb-laden sound has parallels to current bands like The Radio Dept or Wild Nothing, or any of the chillwave groups out there."

Opening is San Francisco loud music trio Weekend who should not be confused with The Weeknd or Weekends. Weekend are one of my favorite new bands of the last year -- their debut LP Sports made my Best of 2010 list and their live show is not to be missed. I wonder what random Seaport tourists with make of their powerful din on Friday.

(editor's note: I was definitely wondering what random tourists may have thought when they came upon John Lennon's son and his supermodel girlfriend playing a show on the same stage recently).

Saturday (7/9) at the Seaport is an official "warm up" to next weekend's 4 Knots Festival, with Ted Leo and Screaming Females. Ted has played the Seaport five times and often not under the best conditions. He played in torrential downpours and with generator power the night of the 2003 blackout. Saturday he'll be marking the 10th anniversary of his album The Tyranny of Distance by playing it in full. Weather is supposed to be lovely.

Then on Sunday (7/10) is the penultimate Sound Bites Series show with pow wow! who are currently finishing up their debut album. After garnering a lot of buzz (and playing what seemed like every week) back in 2009, they took most of last year off to regroup and rethink. With a slightly retooled sound -- they're definitely a little more '80s indie and a little less early '00s rock now -- they'll play the Fulton Stall Market at 3PM. I DJ before and after. Check out "It's Not That Easy" at the top of this post.

Then after the Sound Bites show, you should head over to the Beekman Beer Garden for the first of the summer's Beach Party shows. This week it's the wildness that is Cheeseburger, plus Hard Nips. I hope Beekman (formerly Water Taxi Beach formerly Spiegeltent) is ready for flying beer. This should be fun. With the truncated Seaport Music Festival schedule this year (and no Pool Parties) I'm glad more is going on down at the Seaport, one of my favorite places during the summer.

If you want to hear more from the bands playing the Sound Bites Series, the Beach Parties, as well as Hudson River Rocks, the Seaport folks partnered with Insound for some free downloadable mixes. Bands include Austra, Metronomy, Xray Eyeballs, The Beets, pow wow!, DOM, Raveonettes, Radical Dads and more. I curated the Brooklyn Local mix with bands who have played both years of the Sound Bites Series, plus some other Brooklyn bands I think people should check out. 

OK that's it for this week. A few more Thursday picks are below.

THURSDAY, JULY 7

Steel Phantoms, ARMS, and Shark? are at Brooklyn Bowl. It's free if you go before 7PM. After that it's five bucks.

Colorado band School Knights play Shea Stadium with The Hairs whose singer used to have a band called Knight School. Weird, right? Also playing: Grand Rapids and Radical Dads whose new video for "New Age Dinosuars" is at the bottom of this post.

contininued below...

Continue reading "Mickey, Fungi Girls, Pure X, Grooms, The Wake, Weekend, pow wow! & more in This Week in Indie"

by Bill Pearis

DOWNLOAD: Eternal Summers - Able To (MP3)
DOWNLOAD: Beach Fossils - Youth (MP3)
DOWNLOAD: North Highlands - Collarbone (MP3)
DOWNLOAD: Regal Degal - I Saw the Smoke (MP3)
DOWNLOAD: Common Loon - Dinosaur Vs. Early Man (MP3)
DOWNLOAD: Natural Child - Dogbite (MP3)

Eternal Summers

Happy Tax Day! This week's column is jam-packed with cheap options for great shows if Uncle Sam left your bank accounts depleted. Let's get to it.

Duo Eternal Summers have been getting blog attention for about a year, and I'll admit I didn't listen at first due to their name, fearing they'd worsen my Beach Music Fatigue (BMF). But then I saw they were from Roanoke, Virgina and my interest was piqued. I grew up 90 minutes West of Roanoke which had the closest good record store to me (The Record Exchange, which closed in 2006).

Back then they didn't have a music scene outside of country and cover bands. (Though I did see Huey Lewis & the News at the Civic Center way back when.) Not sure how thriving it is now, but Eternal Summers have, in my book, put Roanoke on the map. (Their label, Chimney Sweep, shows that Southwest Virgina's doing well musically.) I'm glad I listened. Apart from their name, they don't really have a lot in common with the beach scene (be it Real Estate, Washed Out, Best Coast, etc). The guitars are a little more slashy, the vocals less bathed in reverb. Check out their song "Able To" at the top of this post, which is from their self-titled EP. If anything, to these ears they're more akin to the C-86 inspired pop of San Francisco's Brilliant Colors.  There's a definite Anglo slant to their sound.

Eternal Summers have three shows in three days. Friday (4/16) is at Bruar Falls where they're part of a killer bill that includes Beach Fossils, Total Slacker, Air Waves, and Beachniks. They will also play Saturday (4/17) at Glasslands with The Beets, The Maine Coons, German Measles and Family Trees. And then on Sunday, Eternal Summers play Coco 66 with Marshmallows, Honey Dos, Beachniks, and The Maine Coons. Do check out one of these shows.

Natural Child

Natural Child play an awesome bill at Death By Audio Saturday including , Sisters, Boogie Boarder and Regal Degal.

The trio are Nashville neighbors, pals and labelmates of JEFF the Brotherhood, and play shambly, garagey party rock. I don't mean just that they're fun (and they are), but also that all of their songs are about some aspect of partying. Whether they bring the party to their live shows or not, I have yet to experience. But I'm ready to find out.

Natural Child also play Friday night (4/16) at Lulu's in Greenpoint with Liquor Store and Foster Care, and have dates in New Brunswick, NJ and Philly --  all 201o tour dates are below.

Beach Fossils

That Beach Fossils show Friday night is the only one they've got lined up for a month so you might want to head that way. (Plus the rest of the bands that night, all of which I endorse.) If you haven't  seen them lately, or ever, Beach Fossils have really come into their own I think, not bad for a band that's barely been playing for year. They've worked out a distinctive sound -- almost no strumming, instead spinning interweaving lines of guitar and bass -- and are confident singers now too.

And they're a great live band too. None of the four members stay still longer than they have to, twirling around like tops, with mom-jean-wearing drummer Cole Smith doing as much dancing as banging on his instrument. They were fantastic opening for Love is All at Knitting Factory a few weeks back, video from which is below.

The band's self-titled debut is set for release May 25 on Captured Tracks and you can download the jangly "Youth" from the album at the top of this post. I've heard the whole thing and it will definitely make for great summer listening. After Friday, Beach Fossils' next local show is May 13 at Brooklyn Bowl with Midnight Masses.

Sisters

A little more on the Death by Audio show on Saturday (4/17). Sisters have finished their album for Death by Audio Records which should be out sooner than later. You can hear two of the album's tracks ("The Curse" and "Glue") on their MySpace, both of which I like a lot. Sisters also play tonight (4/15) at Brooklyn Bowl with Darlings. That's a pretty good show too.

The other band on the DBA bill is Regal Degal, who I caught last Friday at newish venue North Fourth.  The trio is fronted by Josh da Costa who you may know as Dinowalrus' drummer. Regal Degal are less psych and more post-punky, drawing influence from post punk's darker side. (I hear a lot of Chairs Missing/154 era Wire in them.) The band doesn't have a MySpace, but they do have an infrequently updated blog. You can check out their song "I Saw the Smoke" at the top of this post, which they describe as sounding like "we're playing from within a beautiful porcelain toilet bowl. This is the result of spending a lot of time on an initial mix, then too much time listening back to it and not enjoying it enough, and then spending very little time on this more enjoyable and questionable mix."

Common Loon

This column is never-ending I know. Champagne, IL duo Common Loon have flown into town for two shows: tonight (4/15) at Union Hall and then Friday night (4/16) at Pianos. Both shows are with Tulsa, OK's Unwed Sailor. Common Loon's debut album, The Long Dream of Birds, came out last week on Hidden Agenda (home of The 1900s and Moonbabies) and it's recommended if you you like hazy 90s-ish indie like Oliva Tremor Control, Grandaddy and The Flaming Lips. You can check out their song "Dinosaur Vs. Early Man" at the top of this post.

Also playing tonight's Union Hall show is North Highlands who I've written about a few times already and were recently named one of the "8 NYC Bands You Need to Hear Now" by The L Magazine. You can hear them, in fact, right now by downloading their lovely track "Collarbone" at the top of this post. They are very good live and I think 2010 will be a big year for them.

In addition to tonight's show you've got two more chances to see them in the next week. They play Sunday (4/18) at Glasslands with Uninhabitable Mansions, Polite Sleeper, and North Carolina's Charming Youngsters. And then they play next Saturday (4/24) at Solar One with Cold Cave, fellow L Mag pick Oberhoffer and a "surprise headliner."

North Highlands

Speaking of L Magazine "8 NYC Bands" issue, Twin Sister play this Saturday at Los Hermanos Tortilleria in Bushwick. The show is being put on by blog Chocolate Bobka and also features Austin, TX's Pure Ecstasy and local band Weed Hounds. Go early (doors at 7pm) for free tacos (while supplies last which probably won't be very long). They've got good tacos (which are cheap even when not free). $7, BYOB. Twin Sister also open for the Morning Benders at Mercury Lounge on April 28 if you're going to that (sold out).

And finally, don't forget, Saturday (4/17) is Record Store Day and local shops participating include Other Music, Etherea, Academy Records Annex, Rebel Rebel, Sound Fix, and loads more. There's tons of cool exclusive releases coming out, and the RSD website has a handy, fairly comprehensive list of what is being released (PDF). Other Music has live performances by The Drums and Pains of Being Pure at Heart, plus indie celeb DJs. There's similar things going on at other stores too - like Generation Records, and we'll be posting more today and tomorrow.

Okay, that's enough for four days. Click through for tour dates, videos and lots and lots of flyers...

Continue reading "Eternal Summers, Natural Child, Beach Fossils, Regal Degal, North Highlands, Twin Sister & more in This Week in Indie"