Bloc Party at Terminal 5 in 2009 (more by Faith-Ann Young)

After selling out two Terminal 5 shows, Bloc Party have added a third show at the same venue happening on August 7. All three shows are with their Frenchkiss labelmates The Drums. Tickets for the new show, which happens before the other two, go on sale Friday (4/27) at noon with an AmEx presale starting Thursday (4/26) at noon. Updated dates below...

Speaking of Frenchkiss bands, Southern Calfiornia sextet RACES are touring in May and hitting The Rock Shop and Mercury Lounge along the way. As previously mentioned, the Manhattan show is with Hundred Waters who also play Glasslands while in town. The Brooklyn show is with the Frenchkiss-signed Sean Bones and Right on Dynamite. All RACES dates are listed below...

Continue reading "Bloc Party add 3rd T5 show; RACES touring in May (dates)"

photos by Maryanne Ventrice

Neon Indian Kidrocking it on October 25th...

Real Estate and Neon Indian played a kids- and guardians-only show at The Living Room on October 25th, one day after CMJ. The pictures here are from that (including ones of hosts Seth Herzog and Carlos Jordan).

Neon Indian have three NYC shows coming up for December 15th-17th.

Real Estate are currently on the road - their homecoming will be a Decemeber 4th show at Market Hotel with Woods and Cloud Nothings.

There's another Kidrockers coming up, with Right on Dynamite and Freestyle Love Supreme (and Djs Seth Herzog and Craig Baldo), at The Winter's Eve Festival in Lincoln Square on Monday, November 30th. The event starts at 6pm after Dante Park's tree lighting and takes place at the The American Bible Society (1865 Broadway @ 61st St). It's free; more info here.

The next event after that will be on Sunday, December 13th (1pm) with The Octagon and Saadi at The Living Room. Tickets are on sale. "Adults must be accompanied by a kid and vice versa."

More pictures from the post-CMJ edition, below...

Continue reading "Kidrockers hosted Neon Indian & Real Estate (pics) -- upcoming shows include Right on Dynamite & The Octagon"

by Bill Pearis

DOWNLOAD: Woodhands - Can't See Straight (MP3)
DOWNLOAD: Woodhands - Electric Avenue (MP3)
DOWNLOAD: Rooftop Vigilantes - Drew Want Dino (MP3)
DOWNLOAD: Rooftop Vigilantes - Copper is Free (MP3)
DOWNLOAD: caUSE co-MOTION - This Just Won't Last (MP3)
DOWNLOAD: Right on Dynamite - Mantra for the Madness (MP3)

Woodhands

Toronto dance-rock duo Woodhands are back in NYC this week for the first time since playing last summer with Crystal Castles at Studio B. I caught them when I attended M for Montreal back in November and they were really fun live, putting on a sweaty, two-man disco party. Singer Dan Werb rocks a keytar as unironically as one can, and drummer Paul Banwatt is a human drum machine. They also, when I saw them, brought their own laser light show which I certainly hope comes with them this week when they play Death By Audio on Thursday (2/12) and The Studio at Webster Hall on Friday (1/13). For some reason I find the idea of lasers at Death By Audio hilarious and awesome. Hopefully they'll also do their cover of Eddie Grant's '80s classic "Electric Avenue" which you can download above.

Rooftop Vigilantes

This week is not as action-packed as last, but there are some other notable shows happening. Lawrence, Kansas' Rooftop Vigilantes highlight a very solid bill at Cake Shop on Thursday night (2/12). Their label describes them as "a very drunk Fugazi" which kind of works but they are poppier than that and actually remind me of semi-obscure San Francisco band Oranger. (Comparisons to The Replacements aren't unwarranted either.) Loose and wild, but with solid pop songs holding them up, their debut Carrot Atlas blazes through 16 songs in under half an hour and you can tell by the recordings that they'll be a lot of fun live. (Lawrence.com has a bunch of MP3s to download and an interview with the band.) Rooftop Vigilantes also play 92YTribeca on Friday (2/13) with Endless Boogie and Mike Bones. More Rooftop Vigilantes dates at the end of this post.

Also on that Cake Shop bill: caUSE co-MOTION, who just played with The Pains of Being Pure at Heart this past Saturday; Right on Dynamite who I've written about before; Beachniks which sometimes includes JB of Crystal Stilts but they are on a European tour as we speak so I don't think he'll be there; and Mr. Falcon who I know absolutely nothing about but the two songs on their MySpace are both really good.

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And finally, tonight (2/10), Patrick Bower and Joe & the Flying Spoons are playing a free show at Zebulon. Bower's band has grown to include Doug from Dirty on Purpose and Steven Mertens of Spacecamp; meanwhile, Joe of Flying Spoons was in Dirty on Purpose and also features Chris of Spacecamp (and Patrick Bower's other band, World Without Magic). It's more than a little incestuous in the Williamsburg music scene. Both bands are vaguely country-ish, with Bowery leaning more towards lush, beardy folk, and the Flying Spoons more upbeat and feature a chorus of lovely ladies. Worth checking out.

Tour dates and videos after the jump...

Continue reading "Woodhands, Rooftop Vigilantes, Joe & the Flying Spoons & more in This Week In Indie"

DOWNLOAD: Organs EP (Mediafire zip)
DOWNLOAD: Knight School - Pregnant Again (MP3)
DOWNLOAD: Right on Dynamite - Mantra for the Madness (MP3)

by Bill Pearis

Black Diamond Bay

We've been having pretty wintry weather here lately but it's nothing compared to the cold snap much of Canada has faced in the last week -- Montreal hit record lows last week. Which will probably make the mid-20s feel balmy for Black Diamond Bay, who have trekked down across the border to play a few U.S. shows over the next week. When last we checked in with the band (featuring ex-Dears members Patrick Krief and George Donoso), they had finished their home-recorded debut album, which they were only selling on tour from the merch tables.

In the interim, they went back, recorded a couple new songs and had it mixed by some big-time pros. This new version, now called Calm Awaits, will be out officially in March but you can hear about half of it on BDB's Myspace as we speak. Black Diamond Bay play Fontana's tonight with The Depreciation Guild (Wednesday, 1/28) and an early set at Mercury Lounge on February 5. They were great at Pianos back in November, and as I've said before, you really have to see them live to experience Black Diamond Bay in all their drum fills n spiraling solos glory.

Organs

This weekend has two good shows at Williamsburg's Don Pedro's. Friday night (1/30) has garage- trio Organs who describe themselves as "If Hank Williams listened to the Stooges while fucking Little Richard." I guess that works as well as anything, and definitely gets you in the right ballpark. You can listen and judge for yourself, though, as the band have their debut EP available to download for free -- the link to which is at the top of this post. Also playing Friday night are The Specific Heats who take their cues from '60s flower-power pop like Strawberry Alarm Clock and the Chocolate Watchband as well as '80s Creation Records indie (which is sorta the same thing). Frontman Matt Patalano has also been in loads of other bands concurrently, having just recently given up his bassist gig in My Teenage Stride. Opening is Boston singer Elizabeth Butters who makes what I'd call "old timey" folk. Take a listen at her MySpace.

Knight School

Saturday (1/31) at Don Pedros more local indiepop worth checking out. I caught openers Knight School back in December at Cake Shop's Christmas party and thought they were great. They're lo-fi pop in the same vein as Television Personalities, the Vaselines or the Pastels -- all of whom I'm going to guess they love. Their album, The Poor and Needy Need to Party, just came out on Lost Music Records which is run by the folks from the recently defunct Indie MP3 blog. There's an MP3 at the top of this post and you can stream the whole album at Last.fm. In addition to some other upcoming shows (including 2/17 at Glasslands with Specific Heats), they're playing with The Pains of Being Pure at Heart and UK's awesome Let's Wrestle at The Bell House on March 13 which you don't want to miss. Tickets are on sale.

Also playing that night: reverb-drenched Jackson Heights duo The Beets, and then the night gets heavier with The Juggs (deep-fried riff rock), and The Gulf of Michigan (who sound a bit like Leonard Cohen fronting the Stooges).

Friday, January 30 is pretty busy. But a fun way to start the night, potentially, would be to skate to the sounds of Neckbeard Telecaster and Grand Mal at Seaport Ice. The weather is supposed to be in the 30s, pretty nice, though I wonder what windchill will be like when you're right by the river. I'm looking forward to finding out the rest of Seaport Ice's schedule (what bands would you want to skate to?), as well as getting some exercise at a show for once, instead of just drinking beer.

And one last option for Friday night: Brooklyn band Right on Dynamite are playing Pianos. You may have seen them open for Frightened Rabbit at Bowery Ballroom earlier this month. There debut EP is pretty catchy stuff, and while you rarely read a piece about them that doesn't mention The Strokes, if you ask me the most obvious comparison would be The Cribs (who I love), but with a few less "whoa-oh" choruses. You can download EP track "Mantra for the Madness" at the top of this post.

All tour dates below...

Continue reading "Black Diamond Bay, Organs, Knight School, Right on Dynamite & more in This Week in Indie"

words & photos by Natasha Ryan

Saturday Night (1/17) Frightened Rabbit played a sold out show Bowery Ballroom, featuring openers Right on Dynamite and David Karsten Daniels.

Right on Dynamite is a 3 piece pop garage-rock band from Brooklyn. The band has received quite a few comparisons to The Strokes, which I think are a bit strange, as the overall sound leans more towards the emo-punk spectrum, seen in tracks such as "Mantra for Madness". They had a very energetic set with lots of handclaps, stomps, tambourine shaking, and playful hooks. The vocals reminded me of bands like Penfold, but with added choruses ranging from falsetto cooings to "do it do it" harmonies. I would recommend "Changing of the Guards" if you decide to check them out.

David Karsten Daniels, a nomadic singer-songwriter currently based in Portland, Oregon, was an interesting contrast to the opener. His songs frequently started with slow builds that climaxed to spastic guitar arrangements bolstered by powerful rhythms and additional vocals from his drummer, and then would slowly fade back out when Daniels came to the front of the stage to sing off mic. Other songs were sparser, sweet melodic ballads with clever story-telling lyrics. Although there were lots of howls and excitement in the front row, during the quieter moments loud bar conversation could be heard in the back. Stand out tracks were "Falling Down" and "Jesus and the Devil".

Frightened Rabbit. The very humble indie outfit from Glasgow, Scotland talked about how they weren't accustomed to playing in front of large crowds, but their engaging stage presence intended otherwise. They played their set wrapped in darkness, spare a few flickering strobes, giving the illusion of an arena show. They opened with the favorite "The Modern Leper", and played a few songs from "Singing the Greys" towards the end of the set before performing a 3 song encore.

(Editor's note: I got there just in time to see Frightened Rabbit. Bowery was crazy packed for their set, and as Natasha pointed out, the large amount of people made a strong impression on the band. The crowd also let the band know how much they were loving every minute of the show. I think it's safe to say 2009 is going to be a very good year for this band.)

Since Bowery, Frightened Rabbit went on to play an inauguration-eve show in Washington DC, and are back in NYC on February 2nd to play an all-request, acoustic show at Le Poisson Rouge. Honestly though, I hope they don't actually play that entire show unplugged. It will still be good, but maybe not AS good. Tickets are on sale. David Karsten Daniels is back in NYC this Wednesday to play Union Hall. More pictures from Bowery, and the FR setlist, below...

Continue reading "Frightened Rabbit & David Karsten Daniels @ Bowery Ballroom, NYC - pics & setlist"