by Andrew Frisicano

Nobunny: animal lover (sksk4)

Easter's come and gone, and deranged garage act Nobunny didn't forget to mark the occassion with a special show (his '9th ANNUAL EASTER EGG BASH!') in Oakland on Saturday. It's already past, but the flyer below.

Nobunny heads out on tour this May and June with the Spits. They'll be at Knitting Factory in Brooklyn on Friday, June 11th. Tickets are on sale.

The Spits' put out their fourth self-titled LP (known as "School's Out") last year on Recess Records. The band's sound is a unique blend of garage and New Wave punk, to quote ourselves, "they straddle the line between straight-up garage punk and Devo-esque lo-fi keyboard proto-punk."

The Spits w/ Jimi

The Spits were at this year's SXSW in Austin (a city they'll return to with Nobunny for Chaos in Tejas at the end of May). They played a set outside of Beerland on Friday, March 19th - the same place Fucked Up played a day earlier to cap a bill of Shattered Records artists paying tribute to the label's founder Jay Reatard. "We played at Beerland for a tribute to Jay Reatard who released one of my records, took us on tour, and also gave me a serious shrimp job. I miss him calling me at 5 AM. I miss him period", said Hunx of Hunx & His Punx who played the show. A video of Fucked Up and the Spits playing the same spot on different days and all tour dates are below...

Continue reading "The Spits & Nobunny - 2010 tour dates & stuff "

photos by Jake Forney

"Kicking off Pop Montreal [Wednesday] night, NoBunny took the stage by force - a gang of musically inclined vagrants clothed in barely there Y-fronts and strategically placed rabbit accessories stormed Sala and its punk pitched transient company. Growling into the microphone numerous times, "This song is about a so and so and an eskimo" they went on to play favorites "I am a Girlfriend", "Give it to Me", and "Mess Me Up". Hunx & His Punx came on next, reveling in all their gay glory. Appearing besequined, with feathered caps and bare chests, they declared their fervent love for cock and sexual pleasures of all kinds. I'd never heard of them before, but the lead singer definitely made his mark in my memory. Moaning and groaning, gyrating on the floor, he begged for someone, anyone to pee on him. Box Elders was the final band preceding the headliner. Their act was dated and ranging from somewhat to hardly enjoyable; not much else to say about that. Finally, Jay Reatard made his appearance. A youngish man with waves of dirty blonde hair, rough around the edges, I'd say his looks are much better accentuated in person than in photographs. The man treated us to renditions of "Greed, Money, Useless Children", "My Shadow", "Oh It's Such a Shame", and after forty minutes of solid punk made his exit. Direct and to the point, Reatard made little conversation and got straight to the music. After all the formalities, most seemed to appreciate this, getting down and dirty almost instantaneously. He did good." [the neighbours]

That reviewer from Wednesday night's Pop Montreal show (which unfortunately did not have a positive experience with Box Elders) puts Jay's set time at 40 minutes which is double what the guy who never actually made it inside said,

Last night (10/1), Thursday (one day later), the same Shattered Records lineup came to Le Poisson Rouge in NYC, though they reversed the order. Nobunny went on last, which for a show that didn't start until 11:30pm, meant a set time of after 2am. Also, the above review doesn't mention Useless Eaters who opened the NYC show with Jay on guitar. Jay played his own set third on the bill...

"Regardless of one's feelings about [Jay's new] record (and particularly, the production), [his middle-of-the-night-headlining set showed those songs to be as much classic Reatard as anything in his catalog. While not riot-crowded, Le Poisson Rouge was comfortably packed with fans who didn't mind the late start time and threw themselves into the music, sometimes literally. [In the live recording of the show posted at NYCTaper, you can] hear Jay, during "Watching You," heckle a fan down in the pit who got a little too enthusiastic (and apparently, was waving a really gross sweater over his head). The set may have only been 35 minutes long, but this was another 35 minutes (and 15 songs!) of pure southern punk gold" -Acidjack

I think it's safe to say that Jay's sets are "less than an hour". Check our interview with him HERE. More pictures from last night's show, and Jay's setlist, below...

Continue reading "Jay Reatard, Useless Eaters, Box Elders, Hunx & His Punx & Nobunny (Shattered Records) @ Le Poisson Rouge - pics "

by Bill Pearis

DOWNLOAD: Fluffy Lumbers - Cruisers (MP3)
DOWNLOAD: Thomas Function - Belly of the Beast (MP3)
DOWNLOAD: Cheap Time - Woodland Drive (MP3)

Cheap Time

As you may have heard, Jay Reatard's Shattered Tour blows into town tonight (10/1) at Le Poisson Rougue, having seen every band on tonight's bill except for Useless Eaters, I can say this sounds like a whole lot of fun. Except for the part that it's a five band bill where doors don't open till 11pm, which seems super late for a 21+ show. So if you don't have to get up and go to work on Friday, or you've evolved beyond the need for sleep, definitely check it out. (The scheduled set times for the night is below.) Expect nudity, maybe some blood, and a whole lot of catchy garage punk pop from Box Elders, Nobunny, Hunx & His Punx, Useless Eaters, and your host for the night, Mr. Reatard (who is also performing with Useless Eaters). You can download a free sampler featuring all the artsits on the tour at the bottom of our just-posted interview with Jay.

A band that are on some of the Shattered Tour dates, though not tonight's, are Cheap Time who are gonna be in town this weekend playing Friday (10/2) and Saturday (10/3) at Silent Barn. This Tennessee trio leans more on the catchy punk and less on blown-out levels and reverb than many of the bands lumped in the garage universe, with their new single "Woodland Drive" being a big leap forward sonically and songwriting-ly.

Friday's show also has Fluffy Lumbers on the bill. Their song "Cruisers" has gotten a lot of play on my stereo over the last two months. You can download it at the top of this post. The band's line-up is in flux at the moment, so I'm not sure how many Fluffy Lumbers there are at this point, but they're worth listening to. Also playing: art-punks White Diamonds and Beachniks which includes members of German Measels and Crystal Stilts.

The Saturday show also features New Orleans piano-based trio The Pharmacy, plus Columbus, OH's Guinea Worms, Brooklyn's Uzi Rash and The Sediment Club.

Thomas Function

Speaking of Silent Barn, Alabama's Thomas Function played there last night (9/30), their first NYC show since January. You've got two more chances to see them: tonight (10/1) at The Studio at Webster Hall and tomorrow (10/2) at Bruar Falls. Thomas Function have a new album, In the Valley of Sickness, which is out October 13 but I'm pretty sure they've got it to buy at their merch tables this weekend. I've only heard a few songs from it (you can download one at the top of this post). What I've heard sounds a just slightly less raucous than last year's Celebration, but I have a feeling the songs will be a bit wilder when played live. Both NYC shows (and all upcoming dates with TF) are with mysterious French dude Yussuf Jerusalem whose MySpace page and artwork might lead you to believe he makes some sort of scary black metal but in fact it's catchy, slightly gothy psych-rock not that far off from Ohio greats My Dad is Dead.

The Soft Pack @ Bowery Ballroom in March (more by Chris La Putt)

The Soft Pack are also back in town this weekend, playing their first shows since being odd men out on that NME tour that had them sharing the bill with UK acts Friendly Fires and White Lies. Their show at Bowery Ballroom on Friday (10/2) makes a lot more sense, with onetime 1928 labelmates The Sundelles, plus Right on Dynamite and The Dig. The band did spend part of their summer in Brooklyn, recording their debut for Kemado Records which should be out in early 2010. I haven't seen them since their Union Pool show back in January with Those Darlins which is one of the best times I've had all year, and I'm anxious to hear some new tracks, like "C'mon" which you can watch a live performance of at the bottom of this post.

There'll be more This Week In Indie later, including The Dø, Pains of Being Pure at Heart, Besnard Lakes, the return of Frank Sidebottom and more. Stay tuned. In the meantime, check out videos, flyers and tour dates after the jump.

Continue reading "Cheap Time, Thomas Function, The Soft Pack, Fluffy Lumbers & more in This Week in Indie (part 1)"

Jay Reatard @ the Wired Store (more by Tim Griffin)

As I was saying (and Bill will say even more about later), Jay Reatard and his Shattered Records crew (Nobunny, Hunx & His Punx, Box Elders & Useless Eaters) are on their way from Pop Montreal to NYC for a late show at Le Poisson Rouge tonight (10/1). Tickets are still on sale.

Yesterday, with some help, I rushed together some questions for an email interview with Jay (not the ideal format). Jay in turn rushed some answers back this afternoon, presumably from the road and after playing a late show last night. With that in mind, you can find that interview, which attempts to set the record straight on Jay's recent hate for Brooklyn, and what time Hamburghini practice starts, with all dates and tonight's set times, below....

Continue reading "an interview w/ Jay Reatard (whose Shattered Records tour hits Le Poisson Rouge in NYC tonight) "

Brent at work (at Pop Montreal) (run comrade)

Pop Montreal kicked off last night (9/30). It's not too late to drop everything and take a car over the border. I haven't been in a few years, but non-stop show hopping in a great foreign (but so close) city was a great experience. Plus, if you get there by tonight (10/1), you can check out the BrooklynVegan showcase featuring Micachu & The Shapes, Clues & Slim Twig! Other highlights of tonight include Think About Life, Fever Ray (who just completed a two-night run at Webster Hall), Mono (who also just played two NYC shows), Screaming Females (who are on tour and played Death by Audio Saturday), Loudon Wainwright III (who just had his family join him for a show at Highline Ballroom), Butthole Surfers (also on tour), The Intelligence (recently in NYC), and Sister Suvi (played Sycamore on Tuesday).

Last night's Pop Montreal schedule highlights included sets by Amy Millan (touring to NYC soon), Matt & Kim (playing a Halloween show with Weezer), The Phenomenal Handclap Band, and Jay Reatard...

"Usually arriving 20 minutes late to a Pop Montreal show makes you right on time. But I biked up to La Sala Rossa near 1 a.m. Thursday morning to find a crowd spilling into the street. Not a good sign. "Is it over?" I asked some friends, referring to Memphis punk upstart Jay Reatard's 12:30 set. Yup, came the reply. "Did he start early?" Nope. "But it was proper," said Ninja Tune's Jeff Waye. "Twenty-minute set - there's not many bands I want to see for more than 20 minutes."" [The Gazette]

To be more specific, last night's Jay Reatard show in Canada was the third stop on Jay's Shattered Records tour. The fourth stop on the tour is TONIGHT (10/1) at Le Poisson Rouge in NYC (11pm doors). Also on the bill (last night and tonight) are Shattered Records artists Nobunny, Hunx & His Punx, Box Elders, and Useless Eaters. All dates and the tour poster below.

The Phenomenal Handclap Band (pictured to the right) were set to play with Man Man and Brazilian Girls at The Beach on Governors Island Friday night (10/2), but that show has been canceled.

Shows in NY and Boston cancelled!!
This is really sad for us to announce, but the shows in NY and in Boston, OCt 2nd and 6th had to be cancelled, due to immigration issues. its a real drag, but we promise we'll play there soon, trying to make it before the end of the year.

we'll keep you posted. - Brazilian Girls

Immigration issues?

The Phenomenal Handclap Band are still opening for Chromeo at Irving Plaza on October 16th though, and they just announced their first big headlining show. It's December 11th at Bowery Ballroom, and tickets are now on AmEx presale with general sale beginning Friday at noon. No openers are listed yet. All dates below.

Meanwhile, Bruce Springsteen kicked off his five-night run at Giants Stadium last night. It was one of two shows that he'll perform the entire "Born to Run" album at.

A good night of Bruce Springsteen and the E Street Band for the first of five shows at Giants Stadium on Wednesday night. A 29-song show that lasted 3 hours and 14 minutes, one of the longest shows timewise of this tour.

It was nice to have the show start off with a new song. I believe it's the first time Bruce has played a unreleased song (not including Working On A Dream which he played at a political rally last year) since debuting "Long Walk Home" with the Sessions Band in London in November of 2006.

Of course the highlight of the evening was hearing the entire "Born To Run" album from start to finish as well as a classic 1978-style story in the middle of "Growin' Up." [Star Ledger]

Willie Nile came out and joined the band for a few songs during the encore. The tour continues Friday night when the E Street Band will play all of "Darkness on the Edge of Town". If you're going consider all transportation options. Video of the now-60 Bruce Springsteen discussing the birthday-related story (nightmare) in the middle of "Growin' Up", and other videos, below...

Continue reading "Pop Montreal (now), Bruce Springsteen (setlist), Man Man (canceled), Phenomenal Handclap Band, Jay Reatard (tonight)"

DOWNLOAD: Jay Reatard - Wounded (MP3)
DOWNLOAD: Jay Reatard - It Ain't Gonna Save Me (MP3)
DOWNLOAD: Box Elders - Stay (MP3)

Jay Reatard's bassist @ the Stuy Town Oval (more by Tim Griffin)

eMusic: Judging by the altercations you've had with a few of your fans, it can be tough walking around with a moniker like Reatard.

Jay Reatard: Their perception of the name, which I think of as being just mildly offensive, is what puts those negative thoughts into their heads. They anticipate something completely different from reality, and they react that way.

When I first started the Reatards, I just wanted to get to make a record. As long as I could survive until then, I could make that one and then survive until I made the next one. A lot of that early work was focused on being youthful and ignorant -- feeling immortal and thinking I could get away with whatever I wanted. After I turned 26 years old, I started thinking about things a little differently. I started to realize I'm not going to live forever, my heath is going to fail, I need a place to live. So either I grew up, or society broke me down. Either way, I started thinking more about my future, which was the opposite of everything else I'd ever done.

At this point, it would be easier to get to certain levels in the music industry if I wasn't called Jay Reatard, because it's an immediate turn off. I would definitely be playing to larger crowds, and have more money. Everything I didn't care about when I first called myself Jay Reatard, I could have more of now. But I'm fine with it -- I look at it as a litmus test for assholes. If you can't get past the name, then you can't afford the price of admission.

Jay Reatard's new disc, Watch Me Fall, is out August 18th on Matador. NYC will get a free listening party for the album at (Le) Poisson Rouge on Monday, August 17th, while the West Coast gets a slightly better deal. Jay Reatard will be playing a series of free record shop in-stores from LA to Vancouver through the end of August. Those dates are below.

This September, Jay Reatard reunites with his first band, the Reatards, for a set at Goner Fest in Memphis.

On Thursday, October 1st (a few weeks before CMJ) he'll headline a Shattered Records showcase (his imprint) at (Le) Poisson Rouge. Also on that NYC bill are Box Elders (who have other NYC dates coming up too), Useless Eaters, Hunx and Nobunny (both featured HERE). Doors are at 11:00pm. Tickets are on sale.

Two tracks off the new album, including the first single "It Ain't Gonna Save Me," are above. The video for that song, with the trailer for "Waiting For Something," a short documentary about Jay Reatard, and all tour dates are below...

Continue reading "Jay Reatard - a NYC Shattered Records show (tix) & West Coast record store tour (dates) + MP3, video & documentary"

by Bill Pearis

DOWNLOAD: Amazing Baby - Smoke Bros (MP3)

Amazing Baby

"I actually miss the days when you just wrote about Amazing Baby in eeevery post." - BV commenter Eric Serpa | June 4, 2009 4:59 PM

This one's for you, dude. Yes it has been a while since Amazing Baby have graced this column which started almost exactly a year ago and were featured in my inaugural post. Since then, the band have gone through a few line-up changes, expanded, contracted, and toured Europe a couple times (once with buddies MGMT). The band open for Phoenix at Terminal 5 this Friday (6/19) and will release their debut album, Rewild, on Tuesday, June 23. (It's out now on iTunes.) Few are more aware than me that a lot of people seem to dislike this band, though I think most of that comes from the company they keep and their image more than the music itself.

Do they have questionable taste when it comes to fashion, their album covers and music videos? Maybe, but I don't think you can accuse Amazing Baby of the same, musically, or jumping on any bandwagons. Rewild is psychedelic without being being retro, danceable at times, heavy, glammy, catchy as hell and full of inventive arrangements and production. It rocks and swoons and sounds great loud. And they don't sound like any single other band out there. You can download "Smoke Bros" (which reminds me of Shriekback a little bit) at the top of this post. And you can stream the whole album at their MySpace.

Lightspeed Champion

Still reading? Phoenix's openers at tomorrow's (6/18) Music Hall of Williamsburg is Lightspeed Champion. That show is beyond sold-out, but tonight (6/17), he's playing a warm up show at Mercury Lounge, which will be his first in a long time. Dev has become a Brooklyn resident in the last year, which is where he also recorded his still-untitled second solo album (due in Oct.) with help from the Spacecamp boys who will also be his backing band at both shows. As a fan of last year's underrated Falling Off the Lavendar Bridge, I'm anxious to hear Dev's new material. Tickets are still available.

Spacecamp are also playing a set of their own at Mercury Lounge, opening the night, though you'd think it would've made more sense for them to play next-to-last and just have Dev come out and join them for a seamless transition, but I am a blogger not a stage manager. The band now have a full-time keyboardist in the mix which has made them a bit funkier (clavinet tends to do that). You can can get an idea of that in the footage Joly shot from Spacecamp's Annex show two weeks ago (below). In between Spacecamp and Lightspeed are Apache Beat and New Orleans' Hurray for the Riff Raff.

Nobunny

The show I'm most looking forward to this week, though, is this Friday (6/19) at Bruar Falls: Nobunny, Hunx and His Punx, German Measels, Baby Shakes and The Beets. I wrote about Nobunny the last time he was through town, having just caught him at SXSW, and his shows are fun and creepy all at the same time. (It's that mask.) If you haven't heard his debut, Love Visions, it's a lot of fun if you like bare-bones Ramones style punky pop. He recently put out a cassette-only album, Raw Romance, of demos and outtakes that was also pretty good -- it's sold out but maybe he'll have copies on tour with him. Nobunny also plays an all-ages show at Death by Audio two nights later (6/21).

The whole evening at Bruar Falls sounds like fun. Hunx and His Punx look and sound like they lept out of a John Waters movie and judging by their music videos I can only hope they bring that level of camp to their live show. Hunx has a new single out, "Teardrops on My Telephone," on Jay Reatard's Shattered label (also home to Nobunny). You can see the video for that song below. Hunx is playing a bunch of shows and parties this week, and all his dates are at the bottom of this post.

Also: the girl group punk of Baby Shakes; German Measels' fake mustache pop; and The Beets who seem to play every four days but I've enjoyed every show I've seen of theirs (including two previous at Bruar Falls).

Other shows of note: there's a TWII-approved line-up at Glasslands on tonight (6/17): Sisters, My Teenage Stride, and Knight School. All the bands are good, but if you haven't seen Sisters yet, you should really rectify that as soon as possible. On of my all time favorite new local bands of the moment.

Crocodiles are back in town, playing Union Pool on Thursday (6/18) and Mercury Lounge on Saturday (6/20). I don't care what Pitchfork says, I think their album is pretty good and they were fun at Pianos earlier this year.

And it wouldn't be a proper TWII column without mentioning this year's Twee as Fuck party at Cake Shop. TaF is a monthy party in London, as well as a fanzine and label, and they bring it over here in June. I went to last year's moderately-attended event which featured Afternoon Naps, Bears, and Pains at Being Pure at Heart who are headlining again this year though it's an understatement to say that things have changed for them. Not that they don't totally deserve it, but it still boggles my mind that the Pains have become a big as they have. TPOBPAH just announced a fall tour and those dates are below. Their next NYC show after Cake Shop is at South Street Seaport (home of tonight's Jon Spencer Blues Explosion Show).

With a lineup that also includes their Slumberland labelmates Crystal Stilts and Cause Co-Motion, as well as London's Hatcham Social, this is gonna be one super-packed, sweaty night at Cake Shop. Advance tickets are sold out, but there are a few available at the door if you get there early. Doors are at 7pm.

That's it for this week. Flyers, videos, and tour dates are after the jump....

Continue reading "Amazing Baby, Nobunny, Hunx & His Punx, Lightspeed Champion, TPOBPAH & more in This Week In Indie "

DOWNLOAD: Box Elders - Hole in My Head (MP3)
DOWNLOAD: Jay Reatard - Always Wanting More (MP3)

As previously reported Jay Reatard's Shattered Records imprint is coming back into active duty. Among the imprint's planned releases are " six 7"s from artists hand-picked by Jay including "Jeffrey Novak (from Cheap Time), Nobunny, Hunx, Useless Eaters, Box Elders, Earthmen & Strangers, and legendary New Zealand lo-fi songwriter Chris Knox."

Nobunny happens to be in NYC for two shows starting TONIGHT (4/13)

Shattered Records also announced it will release "all 20 of Jay Reatard's albums" digitally, plus a new singles series and subscription club. The new site is offering new Reatard single "You're Gonna Lose" free to those who sign up for its mailing list. Full info below.

Jay Reatard is going on tour in June and July. That includes two NYC shows. The first, on Wednesday, July 1st, will take place in Stuyvesent Town! That one, billed as a "Stuytown Oval Concert", will presumably be free, outdoors, and have a mosh pit full of babies. The second will happen at Brooklyn's Music Hall of Williamsburg, one day later, on Thursday, July 2nd . Tickets for that go on sale Wednesday, April 12th at noon. TV Smith opens both NY dates.

Box Elders have two NYC dates scheduled - April 24th and 25th.

Jay will also play a show on Record Store Day (at Goner Records). On that day, April 18th, you will also be able to pick up his Record Store Day 7" split with Sonic Youth (being released by Matador).

Full Shattered Records press release, and all tour dates, below...

Continue reading "Jay Reatard - 2009 Tour Dates (STUY TOWN & MHOW), full Shattered Records announcement (includes Nobunny) "

DOWNLOAD: Box Elders - Hole in My Head (MP3)

Box Elders @ Market Hotel (more by Tim Griffin)

"Though they only have one single to their name, the Box Elders have garnered quite a bit of support, most notably from Jay Reatard who has his sights set on recording them as part of his new imprint on Matador. Led by brothers Clayton and Jeremiah McIntyre, the Box Elders play disarmingly simple, catchy pop music, and it's probably because of their very un-raucous recorded sound that audiences have been sucked in by their strength as a live band. With their repertoire of under-two minute, chant-worthy tunes, the Box Elders are a band you can expect to become slowly and hopelessly hooked on." [The Daily Texan]

After reading the above, I contacted Box Elders to clear up the Jay Reatard thing. The new imprint is not actually new - it's Jay's old, but dormant label Shattered Records which will be starting up again with distribution by Matador Direct and Goner Records. According to another article, Jay will also be producing and releasing music by Cheap Time, Cola Freaks and the Barbaras this year. The Box Elders Shattered 7" will be out in June.

Other Box Elders releases include one 45 you can order from Grotto Records, a full LP coming out on Goner in July, and a 7" for the HOZAC singles club coming out later in the summer.

Jay's last release of his own music was a demo track that he posted to his blog for free. He just finished playing some dates in Europe, and has a show scheduled at Lenny's in Atlanta on April 11th, and one at Goner Records in Memphis on April 18th for Record Store Day.

Box Elders recently played a string of Austin, TX/SXSW shows that included the Todd P / NY Noise party and at least four more. The Nebraska band will hit the road again in April - a tour that brings them to new Brooklyn venue Bruar Falls on April 24th, and to its older sister venue in Manhattan, Cake Shop, one day later.

Box Elders were last in NYC in January when they played Market Hotel. All future tour dates and a live video from the band's pre-SXSW Denton, TX, tour stop, below...

Continue reading "JAY REATARD's label releasing music by bands like BOX ELDERS who are touring & releasing other stuff too"