by Bill Pearis

Costa Mesa, CA trio Tomorrows Tulips make lo-fi indiepop with a flower power bent, as can be heard on their latest effort, Experimental Jelly, which is out on cassette via Burger Records. (Fans of Beat Happening, TV Personalities, The Vaselines...this is for you.) You can stream a track from it below, along with the entirety of the their debut.

The band are currently in NYC, having played Grand Street Bakery in Brooklyn last night. Tonight (5/23) Tomorrows Tulip's play an early show (7 PM) at Pianos which is also FREE. You can then stick around for a pretty great line-up of bands including L Mag faves Coastgaard, as well as Ski Lodge, Pacific UV and Lazyeyes who are wrapping up a month-long residency. If you come after 7:30 PM it's $8.

All Tomorrows Tulips dates are listed below...

Continue reading "California trio Tomorrows Tulips released a cassette on Burger, playing free show tonight (dates, streams)"

by Bill Pearis

Atlanta's pacificUV are set to release their fourth album, After the Dream You Are Awake, on May 14 via Mazarine Records. Like on previous outings, the new record finds the band floating in a cloud somewhere between shoegaze, Morr-style ambience and electropop, and they make time to cover Billy Idol's "Eyes Without a Face" as well. You can stream one of the LP's more ethereal numbers, "I Wanna Be You," below. You can also catch up on the band's 10-year output with a sampler the band have put up as a free download on Bandcamp that you can stream below as well.

The band will be hitting the road this month for a short East Coast tour that includes two shows in NYC: May 22 at The Rock Shop with Brothertiger and The Adversary (tickets) and May 23 at Pianos with Lazyeyes, Ski Lodge and recent L Mag "8 Bands" pick Coastgaard (tickets) which is a pretty good line-up. All tour dates are listed below.

Continue reading "pacificUV releasing new LP and free retrospective comp, touring (dates, streams)"

video by Jessica and Albert Amaya; photo by Chris La Putt; words by Bill Pearis

It's a busy day for Brooklyn's Ski Lodge. Their new single, "Just To Be Like You" was released today via Dovecote (music video is below) and tonight they'll open for Born Ruffians' sold-out show at Bowery Ballroom with Moon King. They'll also be doing some West Coast shows with Chad Valley. Ski Lodge also play NYC Popfest as part of an all-day event at Littlefield on June 2 with Close Lobsters, French Films, Orange Peels and more (tickets). All dates are listed below.

Meanwhile, Ski Lodge feature in the premiere episode a new video series we're calling the BV Studio Sessions where we have local bands performing live at Butler Recording in Bushwick. In it, they perform "Just To Be Like You," and new songs "Boy," and "Looking For A Change." This first episode turned out pretty great -- big thanks to Jessica and Albert Amaya as well as Chris La Putt -- and you can watch it below.

Stay tuned for for more BV Studio Sessions. Meanwhile, check out that video and the list of all Ski Lodge dates below.

Continue reading "watch Ski Lodge peform three new songs in premiere episode of BV Studio Sessions"

Ski Lodge chillin' at Sound Bites Series 2012 (more by Jessica Amaya)

While Ski Lodge are still putting final touches on their debut album, the Brooklyn band will release a new single, "Just to Be Like You," via Dovecote on April 16. Much like the band's 2011 EP, the new single owes more than a little to early-'80s janglers Orange Juice and The Smiths. It's pretty darn catchy and you can stream it below.

Meanwhile, Ski Lodge will play NYC on Friday (3/8) at Muchmore's with Literature, The Hairs, and The Teen Age. That's a pretty good show, especially if your tastes lean towards indiepop. Immediately after, Ski Lodge hit the road heading for Austin and those four letters that I'm really tired of typing. After that fest, the band will join up with Chad Valley for some dates on the West Coast and Southwest. But Ski Lodge will be back in time for NYC Popfest at the end of May. All tour dates are listed below.

Continue reading "Ski Lodge releasing new single, heading to SXSW, touring with Chad Valley (dates, stream)"

by Bill Pearis

Close Lobsters / The School

We already knew that The Monochrome Set would be performing at this year's NYC Popfest (May 30 - June 2) but now the rest of the line-up has been announced and it's pretty great with appearances from New Zealand Flying Nun legends The Bats, two bands who featured on NME's legendary C-86 cassette (Scotland's Close Lobsters [!] and London's The Wolfhounds), and long-running California band The Orange Peels; plus newer bands like Wales' The School, UK group Flowers, Hobbes Fanclub and Tigercats, Sweden's Alpaca Sport and Azur Blue, Norway's Making Marks, and Spain's Zipper; and American groups Ringo Deathstarr, Math & Physics Club, Literature, Ski Lodge and more.

I'm particularly excited for Close Lobsters whose debut album Foxheads Stalk This Land is a big favorite of mine. (You can stream it below.) I don't think they've played here in 25 years. Also exciting is the return of The Bats who haven't played NYC since 2006. The band, which features The Clean's Robert Scott, have an amazing cannon of work, including classic albums like Daddy's Highway, 1989's The Law of Things and, most recently, 2011's Free All Monsters.

Alpaca Sports, Azure Blue, Flowers, French Films, Hobbes Fanclub, Tigercats, and Zipper are all making their first U.S. visits for Popfest. NYC Popfest has created a Spotify playlist with all the bands playing this year and made a downloadable mix which you can grab at the top of this post.

Festival passes are on sale now and tickets to individual shows will be on sale later this week. Venues and individual line-ups stil to come, but full band list, flyer and a few videos are below.

Continue reading "The Bats, Close Lobsters, The Wolfhounds, The School, Flowers and more playing 2013 NYC Popfest (line-up, tix on sale)"

by Bill Pearis

Indie Current: Is there any meaning behind the name Urban Cone?

Urban Cone: We're all from the centre of Stockholm, living the "city" life. Plus we all thought it was a cool name, and when Tim our guitarist drew our logo (the pine cone) it felt like the obvious choice.

IC: You guys classify yourselves as "Indie-Electro-Rock" on your Facebook page, but which genre do you guys feel you fall most into?

UC: We actually don't think about it much. Our music is pretty hard to place. Just compare a song like Black Ocean and Urban Photograph. Creating different types of songs comes natural to us and we have no attempt to stop doing so.

IC: With so many successful artists already from Sweden, do you think this has helped you guys get your name out there, or has it been much more difficult with so many great artists to follow-up?

UC: We haven't thought of this much. But maybe it has helped us. Our ambitions are so high and we compare ourselves to the really big names out there. -[Indie Current]

The band will be in America this week for shows on both coasts, including two in NYC: Thursday (1/24) at Mercury Lounge with Ski Lodge (tickets), and then Friday (1/25) at Glasslands with WIM (tickets). Those were both supposed to be with Saint Lou Lou who canceled their American tour.

A list of all Urban Cone tour dates, videos and streams are below.

Continue reading "Swedish band Urban Cone playing U.S. shows (dates, streams)"

Saint Lou Lou

Swedish/Australian twin duo Saint Lou Lou were set to go on a US tour with Urban Cone which would hit NYC on January 24 at Mercury Lounge and January 25 at Glasslands. The tour is still happening, but unfortunately Saint Lou Lou have had to drop of of all the dates. They write, "Dear Americanos: We have been forced to postpone our US tour in January due to visa issues. We are sad but will present new dates soon! xo."

On a lighter note, the band have been replaced on both NYC shows with some pretty solid local bands. The Mercury Lounge show (1/24) is now with Ski Lodge (tickets) and the Glassland show (1/25) is now with Heavenly Beat (ex-Beach Fossils), plus WIM is also on that bill (tickets).

For Heavenly Beat, the Glasslands show is one of two shows they'll be playing in NYC this January, including another show at Mercury Lounge on January 19 with Domino-signed Night Moves. TIckets for that show are on sale now. The show is part of a tour that Night Moves will be on, and all dates on that tour are listed below.

Continue reading "Saint Lou Lou drop off US shows; replaced by Ski Lodge & Heavenly Beat (who also play w/ Night Moves)"

photos by Jessica Amaya

Marcus Foster at Webster Hall (more)

BV contributors Dominick Mastrangelo, Dana (distortion) Yavin, Amanda Hatfield, David Andrako and Fred Pessaro // BBG have all gone to their share of shows in 2012, and each has weighed in on their favorite photos that they took in 2012. Next on the list is a set from Jessica Amaya, who has chronicled her 2012 favorites below in no particular order.

More below, along with Jessica's favorite tracks of 2012.

Continue reading "Jessica Amaya's favorite Live Photos of 2012 (that she took) (her favorite songs too)"

Cymbals Eat Guitars at MHOW in July (more by Chris La Putt)

As you may have noticed in today's What's Going On (11/18), there's a few Hurricane Sandy Relief benefits going on in NYC today.

There's one going down in both rooms at Public Assembly, which started at 1:30 PM and is continuing into the evening. If you head down there now, you can still catch sets by Wojick, Zula, The Veda Rays, Their Planes, Backwords, Pessanger Peru, Cool Serbia, Ski Lodge, and Slowdance. Admission is $10 at the door and all proceeds go to NY Cares. Those who bring three canned food items or one hygiene product will get one free Brooklyn Brewery Beer. The full schedule and more info is below.

Union Pool has one dubbed, "From Brooklyn with Love," starting at 5 PM with sets by Wild Yaks, Free Blood, Ice Balloons, Field Mouse, Sophia Knapp, Desert Stars, Firecracker Firecracker, Jess Williamson, Shenandoah and the Night, and The Monte Vista. Admission is a minimum of $20 and all proceeds goes to World Cares. "Big drink specials come to those who donate." The lineup is below.

There's also a Thanksgiving-themed benefit for Far Rockaway going down tonight at The Dalloway (525 Broome St) with DJ sets by Tanlines and Victor Vasquez (aka Kool AD of Das Racist). That party is hosted by Patricia Field, Erin O'Connor, Alana Zimmer, Jaquelyn Jablonski, Sara Blomqvist, Harry Brant, Scoot McNairy, Jeremy Kost, and Va$htie. It begins at 7 PM. Show flyer below.

Later this month, there will be a Sandy benefit at Pianos on November 29 with Cymbals Eat Guitars, Hooray for Earth, Zambri, Grooms, and DJ sets by Will Shortz between sets. Tickets ($12 minimum) are on sale now and proceeds will benefit the victims of Hurricane Sandy in Red Hook.

Other upcoming Sandy relief benefits include Holly Herndon, Ducktails, and Oneohtrix Point Never at MoMA PS1, Bruce Springsteen, The Who, Paul McCartney, Kanye West and more at MSG, EDM for Sandy Relief at Gramercy, and more. The Bell House has a lot of benefits coming up too.

Show flyers, lineups and more, below...

Continue reading "upcoming Sandy relief benefits in NYC (Cymbals Eat Guitars, Slowdance, Ski Lodge, Field Mouse, Tanlines & more)"

Savoir Adore at Knitting Factory last month (more by Sachyn Mital)

There's a few chances to catch Savoir Adore singer Deidre Munro in NYC this weekend. First, she'll play tonight (11/2) with her solo project-turned-band Deidre & the Dark at Gottscheer Hall in Ridgewood, Queens (657 Fairview Ave) with fellow Brooklynites Ski Lodge and French Horn Rebellion (DJ). The show is a halloween party and there will be prizes for the best costume. $8 advance tickets are still available and it's $10 at the door with a costume, $12 without.

Then on Saturday (11/3), Deidre will play again, this time as a member of Savoir Adore with another Brooklyn band bill of Jarana Beat and Slowdance at the Brooklyn Museum. The show is part of Brooklyn Museum's Target First Saturdays, for which admission is totally free and includes access to galleries, tours, an interactive space, a light show, and more. The full schedule for this Saturday is HERE. Though note: "Please note, due to Hurricane Sandy the programming schedule for the November 3 Target First Saturday may continue to change", AND NO DANCING.

In related news, right next door to the Brooklyn Museum, the Brooklyn Botanical Garden will be reopened with free admission all weekend, starting today and lasting through Sunday.

A video of Savoir Adore playing "Dreamers" at WFUV below.

Continue reading "Brooklyn Botanical Garden open & free; Savoir Adore playing Brooklyn Museum Sat; Deidre & the Dark in Queens tonight"

photos by Jessica Amaya; words by Bill Pearis

Ski Lodge at Fulton Stall Market, 8/26/2012

This year's Sound Bites Series at the Fulton Stall Market wrapped up Sunday (8/26) with a set from Ski Lodge. (As mentioned before, I curate this series, full disclosure etc.) This was the first show the band had played in a while, as the band have been busy finishing up their debut album which will be out in early 2013. The band threw in some of that new material in between singles "I Would Die to Be" and "A Game."

Ski Lodge don't have any upcoming shows lined up at the moment, but the band will be out and about for CMJ so look for them at a day party near you. More pictures from Sunday are at the bottom of this post.

Continue reading "Ski Lodge played final 2012 Sound Bites Series show at Fulton Stall Market (pics)"

by Bill Pearis

Habibi at NYC Popfest 2012 (more by Amanda Hatfield)

Habibi, Eternal Summers, Caged Animals and Ski Lodge will be this year's lineup for the third Sound Bites series which will take place Sunday afternoons in August at the Fulton Stall Market by South Street Seaport... which I curate. (Shameless plug). There will be a DJ (probably me) at 2PM with the bands playing at 3PM and it's all free. The schedule is this:

August 5: Habibi
August 12: Eternal Summers
August 19: Caged Animals
August 26: Ski Lodge

Eternal Summers, meanwhile, just announced a late show at Mercury Lounge on July 26 which is most likely a record release show for their fantastic new album Correct Behavior (one of my favorites of 2012 so far) which is out July 24. Check out the video for "Millions" at the bottom of this post. Tickets go on sale Friday, June 8. No openers listed yet.

Caged Animals, meanwhile, just released a video for a new song, "This Summer I'll Make it Up To You," which is off their This Summer EP which is out June 12 on Lucky Number. Caged Animals are also playing Saturday (6/2) at Bobby Redd Project Space in Bushwick with Kent Odessa, Bright Future, Sagopalm and The Zabalas.

And Ski Lodge are next playing Pianos on June 13 with Cool Serbia, The Hudson Branch and new Kanine Records signing Beach Day. Ski Lodge also have a new video for "A Game" which you can watch below. Their debut album will be out later this year.

Tour dates for Habibi and Eternal Summers, and videos for all four bands, are below.

Continue reading "Habibi, Eternal Summers, Caged Animals, and Ski Lodge playing the 2012 Sound Bites series at Fulton Stall Market in August; plus other news"

by Bill Pearis

Ski Lodge are putting the finishing touches on their debut LP which will be out later this summer. In the meantime, the band have just released a video for "A Game," the jangly opening track from Ski Lodge's enjoyably tuneful EP from last year. In it, a girl makes breakfast while main Lodge resident Andrew Marr strums his guitar unaware on the couch. Some people like fruit in their cereal. Apparently others like blood. Watch it below.

In other news, Ski Lodge play The Rock Shop on Thursday (5/24), opening for The Spinto Band who are playing the final week of their residency at the club. The Extraordinaires are also on the bill and tickets are still available. And look for a new single from Ski Lodge, "Just to Be Like You," which will drop in a couple weeks.

Video below...

Continue reading "Ski Lodge made a video (premiere), playing The Rock Shop"

photos by Dominick Mastrangelo

Allo Darlin @ Mercury Lounge

Effortlessly charming indiepop band Allo Darlin' played Mercury Loungelast week with tourmates The Wave Pictures -- the kickoff of a North American tour that will wind its way back to New York for NYC Popfest. All tour dates are below. Both bands have new albums, and you can stream Allo Darlin's Europe at the bottom of this post and The Wave Pictures' Long Black Cars at Spotify.

Like he did at Popfest two years ago, Gary Olson of the Ladybug Transistor joined Allo Darlin' for "Dreaming".

Dominick Mastrangelo was on the scene and got pictures of both bands (and setlist for Allo Darlin'), as well as openers Ski Lodge and the Field Recordings. All of that, below....

Continue reading "Allo Darlin' and The Wave Pictures touring, played Mercury Lounge (pics, setlist)"

by Bill Pearis

Field Mouse

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

Field Mouse (May 3 at the Rock Shop)

Ski Lodge (May 24 at The Rock Shop)

Daytona (April 27 at Death by Audio)

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

Black Marble (May 3, opening for Light Asylum)

Starlight Girls (May 26 at Cameo Gallery)

Plates of Cake (No upcoming shows)

Ravens & Chimes (June 1 at WNYC Green Space)

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

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

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

by Bill Pearis

DOWNLOAD: Razika - Eg Vetsje (MP3)
DOWNLOAD: Razika - Nytt Pa Nytt (MP3)
DOWNLOAD: Dominant Legs - Hoop of Love (MP3)
DOWNLOAD: Dominant Legs - Where We Trip the Light (MP3)
DOWNLOAD: Nurses - "Fever Dreams" (MP3)
DOWNLOAD: Tycho - "Dive" (MP3)

Razika

I guess this is the pre-CMJ edition of This Week In Indie which is a slightly less busy week than normal, though not by much. (And CMJ this year isn't the most exciting line-up I've seen for that matter, but we'll get to that next week.) In fact there's some pretty cool musical things you should be considering, so let's get into it.

As mentioned elsewhere on this site, Norway's Razika are playing Friday (10/14) at Cameo, their first-ever U.S. show, and only one for now. You may not think you need a Norwegian all-girl ska band in your life, and maybe you don't, but Razika do it really well. I wasn't expecting to like it. And really, what they do is more ska-tinged pop than actual ska. Which is a good thing as far as I'm concerned. There's definitely a Lilliput/Kleenex vibe (or even Electrelane for a more modern comparison) to what they do. And the songs are crazy catchy. You can get half-price tickets ($5) if you use this link.

It's a good show all around at Cameo, with Ski Lodge whose EP I like a lot. As I've said before, it's like early Smiths meets Beach Fossils. The other band on the bill is Lips which is New Zealander Stephanie Brown who now lives in Brooklyn. I like the songs on her Bandcamp page, which are kind of laptop soul, not entirely unlike Little Dragon or, you. There's a really cute video for her song "One Not Two" at the bottom of this post.

Dominant Legs

San Francisco's Dominant Legs  and tourmates Nurses are in town, playing Mercury Lounge on Friday (10/14) and Glasslands on Saturday (10/14). Dominant Legs released their debut LP, Invitation, last month on Lefse Records and it's an appealing take on effervescent '80s pop, completely with lightly funky guitars, glistening keyboards and big choruses. You can download a couple songs from Invitation at the top of this post.

As for Nurses, the Portland trio get called "psych-pop" a lot which I guess is code for "vaguely MGMT-ish" but it's the funkier side of that band and not really so much psych to my ears. There's a lot of echo on it, I guess that's psychedelic. That said, their new album Dracula is pretty catchy and danceable and is more directly comparable to fellow Portlandians Unknown Mortal Orchestra than anyone else. You can download a track at the top of this post.

Tycho

And lastly, Tycho is at Music Hall of Williamsburg on Sunday (10/16). (Tickets are still available.) The Bay Area electronic artist released his new album, Drive, last week on Ghostly and I've been listening to it a lot. No doubt it owes a giant debt to Boards of Canada, more in the dreamlike synth sounds than in execution. Tracks like "Hours" (downloadable above) more blatantly danceable than BoC but it's still the kind of record you could sleep to as well. And though I no longer have a car, this would be good music behind the wheel, and not just because of the album title.

While listening to Drive, you might think that a live show might just be just a guy and a laptop, Scott Hansen has a full Tycho band that looks to be pretty good from the YouTube clips I've watched. Canada's Teen Daze are also on the bill, and blissed-out Swedes Korallreven are the DJs for the evening.

That's the major stuff for this week...though don't forget Lotion plays their first show in ten years on Monday (10/17) at Knitting Factory! More day-by-day picks are below.

Arkells

WEDNESDAY, OCTOBER 12

Early show tonight at Mercury Lounge: Canadian fourpiece The Arkells whose 2008 debut was one of that year's undiscovered gems, full of hook-filled, strident heartland rock that would've done gangbusters in the '80s. (You may remember me writing about them from M for Montreal.) Their new album, Michigan Left, is out next week in Canada.

I'm ashamed to admit I haven't given The Rosebuds' new album, Loud Planes Fly Low, enough attention but I definitely like what I have heard. You can download "Woods" at the top of this post. One of the nicest bands around, The Rosebuds are always good live and if you've never seen them before, they play Bowery Ballroom tonight. Want to go for free? We have a couple of pairs of tickets you can win if you email bvcontests@hotmail.com (subject: Rosebuds) right now. Include your first and last name in the email and we'll get back to the winners with instructions.

Xeno & Oaklander @ Home Sweet Home.

continued below....

Continue reading "Razika, Tycho, Dominant Legs, Nurses, Arkells, Laetitia Sadier & more in This Week in Indie"

by Bill Pearis

DOWNLOAD: Hospitality - Friends of Friends (MP3)
DOWNLOAD: Dive - Sometime (MP3)
DOWNLOAD: Heaven's Gate - Salome (MP3)
DOWNLOAD: Unknown Mortal Orchestra - How Can U Luv Me (MP3)
DOWNLOAD: Beat Connection - In the Water (MP3)
DOWNLOAD: Ski Lodge - I Would Die to Be (MP3)

Blouse

After a couple weeks with not a whole lot going on, we're back to jam-packed week of shows (at least in the TWII-verse). So let's get into it.

Portland trio Blouse are in town for two shows: Thursday (9/15) at Glasslands and then Friday (9/16) at Shea Stadium. After singles on Sub Pop and Captured Tracks, the band's debut is due out in November. You can stream the song "Videotapes" from it at the bottom of this post. The track has a nice melty quality to it that if I was listening on cassette I might think it was time to buy a new Walkman. I've liked everything I've heard from Blouse so far, as it hits my '80s sweet spot: icy synths, moody basslines, big choruses. I'm anxious to hear the whole record, and looking forward to seeing them play.

Unknown Mortal Orchestra

Both Blouse shows are appealing bills. The Glasslands show is headlined by Unknown Mortal Orchestra who are currently on tour with Toro Y Moi, a tour that hits NYC tonight (10/14) at Webster Hall. In addition to the Glasslands show tomorrow, UMO are also playing that Vice party tomorrow that is sure to be a scene. After that, UMO are basically on tour for the rest of the year with a pretty brutal schedule, daring America not to see them.

Also playing the Glasslands show are Hospitality (subbing for Woven Bones who had to bow out) who, you may have read, have signed with Merge. The label will be putting out their debut album in early 2012 and you can get an early taste at the top of this post -- the horn-filled "Friends of Friends." (The whole record is great.) I'm a big fan of this band and couldn't be more pleased to see them sign to a label I love.

Blouse is headlining the Shea Stadium show on Friday that is a pretty exciting lineup too, especially if you want to see a lot of new local bands. Dive is the new band from Beach Fossils guitarist/drummer Cole Smith (he was also in Darwin Deez) and the group's debut single, "Dive," is out soon on Captured Tracks and you can download it at the top of this post. It sounds a lot like Beach Fossils but it's catchy nonetheless.

Heaven's Gate

Also playing are Heaven's Gate which is the new band from a couple of the guys in the now defunct Sweet Bulbs. Like that band, Heaven's Gate are definitely on the shoegaze tip and also remind me a little of Bettie Serveert. Mind you, I've only heard two songs but both are quite good. (I was a big Sweet Bulbs fan too.) Download one of them, "Salome," at the top of this post.

Still more at Shea Stadium: Spacerock band Beige and Night Manager whose new 7" is pretty darn good.

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Sloan are in town. Did anyone go see them last night at The Bell House? They play Bowery Ballroom on Thursday (9/15) and Maxwell's on Friday (9/16). I've probably written enough about Sloan this year already, but needless to say these shows are highly recommended. And if you haven't grabbed the free Select Singles - 1992 - 2011 compilation yet, the download widget is at the bottom of this post.

Beat Connection

STRFKR (not to be confused with SBTRKT) are rolling though town this week, playing Knitting Factory on Friday (9/16). Despite the whole name-changing debacle (Starfucker --> Pyramid --> Starfucker --> STRFKR), the band's new album, Reptillians, isn't bad at all in a Flaming Lips/MGMT sort of way.

I'm a bigger fan of the opening act Beat Connection. This duo is from Seattle though listening to their debut, Surf Noir, from last year you might think they were Swedish -- Lo Fi FNK and, especially, Studio come to mind when you hear the Baeleric Beat influence that's all over the record. You can download single "In the Water" at the top of this post. I caught them at SXSW and thought they were pretty good though they could use a couple auxiliary members live.

Ski Lodge

Friday night (9/16) at Cake Shop is Ski Lodge which is the new band from Andrew Marr who used to be in the Clementines. There's an EP coming out on Dovecote Records and you can download a track from it, "I Would Die to Be," at the top of this post. There's a Beach Fossils approach to the arrangement of this song, but melodically it's more from the Smiths lineage of indiepop. The whole EP is good. I've never seen them live, but maybe Friday.

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And finally, classic postpunk band The Raincoats play Friday (9/16) at Warsaw with San Francisco's Grass Widow. More about that HERE.

A few more picks not mentioned above, by day, below...

WEDNESDAY, SEPTEMBER 14

Japandroids are at Mercury Lounge tonight, road testing new material for their second album. Bass Drum of Death open. Sold out, but we're giving away a pair of tickets.

Grave Babies play with K Holes and Pop. 1280 at Cake Shop.

continued below...

Continue reading "Blouse, UMO, Hospitality, Dive, Heaven's Gate, STRFKR, Beat Connection, Ski Lodge & more in This Week in Indie"