J Mascis with Dinosaur Jr at Coachella (more by Dana (distortion) Yavin)

One of the best things about summer is all of the free live music, and one of the great series in NYC is Union Pool's Summer Thunder! This year the series is even bigger, going every weekend from early June until September. The shows begin at 2PM, are 21+, and will feature drink specials all afternoon. The shows are FREE, and two of them are presented by BrooklynVegan and Invisible Oranges respectively.

Summer Thunder kicks off the season on June 1 with Rocksteady Yeti DJ Crew. BrooklynVegan will present the second Summer Thunder event set for June 8 featuring Heavy Blanket (featuring J Mascis) and Love as Laughter. Invisible Oranges will present the June 15 Summer Thunder, with Inter Arma and more TBA.

Heavy Blanket released their self-titled debut last year on Outer Battery Records and you can stream that below. Love is Laughter also play Shea Stadium on Saturday (5/18) with Starlight Girls, Honduras, Birthdays and more.

More details on the rest of June's lineup of Summer Thunder, including shows with Jonny Fritz (aka Jonny Corndawg), Endless Boogie and more, is below. See you there!

Continue reading "Union Pool free Summer Thunder June 2013 show lineup (BV show w/ Heavy Blanket, IO show w/ Inter Arma & more)"

Call of The Wild

Brooklyn's Call of The Wild feature an ex-member of Awesome Color, but this trio is on an entirely different trip. The band plays a style of garage that borders on Metallica-style speed metal on their forthcoming Leave Your Leather On, as exhibited by the first single to appear from the record, "Autobahn" (no, not a Kraftwerk cover). The premiere of that song is below and order your copy via Kemado if you're down (the record drops on 8/21).

Call of The Wild have been pretty active playing NYC shows lately, and will continue  at Union Pool on Saturday (8/4) with a show as part of the ongoing FREE afternoon Summer Thunder series. There the band will be joined by Dope Body and local favorites GENTLEMEN for a 3PM show. Call of The Wild will ALSO join Tyvek/Wet Hair at Mercury Lounge the next night (8/5).

Check out "Autobahn" from Leave Your Leather On below.

Continue reading "Call of The Wild prepare to 'Leave Your Leather On' on new LP (stream a new song)"

Iceage at Pitchfork 2012 (more by Fred Pessaro // BBG)

TODAY IN NYC
* Prurient @ Saint Vitus
* Howard Fishman @ Joe's Pub
* Smokey's Secret Family @ Barbes
* Geri Allen, John Zorn @ The Stone
* Roots Family Reunion @ Littlefield
* Amber Martin, Lost Lockets @ Joe's Pub
* Bubbles, TEEN, Test House @ Union Pool
* Emily Mandell w/ The Lola Quartet @ Barbes
* Superhuman Happiness, Smoota @ Zebulon
* Dent May, The Babies, Levek @ Glasslands
* Field Report, Sean Rowe @ Mercury Lounge
* Feathers (DJ), Midnight Magic (DJ) @ Cameo
* Carla Brothers & Treasure Tower @ The Stone
* No Code (Pearl Jam tribute) @ Aboard The Jewel
* Dick Dale, The Lyres, Twin Guns @ Brooklyn Bowl
* Iceage, Nomad, Bortgang, Sad Boys @ 285 Kent Ave
* The Dearloves, Eastern Hollows, Mr Tough @ Cameo
* Chief, HITS, Dirty Names, Single Red Cent @ Pianos
* Shonen Knife, White Mystery, Flown @ The Bell House
* Mike Scheidt, Nate Hall, Kevin Hufnagel @ Saint Vitus
* Sleigh Bells, Jel, Mr. Dream @ Hudson River Park Pier
* Soul Clap and Dance Off w/ Jonathan Toubin @ Glasslands
* Queening, Mayor Daley, Florida, Suntalk, Libel @ Cake Shop
* Willis Earl Beal, Krystle Warren @ Weeksville Heritage Center
* Field Mouse, Firehorse, Hallelujah the Hills @ Mercury Lounge
* Shark?, Turf War, Sleeping Bags, Radical Dads @ Death By Audio
* Sepalcure, Machinedrum, Liturgy, White Ring, mikeQ @ 171 Lombardy
* Quiet Loudly, Backwords, Miniboone, EULA @ Big Snow Buffalo Lodge
* Laurel Halo, Pete Swanson, Noveller, Burning Star Core @ Public Assembly
* Dum Dum Girls, Widowspeak, Fingers On The Pulse (DJ Set) @ House of Vans
* Rebecca Gates & The Consortium, Verpluscott, Glass Anchors @ The Rock Shop
* Bebel Gilberto / Criolo / Flávio Renegado / Béco Dranoff (Dj) @ Summerstage Central Park
* Matthew Dear (DJ set), Sepalcure, LE1F, MikeQ, JDH and Dave P(Warm Up) @ MoMA PS1
* River City Extension, Gold Motel, Laura Stevenson & The Cans, Brick & Mortar @ Bowery Ballroom
* This Way, Union Street Preservation Society, Seth Kessel and The Two Cent Jazz Band @ Union Hall
* 808 State, N-JOI, Joey Beltram, Altern 8, F.R.D., Soul Slinger, Alex English @ Music Hall of Williamsburg

Tonight is the first of two NYC shows for Iceage.

Mike Scheidt of YOB, Nate Hall of US Christmas, and Kevin Hufnagel of Dysrhythmia will gather for an acoustic show at Saint Vitus tonight, followed by noise terrorism from Prurient in that same venue right afterwords.

Free Summer Thunder party at Union Pool this afternoon with Bubbles, Test House and TEEN.

The Spy Music Festival is still ongoing.

Tonight is the last-ever Soul Clap Dance-Off at Glasslands. Flyer is below. Fear not: Jonathan Toubin's party moves to Brooklyn Bowl in a couple weeks.

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If you missed it, Trash Talk comes to NYC to play a FREE show on Thursday night.

What else?

Continue reading "What's going on Saturday?"

We Are Scientists at SXSW 2010 (more by Tim Griffin)

As mentioned, Union Pool's free Summer Thunder series kicks off this weekend (5/26). Since we last spoke, the lineups and schedules for most of the series has been announced. This is what it's looking like so far:

BAM! SUMMER THUNDER BANDS ANNOUNCED! CHECK IT!
•MAY 26TH - ROCKSTEADY YETI DAYTIME BLOWOUT
•JUNE 9TH - RAIN MACHINE/ERIC COPELAND/SAWYER-YEH-WOOLLEY TRIO
•JUNE 23RD - TURING MACHINE/MIDNIGHT MAGIC/VIOLENT BULLSHIT
•JULY 14TH - SIGHTINGS/SMOOTA/LONEWOLF + BEN VIDA
•JULY 21ST - BUBBLES/TEEN/TEST HOUSE
•AUGUST 4TH - TO BE ANNOUNCED JUNE 4TH!
•AUGUST 18 - TO BE ANNOUNCED JUNE 4TH!

ALL START AT 3PM•ALL FREE•BUNCHES OF FREE BOOZE
SEE YOU ALL SOON!

This weekend's kickoff event is with dub/reggae/dancehall DJ crew Rocksteady Yeti and you can check out the flyer for the show below. Turing Machine and Violent Bullshit, who play 6/23 with Midnight Magic, just shared a bill at the venue last week (5/18). That sweaty sold out show was a record release show for Turing Machine's What Is The Meaning Of What LP, which is out now via Temporary Residence.

In addition to Summer Thunder, Union Pool continues to host other shows and tonight (5/25) they've got We Are Scientists, KUROMA, and Beach Arabs. The rather small show is their only US date before they head to the UK for a tour in July. Advance tickets are no longer on sale, but "tickets may still be available at the door." All WAS dates are listed below.

Other interesting shows on Union Pool's calendar include the previously discussed Leda (formerly Amy Klein and the Blue Star Band) show (6/1) and the Other Music Northside showcase on 6/14 with Nude Beach, Ex Cops, and The Everymen.

All We Are Scientists dates listed below...

Continue reading "Union Pool's Summer Thunder series lineup revealed, kicks off this weekend; We Are Scientists play the venue tonight"

Though tickets for the previously discussed Turing Machine/Violent Bullshit show at Union Pool on 5/18 have flown out the door (it is now sold out), at least you didn't entirely miss the train. Williamsburg, Brooklyn venue Union Pool have announced both bands, along with names like Eric Copeland (Black Dice), Rain Machine (Kyp Malone of TV on The Radio), Bubbles, TEEN, Ryan Sawyer / Nate Wooley / C. Spencer Yeh, LONE WOLF and Test House, as the first batch of artists in their Summer Thunder Series, their annual set of FREE shows taking place on the patio on every other Saturday afternoon from May 26th until August 18th. Summer Thunder 2012 is being curated by the venue along with Ryan Sawyer (Lone Wolf/Tall Firs/Glass Rock) and Summer Thunder creator and artist J. Penry, with each week promising free music, "drink specials, free koozies, T-shirts for purchase by J. Penry, and lots of Jameson". That last part just sold me.

Exact dates are on the poster above. Exact lineups TBA soon.