photos by Tim Griffin

Abe Vigoda's new drummer @ The Whitney

Abe Vigoda is currently on tour with Talbot Tagora. That trip brought the two bands to Cake Shop and Market Hotel in NYC over the weekend (the Market Hotel show was originally scheduled for Monster Island). Abe Vigoda also played a free show at The Whitney with Grooms while they were here. More pictures and a video from that show below...

Continue reading "Abe Vigoda played Cake Shop, Market Hotel & the Whitney w/ Grooms (pics & video) "

DOWNLOAD: Abe Vigoda - Don't Lie (MP3)

Abe Vigoda @ South Street Seaport 7/11/08 (more by Chris Tuite)

LA punks Abe Vigoda are going on tour across North America this July. That includes three NYC shows: Friday, July 17th the band plays an early set at the Whitney Museum, then a late set at the Cake Shop. The next night, Saturday, July 18th, the band is at the Monster Island Basement. All those NYC gigs are with tourmates Talbot Tagora, who, as we recently mentioned, are one of the Seattle bands that recently signed to Hardly Art.

The Whitney show is part of the museum's Dan Graham retrospective running from June 25th to October 11th. As we previously wrote, the museum is planning shows on July 10th, 17th, 24th and 31th, during its weekly pay-what-you-wish Friday 6-9pm slot. Those performances are to feature "young bands that have inherited the New York rock scene from bands that Dan Graham has written about and/or worked with, such as The Feelies, Television, and Sonic Youth."

The Feelies are one of the band's playing the museum -- they have an acoustic set scheduled for Friday, June 26th.

The newest Abe Vigoda release was the band's Reviver EP, which came out in February on Post Present Medium. "Don't Lie," from that record, is posted above.

All Abe Vigoda tour dates, with clips that include "Don't Lie" live with the Vivian Girls and more, below...

Continue reading "Abe Vigoda & Talbot Tagora - 2009 Tour Dates (Whitney Museum, Cake Shop & Monster Island)"

DOWNLOAD: Talbot Tagora - Internet Fixture (MP3)
DOWNLOAD: Le Loup - We are Gods! We are Wolves! (MP3)

Hardly Art is an independent record label based in Seattle, WA. Founded in early 2007 by Sub Pop Records, Hardly Art is run by two full-time employees and is distributed by the Alternative Distribution Alliance (ADA) and Sub Pop. The label's name comes from a lyric the song "No Culture Icons" by [ex-Sub Pop band] the Thermals [who are in town], and the unofficial motto for the label is: Quality records for quality people since very recently. [Wikipedia]

The Hardly Art roster is now up to nine bands, the latest addition to which is Brooklyn Band Golden Triangle.

Golden Triangle @ NYU Strawberry Festival 2009 (more by Lauren Monaco)

Golden Triangle's upcoming shows include a gig on Saturday, May 9th at Rubulad with the Homosexuals. The band then plays a free show on Tuesday, May 12th at Southpaw with the Phenomenal Handclap Band. They're also scheduled to perform June 12th as part of the Northside Festival (again with The Homosexuals). All tour dates below.

Earlier this year when Golden Triangle were still unsigned, the group won the Dickies Battle of the Bands down at SXSW. The judges for that included Black Bubblegum, GZA, and Randy & Dean of No Age (who, being signed to Sub Pop, are now label cousins with the winning band).

Hardly Art intends to release Golden Triangle's debut full-length in early 2010. Other new signings by Hardly Art include Seattle bands Talbot Tagora and Unnatural Helpers.

Unnatural Helpers are a pretty righteous Seattle punk band with two former members of The Catheters, an ex-Sub Pop band of which I was especially fond and whose presence on the musical scene I miss dearly. Unnatural Helpers is ex-Catheters guitarists Brian Standeford (also of Idle Times and Tall Birds) and Leo Gephardt (Tall Birds), The Dutchess and the Duke's Kimberley Morrison on bass, though the band is the brain child of Dean Whitmore, who drums and sings. [Seattle Weekly]

A new track by Talbot Tagora (who named themselves after a type of car), "Internet Fixture," is currently posted at The Fader (and above). Their album Lessons in the Woods or a City will be released July 21st on CD and LP. From the label's more established acts, new discs are also planned for Le Loup and the Dutchess & the Duke by the end of this year.

Only one other Hardly Art band has an NYC date coming up: indie-pop trio Pretty & Nice play Union Hall on May 14th with the Dig and Middle Distance Runner. Tickets are on sale.

All upcoming Hardly Art tour dates below...

Continue reading "Golden Triangle & other bands signed to Hardly Art (like Talbot Tagora & Unnatural Helpers) - 2009 tour dates & stuff "