photos by Jason House

...lo and behold, to my amazement, after Saturday's show, I've now seen The Gories do their thing threefold. And each time has been better than the last, as if they've picked up where they left off to become meaner and leaner. This time, they started with the obvious ("Hey, Hey We're The Gories"), but as they announced, tonight's performance delved into lesser known cuts from singles and comps. As such, we heard their wooly version of The Keggs' "To Find Out" (included on Crypt's Back from the Grave, Volume 2) and "You Little Nothing," which showed off Kroha's wily vocals. That same approach, with Dan taking lead instead of Mick, made "I Think I've Had It" standout early on too.

Still, it was the combination of Collins' tenor and the thumping hipshake on the band's best known tracks that proved to be the highlights. It is hard to think of a cut more pure in its intent than "Feral," a near-perfect dissertation on the evils of the fairer sex, while the potency of "Sovereignty Flight" has never been measured by its number of chords. While the band joked about its lack of skill and even still managed to start a song in different keys from one another, it's always been the manner in which it tapped into R&R's central nervous system that defined them... [Agit Reader]

More pictures and setlists from the Brooklyn show below...

Continue reading "The Gories played the Bell House with Mark Sultan & the Mighty Fine (pics)"

May 2003 flyer...

Less than a month before Park Slope club Southpaw is gone forever, and Southpaw mainstay DJ team The Rub has announced that after their final party at Southpaw this Saturday (2/4), they're moving to the bigger Bell House down the street (relatively speaking). Read the trio's entire long goodbye to Southpaw, and check out their final Southpaw flyer, below...

Continue reading "The Rub moving to the Bell House, eulogize Southpaw (where they'll play one more time)"

Pat Kiernan

Demtetri Martin has added a third show at NYU which is on sale now. It doesn't appear to also be a taping (just a rehearsal), and happens towards the end of his tour and three days before his other two NYC shows which are tapings.

That same week, astrophysicist Neil de Grasse Tyson returns to the Bell House along with Eugene Mirman for another edition of Star Talk Live! Tickets just went on sale.

NY1's Pat Kiernan hosts trivia at the Bell House on February 27 (which is one day before Stephen Tobolowsky appears at the venue).

Meanwhile, you have ONLY THREE MORE CHANCES to see Daniel Kitson at St. Ann's.

Watch "Shit Pat Kiernan says" below...

Continue reading "Demetri Martin adds 3rd NYC show; Neil de Grasse Tyson & Pat Kiernan returning to the Bell House; Kitson done soon"

by Bill Pearis

chickfactor #1 with cover stars Small Factory

chickfactor will celebrate its 20-year anniversary with five blissful nights of sparkling indie pop on the Northeast Corridor of the USA (three in NY; two in DC) including the first shows in years by Black Tambourine, Small Factory, Pipas, The Aislers Set, A Girl Called Eddy, The Softies, The Lois Plus, The Legendary Jim Ruiz Group and Fan Modine and rare performances from such pop luminaries asStevie Jackson (Belle & Sebastian), Frankie Rose, Lilys, Lorelei, Dot Dash, Versus, Bridget St John and Honey Bunch.

chickfactor started in 1992 in D.C. and New York by pop-loving maniacs Pam Berry and Gail O'Hara, who used to travel up and down the East Coast seeing Small Factory, Honey Bunch, the Wedding Present and any other fine indie-pop bands of the era. We are spoiled silly and lucky as all get-out to be able to present this super-stellar line-up. Get your ticket fast, do not dilly-dally!

For chickfactor's 20th anniversary, founders Gail O'Hara and Pam Berry have put together a five-day, two-city festival that gathers many of the zine's most loved bands, many of whom haven't performed in 15 or more years. It happens April 6 and 7 at the Artisphere in Arlington, Virginia and then in NYC April 10 -12 at The Bell House (Maybe some of you went to the 10th anniversary show at Fez?).

Tickets for the Bell House are on sale today (1/12) noon and are $25 for individual nights (4/10, 4/11, 4/12) or $70 for a three day pass.

The shows shows break down like this:

April 6 (Artispace, Arlington, VA): Stevie Jackson, Frankie Rose, Honey Bunch, The Dot Dash

April 7 (Artispace, Arlington, VA): Black Tambourine, Lilys, Fan Modine, Lorelei

April 10 (The Bell House, Brooklyn): Black Tambourine, Small Factory, Versus, The Lois Plus + Special Guests.

April 11 (The Bell House, Brooklyn): The Aislers Set, Pipas, Bridget St. John, The Legendary Jim Ruiz Group

April 12 (The Bell House, Brooklyn): Stevie Jackson, Honey Bunch, A Girl Called Eddy, The Softies

--

Black Tambourine (first East Coast shows in 20 years) and The Aislers Set (first in almost 10 years) are the big draws here, but this writer is especially excited about folk pop trio Small Factory who haven't played together in 15 years and Minneapolis' The Legendary Jim Ruiz Group whose 1995 album O Brother Where Art Thou? is a lost '90s classic (they're promising a new album this year too).

This comes a mere month before the sixth annual NYC Popfest (happening May 17 - 20) which means this spring is likely to be a very good year for indiepop fans. NYC Popfest hasn't divulged any of its line-up, but I hear it may be their most ambitious yet.

Click though for a detailed rundown of the chickfactor fest line-up, plus some vintage videos from the groups involved.

Continue reading "Black Tambourine, Aislers Set, Small Factory, Legendary Jim Ruiz Group & more reuniting for chickfactor festival"

photos by Erik Erikson

Ted Leo @ The Bell House

Attention those in (army jackets in) attendance at the Bell House on 12/30:

"Tall guy in army jacket w a great smile, you danced next to me and my friend. You piled your black coat on my bag and coat.
Where did you go?
Does this ever work? I'm giving it a shot."
[Ted Leo at The Bell House - w4m (Park Slope )]

you should call/email me so I can give my friend's number to your friend. She was waiting for him to ask.
Like you said "that should totally happen"
L [Jonah, we met at the Ted Leo show - w4m (The Bell House)]

More pictures & videos (including Ted doing Waterboys and MC5 covers) from the Bell House below...

Continue reading "Ted Leo & the Pharmacists played the Bell House w/ Obits & Kurt Braunohler (pics & videos)"

Puss & Boots @ Rockwood in 2009 (more by Tim Griffin)

Monday night at the Bell House:

Sex, love, and Country music! Puss and Boots brings to Brooklyn holiday cheer, many P and B special guests/santa's helpers, and hay stacks...lots of them!

Featuring burlesque by Nasty Canaste, and Minnie Tonka plus Speical guests Teddy Thompson, Kaki King, Seth Herzog, Sonia Brown, Michelle Casillas, Jeff Hill, Harper Blynn and more!

7:30pm Doors / 8pm Show / $15 Advance Tickets

Speaking of Norah Jones and Christmas, did you catch her playing the Ace Hotel on Anthony Bourdain's recently-aired Christmas show? Did you catch Fucked Up at the end of the same show?

photos by David Andrako

Aziz Ansari booked two last minute Saturday night shows at the Bell House to test out material for a new album he hopes to release next year. Hannibal Burress opened both the early and late shows. We've got some pictures from the the late one in this post.

Aziz's friend James Murphy wasn't in the audience (he was over at Terminal 5), but his other GQ friend David Chang was spotted.

Two days earlier Aziz got some major internet attention thanks to a post on his blog. As Gizmodo says:

Jay-Z and Kanye West's N*ggas in Paris is an epically hard, head bumping anthem that's ruled rap for the better part of the year. Aziz Ansari and Matthew Shawver just one upped it by translating it into a hilarious rendition filled with emojis from their iPhones. This is the best thing to happen to music all year.

More pictures from the Brooklyn show below...

Continue reading "Aziz Ansari played shows @ the Bell House w/ Hannibal Burress (pics), transcribed a Kanye/Jay-Z song in Emojis"

Aziz Ansari, David Chang & James Murphy

AZIZ ANSARI with Special Guest HANNIBAL BURESS
This Saturday, December 10th at The Bell House
21+ / $15
Two shows:
7pm: TICKETS
9:30pm: TICKETS

Both shows on-sale at noon

Like he did in years past, Bradford Cox aka Atlas Sound will play a winter show in NYC, or more specifically at the Bell House in Brooklyn (on December 17th). Balkans open this year's show and tickets are on sale.

UPDATE: 2nd Atlas Sound show announced

This year Atlas Sound will be supporting his great new album, Parallax, which was released by 4AD on November 8th. Listen on Spotify

words & photos by Keith Marlowe

Tandoori Knights @ the Bell House

I started the night, the fourth and final night of the the Norton Records 25th Anniversary celebration at the Bell House, watching Andy Shernoff from the Dictators playing an acoustic set in the front room. He ended with his hilarious zombie Jew song, based on Jesus's return to Earth.

The Figures of Light, who originally formed in 1970, played their classic proto-punk songs as well as tracks off their new album, Drop Dead, which was recorded this July in Brooklyn by the Gories' Mick Collins, who plays guitar in the band along with original members Wheeler Winston Dixon and Michael Downey, as well as Mark Natale and Miriam Linna from the A-Bones.

The Real Kids had to cancel due to illness, so another New Jersey band, the Swinging Neckbreakers filled in for them.

After them came the A-Bones, who feature vocalist Billy Miller and his wife, drummer Miriam Linna from Norton Records. They were joined at the end of their set Cyril Jordan and Roy Loney of the Flaming Groovies, who also played with the Daddy Long Legs the night before, and who played 'Teenage Head,' which was inspired by Kim Fowley when he was recording their record. Yo La Tengo's Ira Kaplan, who played the celebration on Friday night as part of the Condo Fucks, was also playing guitar in the A-Bones. as he often does.

Tandoori Knights, a take-off on the British show Tandoori Nights were next. They are fronted by King Khan and Bloodshot Bill, and the band is a slightly slower, more melodic sound than the two are known for in their other projects, but they still kept the crowd moving until after 1 am, when Norton founders Billy and Miriam came out to thank everyone who had made the sold-out four day event such a success. Billy, Miriam, and King Khan also all made late night appearances on the first night of the fest.

The Sonics @ The Bell House

After they finished the thank-you's at nearly 1:45, the band everyone was waiting to see, The Sonics, took the stage. They had headlined a show Saturday afternoon at Maxwell's too. I didn't see that, but Sunday night they took the Bell House stage and just completely laid it down. I was really impressed. They played an hour and a half set that just kept picking up energy the entire time, hitting all their well-knows songs, like Strychnine, the Hustler, Boss Hoss, Psycho and climaxed with their first and best-known hit, the Witch, and tore right into a cover of Louie Louie they totally owned, probably playing it better and with more authority than any other band in the world is capable of doing. The biggest surprise to me was how good their new songs are. Usually a band reforms knowing that they have a catalogue that people celebrate and will pay to hear, and they can tour on that nostalgia factor, or write some songs that completely lack the chemistry that the original members once had. I've definitely groaned when a reunion band announces, "we're gonna play some of our new songs tonight." but the Sonics have hit the studio hard. The new songs, Cheap Shades, Bad Attitude, Don't Back Down, and Vampire Kiss were really tight, and would sound right at home on both Here Are the Sonics and BOOM. Their new record, 8, was recorded by legendary Seattle producer Jack Endino and was released in 2010. It's great to see such an important band still touring and recording great songs......

More photos from the Sunday night show below...

Continue reading "Norton Records @ 25 -- the conclusion w/ the Sonics, Tandoori Knights aka King Khan & Bloodshot Bill & more (pics & review)"

photos by Jason House

After a kick off night on Thursday, another party Friday, and a daytime show with the Sonics in Hoboken on Saturday (11/12), the third night of the Norton Records 25th Anniversary went down at the Bell House on Saturday night with a lineup that included Question Mark & The Mysterians, Randy Fuller Four, Untamed Youth, The Nor-Tones (third night in a row), Daddy Long Legs (with appearances from Ron Loney and Cyril Jordan of the Flamin' Groovies), Hentchmen, Luis and the Wildfires, and South Bay Surfers. And the fun lasted into the wee hours of the morning.

Pictures from most of the night (none of South Bay Surfers or Untamed Youth), continue below...

Continue reading "Norton Records 25th Anniversary in Brooklyn ---- the rest of the night 3 pics (Daddy Long Legs & more!)"

photos by Jason House

Question Mark & The Mysterians @ the Bell House

ABKCO Records, in conjuction with Real Gone Music, is proud to present the two albums released by Question Mark & the Mysterians on the Cameo label, pressed on 180-gram vinyl with the original artwork intact! Hailing from Saginaw, Michigan, this group of Mexican-American teenagers will forever be anointed as the garage band's garage band with all the bonafides collectors of '60s cool cherish--the name, derived from a Japanese horror film; the sound, an insistent, three chord beat powered by that unmistakable Vox organ tone; and, of course, the sunglasses-shod Question Mark himself, who claims to have been born on Mars and lived among the dinosaurs in a past life. Though their signature hit, "96 Tears," ranks as one of the most recognizable and beloved songs of the '60s, their two original albums have never come out on LP in this country since their original re- lease...till now!

• The Two Original Albums Released by the Legendary Garage Band on the Cameo Label

• Reissued on 180-Gram Vinyl, Remastered from the Original Tape Sources by Bob Ludwig and Lacquer Cutting by Carl Rowatti of TruTone Mastering

• Mastered at 45 rpm for Maximum Fidelity.

• First Time Available on LP in America Since Their Original LP Release

Question Mark & The Mysterians, who are probably best known for their classic "96 Tears", headlined the third night of the Norton Records 25th Anniversary at the Bell House on Saturday (11/12). Pictures and a video from their set are in this post and it all continues below...

Continue reading "Question Mark & the The Mysterians reissued records, played for Norton Records @ the Bell House (pics & video)"

photos by Jason House

Great Gaylord @ the Bell House

After a raucous, sold-out first night of Norton's 25th Anniversary celebration at the Bell House, the party continued at the Brooklyn venue on Friday (11/11) where once again the night was opened by The Nor-Tones ("Norton's all-employee band includes members of the Little Killers, Daddy Long Legs, Stalkers, Girls At Dawn and LiveFastDie playing the hits of the Norton catalog.")

Night two also featured a set by mysterious cover band the Condo Fucks (aka Yo La Tengo) with Great Gaylord ("the Greatest Lousy Singer of all time"?). For the Condo Fucks it was their second NYC show in a short amount of time, though their first one at Mercury Lounge was sans Gaylord. Yo La Tengo will play eight more sold out shows over Hanukkah at Maxwell's (where Sunday's Norton show headliner The Sonics played on Saturday).

Also on the Friday night bill, some of which fell under the "R&B/Soul revue" umbrella, was Jackie and the Cedrics, a new lineup of Greg Cartwright's band Reigning Sound (featuring members of The Jay Vons), Mark Sultan (aka BBQ whose old partner King Khan played the night before), Lonnie Youngblood and the Bloodhounds with special guest Mick Collins (of the Gories and the Dirtbombs) on guitar, The Mighty Hannibal, Andre Williams (who also stopped by the night before), and Happy Organ man Dave "Baby" Cortez on keys.

More pictures and videos from most of Friday's bash, below...

Continue reading "Norton Records party @ the Bell House - night 2 pics & video (Condo Fucks, Reigning Sound, Mark Sultan, Mighty Hannibal & more)"

photos by Jessica Amaya

The Black Lips / The 5.6.7.8's

King Khan joined The Black Lips on stage at Bell House on Thursday, 11/10, the first night of the four-night celebration of Norton Records' 25th Anniversary at the Brooklyn venue. The Black Lips, who headlined Webtster Hall two weeks earlier, were a late, surprise addition to the already-sold-out bill. King Khan was a surprise addition to their set. The show also included The 5.6.7.8's from Japan (who played Mercury Lounge two nights later), Alarm Clocks, Phantom Surfers, Dex Romweber Duo, and The Nor-tones.

Here are some pictures, and video, from that whole night. They continue below...

Continue reading "Norton Records 25th Anniversary --- night 1 in pics & video (Black Lips, King Khan, The 5.6.7.8's & more)"

photos by David Andrako, words by Klaus Kinski

And the winner of the Klaus Kinski Are You Out of Your Fucking Mind? Award goes to Anonymous October 1, 2011 2:53 PM. Congrats! Please enjoy the dramatic eye-roll and annoyed sigh care of yours truly. The reason I am being such a jerk, 2:53PM, is because I am the KING of thinking things are a waste of time. I am a wretch, I am difficult to please, I am fussy, my personal comfort is paramount, and I don't go a single day without saying "This is such a waste of time" at least 10 times by lunchtime. If I am not out of the house and doing something by 8:00pm on a Friday night, the chances of me having the strength to leave my house at 10:30pm to haul my half-asleep ass in the pouring rain to Gowanus for an 11:30pm show where there is no chance my lazy ass will get a seat is about as close to 0% as you can get. Did it suck standing in the rain at the back of a line that wrapped around and up 2nd Ave? Yes. Did it suck to be that far back before someone from the Bell House bothered to announce that we needed to get a hand-stamp inside the venue and then get back in line? Yes. Did it suck that after I got my stamp about 35 more people had gotten in line, pushing me even further back? Yes. Did it suck making my way through the packed front room while drunken revelers shook their booties to an 80s cover band tearing it up on stage? Yes. All that shit totally sucked. And it almost broke me. But, man, the second I had a Red Stripe in my guts and Louis took the stage and the room erupted, I knew all of that prior bullshit wasn't actually such a big deal.

I was able to catch Louis CK's 11:30pm show, the third of three shows performed on Friday September 30th, 2011 at The Bell House. Louis has three shows coming up at the Beacon Theater in NYC on November 10th (two shows) and November 12th. The Beacon Theater shows are part of the New York Comedy Festival and are being taped for a Comedy Central special. The purpose of these three Bell House shows was two fold; to workshop new material and to give Brooklyn three cheap Louis CK shows. He did warn everyone that he'd have his notebook out which he admits is completely rude and inappropriate to do to an audience (sorry Janeane Garofalo). He also started off by explaining that the weird onsale arrangements were an effort to circumvent a whole shitload of scalper nonsense. He also elaborated on the confusing and frustrating economics regarding scalping and how they relate to him. He tries to make all of his huge shows (ie, the Beacon Theater) cheaper than someone like Kathy Griffin or Jim Gaffigan. That way his fans get sort of a break. Unfortunately that means scalpers buy up a ton of tickets because they're a bit inexpensive from the get-go. But then nobody will pay what the scalpers are asking, but the scalpers don't care because they didn't take much of a hit in the first place and the tickets completely go to waste. He says that a sold out Louis CK show is actually a room full of empty seats. It's a very sad scenario.

The room was packed to the gills, but still comfortable to stand and watch in. Louis fan-base has gotten very bro-y, so there were many moments of macho-dude-shouts coming from the audience. Some guy actually agreed with Louis aloud so many times that he had to call the dude out and tell him to shut up. Since this show was comprised of new material drawn straight out of his notebook, it'd be stupid to discuss the specifics of the material. However, he did broach a subject that I always hoped he would; his childhood. A lot of CK's material is drawn from his experiences as a father, a husband, and an ex-husband. For him to come out with 25 solid minutes of his early life that went from the US, to Mexico, and back to the US was a profound look into where this mofo is coming from. It's incredible. Also since he didn't have a show to do after this one, he went on for quite awhile. Since I was double fisting beer (yeah bro!) all night, it was hard to look at my watch but I think the show went well past 1:00am. This is easily one of the funniest comedy shows I have seen in a while, which shouldn't be a stretch considering the guy is a pro, but still. Tickets for upcoming Beacon Theater shows are pretty scarce, but based on what I saw on Friday his new material is some of the best I've seen of his in years. Go. To. It.

More pictures from the late, late show, below...

Continue reading "Louis CK played 3 shows @ The Bell House (pics & review from the late, late show)"

Louis CK's two Bell House shows sold out very quickly this morning. Luckily, not only did he add a third that starts at 11pm tonight after the other two shows, it will be cash only at the box office. $10 each. 2 ticket limit. The bad news is you have to be at the box office between 4-5pm to get them! Get there! (if you can, I'm not sure how you can, but maybe you live near there and are off from work today or something).

(so many places to be at 4pm on a Friday!)

Louis CK @ the Bell House in 2010 (more by David Andrako)

Louis CK will play a 7:00 and 9:00 show at The Bell House in Brooklyn on Friday (9/30). Tickets (at the links) go on sale the same day at 10am.

Louis also has a show coming up at the Beacon in November.

photos by David Andrako

Jon Glaser as Bobby Tisdale

After kicking off on Thursday, the Eugene Mirman Festival (which ends tonight/Sunday) continued on Friday with two shows, "A Night Of Very Likeable Comedians" at Union Hall and "Invite Them Up" at The Bell House. The Union Hall show featured standup from Tom Allen, Tom Shillue, Kurt Braunohler, Seth Herzog, John Mulaney and Jane Borden. Kurt and John also headed over to The Bell House to perform alongside Eugene Mirman, Slovin and Allen, Janeane Garofalo and Jon Glaser, who filled in as/for Invite Them Up host Bobby Tisdale. A set of pictures from the show at The Bell House continues below...

Continue reading "Eugene Mirman Fest 2011 --- Day 2 @ The Bell House in pics (Jon Glaser as Bobby Tisdale, Janeane Garofalo, more)"

photos by David Andrako

The Eugene Mirman Comedy Festival is underway, and continues tonight (Friday, 9/16) at both Union Hall & the Bell House. Thursday night's show at the Bell House (the only Thursday night show there was) was a live taping of Neil deGrasse Tyson's radio show, Star Talk. Eugene Mirman was a guest as were Kristen Schaal and Scott Adsit. Neil's guest, unannounced, was Alan Alda. They recorded the show for future broadcast and had a lengthy Q&A after the taping (stay tuned). Here are some pictures. They continue below...

Continue reading "Eugene Mirman Fest 2011 --- Day 1 @ The Bell House in pics (Neil deGrasse Tyson and... Alan Alda!)"

photos by Greg Cristman, words by BBG

Thou @ The Bell House

As discussed, Wolves In The Throne Room played their first of two NYC dates with Thou on Monday night (9/12) at The Bell House. Pictures and video from the show are in this post, and the pair do it again TONIGHT (9/14) at Death By Audio with Mutilation Rites. Advance tickets are sold out, but additional tickets will be available at the door.

Krallice supported at The Bell House, and the band will play one of their final dates of the year at Union Pool on Saturday (9/17), when they join Urfaust/Black Anvil as part of a trio of dates.

URFAUST & BLACK ANVIL - 2011 TOUR DATES
9/16 @ Golden West in Baltimore w/ Krallice & Oak (!)
9/17 @ Union Pool in Brooklyn w/ Krallice & Ruin Lust
9/18 @ Kung Fu Necktie in Philadelphia w/ Endless Humiliation

The Urfaust show is one of two BrooklynVegan presented heavy shows taking place this weekend, with 40 Watt Sun hitting Public Assembly on 9/16 with the recently added Woe. In related news, 40 Watt Sun was added to Roadburn Fest 2012 with Agalloch and Sólstafir. The bands join the already confirmed appearances from d.USK (aka diSEMBOWELMENT), Voivod, Sleep, Saviours and Om.

More pictures and video from The Bell House below...

Continue reading "Wolves in the Throne Room, Thou & Krallice @ The Bell House (pics)"

Evacuate to the Bell House tonight (8/26) to catch a show by punk veterans Deniz Tek & Ivan Julian, but then stay away for the rest of the weekend because David Kilgour & Richard Buckner and the rest of Saturday & Sunday's shows at both the Bell House and Union Hall are all cancelled.

With our Ted Leo show cancelled too, there's now a lot less music to see in Park Slope this weekend.

photos by Chris La Putt

Detroit Cobras @ The Bell House

The Detroit Cobras played The Bell House on Friday (8/12) as part of their tour that hit Maxwell's a day earlier (8/11)....

""...Rachel, Mary and crew played a pretty fucking awesome set complete with two encores. During the second encore Rachel pulled a lucky audience member on stage to help her sing "Ya Ya Ya (Looking for My Baby)" it was so beyond!" [Whatever]

Continue reading "The Detroit Cobras played the Bell House (pics, video, setlist)"

"The Sonics? Wow!" - Anonymous | May 15, 2009 9:52 AM

Classic NYC garage rock label Norton Records will celebrate their 25th Anniversary over the course of four nights at The Bell House (Nov 10-13). The shows feature some pretty incredible artists, including most notably The Sonics, whose 1965 garage rock classic Here Are The Sonics is regarded by some as the first punk rock album. Norton Records reissued the album in 1999. The Sonics headline the last night (11/13) of the run. Tickets are on sale now for all four nights.

Tickets are also on sale for a daytime Sonics show happening November 12th at Maxwell's. You can hit this show and still not miss the show later that night at the Bell House. Sunday during the day is the Brooklyn Record Riot at Warsaw.

The Sonics need no introduction, but those not familiar should consider that Kurt Cobain said in a Nardwuar interview that "They got the most amazing drum sound I've ever heard. Still to this day, it's still my favorite drum sound. It sounds like he's hitting harder than anyone I've ever known." The White Stripes call them the "epitome of '60s punk," "harder than The Kinks," and say that "life becomes better after buying a Sonics record." Newer band Japandroids love them too, and say, "When you listen to it, even at low volumes, it sounds like it's blasting. And I like how you can feel they would melt your face if you saw them live." Don't sleep on catching them live. Last time they were in NYC was 2007. Who saw them at Warsaw? How was it? Check out videos from a December 2010 KEXP appearance below.

Fellow '60s garage rock vets ? and the Mysterians, best known for their 1966 single "96 Tears," headline the night before them. Other noteworthy bands include The Real Kids, led by John Felice of the The Modern Lovers, and The Randy Fuller Four. Randy Fuller was part of his brother's group The Bobby Fuller Four in the 1960s, who recorded the first successful version of the single "I Fought the Law," popularly covered by The Clash. Folllowing Bobby's untimely death in 1966 at age 23, Randy took over the group, which he renamed The Randy Fuller Four.

Reigning Sound, Mark Sultan (BBQ), The Condo Fucks, A-Bones, Flamin Groovies.... there are so many people on these bills, it's too much to list. Full lineup and some videos, below...

Continue reading "Norton Records anniversary shows happening at the Bell House, two Sonics shows too!"

photos by Ryan Barkan

DOWNLOAD: The Old 97s - Live at Cicero's, St. Louis, MO, 4-19-96 (zipped MP3s)

Old 97's @ BV-SXSW @ Barbarella

Old 97s "are proud to release The Grand Theatre Vol. 2, their ninth studio album, [July 5th] via New West Records. TGTV2 features 13 brand new songs and is once again produced by Salim Nourallah (The Grand Theatre Volume One and Blame It On Gravity.) Rolling Stone said:

"On their 2010 album, The Grand Theatre Vol. 1, the Old 97's per- formed new material live at a Dallas theater, then took the songs that went over best and recorded them in an Austin studio. Consisting of songs left over from Vol. 1, this second installment places Rhett Miller's articulate, off-the-cuff songs right between the composure of the control room and the looseness of the barroom. Miller savors lines like "He said, 'Can I buy a drink?'/What he meant was, 'Can I buy you?' " over his bandmates' proudly ordinary punky-tonk. But Miller is no roots reactionary: "Manhattan (I'm Done)" is the rare country dig at New York where it actually sounds like the singer gave the big city a fighting chance."

The band will kick off a new tour this Thursday (7/7), again returning to NYC, but maybe they are done with Manhattan. The Old 97's will instead play The Bell House in Brooklyn on July 13 and 14 . Tickets are on sale for both dates (7/13, 7/14).

Most July dates, including the Brooklyn shows, will be opened by Robert Ellis who released a new album this week too.

One of the few sets The Old 97's played during SXSW 2011 was (a great one at) the BrooklynVegan/Partisan/KF Records day party that Deer Tick, Middle Brother, Jonny Corndawg, Jason Isbell and many others also played. A belated set of pictures from the Austin show is in this post.

More of those pics, with videos from Webster Hall, the setlist to the 1996 live set you can download above, and all tour dates below...

Continue reading "Old 97's released their 9th studio album, heading out on tour -- 2011 dates & belated SXSW pics too"

PFT @ 92YTribeca in 2009 (more by Chris La Putt)

Marc Maron hosts and curates WTF with Marc Maron at The Bell House tonight (6/1). An early show starts at 7 PM with Jonathan Katz, Will Arnett, Judy Gold, Marina Franklin, and Keith Robinson. The late show starts at 9 PM with Wyatt Cenac, Sam Lipsyte, Tom Scharpling, Horatio Sanz, and Kevin Allison. Both shows are sold out.

You can still get tickets however for the two Paul F. Tompkins shows happening at the same venue on October 22 and 23. Both nights will have completely different sets, and be recorded for a new comedy album. To quote Paul, "Be there, and be a part of history!*

* Once the show is over, it will be in the past and considered, technically, history."

Meanwhile catch Paul every month at the Largo in LA.