by Bill Pearis

DOWNLOAD: BNLX - Do Without (MP3)
DOWNLOAD: BNLX - Where is the Love? (MP3)
DOWNLOAD: BNLX - When Doves Cry (MP3)
DOWNLOAD: Sweet Bulbs - Kissing Clouds (MP3)

Mitch Easter

A lot of cool shows this week/weekend, some of which might be a bit under the radar. Let's get into it. Alt rock legend Mitch Easter, in addition to being part of that upcoming Big Star Third show, is on a rare Northeast tour right now that pulls into town Thursday (2/17) at The Rock Shop.

While he's maybe best known as a producer (the first two R.E.M.'s albums [with Don Dixon], Pavement's Brighten the Corners, Moose's ...XYZ among other things), Easter has had a long career as a musician, as a part ofThe Sneakers in the late '70s and frontman/songwriter for Let's Active, easily one of the most underrated bands of the '80s. He's also an incredible guitarist, and Let's Active albums are resplendent with awesome axe-work.

I like everything they ever did but 1986's Big Plans for Everybody is especially great, one of my favorite albums of that decade. Mitch put the kybosh on Let's Active in 1990 and didn't release any original material until 2008's Dynamico, an album which showed he still has chops and songs to spare.

Mitch's set at The Rock Shop is going to be heavy on the Let's Active tunes and if there's a song you really want to hear, like "Talking to Myself" from Big Plans, you can make a request. Opening the show are Brooklyn's own Boy Genius whose album from last year, Staggering, was produced by Mitch and is worth checking out. Also playing: Overlord.

I'm pretty excited about this next one. Minneapolis' awesome and enigmatic BNLX play their first-ever NYC shows this week, stopping at Fontana's tomorrow night (2/17) and The Rock Shop on Friday (2/18).

BNLX seemingly stormed out of nowhere early 2010, releasing a new EP each quarter, featuring hand-printed, Neu!-esque sleeves and press releases like this:

-BNLX has been meeting and / or exceeding expectations since its inception in Q1 2010
-BNLX provides mission-critical services to the entertainment sector in the following categories:
--"music" (noise)
--found art -beatz / rhymez
--mélodies angéliques
--obfuscation / parallax
-these services are rendered in the live, recorded, and conceptual spheres
-BNLX is comprised of both organic and inorganic members
-this allows BNLX to achieve standards of performance surpassing nominal criteria
-Stage One of the BNLX First One Year Plan commenced in March, 2010; it has been successful
-Stage Two - the release of BNLX EP #2 - will be executed June 25th, 2010
-BNLX EP #2 will be available as a numbered limited edition CD art package
-it will also be available through iTunes, other digital retailers, and piracy

Keeping things mysterious, you could mainly only focus on the music which is pretty awesome: blistering post-punk inspired rock, with male/female, call-and-response vocals, feedback, harmonies, old-school drum machines and ridiculously catchy choruses. The first three EPs were all originals, and the fourth EP was all covers, including great versions of Rhianna's "Shut Up and Drive" and hometown legend Prince's "When Doves Cry." BNLX actually played the latter at First Avenue last month at an Onion party, which takes balls.

That obfuscation didn't last two long as people figured out that BNLX was the work of Minneapolis indie rock mainstay Ed Ackerson, who has led such excelent bands as The 27 Various and Polara over the last 25 years as well as running Susstones Records. His wife Ashley -- they're both also in Moodswings -- is the other half of the band. BNLX have culled the best of the four 2010 EPs as a free sampler which you can download for free. You can also check out a few of the songs, including that Prince cover, at the top of this post.

The Rock Shop show is part of the monthly Hard Light party which is a must for lovers of shoegaze, post-punk, '60s psych, Krautrock, metal, Sweden, feedback, '90s indie rock, and guitars in general. In addition to BNLX, Hard Light promises "drink specials- weirdo cult movies - and loudness."

Speaking of shoegazy stuff, Tamaryn is back in NYC for her first proper shows since CMJ 2010. She plays Don Hill's on Thusday (2/17), and then an afternoon show at PS 1 on Saturday (2/19). I loved her debut album, The Waves, which came in at #12 on my Favorite LPs of 2011 list, and it's still in pretty heavy rotation here at TWII Headquarters (aka my kitchen). It reminds me a lot of the first Verve album,  tsunami waves of guitar matched with a nimble, groovy rhythm section and Tamaryn's lovely vocals.

There are a lot of chilly ice princesses out there right now, but I think Tamaryn deserves the crown. (Though I haven't heard the Austra album yet.) I thought she and her band were great at Coco66, those three songs before the cops shut it all down. If you can't make these shows, she'll be back in April touring with The Raveonettes, including two nights at Music Hall of Williamsburg (4/20 and 4/21). All Tamaryn tour dates are at the bottom of this post.

Keeping with the theme, let's talk a bit about Sweet Bulbs, "Brooklyn's blurriest pop band," whose album came out this week on Blackburn Recordings. It's choc-a-bloc with seriously catchy songs that are buried under layers of swirly guitars and effects pedals and other sludge. As someone who loved bands like The Swirlies, Drop Nineteens, Lilys and Henry's Dress, this is right up my alley. For those mystified by that litany of obscure '90s indie bands, just know Sweet Bulbs make beautiful noise. You can download "Kissing Clouds" from the album at the top of this post.

Sweet Bulbs play Bruar Falls this Saturday (2/19) with White Laces, Arches, and Tungs. Do check 'em out.

That's the main stuff this week. A few more picks, day by day are below:

WEDNESDAY, FEBRUARY 16

The Church play three albums from their catalog in their entirety tonight at Highline Ballroom: Untitled #23, Priest=Aura, and Starfish. That's over three hours of music, which seems like a lot to me even for a devoted Church fan. Maybe if it was Heyday instead of Untitled #23 I'd be more inclined to go. They'll do it again tomorrow (2/17) at BB King's.

Tonight is also the third week of ARMS' February residency at Pianos, this week with The Silent League, Your Youth, Inlets and Thunder & Lightning (which is the new band from Brent Katz who was Todd Goldstein's bandmate in Harlem Shakes). ARMS were teriffic last week, this is highly recommended.

continued below...

Continue reading "Mitch Easter, BNLX, Tamaryn, Sweet Bulbs & more in This Week in Indie"

Recently inducted into the Australian Rock and Roll Hall Of Fame, The Church will revisit two of their most successful releases and their most recent LP Untitled #23 as part of a 30th Anniversary US tour in February. The 2009 LP as well as 1992's Priest=Aura and 1988's Starfish will be performed in their entirety at each show on the tour which includes two NYC shows: Feb 16th at Highline Ballroom (tickets) and Feb 17th at B.B. King's (tickets). All dates below.

The Church has been churning out new material since the 80's and their latest is the Deadman's Hand EP, which dropped this year. And by the time these shows comes, "reissues of the band's early albums will also finally be available in the USA alongside contemporary releases, all on the Second Motion Entertainment label. The reissues will come in luxurious digi-packs with rare photos and exhaustive sleeve notes written by Marty Willson-Piper."

Stream the new EP in full and check out all tour dates below.

Continue reading "The Church performing 3 full albums on USA tour (dates)"

After three decades together, the church return to North America for a special 30th anniversary acoustic tour throughout April and May 2010. "An Intimate Space" will include songs that span the length of the church's epic creative trip from their debut in 1980 to their latest critically acclaimed 2009 album "Untitled # 23".

In a unique and unusual execution, the band will choose one song from each of their considerable album releases and perform them in reverse chronological order. This original show will have the audience gliding softly down through the years, opening with a track from "Untitled #23" before embarking on a fantastic voyage through time ultimately arriving at their first Australian album, "Of Skins And Heart" where it all began.

The Church where last here in 2009. They played a July show at Irving Plaza with Adam Franklin. The sole NYC date on the Australian psych-pop vets' upcoming tour is at a considerably more (as advertised) intimate venue. It happens April 22nd at City Winery. Tickets (each of which come with a copy of the band's Deadman's Hand EP) are on sale.

They also play Bay Shore, Long Island's Boulton Center for the Performing Art the next night (4/23) - tickets for that are on sale too.

Videos of the band and full dates for their tour are below...

Continue reading "the church going on 30th anniversary acoustic tour (dates)"

by Bill Pearis

Australia's shimmering psych-pop band, The Church, are staying busy in their 29th year of existence with a flurry of new releases, a couple of solo projects, and a U.S. summer tour, including a stop at Irving Plaza on July 8 (tickets are on sale).

The band, which still features the founding core of singer/bassist Steve Kilbey, and guitarists Marty Wilson Piper and Peter Koppes (plus drummer Tim Powles who's been with the band since 1994), are set to release their 23rd album, Untitled #23, this month in Australia and will get a U.S. release on May 12. Additionally, The Chuch recently scored a short film, Shriek: An Afterword, based on the novel of the same name. Its soundtrack, Shriek: Excerpts from the Soundtrack, dropped in January, and was the first release on The Church's own Unorthodox Records. Both the new album and the soundtrack also spawned EPs. If that wasn't enough, Kilbey released his seventh solo album, Painkiller, last year and Marty Wilson-Piper just released his sixth solo album, Nightjar.

Opening for The Church on their upcoming U.S tour will be Swervedriver/Magnetic Morning singer Adam Franklin who just released his second solo album, Spent Bullets, on Second Motion Records who are also releasing The Church's Untitled #23.

Full U.S. tour dates, plus some classic Church videos, after the jump...

Continue reading "The Church & Adam Franklin - new albums & 2009 tour dates "