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"

by Bill Pearis

As previously mentioned, Friday (9/16) at the Warsaw is the first date of a short tour for classic postpunk band The Raincoats who just reissued their seminal 1980 album Oddyshape on vinyl. I wrote this a while back:

With odd instrumentation, unconventional songwriting and a generally itchy, discordant vibe, the London group's three original albums (1979's self-titled debut , 1981's Odyshape, 1984's Moving) were mildly successful on the UK indie charts but proved highly influential. (Their records have aged exceptionally well.) Kurt Cobain was a huge fan, and actually got his label DGC to reissue the Raincoats' albums and convinced the band to reform and open for Nirvana on a 1994 UK tour, though he would die a week before it was to start. But the reformation proved creatively successful, and Raincoats recorded a third album, Looking in the Shadows, in 1996. They've stayed sporadically active ever since.

Openers on this tour are San Francisco's Grass Widow who are definitely direct descendants of The Raincoats style and sound. Their new single "Milo Minute" is a little more straightforward than anything we've released in a while, I like it a lot. The video, filmed at Boston's Franklin Park Zoo, is below.

Tobi Vail (Bikini Kill, Frumpies) and Amy Yao (Emily's Sassy Lime) are both also DJing the Brooklyn show. All dates below too...

Continue reading "Grass Widow heading out on tour w/ The Raincoats"

Experimental post-punkers The Raincoats are reissuing their second LP Odyshape, originally released in 1981 on Rough Trade, on their own WeThRee label. The album is being remastered and pressed on 180 gram vinyl and CD with liner notes by Sonic Youth's Kim Gordon. The release date is set for September 13.

The Raincoats will follow the release with a short North American tour that kicks off in Brooklyn on September 16 at Warsaw. Tickets are on sale now. The Raincoats also play the Jeff Mangum-curated ATP UK in December where they'll perform their self titled debut in its entirety.

The Raincoats played MoMA in November. Check out a video of them with Kathleen Hanna covering The Slits' "Vindictive" below, along with all tour dates...

Continue reading "The Raincoats reissuing 'Odyshape', touring (dates)"

"ATP Concerts are very excited to present the return of Neutral Milk Hotel's Jeff Mangum to headline and curate one of two festival weekends planned for December 2011 at Butlins, Minehead. After releasing what is now one of the most loved and critically acclaimed albums of the 1990s (In The Aeroplane Over The Sea), Neutral Milk Hotel disbanded before many of those who now love their albums had a chance to see the songs performed live, so Jeff's much anticipated return to the live stage this year will no doubt be a very special occasion for fans throughout the UK and worldwide.

As well as headlining, Mangum will choose around 40 acts to play across the weekend on three indoor stages with a total festival capacity of around 5500 people. Mangum will perform more than once in the more intimate Centre Stage venue, although entry to only one show is guaranteed - he will be performing a solo acoustic set."

Ok, so Jeff is playing two Wordless Music shows in September followed by two NJ Portishead ATP-related shows at the end of September and the beginning of October (both sold out), and now at least two shows at his very own ATP in the UK in December. More shows are sure to come.

Jeff's initial UK lineup (listed below) includes A Hawk and A Hacksaw who (also contain a Neutral Milk Hotel member and) are also on the lineup with Jeff in NJ.

The full initial UK ATP lineup and more details below...

Continue reading "Jeff Mangum curating & playing an ATP UK too!"

DOWNLOAD: MEN - "Off Our Backs" Lemonade Remix (MP3)

Talk About Body art

Men will welcome their debut LP Talk About Body on Feb 1st of the new year, via Iamsound, following it up with seven weeks of touring:

We tried to take all of your suggestions, and play in your hometowns, backyards, favorite clubs, and gay alleys.

If we aren't gonna make it to you this time, please please please take a winter road trip with your best friend, brother, sister, lover, mother, professor, or all by yourself. because we want to see YOU!!!! and we want to gather up all your amazing energy. build a huge strong tower with it, climb it, and then tear it down and dance on it.

Those seven weeks will split time amongst the EU and US, with NYC getting a pair of shows: March 9th at Bowery Ballroom (tickets) and April 7th at Music Hall of Williamsburg (tickets). Both shows go on sale at noon on on Friday, 12/10 (via the links provided).

Men recently dropped their single for "Off Our Backs" (from Talk About Body) on 12" and digital download. Check out the video for it below. The EP/12" also features the Lemonade remix of the track which you can download above and stream below. Men also have a few other songs streaming at their blog.

In related news, JD Samson of MEN's old bandmate in Le Tigre, Kathleen Hanna, is keeping busy as well. She recently DJ'd at a Raincoats show that took place at MoMA and will be the subject of a documentary and a corresponding and sold-out tribute show on 12/11. In addition, Hannah will appear at Joe's Pub on Dec 15th as part of "Our Hit Parade: Special Decade Edition - The Top 10 Songs of the 90's!". She'll join Ad-rock of the Beastie Boys, Judy Gold, Alan Cumming, and others to perform the songs "as comically literal skits". Tickets are on sale.

And actually, Hanna didn't just DJ at MoMA that night with the Raincoats, she also joined them on stage for a Slits cover. Video of that, and video of her speaking this past October at Bruar Falls (courtesy of Punk Cast), is below.

MEN song stream, video, and all tour dates are below too...

Continue reading "MEN releasing LP & touring ++ Kathleen Hanna doing stuff too"

Kathleen Hanna with Bikini Kill in the 90s

Kathleen Hannah will be celebrated on December 11th at Knitting Factory in Brooklyn, as a host of bands she has influenced will team up to perform songs from across her career. The show is a benefit for a forthcoming documentary on the Bikini Kill/Le Tigre member:

Kathleen is currently the subject of a documentary tentatively titled The Kathleen Hanna Project, a.k.a. Who Told You Christmas Wasn't Cool?, directed by Sister Spit alumni, Sini Anderson. ...The documentary explores exactly what makes people react so strongly to Kathleen Hanna's work... her personal motives and perspective on the scene she's been a part of for 20 years, "there's also a lot of context: the history, the musicians, the other people who were part of that movement." The film is also about perseverance in the face of personal attacks, even from those within one's own marginalized community. "Kathleen took an enormous amount of shit. She ate a lot of dirt along the way." And Anderson wants to know, "when people are so busy trying to take you down, how do you keep on creating?" -[The Feminist Guide To Hollywood]

Sini Anderson will also be filming the show for the documentary. Tickets are on sale.

Bands playing include Sonic Youth's Kim Gordon, Kaia Wilson, MEN (aka JD Samson of Le Tigre's new band), Bridget Everett, Care Bears on Fire, Hilly Eye, She Murders (featuring Kim Gordon's daughter Coco), Toshi Reagon, Making Friendz, Christy & Emily, and many many others including video performances by Caroline Polachek (Chairlift) and a dance performance by Emily Wexler. Full lineup is below.

Kathleen Hanna DJed the sold-out Raincoats show at MoMa on 11/20. Some videos below...

Continue reading "Kathleen Hanna documentary benefit @ Knitting Factory "

Peelander-Z @ Fun Fun Fun Fest 2010 (more by BBG)

today in NYC
* The Raincoats @ MoMA
* Improv night @ The Stone
* Overkill @ Starland Ballroom (NJ)
* Furthur @ Madison Square Garden
* Glenn Branca @ Le Poisson Rouge
* The O'Jays @ Brooklyn Academy of Music
* The Frames, Jake Clemons @ Terminal 5
* Sam Amidon @ The Kitchen (early and late)
* Tensnake, Villa (FIXED) @ Le Poisson Rouge
* Kate Nash, Peggy Sue @ The Wellmont Theatre
* Andrew WK @ the Crazy Donkey (in Farmingdale)
* La Strada, Hospitality, Birdlips @ The Rock Shop
* Bio Ritmo, Spanglish Fly, DJ Bongohead @ Zebulon
* Kittens Ablaze, Team B, Baby Alpaca @ Glasslands
* Tiny Lights, Starring, Dick Heaven, Bfok @ Cake Shop
* Incantation, Mortician, Furnerus, Fatalist @ Europa
* Hollis Brown, Grandfather, The Hot Press @ Union Pool
* Amazing Baby, Acrylics, Teen, Psychic @ Cameo Gallery
* Maceo Parker, Karl Densons Tiny Universe @ Irving Plaza
* Wham City Comedy Tour @ The Showpaper 42nd Street Gallery
* Peelander-Z, Starscream, TsuShiMaMiRe @ Santos Party House
* Giant Panda Guerilla Dub Squad, Super Hi-Fi @ Mercury Lounge
* Earl Greyhound, Cavalier Rose, Knights on Earth @ Bowery Ballroom
* Brown Wing Overdrive, Freida & Holzkopf, Eidetic Seeing @ Silent Barn
* Black Dice, Blues Control, McDonalds, Avey Tare (DJ set) @ The Schoolhouse
* The Naked and Famous, Savoir Adore, Yes Giantess (DJ set) @ Brooklyn Bowl
* Bit Shifter, La Belle Indifference, Albino Ghost Monkey (Pulsewave) @ The Tank
* Roadside Graves, Motel Motel, Dinosaur Feathers, Ivana XL, Teletextile @ Pianos
* Sanctuaries, Sports, Life Size Maps, Zoos of Berlin, Paul & the Patients @ Spike Hill
* Tyvek, Terrible Twos, Timmys Organism, The Mahonies, DJ Mick Collins @ Brooklyn Fire Proof
* Lee Fields & The Expressions, Charles Bradley & The Menahan Street Band @ Music Hall of Williamsburg
* Bill Frisell's Disfarmer Project Featuring Viktor Krauss, Greg Leisz & Jenny Scheinman @ the Concert Hall
* Bardo Pond, Pontiak, Crazy Dreams Band, Tom Carter/Mark Orleans Duo, Bad Dream, Silver Summit @ The Bell House

Tonight is La Strada's final show. A selection of La Strada videos below.

Ani DiFranco's show at Town Hall is cancelled

Tiny Lights, Dave Dreiwitz of Ween included, reunite tonight for a performance at Cake Shop.

What else?

Continue reading "What's going on Saturday?"

by Martin Longley

Friday's gig's sold out, although in the new Knitting Factory this still means that we're not feeling claustrophobic. Still room to move. It's like a mini-history of London punk, with former Slits singer/guitarist Viv Albertine playing a completely solo opening set that feels like it's half monologue as she recalls the days of platonically sharing a bed with Sid Vicious and getting her one-time heroin fix from Johnny Thunders. Mother sits you on her knee, to tell you tales of the old days, but few bedtime stories tend to inhabit such a nihilistic world. The rules of punk are explained, and Albertine's anecdotes come across as a mixture of naîve wonderment and epic sleaze: there's something very strange about this legend-making material becoming a thing of thirty-plus year-old history. Sadly, Albertine's tinny-guitared songs are quite basic and uninspiring, but the massive Slits legacy is indeed a difficult songbook to match.

Albertine fares much better later, guesting with The Raincoats to play "Adventures Close To Home", which was originally a Slits ditty. This is the climax of a short US tour, coinciding with the reissue of the band's ultra-classic 1979 debut album. Predictably, it's these songs that provide the highlights, played in an authentically raw fashion, as if they were scrawled out only a few days previously. The face-painted Raincoats emanate sheer inclusive bonhomie, ebulliently bouncing and bounding. Gina Birch and Ana Da Silva swap vocals and guitars, whilst Anne Wood jumps around gleefully as she bows with a fierce attack to her sawtooth violin riffing.

Vice Cooler's drumming is almost too professionally session-istic, but we can't really argue with the added thunder-power he provides. There's "No One's Little Girl", with its eeeek-ing violin/vocal harmonies, and the minor fluff of "Babydog" from their fleeting 1996 revival. The true classics, though, are "No Side To Fall In", "Fairytale In The Supermarket", "No Looking" and "Lola", all delivered as a multi-vocalled rabble. The Raincoats remain completely committed, still in touch with their original ramshackle energy-forces.

Check out a video from Viv's set, below...

Continue reading "The Raincoats & Viv Albertine played Knitting Factory"

by Bill Pearis

DOWNLOAD: Beach Fossils - Vacation (MP3)
DOWNLOAD: The Horrors - Sea Within A Sea (MP3)
DOWNLOAD: Fool's Gold - Surprise Hotel (MP3)
DOWNLOAD: The Raveonettes - Last Dance (MP3)
DOWNLOAD: The Raveonettes - Suicide (MP3)

The Raincoats

It's almost CMJ time and if you (and by "you" I mean "me") were smart you'd rest up till Tuesday... but there's a lot of good shows between now and then, so it's easier said than done. If you don't mind the rain and cold that this weekend is bringing.

Perhaps the most interesting show of the night is at Knitting Factory where legendary all-female post-punk band The Raincoats play as part of The Royal Flush Festival. With odd instrumentation, unconventional songwriting and a generally itchy, discordant vibe, the London group's three original albums (1979's self-titled debut , 1981's Odyshape, 1984's Moving) were mildly successful on the UK indie charts but proved highly influential. (Their records have aged exceptionally well.) Kurt Cobain was a huge fan, and actually got his label DGC to reissue the Raincoats' albums and convinced the band to reform and open for Nirvana on a 1994 UK tour, though he would die a week before it was to start. But the reformation proved creatively successful, and Raincoats recorded a third album, Looking in the Shadows, in 1996. They've stayed sporadically active ever since.

Tonight's show also features Soft Power which is the project from onetime Autoclave/Helium singer Mary Timony -- reason enough for many to go right there. Timony was one of the '90s most distinctive guitarists and songwriters, and her post-Helium solo work has been good too. Soft Power is apparently more of a collaborative effort -- bandmates Jonah Takagi (who plays a homemade baritone guitar) and keyboardist Winston Yu write and sing as well. The two songs on Soft Power's MySpace sound pretty good. The show is rounded out by onetime Slits guitarist Viv Albertine.

If you miss it, Soft Power have another show scheduled on November 14th at Southpaw.

The Horrors @ Bowery Ballroom earlier in the tour (more by Oren Loloi)

The Horrors are back in town tonight (10/15) playing Music Hall of Williamsburg, wrapping up their U.S. tour (their Maxwell's show was cancelled) supporting their great new album Primary Colours, which I've gone on about a couple times already. But we are getting close to Halloween, so what better time to embrace your goth side with this show? Tonight's show is with JAMC/Spacemen 3-loving San Diego band Crocodiles, a definite good fit with The Horrors, and soul/blues/gospel/punks Black Diamond Heavies.

Air Waves @ The Yard over the summer (more by Sarahana)

Meanwhile, over at Market Hotel is a solid, all-locals line-up, headed by Beach Fossils. I've had quibbles with their sound in the past (silly vocal effects) and they need to write a few more songs, like soon, but they've become a good band very quickly, and the last time I saw them they really had it together. As I've said before, there's a definite New Zealand vibe going on (maybe a little early R.E.M. too), super catchy songs with bouncy arrangements. I like them a lot. Also playing are Air Waves who've been playing around for a while now but have just gotten around to releasing their first EP which is really quite lovely, in a folky Velvet Underground kind of way. Singer Nicole Schneit is a talented songwriter and Air Waves' keep things simple and focused on the songs. Rounding out the bill are acid-prog collective Prince Rama of Ayodhya and PC Worship.

Speaking of Air Waves, they're looking for a drummer:

Someone reliable, good drummer, quick learner, committed, fun. After a bunch of CMJ shows, we have a 2 week European tour for February, and a March tour down to SXSW for the third time.

20-34 if possible. Female or male.

Love, Nicole

If you'd like to apply, you can do so via their MySpace.

Fool's Gold

L.A's Fool's Gold, not to be confused with A-Trak and Nick Catchdubs' record label of the same name, hit town for a string of shows that begins tonight (10/16) at the Cameo, continues Saturday at Cake Shop and runs through CMJ. Conceived by Israeli-born singer Luke Top and guitarist Lewis Pesacov, Fool's Gold are draw heavy influence from Afrobeat, but sing almost exclusively in Hebrew, and the band numbers anywhere from 8 - 11. There's a lot of buzz about Fool's Gold right now, the video for single "Surprise Hotel" has been making the rounds (and you can download the MP3 above). I'm not 100% on these guys yet, but I'm curious enough to see them live. The Cake Shop show also features a DJ set from Lemonade.

In November, Fool's Gold goes out on tour in support of Edward Sharpe and the Magnetic Zeros. That tour includes shows at Bowery Ballroom and Music Hall of Williamsburg. Tickets for both are on sale. All Fool's Gold dates are at the bottom of this post.

I should briefly mention Echo & The Bunnymen who play tomorrow (10/17) at Mercury Lounge which will certainly be a fun tiny place to see them if you got tickets. If not, they're back playing Hammerstein Ballroom on November 22. Much like 2005's Siberia, the new album, The Fountain, is better than I was expecting it to be, thanks mainly to Will Seargent's still-inventive, soaring guitar-work. He's a true original. Ian McCulloch's cigarette-fueled vocals are like a great big hug, warm and nostalgic, though his lyrics at times are more than a little cringeworthy ("I love that sweet sack you're in / I love your saccharine"). But they still sound like the Bunnymen (well, circa 1987).

And finally, if you missed The Raveonettes at Webster Hall (or Maxwell's) earlier this week, you can still see them at Music Hall of Williamsburg on Sunday (10/18). The band have never really strayed from their Phil Spector meets JAMC formula, but Sune Rose Wagner and Sharin Foo began perfecting and elevating it with last year's Lust Lust Lust, and while they turn down the volume (or at least the distortion) for the new In and Out of Control, I think it's their best batch of songs yet -- nearly every song on it could be a single. You can download two of them at the top of this post. And even when they were making less inspired records, The Raveonettes were always a good live band. And here they're coming off two strong records. Go see them. Opening are Austin's Black Angels, who sound a lot like the Brian Jonestown Massacre but do it pretty well.

That's it for the weekend. Get ready for the CMJ onslaught. Tour dates and videos follow.

Continue reading "The Raincoats, Soft Power, Fool's Gold, Air Waves (need a drummer), Horrors, Bunnymen & more in This Week in Indie"

Les Savy Fav @ Brooklyn Masonic Temple (more by Natasha Ryan)

BROOKLYN KNITTING FACTORY SET TO OPEN / BROOKLYN'S LES SAVY FAV TO PLAY OPENING NIGHT

"The Knitting Factory, a leader in the New York arts scene for over two decades, is proud to announce that our new venue at 361 Metropolitan Avenue in the Williamsburg neighborhood of Brooklyn, NY will be opening September 2009. Brooklyn-based favorites, Les Savy Fav, will perform and host the opening night on Wednesday September 9th. Upcoming shows will feature performances by: Boss Hog, Rasputina, Mayer Hawthorne, Titus Andronicus, The Raincoats, The Spits, Mucca Pazza, Melissa Auf der Maur, cEvin Key, A Wilhelm Scream, Helado Negro, Maps and Atlases, No Neck Blues Band, Dub Trio, Smokey's Secret Family and much more to be announced. Upcoming special events include this year's Williamsburg Fashion Week's Fashion and Arts Premiere, the Miss LEZ Pageant and the Royal Flush Film Festival.

We've been waiting for this news since first finding out Knitting Factory was taking over the Brooklyn Luna Lounge lounge space in April 2008 (which was followed by official confirmation in July of the same year). Since then, Knitting Factory's Manhattan location closed and reopened (and closed again) and lots of people have been left wondering what the deal was.

Tickets for the September 9th Les Savy Fav show are on sale (thx Coma). They also play Fun Fun Fun Fest in November.

Boss Hog is September 10th (tickets). They play ATP NY on September 12th.

The Titus Andronicus/So So Glos show (tickets) is the last date on a long tour that also includes a show at Maxwell's.

Melissa Auf der Maur plays KF on October 17th as part of the Royal Flush Film Festival which makes sense since she made a movie. Tickets for that event are on sale.

And tickets and dates to all of the above mentioned shows are HERE.

More about the space, HERE.

Tim Harrington apologizes to his mom, in the video below...

Continue reading "Knitting Factory Brooklyn opening September 9th w/ Les Savy Fav (tix on sale) ++ other upcoming shows like Boss Hog"