photos by Ryan Muir

Set in the makeshift Market Hotel, the headliner was preceded by the Surprisers, McDonalds, German Measles and Bishop Allen. The Surprisers were surprisingly good, McDonalds were spastic and loud, the German Measles had a lot of problems and Bishop Allen were top notch. As having seen Bishop Allen twice before, I would have had to say that this was their performance of theirs I've seen to date.

After a long break, the band from Glasgow finally took stage to finish their sound check and readied themselves for their set. Introduced by Kevin from What's Your Rupture?, [The Yummy Fur] jumped into "Career Saver"; their music is definitely a throwback, a combination of lo-fi punk and British pop rock. It was a lot of fun. Highlights of the show include performances of their singles "Sexy World", "Policeman" and their closer "Shoot the Ridiculant"; they ended their show with the encore number "Documentary of a Kid". All in all, I thought their show was very good despite the gloomy atmosphere of Market Hotel and its average sound quality. [Music Tasters Choice]

The Yummy Fur continue their short tour in San Francisco tonight (1/18). More pictures and some videos from Friday night's Brooklyn show (which moved venues on the day of the show), below...

Continue reading "The Yummy Fur played Market Hotel w/ Bishop Allen, German Measles & friends - pics & video "

Tonight/Friday's Yummy Fur show is now taking place at Market Hotel. Another video from their first reunion show in Glasgow, and an updated flyer, below...

Continue reading "The Yummy Fur show moved to Market Hotel "

by Bill Pearis

DOWNLOAD: The Yummy Fur - Policeman (MP3)
DOWNLOAD: Big Troubles - Freudian Slips (MP3)
DOWNLOAD: Adam Green - What Makes Him Act So Bad (MP3)
DOWNLOAD: Total Slacker - Demos (mediafire zip)

The Yummy Fur

There's a lot of great shows this weekend, but top of the list for me is Scottish cult indie rockers The Yummy Fur who have reformed to play a few shows surrounding a new best-of compilation, titled Piggy Wings, due out sometime soon on What's Your Rupture. They play 171 Lombardy Market Hotel Friday night. More influential than popular, The Yummy Fur started their life making scratchy, scrappy indiepop a la early Fall but got more glammy and synthy as they went on. Frontman John McKeown took the glam part further with his current band, 1990s. And former members Paul Thompson (who'll be part of tomorrow's show) and Alex Kapranos (who probably won't) have done okay for themselves since in Franz Ferdinand.

You can download one of my favorite Yummy Fur songs -- the 1999 single "Police Man" -- at the top of this post. This is the first, and likely last, time they've ever played the States, so miss this gig at your peril. What to expect? McKeown tells the NY Press:

Nothing. I'm never even really sure there will be people there, but I'm happy to play for whoever shows up. It's not like the band is our life anymore, so it doesn't mean anything to us except that we have affection for it. We do take it seriously, we play the gig straight, but we want to have fun. When 1990s plays the States and same with Franz Ferdinand, there are always people who come out and say they loved The Yummy Fur but we never made it over. This is their one chance.

Also playing the 171 Lombardy show are Bishop Allen, German Measles and Mcdonalds. There's some YouTube video of Yummy Fur's first reunion show in Glasgow at the bottom of this post, as well as all other U.S. Yummy Fur dates.

Grant Hart is back in town for two shows -- tonight (1/14) at Cake Shop and Friday at Knitting Factory. For a man whose previous band put out eight albums in six years (two of which were double LPs), Hart has slowed down a lot since -- Hot Wax is Grant's first album in ten years, and only his fourth since Husker Du split. He talked about his current Quality Over Quantity policy with the The AV Club.

AVC: Why the 10-year hiatus between Good News For Modern Man and Hot Wax?

GH: I've delved into a lot of non-musical projects. Learning new things and accomplishing things with my hands that I put aside as an adult to devote all my time to music. As I've gotten older, I've been concentrating on quality and no filler, and spending more time constructing all of the parts of music, rather than going into the studio with one or two parts and then letting the rest work itself out. The first song, "You're The Reflection Of The Moon On The Water," I took a year to come up with what I thought was an appropriate third verse. That's a long time to hold back on a song that you're excited about in order to make it more of a fulfilling experience. Would I have taken that opportunity in 1985? Hell no.

Tonight's Cake Shop show is good all around, with Drink Up Buttercup and Sisters opening. Tomorrow's Knitting Factory show, Grant is actually opening for Gary Lucas' Gods & Monsters. And you can also catch up with the other half of Husker Du's songwriting force -- Bob Mould, when he plays City Winery next week.

More things to do this weekend:

Zee Avi

Tonight (Thursday, 1/14)

Les Savvy Fav's Tim Harrington hosts a night of comedy and music at The Bell House, featuring charming Malaysian singer-songwriter Zee Avi, and one of my favorite comedians of the moment, Kumail Nanjiani. Plus Stardweller, Rory Scovel, Kevin Barker and screenings of Harrington's Beardo shorts. Plus other shenanigans.

Another chance to see Hot Rats, Danny and Gaz of Supergrass in cover band mode at Bowery Ballroom. Their take on The Beastie Boys' "Fight for Your Right" is pretty great. I'm told Tuesday's show at MHoW was a blast. The Heavy open (and then play 92YTribeca on Saturday).

At Silent Barn is a night of hazy indiepop, headlined by fine new local band Big Troubles whose debut 7" just came out and is well worth picking up. You can download "Freudian Slips" from it at the top of this post. I doubt they've ever heard '90s shoegazers The Boo Radleys, but "Freudian Slips" bears more than a little resemblance to the Boos' single "Lazy Day," dontcha think? Also playing: next generation twee poppers Dream Diary, the experimental noise of Blissed Out and dreamy New Haven band Procedure Club.

Real Estate @ Brooklyn Bowl - 1/5 (more by Andrew Frisicano)

Friday (1/15)

Not tired from playing every day last week, Real Estate headline a killer Less Artists More Condos show at new venue St James Church. There's open bar from 8 - 9, which is my kind of religion. Real Estate just put out a new EP on Mexican Summer which is, I think, the band's 78th release in just under a year. Also playing are The Tony Castles, The Beets, and two of my favorite new(ish) local bands: Beach Fossils and Total Slacker. You can download Total Slacker's five-song demo (via a Mediafire link) at the top of this post.

The Bell House has a fun show of new sound for now: Brooklyn chamber pop band Miracles of Modern Science (download their EP for free here), the raucous pop of Philadelphia's Drink Up Buttercup, Ravens & Chimes' folk pop and Milagres (maybe you remember them when they were called The Secret Life of Sophia).

Joe Pernice plays a solo show at Mercury Lounge where he'll likely talk as much as he will sing, which is fine -- he's a great banterer. A pretty good writer too, as read in his first novel, It Feels So Good When I Stop which he'll read from I'm told. Joe just finished his next album, which is apparently not a Pernice Brothers or Chappaquiddick Skyline or solo record. I hope he hasn't gone synthpop. Something entirely new for 2010 sounds good.

The Cribs @ Bowery Ballroom in 2008 (more by Vincent Cornelli)

Saturday (1/16)

If you can't make the St. James Church show on Friday, you can catch Beach Fossils again on Saturday night where they're playing a show at Monster Island put on by blog Chocolate Bobka. This looks to be a good show, as it also boasts Alex Bleeker & The Freaks, Cleveland's Cloud Nothings and the druggy sounds of New Hope, Pennsylvania's Nude Beach. It's where I'll be Saturday night.

The Cribs (still with Johnny Marr) are at Irving Plaza where they'll play with our (well someone's) generation's Jim Morrison, the always entertaining Adam Green. "What Makes Him Act So Bad," the first MP3 off of Adam's upcoming album, Minor Love (out 2/16 on Fat Possum), is at the top of this post. The Cribs were just great when they played Bowery Ballroom in November.

Videos, flyers and tour dates follow...

Continue reading "Yummy Fur, Cribs, Grant Hart, Adam Green, Zee Avi, Big Troubles, Joe Pernice, Beardo & more in This Week in Indie"

The Yummy Fur kick off a 5-date North American tour on January 14th. More info on the January 15th Brooklyn show, below...

Continue reading "more info on Yummy Fur's Brooklyn show - openers & tickets"

by Bill Pearis

Pitchfork reports that '90s-era Glaswegian indie band The Yummy Fur -- who existed from 1992 to 1999 -- are reuniting and will be playing their first-ever American shows in January, including a NYC stop at the 171 Lombardy space on January 15. For those who don't know, The Yummy Fur was fronted by John McKeown, now of The 1990s, and included Franz Ferdinand's Paul Thompson and Alex Kapranos (who at the time went by Alex Huntley) late in the band's career. McKeown and Thompson will both be in the reunited line-up, but Kapranos will not (though he does live here at least part-time, so who knows about the Lombardy date?).

This unexpected tour will be in support of a new "best of" compilation being released by What's Your Rupture? sometime in January. The band's catalog -- four albums and seven singles full of scratchy, Fall-inspired low-fi twee punk -- has been out of print for ages. The band were kind of legendary on the '90s Glasgow scene that also included Uresei Yatsura and Pink Kross, and it will great to (hopefully) have singles "Policeman" and "Plastic Cowboy," among other tracks, available again somewhere besides Ebay. No word yet as to who else will be in the band besides McKeown and Thompson, though, as bassist Jamie McMorrow is also in the 1990s, it seems fairly likely he'll be along for the trip as well.

Dates & videos below...

Continue reading "The Yummy Fur (members of Franz Ferdinand & 1990s) reuniting for a short tour (dates), releasing a 'best of'"