by Andrew Sacher

The Zombies on Fallon

The Zombies are currently on their 50th Anniversary tour with The Strawbs, who are playing acoustic shows on the tour. I saw the show at Tarrytown Music Hall in Tarrytown, NY this past Sunday (9/18).

The Strawbs started things off with their unique brand of progressive folk. Founding member and lead vocalist Dave Cousins was joined by other longtime members Dave Lambert and Chas Cronk who provided guitar, bass, samples, and harmony vocals to the trio's drum-less set. The whole set was pretty great but everything really came together on the 8-minute epic "Autumn."

After about a half hour break, The Zombies took the stage, kicking their set off with their cover of "Sticks and Stones," which appears on their 1965 debut LP. After a few more early cover tracks and a fair amount of material off their recently released Breathe Out, Breathe In, The Zombies went into a much anticipated segment of songs from Odessey and Oracle. They delivered some of the albums strongest cuts, including "Care of Cell 44," "Beechwood Park," "This Will Be Our Year," and of course "Time of the Season." Though only two of the original members remain in the band, the sunshine pop vocal harmonies that made me fall in love with Odessey and Oracle were spot on, as were Rod Argent's driving organ solos. After the Odessey and Oracle section had unfortunately ended, the band played more new stuff and an Argent song, before returning to a high point with standout singles, "Whenever You're Ready," "Tell Her No," and the early psychedelia of "She's Not There."

The Zombies and The Strawbs are continuing to tour North America and will hit NYC's City Winery on September 26 and 27. Tickets are still on sale for both shows.

Updated dates, with three videos of the Zombies performing on Jimmy Fallon last week (one from the TV show and two web exclusives), below...

Continue reading "The Zombies are on tour w/ The Strawbs, played Fallon (videos) & Tarrytown Music Hall (review) "

by Andrew Sacher

Psychedelic pop legends The Zombies are celebrating their 50th anniversary this year. They formed in 1961. They're celebrating the anniversary with an album of entirely new material Breathe Out, Breathe In. The album is credited to "The Zombies featuring Colin Blunstone & Rod Argent," the two remaining original members. The album was released May 9 via Red House Records and can be purchased on Amazon UK or regular Amazon as an import or digitally for less than $10 on iTunes.

Drowned in Sound didn't love the new album, but says:

It seems a tad churlish to pick at the flaws in Breathe Out, Breathe In, not least because this is the kind of album you will most likely be buying in good faith with modest expectations rather than in search of a stone cold classic. Nevertheless, 'Let It Go' is sickly sweet as closing tracks go, its final sign off being the overly theatrical "Shout it loud from high and low, just listen to your heart." Following on from the similarly choral 'I Do Believe', it forms a limp ending to an otherwise fun album.

Says Colin, "We are still learning, and new discoveries energize us, it's all part of being an artist, we are very proud of our achievement here. We hope it moves and touches people like it has us. The Zombies have been a fantastic journey, we've gone from playing in the back of pubs to headlining festivals and it still feels like it is just the beginning."

You can also grab a free download of the track "A Moment In Time" at The Zombies' website, and check out an in-studio video of the song below. We can't find any physical US release details.

The Zombies recently finished up a European tour in support of the album and will head back out on an international tour starting in Japan this July. Blunstone and Argent are touring with Jim Rodford (Argent, The Kinks) on bass, his son Steve Rodford on drums, and session guitarist Tom Toomey. The band will make it over to North American in September with progressive folk pioneers The Strawbs (who will be playing acoustic). While they're here, they'll play NYC twice on September 26 and 27 at City Winery. Tickets are on sale now. All dates are listed below.

The Strawbs are also set to release a new album Hero and Heroine in Ascenscia on June 30 in the US via Witchwood Records. The album is a reinterpretation of their 1974 LP Hero and Heroine, which they played in full on a 2010 Canadian/European tour. You can purchase it at the Witchwood webstore.

Not that The Zombies need anymore accolades to confirm their influential place in history, but Fleet Foxes fans may be interested in knowing that their classic album Odessey and Oracle is an influence on Robin Pecknold. The album has also been highly regarded by Idiot Glee who plays Glasslands tonight (6/15), by The Vaccines, and countless others.

Check out some recent live videos and interviews about the new album, album art, tracklist, and all tour dates below...

Continue reading "The Zombies made a new album, celebrating 50 years on tour with The Strawbs (dates)"

Spoon @ Radio City in March (more by Benjamin Lozovsky)

Spoon, whose next show is at the MAHA Music Festival in Omaha, Nebraska, will be coming to New York soon as part of their handful of dates opening for Arcade Fire. Those include the shows at Madison Square Garden on August 4th and 5th (which Owen Pallett also opens).

Spoon's upcoming tour dates also include Matador's Lost Weekend, Austin City Limits, and a free September 12th show at Clark, NJ's Oak Ridge Park (a little more than an hour by train from NYC). There they'll headline the 13th annual Union County MusicFest. The free five-day fair will have two days of music, Saturday, September 11th and Sunday, September 12th. The first night's bands include The Bravery, Soul Asylum, OK Go, Mike Peters and Friends, Willie Nile, Jesse Malin and the St. Marks Social, and 61 North. Joining Spoon on the second night are Robert Randolph and the Family Band, Nils Lofgren Acoustic Duo, The Zombies and Suzanne Vega. More bands are still to be announced.

All Spoon dates below....

Continue reading "Spoon playing NJ's free Union County MusicFest & other dates "

The Zombies, The Yardbirds, and The Spencer Davis Group are going on a "Rock Royalty" tour. They NYC show is at Hammerstein Ballroom on July 10th. Tickets are on sale.

The Slip are playing Bowery Ballroom on June 26th. Tickets are on AmEx presale today (@ noon).

Tickets are on sale (@ noon) for the Orb shows at Bowery Ballroom and Music Hall of Williamsburg.

Tickets are on sale for both NYC Vaselines shows (Bowery Ballroom and Music Hall of Williamsburg)

Tickets are on AmEx presale (@ noon) for the Eagles of Death Metal show at Webster Hall.

Tickets are on AmEx presale (@ noon) for the Lemonheads show at Bowery Ballroom.

Yo La Tengo is opening for Wilco at Keyspan Park. Tickets are still on sale.

There are Ticketmaster pre-sales starting on Thursday and Friday for the Sonic Youth show at United Palace.

Sonic Youth is also playing Austin City Limits and the Capitol City Block Party.

Some videos of The Zombies below...

Continue reading "the Zombies, the Vaselines, the Orb, the Slip & other tickets "