Advanced tickets for the BrooklynVegan/PopGun-presented U.S. debut of Wu Lyf at Glasslands Friday night are sold out, but there will be limited tickets available at the door, AND Popgun have set up a 2nd Wu Lyf show happening at Shea Stadium on Saturday. Friday's show will be opened by Wise Blood, True Womanhood, and DJ True Panther. Saturday's will feature sets by Total Slacker and Wise Blood.

Continue reading "Wu Lyf arrives this weekend (now w/ 2 NYC shows)"

by Bill Pearis

DOWNLOAD: Yuck - Rubber (MP3)
DOWNLOAD: Yuck - Georgia (MP3)
DOWNLOAD: Darlings - Big Girl (MP3)
DOWNLOAD: The Soft Moon - Tiny Spiders (MP3)
DOWNLOAD: The Soft Moon - Breath the Fire (MP3)
DOWNLOAD: Generationals - Trust (MP3s)

Darlings @ the Shank for CMJ 2010 (more by Andrew St Clair)

Dang it! Yuck are still having trouble getting into our country, cancelling tonight's show at Mercury Lounge. But tomorrow's show (1/26) at Glasslands is still on, and I'm gonna write this with fingers crossed. You can still get tickets to tomorrow's show.

Yuck's self-titled debut is due out February 15 and is full of the kind of warm and fuzzy indie rock that will remind certain 30-somethings of their college years listening to Sebadoh, Teenage Fanclub and Bettie Serveert. (They also remind me of underrated mid-aughts band The Comas.) You can check out two songs above. I am super-psyched to see them.

The Glasslands show tomorrow is especially enticing. Darlings don't get enough attention, as they're one of the more tuneful bands we have in this town, and they're always good live. Above you can check out the A-side to their "Big Girl" 7" which was released late last year on Famous Class. They've got a new EP, Warmer, due out any minute. Fergus & Geronimo and Total Slacker too. Solid line-up.

Yuck, if they make it into the country, tour with Smith Westerns and then will back in March for SXSW. All Yuck dates are below. With the trouble they have, maybe they just shouldn't leave.

Also making their NYC debut this week are San Francisco's The Soft Moon who play the Wierd Party at Home Sweet Home tomorrow night (1/26) and at Monster Island on Friday (1/28) as part of an all-Captured Tracks line-up that includes Blank Dogs, Widowspeak and Further Reductions.

You can check out two tracks from The Soft Moon's debut LP which is pretty much in "classic goth" territory: relentless beats, watery bass, whispered vocals. It's all very Clan of Xymox which is a good thing if you ask me. As to what they're like live...we'll see. From footage I've seen on YouTube, they don't seem to have a drummer which is too bad, but otherwise seem to play most everything else live. I really dig the album, looking forward to this one.

Unless you don't have to get up at a normal hour on Thursday (bands don't play till 1am at Wierd), Monster Island is probably the way to go. Plus it's more klang for your buck. I caught Widowspeak last week and thought they were pretty good, not dissimilar to YellowFever (who have a show coming up with Wild Flag by the way). Blank Dogs have finally figured out a workable live line-up, and I'm curious about Further Reductions (side project of Led Er Est) whose 7" on Captured Tracks is superior minimal synth.

There is really too much going on this week. Did you manage to get tickets to one of the two Peter Bjorn & John shows? (Thursday 1/27 at Santos, Friday 1/28 at The Rock Shop) These should be fun.

I think the surprise success of "Young Folks" was a blessing and a curse for PB&J. Here's a group that made cute, very good guitar indiepop and who probably would still be playing small clubs if it wasn't for that mega-smash that sounded like nothing the band had done before? In their case, they made an all-instrumental album (2008's Seaside Rock) and then 2009's ambitious Living Thing that was pretty good, but sounded more like a demo reel for Bjorn Yttling's production resume than something they thought about how they were going to play live.

Working with an outside producer for the first time (Per Sunding who some of you may know from excellent '90s indiepop Swedes Eggstone), Gimmie Some is the return of Peter Bjorn & John sounding like themselves again. It also sounds like three guys playing live, which bodes well for these shows, and is their best collection of songs, hands down, since Writers Block. In addition to adrenalyzed first taste "Breaker Breaker" (video below), there are three or four more crazy-catchy potential singles on the record, including the cowbell-fueled "Second Chance," and funky-ish "Dig A Little Deeper." It's a really good album.

Look for a full-fledged tour around the album's release in March.

Wye Oak @ Beacon Theater - 1/24/2010 (more by Dominick Mastrangelo)

The Decemberists played their first of three NYC shows last night. If you're going to tonight or tomorrow's sold-out shows at the Beacon, do get there early to see openers Wye Oak, one of the best bands around these days. They are chill-inducingly good live. The duo's new album, Civilian, is due out March 8 on Merge and is a real stand-up-and-take-notice stunner. It is crazy good. I don't know what the first single is going to be but if I was picking it would be the soaring "Holy Holy" that they better damn well play this week. There's video of them performing it last week in Berlin at the bottom of this post.

In addition to those shows with The Decemberists, Wye Oak are also playing a private show at The Rock Shop on Thursday that we're giving away four pairs of tickets to. To win, e-mail BVCONTESTS@HOTMAIL.COM (subject: Wye Oak). Include your first and last name in the email. A winner will chosen at random and contacted with more details. Good luck!

Wye Oak head out on tour with Lower Dens then Callers -- none of those shows are in NYC unfortunately but hopefully they'll be back soon.

That's the big stuff this week. Here are a few more picks, day-by-day:

TUESDAY, JANUARY 25

Yuck aren't playing tonight, but Generationals and Country Mice (who seem to have dropped the "We Are" from their name) are still doing their early show (7pm) at Mercury Lounge tonight. Generationals' Trust EP from last year was really good, you can download its title track at the top of this post.

Suuns are at the Rock Shop tonight, the first of three shows this week. They also play Shea Stadium tomorrow (1/26) and Mercury Lounge on Thursday (1/27). I've written about these Montrealers loads of times, they're great, go see 'em.

continued below...

Continue reading "Yuck, Darlings, Soft Moon, Generationals, Peter Bjorn & John, Wye Oak, Suuns & more in This Week in Indie"

photos by Ian Perlman

The Smith Westerns

Back on October 30th, The Pelly Twins held a pre-Halloween party at 171 Lombardy with the lineup of Dom, The Smith Westerns (who were in town to play with Florence and the Machine), Yellow Fever, Total Slacker, and Sweet Bulbs. Unfortunately cops stopped the fun early, but luckily Silent Barn was available to keep the party going so Dom could still play their set. A set of pictures from the bands that played the show before it got busted, continues below...

Continue reading "The Smith Westerns, Yellow Fever, Total Slacker & Sweet Bulbs @ 171 Lombardy for Halloween (belated pics) "

Halloween (more by Paul Birman)

What are some good Halloween shows happening this year? There's always the parade. And Todd P has his thing. Knitting Factory has all the metal you need. Hippies will be down the shore gambling. The Dresden Dolls are at Irving Plaza. World/Inferno Friendship Society do two shows at Brooklyn Bowl. The Felice Brothers and Adam H. Stephens of Two Gallants play MHOW (not a very Halloween-like option). Robbers on High Street will be ELO at Mercury Lounge. A Weezer cover band opens for them.

Deidre of Savoir Adore and French Horn Rebellion hosts Deidre's Hoochie Coochie Halloween at Zebulon. Michael T hosts a Rocky Horror Picture Show anniversary party at Le Poisson Rouge. The always-costumed Voluptuous Horror of Karen Black play Santos. What else?

There's always Saturday/Mischief night to celebrate. Since Halloween is on a Sunday this year, Halloween will probably last all weekend long (plus, Halloween technically begins at midnight). Guns n Roses cover band Mr. Brownstone are at Brooklyn Bowl this Saturday evening before Das Pop play the Halloween party there later that night. Allo Darlin play the Mondo Halloween Party at The Rock Shop in Brooklyn on 10/30. The previously mentioned Pelly Twins Pre-Halloween Partay is happening that night too:

Saturday October 30th @ 171 LOMBARDY
:: PELLY TWINS PRE-HALLOWEEN PARTAY
:: http://pellytwins.blogspot.com
:: DOM
:::: SMITH WESTERNS
:::::: Yellow Fever
:::::::: Total Slacker
:::::::::: Sweet Bulbs
| 171 LOMBARDY |
502 Varick Ave @ Lombardy St | East Williamsburg, Brooklyn
L-Grand St, G-Nassau | 8pm | all ages | $tba

What else?

Get in the mood with some videos below...

Continue reading "What's happening on Halloween weekend in NYC this year?"

words & photos by Tracy Allison

"Just remembered I threw up at bruar falls last night." - WAVVES

"Monday night at New York City's Bowery Ballroom, the Wavves founder and frontman announced he'd just been "mildly sued" by the Walt Disney Company, which was less than psyched about seeing a song called 'Mickey Mouse' listed on his band's latest album.

Williams said he'd agreed to modify future pressings of 'King of the Beach,' out today on CD and vinyl, and replace the offending track with an unreleased B-side. He then offered a succinct legal critique of the plaintiff's case.

"Walt Disney was a Nazi," Williams said. "You go [to Disney World], you feel Nazi vibes. It's disgusting!"

The outburst was one of many quotable moments of the concert, and throughout the evening, Williams and drummer Billy Hayes spent nearly as much time joking about booze and weed as they did playing actual songs. With the presence of soft-spoken metal-dude bassist Stephen Pope, Wavves was like a Kevin Smith movie come to life: two Jays and a Silent Bob." [Spinner]

The night began with a 30 minute set by Total Slacker who took the stage at 8:15. They were followed by The Smith Westerns who also played a 30 minute set as the crowd quickly began to fill the 550+ person venue.

Wavves began their set at 10:20 p.m. and immediately after walking on stage commented on the thick smell of drugs in the air, saying, "It smells like pot out here. It smells like a lot of pot." Throughout the course of the 14 song performance, the rambunctious audience thrashed into each other and danced wildly. The level of audience interaction was much like it was at Wavves' recent show at Knitting Factory- fans freely jumped on and off stage, and bassist Stephen Pope even offered an audience member a swig of whiskey after asking, "Are you cool? You can have some if you're cool." The band finished up their set by 11:20 p.m.

They then headed to Bruar Falls for puking, peeing in garbage cans, sparring with Black Lips, playing video games, etc... More pictures and Wavves' setlist from Bowery Ballroom below...

Continue reading "Wavves being 'sued' by Disney, played Bowery Ballroom before puking @ Bruar Falls (pics & setlist), playing MHOW "

by Bill Pearis

DOWNLOAD: Twin Shadow - Slow (MP3)
DOWNLOAD: Total Slacker - Cops Freak Me Out (MP3)

Summer Blondes

Ok it's a busy weekend of shows. It always is, I always say that. But this TWII is seems more packed than most. No doubt, it is time to try a little harder in the band name department. Especially when it comes to beachy ones of which, anyone who even casually checks in with Pitchfork can tell you, there are too many of. Adding to the band name clutter and confusion are Oakland, CA's Summer Blondes who are visiting us this weekend. They play tonight (7/21) at Shea Stadium, a house party in Bushwick on Friday (7/23) and Bruar Falls on Saturday.

Given their name and hometown, it may not surprise you learn that Summer Blondes (who are dudes, maybe that's a surprise) make low-fi surf garage rock. That said, and lack of moniker originality aside, I like these guys. Alternating between laid back instrumentals and blown-out rockers (and some that most interestingly fall in between), there's more musicality going on here than you might expect. Also: their drummer is a manic powerhouse, and their singer/screamer appears to be a little nuts. No records out yet, but the band do have CDR demos they've been handing out at shows so keep an eye/ear out for those.

Pujol

Also playing that Saturday Bruar Falls show are Nashville's Pujol who are on JEFF the Brotherhood's Infinity Cat label. Is it just me or does it seem like there's a Nashville band in town every weekend? Bye bye JEFF and Heavy Cream, but hello Pujol. You may know him from Wizardz or MEEMAW if you follow the Nashville scene closer than I do. Like all the bands on the Infinity Cat roster, Daniel Pujol makes poppy, punky party rock that is hard to dislike.

If you can't make the Bruar show, Pujol also play Silent Barn on Sunday night and that one's with The Beets, Knight School, and Moonmen on the Moon, Man. Check out a couple Pujol music videos at the bottom of this post with all dates.

Moving from Nashville to Memphis, as mentioned in the previous post, we've got Magic Kids in town for a couple of show. Read more about that there.

Twin Shadow

For being in a band who have never done a whole lot for me one way or the other (there, I admit it), I like every band on Chris Taylor's Terrible Records.  The label's next release is the debut from locals Twin Shadow which will be out September 28. The brainchild of stylish New Yorker George Lewis Jr., Twin Shadow mix a variety of '80s influences into a pretty distinctive sound. For example, on "Slow," which you can download at the top of this post, you can hear a little Joy Division in the drumbeat, and the arpeggiated, delay-effected guitar is straight out of The Chameleons or U2's playbook. You can even hear a little Prince ("I Would Die 4 U") and Bruce Springsteen ("I'm on Fire") in there too. But he makes it all into something new.

Lewis, who sounds like The Blue Nile's Paul Buchanan but looks more than a little like Phil Lynott, is a charismatic cat on stage... see them now in small places while you can. Twin Shadow play Cake Shop Thursday (7/22) and Coco 66 on Friday (7/23). Both shows are with Hooray for Earth.

Free Energy @ the Pitchfork Festival (more by Kate Gardiner)

And last but certainly not least, this Friday's edition of the Seaport Music Festival might just be the biggest of the Summer with Free Energy, Best Coast and Loose Limbs. Best Coast couldn't be any hotter right now with just about every media outlet writing about their debut album which comes out next week. It's a fine showcase for Bethany Cosentino's natural way with a melody, her great Loretta Lynn-ish voice, and her ability to rhyme the word "crazy." Much has been made of the single-minded lyrical themes -- a very bad breakup, weed -- but I prefer to focus on those melodies and her voice which can stop you in your tracks. It a gorgeous record in that respect, and Best Coast, now with full-time drummer Ali (swiped from Vivian Girls), have been good the three times I've seen them this year (twice at SXSW, once at Knitting Factory). It's also Best Coast's only NYC show (not counting the invite-only one last night) until they return at the end of September. All tour dates are below.

Headliners Free Energy should be right at home on a big outdoor stage, as their album is loaded with festival-ready fist-pumping rock anthems, stealing the best bits of Thin Lizzy, ELO and '80s stadium rock. Perfect summer music, that goes down easier than Bud Light. Get there early for trio Loose Limbs (who are signed to Seaport Music Records), and I'll be DJing a second week in a row. Will I play The Darkness? Seems likely.

--

That's gonna do it for this edition. There's some more daily picks of things worth checking out that I didn't cover above:

WEDNESDAY, JULY 21

Montreal's Parlovr and Suuns play the first of their two shows this week at Mercury Lounge and both are worth catching (and one is now signed to Secretly Canadian). It's an early show.

You could make a Montreal night of it by then heading over to Home Sweet Home for the Wierd party where Automelodi play at Midnight.

Sludgy noisemerchants Total Slacker (check out new MP3 "Cops Freak Me Out" at the top of this post) and funky Ava Luna (who impressed during Northside) headline a bill at Glasslands that also includes Mala Strana and Baltimore's loud Weekends.

Diehard, who'll have a new EP out soon of catchy, classic-sounding indie rock,  at Union Pool with The Waylons and World War.

continued below...

Continue reading "Summer Blondes, Twin Shadow, Violens, Free Energy, Pujol, Best Coast, Midnight Juggernauts, more in This Week in Indie"

WAVVES @ the Meatlocker (more by Brian Kip)

Wavves has been added as opener of the Dirty Projectors / Phoenix show at Madison Square Garden. ha. Tickets go on general sale Saturday, July 17 at 10am.

The Smith Westerns and Total Slacker are opening for Wavves at Bowery Ballroom.

Owen Pallett is opening for Arcade Fire & Spoon at Madison Square Garden and Dirty Projectors at Terminal 5.

Total Slacker are also playing one of those just-announced free Jelly parties.

So, remember those six free shows that are happening? Here they are....

Continue reading "Jelly presents Saturdays @ Rock Yard (6 free show lineups) "

interview by Billy Jones, top photo by Ryan Muir

DOWNLOAD: DOM - Jesus (MP3)
DOWNLOAD: DOM - Living In America (MP3)
DOWNLOAD: DOM - Burn Bridges (MP3)

Dom, pictured above playing at a party inside Pitchfork's Brooklyn offices on Tuesday night, are in town to play two Northside Festival shows. The first happens tonight, Thursday, June 24th, at the Knitting Factory. Dom opens for Cloud Nothings and WAVVES. That show is sold out. After that it's Saturday night at Music Hall of Williamsburg aka the BrooklynVegan showcase with Zaza, Twin Sister, and Memory Tapes. That one still has tickets available. Both shows are also accessible with a Northside Festival badge (first come, first served, capacity permitting, etc).

It's been an exciting few months for Dom whose next scheduled NYC show after Northside is the 2010 Siren Festival. Their most recent show before Northside was "Fader Bowl".

Billy Jones (you may have read his recent interview with Dave Sitek) caught up with Dom (the person) via gchat on Wednesday. They talked about Dom (the group), the Pitchfork party, Cults, gingers (they both are), Total Slacker, salvia, Party Expo, merch and more...

---

Billy: sup man
Dom: nothing much. chillin.

Billy: i am ginger
Dom: sick! u kno we are less than 10 percent population

Billy: have you seen the M.I.A. video?
Dom: yes i have

Billy: how do you feel about mia? i am left handed and ginger. fucked.
Dom: i love mia. yeah i wasnt really moved one way or another by the vid. great concept, butttt, i could have done it better

continued below...

Continue reading "an interview w/ Dom (about MIA, gingers, drugs, Pitchfork's Brooklyn office party, the Northside Fest & stuff) "

by Bill Pearis

DOWNLOAD: Total Slacker - Crystal Necklace (AAC)

photo by Chris Person

Despite what their name might lead you to believe, Total Slacker are working hard the next few weeks with the release of their debut single and a string of local dates, starting tonight (6/21) opening for Indian Jewelry and Effi Briest at Mercury Lounge. They also play the Northside Festival on Saturday night (6/26) at Death By Audio that's being hosted by Impose and also features Frankie & the Outs, Lower Dens, Coasting, Sisters and more.

Impose is also putting out Total Slacker's 7" debut in two weeks, with new versions of "Crystal Necklace" and "Video Store Rental Guy" that you may have heard in demos that made their way around the interet earlier this year. You can check out the new version of "Crystal Necklace" above -- still hazy but slightly less sludgy. And "Video Store Rental Guy" shows off the band's noise rock tendencies (well on display when they play live), nearly hitting the 12-minute mark.

There's a July 6 Record Release show at Union Pool with Beach Fossils. All other Total Slacker dates are after the jump.

Continue reading "Total Slacker releasing Impose 7" (MP3), playing w/ Indian Jewelry (tonight), Northside Fest & other shows (dates)"

DOWNLOAD: Lower Dens - Hospice Gates (MP3)

Dan Deacon dance contest @ Bonnaroo 2010 (russroe)

Did you catch Lower Dens at the show Saturday at Co-Op 87? Regardless, make sure to get to Red Hook Park (map) early enough this evening, June 15th, to catch them when they open for the Dan Deacon Ensemble at the Summerstage show happening there. The free show starts at 7pm.

Dan Deacon, like Jay-Z, played Bonnaroo over the weekend. NPR has the stream archived. Coming up, post-Red Hook, you can also catch Dan at this summer's Whartscape Festival.

Lower Dens have three more shows at the end of June including the Impose Northside Festival show on June 26th at Death By Audio...

Impose Northside Show!

Lower Dens
Dark Dark Dark
Matteah Baim
Frankie and the Outs
Total Slacker
Coasting
Union

$10, doors at 8pm.

Continue reading "Lower Dens opening for Dan Deacon (who played Bonnaroo) in Red Hook (tonight), playing Impose Northside & other dates "

RIP Doug Fieger

Douglas Lars "Doug" Fieger (August 21, 1952 - February 14, 2010)was an American singer-songwriter. He was the lead singer of the New Wave band The Knack, and co-wrote the biggest hit song of 1979, "My Sharona", with lead guitarist, Berton Averre. He was the younger brother of Detroit attorney Geoffrey Fieger who confirmed his death on Valentine's Day, 2010 to The Detroit News. [Wiki]

We mentioned VV Brown's free show on Monday at Brooklyn Bowl. She's also playing again for free this Wednesday at Hiro Ballroom. RSVP here.

Beast are at the Living Room tonight. They play the Cameo tomorrow night late...and they've added an early set at the Mercury Lounge, where the show is with Fight Like Apes, Honor By August, Stationary Set and Tryptics.

Ted Leo shows up for "songs and a chat" at the Bell House's Get Off Your Knees, a comedy show hosted by Sara Schaefer and Kim Armstrong, and guests Leo Allen and Jamie Kilstein.

L Magazine has some directions for the free Wavves show at Brooklyn Bowl tonight.

Meet at the southern end of Driggs and N 12. The parade will go down Driggs, up Bedford, and over to Brooklyn Bowl. We will be led by The Rude Mechanical Orchestra and there will be a float with Burlesque entertainers: Angie Pontani, Helen Pontani, Darlinda Just Darlinda, Akynos, The Maine Attraction and Lil Miss Lixx

The lineup goes:
8:00-- Total Slacker
9:00-- (we announce the king and queen of the Carnival)
9:30-- MNDR
10:30-- Wavves

What else?

Continue reading "What's going on Tuesday? (Fat Tuesday) "

Total Slacker @ St James Church (more by Vincent Cornelli)

CatholicVoteAction.Org, Culture War Notes, and Aufer A Nobis all have posts claiming "abomination", "sacrilege" and "desecration" at St James Church on Friday, 1/15. They're referring to the Real Estate, Beach Fossils, The Beets, The Tony Castles & Total Slacker show (that Curren$y was also a special guest at). Videos from the event below...

Continue reading "religious sites claiming St. James Church was 'desecrated'"

photos by Vincent Cornelli

Real Estate, Beach Fossils, The Beets, The Tony Castles and Total Slacker, a lineup that would have been right at home at Market Hotel, crossed the river and played an LAMC-presented show at a historic religious institution in Manhattan on Friday night. St. James Church is one of the oldest Catholic churches in NYC. Vincent said it brought him back to shows he attended in high school cafeterias and local church halls when he was younger ("well organized, and by well I mean loosely organized - the way the vibe should feel.")

As advertised, there was open "bar" for an hour and you could also bring your own. Beer cans decorated pews, as did people standing and dancing on them. The lively all ages audience crowd-surfed down the center aisle where priests, funeral and wedding processions walk.

More pictures from the gig below...

Continue reading "Real Estate, Beach Fossils, The Beets, The Tony Castles & Total Slacker @ St. James Church in Manhattan - pics "

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.

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.

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"

THIS FRIDAY, January 15th, our good friends at Less Artists More Condos are hosting a show at a rad new venue: the St. James Church in Chinatown.

MIDNIGHT: Real Estate (Last show before Europe Tour)
11PM The Beets
10PM Tony Castles (with secret special guest!)
9PM Beach Fossils
8PM Total Slacker
10 dollars & OPEN BAR FROM 8-9

The Beets and Beach Fossils will be touring with Christmas Island this February. Total Slacker, also on the church bill, will help those bands kick off their tour at a February 9th Cake Shop show (the tour has a few other NYC stops too). Total Slacker plays a bunch more this month too (including a January 28th show at Don Pedros with Frankie & the Outs) - dates are below.

Beach Fossils perform on Saturday, January 16th with Real Estate spin-off Alex Bleeker & The Freaks, Cloud Nothings and Nude Beach at Monster Islandl (and in March at Market Hotel with Surfer Blood).

The Tony Castles have another show coming up too. They're playing January 23rd at Union Pool with Forest City, Tough Knuckles and Regal Degal. Tony Castles have some new songs on their MySpace that are definitely worth checking out - an interesting mix of synth textures and pop songwriting.

Directions to the venue and Total Slacker tour dates are below...

Continue reading "St. James Church is a new Manhattan venue - show w/ Real Estate, Tony Castles, Beach Fossils & Total Slacker (dates) "

by Bill Pearis

DOWNLOAD: Beach Fossils - Time (MP3)
DOWNLOAD: Campo-Formio - El Joke (MP3)
DOWNLOAD: Total Slacker - Crystal Necklace (MP3)
DOWNLOAD: Diehard - Cool Kids (MP3)

Total Slacker

Tonight's the last show of The Babies' three-night Williamsburg run, this one part of a five-band bill at Glasslands. I didn't go to their show last night at Brooklyn Bowl with Real Estate, but most of the word I heard from friends who was pretty positive, including BV's own Andrew Frisicano. (When did Babies add the "The" to their name, btw?) The show tonight (1/6) is a solid line-up, maybe the most interesting of the three. Beach Fossils, who get better each time I see them, are set to have a busy 2010, with singles on Woodsist and Captured Tracks and a debut album in March that's a joint release between those two labels. The first taste of that is the song "Time" which you can download above. Sounds like they've dropped the weird vocal effects that I've disliked in the past, so that's the last I'll say on that subject. They're big hopes for this year. Beach Fossils head out on tour with The Beets and San Francisco's Christmas Island in February (Cake Shop on 2/9), and those dates are at the bottom of this post.

Also playing are Total Slacker, whose music sounds a lot like their name -- hazy, lazy with some majorly sarcastic lyrics. I spent much of this morning listening to the songs on their MySpace, none of which get above Galaxie 500 velocity but have high repeat listenability. ("Video Store Rental Guy" is pretty funny.) You can download one of them, "Crystal Necklace," at the top of this post. Total Slacker have a few more shows lined up if you can't make it to Glasslands tonight and those dates are at the bottom of this post. Also also playing tonight: Washington DC's True Womanhood and The Sundelles.

Diehard

Thursday (1/7) at Union Pool is the record release party for local band Diehard's new EP, Oh So Premier. I wrote previously that they "channeled mid-'90s indie rock" and I think that comes through on the very tuneful tracks on the new record -- you can download "Cool Kids" from it at the top of this post. Singer Ezra Selove has one of those Indie Rock Voices, like Quasi's Sam Coomes or the Delgados' Alun Woodward, that sounds good paired with distorted guitars and female vocals (in this case, guitarist Liz Schroeter). These guys are good. Also playing: Mr. Dream, a band that features two rock journalists (Former Pitchfork and Village Voice writer Nick Sylvester and P4k's Adam Moerder), and experimental art-folkers My Favorite Things.

Also Thursday night (1/7): can-bashing Philadelphians Drink Up Buttercup play The Studio at Webster Hall. Their debut album, Born and Thrown on a Hook, is out March 23 on Yep Roc. The show also features Alex Bleeker and The Freaks, which is the country-folky side project from Real Estate bassist, and a few others.

Campo-Formio

Friday night (1/8) at Silent Barn is a real international affair, with bands from France (Subtle Turnhips), Puerto Rico (Campo-Formio) and two completely different parts of Brooklyn (My Teenage Stride and Electricians). There's not a lot of information out there about enigmatic Franco-garage punks Subtle Turnhips but apparently they've been around for a long time. You can download their entire new album for free from their website. One of the tracks from is is linked above.

Campo-Formio describe themselves thusly: "An intense power trio influenced by the sounds since proto-punk. We have a lot of energy to blast people's faces in our live performances. A twangy, shimmery guitar with a creative strumming, a deep bass and intense drum patterns beautifully present one ugly presentation." You can check out their creative, Unrest-like strumming on the track "El Joke" at the top of this post. In addition to the Silent Barn show on Friday, Campo-Formio also play Meat Town in New Bruswick, NJ on Saturday (1/9) and then Don Pedro's on 1/15 and Arlene's Grocery on 1/16.

Flyers and tour dates after the jump....

Continue reading "Beach Fossils, Total Slacker, Diehard, Drink Up Buttercup, Subtle Turnhips, Campo-Formio & more in This Week in Indie"

"Rad Replacements-y project from Kevin of Woods, Cassie of Vivian Girls, Justin of Bossy, and Nate Stark from Stupid Party." - Todd P

Continue reading "Babies have 4 shows coming up (including Brooklyn Bowl w/ Real Estate & tonight @ Ash's Place) "

words by Andrew Frisicano, photos by Erez Avissar

DOWNLOAD: Christmas Island - Bed Island (MP3)
DOWNLOAD: Beach Fossils - Time (MP3)

Beach Fossils @ Shea Stadium

Tickets are still on sale for the Crystal Stilts MHOW show on Saturday, February 20th. Opening up for that show are The Beets, Christmas Island, Beach Fossils and The German Measles (who have a gig with Bishop Allen coming up, more on that soon).

Leading up to that show, Christmas Island (whose debut came out this October on In the Red), The Beets and Beach Fossils are all on tour together this February. The MHOW show is the last of three separate NYC dates for the tour. The other two come February 9th at the Cake Shop and February 13th at Death by Audio.

The Beets have already had a pretty busy December as far as NYC shows go. And the month isn't over for Beach Fossils, who'll ring in the New Year with Frankie and the Outs, Surfer Blood and We Are Country Mice at the Cameo. Beach Fossils (aka Dustin Payseur) has a full-length on the way from Woodsist/Captured Tracks in March, and the song above is from a forthcoming Woodsist 7".

Looking ahead to SXSW, Christmas Island also lists an In the Red showcase at Austin's Beerland on March 19th. The song "Bed Island," a tuneful love song, is above.

All tour dates along with the rest of the pictures from the show at Shea Stadium last Wednesday (12/9), below...

Continue reading "Beach Fossils played Shea Stadium (pics), touring w/ Christmas Island & The Beets (dates) ++ MP3s"