Famous Class Records, a label that Ariel Panero used to co-run, and the one his band Tough Knuckles was signed to, put together the shows happening tonight (2/4) and Saturday (2/5) at Death By Audio - both with killer lineups to help raise money to get the Tough Knuckles record released... though just in a small way. They've "decided to do limited run of 350 albums on white vinyl. Basically the show is 2 nights featuring all the bands that Ariel helped out and loved and there's gonna be a sliding scale at the door, $8 to get in or $15 and we'll mail you a limited edition copy of the record when its printed at the end of the month." Check out the poster and lineups below...

Continue reading "shows in memory of Ariel Panero in Brooklyn (tonight & Sat)"

NYC show promoter, Grooms band manger and Tough Knuckles band member Ariel Panero passed away suddenly this week. The music community and especially the NYC (I almost wrote Brooklyn) DIY community is mourning the loss of the man who helped found both Less Artists More Condos and Under 100. The Village Voice (who as they point out have had their share of interaction with him) have a really nice writeup about him, and it in they posted a video which is the last piece of music Ariel ever recorded. Listen to it below....

Continue reading "the last song Ariel Panero ever recorded (RIP Ariel)"

words by Andrew Frisicano, photos by Marcus Lauer

Thee Oh Sees

Thee Oh Sees' third of four shows while in town was the first edition of Jelly's biweekly Saturday series at the Rock Yard, a new space in a gravel-floored, barbed-wire-surrounded lot. Whatever was there before, it's been cleaned up nicely with walls of Jelly-branded graffiti, vendors selling beer ($4), Jell-O shots, frozen boozy lemonade and hot dogs, and the McCarren relic inflatable slip 'n slide.

Thee Oh Sees played a jammier set than at their Seaport show the night before. One constant was Help's "Enemy Destruct," one of their catchiest tunes, caught on video below. Brigid's light-blue student-model Wurlitzer seemed to konk out during soundcheck, so she stuck to vocals and sleigh bells, while frontman John Dwyer found new destinations for his endless supply of saliva.

Before that, the Beets, X-Ray Eyeballs (featuring members of Golden Triangle, who played two of the other OCS shows), Tough Knuckles and Gun Outfit all played. Music ended a bit before 8pm.

Thee Oh Sees will be back in NYC for a September 21st show at Santos. Tickets are on sale.

The next free Rock Yard show is July 31st with the Skeletons Big Band, Family Band and Priestbird. Skeletons (not big band) play Death By Audio on Wednesday with Peter Evans/Tim Dahl/Mike Pride trio and "Sam Mickens & Darius Jones play the Dead Science."

All Skeletons tour dates and video of the Big Band in action at Roulette, with more Rock Yard pictues and a video, below...

Continue reading "more Rock Yard pics (Thee Oh Sees) & Skeletons dates (DbA)"

photos by Andrew St. Clair

Jelly's new Saturday series of free summer shows kicked off Saturday afternoon at their new outdoor space they've called Rock Yard. Originally a bit lacking in the exciting lineup department, the show suddenly became much more tempting when they announced the addition of Thee Oh Sees after the Seaport show (which by the way meant that last year Thee Oh Sees played Siren and this year they were coincidentally competing with it). And there was slip 'n slide.....

Continue reading "there was Thee Oh Sees, The Beets, slip 'n slide & more @ the Rock Yard on Saturday (pics)"

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

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

by Bill Pearis

DOWNLOAD: Best Coast - This is Real (MP3)
DOWNLOAD: Zoos of Berlin - Electrical Way (MP3)
DOWNLOAD: Mr. Dream - Knuckle Sandwich (MP3)

Best Coast

This week is extra-packed with musical goodness, so I'm breaking up TWII into two parts. Here's your mid-week edition.

Best Coast are here, playing Knitting Factory tonight (4/6) and Mercury Lounge tomorrow (4/7). Initially a solo project for onetime Pocahaunted singer Bethany Cosentino, Best Coast is now a collaboration with producer/guitarist Bob Bruno. Bethany is a talented songwriter with an amazing voice that has a Linda Ronstadt quality to it (maybe even a little Loretta Lynn in there). It's unfortunately buried under a spill reverb and low fi sludge on her first couple singles. That they were still worked is a testament to the songs, I think. But both sides of Best Coast's latest 7", on the Black Iris label, are knockouts, somewhere between the Everly Brothers and '60s girl groups. Sonically, it hits that Goldilocks sweet spot of sounding produced but not slick in any way. You can download the b-side, "This is Real," at the top of this post.

Live there's even less reverb than the recordings (or at least there was both times I saw them at SXSW) and you're really hit with the songs and that voice. Ali Koehler, on loan from Vivian Girls, will be on the drumkit (they had a dude playing drums in Texas) and The Bitters (member of Fucked Up) open both shows, with The Babies also playing tonight (which means at least 2/3 of the Vivian Girls perform at the show tonight).

As previously reported, Darwin Deez's show tonight has been relocated from Market Hotel to new DIY space Party Expo (929 Broadway, the Myrtle stop on the JMZ), which seems appropriate in this case as it's his birthday. I'll be the first to say Darwin looks kinda like a hipster dufus, but there's no denying he's a talented guy and I think his self-titled album, out May 10, is pretty great. And despite his look, his music is not some '80s throwback. He's carved out a very distinct sound for himself, staccato guitar pop with thoughtful lyrics and Darwin's warm voice smoothing things out. It's pretty charming stuff.

Zoos of Berlin

Zoos of Berlin are back in town and were scheduled to play Market Hotel on Wednesday (4/7) and that has since been relocated to Shea Stadium.  I've written about them before, and I really urge you to check them out. Nobody else sounds like them, a regal mix of Bowie's Berlin period and Steely Dan funk. No really. They're pretty awesome. ZoB have brought fellow Detroiters Child Bite (kinda punk, kinda jazz) with them. The two bands are on tour together and all remaining dates are at the bottom of this post. The Shea Stadium show also features Electric Tickle Machine, who are better than their name might suggest.

A couple more Wednesday, 4/7, picks. At Cake Shop, there's a good line-up of Florida's Tough Knuckles, local '90s throwbacks Mr. Dream and South Korea's 10 (with help from Brown Wing Overdrive), plus Effing and Your Youth. Check out the rockin' MP3 of Mr. Dream's "Knuckle Sandwich" at the top of this post.

And one last chance to catch Irish indie poppers So Cow, playing at Death by Audio with The Babies, Surprisers and San Diego's Sunday Times.

Look for the weekend edition of TWII on Thursday. Till then, there's tour dates, flyers and videos after the jump.

Continue reading "Best Coast, Darwin Deez, Zoos of Berlin, Mr. Dream & more in This Week in Indie (part 1) "