by Bill Pearis

DOWNLOAD: Box Elders - Hole in My Head (MP3)
DOWNLOAD: Jeremy Jay - In This Lonely Town (MP3)
DOWNLOAD: Headlights - Cherry Tulips (TJ Lipple Remix) (MP3)
DOWNLOAD: Headlights - Market Girl (Album Leaf Remix) (MP3)
DOWNLOAD: The Love Language - Lalita (MP3)
DOWNLOAD: Julie Doiron - Consolation Prize (MP3)
DOWNLOAD: Katie Stelmanis - In My Favour (MP3)
DOWNLOAD: Savoir Adore - Transylvanian Candy Patrol (MP3)
DOWNLOAD: Darwin Deez - Bad Day (MP3)

The Box Elders are back for the first time since their loin-clothed Market Hotel show back in January, playing Bruar Falls on Friday (4/24) and Cake Shop on Saturday (4/25). For those, like myself, who have played their sole single, "Hole in My Head," to death at this point and are anxiously awaiting new stuff from them... we must continue to wait. Their debut album on Goner, Alice and Friends, won't be out till August 4. Their next release is just a single that's only available via the Hozac Hookup Club which subscriptions sold out quick for. And as mentioned before, Box Elders will have a single out on Jay Reatard's newly-reinvigorated Shattered Records. Maybe the band will have a tour CD-R or something?

Friday should be one of the first real tests of Bruar Falls as far as in-demand shows. The place is teeny-tiny (not that Cake Shop is big). It should be a tight fit. Getting there early would be smart, and luckily the lineup is pretty good, with Bay Area psych folk band Dame Satan; Jackson Heights' The Beets whose debut, Spit in the Face of People Who Don't Want to Be Cool, is out now on Captured Tracks and worth seeking out for those who dig garagey '60s proto-punk; and caUSE co-MOTION offshoot German Measles. The Cake Shop show should be a little more manageable.

Blank Dogs

Whichever night I'm not going to see Box Elders, I'll probably go see Blank Dogs. Originally just the name of Captured Tracks head Mike Sniper's many, many home recordings, Blank Dogs have become a real band over the last year and a good one at that. Sniper has also dropped the anonymity schtick for the most part, actually showing his face in a new press photo, just in time for the new double-LP, Under and Under, which is out in June on In the Red. It's still of the mid-'80s goth sound (I think they sound like Red Lorry Yellow Lorry if you remember them) but more refined and catchier songs. The creepy/funny video to the album's first single, "Setting Fire to Your House," is further down this post.

Blank Dogs play Friday (4/24) at Secret Project Robot in Williamsburg which is the same building at Monster Island, and share the bill with two kindred spirits: the gothy (and a bit silly if you ask me) Cold Cave, and Brooklyn's Mazing Vids who've been around for a while but don't play very often anymore.

Jeremy Jay

Saturday's show at Silent Barn is a bit more varied and probably better for it, with two other bands that would be worth seeing on their own. Jeremy Jay just released his second album on K that swings from Cars-ish new wave, to twangy surf rock. It's a good record, and you can download the single "In This Lonely Town" at the top of this post. Rounding out the solid line-up is Mobile, Alabama's Wizzard Sleeve whose debut is out sometime soon on Hozac. With song titles like "Chrome Intensifier" and "Pterodactly Meltdown" you know your in for a trippy time, but it's not paisley shirt acid rock. Their brand of psych feels very modern, with a big dose of krautrock for good measure. I really feel this show is a hard one to pass up.

Jeremy Jay also plays a show on Friday (4/24) at Union Hall with Illuminations and James William Hindle. Tickets are on sale. All dates below.

Julie Doiron

There are a lot of hard to pass-up shows this weekend. Canadian singer Julie Doiron is in town, playing Cake Shop on Friday (4/24) and Union Hall on Saturday (4/25). Some may know her for her work with Mt. Eerie, and others remember Julie from her days fronting Eric's Trip who released three albums on Sub Pop in the early '90s. She's been prolific ever since Eric's Trip broke up in 1997, releasing a string of quality, if somewhat downcast solo albums. Her latest, I Can Wonder What You Did With Your Day, is ebullient in comparison but no less special. She's got one of those voices, not unlike Chan Marshall or Beth Orton, that can make the hair on the back of your neck stand at attention. Check out the album's "Consolation Prize" at the top of this post, and the video for "Heavy Snow" at the bottom.

Katie Stelmanis

The Julie Doiron Cake Shop show is an early one, so you could theoretically hit it before going elsewhere. Plus, speaking of magical, unique voices, fellow Canadian (and Cake Shop fave) Katie Stelmanis is also on the bill. There's an MP3 at the top of the post (and a video below) and here's what Popmatters said earlier this year:

Katie Stelmanis was already starting to pick up steam in 2008. Almost a year since her nearly unnoticed debut album, Join Us dropped on Blocks Recording Club (a record co-op based in Toronto), Stelmanis was featured on Fucked Up's Chemistry of Common Life, and split a Matador released 7" with them in late 2008. In 2009, people are bound to pick up on the ethereal and eerie leanings of this powerful vocalist and songwriter.

If you're a fan of Bat For Lashes (there's a similar Kate Bush thing going on), Katie is well worth checking out. She also plays Death by Audio later that Saturday night, and new Brooklyn venue Sycamore the next day (4/25).

Opening for Julie Doiron at the Union Hall show on Saturday is Purse Snatchers, which is former Dirty on Purpose drummer Doug Marvin's new musical project.

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A few more recommended shows:

I've plugged local band Savoir Adore before, who in my opinion are one of the best unheralded pop bands in town. They're playing tonight (4/23) at Pianos and you should really go out and see them. There's a newish song to download at the top of this post and is more indicative of what they do live than their concept-EP debut from last year. If you like Stars or The Go-Betweens or any classic pop, I really don't think you'll be disappointed. Also on the bill is Darwin Deez, who make infectious, '80s-tinged dance pop that's kind of hard to dislike. One of their MP3s is above too.

As you may have read on this site, Chicago's Headlights are playing on Friday (4/24) at the Bell House. If you're going to that show (or are looking for something to do and everything else I've written about here doesn't sound interesting to you), I implore you to show up early and check out North Carolina's The Love Language. I really like their self-titled debut that is warm and inviting, lush and low-fi at the same time.

And Sunday night (4/26) at Maxwells is the Fourth Anniversary party for Musicsnobbery.com. Last year, Moby filled in when headliners The Teeth broke up days before his Third Anniversary party. This year there's no such drama, but the line-up is solid: Crystal Stilts, Mahogany (both faves of mine) and Motel Motel. Might I suggest you bring Musicsnobbery blog founder Chris some cookies in appreciation?

Tour dates and videos after the jump...

Continue reading "Jeremy Jay, Julie Doiron, Katie Stelmanis, Blank Dogs, The Beets, Wizzard Sleeve & more in This Week In Indie"

by Bill Pearis

The Depreciation Guild

For fans of Shoegaze/Dreampop/etc, the Bell House is where you want to be tonight (1/8) for a free show with locals The Depreciation Guild, Dead Leaf Echo, and Luxa. I'm quite fond of The Depreciation Guild's most recent album, In Her Gentle Jaws, which you can download for free from the band's website. Mixing heavy and heavily-treated guitars with beats built on a Nintendo Famicom, they actually kind of remind me of me of Mew's dreamier moments. The Depreciation Guild are also going on tour with The Pains of Being Pure at Heart next month so the rest of the country will get a chance to check them out too.

As for the other two bands on the bill, I'm not familiar other than checking out their respective MySpace pages, but Dead Leaf Echo have dreampop cred: their forthcoming album was produced by John Fryer (Cocteau Twins, Pale Saints), and they've had remixes done by Ulrich Schnauss. Luxa are a little more on the bliss-out side of things. No idea what any of these bands are like live, but you can't argue with the price. Also free: Brooklyn Lager from 8-9.

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Keeping things Brooklyn local, My Teenage Stride play Union Hall Friday night (1/9). The band have entirely revamped their line-up in the last six months but when I saw them at Glasslands late last year they were good as ever. If you like Lloyd Cole, the Chills, The Wedding Present and other jangly '80s indie signifiers, you should definitely seek them out, if you haven't already. My Teenage Stride also play next Thursday (1/15) at Vanishing Point Studio in Bushwick.

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Box Elders

It's already been mentioned that Michigan band Tyvek are playing three shows this weekend, one of which is at Market Hotel with Crystal Stilts. Also on that bill are Omaha trio Box Elders, who are not named after the classic Pavement song, or the tree, but the bugs that infested the house where two-thirds of the band (Jeremiah and Clayton McIntyre) grew up. (They claim they still have a snare with about 100 dead box elder bugs in it...eww.) So far the band only have one single, the excelent "Hole in My Head" which sounds a lot like New Zealand's The Clean to these ears. (Bonus points: the b-side is a cover of Redd Kross' "S&M Party.") The Box Elders are currently on a fairly extensive US tour but The Market Hotel show is their only NYC-area show so do check them out.

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And finally, this weekend marks the premiere of FUTURITY -- a musical written by local retro-futurists The Lisps. As the Lisps' shows tend to be theatrical anyway, mixing elements of vaudville and Americana and other genres, it's no real suprise they had a musical in them. Here's the blurb:

FUTURITY tells the story of Julian Munro, a lowly foot soldier in the American Civil War with an overactive imagination and a dream to be a famous writer. Through the double narrative of Julian's wartime experience ripping up Confederate railroads in southwestern Virginia, and the grimly futuristic novel he writes along the way, the musical weaves an ominous and bizarre tale of destruction, creation, and utopianism. The protagonist of Julian's novel, The Inventor, devises an omnipotent steam-powered artificial intelligence that he sees as a panacea for all of humanity's woes. The story is largely narrated by Ada Lovelace, the famous mathematician and Julian's imaginary muse. The music in FUTURITY draws inspiration from every corner of traditional Americana and contemporary indie-rock to paint a quintessentially American scene of war, antiquity, technological hubris, and outmoded conceptions of futurity.

Sounds kinda epic. FUTURITY is being performed both Friday and Saturday night at The Zipper Factory and you can get tickets here.

ALSO THIS WEEKEND: 2 Camper Van Beethoven shows

Videos, tourdates and other stuff for some the above groups after the jump...

Continue reading "the Depreciation Guild, Box Elders, My Teenage Stride, a Lisps musical & more in This Week in Indie"

by Bill Pearis

Quasi

This time of year is usually pretty slow, show-wise, but this seems to be an especially-packed week for shows. Here's some of the stuff I'm considering attending while I procrastinate on holiday gift shopping and doing all my year-end lists over on my own blog.

Crystal Stilts @ Less Artists More Condos (more by Gabi Porter)

Speaking of, while I haven't posted my Best Albums of '08 yet, I will tell you Crystal Stilts' Alight of Night did make the Top Ten. They're playing tonight (12/17) at Le Poisson Rouge and even though I've seen them more times this year than I'd like to admit (and will probably see them again later this week), I will probably be in attendance. They're opening for Bay Area neo-fokies Vetiver, whose new covers album, Thing of the Past, is rather lovely.

Vetiver

Hot Snakes

Also tonight (12/17), is that double-shot of ex-Hot Snakes/Drive Like Jehu/Pitchfork bands at Santos Party House: Obits, that's fronted by Rick Froberg; and headliners The Night Marchers, which features John Reis and two other members of Hot Snakes. I have to admit Obits is more of a draw for me, as the band also features Sohrab Habibion who used to front Edsel, one of my favorite bands from the '90s DC scene. Obits just released their debut 7", "One Cross Apiece," which I like a lot. Will there be a mini Hot Snakes reunion tonight? Probably not, but you can always hope for a Christmas miracle.

Plus Minus

Speaking of '90s indie rock survivors, Thursday (12/18) at Music Hall of Williamsburg is +/-, which is the band/solo project James Baluyut formed when Versus called it quits in the early part of this decade. Versus are playing shows again - and maybe recording new material (so I hear) - but +/- are still very much their own thing and going strong, having released their fourth album Xs on Your Eyes, back in October. Actually the whole line-up at MHoW that night is pretty great: Philly duo Pattern is Movement (who played a BV CMJ day party this year), Brooklyn indie royalty The Ladybug Transistor, and In Interview who I caught at NYC popfest back in June and who don't play nearly enough.

Also on Thursday (12/18): That A.C. Newman Get Guilty listening party at Stanton Public, which I originally thought was last week but wasn't. You can still RSVP for it at Insound. 8-10PM, free beer n' booze.

Sic Alps

And last but absolutely not least, the can't miss show of the week has to be Saturday's (12/20) three floor-event at Knitting Factory curated by indie rock's original keyboard-drum duo, Quasi. Mates of State, Matt and Kim, etc, bow down to Sam Combes and Janet Weiss. The line-up is kind of staggering: awesome San Francisco garage rock duo Sic Alps (who I've plugged before), the aforementioned Crystal Stilts (a late addition to the bill), Jeffrey Lewis, Soft Circle (ex-Black Dice), plus films by legendary animator Sally Cruikshank (one of which is where Quasi got their name) and Craig Baldwin. Oh yeah, Marnie Stern is also playing. Tickets are $20, and worth it.

Continue reading "Quasi, Vetiver, Crystal Stilts, Marnie Stern, +/-, Hot Snakes, Sic Alps & more in This Week in Indie"

by Bill Pearis

DOWNLOAD: Loney Dear - "Airport Surroundings" (MP3)
DOWNLOAD: AC Newman - "Submarines of Stockholm" (MP3)
DOWNLOAD: Matador Records Intended Play sampler 2008 (ZIP file)

Loney Dear

I'm excited for Ida Maria, but those shows are a month away. As for this week, you may remember Loney Dear are in town to play two shows with fellow Swedes Melpo Mene. For most of us this will be our first taste of their new album, Dear John, which is out on Polyvinyl on Jan. 27. If the track at the top of this post, "Airport Surroundings," is any indication, the new album is going to be a lot more synthy. And is it just me or does that track start out sounding a little like Warnen G's "Regulate"?

In addition to Melpo Mene (who I wrote about before), the Mercury Lounge show Wednesday (12/10) night also features locals Boy Genius who are getting ready to record their new album with producer Mitch Easter (R.E.M., Pavement, and his own band, Let's Active). The Bell House show on Friday (12/12) is part of Union Hall/Bell House talent booker Skippy's 40th birthday party. Takka Takka and Alina Simone are also on the bill. There could be other surprises too, you never know.

Melpo Mene also has a couple shows in addition to the ones with Loney, Dear. He'll play Rockwood Music Hall on Thursday (12/11, 11PM) and and an early (6PM) free show upstairs at Cake Shop on Friday (12/12). Go see him if you can.

Next Thursday (12/18), why not hit Stanton Public from 8-10 for the AC Newman's Get Guilty listening party? It's free beer n' booze too, you just need to RSVP at Insound. You can get one track from Get Guilty on Matador's free download Intended Play sampler, and another MP3, both at the top of this post. Plus, Carl just announced some 2009 tour dates.

One final pick for this week: I highly recommend checking out School of Seven Bells at Mercury Lounge on Monday. Their debut, Alpinisms, is one of my favorite albums of 2009, and the band just got back from opening for M83 so I have a feeling they probably won't be playing places this small for much longer. And when they can get all their crazy equipment working, it's a mezmerizing show. Some of their videos below...

Continue reading "Loney Dear, Boy Genius, School of Seven Bells & more in This Week In Indie"

by Bill Pearis

DOWNLOAD: Professor Pez - The Perfect Test (MP3)
DOWNLOAD: Professor Pez - Imperial Always (MP3)
DOWNLOAD: Professor Pez - Looking at Stars (MP3)

Casiokids @ CMJ (more by Kyle Dean Reinford)

Real Ones @ CMJ (more by Kyle Dean Reinford)

Professor Pez

I'm still in a post-CMJ fog and am not really feeling like heading to a rock club any time soon, but there are few things worth noting. As two of my favorite performances from last weekend's rock-a-thon were from Norway (Casiokids and Real Ones), I am inclined to go for the Nordic hat trick with Professor Pez, a six-piece from Bergen who have stuck around after CMJ to play two more shows here this week. With trumpet and violin, Professor Pez definitely fall into the twee / indiepop category, and if their videos are indication there's some theatricality going on there too. They play Union Hall tonight (10/29) and Public Assembly (previously known as Galapagos) tomorrow (10/30).

Fugu

Secondly, Saturday (11/1) at The Bell House is a rare U.S. performace from French pop maestro Fugu (real name Mehdi Zannad) a one-man-band who's been putting out records since the late '90s. On record Fugu makes highly-orchestrated pop akin to Stereolab, St. Etienne, Tahiti 80, or The High Llamas. (His '99 debut, Fugu 1, is one of the lost classics of the last ten years.) Fugu is an actual band in France these days but this will be a solo show so we'll see what that actually entails. But he plays the U.S. about as often as Scott Walker (I think he's only played here once before), this is a rare treat for pop fans.

Videos below...

Continue reading "Professor Pez from Norway & Fugu in this Week in Indie "