photos by Chris Gersbeck

Cosmetics @ Bowery Ballroom

Wild Nothing headlined/co-headlined the show Saturday night at Bowery Ballroom, but there were also sets by Blank Dogs, MINKS, and Cosmetics (who play Pendu Disco at Glasslands tonight/Tuesday). Pictures from the rest of the sold out NYC show (where 100 lucky people who made it to the merch table in time got an exclusive CD-R/tape), below...

Continue reading "Blank Dogs, Cosmetics & Minks played Bowery Ballroom (pics) (Cosmetics play again tonight)"

photos by Chris Gersbeck

DOWNLOAD: Wild Nothing - Golden Haze (MP3)

There's a lot going on in Wild Nothing's world. The band, who hail from Blacksburg, VA, are packing their bags and moving to Brooklyn. Not really surprising, except that it took this long. They also have a new EP, Golden Haze, coming out on Captured Tracks sometime in the near future. Apart from the title cut (which you can download above), tracklistings on the CD, 12" and digital versions will vary, which reminds me of the way they used to release multiple versions of UK CD singles in the '90s to get a higher chart position. Fun with formats, or milking the fans? I guess if all the songs are worth hearing it won't matter.

No matter which one you buy, "Golden Haze" is another sparkler from these guys who have been playing a lot of new songs at their shows. And if you haven't picked up their debut Gemini yet, I think it's one of the year's best. And with a permanent line-up (and a new, really solid drummer), Wild Nothing have been a really good live band too. [Bill]

On September 22nd Wild Nothing will leave on a tour with Stars who they'll support through October 9th in Detroit. That trip includes the September 24th show at Terminal 5 in NYC (tickets still on sale), which will actually be Wild Nothing's 2nd NYC show after today because they also open for Superchunk at Music Hall of Williamsburg on September 19th (Todd Barry is also on that sold out bill).

All WN dates and more Bowery pics, below...

Continue reading "Wild Nothing played Bowery Ballroom (pics), touring w/ Stars, opening for Superchunk (dates)"

Negative Approach in Austin 2009 (more)

Bad Brilliance at Santos in 2009 (more by Andrew Frisicano)

today in NYC
* daytime stuff
* Si*Se @ The Bell House
* Matt Welch @ The Stone
* Chi-Chi Glass @ Barbes
* Dub Is A Weapon @ Zebulon
* Cynthia Hopkins @ Barbes
* Rock the Bells @ Governors Island
* Mister Saturday Night w/ Theo Parrish
* Rangda, Major Stars, Meg Baird @ Cake Shop
* Dean Parrish, The Black Hollies @ Southpaw
* Orphan, Eric Copeland, Bad Dream @ Union Pool
* Classixx, Punches, Eli Escobar @ Brooklyn Bowl
* Hahn Rowe, Roger Kleier, Annie Gosfield @ The Stone
* These United States, Roadside Graves @ Mercury Lounge
* Jones Street Station, Last Good Tooth @ Mercury Lounge
* Big Freedia, DJ Rusty Lazer, House of Ladosha @ Coco 66
* Data Dog, Lost Boy?, Food Stamps, Villanelles @ Don Pedro
* Robbers On High Street, Only Son, New Numbers @ The Rock Shop
* Wild Nothing, Blank Dogs, Cosmetics, MINKS @ Bowery Ballroom
* Magic Bullets, Blood Orange, The Cinnamon Band, Beach Combers @ Pianos
* Starkweather, Raw Radar War, The Communion, PanzerBastard @ The Acheron
* The Specific Heats, Knight School, Moonmen On The Moon, Man @ Glasslands
* Raw Radar War, Starkweather, The Communion, Panzerbastard @ The Acheron
* Dinosaur Feathers, Lonnie Walker, The Fatty Acids, Hospitality @ Littlefield
* Exodus, Malevolent Creation, Holy Grail, Bonded By Blood @ Gramercy Theatre
* Autolux, This Will Destroy You, Light Pollution @ Music Hall of Williamsburg
* The Jaguar Club, The Cloud Room, The Vita Ruins, Gold Streets @ Union Hall
* Quilt, Sweet Bulbs, Red Romans (of Beach Fossils), Total Slacker @ Silent Barn
* Bare Wires, Unnatural Helpers, Library on Fire, Violent Soho @ Dead Herring (moved from Bruar)
* Hello Nurse, Left Me Bashful, Dead Stars, Morning Fuzz, The Twees @ The Studio at Webster Hall
* Birthday Cake, X-Stina Ballerina, GOJOE, Bad Brilliance, The Penniless Loafers @ Santos Party House
* White Out w/ Thurston Moore, Carlos Giffoni and C Spencer Yeh Duo, Fat Worm of Error @ Knitting Factory
* Negative Approach, Tesco Vee, Pissed Jeans, Hellmouth, Mind Eraser, New Lows ('Why be Something You're Not'/Touch And Go Fanzine' Release Party) @ Santos Party House

This is part 2 of What's Going On Saturday, Check out Part One too.

Soul party Dig Deeper hosts Dean Parrish and The Black Hollies at Southpaw tonight. Dig Deeper is also responsible for the upcoming Brooklyn Soul Festival at the Bell House featuring, among others, Eli Paperboy Reed who also plays a free show at the J&R MusicFest today.

When I mentioned Thurston Moore had been added to ATP NY, I forgot to post a reminder that Thurston was also making an appearance at Knitting Factory tonight.

Bad Brilliance will reveal himself. or so he says, tonight at Santos, which is unrelated to the Negative Approach/Tesco Vee show also happening at Santos tonight. A Bad Brilliance video promo for the show (not for children) below...

"Due to issues beyond my control, we had to move the show from Bruar Falls to Dead Herring"

Hello Nurse play The Studio on the same night The Cloud Room play Union Hall. The fact that neither venue existed back then aside, it's a 2006 flashback.

THE FIRST 100 PEOPLE TO THE MERCH BOOTH AT BOWERY TONIGHT:

CT-78: Bowery Ballroom free giveaway.
A tape and CD-R (both with the same tracks on it)
100% exclusive to this release. It will not be available digital.
Only 100 are being made, all numbered.
First 100 people to the merch table get one. Limit one per ticketholder.
1. Wild Nothing "Introduction"
2. Blank Dogs "Floorboards"
3. Zodiacs "Black Dreams"

What else?

Continue reading "What's Going on Saturday? (part 2)"

by Bill Pearis

DOWNLOAD: Wild Nothing - Golden Haze (MP3)
DOWNLOAD: Cosmetics - Sleepwalking (MP3)
DOWNLOAD: Magic Bullets - Lying Around (MP3)
DOWNLOAD: Stereo Total - Baby Ouh (MP3)
DOWNLOAD: Unnatural Helpers - Sunshine/Pretty Girls (MP3)
DOWNLOAD: Unnatural Helpers - Girl in the Window (MP3)
DOWNLOAD: Bare Wires - Seeking Love (MP3)
DOWNLOAD: The Sundelles - Gold (MP3)

Wild Nothing

It's another Double Issue sized column this week with a lot of exciting stuff this week. We'll start with a contest. Wild Nothing headline an all-Captured Tracks bill at Bowery Ballroom on Saturday night (8/28) with Cosmetics, MINKS, and Blank Dogs...and we're giving away a pair of tickets to the show. Just send an email to BVCONTESTS@HOTMAIL.COM with the subject line "Wild Nothing" and we'll pick a winner at random.

There's a lot going on in Wild Nothing's world. The band, who hail from Blacksburg, VA, are packing their bags and moving Brooklyn. Not really surprising, except that it took this long. They also have a new EP, Golden Haze, coming out on Captured Tracks sometime in the near future. Apart from the title cut (which you can download above), tracklistings on the CD, 12" and digital versions will vary, which reminds me of the way they used to release multiple versions of UK CD singles in the '90s to get a higher chart position. Fun with formats, or milking the fans? I guess if all the songs are worth hearing it won't matter.

No matter which one you buy, "Golden Haze" is another sparkler from these guys who have been playing a lot of new songs at their shows. And if you haven't picked up their debut Gemini yet, I think it's one of the year's best. And with a permanent line-up (and a new, really solid drummer), Wild Nothing have been a really good live band too.

P.S. Captured Tracks will be giving out free mixtapes at the Bowery Ballroom merch table

Cosmetics

Also on that Bowery bill are Vancouver synthpop duo Cosmetics who are playing a string of NYC shows in this week: tonight (8/25) at the Wierd party at Home Sweet Home, then the Bowery show on Saturday, and finally at Glasslands for Pendu Disco on Tuesday (8/31) with Cult of Youth and Seattle's King Dude. Cosmetics only have two singles out at the moment, though both are pretty good shavings of retro-futuristic minimal disco. (Not too far off from what Glass Candy does.) You can download the A-side of their current single, "Sleepwalking," at the top of this post.

Stereo Total

If you want more minimal beats but with an angular, more arty bent, Stereo Total are playing tonight (8/25) at Le Poisson Rouge. The veteran French-German duo have been supercolliding styles for nearly 20 years. Krautrock, chanson, new wave, punk, garage...Stereo Total make it their own. They were the first band I ever saw at Bowery Ballroom, sometime in 1998, and I still remember a medley they did that featured covers of Salt n' Peppa's "Push it" and Hot Butter's "Popcorn." That's sort of Stereo Total in a nutshell. Their eighth album, Baby Ouh!, is a lot of fun. Check out the album's title track at the top of this post.  The band are just getting started on their North American tour, and all dates are at the bottom of this post.

Magic Bullets

If you're going to see Tennis at Glasslands on Thursday, make sure you get there in time to see San Francisco's Magic Bullets. The band's debut album, just out on Mon Amie Records, recalls the early '80s days of Orange Juice, Aztec Camera, Haircut 100 and The Style Council, with a little C-86 in there as well. (That's basically the formula to get me to come see your band. Well, one of them.) In addition to drawing from a bunch of influences dear to me, they write some fantastically catchy songs. Download one of them, "Lying Around," at the top of this post.

If you can't make the Glasslands show, Magic Bullets are also doing an in-store at Permanent Records in Greenpoint on Friday (8/27) afternoon and then play Pianos Saturday night with Blood Orange (aka Dev Hynes aka Lightspeed Champion) and Staunton, VA's Cinnamon Band.

Unnatural Helpers

Still more! Seattle's Unnatural Helpers released one of my favorite songs of Summer 2010, the addiction-loving "Sunshine/Pretty Girls," which can be found on the band's Hardly Art debut, Cracked Love and Other Drugs. It can also be found at the top of this post in MP3 form. Download it right now. If there's nothing else quite as glorious on the rest of the album, that makes the rest of it merely very good.  Frontman Dean Whitmore plays drums in The Intelligence (whose forthcoming new album is pretty fab) but where that band is making cerebral garage, Unnatural Helpers punkish driving force is man's other frontal lobe. If you know what I'm saying.

Unnatural Helpers are in the area for four shows. They play Bruar Falls Dead Herring (it moved from Bruar Falls) on Saturday (8/28) with Bare Wires (more on them in just a sec), Shea Stadium on Monday (8/30) with the Babies, Maxwell's on Wednesday, September 1st, and then Cake Shop on Thursday, September 2. The band are then going on tour with Mudhoney, and those dates are at the bottom of this post.

Bare Wires

As mentioned above, the Saturday show at Bruar Falls Dead Herring is with Bare Wires whose new album (their second) just came out on John Dwyer's Castle Face Records, a label that only seems to spring to life when the Ohsees frontman finds a band he likes. (Previous Castle Face releases include debuts from Ty Segall and the Fresh & Onlys.) Though the two previous sentences might lead you to believe Bare Wires to be blown-out low-fi garage. They are in fact a really great power pop band in the tradition of The Nerves or even The Sweet,  and the album, Seeking Love, is decidedly mid-fi. Don't believe me? There's an MP3 of the album's title track up there amongst all the others. These guys know their way around a hook.

In addition to the Bruar Falls show on Sunday (a kind of don't miss in my book if you can tear yourself away from Mad Men and True Blood), Bare Wires also play Friday (8/27) at Monster Island Basement with Xray Eyeballs and Liquor Store.

---

And finally, Montreal's incredible Think About Life were supposed to play two shows/cruises on The Boat on Friday (8/27) but the concerts struck a metaphorical iceberg and sunk. (It got canceled.) Luckily, Think About Life abandoned ship and are now playing Santos Party House instead. I've said it a zillion times in the last year, TAL are one of my favorite live bands of the moment and they'll be one of yours too if you go see them. No matter how bad a mood you're in, you'll leave smiling. Don't be dumb...go to this show!

---

And a few more recommended shows not covered above.

WEDNESDAY, AUGUST 25

Florida's awesome Jacuzzi Boys are playing Knitting Factory tonight for another of those Scion Garage shows, this time with Nobunny headlining. Free with RSVP. I'm not sure what it is about their sound -- the singer's voice, the more garagey Feelies-esque jangle -- but I just love them. Nobunny is fun too, of course, but I kind of wish he'd spring for a new bunny mask. It's getting really, really creepy.

Austin's TV Torso play Death By Audio tonight. Their new EP, Status Quo Vadis, is darkly romantic, atmospheric, and rockin'. It's also a free download via their bandcamp site. I dig it. Also playing: Juston Stens & Get the Real Gang, and Slow Animal.

Tennis play the first of their NYC shows at Cake Shop.

continued below...

Continue reading "Wild Nothing, Cosmetics, Stereo Total, Magic Bullets, Unnatural Helpers, Bare Wires, Jacuzzi Boys & more in This Week in Indie"

Wild Nothing @ Governors Island Saturday night (more by Andrew St Clair)

Wild Nothing and the Morning Benders shared a bill at Governors Island Saturday night. Both bands, coincidentally, will next be heading to the UK for shows later this month (dates below), and both just added additional NYC shows to their schedules.

Wild Nothing will co-headline a show at Bowery Ballroom with Blank Dogs on August 28th. Both Cosmetics and Minks are also on that bill. $13 tickets go on AmEx presale Wednesday at noon. General sale starts Friday at noon.

The Morning Benders, whose next NYC shows are with the Black Keys at Summerstage in July (both sold out), will headline their own show at Webster Hall on November 18th. $18 tickets also go on AmEx presale Wednesday at noon. General sale starts Friday at noon.

All tour dates for both bands, and some videos from recent shows, below...

Continue reading "Wild Nothing, Blank Dogs & the Morning Benders add shows"

photos by Andrew St. Clair

Wild Nothing opened the night with a blistering set of tunes that had me groovin'....

Freelance Whales were up next, and I had high hopes for their set....The band was good, but not great...

The Morning Benders played an incredible set the last time I saw them at The Music Hall Of Williamsburg. I didn't think they would be able to top it, but the did. With the devastatingly beautiful backdrop of NYC accompanying them, there was nothing but good vibes floating all round their performances...

...the band played a great cover of the Fleetwood Mac classic "Dreams". The guys nailed it down so well that one wouldn't be at fault for mistaking the song as a morning benders original.

That wasn't the only cover that they did. The band also covered Joy Division's "Ceremony", which Chris said was one of his favorite songs....The set ended with the always incredible "Excuses" which brought a huge singalong from the crowd... [We All Want Someone]

The next show in the Gone to Governors series happens on July 3rd with Portugal. The Man and Alberta Cross (that's a day before She & Him play a July 4th free show on the island with Oakley Hall).

For the Dr. Dog show now happening on Sunday, August 15th (note the date change), atmospheric indie-folk-rock Chief have been added to one of the opening slots.

More pictures from Saturday with the setlists and some videos are below...

Continue reading "the Morning Benders, Freelance Whales & Wild Nothing played Governors Island - pics, video & setlists"

by Bill Pearis

DOWNLOAD: Eddy Current Suppression Ring - Anxiety (MP3)
DOWNLOAD: The Goodnight Loving - The Pan (MP3)
DOWNLOAD: The Goodnight Loving - Nothing Conquers Us (MP3)
DOWNLOAD: Disappears - Gone Completely (MP3)
DOWNLOAD: Woven Bones - Guess You Already Knew (MP3)
DOWNLOAD: Woven Bones - Your Way With My Life (MP3)
DOWNLOAD: Ponys - Check the Door (MP3)

Eddy Current Suppression Ring

I haven't been this excited about a weekend of music in a long time. So much so I don't know how I'm gonna fit it all in.

Let's start with Australia's Eddy Current Suppression Ring who play Cake Shop on Friday (6/18) and Death by Audio on Saturday (6/19) (the second show was originally scheduled to take place at Market Hotel). The band have, to me at least, one of the great band origin stories ever: they formed after a drunken Christmas party at the vinyl pressing plant where they all worked.  whose new album, Rush to Relax, is one of my favorites of the year so far. Download "Anxiety" from it above. It was was supposedly recorded in six hours though it doesn't sound it. Or maybe it does. There's a definite nervous intensity to it -- ECSR are pretty highly charged in general -- and bristles with energy. A lot of this comes from front man Brendan Suppression, whose delivery sounds like he's pacing the entire time. It's a great album.

Eddy Current Suppression Ring live shows are legendary. (There's video from a recent Sydney show at the bottom of this post.) You'd be dumb to miss them. Both nights are with Pissed Jeans which should add to the insanity. Seriously, go see them!

The Goodnight Loving

The other touring band I'm super-pysched about seeing this weekend is Milwaukee's The Goodnight Loving, who play Silent Barn tomorrow (6/17), then Bruar Falls on Friday (6/18), Cake Shop on Saturday (6/19) and Maxwell's on Sunday (6/20).

As I wrote previously, these fine Midwesterners channel the twangier side of the '60s British Invasion (Out of Our Heads era Stones, or the Kinks around Face to Face) and do it with some great songwriting. There are two MP3s at the top of this post: last year's great single "Nothing Conquers Us" and "The Pan" which is from their new album, The Goodnight Loving Supper Club, due out July 20 on Dirtnap Records.

If you're looking for something to tide you over till then, the band just released a new 12" on Italian label Wild Honey that has five new tracks on one side, and some lovely silk-screened artwork on the flip. I'm hoping they're gonna have copies of that at the merch table. And 2006's Cemetery Trails is excellent too.

The Silent Barn show is with '90s shoegaze lovers Big Troubles, Bright Lights and Fire Season; the Bruar Falls show also has Ex Humans and Bass Drum of Death; the Cake Shop lineup includes SpaceCamp and Prince Rupert's Drops; and at Maxwell's  you also get Reigning Sound (one night after they play Southpaw).

Disappears

The Ponys are in town this weekend playing two shows with fellow Chicagoans Disappears and Austin's Woven Bones: Friday (6/18) at Mercury Lounge and Saturday (6/19) at Union Pool. I think the last time I saw the Ponys was probably at Siren Fest 2004? Can that be? That was around the time of their great first album, Laced with Romance, which still sounds awesome. Quiet since 2007's Turn the Lights Out, The Ponys are back with a new EP, Deathbed Plus 4, that finds them pretty much where you remember them: cranking out catchy, goth-tinged garage. (I wonder if they got the EP name from the cult horror film Death Bed: The Bed That Eats? Probably not.) The goth part comes through loud and clear on "Check the Door" -- downloadable above -- which just maybe sounds a little like Joy Division's "New Dawn Fades."

Ponys guitarist Brian Case fronts Disappears who are worth seeing in their own right. Their new album, Lux, is dark and heavy, kinda Kraut-y, definitely loud and pretty great. So if you like the '80s Flying Nun or Pre-Brix era Fall (or any Fall, really) you should check out Disappears. You can download "Check the Door" at the top of this post.

All three of these bands appeal to the same crowd, but Woven Bones are the sneering-est, scuzziest of the lot. The songs on their new album, In and Out and Back Again (dirty!), are all cut from the same blueprint (the two MP3s above is the extent of their stylistic range) but they are masters of their sound. They're good live, too -- the room seems to heat up whenever they play.

Should mention that the Mercury Lounge show also has The Forgery Series, which is Sohrab from Obits amongst others.

AND A FEW NIGHTLY PICS:

Wednesday, June 16

As previously mentioned (but not in tonight's What's Going On post), tonight's "secret" show at Death By Audio features Bleach Waffles, Mild Touching and, Slankie Morose. And if you can't figure out who that is well... try harder. It's a late one, doors at 11PM, but it's only $5. And a five-spot for some mild touching...that's a bargain.

Swedish pixies First Aid Kit, who played last night at The Bell House, play again tonight at Mercury Lounge with Peter Wolf Cryer.

continued below with dates, videos, flyers and more...

Continue reading "Eddy Current Suppression Ring, the Goodnight Loving, The Ponys, Disappears, Woven Bones, Wild Nothing & more in This Week in Indie"

photos by Chris Graham & Rae Holtsbaum

Caribou @ Sasquatch

Seattle Weekly: Where did the name Caribou come from?

Daniel Snaith: It came from an acid trip actually. We were touring Canada at the time, and I knew I had to change the name. We had a day off and we were just hanging out in the prairies. We sat in a field and took acid, and that name appeared to me during that.

Caribou, Local Natives & Freelance Whales all play shows on Governors island this summer, as do Wild Nothing (added as opener on the Morning Benders / Freelance Whales date) and Alberta Cross (added as opener for Portugal. The Man). The first free Governors Island show is THIS Saturday (Yeasayer). More pictures, and some videos (including a Caribou dance party) from Sasquatch Day Two, below...

Continue reading "Caribou, Local Natives & Freelance Whales played Sasquatch (pics), Wild Nothing & Alberta Cross playing Governors Island"

photos by Andrew St. Clair, words by Bill Pearis

DOWNLOAD: Braids - Lemonade (MP3)
DOWNLOAD: Wild Nothing - Chinatown (MP3)
DOWNLOAD: The Depreciation Guild - Crucify You (MP3)

Braids

Montreal quartet Braids played the Knitting Factory last night (5/26), opening for The Depreciation Guild and Wild Nothing. It was the first of what are now four NYC shows this week. Initially it was just last night's show and one Thursday (5/27) at Mercury Lounge with fellow Montrealers The Luyas (early show, no advance tickets). But they have added a loft show tonight (5/26) in Bushwick (538 Johnson Street #202, 8:30PM) and they will also be playing Rooftop Films on Friday (5/27).

For a band as young as Braids (age of the band and age of the members) I thought they really had it together last night, playing an almost seamless set where long songs flowed into the next. Mixing electronics, loops, shoegazy guitars, proggy rhythms, Braids are familiar and accessible but seem to have already figured out their own sonic niche. Some songs were more dreamlike, others had a more melodic grounding. (I preferred the latter). That said, tomorrow's show with The Luyas is a pretty perfect pairing.

Wild Nothing

Wild Nothing have gotten better each time I've seen them and last night they seemed ready for serious touring. The band's debut, Gemini, came out yesterday and is easily the most accessible record Captured Tracks has released to date, full of insanely catchy pop, owing much to mid-'80s UK indie. While you could cite obscurities like The Field Mice and Pale Saints, to say Wild Nothing also kind of sound like The Cure would not be incorrect. The crowd around the front of the stage was mostly female and mostly dancing.

Another influence made itself apparent last night when the band did a spot-on cover of Fleetwood Mac's "Dreams." Singer Jack Tatum did a credible Stevie Nicks (he's got a great falsetto) and their version was both reverent and yet still sounded like Wild Nothing. They aren't the most exciting live band, but they've only been playing together as a band for a few months (the record is just Tatum), so that should come. But they sounded great.

Wild Nothing have a few shows in June opening for Neon Indian, including June 17 at Music Hall of Williamsburg.

The Depreciation Guild

Headliners The Depreciation Guild were also celebrating the release of an album -- their second, Spirit Youth, which is out on Kanine. Where their first, self-released album played up the 8-bit electronics element, the new album and last night's show was all about the guitars. Frontman Kurt Feldman is clearly a fan of '90s shoegaze and Deprecation Guild channels that sound flawlessly. (They also look the part too.) It's a real wall of sound they've got going, played at proper tinnitus volume. Feldman and guitarist Christoph Hochheim both also play in Pains of Being Pure at Heart, and that band's pop sensibilities have probably influenced their songwriting. Spirit Youth has strong melodies to go along with their perfected ethereal sound.

More pictures from the KF show, two setlists and more dates, below...

Continue reading "Braids played Knitting Factory w/ Wild Nothing & Depreciation Guild (pics & setlists), add 2 more shows (a loft tonight)"

DOWNLOAD: Wild Nothing - Chinatown (MP3)

Wild Nothing the band

Wild Nothing (as previously highlighted HERE, HERE and HERE) (the solo project of Jack Tatum that has since expanded into a full band - see above) released their/his debut full-length, Gemini, on Captured Tracks today (5/25 - also Beach Fossils' release day). Grab an MP3 from the album above. The full tracklist, with the video for the same song, is below.

The Depreciation Guild also just released a new album and that's who you can catch Wild Nothing opening for TONIGHT (5/25) at Knitting Factory in Brooklyn. The great triple-bill also gets you a set by Montreal's Braids.

In June Wild Nothing plays some dates with Neon Indian including the gig at Music Hall of Williamsburg (tickets). Jack Tatum then hits the road for another handful of dates with the Depreciation Guild. All shows listed below...

Continue reading "Wild Nothing album released - MP3, video & tour dates"

by Bill Pearis

DOWNLOAD: Braids - Lemonade (MP3)

Montreal's Braids will be in NYC next week, playing Knitting Factory on Tuesday May 25 with Depreciation Guild (whose very good second album Spirit Youth is out this week) and Wild Nothing (their debut, Gemini, which is also quite good, is out that day), and then an early show at Mercury Lounge on May 27 (no advance tickets) with fellow Montreal residents The Luyas who just can't seem to stay away from our city now that they've broken their NYC cherry (they were here the other day to play a 20 minute set at the National's High Violet Annex). Is there a cheap bus that we should know about?. There's also going to be a "secret loft show" (maybe like The Luyas one last month) on May 26 that we'll have info on next week.

Both Depreciation Guild and The Luyas are good pairings for Braids (not to be confused with '90s emo band Braid) whose sound is both ethereal and expansive, that reminds me a bit of being in a half-awake, dreamlike state. It's lovely stuff.

The band's debut, Native Speakers, is finished and awaiting a release date but in the meantime you can download "Lemonade" from it at the top of this post. There's also a lovely Vincent Moon directed Take Away show of Braids doing "Lemonade" further down this post.

Braids are currently playing a few dates with Holly Miranda (another apt pairing) before the shows next week here in New York.

Videos and dates below...

Continue reading "Braids are touring - video, MP3, 2 NYC dates (1 w/ the Luyas)"

words by Bill Pearis, LoD photos by Bryan Bruchman

DOWNLOAD: Wetdog - Lower Leg (MP3)

London trio Wetdog are in town this week, playing Glasslands on Friday (4/2) with Blank Dogs and Wild Nothing, and then Saturday (4/3) at Death by Audio with Australia's Love of Diagrams and Coasting. In the UK the band are on Angular Records -- home of These New Puritans, Klaxons, and the late Long Blondes -- and have just inked with Captured Tracks in the U.S. who've just released the band's debut album, Frauhaus! There's a definite early '80s post punk vibe to these ladies' sound that might have you thinking of early Fall or Liliput/Kleenex or The Slits (with whom they've toured), though they don't really sound like any of them specifically. They're good. Check out their excellent single "Lower Leg" at the top of this post.

The Friday show at Glasslands has three Captured Tracks bands on the bill. Label head honcho Mike Sniper fronts Blank Dogs, who now have a new live lineup that, to quote Sniper in Fact Magazine, is "more wimpy, less rock-sounding."  They've also got a new EP, Phrases, which finds them crawling out of the murky muck of previous releases for what is probably the least affected thing they've ever done. It's still dark and moody, but there's a clarity of sound that we've yet to hear from BDs.

Blank Dogs have have a short East Coast/Midwest tour lined up with Wetdog over the next ten days or so, and will then continue on by themselves to the West Coast which is followed by two more NYC shows in May. All dates are at the bottom of this post.

Then there's Wild Nothing from Virginia who've released two singles on Captured Tracks already, and the label will release the band's debut, Gemini, later this year. The album's pretty great, the kind of dreampop that Sarah Records did so well in the late '80s/early '90s.  A one-man band on the recordings, Wild Nothing haven't quite figured out the live version just yet (a better drummer would help) but they're getting there. And the songs are there, which is a lot more than most bands this young can claim. The Glasslands show looks to be a one-off.

Love of Diagrams were one of many foreign bands that played a bunch of shows at SXSW earlier this month. They'll also play a few while in NYC. In addition to the Death by Audio show with Wetdog, they have gigs scheduled at Santos with Holiday Shores and Cake Shop. All of those dates with a set of pictures of the band in Austin, along with the Blank Dogs/Wetdog dates and a video for Wetdog's "Lower Leg", below...

Continue reading "Wetdog (MP3) touring w/ Blank Dogs (new EP), playing NYC shows including 1 w/ Love of Diagrams (dates & SXSW pics) "

by Bill Pearis

DOWNLOAD: Standard Fare - Dancing (MP3)
DOWNLOAD: Diehard - Cool Kids (MP3)
DOWNLOAD: Sally Head - Man with Small Hands (MP3)
DOWNLOAD: Woods - I Was Gone (MP3)

Standard Fare

It's March Madness, people. New York is very lucky to get a lot of SXSW runnoff and between now (3/11) and Monday (3/15) you can go see loads of great bands from all over the world -- Norway, England, Bushwick -- and they'll probably play longer sets than they will in Austin. So if you're not going to the fest (and most people aren't despite how empty Williamsburg will be next week), here's your chance to experience some of the fun. And if you are going, you can cross some bands off your list early and start getting used to late nights, loud music and cheap beer. If you're not already used to that.

I already talked about Free Energy. And speaking of Philadelphia, that the name of my favorite song on the new album by Sheffield, England's Standard Fare who play tonight at Cake Shop (3/11). It's got one of the better opening lyrical salvos that I've heard in a while: "Global warming is getting me down / It's making the sea between us wider and deeper / Now, I'm not Moses and I don't know how to split up the ocean and drive right on over." The music -- sprightly indie jangle -- suits it perfectly. The album's called The Noyelle Beat (out 3/16) and I highly recommend it, as well as going to see Standard Fare live.

Tonight's show is headlined by Diehard who if you haven't seen yet you should correct that soon. Unabashed lovers of '90s indie (but I wouldn't call them retro), they know their way around stick-in-your-head hooks. A perfect way to warm up for those Pavement reunion gigs. Also playing are Vancouver's low-fi rockers Makeout Videotape and Brooklynites Sally Head.

Virgina's Wild Nothing are back in town, playing Market Hotel tonight with Fluffy Lumbers, former Cibo Mato singer Miho Hatori and Blissed Out, and then they open for Woods, Real Estate and Happy Birthday at Music Hall of Williamsburg on Friday (3/12).  I really like their debut album, Gemini, that will be out in May on Captured Tracks. The label just put out Wild Nothing's cover of Kate Bush's "Cloudbusting " as a new 7" that's worth picking up while you wait for the album. If you like early '90s UK shoegaze and twee (Pale Saints, Field Mice are good touchstones) you should definitely check out them out. They haven't quite figured out the live show, but they're getting there and worth showing up early to check out. They'll also play Shea Stadium on Saturday (3/13) and will be back in two weeks to play Glasslands on April 2.

If you're going to the MHoW show on Friday (sold out), do get there early as Happy Birthday are worth seeing too. I caught them a couple weeks ago opening for the Dum Dum Girls and was taken by their mix of Big Star powerpop and Dinosaur Jr. sludge. Their album, due on Sub Pop this Tuesday (3/16), also has some synthy numbers on it too which they eschewed live when I saw them. It's not the most cohesive album, but almost all the songs are good. They'll be at SXSW too.

Woods, meanwhile, just announced that their new album, At Echo Lake, will be out May 11 on Woodsist. Check out the first song released from it, "I Was Gone," at the top of this post. Tracklisting and all tour dates below.

I feel like it goes without saying that all these bands written about this week will be heading to SXSW, including a bunch from here. Seven (mostly) local bands who are Austin-bound will be playing at Cake Shop on Saturday (3/13) which will serve as a gas money fundraiser for their trip down to Texas. Playing will be: Darlings, Sundelles, Total Slacker,  Big Troubles, I'm Turning Into, My Teenage Stride, pus Raleigh, NC's Whatever Brains, and Virgina's Invisible Hand. The $10 door gets split equally between all bands, who each get 20 minute sets. There's additional drink specials if you bring road snacks for the bands.

While I'm here, I should mention that one of my favorite songs of last year was My Teenage Stride's digital single "Creep Academy" which has just been pressed as a real 7" so I urge you to pick that up, as well as any other merch from the other bands that might suit your fancy. Extra gas and food money for the bands.

Fliers, tour dates and a few more daily picks below...

Continue reading "Wild Nothing, Woods, Standard Fare, Diehard, Sally Head, pre-SXSW shows & more in This Week in Indie"

by Bill Pearis

DOWNLOAD: Harlem - Friendly Ghost (MP3)
DOWNLOAD: Christmas Island - Bed Island (MP3)
DOWNLOAD: North Highlands - Sugar Lips (MP3)

Harlem

It's a good week in New York for lovers of no-muss-no-fuss garage rock -- there's a lot of it in town. Austin trio Harlem are playing a trio of shows, the first of which is tonight (2/10) at Mercury Lounge with Girls at Dawn. They then play Friday (2/12) with Frankie & the Outs and The Siberians at Monster Island, and then hit Union Pool on Saturday (2/13) with Jemina Pearl. The band's second album (and first for Matador), Hippies, is out in April and doesn't stray too far from the greasy lo-fi of their debut, but with a bit more, um, finesse. They haven't polished the furniture, just tidied up a bit and the songs don't substitute reverb and distortion, for songwriting chops and attitude. It's a good record.

I'm going to see them tonight Mercury Lounge, but if I had to recommend one of the three shows, Monster Island on Friday seems like the right place to see them with the best and most economical ($7) of the overall line-ups. The Siberians make the kind of garage you would've heard at Cavestomp ten years ago before the genre became cool again -- more Lyres-style organ, less scuzz. Stupid Party are molasses-thick with extra sludge.

The night starts with Blacksburg, VA's Wild Nothing whose dreamy new single, "Summer Holiday," was just released on Captured Tracks. Think a slightly less wimpy Trembling Blue Stars and you're in the general sonic ballpark. Maybe you've already heardhis cover of Kate Bush's "Cloudbusting" that made its way around the internet last year.  I'm pretty sure on record it's just one guy, so what guise Wild Nothing will take live is anybody's guess. And Frankie & the Outs have really come along as a band over the last five months and are coming into their own -- and apparently they've just wrapped up recording their debut album. Hopefully that will be out sooner than later.

Wild Nothing

Both Wild Nothing and the Outs will play Monster Island again the next night (2/13) for another great show, this time with Blank Dogs (who haven't played in a while), Sisters and Ireland's So Cow. This will be the first NYC appearance from So Cow since his assault on the U.S. last summer where he charmed nearly everyone who went to see him play.  His new album, Meaningless Friendly, is supposedly out this month though there's no mention of it on the Tic Tac Totally website. Ask him what the hell's up with that at the merch table, won't you? If you can't make it Saturday night, So Cow plays again on Sunday (2/14) at Cake Shop with Vivian Girls/Woods side project The Babies, the Nick Cave-y Preacher and the Knife (who are also playing a fashion show on Friday) and retro doowop stylings of White Blue Yellow and Clouds.  So Cow will be in here for nearly six weeks (including SXSW), playing just about everywhere in North America so do go see him if you can.

Christmas Island

Monday night at Cake Shop was the kickoff show for Christmas Island / Beets / Beach Fossils tour which will take them down and up the East Coast over the next ten days. If you missed that show, all three play again on Saturday (2/13) at Death by Audio and then will close the tour on 2/20 at Music Hall of Williamsburg with Crystal Stilts and German Measles (tickets are still on sale for the latter). Matt Volz, who does all the The Beets' artwork, designed a great poster for the tour which you can actually buy via Captured Tracks website and at the merch table on this tour (and is given a CT release number a la Factory Records). You can see a big version of it here.

I've written plenty about Beach Fossils and The Beets before and both bands play here often, they live here, so the real draw here is San Diego's Christmas Island. Their album from last year, Blackout Summer, didn't get much attention but is well worth checking out. You can download a track from it at the top of this post. Not unlike fellow Californians Nodzzz, Christmas Island make somewhat surfy, definitely nasally/nerdy indie rock that at times reminds me of the Dead Milkmen (when Joe Jack Talcum sang).  They were good when I saw them at SXSW last year and look forward to seeing them again on Friday. All tour dates are at the bottom of this post.

North Highlands

Tomorrow (2/11) is the  second of Savoir Adore's three Thursdays in February residency at Cake Shop and I've got another pair of tickets to give away. Just email BVCONTESTS@HOTMAIL.COM with "Savoir Adore" in the subject and I'll pick a winner at random. Openers this week are really good. Both CYHSY/Savoir Adore side project Uninhabitable Mansions and We Are Country Mice have been written about by me before, but I'll like to highlight Brooklyn band North Highlands who make rather lovely piano-driven orch pop. Singer Brenda Malvani has one of those airy but strong voices that seems to have dictated the sound of the band, it all just goes down so well together. They're good live too. You can download title track from their Sugar Lips EP at the top of this post. In between bands this week, Pat from Pop Tarts Suck Toasted (a victim of this week's nasty "Music Blogocide 2K10") will spin tunes. Should be a great night.

A couple more. The Obits anniversary shows are at Cake Shop Friday and Saturday night. Sure to be awesome.

And finally don't forget about Diamond Nights and Cheeseburger (with guest vocalists) this Saturday (2/13) at Brooklyn Bowl. If ever there were two bands to see at a bowling alley, it's these two. The Coco66 show Diamond Nights were originally booked to play on Friday isn't happening so this may be your only chance ever to see them rock it again, as the band has been defunct for over two years. They definitely went before their time. Really looking forward to this one.

That's it for this week. Flyers and tour dates below.

Continue reading "Wild Nothing, So Cow, Obits, North Highlands, Christmas Island, Harlem, Diamond Nights & more in This Week in Indie "