photos by kolored

Monotonix & fan in San Francisco

"Shelev, after a rowdy and rambunctious set, stated that he was 46-years old, their drummer was about to become a father, and their guitarist had some seeds to sow as a single Israeli. He then instructed the crowd to tweet, text and, actually, drive to San Francisco and Austin to follow them on their last tour ever. Whether this is true or just another stunt in their stunt-filled show is yet to be seen. -[OneThirtyBPM]

That report comes from Monotonix's LA show at The Echoplex on 1/27, the day before they played Rickshaw Stop in San Francisco with Nodzzz (who just signed to Woodsist) and Ty Segall. The pictures in this post are from the San Fran show.

Monotonix's final (??) round of US dates in support of their new LP Not Yet is ongoing. The band will play Birmingham, Alabama tonight (2/1) and eventually end up at 285 Kent Ave on 2/5 for their final (??) show in NYC...

Saturday February 5th @ 285 KENT AVE
:: Monotonix ------- from Israel, on Drag City
:::: Pujol
:::::: Federation X
:::::::: the Stalkers
:: special guest comedienne: Elisa Da Prato
| 285 KENT AVE |
285 Kent Ave @ S 1st St | Williamsburg, Brooklyn
L-Bedford, JM-Marcy | 8pm | all ages | $tba

If you've never seen Monotonix live (which is pretty insane), this may be your last chance. Not Yet is out now via Drag City.

Ty Segall is scheduled to play NYC TWICE in early March on his way to SXSW: at Mercury Lounge on 3/8 with Devin Therriault (tickets) and Death By Audio on March 10th with Heavy Cream.

More San Francisco pictures and (final?) tour dates below...

Continue reading "Monotonix played San Francisco w/ Ty Segall & Nodzzz (pics), announce that this is their final tour??? (updated dates)"

The Greenhornes 2007

After detours in The Raconteurs and The Dead Weather among other projects, The Greenhornes are back at it and will release their first LP of new material in eight years via Jack White's Third Man imprint. The record, entitled Four Stars, will be proceeded by select east coast dates that will include Mercury Lounge on 9/3 (free with RSVP) and Maxwell's on 9/4 with The Black Hollies (tickets) leading up to their appearance at ATP NY on 9/5 ("full" lineup).

A month later (on 10/2), The Greenhornes are confirmed for Scion Garage Fest 2010 in Lawrence, Kansas alongside a plethora of killer notables including The Oblivians (who recently played Knit), The Gories (who just played Bowery and toured with Oblivians), The Raveonettes (who are playing Bumbershoot), King Khan & The Shrines (who are playing Santos and Bell House), Best Coast (who just played the Seaport and like weed), Tyvek, Thee Oh Sees, Hunx & His Punx, and a ton of others.

Much like Scion Rock Fest, the show will take place across four venues and is FREE, but RSVP is required. Full lineup is below.

Some videos and the full Scion lineup & flyer is below...

Continue reading "The Greenhornes playing shows - ATP, a free one @ Mercury & Scion Garage Fest (full lineup - Oblivians, Gories, more) "

by Bill Pearis

DOWNLOAD: Woods - I Was Gone (MP3)
DOWNLOAD: The Fresh & Onlys - Diamond in the Dark (MP3)
DOWNLOAD: Moon Duo - Stumbling 22nd St. (MP3)

Woods

There's a lot going on in the wild world of Woodsist Records. Firstly is the Woodsist night at Music Hall of Williamsburg in Brooklyn on June 25 that's part of the Northside Festival (June 24 - 27). The show features Real Estate, Woods, The Fresh & Onlys, Moon Duo and Sic Alps. Tickets ($15) go on sale Friday (4/30) at noon. This and the Brooklyn Vegan show with Memory Tapes, Twin Sister, Zaza and DOM on June 26 are two of four Northside events at Music Hall of Williamsburg this year (Thao and Mirah is another).

Woodsist is also doing two mini-festivals on the West Coast next month: June 12 at the Henry Miller Library in Big Sur and June 15 at the Echoplex in Los Angeles. The line-ups differ slightly, but both shows feature Real Estate, Woods, Kurt Vile, The Mantles and The Art Museums. Full line-ups for both shows are at the bottom of this post.

Woods, who also have a show coming up at Abrons Arts Center in May, will be releasing their third album, At Echo Lake, next week. Clocking in just under 30 minutes, it's full of catchy West Coast-ish folk pop. It might be their best yet. You can download "I Was Gone" at the top of this post. The band is touring the West Coast leading up to those two mini-fests. All dates are below.

The Fresh and Onlys

The Fresh & Onlys will be here a full month before the Northside Festival too, playing with Golden Triangle and The Babies at Monster Island (which now has real, permanent stage!) on May 14, and Cake Shop on May 15. The band continue to release records at a Pollardian rate, with a fantastic new EP, August in My Mind, our on Captured Tracks (download "Diamond in the Dark" above), a split 7" with Golden Triangle, and at least two other singles out this year already. There's a video for "Vanishing Cream" at the bottom of this post, which is a single on French label Plastic Spoons. They've also finished their third album which will be out on In the Red sometime this year.

Moon Duo, which features Wooden Shjips' Erik Johnson and Sanae Yamada, released an EP on Woodsist earlier this year -- check out "Stumbling 22nd St." at the top of this post. I caught them the final, cold night at SXSW where I was a little worn out and cranky at that point for their droney, extended Loop-meets-Suicide two chord jams but I could imagine digging it more under sunnier circumstances.

Real Estate also have many more dates coming up between now and the end of August. Sic Alps are touring and reporting that a Captured Tracks Fest is happening in NYC again this summer too.

Woodsist Fest lineups, videos and everyone else's tour dates below...

Continue reading "mini Woodsist Fests in NYC & CA, Woods shows, Fresh & Onlys tour dates, Moon Duo & more"

by Bill Pearis

DOWNLOAD: Beaters - Fishage (MP3)
DOWNLOAD: Nodzzz - True to Life (MP3)
DOWNLOAD: Dom - Jesus (MP3)
DOWNLOAD: Golden Girls - Newports (MP3)

The Soft Pack @ Cake shop in Feb (more by Gabi Porter)

The Soft Pack are here again, the first real shows in town they've played since releasing their debut album on Kemado: tonight (3/31) at Maxwell's, tomorrow (4/1) at Mercury Lounge, and Saturday (4/3) at Music Hall of Williamsburg. I've seen these guys a zillion times (and written about them nearly as much) but they remain one of my favorite current live acts. That said, I'm just a tad bit more excited about the bands who they've brought with them on tour: Nodzz, Beaters, and Male Bonding.

Geeky, funny, tuneful Nodzzz were relatively quiet in 2009 -- at least compared to some of their San Franciscan brethren -- touring early in the year and only releasing one single. Mind you, it was an excellent one, "True to Life," which made by Best of the 2009 list. They're bound to have a new record in the works,  so hopefully we'll get a bunch of fresh tunes.

Beaters

Beaters, from The Soft Pack's hometown of San Diego, are signed to Zoo Music, the label run by husband/wife duo Brandon of Crocodiles and head Dum Dum Girl, DeeDee. If you're familiar with their roster at all, you'll have a pretty good idea what to expect: dark, over-caffeinated, paranoid, heavy on the reverb. You can check out their single "Fishage" at the top of this post.

The Music Hall of Williamsburg show adds UK punks (and Sub Pop signees) Male Bonding who also play with The Smith Westerns and So Cow on Sunday (4/4) at Mercury Lounge.

Golden Girls

Two bands from Worcester, Mass are here this weekend -- Dom and Golden Girls. -- who play together tomorrow (4/1) at Pianos and then on Monday (4/5) at Cake Shop.

Of the two, I find Dom a little more interesting. There's some of that fifth-generation cassette tape chillwave sound going on, no doubt (which I'm getting a little waterlogged from frankly).  But they've got some good songs under that hiss (check out "Bochicha" on their MySpace) and appear to play real drums and guitars (as well as crappy old synths) so I have hopes that their live show will prove less gauzy.

Golden Girls are more straight-up indie rock, a duo on recordings but are a four-piece live. Raucous and on the sloppy side,  and with a single about cigarettes, you can draw a line from Golden Girls back to the Replacements pretty easily. They've only got two singles out so far, and I'm definitely curious to hear more.

A few more picks, by night, to take you through the weekend, along with tour dates and videos and stuff, below...

Continue reading "Beaters, Nodzzz, Best Coast, Ash, Abe Vigoda, Dom, Dum Dum Girls, Golden Girls, Soft Pack & more in This Week in Indie"

photos by Rachel Carr

The sold-out event, concisely named "No Cancer!" hoped to raise money for Irene Garcia, the mother of a prominent L.A. scenester who was recently diagnosed with what an event volunteer would only call "an extremely rare form of cancer." All proceeds from the daylong festival -- including ticket revenues and merchandise sales -- went directly to the cause.

Organized by local indie promoting giant Sean Carlson and his team at FYF Fest [I HATE ROCK N ROLL RECORDS and VIDEOTHING.COM], "No Cancer!" brought together an eclectic group of well-known and under-the-radar bands from Los Angeles and across the country, with acts hailing from New York and Texas performing over the course of the afternoon. [Daily Trojan]

As advertised, No Age, Vivian Girls, Abe Vigoda, Cowabunga Babes, Best Coast, Nodzzz, Darker My Love and others played "No Cancer: A benefit for our Friend's Mom" in L.A. on Sunday, February 7th. Sean Carlson and FYF [update: who were NOT the organizers of this - see fixed quote above] are also the ones behind The Soft Pack's 10 shows in 10 days one weak earlier. More pictures from the benefit, with the full lineup and Vivian Girls' setlist, below...

Continue reading "No Age, Vivian Girls, Abe Vigoda, Best Coast & others played a benefit for Irene Garcia in LA - pics"

DOWNLOAD: The Soft Pack - Answer to Yourself (MP3)

The Soft Pack are in the middle of a series of record release shows for their self-titled debut (under their new name), which came out February 2nd on Kemado. They played San Diego on Feb. 2nd, and will do Philly on the 4th, and a free, all-ages show at NYC's Cake Shop on February 5th (which is a week before they make their network television debut on Letterman). Think that's an ambitious travel schedule? They did ten shows in one day in L.A. on January 30th with the help of FYFest's veggie oil powered bus. Videos documenting that day are below.

The band travels to the UK and Europe later this month and March before returning stateside for a full tour. That'll include three NYC-area stops. The first is at Maxwell's on March 31st. Tickets are on sale.

They'll then play Mercury Lounge on Thursday, April 1st and Music Hall of Williamsburg on Saturday, April 3rd. Tickets are on AmEx presale now; general sale starts Friday (2/5) at noon.

All of the Spring shows seem to be with Beaters, and Nodzzz, the San Francisco lo-fi band who hasn't been to NYC in a year. Sub Pop signee Male Bonding is also on the April 3rd Music Hall bill. Male Bonding play Mercury Lounge with The Smith Westerns one night earlier.

A song from the new SP record is above. All tour dates are below...

Continue reading "The Soft Pack played 10 LA shows in 1 day, announce more 2010 tour dates, shows w/ Nodzzz, Beaters, Male Bonding"

DOWNLOAD: Abe Vigoda - Don't Lie (MP3)

Lovvers

Even more than Rays, double consonants are all the rage. Like Nodzzz and Wavves, the UK's Lovvers have been delivering in the lo-fi sounds department...

"This band of Nottingham rabble rousers recently toured the UK with Smell staples No Age, Mika Miko and Abe Vigoda. Abe Vigoda came back raving about their new tourmates. You will mostly likely find Lovvers' brand of rabid garage-punk to be Jay Reatard-esque (check out "Wasted Youth") and it should not be surprising to hear that they also shared the stage with the Memphis native on some dates across the pond. Lovvers have yet to set foot on US soil..."

...until this March when they hit SXSW. They have an 11:00 PM set time on March 18th on Red 7's patio. Abe Vigoda plays the same venue the same night. Stay tuned for more Lovvers dates, hopefully NYC included.

WAVVES will be at SXSW too, and a lot of other places.

Lovvers' Think EP was released in September by Wichita. Two Lovvers videos below...

Continue reading "LOVVERS (videos, EP, SXSW) vs WAVVES (nothing really)"

photos by Toby Tenenbaum

Nathan Williams's starter Flock of Seagulls haircut was silly with sweat, slapping at his face and neck as he jerked around on the tiny stage at Less Artists More Condos in the West Village on Saturday night. But after nearly every song he stopped for a look in the virtual mirror. Not at the hair, but at less likely concerns. Was his guitar tuned properly? (It was not.) Could he hit the notes the next song required? (Define hit. And notes.) Musing about whether he could pull off a particular number, he demurred -- "No. I can't. Sorry." -- and then dove in anyway.

Slickness isn't really a concern for Mr. Williams, a one-man band from San Diego who records as Wavves, but crispness is. His terrific second album, "Wavvves" (Fat Possum), teems with scrappy, energetic, summery chunks of noisy pop: smart-aleckyness via Weezer, cooing via the Beach Boys, all masked by digital effects and a thick garage-rock haze. (The album is to be released this week on iTunes and next month on CD.) [NYTIMES]

The Wavvves album really is terrific. Wavves (the artist whose album has one more "v" than his name) also played a show with almost the exact same lineup (Woods/Nodzzz/Blank Dogs) one day earlier at Market Hotel and one day later (yesterday) at Underground Lounge (where Blank Dogs reportedly cancelled).

Wavves will reportedly be back in NYC at the end of March.

Nodzzz went on first at Less Artists More Condos. Toby could't get through the door in time, but he did get lots of pics of the rest of the show. More of them below...

Continue reading "WAVVES, Woods, Blank Dogs (and Nodzzz) @ Less Artists More Condos, NYC - pics"

by Bill Pearis

DOWNLOAD: WAVVES - So Bored (MP3)
DOWNLOAD: Savoir Adore - We Talk Like Machines (MP3)
DOWNLOAD: Francis and the Lights - Lime (MP3)
DOWNLOAD: The Pains of Being Pure at Heart - Come Saturday (MP3)

NODZZZ

This week is especially filthy with good shows so let's not waste any time. The biggest deal, at least for me, is the WAVVES / NODZZZ who are playing in town three times this weekend. Both are from California, spell their names in all-caps with repeated consonants and make lo-fi punky pop. San Diego's WAVVES seem to be getting most of the attention, with two records out in less than a year - last year's Wavves on Woodsist and the forthcoming Wavvves (note the extra V) on Fat Possum (it was originally on De Stijl). On record, WAVVES is basically one dude, Nathan Williams, but live they are a duo, and from the clips I've seen on YouTube, they are slightly less imposing live than on their distortion-on-everything recordings.

I'm more excited about NODZZZ, who are a trio from San Francisco and just released a great vinyl-only 12" on What's Your Rupture. (You can also get it on Emusic.) It's bratty and nasally and sounds a lot like the Dead Milkmen, but NODZZZ aren't as overtly jokey. They play Friday (2/6) at Market Hotel, Saturday (2/7) at Less Artists More Condos, and a Sunday (2/8) afternoon show at the Underground Lounge. All shows are with Woods and Blank Dogs.

Musée Mécanique

Good show tonight (2/4) at Cake Shop. Portland's Musée Mécanique make baroque pop, heavy with mellotron, glockenspiel, and accordion. Their album from last year, Hold This Ghost, is quite lovely. It might be too precious for some, but I hear they are really good live (especially for you glockenspiel lovers) and would like to check them out. Also playing are locals Soft Black (not to be confused with The Soft Pack) who are starting to get some attention. I haven't seen them live but their new album, The Earth is Black (and Other Apocalyptic Lullabies for Children), has some good songs on it. And as this site mentioned previously, Dave Deporis opens.

Savoir Adore

One of my favorite new local bands, Savoir Adore, are playing Thursday at Bowery Ballroom, opening for Francis and the Lights. Fronted by Deidre Muro and Paul Hammer, Savoir Adore make the kind pristine guitar pop you used to hear a lot with '80s bands like The Go-Betweens and Let's Active but isn't so much in fashion these days. They aren't too far away from what Stars do, either, though less grandiose if you know what I mean. Ther EP Savoir Adore have out on Cantora Records is good, but is a concept record fairy tale thing that is good but not a very good introduction to the band. (Their proper debut will be out on Cantora this summer.) I've seen them a couple times and they are very, very good live. If you don't check them out at Bowery, keep their name in mind. Definitely one of my Bands to Watch in '09.

The Pains of Being Pure at Heart

The Pains of Being Pure at Heart released their great debut album this week and are kicking off a month-long tour with The Deprecation Guild with a show this Saturday (2/7) at Mercury Lounge that also features their Slumberland label-mates cAUSE co-MOTION. It's sold out, but TPOPBAH play The Bell House on March 13 with awesome UK band Let's Wrestle (who are also playing a Todd P show but more on that later) and Knight School. Tickets are still on sale for that one.

The Mommyheads

Also Saturday (afternoon) at Union Hall is a (2pm) show that seems transported in a time machine from Brownies in 1997, with Babe the Blue Ox, Ida, and The Mommyheads. The night is actually the second-annual memorial tribute to Mommyheads drummer (and later for Beekeeper) Jan Kotik who lost a three-year battle with cancer in 2007. The Mommyheads, who I was unaware were back together, put out a new record last year, You're Not a Dream. As for Babe the Blue Ox, I never really got into them but they had a fervent following in the '90s. The original line-up got back together last year and are working on a new record so I'm told. And Ida have been making truly lovely folk-pop since the early-'90s, having grown from a duo to a four-piece over the years and are now on Polyvinyl, who released last year's underheard Lover's Prayers. Also on the bill: The Ditty Committee and Mighty High. It's a free afternoon show!

--------------------------------------

And finally in this overstuffed post, Cake Shop is having their first ever Yo Doo, a monthy swap meet type mart that is best explained in this press release:

YO DOO is a brand spanking new art + comix + small press + record fair that happens on the first Saturday of every month at New York City's Cake Shop. From noon till seven you can see + hear + buy + trade with the cream of D.I.Y. crop on both floors of the store, followed by a special live musical performance. We are looking for small publishers, record labels, printmakers, zinemakers, comix manufacturers, artists and crafters who want to want to sell their wares and have a good time. At YO DOO, Cake Shop is your shop.

Among the vendors will be Cake Shop's in-house label Cape Shok and this week Yo Doo also features performances from Love Panther and Baltimore's Sick Weapons. A full rundown of vendors at the Yo Doo blog. It's free admission. Buy stuff, it's what the goverment wants you to do!

Tour dates, flyers and videos below...

Continue reading "NODZZZ, WAVVES, Musée Mécanique, Mommyheads, Savoir Adore, TPOPBAH, YO DOO swap & more in This Week in Indie"

DOWNLOAD: Wavves - So Bored (MP3)

* WAVVES has a self-titled debut album out now on the Woodsist label
* WAVVES' second album is called WAVVVES (notice the extra "V")
* Both albums have very very similar covers
* WAVVVES by WAVVES is on the De Stijl label and is out on Feb. 03, 2009

WAVVES is from California. WAVVES will be in NYC to play Market Hotel with Blank Dogs, Woods, Nodzzz and Gary War on February 6th. The same exact lineup plays Less Artists More Condos the very next day. All dates below...

Continue reading "WAVVES - 2009 Tour Dates (2xNYC) & an MP3"