The Do, Besnard Lakes, Princeton, Pains of Being Pure at Heart & more in This Week in Indie (part 2)

by Bill Pearis

DOWNLOAD: The Pains of Being Pure at Heart – Higher Than the Stars (Others in Conversation Mix) (MP3)
DOWNLOAD: Besnard Lakes – And You Lied to Me (MP3)
DOWNLOAD: The Cinnamon Band – Buena Vista (MP3)
DOWNLOAD: Princeton – Calypso Gold (MP3)
DOWNLOAD: Princeton – Sadie and Andy (feat. Meredith Metcalf (MP3)

The Besnard Lakes

(This Week in Indie Pt 1, in case you missed it.)

North of the border, Pop Montreal 2009 is going on as we speak, yet one of the Canadian city’s best bands, The Besnard Lakes, are here in NYC playing a show on Saturday (10/3) at Mercury Lounge. I think they must feel an affinity for New York — Brooklyn too, as their excellent 2007 album Are The Dark Horse (one of my faves from that year) has a song called “On Bedford and Grand,” a tongue-in-cheek ode to Williamsburg. As good as that album is, Besnard Lakes are even better live, though it probably depends on their ever-fluctuating line-up. In addition to scoring actor Mark Ruffalo’s directorial debut, the band are working on Dark Horse‘s follow-up, so it will be good to hear some new material. The show also features Philadelphia duo The Cinnamon Band (2/3s of defunct Jagjaguwar band The Union of a Man and a Woman) and Acrylics who I think are one of the city’s best new bands.

We’ve got a pair of tickets to give away for this 21+ show. If you’re interested, send an email with your first and last name to [email protected] with the subject line “Besnard Lakes” and we’ll pick a winner at random.

Saturday is a busy night. The Pains of Being Pure at Heart (9pm), who just released a great new EP called Higher Than the Stars, headline Webster Hall (tickets), the penultimate date on their current tour with Cymbals Eat Guitars (7pm) and The Depreciation Guild (8pm). You can download a brand new remix of Higher Than the Stars title track, which strips off the original’s sparkly sheen and gives it a rougher, darker coat of paint. The Webster Hall show has an early start with 6pm doors, which will have you out of there by 10pm, in time for a second show of the night if so desired. The band play Philadelphia on Sunday (10/4), then are taking six weeks off before Europe in mid-November. They are also conspicuously absent from either of the upcoming Slumberland Records Anniversary shows.

The Dø

Also also Saturday (that’s 10/3 if you forgot), Finland’s The Dø wrap up their first-ever American tour with a NYC stop at Hiro Ballroom (tickets). One night earlier (tonight), they play a show at Pop Montreal. Their 2008 album A Mouthful is a schizophrenic mix of indie rock, dreamy folk, tribal rhythms, and even (less successful) forays into hip hop. One woulda thought the band would have been here a year ago, as A Mouthful‘s hype hit its pinnacle about a year and a half ago, though it still hasn’t gotten a proper U.S. release. (You can get it via iTunes or Emusic, though.) The Dø’s show in L.A. as part of the Oohlala Festival didn’t go so well, apparently, but their show at Chicago’s Empty Bottle was a hit according to Popmatters critic (and ace photographer) Kirstie Shanley:

Creating a live performance full of win, French-Finnish duo The Dø could have easily entertained an audience of thousands. Olivia Merilahti was electricity personified. Flipping her long lustrous hair, coming up to the tip on the stage and leaning into the audience were two of her frequent rock moves. Dan Levy chose to engage the audience with his sudden floor kneeling. But despite the sense of developed chemistry between he and Merilahti, it was she who truly stole the show. [Popmatters]

You’ve got another chance to catch L.A. band Princeton, who play with Chicago’s Maps & Atlases at the new Knitting Factory in Williamsburg on Sunday. Both bands are just now wrapping up a tour supporting Ra Ra Riot. Their debut, Cocoon of Love, is out now and is pretty hard not to like, full of well-dressed scholarly pop not unlike Belle & Sebastian or the Magnetic Fields (or, loathe as I am to admit it, Vampire Weekend, minus the Afrobeat influences). Princeton were to be one the unavoidable bands at this year’s CMJ Festival but canceled after being offered an opening slot on Art Brut‘s upcoming U.S. tour, so this may be the last chance to see them for a while (well, unless you choose the Art Brut show at Maxwell’s which is one of the shows they’re opening).

And finally, UK legend Frank Sidebottom is visiting NYC again, here ostensibly for the Coney Island Film Festival where he’ll debut his film Frank Sidebottom Saves Coney Island. I caught Frank (and his sidekick Little Frank) back in March where he played to confused locals at the 169 Bar, where he first got heckled but eventually won the crowd over with his bizarre, hilarious covers of The Fall, The Smiths, Queen and The Beatles, which includes multiple costume changes. He’s playing a bunch of shows throughout the weekend, including two on Sunday (10/4) at Cake Shop and Otto’s Shrunken Head. If you’re even slightly curious (there are videos below) I recommend you go see him — there’s really nobody else like him.

Videos and tour dates follow…

Frank Sidebottom

The Besnard Lakes – “For Agent 13”

The Pains of Being Pure at Heart – “Higher Than the Stars” live on KEXP

The Pains of Being Pure at Heart – 2009 Tour Dates
10/03 – New York, NY – Webster Hall (18+) w/ Cymbals Eat Guitars and the Depreciation Guild
10/05 – Philadelphia, PA – First Unitarian Church (All Ages) w/ Cymbals Eat Guitars and the Depreciation Guild
10/18 – Boston – Artists For Humanity, FREE
11/17 – Barcelona, ES – Bikini
11/18 – Madrid, ES – Circo Price
11/19 – Valencia, ES – Tinglado 2
11/20 – Bilbao, ES – Santana 27
11/21 – Poitiers, FR – Confort Moderne
11/22 – Paris, FR – Point Ephemere
11/28 – London, UK – Reverence @ ICA
11/30 – Bristol, UK – Thekla
12/01 – Liverpool, UK – Academy 2
12/02 – Newcastle, UK – Academy 2
12/03 – Glasgow, UK – Stereo
12/04 – Manchester, UK – Academy 2
12/05 – Birmingham, UK – Academy 2

The Dø – “On My Shoulders”

The Dø – “At Last”

Princeton – 2009 Tour Dates
Oct 2nd Trocadero Philadelphia, PA $ &
Oct 3rd Paradise Rock Club Boston, MA $ &
Oct 4th Knitting Factory Brooklyn, NY &
Oct 8th Terrace Club Princeton, NJ *
Oct 9th Twisted Branch Tea Bazaar Charlottesville, VA @
Oct 10th Duke Coffee House Durham, NC
Oct 16th Middle East Cambridge, MA +
Oct 17th Maxwell’s Hoboken, NJ +
Oct 18th Black Cat Washington, DC +
Oct 19th Cat’s Cradle Carrboro, NC +
Oct 20th The Earl Atlanta, GA +
Oct 21st Club Downunder Tallahassee, FL +
Oct 22nd The Bottletree Birmingham, AL +
Oct 23rd Spanish Moon Baton Rouge, LA +
Oct 24th Walter’s On Houston, TX +
Oct 25th The Mohawk Austin, TX +
Oct 27th Club Congress Tucson, AZ +
Oct 28th Casbah San Diego, CA +
Oct 29th Glass House Pomona, CA +
Oct 30th Cafe Du Nord San Francisco, CA +
Oct 31st UC Davis Davis, CA +
Nov 1st Holocene Portland, OR +
Nov 2nd Neumo’s Seattle, WA +
Nov 5th The Basement Columbus, OH #
Nov 6th The Grog Shop Cleveland, OH #
Nov 7th Blind Pig Ann Arbor, MI #
Nov 8th Southgate House Covington, KY #
Nov 10th Intersection Front Room Grand Rapids, MI #
Nov 11th Canopy Club Urbana, IL #
Nov 12th Zorn Auditorium Eau Claire, WI #
Nov 13th Otto’s Dekalb, IL #
Nov 14th Rock Island Brew Co. Quad Cities, IL #

$ = w/ Ra Ra Riot
& = w/ Maps and Atlases
@ = w/ Tune Yards
* = w/ Le Loup
+ = w/ Art Brut
# = w/ OK GO

The Besnard Lakes – 2009 Tour Dates
10/02/09 Cambridge, MA – TT The Bear’s Place [Buy Tickets]
10/03/09 New York, NY – Mercury Lounge w/ Acrylics, Cinnamon Band

Frank Sidebottom – Hit the North

Frank Sidebottom – “Panic”

Frank Sidebottom – 2009 Tour Dates
Oct 2 $$ Studio @ webster hall $$ new york, nyc 10003
Oct 3 $$ coney island film festival (program 4) surf av. brooklyn, nyc
Oct 3 $$ “reema-leema telly show” coney island special www.tincan.tv
Oct 4 $$ cms radio brooklyn, new york
Oct 4 $$ otto’s shrunken head tiki bar manhattan, new york 10009
Oct 4 $$ “radio timperley” 1 hour new york special www.manchesterradioonline.com
Oct 4 $$ the cake shop, lower east side $$ manhattan, new york
Oct 6 with john cooper clarke brighton
Oct 8 with john cooper clarke @ camden barfly, london
Oct 10 with john cooper clarke barfly, cardiff.
Oct 11 ++ “radio timperley” 1 hour show www.manchesterradioonline.com
Oct 11 ++ “radio timperley” 1 hour show www.manchesterradioonline.com
Oct 11 batbottom and bobbins & all american hero night (with ghosts !) the lmrca club, altrincham
Oct 14 with john cooper clarke fibbers, york
Oct 15 with john cooper clarke masque, liverpool
Oct 16 with john cooper clarke the ruby lounge, manchester
Oct 17 afternoon poetry, art and performance @ the union chapel crompton terrace, islington, london n1 2xd
Oct 17 the bizare ball @ se0ne london se1 3qx
Oct 19 *** “e f g & h” new album released cherry red records (cdm red 389)
Oct 23 mccormacks ballroom leipzig, germany
Oct 24 mccormacks ballroom leipzig, germany
Oct 29 alan “ball of fire” memorial cup swindon town f.c.
Nov 7 the prince albert brighton
Nov 8 man city supporters club private do !
Nov 8 sunday with sidie the l.m.r.c.a. club alty
Nov 12 the salutation behind the university, manchester
Nov 13 the boardwalk snig hill, sheffield
Nov 27 the vic club goole
Dec 13 l.m.r.c.a. railway club (christmas extraviganza) altrincham cheshire
Dec 18 the lexington london