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The Wedding Present, Dirty on Purpose, the New Year, the Heartstring Symphony & YellowFever in the Week in Indie

by Bill Pearis

DOWNLOAD: The New Year – The Company I Can Get (MP3)
DOWNLOAD: Yellow Fever – Culver City (MP3)
DOWNLOAD: Yellow Fever – Joe Brown (MP3)

The Wedding Present @ Neumos, Seattle 9/25 (via The Finest Kiss)
The Wedding Present

The Wedding Present are in town this week and they are one of my favorite bands ever, probably one of five or six groups of which I can say I’m a genuine, died-in-the-wool fan. And I can honestly say I don’t think frontman David Gedge has made a bad record in his 23 year career — either with the Weddoes or Cinerama — and that goes for the new album, El Ray, even if he maybe tries a little too hard with the lyrics on this one.

And they are always good live. Gedge, who’s been the only constant in a lineup that’s changed almost as many times as The Fall, still hammers at his guitar with a speed and voracity that would exhaust men half his age in half the time. Setlists on this tour have looked pretty good, especially if you’re a fan of their 1991 Albini-produced classic, Seamonsters… which you should be. Just remember: They don’t do requests or encores.

The Wedding Present play Bowery Ballroom tonight (10/8) (tickets) and Southpaw tomorrow (10/9) (tickets).

The New Year
The New Year

Having just wrapped up a stint opening for the Wedding Present, Brooklyn’s Dirty on Purpose are now playing some dates with The New Year, including one this Friday (10/10) at Music Hall of Williamsburg (tickets are still available). It’s a good double-bill, as DoP’s Joe Jurwicz and George Wilson initially bonded over their love of ’90s indie rock legends, Bedhead whose core members, Matt and Bubba Kadane, went on to form The New Year. (I learned this, by the way, via Death By Audio’s new-ish blog, worth a visit.) The New Year’s new, self-titled album injects a little light into the Kadane brothers signature downbeat sound — but not too much.

Dirty on Purpose, Wii versions
Dirty on Purpose

I’ve got a pair of tickets and a Dirty on Purpose t-shirt to give away for the MHoW show. Just email [email protected] with the subject line “Dirty New Year.” Include your first and last name. Winner will be chosen at random and notified by Friday morning.

Yellow Fever @ Death By Audio
Yellow Fever

Austin duo YellowFever are back in town for two NYC shows this week. There are no shortage of duos these days but I gotta say nobody else sounds quite like them. Their sound couldn’t be more spare — usually just drums, the simplest guitar (often just single notes, not chords), and Jennifer Moore’s understated, kinda haunting voice. It’s that space inbetween the instrumentation that makes them so special. It’s a little bit like Young Marble Giants if Beth Orton was the singer instead of Alison Statton. I caught them at Death by Audio when they came through town in July, and they are definitely worth checking out this week. They play Cake Shop on Thursday (10/9) and Silent Barn on Friday (10/10).

Speaking of Cake Shop, you might want to swing by tonight/Wednesday (10/8) to catch L.A.’s The Heartstring Symphony. Somewhere between fellow Angelinos The Bird and the Bee and Lavender Diamond, this is well-crafted jazzy R&B pop that brings to mind Joe Jackson and Steely Dan. Main symphonette Heather Porcaro, who basically is the band on record, is of Yacht Rock lineage, her father, Steve, and late uncle Jeff were in Toto. Just don’t yell “Rosanna,” ok? The Heartstring Symphony also play Club NME at the Annex on Friday (10/10).

All tour dates and videos below…

Heather Porcaro
Heather Porcaro

Heather Porcaro and the Heartstring Symphony
Oct 8 CAKESHOP New York, New York
Oct 9 club NME at the Annex New York, New York

The Wedding Present- “Don’t Take Me Home Until I’m Drunk”

The Wedding Present – 2008 U.S. Tour Dates
Oct 8 Bowery Ballroom New York, New York
Oct 9 Southpaw Brooklyn, New York
Oct 10 North Star Bar Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
Oct 11 Black Cat Washington D.C., Washington DC
Oct 12 Local 506 Chapel Hill, North Carolina
Oct 13 Rocket Bar Ashville, North Carolina
Oct 14 The Earl Atlanta, Georgia
Oct 15 Bottle Tree Birmingham, Alabama
Oct 17 Mohawk Austin, Texas

The New Year – “The End’s Not Near”

The New Year w/ Dirty on Purpose 2008 Tour Dates
Thursday, October 9 @ Johnny Brenda’s (Philadelphia, Pennsylvania)
Friday, October 10 @ Music Hall of Williamsburg (Brooklyn, New York)
Saturday, October 11 @ Middle East (Boston, Massachusetts)
Sunday, October 12 @ Living Room (Providence, Rhode Island)

The New Year 2008 Tour Dates cont
Oct 13 Club Metronome Burlington, Vermont
Oct 14 Le Divan Orange Montreal, Quebec
Oct 15 Lee’s Palace Toronto, Ontario
Oct 16 The Pike Room Pontiac, Michigan
Oct 17 Empty Bottle Chicago, Illinois
Oct 18 Maintenance Shop Ames, Iowa
Oct 19 High Dive Champaign, Illinois
Oct 20 Grog Shop Cleveland, Ohio
Oct 21 DC9 Washington DC, Washington DC

YellowFever – “Culver City” at Death by Audio, 7/31/2008

YellowFever 2008 Tour Dates
Oct 8 The Gypsy Hut w/Daniel Francis Doyle Cincinnati, Ohio
Oct 9 Cake Shop w/ Daniel Francis Doyle New York, New York
Oct 10 Silent Barn w/ Daniel Francis Doyle Ridgewood, Queens, New York
Oct 11 Oxfam Midnight Cafe – Tufts University w/ Daniel Francis Doyle Medford, Massachusetts
Oct 12 50 Agnes Warehouse w/ Daniel Francis Doyle Providence, Rhode Island
Oct 13 Dahlak w/Daniel Francis Doyle Washington DC, Washington DC
Oct 14 BFF Bog w/ Daniel Francis Doyle Chapel Hill, North Carolina
Oct 15 Farm 255 w/ Daniela Francesca Doilie (Secret Squirrel//Crappy Party event) Athens, Georgia
Oct 16 Egan’s w/ Daniel Francis Doyle Tuscaloosa, Alabama
Oct 17 Alabama Music Box w/Daniel Francis Doyle (Zombie Headquarters) Mobile, Alabama
Oct 18 Notsuoh w/Daniel Francis Bacon Houston, Texas