0211
Kyle Dean Reinford

Dum Dum Girls, Red Mass, Crystal Stilts, Superchunk, Frankie & the Outs, Radical Dads & more in This Week in Indie

by Bill Pearis

DOWNLOADMystery Jets – Flash a Hungry Smile (MP3)
DOWNLOADMystery Jets – Dreaming of Another World (MP3)
DOWNLOADDominant Legs – About My Girls (MP3)
DOWNLOAD: Frankie Rose & the Outs – Candy (MP3)
DOWNLOADRed Mass – Saturn (MP3)
DOWNLOAD: Tony Castles – Black Girls in Dresses (MP3)

Blanche?
Mystery Jets

Looks like there are still a few tickets to go see Mystery Jets tonight at Mercury Lounge now that the band have sorted out their visa issues after having to cancel last night’s show (which I was going to go to). Frank at Chromewaves caught them in Toronto on Monday night:

Over the course of an hour, they split their set evenly between Serotonin and its predecessor, 2008’s Twenty-One, and gave the respectably-sized crowd something to get boisterous about – which they did, right through to the soaring encore-closer “Dreaming Of Another World”. Any concerns about what would happen to the rest of the tour were set aside in favour of just enjoying the moment.

Looking through Frank’s photos of the show, I was happy to see Mystery Jets aren’t sporting any fashion disasters (see above) like when they played at Bowery Ballroom last year. That may sound superficial but it is distracting when a band you really like dresses like Blanche from Golden Girls. As I’ve said before, I was a huge fan of 2008’s Twenty One and think their new one, Serotonin, is maybe better even if nothing on it quite reaches the highs of “Young Love” and “Two Doors Down.”

If you’re going, be sure to get there early for L.A.’s Dominant Legs whose new EP on Lefse records I like a lot. Any band that lists The Style Council as an influence is gonna grab my attention, at least enough to listen to it. They played last night at Mercury Lounge, their first NYC show, and reports on Twitter seemed to be pretty positive.

Frankie & the Outs @ SXSW 2010 (more by Tim Griffin)
Frankie and the Outs

Mystery Jets’ cancellation last night has thrown a wrench into my schedule. I had planned on spending the evening at Glasslands for the Frankie Rose & the Outsrecord release party but now I’m gonna hope the show goes late enough that I can do both tonight (9/15). We’ll see how this works out. If nothing else I can pick up the record a week early tonight at the merch table. It’s a really good album that, if maybe a little economical in the lyrical department, definitely showcases Rose’s ease with hooks and harmonies. Check out an MP3 of the single “Candy” above and you can watch the Carrie-inspired video for the song — which just premiered — at the bottom.

It should be a fun night all around. Light Asylum, who the Outs shared the bill for their first-ever show last Halloween, headline the party, with opening slots from psych mystics Mirror Mirror and Pigeon who I can’t find any info on. (But there are at least three other bands currently called Pigeon so you might want to rethink the name.)  MINKS were originally supposed to play but seem to have fallen off the bill.

Dum Dum Girls
Dum Dum Girls

I have to imagine Frankie’s pals Dum Dum Girls will be in attendance tonight (you can spot Dee Dee in the “Candy” video near the end) if they can make it in time following the first of their three gigs opening for Vampire Weekend this week at Radio City Music Hall. I would kind of like to see DDGs there, actually, as their echo-y girl group vibe could sound amazing with the venue’s acoustics. But I’m not gonna. I might, however, try to catch them on Saturday night (9/18) at Knitting Factory where they’ll play with Girls at Dawn and Reading Rainbow. Their self-titled Sub Pop debut has stayed in constant rotation since coming out out in March.

Crystal Stilts

While we’re on the subject of bands with whom Frankie Rose used to play drums, Crystal Stilts finally seem to be getting around to making a second record. A new single, “Shake the Shackles,” is due out on Slumberland Records on October 21, their first new material in 18 months. The band have struggled a bit post-Frankie, and the last time I saw them play live (Fall 2009 I think) they seemed pretty out of sorts. But both sides of the new single is good — you can listen to it at the bottom of this post — and hopefully they’ve really shaked those shackles and rebounded.

You can find out for yourself when Crystal Stilts play Knitting Factory on Friday (9/17) with drony, motoroik San Franciscans Moon Duo.

Red Mass @ M For Montreal 2009 (more)
Red Mass

What else? Montreal art punks Red Mass will be here this weekend for two shows: Friday at Party Expo and Saturday at Death by Audio. Both shows are with X-ray Eyeballs. Somewhere between the Damned’s goth-tinged punk and Nuggets era psych-garage, Red Mass also bring a sense of theatrics to their live performances. Frontman Choyce (late of CCP Gangbangs) has no problem with high concept and brings the Red to the stage — both times I’ve seen them, the band dressed entirely in shades of crimson. But the music still does most of the talking. If you like this kind of thing at all, Red Mass are not to be missed.

Red mass are on their first real tour of the States — well, the East Coast — and they’ll hook up with King Khan & the Shrines along the way. All tour dates are at the bottom of this post.

And finally, Superchunk are here this weekend, playing Bowery Ballroom on Saturday (9/18) and MHoW on Sunday (9/19). Both shows are sold out, but you can still see them at Other Music on Sunday afternoon (1PM). I’ve also had good luck getting tickets at MHoW at the box office day of show, so if you’re without a ticket it’s worth a try.

Even if you don’t get to see them, you’ve still got their seriously awesome new album, Majesty Shredding. No phoning it in here, this is classic Superchunk. Over at Emusic, Michaelangelo Matos wrote a great review of the record and the opening paragraph really nails it:

Superchunk sound like they’ve been listening to a lot of Superchunk. Well, of course — what else would they sound like? But think about that for a second. Most bands slow down as they age because most people slow down as they age: Sonic Youth isn’t about to start flirting with hardcore again; the Rolling Stones will never cut another “She Said Yeah.” That’s nature. But Superchunk 2010 could be easily mistaken for Superchunk 1991 — the tempo hasn’t moved and the scrappiness hasn’t budged. And scrappy is what this band does.

Majesty Shredding is loaded with classic Superchunk Moments, from new single “Digging for Something” (you’ve seen the video by now, right?) to the manic “Crossed Wires” (a 7″ from last summer) to my favorite song, the anthemic “Hot Tubes.” It’s so great to see a band 20 years into its career knock one out of the park.

Translations
Translations

That’s enough for this week. A few more picks for the week, of things I didn’t cover above, day by day:

WEDNESDAY, SEPT 15

I’ve been listening a lot to this Translations digital single which you can download for free. Both “sides” are really good, kind of Flying Nun/GbV style indie. Haven’t seen them live but they play tonight at The Woods in Williamsburg. It’s a free show.

Power pop fans should head straight to the Rock Shop for Tommy Keene, Title Tracks and Valley Lodge.

continued below…

Frankie Rose

THURSDAY, SEPT 16

Nicole Atkins and the Black Sea don’t play places as small as Glasslands too often. Hopefully the place has finally cooled off.

Sisters

FRIDAY, SEPT 17

Of Montreal and Janelle Monae is the kind of show that might actually get me to set foot in Terminal 5, something I’ve managed to avoid so far in my life.

Sisters debut album, Ghost Fits, comes out on soon via the Narnack label. Go see ’em tonight at Shea Stadium on a crowded bill that that also includes The N.E.C., Drunk Tigers, Candyhearts, Timeshares, Carnivores and Grand Rapids.

At Union Pool it’s the record release party for Tony Castles’ debut EP, No Service. Check out the Prefab Sprout-y “Black Girls in Dresses” at the top of this post. Also playing are  arty post punks Regal Degal who I also like a lot.

Radical Dads have a catchy new single out that you can download for free at their website. Check out the video for it at the bottom of this post, and go see them play live at Cake Shop as part of very solid lineup that includes Reading Rainbow and Family Trees.

flyer

SATURDAY, SEPT 18

Super-fun, super-cute TN trio Those Darlins play Brooklyn Bowl for a mere $5. Which almost makes up for the five-deep lines at the bar and a crowd that will be made up of 80% people who aren’t even aware there is a band playing and will be talking at the top of their lungs throughout the show. If you want to see them with an appreciative crowd, they play two nights before (Thursday, 9/16) at Bowery Ballroom. But if you stay near the front of the stage at Brooklyn Bowl, it’s tolerable. And the price is hard to beat.

SUNDAY, SEPT 19

The Klaxons play the first of their three area shows at Maxwell’s. Apart from the cover art, I’m not as keen on their new album as I was their first, but they’re usually pretty good live. Would like to hear “Golden Skans” again in concert.

Frankie Rose & the outs – Candy

Frankie Rose & the Outs – 2010 Tour Dates
Frankie & the Outs – 2010 Tour Dates
08/27 New York, NY – Cake Shop / Dance Magic Night
09/15 Brooklyn, NY – Glasslands # – RECORD RELEASE SHOW
09/20 San Francisco, CA – Rickshaw Stop ! $
09/21 Oakland, CA – Sugar Mountian ! $
09/22 Santa Barbara, CA – Muddy Waters ! $
09/24 San Diego, CA – Tin Can Ale House !
09/25 Los Angeles, CA – The Smell ! $
09/26 Los Angeles, CA – The Echo – Part Time Punks !
10/18 Chapel Hill, NC – Local 506 *
10/19 Baltimore, MD – Ottobar *
10/20 Philadelphia, PA – Kungfu Necktie *
10/21 – 10/23 – New York, NY – CMJ
10/24 Cambridge, MA – TT The Bear’s Place *
10/26 Rochester, NY – Bug Jar *
10/27 Cleveland, OH – The Spot at Case Western *
10/28 Chicago, IL – Empty Bottle *
! = w/ Hunx and his Punx
$ = w/ Lilac
# = w/ Light Asylum, Minks and Mirror Mirror
* = w/ Woven Bones

Dum Dum Girls – 2010 Tour Dates
Sep 15 Radio City Music Hall New York, NY
Sep 16 Radio City Music Hall New York, NY
Sep 17 Radio City Music Hall New York, NY
Sep 18 Knitting Factory Brooklyn Brooklyn, NY
Sep 20 Barrowland Ballroom Glasgow, United Kingdom
Sep 21 Barrowland Ballroom Glasgow, United Kingdom
Sep 22 Electric Circus Edinburgh, United Kingdom
Sep 23 O2 Academy Birmingham Birmingham, United Kingdom
Sep 24 O2 Academy Bournemouth Bournemouth, United Kingdom
Sep 25 Queens Social Club Sheffield, United Kingdom
Sep 26 O2 Apollo Manchester Manchester, United Kingdom
Sep 27 O2 Academy Leeds Leeds, United Kingdom
Sep 28 XOYO London, United Kingdom
Sep 29 O2 Academy Brixton London, United Kingdom
Sep 30 O2 Academy Brixton London, United Kingdom
Oct 01 O2 Academy Brixton London, United Kingdom
Oct 20 Great American Music Hall San Francisco, CA
Oct 23 BILTMORE CABARET Vancouver, Canada
Oct 24 Wonder Ballroom Portland, OR
Oct 27 Varsity Theater Minneapolis, MN
Oct 29 Magic Stick Detroit, MI
Nov 02 Johnny Brenda’s Philadelphia, PA
Nov 04 Bottletree Birmingham, AL
Nov 07 Waterloo Park Austin, TX

Crystal Stilts – “Shake the Shackles”
Shake the Shackles by Crystal Stilts

Red Mass – “Saturn”, La Salla Rosa, Montreal Nov 2009

Red Mass – 2010 Tour Dates
SEPT. 15th – Providence, RI – Machines With Magnets w/ An Albatross, Aids Wolf, Gila Monster, Holy Sheet & Whore Paint
SEPT. 16th – Baltimore, MD – Golden West Café w/ Kid Congo Powers
SEPT. 17th – Brooklyn, NY – Party Expo w/ Food Stamps, Try Cry Try, Xray Eyeballs
SEPT. 18th – New York, NY – Death By Audio w/ Xray Eyeballs
SEPT. 19th – Silver Spring, MD – Jackie’s — matinee show w/ Thee Lolitas
SEPT. 21st – Charlotte, NC – The Milestone,
SEPT. 22nd – Atlanta, GA – 529 w/ Aids Wolf
SEPT. 25th – Memphis, TN – GONER FEST @ Murphy’s
SEPT. 27th – Toledo, OH – Woodchuck’s
SEPT. 30th – Montreal, QC – POP MONTREAL – SEMPRINI RECORDS/ SIGNED BY FORCE SHOWCASE @ Casa Del Popolo w/ El Boy Die & Crabe
OCT. 12th – Pawtucket, RI – @ The Met w/ King Khan & The Shrines
OCT. 13th – Boston, MA – @ Royale Boston w/ King Khan & The Shrines
OCT. 15th – Silver Spring, MD – Quarry House w/ Paul Collins, The Spectacles, and Dirty Shames

Superchunk – “Digging for Something”

Superchunk – 2010 Tour Dates
9/16 Durham, NC – The Nasher Museum
9/17 Washington, DC- 930 Club w/ Let’s Wrestle & Tommy Keene
9/18 New York, NY – Bowery Ballroom w/ Let’s Wrestle SOLD OUT
9/19 New york, NY – Other Music (1pm, free)
9/19 Brooklyn, NY- Music Hall of Williamsburg w/ Wild Nothing & Todd Barry SOLD OUT
9/21 Boston, MA- Royale w/ Versus
9/22 Philadelphia, PA- Trocadero w/ Versus
9/23 Montreal, QC- Le National
10/2 Las Vegas, NV – Matador 21
10/13 Vancouver, BC – Biltmore Cabaret w/ Telekinesis
10/14 Seattle, WA – The Showbox w/ Teenage Fanclub & Telekinesis
10/15 Portland, OR – Wonder Ballroom w/ Teenage Fanclub & Telekinesis
10/17 San Francisco, CA – Treasure Island
10/19 Los Angeles, CA – The Music Box at Fonda w/ Telekinesis

Radical Dads – Recklessness