TONIGHT! Wednesday, January 20
BENEFIT FOR HAITI: Patti Smith, Yo La Tengo, the Antlers @ City Winery Soho, Manhattan
OK, this concert is too expensive, but then again, it's for Haiti, and it's Patti Fucking Smith, the punk rock poet without whom music as we know it today would not exist. And Yo La Tengo who invented American noise pop in the 80's and are still the coolest kids in school. And the Antlers, who topped my Best of 2009 list with their heartbreaking ambient/noise/pop album Hospice. But anyway, it's sold out, so that probably ain't happening.
Big Troubles, My Teenage Stride, the Sundelles @ Le Poisson Rouge Greenwich Village, Manhattan $8
This line-up is sick, y'all. Big Troubles played the last Radio Flyer Review showcase where they plastered their audience against the walls with the sheer volume of their loud, catchy pop. Influences must certainly include the Jesus & Mary Chain, Smashing Pumpkins and Dinosaur Jr - awesome melodies and walls of sound blasted as loud as humanly possible. My Teenage Stride is one of the best indie pop bands around, with great songwriting and tight execution. They will make you smile. And the Sundelles also played my last showcase, cranking out spirited garage rock with enough frenzy to break a bass string. FUCK YES. [bt myspace] [mts myspace] [sundelles myspace]
TOMORROW! Thursday, January 21
Darlings, Motel Motel, Gunfight! @ Union Pool Williamsburg, Brooklyn
Darlings make music by insane people for insane people. I find them charming, accessible but unpredictable and quite raucous when it's called for (which is most of the time). Motel Motel are one of those alt-country bands in the indie rock circuit and they aren't earth shattering or anything, but they are definitely a great listen, even for people who aren't usually into that stuff. Their songwriting is just solid. Gunfight! play cow punk and put on a rivetingly fun live show. [darlings myspace] [mm myspace] [gunfight myspace]
Friday, January 22
Screens, Pygmy Shrews, Fiasco, PRSMS @ Death By Audio Williamsburg, Brooklyn $8
@*^$ #*^%# *&@^$!!! << I normally go ahead and write out the words I think, but here it went a little too far. As in "@!*&# &^$%* *@^%! !*#%, THIS LINE-UP IS BLOWING MY #&%&@# MIND!!!!!!" OK, where to even start. Well, Screens are one of my "Bands to Watch in 2010." They are the cutting edge of indie music. Pygmy Shrews show no mercy as they shred your ears with nasty, DISTORRRTED electric guitar. Fiasco I've written about recently - they are a young band that plays HEAVY post-hardcore with intense complexity and fierce noise. And PRSMS I haven't heard, but I've been meaning to. I'm 85% sure they are awesome, but we'll have to find out together. [screens myspace] [pygmy myspace] [fiasco myspace] [prsms myspace]
Shilpa Ray & Her Happy Hookers @ Knitting Factory Williamsburg, Brooklyn $12?
Shilpa Ray is that badass lady of rock and roll who plays a handpowered harmonium while belting out soulful and blues tunes with punk rock 'tude while giving you the finger. Her backing band is one of the most solid groups in Brooklyn. Yep. [myspace]
BENEFIT FOR TULI KUPFERBERG: Lou Reed, the Fugs, Sonic Youth + more @ St. Ann's Warehouse DUMBO, Brooklyn $75-125
This show is another expensive benefit show, this one to aid Tuli Kupferberg with medical expenses after he suffered two strokes last year. Kupferberg was a founding member of the Fugs, a highly experimental, art-rock/folk band whose influence in the 1960's helped pave the for punk and every other experimental and artistic movement New York has since seen. Despite their influence, The Fugs didn't exactly strike it rich, so Kupferberg's bandmates and friends are pitching in to raise some money. These friends include his bandmates, the Velvet Underground's Lou Reed and Sonic Youth, among others. It's a once-in-a-lifetime line-up and for a good cause. But a lot of us just don't have that kind of money lying around.
Saturday, January 23
Pterodactyl, Kid Millions @ Issue Project Room Gowanus, Brooklyn $15
Pterodactyl has been on this blog so much over the last year, you're probably like "shut up already." Well, screw you. Pterodactyl is one of the most interesting bands around. Their math-punk is jumpy, fast and pounding, with soaring, ecstatic melodies drifting over the flurry of guitar and drums. Kid Millions is from Oneida, who make experimental drone/punk/metal/electro music that will put you in a trance, but a HARDCORE trance. And no, I don't even know what that means, but it's true. [ptero myspace]
Sunday, January 24
BENEFIT FOR HAITI: Rosanne Cash, Nada Surf + more TBA @ City Winery Soho, Manhattan $50
Another show for Haiti, slightly less expensive (but with a slightly inferior line-up) to tonight's show. You should be able to spare $50 for relief efforts in Haiti if you aren't in dire circumstances yourself. You could just give that money to an organization, but if you like music, why not check out some music while pitching in?
Monday, January 25
Cheap Trick @ The Fillmore at Irving Plaza Union Sq.-ish, Manhattan $49.50 adv. / $55 dos.
Don't hate, y'all! Cheap Trick were the definitive power pop band of the 70's. Their catchy rock albums may be arena-focused, but power pop built a foundation for much of indie music, taking harder and edgier elements and putting them with pop structures, not to lose edginess but to gain it. Cheap Trick are ROCK and ROLL.
The long view...
January 2010
27
BENEFIT FOR HAITI: Walkmen, Cold War Kids, Ted Leo, Wrens, AC Newman, Here We Go Magic + more @ Bell House
29
Asobi Seksu @ Le Poissson Rouge
Here We Go Magic @ Music Hall of Williamsburg
Mission of Burma @ Bowery Ballroom
Oneida @ Market Hotel
Sounds Like Brooklyn: Les Savy Fav, Vivian Girls (yick) @ Brooklyn Academy of Music
30
Mission of Burma @ Bowery Ballroom
Sisters, Fluffy Lumbers, Total Slacker @ Shea Stadium
February
3
Atlas Sound @ Bell House
4
Atlas Sound, Neon Indian, Sisters @ NYU Kimmel
Cold Cave @ Mercury Lounge
5
Sounds Like Brooklyn: Ra Ra Riot, the Antlers @ Brooklyn Academy of Music
6
Don Giovanni showcase: Shellshag, Screaming Females, Jeff the Brotherhood + more @ Bowery Ballroom
9
The Residents @ Webster Hall
10
Harlem @ Mercury Lounge
12
Jonathan Richman @ Music Hall of Williamsburg
13
Jonathan Richman @ Music Hall of Williamsburg
The Magnetic Fields @ Brooklyn Academy of Music
14
Jonathan Richman @ Music Hall of Williamsburg
19
Fucked Up, Kurt Vile, Frankie Rose & the Outs @ Europa
Andrew W-K @ Santos Party House
20
Crystal Stilts, Beets, Beach Fossils, German Measles @ Music Hall of Williamsubrg
21
Dum Dum Girls, Frankie Rose & the Outs @ Mercury Lounge
26
Wild Beasts @ Bowery Ballroom
27
Glenn Branca (record release) @ Le Poisson Rouge
28
Wild Beasts @ Music Hall of Williamsburg
March
5
Muse, the Silversun Pickups @ Madison Square Garden
6
Titus Andronicus, Parts & Labor, Babies @ Bowery Ballroom
10-11
The Magnetic Fields @ Town Hall
12-13
Henry Rollins @ The Fillmore
18-19
Killswitch Engage @ The Fillmore
23
Black Lips @ Brooklyn Bowl
25
Nada Surf play Let Go + surprise guest @ Bowery Ballroom
26
Nada Surf play The Weight Is a Gift + surprise guest @ Bell House
Spoon, Deerhunter @ Radio City Music Hall
27
Nada Surf play Lucky + surprise guest @ Music Hall of Williamsburg
30
Big Pink, A Place to Bury Strangers @ Webster Hall
April
15
Liars @ Bowery Ballroom
18
Liars @ Music Hall of Williamsburg
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