Live: S.V.B., Panda Riot, Electric Djinn

When: 5/20
Where: Studio Maya

This has got to be one of the strangest shows I've ever been to.  Organized by experimental psychedelic shoegaze band So L'il (aka Gracefully), the show was in a well-lit studio space in Prospect Heights that I'd never seen or heard of before.

So L'il took the stage first but joined forces with R&B/hip-hop trio Booboniks for form a new group, Solilian von Boobonika, a.k.a. S.V.B.  I wasn't sure if they'd be able to pull it off, but they did and it was awesome.  So L'il played their usual layered, ambient psychedelia, and somehow it meshed perfectly with Precious's soulful singing and Booboniks' slick hip-hop beats to form some of the most innovative music I've heard in quite a while.

The only weakness in the performance was the contrast between the two vocal styles - So L'il's Sharon's dreamy, reverbed vocals were too far afield from the forceful R&B pipes on Booboniks' Precious.  There were a few moments where it worked, but the jarring difference between the two women's voices was mostly just awkward.  Regardless, it's impossible to deny the amount of talent in S.V.B.  See for yourself: here's a video from the show.

I've wanted to see Chicago shoegazers Panda Riot for years, but they don't come to town very often.  The group's very gazy-gauzy guitars blend with electronica and it's all held together by the dreamy indie-pop vocals of Rebecca Scott (who also plays keys and guitar).  Across from her, guitarist/founding member Brian Cook and bassist Justin Cheng stood awkwardly close to each other and while they did seem to spend a lot of time admiring their own feet (as the genre's name would imply), they also moved a lot.  Center stage, the more manic Jose Rodriguez supplemented the band's drum machine beats with a snare, tom and cymbal.  Although his stage presence was the most energetic, all four pandas seemed to be having a blast.

It's impossible to say what makes this band great.  Each element just works: Cook's pitch-bending wall of guitar sound, Cheng's dry, trip-hoppy bass lines, Scott's spacey, melodic singing, the drum machine's slick, trip-hoppy beats and Rodriguez's more earthy drumming.  The band played many of my favorite songs of theirs and plenty I didn't recognize, all gorgeous, electrogaze dream-pop numbers played with joy and care.  Here's a live video from a different show.

The third band of the night was one Electric Djinn, which featured primarily members of the long inactive band Lumipad.  They are an odd odd odd band.  The members, who skew considerably older than the other bands, seem genuinely insane.  The front person (who was not standing in the front) was a striking woman behind a keyboard who less sang than melodically incanted.  Indeed, it felt more like performance or even ritual than simply a concert.

There was one woman dressed in black, seated in a folding chair and facing perpendicular to the audience.  She was adjusting a small electronic device throughout the performance (it looked like a wireless router) but seemed entirely disengaged from the band.  It was as though she'd been sitting on the chair playing with this device forever and when a band just happened to set itself up around her, they were invisible to her (and her to them).  It was cool, but weird.

Musically, the band combined a wealth of obscure influences.  There was some free jazz, especially via a trombone, ambient electronica, psychedelia to the point of prog rock (if not in sound, then in attitude) and abstracted krautrock.  Reference points could include Art Bears/Henry Cow, Red Crayola, King Crimson, Zappa, Neu!, Brian Eno, John Cage, Albert Ayler....well, if you know those bands, you get the drift.  If you don't, just think head(y) avant-garde, psychedelic electronica meets LSD-decimated performance art.  In a good way.

I missed the last band cause I weren't feelin well.  Sorry Season Finale....

Upcoming Shows: Big Freedia, Zs + more

Tonight!! Thursday, May 26

Big Freedia, Javelin @ Mercury Lounge * LES, Manhattan
Big Freedia is the (drag) queen of New Orleans "bounce" music.  A form of dirty-south rap, bounce is accompanied with a dance that is, essentially, the fastest booty-shaking humanly possible. With song titles like "Azz Everywhere," Big Freedia has brought the queer microgenre "sissy bounce" attention in the national media.  Like go-go in 70's DC, booty bass in 80's Miami and juke in 90's Chicago, sissy bounce is particular to a time (now) and place (New Orleans).  This is the moment and it probably won't last long so check it out.  [video]

Other Shows
Darlings (ramshackle, catchy indie) @ Death By Audio ($7)
Dinowalrus (danceable psychedelic synth and guitar music) @ Cameo ($8)


Tomorrow!! Friday, May 27

Pterodactyl, Screens, Zulus @ Death By Audio * Williamsburg, Brooklyn * $7
Pterodactyl are a noise rock band.  They play fast and yell some and sing some.  Screens are another experimental band who are really good with noise and grooves and tunes that come off all disjointed (in a good way).  Zulus play loud, heavy, fast post-hardcore.  [old ptero video] [screens musik video]

Dum Dum Girls (solo acoustic), Crocodiles (solo acoustic), Woven Bones (full band acoustic) @ Glasslands * Williamsburg, Brooklyn * $10
I was way more psyched about this show before they announced the "acoustic" part of it.  These are three lo-fi, reverby bands of the sort that are so in vogue.  Dum Dum Girls and Crocodiles (whose front-people are married to each other) are two of the best.  [dum video] [croc video]

Other shows
Dustin Wong (crazy Ponytail guitarman), The Sky (mem USAISAMONSTER) @ Monster Island Basement ($7)
Fang Island (lots of big guitar) @ Brooklyn Bowl ($5)


Saturday, May 28

Big Freedia @ Broooklyn Bown * Williamsburg, Brooklyn * $5
See above.


Memorial Day! Monday, May 30

Mattress, Brick Mower @ Silent Barn * Ridgewood, Queens * $7
Fucking awesome New Jersey punks. [mattress video] [brick video]


Tuesday, May 31

Man Man, Shilpa Ray and Her Happy Hookers @ Music Hall of Williamsburg * Williamsburg, Brooklyn * Sold out!
I don't care about Man Man but Shilpa Ray and Her Happy Hookers are opening at MHOW Tuesday.  Shilpa Ray is like a petite, post-modern, desi Janis Joplin from the future. Her music is rock'n'roll with bluesy gritty and punk swagger.  She plays a hand-powered harmonium.  I cannot express how very badass she is. [video]


Wednesday, June 1

Zs @ Silent Barn * Ridgewood, Queens * $7
Zs are a highly experimental noise outfit.  They are among the best of their genre, blending avant garde influences in a way that's brutal and harsh, but also beautiful. [video]


The long view...

June
2
Liturgy (black metal crossover), Sightings (experimental/noise) @ Knitting Factory
Stiff Little Fingers (late 70's UK punk) @ Europa ($20)
Ariel Pink's Haunted Graffiti, Silk Flowers, R. Stevie Moore @ Irving Plaza ($20)
Fiasco (mathy posthardcore) @ Shea Stadium

5
Against Me!, Screaming Females, Lemuria (first and last = BEST pop punk; Females = just plain BEST) @ Music Hall of Williamsburg

7
Against Me!, Screaming Females, Lemuria (see above) @ Webster Hall

10
Bush Tetras (original early 80's experimental post punk funk by ladies) @ Le Poisson Rouge ($12/$15)

11
Pygmy Shrews, Pop 1280, White Suns (post-hardcore/experimental/

noise) @ Death By Audio ($7)

12
TSOL (one of the best original SoCal hardcore punk bands) @ Santos Party House ($12)
R. Stevie Moore (inventor of lo-fi indie pop, looks like Santa) @ Bell House ($10)

14
Japanther (arty poppy punk), Shellshag, Heavy Cream @ Music Hall of Williamsburg

16
Northside Festival: Atlas Sound (Deerhunter side project) @ St. Cecilia's ($15/$17)
Northside Festival: Eternal Summers, Reading Rainbow (punk-inflected indie pop) @ Bruar Falls
Swervedriver (original shoegaze) @ Irving Plaza

17
Dean Wareham plays Galaxie 500 (slowcore shoegaze), Vacant Lots @ Bell House ($15/$20)
The Books @ Prospect Park
Northside Festival: Surfer Blood, Eternal Summers, Grooms, Xray Eyeballs @ Knitting Factory ($12/$14)
Northside Festival: Woods @ St. Cecilia's ($12/$15)

18
Northside Festival: Guided By Voices (original line-up), Wavves, Surfer Blood, The Babies @ McCarren Park
Northside Festival: Eleanor Friedberger (Fiery Furnaces, see above) @ St. Cecilia's ($15/$17)

19
Northside Festival: Mount Eerie (aka Microphones, the best lo-fi noise folk since Neutral Milk Hotel) @ St. Cecilia's ($12/$15)

21
Talib Kweli @ Red Hook Park (free)

22
The Bronx (punx) @ Rocks Off Concert Cruises

23
Dinosaur Jr (late 80's/early 90's loud proto-alt rock, performing their classic album Bug), Fucked Up (wall of sound meets hardcore/thrash meets best thing ever) @ Terminal 5
Art Brut, Reptar (meta art punk) @ Music Hall of Williamsburg
Chairlift, Telepathe @ Glasslands ($10)

24
Special guest (it definitely is a big deal and involves ladies, so make your guess), Coathangers, Religious to Damn @ 285 Kent

25
Archers of Loaf (one of the best 90's indie bands) @ Music Hall of Williamsburg (SOLD OUT)
Jeff the Brotherhood (finest young psych rock) @ 285 Kent

26
Archers of Loaf (see above) @ Webster Hall


July
1
Thermals, Big Troubles (noise pop/punk) @ Bell House ($15)
Nobunny, TV Ghost, Shellshag @ Knitting Factory ($10/$12)

2
Shellshag, Fiasco, Unstoppable Death Machines @ Silent Barn

8
The Wake, Weekend @ South Street Seaport

12
Animal Collective @ Prospect Park (sold out)
Cold Cave @ Knitting Factory

14
Gary War, K-Holes, Pop. 1280 (noisy post punk and post punky noise) @ Union Hall ($8)
tUnE-yArDs @ Riverrocks (free)

15
Radio Dept., Asobi Seksu (shoegaze/ambient pop) @ South Street Seaport

19
Kool Moe Dee (one of the first and best rappers of all time) @ Queensbridge (free)

23
The Feelies, Real Estate, Times New Viking (post punk, lo-fi) @ Prospect Park

29
Black Lips @ Bowery Ballroom


August
2
Sugar Hill Gang (first commercially successful rap act) @ Tappan Park (free)
Sufjan Stevens @ Prospect Park

6
Cold Cave @ Bowery Ballroom

7
Friendly Fires, Cults @ Central Park (free)

8
The Kills @ Terminal 5

12
Sonic Youth @ Williamsburg Waterfront
Streets, El-P @ Terminal 5

21
Rakim, EPMD (two of the greatest rap acts of all time, pivotal in hip-hop's transition from old school rap to more rhythmically and lyrically complex hardcore) @ Central Park (free)

22
Deerhunter @ Webster Hall

25
Wavves @ East River Park (free)

September
8
TV on the Radio @ Williamsburg Waterfront ($48)

Album + Live: Her Vanished Grace

Album: See the Moon
Athame Music, 2011
Rating: ******* (7/10)

I've more or less retired from reviewing local shoegaze and shoegaze-affiliated bands for a number of reasons, but against my better judgment, I'm temporarily suspending the moratorium to do a couple of reviews.

First against the wall is Her Vanished Grace, who are not really a shoegaze band but are a part of that scene. Their music is dream pop - a style that takes the processed layers of shoegaze but tones them down enough to make audible their concisely-written indieish pop tunes. At times, HVG sounds more like U2 than they do My Bloody Valentine.

Her Vanished Grace have been making music in NYC for about twenty years now. The core of the band are married couple Nance and Charlie Nieland who both play guitar and trade lead vocal roles. For quite a while now, the duo has been joined by a rhythm section of Maria Theodosiadou (bass) and Billy Loose (drums). The quartet cranks out a new album every year or two and despite the volume of output (it adds up after this many years), the quality of the band's LPs is impressively consistent.

There is a parallel consistency between the tracks of their latest release, See the Moon. None of the record's eleven tracks sound like filler; each seems to have been given the same level of attention. Rather than looking for a way to fill up 45 minutes, the band seems to have waited until they had 45 minutes of material, then released their record.

Just because the songs are given equal attention doesn't mean they are equally successful. There are some standout moments, like the second track, "Passenger," and the album's lush centerpiece "Beauty Lingers." There are some awesome bass lines ("Make It Lighter" is the best example of many) and strong melodies and drumming throughout.

If you have low tolerance for sappy pop cliches, there are plenty of points where this album will put you off, but that's the nature of the genre. The album is genuine and for music so "dreamy," it's strikingly down-to-earth. Although the sound is beautiful, the transitions can be charmingly un-smooth, a reminder that this band is indeed just regular folk in a modest Brooklyn studio, great soundsmiths and great songwriters but neither aloof nor pretentious. Even the processing on some of the vocals and all of the guitars reminds us of the music's humanity even as it gives aural polish.

Live
When: May 19
Where: Pianos

I love seeing HVG live mainly because the band loves playing live. Many bands are so mired in ambition, whether it be for major label deals or hipster cred or artistic revolution, that they seem to forget why most of us got into playing in the first place - it's fun. But every time they take the stage, HVG seem delighted just to play their songs for their friends and whoever happens to want to listen . That's not to say the band is without ambition - but whatever hopes they may have for their music, they enjoy the moment for what it is.

On stage, Charlie and Nance are one of those adorable couples that seems to still really, really like each other even though they've been together quite a while as bandmates and spouses, stealing admiring glances at each other across the stage. Meanwhile, unassuming badass Theodosiadou rocks out over on stage left, her face seldom visible from behind a curtain of hair. And Loose manages to find a technique that's surprisingly interesting for an oppressively mid-tempo, 4/4 genre, filling the sound with swelling fills and crashing cymbals without once overplaying.

HVG aren't out to shatter preconceived notions about art. They aren't out to be cooler than you or to get rich. They're day-job types who have spent years making music they love. And their sincerity (and no small amount of talent) makes them a refreshing, compelling and relevant band that will outlast trend and whim alike.

I also want to make a quick note about the other band I saw at Pianos on Thursday, one Dead Leaf Echo who, unlike HVG, are pretty clearly a shoegaze band. I shouldn't review them - after all, I quit reviewing shoegaze bands for a lot of reasons. Not the least of these reasons was that my general philosophy of supporting bands and scenes through criticism seemed to be in direct conflict with a prevalent attitude shoegaze circles which sees criticism (even its positive elements) as counterproductive and antithetical to the creation of music. There's validity in both viewpoints and not any chance of coming to a compromise, so I thought it best to bow out. (The other reason I stopped writing about shoegaze is that my own tastes shifted, but I never stopped loving the genre even as I came to love other styles more.)

So, allow me to keep this note very brief. To avoid any confusion, this is a positive review. The last time I reviewed DLE was ages ago and I panned them pretty severely for a lack of songwriting and momentum. But based on the show Thursday, it's a totally different story now. It was never in question that DLE could create beautiful layers of sound, but in their latest songs, they've sculpted those layers into exciting songs full of energy and momentum. It's not a matter of conforming to conventional pop structures, it's just a matter of crafting a musical arc instead of a stagnant pool of sound. And DLE have honed this skill in recent years. Their new material still has moments of sound collage, as it should, but they don't overstay their welcome, and there are moments where the band truly rocks a la kindred neo-psychedelics BRMC and A Place to Bury Strangers.

The band has forgone a live bassist and shockingly, doesn't seem to suffer one bit from the shift to prerecorded b-lines. Frontman Lloyd Galyon is now joined by Ana Breton (formerly of Mahogany) and Christo Buffam (of the Vandelles), both of whom complement Galyon's scintillating 12-string ambiance, Breton with thick, dreamy textures and Buffam with sheets of white noise. The greater contrast in textures actually makes the music more coherent - and more memorable - than ever before. Galyon's obvious talent for soundmaking is finally articulated in these new songs and lives up to its potential at last. Whether that's the new band members, personal evolution as a musician or most likely a combination of the two, DLE are out of a rut and on a roll. Check out their new EP, Verisimilitude, out now.

Album: Thurston Moore - Demolished Thoughts

Album: Demolished Thoughts
Matador
Release date: May 24, 2011
Rating: ******** (8/10)

Thurston Moore, Sonic Youth's good-natured wild boy, has an impressive diversity of output. The tonal/atonal experimentation of Sonic Youth as well as the band's more straight-forward pop and punk moments, free jazz and noise with various avant garde collaborators and hushed folk as a solo artist. The content of Demolished Thoughts, an acoustic album produced by Beck, is not a shock. It's acoustic guitar and Thurston's frank, boyish voice, surrounded by a fair amount of orchestration and nuanced arrangements. What is slightly surprising is that it's this good.

Demolished Thoughts may not surpass Moore's previous best solo efforts (i.e. 1995's Psychic Hearts and 2007's Trees Outside the Academy). Then again, maybe it does. It's really good. Every song is beautifully written, every voice is carefully arranged and masterfully mixed.

Moore can pull off some cheesy stuff, like a dang harp on several tracks, because everything about the songs is unassuming. His voice is plain and conversational and might make you wonder what sort of lullabies Moore sang his daughter when she was a baby. It's a lullaby voice because it sounds more personal than performed but it's not a raw, soul-baring jumble of personal trauma like Neutral Milk Hotel or Will Oldham. It's just songs, sung by Moore, for you.

Moore's tone aside, though, it's not all lullaby fare. The lyrics hint at a dark (if loving) sexuality and while the songs are comforting, they also point towards the dark things that cause a need for comfort. The opening track sets the tone for the album, a gentle, reassuring folk song that sounds as though it was written to bring peace to a troubled loved one. But there's also something darker there; the lyrics rather cryptically warn, "You better hold your lover down / and tie him to the ground."

A few tracks are even as anxiety-ridden as Sonic Youth (only acoustic). "Circulation" is the clearest example with it's dark layers of sound, contrasting traditionally pretty string parts with unsettling noise and tense guitar that subtly strays from the key and gives the sense that something is wrong. The minor-modal "Mina Loy" is even a bit ominous.

The high point of the album is probably the seven minute "Orchard Street," which twists like the sweetest of folk music has been refracted and misinterpreted. The entire album exists like this, though, suspended in the space between the pure 60's folk it recalls and the atonal raw nerves of Thurston's other music. It invites you in, but once you're in there, you will find yourself disoriented. And as you feel the music protecting you from danger, you may find it was the album that put the danger so close to begin with. At once simple and perplexing, comforting and haunting, earthy and otherworldly - and it proves that this boyish 50-something still has some tricks up his sleeve, some thirty years after he first started reinventing popular music.

Album: Boris - Attention Please

Album: Attention Please
Sargent House
Release date: May 24, 2011
Rating: ******* (8/10)

I think you'd be hard put to argue that Boris isn't one of the best bands on earth right now. And in 2011, it seems they are only surpassed in prolificacy, historically, by Bob Pollard and R. Stevie Moore, in terms of the sheer number of songs and albums one can possibly release in a year. On closer examination, you'll find a large number of songs here overlapping with other Boris releases - but any that have seen more than one release have been significantly reworked.

What makes this seventeenth LP unique in Boris's discography is that all lead vocals are sung by Wata, the band's female guitarist. If you've ever seen Wata play, you'll know she can shred like a motherfucker. Her singing is eerie and ethereal, making this Boris's most dreamy record to date (of the ones that I've heard, anyway - to be fair, I haven't listened to all seventeen).

Boris is a difficult band to explain. In one way, they wear their influences on their sleeve, but those influences are so diverse that the band never sounds like anyone else. And while a fair number of bands incorporate vastly different styles, few do it as seamlessly as this group. Sounds reminiscent of My Bloody Valentine or Brian Eno lock into doom metal drones. Industrial racket segues into a sort of demented folk music. Alt rock flare folds into chirping electronica. Nods to the wildman yelps of the Boredoms slip naturally into gaps between speed metal riffs. Attention Please is at once light and heavy, smooth and jagged, gentle and harsh. It's also - as all Boris albums are - simultaneously inviting and impenetrable, accessible on one level but entirely esoteric on another.

That said, Attention Please is more accessible and less esoteric than most Boris releases. That's not necessarily a good thing - this album just doesn't sound as original as most of the band's output. It's softer, more atmospheric and less metal than the last few LPs from the band. The restraint is interesting, especially on songs like the tense title track, with its pulsing house groove, creeping guitar textures and Wata's near-whisper. "Party Boy," with its thickly distorted guitar mixed low over another throbbing dance club beat is less immediately haunting, but also seems to boil just under the surface. Throughout the album, there seems to be a buried anxiety on the verge of exploding.

Attention Please suffers a little from the electronic aspects. Drummer Atsuo's playing is one of Boris's greatest strengths. His approach to drums is raw, animate, wild, vital in a way that is the antithesis of the mechanical beats on much of Attention Please. The mechanical beats have their own charm, and it's not the first time we've heard Boris dabble in electronics. In fact, they use these sort of robotic beats very well, creating a cold, industrial sense of alienation. But despite being effective, it just doesn't sound as fresh - other bands use these sorts of beats, but no other band has Atsuo behind an acoustic drumkit.

Between the foreboding electro ("Attention Please," "Party Boy," "Tokyo Wonder Land") and the hushed noisescapes ("See You Next Week," "You," "Hand In Hand") are some moments of pure pop. I mean, weird, scrambled pop that's juiced up and tripped out, but poppy rock'n'roll ragers nonetheless. "Spoon" is the obvious example, a soaring dream pop anthem, as lush and warm as anything the band has ever put out. In both this song and the similar "Hope" (the album's single), the guitar grows increasingly hard-edged as the song wears on and in the final minute, the band's metal influences seem to take over. But somehow it works, making sure the songs rock without weighing them down.

"Les Paul Custom '86" is an odder track, but hooky with a strange spluttering beat, a quirky and very Japanese (a la Boredoms, Shonen Knife) lead guitar line, and some strange coughing (again recalling the Boredoms). But there are warmer layers of sound here as well, something deeper and more solid than that would imply - it's a layer of low-register sound that prevents the song from drifting off as oddball songs are wont to do.

For a band with such high output, Boris do an exceptional job of keeping things fresh. This album isn't as good as their 2005 record Pink, but in many ways, it can be better to have an album that's not quite as good as, say, Pink, but that also doesn't sound exactly like Pink, or anything like Pink at all. This album is worth buying because you don't already have it. If you have one Boris album, you have one; the band is in a constant state of discovery and invention. That takes both courage and ingenuity and few bands could match Boris on either of those fronts.

Upcoming Shows: NYC PopFest, Thurston Moore + more!

Tonight!! Thursday, May 19

NYC PopFest: The Pains of Being Pure at Heart, Gold-Bears, Sea Lions + more @ Cake Shop * LES, Manhattan * SOLD OUT!
This year's PopFest is pretty lame, mostly featuring bands that even people active on the indiepoplist (the global twee listserve) haven't heard of.  The fest did get one major coup though, tweegazers the Pains of Being Pure at Heart, whose adorable pop songs are covered with a sheen of distortion.  Seeing the Pains in Cake Shop is, simply put, classic and not an opportunity that comes around very often anymore.  So if you can find a way in and don't mind being crammed in a wall to wall crowd of cardigans and print dresses, it should be a cool show. [pains video]

The Antlers @ Music Hall of Williamsburg * Williamsburg, Brooklyn * SOLD OUT
The Antlers play sad music that's also noisy sometimes.  Reference points would include Arcade Fire, Radiohead and Neutral Milk Hotel.  They aren't as good as any of those three yet, but I think they will be. [video]


Tomorrow!! Friday, May 20

Thurston Moore, I Feel Tractor @ Music Hall of Williamsburg * Williamsburg, Brooklyn
Thurston Moore is the guy from Sonic Youth.  His solo gigs vary from freeform noise to oddball lo-fi punk.  At a venue like this and in light of the fact that this is in support of Thurston's new solo album, I'd expect a much more song oriented set than usual.  I Feel Tractor is a cool band with a cool name and they are opening. [thurston video]

PC Worship, Zulus, Space Lions In Outer Space @ Monster Island Basement * Williamsburg, Brooklyn * $Donation
Don't mistake this for a free show, they'll make ya pay.  But it's worth paying because these bands are good.  PC Worship wasn't great last time I heard them, but I'm hoping it was a fluke - at their best, they play a strange combination of lo-fi folk and free jazz/noise.  Zulus play loud and heavy and fast and yell a lot in a way that might scare children or your parents.  I haven't seen Space Lions in Outer Space, but they do have an amazing name.  Theirs is a sort of electro-noise experimental poppy something, I believe. [pc video]

S.V.B (So L'il + Booboniks), Electric Djinn (mems Lumipad), Season Finale, Panda Riot @ Studio Maya, 603 Bergen Street * Prospect Heights, Brooklyn * $10 + open bar!
These are very strange shoegaze/dreampop/triphop bands. I don't know what to expect, but whatever happens, it's going to be awesome.

The Antlers @ Bowery Ballroom * LES, Manhattan * SOLD OUT
See above.


Other shows
Cymbals Eat Guitars (shouty pop like Modest Mouse), Radical Dads (mem. Clap Your Hands Say Yeah) @ Glasslands ($10)
French Miami (cool fast guitar stuff), Beast Make Bomb (pop punk), Selebrities (intensely terrible/fascinating new wave throwback) @ Knitting Factory
Real Estate, Big Troubles, Family Portrait (NJ kids singing about the beach and shit, but some of the better ones so if that's your thing) @ Bell House ($12/$14)


Saturday, May 21

Pregnant @ 538 Johnson St.* Bushwick, Brooklyn
Pregnant are a loud and nasty hardcore/post-hardcore band.  They are badass.  Go hear them play. [video]

Other shows
Dinowalrus (psychedelic synth and guitar music that you might dance to) @ Brooklyn Bowl ($5)


Sunday, May 22

Various Bands Covering Various Other Bands from the Book Our Band Could Be Your Life including performances by: Ted Leo, Titus Andronicus, tUnE-yArDs, Dan Deacon, St. Vincent, Wye Oak and others @ Bowery Ballroom * LES, Manhattan * SOLD OUT!
This show sounds a little lame to me even though I love that book and almost all the bands in it and like a lot of the bands that are performing.  I just don't see how that many bands covering that many other bands is going to maintain interest when bands are almost always better playing their own dang stuff.  But obviously, I find it worthy of note.

Other shows
Damon & Namoi (slowcore indiepop) @ Knitting Factory ($15)


Monday, May 23

Thurston Moore @ Other Music * East Village, Manhattan * FREE
Thurston Moore doing a free in-store show on Monday at 8 PM.  It will be crowded but probably worth fighting the crowd.  I explained who Thurston was above.  I should also mention that he's very tall.

Other shows
Liquor Store @ Shea Stadium
Company (Fat Possum), Shark? @ Death By Audio ($7)


Tuesday, May 24

French Miami @ Death By Audio * Williamsburg, Brooklyn * $7
I think I saw French Miami once and they fingertapped stuff on guitar with one hand while playing keyboards with the other.  Then again, that was a long time ago, so I could be remembering wrong.

Other shows
Balun (electro-shoegaze-pop) @ Pianos ($8)
Arctic Monkeys @ Central Park ($35/$43)
Company, Space Lions in Outer Space @ Bruar Falls ($6)


Wednesday, May 25

Hunters @ Bruar Falls * Williamsburg, Brooklyn * $7
Hunters are wild.  They roll around trying to make out and/or kill each other with their guitars. [video]

Other shows
Miniboone @ Brooklyn Bowl (free!)
Hilly Eye (mem. Titus Andronicus) @ Death By Audio ($7)
Yvette, Shapes, Dirty Fences (good aggressive experimental) @ Glasslands ($8)
Converge @ Santos Party House ($15)


The long view...

May
26
Big Freedia (dirty south rap in drag), Javelin @ Mercury Lounge
Darlings (messy/noisy indie pop) @ Death By Audio

27
Dum Dum Girls, Crocodiles, Woven Bones (lo-fi post punk pop, but all doing acoustic sets so it won't be as good as it sounded at first) @ Glasslands ($10)
Pterodactyl, Screens, Zulus (noize rock with experimental bent) @ Death By Audio ($7)
Times New Viking, Babies (lo-fi) @ Knitting Factory
Fang Island (lots of guitars) @ Brooklyn Bowl

28
Big Freedia (see above) @ Brooklyn Bowl ($5)

30
Brick Mower, Mattress @ Silent Barn


June
1
Zs (experimental/noise) @ Silent Barn

2
Liturgy (black metal crossover), Sightings (experimental/noise) @ Knitting Factory
Stiff Little Fingers (late 70's UK punk) @ Europa ($20)
Ariel Pink's Haunted Graffiti, Silk Flowers, R. Stevie Moore @ Irving Plaza ($20)

5
Against Me!, Screaming Females, Lemuria (first and last = BEST pop punk; Females = just plain BEST) @ Music Hall of Williamsburg

7
Against Me!, Screaming Females, Lemuria (see above) @ Webster Hall

10
Bush Tetras (original early 80's experimental post punk funk by ladies) @ Le Poisson Rouge ($12/$15)

11
Pygmy Shrews, Pop 1280, White Suns (post-hardcore/experimental/noise) @ Death By Audio ($7)

12
TSOL (one of the best original SoCal hardcore punk bands) @ Santos Party House

14
Japanther (arty poppy punk), Shellshag, Heavy Cream @ Music Hall of Williamsburg

16
Northside Festival: Atlas Sound (Deerhunter side project) @ St. Cecilia's ($15/$17)
Swervedriver (original shoegaze) @ Irving Plaza

17
Dean Wareham plays Galaxie 500 (slowcore shoegaze), Vacant Lots @ Bell House ($15/$20)
Northside Festival: Surfer Blood, Eternal Summers, Grooms, Xray Eyeballs @ Knitting Factory ($12/$14)
Northside Festival: Woods @ St. Cecilia's ($12/$15)

18
Northside Festival: Guided By Voices (original line-up), Wavves, Surfer Blood, The Babies @ McCarren Park
Northside Festival: Eleanor Friedberger (Fiery Furnaces, see above) @ St. Cecilia's ($15/$17)

19
Northside Festival: Mount Eerie (aka Microphones, the best lo-fi noise folk since Neutral Milk Hotel) @ St. Cecilia's ($12/$15)
Swervedriver @ Irving Plaza

23
Dinosaur Jr (late 80's/early 90's loud proto-alt rock, performing their classic album Bug), Fucked Up (wall of sound meets hardcore/thrash meets best thing ever) @ Terminal 5

24
Special guest (it definitely is a big deal and involves ladies, so make your guess), Coathangers, Religious to Damn @ 285 Kent

25
Archers of Loaf (one of the best 90's indie bands) @ Music Hall of Williamsburg (SOLD OUT)

26
Archers of Loaf (see above) @ Webster Hall (SOLD OUT)


July
12
Animal Collective @ Prospect Park
Cold Cave @ Knitting Factory

14
Gary War, K-Holes, Pop. 1280 (noisy post punk and post punky noise) @ Union Hall

29
Black Lips @ Bowery Ballroom


August
8
The Kills @ Terminal 5

12
Sonic Youth @ Williamsburg Waterfront
Streets, El-P @ Terminal 5
##

Live: Total Slacker, Weekends, Selebrities, Beast Make Bomb

When: 5/13
Where: Monster Island Basement

The first band I caught at Monster Island Basement last weekend was Beast Make Bomb.  They are a pop-punk (heavy on the pop) sort of band with a moderate feminist bent.  The band is fronted by two women and backed by two men on bass and drums respectively.  The main singer and rhythm guitarist isn't afraid to dance, which was kind of awkward but definitely a good thing anyway.  The most impressive member of the band, though, is the androgynous lead guitarist.  She's not Hendrix or anything, but she knows what she's doing and got a tasty overdriven sound out of her hollow-body guitar.  Her backing vocals were low enough to be gender-bending.  Meanwhile, the bassist spent a lot of time way up on the neck, well into guitar range.  This gave the music a certain exuberant energy.

Ultimately, the band was kind of generic.  They're fun and they're good at what they do, but they are one of those bands that so adheres to tried and tested formulas that their songs sound familiar the first time you hear them.  I don't mean that they are ripping anyone off or that they are boring - just don't expect them to revolutionize your understanding of popular music.

The next band, Selebrities, made a deeper impression.  I couldn't look away, but I'm not sure if that was out of horror or love.  It depends on the band's intentions.

Selebrities play a synth-driven post-punk that recalls late Joy Division more than it does New Order.  What immediately caught my attention was that out of the dozens upon dozens of bands I've heard rip off Joy Division, this was the first to have a female vocalist.  I'm sure they aren't the only one, but they're the first I've encountered.  But as their set wore on, their focus on synths and heavily processed guitar pointed more towards the Human League, Soft Cell, Erasure and their ilk, the futurist bands of yesteryear that now sound so very dated.  And like those bands, Selebrities' songs were cheesy and overstated.  There was little in the way of subtlety and nuance.

But before writing off Selebrities as a cheesy throwback, several things gave me pause.  One is simply something I read about French-Swiss filmmaker Jean-Luc Godard recently.  Godard was a critic before he was a filmmaker and I read a quote where he said he considered his films to BE criticism.  Could Selebrities be offering something similar, musically?

Other than my pure good-hearted desire to give the band the benefit of the doubt (HA HA yeah right), the main indicator that Selebrities might have something beneath the surface is the singing.  Singer Maria Usbeck was terrible.  I hope to god she knows that, and if not, I hope she doesn't read it here, because that's the kind of thing that can screw up a young musician.  But honestly, she didn't hit a right note once in the set.  She was close enough that you knew exactly what the melody was meant to be, but she never got on pitch.  And this was the band's main redeeming factor - in simple, cheesy 80's synthpop, the vocalist's correct delivery of the melody is simply a given.  But this is different, and that interests me.

As I see it, there are two possibilities here.  Either the band knows exactly what they are doing - artless, synthshit throwback - or they have no idea and just really like that genre and want to play it.  If the former is true, they are amazing, providing a keen critique of the state of popular music.  If the latter is true, they are awful.  And honestly, that's the more likely option.  Still, I'm going to give the band the benefit of the doubt for now.  If nothing else, they have some courage to get up and play when they are so very bad.  Which may sound like a backhanded insult, but I really mean it - I respect any band that puts themselves out there in way so vulnerable to derisive criticism (like this).

The highlight of the night, and the reason for my attendance, was of course Total Slacker.  Total Slacker are so fucking cool.  There's something about the tall, hunched guitar madness of Tucker (I dunno his last name) that recalls a young Thurston Moore, and indeed, with her frosty stoicism, bassist Emily (I don't know her last name) could be his own Kim Gordon.  The band don't sound like Sonic Youth at all, but they have a similar wild energy, endlessly creative but never taking things too seriously.

Total Slacker play songs that suit their name, sloppy, out of tune songs about "taco people" and being freaked out by cops.  I found it somewhat ironic that the band should spend ten minutes tuning (or playing "The Tuning Song," as they called it) when everything they play sounds blatantly out of tune.  But of course, the secret to Total Slacker is that their chaos is controlled.  It's genuine in their attitude, but as musicians, they know exactly what they're doing.

In fact, Tucker is a guitar hero on par with any of his contemporaries.  He can shred solos with his guitar behind his head and when the solos sound like all wrong notes, it's because he knows which notes will sound wrong in the right way.  Emily, for her part, is a mean bassist.  She doesn't overplay and is willing to repeat the same damn riff for fifteen minutes if that's what's called for.  But her succinct lines are near-perfect and nasty.  Emily and Tucker share vocals that are as skillfully detuned as their guitars.  Tucker is particularly sloppy, seeming to forget half the time that he needs to be near the mic.  Which is, of course, perfect.

The musical chemistry also extends to drummer Ross (I dunno his last name) and all three seem to read each other's minds, anchoring their fuck-all-cares chaos to their satisfying and actually carefully written songs - nearly every one a gem in its own right.

The set ended in chaos, but not with the destruction of a guitar, which makes this the first Total Slacker show in which an ax wasn't axed.  The band is heading out on tour so maybe they realized they can't keep up smashing their shit and lighting it on fire indefinitely.  I knew (or hoped) they weren't going to destroy their guitar when Tucker didn't change instruments for the final song, instead staying on his absolutely gorgeous 70's Fender Stratocaster.  I may not have the most acute ear for the nuances of guitar sound, but with that one, I could hear the difference.  And although the band's deconstruction of popular music didn't extend this time to the physical deconstruction of a guitar, Tucker was all over the place with wild energy, running to the back of the room with his guitar on the final song, while Ross stacked and then toppled his drum kit amid the feedback and disintegration of the closer.

Total Slacker may be my favorite Brooklyn band right now; they are certainly the most fun to watch.  Words can't do them justice - you'll have to check them out yourself.  Maybe on their tour.

Weekends closed out the night.  An energetic art-punk duo in the vein of No Age (and also comparable to their Baltimore kin Ponytail, duos Japanther and Lightning Bolt and kindred spirits Pterodactyl), Weekends play noise pop, feeding guitar through layers of distortion and delay and playing drums noisy and fast, which is the best way to play drums.  The two members switch places behind guitar and drums.  They jump around a lot and knock things over.  Brendan Sullivan, who played the guitar first, cut his thumb wide open on a falling cymbal, so the guitar neck was covered in blood for the rest of the set.

Although they were infectiously energetic, there was something missing.  The band has all the right ingredients but seems unsure how to make the soup.  They also drenched the vocals in completely superfluous amounts of reverb and delay.  Lightning Bolt does this, but their vocals are so minimal and ancillary, it makes sense.  When Weekends did it, they just sounded rudderless.  Maybe 25% of the time, the effects made sense, but the rest kind of seemed like the band was trying to disguise their lack of singing abilities (c'mon guys, who cares!  none of the other bands who played friday could sing!).  Maybe they just thought the vocals would work better with the effect-laden guitar that way, but if so, they were mistaken.  The songs would have been more enjoyable if there'd been a vocal line to grab onto.  Without that sort of melodic (or even anti-melodic) spine, the songs sounded amorphous and samey.

Weekends are great, but the whole is less than the sum of the parts.  Although they've been around a few years, they're a fairly young band so I'm hoping it's only a matter of time until they figure out what they're trying to do and fuckin do it.  When they do, they'll be one of the best bands around.

Album: Gold-Bears - Are You Falling In Love

Album: Are You Falling In Love?
Slumberland Records
Release Date: May 17, 2011
Rating: ******** (8/10)

It would be nearly impossible for me to overstate my love of Haribo Gold-Bears candy. The floor of my room is littered with empty gummy bear packages and I've been known to hide stashes of the little bear-chens around my room drug-addict style. When friends come from Europe, they come bearing Bears - at least, if they want to sleep on my couch, they do. So admittedly, I am a bit biased in favor of the new Slumberland band by the same name - I mean, if they are the kind of people who appreciate this candy, they're my kind of people. And really, they do have a fair amount in common with the kindercandy - their sound is technicolor and sugary and makes me smile!

Calling Gold-Bears Atlanta's very own Pains of Being Pure at Heart would be lazy and not entirely accurate, but it's hard to ignore the parallels between the bands. Both are adorable indie pop quartets with catchy melodies buried beneath walls of guitar sound. Both are signed to Slumberland Records. Both feature three white guys and an Asian woman. Both are playing at Cake Shop Thursday for the opening night of NYC Popfest 2011.

But there are some key differences. Gold-Bears' melodies are more nuanced than the Pains - still Chock full o' Hooks, but with a scattering of unexpected notes that shift the emotion of whole songs. Their noise is also different from that of the Pains. The Pains' songs are coated in a shoegazy sheen, while Gold-Bears' songs sink into pools of sonic murk. The result is a much darker sounding album, one where the saccharine poptunes seem barely able to keep their heads above water - relentless bleak/black waves threaten to swallow them entirely.

The best example of this sonic struggle for survival is the title track. Warm blankets of guitar muffle the vocals and drums. But these blankets are at once comforting and dangerous - squeals of feedback peel out of the drone. It's as the though the guitar is some half-wild animal loose in a corral - the band isn't making this sound, just containing it. Indeed, they seem to approach the sound like you would an animal you hope one day to tame - gently coaxing it, patiently nurturing it but respecting that it's a long way from being yours.

There are more than a few songs on Are You Falling that would need only minor adjustments to fit snugly under the "pop-punk" label. In their composition, tunes like "Record Store" and "In this City, I'm Invincible" are all youthful energy; the band's sophisticated sound defines the band as indie pop or post punk, but in terms of songwriting, this band could be mistaken for high-end kiddiepunk. Which may sound like a jab, but it's not meant that way at all - it's far from easy to master songwriting with the consistency displayed on Are You Falling and the deceptively simple, bite-sized and easily digestible song structures are what guide us through the album's more abstruse elements.

In addition, Gold-Bears are succinct and even abrupt. While many "twee" bands shy away from anything startling, these kids aren't afraid of quick starts and stops. The music isn't jerky but when the band decides a song has lived its life, they cut it off and jump into the next without stopping for a breath. It's easy to get swept up in this exhilarating pop rush and it's also refreshing to find a band that seems eager not to waste our time.

Although the lyrics can be hard to make out in the aural fog, they seem to hit your usual indie pop subjects. The beautiful anthem "East Station Attendant" is a classic crush-from-a-distance tale, while "Beside You," a story of confused young love, is a bittersweet goodbye letter to childhood. The naive "Xmas Song" confesses secret insecurities and the restrained "Are You Falling In Love?" is a modern love story, equal parts regret and hope.

From the triumphant (and excellently named) "Totally Called It" to the pleading "Yeah, Tonight," Are You Falling is a heartfelt record of youth trying to make sense of beauty and pain. It's executed with rare talent and rare passion. Sure, it's not the most original album in history and may be a bit sappy for some, but as an exercise in indie pop, it succeeds beautifully. Indeed, it is one of the most accomplished albums in its genre in recent years and it will stay with you long after its (startling) end.

Live: Songs for Moms, Future Virgins, Landlords

When: April 29
Where: Silent Barn

Another very tardy live review (and now several days more tardy thanks to Blogger's disappearing act last week).  There was a showcase of sorts for Shellshag's Starcleaner Records at Silent Barn a couple of weeks ago.  Shellshag canceled their own set at the last minute, but the rest of the bands were plenty to carry the show.

Landlords had played energetic punk that was just a bit country-influenced.  Honestly, I don't have that much to say about it (I know!).  It was very enjoyable.

Future Virgins were even better.  They started their set at full tilt and hit that perfect balance of hardcore and pop (perfect balance is not the same as an equal balance - they are way more hardcore than pop).  They were tight, they were aggressive and they were fun.  This is one of the best punk bands I've seen in a long time.  They're fairly traditional, but they've got their own voice

Of course, the highlight of the night was Songs for Moms, a trio of ladies from California.  They've got this feminist cow punk thing going on that, while maybe not musically revolutionary, sounds very fresh.  There is a country twang in all of their songs, but the cues they take from country are the genre's greatest strengths, often overlooked by rockists who like "everything except country."  Country music has a long history of powerful women with powerful voices and it's an appropriate reference point for the tough wail of SFM's two frontwomen.

The band is more punk than country, though.  Their songs are loud, aggressive and often shouted.  There's a lot of anger in their music (several songs are about the band's personal experiences with rape and sexual assault) but also a lot of compassion and depth.  Their lyrics on their album We Used To Believe In the West are some of the best I've heard in recent years - courageous, personal, insightful, simple yet oblique enough to leave them open to interpretation.

The band is tight.  Although their music is purposefully simple - SFM don't need any trickery - their arrangements are deceptively difficult.  The band has an exceptional ear for songwriting and arrangement, with instruments dropping in and out, answering back to the vocals, breaking into split seconds of silence, cutting or doubling tempos and cutting through some breakneck licks without ever making a big deal of it.  Their melodies are also consistently excellent, very catchy but still interesting.

My only disappointment with the show is just that the band didn't play many songs off We Used to Believe.  I love that album and there's not a song on there I wouldn't like to hear live.  But the band hit a few of them and their other songs, both older and newer, were of equal caliber.

Songs For Moms aren't cutting edge in sonic experimentation or anything like that - that's not what they're about.  They're about seeing how they can carve a space for a new voice using traditional country and punk frameworks.  And while they aren't off exploring music's frontiers, they don't sound quite like anyone else I've ever heard.  They are a group of rare talent and rare heart. [myspace]

##

Upcoming Shows: Weekends, Total Slacker + more

Tonight!! Thursday, May 12

PC Worship @ Death By Audio * Williamsburg, Brooklyn * $7
PC Worship play a strange sort of lo-fi folk meets free jazz.  I've found their shows hit and miss, but they are definitely one of the most interesting bands to crop up in the last few years. [myspace]

CSS, Sleigh Bells @ Music Hall of Williamsburg * Williamsburg, Brooklyn * SOLD OUT
CSS are Brazilian ladies who make ultra hip crazy dance pop with punk attitude. Sleigh Bells are a duo who make ultra hip music using this recipe: danceable, heavy hip-hop beats + girly vocals + metal/hardcore/industrial sheets of guitar noise + some screaming.  The bands are playing better venues later in the week (also sold out) so if you are able to get in, I'd recommend one of the others, because Webster Hall is a shithole. [css myspace] [sb myspace]

Other shows
Shark? (Pixies sound-alike), Radical Dads @ Cake Shop ($8)


Tomorrow!! Friday, May 13

Weekends, Total Slacker @ Monster Island Basement * Williamsburg, Brooklyn * $8
I hear Weekends are really good.  They've got an arty chaotic sound like Ponytail, but with more pop-tailors songs.  Like Pterodactyl, if you've heard that band (and you should have cause they're the shit).  The last time I saw Total Slacker, they nearly killed everyone in the venue by lighting a guitar on fire.  In a second floor DIY venue without proper fire exits and a low quality wood floor.  Despite the attempted murder, I love this band; they are one of the only bands that I still get excited about seeing.  Their guitarist is sick and can play crazy solos, but most of the time he doesn't do that.  Their bass player is sick.  Their drummer is pretty sick.  The band plays like they just picked up instruments for the first time, except that they are secretly amazing musicians and if you listen closely, you can hear how tight they are.  They like to jump into the audience and destroy their instruments.  Which is awesome. [weekend myspace] [total myspace]

Other shows
...and You Will Know Us by the Trail of Dead (wall o' sound noise pop with some prog and punk) @ Music Hall of Williamsburg
Darlings, My Teenage Stride (charmingly messy indie pop) @ Silent Barn
Dustin Wong (Ponytail guitarist) @ Open Road Rooftop (Rooftop Films thingy)
Echo & the Bunnymen @ Irving Plaza
The Feelies @ Bell House (sold out!)
Psychedelic Horseshit (emphasis on the "shit"), Pterodactyl (see above!) @ Glasslands ($10)


Saturday, May 14

Echo & the Bunnymen * East Village, Manhattan * $39.50
I don't usually feature exceedingly overpriced shows, but there's just not all that much else going on Saturday since it looks like Pop. 1280 canceled their gig.  Echo & the Bunnymen are one of my favorite bands ever.  They're one of the original UK post punk bands, with the dark drama of the Cure and the mystical ramblings of the Fall.  They probably aren't worth $40, but if you're feeling flush... [myspace]

Other shows
Aesop Rock (electro whitefolk rap, but good) @ Bowery Ballroom (sold out!)
Coconuts, GDFX (poppy punky noise pop kinda typical stuff) @ Union Pool
Nine 11 Thesaurus (reasonably hard East Coast indie rap crew) @ Silent Barn
Here We Go Magic (lots of "world" rhythms, like recent Flaming Lips kinda) @ Mercury Lounge


Sunday, May 15

Soft Circle, Yvette, Hunters @ Death By Audio * Williamsburg, Brooklyn * $7
Although this is a solid line-up of nasty experimental bands, the highlight is opening act Hunters, one of the most violent post-punk bands in Brooklyn and one of my favorite live acts.  [myspace]

Other shows
Sleigh Bells, CSS (see above) @ Bowery Ballroom (sold out!)


Monday, May 16

Passive Aggressor @ Death By Audio * Williamsburg, Brooklyn * $7
Passive Aggressor are a good punk band that have some pop appeal but also yell all hardcore like and jump around and stuff.  You should go see them. [myspace]


Tuesday, May 17

Gold-Bears @ Brooklyn Fireproof East * Bushwick, Brooklyn
Slumberland Records indie pop band. [myspace]

Other shows
Vivian Girls @ 285 Kent ($10)


Wednesday, May 18

Dustin Wong @ Silent Barn * Ridgewood, Queens
Ponytail guitarist.  Arty, fast stuff with a loop pedal. [myspace]


The long view...

May
19
The Antlers (sad noisy music) @ Music Hall of Williamsburg

20
The Antlers (see above) @ Bowery Ballroom
Thurston Moore (Sonic Youth), I Feel Tractor @ Music Hall of Williamsburg
Cymbals Eat Guitars @ Glasslands ($10)

25
Hunters (see above) @ Bruar Falls ($7)
Converge @ Santos Party House ($15)

26
Big Freedia (dirty south rap in drag), Javelin @ Mercury Lounge

27
Dum Dum Girls, Crocodiles, Woven Bones (lo-fi post punk pop) @ Glasslands ($10)
Pterodactyl, Screens, Zulus (noize rock with experimental bent) @ Death By Audio ($7)
Times New Viking, Babies (lo-fi) @ Knitting Factory
Fang Island (lots of guitars) @ Brooklyn Bowl

28
Big Freedia (see above) @ Brooklyn Bowl ($5)


June
1
Zs (experimental/noise) @ Silent Barn

2
Liturgy (black metal crossover), Sightings (experimental/noise) @ Knitting Factory
Stiff Little Fingers (late 70's UK punk) @ Europa ($20)

5
Against Me!, Screaming Females, Lemuria (first and last = BEST pop punk; Females = just plain BEST) @ Music Hall of Williamsburg

12
TSOL (one of the best original SoCal hardcore punk bands) @ Santos Party House

14
Japanther (arty poppy punk) @ Music Hall of Williamsburg

16
Northside Festival: Atlas Sound (Deerhunter side project) @ St. Cecilia's ($15/$17)

17
Dean Wareham plays Galaxie 500 (slowcore shoegaze) @ Bell House ($15/$20)
Northside Festival: Surfer Blood, Eternal Summers, Grooms, Xray Eyeballs @ Knitting Factory ($12/$14)
Northside Festival: Woods @ St. Cecilia's ($12/$15)

18
Northside Festival: Guided By Voices (original line-up), Wavves, Surfer Blood, The Babies @ McCarren Park
Northside Festival: Eleanor Friedberger (Fiery Furnaces, see above) @ St. Cecilia's ($15/$17)

19
Northside Festival: Mount Eerie (aka Microphones, the best lo-fi noise folk since Neutral Milk Hotel) @ St. Cecilia's ($12/$15)
Swervedriver (classic shoegaze) @ Irving Plaza

23
Dinosaur Jr (late 80's/early 90's loud proto-alt rock, performing their classic album Bug), Fucked Up (wall of sound meets hardcore/thrash meets best thing ever) @ Terminal 5

25
Archers of Loaf (one of the best 90's indie bands) @ Music Hall of Williamsburg (SOLD OUT)
Coathangers (badass lady punks who come up here from Georgia to tell you to fuck off), Religious to Damn @ Monster Island Basement

26
Archers of Loaf (see above) @ Webster Hall (SOLD OUT)


July
12
Animal Collective @ Prospect Park
Cold Cave @ Knitting Factory

14
Gary War, K-Holes, Pop. 1280 (noisy post punk and post punky noise) @ Union Hall


August
8
The Kills @ Terminal 5

12
Sonic Youth @ Williamsburg Waterfront
Streets, El-P @ Terminal 5
##

Album: Liturgy - Aesthethica

Album: Aesthethica
Thrill Jockey
Release Date: May 10, 2011
Rating: ******** (8/10)

I always hesitate when reviewing music that's outside of my normal area of expertise. So I've been sitting on the new Liturgy for a while, trying to figure out how to write about it without reviewing the entire history of black metal.

But it occurs to me that this album only ended up in my hands in the first place because of Liturgy's crossover appeal and because of the band's [apparently conscious] efforts to "cross over" to indie rock fans. It matters more to me, and probably to the band, what this album will mean to those outside the genre. After all, black metal (fast post-thrash metal with extreme technical prowess, no melodic lines and song structures more akin to post-rock than pop) is often an insular world, one associated with morbid, angry teenage boys (at best) or church-burning neo-Nazis (at worst).

Liturgy are not of this ilk. Given the strict elitism - near fascism - of the black metal underworld, "crossover" doesn't mean existing in both worlds. You're either in or you're out, and Liturgy have rather courageously elected to alienate those who are most disposed towards their musical stylings in favor of those who are more in line with their artistic vision. Because Liturgy is not your typical black metal band. While their closest kin musically may be the Norwegian teens of yesteryear (1991 to be exact), there's a sensibility to Liturgy that goes far deeper than the pure aggression of those rather juvenile (albeit technically skilled) bands. That's not to say Liturgy aren't brutally aggressive, but they also recognize their music as an artistic statement in dialog with the rest of independent music. For most adherents, black metal is an xtreme culture, but in the hands of Liturgy, it's simply a tool, the artists' chosen medium.

So, what of the actual album? It's dense and dramatic, anguished and violent. I actually feel a little sick to my stomach after listening to it for too long (and this is one of those rare instances where that's a compliment). While the high shrieking vocals are not all that far from traditional black metal, there's something more vulnerable in frontman Hunter Hunt-Hendrix's plaintive, desperate wail. Meanwhile, while all black metal is musically dense, the genealogy of Liturgy's "wall of sound" can be traced to psychedelic rock. Their droning noise has also been rightly compared (by none less than the Village Voice) to the downtown Manhattan art scene of the late 70's - Glenn Branca, Rhys Chatham and the like.

There's also audible goth influences at moments - not goth in the "goth metal" sense, but in the sheer melodrama of the sound. Hunt-Hendrix's screech could hardly be further from The Cure's Robert Smith, but you can hear the very same mournful desperation behind each. Of course, the goth side of Liturgy is also gothic in their exploration of European religious history. From the synthvox choral that opens "True Will" to the straight-up fugue "Helix Skull," from song titles like "Veins of God" to buried sounds evoking church bells and organs throughout the record, Aesthethica is mired in religious imagery.

The album rarely grooves, which is par for the black metal course. There are moments of syncopation that exist just on the border between jerky math rock and a more traditional rock'n'roll pulse. But by and large, the drums stick to steady eighth notes on snare, bass drum and cymbal or simply chaotic fills. Rarely does the snare even fall back on the usual two-four of most popular music. This is because while most popular music tries to hook the listener in with its beat, this sort of metal tries to beat the listener over the head. Rather than sliding forward on an easy groove, the music's inertia pulls it backwards at every beat, so even as the guitar hurdles forward at high speeds, the listener feels as though they are pushing a stalled train up a steep hill. It's exhausting.

Clocking in at over an hour and brutally dense, Aesthethica is be a lot for those unaccustomed to black metal to digest. Even when broken up by the quieter sound experiments that start, end or occupy entirely numerous tracks on the album, it's still a tough listen. It can also become a bit samey, always with the same shrieking vocals, the same bambambambambam on the drums, the same wall of distorted guitar. Add to that the ruthless repetition of some riffs for five minutes or more. Of course, that's part of the point of music like this, to abuse the listener, to push them to the limits of tolerance. And while that's artistically fascinating and often satisfying, over an hour of it is a lot for the black metal greenhorn.

Of course, this style, this band, this album, aren't about making concessions or going easy on anyone. It's not about winning over listeners and no doubt, a lot of people will shut this album off after only a few minutes. And that's one of the reasons it's so very daring of Liturgy to reach out to the hostile indie audience. Liturgy wants to be the token black metal record in your collection (although they might also like it if you were inspired by their music to broaden your horizons and dig deeper in the genre). Just as sludge metal has Mastadon, black metal has Liturgy, a place where fans of Arcade Fire and Interpol can dip their toes in a foreign genre.

Perhaps more than anything, it bears noting that Aesthethica is not all misery. While its torment is relentless, there are moments of ecstasy buried in the screams, even in the first track. There's a rush, an elation, a surging upwards even as the weight of the music seems to drag us downward. Despite the effort, or maybe because of it, Aesthethica feels triumphant. But you'll need a nap afterward.

Album: Gang Gang Dance - Eye Contact

Album: Eye Contact
4AD
Release date: May 10, 2011
Rating: ******** (8/10)

After 2008's exceptional Saint Dymphna, Gang Gang Dance are back to business as usual for their 4AD debut, Eye Contact, out tomorrow. The band are the uncontested masters of rhythm 'n' synth experimental dub, weaving waves of electronic sound and Lizzi Bougatsos's enchanting/crackpot vocals through ritualistic percussion and club-worthy bass. Eye Contact is a distinctive album, but it falls well within the boundaries established by the band's previous releases - there's not a lot of new ground covered here.

GGD is not an easy band. They've never handed their music to their listeners in a simple pop-song package. (The closest they got was a handful of tracks on Saint Dymphna.) As a result, GGD can be a challenging and frustrating listen, and Eye Contact is no exception. The eleven-plus minute first track is more than half intro, just wafts of synth sound, light cymbals and snippets of a man's voice. I have to admire the band's self-control and somehow, it comes off more ballsy than indulgent when they dare to ask the same patience of their listeners. In the fourth minute of the track, the small cymbals give way to rumbling toms while the synths gradually begin to carve out melodic motifs. But it's only after the six minute mark that the song truly begins and we first hear Bougatsos's familiar ululation.

The album pushes the band's mysticism to the fore with three interludes (titled respectively "∞" "∞∞" and "∞∞∞"), the first of which features a stunning sample of what sounds like an eastern orthodox hymn (according to The Guardian, it's Bougatsos's late uncle) laid gently in an analog-sounding bed of synth. The third interlude, sung by Bougatsos, sounds equally religious, drawing on eastern European and Middle Eastern scales that carry through the next and final track, "Thru and Thru." The band's shamanistic instincts were apparent on their last two LPs but never so literal as here.

Eye Contact is certainly a remarkable album and displays the band's control as well as their unending passion for riddim. The band is fascinated with every beat they can find, and they've searched the world for groove, drawing on sources that range from UK underground dance music to reggaeton to South Asian percussion ensembles. Surprisingly, given the breadth and spirit of the album, it doesn't overreach, nor does it sound bloated or narcissistic. First of all, Eye Contact can't overreach because the band is just that good. And it is saved from narcissism by the band's very real curiosity about the musical territory they inhabit. It's immediately evident that no one but Gang Gang Dance could have made this album.

But on the other hand, it hasn't got the richness or the punch of Saint Dymphna. A few tracks are exceptions: the club-inflected soundworld of "Adult Goth," the reggaeton-house anthem "Mindkilla" and the deep post-funk groove of "Romance Layers" come close, but nothing here is quite as good as "First Communion" and "House Jam."

The difference, and the reason that this album isn't quite equal to its predecessor, is in songwriting. Gang Gang Dance is one for sprawling epics that twist and morph and never give a hint of verse, chorus, bridge or any other recognizable building block. Sometimes the result is tight and bold, like Saint Dymphna's epic "House Jam" but other times, it can sound aimless and begs for an editor.

There are some duds on Eye Contact as well. "Chinese High" is uncharacteristically bright, even hinting momentarily at calypso. While that in itself is not bad, the band pushes it past sunny and into corny with the synthesizer's melodic motif at the end of the song. "Sacer" also gets a little lost with a melody that's simply too formless to carry a six minute song.

The final track, "Thru and Thru," may be the album's strongest. Eastern melodies intertwine with warm layers of sound and a beat that seamlessly merges the "tribal" with a eurodisco nightclub pulse. It's a perfect closer for the album, showing both sides of the record's split personality - its 3 AM clubhopper and its mystical seer - and finally satisfying both.

An album as bold and accomplished as Eye Contact shouldn't be a disappointment, but the band has simply set the bar so high that I've come to expect a revolution from them on every LP. Eye Contact isn't that, it's more about honing the band's existing sound, articulating its longing and its euphoria, going deeper into the trance. It's an album of exploration, like all of GGD's albums, but its exploration doesn't cover new latitudes, it just plunges deeper and reaches higher. It doesn't always succeed in these endeavors and can come off as detached and disconnected from the real world in a frustrating and at times even arrogant way. But the album's failures are part of its charm - its power comes from its fearlessness, its willingness to fail and to document its failures. That's what makes this album worthwhile.

Release: Liquid Me - Liquid Me (EP)

Album: Liquid Me
Self-released
Release Date: May 6, 2011
Rating: ****** (6/10)

A couple of weeks ago, this guy sent me an e-mail telling me how awesome I am and asking me to review an EP by some band called Liquid Me. I like it when people tell me how awesome I am, so I agreed. I gotta say, not many bands in my little universe would name their influences as "Nirvana, Motorhead, Black Sabbath, Foo Fighters, and Queens of the Stone Age."

Turns out, they weren't joking. They sound pretty much like exactly everything that was on alternative radio in the 90's. I'm not sure why anyone would want to play a style that hasn't really been relevant since 1993. I'm not really sure why if they did, they'd want someone like me to review it. (I'm also not sure why they are releasing on a Friday. Mysteries!)

But the band does succeed at what they set out to do (assuming what they set out to do was imitate In Utero-era Nirvana and Pearl Jam - oh, and Queens of the Stone Age). The guitar work is impressive - lots of harmonics and nasty riffs. "See Thru" is probably the best example, with a mean solo and a hook doubled on octaves, a la Smashing Pumpkins. But the guitars are on their game for the whole EP. "Resist" also has a fun riff and the drummer Todd is at his best here, endlessly reacting to minutiae in the guitar line.

"She Said" (will people please stop using that as a song title?) branches out a bit sonically, with some distinctly industrial-inspired elements. Meanwhile, "Resist" has moments that recall Black Flag - but only a few. Most of the song is straight alt rock. The EP is also book-ended by their most Nirvana-esque songs so what musical range they do show is buried.

Lamentable lyrics aside, this is clearly a talented bunch. I haven't heard anyone do this genre this well in a long time. But I don't really understand the point of doing something that's already been done, and in fact, done to death and then had its carcass trampled flat and dragged through the mud for years and years by crappy radio stations nationwide. Never mind that Liquid Me is better than quite a few of the bands that made it big post 1995. Like any throwback, it's a fun listen if you're into that kind of thing. But it's not interesting and I can't help but think it's a waste of talent.

Who knows, if the band digs deeper, they may find some influences that broaden their horizons. But for now, they're just chewing up the 90's and spitting it back out. So, if that's your thing, check them out.

Upcoming Shows: Total Slacker, The Measure (Last Brooklyn Show!!!) + more

Tonight!! Thursday, May 5

C. Spencer Yeh, White Suns, Drainolith (mem. AIDS Wolf) @ Death By Audio * Williamsburg, Brooklyn * $7
Great noise music, with more emphasis on "noise" than "music" - all of these musicians play with sonic assault, drones and minimalism.  They are the best of the nastiest side of avant garde music.  And for only $7.  Go to this show! [yeh myspace] [suns myspace] ['lith myspace]

Thermals, Tyvek @ Le Poisson Rouge * Greenwich Village, Manhattan * $10
If you can't handle the avant garde waging war on your delicate ear drums, this show....well, it probably won't be much quieter, but it will have some melodies!  Thermals are a poppy punky band from the northwest coast.  Tyvek are opening!  Tyvek are awesome!  They come from Detroit.  They play punk music.  They have that Michigan/Ohio attitude of artiness combined with post industrial decay combined with fucking shit up.  They are fun to watch. [thermals myspace] [tyvek myspace]

Other shows
Fiery Furnaces (blues meets indie pop meets psychosis) @ Rockwood Music Hall ($20)


Tomorrow!! Friday, May 6

Total Slacker, Beaches, X-Ray Eyeballs @ Death By Audio * Williamsburg, Brooklyn * $7
The last time I saw Total Slacker, they nearly killed everyone in the venue by lighting a guitar on fire.  In a second floor DIY venue without proper fire exits and a low quality wood floor.  Despite the attempted murder, I love this band; they are one of the only bands that I still get excited about seeing.  Their guitarist is sick and can play crazy solos, but most of the time he doesn't do that.  Their bass player is sick.  Their drummer is pretty sick.  The band plays like they just picked up instruments for the first time, except that they are secretly amazing musicians and if you listen closely, you can hear how tight they are.  They like to jump into the audience and destroy their instruments.  Which is awesome. [myspace]

Other shows
K-Holes, Electroputas (lady noise!) @ Cake Shop ($8)
Lightning Bolt, Pterodactyl, Ducktails, So So Glos @ NYU Strawberry Festival (free afternoon show!)


Saturday, May 7

The Measure (SA) @ Death By Audio * Williamsburg, Brooklyn * $7
This is, apparently, the Measure's LAST BROOKLYN SHOW EVER OF ALL TIME.  They are a lovable pop punk band (more punk than pop), they are on Don Giovanni Records and you should go hear them play because it's your absolute last ever chance. [myspace]


Sunday, May 8

Nothin'


Monday, May 9

Nothin'


Tuesday, May 10

Yo La Tengo @ Bell House * Gowanus, Brooklyn * SOLD OUT
Yo La Tengo are one of the bands who invented noise pop back in the 1980's.  Their music is A) noisy and B) poppy.  Very much both.  They are getting up there, but have played continuously and released consistently solid records for well over two decades now.  Their music can be relaxing but it also has teeth.  And they are amazing live because there are only three of them but it always sounds like there are about eight people on stage. [myspace]


Wednesday, May 11

Yo La Tengo @ Bell House * Gowanus, Brooklyn * SOLD OUT
See above.

CSS, Sleigh Bells @ Webster Hall * East Village, Manhattan * SOLD OUT
CSS are Brazilian ladies who make ultra hip crazy dance pop with punk attitude. Sleigh Bells are a duo who make ultra hip music using this recipe: danceable, heavy hip-hop beats + girly vocals + metal/hardcore/industrial sheets of guitar noise + some screaming.  The bands are playing better venues later in the week (also sold out) so if you are able to get in, I'd recommend one of the others, because Webster Hall is a shithole. [css myspace] [sb myspace]

Vaz @ Cake Shop * LES, Manhattan * $7
Here's a show that's not sold out.  Vaz are mean and loud and experimental.  They will sound very good over Cake Shop's powerful P.A. system.  That 'bout sums it up. [myspace]


The long view...

May
12
CSS, Sleigh Bells (see above) @ Music Hall of Williamsburg (Sold Out)

13
Echo & the Bunnymen (classic post punk) @ Irving Plaza
...and You Will Know Us by the Trail of Dead (heavy wall of sound with major pop appeal from a refreshingly uncool band), Surfer Blood @ Music Hall of Williamsburg
Total Slacker (see above) @ Monster Island Basement ($8)

14
Echo & the Bunnymen (see above) @ Irving Plaza

15
CSS, Sleigh Bells (see above) @ Bowery Ballroom (Sold Out)
Soft Circle, Yvette, Hunters (mean experimental post punk noize) @ Death By Audio ($7)

19
The Antlers (sad noisy music) @ Music Hall of Williamsburg

20
The Antlers (see above) @ Bowery Ballroom
Thurston Moore (Sonic Youth), I Feel Tractor @ Music Hall of Williamsburg

26
Big Freedia (dirty south rap in drag), Javelin @ Mercury Lounge

27
Dum Dum Girls, Crocodiles, Woven Bones (lo-fi post punk pop) @ Glasslands ($10)
Pterodactyl, Screens, Zulus (noize rock with experimental bent) @ Death By Audio ($7)

28
Big Freedia (see above) @ Brooklyn Bowl ($5)


June
2
Stiff Little Fingers (late 70's UK punk)
Liturgy, Sightings @ Knitting Factory

5
Against Me!, Screaming Females, Lemuria (first and last = BEST pop punk; Females = just plain BEST) @ Music Hall of Williamsburg

12
TSOL (one of the best original SoCal hardcore punk bands) @ Santos Party House

16
Northside Festival: Atlas Sound (Deerhunter side project)@ St. Cecilia's ($15/$17)

17
Dean Wareham plays Galaxie 500 (slowcore shoegaze) @ Bell House ($15/$20)
Northside Festival: Surfer Blood, Eternal Summers, Grooms, Xray Eyeballs @ Knitting Factory ($12/$14)
Northside Festival: Woods @ St. Cecilia's ($12/$15)

18
Northside Festival: Guided By Voices (original line-up), Wavves @ McCarren Park
Northside Festival: Eleanor Friedberger (Fiery Furnaces, see above) @ St. Cecilia's ($15/$17)

19
Northside Festival: Mount Eerie (aka Microphones, the best lo-fi noise folk since Neutral Milk Hotel) @ St. Cecilia's ($12/$15)

23
Dinosaur Jr (late 80's/early 90's loud proto-alt rock, performing their classic album Bug), Fucked Up (wall of sound meets hardcore/thrash meets best thing ever) @ Terminal 5

25
Archers of Loaf (one of the best 90's indie bands) @ Music Hall of Williamsburg (SOLD OUT)

26
Archers of Loaf (see above) @ Webster Hall (SOLD OUT)


July
12
Animal Collective @ Prospect Park
Cold Cave @ Knitting Factory


August
8
The Kills @ Terminal 5

12
Sonic Youth @ Williamsburg Waterfront
Streets, El-P @ Terminal 5

Live: Pterodactyl, Lightning Bolt

When: 4/28
Where: Le Poisson Rouge

Pterodactyl opened for Lightning Bolt, which makes sense because even though Pterodactyl are less brutal than Lightning Bolt, they play guitars the way Brian Gibson plays his bass.  It's more than just pure speed, although that's a lot of it; it's got something to do with the guitar lines being somewhere between melody and arpeggio.  Pterodactyl has long been one of my favorite NYC bands and I was interested to see them on a big (or medium-sized) stage.  The band is fairly recently returned from a tour with another kindred band (and another favorite of mine), Parts & Labor.  Prior to the tour, Pterodactyl were already moving in vastly different directions, but nevertheless, it's hard not to see some of their recent changes as being at least partly influenced by their tourmates.

First and most noticeably, the band has added a fourth member.  Last time I saw them, they were also a quartet, with one of the members of Parts & Labor jumping in.  However, the fourth 'dactyl doesn't play synths and samplers like the guy from Parts & Labor did, he plays guitar (and occasionally bass).  Where keyboards were needed, Joe Kremer would set aside his guitar and whip out an amazing keyboard that folds in half so two people can play it.  (He said what it was called but the name is escaping me right now.)  As for the new guitarist, well, he plays well.  It's hard to jump into a band that's been around a while and not cramp their style, but he pulled it off.  On stage, though, he looked sullen and detached, even bored at times, which doesn't mesh well with the jumpy enthusiasm of the rest of the band.

Pterodactyl are also continuing to slow down their songs and play more with traditional rock and pop songforms. ("More" is a relative term, they're still out there, just more focused on vocal melody.)  I like their old stuff better, but that's just inevitable when you like a band and then they change.  Pterodactyl's new stuff is actually pretty rad, and it's great that they are pushing their boundaries instead of just making the same songs over and over again - which honestly, as much as I loved their old stuff, was on the brink of happening already.  Drummer Matt Marlin has changed his style and while his versatility is very impressive, there were times when he seemed to take a page from Parts & Labor's book and it didn't translate quite right.  Some of his big, building parts in the new songs just seemed to weigh down the guitars a bit and he overplayed at times.  Drummers, take note: never underestimate the value of simplicity.  Still, when he was on, he was amazing, with some jazzed up, chilled out polyrhythmic beats that the band's earlier breakneck pace didn't allow.  The band's first two albums showed Marlin to be a drummer of remarkable skill and control, but only now are we beginning to glimpse his full range.

I don't think the show went very well for the band though.  There were some problems with the sound on stage and off.  Le Poisson Rouge seems to like to pan the hell out of everything to create a nice stereo effect, which is cool up to a point, but if you are standing far to one side, as I was, you might only be able to hear half the band.  I could only hear the new guitarist and bassist/guitarist Jesse Hodges (and their vocals).  It did get better as the show went on, but it's frustrating that only a third of the audience could really hear the whole band in any sort of balance.  On stage, there were clearly issues as well, but the band held it together, playing tightly even in moments when they seemed unable to hear each other.  Their performance was a bit stiff though.  The band seemed to be struggling, but I think they hid it well (or I imagined it) because Jasper, who's as big a fan as I am didn't seem to notice them having much difficulty, and he was standing right next to me.

The band's new slower songs groove more and several feature more prominent vocals from Hodges.  (All members do vocals but Kremer has usually had the lead in the past.)  Hodges seemed unsteady in his singing at LPR, but I know he's got it in him.  I think it was just not an "on" night for the band.  At the beginning and end of their set, they hit some of their old high-speed songs like "First Daze," "Share the Shade" and "One with Everyone."  The band ultimately succeeded as much as anyone could reasonably hope to impress a 21+ audience of Lightning Bolt fans.  But because they're just not as brutal as Lightning Bolt, the band couldn't have won over that many people in the audience - not because they failed in any way but because certain fans of music like Lightning Bolt can be rather closeminded when it comes to anything that isn't, well, Lightning Bolt.

And what can I say about Lightning Bolt?  They are awesome.  Their avant-thrash noise is simultaneously heavier and faster than black metal - they are simply beyond comparison.  They never seem to miss a note, and they play a LOT of notes.

Live: Grass Widow

This review is late.  It was supposed to be up early last week, but, ya know.

So Grass Widow.  Everybody's nuts for these three girls from Oakland, CA, and the other weekend was the first time I'd seen them live.

Basically: yes, the live up to the hype.  It looked like about every decent musician in Brooklyn had turned out to see them at one of their two DIY shows.  I caught up with them at Death By Audio.

Grass Widow's greatest strength is melody, and it translates well live.  All three members of Grass Widow sing on pretty much every song, weaving melodies and harmonies deftly.  And their melodies are great - sticky sweet but always just a little strange and off-centered.  While many bands who seem to receive praise for their melodies actually fail to generate the momentum that comes with melodic arcs (rather than just three notes repeated, cough cough), Grass Widow's songs don't drag.

But the melodies alone aren't what makes this band so charming.  It's that their tunes are so unpolished.  The singing is decidedly amateur in sound and the instruments are equally raw - but that's not to say the band is unpracticed.  Having three melodic lines in addition to three instruments would pose a challenge to incompetent musicians, but these three ladies are locked in as tightly as I've heard any band in quite a while.

The band's ramshackle pop does have moments where vulnerability seems teeter on the brink of wimpiness, but there are also moments of pure bravery - such as a long section entirely unaccompanied by instruments.  That's no small thing, dropping the sound out of your band to the point where you can hear exactly what proportion of the audience is bored and has turned to their friends for a chat.  In this case, though, most of the audience was rapt.

The set was concise, ending quickly but not flagging for a minute.  And any doubts I had about the group's musical sincerity were assuaged by the bands they played with - experimental, feminist noise like Talk Normal and Broken Water (at Death By Audio) and K-Holes (at Glasslands).  Grass Widow are the real thing - a band with true talent and true inspiration.  Believe the hype. [myspace]

##

Album: The Anters - Burst Apart

Album: Burst Apart
Frenchkiss Records
Release Date: May 10, 2011
Rating: ******** (8/10)

It would be difficult for me to overstate the impact that the Antlers' debut album, Hospice, had on me when I first started listening to it in early 2009. The arrival of my review copy coincided with a moment in my life when I was turning to face certain demons in my past. Hospice put into words, into sounds and into metaphor what I couldn't - the feelings of guilt and confusion that haunt us in the wake of abuse by a loved one. (Many critics seem unable to grasp metaphor and insist the album is about a dying friend, but Peter Silberman, Antlers' songwriter and singer, stated in interviews that the album was about the breakup of an abusive relationship.) I was at a dark point and felt no one could understand - until I heard Silberman singing exactly what I was trying to express. Hospice was a comfort to me, and a guide, and the first time I felt any absolution from the guilt that had pervaded my life for over a year.

So it's impossible that the Antlers' sophomore release would live up to that standard. Hospice grew out of an experience that was not chosen and out of Silberman's subsequent search for understanding and absolution from those closest to him. It's an intensely personal album that always sounded like it was directed more towards friends and family than to an audience of unknown fans. (After all, when Antlers wrote the album, they didn't have fans. I remember seeing them at Cake Shop in January 2009 with a whopping 15 people.)

As much as I touted Hospice, as much as I wanted that album to reach everyone who needed it, I knew success would likely doom the band to musical mediocrity. But when I saw the name, cover art and track listing for Burst Apart, I began to suspect the band was going to pull it off.

And they have. They made good decisions, particularly in not trying to make Hospice, Part 2. Burst Apart is not a concept album and surprisingly, it's not bloated at all. The band also found a way to take advantage of actually having money to record and to become more radio-friendly without capitulating to trend or losing their unique sound. Indeed, Burst Apart's most notable accomplishment lies in the way it establishes the Antlers' sonic identity, staying true to the musical ideas explored in Hospice but also growing naturally into the band's audibly higher production budget. The band passed their toughest challenge with more sure-handedness than anyone could have expected.

The Antlers have said that they wanted to explore a broader emotional range on their second album and hope to establish that they aren't just sad. But with song titles like "No Windows," "Every Night My Teeth are Falling Out" and "Putting the Dog to Sleep," Burst Apart isn't exactly a barrel of laughs. The album is still melancholy, but it is infused with hope and redemption.

"I Don't Want Love" is the perfect opener. It recycles a melody from Hospice (an album that was defined by its reappearing melodic themes) while showcasing the band's shiny new sound, larger and brighter than anything on the first album. The song is breathtaking, one of the band's best to date, all glimmering layers of guitar and synth. It shows a band ready to pick up where they left off and move forward into new territory - musically and emotionally.

Despite successfully establishing the Antlers' identity, the album does suffer in some production choices. In particular, there often seems to be a disconnect between the many layers in the sound. It's obvious the band is not attempting to recreate a live sound, nor should they, but the studio imprint on Burst Apart, the gaps between each instrumental line, dilutes the album's humanity and damages its sincerity. In addition, the heavy effects, mostly reverb, put on the drums often come off as a bit cheesy and lacking in subtlety.

The second song, "French Exit," is a great, radio-ready pop hit, but it suffers from an uncharacteristically bad mix - the synth that carries the melody between vocal strands is far too high in the mix, effectively killing the actual complexity of sound behind it. It's an odd error for a band that usually excels in this area, particularly given how low Silberman's vocals are mixed throughout much of the record. Still, the strong songwriting makes "French Exit" a single-worthy, if flawed, track.

Next up, "Parentheses" shows a grittier, darker side of the Antlers. Silberman's high voice often recalls Thom Yorke, but here the elliptical dub-style bass and crunchy guitar scream Radiohead. While the song fails to quite reach its potential, it hints at what this band may be capable of, at what we might hear from them in years to come.

The middle of the album does drag a bit. There aren't any bad songs in the bunch and quite a few interesting ideas such as the juxtaposition of frail sounds (e.g. banjo) against swelling seas of synth or the low-mixed syncopation that pins down many songs. "Rolled Together" stands out, a brilliantly understated, bluesy ballad that drifts gently into existence but never builds much beyond a whisper. "Every Night My Teeth Are Falling Out" is another signature Antlers' song, boasting one of their best melodies yet. Still, sandwiched between weak tracks, these gems fail to generate the momentum they should. "Tiptoe" is probably the album's weakest point, a two-minute instrumental, that (mostly because the muted trumpet) doesn't fully mesh with the rest of the album - instead of building a bridge into the following track, it stagnates a bit.

"Hounds" is put in an unenviable position - a five minute track near the end, it's hard not to take it as some sort of intended climax. Twinkling guitars and distant-yet-warm vocals envelope the listener. The song may fall short of the masterpiece it's meant to be, but its restrained melodic hooks and subtle horns are triumphant and leave no doubt of the band's growing maturity and sophistication.

But the two closing tracks may be the album's greatest achievement. The lullaby hymn "Corsicana" treads lightly, but its sparse melody is deceptively powerful. The final song, "Putting the Dog to Sleep," is simply devastating. His clear voice punctuated by R&B guitar and bare-bones drums, Silberman is at his best. In some ways, the song sounds very much like Hospice, the compelling melody, the searing pain, the brutal lyrics. But it also shows how far the band has come, seamlessly incorporating new influences (like R&B), breaking the sound wide open, at once gigantic and sparse, vaulted in a way the claustrophobic Hospice never was.

Burst Apart is not as flooring a personal accomplishment as its predecessor, but it shows the Antlers at a new level of professionalism. And most importantly, it establishes the Antlers have greatness in them. It's rare that a young band can establish such a distinctive voice for themselves, especially in the wake of such a rapid rise to fame in 2009. It's a signpost, a foreshadowing of greatness to come. The Antlers have what it takes to change the course of independent music. They may still sink into banality, but if Burst Apart is any indication, Antlers have something earth-shattering in them. It's not here yet, but it's in them, that identity and drive that only comes along a few times in a decade. I knew it when I first saw them live and when I first heard Hospice - these guys are something special.