TONIGHT! Wednesday, May 27
A Place to Bury Strangers, Shilpa Ray, Sisters, Coin Under Tongue @ Pianos | LES, Manhattan | $10
If this isn't the best NYC line-up imaginable, I don't know what is. Four bands associated with the always-excellent Death By Audio family = delicious. Sisters sound like Sonic Youth at their most minimalist-punk. Coin Under Tongue I haven't heard, but it's ex-Dirty On Purpose, so you know it's good. Shilpa, well, I've already explained that. And APTBS, well, one of the loudest bands you ever hear. Not to mention one of the best. [Sisters MySpace] [Shilpa MySpace] [APTBS MySpace]
TOMORROW! Thursday, May 28
Tyvek, Cause Co-Motion! @ Monster Island Basement | Williamsburg, Brooklyn | $7
Tyvek are rad punks from the Midwest. When I saw them at Death By Audio, they kicked serious ass. Cause Co-Motion! are lo-fi C-86-style pop, friends and labelmates of the Pains of Being Pure at Heart and Crystal Stilts. Don't miss. [Tyvek MySpace] [CCM MySpace]
Friday, May 29
Beluga, Wild Yaks @ Monster Island Basement | Williamsburg, Brooklyn | $8
I'm sick of describing Beluga and how much I love them. Super awesome lady punks who scream and rock out and put on a hell of a show. Check out my last review of them. Wild Yaks are one of those names I've heard, and I have a friend who really loves yaks, the species, so that seems like a good reason to catch this band too. [Beluga MySpace] [Wild Yaks MySpace]
A.R.E. Weapons @ Webster Hall Studio | East Village, Manhattan | $10
A.R.E. Weapons may have a disappointing recorded legacy, but their live show is unbeatable. Their massive electronics and noise sound like Suicide - dissonant, heavy and noisy, yet focused. They play with a rare chemistry, their improvised parts weaving together in nigh-perfection. This is the shit. [MySpace]
Saturday, May 30
X @ Bowery Ballroom | LES, Manhattan | SOLD OUT
One of the finest of L.A.'s original punk movement, X helped define second-wave American punk (aka hardcore) in the late 70's and early 80's. They gradually moved towards accessibility, but never sold out their edge. Though never as aggressive as southern California's hardest core (Henry Rollins's Black Flag, Fear, etc.), X were and remain badass and bold. [Website]
Sunday, May 31
X @ Bowery Ballroom | LES, Manhattan | $27
Same as the above. Only difference: this show hasn't sold out yet. [Website]
Monday, June 1
Grant Hart @ Bell House | Gowanus, Brooklyn | $10
Ex-Husker Du, Grant Hart was the "hippie" of the group. His songs for Husker had a folksy leaning, and his solo work only takes him further down this path. Frankly, anyone who played in Husker Du (which is only three people ever) deserves everyone's undying respect. It's as simple as that. [MySpace]
Showing posts with label ARE Weapons. Show all posts
Showing posts with label ARE Weapons. Show all posts
Wednesday, May 27, 2009
Monday, February 23, 2009
Live: A.R.E. Weapons and Bellmer Dolls
When: 2/19
Where: Cameo
I wrote up the Bellmer Dolls not that long ago and was planning to leave them alone for a bit, but when I found out they were playing with the legendary A.R.E. Weapons, I couldn't pass it up. I arrived at the new Williamsburg venue Cameo so late I thought I might miss the entire show, but in fact, the first act, Services, was just finishing when I made it into the room.
Services - I'm not sure what to make of this band, having only caught the last few bars of their set, but it certainly left me scratching my head. It seemed to combine 70's style and dance moves with some amalgamation of cheap 80's synth pop, Krautrock and trashy metal. I couldn't even figure out if it was awesome or terrible. Maybe it made more sense if you saw the whole set? Or maybe not.
A.R.E. Weapons - A.R.E. Weapons were once signed to indie mainstay Rough Trade and have been a known name in the NYC underground for almost a decade. While the quality of their recorded material is spotty at best, their live show has secured their reputation among audiences at fringe of the indie music scene. I'd never seen them play before and naturally, I was intrigued.
The first word that comes to mind for the band's performance is assaultive. The sheer volume is most of that, but the sound is also heavy-hitting and the delivery intense and aggressive. The line-up has changed numerous times since the band's founding, and for this show, the band was whittled down to two members. Some research leads me to believe there are usually four of them, but having seen the band as a duo, it's hard to understand why they'd need two more people - just two of them are pretty much enough to knock you over.
With one member on synth and the other on guitar and vocals, the band sounded pretty much like no-wave synth duo Suicide - a fact the band even acknowledged at one point. They topped their electronic beats with massive, distorted noise rock, but maintained a sense of song structure and vague orientation within key signatures, an approach that made their forays into noise far more enjoyable than most bands'. The musical chemistry between the two members on stage was also exceptional. They seemed to be completely in sync with one another, complimenting one another so naturally they might have been reading each other's minds.
My only complaint lies with the vocals, which could be a bit trite at times, particularly in the lyrics. I understand the trashy, cliched pattern of the vocals was used intentionally much in the way the Ramones reference the idiocy of 50's pop. But just because it's done on purpose doesn't make it the best decision - this sort of juxtaposition is rather overdone and the songs would be better if they stood on their own merit. :: MySpace
The Bellmer Dolls - I'm afraid my assessment of this band will always be colored with nostalgia for the good ol' days. Like any band that's at its best raw and live, the Bellmer Dolls have gravitated ever so slightly towards complacency and convention with time. Their garage goth is still aggressive and their delivery still wild, but their set seems more planned now - they break far less equipment and improvise less than they once did.
The Bellmer Dolls
But they still do some damage both to the stage equipment and to the audience's eardrums, and they are still very much worth getting excited about. The band debuted some new songs at the show that ultimately didn't live up to the tribal minimalism of Bellmer's early material - they were good, but didn't sound as unique. But just when I was about to get worried, the band launched into a new song that very much captures their old spirit - anchored by the tense, driving bass line, the song's bare aggression left no doubt that the Bellmer Dolls are still very much with us.
The band also played most of their best old material, snarling out classics and ending on a massive rendition of "Push, Push" which did, true to tradition, end in a lot of shit getting knocked over and broken. Maybe not as much damage as they would have done a year ago, but still, it was from the heart. And still, the band is one of the best around these days - worthy not only of an audience but of a lasting legacy in the American underground. :: MySpace
Where: Cameo
I wrote up the Bellmer Dolls not that long ago and was planning to leave them alone for a bit, but when I found out they were playing with the legendary A.R.E. Weapons, I couldn't pass it up. I arrived at the new Williamsburg venue Cameo so late I thought I might miss the entire show, but in fact, the first act, Services, was just finishing when I made it into the room.
Services - I'm not sure what to make of this band, having only caught the last few bars of their set, but it certainly left me scratching my head. It seemed to combine 70's style and dance moves with some amalgamation of cheap 80's synth pop, Krautrock and trashy metal. I couldn't even figure out if it was awesome or terrible. Maybe it made more sense if you saw the whole set? Or maybe not.
A.R.E. Weapons - A.R.E. Weapons were once signed to indie mainstay Rough Trade and have been a known name in the NYC underground for almost a decade. While the quality of their recorded material is spotty at best, their live show has secured their reputation among audiences at fringe of the indie music scene. I'd never seen them play before and naturally, I was intrigued.
The first word that comes to mind for the band's performance is assaultive. The sheer volume is most of that, but the sound is also heavy-hitting and the delivery intense and aggressive. The line-up has changed numerous times since the band's founding, and for this show, the band was whittled down to two members. Some research leads me to believe there are usually four of them, but having seen the band as a duo, it's hard to understand why they'd need two more people - just two of them are pretty much enough to knock you over.
With one member on synth and the other on guitar and vocals, the band sounded pretty much like no-wave synth duo Suicide - a fact the band even acknowledged at one point. They topped their electronic beats with massive, distorted noise rock, but maintained a sense of song structure and vague orientation within key signatures, an approach that made their forays into noise far more enjoyable than most bands'. The musical chemistry between the two members on stage was also exceptional. They seemed to be completely in sync with one another, complimenting one another so naturally they might have been reading each other's minds.
My only complaint lies with the vocals, which could be a bit trite at times, particularly in the lyrics. I understand the trashy, cliched pattern of the vocals was used intentionally much in the way the Ramones reference the idiocy of 50's pop. But just because it's done on purpose doesn't make it the best decision - this sort of juxtaposition is rather overdone and the songs would be better if they stood on their own merit. :: MySpace
The Bellmer Dolls - I'm afraid my assessment of this band will always be colored with nostalgia for the good ol' days. Like any band that's at its best raw and live, the Bellmer Dolls have gravitated ever so slightly towards complacency and convention with time. Their garage goth is still aggressive and their delivery still wild, but their set seems more planned now - they break far less equipment and improvise less than they once did.
The Bellmer Dolls
But they still do some damage both to the stage equipment and to the audience's eardrums, and they are still very much worth getting excited about. The band debuted some new songs at the show that ultimately didn't live up to the tribal minimalism of Bellmer's early material - they were good, but didn't sound as unique. But just when I was about to get worried, the band launched into a new song that very much captures their old spirit - anchored by the tense, driving bass line, the song's bare aggression left no doubt that the Bellmer Dolls are still very much with us.
The band also played most of their best old material, snarling out classics and ending on a massive rendition of "Push, Push" which did, true to tradition, end in a lot of shit getting knocked over and broken. Maybe not as much damage as they would have done a year ago, but still, it was from the heart. And still, the band is one of the best around these days - worthy not only of an audience but of a lasting legacy in the American underground. :: MySpace
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