Upcoming Shows: Screaming Females, Meat Puppets + more

[Upcoming Shows Playlist]
TOMORROW!!! Wednesday, November 25

Meat Puppets @ Bowery Ballroom | LES, Manhattan | $16 adv. / $18 dos.
The Meat Puppets formed in the earliest years of hardcore punk and were immeasurably influential on the West Coast scene. Their countryfied punk is the best of its kind. And don't be scared of the word "countryfied" (unless you're scared of made up words), because it's so punk in spirit, with a steady stream of bright, major-key guitar riffs, that it won't bother even the worst country-music hater. Seriously, the Meat Puppets!!! [MySpace]

Screaming Females, So So Glos @ Bell House | Gowanus, Brooklyn | $8 adv. / $10 dos.
Screaming Females are single-handedly saving rock music from the hipsters. This NJ trio is fronted by guitar hero (and literal screaming female) Marissa Paternoster, with two non-screaming non-females making up a masterful rhythm section. The band is simply writing the best rock music of anyone around - solid riffs, great tunes and, well, screaming. They will remind you of everything good about punk rock, everything good about the early 90's and everything good about electric guitar. The So So Glos are a great hardcore punk band, so you get even more bang for your buck. [SF MySpace] [SF RFR Review] [SSG MySpace] [SSG RFR Review]

Sonic Youth @ Music Hall of Williamsburg | Williamsburg, Brooklyn | SOLD OUT!
If you aren't going to see Sonic Youth tonight to free up tomorrow for either of the shows above, I think you're making a mistake. Anyway, this show is sold out but I'm sure it's worth a try to see Sonic Youth in such a good venue.

The Pixies @ Hammerstein Ballroom | Midtown, Manhattan | SOLD OUT (I think)
If you didn't go to see the Pixies at their other Doolittle shows this week, and you have to miss Meat Puppets or Screaming Females to see them, that's your own fault. They also have a 1 AM show that's not sold out and costs over $60. I have no idea what's up with that.


Friday, November 27

Fuck Buttons, Growing @ Market Hotel | Bushwick, Brooklyn
This is some great experimental music involving lots of loud electronics (both bands). I mean, really great. Go see it! [FB MySpace] [Growing MySpace]


Saturday, November 28

Stupid Party, Shellshag @ Death By Audio | Williamsburg, Brooklyn
Are there two punk NYC punk bands I love more than these two? Stupid Party are as cool as their name implies. They play their songs like they are mad at them. Shellshag, who are also playing my December 4 show at Monster Island Basement, are a duo who write really good pop songs and then annihilate them with distortion and yelling. [SP MySpace] [SP RFR Review] [Shell MySpace]


[Upcoming Shows Playlist]
The long view...

December
2
The Mountain Goats @ Bell House

4
Radio Flyer Review presents Shellshag, Sisters, Big Troubles & the Sundelles @ Monster Island Basement!!!!!!

7
Jeff the Brotherhood, Dinowalrus, Sisters, Coin Under Tongue + DJ set by Stupid Party @ Mercury Lounge <<certainly the best line-up since Woodstock. Actually, better, because Sha-Na-Na isn't playing.

10
Reagan Youth @ Trash Bar

11
Fiery Furnaces @ Music Hall of Williamsburg
Forgetters (mems Jawbreaker, Against Me) @ Market Hotel

12
Fiery Furnaces @ Bowery Ballroom

13
Blank Dogs + Silk Flowers @ Monster Island Basement

14
The Slits + Sisters, Sundelles @ Highline Ballroom

15
The Antlers @ Bowery Ballroom

16
Raekwon @ The Fillmore

17
The For Carnation @ Knitting Factory
Black Dogs, Led Er Est @ Death By Audio
Pterodactyl @ Cameo

29-31
Patti Smith @ Bowery Ballroom

January
15
Gang Gang Dance, DJ/Rupture @ Music Hall of Williamsburg

16
Dinosaur Jr @ Bowery Ballroom

17
Dinosaur Jr @ Music Hall of Williamsburg

25
Cheap Trick @ The Fillmore

29-30
Mission of Burma @ Bowery Ballroom

February
9
Residents @ Webster Hall

13
Magnetic Fields @ Brooklyn Academy of Music

[Upcoming Shows Playlist]

Upcoming Shows: Northside Festival + more

This weekend has so many awesome shows, it makes me sick! Most of that is due to L Magazine's Northside Festival. Now, I don't really trust L Magazine, given their picks for "eight NYC bands you need to hear", but they've got a lot of cool people doing showcases and it's really going to kick ass. This is also the weekend of Todd P's big outdoor acoustic BBQ party, so clear your calendar of anything that isn't music-related. You aren't going to have time to do anything but go to shows.


TOMORROW, Wednesday, June 10

Elvis Costello @ Beacon Theater | UWS, Manhattan | SOLD OUT(?)
Yeah.


Thursday, June 11

Meat Puppets @ Mercury Lounge | LES, Manhattan | $15
Meat Puppets were one of the best of the early 80's American punk scene, the scene that eventually became hardcore. But Meat Puppets aren't hardcore, they play pretty, twangy cowpunk and just put out a great album this year.

NORTHSIDE FESTIVAL (Strength In Numbers): Marnie Stern @ Shea Stadium | Greenpoint, Brooklyn
Best album of 2008. [MySpace]


Friday, June 12

Meat Puppets @ Mercury Lounge | LES, Manhattan | $15
See above.

NORTHSIDE FESTIVAL (Pop Tarts Suck Toasted): Grooms (fka Muggabears), Sisters, Home Video + more @ Public Assembly | Williamsburg, Brooklyn
Grooms (fka Muggabears, or ex-Muggabears, depending on how you think about it) sound a lot like Sonic Youth when they are being moody. Sisters sound a lot like Sonic Youth when they are being punky. Home Video...I don't know what they sound like, but I've heard very good things. [Grooms MySpace] [Sisters MySpace] [HV MySpace]

NORTHSIDE FESTIVAL (Ear Farm): Shilpa Ray, The Secret Life of Sofia, Coyote Eyes, Pow Wow! @ Spike Hill | Williamsburg, Brooklyn
Shipla Ray rocks. TSLOS is a noise-folk band that can be depressing, but also extremely lovely. Coyote Eyes are my newest indie-rock crush, and I just wrote about them. Pow Wow! are a good if unnotable lo-fi pop buzz band. [Shilpa MySpace] [TSLOS MySpace] [CE MySpace] [PW MySpace]

NORTHSIDE FESTIVAL (Panache Booking): Pterodactyl, Aa @ Union Pool | Williamsburg, Brooklyn
Now, I can't miss a chance to plug Pterodactyl. I'd put this on a short list of bands in NYC that I think are truly original and actually contributing to the development of pop/rock. As for Aa, well, I've heard the name and I didn't want Pterodactyl to feel lonely up there in the heading. [MySpace]


Saturday, June 13

Coathangers, Mika Miko @ Market Hotel | Bushwick, Brooklyn
Two female punk bands from out of town. Two of the best punk bands around. And I mean punk in that lo-fi, pop sort of way. Thanks, Todd P! [CH MySpace] [MM MySpace]

NORTHSIDE FESTIVAL (Less Artists More Condos): Grooms, Woods, Kurt Vile@ The Shank | Greenpoint, Brooklyn
I just explained about Grooms (fka Muggabears) and how they sound like Sonic Youth. Woods are one of the best bands around, otherworldly lo-fi folk-pop. And Kurt Vile does a similar thing, but less otherworldly, heavier on the lo-fi and the folk, and slightly lighter on the pop. [Grooms MySpace] [Woods MySpace] [KV MySpace]


Sunday, June 14

NORTHSIDE FESTIVAL: The Dodos @ Studio B | Greenpoint, Brooklyn | $8
**Afternoon show** The Dodos are a really nice folk band who put out an amazing album last year. [MySpace]

NORTHSIDE FESTIVAL: Ponytail @ Studio B | Greepoint, Brooklyn | $12
Ponytail is a really nice experimental, noisy pop band who put out a great album last year. (This show is in the evening, after the Dodos show.) [MySpace]

FORT TILDEN BEACH BBQ (Todd P): Kurt Vile, So So Glos, Shilpa Ray, Phosphorescent, Pterodactyl, Mika Miko, Ponytail, Homosexuals, Real Estate, Coathangers + many, many more @ Fort Tilden Beach | Rockaways, way the hell out there | FREE
Wow, pretty much everyone you'd want to hear is playing an acoustic set at this free all-ages barbecue. Almost makes two hour trip (by subway, then bus) worth it. (more info)

Album: Meat Puppets - Sewn Together

Album: Sewn Together
Megaforce, 2009
Rating: ******** (8/10)

Seminal cow-punk freaks the Meat Puppets were one of American punk's earliest and most important groups, back in the early 80's glory days of Black Flag's SST label. Though they helped jumpstart the hardcore scene, the Puppets have always been far more relaxed than most of their West Coast peers, drenching their music in country and psychedelia to the point that it's only recognizable as "punk" by its historical context.

A lot has happened since those days, though. The lines between indie and mainstream have blurred and American punk has undergone a disturbing metamorphosis to become "alternative rock." And in this new context, the Puppets seem to have had some trouble getting their footing.

Sewn Together is the second album since Kirkwood brothers Cris and Curt reunited in 2006. Their 2007 release, Rise to Your Knees, hearkened back to the Puppets' best era but fell short of the excitement of their SST records. On Sewn Together, the band takes a different tack. Following a label change (their sixth move in as many albums), the Puppets recorded their most polished, commercialized music to date.

I'm not one to begrudge a band the use of technology out of some false nostalgia, nor am I one to criticize a band for relying heavily on the producer's engineering to shape their sound. But fans of classic Meat Puppets material will likely be disappointed. In addition to the slick production, Sewn Together has toned down both the velocity and the volume of the band's earlier work. Everything is cleaned up and consequently, it's far less in-your-face than the old material.

Now, if this is the band "selling out" and attempting a commercially viable album for once in their careers, I really can't hold it against them. After all, they deserve some fans and some money for all they've contributed to the evolution of rock music. And if this is how they have to get it, so be it. Or maybe it has nothing to do with moving units, maybe they just like the way this sounds. And that's fine too. It's a totally solid album and would be from any band - it just might not appeal to the same crowd as did, say, Meat Puppets II.

And the Puppets haven't lost any of their real strengths either - as always, they boast masterful songwriting, addictive melodies and some stunning lead guitar. "Blanket of Weeds" boasts a brilliant guitar line and well-conceived stops, as well as some cool sonic disintegration at the end. "Sapphire" and "Go To Your Head" waltz through slow 6/8 rhythms, while "I'm Not You" launches into a high-speed two-step (and sounds more like classic Meat Puppets than anything else on the album).

As the album wears on, it becomes slightly less worthy of note. None of the songs clock in under three minutes (compared to their first two albums which had one song between them over the three minute mark). That's not inherently bad, but some of the songs on Sewn Together do drag on too long and end up stagnant. The arrangements are also rather monotonous. There's quite a bit of piano and even some whistling on the album, so there is variety between the songs. But within each track, all the instruments tend to just carry on together right through doing about what they did from the start. This might work with shorter songs, but in the three to five minute range, it's hard not to thirst for something less predictable.

Despite the lack of momentum on some tracks, though, Sewn Together is a great album. Few songwriters can match the Kirkwood brothers and that alone could carry the record. This album may not be the dream of old-school fans, but its more tempered psychedelic country twang will bring a new audience into the fold.

[MySpace]