Upcoming Shows: Marnie Stern, Pissed Jeans + more

Sorry I’ve been away for a bit. I will get back on blogging schedule next week.

[Upcoming Shows Playlist]
TONIGHT! Friday, June 18

Marnie Stern + Anni Rossi, True Womanhood @ Glasslands * Williamsburg, Brooklyn * $12/$15
Marnie Fucking Stern, ladies and gentlemen, one of the greatest guitar heroes of our generation. At Glasslands, which is small and often has very good acoustics. This show cannot be beat. Marnie Stern isn’t quite metal and isn’t quite punk and isn’t quite anything else except awesome. Plus Anni Rossi, who’s pretty okay at violin and songs and True Womanhood, who sound like Radiohead - in a good way. GO TO THIS SHOW. [marnie myspace] [rossi myspace] [true myspace]


Saturday, June 19

Pissed Jeans, Pop. 1280 @ Death By Audio * Williamsburg, Brooklyn * $12
This will be one of the hardcore/post-hardcore/noise rock shows of the year. You might be seriously injured but it will be worth it. These bands play lurching, desperate anthems straight from the gut. They channel the collective underbelly of our world and let it out via amplifiers and hella distortion. [piss myspace] [pop myspace]


Sunday, June 20

Dinowalrus @ Cameo Gallery * Williamsburg, Brooklyn
Last time I talked to Dinowalrus, they pointed out that I should stop calling them "mathy" because they aren’t, and for once, a band was right about their own music (seriously) so let me just say they are not mathy, but are very rhythm driven, experimental music that’s clearly psychedelic and sometimes danceable. It’s not so experimental as to forgo a strong pop appeal as well. [myspace]

Knight School, Boy Genius @ Bruar Falls * Williamsburg, Brooklyn * $7
Knight School play fuzzy indie pop with the best tunez around. Boy Genius play less fuzzy indie pop and also have more than few good songs. [knight myspace] [boy myspace]


Monday, June 21

Miniboone, Gunfight!, Quiet Loudly, Pet Ghost Project @ Spike Hill * Williamsburg, Brooklyn
OK, this line up RULES. Miniboone are make big, dramatic pop with manic punk energy. Quiet Loudly are a bit more chill, with a sort of angular take on 60’s psychedelic music. Gunfight! make fun cow punk you can’t not enjoy and Pet Ghost Project do a bunch of stuff that swings between lo-fi pop and post-hardcore noise rock. I wouldn’t normally recommend Spike Hill, but this line up is SICK. [mini myspace] [ql myspace] [gun myspace] [pgp myspace]


Wednesday, June 23

Tortoise @ Le Poisson Rouge * Greenwich Village, Manhattan * $22
Electro kings of experimental music back in the 90’s, Tortoise were an influence on just about every worthwhile post rock band in the last decade or so. Their music draws on ambient, jazz, krautrock and post punk and sounds like no one else. [ myspace]

[Upcoming Shows Playlist]
The long view...

June
24
Wavves @ Knitting Factory

25
Fiery Furnaces @ Brooklyn Bowl
Silversun Pickups, Against Me! @ Williamsburg Waterfront

26
Fiery Furnaces @ Mercury Lounge
Titus Andronicus @ Newtown Barge Park
Liars, Fucked Up, High Places @ Newtown Barge Park

27
Les Savy Fav, Polvo @ Newtown Barge Park

July
6
B-52s @ Highline Ballroom

11
The Roots, Talib Kweli @ Prospect Park

13
Cheap Trick @ Radio City Music Hall

16
Weezer @ Williamsburg Waterfront

17
Siren Fest: The Pains of Being Pure at Heart, Matt & Kim, Ted Leo, Surfer Blood @ Coney Island

22
Antlers, Dinosaur Feathers @ Pier 54

23
Modest Mouse @ Williamsburg Waterfront

24
M.I.A., Sleigh Bells @ Governors Island

26
Flaming Lips @ Central Park

27
Black Keys @ Central Park
The National, Beach House @ Prospect Park

28
Black Keys @ Central Park

30
Big Takeover: Springhouse @ Bell House

31
Sonic Youth, Grass Widow, Talk Normal @ Prospect Park
Big Takeover: Springhouse, For Against @ Bell House

August
12
Gang Gang Dance, Grizzly Bear, Walkmen @ Governors Island

15
Public Enemy @ Central Park

17
MGMT @ Radio City Music Hall

18
MGMT @ Radio City Music Hall

[Upcoming Shows Playlist]

Live: Miniboone, Quiet Loudly, the Vandelles

When: 2/26/10
Where: Cake Shop

I wasn't planning to write a review of this show, but it turned out to be worth a few words...

Quiet Loudly was already playing when I arrived. It's been ages since I've heard them and man have they changed! Before, their music was made of angular, teethy guitar and bass lines that would lock together in some sort of bizarre skeleton. Now there are melodies, structures and grooves - the band has hammered their jagged soundscape into a dense, restrained blues rock. Still, from time to time, a sharp guitar will slice through and the band suddenly transforms into their dissonant, broken former selves. But the groove always returns and what before were empty spaces are now filled with a wall of misty guitar and keyboard sound.

Hints of blues always existed somewhere at the very base of Quiet Loudly's sound but only now can they manage the unhurried, sighing phrases that make the genre what it is. Not that they are a blues band - their psychedelic leanings and the shadows of pop that cross their songs are pure indie rock. They've managed to strike the perfect balance of the two genres without resorting to a cliched drunken swagger or country drawl.

Unfortunately, in other aspects their music is not yet balanced. While they still make room for their sonic romps, without their jerky guitar lines, the band risks fading into a background. Moreover, the spaces they do make seem to go on a little too long and accomplish a little too little for their span. The band's long periods of jamming were more enjoyable than many, mostly because a song-oriented sensibility still governs the grounding but nimble bass and kicked-up drums. Still, self-indulgence is always a risk and seldom one worth taking in the world of music. Let's none of us turn into a jam band, okay?

Overall, though, Quiet Loudly are making vast strides, incorporating some (if not quite enough) of their innovation along into far more focused, well thought-out pieces. They're creative and they're on the right track. That's more than you can say for most bands. [myspace]

The Vandelles played next and they fucking ruled, like they always do. There was a bit too much downtime, but when they were playing, all four members owned the stage, sending a wave of feedback hurdling through the room. They seemed a little cramped up there - this is a big-stage sort of band - but they still threw themselves mentally and physically, 100%, into the songs. Their 50's and 60's throwback melodies buried under layer after layer of searing distortion, their drummer pounding primal beats like the devil's personal handpuppet, their deep bass and low guitars rumbling without pause, the Vandelles are a force to be reckoned with, that much is sure. [myspace]

And lastly, Miniboone, a band I've followed a least vaguely since their very first show. Like Quietly Loudly, these guys have transformed. Once they played a freaked-out, intellectual punk a la the Minutemen, with screams and spasms. Next I saw them, they were playing pop, and not just any pop but big pop, the kind with larger-than-life melodies and harmonies, following the finest pop traditions of the 1960's - girl groups, orchestrated am pop and all the rest.

But now, they've finally found themselves as a band. Their manic, brainy Minutemen-like bursts have found a way to fit naturally into their bigger pop instincts. It's awkward, in a way, but in a way that suits them, in a way that's fun and exciting. With jerky stop-and-start pieces coming together into guitar-swinging pop and with vocal melodies that are equal parts sixties radio fodder and eighties punk, Miniboone have found their niche, and they're definitely the only band in it.

But what made this show so extraordinary isn't that the members are gifted songwriters or that their music is unique. What made this show extraordinary was that everything broke. The mics stopped working, the amps were crapping out, nothing was going right, and all this only two songs in. The band was on the verge of giving up, but with some encouragement from their friends in the crowd, they hatched a plan. If the microphones weren't going to work, they would just need to find another way to amplify the vocals.

So they started a sing-a-long. Guitarist Doug Schrashun picked up a floor tom headed for the center of the audience while the band launched into some covers. The audience joined in with the singing(/shouting), also taking turns pounding the tom and playing what percussion they could grab. When the covers ran out and microphones were still out of commission, the band rounded out the set with a couple more originals. Luckily the audience knew most of these too and helped kick the singing up to audible levels.

It was a great show because it was unplanned, because it was a disaster. A good band can do some damage control, but only a truly great one can pull off a feat like this - making the crumbiest night imaginable into an unforgettable experience for all. Even a cold bastard like me left with the warm fuzzies. Miniboone are not just a good band, they are a great one and it's concerts like this that keep me coming out to hear new bands. Sometimes it seems like there are so many bands and so few new ideas that it's not possibly worth it to keep searching. But then I find what I'm looking for - something exciting and new and real. Miniboone may not play my favorite style, but they've got something special, something 99% of Brooklyn bands don't even know they're missing. And that's worth a lot. [myspace]

Live: Weird Owl, Insouciant, Gunfight! and more

When: 1/30
Where: Vanishing Point

In case you haven't noticed, I always make a point of going to shows that have anything to do with the BNS Sessions family. The main reason is that when the Werewolves aren't playing, they usually go and hang out, and I can be in the same room with them and pretend I'm their friend.

So that's how I end up at the shows of a bunch of bands I just heard, like this one, which featured Gunfight!, the Soundscapes and Quiet Loudly. Luckily for you, dear readers, it also featured two bands brand new to this author, so let's start there.

Insouciant - This band hails from New Jersey and while I may have heard the (rather poorly chosen) name before, I knew nothing about them. And in theory it was the kind of music I should have liked - experimental, with definite allusions to math rock and Sonic Youth. But so many bands have made just this type of music that it's become entirely cliche. It came off as disjointed and unfocused, a mush of 90's pre-post-rock influences, swallowed and spat out undigested. (Sorry, that was a gross metaphor, yeah?). They also had four people on stage and it took me a while to even notice this because I could only hear three parts at a time - the band definitely didn't use its resources (i.e. four people) effectively.


Insouciant
The one really good thing I can say about this band is that their delivery was surprisingly aggressive. They yelled and howled, smashed their drums and cranked it up loud. Without that, the set would have been miserable - instead it was enjoyable, if unmemorable. ::MySpace

Weird Owl - Now, in contrast, here's a band I theoretically shouldn't like. Weird Owl basically plays Southern/hard rock, which is a genre whose most classic albums I might dabble in but that I would otherwise never seek out. But Weird Owl made me think twice about that attitude - they played tightly and confidently, and their songs were solid. I was surprised when I realized I was actually really enjoying their set.


Weird Owl (photo by Miss Molly)
After a while of listening, I also realized that this wasn't exactly your typical hard rock, because the band uses a wall-of-sound technique. The friend I was watching with said it was kind of psychedelic, and I definitely agree. There's some Pink Floyd in there, in the density of the sound. Whatever the combination of styles, it definitely works. ::MySpace

Gunfight! - I reviewed these guys not too long ago. This show was the same, only better - louder, more energetic, much tighter and with even better stage antics. Those included one member standing on his amp, and amp-climbing always wins me over. Also, last time I wrote them up, I wavered on classifying them as "cow punk," because it wasn't quite punk rock. But this time around, even though the band still doesn't fit neatly under a label, there was no doubt they could out-punk most of us any day. ::MySpace

Soundscapes - They haven't changed much since last time I wrote them up. They are still amazing. The only thing that has me slightly worried is that they have a little less energy on stage than they did when I first saw them a year ago. I hope it was a one-night fatigue and not a sign that their shows are becoming too routine to them. But anyway, "less energy" is a relative description, and compared to a lot of bands, these guys are still bouncing off the walls. ::MySpace

Quiet Loudly - Quiet Loudly, whom I reviewed not long ago at all, debuted a bunch of songs at this show. I'll wait until their next album is finished (it's already in the works) to give you the details, but their newest stuff rocks hard and heavy and meanders less than their first attempts. That's good news, so stay tuned. ::MySpace

A final rant, if I may. I'm sick to death of projections behind bands. I think it's basic biological fact that visual stimuli trump auditory stimuli and the result is that all the pictures whirling around behind the band are detracting from the music, not adding to it. Whether it's art films or Windows Media Player "visualizations," it's really starting to make me miss the good old days when you'd actually watch the bands do their thing.

Upcoming Shows: Thurston Moore, Gunfight! + more

Friday, January 30

Gunfight!, Soundscapes and Quiet Loudly @ Vanishing Point - Bushwick, Brooklyn
Three bands I love (along with two bands I know nothing about) are playing at Vanishing Point on Friday. I'm going to recycle old descriptions of each band from previous posts: Gunfight! is basically hipster-party garage rock revival with a country-western bent. The Soundscapes are what it would sound like if Sonic Youth's Thurston Moore joined Yo La Tengo. Quiet Loudly features percussive rhythms, masterful blues-inflected guitar solos and awesome walking bass lines. This is going to be a fun show.

Sunday, February 1

Thurston Moore @ Glasslands - Williamsburg, Brooklyn - $7
Thurston Moore. The guy from Sonic Youth. Enough said.

Monday, February 2

Frightened Rabbit @ Le Poisson Rouge - Greenwich Village, Manhattan - $15
This is an acoustic, request-only set, which sounds like it could be really fun! Frightened Rabbit are a poppy alternative rock band from Glasgow who can be a bit whiny, but are forgiven because their songs are pretty darn good.

*GUEST RECOMMENDATION*
"Hortense", a guest contributor to Radio Flyer Review, recommends Lykke Li, the oddball Swedish pop singer who's been hailed as a slightly saner version of Bjork and one of the best break-out musicians of 2008. She plays Webster Hall on February 2 and the Music Hall of Williamsburg on February 3. Both shows are sold out, but you can probably find tickets on Craigslist. Be careful though - last time I recommended looking for tickets on Craigslist (Animal Collective at Bowery), a bunch of people got scammed. So do your homework before you fork over the cash!

Album: Quiet Loudly - Destroy All Monsters

Album: Destroy All Monsters
Self-released, 2008
Rating: ****** (6/10)

I got my copy of this album ages ago but it's taken me a while to figure out what to say about it. The truth is, I'm not sure what to make of this band. Their influences seem to be all over the map, and though most of the bands they name on their MySpace page are somewhat contemporary experimental and/or pop acts, to my ears, Quiet Loudly's sound has more elements of 70's hard rock than anything else. Hard rock reinterpreted with psychedelic and post-rock sensibilities, but hard rock nonetheless.

Destroy All Monsters is fractured and weighty, mostly built on steady, plodding 4/4 rhythms. It's soulful and noisy, often sounding jam-based or at least improvisational, but despite this, the songs mostly maintain vision and focus. Most do wear on a bit too long but the problem is in length only, not in the cohesiveness of each track.

As a whole, the album is mind-blowingly creative, with completely fresh and interesting ideas around every corner. Unfortunately, as with a lot of creative bands I've reviewed in the past, Quiet Loudly hasn't edited themselves well. The ideas are raw and unworked, and quite a few parts were included that don't seem worthy of the album. Particularly, there is a lot of arpeggiated guitar I can't quite get behind - it sounds random, like the chords you play when you're really tired and mindlessly plucking your guitar while thinking about something else (and by "you," I mean "I"). Not every idea that sounds cool needs to become a song.

The band gained some major brownie points with me by naming their album "Destroy All Monsters," which means they either share my love for my favorite obscure 70's art rock band or they share a taste in b-movies with my favorite obscure 70's art rock band. Either way, awesome.

However, they subsequently lost some major points with me when I found the last track of the album to be a Lou Reed cover. It's actually a pretty decent cover, a kind of spooky version of "Walk on the Wild Side" but covering the Velvet Underground or early Lou Reed is a big pet peeve of mine. It is always a poor decision because these songs have been so influential and so often covered that there is absolutely nothing new to say about any of them.

In the end, though, Destroy All Monsters is an excellent showcase of Quiet Loudly's talent as musicians and creativity as composers. The good songs make the album worthy of your attention. Just don't expect a smooth ride when you listen. Following your wackiest inspirations can be a bumpy road, but ultimately it's rewarding. For better or worse, it's a rough and raw, an appropriate snapshot of a band's first strides. And I'm already looking forward to seeing where the next steps will take them from here.

Live: Quiet Loudly and Pet Ghost Project

When: 1/11
Where: Arlene's Grocery

Last night, I stopped by the Petting Zoo benefit show, the proceeds from which will help provide shelter and care for homeless animals. The Petting Zoo seems to be good people and they have good taste in music, so if you missed the show, you should check out the organization and maybe even make a donation here.

Quiet Loudly - Quiet Loudly is a three-piece band from Brooklyn. I've been aware of them for a while now - they are in the Gunfight! extended family (sharing a bass player), and I first heard their demo late last summer. Since then, the band has self-released a whole album. They sent me a copy with a really lovely note, but I've been too busy to give it a proper listen - which means last night was my first exposure to most of their new material.

And it's good news! Though the demo was decent, it didn't hold my attention, and I certainly didn't think of it as anything to write home about. But I must say, the newer material is promising! It rocks harder and the songs sound much more focused, but the band hasn't broken with their signature angular, experimental style.


Quiet Loudly
One complaint: Quiet Loudly needs to learn to edit themselves - it sounds like much of their writing comes by accidentally playing around on guitar instead of from some vision or unifying idea. That sort of jamming may sound spontaneous and cool, but it's not that great, because the whole comes out to be less than the sum of its parts - in other words, cool-sounding sections can add up to a pretty incoherent song.

However, the weak moments didn't define the show - the music's percussive rhythms, masterful blues-inflected guitar solos and awesome walking bass lines made the majority of the set engaging and fun. What's more, as I indicated, the newer songs have begun to address some of the band's biggest problems, so things look even brighter for the future. Even if this band hasn't quite got it down yet, they are original and talented and definitely worth checking out live.

Quiet Loudly MySpace

Pet Ghost Project - WTF? I've heard one of this band's albums and I was pretty much in love with it - tightly-constructed songs, amazing sounds, strong melodies - some maturity and editing was needed but the band sounded like one of the most promising lo-fi acts I've heard in a long time. I even put them on my list of bands to watch in 2009.

So, what the hell happened last night? That's not a rhetorical question, I really want an answer! The band had very serious pitch problems with both vocals and guitar, they fell out of sync, the music was rambling and hard to follow and the whole thing sounded like the bands I used to hear in high school - an amateur mush of early 90's influences. Yes, I know lo-fi is meant to be messy, but this was something else entirely. How can a band of four obviously talented musicians with a known repertoire of great songs put on a show like this?

I really don't know what to think. Maybe they were just having a bad night. I'll give them another try and report back, but for now, I'd say there are better ways to help animals than to listen to these guys.

Pet Ghost Project MySpace

Upcoming Shows: Arms, Depreciation Guild, Pet Ghost Project + more!

Tonight, 1/6

Arms @ Pianos - LES, Manhattan - $8
I've been telling you about fuzzy indie rockers Arms and how you should check them out. Here's your chance. ::MySpace


Thursday, 1/8

The Depreciation Guild @ Bell House - Park Slope, Brooklyn
Another one of my bands to watch in 2009, Depreciation Guild really stands out from the bazillion other "shoegaze" bands. Their detailed guitar work creates lush, dynamic walls of sound, and once you crawl inside, you won't want to leave. ::MySpace


Friday, 1/9

Bear Hands @ Webster Studio - E. Village, Manhattan - $10
Bear Hands are hyper-conventional (though very solid) indie rock, with a slight pop-punk flavor. They are completely digestible for mainstream radio audiences but skillful and just innovative enough to appease a more indie-minded crowd. ::MySpace

Bridges and Powerlines, My Teenage Stride @ Union Hall - Park Slope, Brooklyn - $8
Yet another one of my bands to watch in 2009, Bridges and Powerlines play jumpy indie rock with a strong pop sensibility. My Teenage Stride plays sweet, tightly-locked indie pop that's fun and mostly pretty damn good. ::B&P MySpace ::MTS MySpace


Saturday, 1/10

Team Genius @ Lit Lounge - E. Village, Manhattan
[Please double check this show exists before going. It shows up on some listings and not on others.] I've told you about Team Genius before, in fact more than once, so I'll just let you look at that to see what they are all about. The main appeal of going to this particular show is to see how they are going to fit eight members on a stage that's not much bigger than your average broom closet. Anyway, they play fun, comforting pop music that it's hard not to love. ::MySpace


Sunday, 1/11

Pet Ghost Project, Quiet Loudly @ Arlene's Grocery - LES, Manhattan
For the first time in recent history, Arlene's has decent bands playing. Yet another of my picks for 2009, Pet Ghost Project is some great American lo-fi pop, with strong melodies, fuzzy guitar and innovative compositions. Quiet Loudly is a very experimental pop band, with jagged guitar riffs and driving rhythms, and I highly recommend checking them out - they are better live than recorded and it's worth giving them a chance. Plus, the whole thing is a benefit show for an animal shelter, so not going would be like kicking puppies in the face: wrong. ::PGP MySpace ::QL MySpace