Upcoming Shows: Bush Tetras, Pygmy Shrews, T.S.O.L. + more

Tomorrow!! Friday, June 10

Bush Tetras @ Le Poisson Rouge * Greenwich Village, Manhattan * $12/$15
Along with ESG and Liquid Liquid, the Bush Tetras were one of the original funk-punk bands that came out of the tail end of No Wave in New York City in the late 70's and early 80's.  Featuring Pat Place of the Contortions, the Bush Tetras are a female-led group of funky post-punkers whose music echoes the bleak, nihilistic culture of late 70's NYC. [video]

Other shows
PC Worship @ Death By Audio ($7)
Andrew Bird @ Prospect Park (free)


Saturday, June 11

Pygmy Shrews, Pop 1280, White Suns * Willliamsburg, Brooklyn * $8
Pygmy Shrews are one of the best bands in New York, but they are also flaky so don't be shocked if they cancel this show at the last minute.  However, so far so good.  They play nasty nasty nasty post-hardcore with lots of distortion. [video]  Pop 1280 are a little more bleak but also nasty. [video]  White Suns are a noise band and they are good at it. [video]

Other shows
Greg Fox (GDFX) & C Spencer Yeh (collaboration) @ Shea Stadium


Sunday, June 12

T.S.O.L. @ Santos Party House * Chinatown, Manhattan * $12
T.S.O.L. are one of the original hardcore punk bands from southern California.  They are also one of the best. [video]

R. Stevie Moore @ Bell House * Gowanus, Brooklyn * $10
R. Stevie Moore was making lo-fi indie pop before "lo-fi" and "indie" had been invented.  The American godfather of DIY, R. Stevie Moore has a catalog of hundreds of quirky pop songs.  He's a badass too.  He may look a little like Santa Claus, but he will fuck your shit up.  The man is amazing live. [video]

Other shows
GDFX @ Coco 66
C Spencer Yeh @ Zebulon


Monday, June 13

PC Worship @ Cake Shop * LES, Manhattan
PC Worship merge lo-fi folk with free jazz and avant garde influences.  When the band is on, they're genius. [video]


Tuesday, June 14

Japanther, Shellshag, Heavy Cream @ Music Hall of Williamsburg * Williamsburg, Brooklyn
Japanther are an art-punk duo who sing through a telephone mic but have lots and lots and lots of pop hooks and lots and lots and lots of energy!  [video]  Shellshag are also a duo.  They get drunk and shout punk anthems and then knock things over and build a tower out of their drums. [video]  Heavy Cream are from Nashville and play awesome southern/country/blues punk.  And look good doing it. [video]


Wednesday, June 15

Say No! To Architecture, Zs @ Shea Stadium * Bushwick, Brooklyn * $7
Say No! To Architecture and Zs are two of Brooklyn's best experimental (and largely instrumental) psychedelic bands.  See them both for only $7! [SN!TA vid] [Zs vid]

Other shows
The Men (record release) @ Death By Audio ($7)


The long view...

June
16
HoZac Showcase: K-Holes, Xray Eyeball, My Teenage Stride @ Shea Stadium
Northside Festival: Atlas Sound (Deerhunter side project), Lichens @ St. Cecilia's ($15/$17)
Northside Festival: Eternal Summers, Reading Rainbow, Secret History @ Bruar Falls ($10)
Swervedriver (original shoegaze) @ Irving Plaza

17
Northside Festival: Woods @ St. Cecilia's ($12/$15)
Northside Festival: Beirut, Sharon van Etten @ McCarren Park (sold out!)
orthside Festival: Surfer Blood, Eternal Summers, Grooms, Xray Eyeballs @ Knitting Factory ($12/$14)
Dean Wareham (playing Galaxie 500), Vacant Lots @ Bell House ($15/$20)
The Books @ Prospect Park

18
Northside Festival: Guided By Voices (original line-up), Wavves, Surfer Blood, Babies @ McCarren Park ($30/$35)
Bardo Pond, White Out (Thurston Moore) @ Le Poisson Rouge ($10)
Northside Festival: Eleanor Friedberger (Fiery Furnaces) @ St. Cecilia's ($15/$17)

19
Northside Festival: Mount Eerie (Microphones) @ St. Cecilia's ($12/$15)
SLZRD WZRD (mem Lightning Bolt) @ Coco 66

21
Talib Kweli @ Red Hook Park (free!)
Chairlift @ Cameo Gallery ($10)

22
The Bronx @ Concert Cruises

23
Dinosaur Jr (performing Bug), Fucked Up @ Terminal 5
Art Brut, Reptar @ Music Hall of Williamsburg
Chairlift, Telepathe @ Glasslands ($10)

24
Special Guest (??!), Coathangers, Religious to Damn @ 285 Kent

25
Archers of Loaf @ Music Hall of Williamsburg (sold out!)
Jeff the Brotherhood (one of the best 90's indie bands) @ 285 Kent

26
Archers of Loaf @ Webster Hall
My Teenage Stride @ South Street Seaport


July
3
Panda Bear, Ducktails @ Music Hall of Williamsburg

8
The Wake, Weekend @ South Street Seaport

9
Ted Leo @ South Street Seaport (free!)

12
Animal Collective @ Prospect Park (sold out!)
Cold Cave @ Knitting Factory
Slick Rick @ Crotona Park (free!)

14
Tune-Yards @ River Rocks (free!)
Marly Marl @ Music Hall of Williamsburg
Gary War, K-Holes, Pop. 1280 @ Union Hall

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

16
4 Knots Festival: Black Angels, Titus Andronicus, Obits, Eleanor Friedberger (Fiery Furnaces) + more

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

22
Death From Above 1979 @ Williamsburg Waterfront ($43)

23
The Feelies, Real Estate, Times New Viking @ Prospect Park (free!)
Heartless Bastards (acoustic) @ Mercury Lounge (sold out!)

24
Heartless Bastards (acoustic) @ Mercury Lounge

28
Walt Mink (great 90's indie band that split up over 10 years ago) @ Bell House

29
West Memphis Three Benefit with Dez Cadena @ Southpaw
Black Lips @ Bowery Ballroom


August
2
Sugarhill Gang @ Tappan Park (free!)
Sufjan Stevens @ Prospect Park

6
Cold Cave @ Bowery Ballroom
Crystal Antlers @ Glasslands ($10)

7
Friendly Fires, Cults @ Central Park (free!)

12
Sonic Youth @ Williamsburg Waterfront ($40)
*CANCELLED* Streets, El-P @ Terminal 5

21
Rakim, EPMD @ Central Park (free!)

22
Deerhunter @ Webster Hall

25
Wavves @ East River Park (free!)


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


October
22
The Damned @ Irving Plaza

29
Jeff Mangum (Neutral Milk Hotel) @ Town Hall (sold out!)

Upcoming Shows: Z'EV, Bush Tetras + more!

Tonight!!!  Thursday, April 14

R. Stevie Moore @ Cameo * Williamsburg, Brooklyn * $8/$10
R. Stevie Moore has been making crazy underground pop for many decades.  He looks like Santa Claus but is even more bad ass than Santa, absolutely refusing to give a fuck.  A highly underrated legend and cult act worth checking out. [myspace]

Other shows
Wye Oak (noise-folk) @ Bowery Ballroom (Sold Out)
Sky Drops (shoegaze) @ Bruar Falls ($8)
Lichens (experimental electro) @ Death By Audio ($7)


Tomorrow!  Friday, April 15

Z'EV, Bush Tetras @ The Kitchen * Chelsea, Manhattan * $10-12 (Sold Out?)
If you know these bands, all I need say is: !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!  But if you don't, you should learn them, regardless of whether you plan to attend this show.  These are some old mo'fos, especially Z'EV, who first gained recognition as a poet and percussionist in the late 60's.  However, Z'EV have never been among the many washed up hippies who clung to the late 60's decades after the moment died; his music continued to move forward, one step ahead of the curve, putting him at the forefront of the nascent industrial movement in San Francisco in the late 70's and early 80's.  Taking his training in African and Indonesian percussion, he applied his rhythmic sense to the new harsh tonality of early industrial, creating rhythmic soundscapes of primal energy and metallic timbre.  The Bush Tetras were equally innovative, arising in the fray of Post-No Wave New York to inspire such trivial musicians as Sonic Youth (!!!).  Formed by Pat Place of the Contortions, the Bush Tetras, along with Liquid Liquid, ESG and Place's ex bandmate James Chance, pioneered the use of minimal funk and dance rhythms in New York's arty downtown music scene.  Although none of the bands from this scene achieved commercial success, their influence can be felt in everything from house music to early hip hop to noise and avant garde music to New Wave. [zev myspace] [tetras myspace]

Other shows
Passive Aggressor (hard-edged, noisy pop punk) @ Death By Audio ($7)
Young Boys (ultra-raw nasty noise pop) @ Coco 66 ($7, not headlining)


Saturday, April 16

AIDS Wolf, White Suns @ Death By Audio * Williamsburg, Brooklyn * $7
AIDS Wolf are as awesome as their name (very).  Basically, three guys make crazy noise on some instruments while a girl deep throats a microphone and screams for 45 minutes straight.  While the band departs from nearly every convention of music (melody, key signature), they do have a complex rhythmic underpinning that holds it all together, if barely.  Definitely a must-see.  [myspace]

Come @ Bell House * Gowanus, Brooklyn * $20
Twenty bucks is a bit steep for a band I'm pretty sure no one has ever heard of.  That said, Come are fairly important for a band no one has ever heard of.  Their moody alt rock was a hallmark of 90's indie, never breaking the surface but receiving acclaim from critics and musicians.  I wouldn't spend $20 on it, but it's worth a mention. [myspace]

Other shows
Grouper (ambient noise) @ Glasslands ($10)
Spectrum (ex-Spacemen 3), Crystal Stilts (post punk, Joy Division and Velvet Underground rip-off) @ Le Poisson Rouge ($15)
Pop 1280 (noise, post hardcore) @ 285 Kent ($7, not headlining)


Sunday, April 17

Nothing to write home about.

Grouper (see above) @ Le Poisson Rouge ($13/$15)
Spectrum (see above), Crystal Stilts (see above) @ Music Hall of Williamsburg


Monday, April 18

Really, nothing whatsoever worth seeing.


Tuesday, April 19

PJ Harvey @ Terminal 5 * Midtown West, Manhattan * Sold Out
Pros: PJ Harvey.  Cons: terrible venue, expensive.  I say skip it.  But on the other hand: PJ Harvey!  [myspace]


Wednesday, April 20

PJ Harvey @ Terminal 5 * Midtown West, Manhattan * Sold Out
See above.


The long view...

April
23
Grass Widow, K-Holes (lady noise!) @ Glasslands

24
Talk Normal, Grass Widow (lady noise!) @ Death By Audio

27
Low (ultra-restrained slowcore and occasional bloodcurdling screaming about Santa Claus) @ Bowery Ballroom
Battles (experimental electro) @ Le Poisson Rouge (Sold Out)
Lemuria (pop punk, emo, but good) @ Webster Studio
Lightning Bolt (post-thrash noise) @ 285 Kent ($12)

28
Lightning Bolt (post-thrash noise), Pterodactyl (crazy noise) @ Le Poisson Rouge ($12/$14)

30
Titus Andronicus (epic hardcore punk songs about history - but so much better than that sounds) @ Music Hall of Williamsburg

May
4
Gang Gang Dance (experimental dub) @ Music Hall of Williamsburg
Foals (mathy dancy post punky indie rock) @ Terminal 5

6
The Pains of Being Pure at Heart (saccharine indie pop with subtly dark lyrics) @ Webster Hall

10
Yo La Tengo (inventors of noise pop) @ Bell House (Sold Out)

11
Yo La Tengo (see above) @ Bell House (Sold Out)
CSS (ultra hip crazy dance pop with punk attitude from Brazilian ladies), Sleigh Bells (ultra hip duo with danceable heavy hip-hop beats + girly vocals + metal/hardcore/industrial sheets of guitar noise + some screaming) @  Webster Hall (Sold Out)

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

15
CSS, Sleigh Bells (see above) @ Bowery Ballroom (Sold Out)

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

June
2
Stiff Little Fingers (late 70's UK punk)

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

Live: R. Stevie Moore

When: 5/8
Where: Cake Shop

It's been a while since I've checked in with the great R. Stevie Moore, so I thought I'd better head down to Cake Shop Friday and see what's new.

What's new is that he's got a slightly different line-up - there were some the same guys up front, but in the back, Mr. Chuckles (that's the name my brain gave to the previous drummer, probably NOT his real name) had been replaced and the rhythm section had been augmented by some guy with long gray hair and a bunch of auxiliary percussion instruments. I hate to criticize Moore or his band, since they are so richly deserving of respect, but I have to say the new drummer is a step down from Mr. Chuckles and the hippie percussionist was really superfluous, or would have been with a more agile drummer behind the kit.

This set was a little slower than last time's, and tended more towards the bluesy / good ol' rock'n'roll side of things, which isn't my personal preference (I like the more pop stuff and the more punk stuff, anything fast) but I can't really complain because it was still damn good. There was variety too, with a few classic Moore tunes from back in the day, a couple of straight-up pop songs and one real R&B number.

This time around, Moore's audience was more sophisticated and more supportive. There were a lot of musicians in the crowd, including one of my longtime heroes, Yo La Tengo's Georgia Hubley. (I'm 90% sure it was her, especially because her bandmate/hubby Ira Kaplan is producing Moore & co.'s upcoming album. Kaplan was probably there too, but I didn't see him.) With this kind of audience, Moore didn't really have the chance to be as antagonistic as usual, which was actually kind of disappointing - Moore is one of those musicians who thrives on conflict. But it was also nice to see him getting some serious respect from some serious musicians.

And Moore didn't completely calm down just because people were more receptive. He continued with his half-coherent ramblings between songs, and worked up a lot of anger spitting out his more political lyrics. He was also not wearing any pants, just boxers. So he's still punk rock, like he's been since long before punk rock existed and like he will continue to be forever. Because doing whatever the hell you want to is what punk is all about. And that's exactly the kind of punk Moore's been letting loose since 1968. Respect.

[MySpace]

Upcoming Shows: Glenn Branca, Mike Watt and more

TONIGHT!!! Thursday, May 7
Whatever you do tonight, you'll be kickin' it old-school.

Glenn Branca @ Issue Project Room | Gowanus, Brooklyn | $15
Glenn Branca. If you don't know who that is or why he's awesome, you need to go out and do some reading. Starting (but not ending) with this little paragraph. Glenn Branca is an avant-garde composer, a punk rocker, a minimalist innovator and one of the biggest of the big names in the legendary "no wave" movement. Branca reinvented the electric guitar, using alternate tunings and extreme volume to generate completely new tonalities. Some of the most innovative guitar players of the 80's and 90's first cut their teeth with Branca, a list that includes Sonic Youth's Thurston Moore and Lee Renaldo and Helmet's Page Hamilton. He'll be playing one of his classic compositions, "Lesson No. 3," at IPR. Really, you should go.

Eddie & the Hot Rods @ Southpaw | Park Slope, Brooklyn | $14
Eddie and the Hot Rods were once upon a time the Sex Pistols' biggest competitors. As it turned out, Eddie was just a pub rock band while the Sex Pistols invented British punk, but then there couldn't have been a British punk scene if it hadn't been for aggressive pub rockers like these, who pushed the boundaries of British rock in rawer, wilder directions. And for that, we all owe them at least $14 and two ears for a night.

Fear @ Europa | Greenpoint, Brooklyn | $25
Twenty-five bucks is a lot, too much for me to strongly recommend this show. But if money is no object, then you better check it out. Fear are a classic West Coast punk outfit, one of the first and one of the most aggressive. They make most hardcore punks look like fluffy kittens.

TOMORROW!!! Friday, May 8
Seriously, how to choose?!?

Mike Watt & the Missingmen @ Mercury Lounge | LES, Manhattan | $15
Mike Watt was one of the first and most important players in the West Coast hardcore scene. Unlike Fear (see above), however, Watt didn't amp up the machismo of hardcore, he amped up its brains. As a member of the revolutionary trio the Minutemen, Watt broadened the musical and intellectual horizons of punk by making music that was lyrically thought-provoking and political and sonically challenging and diverse. Since then, he's continued to push the boundaries in fIREHOSE and
this, his new project, the Missingmen. [MySpace]

**CANCELLED** The Antlers @ Cameo | Williamsburg, Brooklyn
The Antlers' lo-fi, ambient electronica is the saddest music around. They are one of the few truly innovative bands in the New York scene and their recent album Hospice is one of the most profound contributions to indie rock in the last decade. [MySpace] **CANCELLED**

Coyote Eyes, Pow Wow, My Teenage Stride @ Lit Lounge | $6*
Good cheap fun! It's worth the six bucks despite being in one of the worst venues in town. Coyote Eyes sound like Sonic Youth but with prettier singing. They are minimalist, they are loud and they are very worth checking out, since they could take off any day now. Pow Wow just got named one of L Magazine's "Eight Bands You Need To Hear," which is frankly kind of silly because they are entirely typical. But that doesn't mean their lo-fi pop isn't great. It's actually lovely! (Just not "top eight" lovely.) And My Teenage Stride, officially the first band I reviewed on this site, are an indie pop mainstay in New York, with some of the best songwriting and best melodies around. If you catch all three bands, that's only $2 a pop. Not too shabby. [CE MySpace] [PW MySpace] [MTS MySpace]
**UPDATE: Apparently, Coyote Eyes and MTS aren't playing. In a typically irresponsible gesture, Lit Lounge has just forgotten to update their calendar. Bummer.**

R. Stevie Moore @ Cake Shop | LES, Manhattan | $8
Good ol' R. Stevie is the punk rock Santa Claus. He's been making lo-fi pop music since he was a kid, putting out his first recordings in the 1960's. Phenomenally gifted and perpetually overlooked, Moore is justifiably pissed off, and his bitterness is especially justified when it comes out in his kick-ass punk-rock power-pop performances. His last show at Cake Shop was one of the best shows I've ever seen ever. A true forgotten pioneer, Moore is well worth checking out. [MySpace]


Saturday, May 9

Real Estate, So So Glos @ Santos Party House | Chinatown, Manhattan | $10 *
Real Estate are the latest buzz-band out of the no-fi/neo-punk crowd that brought us the likes of Wavves, Woods and Blank Dogs. Real Estate fall at the slow, hushed end of that spectrum and while their recorded material can be rather boring at times, the very little I've seen of this band live makes me think they're good on stage. The So So Glos, on the other hand, take a more direct route to punk rock - fast, loud and rude. [RE MySpace] [SSG MySpace]


Monday, May 10

Woods, Times New Viking @ Market Hotel | Bushwick, Brooklyn*
I'm not a huge fan of TNV, to be quite honest. The constant comparisons to Guided By Voices are just not accurate; see, GBV were great because they wrote great pop songs, and TNV, for all their cool sound, just don't write great songs. So the real reason to go by this show is psychedelic folk-pop quartet Woods. In my last live review of them, I called them "one of the most outstanding and original bands of our time" and I'll stand by that statement. [TNV MySpace] [Woods MySpace]


Wednesday, May 12

The Pains of Being Pure at Heart @ Bowery Ballroom | LES, Manhattan | SOLD OUT
You should track down some tickets to this show. Tweegaze heartthrobs the Pains will be celebrating their (brief) homecoming after an extensive national tour - and right before an extensive international tour. Their songs are way too cute, but so well written that they're hard to hate. And a seamless wall of distorted guitar noise covers everything - bring earplugs. [MySpace]


*This is seems to be a week of bands and venues not working in tandem, and there is some conflicting information about these shows, so you may want to try to confirm they are happening as scheduled before you make a trek to the venue.

Live: R. Stevie Moore

I apologize if this review is starting to sound like a broken record - I know I keep mentioning the same folks over and over again, but bear with me. I just keep finding about shows when researching album or about albums when I go to shows. But in the case of R. Stevie Moore, I'm just doing my part to make up for all the blog posts he should have received but didn't over the years.

When: 11/11
Where: Cake Shop

So if you've been paying any attention at all, you'll know R. Stevie Moore did a late night set at Cake Shop last night. I braved a nasty migraine and went, and it was so worth it. This was, without a doubt, one of the best concerts of my life.

Moore looks like Santa Claus if there was no Mrs. Claus to nag him about a haircut and if Santa wore a hip-hop style Brooklyn basketball warm-up suit. Unlike a lot of older musicians (he's only in his mid-fifties but has been putting out albums since the late 60's), Moore hasn't lost his edge - undoubtedly because his edge was always based on him just doing whatever the fuck he wanted to.


R. Stevie Moore

Regarding the music, Moore's songs are genre-defying, completely bonkers and excellent gems of American underground pop. There's country there and lo-fi, and punk and powerpop, with spoken word and folk and psychedelic too and a lot of other things you can't quite put your finger on - think Bob Pollard meets Big Star meets the Ramones meets Johnny Cash meets 13th Floor Elevators. OK, never mind, imagining that isn't worth the effort - just listen to the man and you'll see what I mean.

As for the performance, it featured all sorts of antics, some planned, some not. Moore interacted a lot with his lamentably small audience and reminded us all that he's as much a performer as a musician. From bad puns (Proposition 8 = Preparation H?) to trying to eat his lyric sheets (and then tossing the spit-covered page out to the audience), Moore was having fun and making sure everyone else did too. He chided the audience for their youth, heckled back a heckler, ranted incoherently, stopped playing mid-song to take his own picture with the audience and retook it when it didn't come out well enough.

The musicians who joined him on stage were, needless to say, seasoned professionals whose tight playing was all the more impressive because they had to follow Moore's erratic lead and because Moore writes hundreds of songs a year, which doesn't leave them with much time to learn them. Most importantly, they were all clearly having a blast, especially the drummer who looked on the verge of busting a gut the whole time.

If you're in New York and you missed this show, you made a terrible mistake - but you can learn from it, just don't miss your next chances: Maxwell's (Hoboken, NJ) on Nov. 30 and Death By Audio (Brooklyn) on Dec. 4.

On that note, did anyone see the Sea and Cake last night? How was it? I'm guessing this is their last tour.

Upcoming Shows: R. Stevie Moore and the Sea and Cake (you have to choose)

In yet another scheduling travesty, tomorrow, NYC will be graced by the presence of both R. Stevie Moore (underground pop icon I reviewed here) and The Sea and Cake (poppy post-rock heroes we all [should] know and love).

How to chose? Well, R. Stevie Moore is a piece of pop history. I haven't heard the fellow live, but I imagine he will be playing short, quirky vocal-focused genre-crossing pop songs. The Sea and Cake have been around a while too, but aren't old enough to be your grandpa. Expect them to play instrumental-focused experiments with crazy beats and some jazzy influences, not to mention some strange pop melodies tossed in for funsies.

R. Stevie Moore
Cake Shop (152 Ludlow St., LES)
11 PM
$6

The Sea and Cake
Music Hall of Williamsburg (66 N. 6th St., Brooklyn)
9 PM >> start time for opening acts
$20

Five Forgotten Pioneers: Part 2

OK, here's part two! (Part one is here.)

R. Stevie Moore

R. Stevie Moore has been making independent underground pop since the 1960's. Recording and releasing most of his music himself, Moore established a DIY aesthetic that would eventually be the hallmark of lo-fi, the dominant movement of American indie pop. Moore's music itself isn't lo-fi, but in his recordings, you can hear the beginnings of the intentionally messy and proudly raw sounds later adopted by the likes of Sebadoh and Pavement. Even the use of basic multitrack recording equipment like Moore's has become a badge of honor among American indie bands from Guided by Voices to the White Stripes.

Moore's releases number in the hundreds if not thousands, so of course, there's a lot of dud songs in there, but the average quality is surprisingly high. The variety among the releases is itself amazing, with genre-crossing composition at times akin to Beck's. Experimental but accessible, his pop music has always been forward-looking, innovative and fun.

NEWS: R. Stevie Moore is playing November 11, 2008 at Cake Shop in NYC. See you there!


Mirrors (a.k.a. the Styrenes)

Of the many groups immediately preceding the punk movement, few have been more forgotten than Mirrors. Part of the Cleveland scene that hatched the Electric Eels, Rocket from the Tombs and Pere Ubu, Mirrors formed in 1973, recorded a small amount of material (the majority of which went unreleased until 2001), then changed names and directions and continued into the 1980's at the Styrenes.

Mirrors play a raw, aggressive proto-punk like the Stooges or the Electric Eels, but with more thoughtful experimentalism than these bands, borrowing from early Pink Floyd as well as the Velvet Underground-inspired Cleveland and Detroit scenes. The intellectual approach of Mirrors to the subversively raw proto-punk of their peers in many ways predicts the post-punk movement, which would add the very same slowed-down thoughtfulness to its punk roots. Intelligent and creative, Mirrors included touches of prog rock and noise in their music, but they never once forgot to rock out.