Upcoming Shows: Buzzcocks, Public Image Ltd + more

[Upcoming Shows Playlist]
TONIGHT!!! Thursday, May 13

The Buzzcocks @ The Fillmore * Union Square, Manhattan * $35
Um, hello? It's the Buzzcocks. One of the top four original UK punk bands. Then again, it's $35.

Big Troubles, My Teenage Stride, Knight School @ Death By Audio * Williamsburg, Brooklyn * $7
These three bands have two things in common - they write great, catchy pop songs and they are noisy. MTS are the most conventional "twee" influenced group of the three. They play tightly but their songs are charmingly dorky. Knight School write amazing little pop tunes and soak them in some distortion and fuzz. Big Trouble are a little more rock'n'roll, with a heftier sound - actually, a sheer roar. Three bands for the price of one. And a great venue to top it off! [bt myspace] [mts myspace] [kf myspace]

Panda Riot @ Lit Lounge * East Village, Manhattan * $6
I don't normally advertise shows at Lit Lounge because the acoustics are horrible and the space is small and poorly managed. But Panda Riot are a really great shoegaze band that come all the way from Chicago and this is our big chance to see what they can do live. [myspace]


Tomorrow! Friday, May 14

Silver Apples, Oneida @ Abrons Art Center * LES, Manhattan * $15/$20
Silver Apples were a super obscure wacked out band in the 60's who really pioneered the use of synthesizers and were a precursor to every synth duo ever. They don't normally exist anymore, so this is a rare thing. Oneida play trance-inducing rhythmic music that doesn't really excite me that much but a lot of people think it's good. [sa myspace] [oneida myspace]

Talk Normal, Asa Ransom, Miniboone @ Glasslands * Williamsburg, Brooklyn * $8
Seriously, you would be hard put to find three more different bands in New York. But they do have one thing in common - they are all great. And since Deli Magazine is highlighting the best bands in NYC, they picked well. Miniboone play large-scale, old-school pop with punk rock energy. Asa Ransom make dark, rhythmic dance punk. Talk Normal are pretty avant garde, with drones and pounding and rants. They are both ladies. (The other bands are all fellows.) [tn myspace] [ar myspace] [mini myspace]


Saturday, May 15

Parts & Labor, Talk Normal @ Knitting Factory * Williamsburg, Brooklyn * $10
Parts & Labor are super loud. They make slamming, skull shattering noise with guitars and electronics and distortion. But winding through this soundscape are stunningly beautiful melodies any pop fan would love. Talk Normal, I already explained about (see above). [pl myspace]

The Vandelles, El Jezel @ Cameo * Williamsburg, Brooklyn * $10
The Vandelles play feedback but every second of feedback is tied into high-energy classic pop-rock gems. I haven't heard El Jezel in forever, but if I recall their influences are shoegaze and a little post-rock and lots of regular old cool, melodic indie rock. I could be wrong, though, it's been a while. [vandelles myspace] [ej myspace]

Aa, True Womanhood, These Are Powers @ Secret Project Robot * Williamsburg, Brooklyn * $10
Aa are an NYC mainstay of highly percussive, throbbing-beat music you have to dance (or head-bob) to. True Womanhood, well, they sound like Radiohead. Rhythmically off-kilter songs with spooky guitar. These Are Powers have the same throbbing-beat thing but are not nearly as good. I think they were aiming to fill a certain niche, but someone much better beat them to it. Still, should be a fun night, especially if you like to move. [aa myspace] [tw myspace] [tap myspace]

Mahogany @ Open Road Rooftop (Rooftop Films) * LES, Manhattan * $10
Mahogany, masters of noise pop and decade-long veterans of indie music, will be playing on a roof on the Lower East Side before a movie is screened on that same roof. Nice! [myspace]


Sunday, May 16
Silver Apples @ Coco 66 * Greenpoint, Brooklyn
A show that I'm guessing will be cheaper than Friday's and a little less weird (the other features a light show), I suppose I'd recommend catching Silver Apples (see above) here instead.


Tuesday, May 17

Public Image Ltd @ Terminal 5 * Midtown, Manhattan * $40
Don't go to this show to hear seminal post punk band Public Image Ltd - it's Terminal 5 and I promise you won't be able to hear anything. Go to this show to be in the same room as John Lydon a.k.a. Johnny Rotten. I need to touch him. [myspace]

[Upcoming Shows Playlist]
The long view...

May
19
Public Image Ltd @ Terminal 5 Music Hall of Williamsburg
Diana Ross @ Radio City Music Hall

21
Fuck Buttons @ Music Hall of Williamsburg

22
Fuck Buttons @ Le Poisson Rouge
New York Dolls @ Warsaw
NYC PopFest: Wake, Boat, My Teenage Stride + more @ Bell House

27
Forgetters @ Bell House

28
Holy Fuck @ Le Poisson Rouge

29
Psych Fest: Weird Owl (yay), Hopewell (blech), Golden Triangle (blech), Psychic Ills (yay), Sunburned Hand of the Man (yay) + more @ Glasslands

June
4
Psychedelic Furs @ the Fillmore

6
Brian Jonestown Massacre @ Webster Hall

18
Melvins + Isis @ Webster Hall
Woven Bones @ Mercury Lounge

24
Wavves @ Knitting Factory

July
24
M.I.A. @ Governors Island

30
Big Takeover: Springhouse @ Bell House

31
Big Takeover: Springhouse, For Against @ Bell House

[Upcoming Shows Playlist]

Live: These Are Powers

When: 5/21
Where: Glasslands

Ages and ages ago, I went to check out These Are Powers at the Vice Magazine party at Glasslands, and I meant to run a review, but then totally forgot. Better late than never, right?

Somewhere, someone must have amassed a huge amount of scientific data on all the shit hipsters love. Then, this genius ran all that information through a complex algorithm, and the result was These Are Powers. It's the pure distillation of all hipster trash and of course, the kids are crazy for it. The band takes edgy elements of hip-hop and makes them less scary to a white, suburban-born audience by, you know, not being hip-hop. Throw in some unrefined noise rock and crank up the bass so you can only really hear the beat, and you've got yourself a recipe for success.

And the band has an image to match - hipster-adored stereotypes all. Aspiring Bohemian Anna Barie comes clad in vintage clothes and an asymmetrical, arty haircut, while drummer Bill Salas is "urban" without being threatening. And Barie seemed obsessed with seeing exactly how many times she could mention Williamsburg between songs. The answer is, a lot.


These Are Powers (photo by Maxyme G. Delisle)
According to the band's wikipedia page, they use "polyrhythm," but from what I heard, I'd have to contest that claim. Three on two is hardly a polyrhythm, and I didn't hear the band attempt anything more complex than that. And believe me, I'm very tuned in to rhythms.

That said, Salas is an exceptional drummer. His skills, spread over a large, part-acoustic, part-electro set-up, are very impressive indeed. Such high-speed playing and sick, heavy beats aren't so easy to come by. Founder Pat Noecker's bass playing is strong, but he seems to get in his own way - keeping the beat going, keeping the crowds' heads bobbing, seems to smother more interesting inclinations. Barie's playing, on the other hand, looked like stabs in the dark to me (and I was standing quite close to her) so I almost think her instruments are more for show than for sound. She's a fine singer, though, with a strong (but not melodious) voice.

As bilious as this review sounds, I honestly salute the band for playing the game this well - if I could create the ultimate hipster algorithm and make a lot of money off of it, I totally would, so how can I blame them for figuring out the formula before I had a chance? The performance may be affected and frankly, void of musical merit (drumming aside), but they are technically proficient and they also get some points for originality - they really don't sound like anyone else on earth. And their pogo-ing and headbanging enthusiasm on stage is admirable and really gets the party mood going.

Personally, I will be avoiding this band in the future at just about any cost. But if kids are having fun listening and dancing, well then, more power(s) to them!

[MySpace]