<< NYC Venues: Index
Overview
Location: Hell's Kitchen, Manhattan
Address: 610 W 56th St (between 11th & 12th Ave)
Size: Large (Cap. 3,000)
Directions: 1, A, B, C or D to Columbus Circle, walk three short blocks south and three and a half long blocks west.
Website: terminal5nyc.com
Acoustics: F
Booking: A
Helpfulness to bands: N/A
Atmosphere: B
Acoustics - Terminal 5 is a narrow, deep rectangular room with three stories of balconies. A lot of the interior design is done with metal, which means the music is inevitably drowned out by its own echoes. In fact, this is probably the muddiest sounding venue I have ever set foot in - you don't go there to hear your favorite band, you go there to see them while you unrelatedly have your eardrums pierced but the unintelligible din.
Booking - I've never, ever booked a show at Terminal 5. It's a big venue for big-name bands and each show there has a high cost that must be met by high ticket sales. Of the Bowery Presents venues, Terminal 5 houses the highest-profile shows. But the booking is the same for all Bowery Presents venues, so allow me to repeat what I wrote for Mercury Lounge: All the Bowery venues are very concerned with profit and draw and it's hard to get a spot at any of them. However, I've still given them an "A" for booking because despite having their pick of bands, they are very responsive, even to bands they are turning down. They are easy to get in touch with, communicative and open-minded, and in my experience, foster good relationships with everyone. If you're reading this blog for booking advice, you're probably not at the level Terminal 5 expects, but at least if you give it a shot, they'll be nice!
Helpfulness - I really have no experience with this, though my guess is that they treat bands very well.
Atmosphere - The interior seems like it was designed to create the poorest acoustics possible, but in fact, it was designed to look cool, and it does look cool. I'm more of a fan of the grungy, down-to-earth places, but for a modern rock venue, this place is certainly attractive. Visibility isn't great if there is any crowd at all, but other than that, it is not a bad place. And it's a little less creepy (less corporate, less disconnected) than most venues of its size and prestige. It's not worth going to shows here due to the sound, but if you have to, at least your eyes will be happy.
<< NYC Venues: Index
Tuesday, February 10, 2009
Live: Conversations With Enemies
When: 2/6
Where: Goodbye Blue Monday
I'd never heard of Conversations With Enemies until last weekend, when I stumbled upon their show in Brooklyn and thought I'd have a listen. Hailing from Philadelphia, the band plays pretty nondescript indie rock, but they do it quite well.
A four-piece, CWE played tightly, not as virtuosos but as a well-rehearsed, well-prepared band - I bet they could play those songs in their sleep. But they weren't sleeping, and in fact, brought a lot of energy to the stage, exchanging a criminal number of unabashed smiles with each other and the audience throughout the set. The songs themselves were extremely likable, often with three of the band's four members singing together in charmingly sloppy harmonies. The lyrics all revolved around stories about vampires, zombies and love, and were, of course, tongue-in-cheek - but not without a level of sincerity.
The band didn't do anything particularly fascinating - their beats and rhythms were basic 4/4 time, their melodies major-key and their arrangements strong but not notable in any way. They also seemed to neglect the keyboard - for most of the set, it did little more than take up space on stage. The few keyboard riffs that actually came to the fore were charming and it was a missed opportunity not to have more prominent keyboard lines more often.
All in all, it was an enjoyable set by a very enjoyable band - nothing to freak out about, but definitely not a bad way to spend an hour!
MySpace
Where: Goodbye Blue Monday
I'd never heard of Conversations With Enemies until last weekend, when I stumbled upon their show in Brooklyn and thought I'd have a listen. Hailing from Philadelphia, the band plays pretty nondescript indie rock, but they do it quite well.
A four-piece, CWE played tightly, not as virtuosos but as a well-rehearsed, well-prepared band - I bet they could play those songs in their sleep. But they weren't sleeping, and in fact, brought a lot of energy to the stage, exchanging a criminal number of unabashed smiles with each other and the audience throughout the set. The songs themselves were extremely likable, often with three of the band's four members singing together in charmingly sloppy harmonies. The lyrics all revolved around stories about vampires, zombies and love, and were, of course, tongue-in-cheek - but not without a level of sincerity.
The band didn't do anything particularly fascinating - their beats and rhythms were basic 4/4 time, their melodies major-key and their arrangements strong but not notable in any way. They also seemed to neglect the keyboard - for most of the set, it did little more than take up space on stage. The few keyboard riffs that actually came to the fore were charming and it was a missed opportunity not to have more prominent keyboard lines more often.
All in all, it was an enjoyable set by a very enjoyable band - nothing to freak out about, but definitely not a bad way to spend an hour!
MySpace
Thursday, February 5, 2009
Venue Review: Trash Bar
<< NYC Venues: Index
Overview
Location: Williamsburg, Brooklyn
Address: 256 Grand St. (between Driggs & Roebling)
Size: Small
Directions: L to Bedford, walk ten blocks south, then two blocks east
Website: thetrashbar.com
Acoustics: B+
Booking: C+
Helpfulness to bands: D
Atmosphere: B-
Acoustics - Oddly enough, for a really crappy, small, back-of-bar venue, this place has great sound. The music is quite clear - though muffled if not loud. But obviously, it's gonna be loud. The equipment isn't great, but sound people seem to be competent enough to make up for it.
Booking - It's easy to book a show there, but they're one of those places that puts together line-ups of completely unrelated bands. They can be accomodating if you have more than one band you want to play together, but they don't seem to pay much attention or communicate well, so they may end up screwing you over. In this way, they're pretty much exactly like Lit Lounge - changing line-ups and set times without notifying bands, etc.
Helpfulness - This venue does not help out bands much before the show (see above) and they aren't much better on the day of. The sound engineering is done well enough, but there's not really any other support. You're pretty much on your own.
Atmosphere - It's a biker bar. I don't know what else to say about that. The location isn't convenient, but on the upside, shows and drinks are pretty cheap.
<< NYC Venues: Index
Overview
Location: Williamsburg, Brooklyn
Address: 256 Grand St. (between Driggs & Roebling)
Size: Small
Directions: L to Bedford, walk ten blocks south, then two blocks east
Website: thetrashbar.com
Acoustics: B+
Booking: C+
Helpfulness to bands: D
Atmosphere: B-
Acoustics - Oddly enough, for a really crappy, small, back-of-bar venue, this place has great sound. The music is quite clear - though muffled if not loud. But obviously, it's gonna be loud. The equipment isn't great, but sound people seem to be competent enough to make up for it.
Booking - It's easy to book a show there, but they're one of those places that puts together line-ups of completely unrelated bands. They can be accomodating if you have more than one band you want to play together, but they don't seem to pay much attention or communicate well, so they may end up screwing you over. In this way, they're pretty much exactly like Lit Lounge - changing line-ups and set times without notifying bands, etc.
Helpfulness - This venue does not help out bands much before the show (see above) and they aren't much better on the day of. The sound engineering is done well enough, but there's not really any other support. You're pretty much on your own.
Atmosphere - It's a biker bar. I don't know what else to say about that. The location isn't convenient, but on the upside, shows and drinks are pretty cheap.
<< NYC Venues: Index
Wednesday, February 4, 2009
Live: Thurston Moore and more
When: 2/1
Where: Glasslands
OK, when I listed this show in my last "upcoming shows" post, I didn't really explain what kind of show it was. It wasn't until I was on my way over on Sunday night that I realized I should have given more warning. I used to be neighbors with Thurston Moore and his wife and bandmate Kim Gordon in the wee town in New England where the two now live. Thurston was always playing shows around the area with various people no one ever heard of. So I forgot to mention that when Thurston plays a small arthouse venue like Glasslands, and when he has a bunch of names you have never heard before on the bill, it's going to be a noise/art rock/experimental/freeform set. He's not going to be playing songs from Psychic Hearts. He's not going to be playing "songs" at all.
So sorry if anyone went to the show unprepared! My bad!
Sunburned Hand of the Gene Moore - I arrived during the set of this band (actually called, separately "Sunburned Hand of the Man" and "Gene Moore" - Thurston's brother, rumor has it). They were rather uninteresting noise rock, with nice solid walls of sound but nothing that hasn't been done before. They made random loud sounds with guitars and electronics, occasionally accompanied with an arrhythmic drum beat for a few seconds at a time.
The trouble with noise as a musical genre is the same as what I said recently about singer-songwriter music - every possible creative avenue has been explored, and originality is next to impossible. Sunburned Hand of Gene Moore was decent, with nice walls of sound, but it was nothing I hadn't heard before.
John Olson with Okkyung Lee & C.Spencer Yeh - John Olson is from Wolf Eyes, one of the very worst bands I've ever had to sit through. This set was nearly as painful - it seemed completely random, for the most part. The strings were off-putting, and Olson just messed around with a bunch of equipment with no apparent larger vision than doing shit that sounds kind of "cool." In contrast to the previous act, however, this group seemed to do their best at their quietest moments. Then there were flickers of subtle beauty that were definitely not accidental.
Tovah D-Day - I assume that's who this next act was, anyway, since they are the only other folks on the flyer. There were two of them, an older man playing autoharp and a younger woman with a bunch of electronic equipment, a tin can and a metal wastebasket with springs strung across it. Of all the acts (Thurston excepted), this was definitely my favorite. The autoharpist gave hints of actual harmonies and real notes, while his partner's the bizarre equipment made well-conceived sounds. It seemed to me that she had taken the time to identify the noise makers that would make exactly the kind of noise she envisioned. It was still an improvisational set, but it seemed more purposeful and the result was more satisfying and interesting than the goofing-around style of the preceding groups.
Thurston Moore and Mats Gustafsson - This set started with Moore attacking his guitar with pieces of metal while Gustafsson made some brutal shrieking noises on a baritone sax. Eventually Gustafsson migrated to some electronic equipment and then back again to his sax, while Thurston finally ditched his guitar and went straight to the source, attacking the amplifier by picking it up and slamming it down until the chair it had been resting on was in shambles.
Thurston Moore
Noise-wise, it wasn't that different from what the other bands had done - but it had something they all lacked: it was punk. This is the punk-rock spirit, this is subversive, this is what's at the core of rock'n'roll - not that you necessarily have to break shit to be punk, but it's not a bad means of self-expression. Especially when it's accompanied by closely-controlled, frantic sonic experimentation that leaves your audience's ears ringing.
Where: Glasslands
OK, when I listed this show in my last "upcoming shows" post, I didn't really explain what kind of show it was. It wasn't until I was on my way over on Sunday night that I realized I should have given more warning. I used to be neighbors with Thurston Moore and his wife and bandmate Kim Gordon in the wee town in New England where the two now live. Thurston was always playing shows around the area with various people no one ever heard of. So I forgot to mention that when Thurston plays a small arthouse venue like Glasslands, and when he has a bunch of names you have never heard before on the bill, it's going to be a noise/art rock/experimental/freeform set. He's not going to be playing songs from Psychic Hearts. He's not going to be playing "songs" at all.
So sorry if anyone went to the show unprepared! My bad!
Sunburned Hand of the Gene Moore - I arrived during the set of this band (actually called, separately "Sunburned Hand of the Man" and "Gene Moore" - Thurston's brother, rumor has it). They were rather uninteresting noise rock, with nice solid walls of sound but nothing that hasn't been done before. They made random loud sounds with guitars and electronics, occasionally accompanied with an arrhythmic drum beat for a few seconds at a time.
The trouble with noise as a musical genre is the same as what I said recently about singer-songwriter music - every possible creative avenue has been explored, and originality is next to impossible. Sunburned Hand of Gene Moore was decent, with nice walls of sound, but it was nothing I hadn't heard before.
John Olson with Okkyung Lee & C.Spencer Yeh - John Olson is from Wolf Eyes, one of the very worst bands I've ever had to sit through. This set was nearly as painful - it seemed completely random, for the most part. The strings were off-putting, and Olson just messed around with a bunch of equipment with no apparent larger vision than doing shit that sounds kind of "cool." In contrast to the previous act, however, this group seemed to do their best at their quietest moments. Then there were flickers of subtle beauty that were definitely not accidental.
Tovah D-Day - I assume that's who this next act was, anyway, since they are the only other folks on the flyer. There were two of them, an older man playing autoharp and a younger woman with a bunch of electronic equipment, a tin can and a metal wastebasket with springs strung across it. Of all the acts (Thurston excepted), this was definitely my favorite. The autoharpist gave hints of actual harmonies and real notes, while his partner's the bizarre equipment made well-conceived sounds. It seemed to me that she had taken the time to identify the noise makers that would make exactly the kind of noise she envisioned. It was still an improvisational set, but it seemed more purposeful and the result was more satisfying and interesting than the goofing-around style of the preceding groups.
Thurston Moore and Mats Gustafsson - This set started with Moore attacking his guitar with pieces of metal while Gustafsson made some brutal shrieking noises on a baritone sax. Eventually Gustafsson migrated to some electronic equipment and then back again to his sax, while Thurston finally ditched his guitar and went straight to the source, attacking the amplifier by picking it up and slamming it down until the chair it had been resting on was in shambles.
Thurston Moore
Noise-wise, it wasn't that different from what the other bands had done - but it had something they all lacked: it was punk. This is the punk-rock spirit, this is subversive, this is what's at the core of rock'n'roll - not that you necessarily have to break shit to be punk, but it's not a bad means of self-expression. Especially when it's accompanied by closely-controlled, frantic sonic experimentation that leaves your audience's ears ringing.
Tuesday, February 3, 2009
Venue Review: The Charleston
<< NYC Venues: Index
Overview
Location: Williamsburg, Brooklyn
Address: 174 Bedford Ave. (between 7th & 8th)
Size: Small
Directions: L to Bedford
Website: [MySpace]
Acoustics: D-
Booking: B-
Helpfulness to bands: C
Atmosphere: A-
Acoustics - The acoustics in the Charleston are atrocious. It's an unfinished basement and it sounds like an unfinished basement. Which is great if you're nostalgic for your friends' bands' shows in high school (and sometimes I am) but not if you actually want to hear the music. Moreover, when I've been there, the sound engineer on duty has done little to fix the situation, often making it worse by basically not paying any attention to the bands.
Booking - The Charleston isn't too hard to book, but they are surprisingly concerned with draw for such a crappy venue. Which is fine, of course - they want to make money, but it certainly doesn't add any joy to playing there. They do seem to encourage bands to find a logical line-up and will give bands as many slots as they want for their friends to play, which avoids some of the problems I mentioned at Lit Lounge (and many other venues I have yet to write up) where you have death metal and indie pop bands playing back to back. That happens at the Charleston, but not as much as some other spots.
Helpfulness - Did I mention the sound guy doesn't pay attention? Because let's start there. The venue is really not accommodating to bands or their audiences, and does little other than allow them to show up and play. The upside is that they are somewhat flexible in their arrangements. However, they have hardly any equipment to speak of, so you'll have to bring everything along.
Atmosphere - Well, like I said, it's good for your nostalgia for the shows in your friends' parents' houses' basements that you went to when you were 15 (assuming you were into music back then), and that's actually not a bad feel. It's very legitimate, there is no gimmick, and that's how an indie rock venue should be.
That said, the visibility is awful - there's no stage so you can't see the band unless a.) you're standing in the front row or b.) either you or the band is freakishly tall. Also, if you're a band, beware - most of the times I've been in the Charleston, there's been severe amounts of water dripping from the pipes above - I don't know if there are actual leaks or if they just collect a lot of moisture, but it's a miracle we haven't all been electrocuted, standing in puddles while hooked up to amplifiers. Well, I guess in that sense, it takes you back the high school basement shows too. And we survived those. Mostly.
<< NYC Venues: Index
Overview
Location: Williamsburg, Brooklyn
Address: 174 Bedford Ave. (between 7th & 8th)
Size: Small
Directions: L to Bedford
Website: [MySpace]
Acoustics: D-
Booking: B-
Helpfulness to bands: C
Atmosphere: A-
Acoustics - The acoustics in the Charleston are atrocious. It's an unfinished basement and it sounds like an unfinished basement. Which is great if you're nostalgic for your friends' bands' shows in high school (and sometimes I am) but not if you actually want to hear the music. Moreover, when I've been there, the sound engineer on duty has done little to fix the situation, often making it worse by basically not paying any attention to the bands.
Booking - The Charleston isn't too hard to book, but they are surprisingly concerned with draw for such a crappy venue. Which is fine, of course - they want to make money, but it certainly doesn't add any joy to playing there. They do seem to encourage bands to find a logical line-up and will give bands as many slots as they want for their friends to play, which avoids some of the problems I mentioned at Lit Lounge (and many other venues I have yet to write up) where you have death metal and indie pop bands playing back to back. That happens at the Charleston, but not as much as some other spots.
Helpfulness - Did I mention the sound guy doesn't pay attention? Because let's start there. The venue is really not accommodating to bands or their audiences, and does little other than allow them to show up and play. The upside is that they are somewhat flexible in their arrangements. However, they have hardly any equipment to speak of, so you'll have to bring everything along.
Atmosphere - Well, like I said, it's good for your nostalgia for the shows in your friends' parents' houses' basements that you went to when you were 15 (assuming you were into music back then), and that's actually not a bad feel. It's very legitimate, there is no gimmick, and that's how an indie rock venue should be.
That said, the visibility is awful - there's no stage so you can't see the band unless a.) you're standing in the front row or b.) either you or the band is freakishly tall. Also, if you're a band, beware - most of the times I've been in the Charleston, there's been severe amounts of water dripping from the pipes above - I don't know if there are actual leaks or if they just collect a lot of moisture, but it's a miracle we haven't all been electrocuted, standing in puddles while hooked up to amplifiers. Well, I guess in that sense, it takes you back the high school basement shows too. And we survived those. Mostly.
<< NYC Venues: Index
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.
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.
Monday, February 2, 2009
Upcoming Shows: Wavves, Shilpa Ray, The Pains + more
Thursday, February 5
Shilpa Ray and Her Happy Hookers + the Soundscapes @ Le Poisson Rouge - West Village, Manhattan - $13
Thirteen bucks is a lot, so you may want to hold out and catch these bands at a later time for less (both have more NYC shows coming up). But I thought I'd mention it because if you've got the money, this will undoubtedly be the coolest place to be this Thursday night. You can read my last review of Shilpa here and my last review of the Soundscapes here. :: Shilpa Ray MySpace :: Soundscapes MySpace
Friday, February 6
Wavves @ The Market Hotel - Williamsburg, Brooklyn
WAVVES is the project of Nathan Williams, who is some kid from California who doesn't give a fuck that it's 2009. It could just as well be 1979 or 1989 or 2029, his music is timeless and it's what rock music should be. He plays something you could call noise-punk or noise-surf, massively distorted numbers with classic short pop songs buried somewhere beneath the fuzz. He also throws in some electronic-ish experimental songs to round things out. His last release made my top five records of 2008. :: MySpace
Saturday, February 7
The Pains of Being Pure at Heart + Depreciation Guild, Cause Co-Motion! and Zaza @ Mercury Lounge - LES, Manhattan - $10
The Pains of Being Pure at Heart is a tweegaze band and they are putting out a record tomorrow. I already reviewed it for you here. Depreciation Guild is a wonderful shoegaze band (and cute boys to boot). My last live review of them is here. Cause Co-Motion are a somewhat overrated but still highly enjoyable noise-pop band who play a lot of songs clocking in under two minutes. Zaza is an electronic duo that sounds like Suicide. My last live review of them is here. :: The Pains MySpace :: Depreciation Guild MySpace :: CCM! MySpace :: Zaza MySpace
Shilpa Ray and Her Happy Hookers + the Soundscapes @ Le Poisson Rouge - West Village, Manhattan - $13
Thirteen bucks is a lot, so you may want to hold out and catch these bands at a later time for less (both have more NYC shows coming up). But I thought I'd mention it because if you've got the money, this will undoubtedly be the coolest place to be this Thursday night. You can read my last review of Shilpa here and my last review of the Soundscapes here. :: Shilpa Ray MySpace :: Soundscapes MySpace
Friday, February 6
Wavves @ The Market Hotel - Williamsburg, Brooklyn
WAVVES is the project of Nathan Williams, who is some kid from California who doesn't give a fuck that it's 2009. It could just as well be 1979 or 1989 or 2029, his music is timeless and it's what rock music should be. He plays something you could call noise-punk or noise-surf, massively distorted numbers with classic short pop songs buried somewhere beneath the fuzz. He also throws in some electronic-ish experimental songs to round things out. His last release made my top five records of 2008. :: MySpace
Saturday, February 7
The Pains of Being Pure at Heart + Depreciation Guild, Cause Co-Motion! and Zaza @ Mercury Lounge - LES, Manhattan - $10
The Pains of Being Pure at Heart is a tweegaze band and they are putting out a record tomorrow. I already reviewed it for you here. Depreciation Guild is a wonderful shoegaze band (and cute boys to boot). My last live review of them is here. Cause Co-Motion are a somewhat overrated but still highly enjoyable noise-pop band who play a lot of songs clocking in under two minutes. Zaza is an electronic duo that sounds like Suicide. My last live review of them is here. :: The Pains MySpace :: Depreciation Guild MySpace :: CCM! MySpace :: Zaza MySpace
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