26.02.2010
A Music Blog Focusing on Los Angeles and Brighton
17.02.2010
categories: Mp3, Pictures, Review
tags: brighton, download, Mp3, my review, Review, the freebutt, the muslims, the soft pack
tags: brighton, download, Mp3, my review, Review, the freebutt, the muslims, the soft pack
Valentines Day gave us single Brightonians a couple of options. We could see the Soft Pack at Freebutt, we could see She Keeps Bees at the Hope OR we could stay at home and be angry. I almost went with the angry part, but instead I went down to the Freebutt to see my Los Angeles compatriats for the first time since their somewhat-meh showing at Pershing Square in July. I’m going to blame their performance in July on their opener (worst band to ever haunt the planet, Little Red Radio) and the sound quality and the drunk bitches attempting to dance to the Soft Pack. Hi-larious.
Their gig at the Freebutt was their first that I’ve attended post release of their second album. I staunchly refer to ‘The Soft Pack’ as their second album. Mostly because I own the original 12″ that they released as the Muslims. It was an album, not an EP, not a digital release – a FUCKING amazing album! There was a healthy crowd to see them which pleased me to no end as I’ve enjoyed so much watching the Muslims go from playing Los Angeles constantly, to their name change, across multiple US tours, and now to the release of their sophomore album.
From the moment they kicked off with ‘Pull Out’, I could see how much they’d matured as a band. The new songs, off ‘The Soft Pack’, are a direct fulfillment of the promise they showed, even as far back as June 2008 – one of first times they played the Echo. They’ve kept their excellent rhythm section – David Lantzman’s bass is the screw that holds the ramshackle together, he’s the one that makes the songs remotely danceable; Brian Hill’s drums play tandem with Lantzman’s lines driving them forward, playing both sides – waiting for everything to just fall apart into one punky mess AND keeping it all together, keeping it solid. Matty McLoughlin’s guitar still needs as much forcing as it ever did – the guy can fucking play but it looks like it’s taking every bit of effort, every drop of sweat to get every note out of that damn guitar. And live, Matt Lampkin’s still got his most dangerous weapon – his voice. The ‘perpetual outsider commenting’ sound, that distant, devil-may-care quality is what draws me in – I can’t help but listen any time he opens his mouth.
So they’ve still got everything they’ve always had – what now? The song writing is better, for a start. For starters, a tune like ‘Mexico’ which may actually steal the show off the album could’ve never in a million years had a place on their first album. ‘C’mon’ is clearly destined to be a major crowd pleaser (my friend demanded we listen to it on repeat afterwards) and ‘Down On Loving’ is the best one to shout along to. It’s hard to pinpoint how exactly I know that something’s changed in the band – I don’t know if I’m too close, if I’ve seen them too many times and whether or not that means I’m one capable of seeing the change or not at all, but I know something’s different. The Soft Pack rock out, hard. That’s never going to change – well, I hope not – but something in their attitude says they’ve slowed down a little bit and taken more time to write the songs and be concerned with writing something more than say a ‘Nightlife’ (even though, honestly, its amazing and hilarious).
Matt Lampkin’s stage presence has also matured. Previously, when he has to ditch his guitar on stage for their perpetually amazing song, ‘Parasites’, he’d walk to the back side corner of the Echo and stand awkwardly not really knowing what to do. Now, he didn’t leave the front of the stage and kept our attention. Perhaps he’s not the most captivating front-man, but I doubt that would work for them, to have a front-man who steals the show, half the fun of the Soft Pack is working out which one to look at, which one’s working the hardest (my money’s always on McLoughlin, although Lantzman’s bass moves are amazing). Basically, if you buy yourself a ticket to see the Soft Pack, you’re in for an evening of fun and punky spirit and tunes to jump around and dance a little to – something that we don’t get enough in Brighton, something that I’d never turn down.
9/10
Full Setlist
Pull Out
Down On Loving
C’Mon
More or Less
Extinction
Brightside
Tides of Time
Right & Wrong
Beside Myself
Parasites
Mexico
Answer to Yourself
DOWNLOAD -> The Soft Pack – Extinction (Live @ Amoeba)
15.02.2010
categories: Mp3, Pictures, Review
tags: download, in photos, Mp3, my review, photos, Review, tune-yards
tags: download, in photos, Mp3, my review, photos, Review, tune-yards
My strongest apologies. This is the kind of review I hate to write because, well, frankly you had to be there and if you wern’t – sorry because it was amazing! And if you get nothing else from this – just go see tUnE-yArDs!
My first experience with tUnE-yArDs’ live show is a story of shame. Shame because it took moving to Brighton to see her when she regularly played in Los Angeles over the summer. In fact, she opened for Micachu & The Shapes’ July show at the Echo where I patiently waited out her set in the ourtyard. But a few days prior to her February show at the Freebutt in Brighton, a friend recommended her album to me. I was impressed but knew that I had to see the live show before being completely convinced by her somewhat wacky, textured, sweet album ‘BiRd BrAiNs’. Merrill Garbus took the stage, with her bassist (Nate Brenner), a small drum kit and a ukulele. The crowd was mildly sized, but all looked ecstatic to see what she would bring to her first show in Brighton and her first show on her run throughout the UK and Europe.
After the first song of the night, I knew we were witnessing something truly special. Merrill gave all the songs on ‘BiRd BrAiNs’ the ultimate justice – transforming what comes off very heavily as ‘made in the bedroom’ on the album into expertly layered loops with incredible oomph live. Garbus has a knack for conveying power and control over not only her voice but her beautiful songs. Her knack for being able to jump from commanding to sweet was unparalleled. ‘Hatari’ was an awakening – her almost yodeling vocals were straight from the gut and that’s just where they hit the audience, her joyful screams elicited grins from the audience who began to really groove with every beat and every note.
The personal highlight for me was the beautiful, soft, and intimate ‘News’. I know I spoke about how much force and husky power Merrill can evoke with her vocals, but ‘News’ is possibly the most tender warning (as in, I’m warning you, don’t fuck with me!) song ever. The layered drumming and clicking works better live than it does on the album, it took it from its place in the basement (on the album) to something dynamic and endearing live.‘Fiya’ is another tune that saw Merrill turn away from her husky natural vocal place and bring out that tender intimate croon. It’s amazing what she can do with her voice – hype the audience up, or bring them in so close it feels like you’ve been friends for ages.
This review is doing the show no justice whatsoever. It’s not very often that, in attempting to leave the venue, I walk up a completely wrong set of steps because I’m so focused on the amazing show I just saw. It’s not often that I walk out of a venue with a grin on my face and proceed to gush about the show for another 45 minutes to someone that was standing right next to me and saw the whole thing. There was such a warm, cottony atmosphere of appreciation and affection for Merrill and her tunes and it was with genuine surprise and kindness that she accepted the crowds warm welcome and insistence that she come back. It was clear that they had no clue that the show was going to be such a tour-de-force and the smile on her face after she walked off, post encore (of which, they don’t do many) said everything. And the best part about it all, really, besides everything else was that it was fairly fucking evident that this is not all Merrill and her incarnation of tUnE-yArDs have to give – the well of creativity in her mind is definitely not going to dry up soon and the fact that she can put it across live the way she did that night… well, she’s going places.
10/10
DOWNLOAD -> tUnE-yArDs – Jumping Jack
View the rest of my photos of tUnE-yArDs over at my FLICKR.
11.02.2010
Click on any of my photos to see the larger versions.
Check out more of my photos of Lyrebirds stunning set at Audio on the 8th of February opening for Chapel Club over at my Flickr.
10.02.2010
What I’ve come to expect from a live Adam Green show is a large dose of ridiculousness, some crazy dance moves, a strikingly amazing range in terms of vocals and a hefty bag filled with monkeys. Although I’ve only seen Adam Green three times, they all had a huge impact on my Summer 2008 and I think they’ve had quite a large effect on how I felt about his show on Saturday February 6th at the Concorde 2 in Brighton. The first three times I saw him were in San Francisco at the Rickshaw Stop which was the size of the bar at the Concorde 2, then at the Troubadour (big-ish only compared to the Echo) and then Amoeba. It was a wonderful three days filled with child-like wonder, stolen Raybans and handpicked (by us!) encores and partial setlists.
But more to the point: his show at the Concorde 2. Green’s backing band walked on stage to, well, no fanfare which I found a little offensive because while they do play backup for Green on tours, they’re a different band, Spacecamp (formerly Spacekamp) and they’re all incredibly adept and have a wonderful knack for keeping time with Adam, which, by the way, is nothing to sneeze at. But when Adam Green walked onto stage, my face immediately fell. He looked so thin compared to the last US tour I saw him on – he must have lost atleast 20lbs. Gone was his cherubic Jewish-James-Dean-Face (for the most part) and certainly gone was his little bit of chub, he appeared tired and gaunt. Without going too much into personal problems that are completely none of my business, but it seems (especially on ‘Minor Love’) that the Adam Green of old – with his surreal, sexual, ridiculous lyrics and buoyant music, has been partially replaced by a reserved, melancholy album that wouldn’t seem to fit with his racuous live show.
But, to that end, they did immediately launch into a song which saw Adam running around stage in a crazed manner – his usual way. There were sparks of Adam’s former brilliance, though, despite his changed appearance: the folky, hilarious ‘Grandma Shirley & Poppa’ (before launching in Green shouted ‘FOLKUS!’ – thankfully he didn’t lose his all of stage banter skills – although half the time it was nonsense); the all-time classic ‘Drugs’ (although Green didn’t hit the deep notes the way he did previously); and the dancey ‘Emily’. But the stops and starts, which I mentioned that Spacecamp took in dexterous stride, broke up the eveness that I had come to expect from Green. The songs that he made his solo career on are still as wonderful as they ever were, but there was a lack of effervescence, a lack of cohesiveness – a strange disconnect from the audience and even if it was a mostly valliant effort.
But unfortuntely, everything just seemed to fall short. That’s not to say that it wasn’t still entertaining or enthralling – Adam Green puts on a good show but having seen him at a brilliant point in his career where you couldn’t take your eyes off of him (and that’s a mean feat too because following him around on-stage for 40 minutes is an eye-workout) this show just didn’t hit the mark. Perhaps it is his popularity in England, and subsequently his larger venue show did nothing for me compared to seeing him in a closet, but when he took off his leather jacket and exposed some suspicious cuts on his stomach (he let some girl lick it…. WEIRD) I just had to gulp and turn away. This is not the Adam Green I once saw.
6/10
Partial setlist
Grandma Shirley and Poppa
Drugs
Emily
Carolina
Morning After Midnight
What Makes Him Act So Bad
Gobin
Give Us A Token
Buddy Bradley
Dance With Me
Bluebirds
View the rest of my Adam Green photos at FLICKR.
Download -> Adam Green – What Makes Him Act So Bad
20.01.2010
BOOM! POW! Superbly beautiful wonderful amazing shots taken by NRBW’s favorite LA photog ever of all time SUNG KIM, so THANKS buddy!
I tried to find an awesome review of the Yummy Fur @ Echo gig, but I could only find this bad blog entry from the “LA Woman” over at NME, but I will copy and paste it for you. Dear god I hope we on this blog never pretend to review a show by saying what celebrities were there and which Franz members wern’t there….
The Yummy Fur, the legendary Glaswegian cult band that later spawned the 1990s and Franz Ferdinand, played their first gig in more than 10 years on January 7 at Nice And Sleazy’s in Glasgow. And last night they brought their mini-reunion tour to Los Angeles nightclub the Echo, at a Part Time Punks-sponsored event attended by Britt Daniel of Spoon, Eddie Argos of Art Brut (who was overheard saying he’d pre-purchased a ticket, rather than trying to get on the guestlist, because he wanted to save the ticket stub as a souvenir), and members of the Blood Arm.
“We’re going to play a long set,” announced 1990s singer John McKeown as he fronted the circa-2010 Yummy lineup (featuring Franz drummer Paul Thomson, but not onetime Fur/current Franz member Alex Kapranos). “I mean, who knows when we’re going to do this again?” The reformed band then played for more than an hour.
John declared it the only reunion show he’s enjoyed so far on the Yummy Fur’s U.S. tour, since he’d been battling food poisoning all week. He certainly appeared to be enjoying himself, as did the very excited L.A. fans in attendance.
I love that this bitch keeps calling him John. So weird. How 1990 of her – and not in a good 1990s kind of way. View the awesome clips of the YUMMY FUR!!!! below
03.01.2010
MY PET SADDLE were awesome opening up for the Growlers. They are an awesome up and coming band. Colette had turned me onto them, but seeing them live was awesome. They’re still really young and fresh-faced but their songs sounded awesome and I liked the two lead singers and the energy that they gave off. They also had some elongated jams at the ends of songs which were excellent. Shit review of a soon-to-be great band.
THE GROWLERS. What am I supposed to say about the Growlers that I haven’t already said about 1500 times? I’ve seen them 9 times this year, and all nine times have been 150% awesome. New Years Eve was such a special concert (as was the Halloween gig before it) that I can’t in any way describe it for you – but you can just read all my old Growlers posts because the gigs were as per the usual – GREAT. What I appreciate about the Growlers is their ever-changing setlist. Of course, there are live favorites that we hear everytime like ‘Something Someone Jr.’ and ‘Acid Rain’ but they always manage to throw in some weird ones like ‘Kick The Habit of Dredd’ and ‘Nosebleed Sun Blues’ which was AMAZING and I don’t think I’d ever heard that one live before. I also really love their dedication to being ridiculous. Clearly, all the members of the band are mentally insane – in a very functional, artistic way, but they really are! The outfits they showed up in just made me laugh and it’s always a pre-Growlers gig ritual to guess what they’ll be wearing, although NOTHING (NOTHING!!!) will top the Halloween garb. Anyway, the Growlers truly are the greatest band on the planet right now. If you can’t see it now, you certainly will see it by the close of 2010, that is guaranteed!
19.11.2009
Just another night down at Audio for me, I feel like I’m there about once a week these days, but it’s probably the best little club in Brighton, so I don’t really mind. The opening band were absolute shit. Avoid Teen Sheikhs, if you are able to. Normally, I hate trashing bands, I really do! There’s nothing worse than bad music and having to talk about bad music makes my soul even more sad to relive it than actually hearing it the once, but seriously, avoid Teen Sheikhs. I listened to their music on myspace, and I actually made the effort to get down early to see them play and described their music to a person I knew as a ‘watered down Wavves’. How wrong I was. Their music was all over the place – the drummer had no idea what was going on, the guitar was loud but not in a good way, nothing going on, the vocals were terrible and grating… just all around terrible.
But then! Wavves! I was really stoked to see Wavves because … well, as we all know a lot happened to the kid since I saw him last in April…. The breakdown, the firing of the first drummer guy, the new songs with Zach Hill etc. But I was in for a really weird surprise. Instead of Zach Hill, Jay Reatards former bandmates joined Nathan onstage. He said that three days before they were supposed to leave, Zach broke his hand (or something) and couldn’t go on the tour. Luckily, Stephen Pope (Jay Reatard’s former bassist/fro) and Billy Hayes (Reatard’s former drummer/oddball) were able to fill in and while they were totally rough around the edges, they’d only had one gig and two practices or something like that.
Was this a good gig? Yes and no. No because, well, they were way too unprepared – they couldn’t play some of the songs that people wanted to hear (Mickey Mouse, as suggested by some guy; Weed Demon, as suggested by me) due to the fact that they didn’t know the drums or whatever. But, the redeeming thing about it all was the fact that Nathan just didn’t give a fuck. They played 7 songs. 7 songs for 8 quid. Doesn’t seem like a good bargain, but were the 7 songs good? Hell yeah. Nathan was really on form – the songs were loud and reverby and well, the way they are supposed to be. He was really rocking out – tossing his head the way that he does, but un-fucking-fortunately, nobody else was. It was the tamest Wavves gig I’d ever seen. How anybody can watch Stephen Pope’s fro jump around and see his ridiculous faces, and not jump around and push people, well I don’t know but the hipsters of Brighton certainly do. So it was rough andhad a few stops and starts – but that’s exactly Wavves ethos, and what made me and so many other people love him in the first place. So, short set, lame crowd but yet I still walked out of the gig saying that it was good and I would see him again. Yes, I would. 7/10
View the rest of my Wavves pictures over at my FLICKR.
DOWNLOAD -> MICKEY MOUSE by WAVVES
15.11.2009
There’s some good stuff going on with the 2007 Mercury Prize nominees lately. 2009 has already given us Jamie T’s second album, the soon-to-be-classic ‘Kings & Queens’, and now my other favorite, Fionn Regan is back. He’s already released one track from his forthcoming (in 2010, natch) album ‘Shadow of an Empire’ called PROTECTION RACKET, and he did a little bit of touring to bring his little self back into the public’s music consciousness, and that he did last night on Friday the 13th at the Jam in Brighton.
On a personal note, I have been so excited to see this wee little Irish man for about two and a half years. Back in 2007, when I was living in Fort Worth, my roommate and I went down to ACL for the first time. We only had tickets for Saturday, but we went down there on the Friday. Fionn Regan played ACL on the Friday when we wern’t able to be there. Then, on the Saturday, he played up in Dallas, which we also couldn’t be at because we had to watch the Fucking Arctic Monkeys at ACL in the dead heat. Prior to that, in the summer of 2007, he played a couple Hotel Cafe in Los Angeles, which I also couldn’t go to because I was under 21, damn ageism. So basically, I’ve missed Fionn an epic number of times due to various factors not under my control. Lame, but I was hoping this night would make up for it, and it did.
Let me just say, the Jam is tiny. It’s a horribly lit venue, with what can only be termed flashlights blinking the colours of the rainbow every second. Terrible for photography, unless you have a really keen sense of timing – unlike myself. But the place is tiny and it was a wonder that Regan’s backing band actually fit on the stage. It was a close fit, and I was actually in the most awkward picture taking position but I was extremely close to Fionn, less than a foot from him, which was absolutely excellent.
Apparently, I’m not the only one to think this, but Fionn’s resemblance to Bob Dylan doesn’t stop at his appearance (skinny pants, carnaby boots, button up, necklaces, RayBan’s etc) but to the apparent trajectory his career is taking – or at the very least, this performance. Regan’s debut album, The End of History, is a beautiful, folky masterpiece complete with complex imagery (some relatable and some surreal) that has such confidence and song-writing mastery, it’s comparable to ‘Freewheelin’ Bob Dylan’. Regan’s performance at Jam certainly showcased three of the best songs off of ‘The End of History’: the hauntingly upbeat, confused lovers tale, ‘The Underwood Typewriter’; the simple and utterly beautiful lyrical masterpiece, ‘Hey Rabbit’; and his tour-de-force, a song so complex and filled with allusions yet so relatable and fucking moving, the penultimate ‘Put A Penny In The Slot’, all of which received raucous applause from the audience.
But what was most interesting was the way the entire evening had such a ‘Newport Folk Fest 1965′ feeling to it. The sudden appearance on this tour of the backing band was a welcome touch – another guitar, bass, tambourine, some keys and most importantly, drums had a wonderful effect on the already polished songwriter. His new songs were so ‘Bringin’ it All Back Home’. They were bluesy, country influenced ditties that still kept some of the autumnal-Nick-Drake vibes that Fionn so wonderfully carried out on his debut, but electrified them into something louder and energized. Whilst I’ve only heard ‘Protection Racket’ recorded properly, the new songs are surely going to be a welcome change. After all, if we can learn nothing else from Bob it’s that artists must change and adapt and irregardless if Regan’s career is playing a LOT like Dylan’s, wittingly or unwittingly, (and yes, for someone with one album it’s hard to compare them to the greatest artist of all time, but still) I think ‘The End of the Empire’ is going to be the start of something fantastic.
On a last note, Fionn Regan’s voice is fucking marvelous. It’s confident at some points and magically tender and sublime. But what I find so amazing is the way he can be so loud and buoyant at times, he can be so heartbreakingly vulnerable at other times. The one thing that completely struck me, almost to the point of weeping (and the only time I’ve ACTUALLY wept at a gig was Morrissey), was the lines “I can’t help from cryin’ / I wish you were mine’ from ‘Put a Penny In The Slot”. In those two lines alone, Fionn conveyed so much with his voice that I was just dumbfounded into silence. I wish more of the crowd had been completely silent, but that’s beside the point as this gig was certainly one of the best gig’s I’ve been to all year and most definitely made up for the three years I was attempting to see this little man. I can say with utmost confidence that his new album is going to be a sincerely incredible follow-up to a utterly brilliant debut.
9/10
Setlist:
House Detective
Catacombs
Little Nancy
Underwood Typewriter
Hunter’s Map
Put A Penny In The Slot
Violent Demeanor
Lines Written in Winter
Hey Rabbit
Protection Racket
Genocide Matinee
Lord Help My Poor Soul
Be Good or Be Gone
See more of my photos of Fionn Regan at my FLICKR.
11.11.2009
Nat Jenkins
Having only seen Nat Jenkins perform a few songs ahead of his friends, the Kooks, at the Hollywood Palladium back in October of 2008, I was very excited to see a more full set from this singer-songwriter. I only say singer-songwriter for lack of wanting to call him something like ‘an acoustic troubadour’ for both have really fucking lame connotations, but that is what he is. His set saw him take the stage with just his acoustic guitar and his voice. What the audience ultimately received was a set of experimentation and testing out new songs, but it was not without it’s endearing moments. His second song, “If I Were A Wolf’ was the sets highlight, it was a charming tale of lust and love. As I said before, it was a set filled with trial songs, including one he had ‘literally written that morning’. But his voice was the most appealing part of his set, not to say that he isn’t an interesting guitar player, but he could use some more development in that respect, but his voice can range from deep and brooding to upbeat and even melodic. He certainly has some promise as a performer. The final song Nat played was a blatant mix of Bob Dylan’s ‘If You See Her, Say Hello’ and John Donne’s ‘For Whom The Bell Tolls’, but that’s not to say it wasn’t an intriguing, clever song – but perhaps needs a bit more of Nat injected into it. It appeared a fair bit of his set had been influenced by the seminal album ‘Blood on the Tracks’ but let’s be honest, he could do a lot worse than stealing from Bob Dylan. After all, Bob is the master of thieving. Nat Jenkins has potential, undoubtedly, and I anticipate some recorded material from him, and would absolutely see his live set again after some brushing up.
The Musical Differences
The Musical Differences were a delight to watch. After having seeing two singer/songwriters in a row, one who would do well to stop playing music and the other, Nat Jenkins, seeing a full band take the stage was a welcome change. Although they’re more than a motley crew, singer Rob Skipper was wearing a teal cowboy button up with black pants that somehow magically had balloon ribbon down the sides; the bassist was wearing bright red pants and seemed to have a disease where his feet couldn’t or wouldn’t stand still; the guitarist was so quiet and statuesque; the keyboardist was extremely well dressed; and the lone girl was adorable in a braid and high-waisted skirt; something about their ridiculousness was undoubtedly endearing. The ukulele, the violin, and the keyboard all combined for a buoyant, eclectic sound that never managed to get swallowed by the sheer amount of instruments onstage – each was allowed to shine separately. The interplay between the girl and Rob Skipper, vocally, was a central driving force in the set – and the knowing looks, winks and side-glances were enough to create some tension to keep the audience interested. The Musical Differences somehow had a knack for making extremely depressing subjects sound full of life and energy and happiness – they ranged from soldiers (to commemorate Soldier’s Sunday) to a Russian woman locked up in some Holloway prison (props to them for using ‘barbed wire’ so effortlessly in a song). Their set was really fluent and seemed extremely short but I guess it’s fitting as they were playing the lauded London night, Communion’s younger sister in Brighton. They were certainly the shining stars of the night, their jaunty energy was refreshing and certainly gained them some fans – myself included. The Musical Differences did some recording in Los Angeles earlier in the year, and I look forward to seeing how their vivacious live songs translate to record.
29.10.2009
categories: Funny, Pictures, Review, Video
tags: bbq, black lips, cole alexander, king khan, king khan & the bbq, mark sultan, Review, the almighty defenders, Video
tags: bbq, black lips, cole alexander, king khan, king khan & the bbq, mark sultan, Review, the almighty defenders, Video
The amalgamation of my favorite band + two of my other two favorite people/bands (ie: Black Lips, King Khan & BBQ/Mark Sultan) have been playing some small shows here and there inbetween their respectively crazy touring schedules. They did a show at CMJ and Brooklyn Vegan put up a nice review that I felt like sharing with you, with photos added. Then maybe some amazing videos that are killing me, and then maybe, possibly some of my thoughts on their album:
While the previous two bands might have strived to achieve an organic quality to their electronic landscapes, The Almighty Defenders had enough of it to start a West Village co-op. Perhaps a little too much; at times their choir-robe sporting performance came off as mildly contrived attempts at irreverently performed traditional gospel-tinged rock sprouting out of the soil. Their dynamism as performers couldn’t be discounted however, as they stirred the crowd into a frenzy with a nearly hour long drunken sermon of soulful garage bliss.
This indie “supergroup” has stumbled on a unique dynamic; coupling the best elements of the ultimate divisiveness that is the Black Lips’ style – an undying energy and a solid rhythm section – with the grandiose stage presence and musical abilities of King Khan and his long time partner Marc Sultan (BBQ Show). To all that add the Kentucky-fried-church sing-a-long, ebulliently spilling from the stage. Songs full of cheering, Bible-quoting, and plucky reverb-heavy guitar lines with lots of claps and tambourine sparkle defined their whole performance for the most part. Not that the crowd at Roots Studios seemed to mind; if anything, they might have seen the light.
The baptismal experience was nearly complete with the addition of a “communion ceremony,” where guzzles from a Jameson whiskey bottle were administered to parishioners, that is audience members in the front row, poured with a steadfast hand by Black Lips member Cole Alexander.
It provided a fitting image for a show that might have sparked the first born-again revival in Williamsburg’s ever-growing cultural history. Praise the lord and pass the ammunition.
I’m Coming Home
Bow Down & Die
The Almighty Defenders – Self Titled Debut
So the very premise of The Almighty Defenders in all likelihood is going to split the world’s constituents into two categories. The first will probably be pissing themselves thinking the amount of talent contained in the members: King Khan himself, the BBQ aka Mark Sultan, and the entirety of the Black Lips. It’s like a match made in a disgusting Berlin garage. Oh wait… The second group will probably be rolling their eyes in disgust that the kings of the current garage revival all got together after the purported international incident where Black Lips got kicked out of India and recorded and album. I happen to be of the first persuasion. By that I mean, I was waiting on the edge of my seat until this album got released, and finally it’s here.
So the story goes that Black Lips went to India, got their cocks out and got kicked out of the country under threat of jail time. They were not heard from for a few days until “word” got back to Vice that they were holed up with King Khan and BBQ in a studio in Berlin, where Khan lives with the Shrines. Whether or not that whole incident was a plea for more publicity matters not, for the Almighty Defenders came out of it – a pairing which was made in Heaven (yes, the nightclub in London) and which many people were clamoring for long before Black Lips had even made a name for themselves. So it is with great pleasure and a fair amount of liquor, weed, and dirt under their fingernails that King Khan, BBQ and the Black Lips bring to you the Almighty Defenders debut.
‘Bow Down and Die’, although one of the first tracks released to promote this album, never gets old. It’s straight up hand clapping gospel Sunday morning tune with Cole’s dirty vocals and enough “harmonizing” to make it seem like a cat dying, this tune is grade A. But more importantly, I love how each song in its own way showcases the amazing things about each member of the band – things that may not necessarily get such a showcasing whilst they play in their day job bands. ‘Cone of Light’ showcases the elements that BBQ (Mark Sultan), Joe (Black Lips), and Ian (Black Lips) do quite well respectively: BBQ belts it out, making him currently the only singer in garage rock who can actually fucking sing; Joe is a machine behind the drums, urgent as ever; and Ian is rock solid on guitar, sneaking up on you making you think he’s a messy guitarist but actually working some type of magic. The Ghost With The Most is swampy sounding, with Jared getting to show his vocal muscles with a fair amount of reverb, “It takes a wicked man to blindly lead the blind”, sounds most like a Black Lips song probably due to Ian’s most underappreciated guitar line taking the back seat to Jared’s wailing. I’m Coming Home unites all their talents into a ‘love tune’ about a man coming home from war, syrupy bass line drives the tune forward with Cole, Joe, King Khan and BBQ taking scratchy vocal duties over a fairly blues guitar line. Gospel is not forgotten with everyone shouting, “I’m coming home, oh yeah!”
But make no mistake, this record is not polished. It’s cohesive in its almost otherworldly, saintly in a dirty way, gospel garage heavenly feel, but it’s still a product of those who make up the band. And what I mean by that is that these men are ridiculous, crazy, and like to fuck around and this record does have a few WTFuck moments, as we all knew it would. ‘Death Cult Soup ‘N Salad’ consists solely of weird noises (most I’m assuming made by Cole and Joe) over some pretty heavy, and by heavy I mean distorted and rudimentary, riffing that together make up this delectably titled song. ‘The Great Defender’…. All I can assume about this song is that crack was a main component in it’s creation.
So what remains to be seen is whether or not the material will play out live. The group has played less than a handful of shows, including the Sell Out Festival, oh excuse me, Scion Garage Fest in Portland. But with the busy touring schedule each band keeps, with Khan and BBQ touring America in the fall, Black Lips touring the world for ever and ever, Mark Sultan coming out with a new album and the Shrines supposedly coming out with a new album soon – it doesn’t look good for the Defenders live show, but performances like the aforementioned CMJ prove that I may not know what the fuck I’m talking about. ‘Mon the Almighty Defenders world tour of 2010.
8/10
23.10.2009
16.10.2009
Ah, Micachu. I wasn’t sure whether I’d get to see this gig, but I did end up making the journey from Hove to Audio to see Micachu and the Shapes on a freezing Monday night here in Brighton. And, I gotta say that it was worth the £2.90 in train fare to see them play. Earlier in the year, in the warm, California summer, to be exact, at the greatest venue in all the world: The Echo. I had such a good experience, that I was more than keen to see the weird/genius Micachu yet again at Brighton’s most Echo-like venue. And I might add, that because I also had a very good experience at this gig, and with Micachu and her material, I will tell this story through the friend that I dragged along with me.
The beginning of any Micachu gig seems kind of like insanity. By that I mean that this chick, comes on stage looking confused as hell, and possibly wasted (even though she’s not), and picks up these weird instruments and starts to play. And about two or three songs in, her weirdness is beginning to show her pop sensibility/mad scientist genius is beginning to show through and you might begin to think, well this is alright, I’m moderately glad I came. Then about 75% of the way through the gig, you realize it’s probably one of the strangest, most wonderfully abstract, crazy and fantastic gigs you’ve been to in quite a while and that strangely, you came in apprehensive and left a major fan of Micachu. Or at least that’s how it was for me when I first saw Micachu back in July and how it was for my friend last Monday at Audio.
But now, back to my only slightly more informed point of view on the gig. When Micachu first came out, I was shocked! She bleached her hair! It was a pretty dramatic change for someone who seems kind of timid, but let me just say that she was werking it. She walked on stage and apparently, the lights were so bright that she couldn’t see any of the audience at all – even commented, “I can’t work out how many of you are here… but I can see that it’s more than two” and proceeded to pick up her modified guitar, that she apparently calls a chu and begin to work her eccentric magic. Trying to describe what goes on in precise detail at a Micachu gig is impossible and fundamentally wrong because it’s different each time. The noises and bops and stops and starts and vocal cracks are all so natural that their variations are what make each gig something special as opposed to something that is vastly different than what is on their debut, ‘Jewelery’. What I’ve said before and I’ll say again is that her eccentricities are so warm and inviting, and her ability to write a song with almost no structure or form yet is most definitely a pop song, and especially like ‘Golden Phones’ could end up being a cult classic, is just astonishing. What really amazes me though, is that an album like ‘Jewelery’ which on the surface would seem like it couldn’t hold up life, actually translates to a compelling and envelloping show live. Truly, she is a talent to watch.
To see the rest of my photos of Micachu & The Shapes @ Audio, visit my Flickr. To view my previous photos and review of Micachu’s show at the Echo in Los Angeles, click here. And finally, to download Micachu’s genuis reworking of Fool’s Gold’s “Surprise Hotel” click here.
12.10.2009
categories: Mp3, Pictures, Review
tags: audio, brighton, download, jofo, johnny foreigner, Mp3, Review
tags: audio, brighton, download, jofo, johnny foreigner, Mp3, Review
Johnny Foreigner are a band who have been on my radar for just over a year and a half now, so getting to see them in my new hometown of Brighton was a prospect that excited me greatly. Johnny Foreigner’s first EP entitled ‘Arcs Across the City’ came across my computer screen long, long ago and I was really intruiged at the way they could combine hand-clapping with yelling, with such an onslaught of noise and humour.
Having recorded their first album, ‘Waited Up ‘Til It Was Light’, (confusingly) in Hoboken, NJ, I was impressed at the new versions of songs that I loved so much like the cocaine-heartbeat-esque ‘Yes! You Talk Too Fast’ and ‘Our Bipolar Friends’. Luckily, Hoboken has nothing to do with the overall sound of their album. Not to be outdone by their close friends, Los Campesinos!, Johnny Foreigner has kept up a rigorous schedule of touring and are just now about to release their second album, ‘Grace and the Bigger Picture’ (also recorded on the East Coast, this time, they chose the much better and more fitting Brooklyn). It was with this in mind that I cruised over to Audio to see them play, and finally see the band that I’ve wanted to see for ages.
To be honest, I was completely disappointed with the turnout for this band. Living in America and liking mostly small English bands really fucks with my head because I think that they are actually really huge back home and perhaps it would be different if I lived in London and not Brighton, but hey that’s that. Audio was only filled with about 40ish people, and I say this out of love, and they were mostly teenagers, and aren’t really the people I choose to hang out with but hey, I used to bitch about having 21+ gigs in America, so I guess I can’t really talk. However, the kids more than made up for it with enthusiasm, especially nearest to the stage – the kids on the fringe did what kids on the fringe usually do – stand around and look uncomfortable.
But, more to the point, Johnny Foreigner themselves were great. I knew it would be a good show when the first thing I saw was Alexi’s Oscar Wilde t-shirt. They were honestly everything that I wanted them to be: loud as fuck (I had to stand next to the big boxes of amps to take photos); frenetic (Alexi’s level of sweat was phenominal); muti-talented (Junior plays drums and keys, okay not keys, but like small playtime casio-thingamagig and also played guitar on one song and Kelly got behind the drums). It almost felt like a Jay Reatard gig where all the songs sort of blend into each other into some kind of super-punk-rawk type set, but where Jay has anger, JoFo has got their endearing stage banter: “Have any of you downloaded our new album? Yes? Fuck you! Oh wait, no? Okay, well I was going to go into a rant, but now I’ll just sing a song”. As I said before, they’re touring between their old album and the new one coming out, but it hasn’t been released yet – so it was kind of an awkward transition between the material, although the new material is definitely JoFo material, it was still a bit of an awkward phase to have a new UK Tour. One thing that I do love about Johnny Foreigner that really made itself apparent live was their sensibility – and by that I mean underneath all the noise there’s quite a fair amount of melodic sensibility and strength to the songs. Furthermore, Alexi is surely a quite a good little guitarist… His fretwork is quite great – it can’t be easy to make the songs sound so angular and yet noisy and pretty much just amazing. On a personal note, although I really enjoyed the gig there was not enough of the songs that I wanted to hear myself, but I was more than happy with the song choice and the overall heat generated by the gig.
If you’d like to see more photos from Johnny Foreigner playing at Audio go to my Flickr here.
Setlist (Ps. I reserve the right to have gotten this completely wrong, JoFo’s handwriting suxx)
Yr Just All Jealous
Feels Like Summer
Bullring
Cloakroom
Eyes Wide Terrified
Chose Your Side
Salt, Pepper and Spindarella
Mo Heart
Heanings
Graves
Criminal
Coast
Feels Like Summer Half Reprise
All that said, I would most definitely see Johnny Foreigner again when they choose to tour the UK again for their new album, ‘Grace & The Bigger Picture’ which will be coming out on October 26th on Best Before Records. The tracklist is below:
1. “Choose Yr Side and Shut Up!”
2. “Security to the Promenade”
3. “Ghost the Festivals”
4. “Feels Like Summer” 1:56
5. “illchoosemysideandshutup, alright”
6. “Criminals” 3:24
7. “Custom Scenes and the Parties That Make Them”
8. “More Heart, Less Tongue”
9. “Kingston Called, They Want Their Lost Youth Back”
10. “He Awoke On A Beach In Aberystwyth”
11. “(Graces)”
12. “Dark Harbourzz”
13. “Every Cloakroom Ever”
14. “More Tongue, Less Heart”
15. “The Coast Was Always Clear”
Download some remixes from Johnny Foreigner’s upcoming album below:
Security to the Promenade (Napoleon the IIIrd Remix)
I’ll Choose My Side and Shut Up Alright (Sky Larkin Remix)
20.09.2009
(David J of Bauhaus/Love and Rockets)
24.08.2009
Sweaters are like a big box of puppies. They’ve got an amazing ethos, I would defy even the most hardened music fan to not smile listening to their music. They’ve got such a modest, grinning bravado and they do have really big tunes to back it up. I can’t say much more than listen to Sweaters, it will brighten your day.
24.08.2009
So on Friday, we got to see a treat that I never thought I’d be able to see: The Sonics. At the Echoplex no less. I don’t have a whole lot to say because I was just trying to soak up and enjoy the magical musical gift of the Sonics. Too often I get bogged up into thinking about what I’m going to say about the music I get to experience, or I get too wound up taking 293874 photos that I don’t often get to sit back and just really enjoy a concert so that’s what I did with the Sonics. I was so hyped up about this gig. Although the Sonics aren’t my favorite band ever, I fucking LOVE their music and their influence over so many bands that I love is totally undeniable. They were garage pioneers for god sakes, but I was excited to see how they were after 40+ years.
The show didn’t sell out which fucking boggled my mind, but there was a really tight crowd that seemed to be really into the music, even though there wasn’t a huge mosh pit for a while. The Sonics …. were for lack of a better term… FANTASTIC. So much of their appeal on records is just their utter rawness and their youthful exuberance, that I knew the live experience would be completely different. While they still have amazing energy (apparently, sleeping in coffins all day allows you to be really energetic for like 2 hours a day) I thought what was amazing was their complete and uttery mastery of what they were playing. From where I was, it was like they wern’t even playing the instruments, the music was just a fluid thing coming from the general area of the stage. They did sound as true to form as they could, and I could definitely tell there was differences between the records as they were and the performance I was witnessing. Where exaggerated bravado was before, there was now a kind of laid-back dexterity to what they were doing. And after 40 years of playing the same songs, it was joyful to hear them taken up a notch, or down a notch even and the awesome solos that were added only made the show that much more exciting. The vocals, however, were SO IMPRESSIVE, how you can sound almost identical after 40 years, I dunno, but WOW.
They played pretty much everything that I needed to hear. Mainly, ‘Have Love, Will Travel’ was enough to bring me to my knees with its amazingness. But they also played ‘Strychnine’, ‘Louie Louie’, ‘Psycho’, ‘Shot Down’ and of course, ‘The Witch’. I wish I could have heard ‘Good Golly, Miss Molly’ or ‘Walkin’ The Dog’ but getting to hear those songs that have been so dear to my heart for so long was amazing. It was just kind of nice to see these frankly kind of weird old guys come on stage and just straight up OWN the echoplex.
DOWNLOAD -> HAVE LOVE, WILL TRAVEL by the SONICS
18.08.2009
Last week, I didn’t get around to writing about the Growlers Monday Night residency at the Echo, so I’m going to try and combine my thoughts into one giant post. The photos above are from August 18th aka the Best Gig the Growlers Have Done Yet.
Here’s some tips, tips for any future Growlers show that you may want to go to. And by may want to go, I mean once you see these guys you’re gonna need to see them once a week for the rest of your life or your internal organs will fail.
1. Where there be Growlers, there be girls. God, the Growlers crowds are ridiculous. I say this with love, because the music is worth braving the crowd for, but by going to a show, you acknowledge the existence of a crowd consisting of only a) girls who think they are really cute b) girls who think they dance really well c) ridiculously drunk girls d) boys who need to push to the front and dance in front of short people e) people who want to dance and wave their arms like windmills. These are the kind of people that populate the first three rows of people at a Growlers gig. You have been warned.
2. Get ready to get groovy. Taking the aforementioned group of lameasses and groupies that follow the Growlers, you need to know that when you see them, you will dance. You will. There’s just no question about it. They’ve got such a way with melody which is like, the most generic thing that one could say about music… But they’re just so entrancing it’s like they’re puppet masters and the audience is just at their mercy. There’s nothing about their Lousiana Blues meets Costa Mesa Surf Rock that I don’t love.
3. Don’t be put off by homelessness. When the Growlers are offstage, it wouldn’t be much of a miss if one thought they were homeless. They look kind of like people you’d see on Venice Beach, doing crazy things. But when they get up on stage, the whole California surfer, Lords of Dogtown, Z-Boys look solidifies what they create with the music. It’s the X-Factor, The California Cool, “it”, whatever have you – but the Growlers have got it.
I can only really sum this up in one way: Listen to the Growlers, you will love them. Everyone does.
If you’d like to see more photos of the Growlers, just visit my flickr.
DOWNLOAD -> KILLED MY WOMAN by the GROWLERS
04.08.2009
Just wanted to comment a little on the awesome little Echo curated Wednesday nights at Pershing Square. We’ve had a cool little night on Wednesdays at Pershing Square hosting bands like the awesome Fol Chen and Luke Top, coming up are Great Northern and Olin & The Moon, but I am here to talk about the show I actually made it to: the Club Underground Night with The Muslims and Little Red Radio.
I would just like to take a moment to say that Little Red Radio are the most horrible thing that I have ever seen in my life. If I had to listen to them for longer than one set (and that WAS FUCKING STRETCHING IT) I would much rather poke holes in my ear drums with pencils. First of all, they were introduced as “Silver Lake Hipsters”, now I’m really fucking not likely at all ever to defend the hipster movement in SL/EP/LF but jesus christ, this band had nothing to do with any kind of hipster music LET ALONE the amazing Echo scene. Little Red Radio belong in a tomb. Or like, they should be relegated to forever play the Whiskey A-Go-Go on the Sunset Strip where it is perennially the Sunset Strip Music Festival. That is literally the worst punishment I could ever think of. It was the most vapid, self important, steaming hot pile of shit that I have ever heard in my life. A song was about riding a Zamboni. Now, I didn’t know what that was…. it’s a FUCKING machine that cleans the ice at ice rinks. WTF. They can burn in hell. That is all.
The Muslims were good. They wern’t the best I’ve ever seen them and to be honest, the sound sucked, but good things did come out of that. First of all, it made me realize that David Lantzman is an excellent bassist. Pretty much all of my favorite (and the classic) Muslims songs feature a prominent bassline and the new songs that comprised this setm at Pershing Square were no different. Although the sound was a problem, all of the new material sounded awesome and Colette and I were so impressed that they had been touring Europe and the UK HARD for the last couple of months, and were still able to keep writing so many new songs. Overall, A+, and apparently a great improvement on their set from the Great Escape Festival. To anyone who saw them abroad and were less than impressed, I’d give these guys another chance. They’re going into the studio in New York this coming up week and I can’t wait to hear the results.
30.07.2009
Hi, Los Angeles and other friends in Russia and Thailand and Brazil. My name is Brianna and I really like Sweaters. I like button-up cardigan sweaters, I like pull-over boyfriend sweaters, and sometimes I even like cropped sweaters. But the kind of Sweaters I like best are the kind who play instruments and live in LA.
The reason that I like Sweaters so much is because they. are. infectuous. Sometimes bands can get away with playing it cool etc, and don’t get me wrong now, Sweaters ARE cool, but they seem to have so much fun onstage that being in the audience, you can’t help but be affected (positively) by their wonderful energy – or as my friend K would say, “their aura draws us in!”.
Let me set the stage of their FULL set at Hotel Cafe. 8pm – some chick was playing to a packed out house of men in suits and women holding like, white wine spritzers or something. I half expected John Mayer (big pisser) to be playing. 9pm – The Morning After Girls wowed us with some really incredible vocal interplay and gorgeous songs. 945 – Miranda Lee Richards surprised us with some lovely tunes. 1000 – Sweaters come on and magically turn the Hotel Cafe into some kind of western saloon with people dancing and yelling and heckling (good-natured, only) that legitimately made Colette and I question where we were. It was some kind of crazy time/space portal, but I gotta say that I liked it a whole lot.
Like I’ve said before, Sweaters are great. Musically, I mean. I know I’ve talked a lot about them and what I’m gonna call their ‘ethos’ but musically they are so fun. Jordan Benik plays a mean set of keys, and this time it was on an actually piano which sounded SO GOOD, and his voice is actually a grower – as in originally I thought I might not like it, but now the more I hear it, the more I like it. The other Jordan, on guitar, has one of the coolest guitars I’ve ever seen. I dunno how it was done but it looks like a 45. His actual playing, you ask? Excellent. There are some really great guitar parts, and I also enjoyed how the piano parts interacted and played off the guitar parts. Mike holds things steady on the bass, and has a tie made of rope (don’t quote me on the actual material). Awesome, no? And finally, Joel on drums is really the rock of the group – and how he manages to do the really great drumming that he does and constantly have a smile on his face, I just don’t know, but it all adds up to this amazing little package that’s tied with ribbon and on the card it says, “Sweaters don’t judge”.
Sweaters are playing Skylight Books in Los Feliz on Friday and I know for a fact this is where all the kool kats are going to be on Friday, so I’d show up. In fact, I will be showing up.
27.07.2009
So, we like to make jokes that this blog is mostly about music, but partially about comedy. But now, I’m actually going to feature just a teeny bit of comedy and it’s mostly because I just can’t help myself, this guy is the best comedian that I’ve seen. Well, I just really really adore him. You may know him (hmmm, haww, who?) from Best Week Ever on VH1 or you may know him from the Marijuana-logues (best comedy CD of all time ever in the history of comedy) or maybe just from knowing comedians – I don’t know but he is incredible. Normally, every 2nd Monday of the month he does a show down at Largo called The Doug Benson Interruption and he gets a buncha friends to come and do comedy and he interrupts them and starts amazing rapport. It’s fantastic and last time he had Patton Oswalt and some other funnies.
But this time I went to San Diego to see him with Brian Posehn (of Sarah Silverman Show fame) and Graham Elwood. We also got to see the amazing Patton Oswalt, Chris Hardwick (of Websoup) and some other guy but it was so hilarious. Doug is a pot comedian, but that doesn’t mean NPS’ers (see: Marijuana-logues for deets) can’t enjoy him. I find everything about him to be funny most especially his dead-pan manner and his ever-stoned-ness. I am not very good at describing comedy but he was A.M.A.Z.I.N.G and did some material from his CD ‘Professional Humoredian’ and a little from Marijuana-logues and some new material which was great.
To honor Doug Benson, and the fact that I’m gonna see him like 50 billion times before I leave…. I give to you, the marijauana-logues CD, which is incredible.
DOWNLOAD -> THE MARIJUANA-LOGUES by THE MARIJUANA-LOGERS (DOUG BENSON, TONY CAMIN & ARJ BARKER)
25.07.2009
The Growlers gave us at the Echoplex a taste of what Monday’s in August are going to be like at the Echo residency. On target as ever, The Echo’s having the Growlers in for a residency before they BLOW UP just like Fool’s Gold and the Muslims before them, and just like Avi Buffalo’s about to do. But back to the Echoplex show. It was only my third Growlers show (and there were 6 months in between the first and second time) but I was completely and utterly bowled over and converted to Growlerism. I could talk for a million miles about why the Growlers are great, but I’m going to TRY to be succinct.
1. They play some really amazing jams that sit somewhere between Louisiana-swamp blues and surf-psych California rock. And if you ask me, it’s the perfect amalgamation of genres.
2. Lead singer Brooks Neilsen has some really incredible pipes (gruff, syrupy and smooth at the same time), but the restraint to use them sparingly, which is really impressive. He does that thing I love, with the distant, almost removed style of vocals (see: The Muslims, Hatcham Social and XX Teens) and it works really well for him. He also wears women’s t-shirts and shoes with holes in the toes.
3. They are very young and very prolific. They already have numerous singles out and a greatest hits compilation.
4. They are from Long Beach/Costa Mesa yet they don’t suck. This is the biggest achievement of all.
But really, you can’t go wrong with the Growlers. They are really wonderful live and their lead guitarist has a mermaid tail on his guitar. They win.
View the rest of my Growlers photos OVER HERE AT MY FLICKR, okay?
DOWNLOAD -> KILLED MY WOMAN by the GROWLERS
25.07.2009
When I compared Micachu to Jamie T, I had no idea how right I actually was. It’s not often that I get to say that, so I’m going to go ahead and take all the credit for that one. ‘Jewelery’ is an eclectic mix of unpolished-polished songs that showcase Micachu’s many eccentricites, all of which draw the listener in – well, me at least. Her live show, takes more of a cue from Peggy Sue and the Pirates (they’re very similar and both great).Where her debut is layered and textured and eccentric, her live show is stripped down and really wonderful. Perhaps unwittingly, Micachu comes off a more than a little confused on stage, with one of my favorite facial expressions I’ve ever seen onstage, but it’s more like an idiot savant kind of thing with her. Rasia on keys and other miscellaneous instruments (including wine bottle) was really fantastic. Micachu is a really engaging front person – I loved her on the ukelele but I also liked guitar playing, even when it was sloppy, it was catchy, and something about her is so inviting and interesting. The songs sounded really great live. The most notable, and my favorite, was Golden Phones which sounded…. just so good. It had me in rapt attention, and I specifically loved the extended breakdown between verses. I was just very impressed with how ‘Jewelry’ came across live and two of the newer, guitar-based songs were really excellent as well. Definitely one to keep watching. Brighton friends can come see Micachu & The Shapes on Monday October 12th.
Set List
Vulture
Eat Your Heart
Waste
Floor
Lips Wrong
Sweetheart
Just In Case
Guts
Long Time
Debris
Curly Teeth
Golden Phone
View some more of my photos of Micachu & the Shapes after the jump or you can view them all at my FLICKR PAGE… read more »
22.07.2009
Sweaters are a wonderful little band from Los Angeles, and they had a really great spot doing first support on the Growlers Monday Night Residency at the Echoplex. Normally the residency nights are Mondays at the Echo, 21+, but Pains of Being Pure at Heart overwhelmed the Echo and forced the residency downstairs. However, I was pretty pleased ‘cuz I haven’t been to the Echoplex in ages. Ages. I feel like maybe since the Muslims when they were still the Muslims. Woah. And it has air conditioning down there.
But back to Sweaters! And they do deserve an exclamation point. I thought they were really excellent. I really am excited to see them again. They had a whole lot of energy and everybody on stage seemed to be having a really excellent time. They had a lot of high energy, sunny songs. I know that’s not a very good description, but they are like percocet in the form of music or something. I really enjoyed a lot of the guitar parts, they were really focused but still original and catchy. The guitarist, in addition to being awesome, had the greatest moves this side of Cole Alexander, except he is Cole’s doppelganger brother/cousin. So, you know I approved.
They only have one song up on their myspace ‘Fruit on the Vine‘ but it’s one of Colette’s picks of the week and their live show is excellent so any other kind of endorsement is really unecessary. You have all the information you need. Go sweaters!!!
Sweaters are playing with the Morning After Girls at Hotel Cafe on July 27th and at 3 Clubs on August 20th. Feel free to view the rest of my Sweaters photos over at MY FLICKR.
16.07.2009
Remember a few weeks ago, FOOL’S GOLD, signed to the mighty IAMSOUND Records, and they are slated to release their debut album on September 22 if I am not mistaken. Now we all know that Fool’s Gold were my favorite/best new pickup from this years SXSW, and they have been rocking around LA doing a residency at the Echo earlier this year, but now they’re going West-Coast-ial (like National, but smaller) in October. They’re also playing the sure to be epic SUNSET JUNCTION festival this year. Back in April, I took some photos of Fool’s Gold during one of their nights at the Echo residency. You can see all those photos HERE. They’ve announced some West Coast tour dates in October and I strongly urge (and by urge, I mean order) you to attend if/whenever possible.
Aug 23 2009 2:00P Sunset Junction Los Angeles, California
Oct 3 2009 8:00P Pappy and Harriet’s (Manimal Festival) Pioneertown, California
Oct 8 2009 8:00P The Loft La Jolla, California
Oct 10 2009 8:00P Bottom of the Hill San Francisco, California
Oct 11 2009 8:00P Holocene Portland, Oregon
Oct 12 2009 8:00P Nectar Lounge Seattle, Washington
Oct 13 2009 8:00P Red Room Vancouver
Download -> SURPRISE HOTEL by FOOLS GOLD [from the forthcoming debut]
08.07.2009
I will elaborate more later, but let me just say (with absolute confidence) the Strange Boys are it.
View more of my photos of the Strange Boys at the Echo after the jump… read more »
08.07.2009
03.07.2009
Okay, so the Growlers. Oh, the Growlers. Back in January, I had been downstairs at the Plex waiting for Jay Reatard but decided to come upstairs and see a few minutes of the Growlers, who Colette said I’d love. I saw about 1.25 songs and really did like them, but never followed up and haven’t seen them since. When I found out they were opening up for Strange Boys, I was grinning like a maniac. So, they walked out looking like dumpster diving ragamuffins rather than the standard OC-Bro. You’ve all seen the bro before, though, hardly ever at the Echo… You know, backwards hat, wraparound sunglasses (bonus point for the thingie that keeps ‘em on your head), 40 in hand (bonus point if it’s taped to the hands) and signature skate/ski/surf company attire. Anyway, the band themselves wern’t, but half of the crowd that pushed and shoved all us nice, small girls up front were. To add insult to injury, there was a clan of scantily clad drunk girls to the left of us, and we knew we were in for some trouble.
When the six-piece began to play, I think the Echo somehow transformed into the Que Sera in Long Beach or something because I witnessed a phenomenon that I never have before at the Echo. There was a pretty big mosh pit, filled with drunken whores and bros. But they were doing the weirdest dancing I have ever seen in my entire life. I wish I could even begin to do it justice by saying that it was very spastic, like a groovy 70s robot on ampthetimenes. God, it was shocking. I literally kept turning back with my mouth agape. Then, the cherry atop the whipped cream mountain of mosh, was the drunken whores getting up onstage and harassing the lead singer. There was, at one point, three large girls on their knees on the stage, dancing seductively. There really is nothing like intoxicated young girls doing what they think they’re meant to do to attract a “hot guy in a band”, is there?
Having described for you the many ways in which I a) hate fun b) hate people c) watched the Echo morph into the Smell (or something similar and horrible) and d) laughed/mocked other Growler fans, I have to say…. the music was fuckin’ awesome. Like, so amazing it actually justified the horrible dancing and disturbing behavior of the crowd at the Echo. For anyone willing to brave the crowd they surely bring with them wherever they go (I ain’t mad, I ain’t gonna hold it against them), you’re sure to be rewarded with their Louisiana-blues; their soulful, groovy brand of garage rock. They created an atmosphere as heavy and scintillating as being in the South during the dog days of summer. And the guitar had this really peculiar sound that reminded me of a dimly lit cemetary. Their live show was impeccable, the singer had wonderful dance moves and they had a whole lot of energy, but they were a little bit reserved, a little cool. But they were amazing. They’re playing around LA a lot in July and August and I’m looking forward to seeing them a bunch more times.
The Growlers dates
Jul 11 2009 10:00P l’keg gallery echo park
Aug 3 2009 11:00P the ECHO los angeles
Aug 10 2009 11:00P the ECHO los angeles
Aug 17 2009 8:00P the ECHO los angeles
Aug 23 2009 8:00P the ECHO los angeles
Aug 31 2009 11:00P the ECHO los angeles
DOWNLOAD -> Conquered Sun by the Growlers
VIEW THE REST OF MY PHOTOS OF THE GROWLERS AT THE ECHO AT MY FLICKR.
29.06.2009
Well, well, well look who is looking mighty clean and miiiighty pale? And he’s gained some weight! Roll on September 19, roll on.
22.06.2009
KING KHAN & BBQ SHOW + BLACK LIPS RELEASE SELF-TITLED ALBUM ON SEPTEMBER 22nd
When the Black Lips had to flee India after almost getting arrested (long story) and getting their passports confiscated (longer story), they fled to Berlin to hole up with their old pal and label-mate King Khan. Mark Sultan (aka BBQ, one half of King Khan & BBQ Show) also happened to be there, and it happened to be freezing in Berlin that week so no one really wanted to leave the house. So what do a bunch of garage-rock all-stars (and international refugees) do in the middle of winter in cramped conditions? They give birth to an album and band of the same name, The Almighty Defenders. The guys went to Moon Studios and recorded these tracks, brimming with soul, earnest shouts, cries and hand-claps over post-modern gospel-rock anthems.
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