I don’t know about you, but I’m feeling like I’ve come down with a fever of sorts– SPRING FEVER that is. But truly, there’s something in the air as the seasons change. Remember that first warm weekend back in April? The really violent one? Well, according to some studies violent crime is more common in the summer months, meaning as the temperature boils, so do tempers. Strange, coz we’re feeling nothing but bliss right now. At one point all this hullabaloo about “the L train set” packing up and leaving to live under the sunny skies of LA might have made us feel left out. Hell, if I’d read such slander back when I was still hoofing it through the graffitied garbage-snow, perhaps I too would have resorted to green-eyed violence. But now that it’s beautiful out, I can scoff at all those stylists, tattooers, and Jemima Kirke wannabes who moved to LA LA Land because no matter what the Times says, in terms of culture, we still got it. Right kids? Our weekly show report is proof of that if nothing else.
(Photo: PopGun Presents)
Pissed Jeans, VEXX, Honeysuck
For a moment today I was staring out the window wondering if life was still worth living since I thought I missed out on getting tickets for this show. But dare I say I counted myself blessed when I realized Philly McNasty pants Pissed Jeans are playing not one but two shows at Baby’s All Right tomorrow night. The early show is sold out, which you know fine whatever. But the late show is still up for grabs guys!
Perhaps some of you are betting Pissed Denim will piss out all their roarific debauchery at the late afterfnoon show, early birds get the worm so to speak. But consider that by 11:30 Matt Korvette will have worked up enough frustration toward all the fashion punks that usually clog up BB OK that he’ll grace the front row with as much spittle as he can muster which is to say twice that of what he bestowed on the eager early comers.
The angrier Korvette seems as frontman the better. His feelings toward Brooklyn were summed up when in his answer to what the band might look like in the unlikely scenario Pissed Jeans were to move to our humble borough: “It would be a grim scenario indeed.” And since BB OK is pretty much the sum of all fears for anyone who despises North Brooklyn then, well, this is no doubt gonna be a sick show. Throw in VEXX, old fashioned party punk from Portland, Oregon and
What’s more, Pissed Jeans has been working on a new LP, a good excuse for why we haven’t seen much of the band lately. And who knows? Maybe they’ll have some smashing new material to debut tomorrow eve. Groovy baby. Saturday May 9th, 7:30 pm (sold out) and 11:45 pm ($15) at Baby’s All Right.
Survival, Rhythm of Cruelty, Motorkiller, La Cruor
I have to admit, when I first heard this band’s recordings I was turned off by their proggy edge, alternative rock edge. “Tragedy of the Mind” sounds a little too Alice in Chains for me. But when I came across a video of their 2013 Halloween show at the now closed DIY space Fitness, I was rather intrigued. Seems as though they’ve either taken a new direction (post-punk) or their recordings don’t accurately reflect their live act, because, blurry head shots aside, this show looks like it was rad as hell.
Rhythm of Cruelty (Edmonton, Canada) can seamlessly blend post-punk and ambient chill wave, which might sound weird but trust me they pull it off. Cold-as-ice drum machine beats and guitar rhythms are straight out of ’80s post-punk (and some songs like “Full Circle” are pure nostalgia) but the band is at their best when they bring in this opposing sensibility, see “Transparency” and “Day in Day out.” Also it’s nice to see female-fronted post-punk outfits, there are still too few.
And what’s a post-punk show without… more post-punk! La Crour (“the corruption”) brings the evening’s dark power electronics cruelty. This lineup could easily be at Nothing Changes. Tuesday May 12th, 8 pm at the Acheron: $8
Tectonics Festival New York 2015
Yes, this festival put on by Issue Project Room sounds more like an academic conference than a concert series and, yes, it is all about Composers with a capital C. I know, I know serious, serious eye roll. But before you go running as fast as you can to MTV Iggy or something– just kidding! no one reads MTV Iggy– consider that some of these Composers are actually mega-chillers.
Take Nate Young (see video below) of Wolf Eyes, nasty noise weirdos from Michigan and kings of trip metal, who teamed up with Mario Diaz de Leon, a classical composer who’s lately moved into noise and electronic stuff. That show happened yesterday, but given the actually exciting things being done by Composers right now, we’re confident what’s left of the fest (happening tonight and tomorrow) will be of similar quality.
Tonight, catch a stream of pieces from the likes of Austrian composer Klaus Lang and David Behrman, minimalist composers and founder of the Sonic Arts Union (an experimental music collective founded in 1966).
Expect acapella, piano and flutes with laptops, as well as electronics.Friday May 8th, 8 pm at Abrons Arts Center and Saturday: $15 and Nate Wooley’s “Seven Storey Mountain V” on Saturday May 9th, 8 pm at Abron’s Arts Center: $15
Slackgaze Presents: Trak Joy, Throw Vision, Softspot, Little Shaman, the Pluto Moons
Dance party alert! We’re not in the business of scaring people — well, not intentionally — but get ready for some house music brought to you by Trak Joy, though with just enough of an R&B twist that it’s impossible not to move to this. There’s the slightest hint of sadness to this, but like dancing-through-the-tears kind of sadness.
And the space cadets of Throw Vision will bring their effervescent ambient-influenced psych rock collages. There’s a lot going on here and each song is surprising, miles and miles from the last. It’s not that they’re without direction, rather they’re adept at working so many different directions at once and defy genre constraints.
If out-there pop is your thing, don’t miss Softspot. There’s something a little Joanna Newsom about their disdain for accepted vocal aesthetics. Croaking and guttural sounds are just as welcome as soft harmonics. Friday May 8th, 8 pm at Nola Darling: $7 at the door