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Friday Dance Jam: LO-FI-FNK and NYC shows tonight (Small Factory, The Secret History)

13 Apr

Lo Fi FnkWhat a freaking week, man. Started a new job. Danced my ass off in the pit at The Aislers Set. Life was changed forever hearing Pam Berry sing “Throw Aggi Off the Bridge” in real life. This weekend will probably be chill. Might grab a drink with a friend tonight (still considering attending the NYC Popfest Alumni event *details below*), hanging out with a friend in a veg-out party tomorrow night, might get dinner Sunday night.

But this week really reminded me why I love living in NYC. I lived in Buffalo, NY for a long time… Sometimes cool stuff would come into town, but most of the time when that happened, it was because of me and my ex-beau’s efforts to bring more pop music to the area (ironically, The Hive Dwellers are playing there at Sugar City tonight; so awesome). But I don’t even have to leave town to see amazing bands now. In fact, sometimes I have to choose between amazing bands, like how I had to choose between Chickfactor and Pulp, which really took hours of self-reflection and honest internal-debate. I also have a lot of rad friends here who share my enthusiasm for this stuff.

That’s why this week’s Friday Dance Jam is none other than “City” by my favorite Swedish dance bros, Lo-Fi-Fnk. I saw these dudes open for Architecture in Helsinki years ago, and they were so good, Architecture in Helsinki seemed like a waste of time, and I walked out half way through their set (seriously, true story). I hope you enjoy, whether you belong in a city or not.


LO-FI-FNK, “City”

Events happening tonight that I am probably too lazy to attend:

Small Factory
Air Waves
@ Cake Shop
152 Ludlow
New York, NY
8pm, $10

The Secret History
Summer Fiction
The Smittens
Adam & The Amethysts
@ The Rock Shop
248 Fourth Ave
Brooklyn, NY
8pm, $8

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Throwback Thursday: Bunnygrunt

22 Mar

Bunnygrunt, “Hometown Rockstar”

I don’t normally post live versions of songs, but this week I decided to because, well, I couldn’t find a non-live version, STFU. This song is in dedication to my dear friend Matt who recently got married and is about to visit me (we’re going to see Guitar Wolf, so stoked!). And “Homestar Rockstar” is the best song for it, for a number of reasons. Let me tell you why.

Once upon a time I was in a pop band. And no, not Bunnygrunt. It was like 2005-2007 or so, we were called The Grade Grubbers. We were released by an itty bitty CD-R label up in Sweden that is now defunct called Yellow Mica Records. Anyway, the reason why this is relevant at all is because my band was supposed to play Popfest! New England, organized by Skipping Stones Records. I don’t think any of these things even exist anymore, but we were gonna trek up to the fest with Bunnygrunt who played 99 Custer, an old punk house I used to live at, a night or two before.

This is either the exact same bass or a very similar one to the headless bass Matt played in the Grade Grubbers. #badass

But before we could get to the fest, our band broke up. Matt the bass-player, still one of my BFFs despite all this, couldn’t do it. He was in the middle of an MBA program. I know, right? I get it, but come on. Not only did we not play, but I did not go to the fest. This seems like barely a big deal now that I live in NYC and can see any twee band I freaking want practically, but at the time I lived in Buffalo, NY. The only bands I saw were the ones I personally booked and lodged myself. Check out this sweet-ass line up that year at Popfest! NE. Note THE PAINS OF BEING PURE AT HEART before they were the goddamn PAINS OF BEING PURE AT HEART. Heartbreaking to have missed out on this, even if I have seen most of these bands eventually.

But one consolation prize–I booked Bunnygrunt, and I played a show with Bunnygrunt, and I ate motherfucking pizza with Bunnygrunt and this was a solid group of dude(ette)s. And they were awesome, and I totally lost the rad t-shirt I got that night, but I still have the memories.

I’ve long forgiven Matt. He played a headless bass! And loves Wang Chung. Can’t stay mad.

If you want to hear my shitty-ass band, you can check out an mp3 provided by Sheets of Ten who come out with A Means to an End every few years that is an awesome compilation of the best music of Buffalo. You can find it hereeeee.

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Upcoming shows I’m stoked on

14 Mar

The Smittens

Eternal Summers, Widowspeak, Shark?, Bleeding Rainbow
Sat. March 24, 8pm
Death by Audio
49 South 2nd St. Brooklyn, NY
More info at Oh My Rockness

Crystal Stilts, Widowspeak, What’s Next
Fri. April 13, 8pm
Maxwell’s
1039 Washington Street, Hoboken, NJ
Tickets at TicketFly

The Secret History, The Smittens, Summer Fiction
Fri. April 13, 8pm
The Rock Shop
249 4th Avenue, Brooklyn, NY
Tickets at TicketFly

Jonny from The Drums

The Drums, Craft Spells, Part Time
Sun. April 22, 8pm
Webster Hall
125 East 11th Street, New York, NY
More info at the Bowery Presents

Allo Darlin’, The Wave Pictures, Ski Lodge, The Field Recordings
Tue. April 24, 7:30pm
Mercury Lounge
217 East Houston Street, New York, NY
More info at The Bowery Presents

Spectrals, Brown Recluse, The Twerps
Fri. May 4, 8:30pm
Glasslands Gallery
289 Kent Avenue, Brooklyn, NY
More info at Popgun Booking

Brown Recluse

Frankie Rose, Spectrals, DIVE
Sat. May 5, 8pm
Mercury Lounge
217 East Houston Street, New York, NY
More info at The Bowery Presents

NYC Popfest
Featuring Pushy Parents, Comet Gain, Burning Hearts, The Pooh Sticks, and more
Thurs. May 17-Sun. May 20
Various Locations, New York, NY
More info at NYCPopfest.org

The Pooh Sticks

that dog.
Thurs. May 24, 9pm
Fri. May 25, 9pm
Music Hall of Williamsburg
66 N 6th St, Brooklyn, NY
More info at The Bowery Presents

Best Coast, Those Darlins
Tues. July 18, 8pm
Terminal 5
610 West 56th Street, New York, NY
Tickets at Ticketmaster

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I Love Best Coast, and I Don’t Care! New Record and a Tour, too!

7 Mar

Hey, so I kind of love Best Coast. I feel like that makes me unhip or something because it is so obviously good and very n00b-alt/Tumblr-chic, you know? But as I like to say, fuck that shit. Bethany Cosentino has a way about her, an uncanny ability to perfectly capture insecure, boy-related neuroticism into a catchy pop ditty like few else in the biz can. She’s one of my go-to artists when I’m feeling melancholic and desperate. Truth is, any girl who can rhyme lazy and crazy the way she does speaks to my soul.

Cute-ass fat cat.

I’m stoked to find out that Best Coast has announced their next full-length, and it’s titled The Only Place, which is set to be dropped by Mexican Summer on May 15. BestCoast.us also posted a track-listing, and the titles of these songs illicit the same feeling and mood that made me fall in love with them in the first place. The May 15 release date means there will be plenty of time for me to lay out on Rockaway Beach and daydream about crushes and mull over heartbreak and tacos in the sun.

Here’s the track listing courtesy of BestCoast.us:

01 The Only Place
02 Why I Cry
03 Last Year
04 My Life
05 No One Like You
06 How They Want Me to Be
07 Better Girl
08 Do You Love Me Like You Used To
09 Dreaming My Life Away
10 Let’s Go Home
11 Up All Night

Of course that’s not all… Best Coast is going on tour, and Brooklyn Vegan has all of the dates. Unfortunately their NYC stop is at Terminal 5… ick, but I’ll probably still go so whatever.

Best Coast, “Crazy for You”
This song is a total banger, and can we talk about these cats for a minute?

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that dog. Reunion!

7 Mar

As if yesterday’s NYC Popfest Line Up wasn’t enough to keep my fragile heart aflutter, it has been announced that that dog. will be playing Music Hall of Williamsburg this coming May. I seriously just found out, and no joke, if you saw me last night at around 10:45pm I was singing along slightly too loudly for my tiny apartment building to “He’s Kissing Christian” as I wont to do on most every Tuesday night completely unawares of the exciting news I just received.

The show is slated for May 24, which is totes my dad’s birthday so it’s like a Matthews family indie pop birthday party all month, I guess! Tickets go on sale Friday 3/9 at noon. I will be there, and I hope to see you there, and all of your gay ex-boyfriends.

(via Brooklyn Vegan)

that dog., “He’s Kissing Christian”

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NYC Popfest Line Up Announced

6 Mar
Comet Gain

Comet Gain

It’s a really good time to be a pop fan, let me tell you. Today Maz and the crew at NYC Popfest announced the 2012 line up to their annual shindig that I find myself waiting for with baited breath every year. Oh, it also happens to fall on my birthday, just sayin’! The dates this year are May 17-20 (18th baby here–Go Sailor was my birthday present last year! Thanks Popfest!).

This lineup is one of the best I’ve seen in years, featuring some surprises, some bangers, some popstars and some bands I’ve never even heard of! Who am I most excited about?

There’s this little old band from Sweden called Pushy Parents consisting of members of one of my all time favorite acts, Free Loan Investments. There’s been very little press and play on this band, and it has been kind of unspoken that they were a studio project, with no intentions of touring. Until now!

Pushy Parents, “Secret Secret”

I am also quite excited by Saturday Looks Good to Me, a band I haven’t really paid all that much attention to myself since junior year of high school. Could these appearance be the precursor to another album (they have not released anything since 2007)?

Saturday Looks Good to Me, “Meet Me By the Water”

You’ll also see me cutting a rug to The Pooh Sticks, Ladybug Transistor, Comet Gain, Allo Darlin, Burning Hearts and uh… well, let’s just say I might be buying my first full fest pass.

To check out the entire line up and keep up to date on ticket sales, go to http://www.nycpopfest.org.

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Throwback Thursday: Pulp

23 Feb

Can I say something real fast? Goddamn you, Pulp. I was waiting for that second date of your reunion shows to get announced because the first date happened to land on the same night as The Aislers Set. Why did you have to go and make the second date the night before during Black Tambourine? Not cool, Pulp. Not cool.

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Upcoming shows of note

18 Feb

Here are some upcoming shows in NYC I’m stoked about. You should be too! Some are sold out, so it’s time to start combing through Craigslist now.


Danielson

Danielson

WHY?
Danielson
03/16/12
(le) poisson rouge, New York NY

Leslie & The Ly’s
03/17/12
Knitting Factory, Brooklyn, New York NY

Hunx & His Punx
04/04/2012
Mercury Lounge, New York, NY
04/05/2012
Glasslands Gallery, Brooklyn, New York NY

Allo Darlin’
The Wave Pictures
04/24/12
Mercury Lounge, New York NY

Pulp
04/10/12, 04/11/12
Radio City Music Hall, New York NY

Chickfactor 2012: For the Love of Pop
04/11/12-04/13/12
Black Tambourine, Aislers Set, The Softies, and more
Check out the entire lineup here

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Throwback Thursday: The Aislers Set

16 Feb

I’m still reeling from the Chickfactor 2012 announcement a few weeks back, and my heart is still aflutter from not being able to find an outlet for my dead laptop battery near Penn Station as the noon sale ticket time approached when these babies went on sale.

I’ve been kicking myself ever since I went home early during the Slumberland 20th anniversary a few years back and missed Amy Linton play with Henry’s Dress as a surprise encore. I’m a huge The Aislers Set fan, ever since an ex-boyfriend put “The Red Door” on a mixtape for me when I was 17. Powerful riffs, heavy distortion, and yet sweet as pie–that’s the stuff dreams are made of. And now thanks to Chickfactor and all who are making it happen, I will finally get to dance my ass off to those riffs live and in-person! So stoked.

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Veronica Falls at Music Hall of Williamsburg

12 Feb

So, I admit. I was late to the Veronica Falls train. I didn’t really give the album a decent listen until late summer, and I think it was just a matter of timing. Late in the summer, my love life and current state of being was just ripe to completely devour Veronica Fall’s surf-goth sound, and it was exactly what I needed to sulk to in the sun.

Veronica Falls recently played the Music Hall of Williamsburg, and you know I was there. Brilliant Colors and Grooms provided the opening sets. I spent most of Grooms’ set at the bar, watching the show on their televisions. They seemed alright–I just never heard them and was in one of those “Can’t sit through a thousand songs I don’t know moods.” I wanted to sing along!

Brilliant Colors was surprisingly fun. I’ve been lukewarm on them since “Introduction to…” and even then something about the band sort of grates on my nerves. I think it’s the fact that they seem to take the concept of paying homage to a whole new level by pretty much lifting riffs and not attributing the band they are lifting it from (namely that one song that sounds too much like Shop Assistants to me). They were enjoyable nonetheless.

Veronica Falls absolutely killed it though, playing all the best tracks for their self-titled debut, and even a couple of new songs (I totally didn’t even mind!).

Brooklyn Vegan has a bunch of pictures available here, and someone posted a sweet vid over on YouTube. Thanks tiny0wl!

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