Sometimes you go to a show only to discover an opening band that is actually better than the headliner. Tonight was one of those nights. Rock septet Afternoons really did steal the show! They may be hard to google, but thankfully they're easy on the ears. Live, they reminded me of the first time I ever heard Arcade Fire and Mercury Rev. There were horns, incredible male/female harmonizing, an amazing presence of joy...music that just makes you smile. The presence of female "Tiki Room"/Opera vocalist Claire McKeown really makes their music complete, and that part especially brought Mercury Rev's haunting saw harp whistling sound effects to mind.
They do it incredibly well, and none of them seem uptight or stuck up. Must be because they are still unsigned! Hopefully not for long with such talent. Please go to their myspace page and check out the songs "Line 'Em Up" and "Say Yes".
Be sure to catch these guys at The Echo with The Duke Spirit on March 5th.
It's already a known fact that headliners Blood on the Wall sound like Pixies, Gordon Gano of Violent Femmes, and Kim Gordon of Sonic Youth, so I'm not going to bother mentioning it. Oops. This is crunchy and loud 80s-early 90s college revival rock.
Philip Seymour Hoffman lookalike Brad Shanks and Courtney Shanks share the stage as brother and sister vocalists, with a drummer whose name I am unsure of because it wasn't the same guy that I saw when researching them online. Live, I wasn't really that into it. Not that they weren't incredible at reproducing the album sound onstage, but this is music that you should probably be listening to for at least a month before seeing live, and I'll admit I just got into them and hadn't listened to them much yet.
Well I'm listening to all three of their albums while posting this, and they're finally sinking in. Give this Brooklyn three-piece chicken dinner a taste. It may be greasy and taste just like something you've been eating for years, but that doesn't mean you won't still love the taste.
Friday, February 8, 2008
Blood on the Wall, Afternoons @ Spaceland 2/7/08
Wednesday, February 6, 2008
Midnight Movies, Dead Meadow @ Echoplex, 2/5/08
Midnight Movies were better than ever at the Echoplex on Tuesday night. Too bad the sound wasn’t. The vocals were just not loud enough and some of the distorted sounds clashed with each other, but I blame it on the sound guy and not them; I’ve seen them a few times and they’ve always sounded stellar.
Bearded guitarist Larry Schemel wore all black as usual and sounded better than ever with loud shrieking power and the sharpest playing I’ve seen from him. The beautiful Gena Olivier displayed more vivacity and confidence than ever as well, stomping and dancing around on-stage and exuberating a definite boost in energy.
The vocals weren’t loud enough, and neither was drummer Sandra Vu's flute on the breathtakingly beautiful "Mes Rêves De Satin (Nights in White Satin)", where singer/keyboardist Gena Olivier gives up front position to Sandra to take over on drums, yet still sings. A cool jazzy flute solo really moves the song along but gets washed away when the song gets really heavy and chaotic with distorted guitars and banging drums. This song is virtually perfect as a bonus track on their latest album Lion the Girl.
The grand finale was a new track titled "Should Have Known" which featured duel drummers Sandra Vu on the main set and Gena standing and pounding on a bass drum. It was an amazing way to close out the shows…I don’t remember Gena ever rocking out that hard since they got mummified and opened for Ladytron at the El Rey on Halloween 2006!
I see good things coming for the band as are slowly changing their live performance…stay tuned for their next EP "Nights EP" featuring "Should Have Known", scheduled for a digital release of March 11th.
Here is Midnight Movies' set list of the night:
1. Parallel Paramour
2. Coral Den
3. Persimmon Tree
4. Wolf
5. Mes Rêves De Satin (Nights in White Satin)
6. Lion Song
7. Souvenirs
8. Should Have Known
I barely started listening to Matador Record's Dead Meadow a week before the show. They are a pretty good band; I enjoyed some tracks on their albums, but I feel like they’d be much better if they cut out all the filler songs that sound the same and maybe had just released two albums instead of five.
They went on stage after making us wait a little too long and jammed out with what they’re good at and what they’re known to do--slow and sludgy, psychedelic, bluesy, stoner rock. Similar in sound to The Black Keys, Black Rebel Motorcycle Club, and Brian Jonestown Massacre, but not as distinctive or engaging. Singer/guitarist Jason Simon shreds the shit out his Telecaster, and he pumped out jams mostly from the fresh new LP Old Growth all while making it look all too easy.
All in all, the vocals aren’t distinctive enough, nor do they sound that memorable, and the band is pretty good but didn't really stand out that much, although Jason Simon's guitar tone is definitely something to be envied. Two words--“Big Muff”.
Sunday, February 3, 2008
HEALTH Interview
Here is an interview with the bassist John Famiglietti of the band HEALTH.
B-Ex: There's been lots of experimental noise rock bands that come and go but never really make it. What makes you so special?
//JOHN: Wait...we made it?? I think a big difference between us and other similar bands is the tempo, we play a lot faster than the average abrasive group, but um I don't really know. We dont think of ourselves as niche artists and that has influenced a lot of the way we are presented to the music world at large and maybe that perceptual shift makes it special...I have no idea.
B-Ex: You guys have been getting a shit-ton of buzz lately and all the Smell kids fucking love you. Have you considered filming a live DVD at the venue where you recorded your self-titled debut LP? If not, can you please consider it? Pretty please?
//JOHN: Havent thought of it yet....Might be really cool if we could limit the number of people and do it on the floor in front of the stage, still my favorite place to play.
B-Ex: I'm not going to ask you guys why you chose the name HEALTH because I'm sure that everybody already asks you that. I've read in various places that "Medicine" was already taken, and you wanted an everyday type of a name. What I will ask, though, is have you tried to google HEALTH before? People with short attention spans may get sidetracked looking for rash remedies on WebMD.
//JOHN: Yeah we get fucked on google and file sharing networks etc. If we had thought of that at the time, we should have given the album a title so its easier to download, cuz the downloading kids arent gonna buy the album no matter what, and might not take the time to find it on whatever file sharing network.
B-Ex: I just saw you open for Autolux at the El Rey. Quite frankly, I was more into you guys, and I've been a fan of Autolux longer than you've been around. If you could tour with any band that you've never met nor played with, who would it be?
//JOHN: Animal Collective
B-Ex: Can you please recommend another up-and-coming Los Angeles local band that I need to see live before I die?
//JOHN: Captain Ahab. A two-man rave party. Amazing tunes too, the music is great and the live show is insane, kids going crazy dancing jumping, taking their clothes off (literally) and getting on each others shoulders, sweat, sweat, sweat dripping off. Hype man Jim,
running through the audience in a speedo and soaking wet individually grabbing and humping anyone he comes into contact with, while Jonathan singing like a rock god over catchy rave music.
B-Ex: Your album is very visual and chaotic. As I mentioned in my review, the track "Triceratops" sounds like the soundtrack to a hellish post-apocalyptic video game themed rollercoaster with dinosaur shaped oscillating sprinkler-heads that shoot liquid acid onto the
screaming passengers. What kind of imagery does your music give you?.
//JOHN: Thats some crazy shit son.
B-Ex: What instrument(s) that you've never recorded with would you like to use in your next album (that is, of course, my fingers-crossed assumption that you guys want to make another one!)
//JOHN: That super amazing noise generator thing on youtube that costs millions of dollars. Synths.
B-Ex: Is their anyone you would love to collaborate with in your next recording? If so, who?
//JOHN: Musically, Johnny Jewel, Pictureplane, and Dan Deacon. Recording wise, an amazing engineer.
B-Ex: Favorite spot you've played only once:
//JOHN: A tie between Heco's in Oakland and Rhinoceropolis in Denver. Both are amazing diy venues of the perfect size and amazing show culture. Its like if the il Corral was a franchise you would open in different cities, sans rope swing.
B-Ex: Last great movie you've seen:
//JOHN: There Will Be Blood.
B-Ex: Thanks for your time man!
Saturday, February 2, 2008
Autolux, HEALTH @ El Rey, 2/1/08
HEALTH is an experimental noise rock band from Los Angeles. I saw them open for Autolux at the El Rey Theatre Friday night. They are really great live, and even better than the album! I personally wished that they were a little louder (there's really no other way to hear their debut self-titled LP than at full volume!) but nonetheless they were still damn entertaining. I also missed some of the video game sounding effects on "Triceratops", but the absence of them didn't effect their incredible, adrenaline pumping experience that much. On the album, this song sounds like the soundtrack to a post-apocalyptic video game themed rollercoaster with dinosaur-head shaped oscillating sprinklers that shoot liquid acid onto the screaming passengers.
The singer/guitarist had a T-shirt that read in all caps "I DON'T GIVE A FUCK" and I guess you could say that this music can fit your mood when you feel the same way. It's loud, abrasive yet fluid, mechanical, aggressive, spontaneous...very similar to Boredoms, or a more raw and stripped down Battles. The drummer really beats the demons out of those drums, and everyone in the band has so much energy and is hopping around so damn much that I was having Pokemon Snap flashbacks while taking pics. I felt like these guys were on stage for about 30 minutes, close to the length of their album. I can't wait to see them at The Smell (where they recorded their album and have been playing live shows at forever)! Please make sure to catch them there on 4/20 (uh oh)!
Okay, so it's about fucking time I got to see Autolux. They've played at so many festivals where I missed them, and after seeing them live, I wish I had caught them all the previous times before. Although the songs do stick to the same structure as on the album, they are a lot heavier, louder, and more shoegazy on stage! I think that their only current LP, Future Perfect, would have highly benefited from, oh, let's say, Steve Albini's production, because it's a little too polished, in my opinion.
Singer/bassist Eugene Goreshter looked like he was having a great time up there because he had a permanent mischievous Joker grin. He sang with a confident ease...Drummer Carla Azar looks very similar to Karen O and has a super cool transparent drumset. I love it when the drummer sings on some of the songs, and she does a fine job of doing it. She was sporting a metallic-silver looking leotard kind of thing (i don't know what the hell you'd call it) and a loose fitting silver top, which matched up well with guitarist Greg Edwards' Gibson SG, which was covered in what appeared to be aluminum foil, as did Eugene's Fender Bass.
They ripped through a handful of hits off Future Perfect, such as Turnstile Blues and Blanket, and a few new songs that I haven't heard yet. We'll all hear the new songs soon enough on the upcoming album which is scheduled for a non-specified release date this year.
All in all, they sound incredible live, but I would have liked to see a little more energy on stage. At least some feet stomping or something, but I guess shoegaze didn't get the name from them tapdancing on stage, haha.
Spotted at the Show: Pixies' guitarist Joey Santiago!
Tuesday, January 29, 2008
In Waves @ Silverlake Lounge, 1/28/08
I fucking love this band. If I could describe them in one word, it would be "sprawling". With a tsunami of post-punk revival bands flooding the music scene, for some damn reason, In Waves really rise above and drown the whole lot of them. They'll drown you in their music, too. Joy Division and Echo and the Bunnymen are definitely recalled in their sound, but who isn't these days? Where this band stands out and totally kills the most recent wannabe acts (I won't say any names) is in their deeply lush and organic soundscapes.
A band like this, in my opinion, has too big of a presence for a small venue like Silverlake Lounge. I saw them play with A Place to Bury Strangers at the Viper Room on December 3rd (check my review on that show as well!), and I thought the same thing. But that doesn't mean they don't sound fucking HUGE.
On this particular night, In Waves barely tested their instruments and just started playing suddenly. No unnecessary long intro jamming sessions. Just pure immediate bliss. Dreamy ambient music, and from only three musicians! The vocals echoed with a deep lush reverb as if they were sung by frontman Jimmy Vincent in a giant empty church. Drummer Dean Cooper fucking pounds the shit out of the drums, and the bassist Tim Gregorio especially thumps through well structured basslines and rocks out more than most bassists I've seen in recent times. Dancing, moving around, and stomping his feet without looking awkward or out of place.
Not only are they great on stage, but Jimmy Vincent is a very nice guy. When I gave him a $20 bill to buy a demo, he said he didn't have change, and when I said I'd come back with it, he insisted on me taking the CD for free. I know how hard it is to make it in today's music scene. Excessive touring to get your name out there can be very tough, not to mention the very little money that bands actually make when playing many smaller shows...not trying to brag, but of course I came back with the money. After all, I started this blog with the primary focus of helping to promote the music scene, not to take from them.
On a closing note, some bands struggle live and have too many damn people on stage. Some peer into the audience to see if people actually give a damn. These guys don't seem to worry about that, and I don't think they have to. Not all bands have got it. In Waves do.
Monday, January 28, 2008
White Williams @ the Echo, 1/27/08
White Williams played the Part Time Punks night last night at the Echo. According to parttimepunks.com, "PART TIME PUNKS is a club that takes over noted Echo Park live music venue, The Echo on 1822 Sunset, every Sunday night. The night focuses heavily on obscure and classic music coming out of America, the UK and Europe in 1978 to the present: Punk, Post-punk, Punk-funk, New Wave, No Wave, Hardcore, Indie-Pop, Twee, Grunge, Electro, Minimal-Synth, Shoegaze, Baggy."
Okay, so I don't really get it either. Seemed like yet another night at the Echo. There always seems to be bands playing one of those genres anyway, but whatever. Everybody wants their name on something I guess.
White Williams is the name for the music project of 23-year old Cleveland-based musician Joe Williams. His debut LP Smoke is as good as it gets for slower tempo dance music. He plays live with bassist Tyler and guitarist Hayes O Crypt. Tyler plays a black Fender Musicmaster and O Crypt plays an awesome white Japanese Fender Mustang, and he's pretty damn good at it too. It's a sharp yet non-piercing sound he's got setup, and he's got the riffs down very fucking tightly.
White Williams is young and small and skinny. His haircut is totally 80's Gahan. At the Echo, he wore a thrift store jacket that looked like he picked it with his eyes closed, a black vest, skinny jeans, and ultra-padded and overly gaudy high-top black sneakers. Anyway, he walked out onto the stage just after 11 PM...he had a mixing board and too many knobs to adjust and a MacBook on one table, and a keyboard that I didn't recognize right across from it. Also, to my surprise, he had a Hohner 32-key melodica (yes I counted in the pictures), which he used on many of the songs! Fucking rad! I was in San Francisco just last week and was looking to buy one until my sister told me I could have hers.
The guitarist and bassist both serve the band well and fit perfectly with the electronics coming from Joe, who goes back and forth from the keys to the controls to the drum beats inside his MacBook to melodica to vocals. He's a smooth operator; he doesn't freeze up, he doesn't fall down, and he doesn't fuck up. He glides effortlessly from instrument to instrument, and rarely makes eye contact with the audience while he steps through his songs. But the lack of eye contact is not one of shyness, instead, it appears to be one of confidence and carelessness; you'd swear he's been doing this for decades. He loosely wraps the mic cord around his hand to prevent himself from tripping over it while he slowly dances through his loungy beats.
There was a petite little brunette in the audience, maybe 21. She was walking around the Echo picking up mostly empty drinks that people had left behind and drinking them down in a hurry. I think in the 15 minutes that she was scourging the stage and bar for leftover icy ass-sips, she MAYBE got a whole drink down her throat. Maybe. Maybe next time the guy she was with could've just bought her a fucking drink, for god's sakes. Making out with that chick must be real delicious. Anyway, point being, she was dancing like crazy, front row, to my side, arms flailing to the point of almost hitting people. Totally into the show, and believe me, this didn't go unnoticed. Joe Williams put the microphone up to her screaming mouth, and turned some knobs to twist her voice up with delay. Didn't really work in the song, but fun nonetheless.
I really liked White Williams live. It was a fun show! I didn't find myself waiting for the next song, and I recognized every album track after only listening to the album a handful of times. It's great fucking music. Think Beck, Hot Chip, and Devo but with a more warm and chill foggy vibe. The only thing I would've added to this show was maybe a fog machine and some colored light beams.
I only paid $10 to get in but I highly recommend seeing him live even if it costs more. Don't trust your instinct, trust mine. Who the fuck am I? Just another blogger. But if you like the bands I listed as sounding similar in style, check out Smoke ASAP. I get the feeling White Williams is going to be huge.
Set List:
1. INTRO
2. HEADLINES
3. IN THE CLUB
4. VIOLATOR
5. NEW VIOLENCE
6. FLEETWOOD CRACK
7. GOING DOWN
8. SHADOW
9. ROUTE TO PALM
Spotted at the show:
Tim Presley of Darker My Love/The Fall
Matt Popieluch, lead singer of Foreign Born
Sunday, January 27, 2008
A Place to Bury Strangers Interview
Here is a brief interview that I conducted with A Place To Bury Strangers' singer Oliver Ackermann, bassist Jono MOFO and drummer Jay Space.
B-Ex: There's been lots of shoegaze bands out there in the past 20 years…what makes you guys so special?
Oliver: We are not so special as far as I can tell, we are just doing what we do. I was not anybody else in any of those bands so I couldn't tell you how their experience was different.
Jono: We're not a shoegaze band. That's what makes us special.
Jay: if you listen to those older bands and then listen to us you can see we're louder and more ferocious!
B-Ex: " A Place To Bury Strangers". What an amazing name. Where do you think the best place would be to bury a stranger?
Oliver: Thanks, it all depends on your thrill, maybe in their own backyard.
B-Ex: The album has a real timeless sound. How long did it take to record, and did you guys use any impractical recording techniques?
Jono: You'd have to ask Oliver.
Jay: again that's a question for oliver.
Oliver: It was recorded over the past few years and is just a collection of songs, it was not intended to be released as a record. To others there would seem to be lots of impractical recording techniques but we are just trying to get the best sounds. Amps were put in the oven, down the hall, 2 faced together, ran through bad speakers etc. Microphones were sometimes crappy, had spoons taped on them, caught sounds reflected off of cymbals, stuck on speaker magnets, headphones as mics and just about anything else that seemed like it got a good sound. It is just a lot of experimentation and then decisions based upon how well different ideas worked.
B-Ex: Nice! I like the idea of using headphones as microphones. I once placed some cheap earphones into a piano at my church when I was growing up. The results were haunting. Sounds like music from a machine that is picking up interference from ghosts...
Oliver: I know what you mean about getting some creepy sounds in church, there is something even about the atmosphere, maybe ghosts?
B-Ex: Who would you cite as your most unlikely influence? To clarify, who has been a big influence in your music that wouldn't be obvious to listeners?
Oliver: Six Finger Satellite?
Jono: Adam Clayton. Linear basslines.
Jay: dead ho... you'll see...
B-Ex: What has been your favorite city touring in, and why?
Oliver: I like the Midwest and small towns but it is hard to say, I just like to travel around and see lots of different places.
Jono: Chicago is nice. It's kind of in the middle of nowhere. It's big, beautiful and lots of fun. And of course there's LA. I find it very exotic. Sun, mountains, palm trees. And a lot of good friends.
Jay: L.A. has always been a place i love to go to because we have so many friends there... also Philadelphia cause that's where i'm from.
B-Ex: Tell me, what newer band should I be listening to right now? Something that rocks as much as you guys do.
Oliver: The Vandelles, Ceremony, Ringo Deathstarr.
Jono: Holy Fuck.
Jay: My best friend, Holy Fuck, and wait for the new Secret Machines' record it's wicked... also Ripcord they are the shit!!!
B-Ex: What is the last great movie you saw?
Oliver: I saw Vertigo last night, very good.
B-Ex: Nice. I recently saw North By Northwest for the first time and it was great. Hitchcock has so many fucking great movies it's hard to keep up. They're all so funny to me because the characters are sometimes so ridiculous and over-the-top...
If any, who was your biggest celebrity crush growing up?
Oliver: Madonna
B-Ex: Are you a fan of horror films?
Oliver: Sure, I like all kinds of movies, if it is good why not watch.
B-Ex: What is your biggest pet peeve about people?
Oliver: When people are stubborn and can't change their mind.
B-Ex: Can you guys PLEASE make a live DVD? The December 3rd Viper Room show was fucking epic! The strobe lights especially almost made me shit my pants.
Jono: We're making a live record. Will that do for now? Maybe we can distribute it with a free strobe light.
Jay: We're working on a live beta max first.
B-Ex: Thank you so much for allowing me to take up your time. Is there anything else you'd like to say to our readers? Something inspirational, haha.
Oliver: Do what you love.
Jono: God is a vengeful fuck. Seek solace elsewhere.
Jay: Jono is dead... seek inspiration elsewhere!!!
Monday, December 3, 2007
A Place To Bury Strangers, In Waves @ The Viper Room, 12/3/07
I just saw psychedelic noise 3-piece A Place to Bury Strangers at The Viper Room. HOLY SHIT alert. If you like shoegaze, check out these guys. So far I've gotten a handful of people into them, and I'm glad to spread the word. Dare I say it, these guys were better live than Jesus and Mary Chain at Coachella 2007. Yup, that's right. Their music is heavier than a ton of bricks being dropped through a glass house full of revved up tractors. Find any two consecutive radio stations. Now tune into the static that is in between them, and mic that up to a board full of Big Muffs and into a stack of Twin Reverbs all turned up to 10. Now add strobe lights. That is what it is to see A Place To Bury Strangers live.
I was fortunate enough to chat with the incredibly modest and friendly frontman Oliver Ackermann outside the venue, and I thanked him for putting on THE BEST small show I've seen all year. He was incredibly kind, and told me if I liked them, then I should check out "Ringo Deathstarr". That I did, and they sound even more like Jesus and Mary Chain. In a world where nothing is original anymore, I definitely do not mind an overabundance of bands that sound like the kings of shoegaze.
Post-punky. Dreamy. Lush. Ethereal. Atmospheric. Haunting. These are just a few of the words that come to mind when witnessing headliners In Waves. What beautiful music this Echo Park band creates. The vocals recall the soft melancholy of Cass McCombs. I can't fucking wait for them to come out with an LP. Soon enough. May I recommend the song "Too Much Vision" as a starting point.
Spotted at the show: Lukas Haas.
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