A couple of weeks ago, I was sent the album “Moonbeams” by Throw Me The Statue, which immediately became memorable thanks to the topless woman falling backwards off a dock. So initially, the cover distracted me.
During the first listen, I was a bit put off. I had it on as background music and felt some of it landed in the “crazy” category (think indie rock but incorporating instruments like the recorder). Then I heard the song “Lolita” and began to hear something good.
It was enough to get me out to their show last night and I can now say that I’m an even bigger fan of topless women falling off docks.
TMTS (yes, I’m that lazy) brought something to the small stage few bands do. Sure then had decorative lights and a keyboardist with a penchant for dancing, but what set them apart is the passion displayed on stage. During one song, frontman Scott Reitherman was jumping up and down and pounding on the extra drum kit on stage (yea, they need two. that’s how much they rock).
When Reitherman did this, he seemed possessed on stage, with his eyes closed and the spirit of rock pumping through his skinny frame. It’s encouraging to see passion like that on stage and only made me want to join him in beating the crap out of a drumkit and rock-howling at the moon.
I think their music got into other people as well, specifically the women at the show. By the third song, two scrambled to the front area of the stage and danced like no one was watching (we were). Soon, others joined in and it turned into a wild, uncoordinated musical mess…but it was awesome.
I’m definitely giving this band a couple more listens. If I was in to putting bands in boxes, I’d try to squeeze TMTS into one with Weezer…but I stomp on boxes and burn them, so I’m not going to do that.
Throw Me The Statue - “This is How We Kiss”
A Quick Word about the Opening Band:
Winter Hinterland, a local outfit from Jamaica Plain, MA walked onto the stage and set up these little lanterns (I think there were 3). Then they dimmed the lights, so much so that you could only see the lanterns and the Christmas lights they placed around the drums in the back. First i thought it was a cool atmospheric effect. Then I realized it was probably because the frontwoman was probably shy and didn’t want the audience to see her sing.
All of this faded away when one of the members took out a saw, (you know, the kind you use to cut branches and the limbs of disobedient carnies) and proceeded to play it with a bow.
Creatively speaking, it was cool. Aurally speaking, it reminded me of a sound effect you would hear in a haunted house, the kind of sound you hear before the drunken, unemployable middle-aged man jumps out at you with a mask and fake blood.
So the quick word? They were interesting, but made me feel weird inside…and a little scared. However, I am overjoyed that Boston is getting a weirder music scene, instead of churning out one pop rock band after another.
There are Neutral Milk Hotel fans, like myself, who met the group too late to ever see Jeff Mangum live and must rely on modern conveniences like YouTube to help fill the void. Here’s a clip of Mangum, solo, performing the title track from his 1998 release “In the Aeroplane Over the Sea.”
Many consider the album to be the group’s best. Since then, Mangum has been a sort of spiritual presence in the music world, popping up around the world and on various albums. In 2001 he suffered a nervous breakdown and has been in the background ever since.
Enjoy the video. It’s a footage of a great musician we may never see prominently on stage again.
Currently my favorite thing about living in New York City is that when I learn of an impossibly amazing band, it is like guaranteed they will be playing in the city within two weeks. Most recently and notably, a little duo called The Dodos were brought to my attention about two weeks ago and I’ve been patiently obsessed enamored since. Thusly, The Dodos were handed to me on a delicious musical platter in the form of a show yesterday evening at Sound Fix in Brooklyn’s hipster mecca Williamsburg, preceding a show at Death By Audio.
The venue itself sucked as far as venues go, because it’s really a record store sutured to a quaint, candelabra-lit bar in the back. The stage? Not really. I claimed my spot along the side wall opposite the bar (poor planning), lined with benches and tables; I propped myself on the bench’s backing and still couldn’t really see much beyond the audience hovering over where the band seemed to be standing. I did, however, manage a sweet view of drummer Logan Kroeber who sustained impressive levels of enthusiasm for such a modest little gig.
The show was short but free, so no complaints—and bonus points for squeezing my favorite track on the recently released and Pitchfork-praisedVisiter in their six-song set (that song being “The Season,” if you care). Plowing through the first three tracks on Visiter—beseeching no applause—Kroeber and vocalist/guitarist/other-of-two Meric Long (both supported by a third tour-hand and synth-xylo-enthusiast) erupted with energy by means of their respective instruments. They threw in a track from their debut album Beware of the Maniacs for good measure.
Normally I’d knock a band for playing too true to their recordings (and in chronological order, no less), but I’m still running on the novelty high, so bonus points all around! The Dodos are playing a full show (for $10 this time, the capitalists) Sunday at the Mercury Lounge. Check out their MySpace page to test the folksy waters.
After a quick and quiet release, (their album was done a couple of weeks ago and they released without any press involvement) the Raconteurs are hitting the road for a cross country tour.
Here’s the thing. I was excited about “Broken Boy Soldiers” but was eventually disappointed with the somewhat non-rocking album.
Their newest effort “Consolers Of The Lonely” delivers the album I wanted two years ago. And the idea that they said “screw you” to the press in terms of marketing is daring, proving that faith in the music industry is being flushed away like a rotten smelling turd filled with corn.
Check out “Five on the Five
OK, so we had that song streaming on the site for about 10 hours before we got an email from the “Web Sheriff” politely threatening us to pull it off. Since we don’t have any lawyers (or any semblance of an actual office), we adhered to the email.
However, since we are trying to promote music rather than steal, we were given a widget that had the new video for “Salute Your Solution.” It wasn’t compatible with Wordpress, which makes sense since it’s one of the widely used programs out there for blogs.
Instead, we present you with silence, which is all we can offer at the moment. If you’re in the mood for it, it’s at the bottom of the page.
04/14/08 Nashville, TN @ Mercy Lounge
04/15/08 Nashville, TN @ Mercy Lounge
04/20/08 Vancouver. BC @ Commodore Ballroom*
04/21/08 Seattle, WA @ Neumo’s*
04/22/08 Portland, OR @ Wonder Ballroom*
04/23/08 San Francisco, CA @ Bimbo’s 365 Club*
04/25/08 Indio, CA @ Coachella
04/26/08 Las Vegas, NV @ The Joint*
04/28/08 Denver, CO @ The Fillmore*
04/29/08 Kansas City, MO @ Uptown Theatre*
05/1/08 Dallas, Texas @ House of Blues*
05/2/08 and 05/3/08 Austin, Texas @ Stubb’s BBQ*
05/4/08 New Orleans, LA @ New Orleans Jazz and Heritage Festival
05/13/08 Manchester, Tennessee @ Bonnaroo^
05/27/08 Washington, D.C. @ 9:30 Club^
05/28/08 Washington, D.C. @ 9:30 Club^
05/30/08 New York, NY @ Terminal 5^
06/3/08 Boston, MA @ Bank of America Pavilion^
06/4/08 Montreal, QUE @ Metropolis^
06/5/08 Toronto, ONT @ Ricoh Coliseum^
06/7/08 Detroit, MI @ The Fillmore^
06/9/08 Columbus, OH @ LC Amphitheater^
06/10/08 Cincinnati, OH @ National City Pavilion^
06/12/08 St. Louis, MO @ Pageant%
06/13/08 Manchester, TN @ Bonnaroo Music Festival
* with Birds of Avalon
^ with Black Lips
% with Fiery Furnaces
Thanks to this upcoming Rilo Kiley tour, Jenny Lewis and I will finally be able to rekindle our love. It’s a love that has existed for years and been kept apart by distance and the evil soul of “the industry.” And it exists solely in my mind.
Don’t understand my fascination? Check out Rilo Kiley’s “Moneymaker” video and just try not to get all riled up (and yes, those are real porn stars).
04.17.08 - San Francisco, CA Concourse (SF Design Center)
04.19.08 - Portland, OR (Roseland )
04.20.08 - Seattle, WA (Showbox SoDo)
04.23.08 - Santa Cruz, CA (Rio Theatre)
04.24.08 - Pomona, CA (The Glasshouse)
04.26.08 - Indio, CA (Coachella Arts & Music Festival)
05.15.08 - San Diego, CA (Concerts in the Park)
05.19.08 - Denver, CO (Ogden Theatre)
05.20.08 - Omaha, NE (Slowdown)
05.21.08 - Omaha, NE (Slowdown)
05.22.08 - Minneapolis, MN (First Avenue)
05.23.08 - Milwaukee, WI (Pabst Theatre)
05.24.28 - Chicago, IL (The Riviera)
05.25.08 - Royal Oak, MI (Royal Oak Music Theatre)
05.26.08 - Cleveland, OH (House of Blues)
05.28.08 - Toronto, ON (Phoenix Theatre)
05.30.08 - Worcester, MA (Palladium)
05.31.08 - Providence, RI (Lupo’s Heartbreak Hotel)
06.01.08 - Northampton, MA (Calvin Theater)
06.02.08 - New York, NY (Terminal 5)
06.05.08 - Philadelphia, PA (Electric Factory)
06.06.08 - Washington, DC (9:30 Club)
06.07.08 - Baltimore, MD (Rams Head Live)
06.08.08 - Richmond, CA (Toads Place)
06.10.08 - Norfolk, VA (The Norva)
06.11.08 - Asheville, NC (Orange Peel)
06.12.08 - Charleston, SC (Charleston Music Farm)
06.13.08 - Manchester, TN (Bonnaroo Music & Arts Festival)
06.15.08 - Dallas, TX (Palladium)
06.16.08 - Austin, TX (Stubbs BBQ)
All those mentioned above, plus a multitude more, will be at the very first Pemberton Festival, located in Pemberton in British Columbia, an area most-known for Whistler Mountain and drunken donkeys roaming the streets (maybe not the last one).
It’s being put on by Live Nation, which explains why they got so many names involved with the inaugural show that include Coldplay, Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers, The Flaming Lips and My Morning Jacket (entire lineup after the jump).
It’s also the first “European-style festival” that Live Nation has put together from scratch, which means I expect it to be pretentious and exclusive in the coming years.
Not familiar with Canada? Find Vancouver (it’s north of Seattle) and drive north. If you end up in the middle of nothingness, you’ve gone too far.
At the center of a dance club and under the reflective light of a giant disco ball, Austin’s Daniel Johnston took the stage with a simple smile and songs that he originally wrote and recorded in his room.
Johnston is a strange sort of indie rock hero. Some have heard of him, some have heard more of his story (thanks to the 2005 documentary “The Devil and Daniel Johnston“).
The truth is, there is something special about Johnston and during the show, I wondered what he thought about his fame, how songs he recorded onto tapes have found their way into a trendy nightclub in Boston with a varied audience that included hipsters, clubbers and senior citizens.
Immediately, you’re struck with Johnston’s innocent persona and how effortlessly he goes from one song to the next with his eyes closed, his hands shaking around the mic and his voice reaching the same child-like wonder you’ve heard so often on his albums or downloaded MP3s
“Who here likes Christmas?” he asked at one point. “Well, ya know. Every day is like Christmas for me because I buy a stack of comic books. Because I’m RICH!”
Only Johnston can do that and garner laughs from the men and “aawwws” from the women simultaneously.
(This was a different show for me personally. We’re trying to start a podcast for 52 shows, so I was busy doing some interviews with the crowd and capturing as much music as possible. I’ll hopefully have this up by the weekend).
The show was split up into two parts (three if you count the encore). The first featured just Johnston and his guitar. The second brought out a backing band (the night’s dreadful opening act).
But as interesting as it was to hear “Walking the Cow” and “Grievances” live, it was just as interesting to see the crowd and watch their reaction.
There were guys in the corner muttering “What the fuck?” and “classy” women who were bored because they were brought on a date (who does that?).
And, like me, there were people who came by themselves, there to see the man they had heard about for so many years, either from friends or thanks to a t-shirt Kurt Cobain wore almost every day.
It’s a strange show to explain and maybe the podcast will bode better. For now, know that at its most simple, it was a show with an honest guy on stage. At its most artistic, it was a show that displayed what musical freedom truly looks like.
We got Metric’s upcoming “Metric: Live at Metropolis” at the office a month ago and, as I’m sure I’ve mentioned before, I’ve been super laze checking it out (although it is partly beer and Nintendo Wii’s fault).
The DVD shows, in full, a show the band played at the Metropolis in Montreal. To be honest, I didn’t know much about Metric prior to getting this. I only knew that vocalist Emily Haines and gutiarist James Shaw are also part of the super indie rock group Broken Social Scene.
After seeing this concert footage, it’s safe to say that I am now a fan.
First: the quality. It’s great. It captures the show in clear view, from different angles, but also preserves the energy that Haines and Shaw exude on stage. It’s completely hypnotic.
Haines: What is it about the strung-out-looking indie chick that I dig so much? And I love how she dances with the keyboards by bending her knees to the left and right.
Trailer for “Live at Metropolis”
Concert tracklist:
01. Live it Out
02. Glass Ceiling
03. Wet Blanket
04. Too Little Too Late
05. Poster of a Girl
06. Patriarch on a Vespa
07. Monster Hospital
08. Handshakes
09. The Police and the Private
10. Hustle Rose
11. Combat Baby
12. Dead Disco
13. Love is a Place
Having a Tony award winning actor in your band probably doesn’t hurt your popularity, especially if you’re playing at a theater lover’s hot spot like Joe’s Pub or if the Tony winner happens to be John Gallagher Jr., who originated the role of Moritz in last year’s darling of Broadway, Spring Awakening. But Old Springs Pike is more than just that guy from Spring Awakening’s band. The media buzz around that musical has certainly helped the band’s exposure and since Gallagher left the show in December, teenage girls might have started attending the concerts to get their John Gallagher Jr. fix, but those who come in as SA fans leave OSP fans forever.
Old Springs Pike played a sold-out four-night engagement at Joe’s Pub starting on Jan. 2 and ending with two shows on Jan. 6 (yes, I can count, the band didn’t play on Saturday). Joe’s Pub, part of the Public Theatre, is a cozy venue with plenty of tables and couches. It’s a great space, even if there is a two drink or $12 food minimum. I attended Friday’s show, which had the early start time of 7:30 p.m. and actually started pretty close to on time.
Gallagher, James Cleare (the crazy red-haired guitar player), Heather Robb (the one girl who can hold her own in this boy’s club), and James Smith (the sweater-sporting percussionist), are four childhood friends from Delaware. Their closeness is apparent from the way they interact onstage, not just when they sing in four-part harmony, but in the sense of humor they share. They invited the audience to be part of their conversations, which included Cleare’s recap of the sponge episode of Seinfeld, a discussion about ’80s movies, and a story involving Smith’s Cosby sweater and the Weezer’s “Undone (the Sweater Song).” When Gallagher joked that he didn’t remember the ’80s, then admitted that he did, it occured to me that many of the audience members probably didn’t actually remember the ’80s, but if they didn’t get the references, they didn’t let on.
The band’s website describes the shows as not just a concert, but an “event.” The amusing banter is part of this, but what keeps the audience coming back night after night is the unique (I hate that word, but sometimes it does actually fit) brand of music. If you want to get technical, the music is some combination of barbershop quartet, acoustic, indie rock, folk, a capella, country, experimental (one song involves water bottles), and probably any other adjective you can stick in front of the word “rock”, but it pretty much defies categorization. Highlights included the beautifully melodic “Still Sixteen,” the bluegrass-y “The Great Escape,” and a Beatles medley which brilliantly included the somewhat obscure “Run For Your Life.”
The band members had a contagious energy as they stomped their feet and jumped around the stage which was actually reminiscent of (I hate to go here) Spring Awakening. Those thoughts are fleeting as these four equally talented musicians are quite seperate from Gallagher’s past, but it is fair to say that this band may be reinventing the live concert experience in a way similar to what Spring Awakening did for the musical.
When the band started to say their goodbyes about an hour after the show started, it felt like only 10 minutes had passed. After the show, what looked like half the audience or more braced the cold to wait for the band, who showed their generosity by chatting with each and every person. While I wish only the best for this band, it is sad to think of a time when their audiences may get too big to continue this process.
I bought the three-song EP (I know these songs are available on iTunes or MySpace, but there’s something about buying it from the band) and while I’m sure I’ll be listening to it often, it does not quite capture the experience of a live show. So if you are lucky enough to live in Boston or New York, try to catch Old Springs Pike. If not, be patient. I’m sure they’ll be traveling around soon.
The exuberant circus rock of Clap Your Hands Say Yeah inspired dancing from bearded men, one hipster to crowd surf, and an encore chant that produced smiles from the band (though I have to think a lot of fans have clapped their hands and yelled yeah to get them back out).
This was a great show, despite the warnings I received from one “Uncle John.”
“Man, the last time I saw them, they didn’t look like they cared about being on stage…but that was a couple of years ago so I’m sure they’re fine now.”
True, they do produce a strange sort of awkwardness on stage, mostly from lead singer Alec Ounsworth, who resembled a pint-sized Borat saying “thank you” to the crowd in a seemingly weird accent.
Then again, something like that is expected from this band with long moniker and fuzzy indie-pop songs about, well, being weird. For them to come out and play it somewhat straight would be an incredible letdown.
And these are loyal, dedicated and insane fans. The sold-out crowd packed into the balmy Downstairs room of the Middle East and spent most of the time singing and dancing. And not the shifting the weight side-to-side dancing. This was full on, the-music-has-control-over-my-body, eyes closed and head aimed to the heavens dancing.
This is rock at its most primal and pure. And you get the impression that the band still isn’t sure why people like them.
The tour is in support of Some Loud Thunder, which was released earlier this year (I think in January) and has been an indie favorite ever since.
I bought the album purely on the strength of “Underwater (You and Me)” (which they closed with. Video below) and with all the praise I read about them in places like My Old Kentucky Blog and Audiovant (though that last one hasn’t been active in a while. C’mon man, bring it back).
Just like the album, the show was a pleasant surprise. It was as if all the indie-music pretension in the world was barred from entering the room, allowing people to be enraptured by the crazy sounds and antics of the band.
Though, now that I think of it, there was a moment when Uncle John’s comment somewhat rang true. Ounsworth tried to thank the opening bands and not really caring that he was saying their names wrong. It was funny, but also reveals that maybe Ounsworth and company are still surprised they even have a fanbase.
If you’re interested in witnessing the madness yourself, get your tickets quick. Most shows have already sold out.
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” but was eventually disappointed with the somewhat non-rocking album.
” delivers the album I wanted two years ago. And the idea that they said “screw you” to the press in terms of marketing is daring, proving that faith in the music industry is being flushed away like a rotten smelling turd filled with corn.
“).
” at the office a month ago and, as I’m sure I’ve mentioned before, I’ve been super laze checking it out (although it is partly beer and Nintendo Wii’s fault).
