From a blog called vLES:
"Being relatively new to this crazy city, I thought it would take months, maybe years to see a local, up-and-coming band tear up the stage and light it on fire.
Especially the way these guys did recently at the Mercury Lounge. For a band that has only been around less than a couple of years, they absolutely smoked it.
I had no idea who was headlining the triple bill the other night, but after getting a load of these guys and their killer tunes, infectious energy, and amazing live performance, I just assumed that these guys were it. I was all like, "I'm out. Seriously, take me to JFK, I'm flying home to Melbourne; I'm happy", before friends calmed me down, took my passport, and torched it before I could bail. That sure sucked, but for this show, it was worth it.
These guys have a kind of Bloc Party/Strokes thing going on and their new album is packed full of "life kicks ass, so let's jump around for no reason" goodness. Named after the method of creating art that relies on nonstop vigorous activity, they've got it all before them and me thinks they're even closer to hitting the big-time than Oprah is to her next breakdown. Get jumpin' for more..." --Dave Martin
Check out the site, vLES
Thursday, November 8, 2007
Recap 11-8-07
A quick recap of goings on.
Last few weeks have been a blur for us. Some NYC shows: Annex with this Icelandic band Jakobinarina, who will be big it's just a matter of time. They could be Tokyo Police of '08. CMJ at Europa: Solid show, cool space but the highlight was the statuesque Polish bartender. Mercury Lounge with Figurines and Dappled Cities was definitely the highlight. It was our second Mercury show in the last few months and it's always so great to play there as you can hear EVERYTHING on stage, the sound guys are actually cool to you, and you get to play with bands you genuinely respect.
After that we headed down to Baltimore and played the Automat!c dance party at Ottobar, which is sort of like if Southpaw and Don Hill's had a baby. It's got that really worn in divey feel but still it's big and epic feeling. Huge stage, good lights and sound, Joe's parents came out. It was, as always, great to play to a random crowd who has never heard you before. You have to work to win their love, which makes us raise our game, which makes the whole thing better. Afterwards we stayed to dance to new wave till last call, ate an insanely good 3am breakfast with Gorode who was down there anyway, at this place called Paper Moon. Peter Bogdonovich rules but who knew he could make pancakes. Either we were drunk and hungry or the food really did take a long time, but the waiter with all the tatoos on his head was pretty polite so we couldn't be too angry. Crashed in a hotel somewhere downtown then got up early because of the time change and drove back to NYC.
Last night we played what should be our last NYC show for a while, doing a gig at GalleryBar on Orchard St. for this cool line of t-shirts from KiserNy.com. Very cool stuff and a great group of people running the whole operation. When we got there there was this diminutive chick hanging out with a DJ running through some tunes and it was like, woah, it's Tippy. She's this crazy hip hop girl we know from around who writes her own beats and has this sort of electro-rap thing which is really fucking good. I guess she was rehearsing there. Random. The crowd was also far from our regular crowd so same deal there.
That's about it. We're going into hibernation mode now so last post for a while.
Last few weeks have been a blur for us. Some NYC shows: Annex with this Icelandic band Jakobinarina, who will be big it's just a matter of time. They could be Tokyo Police of '08. CMJ at Europa: Solid show, cool space but the highlight was the statuesque Polish bartender. Mercury Lounge with Figurines and Dappled Cities was definitely the highlight. It was our second Mercury show in the last few months and it's always so great to play there as you can hear EVERYTHING on stage, the sound guys are actually cool to you, and you get to play with bands you genuinely respect.
After that we headed down to Baltimore and played the Automat!c dance party at Ottobar, which is sort of like if Southpaw and Don Hill's had a baby. It's got that really worn in divey feel but still it's big and epic feeling. Huge stage, good lights and sound, Joe's parents came out. It was, as always, great to play to a random crowd who has never heard you before. You have to work to win their love, which makes us raise our game, which makes the whole thing better. Afterwards we stayed to dance to new wave till last call, ate an insanely good 3am breakfast with Gorode who was down there anyway, at this place called Paper Moon. Peter Bogdonovich rules but who knew he could make pancakes. Either we were drunk and hungry or the food really did take a long time, but the waiter with all the tatoos on his head was pretty polite so we couldn't be too angry. Crashed in a hotel somewhere downtown then got up early because of the time change and drove back to NYC.
Last night we played what should be our last NYC show for a while, doing a gig at GalleryBar on Orchard St. for this cool line of t-shirts from KiserNy.com. Very cool stuff and a great group of people running the whole operation. When we got there there was this diminutive chick hanging out with a DJ running through some tunes and it was like, woah, it's Tippy. She's this crazy hip hop girl we know from around who writes her own beats and has this sort of electro-rap thing which is really fucking good. I guess she was rehearsing there. Random. The crowd was also far from our regular crowd so same deal there.
That's about it. We're going into hibernation mode now so last post for a while.
Thursday, November 1, 2007
Mercury 2nite
This was a great night. We really felt like we were humming on all cylinders tonight. Great Great. Dappled Cities really blew us the fuck away, as did Figurines.
So Friday is off and reserved for recovery and massive sleep quantities, then Saturday it's a drive to Ottobar in Baltimore. I went there about a year ago when I was randomly in Baltimore and went to see Agent Orange, this old school hardocore band, but they never showed up because their van broke down or some such nonsense. So here's to hoping our van does not break down.
If you're in Baltimore, you know where the party iz at.
-T
So Friday is off and reserved for recovery and massive sleep quantities, then Saturday it's a drive to Ottobar in Baltimore. I went there about a year ago when I was randomly in Baltimore and went to see Agent Orange, this old school hardocore band, but they never showed up because their van broke down or some such nonsense. So here's to hoping our van does not break down.
If you're in Baltimore, you know where the party iz at.
-T
Wednesday, October 31, 2007
Things advertised on TV at noon on a weekday
Denture cream
Bladder control medication
Medicare assistance
Erectile Disfunction
Bladder control medication
Medicare assistance
Erectile Disfunction
Saturday, October 20, 2007
CMJ and other observations
CMJ week is here and we've been making the most of it. Went to see Alberta Cross at Southpaw on Tuesday who were pretty great. We played a great set at Europa in Greenpoint on Thursday night followed by random partying in Brooklyn and then the LES.
Friday night checked out quite randomly a band called The Teeth who blew me away. The best part of CMJ beyond playing it yourself is managing to catch random bands you wouldn't normally see or even hear about. They're from Philly and really brought the noise with a tight syncopated punk/folk thing that I've never quite heard before. Something between the 2nd CYHSY album, Violent Femmes, Tom Waits. Hard to really pinpoint but unbelievably tight, great harmonies and you could tell they were all true musicians.
Also saw a solid band called We Are Wolves at Ruff Club who introduced themselves by saying "we are We Are Wolves".
Wandered out into the sidewalk to watch people smoke cigarettes and it was a beatific dream as if the entire LES scene had been condensed into a half a city block. Was a true carnival and in a semi-intoxicated state one sensed that right now in NYC there is something truly amazing happening in this intersection between music, fashion, new media, self-published fame and the longings of youth. I really think that people will look back on this time in NYC as a truly great era where so many people cared so much about music and the particular nightlife which now exists. People are still infatuated with re-imagining themselves online and dressing to be photographed and it is still NEW. It soon won't be. It's almost over but for now it's important to remember that nothing like this has ever happened.
---
In other news, It is a very important time for us. We're playing the last two shows of what turned into be a very intensive summer and fall. It's been amazing exploring all these cities and towns and schools of the northeast and playing better and better places each time, but we all have been talking about how we want to record some of our newer material, and finish half-written ideas that we've had for months, so after our Mercury Lounge show with the Figurines, and our Ottobar show in Baltimore, that we're going to crawl back into the studio and write and record like our lives depended on it for at least a couple of months and then launch back into the live insanity.
-T
Friday night checked out quite randomly a band called The Teeth who blew me away. The best part of CMJ beyond playing it yourself is managing to catch random bands you wouldn't normally see or even hear about. They're from Philly and really brought the noise with a tight syncopated punk/folk thing that I've never quite heard before. Something between the 2nd CYHSY album, Violent Femmes, Tom Waits. Hard to really pinpoint but unbelievably tight, great harmonies and you could tell they were all true musicians.
Also saw a solid band called We Are Wolves at Ruff Club who introduced themselves by saying "we are We Are Wolves".
Wandered out into the sidewalk to watch people smoke cigarettes and it was a beatific dream as if the entire LES scene had been condensed into a half a city block. Was a true carnival and in a semi-intoxicated state one sensed that right now in NYC there is something truly amazing happening in this intersection between music, fashion, new media, self-published fame and the longings of youth. I really think that people will look back on this time in NYC as a truly great era where so many people cared so much about music and the particular nightlife which now exists. People are still infatuated with re-imagining themselves online and dressing to be photographed and it is still NEW. It soon won't be. It's almost over but for now it's important to remember that nothing like this has ever happened.
---
In other news, It is a very important time for us. We're playing the last two shows of what turned into be a very intensive summer and fall. It's been amazing exploring all these cities and towns and schools of the northeast and playing better and better places each time, but we all have been talking about how we want to record some of our newer material, and finish half-written ideas that we've had for months, so after our Mercury Lounge show with the Figurines, and our Ottobar show in Baltimore, that we're going to crawl back into the studio and write and record like our lives depended on it for at least a couple of months and then launch back into the live insanity.
-T
Wednesday, October 3, 2007
Hello world
This is our new blog. Check it out for our latest news and ramblings on all manner of subjects.
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