When I first heard Out of System Transfer live, I knew they were a different kind of band. For one thing, while a lot of bands can be described as “fun” and “high energy,” these guys take it to another level. This is something they demonstrate with their new EP “Same Rat, Different Hat”. Two songs in and you’ll already be exhausted from the dancing. Nothing gets me going more than hearing a blazing horn section, and these guys definitely have that. Oh, and if great music isn’t enough for you, the EP also comes with a fun zine which includes artwork and song lyrics.
For those of you who live in/near Brooklyn, you are lucky enough to experience this band for yourself live and in person TONIGHT. For those unfortunate enough to live too far away, FEAR NOT. You can still download the whole package from Bandcamp.
Middle Finger Salute are a band from England that a friend of mine introduced me to recently. When putting out the call at the beginning of the year for possible topics to post about here, this was one of the first responses I got. The only reason I waited so long to finally do it is because they were scheduled to have an EP come out February 28th, which is what this review will focus on today.
When I first got this pitch I admit it was a band I had never heard of before. The friend in question has pretty good taste though, so I gave a listen to the song she sent me.
I fell in love pretty quickly and knew their upcoming EP would be worth listening to. I was not disappointed. The whole thing is high energy. It’s short, only 20 minutes, but that’s enough time to help most subway rides become far more enjoyable. Bonus: if people get too pushy you’ll have the perfect soundtrack in your ears while you push them back. Not sure that’s what the band intended, but the album is definitely a lot of fun and something I plan to give a spot on my already full iPod towards. There’s even an acoustic version of a song to slowly wind down as you get closer to home. Your choice if you just start the album over again and jam out in your living room. No judgment here because these tunes are infectious and definitely leave you craving more.
For more information on the band or to download the new album, you can go to their Facebook and Bandcamp pages respectively. As always, anything worth buying is worth sharing too, so please share this post (and the album) with your punk rock loving friends.
I know I’m behind the times, but I just watched Taken 2, saw they were planning a third one, and had a few thoughts about the movie industry. (I also had the secondary thought of how I hadn’t posted in a week and this would make a good filler piece… so enjoy the fluff).
My real thoughts on Taken were as follows:
1) It wasn’t as good as the first one, but also wasn’t as bad as people claimed. This tends to happen to me a lot with sequels. I almost never hate them as much as everyone else, with the exception of The Dark Knight Rises because fuck you for completely diverging from the comic book and making Bane such a joke. I get so irrationally angry about that movie that every time I see it on tv (which is a lot these days) I yell at my boyfriend to just keep moving and no one will get hurt.
2) My second thought about Taken 2 was that it felt like a good way to end the series. You had two better-than-average movies. Leave it at that…. But no, we can’t because we have to make everything into a trilogy these days. Now, usually what happens is the first movie is great, the second one is terrible, and the third one picks back up to be on par (or close to) what the first one brought us. There’s another possibility though, and I’ve seen it a lot more recently than before. Lately what I’m seeing is movies start off great, so execs decide they should turn this into a trilogy and make buckets of cash off it. The second movie will probably be almost as good as the first, but rarely ends up being the masterpiece the original was. The exception that immediately comes to mind is The Dark Knight, because not only were the story and action excellent, but Heath Ledger gave a better performance than anyone could have possibly imagined coming from a superhero movie. The third movie in a trilogy, however, is rarely memorable as anything other than a waste of time. I think Taken is going to follow this formula. The first one was great, and the second one was pretty good, but the third one will most likely end up taking a great concept and making it feel old and used up.
Who knows, maybe I’m wrong. I honestly wasn’t sure how they would make a sequel to Taken work, but I think they did a fair job. I just don’t see how they continue from here without boring us. Hopefully they say “challenge excepted” and it turns out to be a great film, instead of a waste of time.
I consider myself lucky enough to call myself both a fan and a friend of Brook Pridemore. This musician from Brooklyn has had an interesting journey in his musical career, and now you can own a piece of that history with the live tape of one of his last solo shows he is releasing. The tape is very aptly called, “My Name is Brook Pridemore, and I live in Brooklyn New York.”
Of the record, Pridemore explains, “I made sure to include songs from all five albums, as well as a few B-sides. I don’t like greatest hits packages. Greatest hits packages are for people who’ve died. If one, however, were looking for an introduction to my songs, this would be a good starting point. The record was made at Sidewalk Cafe, in the East Village, because that’s where I learned everything I know about being a song and dance man.”
From what I’ve heard of his work so far, everything he knows is a lot. Pridemore has an honesty and passion in his music that is refreshing in a world full of fake, insincere people who may or may not be in this business for the wrong reasons. I’ve seen his live show before, and it takes the energy and cranks it up to 11. The release of the album, which will be available on cassette and as a digital download, is tomorrow, Wednesday, January 29th at Mercury Lounge. Don’t miss this chance to be blown away by some honestly good music.
A little background before this review… My friend Jonny Swagger is in a band called “The Swaggerin’ Growlers“. That band started out as him banging out tunes on an acoustic guitar at his house. Recently, he decided to go back to his roots and strip some Growlers songs back down to a more acoustic sound.
I say “stripped down,” but it doesn’t feel like anything is missing here. Swagger mixes drums, harmonica, and guitar beautiful together, and does everything all on his own. The name of this one-man band with the power of 5 (which was the number of members in the Growlers at one point) is Tail Light Rebellion, and what started as a side project and experiment has become something better than even Swagger himself could have dreamed possible.
He shouldn’t have been surprised though. From the first few notes of “Six Strings and Gasoline,” the debut album from TLR, I fell in love in a whole new way with songs I had been familiar with for years. Usually I am very adverse to change, never liking when an artist remixes old songs they have in their repertoire, but I was thoroughly impressed (and even excited) by what is presented in SSaG. There is a life in these songs that you wouldn’t imagine possible from such a seemingly simple idea.
The obvious disclaimer here is that, like I said at the beginning, Swagger and I are very good friends (and have been for years). Having said that, I am honest to God impressed with what he’s done here, and proud to know him. Don’t take my word for it though. Listen for yourself. If you like what you hear (and live in the Boston area) you can show him your love at his homecoming show at the Midway Cafe on Sunday, January 19th. It promises to be a great show, and I’d travel from NYC myself if I didn’t already have plans.
Music worth traveling for, that’s what TLR can give you… and that is a very good (and rare) thing.
It’s been awhile since I’ve seen the Brooklyn-based indie rock band Libel, and I have to say they’ve grown a lot. One thing hasn’t changed though – from the moment I first saw them they immediately impressed me. The music was loud and fun and made me want to rock with them. This was something I could get behind.
The music itself wasn’t the only thing that hooked me in that initial meeting, it was also how much the band seemed to enjoy doing what they do. Clearly they have taken that to the next level with their album “Music For Car Commercials“. It has the usual pop/rock sound you would expect from an indie band, but it’s like they’ve taken that sound and decided to have fun with it. I talked to lead singer Gavin Dunaway and asked him exactly what he was trying to do with this album.
“We’re just trying to make music with no ulterior motives,” was his response. He went on to say, “I wanted to write songs about refusing to feel powerless in a world where control seems to constantly elude us.”
Based on our conversation I would say he was talking about commercialism and how sometimes a great band doesn’t get recognized until their song ends up in a car commercial or something similar. Pretty deep stuff, but that doesn’t mean there isn’t a light-hearted side to things. Mostly he wanted to “prove there’s still some life left in rock and roll”… and “wanted to make an album that defied subgenres”.
“I was hoping Libel could sound like something people couldn’t put their finger on.”
That’s the statement that hit me the hardest, because I can honestly say I spent half the record trying to decide who they reminded me of and coming up empty-handed. Maybe that’s because Libel has a unique sound, something familiar that is really it’s own thing. And that’s ok too. Not everyone needs to be a carbon copy of any one band or use some generic formula. If that’s you’re thing, fine. If not, there’s Libel.
Of all the songs in the album, I think my favorite was “Tomorrow’s Children,” which coincidentally is the song chosen for their music video.
Gavin’s wife Michela Buttignol was the creator of said video, and in my opinion she did a fantastic job.
As I said in the opening, I have always been impressed with what Libel has to offer. It may have been awhile since that first time, but I look forward to seeing if their live show has evolved as much as their music has. We’ll all have a chance to see for ourselves, as they have a show coming up this Friday, January 17th at Radio Bushwick.
It’s rare that I hold a memory of the first time I listened to an album (especially one I listen to often), but I remember exactly where I was when I first heard Everything Under the Sun, Jukebox the Ghost’s sophomore album, for the first time. I remember the feeling of excitement that came as I cycled through each new track. That might feel like a lot to live up to with the third album coming out now, but JtG did not disappoint.
To be fair, I already knew I was in for a treat after attending the band’s secret show at Rockwood Music Hall last month, but it’s still a different experience listening to an album in the order intended. A lot of people disregard this, especially with the introduction of the iPod shuffle and the like, but I always judge an album by its entire package. One of the things I have always loved about JtG is that they do not ignore this factor, even having some tracks flow directly into others. The example of that on Safe Travels is “Devils On Our Side/All For Love,” a beautiful and haunting song that will hit your insides in places you didn’t know existed.
While some elements of the band’s sound are similar to the older days, there have been some developments as well. There’s still fun piano pop, but with more electronic sounds added in some songs for a more eclectic sound. Other songs, such as “At Last,” are more like the pure piano driven songs you might remember from the first album Let Live and Let Ghosts. Then there’s their coda, “The Spiritual,” which is unlike anything they’ve done before. I could go on for pages, because the new album is really quite fantastic. I think my favorite, however, is going to be “Adulthood“. When played live, Ben introduces it as a song about how you can survive childhood and adolescence, but “from Adulthood, no one survives”. It’s a song about life that hit me like a ton of bricks when I first heard it because of how much I could relate. (Being 23 with no idea of where life is going to take you will do that). Really that’s what this band does with their music, though. It puts together a lot of really powerful and meaningful words and finds the music to match (when they’re not singing about the end of the world). That is what makes them special and has given them the edge to gain the level of success they have. It’s also why I’m sure this is just another step in a very long musical journey.
“Safe Travels” is available for iTunes pre-order today, and will be officially released June 12, 2012. The sold out album release is at Bowery Ballroom on June 22nd. A complete list of tour dates can be found on their website.
“Gavin DeGraw meets Ben Folds”. That’s how someone described Jacob Jeffries to me when trying to see if I would like him musically or not. The funny thing is, I’m not a huge Gavin Degraw fan. I like one or two songs but was never obsessed. I guess it always felt like a guilty pleasure for someone who largely listens to punk and ska. I love me some Ben Folds though (and other piano-driven bands, like Jukebox the Ghost), so I decided it was worth a shot. I’m glad I kept an open mind, because this album is happiness personified. The first song, “Worth The Wait,” is super catchy, which signaled to me I would probably enjoy what followed. Other songs might not be nearly as happy, but they remain upbeat or driven. It’s one of the reasons I love piano-driven music – it adds a whole new dimension to the sound that keeps things interesting. Even slower songs are likely to have some element that keeps you listening, although there are always exceptions depending on personal preference. In the case of Tell Me Secrets, the action does dip a bit at the top of the second half, but it picks up again at the end and still offers an overall enjoyable experience for the listener. I think my only issue was that “Worth The Wait” was possibly too catchy (if there is such a thing), and I really wanted just a whole album of that. Instead we got a wide range of sounds, which is not a bad thing at all. It might not have been what I expected, but it did show the artist’s talents in a variety of ways. Intrigued? Good. iTunes link for ya
Jukebox the Ghost snuck into Rockwood Music Hall last night for an intimate secret show in anticipation of their upcoming new album, Safe Travels. They opened with an old favorite, Schizophrenia, before proceeding to play the entire new album (about 46 minutes in length) out of order, and finishing with their latest cover, “I Wanna Dance With Somebody” originally done by Whitney Houston. Some of the songs from the new album were extremely poppy and upbeat, while others were dark and complex.
I can’t wait to get my hands on a copy to do a proper review. I couldn’t get as many recordings as the last time they did something like this, but I did manage to get one video on my iPhone. The song is called “Adulthood,” and I have a feeling it’s going to grow to become one of my favorites. It’s about how you can survive childhood and adolescence, but once you get to adulthood that’s it. “From adulthood, no one survives.” It’s a very powerful song that should hold strong for adults of all ages, but especially the 20 somethings who are just starting to slowly figure this out. Consider it a sample to hold you over until the album release on June 12th.
Wednesday night could have been described as “bass and electronics” night at Santos Party House, as that was the focus (with the exception of one band). No complaints here, because it gave me and the rest of the audience a chance to dance the night away. The first two bands were also just as much about visual presentation as they were about the music, the difference being that Mother Feather seemed to use flashy costumes to get the viewer’s attention, where as Dolchnakov Brigade seemed to have an image they were trying to project. I’m more familiar with Dolchnakov, however, so that might influence how I viewed them. Regardless of the purpose, both bands did an excellent job of catching my attention and leaving me in wonderment of what I just witnessed. This is neither good or bad, just different (which I guess in itself is a good thing in a sense).
The main event for the night was Hank & Cupcakes, a two piece with the power of ten. The two members did a splendid job of turning a bass and drum kit into a symphony of beats that called the audience to movement. From the first note to the final echo, Hank & Cupcakes will make you want to get up and dance. Seriously, anyone who wasn’t dancing during their set was probably a robot. The night was a perfect antidote for the mid-week doldrums of life. If you missed the show on Wednesday, then I am sorry for your loss. The next opportunity to see them probably won’t be for awhile. Definitely keep your ears open though, because you are not going to want to miss them again.
