Philadelphia

The Deli’s Featured Artist(s) of the Month: The Spooks

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The Spooks have been scaring up plenty of buzz from their rockin’ live performances. We asked them a few questions to give you a preview of what you might see tonight at Kung Fu Necktie when they share the stage with Matador’s Harlem and garage-y buddies Junkers. We’re guessing that it might be what their drummer had for dinner.
 
The Deli: Where did the name “The Spooks” come from?
The Spooks: Well, contrary to popular misconception it hasn’t got anything to do with secret agent slang or antiquated racial slurs. Think ghost.
TD: What are your biggest musical influences?
TS: Probably Daft Punk or Free Energy. You know, the retro stuff.
TD: What artists (local, national and/or international) are you currently listening to?
TS: Mostly those lo-fi beachy chillwave bands, especially the ones with aquatic names. That and the new MGMT and Vampire Weekend albums.
TD: What’s the first concert that you ever attended and first album that you ever bought?
TS: We’ve only known each other for a few years or whatever, but it turns out that we were all at the same concert when we were kids. Back in ’91, coincidence had us all at the Tom Petty show when he played Philly on his "Touring the Great Wide Open" tour.

As for albums, I’m sure we were all listening to something by The Offspring by the time we’d gotten our first hand jobs…which is unfortunate.

TD: What do you love about Philly?
TS: The El Bar.
TD: What do you hate about Philly?
TS: These kids that seem to think that each new pair of shoes they buy from Urban Outfitters is going to bring them one step closer to living in Brooklyn.
TD: What are your plans for 2010?
TS: We’ll be releasing our first LP, which we’re recording with Adam Granduciel from The War on Drugs. It’s coming out on Trig Club, a new label started by the bloggers behind Yvnyl and Frightened By Bees.

Other than that, we’ll be on our second national tour. We’re headed down South and out to California in July, so that’ll be rad. The dates should be posted pretty soon.

TD: What was your most memorable live show?
TS: The memorable ones usually have something to do with Alex, our drummer.

We were playing a basement in Philly, when we started to notice the crowd looking uncomfortable. We looked back to Alex, and he was still playing (and even keeping rhythm), but his cheeks were full of vomit. He got to a bathroom in between songs, but it was pretty gnarly.

Then, there was this house show in Austin. We’d just finished our set, and everyone was cheering and sort of laughing, which we assumed was a show of appreciation. Then the smell hit us. Apparently, Alex had spewed everywhere during our last song. It was pretty great watching him carry his pukey snare through the crowd of gagging Austin
scenesters.

TD: What’s your favorite thing to get at the deli?
TS: Drunk.
 
 
(Photo by Tiffany Yoon)
 
– The Deli Staff
 

 

 

Philadelphia

Arc in Round and Oh! Pears at Danger Danger Gallery April 21

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You know that you’ll still be celebrating 420 through the weekend. Who are you kidding? Stop making excuses to puff down, but Arc in Round and Oh! Pears at Danger Danger Gallery tonight may be a good reason if you are looking for another excuse. Oh! Pears are headed by Cory Duncan, whom you may know as former Pattern Is Movement guitarist. His solo project has grown into a thirteen-piece orchestra with viola, violin, trumpet, drums, guitar, flute, vocals, clapping, and more, twisted and layered to create compositions that feel like they should be listened to alone in your bedroom in the middle of the night. They’ll be joined by Jeff Zeigler’s Arc in Round with a dream-pop core the likes of Sweden’s greatest, Club 8 and Sambassadeur. They bring you wind-blown vocals and songs reminiscent of watching a sunrise. At first, their musical vision seems dark and unclear, but steadily soft colors blend into the framework to create something new, beautiful and promising. Danger Danger Gallery, 5013 Baltimore Ave., 8pm, $5 – $10 donation, All Ages myspace.com/ohpearsmusic, myspace.com/arcinround (Photo by Miguel Angel) – Katie Bennett
 

 

Portland

Live Review: Toxic Zombie Album Release at Hawthorne Theatre, 4/17

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"We will eat, we will eat, we will eat your brains!" screamed the horror-rock band Toxic Zombie to the crowd at Hawthorne Theatre last Saturday night. The band was there celebrating the release of their new CD Poison The Airwaves. This is the group’s first record under the label Dizaster, and the Hawthorne party marked the beginning of their national tour.

Seeped in zombie lore, rock and ’80s punk, witnessing a TZ show is the most fun you can have legally. If you’re curious about the band’s moniker, you movie buffs out there might recall a B-horror movie of the same name. The film is about a group of people growing cannabis who inadvertently get contaminated with a chemical, which turns them into anthropophagical zombies. Much like the zombies in the film, the group gnarled and scratched at the audience on Saturday, wooing them with their living dead attire, sweet rockabilly sound and oh-so-hot zombie go-go back up singers.

As if that wasn’t entertaining enough, the band had the haunted hotties the Unchained Girls at the show leading the crowd into chants and trivia. The famous NW horror host Uncle Eerie brought his clan of ghoulish burlesque gals to keep the fun going in between bands, and Ditch Digger opened the show with some head-banging rock. Railer closed with even more rock to blow our minds.

Toxic Zombie is one of a kind and you won’t see any other show quite like it. Some might even say they give a KILLER performance.

– Deanna Uutela

San Francisco

The Deli SF’s Weekend Highlights For 4/21-4/24

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After many a busy week (for music events at least) it would seem the city is taking a bit of a breather with only a couple, but certainly worthwhile, shows slated for this coming weekend.

For an evening easy on the ears, head out to El Rio tomorrow the 21st where minimalists The Matinees will be playing with The Better Maker and The Heated, 9pm.

Thursday at the Eagle Bare Wires will be playing their dirty garage rock with The Fresh & Onlys, Blank Dogs, and Cosmetics, 9pm.

On Saturday you should definitely find yourself wondering over to The Rickshaw where Sleepy Sun will be playing their psychish folk tunes with Little Wings and Late Young, 8:30pm.

A light weekend in comparison to weeks past, but certainly one with some interesting line-ups. Get out, see some live music, and check back again next week for some more suggestions.

 

–Ada Lann

New England

Aloud to play Boston 4/30 – Portland 5/1

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aloud

Hard-rocking and aptly titled Aloud is touring around New England promoting their sophmore album Fan the Fury. Aloud will be playing two shows next weekend. One at TT’s (Look at that line-up!!! BAH!)  and another at Geno’s in Portland. I saw them play at the Rock and Roll Rumble in 2007 and they were incredible.

Friday, April 30th, 2010
TT The Bears
10 Brookline Street, Central Square, Cambridge, MA
Doors at 9:00pm, Aloud at 9:05pm
with Flying Machines, The Lights Out & Everyday Visuals
$10, 18+

Saturday, May 1, 2010
Geno’s
625 Congress Street, Portland, ME
Doors at 9:30pm, Aloud at 11:00pm
with aLEX kEATON & Metal Feathers
$5, 21+

–Meghan Chiampa

Nashville

Jacob Jones’ new album Bound for Glory

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So many bands in Nashville combine rock with country and folk, and they call it Americana – a term used so freely that it carries little weight. However, Jacob Jones may have achieved it with Bound for Glory, his sophomore album which sounds as traveled as he is.

If the name of Jones’ album Bound for Glory rings a bell, that’s because it was fittingly stolen from Woody Guthrie’s autobiography of the same name. Jones has been playing the songs from this album in bars and venues all over the country, but on April 15th, it was officially released with a showcase at The Basement.

North Carolina’s American Aquarium was on the bill along with Go Long Mule, Chicago’s version of Kopecky Family Band. Some of the crowd from Electric Western Records (Jones’ label, which he started with fellow musician Reno Bo) made it out to the show as well as a few local musicians and one especially entertaining, beer-clutching showgoer who interpreted portions of Jones’ set through dance.

Jones looked the part of a traveling song-and-dance man. Donning a white outfit and matching hat, the getup would have seemed theatric if Jones hadn’t delivered such a genuine sound. It’s the type of music one would hear on a Friday night, coming from the tiny corner stage of a booze-soaked roadside venue – right before the bar fight.

Bound for Glory is simple yet poetic; its lyrics illuminate the ordinary and the commonplace in stories of love and travel. Besides some of the best tunes from the album ("The Blues Ain’t Got Nothing on You," "Broadway Queen," "Bonnie and Clyde"), a few new ones worked into the set like, "Slave to the Grave" and "Cold Winds," as well as a cover of "The Ballad of John and Yoko."

It’s no surprise that Jones writes about travel; he has uprooted several times, living in such different locations as New York, Indiana and Georgia. With mandolins, fiddle and upright bass, Bound for Glory carries a little bit of the places Jones has visited, and creates a musical map of his own world. – Jessica Pace

Portland

Ape Machine Leaks Track from Upcoming Debut

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This House Has Been Condemned, the debut album from Portland five-piece Ape Machine, will be self-released on May 4th through their own Ape Machine Music.

Featuring ex-members of Slowdance Records’ The Evening Episode, Grey Day Records artists Minmae, and MCA Records alumni Fenix TX, Ape Machine drives a psych-rock groove over stoner-worthy riffs and soaring vocals. It’s interestingly catchy, given the slicker facets of the songwriting. Essentially, it’s not your Tee Pee Records-type stoner rock, gorging itself on filthy dynamics and flaccid drumming. Ape Machine has their act together, and if leaked track "All Times" is any indication, this could become one of the more notable local releases of 2010.

Check it out below:

– Ryan J. Prado

L.A.

Running Amok

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Deli fave Correatown uses unique chord structure and melody to enrapture her listeners. We Barbarians combine Bono-sounding wailing (less pretentious of course) with lo-fi guitar distortion. These two great L.A. acts take the stage at Echo this Thursday April 22, joined also by the talented gals of All Wrong and The Plans Change.

L.A.

Best of LA #16- Professor Calculus

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Fans of mathematics and non-conformist venues, I present to you: Professor Calculus!  Together since November of 2009, this gaggle of gents has taken a slightly unconventional approach to presenting their music.  Reliant solely on word of mouth, Professor Calculus prefers to play parking lots, grocery stores, public parks and alleys.  This spontaneous approach to performing adds to their raucous, punk sensibility.  While I can’t tell you where they will be playing next, I can suggest loitering in various Ralphs’ parking lots and crossing your fingers. 

Chicago

Astral Planes

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The Smashing Pumpkins have released the fourth (of 44) track from Teargarden By Kaleidyscope. This song may have the biggest sound of the four tracks, while massive swirling guitars filling every inch. This will be the final song in the first of 11 four song ep, Song For A Sailor. The downside of this track, and perhaps trying to write a massive amount of music in a short period of time, has to be the very simplistic and repetitive lyrics.

NYC

Rachel Sage releases 9th album

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Rachel Sage just released her 9th solo album – and from listening to the new songs our impression is that her music is getting better with every release. The new album bears an art-rock sound reminiscent of Kate Bush and Tori Amos, while lyrically the songs reflect Sage’s mature sense of perspective, earned after a decade on the road, living without a true ‘home’. This past year, she made a conscious decision to reestablish her roots, solidify her relationships, and bring balance to her untethered life. The result is ‘Delancey Street’.
Rachel will play several East Coast dates in the next few weeks, an return to NYC for a live appearance at Joe’s Pub on May 11.