NYC

Weekly Special #232b: The Debutante Hour

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The Debutante Hour sounds like Tom Waits and Bjork singing harmonies together at a 1910 variety show. Susan, Mia and Maria are the eclectic trio who perform everything from singing public service announcements to theatrical reinterpretations of Sumerian mythology. The ladies recent release, “The Birth and Death of Meaning,” is a bouncing, old-timey album with a heavy helping of sarcasm. The songs alternate an accordion, cello, piano and baritone ukulele. The girls share songwriting assignments, so each track has a different personality. “For Myself” is a smokey tune for a lounge singer, while “Scheherazade” is like a bubbling, wry Frank Zappa track. The Debutantes lyrics and phrasing are quirky like Weezer but their buttery, close harmonies abate the humor with a barber-shop edge. Now on tour in eastern Europe, look for them in this city later this fall. – Read Jenny Luczak’s interview with the band here.

NYC

Weekly Special #232a: Telenovelas, live at Shea Stadium, 01.28

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If you’re into Spanish soap operas then Telenovelas are your cup of tea. If your into surf thrash pop then Telenovelas are going to tickle you rock bone. Started last summer by 2 members of Black Swan Green and ex-Dane drummer from Darling Don’t Dance, Telenovelas can co-exist contently in 2 situations. Either holding hands strolling down the beach and reliving memories of Brian Wilson melodies or holding tightly to their fuzz pedals while dancing a little too close to the eye of a hurricane. Either way a strong obsession with Santo and Johnny’s “Sleepwalk” hasn’t stopped them from stepping out from the usual pack of Brooklyn bands and offered Brooklyn a new take on Surfadelia. Look for them to be playing out a lot this summer and working hard to release their first album. – Read Simon Heggie’s interview with the band here.

New England

The Deli Sunday Residency — Daniel Harris, Creek River String Band, Dogs on Television @ Precinct 1/16

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1/16

The Sundays at Precinct Deli Residency continues on the 16th with three stellar bands!

Daniel Harris — members of The Doctors Fox — 9pm

a la Sufjan Stevens meets Nirvana unplugged meets Daniel Lanois

Creek River String Band — 10pm

"High-energy bluegrass, Tex-Mex, country blues, folk, Celtic, rags, Old Time, and more, including some acoustic versions of more modern stuff (e.g, Paul Simon’s “You Can Call Me Al,” which always gets ‘em dancing). We also do a good number of originals. Think Session Americana without the table…basically the same instrumentation and vibe" — Stroker

Dogs on Television — 11pm

"Dogs on Television is headed for the bright lights. It’s a machine that runs on rock n’ roll. It’s a barbaric yawp that dives into your ear, tickles your brain, stirs your heart, and hits your spine like a lightning bolt. Based in the Boston area, DoTV is committed to bringing an explosive energy to the stage and having as much fun as possible on the way. DoTV howls loud and promises a grand revolution of unbridled rock intensity!" — from DoTV FB page

Doors at 8pm and the cover is 7 bux. 21+ Precinct has great food and beer as well.

–Meghan Chiampa

 

Philadelphia

Where Is My Mind?: Creepoid

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I was invited to Manayunk this past Saturday to hang out with Creepoid and check out their practice space as drummer Pat Troxell said (and 99% of the folks on MTV’s Cribs) to see “where the magic happens”. Well, most of the time was spent drinking cans of Pabst and Miller, swigging sips of Jameson, puffing bowls and chatting about their latest debut LP Horse Heaven (Ian Records) while we tested out the voice recorder on my new smartphone that I got for Christmas. We had some laughs, but it’s hard not to with these cast of characters. But at the heart of Creepoid, you find the spirit of hardcore/punk kids learning to grow up and do what they can just to be a working class band. Well, their working class ethics seem to be paying off. But these guys and gal aren’t quite ready to grow up just yet. Join us this evening at Kung Fu Necktie when The Deli Magazine presents Creepoid’s Record Release Show w/Nothing, Party Photographer and Pet Milk. First, read about how the rest of our Saturday went here before we devoured a bunch of BBQ for dinner and I trekked my slightly inebriated ass home on the Regional Rail.
 

Grave Blanket by Creepoid

Philadelphia

The Extraordinaires and Orbit to Leslie at The Ox Jan. 13

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If you’ve ever caught a performance by The Extraordinaires, then you know why there is plenty of positivity around their name, and understandably so. Their quirky folk-rock ditties are pretty inventive in lyrical content combining good old fashioned high-energy tunes with a fish-shaped guitar. Word is they have some new songs in the works, so that’s one more thing to keep in mind. Orbit to Leslie can take your breath away with their perfectly crafted pop that contains elements of surf, grunge, and everything between, aiming straight for the stratosphere. "The World Was Saved with Chocolate Cake" never gets old (at least for this guy). Also keep an eye out for the mangled punk of Drunken Sufis, the afro-pop-inspired PRUSSIA, and the goofy synth anthems of the Amil Byleckie Band. The Ox, (you should know already or just ask a friend), 8pm, $5, All Ages – Joe Poteracki

 

Portland

Gimme That Old Fashioned Monarques

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Monarques call to mind some sort of nostalgia that you wish you were there for. The new seven-piece bounces out irrefutable pop from a bygone era that sure as all get out shouldn’t be gone. It’s part sock hop, part garage band, picking up echoes of all your favourite Motown and hints of The Beach Boys. Songs like “Angel Eyes” bring to mind the golden age of dancing grandparents (when they were still young, that is). The gleefully reminiscent tunes of Monarques will be on display and aching to be danced to this Thursday (tomorrow!) at Holocene (not to mention it’s front man Josh Spacek’s birthday) with YOURS and Arch Cape. Make sure to leave a slow spot on your dance card for “I Can’t Be Saved”. – Mike Harper

Give a listen to "Angel Eyes"

New England

Interview with Glenn DiBenedetto of Parlour Bells — Heart Beatings EP release 1/15 at Rosebud

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parlour bells

We had the chance to talk to Glenn di Benedetto of Parlour Bells about Heart Beatings, Parlour Bells’ new EP, new video project  Louder Now Boston and local no-wave rock duo,  Do Not Forsake Me Oh My Darling. 

Deli: Parlour Bells has a retro-style, unique sound, kind of like David Bowie meets Roy Orbison or vice versa. How did you develop this sound? When did you start singing and song-writing? Who are your influences?

GD: The sound of Parlour Bells is really about my longtime songwriting partnership with Mr. Nate Leavitt, who is probably best known for his work with The Blizzard of 78. Nate and I have been writing songs since high school and Parlour Bells is simply the latest incarnation of that long-running creative partnership. It’s our sound. As for influences, we probably have more than we can cite here. But I will say that while our influences (Nate and mine) are often very similar, they are just as often quite different. That’s what makes our collaboration kind of interesting, and what I think makes our songs unique.

Deli: You are one of my favorite "Facebook Personalities". You seem to have several creative projects including an interview series, a god-fearing alias and an entire Facebook page dedicated to your hair. Are these publicity stunts? How do these side projects fuel your fan-base? Can you tell me more about the webisodes you have coming up?

GD: Well, first of all, thank you. To be anyone’s favorite anything is an honor. I do have a lot of creative video projects in store for 2011. The ones I most excited about are Louder Now Boston, a new web show about local music that I created with Anngelle Wood. She’s the real deal when it comes to being a proponent of local rock, and it’s been great collaborating with her. The second project is a sitcom I am working on with Richard Bouchard, Mike Bishop, Sophia Cacciola and Michael J. Epstein. We just named it "Special Friends" and we begin production soon. As for Goddamn Glenn and my globe bar, I’ll say this. A lot of nonsense comes out of me, which people seem to find humorous. If they think it’s funny, then I’m going to roll with it. I really didn’t intend for these to be publicity stunts, but if they work like that…great. But if you’re only going to "like" 3 of my Facebook pages, I’d prefer that you focus on Parlour Bells, Killer Suit (my video production company) and Louder Now Boston.

glenn
Deli: You are also a videographer. Do you have any advice for musicians and bands who are looking to make a music video?

GD: Capture as much content as possible and think of ways you can differentiate it from the rest of the content out there. YouTube is awash with live music videos, which is partly why Killer Suit shies away from doing these anymore. Find a way to make them stand out. Humor is a good angle. If you’re actually funny, that is.

Deli: Why is the name of your band Parlour Bells?

GD: I liked the sound of the words together. It actually doesn’t mean anything. I always liked bandnames that people seemed to pull straight out of the ether. When you take on a name that brings no previous connotations, that name can become synonymous with the band’s sound and songs. All that said, "Parlour Bells" sounds kind of loungey. We’ve been told we have that vibe. Finally, originality, especially on the web is hard to come by these days. We were pretty sure there wasn’t a parlourbells.com when we first attempted to purchase the domain.

Deli: Which Boston band would you love to share a stage with?

GD: There is so much great local talent in Boston, we would feel honored to play with a number of bands. I guess that two that come to mind immediately are Gene Dante & the Future Starlets and Do Not Forsake Me Oh My Darling. Gene is the consumate rock star and an incredible showman, and I think the Bells and Starlets on the same bill would be sexy. DNFMOMD is just one of my favorite bands out there and I love Sophia’s sultry Prisoner-themed stage persona. It’s amazing how she and Michael J. Epstein can get that much sound out of vocals, drums and bass. Very raw and very noir.

Parlour Bells are releasing the EP this Saturday the 15th at Rosebud in Davis Sq. Somerville SUPER TRIPLE CD release with St. Helena (CD release) Sarah RabDAU & Self-Employed Assassins, Parlour Bells (CD release) Low Static Romance (Brendan Boogie & Magen Tracy(CD release)).

FB event

–Meghan Chiampa

L.A.

L.A. Music Video Festival + after party and show with VoxHaul Broadcast and Black Apples!

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The first annual Los Angeles Music Video Festival will take place Sunday, January 23rd at the cinematic and beautiful Downtown Independent Theater.

The festival director Sami Kriegstein explains, "The Los Angeles Music Video Festival will exist with one purpose: to celebrate the art of the music video. While many film festivals have music video categories, they tend to be presented as secondary, somehow less important or deserving of our consideration than other genres. There are precious few festivals in the world that focus exclusively on music videos, the people who make them and the people who love them. LAMVF will not only provide that opportunity, but will further bring together the independent music and independent film communities of Los Angeles in a celebration of local musical talent and creativity like never before." Tickets for the festival are a reasonable $40 and can be purchased online here, on the festival’s website.

The fun and debaucheries will take place during the afterparty at Echoplex, beginning at 8pm. Setting the stage on fire will be two of our favorite local acts, Voxhaul Broadcast and Black Apples(who currently have our album of the month banner with their self-titled debut). Tickets are $10 and can be purchased here.

This is going to be a fun event with local artists, musicians, and music lovers like yourself…so get your tickets now and be a part of music history in the making!

–Jenna Putnam 

L.A.

Results for our Open Submissions poll and SonicBids!

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 After weeks of combing through open submissions, the results for phase 1 are finally in. Making it to the top of the list is a few familiar bands that have already made their mark in the Deli books. Coming in at number one we have none other than the youthful duo, Pepper Rabbit. Their sound is creative, bringing your childhood imagination out of the dusty corners of your mind. Coming right behind is our recent print issue cover band He’s My Brother, She’s My Sister. With their unique presence and timeless psychedelic folk-rock, it’s no surprise they climbed the polls. Also qualified to continue to the next phase is the refreshing, original, and distinctive sound of Incan Abraham. Check out the poll results if you haven’t already to find out who else made it to the next phase. 

If your favorite band missed open submissions, they could have made it onto our SonicBids.com results. Qualifying for the next phase we have Dylan Trees at no.1 with their California dreamin’ folk-pop. Joining the top is also singer/songwriter Patrick Joseph and the soulful sounds of blues/jazz sensation Tara Priya. 

–Margarita Castellanos

NYC

Caveman Play Mercury Lounge on 01.12

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Caveman, native to Brooklyn, are headlining the Mercury Lounge Wednesday, January 12th. Cavemen’s music is casual with a certain charm to it, and has been termed as the type of music that will stop people in their tracks. They have recently recorded songs with both Converse and Fader. Both songs reinforce Cavemen’s unique style, a mellow indie pop reminiscent of Belle and Sebastian and Beta Band without electronic quirks. Expect this band to be around for a while and to conquer many harts. Tickets for the Mercury Lounge show on January 12th are just over $12 and you can get yours here. -LT

NYC

The Death Set release “Slap Slap Slap Pound Up Down Snap” Video

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The Death Set is a trio of crazy "almost kids" from Brooklyn, Sydney, Baltimore and Philly who seem interested in picking up where the Beastie Boys left off – at least in this song entitled after a handshake that Brooklyn bands like Ninjasonik and Cerebral Ballzy (featured in the instructional video here) apparently use to greet each other. The rest of the band repertoire is more electro-punk but as incendiary and fun.