Thursday night at the Lower East Side hotspot, Pianos, was filled to the gills with a rowdy audience anticipating an even more energetic band, The Click Clack Boom. The trio combines New Wave vocals, throwback rock cadences, dancey grooves, and punk paces, pushed forward by spastic outbursts and animated stage presence. Mostly unreleased material, set list selections included frantic and grungy “10:24,” counter-intuitively upbeat “Cryptic Condition,” echoing and impassioned “Tow the Line,” calypso-inspired “ZKBK, freewheeling rock track, “Ghosts” from the band’s debut album, “Howling,” brand new “Plastic Dolls,” and ominous, bassy closer, “Lighter.” The Click Clack Boom’s quirky, crowd-pleasing, and zealous demeanor, and fashionably disheveled appearance epitomize the characteristics of Brooklynite artists, reaffirming their recognizable and well-earned upswing as a prime NYC band. – Meijin Bruttomesso
Mad Decent Block Party at The Piazza & Official After-Party at The Barbary Aug. 7
2:00-3:00 – Kito
3:00-4:00 – Brick Bandits
4:00-5:00 – Louis Brodinski
4:30-5:00 – POPO
5:00-5:45 – Paul Devro
5:45-6:15 – Das Racist
6:15-7:00 – DJ Sega
7:00-8:00 – Diplo
The Future album release, 8/4/11
Photo by Katherine Heriges
It’s often said that Nashvillians are hard to impress at a rock show. Nashville crowds are often prone to lifeless head-bobbing, or perhaps a little too much commentary on the band of the night. Everyone’s a critic here.
That’s why it was a breath of fresh air to be present at 12th and Porter Thursday night for The Future‘s album release show – nobody was busy being too cool, and everyone was moving their feet. The audience was almost half as lively as The Future’s electrifying frontman, Adam Culver, who moves across the stage like James Brown tweaking on Four Loko.
Culver and his band mates – bassist Jordan Culver, guitarist Eric Sadowsky and the bespectacled, bowtied Bryan Feece – commanded the audience not by begging everyone to clap their hands, but with the sheer energy they projected during the entire duration of the show. Songs that fell somewhat flat on the band’s newest album, Grow Young, suddenly rose to new heights. The Future knows how to put on a rock show.
They highlighted some of the best tracks from the album, including the haunting "Man of the People" (which was more rocking and less creepy in a live setting), "Don’t You Dare" and "Come on Down," the album’s closer. They also played a fantastic, soulful rendition of Sam Cooke’s "Bring it on Home to Me," which they transitioned into a much less successful cover of Cooke’s "A Change is Gonna Come." The Future’s set was short but effective, which was a blessing as they were the fourth and last band of the night.
The Future shared the staged with Oh No No, Stagolee, and Kink Ador, all out of Nashville. Oh No No were incredibly fun and offered some choice moments, but the real surprise of the night was Kink Ador and their ridiculously talented lead singer/bassist, Sharon Koltick. In two or three years’ time, there’s no reason that Kink Ador shouldn’t be opening for a blockbuster band on tour. – Katherine Heriges
Mad Decent Pre-Party w/Dirty South Joe & Uncle Ron at UBIQ Aug. 6
If you really can’t wait for the Mad Decent Block Party tomorrow, then head over to UBIQ tonight for its official pre-party with DJ sets by Dirty South Joe and Uncle Ron. There will also be FREE Heineken Light, well, until supplies last. (BTW: I actually prefer Heineken Light over regular Heineken. Does anyone else feel that way?) The pre-party is also FREE. Just a reminder to RSVP HERE for tomorrow’s main event to avoid any chance of getting shut out. Cheers! UBIQ, 1509 Walnut St., 6 – 10pm, FREE, All Ages – H.M. Kauffman
No Excuses Summer Series Continues at D!D!G Aug. 6
Ghost Box Orchestra on their New Album and DHN IV
Deli: Have you finished recording the new album?
Ghost Box Orchestra: Well we’ve just started actually. This will be the second full-length record.
Deli: When is the projected release date?
GBO: As of right now, we don’t have a particular time frame in mind. For our proper album releases, we tend to work on things until they feel done. Which is why, in the meantime, we put out the tour cassette this Summer. The tape has all new material on it: jams, demos, and bits from radio shows that turned out nicely. We found ourselves informally capturing these great moments during practice..
Click here to read the rest of the interview with Jeremy Lassetter of Ghost Box Orchestra.
Ghost Box Orchestra plays the Deep Heaven Now festival Saturday, August 6 at 8:30 pm at Precinct.
–Chrissy Prisco
Deli CD of the Month: Illuminator “Answer Voice the Child” – live at Church For All Nations on 08.13
Illuminator and their debut album "Answer Voice the Child" (released in January) confirm our suspicions that NYC bands with a mellow sound currently have an edge in terms of originality over rocking/shredding ones. This guitarless up and coming Brooklyn group often sounds like a crazier but also more laid back version of french duo Air, with some added psych/experimental influences reminiscent of artists ranging from Pink Floyd to Grizzly Bear and Dirty Projector. Their soulful melodies also bring to mind early TV on the Radio. In "Hey Crazy (Cough)" and "You Are Overgrown" – two of our favorite songs – electronic percussions, often distorted, introduce an interesting industrial element, but are confined to the background, while sweeping, heavily effected vocals take center stage.
The ancient Greeks thought that at night you could hear the music of the universe while staring at the stars. Nobody ever heard that music, but if it existed it would sound very much like this record. Cosmic. – You can see Illuminator live at the Church For All Nations (417 West 57th St, NY) on August 13 with Teletextile.
KEXP Mural Concerts Start Tonight!
This year’s edition of KEXP‘s awesome free concert series Concerts at the Mural kicks off tonight at Seattle Center’s Mural Amphitheatre. The show features local actsThe Maldives, Black Whales, and Hey Marseilles. The series continues all month with shows every Friday, plus tomorrow’s 9th Annual KEXP BBQ. The BBQ starts at 3 pm, all other shows start at 6pm. Get there early and eat something from Skillet Streetfood. Below we’ve got the lineups and the video for Hey Marseilles hit "Rio."
Friday 8/5, Doors at 5pm, Bands at 6pm
Hosted by DJ El Toro
The Maldives
Hey Marseilles
Black Whales
Saturday 8/6, The 9th Annual KEXP BBQ! Doors at 2pm, Bands at 3pm
Hosted by Larry Mizell Jr., Troy Nelson, John Richards and Kevin Cole
Fool’s Gold
Rainbow Arabia
Capsula
School of Rock
Virgin Islands
Mad Rad
Friday 8/12, Doors at 5pm, Bands at 6pm
Hosted by Troy Nelson
Seapony
Gold Leaves
Math and Physics Club
Friday 8/19, Doors at 5pm, Bands at 6pm
Hosted by Hannah Levin
Black Mountain
My Goodness
Whalebones [Record Release]
Friday 8/26, No Depression Night, Doors at 5pm, Bands at 6pm
Hosted by DJ El Toro
Shane Tutmarc
Ravenna Woods
Pickwick
Drew Grow & the Pastors’ Wives
The Boxing Lesson premieres video from Muerta EP
Yeah man! it’s nice to hear some Pink Floyd "Wish You Were Here" / "The Wall" era influences every now and then – it’s kind of rare. I bet you a ton of people out there had love affairs with those records, although now they’ll deny it… Admittedly, in our teens we were obsessed with them. But when we went back in the band’s discography and heard Syd Barret… it kind of changed our lives. However, Austin, TX psychedelic space rock band The Boxing Lesson carry obvious Pink Floyd influences from the Roger Waters dominance period. They premiered the first video from their new Muerta EP today. The intense, apocalyptic clip depicts singers and a variety of debris slowly sinking to the bottom of the ocean, set to the song’s dark, sweeping lament.
Weekly Feature: Yellow Ostrich, live at Glasslands on 08.19
What’s in a name? Don’t ask me. There’s no such thing as a yellow ostrich, but that doesn’t stop Alex Schaaf from insisting it’s alive anyway. And in songs like ‘Whale’ and ‘In The Past I Was an Astronaut’, Yellow Ostrich is making the abstract discernible, and getting a lot of attention for it. This guy raised enough money through his kickstarter two years back to self-release the outstanding "The Mistress" last year, only to get picked up by Barsuk Records and have the album re-released this year. Things are moving fast! – See Yellow Ostrich live at Glasslands on August 19, read Mike Levine’s interview with Alex Schaaf here.
Weekend Warrior, August 5-7
This Weekend…
The weekend’s jammed with killer shows, kicking off tonight with The Clutters and True Widow opening for Kurt Vile & the Violators at Mercy (if you don’t have Vile’s Smoke Ring For My Halo, stop what you’re doing and get it right now). But before you head over there, swing by The Groove at 5:30 to see William Tyler, Ancient Ocean and Lylas.
Depending on how much cash you got, you can catch Caitlin Rose opening for The Decemberists at the Ryman on Saturday, or we’ll see you at The Springwater for Frank The Fuck Out, Bummer and Reid Magette. Also a FREE show at Mercy with Kyle Andrews (whose new record Robot Learn Love drops Aug. 16), The Cadillac Black, Jeremy Lister and DJ Fat Andy for Black 13 Tattoo’s third anniversary party.
We’re really excited for Sunday though, cause Natural Child is gonna be at Spring with Liquor Store. Check it out.