Easy Tells debut EP, "Got What You Paid For" has been available online for a few weeks now, but Tuesday night, they hit Rockwood Stage 2 for the official release party. The Nashville-Detroit-Austin-Chapel Hill-via Downtown NYC four-piece will chug artfully through a set of earthy guitar-based American rock with a grateful nod to our friends across the pond. And get your dirty little hands on a copy of the record if you’re still into that kind of thing. 9pm. Free of charge. – (as posted in The Deli’s Open Blog – post your band’s entries, videos, and Mp3s here). The Deli’s NYC Open Blog is powered by The Music Building and APS Mastering.
NYC
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Scout is back with a new EP + upcoming album
I clearly remember writing about Ashen Keilyn’s band Scout in 2004 or 2005, when our site was ugly and our readership non existent. At the time I also caught them live at now defunct Sin-e` (I used to live across the street from it, on Attorney Street, it was pretty handy). Since then they kind of disappeared, so I was surprised to get a press release about them after this long. I was also surprised by the sound of the single they are giving away for free ("Please Excuse Me", streaming here), included in their new EP "PI", which features a darker, edgier sound, and is some kind of intro to a full length planned to be released in early 2012. Ashen confirms in this song her vocal a(dora)bility and her talent as a songwriter who tends to operate within coordinates consisting in moodier indie atmospheres and more radio friendly openings. Ashen will be performing an acoustic show at Rockwood Music Hall on 12.13.
New England
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Fear Nuttin Band — Move Positive
Fear Nuttin Band is a reggae outfit from Boston who are creating a genre of their own. By infusing dancehall, the consciousness of Hip Hop, with a dabble of alternative and heavy metal, Fear Nuttin Band is musically diverse and intricate from other reggae bands. You can certainly preview a taste of this musical diversity on the band’s album, Move Positive.
All thirteen tracks include heavy acoustic guitar, positive vibrations in which you want to sway side-to-side, or run to a live show of theirs to witness them live in action. Each track, especially Move Positive, tells a great and real story about standing up and partaking in the positive things that life has to offer, even if life throws curveballs from time to time. Another great single on the album, Rebel, is a redemption song that tells a story about being a leader within, instead of being a follower, and not being a slave to fads of the world.
The band’s mission is to "Unify the music, unify the people." If you are an aficionado of dancehall, hip hop, and alternative music, you will definitely feel, understand, and vibe to the unification of the musical fusion of Fear Nuttin Band.
You can catch them tomorrow night, Nov. 23, at Ironhorse Music Hall in Northampton MA with Zamia. 10pm, All Ages.
Fear Nuttin Band – Rebel
–Andrea Camille
Philadelphia
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Photo Recap: Sisters3, The Loom, Cat Martino & Wendish at KFN
The Loom was in town this past Sunday to wrap up their record release tour for the band’s latest album Teeth (which you should definitely purchase HERE) at Kung Fu Necktie. They’re a Deli NYC favorite, and we’ve been fans of the band since we caught their live performance at Danger! Danger! Gallery so when they asked us to present the show, we were happy to oblige. The group had brought along fellow New Yorker Cat Martino on tour who demonstrated some impressive pipes as she looped her vocals and multiple instruments to orchestrate pretty soundscapes, and we also loved that she closed out her set with a beautiful, powerful rendition of The Cure’s “Love Song.” Wendish, a new project from Lion Versus member Ally Leedy and songwriter/author Luke Bartolomeo, opened the evening. We really enjoyed their harmonies and lyrics, and are looking forward to their debut recordings that hopefully will be ready next month. Sisters3 closed out the night with an upbeat set. We already new that the siblings had natural chemistry to gracefully harmonize, but they surprised us by displaying an edgier side with a welcomed performance of “Where Is My Mind?” by The Pixies. You can check out photos from the evening HERE.
New England
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Elephants — The Sea EP
Lo-fi junkies and lovers of all things acoustic rejoice; Elephants has just released their sophomore contribution, The Sea EP, onto the Boston music scene. The Boston duo released the EP earlier this month and is hoping to make their name known around the city. The four-track EP shows clear influences from Ted Leo and Elliott Smith, but with a stronger lo-fi feel. The third track, A Stone to the Rain, is probably the best example of this. The melodic lines and cadences remind me of a female Ted Leo if he were singing through a radio speaker. I found lead-singer Lauren Garant’s vocals to be one of the major highlights of the EP, held down by solid rhythm guitar work from both Garant and Ryan Young.
Perhaps my only negative criticism of the EP is that it seemed incomplete. I thought several of the tracks could be bolstered by rhythmic accompaniment (drums or other percussion) or filled out by additional instrumentation (keys, bass, etc.); even Elliott Smith decided to throw drums and other instruments in on his recordings from time to time.
As a whole, The Sea EP maintains a great vibe throughout and I am eager to see where Elephants decide to roam from this point forward. You can check them out live with Jeff Sheldon and The Four Point Restraints at All Asia in Cambridge, MA on Thursday, Dec.1. Show starts at 6:30pm, $10 for 18+; $6 for 21+.
–Daniel McMahon
San Francisco
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Live Preview: Oceanography at Hotel Utah
What do you get when you put a metalhead drummer and a sad bastard guitar player in a room together? In the case of Oceanography, you get surprisingly catchy songs about vanilla extract and potato guns.
Despite his mellow musical tastes, singer-songwriter Brian Kelly has not crumbled under drummer Kathleen Richards’ heavy beats. Instead, the pair has managed to balance out their respective extremes and found a rocking middle. Kelly’s plaintive vocals and personal lyrics are transformed from lonesome bar stool soliloquies to fist-pumping crowd-raisers by Richards’ bashing drums. The Oakland duo (and couple on-and-off stage) are currently finishing up a new five-song EP and preparing for a west coast tour.
“I haven’t had the heart to tell Kathleen she can’t bring her whole damn wardrobe,” says Kelly. “In fact I’m only bringing a change of underwear. By the end of this tour odds are we’re gonna stink, but we’ll sound great.”
Philadelphia
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SOLD OUT Dr. Dog Show at KFN Nov. 22
If you were lucky enough to get a ticket for Dr. Dog’s performance tonight at Kung Fu Necktie, then congrats! The band will be dropping a new two-song 7” this week for Record Store Day’s celebration of Black Friday, and the canine crew also has a new full-length album entitled Be the Void coming out on February 7 so I’m guessing that we’ll be getting a sneak preview of the upcoming releases. Expect KFN to be bursting at the seams this evening! Kung Fu Necktie, 1250 N. Front St., 8pm, $10, 21+ – H.M. Kauffman
Nashville
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New Bad Cop video, “Animal”
It’s been over a year since the garage pop dynamos of Bad Cop released Harvest the Beast, and now this is happening: a 6-pack digital EP titled I Can’t Slow Down, featuring three new songs and videos. “Animal” (a Seth Graves creation) debuted today via Impose magazine, and the EP drops tomorrow. Plus, the band also recorded a limited edition 7” for Prince Cook Records, set for a 2012 release.
NYC
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The Stepkids premiere video + kick off European tour
The Stepkids have become known for their unique spin on just about everything: their music, live show and videos. The trio released the video for “Suburban Dream” today, the third from their self-titled debut album (out now on Stones Throw). Featuring the animated work of director Chris King the video shows another stylistic side of the band that graces the cover of the current issue of The Deli – read it here.
L.A.
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Tropical Popsicle Reinvents the 1960s
Pulling from an array of 1960s influences, multi-instrumentalist Timothy Hines created a damn near perfect mesh between rock, garage pop, surf and psychedelia under the moniker Tropical Popsicle. After recruiting three band members, the San Diego-based outfit released a 7” and an EP in June, both on Valor Records. Glimpses of The Beach Boys’ famous surf rock can be found in The Age Of Attraction EP’s sun-bleached title track, while the macabre lo-fi psychedelia of The 13th Floor Elevators mixed with The Doors’ classic rock saturates tracks like “The Universe of God Shadow.” With Hines’ ability to write accessible songs that transcend genres, while staying true to DIY lo-fi recording techniques, it is no wonder Tropical Popsicle has opened for lo-fi garage poppers Times New Viking, and performed at this year’s CMJ music festival in October. My fingers are crossed for an LP release in 2012. – Katrina Nattress
NYC
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A NYC super-collective named People Get Ready, live at Glasslands on 11.26
This sounds interesting: People Get Ready is a Brooklyn based contemporary dance/live performance art collaboration between Steven Reker (touring dancer/guitarist to David Byrne who recently choreographed the t-shirt scene in Miranda July’s movie The Future) and Luke Fasano (Yeasayer/Ex-Models), along with members of A Sunny Day In Glasgow and Slow Gherkin. Their first pieces took place earlier this year at NY’s experimental performance space The Kitchen as part of its series "Dance and Process." The group started collaborating with dancers – reshaping their live show, and their performances are currently being scheduled in theaters and art centers around North America. They’ll be performing at Glasslands on November 26.
NYC
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Porcelain Raft releases debut CD “Strange Weekend” in January
Electro-dream-pop one man band Porcelain Raft will be releasing the debut album "Strange Weekend" on Secretly Canadian on January 24, and then embarking on a world tour in support of M83 and Smith Westerns. Book your calendars for a January 31 show at Webster Hall. Check out the "self-directed" video of the first single "Put Me to Sleep" below.