The War on Drugs will be wrapping up what has certainly been a breakthrough year for mastermind Adam Granduciel and crew with a hometown show tonight at Union Transfer. The band released earlier this year the long-awaited follow-up to critically-acclaimed LP Wagonwheel Blues giving music critics another full-length album, Slave Ambient, to sink their teeth into and talk about. Their latest offering managed to snag “Best New Music” honors from Pitchfork and made the staff’s list of Top 50 Albums of 2011. It also garnered numerous emphatically positive words from other major music publications and blogs. (Ha…yes, we liked it too. You can check out our review of the September Album of the Month HERE.) The War on Drugs spent much of the year on the road touring with indie darlings like Destroyer and NYC’s Caveman. They also just headlined the majestic Bowery Ballroom and followed-up the appearance with a performance the next evening at the legendary Beacon Theatre opening for The National. And 2012 already shows signs that the four-piece road warriors won’t be stopping anytime soon with confirmed spring dates where they’ll be returning to Europe and spending time on tour in the U.S. with Sharon Van Etten and White Rabbits. The band will be making their late night television debut on January 10 with Jimmy Fallon. Since performances in Philly will be coming few and far between in the upcoming year, you should definitely make it out to UT this evening. They’ll be joined by 2010’s Deli Philly End of the Year Emerging Artist Poll Winner Sun Airway and Ape School, who will be playing some new material from their upcoming album Junior Violence coming out in late spring 2012. Union Transfer, 1026 Spring Garden St., 8pm, $14, All Ages – Q.D. Tran
Holiday Office Party at PhilaMOCA Dec. 17
I have never actually worked in an office, but if tonight’s festivities are any indication of what it is like, then I need to quit this bohemian lifestyle and get behind a desk asap. The Holiday Office Party of note is the one being held at PhilaMOCA which includes a stellar local lineup and possibly a copy machine (?). Sign me up. You’ll find local favorites Dangerous Ponies, so you know this party is going to include at least one instance of ballroom dancing along with infectious pop gems and killer outfits. Also performing is Hop Along, who have been keeping pretty quiet recently, but will be in full force playing their skittering and angsty tunes that are propelled by frontwoman Frances Quinlan’s otherworldly voice. Headlining the affair is Algernon Cadwallader, the Midwest emo revivalists to end all Midwest emo revivalists. Their noodling, shouting sing-alongs will certainly get the crowd moving if they somehow are not already. Also rocking the bill are Banned Books and Ecce Shnak. PhilaMOCA, 531 N. 12th St., 7pm, $10, All Ages – Adam G.
TivaTiva CD Release Party at MilkBoy Philly Dec. 17
TivaTiva will be celebrating the release of their new album Music for Interior Castles tonight at MilkBoy Philly. The four-piece is led by the emotive vocals and haunting cello work of frontman Daniel de Jesús. Their songs have an intimate quality that takes the listener on a journey with the band towards some sort of understanding and enlightenment of oneself – pretty and sincere. Come get swept away with them this evening. MilkBoy Philly, 1100 Chestnut St., 9pm, $10, 21+ – H.M. Kauffman
The Philadelphia Independent Craft Market at 2424 Studios Dec. 17
Miss Geo — The Story
Hailing from Rhode Island, indie-pop artist Miss Geo is ready to make a big impact on the New England music scene, and with an album like The Story, it’s hard not to be impressed. The album contains some of the best vocal tracks I’ve heard from a local artist in a long time. The project serves as a solo outlet for leading lady Abby Gutierrez. Her voice is a wonderful combination of Tegan and Sara with a splash of Metric thrown in for good measure.
Gutierrez seems to have cracked the code for crafting perfect pop songs; her track Snake Soiree being a prime example of her talent. The long, slow build-up of the verse into a full-on synth-laden dance party chorus is brilliant. Once again, I found myself dancing in my chair as I typed this review.
Gutierrez’ talents extend far deeper than just instrumentation or orchestration of songs. Her lyrical descriptions are quite striking. Fore xample, in Snake Soiree she described her significant other as being “muter than the silent film stars”, an image that I found to be very powerful.
This collection of songs is well-worth a listen (or two, or three). I would not be surprised to hear her songs start showing up on the radio (they certainly have enough hooks and pop-clarity). If my ravings about Miss Geo haven’t yet convinced you of Gutierrez’ skills, head on over to the Miss Geo Myspace page or check Miss Geo out live (accompanied by her live band consisting of fellow musicians Jessy Bartlett, Chris Mendoza, and James Wilhelmsen).
–Daniel McMahon
Weekend Warrior, December 16 – 18
Meiko cooks up a sweet tune with “Stuck on You”
Meiko whips up a tasty-looking batch of her world famous Turkey Balls in her charming visual for “Stuck on You” from her Spring 2012 release, The Bright Side. Set in a cute little kitchen, she’s clad in a frilly apron, and smiles at the camera as if her lover was right there watching the entire process. The recipe for Meiko’s Famous Turkey Balls (vegetarian version included as well) can be found on her website. Meiko is not only being generous with her recipe secrets, right before Christmas, she will perform at two benefit shows along with other local musicians. On December 16th, she’ll play the "10th Annual HoHoTel Holiday Benefit Show", aiding the Los Angeles Fire Department’s "Spark of Love" Holiday Toy Drive. Also, on December. 19th she’ll play the "Songs For Kids Benefit Show", raising money for the Song For Kids Foundation. – Nicole Dawley
Deli Best of NYC Year End Poll: Last few days to submit
NYC Bands,
If you missed the window to subscribe for free to our Best of NYC Year End Poll for emerging artists, we’d like to remind you that you can still submit through SonicBids for a $5 fee HERE (FYI this is the only instance in which we charge bands for something, due to the massive amount of times it takes us to listen to thousands of submissions).
As you may know, the winner of the poll will be featured on the cover of our spring 2012 issue and each nominee will have a blurb and possibly a picture in that same issue.
Also, signing up through both the free submission and the SonicBids one increases your chances to be selected simply because the artists in the two lists will go through different filtering processes. Submissions will close on December 23.
Check out last year’s results here, and the linked Best of NYC 2011 issue here.
The Deli’s Staff.
Ivan and Alyosha Play L.A. for Child Soldier Benefit
Deli Band of the Month Ivan and Alyosha will be using their folk pop catalogue to do more than entertain tonight, as they play an opening slot for the Mountain Goats at The Troubadour in Los Angeles. The bands are both showcasing their tunes in a fundraising benefit for the Invisible Children movement, which aims to end the use of child soldiers in Joseph Kony’s rebel war, and to help restore peace in central Africa. The band released a cover of Jackson Browne’s "Rebel Jesus" in the lead-up to the event. Ivan and Alyosha toured extensively this year, traveling throughout Canada and the U.S. before making plans to record a full-length follow-up to this year’s Fathers Be Kind. With an acoustic demo of their new song, "Be Your Man", getting play online, the buzz around this Seattle duo should ensure they draw a crowd tonight – for a good cause.
-Kate Shepherd
Relieve Some Stress w/Birds of Maya & Tin Horses at Little Bar Dec. 16
Photo Recap: The Homophones & Dale Earnhardt Jr. Jr. at JB’s
This past Tuesday at Johnny Brenda’s The Homophones were the sole opening act for a sold out Dale Earnhardt Jr. Jr. show. The stage was packed with balloons and decorations from both bands. The Homophones fearlessly experimented with a bunch of new tunes for the big show. They proved to be a great warm-up to get the crowd excited for the headlining act. What really impressed us the most about the Detroit-based outfit was Dale Earnhardt Jr. Jr.’s work ethic and desire to entertain. After chatting backstage with one half of the core duo, Josh Epstein, we learned that they had just performed earlier in the day at a radio station sponsored showcase in Annapolis at Rams Head and were djing at Kung Fu Necktie after their set. (They were impressed by Philly for coming out to represent on a Tuesday night.) The band’s hard work showed in their performance with a tight set of ten originals and three covers, which were The Beach Boys’ “God Only Knows,” Gil-Scott Heron’s “We Almost Lost Detroit,” and Whitney Houston’s “I Wanna Dance with Somebody,” one of the encores and personally a song that we could’ve done without mainly because we watched plenty of MTV during the time its video was popular so there were unwanted flashbacks. However, Dale Earnhardt Jr. Jr. closed out the evening with a fine performance of their fan favorite “Nothing But Our Love.” You can check out our photos from the evening HERE.
The Key Studio Sessions Live w/Attia Taylor, Pink Skull & Summer Fiction at JB’s Dec. 16
