Psalm One, Tanya Morgan, and The Hood Internet just wrapped a West Coast Tour and Psalm One has released a video recapping their time on the road.
NYC
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Starbolt 9 plays The Mercury Lounge 9.2
Starbolt 9 comes at rock with the enthusiasm of the unrealized sexual fantasies of a million restless teenagers. New York has plenty of rockers cut from the cloth of the Strokes and Interpol; mopey musicians too cynical to truly get lost in their music. Not so with Starbolt. This has all the naive optimism of glam rock in its finest freakishness. Bordering on Broadway anthem on occassion, Starbolt gives an innocent pleasure with the roaring guitar solo of ‘Bottomless,’ and keyboard vamps of ‘Say Yes.’ These are episodes of largess that would make even Michael Hutchence blush. But hey, that’s what makes rock fun.
Check out their latest album ‘Human Strings and Mechanical Things’, excerpts from which are available on their Facebook page, and see them when they play Mercury Lounge on September 2nd – Mike Levine (@Goldnuggets)
Philadelphia
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Recap: KahBang Festival 2012 – Kick-off Party
The kick-off party for the KahBang Festival 2012 took place in and around downtown Bangor, ME last Thursday. The tucked-in but vibrant town is brought alive by KahBang each year and offers showcases at its multitude of quality bars and restaurants. Besides Portland, Oregon, Maine has the most home-brewers per capita in the US. This prevalent DIY ethic is what has powered KahBang into its fourth year. Somewhat surprising is how many devoted supporters of the arts live and work right here to bring this understated discovery festival to the thriving yet understated city.
One of the most intriguing aspects is the familial of the affair. (Big ups to The Hornet’s Nest – our camping home at KahBang!) While many festivals are either ostracizing or overwhelming, KahBang instead focuses on exploring the vast musical spectrum of New England and bringing them together to Bangor with some heavy hitters. They celebrate (overall) bringing like-minded people together to experience art, film, and music and the connection of that common bond.
For the opening evening of the fest, we came for the music and stayed for the drinks. The beer was flowing like water at the kick-off Beer Fest with a bunch of artists, like Trisha Mason and sultry alt-rocker Valerie Orth, entertaining the drinkers on the Pickering Square Stage.
Over on the West Market Stage, we caught performances by alt-rock oufit Beach The Whale, who reminded us a bit of At The Drive-In at times, as well as KahBang headliners Deftones. They were sharply dressed, and delivered some solid, angular power rock. They also talked about seeing the night’s headliner, Jacob Augustine, a decade ago when he and his brother were cutting their teeth in metal bands.
An exuberant Portland, ME group Sunset Hearts caught our ear and captured our hearts with their 80’s styled synthpop that Robert Smith would be proud of. They filled the pretty big stage with lots of members who all could really shred, and looked like they were having a hell of a time doing it. Besides overflowing with soul, they also had the crowd dancing more than any other act that night. Everyone keep an eye out for these guys. They are dope.
The night came to an official close with a blistering set by hometown hero Jacob Augustine, who is not actually from Bangor, but you get the idea. His “Family Band” consisted of his brother, sister, and girlfriend, among others. Together, they brought to life much of Jacob’s newest EP Bikini Island, as well as a rapturous version of Frontier standout “Pulse and Hum,” among others. Jacob’s massive voice and presence was undeniable as always, and really raised the bar for the rest of the weekend.
Make sure to check out all our photos from the night right HERE.
– Adam G.
NYC
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Album review: The Quivers – Gots To Have It!
(Photo by Steve Gardels)
The Quivers‘ new EP, aptly titled Gots To Have It!, serves up 13 minutes of raucous music that you can dance to, straight up!
Track 1: “Blue Light”
Abe Haddad’s push and pull Stratocaster guitar intro on “Blue Light” is like the turnover of an old dormant Studebaker that has finally been untarped for a summer of hot, late night love runs. Bernie Dugan’s backbeat sets the idle on this Midwestern tavern dance number that also reveals lead vocalist/bassist Terra Peal’s ability to blend her strong, soulful voice—which somewhat resembles Pat Benatar’s—with her patent banshee screams that could have crumbled the former Iron Curtain, had it not been for David Hasselhoff’s embryonic Berlin Wall performance…
Track 2: “He Had It Comin’”
With its reserved country pickin’, hip-poppin’ diner waitress vocals, and county fair carousel keyboards, “He Had It Comin’” will keep your feet movin’ and your hair swishin’ back and forth, even if the lyrics aren’t really appropriate for either. Haddad’s honky-tonk guitar work, Todd Grantham’s playful keyboard licks—all infused with traces of soul—make delightful, each time the refrain comes around so you can sing, “He had it comin’… He had it comin’…”
Track 3: “I Sleep Here”
“I Sleep Here” may musically sound like some kind of mash up of Huey Lewis, Booker T., and Tommy James & the Shondells, but it very much stands on its own as pure Quivers’ canon…and a song that you can’t help but grin ear-to-ear and wiggle to. Grantham sings lead on this ‘upbeat’ ballad, assuring us, “It’s pretty clear. I live alone with bravado, and ignore the phone.” And yes, that is Terra Peal growling out “Lordy, lordy!” in the background, tougher than Billy Idol ever was. That redheaded vixen sounds very much capable of damaging something if provoked.
Track 4: “What Went Wrong”
Peal struts her country vocal sensibilities to the pattering player piano saloon riffs in “What Went Wrong,” a song that will surely leave a dance floor full of boot scuffs and whiskey splatters. When Peal confesses, “I’ve been bad all my life,” it can make for some anxiousness, because her singing lends to many desires in the minds of many. Musically, perhaps the most contemporarily solid track on the EP, The Quivers show off their prowess and versatility, yet again.
Track 5: “Gots To Have It!”
“Gots To Have It!” bursts forth in purely fun, sock hop n’ roll fashion. Heavy snare hits (surely with some drumstick points toward the crowd), jogging keyboard chords, stacked vocals, and a tipsy rockabilly guitar solo that gets all up in your face and absolutely gets it done. This closing number burns a candle in the Church of Eighties Ending Credits Movie Songs … Wait. It didn’t appear at the end of a John Cusack movie? Well, it should have!
The Quivers play rock n’ roll that is sometimes soulful, sometimes rockabilly, sometimes country, sometimes…well—sometimes it’s hard to classify just what they do best! One thing is for certain; they are the perfect entertainers for pretty much any given night. You will smile, and you will quiver, when that band—the one straight from the garage on Sex Appeal St.— thrusts upon you when you – Gots To Have It!
You, too, can be rocked by The Quivers tomorrow night, August 15, at Aftershock for the KC Wednesday Night Jamboree. They’ll be performing with The Cave Girls. They’ll also be playing at Greaserama on Sunday, September 2.
–Christian Anders Liljequist
| Christian is a freelance writer. He will graduate from UMKC in the spring of 2013 with a BA in Communication Studies (Journalism & Mass Communication). |
Philadelphia
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Where Is My Mind?: Family Band’s Kim Krans
For Family Band bandmates, Kim Krans and Jonny Ollsin, who are also married, collaborating came naturally. They first met around a campfire in upstate New York, which is actually near a cabin that they own and use as a “creative refuge.” The couple had originally started a band together called Stonehenge, and after the breakup of Jonny’s metal outfit, Children, the duo’s focus switched to their current project. Family Band was invited last year to come to Philly to record an episode of Weathervane Music’s Shaking Through by guest curator Daniel Rossen from Grizzly Bear. The band later returned to Shaking Through’s headquarters Miner Street Recordings to lay down most of what would be their latest LP Grace & Lies (No Quarter), which eventually led to the couple moving from Brooklyn to “a huge loft in an old church” near the Fishtown studio. (Ha…try finding an affordable apartment like that in New York – good luck!) We recently had chance to ask Kim Krans questions about their meeting, songwriting process, mesmerizing music video for the track “Night Song,” and any other topics that struck our fancy. You can read our interview and what she had to say HERE.
Austin
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Seen Live: Whiskey Shivers
It would be a sin not to see Whiskey Shivers play live. The last I saw the band (not a week or so ago) they had arrived in Austin at about 7AM after a month long tour through the North West. Unfazed by this long trek, the five piece yeehawin’ bluegrass punks put on one of the most incendiary shows I have ever seen. The only bad part of their performance was that they were only allowed to play for forty minutes.
After opening with a couple of foot stompin’ hoedown suited songs, the band played some new material. “We’re gonna slow it down now,” said front man and fiddle player Bobby Fitzgerald, “Don’t freak out now. We’re just slowin’ it down.” The song that followed was heartbreakingly brilliant. If tears weren’t shed, they should have been. The moment the song ended, the crowd erupted into applause, hoots, and hollers. The crowd was made up of the Whiskey Shiver punks who danced the night away in overalls and flannel while downing Lonestar like it was water.
Whiskey Shivers don’t seem to play their instruments. Each listens to their instruments, waiting for that magic spark to come through. And when the moment hits (and it always does for these boys) the band and the audience have the biggest grins on their faces. – Taylor Browne
NYC
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Generator Ohm performs at WilliFest 8.16
Generator Ohm formed now two years ago, as Willie Chen and Ernest D’Amaso finally found in Mike Morales the drummer they’d been searching for to pursue a collaboration that began with Chewing Picks in 2008. Drawing influences from punk, grunge as well as hard rock/heavy metal, they put together a first album ‘Upon The Me Om I’ which, if quite the gripping ride, is neither as heavy nor as invasive as one could expect from a band with a defined taste for restless drums and powerful guitar work. Their sound is on the contrary very open, unclettered, however certain it is that they’d ‘never miss a beat‘, rolling steady through complex arrangements with a fluidity that finds them as committed to the aesthetics of prog-rock as there are to delivering effective rock’n’roll to the NYC crowds. Speaking of which, they’ll be playing a handful of Brooklyn shows before the end of August, the first being this Thursday (8.16) at The Trash Bar’s WilliFest, followed by XPO 929 on the 17th and Bar Matchless on the 31st, avis aux amateurs. – Tracy Mamoun
Philadelphia
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Tuesday Tune-Out w/Gretchen Lohse at PhilaMOCA Aug. 14
It’s that time of the week again. Tuesday Tune-Out is happening tonight at PhilaMOCA, and with all this dreary weather today, it’ll be easy to chill out indoors with the melancholy, folky stylings of songbird Gretchen Lohse. The Yellow Humphrey frontwoman will be performing a solo set as part of this month’s series curated by Folkadelphia’s Fred Knittel. This evening’s featured film is the fantastical The Beast Pageant. PhilaMOCA, 531 N. 12th St., 8pm, $5, 21+ – H.M. Kauffman
Philadelphia
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New Video: “Evil Eye” – Lantern
Below is live footage of Lantern performing a new song called “Evil Eye” from the upcoming album that they recorded with Uniform Recording’s Jeff Zeigler. It was filmed at Kung Fu Necktie on July 11, 2012, which was their summer tour kick-off show, and features bassist Emily Robb on lead vocals and David Fishkin on baritone sax. Special thanks to Live Philly Concerts’ Chris Thomas for sharing. (Photo by Kyle Costill)
NYC
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On The Beat with Michelle Bacon
If you’ve been wanting to know a little bit about The Deli KC’s very own editor-in-chief, now’s your chance. Michelle Bacon shares with us her views on smiling, Phil Collins, and why she loves Kansas City’s music scene so much. Oh, and playing drums. Catch the beat right here!
On The Beat is a weekly interview brought to you by drummer Sergio Moreno (of Hillary Watts Riot and Alacartoona), and features some of the many talented drummers in the Kansas City area.
Chicago
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Only Children “Singles”
Last week Only Children complied their recent singles into a soundcloud set and listening through it gives you an idea of just how far they have come over the last year. Not only have they release a series of great tracks, but their new label Nuclear Family is really taking off.
You can catch Only Children at the Friends of Nuclear Family Convention on August 23rd at Berlin (954 W. Belmont).
NYC
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Deadbeat Darling back from US tour plays The Mercury Lounge 8.18
After an EP, a first-full length album and a series of sold-out shows in NYC, Deadbeat Darling switched over in 2011 to the UK label SpearHavoc Records, with which they released their second full-length album ‘The Angel’s Share‘ (released in April), a delicately gritty indie-rock record soaked in nostalgia that travels through memories of past relationships, nocturnal turmoil and other deceptions punctuated by touches of scat, fingerpicked guitar strings, and tints of stripped down reggae/dub; if anything, it’s hard not to be seduced by the fragile, sometimes raucous voice of Deadbeat Darling’s lead singer Joseph King, a voice that breaks as it pushes too hard and softly makes every one of their songs sound so very intimate. A month exactly after their last NYC show, The Mercury Lounge will be welcoming them back from their US summer tour this Saturday (8.18), with Saratoga Springs soul/rock outfit Wild Adriatic.