Philadelphia

Weekend Warrior, May 31 – June 2

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OK, I know that there is a ton of shit going on this weekend now that summer is here. But you really should join us at Beaumont Warehouse for The Works’ annual alleycat/fun ride afterparty to benefit Neighborhood Bike Works, a non-profit organization that seeks to create educational, recreational and career-building opportunities for urban youth in Philly through bicycling. We’ll be rockin’ out this Saturday evening with Dominic Angelella (from DRGN KING), The Cats, Cave Life and Bleacher Heat as well as The Deli DJs (Q.D. Tran & Adam G.). There will also be plenty of drinks, food and prizes. We are very appreciative that the kind folks of the Beaumont Warehouse are letting us into their home and sharing their sweet space. Let the good times roll – cheers! Beaumont Warehouse, (Please contact one of the acts or thedelimagazinephiladelphia@gmail.com for more info.), 6pm, $5 – $15 Donation, All Ages – Alexis V.

 
Other things to do in this heat…
 
Johnny Brenda’s (1201 N. Frankford Ave.) FRI Nightlands, Ape School, Our Griffins, SAT This Radiant Boy, JJL, Dragon City
 
Kung Fu Necktie (1250 N. Front St.) SAT Swarm of Arrows, Causatum
 
PhilaMOCA (531 N. 12th St. Philadelphia) SAT The Joint Cheifs of Math
 
Underground Arts (1200 Callowhill Ave.) SAT The Official Roots Picnic Afterparty w/?uestlove
 
RUBA Club (414 Green St.) FRI Pancake & Booze Art Show w/SandCastle & Goddamnit
 
North Star Bar (2639 Poplar St.) FRI Luke Elliot, Nicky P, SAT Flightschool, The Yuzh
 
The Fire (412 W. Girard Ave.) FRI The Late Ancients, The Rivals, SAT Foxhound, Marc Silver, Johnny Miles
 
MilkBoy Philly (1100 Chestnut St.) FRI Flux Capacitor
 
Ortlieb’s Lounge (847 N. 3rd St.) FRI The Scovilles, SAT Twister Baby, SUN A Night at the Opry w/Sharon Little
 
M Room (15 W. Girard Ave.) FRI Sapremia, Dark Waters, Prosper or Perish
 
Tin Angel (20 S. 2nd St.) SAT Cliff Hillis
 
The Trocadero (1003 Arch St.) FRI Seeds of Perdition, Travia
 
The Blockley (3801 Chestnut St.) SAT Pier Entertainment Spring Music Fest & Industry Aftershow w/Angela Everwood, Zeek "The Experience", Jeremy Isaac, Modern Colour, Tanikka Charrae, Selina Carrera, NeJcion
 
World Café Live (3025 Walnut St.) FRI The Ocean Blue, Riverside Taste, SAT Manifest III, Lynn Riley, Paula Johns, SUN Burning Bridget Cleary
 
The Legendary Dobbs (304 South St.) FRI Andra Taylor, Nate Dodge, SAT The Bailey Hounds, SUN Rusty Cadillac
 
Connie’s Ric Rac (1132 S. 9th St.) FRI Minka
 
Teri’s (1126 S. 9th St.) SAT Swarm of Arrows, Causatum
 
The Grape Room (105 Grape St.) SAT Watery Love and Spacin’
 
Festival Pier at Penn’s Landing (Columbus Blvd & Spring Garden St.) SAT The Roots Picnic w/The Roots, Lushlife
 
Golden Tea House (Please contact one of the acts or venue for more info.) SAT Radiator Hospital, The Holidays, Crybaby, SUN Everyone Everywhere, Little Big League
 
Motel Hell (Please contact one of the acts or venue for more info.) SAT Motel Hell 3rd Anniversary w/Snoozer, Cannons, Rasputin’s Secret Police, Ape!
 
Michael Jordan (Please contact one of the acts or venue for more info.) SUN Girl Scouts, Little Kingdom
 
Great Indoors (Please contact one of the acts or venue for more info.) FRI Banned Books, Laser Background
 
Hong Kong Garden (Please contact one of the acts or venue for more info.) SAT Jackie Paper
 
Little Berlin (Please contact one of the acts or venue for more info.) SAT Amanda X, Needle Points
 
LAVA Place (Please contact one of the acts or venue for more info.) FRI Horrendous Privilege, Plutonian, Hippie Cult
 
Billy Blakes (Please contact one of the acts or venue for more info.) SAT Xanax, Teenage Priests
 
NYC

Columboid releases ‘Monster Vision’ at St. Vitus on 06.19

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Since we are in an "apocalyptic mood" – see previous post about KNTRLR – we might as well highlight this new Brooklyn band called Columboid, which just debuted the bizarrely unsettling video below – vocals start at minute 3, and the simple fact that we stuck around until then implies we dug what we heard: i.e. a lot of dissonance, a lot of tension, and a lot of hopelessness –  think of an electric, well orchestrated sonic version of Edvard Much’s "The Scream."

The band has sophomore album ‘Monster Vision’ (their second after their 2010 debut) scheduled for release on June 18th. See them at St. Vitus in Greenpoint on June 19th.

NYC

KNTRLR added to The Deli’s B.E.A.F. electronic bill on 07.07 at Spike Hill

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Brooklyn’s electro-rock duo KNTRLR – who placed 86th in our latest Best of NYC Poll for emerging NYC artists – was just added to the lineup of our B.E.A.F. Fest‘s electronic night on July 7 at Spike Hill. The band’s latest single "Stabs" – from their upcoming full length, streaming below – features a sound that blends the industrial noises of Nine Inch Nails with slowly unraveling melodies sounding as if pronounced by a prophet of some sort. Which makes this song the perfect soundtrack for your commute back from Manhattan on the hottest day of the year – as long as you can deal with the thought of impending apocalypse and slow death by global warming.

We added this song to The Deli’s playlist of Best Electronic songs by emerging NYC artists – check it out!

NYC

Sins of the Loose Buttons release EP + headlines Bklyn Bowl on 07.16

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A band that left the majors to do things their own way back in 2011, Sins of the Loose Buttons has a huge amount of material collected over the past couple years. And all of it is about to come out on their debut EP ‘Am Arcade.’ The sometimes hard rock, sometimes funk-driven alt rock quartet will be releasing their debut on June 2nd, and planning on celebrating the release with a trip to the Northside Festival on June 16th and headlining Brooklyn Bowl on July 16th. Check them out and watch their new video for ‘I Love Lucy’ here. – Mike Levine (@Goldnuggets)

Portland

“Remember Where You Are” at Hollywood Theater 5.31

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Tonight the historic Hollywood Theater will present Remember Where You Are, a film documenting a 12,00 mile, 50 show living room tour taken by local musicians Catherine Feeny and Sebastian Rogers. The film depicts the need for music and expression on a personal level as the two journey across the country playing for complete strangers in their homes. This engaging and emotional documentary is not to be missed. It starts at 7:30 pm and you can find tickets here. Stick around for a Q and A with director, Wayne Watson Jr., after the show. – Benjamin Toledo

Philadelphia

Nightlands Supported by Ape School & Our Griffins at JB’s May 31

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This upcoming Nightlands show should require a pillow to enter. The multi-talented Dave Hartley transports listeners to the place just between dreams and sleep with free-flowing choral effects with ambient noise. In fact, that’s where he came up with most of the ideas for Nightlands’ tracks: recording inspiration that came to him in REM cycle. However, his most recent release Oak Island finds him wandering a poppier side of music, but it still feels like poppy fields are scattered throughout the landscape. (BTW: I heard that there might be some live choral arrangements this evening.) Opening for Nightlands is Ape School, a solo(ish)-project from Michael Johnson. The band gives an oft tongue-in-cheek experiment in lyricism, resulting in a truly fun musical experience. Also taking the stage is Our Griffins, fronted by Dennis Joseph “DJ” Brown, who provides a gentle and soft-spoken sound that packs an emotional punch.  Johnny Brenda’s, 1201 N. Frankford Ave., $12, 8pm, 21+ – Shaylin O’Connell

Austin

Hollywood Cole, Sneak Peek at Debut EP, Local Show TBA

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Hollywood Cole is a burgeoning side project from local singer/soul writer, Ray Prim. With grimy guitar riffs a la Gary Clark Jr. and edgier vocals than Ray’s previous work, this album is an exciting new Austin sound. From bluesy rock ballads to smooth pop grooves, I can already hear this album on the radio waves. Check out the sneak peek of the EP at the link below. First show, TBA. — Written by Charise Sowells

San Francisco

Oakland Based Legends Shannon and the Clams Star in Mini Doc

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Oakland based garage rock band, Shannon and the Clams were the stars of a mini documentary entitled, AMERICAN MUSIC Ep 6: Shannon and the Clams. The video is available on youtube and highlights the band’s philosophy and experience of being such an iconic musical outfit.

This documentary is also a foreshadow of an upcoming three month tour that Shannon and the Clams will be embarking on this year. Check back for more info and dates of the tour!

Philadelphia

Banned Books & Laser Background Providing Bookends of Weird at Great Indoors May 31

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Great Indoors hosts a pair of playfully twisted acts this evening in Banned Books and Laser Background. The trio of Banned Books offers a variation of noise rock whose subdued vocals feed into bursts of energetic instrumentation short raw guitar lines, throbbing bass and timely crashing percussion. Laser Background is the delightfully warped musical exploits of Andy Molholt. Combining a strange daydream vibe with smoothed out pop sensibilities. They’ll be joined by Brooklynites Celestial Shore and Leapling. This evening promises to get weird in a way that you’ll really enjoy. Great Indoors, (Please contact one of the acts or ghostlightbooking@gmail.com for more info.), 7pm, $5 – $7, All Ages – Michael Colavita 

 
NYC

Album review: The Clementines – The Clementines

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(Photo by Elise Del Vecchio at Lighted Stage Photography)

The Kansas City music community continues to thrive and expand, something The Deli KC is happy to support and report on, and this trend continues to build momentum with each passing year and each new album release. And by no means is this a boys-only club, of course; over the past several years there has been no shortage of great female singers in many genres: Abigail Henderson, Lauren Krum, Alicia Solombrino, Julia Haile, Danielle Schnebelen, and Shay Estes, just to name a half-dozen. These ladies can not only rock the mic—they do so fearlessly and effortlessly, providing a presence that is both captivating and unforgettable, and all are members of bands that bring great things to the stage whenever they’re on. There’s another name and another band vying for a place in your record collections, one that has been working the circuit, playing bars and clubs from Lawrence to Columbia and all points in between, and with the release of their full-length self-titled debut, The Clementines are ready for their well-earned time in the spotlight.
 
The Clementines started as a duo in 2011 with founding members Nicole Springer and Tim Jenkins each playing acoustic guitars and using their time to hone their singing and songwriting chops. They added the rhythm section of Stephanie Williams and Travis Earnshaw the next year, a move that gave heft and [if I may use a technical term here] oomph to support the power of Springer’s mighty pipes. And while they may have a lead singer whose voice can turn walls into rubble at any given moment, Springer doesn’t simply lean on her internal volume control switch in an effort to overpower her listeners. In The Clementines you’ll hear a great deal of control and command, as the music calls for presentation that runs from pensive to melancholy to victorious to daring to outright sassy. She’s got all the tools, and like any good carpenter or mechanic, she knows which tools to use and when to use them. No song features a delivery that seems out of place, and no mood is falsely presented.
 
Any band with such a commanding presence at the front runs the risk of being overshadowed by that voice, or of being seen as “hangers-on” who are only along for the ride because of the talent of the lead singer, not because of their own abilities. There is no such worry with The Clementines, as this is truly a band with quality at all positions. Jenkins has adapted and enhanced his guitar playing to accommodate both duo and quartet arrangements; his skills have progressed greatly since I first saw the two-piece version of the band on the recordBar stage a couple years ago. Earnshaw lends a stalwart bass presence, never pushing his way into the spotlight, but never fully conceding to the twin-mostly-acoustic-guitar sounds which he augments in fine fashion. His ability to set a warm, comfortable foundation to the proceedings is crucial to the cohesiveness of the music. And Williams is simply described in the band’s bio as “bad-ass drummer”; that’s about as spot-on as it gets. The Clementines features a wide array of genres and influences—rock, soul, jazz, Americana, gospel, blues—and their rhythmic timekeeper doesn’t miss a beat (literally and figuratively) throughout, keeping lock-step with her bandmates at every turn. If playing music with such a dominant frontwoman is a challenge, then Jenkins, Earnshaw, and Williams are more than up to the task throughout the album’s fourteen-track playlist.
 
A few CliffsNotes-sized looks at some of those tracks:
 
“Rough Times” – The first single released by the band; Americana-rock sounds with an underlying jazz snarl. To say that acoustic bands can’t groove is ridiculous, and this track serves as Exhibit A of that argument.
 
“Soul, Mind, Role, Survive” – The one electrified song on the album, with an added punch that gives it a ‘90s alt-rock vibe. A great change of pace.
 
“Could Have Been” – A menacing slice of backwoods swamp-pop swathed in Southern-fried goodness. Undeniably catchy and hooky.
 
“Say” – The most intricate playing by all four members, showing off the instrumental skill sets that make this band a quadruple threat.
 
“Responsibility” – This may be my favorite track on the album; Springer’s delivery goes from delicately soft to passionately earnest without breaking stride.
 
“Sightless” – Acoustic rock doesn’t get any better than this, pure and simple. Maybe *this* is my favorite track?
 
“Should I” – A delicate arrangement that made me think Western madrigal, which I can’t explain but it just sounds like it fits. If you’re a fan of Calexico (and you should be), this is a track for you.
 
“Moved” – A textbook closing track musically and one of the most lyrically powerful, an expression of longing and love lost; a very courageous move on the part of the band to close with a song that does not offer the listener the prototypical “happily ever after” ending. Okay, THIS might be my favorite track.
 
We all like to see friends and neighbors succeed, and when they’re willing to bust their asses to make good things happen for themselves, it’s all the more rewarding. Bands like Making Movies, She’s A Keeper, and The Latenight Callers are proof that constant work, abundant publicity, and outright ability will get your music heard. The Clementines fit that bill, with an increasing number of shows over the past few months which have led to their self-titled album being a reality—and a reality which you should tune in to. As Springer sings in “Bayou”, the album’s opening track: “I leave it up to you when we’re at the bayou / to renew my existence, to sanctify my consciousness.”
 
Existence renewed, consciousness sanctified—and efforts very much appreciated.
 
Be sure to join The Clementines this Saturday, June 1, as they release their self-titled debut album at The Brick. They will kick off the show at 9 p.m., playing the album in its entirety. Root and Stem will perform afterwards. Facebook event page.
 
–Michael Byars
 

Michael Byars wrote most of this with one hand, as his other arm has gone numb from his editor’s constant punching—but he thinks she’s pretty cool anyway. [Editor’s Note: She is. *punch*]
 
 
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Philadelphia

Pancakes & Booze Art Show w/SandCastle & Goddamnit at RUBA Club May 31

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When LA’s famous Pancakes & Booze Art Show was originally slated to arrive at the Bookspace a couple years back, it touted a number of reasons to go that went well beyond the whipped cream and maple syrup. And when it ended up being canceled just as quickly as it was slated to arrive, it turned more than one chocolate chip smiley face upside down. But the event has finally found a home at RUBA Club tonight, and will feature the work of over 50 local underground and emerging artists, live body painting, a live art battle, and an all-you-can-eat pancake bar with all the fixins, as well as music. The event will feature the mysterious lo-fi, psych-pop of SandCastle, the new project of Da Comrade! alum Micah Edwards. Also, in just a short amount of time, Goddamnit has managed to find a home at Creep Records with their beer-filled guitar rock anthems. RUBA Club, 416 Green St., 8pm, $5, 21+ – Bill McThrill