Big Ugly Yellow Couch just posted a session with our favorite grunge-y folk troublemakers Creepoid (who were suggested by Yvynyl’s Mark Schoneveld). They recorded stripped-down versions of “Find You Out”, “Stranger”, and “Emily”. It looks like they also brought along their pal Dave Saylor who will be joining them occasionally on stage. As Creepoid’s drummer Pat Troxell puts it, “he’s our Pat Smear.” Saylor is the one-man band Exploding World. He was also in the band Zinc Pony with Creepoid lead singer/guitarist Sean Miller before the other half of their band joined Bucks County’s Illinois. (That’s the skinny in case you wondering who that extra guy in the band is.) Below is the video footage for “Stranger”. You can check out the rest of the session HERE. Creepoid was also just featured on Urban Outfitter’s Music Mondays, and they’ll be performing at Kung Fu Necktie this upcoming Monday. Now you have plenty of options to check them out. Enjoy! (Photo from Big Ugly Yellow Couch) – The Deli Staff
Thanks to all who came out this past Saturday for the Rock to the Future Benefit Show! There were good vibes all around as you can see from the photo above. Special thanks to Danger! Danger! Gallery for being such gracious hosts and Power Animal, Hop Along, Algernon Cadwallader, and Conversations with Enemies for playing their hearts out! You can check out more sweet pics of the event from our buddy David Turcotte HERE. Cheers! – The Deli Staff
Man Man are releasing their new full-length Life Fantastic on May 10 via ANTI-. It is also our May Album of the Month (you can check out our review HERE). The quirky avant-pop outfit just made Life Fantastic available for streaming in its entirety today via Stereogum. Enjoy! – The Deli Staff
Swedish born multi-instrumentalist Helena Espvall will be performing tonight at The Dauphinium. You most likely know her best for her work as the cellist for psychedelic folk outfit Espers. She has also played guitar and cello in several rock bands, a silent movie orchestra, an Arabian music ensemble, and improvisational groups on top of her collaborations with diverse acts like Fursaxa, Masaki Batoh, Samara Lubelski, and many others. This evening will feature Espvall’s hauntingly dark, dissonant solo compositions that should cut through the room of silent on-lookers like a sharp razor in the intimate space. The Dauphinium, (Please contact artist for details.), 8pm, $6, All Ages – Alexis V.
We recently shared with you the track and the "making of" video footage for “Borrowed Heart” that Hezekiah Jones recorded for Shaking Through. Well, Weathervane Music synced up “Borrowed Heart” with the scene from Bride of Frankenstein that inspired it all. You can check it out below. Enjoy! – The Deli Staff
Below is the first music video from Cold Cave’s Cherish The Light Years for the track “Villains Of The Moon”. It was directed Sebastian Mlynarski. The band also just announced more tour dates with a stop in Philly on Friday, August 5 at Voyeur for Making Time. You can check out the rest of their new tour dates HERE. – The Deli Staff
As one of the leading forces in the Philly music scene, Man Man has been making feral avant-pop for the past six years steadily growing in popularity with the help of a coveted opening spot for Modest Mouse and various uses of their music on TV that eventually landed them on ANTI- and put them well on their way to indie stardom. In the past, the bands’ lyrics and music have been odd and unfettered, and their newest album, Life Fantastic, is no exception. What is noticeably more present this time around, though, is a new depth and beauty both in lyrics and accompaniment. Lyrically the album hits harder and deeper than any in the past with the crank imagery suggesting loss, self-worth, and acceptance, among other things. The zany song titles and imagery may cause some words to be easily dismissed, but the lyrical and atmospheric contrast is really worth digging deeper.
For the first time, Honus Honus and crew went into the studio with a proven producer, and couldn’t have picked better by enlisting Bright Eyes member and Saddle Creek mastermind Mike Mogis to man the boards. Not only did they get a fresh new outlook on their music, but they also got the added bonus of lush string arrangements by Nate Walcott, another Saddle Creek wunderkind. Many of the songs are noticeably Man Man-ian, but Mogis managed to take the eccentricities of the band and mold each one into a group of cohesive but noticeably differentiated sounding tracks. He rounded some edges and expanded some ideas to create some of the best Man Man tracks to date.
The album starts strong with lead single “Knuckle Down” welcoming every level of Man Man fans with a distorted, almost 8-bit sounding keyboard part that explodes into a topsy-turvy track that makes its mark and gets out quickly. The next song, “Piranhas Club” is a vintage, beach-party surf jam, which is actually a yearning song about helplessness in the time of loss. Other standouts include the cinematic freak orchestration “Shameless” which utilizes Walcott’s strings for a beautiful intro that blooms into a driving, manic number. The album hits a high during “Spookie Jookie”, which really encapsulates the complimenting contrast of the string arrangements and Man Man’s manic, fantasia-esque songs. One can imagine that in a live setting these songs would really flourish. There is also a presence of slide guitar that is very reminiscent of Mogis’ other projects yet it seems to fit comfortably within the Man Man orchestrations. The album also finds sincerity in the tamer moments of the album, like during the sparse and haunting “Steak Knives” and the whimsical closer “Oh, La Brea”.
These new songs flourish largely because of Mike Mogis’ imaginative production work, but the tunes are also stronger and more fully formed than ever before. This album broadened Man Man’s musical spectrum and created the most accessible album yet without sacrificing any of the quirks that got Man Man where they are today. Life Fantastic will be available on May 10 via ANTI-. – Adam G.
New Motels are playing a FREE show tonight! It will be part of North Star Bar’s Victorian Dining Room Series where they have local acts perform stripped-down versions of their songs in the venue’s recently reopened 125-year-old upstairs dining space. I’ve always been a fan of “unplugged” series (before it got too saturated and played out in the 90s) so this should be a treat to catch the Jenkintown power-pop crew’s tunes in some of their rawest forms. No doubt – English teacher and lead singer-songwriter Josh Levandoski’s fine lyrics will standout this evening. New Motels will also be joined by Americana outfit The Suitcases. North Star Bar, 2639 Poplar St., 8pm, FREE, 21+ – H.M. Kauffman
Work Drugs just dropped a new music video for “Golden Sombrero” in celebration of the upcoming Cinco de Mayo holiday. You can check out the video below, and download the track for free HERE. The band is also running a remix contest. You can grab the stems for “Rad Racer” HERE and more details about the contest if you’d like to make your own remix. Enjoy! – The Deli Staff
Just after coming off a tour with O’Death, and finishing up a string of shows with Man Man, the Danger Danger crew behind the prolific album Everlasting should be set to pick up a some new fans when they open up for Peter, Bjorn and John and Bachlorette at Theatre of Living Arts tonight. Expect to hear a sensory onslaught of dynamic multi-layered art-pop that certainly belongs on the big stage. Grandchildren have also signed on to jam during Rock To The Future’s Year End Showcase alongside The Grand National and Creeping Weeds June 5th at World Café Live if you’re looking for more time with them. Theatre of Living Arts, 334 South St., 8pm, $22 (if bought from the band)/$32.50, All Ages – Bill McThrill
Classic rock inspired trio Busses are playing The Fire with an impressive list of openers. Dave Brett and co. go through genres like their girlscout cookies, playing prog-rock, psychadelia and blues without blinking. They will probably be kicking out the jams from their fine self-titled debut, but expect to hear some new songs as promised in their recent email to the media outlets. Joining Busses is the avant, neoclassical orchestrations of Corey Duncan’s Oh! Pears who had been keeping busy collaborating with Deli favorite Attia Taylor, but now are back on their lonesome. The man behind the boards of Busses debut, Jeff Zeigler, will also be performing a rare solo show so it should be interesting to see how the wall-of-sound tunes of Arc In Round translate over into this stripped-down set. Zeigler’s buddies and former tour mates Reds and Blue from Chicago will also be part of this evening’s festivities. The Fire, 412 W. Girard St., 9pm, $8, 21+ – Adam G.
The surf punk trio Dry Feet recently dropped a new 7” I Can’t Sleep at Night via Evil Weevil, and they’ll be celebrating the release tonight at Hong Kong Garden. The young beach-lovin’ crew certainly isn’t trying to reinvent the wheel, but you can tell that they are attacking the genre with plenty of raw, unbridled passion. On their first label release, the band revisits the opening two tracks from their debut self-released EP Philadelphia Beach. However, they’ve flipped the order, and you’ll find more polished, balanced mixes of the party favorites. They’ll be raging the night away with Canadian garage rockers the White Wires and local pals The Eeries, Rowsdower, and The Pussy Dogs. Hong Kong Garden, (Please contact one of the acts for details.), 7pm, $3, All Ages – Alexis V.
