With Sara Marcus’ Girls to Front bringing renewed interest in the Riot Grrrl Movement, the growing success of Girls Rock Philly, and the new crop of fierce, talented female musicians tearing up the indie music scene, it’s easy to say that there’s a resurgence in lady rock – one that signals a new future for women in rock, which will put them at a hot forefront. But, the truth is, we’re just beginning to touch on something that Sugar Town has known for the last ten years – that women in rock are far, wide and in our own backyard, are true and plentiful, and are deserving of our undivided attention. Sugar Town was started in 2001 by local music journalist/promoter/DJ Sara Sherr (read our interview with the founder here) as a monthly night to celebrate local and national lady rockers and DJs (despite a few hiatuses), and on Saturday at home base Tritone, it’ll celebrate its 10th-year anniversary with a 13-band bill of local acts paying homage to influential and legendary female bands and artists (with No Wavelength‘s Grace Ambrose and Erin Mae Szrankowski of Y-Rock on XPN‘s Pop Theory program spinning between sets). Among the tribute bands are Cris Valkryria & The Opponents playing Blondie, Girls Rock Philly and Make a Rising members taking on Electrelane, Girls Dressed As Girls (featuring Mighty Paradocs‘ mate and Tritone’s monthly "Rockers" host, Camae Defstar) playing Hole and much, much more (for a full list, check out here). Happy birthday, Sugar Town! Tritone, 1508 South St., 6pm, $7, 21+

 

Other shows that you can ski or snowboard to…

 

Johnny Brenda’s (1201 N. Frankford Ave.) FRI The Asteroid #4, Snakes Say Hisss, SAT Reef The Lost Cauze, SUN Hey Angel and The Midnight Beat

 

Kung Fu Necktie (1250 N. Front St.) SAT Banned Books

 

North Star Bar (2639 Poplar St.) FRI Fathead Reunion Show w/Alien Architect, Electric City, SAT The New Connection, Andrew Lipke, Oldermost

 

The Fire (412 W. Girard Ave.) FRI Keystone Mountain Boys, SAT Theotis Joe, The Jill Rabbits, Sensory Whore, SUN Bridge Underwater

 

M Room (15 W. Girard Ave.) FRI Bill Wilson Jr., SUN Mrs. Pain, Palyboy Bunny Savage, Site Recites

 

Tritone (1508 South St.) FRI Gun Fight

 

Millcreek Tavern (4200 Chester Ave.) FRI Vilebred, SAT The Claw

 

Highwire Gallery (2040 Frankford Ave.) FRI The Rat Bastard Experience

 

The Blockley (3801 Chestnut St.) SAT 28 North, The Tressels, Penrose

 

Fergie’s (1214 Sansom St.) FRI New Pony

 

Connie’s Ric Rac (1132 S. 9th St.) FRI Babble Tongue Sarcastic and Pink Elephants, SAT Buddhafest 43 w/ Kaligata,Kickin Bear, Fatal Verdict, and more

 

Greenline Café (4239 Locust St.) FRI Brown Bird Blonde Bird, Out Like Lambs

 

Danger Danger Gallery (5013 Baltimore Ave.) FRI Normal Love, Mincemeat on Tenspeed, Bad News Bats, SUN Da Comrade!, SkeletonBreath, Cloud Becomes Your Hand

 

Triumph Brewery (117 Chestnut St.) SAT The Fractals and Cookie Rabinowitz

 

The Legendary Dobbs (304 South St.) FRI Case Closed, SAT Surgeon

 

We recently shared with you a new track and cover art from Brown Recluse’s upcoming album Evening Tapestry scheduled for release on March 15 via Slumberland Records. But if that’s still too long for you to wait for more new material from our local pop masters, then the band was nice enough to release a new EP this week available for FREE download here titled Panoptic Mirror Maze. You can also check out a new video for the track “Mirror Mansion” below from the EP. Enjoy! – The Deli Staff

 

The good thing about being snowed in is that it feels a little bit like a vacation because there is not much to do. It gives you a chance to catch up on things that passed you by while life was happening. It was nice to see Philly musicians gettin’ some “best of” love from Daytrotter. Congrats to Strand of Oaks for making the list of Daytrotter’s Best of 2010 (favorite recorded songs) with “Lawns Breed Songs” as well as Juston Stens and the Get Real Gang for getting a nod with “Lonely Lonely Night” in Daytrotter’s Best of 2010’s Readers Choice! You can check out both the mentioned tracks from their Daytrotter sessions below. Cheers! – The Deli Staff

 

Below is a stripped-down version of Blood Feathers performing an unreleased song “Isaac” from last week’s Birdie Busch/Dickey-Mills show (1/20/11) at the Tin Angel. Enjoy! – The Deli Staff

 

 

Dismantling the patriarchy by way of riffs and beats, Philly’s lyrically conscious two-piece Trophy Wife intertwines intentional instrumentation with a feminist paradigm, fashioning tracks like “Risk Big” and “Sister Outsider” as ideological anthems that sound out as an invite to reconsider, rock out, and react. Originally hailing from D.C., Trophy Wife’s Katy Otto and Diane Foglizzo’s full-length Patience Fury is far from soft-spoken or shy. In the tradition of Riot Grrls like Kathleen Hanna (Bikini Kill, Le Tigre) and pro-fem punks like X-Ray Spex, Otto and Foglizzo’s pedagogical stance aims to audibly entice while challenging intolerances like the societal limitations of sexism and the harm of homophobia. Trophy Wife’s aesthetic is a closely personal one, resulting in a sound that inhabits a theoretical space between Itty Bitty Titty Committee and Betty Friedan. Opening tonight for the Dismemberment Plan and Cymbals Eat Guitars, Trophy Wife’s performance will reconfigure the feminine mystique. Starlight Ballroom, 460 N. 9th St., 7:30pm, $20, All Ages – Dianca Potts

 

Tonight will be a rare performance by folkie, “urbangrass” outfit The Lowlands so expect a nice turnout from the local folk/singer-songwriter community and fans. That is if everyone can dig themselves out from the aftermath of the THUNDERSNOW/SNOWPOCALYPSE. The band is led by the soulful, working-man vocals of Chris Kasper and angelic down-home welcomings of Adrien Reju combined with mastermind Todd Barenson’s mandolin work and bassist/producer Jeff Hiatt keeping things anchored. Veteran players Tom Bendel, Kiley Ryan and Carl Cheeseman will also be helping to fill out their sound for the evening after The Lowlands perform an acoustic set, the first of two that will include old favorites and special guests Keystone Mountain Boys, Liz Fullerton, Brad Hinton, Johnny Miles and Dawn Iulg. It seems like a lot of love and warmth will be radiating from the stage downstairs tonight at World Café Live to keep you nice and cozy from the bitter cold outdoors. World Café Live, 3025 Walnut St., 8pm, $16 adv/$19 door, All Ages (Photo by Lisa Schaffer) – H.M. Kauffman

 

Yes, we know that it’s been a long time since Amos Lee has been an independent artist so he certainly doesn’t need any exposure from us, but we couldn’t help giving a little hometown love to a guy who has been repping Philly hard on the national/international singer-songwriter scene. (And full disclosure – Lee and members of his band have crashed for a period of time at our Associate Editor’s pad earlier off in their careers so it’s hard not to wish good things for them.) His latest release Mission Bell dropped this past Tuesday, and has already topped the charts on iTunes and Amazon. Below is his performance last night of “Windows Are Rolled Down” from The Tonight Show with Jay Leno. Special thanks to The Audio Perv for sharing! – The Deli Staff

 

Ugh – it’s shite out! I’m guessing if you were planning to go to the show this evening at Kung Fu Necktie, then you probably believe staying home because of the weather instead of going out kickin’ back a few and rockin’ balls is for pussies. I concur. Post-rock-meets-metal trio SunCrusher have an ominously patient sound creating a sonic calm before the storm. Thinking these guys and the metal version of Grimace Federation should get together soon and share a bill or just point their amps at each other and battle it out for all to see. Until one of those things happen, you can give the middle finger to Mother Nature and trek over to KFN tonight. SunCrusher will be opening for the down-tempo grime of Ominous Black climbing up from the basements of dirty South Philly. Kung Fu Necktie, 1250 N. Front St., 8pm, $8, 21+ – Alexis V.

 

It’s been a few years since Cheers Elephant’s self-titled debut LP, and naturally things have changed a bit during that interval. The band is still reminiscent of all the best British Invasion folk rock, like some Byrds-meets-Yardbirds combo refined by time. But the slight psychedelic tinge from the first album has been curbed on their sophomore effort Man is Nature, and the production’s sound is somewhat more subdued. The songwriting is also decidedly more “mature”, but still full of the rollicking folkie rhythms and warm, tube amp licks that we’ve come to know.

 

Opener “Shark Attack” is inviting and should be considered a front runner for the first single, a piece of spontaneous power-pop that wouldn’t sound out of place on the current Polyvinyl Records roster. “My Bicycle Ride” has the vocal harmonies kicked into full gear and sports a soaring hook. The two ballads, “¿Come Es La Vida?” and “Jumbo Shrimp”, are remarkably similar, but the former has a Latin-inflected chorus and in the latter, a scorching blues riff rears its ugly head at critical moments. The second half of the album provides the band some room to be playful. “Comment Allez-Vouz” is a Kinks-y number that makes fun use of its title. “Captain Crowninshield” has that silly, psychedelic era Beatles feel. At first, “Slide Jelly” is a closer that completely sounds like a closer. Ominous outdoorsy sounds permeate the background as a lonesome lap steel snakes its way in. But then, sparks fly and the most off-kilter moment of the LP intercuts the solitude. The lap steel gets deranged and a frenzy of “la-la-las” ascend to goofy heights, only to recede again.

 

It’s to Cheers Elephant’s credit that their tunes go down so easily, and for some of us, it’s even better that they’ve honed and polished their sound. For others, this might possibly be a bit of a griping point. Not that they’ve changed all that much since 2008, but I could imagine a few select people missing the rawer, more dynamic feel of their earlier material. When all is said and done, it just depends on who you ask. You can purchase and download Man is Nature here. – Joe Poteracki

 

Special thanks to local freelance photographer and writer Tiffany Yoon for recently editing and uploading videos that she’s collected over this past year. Below is some footage from badasssss, blues-rockin’ Birds of Maya’s Ready to Howl Record Release Show (5/15/10) at The El Bar! – The Deli Staff