Start making plans because this weekend TJ Kong and the Atomic Bomb will be letting loose their twisted concoction of blues, Bob Dylan and whiskey on our inebriated eardrums. Caught somewhere between rickety small town saloon and laying on your couch hungover the next day, Kong and the Bomb bring together everything we love and hate about drunken nights spent drifting between the barroom floor and your bedroom pillow. They’ll be joined on this alcohol-soaked evening by The Great Unknown, who won’t remain that way for long. Their lyrics are wound so tightly around soulful guitar melodies that bring up images of oh so familiar settings and experiences. This fearsome foursome who began as a duo in a quiet, dark basement have emerged to the surface and are ready to show what they have to offer. Looks like they’ll be pulling double duty this weekend at The Spinning Leaves‘ Vinyl Release Party! Capping off the bill will be the strange and wildly entertaining army of Toy Soldiers. All three of these bands are unique, different and ready to rock your winter socks right off your chilly feet. So get your skinny jean wearing asses out to Johnny Brenda’s tonight for a show that will timewarp you to a rollicking partay! Johnny Brenda’s, 1201 N. Frankford Ave., 9pm, $10, 21+ – Meaghan McCafferty

 

Tonight we’ll be presenting a most enjoyable bill at Kung Fu Necktie. Headlining will be sound manipulator Michael Johnson with his crew of experimental popsters under his moniker Ape School. Come learn how intelligent a school of apes can be. Make sure to get there early to catch The Deli’s January Artist(s) of the Month The Circadian Rhythms with their throwback sound in a new school way. They’ll be sandwiching Jenkintown’s New Motels, who’ve been recording their fun, ramshackled radio-pop at American Diamond with Bill Moriarty, and Brooklyn’s Savior Adore, who will be on tour most of March with Mon Khmers. We’ll be there with our drinking shoes on. We’d love for you to join us and hopefully buy us many shots of Jameson! Kung Fu Necktie, 1250 N. Front St., 8pm, $8, 21+ – The Deli Staff

 

Gina Ferrera maybe an Italian-American girl from dirty Jerz, but her heart lies somewhere in the warm climates of West Africa. She specializes in a tonal percussive instrument called a gyil – pronounced jeel – an acoustic, wooden mallet instrument in the xylophone family that originated from the tri-border region of Ghana, Burkina Faso and Cote D’Ivoire, where Ferrera traveled to learn from gyil masters Kakraba Lobi and Bernard Woma. She’s brought her knowledge and rhythms back to Philly where she’s recorded her latest album on Rope A Dope, titled Gina Ferrera & The Philadelphia Gyil Fusion Project – imagine a more organic, primal sounding Imogen Heap. Come to MarBar tonight for her CD Release Party with her all-star local lineup of special guests if you are in the mood for a little soul cleansing! MarBar, 200 S. 40th St., 9pm, $5, 21+ myspace.com/ginaferrera – Q.D. Tran

 

Espers’ Meg Baird will be bringing her mellifluous voice to Kung Fu Necktie tonight when she opens for Sub Pop’s Vetiver. Her hauntingly beautiful vocals will surely resonate nicely through the wood finished room at one of our favorite local small venues. Bummer – no bumper pool tonight, folkies. Kung Fu Necktie, 1250 Front St., 8pm, $10, 21+ myspace.com/pennsylvaniawildlife – H.M. Kauffman

If you made it out this past Friday to Orbit to Leslie’s SOLD OUT CD Release Party that The Deli presented, you learned that the boys behind the indie pop flying machine known as Aderbat have a new project in the works to unveil to the music world. Singer/songwriter/guitarist Matt Taylor, drummer Todd Scheid, bassist Brad Kunkle and multi-instrumentalist Craig Hendrix will be now known as Mammal of Paradise. Check out a sample of what they are working on at http://www.myspace.com/mammalofparadise. Both unmastered tracks, “Anyone’s Song” and “Freeway” were mixed by anti-music industry producer Andrew Weiss (Ween, Akron Family, Rollins Band). “Anyone’s Song” is sure to be their debut single with its chill, groovy “Walk on the Wild Side” feel. Hopefully someone better than Marky Mark will be smart enough to sample or remix it. I had a chance to catch up with Matt Taylor after the show to talk about Mammal of Paradise.

 

QDT: What is the meaning behind Mammal of Paradise? Where did the name Mammal of Paradise come from?

MT: As a child in this industrial landscape, it’s a way of thinking, being and escaping. It’s romanticism, its emotion and intuition over rationalism. More importantly, it’s taken directly from a book by Lord Whimsy called The Affected Provincial’s Companion Vol. 1. 

QDT: Did the new name come to you easily or was it a grueling process?
 
MT: Grueling. Making up band names can become an obsession. Drunk, high, early in the morning, I would make a list then scrap it, then do it again. I’ve got some for future projects that I’m going to start. Mammal of Paradise came early actually, but I thought we couldn’t use it until I wrote Mr. Whimsy for permission and he so eloquently said “Matthew–words are for everyone, wear it in good health”.

 

 

(Photo by Ed Roper)

 

– Q.D. Tran

 

If you haven’t heard of Gene Ween, you probably haven’t heard of Ween, and if you haven’t heard of Ween, where have you been for the past twenty-some years? The duo from New Hope, PA has skewered every possible genre over the last few decades, infecting everything they touch with an unequaled level of musicianship and a crudely bizarre sense of humor that borders on the surreal. Naturally, Gene Ween’s solo project doesn’t fall too far from the tree, but there is a heightened emphasis on simplicity. Lots of classic rock riffing, with creamy, distorted leads and Gene’s trademark congested crooning. Who else could pull off both the Zeppelin-like guitar lines of “Ooh Va La” and the ‘77 punk of “It’s Not Cool” and still sound totally apart from everyone else in music? No one, probably. If you’re one of those who already inhabit the goofy Ween universe, or if you’d like to try it out, head on over to World Cafe Live where Gene is playing with indie-folk man Thom McCarthy. World Cafe Live, 3025 Walnut Street, 8pm, $25, 21+ myspace.com/geneweenband – Joe Poteracki

 

Blood Feathers became the first band signed to the fledgling Philebrity label this fall. We’ve been anxiously waiting for their debut label full length Goodness Gracious since November, its originally scheduled release date. Well, tonight the wait is over! Join the boys and their snarky blogging backers at Johnny Brenda’s when they celebrate this momentous occasion with eccentric piano pop maestro BC Camplight, who was dubbed “a name to become synonymous with star quality” by Time Magazine, and the vintage 70’s revival rock sound of the Josh Olmstead Band. Johnny Brenda’s, 1201 N. Frankford Ave., 9pm, $10, 21+ myspace.com/bloodfeathersrockandrollband – Bill McThrill

 

Yes, this was a labor of love, and certainly heavy on the labor, but if you look over to your right, you’ll find a sweet list of nominees for The Deli’s Best of Philly Emerging Artist(s) Poll. First and foremost, we’d like to thank our always knowledgeable and attractive jury below and The Deli writers for taking the time out of their busy holiday schedules to vote. Without them, we wouldn’t have had all these wonderfully diverse bands to present to you. These jurors are just some of the people behind the scenes that we thought help to make Philly’s music scene so amazing! We greatly appreciate them allowing us to pick their brains.

 

The Deli’s Best of Philly Poll Jurors:

Grace Ambrose, Booker, Pilam

Abigail Bruley, Music Editor, two.one.five Magazine

Mikele Edwards, Booker, Silk City

Brandy Hartley, Booker, Johnny Brenda’s

Melanie Hoch, Vinyl Expert and Dancin’ Queen, Repo Records

Steven James, Booker, Kung Fu Necktie/R5 Productions

Jessica McGinley, Editor-at-Large, PopWreckoning

Ben Morgan, Booker, Millcreek Tavern

Gina Renzi, Executive Director, The Rotunda

Mark Schoneveld, Blogger, Yvynyl

Jon Solomon, DJ and Record Label Owner, WPRB/My Pal God Records

Tom Szwech, Blogger, Bag of Songs

Q.D. Tran, Associate Editor, The Deli Magazine

Bruce Warren, Program Director and Blogger, WXPN/Some Velvet Blog

Emma Zumberge, Blogger, The World in a Paper Cup

 

So check out the list (to the right) and cast a vote for your favorite local Deli emerging artist(s) before midnight Friday, January 15th! We hope that you discover your new favorite band!

 

– The Deli Staff

 

There is plenty going on this weekend, but the place that you have to be tonight is Johnny Brenda’s for Orbit to Leslie’s CD Release Partay with Aderbat, Grimace Federation and Power Animal! It’s a guaranteed rager! Woohoo…we’re already taking shots of Jameson to get ready, and we just chased them with a couple of Percocets. (Don’t worry, we’re law abiding citizens here at The Deli. I think that one of us has a legal prescription for their wisdom teeth.) Hope to see you sooner than later! Cheers! Johnny Brenda’s, 1201 N. Frankford Ave., 9pm, 21+ myspace.com/orbittoleslie

 

Other shows that you should miss for this one…

 

Johnny Brenda’s (1201 N. Frankford Ave.) SAT Blood Feathers (Album Release) w/BC Camplight and Josh Olmstead Band

 

Kung Fu Necktie (1250 N. Front St.) FRI Birdie Busch, Joshua Park, Thom McCarthy

 

North Star Bar (2639 Poplar St.) Fathead (Reunion Show), Blivit, Jason Fraticelli and the Wet Dreams, SAT Plastic Doves and Urban Giants

 

The Khyber (56 S. 2ndSt.) FRI Courage Pills and The Last Barabrians, SAT Surgeon and Alright Junior, SUN Sgt. Sass and Rachel Tension 

 

World Café Live (3025 Walnut St.) FRI (Downstairs) The Cobbs, SAT (Downstairs) Gene Ween and Thom McCarthy, (Upstairs) The Beekeepers, SUN (Downstairs) Animus

 

M Room (12 W. Girard Ave.) The Elevator Parade (Album Release) w/music.for.headphones

 

Blockley Pourhouse (3801 Chestnut St.) FRI The Tressels (Record Release) w/Sure Juror

 

Millcreek Tavern (4200 Chester Ave.) Curious Buddies and Broad St. Blues

 

Green Line Café (4426 Locust St.) FRI Eliza Jones

 

The Fire (412 W. Girard Ave.) Andrew Lipke, Sister3, Paper Masques, Shutters (CD Release), Cowmuddy, Chris Kasper

 

 

The Tressels have worked two and a half long years on releasing their album Bourbon Legend. It was marred by technical problems and a Spinal Tap-esque rate of drummer turnover. But through it all the core members rallied together to create a solid album that stands out among their best. Since their last album, 2006’s Prison Wine, earned them a spot on the Philadelphia City Paper’s Year End Critic’s Poll, it really says a lot. Of course, this time they also worked alongside Dan Hewitt (State Capital Records) and Bill Moriarty who has worked with Dr. Dog and Drink Up Buttercup. When you work this hard on an album, it calls for a serious celebration. And that’s exactly what the band intends to do when they play Blockley Pourhouse for their record release show tonight. They’ll be joined by Sure Juror, whose fast paced indie pop is sure to blend in well with The Tressels alcohol soaked tunes. Blockley Pourhouse, 3801 Chestnut St., 9pm, $5, 21+ myspace.com/thetressels – Bill McThrill