This is what we can do to help spread the word about music related initiatives in the NYC area aiming at helping locals hit by Sandy. Feel free to post about any of these in our open blog and we’ll link from here.

*** Hurricane Sandy, How You Can Help OhMyRockness.com guide ***

– Support the Scene initiatives
– Hurricane Relief Benefit at St.Vitus
– Sandy Benefit Shows at LPR
– NMU Studios Hurricane Relief Party Public Event
– Songwriter’s Beat Hurrican Relief Concert
– Spottiswoode & His Enemies 15th year anniversary
– Unflood BK Music – donations to aid a new music building in Red Hook
– Taking Back Sunday Relief Concerts
– Williamsburg Sandy Relief Party
– Sandy benefit at Public Assembly w/ 18bands
– ‘Occupy Sandy’ benefit at Webster Hall 
– "Rock-N-Rebuild" Hurricane Fundraiser

– Band release-related initiatives: Nicole Atkins, Buke and Gase, Glint, Emergency Service (CD Release Party Benefit), The Paper Jets, Sweet Soubrette.

CALL FOR MUSICIANS
According to New York State Democratic Committee Member Chris Owens, MUSICIANS are needed at the shelters to provide entertainment: "Singers and musicians are most welcome (particularly during the day hours), and anyone who can be creative with activities for children. There may not be a lot of space to work with, but I have faith in my fellow cultural workers. Those who carry portable instruments (e.g. – your own voice, guitars, accordions, light percussion) will have the easiest time of it, but some schools with open auditoriums have a working piano!"

The Deli’s Staff

Part folk, part indie, and part just about everything else, Brooklyn-based band Mail the Horse achieves a melodic blend of throwback rock and charged-up, soulful fervor. The band was formed by college friends in New Hampshire in 2012, later moving to New York to piece together material and work on recordings. Mail the Horse has had several multi-track releases in their relatively short time as a band, with September’s full-length album “Great Kills” being their most recent effort. The album plays like an awakening into adulthood, and has the sonic range of a band like Wilco as sung by Beck. Mail the Horse will perform a New Year’s Eve show at Mercury Lounge alongside Felice Brothers and Yellowbirds. – Devon Antonetti

Pre War is a band from Brooklyn. Guitar, guitar, drums, and five tracks released on their Bandcamp over the last couple of months: that’s about it, as far as what I know of Pre War goes – but will happily head over to the LES to find out more. Amateurs of fuzzed-out echo-filled melodies & glorious buildups, here’s one for you to follow, at ease juggling harsh noise and a radiant pop edge. The band can be found playing the Cake Shop every Tuesday evening throughout the month of November – and it’s free! Next week, they’ll be playing with local ambient noisemaker Doron Sadja (the full list of shows is available here).

It is no surprise that Sins of the Loose Buttons loves to show off New York City in their music videos. The guys have been running around Brooklyn and Manhattan gigging since 2007, when the oldest member of the quartet was only 15. In more recent times, about a year ago, they busted onto the scene with “Retrobox” and now they are back at it again with their newest single and music video, “I Love Lucy”. “Lucy” will kick off a slew of new releases for SOTLB over the next few months, as well as an east coast tour this winter, so stay tuned for more updates out of these guys in the very near future.

This year was the biggest yet for Midwest Music Foundation’s Apocalypse Meow benefit—a fundraiser for the musician’s emergency health care fund. The event kicked off with a pre-party on Friday, November 3 at Midwestern Musical Co. with Dead Voices and Tiny Horse. 

Dead Voices

Tiny Horse

The main event kicked off on Saturday at The Beaumont Club with School of Rock, consisting of more than a handful of tweens and teens masterfully playing covers from bands like Rush, Led Zeppelin, Foo Fighters, and many more. The band’s stellar performance set an energetic tone for the rest of the evening, which ranged from acoustic Americana to power pop, surf rock, country, indie rock, and ballistic punk rock.

School of Rock

Amy Farrand

Deco Auto

The Empty Spaces

The Blue Boot Heelers

Clairaudients (formerly The Atlantic)

The Architects

And finally, a big thank you from all of us at Midwest Music Foundation for supporting our fifth year of Meow. We’re so very grateful for your support of Kansas City and our musical community!

All photos by Todd Zimmer. Please do not use without permission.

–Michelle Bacon

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Four bands came together to pay tribute to legendary punk band, the Ramones, as a part of Sonic Spectrum’s tribute series at recordBar. For all intents and purposes, the Ramones saved rock n’ roll. When they released their self-titled debut in 1976, the radio was jammed pack with long-winded keyboard solos, disco beats, and mini-operas. The Ramones went back to the original blueprint, designed by the early rock n’ rollers and doo-wop groups of the ‘50s. Only the Ramones’ songs were faster, louder, tougher, and weirder; punk was born. Their sound continues to influence countless bands to this day, four of which showed up that night.

If there was a secondary theme to the night, it was that covering these three-chord simplistic songs looks much easier than it actually is to pull off. Nearly each band recognized that on stage. The first band, UFT!, kicked off the show right with the shouts of "Hey! Ho! Let’s go!" in "Blitzkrieg Bop,” quite possibly the most recognizable tune in the Ramones catalog. Bassist Steve Tulipana shared a funny story about meeting the artist behind the iconic Ramones logo, and his surprise on how getting prepared for the show had been. They played other Ramones classics such as "I Wanna Be Sedated" and "Rock N’ Roll High School.”

Next, Rockets to Russia took the stage (members of Bleachbloodz, The Uncouth!, Hobo Zero, Appropriate Grammar, The Bad Ideas). Consisting of the largest group of the night, the five-member band tore through songs about as fast as the Ramones would perform them live. Songs like "Glad to See You Go" and "Cretin Hop" were accompanied by boundless energy that seemed to run back and forth on both sides of the stage. Two songs in, vocalist Mitch Clark convincingly told the crowd he’d have to slow down for a song or two or else he was bound to have a heart attack on stage. Still, the band continued through their set this way.

Gene Kreamerz and the Pussycats (members of The Quivers, The Latenight Callers, Drew Black & Dirty Electric, Deco Auto) played their songs closer to how the Ramones sounded on the albums. It’s not at the breakneck speed of their live performances, but still animated enough for a crowd to bounce around to. Highlights included "(Do You Remember) Rock N’ Roll Radio?" and a personal favorite, "Danny Says,” the true ballad of the night (surprisingly, the Ramones were great at writing those, too).

True evidence of the Ramones influence in even today’s world came when Radkey finished the night off. The band consists of three brothers, all of whom were born well after the Ramones had their heyday. The spirit, energy, and rock n’ roll the Ramones championed during their career came through the band. Highlights included the seasonally appropriate "Pet Cemetery" and campy "Somebody Put Something in My Drink.” The band ended their set with the anti-political song "Bonzo Goes to Bitburg", a song most fans would consider to be a favorite. The night was a great tribute to the Ramones, and in turn, a great tribute to rock n’ roll.

All photos by Todd Zimmer. Please do not use without permission.

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Like being exhausted by a hot sun, Bryan Harding and Amalie Bruun’s dream pop sways slow and nonchalant; carelessly, it wraps itself around jangle-pop melodies and vaporous synths, lost in a hazy confusion where layers mingle, melt into one another, and a voice echoes from afar, barely there. Sure, we don’t know much of Ex Cops so far. They’ve only been around for about a year, and have to this date only released a single, and a few tracks circulating online. But with their debut album "True Hallucinations" coming in January, we should be hearing more of these guys, who impressed us at our recent ‘Mostly Psych’ CMJ show at Pianos. Check out the first single from the album below. – TM

A Brooklyn-based classic punk rock four piece, barely a year old, Half Day released late September a first album. Filled with gang chants and that bottoms-up cheer, keeping ‘rough round the edges’ as a thread, In Public streams through its ten tracks an indie-friendly rumble of colliding riffs and raucous unisons, somehow balancing a taste for clean-cut aesthetics and their true string-shredding, barking natures leaning towards the gritty gutter-bred edge of punk. Following a string of Brooklyn shows in support of the record’s release, the band will be playing XPO 929 on November 17 with Very Rare and Ex-Wife, but for now, you can get acquainted with the record on their Bandcamp. – TM

As a fan of Sad Companion, I’ve come to expect a couple things from the band’s frontmen,cellist/experimental songwriter Christopher Hoffman. Namely: a cello, a good song, and some experiments. While you’ll find these elements in the Brooklynite’s first solo venture, what you won’t find are any flirtations with the pop format. The pieces from ‘Induction’ exist in a world of their own. Built from drum and string loops and wound together tightly by unearthly vocals, these tunes might reminded at times of the uneasy hysterics of Kid A. But rest assured, Hoffman’s an artist firmly in control of his abilities. If the amazing child in full KiSS makeup on the album’s cover doesn’t convince you, the evocative cello solos certainly will. Check the record out and see him live when he plays Roulette on November 23rd and 24th. – Mike Levine (@Goldnuggets)

Courtesy of Raccoon Fighters, here comes raw rock and roll repackaged for the post-everything generation – exploring 60s garage, blues rock, grunge sounds in a manner that stands at reasonable distance from faithful revivalism and anything formulaic. How? Complete incoherence and a soft contemporary frame. They’ve well-understood that it isn’t one particular aesthetic we’re after but an energy altogether. Those who are expecting monster rock are at the wrong door, but for the others, a tasty mouthful of dirt is awaiting – at The Knit on November 7th. – TM