Honky tonk surfers Boom Chick return home to NYC after a three month American tour, playing a homecoming show at Pianos Dec. 9th. This rabble rousing duo plays early 50’s inspired original rock & roll with a primal punk urgency. Lead singer/guitarist Frank Hoier sounds as if John Lennon were born a surfer in the 80s. Moselle Spiller may dress like Loretta Lynn at the Grand Ole Opry, but she’s a wild woman on the drums and will kick Meg White around. – (as posted in The Deli’s Open Blog – post your band’s entries, videos, and Mp3s here). The Deli’s NYC Open Blog is powered by The Music Building and APS Mastering.

As an encore to his recent Laid Off Tour across the northeast, Danny Ross along with his 9 piece band and horns will headline Mercury Lounge this Saturday 12/10 at 8pm, followed by NYC favorites The Shake and The Parlor Mob (see following entry). This week’s New Yorker Magazine highlights Saturday’s performance as "a blast of good-time, R. & B.-tinged rock and roll." Ross recently played official CMJ showcases, and was NYC Deli Magazine Artist of the Month this time last year. – (as posted in The Deli’s Open Blog – post your band’s entries, videos, and Mp3s here). The Deli’s NYC Open Blog is powered by The Music Building and APS Mastering.

Neo-soul buzz band Pickwick will make their final live appearance in Seattle tomorrow night, before a New Year’s Eve show in Wenatchee and a three-date circuit in Oregon to start 2012. Along with Campfire OK, the band will play to a full house at the Neptune Theater. Coming off a free show at Easy Street Records on Dec. 6, and an a cappella announcement for Thursday’s event, the six-piece former folk band promises to fill the one-time cinema with the moody keyboards, minimalistic guitar and swinging rhythms that have made them one of the city’s bands to watch over the past year. Pickwick is set to head into the studio to record their first full-length album, following a successful year for Myths, a compilation of EPs that helped affirm the band’s growing popularity.

Doors: 7 p.m.

Tickets: SOLD OUT

-Kate Shepherd

The Crocodile will play host to a benefit for Northwest Center Kids tomorrow night, featuring a handful of local acts. Colonies, the Icarus Kid, Ghost Town Riot and Smile for Diamonds will take the stage in support of the center’s child development program, which helps kids between six weeks to 12 years old, both with and without developmental disabilities. Relative newcomers Ghost Town Riot, who are currently in the process of recording a new full-length album, and the Icarus Kid, who released his self-titled debut album in September, will be joined by established indie rockers, Colonies. The mix of electronic and instrumental artists should ensure that concertgoers with varied tastes can have a great time while supporting an even better cause.

Doors: 8 pm

Tickets: $10

21+

-Kate Shepherd

Maru Mari (Metroid) by The Icarus Kid

Expect a guitar-solo-scorched face or two at the Mercury Lounge this Saturday night, as Jersey’s hard rockers The Parlor Mob treat their New York City fans to a much needed return appearance. Currently touring in support of their sophomore album "Dogs," which was released this past October through Roadrunner Records, and anchored by the first single, "Into The Sun," this is a record without fillers. On that single, the lyrical subject matter combines both defiance and hope, while the muscularly heavy sound of the band leads you into a chorus that’s as catchy as hell. "Fall Back" comes complete with brilliant start/stop breaks that underscore the fluid rhythm section. "Practice in Patience" shows the gentler side of the band, with emotionally strong vocals paired against an uncommon piano sound. "American Dream" chugs forward on heavy twin-tandem guitar riffing, as the lyrics express this current generations confusion about "who to trust" in the government. "I Want To See You" finds the band exploring more exotic rhythms, as a slightly jazzy, latin-tinged undercurrent propels it all towards a bolder, more rock heavy chorus. A blistering guitar solo elevates everything that much higher. "Hard Enough" takes on those gut-wrenching feelings of loss, as the lyrics state that "it’s hard enough to walk this loney road without you – to miss everything about you." While "Take What’s Mine" playfully references Jimi Hendrix’s "Foxy Lady," the track remains true to an originalty – within the classic hard rock formula – that is woven through the entire album. – Dave Cromwell

This Old Ghost, who submitted their music for consideration digitally here a few weeks ago, plays Americana tinged, pleasantly melodic folk-rock featuring harmonized boy/girl vocals and sudden heavy openings, like in their latest EP "Island of Violent lovers" first track "This Lifeboat", where the pretty atmosphere of the verse gets almost "violated" by a chorus that flirts with prog-rock. Being the indie maniacs we are, we prefer the less prog-rocky tracks like the traditional folk rock tune "Attack on the Settlers Cabin" (streaming below), which slowly builds in tension and brings back some good 90s rock vibes. This is a group of guys who can write good songs and, judging from their busy live schedule, also know how to entertain when on stage. Check them out at Pianos on 12.07 or at Rockwood on 12.16.

Fun show at The Living Room on Saturday December 10 with 2 NYC artists we are very familiar with (Psychobuildings and Team Genius, who recently signed with Paper Garden Records) and 2 other ones we haven’t covered as much (or at all for that matter), Cultfever and Swear & Shake.
Cultfever – in the picture – is an electro-pop duo featuring Tamara Jafar’s semi-breathy vocals and J. Peter Durniak’s multi-faceted arrangements. The band released their debut album in October and should have a video ready soon. The track streaming below, entitled "knewyouwell", is our favorite from the record and has the potential to cure – at least temporarily – your Seasonal Affective Disorder.

Swear and Shake will provide a folky break with their Americana tinged rock songs, bringing to the stage instruments foreign to the other bands on the bill, like acoustic guitars and harmonicas. Oh and if you are always on the look for a female voice to fall in love with (like us) you’ll have to give this band a listen – Kari Spieler is her name, see track streaming below.

Lots going on in December for Radical Dads, one of Brooklyn’s most buzzed about bands from the rather new pool of artists intent in instilling new life into the indie guitar sound of the 90s. The trio will open for Clap Your Hands Say Yeah on December 07 at Webster Hall, and then celebrate their 2nd CD’s release party at Cake Shop on the 5th. And if that wasn’t enough, the day after they’ll be playing the Brooklyn Vegan holiday party at BK night bazaar. No tracks from the new album are available as far as we can tell, apart from the rather lo-fi Pursesnatchers remix of the song Little Tomb streaming below.

Radical Dads – Little Tomb (Pursesnatchers Remix)
 

Light-hearted power pop quartet the Hoot Hoots know how to have fun, and their newest release Appetite for Distraction proves it. On the shelves since Dec. 3, their second full-length album of the year is rife with singsong choruses, idyllic imagery and enough peppy riffing to keep listeners feeling fuzzy long after the last track has finished. The animated call and response dialogue in “Worlds” is alternately whimsical and unsettling, but never strays far from the lively spirit of the album. “All these men, I hope they get along,” sings frontman Adam Prairie, and it seems hard to picture any kind of confrontation with such a playful soundtrack. The album ends on the appropriately titled “No More Sad Songs”, an appeal for the end of others’ melancholy outlooks. With a handful of shows slated for the coming months, the Hoot Hoots will get the chance to combat those downers themselves, as they bring their party to the people.

The Hoot Hoots’ upcoming shows:

December 17 The Benbow Room in West Seattle

January 7 The High Dive in Fremont

January 28 The Skylark Cafe

-Kate Shepherd