Philadelphia

New Videos: “Take Me Back” & “Eggshells” (On The Hill Session) – Divers

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Divers is the latest project from Emily Ana Zeitlyn (formerly of The Weeds) who is backed by Todd Erk (Hoots & Hellmouth, Auctioneer, etc.), Ross Bellenoit (Birdie Busch, Ali Wadsworth, etc.), and Thomas Bendel (Buried Beds). Below is footage ("Take Me Back" & "Eggshells") from their performance for Kettle Pot TracksOn The Hill music series. You can download the entire session HERE, and catch them live tomorrow night at Johnny Brenda’s opening for Levee Drivers.

Philadelphia

Royal Shoals Opening for The Bats at JB’s June 4

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Royal Shoals, featuring former members of The Ropers (Slumberland, Teen Beat), Saturday People (Slumberland) and Public Record (High Two), shared their sophomore release earlier this year – a 4-song EP entitled Surrounderer + 3, which is a noticeable step up from the band’s debut Dirty Water. The tracks are more polished all-around as the trio journeys further into the dance-rock landscape. The EP was once again recorded at Uniform Recording. You can hear how the songs play out live tonight at Johnny Brenda’s when Royal Shoals open for New Zealand indie pop vets The Bats. (BTW: There will also be a free afterparty at the RUBA Club with performances by Catnaps and Ratburn as well as DJ sets from members of A Sunny Day in Glasgow and Literature.) Johnny Brenda’s, 1201 N. Frankford Ave., 9pm, $13, 21+ – H.M. Kauffman

Philadelphia

The Deli Philly’s June Album of the Month: Make Your Mind – Arrah and the Ferns

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Arrah and the Ferns may have sweetness and light in abundance, but the undercurrent of frank lust in their new album is both new and old hat for these folk rockers. Since their last offering, they’ve adopted growing pains as a lyrical source, to varying effects. While the album relies heavily on much of the same wistfully-ornamented indie delicacy, there’s simultaneously an explicit element, and a successful one at that. Romance isn’t dead on Make Your Mind, it’s just got a mouth on it.

The woozy, low guitars at the beginning of album are one of many instrumental stunners, which we’ve long known to be a touchstone for the Ferns. There is some spectacular guitar and drum work on the album, but for most part, the music and the vocals go head to head in friendly tandem – never trying to outdo one another.

Arrah Fisher’s honeyed vocals push through the knot of winding guitars on the second track, “Go Back,” inciting her band to back her up when she half-purrs, half-belts “I see the way your body moves me – but you don’t have to touch me.”

“Triangle” is a list of questions, an effecting device used by Fisher to protest the coming of a different stage of adulthood – one in which commitment is inevitable and freedom to do as she wants a relic of immaturity. “I wanna meet the man on the other side,” she murmurs, seeing her free-spirited inclinations in danger, and then, with a bravado outburst, demands to know “Why do I have to grow up and be a married schmuck – when all I want to do is fuck…fuck…fuck…fuck…fuck!” The unbridled sexuality is startling, but when you think about it, the turbulence is a perfect underlining for sweet-sounding music about growing up and moving on.

The band then counters that song’s thinly-veiled hedonism with the role-reversing “Hang Up,” whose slow-dance 50s rock balladry finds Fisher imploring her lover to throw himself wholeheartedly into a new life. “This is where I hang up, start to pack my stuff up. I will come to you this time…I don’t want to have you on the side. I just want to have a normal time, have a normal life.” Is she embroiled in an affair? Is she coaxing him out of another relationship? Maybe, but it would seem heartless to resist her sincerity.

Make Your Mind has a welcomed, bouncing energy that picks the album up from its wispy, low-tempo tone halfway through. There’s a uniformity of pace, with most songs choosing a leisurely amble over an all-out rush, but the variance of tone and instrumentation saves the album from tedium, and adds up to an invigorating (and possibly final) effort from Arrah and the Ferns. – Alyssa Greenberg

Philadelphia

Free Philly Beer Week Beer Garden Concert Series at Headhouse Square & More

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It’s Philly Beer Week, and we wanted to give you a heads up about the Beer Garden concert series being presented by TJ Kong Presents. Each weekday this week from 5 – 8pm at Headhouse Square, there will be free performances by local area acts to go along with featured craft beers, food trucks and games. Scheduled to perform in the makeshift beer garden will be Cold Fronts (Monday), Swift Technique (Tuesday), Ali Wadsworth (Wednesday), New Sweden (Thursday) and The Lawsuits (Friday). You’ll also get two opportunities to catch TJ Kong and the Atomic Bomb performing on Thursday night at the Belgian Cafe for an intimate, sweaty evening and on Saturday for a big blowout on the deck at City Tap House with The Fleeting Ends, Thee, Idea Men, and Ang & the Damn Band, which are also free with plenty of beer, of course.

Philadelphia

New Track: “Hibernia” – Gleek

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Tommy Manson and Brendan Graham from Everyone Everywhere are currently working on a new project with Pirouette‘s Scotty Leitch. You can take a listen to their demo track "Hibernia" below. Manson and Graham will be performing with their main outfit tonight at Golden Tea House alongside Little Big League, Sirs and Porches.

Philadelphia

This Radiant Boy Reunite for One Time Only at JB’s June 1

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Power-pop outfit This Radiant Boy (or TRB, as Jersey Dan lovingly calls them) was a fixture on the Philly indie music scene before disbanding in the summer of 2006. Some of their members continued to contribute to the local music community with their work in A Sunny Day in Glasgow, Faux Slang, Pet Milk, Barking Spiders, etc. Well, the boys have decided to reunite for one time only tonight at Johnny Brenda’s to relive “a time when MySpace ruled, Ray Bans were not yet back in style, and the word Twitter didn’t exist.” (BTW: You can now grab their back catalogue via Bandcamp.) TRB will be joined on this special evening by pals JJL and Dragon City. Come get drunk and sweaty, and party like it’s the aughts once again! Johnny Brenda’s, 1201 N. Frankford, 9pm, $10, 21+ – Q.D. Tran

Philadelphia

The 6th Annual Roots Picnic at Festival Pier June 1

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Summertime in Philly always marks another hot party (especially with the weather today) at Festival Pier as The Roots Picnic delivers another diverse lineup courtesy of the City of Brotherly Love’s favorite sons of hip hop. This year The Roots will be doing their usual double duty during the fest as they’ll be headlining and backing the legendary Naughty By Nature in a special reunion jam performance. You will also find exciting sets from featured guests such as Gary Clark Jr., Grimes, Solange, How to Dress Well and local rising star Lushlife. Festival Pier at Penn’s Landing, Columbus Blvd. & Spring Garden St., 12pm, SOLD OUT, All Ages – Bill McThrill