Clap Your Hands Say Yeah - Live Photos from Webster Hall, NYC 12-7-11

Confessions of a heretic…I went to last week’s Clap Your Hands Say Yeah show to see WATERS as I really had no idea what CYHSY sounded like. I watched the energy of the sold-out crowd explode when the band took the stage but, for whatever reason, the band’s music just wasn’t my cup of tea.







I was trying to get a feel for the band’s music during the first few songs and, for whatever reason, i couldn't shake the jam band comparisons. CYHSY are certainly talented musicians but I have an innate bias against anything that even remotely resembles a jam/Further Fest band.





CYHSY released their third disc. Hysterical. in September and just finished up a series of US and Canadian tour dates. The band is off the road now but are heading to Japan followed by Europe in January.

For anyone who missed the band this time out, they have posted live performances of songs from Hysterical to their website (link below).

Ketamine and Ecstasy from CYHSY on Vimeo.

Links:
Clap Your Hand Say Yeah

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WATERS (ex-Port O'Brien) - Live Photos and Review, Webster Hall, NYC 12-7-11

I think I made a mistake not seeing WATERS when they came through in both June and October for shows at Mercury Lounge. In a live setting, the band’s songs have a raw energy that wasn’t fully captured on the band’s debut CD and frontman Van Pierszalowski plays guitar with an intensity that reminds me of Evan Dando when The Lemonheads were first starting out.







The band stuck primarily to the upbeat, guitar and drums powered rock numbers from their recently released debut album, Out in the Light, but slowed things down toward the end of their set when Van doned an acoustic guitar.



While the band held the attention of the sold-out crowd, the energy behind the songs would have turned the room into a communal sing-along in a smaller space. Perhaps thinking the same thing, Van and band unplugged and took their instruments into the center of the crowd to play their final song, “Mickey Mantle”, acoustically. Reminding me a bit of the Port O’Brien shows of yesteryear, before starting the song, Van coached the crowd to sing along on the chorus.

WATERS canceled its European tour due to health reasons but have a month of dates booked in Europe for next February with Nada Surf.

Feb 7 - King Tuts Glasgow, UK ^
Feb 8 - KOKO London, UK^
Feb 10 - Melkweg Amsterdam, NL ^
Feb 11 - Le Splendid Lille, FR^
Feb 12 - AB Box Brussels, BE^
Feb 14 - La Bataclan Paris, FR ^
Feb 15 - Le Krakatoa Bordeauxm FR ^
Feb 16 - Le Bikini Toulouse, FR^
Feb 18 - La Riviera Madrid, SP^
Feb 19 - Apolo Barcelona, SP ^
Feb 20 - Le Transbordeur, FR ^
Feb 22 - Posthof Linz, AUT^
Feb 23 - Bloom Club Milan, IT^
Feb 24 - Komplex Zurich, SWI ^
Feb 25 - Backstage Werk Munich, GER ^
Feb 26 - Huxleys Berlin, GER ^
Feb 27 - Markthalle Hamburg, GER ^
Feb 28 - Live Music Hall Cologne, GER ^
^ w/ Nada Surf

Links:
WATERS

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Radical Dads: Photos & Review from Webster Hall, NYC 12-7-11 / Upcoming Shows on 12-15 & 16

DOWNLOAD: Radical Dads - "Skateboard Bulldog"
"This song was inspired by a real canine I met at a skate park in Astoria, Queens. He tried to steal my board, then got distracted by someone else's board, then jumped back on his own and innocently cruised the concrete as if he hadn't just tried to kill the sesh. A quick Internet search will show that many types of animals are capable of riding skateboards, but only the bulldog can be bred to shred." -- Guitarist Chris Diken

Brooklyn's Radical Dads opened the sold-out Clap Your Hand Say Yeah show last week at Webster Hall. I'm not that familiar with the band's music but will make a point of hunting down the band's debut disc Mega Rama. The band also has a new 7", "Skateboard Bulldog", posted above. The band's music has a 90's post-punk sound that sounds like some of the bands that came out of the post-harDCore DC scene in the 90's (Velocity Girl and Tsunami are the first two bands that come to mind).









Radical Dads are playing Whatever Blog's holiday party on Dec. 15th @ Cake Shop along with Hilly Eye (ex-Titus Andronicus), EULA, and Libel. Cover is $8 and Radical Dads go on at 11PM. The next night, Radical Dads are playing Brooklyn Night Bazaar (149 Kent Avenue) along with Fucked Up, DOM, Big Troubles and Caged Animals. Tickets are $10 and doors are at 5PM.

Links:
Radical Dads

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Erika M. Anderson (EMA) Announces Deluxe Edition of "Past Life Martyred Saints" / Show at Music Hall of Williamsburg on March 16, 2012

EMA - Angelo by souterraintransmissions

EMA has announced the first dates of a spring North American headlining tour, which will launch on March 1st at the Rickshaw Stop in San Francisco, CA and continue through March 16th at the Music Hall of Williamsburg in Brooklyn, NY. Tickets for the show at MHOW go on sale on Friday, Dec. 16th at 12PM (EST) and are $12 in advance and $15 DOS. All of the announced tour dates are listed below.

Year-end praise has begun to roll in for EMA's debut album Past Life Martyred Saints (Souterrain Transmissions), which has continuously garnered acclaim throughout 2011 from The A.V. Club, Flaunt, Foam, NPR, Nylon, Pitchfork, Popmatters, Refinery29, Rolling Stone, SPIN, Stereogum, Time Out New York, Under The Radar, Village Voice, and Zink, among others. The album has already found spots on best of '11 lists both here and abroad, including the BBC Music Writers' Top 25 Albums of 2011 (#20), The Quietus Albums of the Year 2011 (#27), SPIN's 50 Best Albums of 2011 (#3), and Stereogum's Top 50 Albums of 2011 (#7), while The Sunday Times (UK) named her the #1 New Artist of 2011. Album track "California", meanwhile, can also be found on year-end lists such as Consequence Of Sound's Top 50 Songs of 2011 (#7), Rolling Stone's 50 Best Singles of 2011 (#39), and SPIN's 20 Best Songs of 2011 (#3).

EMA - former GOWNS singer/guitarist Erika M. Anderson - has spent the better part of the year on the road in support of the May release of Past Life Martyred Saints. Since March, she and her band have performed at festivals including SXSW, the Pitchfork Music Festival, The Great Escape, Primavera Club, and the CMJ Music Marathon, while also touring aross the US, UK, and Europe as both a headliner (selling out the Mercury Lounge and Glasslands in New York) and as support to CSS, MEN, Wild Beasts, Kurt Vile, Zola Jesus, and Dale Earnhardt Jr. Jr., among others.



A deluxe edition of Past Life Martyred Saints will be released exclusively via iTunes on February 7th, 2012 and will feature: original iTunes bonus track "To Leave With Love"; videos for album tracks "California", "Milkman", and "Marked"; and her cover of Nirvana's "Endless, Nameless", originally featured on SPIN's Nevermind tribute album Newermind, as well as the track's accompanying video. EMA's recent single Angelo/Marked is currently available as a limited edition 7-inch (only 1,000 copies printed worldwide) exclusively via Insound and digitally via all major retailers. The single's new song B-side "Angelo", which features a guest verse by Mz'Gorjis of Oakland, CA's Platnum Platnum Glam Squad, is streaming above.

EMA spring 2012 North American headlining dates:

MAR. 1 -- SAN FRANCISCO, CA -- RICKSHAW STOP
MAR. 2 -- LOS ANGELES, CA -- NATURAL HISTORY MUSEUM
MAR. 6 -- DENVER, CO -- HI-DIVE
MAR. 8 -- MINNEAPOLIS, MN -- 7TH STREET ENTRY
MAR. 9 -- MADISON, WI -- THE FREQUENCY
MAR. 10 -- CHICAGO, IL -- LINCOLN HALL
MAR. 11 -- CLEVELAND, OH -- BEACHLAND TAVERN
MAR. 13 -- TORONTO, ON -- THE GARRISON
MAR. 14 -- MONTREAL, QC -- IL MOTORE
MAR. 15 -- BOSTON, MA -- BRIGHTON MUSIC HALL
MAR. 16 -- BROOKLYN, NY -- MUSIC HALL OF WILLIAMSBURG



Links:
EMA

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Flipper - "Live at the Fillmore 1981" Digital EP Review

Flipper seemed to play the East Coast all the time in the early – mid 80’s but I only remember one tour in the 90’s (with The Dwarves, if memory serves). Given this, I was surprised when Flipper resurfaced for two “Save CBGB” shows in 2005 and followed this up with both a new studio, a live disc and another tour. Aside for a one-off show with the Dead Kennedys earlier this year and an archival DVD from MVD Video released last year, Flipper has been keeping a low profile.

I recently found that I had missed a live release from the band that Flipper fans are going to want to check out. I generally don’t pay attention to digital-only releases so I’m not shocked that I missed this “new” live album from Flipper, which was released about a year ago by CD Presents. This show captures Flipper’s 20+ minute set opening for PiL at The Fillmore in San Francisco on 10/31/81. Earlier that year, Flipper had opened for Throbbing Gristle at their (then) final show at Kezar Stadium and Flipper’s epic, monolithic drone seems more in line with TG’s experimentalism and the average PiL fan may have agreed with Will Shatter’s comment at the TG show: “This is actually a test in future torture”.

This new recording sounds great and it captures Flipper in all their shambolic glory, continually hovering on the edge of chaos and collapse. The band plows through three songs: “Sacrifice” [4:38m] (which starts with a long instrumental build-up of a wall of noise), “Survivors of the Plague” [7:18m] and they close with an extended version of “Life” (…the only thing worth living for) [7:46m]. This set is well-worth picking up as it is only $3.99 on iTunes and it comes with a digital booklet that details the history behind the show and how the band’s sets with PiL were an outgrowth of David Ferguson trying to help the band after Bill Graham scheduled them to play AFTER the Sex Pistols at their (final) Winterland concert.

This video isn't from the show at the Fillmore but it is from the same era of the band:



Links:
Flipper

Some of the other CD Presents shows available on iTunes include:
- Avengers/ Live at Winterland 1978 (opening for the Sex Pistols)
- Bad Brains/Live at the Fillmore 1982
- Black Flag/Live at the On Broadway 1982 (two complete shows)
- Circle Jerks/Live at the Fillmore 1982

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Pulling Teeth Announce Final Performance Will Be at A389 Anniversary Bash in January

Baltimore hardcore stalwarts Pulling Teeth are calling it a day. I hate seeing good bands “pull the plug” (and bad bands never do) but you have to give kudos to a band (or anyone, for that matter) who isn’t afraid to acknowledge that they have accomplished what they set out to do and are ready to move on. The band said "As a band we have accomplished everything that we have set out to do. Life is short. It’s time to move on and do other things.’"

From Pulling Teeth - Maryland Deathfest, Baltimore, MD 5-27-11

Pulling Teeth’s final show will be at the A389 Anniversary Bash, which will be held at Sonar in Baltimore on Jan. 21, 2012. Other bands on the bill are: Eyehategod, Integrity, Gehenna, Starkweather, Weekend Nachos, Seven Sisters of Sleep, Pick Your Side (Ex-Haymaker/Fuck The Facts), Junior Bruce (Ex-Bloodlet), Full Of Hell, Low Places, Young And In The Way, Homewrecker, Hatewaves, Triac & Eddie Brock. Tickets are still available and are $30.

Here is recent live video of the band which was filmed last month in Italy:



Links:
Pulling Teeth
A389 Records

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Futurebirds - Athens, GA Psych/Country Band Brings Their "Holiday Road" Tour to Brooklyn Bowl on Dec. 12th

DOWNLOAD: Futurebirds - "nearsayefive"
DOWNLOAD: Futurebirds - Live at Union Pool, Brooklyn 2-26-11 (posted to www.nyctaper.com)

(Photo: Eddie Whelan)
It is hard to put a label on Futurebirds' music as some of their songs fit perfectly alongside the music of recent touring partner J, Roddy Walston but other songs sound like something out of Explosion in the Sky's catalogue.

2011 has been a large year for Futurebirds. The Athens outfit has released two well-received EPs; road-dogged the nation with bands such as Widespread Panic, Drive-By Truckers, Grace Potter and the Nocturnals, Gary Clark, Jr., J Roddy Walston & the Business, Thomas Hardy, and grass giraffes; rocked to rave reviews at Bonnaroo Music Festival and Austin City Limits; and generally simply had a swell time—though brains and livers might scream otherwise.

Futurebirds' Holiday Road Tour, which includes grass giraffes and Brantley Jones, plays Brooklyn Bowl on Dec. 12th. Futurebirds will have a tour-exclusive single - the Holiday Road Super Single - for sale at each stop. The split single features new Futurebirds track "Serial Bowls", a cover of eddie the wheel's "nearsayerfive", a grass giraffes remix of Futurebirds' "Megachills", and a grass giraffes original, "Don't Forget Me." Tickets are $8 in advance and $10 DOS - Doors are at 6PM and the show starts at 8PM.

Links:
Futurebirds

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