HotChaCha - Cleveland Agit-Punk Band Plays Two NYC Shows in March

HotChaCha is a Cleveland-based art punk band composed of Jovana Batkovic (vocals), Greg Gebhard (guitar/keyboard) and Roseanna Safos (drums). The band does not have a permanent bassist, but utilizes fill-in bassists on tour. The band plays a progressive rock influenced by a blend of shoegaze and punk. -- Wikipedia



HotChaCha has been touring incessantly over the past few years --- traversing the East Coast, the South, and Midwest countless times --- refining their over-the-top live show. Front woman Jovana Batkovic is one of the most engaging live performers we've ever seen --- out in the audience, up on the bar, or down on the stage --- she has the unique ability of making the audience an integral part of the experience.

The band is playing two NYC shows in March - the first is on Saturday, March 3rd at Brooklyn Fire Proof (119 Ingraham Street) and the second is March 25th at Cake Shop where the band is playing with Electric Eel Shock from Japan.



The band has undergone a few lineup changes in the past year but they continue to incorporate elements of post-punk, dance, and new wave that creates an entrancing environment that brilliantly balances the delicate and the forceful.

*Joining HotChaCha on the March 3rd date will be Upstate New York's, Summer People. These two bands have spent a lot of time together on the road in the past year that led us to release the limited edition 12" Split-EP, "Do It", which featured 4 songs by each band.

Links:
HotChaCha

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Cursive - "I Am Gemini" CD Review (Saddle Creek) / Two Shows at Bowery Ballroom in April

On Tim Kasher’s solo debut, The Game of Monogamy (2010), he created an impressively well-crafted musical and lyrical story arch that followed the rise and fall of a couples’ romantic relationship. Cursive's latest disc follows in this vein and, on their forthcoming seventh disc, I Am Gemini (Saddle Creek), the band tells the story of Cassius and Pollock, twin brothers who had been separated at birth. “One good and one evil, their unexpected reunion in a house that is not a home ignites a classic struggle for the soul, played out with a cast of supporting characters that includes a chorus of angels and devils, and twin sisters conjoined at the head.”

Recorded in the summer/fall of 2011 at Omaha, NE’s ARC Studios and mixed at Red Room in Seattle, WA with producer Matt Bayles (Mastodon, Minus The Bear, Isis), I Am Gemini marks the first time front-man Tim Kasher, holding the completed story already in mind, wrote album lyrics in a linear fashion, in order, from Song 1 to Song 13. There are a couple of potential alt-radio hits on the disc but the overall result is that the thirteen songs ("chapters") form a cohesive script for a play.

Musically, I Am Gemini is able to capture a sense of urgency and energy without sacrificing production quality. There is an overall darkness to this disc but this is balanced by the disc’s consistently changing musical landscape and production which gives each song room to breathe and find its own footing. The first and last songs on the disc (“This House Alive” and “Eulogy for No Name”) serve to, respectively, introduce and close the story and there are two instrumentals on the disc which serve to separate the “acts” of the “play”.

After the slow build of the “This House Alive”, the band aggressively picks up speed and listener is drawn in from the second song (“Warmer, Warmer”) onward. Tim Kasher’s clear, melodic vocals, the band’s musical hooks and their jagged post-punk stops, starts and twists in tempo pull the listener further and further into both the music and the story arch. This last song is particularly interesting as Kasher starts the song with subdued vocals which sound like Tim Quirk’s (from Too Much Joy) before bringing this number to its crashing conclusion.

Standout Tracks: “Warmer, Warmer”, “The Sun and the Moon” and “Drunken Birds”. After these three tracks land their back-to-back punches, the listener is going to need the instrumental “Lullaby for No Name” just to catch their breath.

Note: My promo copy came with a 12 page libretto that serves both as a lyric sheet and a “playbill” for the story of Cassius and Pollock and I assume this will be included in the disc's CD booklet.

Cursive kicked off their US tour last night in Denver, CO and the band is playing two nights at Bowery Ballroom on April 3rd and 4th with support from Cymbals Eat Guitars and Conduits. Tickets for each of the nights are $16 and doors are at 7:30PM.

To get anticipation going, below is the setlist from show in Denver:
01. "This House Alive"
02. "Big Bang"
03. "A Gentleman Caller"
04. "The Sun and Moon"
05. "I Couldn't Love You"
06. "Retreat!!"
07. "The Martyr"
08. "Gemini"
09. "The Ugly Organist"
10. "The Cat and Mouse"
11. "We're Going to Hell"
12. "The Recluse"
13. "Wowowow"
14. "Dorothy At Forty"

Encore:
15. "Art Is Hard"
16. "From the Hips"
17. "Mothership, Mothership, Do You Read Me"
18. "Sierra"
19. "Eulogy For No Name"

Links:
Cursive

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Thin Lizzy - "The Boys are Back in Town - Live in Sydney, AU 1978" CD Review (IMV Blueline)

Thin Lizzy fans are long familiar with the video portion of this show which was released over a decade ago under the title "The Boys are Back in Town". For anyone not familiar, this show captures Thin Lizzy on one of the final dates of their Live & Dangerous tour, playing a free show on the steps of the Sydney Opera House. The show took place on October 29, 1978 and Lizzy played in front of an estimated crowd of 100,000.

This is one of the more short-lived lineups of the band but they sound great! Gary Moore had stepped in for Brian Robertson (who had a final falling out with Lynott) and drummer Mark Nauseef, from Ian Gillan's solo band, was filling in for Brian Robertson (who had taken leave of the band citing exhaustion).

The eight songs on this disc (below) runs just under forty minutes:
- "Jailbreak"
- "Bad Reputation"
- "Cowboy Song"
- "The Boys are Back in Town"
- "Waiting for an Alibi"
- "Are You Ready"
- "Me and the Boys"
- "Baby Drives Me Crazy"

The challenge with this disc is that the audio is a straight run-down of the DVD audio, which had muffled, almost bootleg-quality sound. As this was a pro-shot concert (not a bootleg), my guess is that the camera mic was the source of the audio and it overloaded. The other challenge with the audio is that the disc was recorded TAO so there are gaps between the tracks. The sound quality may scare off the casual fan but anyone not familiar with this concert should check out the video from the show (below) to see if this might be of interest.



Links:
Thin Lizzy

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Thin Lizzy - "Live in Concert 1983" DVD Review (XXL Media)

Thin Lizzy - Live in Concert 1983 captures the band on one of the final legs of their Thunder & Lightning farewell tour and was filmed at Royal Dublin Society Showground on April 9th, 1983. While the farewell tour showed Thin Lizzy grinding to a halt and the tour was put together to pay off the band’s bills, this disc is still essential for any fan of the band.

This 55 minute show was originally broadcast on TV and was filmed with multiple cameras so there some nice shots of the full band and the individual members. This isn’t a big “glossy” pro-shot (by today’s standards) video though as the lighting isn’t always the best, which leaves some shots too dark. Overall, the video has the “feel” of something that was filmed for in-house broadcast rather than for TV. The sound on the disc though is perfect and sounds like it came straight from the mixing board. (Note: there is no crowd noise in the mix).

Performance-wise, Phil doesn’t seem very animated and looks like he is holding on for dear life - there is no trace of the breezy rouge from the “Live and Dangerous” or Sydney ’78 DVDs. The rest of the band sounds in reasonable form but, again, this isn’t the tightly honed performance of Lizzy’s earlier years. Brian Robertson looks to be in great form and John Sykes and Scott Gorham take frequent (but not overpowering) solos standing atop of pedestals on either side of Phil. (Darren Wharton’s contributions really aren’t heard in the mix).



The set list for this show seems close to other shows on the farewell tour though most of the other shows that I’ve heard include an additional song or two. What seems a little strange on this show is that “Dancing in the Moonlight” and “Whiskey in the Jar” aren’t played in their entirety but rather slotted into “Rosalie” and it is almost as though the band was racing against an “end of night” curfew.

RDS, Dublin 4/9/83 Set List:
1) Thunder & Lightning
2) Baby Please Don´t Go
3) Angel of Death
4) Are You Ready
5) Cold Sweat
6) The Sun Goes Down
7) Emerald
8) Still in Love with You
9) Rosalie / Dancing in the Moonlight / Whiskey in the Jar

Links:
Thin Lizzy

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Miss Guy (Toilet Boys Vox) - "Dumb Blonde" CD EP Review

Miss Guy - established DJ and front-man for the recently reunited glam-punk band Toilet Boys – just released his first solo disc, “Dumb Blonde”. Miss Guy has been a fixture in the downtown NYC rock scene for over fifteen years, co-written songs with Deborah Harry (“Charm Alarm”) and Boy George (“Stay Away from Pretty Boys”) and is now stepping out under his own name with the release of this new EP (and he has a follow-up EP readied for later this year). Miss Guy always showcased a wide range of musical styles when DJing and his new disc spans a number of musical genres.

The disc opens with the glammed-up autobiographical song “Dumb Blonde” which, with its big hooks and melodic gutter punk riffs, sounds like it could have come from the Toilet Boys back catalogue. From there, Miss Guy goes into the slinky and pulsing dance club grind of “Take It Off” and follows this with the winsome power-pop number “Magic”. “Don’t Stop” is a mellow semi-acoustic love ballad the combines an acoustic guitar with an electronic beat. The disc’s final track, “Sometimes”, is a hazy, late-night mix of acoustic instrumentation and electronic feedback that ends the disc on an ethereal note.



Miss Guy is the resident DJ at the NYC parties DropOut at WiP (Deborah Harry joined Miss Guy for a song at the party this past week) and POGO at Hotel Chantelle.

“Dumb Blonde” was co-written and produced by Super Buddha’s Barbara Jean Morrison and Charles W. Nieland and is available via iTunes and Amazon.

Links:
Miss Guy

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Pearl and the Beard (Folk-Pop) Play Music Hall of Williamsburg on Feb. 16th

DOWNLOAD: Pearl and the Beard - "Sweetness"



"Neverland's got nothing on the whimsical world constructed by Pearl than the Bear. The N.Y.C. based trio carries listeners on their backs through a DIY dreamland that is unpredictable yet safe and warm like the comfort of one's own bed." - Bust Magazine

Pearl and the Beard is three voices, one cello, one guitar, one glockenspiel, one melodica, several drums, one accordion, ninety-six teeth, and one soul.

Pearl and the Beard will also be touring this month supporting Ani DiFranco, celebrating the release of their extended single for "Prodigal Girl" at Music Hall of Williamsburg, and tearing through the Midwest and Southeast throughout February and March supporting the release of said extended single. The single will feature Prodigal Girl and 3 solo songs from each of the members Jocelyn Mackenzie, Emily Hope Price, and Jeremy Styles.

Pearl and the Beard Tour Dates:
02.16 -- Brooklyn NY -- Music Hall of Williamsburg
(Tickets are $13 in advance and $15 DOS)

02.23 -- Philadelphia -- Kung Fu Necktie
02.24 -- Washington DC -- Rock N Roll Hotel
02.28 -- Evanston IL -- S.P.A.C.E.
02.29 -- St. Louis MO -- The Gramophone,
03.01 -- Columbia MO -- True/False Film Festival
03.06 -- Omaha NE -- O'Leary's Pub
03.23 -- Greensboro NC -- The Blind Tiger
03.25 -- Greenville NC -- Spazzfest
03.28 -- Shepherdstown WV -- Blue Moon Cafe
03.29 -- Easton MD -- The Night Cat, 8pm



Links:
Pearl and the Beard

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Spiritual Beggars - "Ad Astra" CD Review (Music for Nations)

As part of an extensive reissue campaign, The End Records is bringing back into print UK metal label Music for Nations’ back catalogue. One of the many gems in the catalogue is the Spiritual Beggars albums with original vocalist Christian "Spice" Sjöstrand. For anyone not familiar with Spiritual Beggars, the band is led by former Carcass / Arch Enemy guitarist Michael Arnott and they play groove-oriented stoner rock that bares more than a passing resemblance to bands like Soundgarden and Corrosion of Conformity.

Ad Astra was the band’s fourth disc (originally released in 2000) and it brought the band significant recognition overseas as they played some high profile European festivals and toured with bands like Iron Maiden, Queens of the Stone Age and Monster Magnet. The disc starts strong with the bluesy, hard rock track “Left Brain Ambassadors” and this song should have cracked American radio wide open. While Spiritual Beggars didn’t break out in America, they did catch the ear of Greg Anderson at Southern Lord who released the song “It’s Over”, which was only on the Japanese pressing of Ad Astra, as part of the label’s 7” of Doom series.

Aside for the slow-burning intro to the disc’s final track, “Mantra“, the music on this disc is consistent throughout. The band build up a full “wall of sound” over which they add clean guitar solos (check out the solo on “Sedated”), chugging riffs and psychedelic keys over a big bottom-end that borders on grunge at times and Christian "Spice" Sjöstrand sings with a gruff voice that is part “Ben Ward” and one “Jim Morrison / Ian Astbury”. While there is a sonic similarity running between the songs, songs like “Left Brain Ambassadors”, “Save Your Soul”, “Angel of Betrayal” and “Wonderful World” should have been break-out FM-Radio hits.



Spiritual Beggars have just announced that they are "busy in the studio...writing new riffs and coming up with new songs"

Links:
Spiritual Beggars

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