She has a sultry, husky voice and a dedicated PR team -- but is Lana Del Rey truly deserving of a Best New Music title? Over at Phrequency.com, I break down the good, the bad, and the ugly surrounding indie's most loved (and most hated!) it girl -- head over there to check it out!
The term "geek rock", at least to me, always conjured up images of sweater-vest wearing, bespectacled nerds bent over their guitars, offering nasal-y, lovesick anthems (see: Rivers Cuomo). It seems appropriate enough, since all geeks are naturally whine-y, nasal-y weaklings, who might be crushed under the weight of an electric guitar.
Google image result #1 for "Death by Guitar." (From this site)
And yet -- having exhibited nerd tendencies (I suppose) for most of my life (at least until college, when nerdiness became "hip") -- and having joined a fraternity (if you will) where Nietzsche jokes were tossed around at the foosball table -- I have to say: no geeks these days listen to Weezer. (Weezer is for your friends trapped in high school, and people who watch Glee.) Geeks in Philadelphia just wanna rock.
The Dead Milkmen -- original Philly geek rockers
Enter Vintage Kicks, a hard-hitting, punk-rock 5-some whose debut record King Geek (2011) offers the sort of bitter, volatile ragers that sound best blasted on full-volume, and make me want to smash shit every time i listen. Drawing on post- and garage punk (think: The Pixies, Hot Snakes, Murder City Devils) with a tinge of emo (Piebald, The Promise Ring) and references to "Judas," "Rick Ocasek" and "my senior thesis," Vintage Kicks make music that seems perfectly crafted for New York Times-reading rebels and Spring Fling at Pilam.
V. Kicks
Tunes like "Absolutely Crazy" ricochet with fiery angst, while "Jetty Jump" matches fluid, melodic guitar with hostile vocals and jagged riffs. Vocalist Alex Marlys half sings-half screams while Chris Penny's capricious guitar licks and Mark Walter's aggressive drumming keeps things moving. They've made 2 appearances on my radio show already, with more soon to come -- nothing gets the blood flowing like an adrenaline-fueled punch to the eardrums.
Download their debut record, King Geek, for FREE via their Bandcamp, and get ready to rage.
Looking at this photo, you'd never guess these 2 stoned (or at least: stoney-eyed) individuals are capable of producing some of the most gorgeous, crepuscular pop the 21st century has ever seen.And yet ... Something, the sophomore record from Brooklyn's Chairlift -- is a sweeping record of feel-good '80s grooves and spacey melodies SO delectable, it's already in the running for the year's best. Check out my full review at Phrequency.com, and prepare to be swept away.
Twin Sis at Johnny Brenda's (Click any photo to enlarge)
The scent of seduction hung limp in the air Sunday night at Johnny Brenda's, as a nearly sold-out crowd gathered to catch Brooklyn's Twin Sister -- a band billed on JB's website as "music you could feel comfortable cheating on someone to."
And while we may never know the number of adulteries actually committed that night on the dance floor -- there is no questioning that the crowd stood enchanted, as the five piece sung and slow-grooved its way through an hour plus of sultry, ethereal pop.
Front woman Andrea Estella
Twin Sister's debut full length, In Heaven, is a scintillating blend of spacey dream pop and sly, disco-infused grooves, from the airy, meandering "Kimmi in a Rice Field" to the catchy, funky "Bad Street." Live, these same songs felt denser and teeming with life, as the band pounded out solid bass grooves, then swaddled them in layers of keys and vocals. Especially bewitching was front woman Andrea Estella, whose tiny frame looked smaller swallowed by an oversized blazer, and who pursed her lips and cooed into the mic like a sexy, intoxicated wood nymph.
In 70 minutes, the band played most of the songs off Heaven, plus early hit "All Around and Away We Go," and 2 new ones -- the former (listed on the set list as "Divide Me" [as far as I could tell]) a delicate arrangement of arpeggios and boy/girl harmonies, and the latter ("Tower of Two") a dance-y rager. They closed with an extended version of "The Other Side of Your Face," then broke shortly, returning with an encore performance of "Lady Daydream," the crowd swaying and dancing along. Not bad for a snowy Sunday night!
Brooklyn up-and-comers Ava Luna opened the show with their unique blend of vintage-inspired, doo wop-tinged electro-disco-funk, winning the crowd with front man's Carlos Hernandez's impassioned falsetto, and big, juicy bass licks, especially on tunes like exuberant closer "Past the Barbary." The set was enough to convince me to scoop up their Services EP -- I'm curious to see what's next for these guys!
It debuted on my radio showlast Monday, and has been swirling in my head ever since. A new one from scene vet Jennifer Herrema + band (formerly of RTX), "Rad Times" features not only the most hipster-y name ever, but also a mean beat and fair amount of "wack attack" (their words.)
Seeing as I am not a bro-dude, I don't usually like to describe things as "baller"...but when it comes to Cloud Nothings' third LP, Attack on Memory, "baller" seems the only term appropriate.
polar bear sweatshirts = totes baller.
From grunge-y, tormented post-punk assaults to angst-fueled diatribes about love and happiness -- Attack on Memory rocks out with its metaphorical cock out, yet never feels bombastic or overblown. Check out my full review at Phrequency.com, and learn how you can stream the whole thing for free.
British pop band Fanfarlo have always struck me as a sorta happy, Polyphonic Spree-type act, filled with needless euphoria -- but new video "Shiny Things" displays a much darker side. Exhibit:
Now check out this vid from NYC's Loudest Band, A Place to Bury Strangers, composed entirely of Instagrams. Where the instagrams came from is not clear. Still rad though:
Fanfarlo's new record, Rooms Filled With Light (not gold) is out Feb. 28; APTBS's new record, To the Wall, is out Feb. 7.
The video's been out for a while now, but I'm posting it anyway, b/c I'm kinda obsessed. Check out this new single from Brooklyn band Chairlift, which provides the perfect opportunity for '80s-inspired indulgence/full-body unitards:
The band's sophomore record Something drops January 24, which gives you 2 weeks to scoop up a matching mint green bodysuit at American Apparel. (Also, tune in to my radio show tonight at 6 p.m. on XPN2 to catch a track from Something live.) On a local note, how sweet is this collab between local hip-hop trio the Ground Up and twangy rockers The Lawsuits?
2011 has been buried and in the ground long before I puked all over my shoes 2 a.m. on January 1...which means it's time to focus on a new year of music. Over atPhrequency.com, I break down 12 records we're excited about in 2012, and how you can scoop up free songs/videos in the meantime. Head there to check it out!
