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Sonic Youth/Grass Widow/Talk Normal at Prospect Park
Urgent: Sonic Youth still awesome!
Thousands of people were packed into Park Slope’s Prospect Park just a few hours ago to see Sonic Youth perform a noiseful free concert as part of Celebrate Brooklyn. Some might even say the crowd was “totally gaying out” over the group. Idiocy aside, I would agree with that statement. People were real into what was happening at this performance, and I was one of those people.
First, Brooklyn’s Talk Normal opened up the evening with thirty minutes of droning, reverbed guitar and bass distortion; Lydia Lunch-y yelping vocals; and fierce, tribal drums. I’ve seen them perform a few times before this, and they’re definitely still improving, which is fantastic, because they were good to begin with. Their record Sugarland was one of my favorites of last year, so check that out if you’ve not done so already. And since I’m without any visuals from the show itself (I was way too far away to get anything but worthless crowd shots), here’s a video of “In a Strangeland,” which they played tonight, fast.
I was unfamiliar with San Francisco’s Grass Widow, who played a forty-minute set of a music that sounded like they should be on Slumberland Records. It was very heavily influenced by Black Tambourine, but, hey, I’m cool with that. Black Tambourine rocked. What was really interesting to me, however, was the several different styles the trio worked in to their music. At times, it would sound angular and math-y, at other times, heavy noise. And still other times, the drummer would be playing a surf rock beat, or dabbling in improvisational beats. They’ve got a record coming out in late August, I believe, so I’ll be lookin’ out for that one.
Now, Sonic Youth. Their set tonight was heavy on material from Daydream Nation, with very little from their last few records. I saw them last summer while they were touring to support their most recent album, The Eternal, and, while I loved that record, I was happy to see them performing a vastly different set than that one. They were performing without Mark Ibold (who’s off touring with some other band) so it was a four piece, but they were even noisier this time than the last, and there were plenty of moments throughout the show where I would say to myself “man Sonic Youth kills it so hard” or “Steve Shelley is really nailing it tonight” or, and this one especially, “Kim Gordon’s voice is one of the greatest sounds ever.” Everyone was bringin’ it, for the entirety of the ninety minutes they were on stage. This set also came with a healthier portion of avant-noise material than last summer’s, including Lee Ranaldo bowing his guitar, Thurston Moore working some sort of audio recordings, and Shelley just throwing shit at his drums during their last number, “Expressway to Yr Skull.” Just another reminder that Sonic Youth owns all sound.
Link
Hey, remember that Fucked Up song with the girl from Duchess Says? →
Well, here it is, minus that girl, and with Zola Jesus instead. I like the changes, but I still loved Annie-Claude Deschênes’ growling vocals on that live version. Ah well, still super awesome.
Here’s my tweet about it:
Just listened to that new Fucked Up song while pooping. Highly recommended for an exciting and dramatic “hardcore pooping” experience.
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I caught Thee Oh Sees playing a free show at the South Street Seaport on Friday. Now, as I’m sure you already know if you’re familiar with the group, they fucking rule. The show was fantastic, and though I missed the first opener, So Cow, the second one, Golden Triangle, was pretty solid, so, all around, it was a fine show.
Here’s the issue though: I hate everyone that goes to shows. From the crazily rowdy mosh pit to the smelly young-professionals/brosephs standing too close to my face, every single person there made me wonder how so many people could have so little regard for the people around them. There were a couple of great crazy people in attendance, however, and I guess their awesomeness kind of comes out of that same disregard for other people’s comfort that leads to aggressive moshing and smelling terrible and having an asshole face. There was some lady who was at least ten thousand years old, and she was dancing all sexual. Too sexual, in fact, to be captured on (digital) film by a (terrible) photographer like myself. There was also some dude with green pants and a suitcase who made some sort of strange sea-lion noise after every song. ANYWAY, Thee Oh Sees fuckin’ annihilate. But you probably already knew that.
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[Flash 9 is required to listen to audio.]Double Dagger - Sleeping With the TV On
Masks (Thrill Jockey)
I guess it’s not realistic to expect anything on the level of Double Dagger’s previous record, More, which was definitely one of the best records of last year. But I was hoping for more of a standout track on this EP, and I’m not sure I feel like we got one. ”Sleeping With the TV On” might be the closest to rivaling More in great punk, with it’s accelerating tempo and blasts of energy.
This EP sounds like Double Dagger, which is good, but it sounds like them being lazy. That’s the last thing I was expecting. It’s definitely still worth some time, but on the heels of an excellent full-length, I was hoping for something more.
Eh, who am I kidding? This is still better than 99% of what’s out there. Go get it, I’m just being spoiled.
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[Flash 9 is required to listen to audio.]Claps - Fold
New Science (Guilt Ridden Pop)
I’m not a huge fan of the six-song-EP-featuring-three-remixes-of-the-same-song thing, but, as you might already be aware, I am a big fan of robot noises. And, I suppose it’s alright that there are only three songs on New Science, because they’re all kickin’. ”Folds,” the one they remixed three times, is dynamite, so I can see why they might try and milk that one for all it’s got. Check it out above.
Minimal-wave synthesizers, and electro-drum machines. What else do you need to know? Nothing. Nothing else.
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This just in: guy from Surfer Blood sitting all the way on the left looks like a weird alien baby.
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[Flash 9 is required to listen to audio.]Tempo No Tempo - The Rat (Part One)
Waking Heat (self-release)
Tempo No Tempo’s latest record is called Waking Heat. When I put it on my turntable, I actually started getting excited. I was expecting garbage (I won’t tell you why), and the first few tracks are really good. ”The Rat (Part One)” and “Pole Position,” have noisy, post-punk guitarings, the drummer sounds like the one from Talk Normal, the vocals were reverbed-out like crazy, and the bass was punchy and overdriven. So, I was getting amped about a surprise record, especially after “Get Down, Stay Down” picked things up with some of the screamin’est guitars out there.
But the thing is all over the place. Sometimes they sound like they should be on the Famous Class record label, with all sorts of heavy post-punk noise in the vein of Boogie Boarder, Darlings, or, actually, even Double Dagger. But then other times, I feel like I’m listening to Dashboard Confessional. It’s really jarring, and I’m not sure what to make of it. The tracks I’ve already mentioned, along with “Lay Your Magnets Down” and “Medicines,” are really quite good, but some songs, like “Line Drawing,” in particular, are just awful.
In junior high, all my report cards said “effort is sporadic.”
Link
New Vivian Girls Song →
I like Vivian Girls. They’ve posted a cover of the Chantels’ “He’s Gone” on their MySpace.
The new song’s alright, kind of a change of pace. Still makes sense. But I’m not sure how I feel about it. Thoughts?
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(via PIXELHORSE)
You might remember that I did a short write-up on tUnE-yArDs a couple weeks back. Here’s a live session of hers that’s pretty great. The last cut on that performace, Jumping Jack, is fantastic; too bad I can’t embed it. But the first song, Real Live Flesh, is also awesome, so I don’t think it’s really a loss.
Video
CMJ Report: Day Five
Or “The Final Day”
I’d been planning all day to see Pissed Jeans, since they were performing at the Mercury Lounge in Manhattan, but they were scheduled to go on at midnight, and I had decided I would be better served by the couple extra hours of sleep I would get by going to an earlier show. Luckily, I’d RSVP’d to the Neon Indian/Almighty Defenders show at Root Brooklyn, so I made my way there to see some cool shit.
This place turned out to be way more hip an establishment than any in which I ever really want to be. I can definitely see myself feeling like I wouldn’t be comfortable hanging out with all these young rich people, but, luckily, today’s show was free, as were the drinks. So, in came the riff-raff, like my unshaven, flannel-wearing self. I’ve never had to wait outside a club while a bouncer looked for my name on a list, but once I got inside, I forgot about how lame that is, because there was free Magic Hat AND granola bars (or something).
We hung around for a while, checking out the INCREDIBLY loud DJ room for all of about one minute, and generally wasting time until the show started. The DJ, by the way, was so loud that we missed the opening act almost completely, and didn’t even notice. I hear Cale Parks was the opener? I couldn’t tell you.
But I did catch all of Neon Indian, and it was great. If you remember yesterday’s post, Neon Indian is VEGA, plus a lady! They bring a lot of energy to their electronic-dance-space-pop stuff, and this time, the guitarist remembered to tune, so shit was very tight. Highly recommended, and check out their new EP, Psychic Chasms, if you get the chance; it’s fantastic.
The Almighty Defenders closed out the night, and they were phenominal; I haven’t yet decided if they or Duchess Says were the best show I ended up seeing, but they were right up there. For those unaware, The Almighty Defenders are Black Lips and King Khan & BBQ Show, in one super-cool, super-simple gospel-garage rock band. Everyone switches off on lead vocals, instruments are passed around, and everyone has a good time. It’s been a long time since I’ve heard songs as easy to sing along to; my sister had heard maybe a couple of their songs once or twice, and she seemed to be right with it. Even cooler than that is the performance of King Khan; the man really knows how to work a song out. I’d heard the record, and it turns out all my favorite songs are the ones on which he takes lead vocals. The man’s a master. If they’re coming by you, you need to see the Almighty Defenders.
So, all in all, a highly enjoyable experience. If you missed any of the previous parts, they’re all here:
Day One
Day Two
Day Three
Day Four
Anyone else have any CMJ experiences or recent concerts they wanna discuss? Leave a comment, or submit your story here.
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