Posted: July 2nd, 2008 | Author: justin | Filed under: FRICTION, events, folk, nyc, pop, psych | No Comments »
Thanks to everyone who made it out to FRICTION at Cake Shop on Sunday night. Many thanks to Crystal Stilts, Tickley Feather, Rings, PWRFL Power, and Anicet DJ for putting on such a great show. We loved the vibe of the night and venue, so keep an eye out for future shows at the shop. For now, you can catch FRICTION (as announced on Monday) at The Mercury Lounge with Crystal Antlers, Chairlift, and Religious Knives on July 8th. Photos from Sunday night are up on our Flickr page.
Posted: June 30th, 2008 | Author: justin | Filed under: FRICTION, events, noise, nyc, psych, synth | No Comments »
GET HYPE! Long Beach California’s Crystal Antlers bring their pummeling live show to the East Coast for this installment of FRICTION at The Mercury Lounge on July 8th. With an explosive build-up of noise and melody blended with raw vocals and twisting riffs, this quintet has mastered the art of thrash. Brooklyn synthfolk darlings Chairlift (who’s debut LP, Does You Inspire You is about to drop) and borough-mates Religious Knives (Resin recently reviewed here), best known to dish out delicious plates of noise, round out this bill.
This will be the last of what seemed like a crazy string of shows every other week since the beginning of May, as FRICTION returns to its once a month schedule for the remainder of the summer. Advance tickets are on sale now, doors at 7:30pm.
Long Beach’s
CRYSTAL ANTLERS have mastered the art of thrash, that combustible build-up of noise and melody that so many others have tried to harness, only to fail in a miserable pool of fuzzy annoyance. Blending messy, raspy vocals with pummeling drums, writhing riffs and strident organs, the band produce a kaleidoscopic tornado of inflection that’s so right-this-very-moment. [Orange County Weekly]
[MP3]: “A Thousand Eyes”
CHAIRLIFT digs deep for its inspiration. The groups
Daylight Savings EP, while tethered to a solid core of hook-laden, keyboard driven indie-rock, opens its arms wide to encompass stabs of psychedelia and winsomely quirky, oh-so-slight vocals which evoke Kate Bush as much as Regina Spektor. The trio knows how to skirt the edge of pretension with out falling over, and makes a chirpy, joyously brainy noise in the process. [The Onion]
[MP3]: “Evident Utensil”
The animal musk of The Velvet Underground spiral drones intermingles with the decadent perfume of a David Lynch noir to devastating effect, this is death disco in the best tradition of Public Image Ltd, and when
RELIGIOUS KNIVES decide it is the moment to finish us off the only thing we’ll regret is having to abandon this spectral chamber which they call home. [20jazzfunkgreats]
[MP3]: “The Sun”
In part with:
Posted: June 27th, 2008 | Author: justin | Filed under: FRICTION, events, nyc, pop, psych, surf | No Comments »
With a lineup that’s a little bit Philly and a lot of New York, FRICTION returns to its roots in Manhattan with a cast of “local” acts this Sunday at Cake Shop. Crystal Stilts, who have recently been buzzing in NYC, bring their unique brand of of moody, catchy, and upbeat surf-inspired tunes to the Shop. Mischevious outsider-folkie PWRFL Power, Paw Track signees Rings, and Philadelphia’s mysterious Tickley Feather, with her lo-fi blend of psychy bedroom pop, round out the lineup. Anicet spins between sets.
Tickets are only seven bucks and available at the doors, which open at 8pm. Full show details here. GET HYPE!
[MP3]: Crystal Stilts ”Bright Night Nursery”
Crystal Stilts, eMusic Select; 2008
Posted: June 11th, 2008 | Author: justin | Filed under: FRICTION, events, music, nyc | No Comments »
After a brief stint in Brooklyn, FRICTION returns to the borough that gave the monthly series birth with its first show at the recently-turned-three, Cake Shop. Playing their unique brand of gloomy, yet catchy and upbeat surf-inspired tunes, Brooklyn’s Crystal Stilts headline this show, supported by fellow Brooklynites and Paw Tracks signees, Rings, along with PWRFL Power, who recently made the move to the popular borough from Seattle, where he swooned many a heart. Philadelphia’s mysterious Tickley Feather rounds out the lineup, bringing her lo-fi blend of psychy bedroom pop to the shop. Anicet is back spinning between sets.
Tickets are just 7 bucks and available at the doors, which open at 8pm the night of the show. Well thought out press blurbs, really skinny pictures, mp3′s, and the flyer (designed by Andy McEntee) are all below.
GET HYPE!
These are weird pop songs you clap your hands along to.
CRYSTAL STILTS pile a rockabilly riff and nursery school melodies onto a revved-up bass line and sweet surfy 60s organ riff on top of minimalist percussion. [Pitchfork]
[MP3]: “Crippled Croon”
Using her voice and some lo-fi keyboards,
TICKLEY FEATHER is able to tap into the same gauzy electronic warmth as Beach House, but on a rougher, bargain-basement level. This gives her license to indulge in some left-field weirdness…a few of the interludes and outros here sound as if they could’ve fallen off of a Creel Pone release, but rather than distract, the excursions contribute to the intoxicating atmosphere. [Dusted]
[MP3]: “Fancy Walking”
PWRFL POWER‘s music is an unconventional marriage of melodically rich, Fahey-styled acoustic virtuosity and conversational, knowingly naive lyrical abandon…which manages to transcend the potentially cloying confines of its subject matter. [The Stranger]
[MP3]: “Alma Song”
RINGS play an off-kilter brand of experimental psych-folk, not unlike Animal Collective, but with a touch of baroque melancholy. Rings more than just connect with the Paw Tracks family on a genetic level, they seem to share a similar approach, that being one of defying norms and going against everything you know about pop music, and still coming out with something musical and even, at times, beautiful. [Treble]
[MP3]: “Is He Handsome”
In part with:
Posted: June 10th, 2008 | Author: justin | Filed under: FRICTION, nyc, philly, psych, rock | No Comments »
Not to be confused with Crystal Castles, Crystal Stilts, or Twin Crystals, Long Beach, CA’s Crystal Antlers are set to leave the fair-weathered West Coast for possibly more hot and humid pastures. Following a few solo tour dates in the American Southwest, the chaotic five-piece will hook up with the Fuck Yeah Tour (Matt & Kim, Team Robespierre, The Death Set, Dan Deacon and more) in Tennessee and join the travelling schizo party until it brings havoc to the East Coast in early July.
Upon reaching our muggy coast, Crystal Antlers will play two New York City dates including FRICTION at The Mercury Lounge on July 8th and a loft party on the 12th, along with a balcony party TBA in Philly on July 11th. Expect these guys to bring an epic rock sound with a side of freaky funk and loads of fuzz soaked energy to the stage. Boasting psychedelic organ drones, slicing wiry guitars, throaty vocals, soul-tinged basslines, and a drummer dubbed “Sexual Chocolate” this is one live act not to miss. Grab “Vexation” below and be sure to catch Crystal Antlers as they storm through the U.S. this summer.
[MP3]: Crystal Antlers ”Vexation”
EP, Self-Released; 2008
Crystal Antlers East Coast Tour Dates (Full U.S. Tour):
7.4.08 – Sky Lab / Columbus, OH (Fuck Yeah Tour)
7.5.08 – The Grog Shop / Cleveland, OH (Fuck Yeah Tour)
7.6.08 – Sound Lab / Buffalo, NY (Fuck Yeah Tour)
7.8.08 – The Mercury Lounge / New York, NY (FRICTION)
7.10.08 – Tinder Box / Brattleboro, VT (Fuck Yeah Tour)
7.11.08 – Balcony Party / Philadelphia, PA (Fuck Yeah Afterparty)
7.12.08 – Loft Party / New York, NY (Fuck Yeah Afterparty)
Posted: June 9th, 2008 | Author: justin | Filed under: FRICTION, events, nyc | No Comments »
I got into a conversation over the weekend about which weather I would rather have to deal with: a) bitter cold or b) heat and humidity. It’s a no brainer for me, I’ll take the bitter bitter cold any day over this hot and humid as fuck weather we’ve been experiencing the last couple of days. It causes me to shut down and not want to leave the confines of air conditioned spaces. That said, I’d like to thank everyone who braved the dirty heat last night and came out for the 30th FRICTION show with These New Puritans, School of Seven Bells, and Soundpool at Music Hall of Williamsburg. Extra props go to These New Puritans frontman Paul Barnett for rocking metal feathered chainmail as temperatures outside crept into the upper 90s.
Soundpool started off the night with a sexy dream-pop set. Out of focus film strips filled the stage, highlighting and flickering off the group as they churned out shimmering sonic morphine, anchored by sound-washed guitars, bumping basslines, girlie vocals, and pop beats. Brooklyn trio, School of Seven Bells brought a little of the steamy weather indoors to the otherwise cool Music Hall with their sultry blend of droning dark synths, psychedelic reverb, booming laptop beats, and charismatic vocal harmonies of twin sisters Alejandra and Claudia Deheza. With start-stop Fall-inspired paroxysms, the cryptic These New Puritans made their Brooklyn live debut with an icy precision. The fiery Barnett controlled the stage with abrubt barking vocals over brilliant staccato rhythms and jerky angular guitars, shouting lines like “what’s your favorite number, what does it mean?” I’m not sure, but Barnett seemed a bit angry about something, contrasting his anger with calling for “peace” and “peace in the Middle East.” The highlight of the set (and which everyone seemed to be anticipating) was the live rendition of the driving electro hit, “Elvis,” perhaps getting the best response from the crowd during their set. Like them or not, for a group who’s average age is less than twenty, this quartet is showing a lot of potential and should grow into their sound quite well.
Also, special thanks to Brooklyn’s (by way of D.C.) Jean-Baptiste, aka Anicet, for pulling together one of the better DJ sets I’ve heard in quite a while. If you have a chance, check him out at Happy Ending on June 18th and stream some of his mixes on Virb.
Pictures will be up on Flickr shortly. Music Snobbery has up a nice review from last night’s show.
FRICTION jumps back across the river for a show at Cake Shop on June 29th with Crystal Stilts, Tickley Feather, PWRFL Power, and Rings. Tickets are $7 and available the night of the show. Keep your eye on the site for more information and check out the rest of the summer’s FRICTION shows on MySpace.
[MP3]: Crystal Stilts ”Converging in the Quiet”
Crystal Stilts, eMusic Select; 2008
Posted: June 6th, 2008 | Author: justin | Filed under: FRICTION, events, nyc, shoegaze | No Comments »
The Puritans are coming (and so is a heatwave)! FRICTION returns to Music Hall of Williamsburg this Sunday with the trance-inducing post-punk Brits These New Puritans. Supporting will be Brooklyn faves School of Seven Bells and shoegaze darlings Soundpool. Effi Briest had to cancel this show because they are still busy in the studio on a new record. However, the lineup hasn’t lost a beat with the addition of New York City’s Soundpool, who we’ve been crushing on since hearing their second album, Dichotomies & Dreamland, earlier this spring.
Beat the heat (and humidity) on Sunday and come out to Music Hall of Williamsburg for this solid FRICTION bill. They have air conditioning there, right? Anicet spins between sets. Tix
For fans of ethereal, densely layered noise pop,
SOUNDPOOL demand attention. [Nick Fulton, Einstein Music Journal]
[MP3]: “Pleasure & Pain”
