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”
Posted: May 27th, 2008 | Author: justin | Filed under: FRICTION, avant-garde, events, nyc, rock | No Comments »
GET HYPE! FRICTION kicks off Summer at Music Hall of Williamsburg TOMORROW NIGHT with an incredibly festive lineup featuring Athens, GA’s wildly eclectic collective Dark Meat along with Brooklyn’s avant-garde outfit Ex Models, and in your face rockers The Naked Heroes. Be sure to come out early for this solid bill and take advantage of Music Hall’s happy-hour starting at 6pm!
Tix available now / Doors @ 8pm / flyer, mp3s + more below
Imagine the Stooges meeting Crazy Horse with killer marching band horns, wailing gospel backing vocals, ripping Eddie Hazel guitar leads, and Albert Ayler free jazz freakouts. Athens’
DARK MEAT, a 17-piece hippie rock fest featuring double drums, boundless guitars, massive horns, strings, and ensemble voices, has been giving earth-shaking performances all over the south for the last three years. [Insound].
[MP3]: “Freedom Ritual”
This truly is the bastard child of The Velvet Underground circa mid sections of Sister Ray and White Light White Heat and most contemporarily related to the second Liars incarnation.
EX MODELS set jaws dropping by reinventing themselves and challenging us again. The peaks reached during this set actually surpassed the standard set by the previous extraordinary Ex Models. See them. [Paul Cox, Artrocker UK].
[MP3]: “White Psychosis”
Influenced by bands like Black Sabbath, The Cramps, James Brown, Led Zeppelin, and The Stooges, Brooklyn’s
THE NAKED HEROES play a brand of raw, in-your-face southern rock.
[MP3]: “The Goonhand”
In part with:
Posted: May 23rd, 2008 | Author: justin | Filed under: art, nyc, post-punk | No Comments »
There’s something to be said about the consistentency of interesting artwork from a band. Although it’s not as important as the band’s music or live show, it’s key to create a visual image aside from the music for listeners to latch onto. Some bands manage to do this incredibly well, take Peter Saville and Factory Records for example, his designs weren’t that complex, but fit the music he created them for perfectly. One of my favorite designs of his is the cover for the 12″ Single of New Order’s “Ceremony” (Fac. 33). It’s a simple design, just a blue line on white background and black lettering, but for some reason I’m drawn to it and it represents the stark sound of the song.
Occasionally you’re immediately attracted to a band from their imagery, because these days, it’s likely one of the first things that you’re going to see and I guess that’s what lead me to write this post. It can also go the other way around; I can mention a few albums I picked up based on cover art alone and haven’t played since. But for Crystal Stilts everything clicked from the start. Even before I listened to a single note of Crystal Stilts songs, read a description or review, I was already drawn to them from their artwork. Their somewhat dark and moody art nouveau inspired work was a visual gateway to the band’s stripped-down post-punk sound. The one-two punch of solid songwriting and interesting artwork made me an instant fan of the Brooklyn quintet, now we’ll have to see about that live show.
Crystal Stilts play FRICTION on June 29th with Philly’s Tickley Feather and Seattle’s PWRFL Power at Cake Shop.
[MP3]: Crystal Stilts ”Crippled Croon”
Crystal Stilts, eMusic Select; 2008
