Feral Conservatives (indie pop) Play Cake Shop on Feb. 9th / 'The Feeling Noise Becomes' out Feb. 10th (@EggHuntRecords)

Formed in early 2011, Feral Conservatives self-released a series of little-heard EPs before buying a $15 distortion pedal and touring up and down the East Coast and New England in a station wagon. 2014 saw the duo record a series of singles with Mark Padgett (Mae). Continuing to explore the dichotomy between minimalist folk singer-songwriter craft and 90’s-inspired noise rock, they joined EggHunt Records’ roster for their label debut coming in early 2015: The Feeling Noise Becomes, on digital on and limited edition tape.

Feral Conservatives are playing Cake Shop on Monday, Feb. 9th along with Gender Studies, City Mice and Bitterheart (headliner). Tickets are $7 and doors are at 8PM.



The instruments and the appropriateness unique to Feral Conservatives are sprinkled with sustained lines, rousing naivety, slushie desperation and their intense combination of tender, smoky composition and woody girliness make for a delicious, angsty bravado. Oh and let’s not forget Rashie’s saccharine, almost diabetic “heys!” and that sweet, sweet mandolin. Yum.

The duo’s musical tendencies lean less toward the brutality of Steve Albini’s Shellac or Husker Du, but rather infuse the fuzz of Sonic Youth with sweet vocal melodies and prickly mandolin licks provided by frontwoman Rashie Rosenfarb, which allow this pairing to explore a more accessible side of the genre.

Links:
Feral Conservatives

Bugs in the Dark Post New Video for "Serpents and Wine" / Show at Cake Shop on Dec. 17th

Brooklyn's Bugs in the Dark released a strong EP, "Hang It On The Wall", in October which shows their sound moving in a direction that is comparable to PJ Harvey and/or Sonic Youth. The disc's four tracks run just shy of 20 minutes and the overall sound is moody and atmospheric.

The band just released a video for the leadoff track, "Serpents and Wine", which is indicative of the overall sound of the disc.



Bugs in the Dark toured Europe and played the Halifax Pop Explosion in Canada earlier this Fall. The band is now home and playing an end-of-year show at Cake Shop on Dec. 17th along with Gone Bad (final show) and Girlfriends - cover is $7.

Links:
Bugs in the Dark

Nucular Aminals - Portland Psychedelic Pop Band Plays Two NYC Shows in Support of New S/T Album (K Records)

Recent K-Records signees Nucular Aminals just released self-titled debut for the label and are in the middle of a coast-to-coast tour that started in June.

Nucular Aminals’ self-titled debut release on K [KLP233] sounds like what would happen if you woke up in the morning and squeezed your tube of toothpaste, but a thick glob of sunshine came shooting out instead of minty freshness. This breed of Aminals was formed in Portland, Oregon by four distinctly rare species of musician who specialize in perfect pop melancholy.

In 2007, Robert Comitz (Hornet Leg, November Witch) and Erin Schmith (who played together in the San Francisco duo Marriage + Cancer) moved to the Pacific Northwest, with fellow musician Jheremy Grigsby. In Portland they joined forces drummer Wiley Hickson (Total Bros.) and they haven’t looked back since. Underneath Robert’s soothing delivery and flavorful guitar musings, the Aminals collective expertise reveals itself: Jheremy's bass stylings are the propulsive pace that holds the entire rhythmic canvas together like warm glue (I know, that sounds gross), Wiley plays the traps with youthful swing and sway, and Erin's fanciful fingerstrokes on the farfisa cuddle and purr.Dreamy sounding and tin-toned, the only thing awkward about this band is their name, all else is lazy days and cracking smiles.

Local tour dates are July 18th at Bruar Falls and July 19th at Cake Shop. At the Bruar Falls show, Peels, American Sun and Octant are also on the bill and Nucular Aminals are playing third. Tickets are $7.

At the Cake Shop show, Nucular Aminals is playing with Little Victory and Household. Cover is $6 and Nucular Aminals is playing second.

Links:
Nucular Aminals

Bugs in the Dark Play St Vitus on July 16th and Cake Shop on Aug. 13th

It seems like Brooklyn art-punks Bugs in the Dark have been on quasi-hiatus "forever" but the band has just announced two local shows and an upcoming European tour.
-----------------------------------------------

Hey Everybody,

We're having a great summer and we have lots of good news!

First off, we have a super exciting show coming up with new songs!
SATURDAY JULY 16th from 8-12
at ST VITUS (new venue in Greenpoint, BK)
With Raccoon Fighter, Living Days and Unstoppable Death Machines. This is not a show to miss - the bands are amazing & the whole night is only $7. Be cool, bring friends.

We've been playing with the fantastic Rich Crescenti on the drums.
We have two new songs we've been playing at shows and we're gearing up to record them asap.

This fall, we're playing an exciting festival (can't announce it just yet). And we're taking a jaunt across the pond to Europe to play in France, Germany and Denmark! We're so excited, we're already picking out matching luggage.

Stay tuned for our upcoming fundraising campaign - in which private house concerts and custom tattoos could be coming your way!

The show at Cake Shop is on Aug. 13th and Bugs in the Dark is playing with Gone Bad (Download "Live at Tommy's Tavern", recorded 10/21/10) and The Denzels. Cover is TBD.

Links:
Bugs in the Dark

EULA Returns to NYC for a Show at Cake Shop on May 10th

DOWNLOAD: EULA - "Dirty Hands" (Live at Bruar Falls, Brooklyn 4/16/11)

Due to curfew regulations, EULA played a shortened set at Bruar Falls last month but the band is coming back through for a show at Cake Shop this Tuesday (May 10th) with The Everymen. Cover is $5 and this is an early show that starts at 9PM.

EULA has a new 10-track disc Maurice Narcisse and the new material sounds great. Check out QRO Magazine's in-depth review of the new disc. Below is the video for the first single, "Texas Stampede".

A live recording of the track "Dirty Hands" (from Maurice Narcisse) is posted above. Based on the show at Bruar Falls, the band's sound has moved past the 'Sonic Youth-like' free-form dissonance to a much more targeted attack that is close in spirit to bands like Gang of 4 (EULA covered "To Hell With Poverty" at the show) and Big Black.



Links:
EULA

Karen Rockower Plays Cake Shop on Wednesday, April 27th

Based on recent Twitter postings, it sounds like art-punk band Bugs in the Dark are "re-emerging" after a period of inactivity. During this downtime, guitarist/vocalist Karen Rockower recorded a stunning solo disc, Whales Standing, which led to comparison to artists such as Joanna Newsome and Hope Sandoval.

Karen is playing a full-band solo show at Cake Shop on Wednesday night along with Ovlov and Diehard. Tickets are $7 and Ovlov kicks off the night at 9PM.



Links:
Karen Rockower

Raise High the Roof Beam play the Cake Shop Tomorrow Night (Chicago Folk-Pop)

DOWNLOAD: Raise High the Roof Beam - "The Adventures of Hamza" (MP3)
DOWNLOAD: Raise High the Roof Beam - "Ancestors" (MP3)

Chicago's Raise High the Roof Beam are making their NYC debut tomorrow night with a show at the Cake Shop.

The band takes its name from the J.D. Salinger story and they describe their music as "indie folk rock dance fun". Based on what I've heard from RHTRB thus far, points of comparison are The Annuals and Animal Collective.

The band is touring behind their new EP "The Majestic Beast of the Flatlands" which they released earlier this year. The Chicago Tribune said that the band's "looseness builds and congeals into romantic, driving choruses with a lot of shimmery guitar work. They may be newbies, but they know exactly what they are doing, and they do it well."

There is a strong lineup for tomorrow night's show as Raise High the Roof Beam are playing with My Teenage Stride and The Jaguar Club.

Tickets are $6 and Raise High the Roof Beam takes the stage at 8:30PM.

Links:
Raise High the Roof Beam

Brown Shoe - Jackalope CD Review

Brown Shoe's third release, Jackalope, is tough to pigeon-hole into one particular style or genre. The band's music is moody and atmospheric which easily leads to comparisons to post-rock bands like Explosions In The Sky and Mogwai but there are also elements in Brown Shoe's musics of British post-punk and American "jam" bands. The band's overall sound is an interesting amalgamation.

If you check out the video for "Aquarium" (which is one of the standout tracks on Jackalope), you will get a sense for the band's musical style.


Aquarium -- Music Video from Brown Shoe.

Lyrically, singer Ryan Baggaley paints some strong emotional pictures as he sings of love, loss and heartbreak which has led to further comparison to bands like Red House Painters.

On Jackalope, the band sounds at their best on the up-tempo anthemic songs. These songs have a tight, pulsing bass line, big swirling guitars and very crisp, driving drums. In addition to "Aquarium", other standout tracks on the disc are "Take This Paper And Burn It" and "Hey". Brown Shoe has a strong reputation for their live shows and I would bet that these songs are big crowd favorites.

Links:
Brown Shoe's MySpace Profile

Jean on Jean CD Review (Molly Schnick, ex-Out Hud)

Jean on Jean is the intriguing solo debut from x-Out Hud cellist Molly Schnick. While this is a solo disc, Molly utilizes a "Phil Spector-ish" wall-of-sound approach to its production which makes this sound like a full band effort. Across the disc's nine tracks, there are layers of strings, vocals, guitars, and organs which give this release a warm and rich sound.

The majority of this disc falls somewhere between the chamber pop (a la Joanna Newsom) and dream pop genres but the songs are diverse enough not to be pigeonholed into one specific genre. The disc opener, Tonight, starts with a 60's girl group swing before branching off into more of a chamber pop direction. Molly's cello is an integral part of most songs but it is complemented by guitar, keys, handclaps, etc. Molly's voice also plays an integral part of the music and her voice has a innocent, whispy quality that fits well with the music. The innocence of the music reminds me of Mo Tucker's songs with the Velvet Underground but, like the Velvets, the sweetness of the music hides some dark lyrical themes.

Jean on Jean played their first show at the Cake Shop a few weeks ago (there are pictures from the show on the CMJ blog) and a full US tour is supposed to follow later this year.

Jane on Jean is currently available as an exclusive digital download on eMusic. The full release of the disc (retail and all digital outlets) is scheduled for November 11th on Kanine Records.

Links:
Jean on Jean's MySpace Profile

Bugs In the Dark - Live Video and Backstage Interview

Bugs in the Dark returned to Southpaw on January 24th and I had a chance to catch up with the band before they went on stage. The band was kind enough to do a pre-show interview with me in addition to letting me film some of their set.

For anyone not familiar with the band, I'd describe them as having an "art-punk" sound that falls somewhere between the Pylon, The B-52s and X. (see previous post on the band)

Bugs in the Dark - Backstage Interview & Live, Southpaw, Brooklyn 1-24-08


Bugs in the Dark are a great live act and you can check out a number of tunes from their debut EP, Shake Shake, on the band's MySpace page.

Here are the band's upcoming shows:
Saturday, February 9th, Cake Shop
Wednesday, February 13th, Cutting Room (house band for a comedy show)
Saturday, March 1st, Luna Lounge