Sound Bites

The Muslims | Union Pool | 6.20.2008

Attitude. San Diego's The Muslims have it in spades. Real, f-you mom/dad/boss/ex-girlfriend/whaddyagot? attitude. Capping off a week of NYC shows (including that Vice party at Santos), that attitude came through loud and clear even while wearing ball caps and polo shirts. Clearly, they see no reason to conform to what anyone deems is cool. The music -- garage bashers a la The Modern Lovers or The Velvet Underground -- does all the talking.

MP3: The Muslims - On My Time

MP3: The Muslims - Call It A Day

Buy the Muslims debut album, with it's infamous bullet-ridden cover, from Insound.

NYC Popfest: The Hermit Crabs + Cats on Fire + More | Union Pool | 6.15.2008

"So we played Mondo Party on Friday," said Cats on Fire's Mattias Björkas after their first song at Union Pool on Sunday. "And there's already a review on the internet. It was mostly positive."

Oh boy. I was pretty sure he was talking about this site.

Then, I was sure. He continued: "The person wrote...'The Finnish don't quite have the command of the English language their Swedish neighbors do, and Björkas stage banter came off stilted and a cold." The audience erupted in laughter. Me, I felt flushed. I yelled out "It's much warmer today!" but I don't think he put it together that I was the guy who wrote that. Probably just as well. That was a first, getting quoted. If there's a next time, I hope it's about something positive.

And Björkas' stage banter was warmer on Sunday. The band was more relaxed -- probably less jet-lagged from the long trip from Finland -- it was a better show than at Don Hills on Friday night. The crowd ate it up like sugary cereal.

The final event at NYC Popfest 2008 was a lot of fun, very chill, and way off schedule. Bands were supposed to start at 2PM but then the kickoff got pushed to 3PM. But they didn't actually start till maybe 3:30 and there eight acts on the bill.

It was all right though, despite it being monstrously hot and humid. Union Pool is a nice place to hang out, with a big outdoor area with a fair amount of shade. A barbecue was set up with The Besties manning the grill. And the performance room -- which is really cute and actually perfect for Popfest -- stayed nice and air conditioned.

The day's biggest discovery was Boston's One Happy Island, who had some really winning songs with lots of interesting instrumentation, including kazoo, glockenspiel and ukulele, which at one point was played a distortion pedal. (That was a first.) Three of the four members sang, though they'd do well to feature the lovely voice of drummer drummer Rebecca Mitchell.

MP3: One Happy Island - Temporary Tattoo

Other bands on the bill included the ukulele stylings of Dent May (who I'm guessing probably listens to Jens Lekman); twangy Boston indie rockers Hands and Knees; and the slightly fratty (but master of self-depricating stage banter) Steve Goldberg and the Arch Enemies.

The band I was actually looking forward to were Glasgow's The Hermit Crabs who are purveyors of the loveliest folk-pop in Scottland this side of Camera Obscura. Comparisons to that band abound, but The Hermit Crabs are a little more country, and a little more subdued. Maybe a bit too subdued after a long day in the hot sun drinking beer, which is totally not their fault. Singer Melanie Whittle seemed like the nicest person on the planet and performed with her shoes off. I'd love to see them again under cooler circumstances.

I shot video of The Hermit Crabs doing "Friends Folk Festival"...



MP3: The Hermit Crabs - Friends Folk Festival

So ended my Popfest 2008. A few more pictures from Sunday after the jump...

Violens + Savoir Adore + Amazing Baby | Union Pool | 5.10.2008

It pleases me greatly to go into a show mostly blind and come out a fan of every band on the bill. That never happens anymore. Maybe I'm just going to the wrong shows.

I was there primarily to see Violens, the new band from some of the Lansing-Dreiden folks, though I'm not sure exactly which ones. Definitely singer/guitarist Jorge Elbrecht, and probably keyboardist Iddo Arad. Maybe more, but hard to say. L-D were an enigmatic bunch who didn't believe in album credits or band photos... or even playing in the live incarnation of their band.

Violens are more forthcoming about the who's and whats. It's also a more cohesive sound. Lansing-Dreiden incompassed everything from synthpop to metal, but Violens seem more influenced by '80s UK pop, both of the jazzy variety favored by Aztec Camera and Prefab Sprout, and those that prefered delay pedals like A Bell is a Cup-era Wire and The Sound. (In that respect, they also reminded me of '90s Swedish band Eggstone.) And like L-D, they still love the reverb. They also like volume. Why didn't I bring earplugs? The ringing in my ears seems especially prominent today. The best moments of the show combined the jazzy and the delay-ridden rocking out. And my favorites of the night are not to be found on their MySpace, so I think there's a lot to look forward to with these guys.

You can get Violens' song "Violent Sensation Descends" from RCRDLBL. They've also got an EP, which wasn't for sale last night, but you can get it at Insound.

Violens next show is June 5 at the Mercury Lounge where they're playing with Chairlift and Mixel Pixel. Tickets ($10) are on sale.

But as I said, the whole bill at Union Pool last night was very good. All three bands are signed to Cantora Records that is probably best-known at this point for being the label who released MGMT's first EP. Tonight proves they've really got a good ear. The weather was horrible yesterday and I figured between the torrential rain and showing up at 9pm there would be nobody there. But the place was already pretty packed when I got there, and I think as many people were there for opening band Amazing Baby as their were for Violens.

It was Amazing Baby's first-ever show, though you'd never know it. They came prepared and kind of knocked everyone's socks off. Though I'm probably wrong, I'm going to go out on a limb and say Amazing Baby don't sound like any other band in NYC. To draw comparisons... maybe a heavier, more-psychedelic Roxy Music? That sounds about right. Who are they? The band seems to be primarily an offshoot of rawkers Stylofone, but the live permutation, last night at least, also featured ex-Diamond Nights guitarist Rob Laakso and Jane "Spider" Herships on bass. There were also two female backup singers and a keyboardist. (Maybe that's where the Roxy comparisons come from for me.) They're the kind of group you could imagine going the denim-leather/lightshow route but just let the music do the talking. And that came through loud and clear. I'm pretty sure they're my new favorite NYC band and seem ready for domination.

MP3: Amazing Baby - Head Dress

MP3: Amazing Baby - Supreme Being

Amazing Baby's MySpace has these plus three more and you can download all of them.

If you're intrigued, Amazing Baby are playing tomorrow (5/11) at The Annex. Go ahead, bring Mom, it's an early show -- supposedly they're on at 9pm. They're on around 11pm I've just been informed. And if you can't make that, they're playing Glasslands on Thursday (5/15).

In between Amazing Baby and Violens were Savoir Adore who are also making a kind of music that seems scarce these days -- pure pop. This is the sort of stuff that seemed so prevalent in '80s indie music, be it Let's Active or The Go-Betweens or The Reivers. Not that they sound dated in any way -- I don't think this kind of pop ever really goes out of style. (Even though it kind of currently is.) Deidre Muro and Paul Hammer compliment each other so well, both vocally but also the way their guitars intertwine. Keyboards seemed superfluous at times, except when they were set to Melotron, which they usually were.  Apparently most (all?) of Savoir Adore's songs are for a concept album yet-to-be explained involving characters named Mr. P, Dr. Rousseau and a wooded forrest, but you needn't know any of this to dig what they're doing:

MP3: Savoir Adore - We Talk Like Machines

MP3: Savoir Adore - Mr P. Professor of Thought.mp3

Both these songs, plus two more, are available on their Cantora Records page. Savoir Adore are opening for Los Campesinos! this Thursday (5/15) at Music Hall of Williamsburg, and then play Lit on May 23.

So to recap last night's show. Three bands, all different, all great. My friend Don was armed with his nice digital SLR and took some photos which you can find here.