Three Chances to See Donavon Frankenreiter Next Week

July 17th, 2009

In the pursuit of a professional surfing career, a young Donavon Frankenreiter moved from his native California to Hawaii. Once there, he rented a room from a couple with a friendly son, Jack Johnson. The two surfed and played guitars together, and years later, Frankenreiter’s debut solo album came out on Johnson’s label, Brushfire Records. Why is any of this of consequence? Because Donavon Frankenreiter and his upbeat surfer music come to our fair town next week for a three-night residency with one show each at Mercury Lounge (Monday, 7/20), Music Hall of Williamsburg (Tuesday, 7/21) and The Bowery Ballroom (Thursday, 7/23). Check him out, above, rehearsing and playing the Band’s “The Weight” with ALO—because it’s one of the finest songs in the history of recorded music—and then, below, in the video for “It Don’t Matter” to get a sense of his easygoing vibe. And then go see him live next week.

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Some Emergencies Are More Fun Than Others

July 16th, 2009

Emergency Party – Mercury Lounge – July 15, 2009

emergency-party
Always get there for the opener. That was a lesson I learned a year and a half ago courtesy of Emergency Party, who reached across the threshold, caught me unawares and gave me a musical titty twister I won’t soon forget. Since then, catching another gig has been like trying to catch a firefly with chopsticks. So I didn’t hesitate when I saw they were playing the Merc this week, no matter how late it was on a weeknight. And despite the fact that the time it took to get the stage ready nearly equaled the 35-minute set time, it was well worth the effort.

That’s because Emergency Party is all-caps F-U-N. Imagine slurping up a milk shake that’s equal parts Frank Zappa and John Belushi through a punk rock straw and you have at least a starting reference for what an Emergency Party show is like…kinda. Splashing around in his own sweat, saliva and beer, guitarist and lead singer Gian Carlo Feleppa was a rock and roll tornado. With Jen Hoopes on bass acting like the straight man and the whiplash drums playing the enabling sidekick, Feleppa flailed across the stage, starting and stopping songs without warning. At one point he knocked his mike stand into his guitar, which dislodged the cord, rendering his axe mute for a moment in an unscripted bit of physical comedy. While the rhythm section chugged along, he plugged back in and atoned with a breakneck solo and a stay-with-me-if-you-can segue. Emergency Party oscillated between not taking itself seriously enough and taking itself much, much too seriously. Virtuosic guitar solos and surrealistic love songs. It was a flash of energy and then it was over: a lightning bug in a bottle. —A. Stein

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See the Spinto Band This Friday

July 15th, 2009

The Wilmington, Del., indie rockers the Spinto Band, whose electronica-tinged songs have earned them comparisons to Of Montreal and Pavement, have been going at it since the mid-’90s. As the guys in the group, which features two sets of brothers—Thomas and Sam Hughes and Joey and Jeff Hobson—plus Nick Krill and Jon Eaton, began to receive musical hand-me-downs from their musician fathers, their interest in making and recording music blossomed. Momentum built, and the Spinto Band embraced the Internet as a means for getting their music to the people. Along the way, “Oh Mandy” became a bit of a sensation. Check them out playing that song on the BBC music show Later…With Jools Holland and then head to Mercury Lounge on Friday, July 17th.

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Contest

Grow a Pair: Win Free Tickets to See the Dead Weather on 7/17

July 14th, 2009

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It’s usually a pretty good bet that when Jack White is involved, the music’s gonna rock. And that continues to be the case with his newest band, the Dead Weather. They recently released their debut album, Horehound, and now they’re touring the country. Sounds great, right? But it’s been pretty tough to get tickets because their shows have been selling out. So if you didn’t get tickets to Friday’s red-hot show at Terminal 5, try to Grow a Pair of them from The House List. Just fill out the form below, listing your name, e-mail address, which show you’re trying to win tickets to (the Dead Weather, 7/17) and a brief message telling us why you want to see Jack White play the drums. Eddie Bruiser, a lover of lady lead singers, will notify the winner by noon on Friday, July 17th. Good luck.

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Lucky Fans Win the Lottery

July 13th, 2009

Brand New – Music Hall of Williamsburg – July 11, 2009

(Photo: John Deeb)

(Photo: John Deeb)

Seeing Brand New is like winning the lottery, not necessarily in a hyperbolic sense, but in the sheer luck it takes just to get a ticket. Their show Saturday at Music Hall of Williamsburg was their first New York City show of the year. And as if that didn’t make it hard enough, due to an error on the ticketing site, the presale tickets sold out before they were supposed to be available. As for the regular sale, it sold out in less than a minute—which has become standard fare with Brand New.

For those lucky enough to win admission, the performance was as good as any payday. As the band crammed 20 songs into the set (with no breaks or encore), frontman Jesse Lacey screamed and thrashed his way through some of their biggest hits. The set began with the quick-witted lyrics of “Okay I Believe You, but My Tommy Gun Don’t.” “Sic Transit Gloria…Glory Fades” and “The Quiet Things That No One Ever Knows” (MTV mainstays in their own day) followed to the thrill of the crowd. Even “70 x 7,” the song always screamed for but rarely played, made it into the set.

But what made the show a winner was what filled in between the hits. Brand New played three new songs off the forthcoming Daisy, including one track that had previously never been played live. They even dug into the archives for the B-side “Flying at Tree Level,” a song rarer than the tickets to the show. By the end of the set it was Lacey alone, half-singing the teen anthem “Soco Amaretto Lime,” while letting the lucky fans fill in the rest. —Sean O’Kane

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Jason Lytle Channels His Inner Outer Space

July 13th, 2009

Jason Lytle – The Bowery Ballroom – July 11, 2009

Jason Lytle
I remember seeing Grandaddy many years ago and being struck when they took the stage. This was a band that had the trucker’s caps and scruffy beards of a potential Lynyrd Skynyrd tribute band playing gorgeous, otherworldly post-apocalyptic pop songs. I had the same impression on Saturday night when Grandaddy’s frontman, Jason Lytle, played The Bowery. Lytle’s voice was an ethereal rocket ship as he performed songs off his new solo release, Yours Truly, the Commuter. There was nothing esoteric about the tunes—love songs mostly, but sung like love songs from outer space, the outer space of slowly drifting orbits far and wide, devoid of any human contact. Between songs, prerecorded piano pieces were played, like a bizarro movie soundtrack, and then Lytle’s songs would come in: slow and moody to begin, utterly hypnotic then building to liftoff, leaving the atmosphere.

Brooklyn’s Hymns opened the show. It’s a rare and wonderful feeling when an opening band knocks your socks off, but off they came on Saturday night. Having hustled in sockless himself from Montauk, getting the last minute gig, the frontman showed no ill effects, raging full energy from the get-go. Seems these guys have been playing a plethora of gigs around town and it shows—very tight from guitars to vocals. The sound was the Rolling Stones via the BK (ca. 2009): pure rock and roll with all the associated underpinnings and the raw sexiness of unfettered guitar. As with most great and potentially great bands, the heroes are in the back line. The bassist played a nasty, groove-infusing Rickenbacker and the drummer thumped a rhythm all his own, which just happened to be the perfect one for every song. Hymns—check ’em! —A. Stein

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Five Years Later and Just as Good

July 13th, 2009

Robbers on High Street – Mercury Lounge – July 10, 2009

Robbers on High Street - Mercury Lounge - July 10, 2009
In a band’s timetable, five years is a lifetime. Most groups have enough trouble making it past the first daunting tour or a series of EPs before they hit a roadblock. A half decade ago I saw Robbers on High Street open a CMJ show headlined by Jimmy Eat World, and their performance was great enough to remain memorable to this day. The five-piece outfit sported a vintage rock sound before it was the cool thing to do, covering Tom Petty songs and wowing a small, young crowd of emo-rock fans.

Fast forward through obligatory lineup changes and years spent playing shows anywhere and everywhere in New York City (which I somehow consistently missed, all the while thinking their time would run out). But, finally, here they were in front of me again. This time the vintage sound was much more refined, filled with acoustic guitar and four-part vocal harmonies and even a few horn parts to boot. Lead singer Ben Trokan’s slight rasp is a perfect fit for the songs they write, brimming with that classic-rock sensibility prevalent in bands like Cold War Kids and Spoon. Robbers on High Street is one of the best examples of why a simple-rock sound translates so well to live shows, especially in the intimate New York City settings like Mercury Lounge.

They sped through a set featuring much of their last EP, Grand Animals, including the popular “The Fatalist,” and also worked in some newer material. Their work paid off. They had a sold-out crowd yelling for an encore, not believing Trokan when he said, “That was it. We’re done now,” as the band wrapped up a show as good as the one I witnessed five years ago. Hopefully, in another five they can do the same. —Sean O’Kane

Photos courtesy of Sean O’Kane | seanokanephoto.com

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10 Hardcore Bands at Terminal 5

July 13th, 2009

10 for $10 Tour – Terminal 5 – July 10, 2009

Poison the Well - 10 for $10 Tour - Terminal 5 - July 10, 2009
New York City’s Terminal 5 played host to the 10 for $10 Tour last Friday night. In this day and age, where scenes are being diluted with get-rich-quick cookie-cutter bands and cohesion seems to have gone out the window, a tour where music fans can see a slew of serious bands from all over the hardcore spectrum for an extremely low price is quite an innovation. With doors at 3 p.m. and the first band on at 4 p.m., it did take some time for Terminal 5’s large main space to fill. However, those watching the earlier bands (War of Ages, the Ghost Inside, Crime in Stereo, Trapped Under Ice, Death Before Dishonor) made up for the lack of bodies by creating huge space-filling circle pits. By the time This Is Hell—the first of the more big-name bands (and one of two Long Island bands on the bill, along with Crime in Stereo)—took the stage, the venue was packed and the pits were going even harder.

Vision and then Terror played next and finally Poison the Well, one of the biggest and best bands currently in the hardcore scene. NYHC scene veterans Madball, together for more than 20 years, headlined the show. These days, few tours actually showcase such diversity in the genre, and with Hellfest just a memory, there’s hope, at least with this fan, that the 10 for $10 Tour becomes an annual trek. —Kirsten Housel

Photos courtesy of Kirsten Housel


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Better Late Than Never: A ’Roo with a View

July 10th, 2009

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Eddie Bruiser is a menace. As our RV neared Bonnaroo on Thursday afternoon, an already-sweaty Eddie incessantly urged me to ingest something I’d ordinarily otherwise never consider. (He claimed it was Aboriginal, but with its string of vowels and two sets of double g’s—one of them, strangely, silent—it was unpronounceable.) Sensing my reluctance, he said, “Come on, think of me as Pops Staples, and ‘I’ll Take You There.’” But despite my affinity for the Staple Singers’ soulful sounds, I was pretty sure blindly following Eddie’s lead would end disastrously, with me in a ditch or, worse, prison. And, yet, for some strange reason, like Alice before me, I decided to see what was down that rabbit hole. We didn’t sleep for days, but we sure did see a lot of music. —R. Zizmor

Photos courtesy of Chris Reddish

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A Night of Unique Reggae in Central Park

July 10th, 2009

Matisyahu – SummerStage – July 9, 2009

Matisyahu - SummerStage - July 9, 2009

As summers typically go, this one has been on the weak side so far in New York City. But last night’s show at SummerStage in Central Park was an early highlight in what still remains a long list of outdoor summer concerts in the Big Apple. As the last bit of sunlight pushed its way over the tops of buildings and through the Central Park foliage, opener Umphrey’s McGee finished their set with a long and wonderful cover of the Beatles’ “I Want You (She’s So Heavy).” Their energetic jam-band sound was a perfect warm-up to the laid-back headliner.

The White Plains, N.Y., transport Matisyahu filled what felt like the whole park with his uniquely branded reggae. Spinning in circles and dancing in between verses, his joyous performance carried well into the excited crowd. There was nothing over the top about his set, but there didn’t need to be. His backing band never strayed from their task of chugging out reggae beat after reggae beat, executed well by each member. And Matisyahu never missed a step, perfectly rhyming through a set that included the hits like “Youth,” “Jerusalem,” and “King Without a Crown” that made him a household name in 2006. When the sun was long gone, he wrapped up his set, sending everyone home well aware that summer is here. —Sean O’Kane

Photos courtesy of Sean O’Kane | seanokanephoto.com

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Stellar Rockabilly at Mercury Lounge

July 10th, 2009

Heavy Trash – Mercury Lounge – July 9, 2009

Heavy Trash

Crowd hoots and hollers
Like Buddy Holly on speed
Tight, light: Heavy Trash
—Eddie Bruiser

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Five Questions with…Brad Clifford

July 9th, 2009
Poison the Well

Poison the Well

With the economy still tanking, what’s a better bang for your buck on a Friday than to see 10 bands for just $10? Madball, Poison the Well, Terror, Vision of Disorder, This Is Hell, Death Before Dishonor, Trapped Under Ice, Crime in Stereo, the Ghost Inside and War of Ages all descend on Terminal 5 tomorrow, July 10th, as part of the 10 for $10 Tour. In advance of the show, Brad Clifford, a guitarist for the Florida post-hardcore band Poison the Well, checked in from the road to answer five questions for The House List.

What band are you most ashamed to admit listening to?
Yesterday in the van, Ryan [Primack] asked me what I was listening to and looked really bummed when I said Tegan and Sara. But I have no shame!

Who are your inspirations outside of the music world?
A lot of art [by people] like Sylvia Ji, AJ Fosik and Thomas Hooper. Every city I go to and the things I see there. People who are positive and have interesting things to say. It all gets me pumped and keeps me happy.

What’s the toughest part of playing New York City?
Getting everyone I love in on the guest list and making time to hang out as much as I can. Leaving it also sucks.

Do you have any crutches when writing a song—are there certain words or styles you feel you lean on too much?
I think that relying on the open low string as an anchor is something that kind of plagues almost every band in heavy music, ourselves included.

Do you have to be depressed to write a sad song? Do you have to be in love to write a love song? Is a song better when it really happened to you?
Almost Famous call out! I always think stories are better when they’re real and have a living backbone, but a few true artists can create amazing pure fiction. —R. Zizmor

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See Robbers on High Street Tomorrow Night

July 9th, 2009


The Brooklyn band Robbers on High Street, performing together since 2002, has released two full-length albums—Tree City (2005) and Grand Animals (2007)—earning them favorable comparisons to Spoon and the Strokes. Find out why by watching their performance of “Love Underground” here and then start off your weekend right by checking out Robbers on High Street’s thoughtful songwriting and engaging instrumental interplay live tomorrow, July 10th, at Mercury Lounge.

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Handsome Furs Bring Inentsity and Intimacy to The Bowery Ballroom

July 8th, 2009

Handsome Furs – The Bowery Ballroom – July 7, 2009

Handsome FursThe opening show of Handsome Furs’ five-month tour began last night at a sold-out Bowery Ballroom with the song “Legal Tender,” off their latest album, Face Control. Married duo Dan Boeckner and Alexei Perry appeared sincerely excited to play New York City, even as Boeckner said, “I’m always scared shitless to play here. The first time I ever played this room I threw up in a beer cooler upstairs.” He had nothing to worry about. The bass-shaking, stripped-down drum machine against his guitar’s tortured distortion was the perfect contrast of sounds no one had ever thought of, let alone pulled off with this kind of intensity.

Boeckner threw himself into every song, channeling a working-class, old-school rock and roll archetype in cut-off sleeves, singing himself hoarse about the universal themes of growing up in a dump and the oppression of the city—but with a contemporary, minimalist jagged edge. He seemed like he was trying to keep himself from pouncing offstage at any given moment, straining to spit out every word. Meanwhile, Perry did push-ups on the table of synths and sequencers, keeping time, while trying to drive her right foot straight through the floor. It was exhausting just watching the two of them. Perry was glued to Boeckner’s every move, intensely watching him for changes. And when they put their heads together and whispered, there was a raw closeness you can’t appreciate on their records, but it’s what makes them such an overwhelming force live. —Jason Dean

(Handsome Furs play Music Hall of Williamsburg tonight.)

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Spend Time with Younger Brother Tomorrow Night

July 8th, 2009


With the release of their debut album, A Flock of Beeps, UK producers Simon Posford and Benji Vaughan’s psytrance (psychedelic trance, get it?) outfit Younger Brother took on a cult following in the underground electronica scene back in 2003. Since putting out a second disc, The Last Days of Gravity, the duo has toured with a talented backing band comprised of Marc Brownstein (Disco Biscuits) on bass, Joe Russo (the Duo) on drums, Thomas Hamilton (Brothers Past) on guitar and Ruu Campbell on vocals. So if you like your dance music with a side of expert musicianship, head to Terminal 5 tomorrow to close your eyes and cut loose. Check out Younger Brother here performing “Ribbon on a Branch.”

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