The sidewalk in front of Mercury Lounge was divided into two lines like some sort of downtown apartheid: One for those seeking to pay their way in to see Britt Daniel and the other for those with their names on the guest list. They were faced in opposite directions—the music-industry insiders and the morally righteous superfans willing to stand in the cold and pay real money for music. It was thus written on the street that something special was happening inside. A band that will play Radio City Music Hall in two months was playing this tiny sold-out venue.
Spoon took the stage just after 10 and, Daniel, in a brown fitted shirt (he wrote an entire song about this in 2001), was awkward in the way cool people can get away with being weird and compelling. He thanked us for coming, and the room buzzed with the sense that we should be thanking him. Spoon slipped into “Black Like Me,” maybe their most cerebral effort, before shifting into “Is Love Forever?,” off their latest album, Transference, a downstroke anthem that ends with a collision of reverb and the feeling of a pulled plug. Daniel played most of the new record, including “Who Makes Your Money” and “Nobody Gets Me but You,” in the first half of the set. The crowd, quite obviously a sea of personal and music-business connections, leaned close and the room approached the feeling of a birthday party where everyone was sure their invitation was genuine.
Daniel upped the ante in the set’s final third. Favorites “Cherry Bomb,” “I Summon You” and “Beast and Dragon, Adored,” appeared next to new cuts like “Mystery Zone,” “Written in Reverse” and the night’s closer, the propulsive “Got Nuffin.” Daniel thanked us again for standing in the cold and we silently replied that we mostly hadn’t. But some did, and for the feeling of a major event with a big band in a little room, this is exactly what counted. —Geoff Nelson
Doveman and Friends - Mercury Lounge - January 12, 2010
Thomas Bartlett, the young pianist and songwriter known as Doveman, has some pretty talented friends, having collaborated with artists including the National, Martha Wainwright, Beth Orton, and many others. At the show billed as “Doveman and Friends” yesterday evening at Mercury Lounge, the promise of some exciting musical company was no doubt on many people’s minds.
Of course, Bartlett is quite something on his own. His recent album, The Conformist, is a mellow, subtle series of songs, with Bartlett’s distinctive singing, hushed and whisper-like, adding an air of melancholy to the music. As he and his band opened their set with “The Best Thing,” there was a sense of intimacy formed between the stage and the audience almost instantly—leading to one of the most quiet, attentive and well-behaved audiences that I gander the Mercury Lounge has seen in some time. Doveman treated the crowd to several other cuts from The Conformist, including songs about whiskey (“Angel’s Share”) and wine (“The Burgundy Stain”), as well as a striking, dreamy cover of Smokey Robinson’s “Ooo Baby Baby.”
Over the course of the show, friends did indeed appear, including Norah Jones (who had performed a set of classic country covers—and plenty of raunchy stage banter—with her trio, Puss n’ Boots, earlier in the show), Justin Bond (the musician-performance artist best known as one half of the duo Kiki & Herb) and singer-songwriter Dawn Landes, lending backing vocals. Longtime Doveman collaborator Sam Amidon, who also performed an opening set of his own music, contributed guitar, banjo and vocals as part of Doveman’s band. Bartlett’s music is captivating enough even without the promise of friends, but after witnessing the beauty of his songs live, it is understandable why so many first-rate musicians would want to be part of Doveman’s inner circle. —Alena Kastin
The Rural Alberta Advantage - Mercury Lounge - January 9, 2010
The Toronto-based trio the Rural Alberta Advantage had a busy 48 hours in the Big Apple this past weekend, opening for Passion Pit at Terminal 5 on Friday and then playing back-to-back shows at Mercury Lounge on Saturday. By the time the late show rolled around, the whirlwind of performances seemed to have taken a toll on singer Nils Edenloff’s voice, rendering his pipes a bit rusty as he belted out the groups’ emotive songs. The RAA’s debut album, Hometowns, paints pictures of fear and loathing in rural Canada, full of plaintive, country-inflected acoustic rock songs, à la Okkervil River or Neutral Milk Hotel, simmering with tension until they boil over into urgent, anthemic choruses. It’s surprising Edenloff doesn’t lose his voice more often.
As the band prepared to play a new song, halfway through the set, Edenloff told the crowd that it might destroy his throat, describing it as “a fucking killer.” Over drummer Paul Banwatt’s intense drumbeat, Edenloff sang variations of the repeated refrain, “I let you die/ I let you go,” with vocal chord-shredding fury. It was almost uncomfortable to watch the man seriously struggle to get out these words, but at the same time, as promised, the song was fucking killer. (“Someone get the man a fucking Ricola,” said the woman next to me.)
As Edenloff summoned the vocal power to belt out “Oh, I’m really trying to make it through the night,” during the cathartic “Drain the Blood,” the line had clearly taken on a double meaning. Yet the RAA did manage to make it through the night, and where Edenloff’s voice fell short, the packed crowd was always happy to fill in the blanks, singing along with gusto. —Alena Kastin
New York City rockers Des Roar deserve credit for the number of things that sets them apart from every other black-clad retro indie-rock band bred on the Lower East Side: One being their chick drummer and back-up vocalist, Lyla Vander. Two is their Irish guitarist, Alan O’Keeffe. And perhaps most important, three, the amount of growth from their previous album and all the other times I’d seen them.
Des Roar have grown into their own with their more recent material, finding a greater sense of melody and better hooks than their earlier tunes ever displayed. They played an almost even split of old and new songs to a mostly full Mercury Lounge last night. They’ve done a wonderful job of reaching beyond the confines of the often-generic LES rock and roll sound, particularly with the newer material, which had concertgoers dancing. But it was older songs like “Ted Bundy Was a Lady’s Man” that earned hoots and hollers from the fans. (“Must be from Florida,” responded singer-guitarist Ben Wolcott.)
The main support on the five-band bill, Dead Sparrows, another New York City-based band, played a pretty raucous set, drawing the largest crowd of the evening. They seemingly come from the same set of influences as Des Roar, but where Des Roar excels in melodies, Dead Sparrows shine because of singer Joey Sparrow’s haunting howl. —Kirsten Housel
After making their NYC debut at this past October’s CMJ Music Marathon, Still Life Still is returning with a residency at Mercury Lounge, playing four nights in January, beginning tomorrow, when they open for Des Roar—plus headlining the early show on the 13th, opening for Freelance Whales on the 20th and opening the late show for Blip Blip Bleep on the 29th. The Toronto quintet, musically reminiscent of Arts and Crafts labelmate Broken Social Scene, put out both their first EP, Pastel, and LP, Girls Come Too, last summer. And now they’re bringing that music here this month before heading out on a U.S. tour with Wild Beasts (including a show at The Bowery Ballroom on February 26th). Check out Still Life Still playing “Pastel,” above, and then do your best to see then in person this month.
These Green Eyes - Mercury Lounge - January 3, 2009
These Green Eyes
On one of the coldest and windiest nights of the winter, Mercury Lounge hosted a five-band showcase of a variety of Northeastern musical talent. The first three groups, Robots and Empire (Poughkeepsie, N.Y.), the Lows (New Haven, Conn.) and These Green Eyes (New Haven, Conn.), played more straight-up rock music than the later bands, with These Green Eyes being the most unique of the bunch. Visibly and audibly, they have more post-hardcore, emo and punk influences, and they skillfully combine anthemic choruses with heavy riffs.
However, as excited as I was to see These Green Eyes, I was pleased I caught the last two acts, Brooklyn’s Guitar Bomb and the Sweet Ones, both of which played less-serious sets than the preceding bands. Guitar Bomb is simply a shaggy-haired singer-guitarist jamming with a heavy-hitting drummer, playing a collision of punk and the blues, like a more ludicrous and twangy version of the Gay Blades or the Black Keys. Song titles like “Shit Stains” and “Liquor Genie” and “Freaks, freaks, freaks take back the streets” choruses had me toe-tapping and laughing.
The Sweet Ones are pretty much the same deal as Guitar Bomb, but play with a fuller lineup. The heavy-hitting drummer—and the bassist who sat in on Guitar Bomb’s last four songs—remained, but the shaggy-haired guitarist was replaced by a man with shorter hair. I didn’t catch any of the band’s song titles, but the Sweet Ones did introduce a tune as “a song that’s very true about NYC” and went on to mention “it’s not who you know but who you blow.” Needless to say, I can’t wait to see either band again. —Kirsten Housel
Pennsylvania’s Weston—formed in 1990 and best known for its pop-punk sound that once took it to the cusp of the mainstream—reunited Friday night at Mercury Lounge to celebrate long-time friend Tommy Rockstar’s birthday as well as the release of its live record, This Is My Voice and This Is My Heart: Live at Maxwell’s, recorded at another reunion show last year.
With a plethora of music to choose from, Weston puts on an exciting, and sometimes unexpected, show. Over the years, while the band members and record labels have changed, Weston’s sound has barely wavered. Although pretty much everything that comes out live is nerd-rific: Shaggy-haired Jimmy Snyder, who still wears early-era-Weezer sweater vests, too-short trousers and beat-up Chuck Taylors, and the band’s namesake, the bespectacled Dave Weston, both look equally uncomfortable onstage, though such a presence only lends to the band’s appeal—and from just listening to the upbeat, sometimes self-deprecating songs one would never know.
On Friday, the band played original songs like “Fafi,” “Retarded” and “New Shirt/Heather Lewis” (the last two being staples of Weston’s live performance). Fans were also treated to a rare performance of “Lovely, Fragile February” and a Japanese B-side (that I can’t name). About three-quarters of the way into the set, the band also did a run of Joy Division, Misfits and Pixies covers. Though Weston never reached the same level of fame as some of its peers, the group has been credited as being an integral part of the East Coast’s ’90s pop-punk scene, and time and time again, these reunion shows draw friends and fans excited to relive the experience of a band that has always played fun music. —Kirsten Housel
Her path toward a music career has been an unusual one. Elizabeth McChesney was born in Washington, D.C. But she moved to New York City in her teens and attended a performing-arts boarding school outside Boston before studying graphic design at Parsons. Somewhere along the way, she took the name Lissy Trullie and became an It girl, DJing at the infamous Beatrice Inn and dabbling in modeling. Time Out New York even referred to her as “Patti Smith crossed with Edie Sedgwick: a paragon of downtown arty cool.” But, truthfully, that’s just an interesting backstory (or not, depending on your view). What really matters is her music. Her EP, Self-Taught Learner, came out in February and was recently rereleased with a few added songs. She’s even got some famous fans in Courtney Love and Adam Green of the Moldy Peaches, with whom she covered Biz Markie’s “Just a Friend.” Check out Lissy Trullie, above, playing “Self-Taught Learner” and then see what all the fuss is about on Monday at Mercury Lounge.
Performing as Jeff the Brotherhood, brothers Jake (vocals and guitar) and Jamin (drums) Orrall began playing shows in Nashville in 2006. Their lo-fi “psychedelic-grunge” sound found them playing basements, bars, galleries and pretty much any other place that would have them. But pretty soon, that we’ll-play-anywhere work ethic and their take-no-prisoners attitude won the Orrall boys a loyal following. They’ve since released a full-length album, Heavy Days, on their family-run record label, Infinity Cat.
Jeff the Brotherhood, above, playing “Heavy Days,” opens for Ted Leo and the Pharmacists at The Bowery Ballroom on Sunday, which is sold out. But have no fear ’cause they also play Mercury Lounge on Monday, and it just so happens that The House List is giving away a free pair of tickets. Want to go? Just fill out the form below, listing your name, e-mail address, which show you’re trying to win tickets to (Jeff the Brotherhood, 12/7) and a brief message telling us why you deserve a free Monday night out on us. The winner will be notified by noon on Monday.
Surprise Me Mr. Davis/Land of Talk - Mercury Lounge - November 21, 2009
Remember when NASA smashed a rocket into the moon in the hopes of finding water? Saturday night at Mercury Lounge, the same kind of counterintuitive cosmic alchemy was on display. First up, Surprise Me Mr. Davis, a project featuring folk singer-songwriter Nathan Moore as the projectile with jam-pop stalwarts the Slip serving as the lunar mass.
The explosion resulted in unexpected chemistry, high energy and genre-bending fun. Early on, “When a Woman Cuts Your Hair” set the north-meets-south tone with Moore offering sweet, provocative songwriting and the Slip guys—Andrew and Brad Barr on drums and guitar and Marc Freidman on bass—wrapping it all up with tight, constructed playing. The set gave the sold-out crowd plenty of reason to dance or sing along or just hang back and listen. Occasional instrumental forays, powerful harmonies and some real live magic-trick high jinks from Moore proved that there was more to this hunk of rock than first met the eye. Closing with a raging “Sisyphus” an hour into the set, the band seemed like they were just warming up, ready for at least 60 minutes more, but alas, they ceded the stage following a touching a cappella end.
Without the usual crowd flip you find between sets at the Merc, the room stayed at capacity for Land of Talk. Here Andrew Barr stayed behind the drums, acting as the rocket colliding with some addictive Canadian rock. Frontwoman Elizabeth Powell was a revelation, leading the band through one raging song after another. Barr continued to show he’s one of the best drummers out there, elevating good music to greatness—revealing the water hidden beneath the surface and plenty of signs of life. —A. Stein
The Dig/Locksley/SAADI - Mercury Lounge - November 19, 2009
Ever hear someone boast about how they once saw a now-great band in a small venue? Last night’s show at Mercury Lounge was one of those shows on three different levels. One of the opening bands, SAADI, which had only played a handful of shows together, stunned the early crowd with a tightly executed mix of poppy vocals and ambient guitar. A great rhythm section in Marcus Farrar on drums and AJ Lambert on bass backed lead singer Boshra AlSaadi’s quirky stage presence. SAADI’s exceptionally well-written music showed promise that will certainly pay off for them as an up-and-coming band.
Locksley, heavily featured on MTV, played second. With a sound that straddled the border of the Strokes and the Beatles, they traded lead vocals and executed perfect harmonies. (They even already have an established throng of female fans swooning in the crowd). That they were in the middle of a billing at Mercury Lounge was a bit of a surprise, but they played like it was Shea Stadium, somehow fitting 13 songs into a 40-minute set.
The Dig, a New York City group that is far less known than Locksley but carries just as much promise, however, stole the show. The band was the most powerful of the night, using heavy bass from Emile Mosseri in every song. David Baldwin’s guitar contributed to the strange mix of straight rock sound and fuzzy shoegaze, the latter complemented by Erick Eiser’s wickedly sweet keyboards. Baldwin and Mosseri traded lead vocals from song to song, but Mosseri’s voice was the standout, uniquely sharp and incredibly magnetic (at it’s best on “Penitentiary,” a song so catchy it begs to be licensed and heard everywhere). The Dig wrapped their set with “She’s Going to Kill That Boy,” a brash rocker akin to Cold War Kids, leaving the crowd listening to a band that sounded like they’d already made it big. —Sean O’Kane
Times New Viking - Mercury Lounge - November 18, 2009
(Photo: Listen Missy)
Whatever you do, don’t call them lo-fi. Immediate? Yes. Recorded with whatever’s on hand as quickly as possible without concern for microphone placement or levels? Yes. But their albums aren’t a reaction against over-produced commercial pop, like the pinnacle of lo-fi pioneers Sebadoh or Guided by Voices in the late ’90s, as much as they are about their process: making the method of capturing the sound another instrument to be played. Instead of bringing this hazy distortion to their live show, Times New Viking plays at a volume that your ears will interpret as in the red. The trio’s particular brand of overblown hiss on their recordings is turned into punk energy live, with Adam Elliott on drums creating surprisingly melodic harmonies with Beth Murphy on keys. The frantic momentum never lasts longer than a minute or two before Elliott calls out the next song on the set list and asks the audience for another beer.
Their attempt at pure spontaneity, to capture a particular moment, is evident even in guitarist Jared Phillips’ approach to the instrument. What’s a left-handed player to do in a right-handed guitar world? Play it upside down. Adapt. The drum kit is stripped down to the bare essentials. Elliott plays hunched over, nearly hitting himself in the head, taking the direction of each melody on his shoulders. It was almost shocking to hear Rip It Off when it was released on Matador Records last year—the sleeve art reflecting the cut-up, barely passable aesthetic of the group’s sonic endgame, which happily continues on their latest, Born Again Revisited. It’s a mistake to get bogged down with sonic textures because at the core they are melodic, catchy songs that sound even better played with the unrestrained force Times New Viking inflicts on a live audience. —Jason Dean
With the recent release of Miles Benjamin Anthony Robinson’s second album, Summer of Fear, on Saddle Creek Records, the Brooklyn-based artist fits in nicely among the label’s other acts, especially alongside the raw, emotional back catalog of Bright Eyes and the twangy confessionals performed by Neva Dinova’s Jake Bellows. Though Summer of Fear was recorded during a particularly rough time in Robinson’s life, and stories of heartbreak and hard times are woven throughout the music, when he takes the stage (following musical-melting-pot These United States) at Mercury Lounge on Friday, don’t expect a pity party. Summer of Fear finds Robinson expressing his ennui through righteous, roots-y songs in the tradition of artists like Tom Petty and Bob Dylan, full of cathartic choruses and foot-stomping beats. So please leave your tissues at home, for on Friday, as Robinson tells his tales of woe, we can work through some of our own troubles by singing along as loud as we can. It should be a bit like group therapy (but with the added bonus of a full bar). —Alena Kastin
(See Miles Benjamin Anthony Robinson, above, playing “Trap Door”—last month during CMJ—broadcast on Seattle’s KEXP radio.)
She started out acting (she even trained with Cate Blanchett)—first on TV, in the medical drama G.P., then as the host of a cartoon show and then, finally, in movies. But Lenka Kripac also had musical urges, so she joined the electronica band Decoder Ring in her native Australia. But even that wasn’t enough. So in 2007, like so many before her, she dropped her last name and decamped to Los Angeles seeking something bigger. Later on, and also like so many before her, she headed to upstate New York to record her debut solo album, Lenka, in Woodstock. Not only has her disc been well received but also several of the singles have made their way into commercials and TV shows. And now Lenka is making her way to Mercury Lounge tomorrow night. Check her out, above, playing “The Show” and “Trouble Is a Friend” on Jimmy Kimmel Live, and then go see Lenka in person and let her sunny music brighten your rainy Friday.
One of Canada’s most popular roots-rock bands, Blue Rodeo, has been doin’ it and doin’ it and doin’ it well since releasing Outskirts, in 1987. They’ve put out a slew of music since then, all the while honing their blend of rock, folk and country, earning them comparisons to the estimable kings of that rock-folk-country combo, Bob Dylan, Gram Parsons and the Band. Blue Rodeo’s newest album, The Things We Left Behind, comes out later this month. But you don’t have to wait that long to hear the new tunes because they’re playing Mercury Lounge on Saturday. One catch: The show is sold out. But you can try to Grow a Pair of tickets 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 (Blue Rodeo, 11/14) and a brief message explaining why this ain’t your first rodeo. Eddie Bruiser, a sucker for a girl in chaps, will notify the winner by noon on Friday the 13th. Good luck.
