Saturday 11.29.08: HOLLY GOLIGHTLY AND THE BROKE-OFFS / FRANK FAIRFIELD / DELANEY DAVIDSON

Holly Golightly and the Broke-Offs || Listen || Watch

Golightly first performed as part of Thee Headcoatees, an all-girl group that splintered off of Billy Childish’s Thee Headcoats in the early 1990s. In 1995, she went solo, digging deeper into original blues, rock ‘n’ roll, and Americana. Under the Brokeoffs moniker, the songs are a collaboration with a kindred spirit and inspired by honky tonk, juke-joint blues, and old lo-fi 78 recordings.
- Boston Globe

with:
Frank Fairfield
Delaney Davidson

9PM / $10 advance; $12 day of show / 21+

Saturday 11.22.08: O’DEATH / LE SWITCH / DEATH TO ANDERS

O’Death || Listen || Watch

O’Death is a pack of humble Brooklyn scruffs who raise the dead with haunted Appalachian punk and go by the handles of Greg Jamie (vocals/guitar), Gabe Darling (vocals/ ukulele/guitar/banjo/ piano), David Rogers-Berry (drums), Bob Pycior (fiddle/guitar/piano), Jesse Newman (bass), and Dan Sager (trombone/ euphonium/keys). Their self-released debut, Head Home, is 15 tracks of heartfelt, full-moon delivery.
This is the sound of the Pogues madly slurping mothers’ milk and brothers’ blood at Gettysburg — banjo and fiddle ballads turned berserker by Greg Jamie’s bullfrog bleat. But don’t mistake O’Death for preservationists. The high-lonesomes of Bill Monroe and Bonnie Billy may be unmistakable in their arsenal, but these bushy-faced boys are a reincarnated cavalry charge, and they’ll be damned if they take the hill the same way twice. – SPIN

with:
Le Switch || Listen
Death to Anders || Listen

9PM / $8 advance; $10 day of show / 21+

Sunday 12.28.08: NEIL HAMBURGER / THE JUGGOLOS / ABE LINCOLN STORY / JASON ROUSE

Neil Hamburger

If Neil Hamburger wasn’t the Funniest Man in America, why would the record company keep letting him make so many albums? Can’t answer that question, can you? No, it’s beyond dispute, he is the funniest. End of debate. Don’t even mention Jack Kevorkian, Neil is waaaaay, waaaaaaaay more side-splittingly hilarious, and he’s a much bigger bummer. And he’s got a million of ‘em – why, if one of his jokes falls flat or makes you groan or feel like gagging, or say the next 80 or 90 “gags” don’t exactly make you howl with uproarious laughter, just wait, because Neil will pounce with just a killer, killer line that will make you pee in your pants and nudge the guy next to you so he spills his drink (and when he hits you, that’ll be funny too). You’ll be glad you shelled out your money and chose to spend your time, on a Sunday night, no less, with America’s funny man, Neil Hamburger. – LA Weekly

with:
The Juggolos
Abe Lincoln Story
Jason Rouse

9 pm / $8 / 21+

Sunday 11.30.08: NEIL HAMBURGER / DJ DOUG POUND / MARIA BAMFORD / DAVE GLEASON

Neil Hamburger

If Neil Hamburger wasn’t the Funniest Man in America, why would the record company keep letting him make so many albums? Can’t answer that question, can you? No, it’s beyond dispute, he is the funniest. End of debate. Don’t even mention Jack Kevorkian, Neil is waaaaay, waaaaaaaay more side-splittingly hilarious, and he’s a much bigger bummer. And he’s got a million of ‘em – why, if one of his jokes falls flat or makes you groan or feel like gagging, or say the next 80 or 90 “gags” don’t exactly make you howl with uproarious laughter, just wait, because Neil will pounce with just a killer, killer line that will make you pee in your pants and nudge the guy next to you so he spills his drink (and when he hits you, that’ll be funny too). You’ll be glad you shelled out your money and chose to spend your time, on a Sunday night, no less, with America’s funny man, Neil Hamburger. – LA Weekly

with:
DJ Dougg Pound
Maria Bamford || Watch
Dave Gleason || Listen

8:30pm / $8 / 21+

Thursday 10.30.08: JON LAJOIE / IO ECHO / WHITE SHOES & THE COUPLES COMPANY

Jon Lajoie || Listen || Watch

Comedy fans, polish up your French accent: Jon Lajoie —lah-jwah— could soon become a name that bears repeating.
Lajoie, 27, is one of the stars of L’Auberge Du Chien Noir (“The Inn of the Black Dog”), a prime-time dramedy on French-Canadian TV. Never heard of it? Neither has anyone else in the Lower 48.
No, Lajoie’s growing — and improbable — cachet in the USA stems from being the delightful lunatic behind a handful of self-made music-video spoofs that are the rage on YouTube and Will Ferrell’s comedy-centric site funnyordie.com.
In his most-viewed video, Everyday Normal Guy, Lajoie curses up a storm while rapping about how “when I go to the clubs, I wait in line.” Think Adam Sandler without the weird, high-pitched vocals. – USA Today

AND

Io Echo || Listen || Watch

“IO IS A TRUE ROCKSTAR WHO IN TIME COULD TAKE HER PLACE NEXT TO SIOUXIE, JOEY RAMONE AND PATTY SMITH” -103.1 press release, Mr. Shovel

“IO ECHO SURE CAN PUT ON A HELL OF A PERFORMANCE”- Filter Magazine

“HAILED AS SOME OF THE BEST STUFF OF THE YEAR IN ROCK…YOU WILL FIND THE VOCALISTS’ PERFORMANCES SLIGHTLY CREEPY YET SATISFYING” – Deli Magazine

“EXPLOSIVE IN THE MOST ADDICTIVE WAY POSSIBLE” – LA City Zine

“IO ECHO IS BECOMING A FORCE TO BE RECKONED WITH” – Amateur Chemist

with:
White Shoes & The Couples Company

9PM / $12 advance; $14 day of show / 21+

Tuesday 10.14.08: PacificUV / MELODYGUILD / PETER PIEK / LANGUIS (DJ set)

PacificUV || Listen || Watch

Athens, Georgia transplants and shoegaze journeymen Pacific UV write Sigur Ros-sized symphonic movements that build and swirl with elegant serenity. As the soundtrack to a moon landing, the reference posts — from Ride to Spiritualized — are secure for the group’s interstellar sound, as the atmosphere is thicker, the guitars more towering and the catharis more rewarding than seems likely on Planet Earth. Ethereal and tender at times, channeling the sonic equivalent of nostalgia, Pacific UV can also kick it up a notch and unleash buzzsaw guitars that hold a candle to My Bloody Valentine’s tone, as they do on “Need…” – SPIN

with:
Melodyguild
Peter Piek
Languis (DJ set)

9PM / $5 / 21+

Thursday 10.02.08: LESLIE AND THE BADGERS / THE MUSIC LOVERS / DIVISADERO / THE MEEMIES

Leslie and the Badgers || Watch

Los Angeles-based Leslie & the Badgers make the exact style of country music you wish Jenny Lewis had when she dabbled her feet in the country waters. No offense to her Rabbit Fur Coat, which is fine, but damn if Leslie & the Badgers don’t put her to shame. The Badgers generously use the weepiest pedal steel, have sweetly mournful tear-in-your-beer lyrics, and singer Leslie Stevens holds it all together with incredible delivery and even more impressive pipes. Unfortunately No Depression just called it quits, because if there ever was a band that magazine was going to break, this is it. -Portland Mercury

with:
The Music Lovers || Listen
Divisadero || Listen
The Meemies

9 pm / $8 / 21+

Friday 11.14.08: DEAD CONFEDERATE / APOLLO SUNSHINE

Dead Confederate || Listen || Watch

Georgia rockers Dead Confederate made their debut album, Wrecking Ball, in a tiny, dingy Austin studio — the same place where the sound effects for the original Texas Chainsaw Massacre were recorded. “It was a shit-shack,” says bassist and songwriter Brantley Senn, 28. “We called it ‘the dump.’ It was spooky.” The eeriness seeped deeply into the quintet’s music — a raw, howling take on Southern rock that recalls the darkest moments of Nineties grunge; not surprising, since they are the first band on the new label from Gary Gersh, the A&R exec who signed Nirvana and Sonic Youth. Lead singer Hardy Morris’ raspy vocals are a ringer for Kurt Cobain’s, while lead guitarist Walker Howle kicks out Dinosaur Jr.-like spiraling riffs. – Rolling Stone

Apollo Sunshine || Listen

9PM / $8 advance; $10 day of show / 21+

Tuesday 11.11.08: TALK TO ANGELS (from the UK) / RAMI DEAREST / TWO GUNS – Viewing Party for Low Vs Diamond on Jimmy Kimmel

Talk to Angels || Watch

The Cockpit is packed with people wanting to see this exciting band. Talk to Angels hail from Bradford and Leeds and despite their youth, they play with the aptitude and conviction of a band much older and more experienced.

They start with “To Maria”, a song that starts slowly and builds up to a cacophony of rapid drumming, noisy guitars and the sudden change in tempo can catch you off-guard if you’ve not heard the song before! It’s also the first opportunity for lead vocalist and guitarist Craig Kaye to demonstrate his vocal talents.

He possesses an excellent vocal range and has the sonorous voice of the classic rock singer. Other songs on the set included “Emily”, a song about the anguish of young love, the upbeat “Hickory Dickory” and the one they call their ‘sad song’, “She”. The band can turn their hand to rock songs of various tempos combining clever guitar riffs and percussion with deep, meaningful, sometimes angst-ridden lyrics. – BBC

with:
Rami Dearest
Two Guns

plus:
Viewing Party for Low Vs. Diamond on Jimmy Kimmel in the Upstairs bar

9PM / $10 advance; $12 day of show / 21+

Sunday 10.12.08: SHILOE Record Release Party / THE PACIFIC / LOVE’S LIKE SMOKE / KISSING COUSINS

Shiloe || Listen || Watch

Shiloe started off the evening with a sound heavily influenced by the Pixies mixed with some Sonic Youth. Ken Ramos (Vocals/Guitar) had a vocal delivery that resembled Thurston Moore and was squeezing a sharp fuzz from his Gibson SG. Melissa Pleckham (Bass) had a Rickenbacker bass that was filling the room with low notes. Their latest release is “Please Remove Your Teeth From My Neck” which you can download from itunes. I will have to check them out again. – Amateur Chemist

with:
The Pacific
Love’s Like Smoke
Kissing Cousins

9PM / FREE / 21+

Saturday 10.11.08: RADARS TO THE SKY / A DECENT ANIMAL / DANIEL BRUMMEL (of Ozma)

Radars to the Sky || Watch

They list some of my favorite bands as influences like Archers of Loaf, Pavement, Grandaddy and The Smiths. Andrew Spitser (Vocals/Guitars) has a distinctive voice that slightly reminded me of the Smoking Popes. “Victoria” was a dynamic blast of frantic guitars and bouncy keyboards that were pulled together nicely by Andrew’s longing vocals. “Sunk My Teeth” had plenty of false starts and stops with excellent contrast between Andrew’s Fender Stratocaster clean guitar blasts and Seamus Simpson’s slightly distorted Les Paul. I was highly impressed by their Pixies cover of “Alec Eiffel” as this song does not immediately jump out as one to cover but Radars To The Sky nailed it. “Selfish Kids” was a new song that reverberated loudly and bounced around the Echo. “Wave By The Sun” has to be one of the more off kilter tunes in their catalog as the guitars ricochet around your skull as the song has a slight Pavement alt country vibe – Amateur Chemist

with:
A Decent Animal || Listen
Daniel Brummel (of Ozma)

9PM / $8 advance; $10 day of show / 21+

Friday 10.10.08: Territory presents GRAVEYARD / NIGHT HORSE / IMAAD WASIF

Graveyard || Watch

Of the nearly 400 acts that played in Austin on the first night of SXSW 2008, Graveyard, from Gothenberg, Sweden, were probably the only band that would also have fit the bill at Britain’s great summer mud bath, the Glastonbury festival — in 1970. Graveyard’s set was just like their new debut album, Graveyard (Tee Pee): unison-fuzz riffs with sharp, rhythmic turnarounds — like a prog-rock Free or a nimbler Black Sabbath — and a singer, guitarist Joakim Nillson, whose growl recalls the gritty baritone of Savoy Brown’s Chris Youlden. If Graveyard had made an early-Seventies private-pressing LP that didn’t sell squat, they would be record-collector legends. Instead, they blew a few dozen minds at 9 p.m. on a Wednesday — thankfully without the mud. – Rolling Stone

with:
Night Horse
Imaad Wasif

9PM / $10 advance; $12 day of show / 21+

Sunday 10.05.08: Aquarium Drunkard presents HORSE FEATHERS / TRAVEL BY SEA

Horse Feathers || Listen

Horse Feathers’ songs may have words — enigmatic, artfully slurred words — but in many ways, the band might as well play instrumentals. Its two excellent albums, 2006′s Words Are Dead and the forthcoming House With No Home, offer up rustic, vaguely doomstruck atmosphere more than they convey discrete hooks and distinct messages. But it’s always beautiful atmosphere, and the group incorporates enough evocative turns of phrase to keep its music from turning into mere window dressing.

House With No Home opens with “Curs in the Weeds,” the meaning of which often seems as elusive as its string parts are haunting. A closer listen — or, more to the point, a glance at the lyric sheet — reveals a grim cautionary tale about an overlooked middle child in a household “where the son is the darkest seed.” As if the overarching sense of alienation weren’t already looming in the minor-key arrangement, singer Justin Ringle notes, “It’s like marrow without bone / to live in a house with no home.” It’s grim stuff, to be sure, but those strings are gorgeous enough to sweep the song’s entire generation of tragedy under the rug. – NPR

Travel By Sea || Listen

9 pm / $8 / 21+

Tuesday 10.28.08: JEFFREY LEWIS / TALKDEMONIC / HOMESICK ELEPHANT

Jeffrey Lewis || Listen || Watch

“Weird? Very… [...] but it’s also downright inspiring” (4 of 5 stars) – Rolling Stone

“The record presents Crass’s lyrics calmly, often demonstrating how sane and practical they are; it proves once again, and kind of thrillingly this time, that no music is immune to interpretation” – The New York Times

“Jeffrey Lewis retunes [Crass'] vituperative, cats-and-gravel-in-a-blender sound into something approaching sunny-side-up genius… [and] Crass’ lyrical, ultrapolitical vitriol is, if anything, more relevant than ever. It’s the most astonishing cover album of the last 10 years, bar none.” (4 of 5 stars) – Austin Chronicle

“Folk maverick raids anarchist commune and finds catchy tunes… Works wonderfully” – Spin

“Jeffrey Lewis’ talents appear without end… (on 12 Crass Songs he) magically makes the anarcho-rockers’ anti-establishment savagery his own, by wrapping their barbed sentiments in his trademark mottled tea-towel warmth” – NME

with:
Talkdemonic || Listen || Watch
Homesick Elephant

9PM / $8 ADVANCE; $10 DAY OF SHOW / 21+

Thursday 09.25.08: SERA CAHOONE / WHISPERING PINES

Sera Cahoone || Watch

Sera Cahoone got her start playing drums for a few widely adored bands in the Pacific Northwest, most notably Band of Horses and the spell-checker-defying Carissa’s Wierd. But her self-titled, self-released 2006 album marked her as a fully formed talent — a warm and inviting singer whose songs convey world-weariness and homespun grace. – NPR

with:
Whispering Pines

9PM / $8 ADVANCE; $10 DAY OF SHOW / 21+

Wednesday 09.17.08: Indie 103 pres. CLUB NME with POP LEVI / THE*ART (from Australia; formerly The Follow) / THE OOHLAS

Pop Levi || Listen || Watch

Nobody is putting out music like Pop Levi’s right now. Levi calls his sound astral rock ‘n’ roll-much catchier than the more descriptive psych-glam-garage-blues-rock fusion. If you need an artistic point of reference, think Prince meets Marc Bolan mixed with probably a bit too much Syd Barrett for his own good. It’s not the most unusual group of influences, but Levi works them into a sound all his own.

Infectious up-tempo numbers like “Sugar Assault Me Now” and “Pick-Me-Up Uppercut” show that Levi has some ready-for-primetime swish in his step, especially the latter, with its overt sexuality. He seems equally comfortable with his acoustic, strumming some contemplative tearjerkers like “Skip Ghetto” and “From the Day That You Were Born,” and he has enough soul to pull off blues-funk tracks like “Blue Honey” and “Hades’ Lady.” This is to say that Pop Levi can do it all, and do it all well. – Prefix Mag

with:
The*Art || Listen
The Oohlas || Listen

plus DJs Dia, Jennifer, and Solid Todd spinning rock, indie, punk, electro & alternative. No Cover after Midnight.

9pm / $5 / 21+

Tuesday 09.23.08: Rock the Vote Benefit with LADY TIGRA / THE BIRD AND THE BEE / WILLOUGHBY / ELECTROCUTE / HARD PLACE / POLYAMOROUS AFFAIR / WOLFKIN / DJ LANCEROCK

The Barack Obama-rama: An Obama fundraiser with:

The Lady Tigra
The Bird and the Bee
Willoughby
Electrocute
Hard Place
Polyamorous Affair
Wolfkin

DJ Lance Rock spinning all night

Music festival and Voter Registration Drive. The donation at the door will go to the Obama Campaign. Presented by Filter Magazine, The 008 Movement, Spaceland and the local musicians of East Los Angeles.

8 pm / $12 advance; $15 night of show; $10 when you show your voter registration card or register to vote / 21+

Friday 09.19.08: JEFF HANSON / KRIST KRUEGER / SIMONE WHITE

Jeff Hanson || Listen || Watch

Singer-songwriter Jeff Hanson has one of the most incredible and truly unique voices you’ll ever hear. At least, that is, from a guy. Upon hearing Hanson’s third full-length record, Madam Owl, the first thing anyone will notice is the singer’s impossibly high voice that sounds more like a female vocalist than a 30 year old man. But if you listen closer, there is far more to Hanson’s music than his beautiful singing. The warm strings and acoustic guitars that back his sparkling falsetto are equally as dramatic, and the sound he has created is huge and anthemic in spite of his modest solo artist oeuvre.From the opening of the record, this is clearly a different breed of singer-songwriter. The heavy rumble of barrel drums and the crashing cymbals on “Night” lend it a large, orchestral feel as Hanson’s emotive voice soars over a bed of powerful strings. The song has a certain theatricality about it that makes it very moving. “Nothing Would Matter At All” is another high point, where the smooth horns give the song a ’50s crooner feel, but with some obvious unique departures. – NPR

with:
Krist Krueger
Simone White || Listen

9 pm / $8 / 21+

Thursday 09.11.08: JENNY LEWIS / JONATHAN WILSON / THE BELLE BRIGADE

Jenny Lewis || Listen || Watch

She’s got hair the color of a Pacific sunset, a voice as sweet as an ice cream cone, and a wit sharper than a razorblade. Most days (and nights) you can find Jenny Lewis singing and playing with Rilo Kiley, a glorious quartet whose third album, 2004’s More Adventurous, has charmed and delighted fans and peers worldwide. 2005 alone saw Rilo Kiley garner accolades from heroes (Elvis Costello), magazine covers by the fistful, and a spot opening for Coldplay on their recent sold-out arena tour. But in the tiny moments between the stage and the studio, after the photo shoots but before the bars, Jenny spends time by herself, daydreaming and strumming on her acoustic guitar. And the sound of that time alone is Rabbit Fur Coat, Jenny’s first solo album and one of the most bewitching and intoxicating discs of music you’ve heard in years.

with:
Jonathan Wilson
The Belle Brigade

9 pm / $15 / 21+

Friday 11.07.08: HEARTLESS BASTARDS / THE BROKEN WEST / OTHER LIVES

Heartless Bastards || Listen|| Watch || MP3

Last night at the Southgate House in Newport, the “new look” Bastards returned home and the transition was nothing short of seamless. Nothing against Lamping and Vaughn, who are well respected and talented musicians in their own right, but HB has always been about Erika. So after a quick “it feels good to be home” from Wennestrom, the band ripped into their set and as usual, I found myself concentrating on Erika and her signature croon. With a voice that has drawn in fans like Lucinda Williams, it is hard not to. And that was not the only thing about the show that seemed familiar. Southgate House was smoky and full, with plenty of beer cans being quickly disposed of, the band behind Erika, while not quite as tight as the last incarnation just yet, did a more than adequate job and not only has Erika’s voice not skipped a beat, but neither has her lack of stage banter, which is still sorta endearing if you asked me.

We were also treated to several new songs in the set, which are rumored to all be a part of the new Heartless Bastards album, The Mountain, which is due out in January from Fat Possum. At the end of the night as I headed home I could not help but think that in more ways than one, the more things change, the more they stay the same…. – Each Note Secure

with:
The Broken West || Listen
Other Lives

9 pm / $12 advance; $15 day of show / 21+

Tuesday 10.07.08: DIVISION OF LAURA LEE / RUN THROUGH THE DESERT / GENTLEMEN PREFER BLOOD

Division of Laura Lee || Watch

The mighty, massive, sound of rock. You know how Josh Homme looks like he’s gonna turn into an 18-stone heifer any minute now? Well Gothenburg’s Division of Laura Lee sound like the heavy, self-hating and, er, hungry rock’n'roll that a bloated Homme would guzzle his way through. Frontman Per Stalberg looks every inch the perennial pie-eater, but he’s got Beezlebub in his bloodstream and QOTSA and Trail of Dead in his fingertips. Having eschewed the garage rock roots of their debut, DOLL have morphed into a temper-explodin’, strop-throwin’ antithesis to their Swedish peers; for Hives sophistication, see bowel-removing riffs of ‘Does Compute’, a clash of Jesus And Mary Chain moodiness and Deus dirtiness. Meanwhile, if you’re feeling deflated that The (International) Noise Conspiracy are going soft, then let schizoid space-rock anti-anthem ‘We Are Numbers’, where Stalberg sounds like he’s singing from the pit of Craig Nicholls’ rotting belly, use your lung as a bicycle pump and your head as a distortion pedal. Invading the middle ground between QOTSA and Turbonegro with the same subtlety with which George Bush invades others people’s countries, Division of Laura Lee have marked their territory. Christ knows, it’ll take some effort to move the heavy bastards. – NME

with:
Run Through the Desert || Listen
Gentlemen Prefer Blood

9PM / $12 advance; $14 day of show / 21+

Saturday 11.15.08: TORCHE / BLACK COBRA / CLOUDS

Torche || Listen || Watch

Primarily instrumental of execution, these songs rattle the inside of skulls and battle grey matter into submission; they roar and jerk and slide and glide and crush mountains into sawdust and splinter glaciers like those rulers in school that apparently wouldn’t shatter if you thwacked them with all your might (lie).

Steve Brookes is worth the admission fee alone. The band’s singer/guitarist – outshone in the six-string aerobics stakes by the man to his right, the ridiculously-long-haired and fantastically named Juan Montoya – sports some quite excellently hypnotic top-lip furniture, his moustache blinking in and out of focus as he steps up to and away from the microphone. He growls like a starved attack dog, yet smiles like a kid let loose in a toy store with fat-cat daddy’s credit cards; in fact, every member of the band looks like he could look after himself in a brawl, yet exudes the sort of look-at-me showmanship best associated with less-than-manly types. Think Freddie Mercury, shorn of mic’ stand, with a shocking Halloween wig atop his head and an electrified axe in his hands: that’s Montoya, right there.

‘Thunder pop’ is what their domestic label, Rock Action, has called Torche; from this display of accomplished musicianship colliding with riffs of immediacy and head-nodding addictiveness, it’s easy to understand the ‘pop’ reference. Disposable, though, these songs are not: coming on like Mastodon playing at being The Fucking Champs for an afternoon, Torche are the discerning metalhead’s newfound party-time buddies, sure to get a drinking session started and certain to provide a thunderous climax to head-in-the-bowl conclusions. – Drowned in Sound

with:
Black Cobra || Listen
Clouds

9 pm / $8 ADVANCE; $10 DAY OF SHOW / 21+

Sunday 11.09.08: SPIRIT VINE / ELECTRIC JELLYFISH (Australia) / OJOS ROJOS / ROCKING HORSE PEOPLE

Spirit Vine || Listen

with:
Electric Jellyfish (Australia)
Ojos Rojos
Rocking Horse People

9 pm / 21+

Saturday 11.08.08: JEANS TEAM / STARFUCKER

Jeans Team || Listen || Watch

Jeans Team start in 1995 as a duo constisting of Franz Schütte and Reimo Herford. They found the legendary GALERIE BERLINTOKYO in Berlin Mitte and play their first official shows. For these shows Reimo and Franz performed to a preproduced video, they act as the companion volume. The 45 minute video ‘Baby’ (1996) is Jeans Team’s first release.

1997 Gunter Kreis and Henning Watkinson complete the band and the virtual company is needless. Now Jeans Team become a quartet of flesh and blood. The eponymous luminous advertising is dismantled from a street corner in Berlin Wedding and becomes the illumination for Jeans Team live shows.”

I have to admit that I’d never heard of Jeans Team until recently, but the quartet seem to be an institution in their native Berlin, and Adult. can’t stop raving about them. I’m kicking myself for sleeping on this. They make wonderful indie-pop and infectious elektro-disko seem effortless. – Burn Lab

with:
Starfucker

9 pm / $8 ADVANCE; $10 DAY OF SHOW / 21+

Sunday 10.26.08: NEIL HAMBURGER / PLEASEEASAUR / NATASHA LEGGERO

Neil Hamburger

If Neil Hamburger wasn’t the Funniest Man in America, why would the record company keep letting him make so many albums? Can’t answer that question, can you? No, it’s beyond dispute, he is the funniest. End of debate. Don’t even mention Jack Kevorkian, Neil is waaaaay, waaaaaaaay more side-splittingly hilarious, and he’s a much bigger bummer. And he’s got a million of ‘em – why, if one of his jokes falls flat or makes you groan or feel like gagging, or say the next 80 or 90 “gags” don’t exactly make you howl with uproarious laughter, just wait, because Neil will pounce with just a killer, killer line that will make you pee in your pants and nudge the guy next to you so he spills his drink (and when he hits you, that’ll be funny too). You’ll be glad you shelled out your money and chose to spend your time, on a Sunday night, no less, with America’s funny man, Neil Hamburger. – LA Weekly

with:
Pleaseeasaur
Natasha Leggero || Listen

9 pm / $8 / 21+

Saturday 10.25.08: THE MONOLATORS Record Release Party / YOU ME AND IOWA / SUMMER DARLING / CORREATOWN

The Monolators || Listen || Watch

The ultracharming husband-&-wife duo the Monolators have expanded into a full quartet, with singer-guitarist Eli Chartkoff and singer-drummer Mary Chartkoff now joined by bassist Andrew Bollas and lead guitarist Tom Bogdon. Their new 10-inch EP, You Look Good on the Train, which is available only on vinyl or as a digital download (www.ninjastarrecords.com), fleshes out Eli’s lo-fi tunes with keyboards, saxophones and other instruments to wonderful effect. Eli croons the offbeat love songs “At the Top of the Stairs” (where he collects sea shells and rhapsodizes about a gal “in pink jeans and tambourines”) and “My Weaker Self” with his distinctly unusual, rubber-throated yowl, whereas Mary spits out the jangly title track and the loopy punk rock ditty “Eagle Fighting Zebra” (which is apparently about crazy women brawling at Mr. T’s Bowl) like a more melodic Exene Cervenka. As much as the Monolators might evoke the Modern Lovers and the Subsonics with such whimsical roots-pop songs as “Strawberry Roan,” from their 2006 CD, Our Tears Have Wings, they have their own indefinably unique style and are one of this town’s most promising new combos. -LA Weekly

with:
You Me And Iowa || Listen
Summer Darling || Listen
Correatown || Listen

9PM / $8 / 21+

Thursday 10.23.08: ROSE HILL DRIVE / COLOUR REVOLT / HIS ORCHESTRA

Rose Hill Drive || Listen || Watch

Rose Hill Drive are young men with plenty of Seventies in their bones. Live, singer-bassist Jacob Sproul, his brother, guitarist Daniel, and drummer Nathan Barnes make letter-perfect dynamite of Led Zeppelin’s “Immigrant Song” and Mountain’s “Mississippi Queen” (backing Mountain’s own Leslie West). But in their own songs, they rock entirely in the present tense, with an attention to pop dynamics on their second album that often sounds more like recent Green Day than the Who in ’73.

“Sneak Out” opens with a great wrecking-ball riff, but the real action is the wily shifts in licks and meter, the way the band veers from a burglar’s creep to full throttle without trashing the tune. “Laughing in the Streets” is part Cheap Trick, part Fresh Cream (especially in Daniel’s fat, fluid runs), while the mix of Jacob’s Beatlesque vocals and Daniel’s howling sustain in “Altar Junkie” suggests Stevie Ray Vaughan gate-crashing Abbey Road. Rose Hill Drive are still writing classic rock as opposed to classic songs. They don’t have their own “Immigrant Song” yet. But they’ve got the learning — and the will. -Rolling Stone

with:
Colour Revolt || Listen
His Orchestra

9PM / $8 ADVANCE; $10 DAY OF SHOW / 21+

Friday 10.24.08: THE ACORN / THE SHAKY HANDS / OHBIJOU

The Acorn || Listen || Watch || Download

Ottawa based collective the Acorn dig on themes: their first record was a “tribute to the Outaouais region,” and now a few years on, their second full-length is based on the life of lead singer Rolf Klausener’s mother, Gloria Esperanza Montoya (hence titled Glory Hope Mountain). And as you’d expect from a band that writes about regions and moms, the music is subtly sweeping and agreeably melodic, or at least it is on the polyrhythmic road-traveler “Crooked Legs.” Maybe expectedly, there’s a big natural element at play with fireflies, gardens, and errant wandering on the table before the Acorn busts into a marimba ‘n’ horns-inflected groove. “I’m going as far as these crooked legs take me / I’m watching the road with two young eyes to guide me,” is Klausener’s optimistic ‘n’ weary credo in this cut, and for five minutes, it’s a story we believe. -Stereogum

with:
The Shaky Hands
Ohbijou || Listen

9PM / $8 ADVANCE; $10 DAY OF SHOW / 21+

Sunday 10.19.08: THE HIGH DIALS / THE QUARTER AFTER / THE SHORE

The High Dials || Watch

“Psych pop perfection”
8/10 – NME (UK)

“The golden era of Canadian cool continues apace”
The Sun (UK)

“(Songs) breathe new life into pops tired romantic lexicon”
4 stars – The Independent (UK)

“Dazzling second album”
4 stars – UNCUT

“An entire pop album of psychedelic superhits: instantly hummable, easily digestible, completely candy-coated and totally fucking sweet.”
20 best albums of 2005 – MAGNET

“The sound of a band discovering its soul and creating something beautiful and big… this album will blow you away”
4 ½ stars – ALL MUSIC GUIDE

“Their sunburst melodies sound arena-big”
Recommended – SPIN

with:
The Quarter After || Listen
The Shore

9PM / $8 / 21+

Saturday 10.18.08: 89.9 KCRW presents THE BOAT PEOPLE / THE OOHLAS / MINIATURE TIGERS

The Boat People || Listen || Watch

Whispy riffs and dreamy lyrics make for a light-hearted album that you can’t help but bop along with. This warm and fuzzy album is a long time in the making, with their first of three EPs being released in 2002, and their debut released in 2005, it seems that basking in all that northern sunshine over the past three years has created a release to warm the cockles of anyone’s heart.
If you love the jingle jangle of some well-arranged honest tunes, then you cannot go past this collection of fine tracks from The Boat People. Turn it on, turn it up, and get ready to smile your face off. -TuneFM

with:
The Oohlas
Miniature Tigers

9PM / $8 ADVANCE; $10 DAY OF SHOW / 21+

Friday 10.17.08: HEROINE SHEIKS / QUI / BARRIO TIGER

Heroine Sheiks || Listen || Watch

Shannon Selberg’s entirely reconfigured, revamped Heroine Sheiks have lab tested 11 brand new, fully assembled, tuned and torqued songs – not ideas for songs, not experimental keyboard games – but nothing shy of his finest body of work since the Cows seminal Sexy Pee Story, if not better. The new line-up subverts its four on the floor rock sensibilities, using active riffage and rhythm, but fucking it up just the right amount. Shannon’s vaudevillian creepshow has never been this well utilized, showing the amount of restraint and excess at the right times in exploring his menagerie of hard luck characters. Age and musical maturity have chiseled away the unnecessary parts of the persona, gone is the drawn-on mustache of shock and in its place the true five o’clock shadow of the narrative mindfuck. -Reptilian

with:
Qui
Barrio Tiger

9PM / $10 ADVANCE; $12 DAY OF SHOW / 21+

Saturday 10.04.08: Manimal Vinyl presents RIO EN MEDIO / VOICES VOICES / WEAVE! / EXITMUSIC

Rio En Medio || Watch

Danielle Stech Homsy (aka Rio en Medio), offers her music to the whims of chance. Citing influences such as John Cage and a childhood in which “peculiar circumstance and mysterious blessings were the norm,” she nearly overshadows her meticulously honed songcraft. While erratic electronics and found sounds dapple last year’s The Bride of Dynamite, Stech Homsy’s crisp, breezy voice and baritone ukulele give the flighty idiosyncrasies ground to stand on, should they choose to float back to earth. – Flavorpill

with:
Voices Voices
Weave!
Exitmusic

9PM / $8 / 21+

Wednesday 10.01.08: Indie 103 presents CLUB NME with PATTERN IS MOVEMENT / THE MINOR CANON / THE VOYEURS

Pattern Is Movement || Watch

Pattern’s music is gleefully fun at times, rivalling Pinback for sheer melodic exuberance even as it threatens wilful obscurity. Opener “Bird” switches to-and-fro between droning keyboards and sparkly twinkles, Thiboldeux’s vocals bordering all the while on the operatic, yet the song is contagious in both its energy and prettiness. “Right Away” is similarly double-edged, opening with a sense of brooding thunder that is periodically intercepted by the sunshine of Daniel Hart’s guesting violin and Thiboldeux’s keys, marching all the while to Ward’s head-nodding beat.

It’s this interplay between the many textures of Pattern’s music that makes All Together so captivating, and the uneducated would surely never guess the shrunken ranks of the band by listening alone. “Peach Trees” links together neat vocal harmonies and tip-toeing keyboard, but it’s the repeated violin excerpt that orchestrates proceedings. Guest musicians again come to the fore on “Sound of Your Voice”, where the insistent parping of trumpet induces an atmosphere of panic, before again Thiboldeux’s twinkling keys break the tension. Indeed, the interaction between All Together‘s instrumentation gives the impression of a larger outfit of seasoned musicians, all so well acquainted with each others’ strengths and weaknesses as to be entirely comfortable.

Each song is like a microcosmic journey, every one colourful and distinct. There’s the odd reference point here and there on All Together—there’s shades of Amnesiac-era Radiohead in the avant-pop atmosphere that pervades much of the album, while the more pastoral elements remind of Midlake at times—but Pattern Is Movement as a whole are utterly unique, something which is most definitely to their credit. – PopMatters

with:
The Minor Canon
The Voyeurs

plus DJs Dia, Jennifer, and Solid Todd spinning rock, indie, punk, electro & alternative. No Cover after Midnight.

8:30pm / $8 ADVANCE; $10 DAY OF SHOW / 21+

Tuesday 09.30.08: BEACH HOUSE / LAZARUS / SHUGO TOKUMARU

Beach House || Listen || Watch

Their music was like waltzing wedding cake models in a music box; the sound of atrophied romance, obscure regrets and flickering confetti set to a shoegaze siren call that brought to mind the likes of Mazzy Star and Slowdive whilst gently asserting a hushed authority all of its own.

Devotion resonates with the same formless essence as its predecessor, but also far exceeds it in both composition and execution. The funereal organ and sparse, chintzy beats remain, but the sound is more fleshed-out and vivid with harpsichord and lushly textured keys, Alex Scally’s slide guitar in particular more languidly expressive than ever, as if tracing the curves of old flames on the brilliant ‘Gila’.

To say this record elevates the band far above the swollen ranks of shuffling shoegazers currently doing the rounds is putting it mildly – in Devotion, Beach House have created as profound an invocation of the sacred and the sentimental as you’re ever likely to hear. – Drowned in Sound

with:
Lazarus
Shugo Tokumaru

9PM / $12 ADVANCE; $14 DAY OF SHOW / 21+

Friday 09.26.08: Filter Presents APOLLO SUNSHINE / THE FLYING TOURBILLON ORCHESTRA / THE CORAL SEA / KARABAL NIGHTLIFE

Apollo Sunshine || Listen || Watch

Psychedelic rock serves variously as a baseline and a horizon for this Massachusetts band, which absorbs the weirder 1960s pop conventions into an earnest mannerism. “Shall Noise Upon” (Headless Heroes), Apollo Sunshine’s third album, revels in the trappings of a time-stamped delirium: echo-trippy vocals, analog keyboards, British accents, fuzz-tone guitars. There are lyrics about vibrations, love, reincarnation and currency. One song is called “Green Green Lawns of Outer Space.” What keeps the whole enterprise from slipping into camp (most of the time, anyway) is the care exhibited by the musicians, especially Apollo Sunshine’s core members, Jeremy Black, Sam Cohen and Jesse Gallagher. Playing many different instruments, sometimes switching off to one another, they forge a slippery continuity out of messy glory. Sometimes they also manage beauty. – NY Times

with:
The Flying Tourbillon Orchestra
The Coral Sea || Listen
Karabal Nightlife || Listen

9PM / $8 ADVANCE; $10 DAY OF SHOW / 21+

Saturday 09.27.08: PATRICK PARK / I.L.Y. (EMILY KOKAL from Warpaint) / JEN FURCHES / NATHAN HALPERN

Patrick Park || Listen || Watch

Somewhat refreshingly in this age of confessional culture and Heat-style intimacy, Colorado-born Joaquin Phoenix lookalike Patrick Park is giving nothing away.

There’s a dark veil over the songs on his debut album ‘Loneliness Knows My Name’, and hints of a protected past. As he’s a karate expert and ex-bouncer, you might not push too hard either.

Tonight’s tiny venue provides an intimate setting to hear the countrified layers of his album stripped away to reveal a raw folk/blues tinged talent, letting Park’s voice soar like the mighty howl of an early Van Morrison or dead folky Nick Drake. While amiable, Park is a man of few words and seems that he is never going to tell us what these songs are about: the mix of bile and beauty that makes ‘Honest Skrew’ such a tender threat, the weary gorgeousness of ‘Something Pretty (“walked a million miles in tobacco skin”) and the unnerving mystery of ‘Bullets by the Door’, which hints ominously at terrorism and retribution.

When a mobile erupts during the set, the modern communication age seems surreal. Patrick Park is keeping his old-fashioned secrets tantalisingly close to his chest, and for that he is the most intriguing prospect in town. -NME

With:
I.L.Y. (Emily Kokal from Warpaint)
Jen Furches
Nathan Halpern

9PM / $8 ADVANCE; $10 DAY OF SHOW / 21+

Sunday 09.21.08: SLINGS / OLD WAR SHIRT / THE WORLD RECORD / PATRICK THOMAS

Slings || Listen || Watch

Somewhere out there – tucked inside the daydreams of a whimsical and weird 14-year-old, maybe – exists the world of Slings: a world where puppy-eyed bull skulls skip down a floating xylophone and a giant red octopus slow dances with tree stumps (one for each arm) to a soaring melodica melody. In this world, everyone and everything – the bull skulls, the xylophone, the octopus, trees and melodica, plus a few canary-yellow baby chicks and also an old guitar and salt shaker – is a friend, a comrade, a partner in song and life and the jubilee you get when you combine them all together. The world of Slings, the music created by David Pope and Dustin Poulton, isn’t for hard hearts and cynics, but rather for lovers and dreamers and lonely lost cowboys. It’s more than music for a particular mood or even a season – it is, as anyone remotely involved with the band knows, a way of life.
- OC Weekly

with:
Old War Shirt || Listen
The World Record || Listen
Patrick Thomas

9PM / FREE / 21+

Wednesday 09.24.08: Indie 103 presents CLUB NME with JULIETTE COMMAGERE / OBI BEST / CHARLIE WADHAMS

Juliette Commagere || Watch

Keytars have been the subject of ridicule for years because of their association with 80’s hair bands.

Fortunately, today’s keytarists aren’t like the keytarists of the 80’s. If there’s any doubt in your mind about that, you’re probably not familiar with Juliette Commagere, above, the keytarist & vocalist of Hello Stranger. -Synthopia

with:
Obi Best
Charlie Wadhams || Listen

plus DJs Dia, Jennifer, and Solid Todd spinning rock, indie, punk, electro & alternative. No Cover after Midnight.

8:30pm / $5 advance; $8 day of show / 21+

Saturday 09.20.08: THE HEAVENLY STATES / AUDRYE SESSIONS / WHAT LAURA SAYS THINKS AND FEELS

The Heavenly States || Listen || Watch

For all you indie snobs with a shadowy Dave Matthews Band-loving past, this Oakland, California, trio delivers equal parts patchouli-soaked violin and Superchunk-worthy melodies.–RollingStone

The last great indie-rock violinist, The Dambuilders’ Joan Wasser was known for her dark, sawing ardor, but the States’ Genevieve Gagon has a breezy, darting quality that deepens and brightens the hummable angst-purging of singer/guitarist Ted Nesseth. Full of romantic, lefty yearning, Nesseth recalls the sweaty conviction of another Ted (Leo).–SPIN

Buoyant, Bush-baiting pop. –Newsweek

Eschews bobby socks and first kisses for squalling grit à la early-’90s SST tough guys and the noisy theatrics of Dinosaur Jr.–SF Weekly

with:
Audrye Sessions
What Laura Says Thinks and Feels || Listen

9PM / $8 advance; $10 day of show / 21+

Tuesday 09.16.08: SARAH BORGES AND THE BROKEN SINGLES / DEAD ROCK WEST / MIKE STINSON

Sarah Borges and the Broken Singles || Listen || Watch

Decked out in a black-and-silver striped mini dress and white cowboy boots, and armed with a duct-taped Telecaster, Borges revealed a winning stage presence and showed off a voice even stronger and more flexible than her record had suggested.

Guitarist Mike Castellana—a Long Islander, it turned out—served up twangy riffs and heartsick pedal-steel arias. Rob Dulaney demonstrated that ultimate sign of a drummer not prone to grandstanding: mouthing the lyrics to many of the songs. And then there was Binky: bassist, backing vocalist, raconteur and all-around foil to the leader. His ability to play a one-note throb with one finger of his left hand while operating a long-neck with his right must surely be the envy of bassists everywhere; later, he used the half-empty bottle as a slide. His chemistry with Borges—including (but not limited to) rock-star stage choregraphy—put this gig over the top, even in front of one of those quiet, show-me NYC crowds. – Time Out New York

with:
Dead Rock West || Listen
Mike Stinson || Listen

9PM / $8 advance; $10 day of show / 21+

Wednesday 09.10.08: Indie 103 presents CLUB NME with MACK WINSTON AND THE REFLECTIONS / WHISPERING PINES / THE B-SIDES

Mack Winston and the Reflections

with:
Whispering Pines
The B-Sides

plus DJs Dia, Jennifer, and Solid Todd spinning rock, indie, punk, electro & alternative. No Cover after Midnight.

8:30pm / $5 / 21+

Thursday 09.04.08: KESHA / ROLL THE TANKS

Kesha || Listen || Watch

Kesha’s original tunes are quite fun, reminding me of a mix between M.I.A. Peaches and a little Beck sensibility with some commercial appeal thrown in. -dsquared

with:
Roll The Tanks || Listen

9PM / $8 / 21+

Wednesday 09.03.08: Indie 103.1 Presents CLUB NME with THE HUMAN VALUE / XU XU FANG / THE BLACK PINE

The Human Value || Listen || Watch

This time round things are looking up with the more expansive Push And Pull. This is for those who like their riffs dirty, droney and depraved – think Queens of the Stone Age with Polly Harvey, Karen O and VV taking guest spots.

That’s maybe a little unkind on front woman Turu, who embodies the finer qualities of said few, keeping the album spinning on an inverted axis by juxtaposing feral howls with narcotic hollers.

It bleeds dark souls from these nocturnal creatures, seemingly bred from dangerous liaisons, broken hearts and lonely nights. It swaggers to life with the plough through Pleasant Town, taking a turn for the sinister on Pretty Mouth’s hark back to Bleach era Nirvana. I Don’t Care eases up a little with its noodley harmonies like a finger tracing the rim of a wine glass. – Music OMH

with:
Xu Xu Fang || Listen
The Black Pine || Listen

8:30pm / $5 / 21+

Sunday 09.14.08: FIREBUG / BORN IN DEATH VALLEY / ROB GRAD

Firebug || Watch

” The depth to the band’s writing skills and fearless approach to originality gives a modern touch to the psychedelic and blues based influences of some of the best 70′s rock music.” ” ..The sultry, smoky vocals of Juliette Tworsey nearly hypnotized the audience with not only the sound, but the stories and images conjured by the lyrics as well. Melodic and at times almost haunting. Juliette can deliver a song that can not only move your emotions, but make you give your own life’s decisions some extra thought.” – Chicago Rocks

Born in Death Valley || Watch
Rob Grad || Listen

9PM / FREE / 21+

Saturday 09.06.08: TWILIGHT SLEEP / TIGERS CAN BITE YOU / THE SHIMMIES / THE DELTA MIRROR

Twilight Sleep || Watch

Full of movement and feeling with sound combinations ranging from sleek to slightly raw, there is a post-punk vibe to the music that feels like 1983 married to an up-to-the-minute Silver Lake sensibility. A bit of goth and electronica pull from the band’s early Bay Area roots, and founding member Raj Lathigara’s years of training in classical Indian music yields impeccable song structures. The lyrics are Marcellino’s, inspired by sounds she and Lathigara create, and she calls their content “a snapshot of my mind.” The first track, “Night So Lush,” sounds like a handful of jewels scattered on velvet, and blue feathers and rubies are just a few of the graceful images interwoven on “Bluebird (Red Sky).” – Performer Mag

with:
Tigers Can Bite You || Listen
The Shimmies
The Delta Mirror

9PM / $8 / 21+

Monday 09.29.08: Monday Night Residency – DIOS (MALOS) / DEVON WILLIAMS / TOCO & JOMO

Dios (Malos) || Listen

Dios Malos have a sound as big and beautiful as you’re willing to let it be. Consider any one of their songs on its own, and you have a relatively simple concoction. Retro surf and sunshine pop are the basic templates — Dios (Malos) is a world where even heartbreak is rendered in primary colors and ornamented in glittering bells and cheerful whistles. A psychedelic haze floats over much of their work, but it’s a cheerful psychedelic haze.
For most artists, tackling such a variety of styles in one album would be overwhelming at best; at worst, it would invite the sort of stylistic excess that leads to anonymity. Through smart songcraft, a powerful command of pop vocabulary, and skillful track sequencing, Dios Malos deliver an album that expands and grows more complicated with every listen. “Epk” will help you to better appreciate “My Broken Bones”, which will in turn enhance “I Want it All”. As you learn to understand and decode the band’s songwriting decisions, your appreciation will grow that much deeper — and what seemed like simple, straightforward music will become increasingly engrossing.
- Splendid Magazine

with:
Devon Williams || Listen
Toco & Jomo

9 pm / FREE SHOW / 21+

Monday 09.22.08: Monday Night Residency – DIOS (MALOS) / SONADORA / THE BIBLE CHILDREN / PEACHFUZZ

Dios (Malos) || Listen

Dios Malos have a sound as big and beautiful as you’re willing to let it be. Consider any one of their songs on its own, and you have a relatively simple concoction. Retro surf and sunshine pop are the basic templates — Dios (Malos) is a world where even heartbreak is rendered in primary colors and ornamented in glittering bells and cheerful whistles. A psychedelic haze floats over much of their work, but it’s a cheerful psychedelic haze.
For most artists, tackling such a variety of styles in one album would be overwhelming at best; at worst, it would invite the sort of stylistic excess that leads to anonymity. Through smart songcraft, a powerful command of pop vocabulary, and skillful track sequencing, Dios Malos deliver an album that expands and grows more complicated with every listen. “Epk” will help you to better appreciate “My Broken Bones”, which will in turn enhance “I Want it All”. As you learn to understand and decode the band’s songwriting decisions, your appreciation will grow that much deeper — and what seemed like simple, straightforward music will become increasingly engrossing.
- Splendid Magazine

with:
Sonadora
The Bible Children
Peachfuzz || Listen

9 pm / FREE SHOW / 21+

Monday 09.15.08: Monday Night Residency – DIOS (MALOS) / RESIDUAL ECHOES / TOYS THAT KILL / WET CASSETTE

Dios (Malos)|| Listen

Dios Malos have a sound as big and beautiful as you’re willing to let it be. Consider any one of their songs on its own, and you have a relatively simple concoction. Retro surf and sunshine pop are the basic templates — Dios (Malos) is a world where even heartbreak is rendered in primary colors and ornamented in glittering bells and cheerful whistles. A psychedelic haze floats over much of their work, but it’s a cheerful psychedelic haze.
For most artists, tackling such a variety of styles in one album would be overwhelming at best; at worst, it would invite the sort of stylistic excess that leads to anonymity. Through smart songcraft, a powerful command of pop vocabulary, and skillful track sequencing, Dios Malos deliver an album that expands and grows more complicated with every listen. “Epk” will help you to better appreciate “My Broken Bones”, which will in turn enhance “I Want it All”. As you learn to understand and decode the band’s songwriting decisions, your appreciation will grow that much deeper — and what seemed like simple, straightforward music will become increasingly engrossing.
- Splendid Magazine

with:
Residual Echoes
Toys That Kill|| Listen
Wet Cassette

9 pm / FREE SHOW / 21+

Monday 09.08.08: Monday Night Residency – DIOS (MALOS) / RADAR BROTHERS / LEVIATHAN BROTHERS / MARCHING BAND

Dios (Malos) || Listen

Dios Malos have a sound as big and beautiful as you’re willing to let it be. Consider any one of their songs on its own, and you have a relatively simple concoction. Retro surf and sunshine pop are the basic templates — Dios (Malos) is a world where even heartbreak is rendered in primary colors and ornamented in glittering bells and cheerful whistles. A psychedelic haze floats over much of their work, but it’s a cheerful psychedelic haze.
For most artists, tackling such a variety of styles in one album would be overwhelming at best; at worst, it would invite the sort of stylistic excess that leads to anonymity. Through smart songcraft, a powerful command of pop vocabulary, and skillful track sequencing, Dios Malos deliver an album that expands and grows more complicated with every listen. “Epk” will help you to better appreciate “My Broken Bones”, which will in turn enhance “I Want it All”. As you learn to understand and decode the band’s songwriting decisions, your appreciation will grow that much deeper — and what seemed like simple, straightforward music will become increasingly engrossing.
- Splendid Magazine

with:
Radar Brothers || Listen
Leviathan Brothers || Listen
Marching Band || Listen

9 pm / FREE SHOW / 21+

Monday 09.01.08: Monday Night Residency – DIOS (MALOS) / UNDERGROUND RAILROAD TO CANDYLAND / MIGUEL MENDEZ / AUDACITY

Dios (Malos) || Listen || Watch

Dios Malos have a sound as big and beautiful as you’re willing to let it be. Consider any one of their songs on its own, and you have a relatively simple concoction. Retro surf and sunshine pop are the basic templates — Dios (Malos) is a world where even heartbreak is rendered in primary colors and ornamented in glittering bells and cheerful whistles. A psychedelic haze floats over much of their work, but it’s a cheerful psychedelic haze.
For most artists, tackling such a variety of styles in one album would be overwhelming at best; at worst, it would invite the sort of stylistic excess that leads to anonymity. Through smart songcraft, a powerful command of pop vocabulary, and skillful track sequencing, Dios Malos deliver an album that expands and grows more complicated with every listen. “Epk” will help you to better appreciate “My Broken Bones”, which will in turn enhance “I Want it All”. As you learn to understand and decode the band’s songwriting decisions, your appreciation will grow that much deeper — and what seemed like simple, straightforward music will become increasingly engrossing.
- Splendid Magazine

with:
The Underground Railroad to Candyland
Miguel Mendez
Audacity

8:30pm / FREE SHOW / 21+

Saturday 09.13.08: THE PIGEON DETECTIVES / LEMON SUN / FREE LIONS

The Pigeon Detectives || Listen || Watch

The leap from playing local toilet venue Josephs well two years ago to this – 7,000 Pigeon fanciers filling their home city’s Millennium Square twice in a row over the bank holiday weekend – isn’t one any old band could make. But it’s precisely the chaotic, often shambolic nature of some of those early live shows that won them fans in the first place so the question, inevitably, is how do they translate that to this big, big stage?
As it turns out, the answer is ‘surprisingly easily’. From the opening notes of new single ‘This Is An Emergency’ right through to their biggest hit ‘I’m Not Sorry’, it’s a test the quintet pass with flying colours. In truth, they’ve been putting in stadium-size performances for some time now, particularly Bowman, who revels in this brighter spotlight. How could he not? There’s more space to run around, a higher ceiling for mic-throwing antics and more bottles of water to be thrown out into the crowd. Perfect. And despite the fact second album ‘Emergency’ isn’t out for another three weeks, the crowd laps up each and every new offering like the proverbial semi-skimmed. – NME

with:
Lemon Sun || Listen

also with:
Free Lions

9PM / $12 ADVANCE; $14 DAY OF SHOW / 21+

Thursday 09.18.08: SPECIAL GUESTS / THESE ARMS ARE SNAKES / sBACH (Spencer Seim from Hella)

These Arms Are Snakes || Listen || Watch

The ability to equally and successfully blend seemingly unrelated styles is what makes Easter so special, and it’s what makes These Arms Are Snakes a truly gifted band. Because when the smarmy genres and sub-genres are removed, all that’s left is a redefinition of rock music. Bands have been making carbon copies of carbon copies since the 60s and 70s, and aside from the original burst of punk and hardcore in the late 70s and early 80s, rock has most definitely been dead, if not dying slowly and painfully. That’s not to say that there hasn’t been anything good since then, it’s just that nothing or almost nothing has been truly inventive except for maybe Nirvana.

Appropriately titled Easter, These Arms Are Snakes have resurrected and redefined rock music for the new millennium. Without question this is (tied for) the best album of the year, and (tied for) one of the most defining musical releases since Radiohead’s Kid A. – Decoy

with:
sBACH (Spencer Seim from Hella)

9PM / $10 / 21+

Friday 09.05.08: KAV (FORMERLY OF HAPPY MONDAYS) / EASTERN CONFERENCE CHAMPIONS / ONCE

Kav || Watch

He’s spent the past six months writing and recording new material for his debut solo album, collaborating with everyone from New Order’s Peter Hook to Adam Ficek from Babyshambles. On his forthcoming Blaggers & Liars EP, he touts the sort of electronically enhanced, krautrock-inflected riff rock and high-energy mescal-blues purveyed by Primal Scream on their Vanishing Point and XTRMNTR albums. His EP is an eclectic case in point: the title track has the speed and attack of the Scream in chugging, charging Neu! mode. Lizard King starts off slow and swaggering and features bluesy slide guitar before transforming into a Led Zep-ish riff monster, like The Stone Roses circa Second Coming. Easy is a blues-soaked missive about life’s “chancers”. And Satanic Circus Mask makes you think of the Stones’ Sympathy For The Devil hauled into the digital age by Death In Vegas. Lyrically, Kav veers between the lysergic dementia of Shaun Ryder and the insurrectionary fervour of Bobby Gillespie. – Guardian

with:
Eastern Conference Champions || Listen
Once

9PM / $8 / 21+

Sunday 09.28.08: NEIL HAMBURGER / ANDY KINDLER / HEIDECKER & WOOD / TRACY DEAN & JESUS / HARVEY SID FISHER

Neil Hamburger

If Neil Hamburger wasn’t the Funniest Man in America, why would the record company keep letting him make so many albums? Can’t answer that question, can you? No, it’s beyond dispute, he is the funniest. End of debate. Don’t even mention Jack Kevorkian, Neil is waaaaay, waaaaaaaay more side-splittingly hilarious, and he’s a much bigger bummer. And he’s got a million of ‘em – why, if one of his jokes falls flat or makes you groan or feel like gagging, or say the next 80 or 90 “gags” don’t exactly make you howl with uproarious laughter, just wait, because Neil will pounce with just a killer, killer line that will make you pee in your pants and nudge the guy next to you so he spills his drink (and when he hits you, that’ll be funny too). You’ll be glad you shelled out your money and chose to spend your time, on a Sunday night, no less, with America’s funny man, Neil Hamburger. – LA Weekly

with:
Andy Kindler
Heidecker & Wood
Tracy Dean & Jesus
Harvey Sid Fisher

9 pm / $8 / 21+

Friday 09.12.08: INFINITY / VOXHAUL BROADCAST / DOGWEED

Infinity
Journey sing-alongs are normally reserved for moments alone in your car or an a cappella rock block in the shower. But at Spaceland Friday night, we screeched through the Streeet-light, Peep-pu-u-ul! of “Don’t Stop Believin’,” the staccatoed, Ooh, all night. All night. Oh, every night, of “Anyway You Want It,” the banshee cry I really LOVE you gir-rl of “Separate Ways.” Oh boy, did we sing along. Some of us hadn’t perspired this much since high noon at Coachella.

We were a mixed crowd of longhaired Samoans, classic-rock dudes, hair-metal queens, lesbians and a few hoochy mamas among the club’s indie regulars, all out to catch Infinity, the mustachioed, female-fronted Journey cover band. Singer Woody “Steve Perry,” with sideburns and a shag wig this side of “Oh Sherrie,” tore through song after song, while drummer Sherri “Steve Smith” Solinger, with a faux womb broom above her upper lip, hit the skins like she was going into battle. – LA Weekly

with:
Voxhaul Broadcast
Dogweed

8:30 pm / $10 advance; $12 day of show / 21+

Tuesday 09.09.08: DAMIEN JURADO / JENNIFER O’CONNOR / LITTLE WINGS

Damien Jurado || Listen

Jurado’s way with words, the manner in which he wraps his tales so magnificently around barely-there music that touches you – me – in such a strong way that it’s impossible to feel anything but moved by the experience, is exquisite. His cadence is perfect, his tone a perfect conductor of feeling regardless of the precise words that swim within it. His not-so-bothered singing voice, which can be mistaken for deliberate deadpan on occasions, belies the true soul within these compositions, within the man behind the microphone. – Drowned in Sound

with:
Jennifer O’Connor || Listen
Little Wings

Save Money when you order tickets by mobile phone
text Clockwork to 467467

8:30 pm / $10 advance; $12 day of show / 21+

Sunday 09.07.08: DEATH VESSEL / MIA DOI TODD / THE FRENCH SEMESTER

Death Vessel || Listen

“Nothing melts a jaded man’s heart like the sound of a beautiful female voice singing songs of love, loss, and longing—even when they’re being sung by a guy. Joel Thibodeau, a slight young man with a freakishly high-pitched (but gorgeous) voice who goes by the name of Death Vessel (which could also fall under the “Best Band Name” category), is one of the city’s most talented singer-songwriters.” – Village Voice

with:
Mia Doi Todd || Listen
The French Semester || Listen

Save Money when you order tickets by mobile phone
text Bruno to 467467

8:30 pm / $8 advance; $10 day of show / 21+

Tuesday 09.02.08: Aquarium Drunkard presents: CENTRO-MATIC / SLEEPERCAR (feat. Jim Ward of Sparta) / SOUTH SAN GABRIEL

Centro-Matic || Listen

With the release of Fort Recovery, Austin/Denton’s favorite sons celebrate a decade together, all the more remarkable when one considers how fresh Centro-matic still sounds…The band’s 10th full-length contains some of bandleader Will Johnson’s best songwriting. He and his compatriots, Matt Pence, Scott Danbom, and Mark Hedman, have grown into a band that chills you with washes of orchestrated chaos and seductive melodies, creating intense vistas, memorable pop hooks, and moments of rare intimacy…Ultimately what makes Fort Recovery a success is Centro-matic’s ability to make distinctively American music with uncommon fervor and without cliché. – Austin Chronicle

with:
Sleepercar (Jim Ward of Sparta) || Listen
South San Gabriel || Listen

Save Money when you order tickets by mobile phone
text Dualhawks to 467467

8:30 pm / $10 / 21+