Podcast, NEW YORK CITY's INDIE ROCK MAGAZINE, NEW YORK CITY ROCK MAGAZINE, NEW YORK CITY ROCK SCENE, ROCK FROM nyc, ROCK FROM NEW YORK CITY, NEW YORK CITY ROCK, ROCK IN NEW YORK CITY, NYC INDIE ROCK BANDS FROM NEW YORK, BEST BANDS FROM NYC
We’re big fans of 4AD and their roster of indie darlings! That’s why we’re happy to announce a ticket giveaway for their latest export (or should we say import) Serena Maneesh. These Norwegian shoegazey alt-rockers from Oslo recently spent SXSW fuzzing out audiences at prestigious showcases and parties like Brooklyn Vegan, Filter Magazine and PureVolume. They’ll be making a stop in our music-friendly town on Tuesday, April 6th at Kung Fu Necktie. If you’d like to win a pair of tickets and their upcoming sophomore full length Abyss in B-minor, which will be available in the U.S. this Tuesday, March 23rd (you can also check it out streaming in its entirety here), then send us an e-mail at thedelimagazinephiladelphia@gmail.com. Like the saying goes, you can’t win, if you don’t enter! - The Deli Staff
Well, another day another awkward sunburn - yesterday was an extremely eventful day that had me rushing all over town to get my show on. The day began like any other since I’ve been here shoving pulled pork into our mouths while trying to get into the popular (and rightfully so) NPR day show. The lineup included The Smith Westerns, LA’s Local Natives, Alabama conscious rap group G-side, feel good rockin’ Surfer Blood, and spastic, electro-rock duo Sleigh Bells whose closing set was wrought with technical difficulties, but epic nonetheless. Quite frankly, I was happy for the difficulties because it allowed me to hear their ever too short set multiple times. And as if the show needed to be better it was hosted by PBR so I felt right at home drinking the free beers. I was feeling pretty un-American so far with all those Modelos. But again I digress. After checking out the IHEARTCOMIX + JELLY + MAD DECENT CARNIVILLE where I watched The Walkmen kill it while riding on an anti-gravity machine. From there my night full of Philly bands just got better when I headed front and center for Grandchildren’s showcase set at The Beauty Bar. They played behind some hallucinogen-inspired projections that only enhanced their driving, layered soundscapes. Grandchildren opened with pulsating “Cold Warrior” that brought in many curious listeners who, by the end of the set, were total fanboys. They blasted through the rest of the set breaking only to sip on their beers, and went out with a bang with trippy, soaring electro-folk tune “Toss and Turn”.
Grandchildren’s Roman Salcic was kind enough to answer a few questions for us after the show.
The Deli: When you become a grandfather, what do you want your grandchildren to call you?
Roman Salcic: Deda
TD: Chicken BBQ or Pork BBQ?
RS: Definitely Pork
TD: Favorite Philly Venue?
RS: Johnny Brenda’s
TD: What is your favorite deli in Philly (besides us, of course)?
RS: Italian Market
TD: What do you miss most about Philly?
RS: West Philly
TD: Who is your Indie rock dream girl?
RS: Kim Gordon
The night ended with an unsurprisingly raucous Man Man show at the Billboard Bungalow. I forgot how good Honus Honus looks in a dress, but I think his crotch will forever be burned into my retinas. Somehow I ended up at a Steve Aoki show and for every high five I wanted to give Steve, I wanted to give two ball taps to the lame ass crowd. I am super excited for the rest of the week, and can’t wait to catch back up with you darlings - until next time.
For those who need a reminder, Levee Drivers won our Best of Philly Fans' Poll this past year, and were overall top performers as well. It was certainly justified, as it's hard to deny that these guys are the perfect soundtrack to this early summer we seem to have on our hands (how 'bout that, eh?). Drawing a great deal from old-timey country and blues in a Johnny Cash vein, they whip up something that sounds like driving at night with the windows down on that proverbial country road. "Quarter to Three" swells with a lovelorn harmonica, while "Leavin' Town" brings a rock swagger to the mix. They're joined at the Khyber tonight with rustic yelpers Rev. Peyton’s Big Damn Band. The Khyber, 56 2nd Street, 9 pm, $10, 21+ myspace.com/hentaimusic - Joe Poteracki
We’re interested in checking out Ghost Stepper tonight at the North Star. It’s comprised of a few the Lotus guys, one of our favorite drummers Mike “Greenie” Greenfield (formerly of Penn band The Ally which spawned future members of Yeasayer, Illinois and Xylos) and our favorite Mennonite musicians/brothers Jesse and Luke Miller. We can’t think of a nicer trio (well, except when the bros can’t find a headie beer that they can drink - beer snobs). We were told that “they sound better than Lotus - more dubby” so we wanted to see what that’s all about. Also they’ll be joined by one of our favorite local post-rockers Grimace Federation, whose lead guitarist Wes Schwartz is all about Metal and obscure Hip Hop, so be ready for a heavy night of guitar riffs and hot beats. Ghost Stepper sold out their debut performance at Silk City for their Haiti Relief Benefit, and Grimace Federation certainly has a local following of their own so expect a crowded and sweaty dance party on this fine, fine evening. Or just a bunch o f people like ourselves gettin’ way too fucked up and tryin’ to figure out how the hell do we get home from the North Star. North Star Bar, 2639 Poplar St., 9pm, $10, 21+
Here are some folks to check out that didn’t head down to SXSW this week…
Johnny Brenda’s (1201 N. Frankford Ave.) FRI The Stuffed Animal Project featuring The Nite Lights, Northern Liberties, Mondo Topless, SAT Far Out Fangtooth
This being my first time at SXSW I truly had no idea what I was getting myself into. I have been to festivals, but I have never seen a town taken over in such mass and fervor as Austin, Texas is during these weeks of mayhem. On my way to Paste’s unofficial day party at Galaxy. I was asked for a hug instead of change from a homeless couple and met THE lizard man (check out full body tattoo, eyebrow implants and tongue augmentation below). I made my way in to the show just as Philly’s own Free Energy were taking the stage to get the week long party started. Their incessant energy, power stances, soaring guitar riffs and fantastic heads of hair immediately captured the crowd’s attention. They charged through their time-capsule rock n’ roll while front man Paul Sprangers sang of good women, good times and joyrides that fully captures the essence of this festival. They played much of their new album including early single “Dream City” and anthemic track ‘Free Energy’ before closing with the explosive (no pun intended) “Bang!” As their set ended and both the crowd and the band took a chance to catch their breath and wipe sweat off their brows, Sprangers left the stage saying, “Let us know if you find a secret hot tub and we’ll be there, actually if you find a secret hot tub we’ll probably already be there.” After such an unapologetic and electric set from these rising locals (who were recently named Best New Powerpop by Rolling Stone and #1 Artists to Watch in 2010 by Spin), I could not agree more. Don’t worry if you missed these guys yesterday though, before heading over the pond they will be playing seven, count ‘em, seven more shows over the next three days. - Adam G.
Sounding like “survival” and the wing flaps of “mythical beasts,” local act Ravens and Vultures have an allure all of their own. The hush-hushed vocals of “Willow Tree” and instrumented blips of “Fistswinterbeta” are akin to the lush orchestration of the Broken Social Scene, resonating in layers of percussive cycles and bending riffs. Each track drenched with eased ambience, echoes out in neared whispers coupled with stuttered beats and the colliding shake of cymbals. Smitten with thoughts of magic and the power of myths, this Philly trio plus honorary member Michael Johnson conjure up thoughts of Mogwai with similar post-rock finesse. Between their full-length Last Love and their EP Keep Your Kill, their sound is a deserving shoo-in to become the next big thing if only they played out more. Like a mellow b-side by Black Moth Super Rainbow, Ravens and Vultures play humming psyched out lo-fi that shines with subtlety. Grab the opportunity when you can, and catch their set with fellow fae Michael Johnson and the rest of Ape School, Miniboone (The Deli NYC’s Band of the Month) and Ghost/Light. Pilam, 3914 Spruce Street, 8pm, $5, All Agesmyspace.com/fistsofharmony - Dianca Potts
When he isn’t rocking out with his band The Nite Lights, Joe Boruchow is a renown area artist who is best known for his stylized paper cutouts. His posters can be seen at scattered lampposts all across Philadelphia, and he has even done commissioned works for the likes of Isaiah Zagar. To go along with the release of his newest book, Stuffed Animals - a narrative of 100 black paper cutouts that weave the tale of a young boy and his shocking discoveries, Boruchov’s two worlds are about to come together. The Nite Lights have been hard at work composing music to a 20 minute slide reel of the books imagery. And tonight they are prepared to unveil the results during two special sets at Johnny Brenda’s. They’ll be joined by the whirling dervish of ghost punk involutioners Northern Liberties as well as garage rock veterans Mondo Topless to round out a most interesting evening. Johnny Brenda’s, 1201 N. Frankford Ave., 9pm, $10, 21+myspace.com/nitelights - Bill McThrill
We sent our man Adam G. down to SXSW to report back on the haps and have a good time! Hopefully he won’t get too fucked up to get back to us, but we are a little concerned by his first writeup. Check it out below.
And so it begins. I spent my last night in Philadelphia utilizing what makes the east coast great, hot tubs and Gilbey's vodka. I am now laying in bed after getting off our plane in Austin at 8:30pm last night, and after getting tipped off to the best titty bars in Austin (my buddy Joey knows the manager, and he gave us his business card) we made our way downtown. We stood in line at the Purevolume house to try and get our badges to see Johnny Flynn, but we were more than an hour and a half away from even getting them when we heard the first song of his thirty-minute set start. Still needing to get our England on we rushed over to the British Embassy for their opening night showcase with FREE BOOZE. And they say that the British have never done anything for us (they say that right?). We checked out a great DJ named Unicorn Kid and some Libertines wannabe before getting tipped off to a Pomegranates show that was happening a few blocks up the way. We sat through some okay bands before finally at 1am the PGranates took the outdoor stage at the Beauty Bar to melt our faces off till we were kicked out.
The night ended with some great bratwursts (topped to the nines with onions, mustard and hot sauce) and a very jovial homeless guy taking pictures with me.
Marc Laurick first came onto the scene as a part of Sensory Fix, and later as a member of the reemergence of the classic post punk band Bunnydrums when their back catalog was rereleased on Metropolis (and has performed with the likes of Skip Heller and Mose Giganticus in between). When the band went back into hiatus, he started Witchtrialz!, a post punk outfit reminiscent to Buzzcocks and Killing Joke that featured members of Pyramids and Sensory Fix. But now Laurick is ready to introduce a new project, which features another Bunnydrums member in Howard Harrison. Aside from the credentials of both musicians, much of Yeah Clementines is still shrouded in mystery. But demos such as “An Aporia” and “Castoreum” reveal an old school lo-fi sound that any fan of Iggy & The Stooges and Dinosaur Jr. might enjoy. M Room, 15 W. Girard Ave., 9pm, $8, 21+myspace.com/witchtrialz - Bill McThrill
It’s St. Patty’s Day, and I love it! It reminds me of my teenage days in my hometown getting drunk with my friends before hitting the parade and getting even drunker at a Japanese hibachi restaurant while we watched the parade through the front window by the bar. I know. Japanese hibachi restaurant on St. Patty’s Day? What do you expect when you are sixteen? You take it where you can get it. Since I’ve already started the day with some Guinness and Jameson, I’ll keep this short because my motor skills may leave me very soon. If you want to shake a little booty and kiss anyone who is Irish or not, I would swing by Silk City for Prowler and Reef the Lost Cauze. If you want to drunkenly sing-along to some Irish tunes and witty-ass lyrics, head over to the M Room where our favorite anti-folk hero Death Panel (a.k.a. Charles Latham) will surely be bringing grins to everyone’s faces. If the drunk and belligerent college crowd is your scene, then grab your baseball cap and favorite frat/sorority gear and meet someone (whose name you’ll probably not remember in the morning) at The Blockley Pourhouse with The Quelle Source. Just remember swallowing anything green isn’t always a good thing. Cheers! - Q.D. Tran
It’s all too common these days (and all too easy) to throw out descriptors like “60’s” or “Beatles-esque” or “psychedelic”, buzzwords that tend to say so much and so little at the same time. Drink Up Buttercup do fall pretty neatly into the 60’s psych-pop tradition in Philly that’s been prevalent over the past decade, so perhaps these buzzwords are practically unavoidable. But what’s also unavoidable is just how well these guys do what they do. The band has always made it quite clear that if a lot of people are doing the same thing, they’ll do it better, stronger, and with way more energy and gusto than most are capable of, and their debut full-length Born and Thrown on a Hook only cements this idea.
The opening track “Seasickness Pills” is the perfect introduction in the way that it offers a small taste of pretty much everything the album is going for. It’s alternately loud and soft, triumphant and spooky, and it culminates in those “carnival keyboards” that have become somewhat of a signature. The rest of the album follows suit somewhat, all of the tracks filled with bouncy, memorable pop hooks and awesome crescendos. No track just “sits there”, and the arrangements never dive into the “kitchen-sink” aesthetic that many bands of this type tend to indulge in (Horns! Strings!).
There are some highlights here, like the infectious lead single “Even Think” and the gypsy stomp of “Sosey and Dosey”, but it's more accurate to say that every song is a highlight. The greatest accomplishment of Born and Thrown on a Hook is that it works well as an album, with a definite flow and even some little instrumental tracks to divide it like chapters, but every song also works splendidly on its own. So while some might find the McCartney accent of the vocals a little forced or just not their style, one thing is obvious: this is a solid, well-crafted piece of work that will hold up to repeated listens. These boys have been blowing up recently, and my guess is they’ll continue to do so. Born and Thrown on a Hook is scheduled for release on March 23rd, 2010. - Joe Poteracki - Website
