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indie
pop, mellow core
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avant
indie,
post rock, post punk
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indie
rock, noise rock
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alt
rock, power pop,
emo
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garage,
punk, glam + other revivals
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alt
folk, alt soul
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songwriters
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Weekend Warrior, July 13 - 15
The basement of the First Unitarian Church was, up until last year, a lively, eclectic magnet for eccentric, brownbag-holding music enthusiasts multiple times a week. Most of its events, and thus its colorful traffic, have been detoured by R5 Productions up to the instant hot spot Union Transfer. Last month though, Hop Along and co. filled up the beloved spot with sweat, beer, and most importantly, feather-ruffling, exclamatory pop-rock, with some harp thrown in for good measure. Hop Along were celebrating the release of their fantastic, already understated LP Get Disowned, which you can grab your copy now via Hot Green Records (the label run by the Algernon Cadwallader dudes, who also were responsible for the recording of the album.) This Saturday night, they will be downsizing in capacity, but certainly not in talent when they take over Johnny Brenda’s for the evening. The band is coming back home after a short stint on the road, so expect a congenial time to be had by old and new friends alike... Hop Along alum - and musical man around town Dominic Angelella) - will be bringing his latest venture DRGN KING along for the ride, who will be pumping out paranormal-rock jams. What began as a studio pet project for Angelella and Ritz Reynolds has becoming a rollicking five-piece, with the recent addition of Norwegian Arms’ Brendan Mulvihill on guitar (this will be his debut show with the band). DRGN KING are getting ready to release their debut record Paragraph Nights, so expect some previews from the highly-anticipated release. Rounding out the bill are rad Baltimore-based and Dan Deacon affiliated woozy pop experimenters Secret Mountains, who will be the subject of an upcoming Shaking Through episode. Come enjoy these local favorites and their out-of-town guests for what should be an intimate yet exhilarating evening. Johnny Brenda’s, 1201 N. Frankford Ave., 9pm, 21+, $10 - Adam G.
More in store for the weekend…
KungFuNecktie (1250 N. Front St.) SAT Echo Orbiter, Trouble Everyday, Break It Up, SUN Crills Wilson, High Kick
NorthStarBar (2639 Poplar St.) FRI Juno Day, The Matt Lyons Band, The Kai-Yotes, SAT Grand National
TheFire (412 W. Girard Ave) FRI Elwood James Band, Got Penny, SAT The Fallen Troubadours
TheTrocadero (1003 Arch St.) FRI WaxOnWaxOffMusikGroup, SAT Asher Roth, SUN (Early) Morbid Fantasy, Parius, SUN (Late) 20 Days In
Fergie’s (1214 Sansom St.) SAT Dave Steel Blues Band, SUN Rusty Cadillac
WorldCaféLive (3025 Walnut St.) FRI Hezekiah Jones, Griz, Cheers Elephant
TheLegendaryDobbs (304 South St.) FRI Power Theory, Mistress, Joshua Popejoy, Syrrah, The Dell Project, Greg McGravey, SAT Honor, Stonebaby, HiFi Asylum
RebelRockBar (100 Spring Garden St.) FRI Darienne Rose, Sophist, The Warbirds
Ortlieb’sLounge (847 N. 3rd St.) SAT Archives of Oblivion, North Lawrence Midnight Singers
PhilaMOCA (531 N. 12th St.) FRI Eraserhood Forever w/Void Vision, Full Blown Cherry, SUN Nuclear BBQ w/Bandname, Slutever, Trouble Everyday, The Shakes, The Eeries, (((TACO)))
MilkboyPhilly (1100 Chestnut St.) FRI Reverend TJ McGlinchey, John & Brittany, Orion Freeman, Paige Allbritton, SAT Chocolate Milk
Teri’s (1126 S. 9th St.) Joe Jack Talcum, Vintage Kicks, Ugh God
JR’s (2327 S. Croskey St.) FRI Dirt Worshipper, Ashencult
Little Berlin (2430 Coral St.) The Minor Arcana, The Sea Around Us
Neighborhood Bike Works (508 S. 5th St.) SAT Window Liquor
Pilam (3914 Spruce St.) SAT Strawman
Nacho House (Please contact one of the acts or venue for details.) FRI Dry Feet, NONA, Yikes
Lucky 13 (1820 S. 13th St.) South Philly Summerfest w/Far-Out Fangtooth, Taco Joint, Hivelords, The Shakes, The Lawsuits, Gold Crowns
TheGrapeRoom (105 Grape St.) FRI Justin Phillippi & Friends, The Heat Run, The Carpet Squares, SAT A Minor Error, Stealing Fame, Rail, Perineum
Published on July 13, 2012
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June 2013
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Arrah and the Ferns
Make Your Mind
Arrah and the Ferns may have sweetness and light in abundance, but the undercurrent of frank lust in their new album is both new and old hat for these folk rockers. Since their last offering, they’ve adopted growing pains as a lyrical source, to varying effects. While the album relies heavily on much of the same wistfully-ornamented indie delicacy, there’s simultaneously an explicit element, and a successful one at that. Romance isn’t dead on Make Your Mind, it’s just got a mouth on it.
The woozy, low guitars at the beginning of album are one of many instrumental stunners, which we’ve long known to be a touchstone for the Ferns. There is some spectacular guitar and drum work on the album, but for most part, the music and the vocals go head to head in friendly tandem - never trying to outdo one another.
Arrah Fisher’s honeyed vocals push through the knot of winding guitars on the second track, “Go Back,” inciting her band to back her up when she half-purrs, half-belts “I see the way your body moves me - but you don’t have to touch me.”
“Triangle” is a list of questions, an effecting device used by Fisher to protest the coming of a different stage of adulthood - one in which commitment is inevitable and freedom to do as she wants a relic of immaturity. “I wanna meet the man on the other side,” she murmurs, seeing her free-spirited inclinations in danger, and then, with a bravado outburst, demands to know “Why do I have to grow up and be a married schmuck - when all I want to do is fuck...fuck...fuck...fuck...fuck!” The unbridled sexuality is startling, but when you think about it, the turbulence is a perfect underlining for sweet-sounding music about growing up and moving on.
The band then counters that song’s thinly-veiled hedonism with the role-reversing “Hang Up,” whose slow-dance 50s rock balladry finds Fisher imploring her lover to throw himself wholeheartedly into a new life. “This is where I hang up, start to pack my stuff up. I will come to you this time...I don’t want to have you on the side. I just want to have a normal time, have a normal life.” Is she embroiled in an affair? Is she coaxing him out of another relationship? Maybe, but it would seem heartless to resist her sincerity.
Make Your Mind has a welcomed, bouncing energy that picks the album up from its wispy, low-tempo tone halfway through. There’s a uniformity of pace, with most songs choosing a leisurely amble over an all-out rush, but the variance of tone and instrumentation saves the album from tedium, and adds up to an invigorating (and possibly final) effort from Arrah and the Ferns. - Alyssa Greenberg
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