A Stick and A Stone, a.k.a. Elliot Harvey, pushes a vocally dominant approach that feeds off a classical church-echoing vibe that depending on tone and the harmonic layering of voices can vary in the types of light it reflects. Some generate profound illuminating warmth that lifts the spirit, while others focus in cavernous shadows. However, the constant throughout the process are the stalwart vocals punctuated with minimal instrumentation. Great Thunder, the lo-fi, psych outfit that teams Swearin’s Keith Spencer and Waxahatchee’s Kate Crutchfield, who released an excellent EP Strange Kicks, also share the bill at the Great Indoors tonight. Great Indoors, (Please contact one of the acts or venue for more info.), $5 - $7, 7pm, All Ages (Photo from Too Much Rock) - Michael Colavita
When you’ve been involved with crazy and unique bands and projects like Man Man, Buffalo Stance, Need New Body, and Adventuredrum, you’d think that there’d be no time to create another wild and wacky music experience. But somehow incendiary drummer and producer Christopher Sean “Pow Pow” Powell managed to do just that with his latest electro-tropicalia project Spaceship Aloha. Its first release Universe Mahalo Vol. 1 (Data Garden) is an homage to Hawaii that’s filled with lush melodies and electronic rhythms that may lead to non-stop dancing. And it will be just the right thing to jam to when he brings his creative, wild energy to Johnny Brenda’s tonight, especially since the evening will also feature special performances by Space 1026 founding member Andrew Jeffrey Wright and Grant$ partner in crime, Brooklyn’s Tim Fite. Johnny Brenda’s, 1201 N. Frankford St., 9pm, $10, 21+ - Bill McThrill
When Kurt Vile first signed to Matador Records, the amount of buzz that surrounded him seemed like a heavy burden for any young artist to shoulder. However, with the arrival of his latest LP Wakin on a Pretty Daze, the long-haired “constant hitmaker” is at the top of his game with his best label release to date. Vile will finally get a chance to celebrate his most recent success with his hometown friends, fans and family headlining a sold-out show this Saturday at Union Transfer. He’ll also be accompanied by emotive Chicago songbird and indie darling Angel Olsen, NYC guitar virtuoso Steve Gunn, and of course, the Violators so be prepared for one special evening. (Also don't forget to swing by R5's Punk Rock Flea Market this Saturday and Sunday!) Union Transfer, 1024 Spring Garden St., 8pm, $18, All Ages - H.M. Kauffman
Other things that might strike your fancy this weekend…
Johnny Brenda’s (1201 N. Frankford Ave.) FRI Telequanta, SAT Spaceship Aloha, Andrew Jeffery Wright, Surgeon, Swarm of Arrows, Ominous Black
Kung Fu Necktie (1250 N. Front St.) FRI (Downstairs) Bad Side, (Upstairs) Suicide Loop, Spinechain, SUN Timouth
PhilaMOCA (531 N. 12th St. Philadelphia) SAT War Emblem
Underground Arts (1200 Callowhill St.) FRI The Fractals, Ben O'Neil, Matt McAndrew, Ill Doots, SAT Ladder Devils, Kvelertak
North Star Bar (2639 Poplar St.) FRI St. James & The Apostles, Swedeland, Full Blown Cherry, Mr. Unloved, SAT Cocktail Party Phenomenon
The Fire (412 W. Girard Ave.) FRI Joe D'Amico, Up The Chain, The Barren Wells, Jeanette Lynne, SAT Heroes In Error, Zymotic Flow, Of The Sea, Little Miss Love Jones, SUN (All Ages) Leoce, The Static Locals, Secondhand Touch, Halved Dreams, (Late) The Division, I.M. Ivan, Listening Ritual
MilkBoy Philly (1100 Chestnut St.) FRI Morning River Band, The Miners, John Train, SAT The National Rifle, Instamatic, Son Step
Ortlieb’s Lounge (847 N. 3rd St.) FRI Blessed Muthas, Doomed To Obscurity, SAT The Sparklers, Creem Circus, Riff Mountain, SUN Julie Charnet Quartet
The Trocadero (1003 Arch St.) FRI Mad Dragon Records 10th Anniversary Concert w/Cheers Elephant, Hoots & Hellmouth, Kuf Knotz, Andrew Lipke & The Prospects, Matt Duke, Wild Rompit, SAT EveryOtherDay, Could've Been Kings, Tenth Amendment, Stare Syndicate, Peartree Place, The Big Black Night, SUN Courtney Jansen, The Silent SIgnals, Audio Impulse
The Blockley (3801 Chestnut St.) FRI Start Making Sense, The Great White Caps, Close To Good, SAT Long Miles, SUN The Philadelphia Songwriters Project Contest Finals Show
Fergie’s (1214 Sansom St.) SAT A Fistful of Sugar, The Sun Flights
World Café Live (3025 Walnut St.) SAT The Dukes of Destiny, SUN Avi Wisnia
The Legendary Dobbs (304 South St.) FRI Kill The Broadcast, The Big Empty, Your Persona, The Power, SAT Mr. Matt Rivers, The Jawn
Connie’s Ric Rac (1132 S. 9th St.) FRI Whitewater Pass, SAT Railroad Fever, SUN Wooden Hez, The Way Home
Rebel Rock Bar (100 Spring Garden St.) SAT Hammer Down Rocks
Voltage Lounge (421 N. 7th St.) SUN Mo The General, Death DaVinci, Rob Stashiz
The Grape Room (105 Grape St.) FRI Matt Gauss, Connor Hansell and The Grits, Ryan Conroy, The Rivals, SAT Venice Sunlight, Dylan McGuire, Rodger Delaney, Brett Talley, The Slot Cars
Christ Church Neighborhood House (20 N. American St.) SUN Spring Trilogy: Part III "An Evening of Blind Dates" w/Jaamil Kosoko + Chris Forsyth, Leah Stein + Zachary Fairbrother, Olive Prince + Jeff Zeigler, Mason Rosenthal + MurMuration
Great Indoors (Please contact one of the acts or venue for more info.) SUN Great Thunder, A Stick and A Stone
Wolf Cycles (Please contact one of the acts or venue for more info.) FRI Swarm, Nemesisters, Teen Priests
The Crystal Palace (Please contact one of the acts or venue for more info.) SAT Address, Vietnam
The Soup Kitchen (Please contact one of the acts or venue for more info.) SAT ICD9, Snoozer, Rasputin's Secret Police, MOSS
Hausu (Please contact one of the acts or venue for more info.) SAT Dingus, The Holidays, Retreever
161 West Gallery (Please contact one of the acts or venue for more info.) SAT Cousin Brian, Goner, Jackie Paper
When the demos from Bad Side first surfaced, I began to get very excited because they gave me similar feelings to when I first discovered local powerhouses Leather and Sickoids. It was a sense of pride that Philly had another punk outfit that people should definitely take notice of. It is also certainly nice to see that others are feeling the same way with Bad Side being booked in the highly-coveted opening slot for JEFF the Brotherhood and Hunters’ final evening of their two-night run at Kung Fu Necktie. There will be blood. Kung Fu Necktie, 1250 N. Front St., 8pm, $15, 21+ - Alexis V.
For a whole decade, Drexel University’s storied record label, Mad Dragon Records, has been able to gain a huge amount of acclaim while releasing over 20 albums. It has also managed to sign and do recordings for well-known local and indie artists like Motion City Soundtrack, The Redwalls, Toy Soldiers and The Swimmers. In honor of its tenth anniversary, the label will be hosting a special concert that features some of their local favorites at The Trocadero tonight. While Cheers Elephant bring their infectious blend of danceable indie rock to the table, Hoots & Hellmouth will provide plenty of vibrant, soulful folk. Meanwhile, BurnDown All Stars and The Hustle vet Kuf Knotz will tantalize the masses with his lyrically sound emcee work, and Andrew Lipke & The Prospects will have the crowd in awe with their powerful and enchanting rock ballads. The evening will also feature performances by Matt Duke and Wild Rompit. Trocadero, 1003 Arch St., 7pm, $10 - $15, All Ages - Bill McThrill
Telequanta is the electronic solo project of musician/graphic designer J. Termini. Check out his latest track "Chala," which combines electro-dance, world beats and ambient-noise to produce a captivating sound that is like the hyperactive cousin of rising Chicago-based artist Mister Lies. He is currently working on a new EP, the follow-up to last year's Programmable Matter EP. Telequanta will be performing live tonight at Johnny Brenda's, accompanied by projections from visual artist Patrick Schlitzer, opening for UK-born German resident/globetrotting producer Gold Panda.
This sound like it would be a lot of fun! If you become a new annual member of Daytrotter, give a gift membership, or extend a current annual one by May 22, you'll get a free grass-green Daytrotter v-neck t-shirt, and be entered to win airfare, a hotel room and transportation to and from the airport to Rock Island so that you can experience a first-hand taping of local area faves Night Panther as well as Baths, Hockey, and more. You can check out the rest of the deets HERE.
Below is a sun-kissed bedroom cover by Joe Kusy of The Troggs' classic hit song "With a Girl Like You," which is available to be downloaded for free below. It's here just in time for all those spring/summer romances popping up. You can catch Kusy performing with his band, Far-Out Fangtooth, on Friday, June 7 at Kung Fu Necktie when they open for A Place To Bury Strangers.
Tonight is the first half of a big two-night run for Kung Fu Necktie with Nashville rising stars JEFF the Brotherhood and Brooklyn noise rockers Hunters. Representing Philly this evening will be New Wave post-punks The Bad Doctors. The trio has certainly been impressing audiences in our local basement/DIY scene, and with the release of their two-song 7” towards the end of last year, we are all looking forward to the band dropping something more substantial hopefully in the near future. Kung Fu Necktie, 1250 N. Front St., 8pm, $15, 21+ - Alexis V.
Here's a new in-studio recording of Market East performing their latest single "Evergreen." The video was shot and edited by Amy Dilorenzo. The song is off their forthcoming album Children of Summer, which is due out May 27, and is available for download HERE. The acoustic trio will be celebrating its release on Saturday, June 8 at MilkBoy Philly.
For those who decide whether to come or go based on the first forty seconds of an album, Restorations’ LP2 is practically tailor-made for snap judgments. After a chiming, anthemic guitar opening, the band already known for fist-raising jams lets all hell break loose with “D,” their most unrestrained opener yet. The drum kit-mauling, earth-shaking bass lines and ascendant guitar riffs can only be described as complete sensory overload, and make it clear that the following eleven songs are going to be fueled by pure viscera. If your preferences run towards structure over huge sound, this release may leave you cold; LP2’s predominant means of exploring the band’s wealth of ideas are stadium-sized instrumentation and endless waves of atmospherics, as well as a dose of ennui.
This is a murkier, more inward-looking Restorations than we’re used to. Everything that was there before, musically, is blown sky-high this time around. They’ve managed to pack ideas into every iota of the song list, aided by Jon Low’s miles-deep production; the density of the music itself is offset by an album-long meditation on place, belonging, and the ramifications of leaving the familiar behind, which makes the outsized sound that much more of an interesting direction. Juxtaposing the existential discomfort with more sophisticated, complex forays into Restorations’ sonic wheelhouse.
The spiraling guitars, one of the album’s specially prominent features, are everywhere, serving various purposes in each song. “Kind of Comfort”’s jittery glam rock aspirations accompany lyrics of searching and wanderlust. Even the more downbeat cuts (“In Perpetuity Through The Universe,” “New Old”) are propelled beyond their subject matter by the songs’ barely-concealed restless energy. At its more pensive moments, like the folk-inflected “Civil Inattention,” there is a restless undercurrent of texture and volatility that never quite lets up.
Album closer “Adventure Tortoise” is all monster buildup laced with extraterrestrial effects, kicking off into a sort of requiem for the band’s neighborhood. “I’d really like to stay to help this place,” growls Jon Loudon through his teeth, but the allure of letting it all go is too strong to resist. The longing for a place “where nobody knows your name” isn’t quite all-consuming enough to inspire real action, but it is definitely the new paradigm Loudon means.
It takes guts to pull off a release that feels ten minutes long but contains more emotional and musical texture than most records. Restorations cover a whole lot of ground on LP2, and for the most part, pull off their ambitions. A bit too sanguine for shoegaze, and maybe too heady for punk, Restorations’ second full-length album brings an intriguing palette of aspirations to their open road-ready sound, prepared to try anything and everything. - Alyssa Greenberg
