show me.

noteworthy shows in the metro area:

5/02: northern state @ mercury lounge.
5/02: yeah yeah yeahs @ roseland ballroom.
5/04: pearl jam @ ed sullivan theatre! *
5/05: pearl jam @ tba (irving plaza is the rumor)! **
5/05: theo + the skyscrapers @ metasin/ultrasound lounge.
5/10: brian jonestown massacre @ webster hall.
5/13: diamond nights @ maxwell’s.
5/13: depeche mode, she wants revenge @ jones beach theatre.
5/14: kittie @ knitting factory.
5/15: goldfrapp @ irving plaza.
5/16: nyc beard and moustache championships @ knitting factory. ***
5/17: elefant @ webster hall.
5/17: a.r.e. weapons @ sin-e.
5/18, 19: tom verlaine @ bowery ballroom.
5/19, 20: tool @ city center.
5/20: rainer maria @ bowery ballroom.
5/30: team dresch, partyline @ knitting factory.
5/31: team dresch @ southpaw.

* FREE tickets available through fan club only.
** FREE tickets available while supplies last when you buy the new album at tower records (4th + broadway) at midnight on 4/01.
*** okay, so this one's not a show, but come on. beards! and moustaches!! and if you think i'm making this up, do your research: http://www.nycbeard.com/

everyone needs the editors.

i know, i know, even though you’re a regular lame-o american, you hid in your faux flat smoking fags all those nervous rainy months you thought the manic street preachers were done. and i also know how the gallagher brothers added insult to injury, ruining the magical notion of modern britpop with their beatles-inspired arrogance and bratty antics. still, i implore you to get over all this pettiness in time to adore the editors who just happen to hail from manchester.

now imagine if coldplay birthed a beautiful baby and let husker du raise it so it wouldn’t grow up to be such a wuss (with a dumb name like i don’t know… apple or moses). well that’s just how the editors sound. except the back room holds together so tightly, you’re likely to forget it’s their debut. catchy songs like munich and blood, along with the solemnly steady sparks, feel so familiar, you’ll swear you’ve heard them before but you haven’t. because despite endless comparisons to every other english band imaginable, the editors assure us, “blood runs through your veins, that’s where our similarity ends.” and you better bloody believe it.

oh oh, they're still alive.

breaking news: pearl jam rocked saturday night live so hard this past weekend, nyc is still trembling with aftershocks. performing worldwide suicide and severed hand (both songs off their upcoming self-titled album due out may 2nd). i am more than happy to report that eddie vedder and the boys seem to have grown out of their “grown up” phase, kicking the easy-listening scene in the ass and returning to their grimy seattle roots. as a result i predict an unforeseen super-heroic comeback for the following forgotten trends: jesus haircuts, doc martens and seriously hard rocking.

don't miss their performance on david letterman may 4th. with all this publicity, maybe they'll even make another music video some day. maybe?

here with a re-vengeance.

a couple of years back, liam lynch, (the sock puppet mastermind behind mtv’s beloved sifl and olly), put out an album which included “fake” songs by artists like the pixies, bjork, david bowie, and the talking heads. i think these were supposed to be both flattering and funny in their silly slop-rock mockery, but instead they just sort of ruled. and if you missed out on that, then surely you remember when phenomona such as the darkness and spinal tap stormed the more mainstream scene and became mock-metal overlords. at first listen, the self-titled full length debut from she wants revenge might come off like some computer geek preteen with too much time on his hands, messing around on his computer interspersing sparse interpol vocals atop drowsy joy division droans. but just because the bands influences are uber obvious, doesn’t mean you should dismiss them so easily.

don’t get me wrong, there are undeniably cheesey moments here. and to my knowledge, no one is mistaking she wants revenge as the next depeche mode, at least not yet. but, “i don’t wanna fall in love” is worthy of becoming the newest synthpop staple on dance floors that tend to lean towards the dark side like it’s 1980-whatever (even if it sounds an awful lot like fischerspooner’s loveable dance hit, emerge). i’m not saying you’ll be blown away by any of this, but i suggest checking out songs like monologue, tear you apart, and broken promises for broken hearts, before rolling your eyes and scoffing.

and yes, i know i’m a little late with this review, but i keep hearing more and more about this band, so perhaps we should all keep our stretched ears perked and our eyeliner smudged eyes open. there just might be a new guilty pleasure band on the horizon.

oh yeah, and they’re opening for depeche mode:
http://www.shewantsrevenge.com/

indie mavens in wolves clothing.

wolf parade
@ webster hall
april 9, 2006.

after a quirky, but ultimately charming electronic set from holy fuck, wolf parade took the stage only to weed through some annoying technical difficulties. but this is the price we must pay when indie bands start to sweeten things up with keyboards and synths and such. waiting around on a sunday night was a real bummer, but somehow the typically restless nyc crowed remained relatively patient, despite one band member’s wise ass suggestion that we should all just come back the next night. fortunately, wolf parade proved to be well worth the wait.

oscillating with ease between two singers, the band showcased their fascinating ability to sound like two entirely different bands. for half the songs, (modern world, this heart’s on fire, shine a light) the band came off like a pre-radioheyday modest mouse that you could really nod your head to. for the other half, (i am my fathers son, fancy claps, dear sons and daughters of hungry ghosts, i’ll believe anything) they morphed into a more mature, more accessible version of the unicorns, complete with wind chimes, tambourines, and maracas.

the set included all of my favorites and also a handful of songs i had never heard before (probably a combination of new material, and older stuff from subpop ep’s and demos). the show opened beautifully (if anyone is cool enough to tell me the name of this song, i’ll buy you a coke) and quietly came to a close with dinner bells as an encore, but there was still plenty of room for rocking and i don’t care if it was a sunday, nyc sucks for not dancing harder. okay?

go ahead, indulge:
http://www.myspace.com/wolfparade

shine on, you crazy diamonds!!

Diamond Nights
@ Crazy Donkey
Farmingdale, NY
4.05.06.

do you ever hate your parents for growing up in a generation chock full of kick ass rock and roll bands? and do you also resent them for mistreating their black sabbath records before eventually handing them down to you all dusty and scratched up? well, i hear you and i’ve got good news. even though axl rose got fat and started sporting faux dreadlocks, rock lives on!! (and right here in new york!)

don’t get me wrong, i adore all sorts of indie pop, but sometimes you just gotta rock or else you overdose on sappiness and fall into a lovesick coma. the diamond nights are the fix we’ve all been craving.

having never heard them before, i was nearly knocked down as they rolled through a handful of rock songs like a derailed f train on the loose in long island. and even though it was a wednesday night in a tiny bar full of even tinier high schoolers (mostly waiting around for headliners, head automatica), barely halfway through their set, the diamond nights had me believing it was a saturday night in some enormous stadium filled with seasoned arena rock veterans.

these guys pretty much have it all: the talent (cock rock sound minus the misogynism), the style (the bad ass look yet harmless demeanor), and the groupies (if they ever wanna meet up with me). i strongly reccomend the songs, "it’s a shokka" and "girl’s attractive". if you have the chance to see the diamond nights in the future, don’t miss it. if you have the chance to hang out with them around their tour van after the show, don’t miss that either.

get hip: http://www.diamondnights.com/index.html
and hear the rump-shaking remix of saturday night: http://www.myspace.com/diamondnights