Music Snobbery

Los Campesinos!/The Orion Experience @ Maxwell's: Free the Adequate Seven

It doesn't seem that long ago since I last saw Los Campesinos!, the intensely, rambunctious college grads with a record deal. Then when I looked, it was last summer. Holy cow! The kids from Cardiff have finally come into their own with a full-length debut album and their first proper extensive U.S. tour, which began tonight in Hoboken.

I knew I would love them all over again, but I didn't expect it to be a friggin amazing experience with one pumped up crowd. As I always say, the true music fans go to Maxwell's because it's a tad out of the way and people recognize the importance of this little haven.

The setlist:

• Broken Heartbeats Sound Like Breakbeats
• Don't Tell Me To Do The Math(s)
• Death To Los Campesinos
• This Is How You Spell Ha Ha Ha We Destroyed The Hopes And Dreams Of A Generation Of Faux Romantics
• Drop It Doe Eyes
• The International Tweexcore Underground
• Knee Deep At ATP
• My Year In Lists
• Frontwards
• We Are All Accelerated Readers
• ...And We Exhale And Roll Our Eyes In Unison
• You! Me! Dancing!
• We Throw Parties, You Throw Knives
• Sweet Dreams Sweet Cheeks

I've never seen a crowd try so damn hard to get the band back for an encore. It was a good five minutes of loud cheers and claps, even spontaneous outbreaks of "One blink for yes, two blinks for no. Sweet dream sweet cheeks. We leave alone." It wasn''t just a handful of people, it was a good half of the crowd. They didn't cone out, because that's pretty much all the songs they know. "It Started with a Mixx" has been scraped from their repertoire and "C is the Heavenly Options" and "2007" is not fully ready for live consumption. I say leave on high note, kids, but valiant effort to get them to come out.

The seven piece still look like they are staying up past their bedtime. I kid them, but with that youthful glow comes a youth exuberance in their music. On stage, they are a shy bunch, still getting use to the newfound attention. Like many bands in the myspace era, they were discovered and signed within six months of being formed. One day you're late for class, the next day your touring with Broken Social Scene.

Tonight's show was good stuff. Even when their new gear was wonky, they turned into a positive. When the guitar string broke at the beginning of "You! Me! Dancing!", the drummer just kept on keeping the beat. That aloud the crowd to get pumped up for their big rave-up favorite. Then, it happened again for the other guitarist during "Sweet Dreams Sweet Cheeks".

What comes off great during the show is the male-female vocals from my man Gareth and Aleksandra. In time, they'll build on that dynamic. They are a still a young band, but they play with such excitement and bravado that it doesn't matter in the end.

So after name-dropping them 15 months ago, they have a full-length out called Hold on Now Youngster. With all the elements coming together, it's an exhausting record at first listen. Even when they have sad, depressing songs, they throw in some high-speed guitar riffs, keyboards and glockenspiel bangs. It's the best Power Pop album to come out this year, and you'll be hard-pressed not to get caught up in it. It's a crazy, exciting, frantic and robust piece of BritPop in an era of fashionable, trendy bands.

Do check them out in your next of the woods. I was tempted to see them again Saturday in Philadelphia, but going switch it up with some DeVoTcha action, who are in Philly on Saturday as well.

As a side note: the drummer was wearing a T-shirt that said, "Free The Adequate Seven". The Adequate Seven are a defuncted band from their old Cardiff stomping grounds.

Previously:

• An interview with Gareth
• Their August 2007 show where me and a few members of I'm From Barcelona crew pick up Gareth so he can crowd surf.

You think living in this area for eight years, that I would know or at least heard of every popular New York indie band. Then you come across The Orion Experience, and they've been around since 2005. Even through they are local, they sound more Californian, with the nods to sunny mid-60s bubble gum pop. Mix that with some modern indie rock, even a little ska pop and you get their sound. I caught a handful of songs and some of it fun. I definitely like the more bubble gum elements of their songs.

Rumble Strips Ready For U.S. Release

After about nine months of false starts, The Rumble Strips finally get a U.S. release date for their infection debut, Girls & Weather. One can gather that their placement in those Sprint ads, gave them a much needed boost.

Gigantic Records will spread the good cheers with a release on August 5th. It's a good time album, produced by Tony Hoffer, who steered Belle & Sebastian's The Life Pursuit and Phoenix's Alphabetical.

No U.S. tour dates as of yet, they were suppose to head out last year with Cold War Kids, but dropped out.

In the meantime, check out "Boys and Girls in Love"

Tilly & The Wall Do It Again This Summer with 2008 Dates

Heck, why not? The Omaha have thoroughly road tested their new material off of their third album, O. That means summer tour dates including two NYC dates and a return to the sweltering basement that is Philly's First Unitarian Church.

• June 8: Wakarusa Festival -- Lawrence, KS
• July 4: Richard on Richards -- Vancouver
• July 5: Neumo's -- Seattle
• July 8: Great American Music Hall -- San Fransisco
• July 10: Echoplex -- Los Angeles
• July 11: EpiCenter -- San Diego
• July 12: Modified -- Phoenix
• July 13: Club Congress -- Tucson, Arizona
• July 16: Granada -- Dallas
• July 17: Emo's -- Austin, Texas
• July 19: One Eyed Jack's -- New Orleans
• July 22: Social -- Orlando
• July 23: Jackrabbits -- Jacksonville, Florida
• July 24: Variety Playhouse -- Atlanta
• July 25: Cat's Cradle -- Carrboro, North Carolina
• July 26: Black Cat -- Washington D.C.
• July 27: First Unitarian Church -- Philadelphia
• July 29: Music Hall of Williamsburg -- Brooklyn
• July 30: Bowery Ballroom -- New York 
• July 31: Paradise -- Boston
• August 2: Mod Club -- Toronto
• August 3: Hartwood Acres--  Pittsburg
• August 6: Abbey Pub -- Chicago
• August 7: Sokol Auditorium -- Omaha

Royworld Releases First Video For Dust

For those of who are hankering for some Supertramp-like action, up-and-coming London outfit Royworld have taken that important leap into the scene with their first proper video for the track "Dust."

This comes off their freshman album, Man in the Machine, which hits U.K. shelves via Virgin Records on June 2. The comparisons to Keane with inevitable and unavoidable, but it's an empowering sound they have going. It's unabashedly poppy and big.

Here's the tracklisting:

1. Elasticity 
2. Dust 
3. Wish Ourselves Away 
4. Brakes 
5. Back Of My Mind 
6. Science 
7. Transmission 
8. Man In The Machine 
9. Astronaut 
10. Same Sun 
11. Brother 
12. Tinman 

For May and June, Royworld will join Guillemots world for their U.K. tour:

• May 18: UEA Norwich - Norwich
• May 19: Wulfrun Hall Wolverhampton - Wolverhampton
• May 20: Engine Shed Lincoln - Lincoln
• May 22: Liverpool Academy - Liverpool
• May 23: Glasgow Barrowlands - Glasgow
• May 24: Fat Sams Live, Dundee - Dundee, Scotland
• May 26: Met Uni Leeds - Leeds
• May 27: Newcastle University - Newcastle
• May 29: Bristol Academy - Bristol
• May 30: Guildhall Southampton Southampton
• May 31: Brighton Dome - Brighton
• June 2: Kasbah Coventry - Coventry
• June 3: Nottingham Rock City - Nottingham
• June 4: London Forum - London

Top 5 Reunions I'd Like To See Happen Within My Lifetime

Reunions tours are the new festival tours in 2008. The Verve reunion shows have been a great success. I shelled out the $60+ for the first My Bloody Valentine show at Roseland even though that venue makes me want to stick Q-tips in my ear until I hit my brain. Eventually, Portishead will get their butt around the country, although they never really broke-up. It was just a very long holiday. Then word came today that Ned's Atomic Dustbin are having a go at it.

So I was thinking of a few bands that I would like to see get together and cash a pay check. Let's face it, bands reunite because there's money involved. No surprise there.

I left out the big names like Smiths, Stone Roses and Talking Heads because it will never happen. Led Zeppelin -- please, it's not a reunion without John Bonham

5. Sleeper: Being that I am full-formed musical being from my love of 90s BritPop, three of these bands are from that era. One of them that I never got to see was Sleeper, and many of their songs didn't translate that well in the States. Lead singer and mega-cutie Louise Wener is content with being an author now.

4. James Taylor and Carly Simon: I think suburbanites' heads might explode if this ever happened. I would just want to see the awkward tension between the two of them on stage. Then the offspring can join them on stage and it will be a yacht rock version of The Partridge Family. "You Got a Friend" with a JT and Carly ... yikes ... make sure a therapist is present.

3. Elastica: I did get to see them when they toured their second album. Unfortunately, they were two records and done. Justine Frischmann got a raw deal from being over-exposed in the British press from her relationship with Damon Albarn. When that ended badly, he did the somber 13 and she did the fuck-off album, The Menace. Now, she's M.I.A. literally, because she co-wrote "Galang". Other than that, she's off the radar.

2. Luscious Jackson: They have come together for a children's album that will maybe see the light of day within our lifetime, but it would be tough to get these ladies doing dates when they have families of their own. I just think a new generation of listeners would appreciate how great their music is.

1. Pulp: Yeah, my big regret in concert-going is that I never saw these guys back in the day. Sure, Jarvis is doing his thing and it's similar to the Pulp material, but getting the band back together would be HUGE. HAAAAA-UGE. They are another band that never officially called it a day.

Siren Festival Line-Up 2008 Surprisingly Decent

I'm a little behind the 8-ball in commenting on last week's Siren Festival announcement. New Yorkers thought last year's gig would be the final one, being that Coney Island is transforming into condominiums and shopping centers. Well, looks like they are eeking out one more year.

Last year was the first year I went in a long time. For years, the line-up consisted of white boy, indie rock bands. It just lacked variety. Luckily, they had different style performers from the hip-hop of M.I.A., the garage rock of Black Lips and Detroit Cobras, the shoegazer sound of Twilight Sad, the mellow singer-songwriter qualities of Elvis Perkins and My Lavender Diamond and the legends of New York Doll.

This year the organizers booked legend in the making Stephen Malkmus & The Jicks as the main draw, which is fan-friggin-tastic. Also, who's telling who will show up as Broken Social Scene. I have a feeling they will be competing against each other on the duel stages.

The rest does steers towards that white boy indie rock bands, mainly because they had to pick from scraps that Bitchfork Festival took up.

• The Helio Sequence: Saw them open for Kings of Leon back in the day.
• Beach House: Might put some people to sleep. Feel free to go to the arcade at this time
• Times New Viking: New album, Rip It Off, is damn good.
• Jaguar Love: Not too familiar with them
• The Dodos: Good one
• Annuals: Sweet, they'll bring out some new material
• Parts & Labor: Local act with a crazy drummer
• Dragons of Zynth: I received some stuff them a while ago, some of their tracks a little over my head
• These Are Powers: Never heard of them

With these free festivals, you really can't satisfy everyone. It's not like public funding is backing these things. You go, see a bunch of advertising that pays for this things, get sunburned with your mates, get turned on to some new music and go home tired and sweaty.

Heck, I'll go to Siren any day over the Pitchfork "Let's Build Our Ego and Prove How Awesome We Are" Festival. So sure, I'll be all over Siren this year, as long as it's not 1000 degrees outside that day. The question remains: which ironic T-shirt do I wear?

Adam Green/Tim Fite/Laura Marling @ Town Hall

Adam Green, the beloved New York singer-songwriter with the deep baritone voice and quirky sense of humor, played his largest headlining show to date last Saturday at Town Hall. When he said on The View that he was playing there, I thought it was the perfect setting for him and it was about time. He may come off as this jokey musician with nonsensical lyrics to Joe Public, but from following his solo career, I knew he takes his music seriously. So, Town Hall suits him fine.

The setlist:

• Festival Song
• Hollywood Bowl
• Broadcast Beach
• I Wanna Die
• Leaky Flask
• Cannot Get Sicker
• Friends of Mine
• Gemstones
• Chubby Princess
• Nat King Cole
• Her Father and Her
• Drowning Head First
• Getting Led
• Be My Man
• Novotel
• Grandma Shirley
• Salty Candy
• Dance With Me
• Morning After Midnight
• Baby's Gonna Die
• Encore: Tropical Island
• Carolina
• Where Not Suppose To Be Lovers
• Jessica

You got to see an Adam Green show for two reasons, to hear your favorite songs and sing-a-long or have a good laugh with him. I hadn't seen Adam live for about four years since the Friends of Mine album, and his performance hasn't changed much. He still likes to goof around on the whole rock star performer thing, so he twitches and jumps like a spaz. It doesn't make the show, but it keep me guessing at what kind of tom follery he'll be up to next.

Above all, I dig Adam for his adorable songs, that, yes, can make you laugh. Whether it's intentional or not that's another story. While his Moldy Peaches partner Kimya Dawson has made music that's more stripped down, Adam gravitates toward more fuller music with strings, backing musicians and gospel singers. He straddles that line from being a serious musician and novelty act. It's no wonder it took Juno to highlight his Moldy Peaches work, because that appealed as a goofball comedy and artsy dramedy. Adam even mentioned that some of the people at the show discovered him because of the movie. I'm thinking 10% maybe. He's always been popular in New York. By comparison, he's playing the much small First Unitarian Church in Philly and Black Cat in D.C on this tour.

The guy has been a prolific music maker. His newest opus, Sixes and Sevens, is his fifth album in six years. Like his previous albums, the songs are short on time, but long on enjoyment. He packs in 22 songs ranging from full-on big pop orchestral tunes like "Morning After Midnight" or simple guitar-backed songs like "It's Fine." What brings me back are those big, catchy songs, all of which he played tonight. "Friends of Mine", "Carolina", "Gemstones," and "Baby's Gonna Die" are the ones that make the kids rush the stage and crowd the aisles. Yeah, all those whipper snappers crowded my side of the floor towards the end. More power to them because the crowd could have used some energy.

As much as I like his music, his sense of humor takes the best of him. I do wonder how much of it is intentional when he falls over the microphone cord twice and everyone gets a good laugh. During one point, his mic became unplugged, leaving the song without a whole chorus as he fiddled with it. His stage banter ranks with the best of them because he answers everyone's random shouts. Some dude screamed, "I love you." Adam responded, "I love you, too. Are you Italian?" Other random lines from Adam: "Any of you people on the guest list? I love guest list people." "This is my drummer .... he's Jewish." My favorite: "I grew up in Times Square. I use to love going to the Dunkin Donuts, so this really brings back memories."

No complaints about the show. His deep baritone voice fits Town Hall well. That same old photo of him as a kid blown up to Citizen Kane-sized proportions gave the show its off-kilter nature. Loved the gospel singers. Loved the setlist since he played what you would expect.

A few side notes. I was seated five people down from supermodel Agyness Deyn, who was also at The Kills show. She dresses like Ducky from Pretty in Pink, which I guess is what the cool kids are wearing these days. Finally, Town Hall is a nice venue, it could be a great venue if it wasn't in Times Square. On a Saturday night, Times Square is a hell hole of tourists. The Cuban Revolution wasn't this frenzied. I know tourism is probably the No. 1 source of income for the city, but people, there are other things that New York offers beyond the six blocks of Times Square. Please discover them so that I'm not poked in the eye while people are pointing at billboards of M+Ms.

It had to be said, now my fabulous pictures.

Tim Fite was one of the opening acts for the night, and he fits right along with the eccentric Adam Green. I knew of Tim when he went by the name Tim Sullivan. He was in the band Little-T and One Track Mike, which is the only band that really ever did anything from my alma mater of Rutgers ... and that's not saying much. As Tim Fite, it's more of a performance art thing he does with animation as scored by him and a guy on a laptop. The music itself is They Might Be Giants merged with Beck hybrid. By itself it is decent enough to check out. His live show is hit or miss with me. He acts like a dink (it's a Rutgers trait, trust me) with all his facial expressions and you get what his shtick is early on. I do like some of his songs live and you get a nice chuckle from time to time. "Let's go out and kill a mother fucker ... Okay, can I finish this sandwich first?" Other times, the country twang degenerate act becomes tired.

The fine new talent from the U.K., Miss Laura Marling, was an excellent edition to the line-up. Her fantastic debut album, Alas, I Cannot Swim, will probably get a Mercury Prize nomination this year. She has a great grasp of harmony. It's an earthy album in that you get images of forests, beaches and any landscape you choose. For now, she's comes off better on the album, then she does live. While it was just her and her guitar, you can focus on her flawless voice. I kind of wished I heard all the elements on the album that made it such a pleasure. I'm sure eventually she's have a backing band. On Saturday, she played six songs to a handful of people who came early. You all missed out a major new talent.

Stereolab Cooks Up U.S. Tour for Fall 2008

Always good news when Stereolab maps out a U.S. jaunt. One of the most important bands in modern music has a new album called Chemical Chords that will be released on August 19. The tour will hit all the necessary places including a 3-night stand at Irving Plaza, which they've done before in 2001 or 2002 -- just don't remember the year. Last time, they did two nights at Town Hall.

• Sept. 20: Detroit Bar -- Costa Mesa, CA
• Sept. 21: Glass House -- Pomona, CA 
• Sept. 24: La Zona Rosa -- Austin
• Sept. 26: Variety Playhouse -- Atlanta
• Sept. 27: 40 Watt Club -- Athens, GA
• Sept. 29: Cat's Cradle -- Carrboro, NC
• Sept. 30: 9:30 Club -- Washington, DC
• Oct. 1: Trocadero -- Philadelphia
• Oct. 2-4: Irving Plaza -- New York
• Oct. 6: Paradise -- Boston
• Oct. 7: Club Soda -- Montreal
• Oct. 8: Phoenix Concert Theatre -- Toronto
• Oct. 9: The Crofoot -- Detroit
• Oct. 10: Vic Theatre -- Chicago
• Oct. 12: First Avenue -- Minneapolis
• Oct. 14: Gothic Theatre -- Denver
• Oct. 17: Showbox -- Seattle, WA
• Oct. 18: Wonder Ballroom -- Portland
• Oct. 19: Commodore Ballroom -- Vancouver
• Oct. 21-22: The Fillmore -- San Francisco
• Oct. 23: Henry Fonda Theatre -- Los Angeles
• Oct. 24: Belly Up Tavern -- Solana Beach, CA

Sounds good to me, but more than likely, I'll be no where near the U.S. during their NYC and Philly dates. EuroTrip 2008 is brewing for me at that time.

Dr. Dog @ Mercury Lounge: Year of the Dr. Dog?

Tonight, the boys from Philly re-started that train. Destination: acceptance in the music community. Heck, maybe they can finally quit their day jobs and not go back to their old ways.

For years, the guys have had the backing of such luminaries as the Strokes, CYHSY, Wilco, Jack White, New Pornographers and My Morning Jacket -- touting them as band that will blow your mind. Hey, I don't need those bands to tell me what their deal is.

The band road tested new material from their third properly released album, Fate, which will be out on Park the Van records on July 22. As the band acknowledged and said, "We recorded some new material. In the process, we've forgotten how to play our old stuff." No way, these guys are just going to knock some socks off this year. The new material had people cheering, screaming and wondering what the new songs are called. It began with a spacey, psych jam called "Ark" (I think) which sounds like some music Glenn Frye use to score for Miami Vice, very blues-like and mellow with high-pitched guitar notes. The five-piece spent the first song pacing the stage and building momentum.

Other tracks had some big time pop melodies very much in line with the Dr. Dog sound. Somewhere between Brian Wilson, The Band, Neil Young and Philly doo-wop lies Dr. Dog's ramshackle sound. Of course, the old material from We All Belong and Easy Beat still resonates with fun grooves and foot-stomping jams.

As leaders of the new Philly music scene, Dr. Dog is poised for some stardom I think. Maybe Fate will do to the Dog as Z did for My Morning Jacket. Nothing but good can come from it. I count down the days until it arrives in my hand.

Previously:

• Dr. Dog at 2007's Siren Festival
• The guys meet the Philly Phantic
• The new Philly music scene

As a funny note, the Park the Van label were giving away old Teeth CDs at the merch table. Tee hee

Foals/The Ruby Suns @ Maxwell's: They Like Pina Coladas

It was big British buzz band Foals taking the stage tonight at Maxwell's. The sold out crowd received a big dose of quasi-math rock and post-punk, dance rock.

I think it's safe to say that Foals has the best buzz of any new U.K. band. Their debut album, Antidotes, is a stellar album that's a big bundle of energy with precise syncopation of beats and rhythms. Their show tonight had a lot of energy that the band is know for. That's how I'll remember it. Yannis Philippakis is spastic guitarist and front man, who plays his guitar likes it's trying to bite his crotch off. It's a balancing act of his shyness on stage and having the music take over his body.

The band is based around their heavy bassline and intense drumming. That drummer is a monster I tell you. He tested out his drumming might on every song. While they might be compared to contemporaries like Bloc Party or Arctic Monkeys, they remind me more of the American band, Battles. Foals music is based on repetition that results in a spacey groove and dance beat. I looked around and saw plenty of people nodding their head to the beat. I tend to do the swing my head from side to side move that I stole from Alex James.

Antidotes is a strong contender for this year's Mercury Prize. Depending on where you read from, it was producer by TV on the Radio's Dave Sitak. There's a little gray area on his involvement and what was left of his mix on what we hear on the final release. In any event, I'm surprise how modern it sounds. It just seems everything coming out has some sort of 80s synth basis. Antidotes comes along and it doesn't sound like it stealing from that era at all. The structure  is complex with the different rhythms being bounced around amid tempo changes and long-instrumental passages.

I'm not 100% ready to anoint them the next big thing from the U.K. The band will probably acknowledge that tonight was not their best effort. They were caught in traffic, resulting in a short sound check from a tired band at the end of their tour. They even mentioned how frustrated they were with how they are sounding, but they enjoyed Maxwell's Pina Coladas.

The situation reminded me of the Klaxons when they did a few U.S. dates. At that time, they were on the cusp of taking the U.K. music scene by storm. Their album was brilliant because of the clean production, but their live show was a little shaky. Foals' live show is not a full-reproduction of the album. The result is that you feel that energy from their performance and that's why we go to shows. Then again, you can sense their frustration in their performance tonight.

Thus, I think Foals is going to be a hell of a live act once they've played more together and are use to touring in the U.S. I do think they'll make a difference in the U.K. music scene once more people listen to the album.

The Ruby Suns are alright in my book. Like their friends and neighbors Architecture in Helsinki and the Brunettes, these New Zealanders take everything at their disposal to create their own band on pop music. They'll take different instruments and processed sounds and blend together different ideas to make some wonderful, creative music. The one thing that sets them apart from their friends are their heavy use of live procession on top of a drum machine, giving the music a tribal feeling. Their live set was more of an circus act to get all their instruments straighten out. It's like, "You go there and play whatever is nearby, while I turn this nob to the beat and hopefully it will come together."