Music Snobbery

Veronica Falls / McDonalds @ Pianos

Crazy night in the New York area if you like music or baseball. I didn't either bother with Radiohead. Not that would have loved to, but at this point, I would rather see a band I've never seen over a mega-band I've seen 12 times in a shit venue. As for the baseball, just crazy.

Veronica Falls, ladies and gentleman! Spot on, mint band I tells ya'. They out rave the Raveonettes with their rapid fire guitars and bottom, bass drum heavy drive. They might be the brightest artist on the Slumberland Records arsenal. With their boy/girl vocals, they swoon as the surf rock via shoegaze music undee them is being played at light speed. I was sold at the first note of the first song.

The setlist:

• The Box
• Stephen
• Beachy Head
• Right Side of My Brain
• Found Love In a Graveyard
• Bury Me
• Bad Feeling
• Come On Over

Even when they are trying to turn down the intensity, they end up blasting through their songs like a rocket fueled by hot sauce. With those sweet 'n' sour vocals with the echo effect, you would think they would come off as precious. Nope. Not "twee as fuck", more "fuck twee".

I'm so hipster, I liked the band even before they were a band. Veronica Falls features two former members of the defunct the Royal We, a Glasgow band that was lauded by the Franz Ferdinand crew. On the day they released their album, they announced their break-up. Now, we VF are emerging as one of the hottest bands from the UK. Well, I'm labeling them as a hot import, so that's what really matters.

Beachy Head is the song that give you a sense of the band's spirit. It plays like a theme song for 60s surfer movie featuring motorcycle gangs and zombies. Roxanne Clifford doesn't look like a tough girl, but she sings with strength as she's killing it on guitar. James Hoare brings the gloom as well with his deep vocals.

I just think they are a can't miss band, live or on vinyl. Their self-titled debut album is out now in any form you wish.

Yes, there is a band in New York called McDonalds. Good luck keeping that one, fellas. Maybe they can change it to McDonalds? like that band Shark?

They are definitely a goofy lot for a trio of noise rockers. Thus, they brought a smile to room, probably because their keyboard player is a dancing machine. He was like a real life animated gif. He does one move over and over while he works the keys. Musically -- passable, inoffensive, played with energy. The downside is they are kind of unfocused, a little all over the map trying to crank a lot of ideas into short songs.

All Tomorrow's Parties Asbury Park Set Schedule -- Make Time for Silverball Museum

All you rich trustafarians got your weekend passes and accommodations? I'm all set myself to see Jeff "It's Not Magnum" Mangum and Portishead. I think the $250+ is worth Portishead alone. What's great about the line-ups are variety of bands, and I might even say good things about The Horrors.

the one thing you'll notice from the Music, Comedy and Movie venues, no Stone Pony. You would think the one venue that defines Asbury Park and its rich history would be utilized. So who's is playing there this weekend? Well, a Grateful Dead tribute band and the Nerds. Wow! I can see why ATP couldn't push those two acts off their nights. You can't compete with old dudes in wigs singing "Touch of Grey".

Reading the ATP materials they e-mailed ticket buyers, the ticket will get you into the awesome Silverball Museum with its plethora of vintage pinball machines. I wrote about it last year.

FRIDAY

Doors Open - 4.00pm

Convention Hall

Chavez - 6.30pm-7.30pm
Shellac - 8.30pm-9.30pm
Bonnie 'Prince' Billy - 10.45pm-12.00am

Paramount Theater

The Album Leaf - 5.30pm-6.30pm
A Hawk And A Hacksaw - 7.30pm-8.30pm
Jeff Mangum - 9.30pm-10.45pm

Asbury Lanes

Cults - 5.00pm-5.30pm
Thinking Fellers Union Local 282 - 7.30pm-8.30pm
Awesome Tapes From Africa DJs - 12.00am-2.00am

The Berkeley

Rory Scovel - 8.15pm-8.45pm
Hannibal Buress - 9.00pm-9.30pm
Reggie Watts - 9.30pm-10.15pm
Edan The Dee Jay - 12.00am-2.00am

Criterion Cinema

Zéro de conduite - 2.45pm
Blow Out - 6.00pm
Sweet Smell Of Success - 8.15pm
Island Of Lost Souls - 10.30pm
Quadrophenia - 12.00am

SATURDAY

Doors Open - 1.00pm

Convention Hall

Beak> - 2.30pm-3.15pm
Foot Village - 3.45pm-4.30pm
The Horrors - 5.00pm-6.00pm
Battles - 6.45pm-7.45pm
Ultramagnetic MCs - 8.15pm-9.15pm
Portishead - 10.00pm-11.30pm

Paramount Theater

Colin Stetson - 1.30pm-2.30pm
Marc Ribot's Ceramic Dog - 3.00pm-4.00pm
Silver-Qluster - 4.30pm-5.30pm
The Pop Group - 6.15pm-7.15pm
Swans - 8.00pm-10.00pm

Asbury Lanes

Oneida presents The Ocropolis III - 2.00pm-10.00pm
Factory Floor - 11.30pm-12.30am
DJ Peanut Butter Wolf - 12.30am-2.00am

Criterion Cinema

Being John Malkovich - 12.00pm
Putney Swope (w/ Director Q&A) - 2.15pm
The Times Of Harvey Milk - 4.45pm
The Rock - 7.00pm
The Phantom Carriage - 9.45pm
Fear And Loathing In Las Vegas - 12.00am

Aqua Bar (in Arcade)

Rock 'N' Roll Bingo - 2.00pm-4.00pm

SUNDAY

Doors Open - 1.00pm

Convention Hall

DD/MM/YYYY - 2.45pm-3.45pm
Deerhoof - 4.15pm-5.15pm
Company Flow - 5.45pm-6.45pm
Public Enemy - 7.15pm-9.15pm
Portishead - 10.00pm-11.30pm

Paramount Theater

Anika - 2.45pm-3.30pm
Jeff Mangum - 4.00pm-5.15pm
Earth - 5.45pm-6.45pm
J.G. Thirlwell's Manorexia - 7.15pm-8.15pm
Thee Silver Mt Zion Memorial Orchestra - 9.00pm-10.00pm

Asbury Lanes

Quiz With Lord Sinclair - 5.00pm-7.00pm
People Of The North - 8.00pm-9.00pm
DJs Jamie & Manish - 9.30pm-11.15pm
Thought Forms - 11.30pm-12.15am
DJ Shepard Fairey - 12.15am-2.15am

The Berkeley

Laphams Quarterly Literary Stage - 11.30am-2.30pm
(Note: Starts with screening in Cinema)

Criterion Cinema

Deconstructing Dad (w/ Director Q&A) - 11.30am
Rushmore - 1.30pm
The Killing - 4.15pm
Belle de jour - 6.00pm
12 Angry Men - 8.00pm
Film To Be Confirmed - 10.00pm

Cults @ POPPED! Festival

Cults might be the hardest working new band of 2011. If you didn't see them this year, then you might not have left the house. Come on, people -- put down the pork rinds and stop watching Real Housewives and go see Cults. Thousands upon thousands have, now you can to. Remember to cheer when Madeline sings "so fuck you" during Heal Myself.

After the weekend is done, I can add them to my Hall of Fame, since they will be at ATP NJ. Tonight, they will opening up for Foster the People (motto: the band for people who think Maroon 5 is not mainstream enough), that's just unfortunate.

• September 28: Terminal 5 -- New York
• September 29: House of Blues -- Boston
• September 30: ATP Festival -- Asbury Park, NJ
• Rocktober 1: Sound Academy -- Toronto
• Rocktober 2: LC Pavilion -- Columbus, OH 
• Rocktober 3: The Vogue -- Indianapolis
• Rocktober 5: Rivera Theatre -- Chicago
• Rocktober 6: Triple Rock Social Club  -- Minneapolis
• Rocktober 9: Showbox at the Market -- Seattle, WA
• Rocktober 10: Commodore -- Vancouver

Previously:

• Cults / Magic Kids @ Mercury Lounge
• Friendly Fires / The Naked & Famous / Cults @ Central Park SummerStage

The Pains of Being Pure at Heart @ POPPED! Festival

The reoccurring theme of these POPPED! posts will be these indie bands playing an arena space. For The Pains, I would think this would a good experience. You never know, The Cure could tour again and the NYC-band would make a perfect opening act. Although, they would be able to play more then five songs. That's all they had time for. If you went to the bathroom, you missed the whole thing.

Since we saw the gang at Siren festival 2010, they were finishing up their sophomore album, Belong. As it turns out, they hooked up with the legendary producing/mixing team of Flood and Alan Moulder, who worked with some little bands like Nine Inch Nails, U2, The Killers, Smashing Pumpkins and PJ Harvey. Usually that means a big time, high-profile release, but they choose to stick with beloved indie label Slumberland. The result is a more polished sound, while retaining that edge and anxiousness that makes the band a favorite among showgazers and dream poppers.

Next up for Kip and the crew, more tour dates into Rocktober:

• September 28: Royal Albert -- Winnipeg
• September 30: Dickens -- Calgary
• Rocktober 1: The Starlite Room -- Edmonton 
• Rocktober 3: The Biltmore Cabaret -- Vancouver
• Rocktober 4: The Crocodile -- Seattle
• Rocktober 5: The Wonder Ballroom -- Portland
• Rocktober 7: Slim's -- San Francisco
• Rocktober 8: El Rey Theatre -- Los Angeles
• Rocktober 9: Detroit Bar -- Costa Mesa, CA
• Rocktober 10: Belly Up -- Solana Beach, CA
• Rocktober 11: Bluebird Theater -- Denver
• Rocktober 13: The Bottleneck -- Lawrence, KS
• Rocktober 14: University of Oklahoma -- Oklahoma City
• Rocktober 16: Mercy Lounge -- Nashville
• Rocktober 18: Ottobar -- Baltimore
• Rocktober 19: Halifax Pop Explosion -- Halifax, Canada

I just want to point this guy out I saw in the crowd. I wish this "person" well in his ongoing persuit of Sarah Connor.

 

Battles Hearts FIFA 12

Your favorite oddbodd song that makes no logical sense but is still one of the best songs of the year has now made its way to TV screens across the land. "Ice Cream" by math rockers Battles soundtracks the latest commercial for the video game FIFA 12. It's a soccer game for those not in the know.

There are no nekkid girls licking ice cream cones, just Hope Solo, Steve nash and Seth Myers.

POPPED! Music Festival 2011 @ Liacouras Center, Temple University

Your 2011 POPPED! Festival, ladies and gentleman! Two days and 20 hours of music in a half-empty arena setting with no daylight. It's kind of like being in a casino, but replace the slot machines with bands and the old people with young people.

What was originally scheduled for FDR Park was relocated due to the rain to Liacouras Center, the home of the Temple Owls basketball team. While many I'm sure were disappointed and agitated, this had to happen. You think of the two stage collapses that happen this summer (at Indiana State Fair for Sugarland and Pukklepop in Belgium), and it just seemed the course of action was to be safe. I was driving down the turnpike at noon, and the rain was massive. There was no way a festival like this could take place in such intense conditions.

The main aspect to the two days that people will remember was the new setting. It was great and silly at the same time. As I commented on my twitter, "Popped! feels like the world's weakest arena rock show or the best high school homecoming dance ever."

The music was loud and bounced all over the place. Every band sounded like an arena rock band. The crowd had plenty of room to roam as you can see in the picture. I was getting a little cabin fever from being inside with no daylight for 14 hours in two days and standing on concrete.

All of the bands made some joke about playing in an area. Brian from Cults screamed "Hello, Madison Square Garden" while Madeline announced, "Are you ready to rock, Philadelphia!" Patrick Stickles dreamed that he would one day play an arena and that there would be raiser that he could walk on like Bono. Dan from Yuck said he felt like he was opening for U2. The best comment came from Kip of Pains of Being Pure at Heart, who was a bit weirded out about the arena setting. He said, "We're Pains of Being Pure at Heart. This is our last song. I'm going to go kill myself."

With the new line-up compacted on one stage, that left a schedule dilemma. First, most of the bands were relegated to 5-6 songs in a 30-minute span. Just when you enjoying yourself, the band was leaving the stage. Second, you had the awkward transitions of styles, Soul master Charles Bradley leading into NJ indie gods Titus Andronicus then going to rap legend Rakim. Third, the rush to get gear on off stage left for some suspect sound mixes. Finally, when bands were playing, crew were getting set-ups ready for the next band off to the side and behind them.

In all, the festival did the best they could under the circumstances. I don't think they could have cut bands out completely, although the stand-ups and DJ Questlove were cut-out and Joy Formidable didn't make it to Philly. I was annoyed that great bands like Elbow, Hold Steady and Budos Bands were relegated to six songs.

Then Saturday's line-up was front loaded with the band sthat I like, then all of sudden it became suburban douchefest 2011. After Rakim did his thing, I was already leaning towards ditching the rest of the night, but wanted to stick it out to just so I can have proof positive that Foster the People suck and maybe see some fun lights for Pretty Lights. Then I was waiting in line for crab fries at the Chickie 'n' Pete's window when I noticed the kids around me and all in the halls of the arena. It felt like Saturday night at the Cherry Hill Mall. We're talking trucker hats, wallet chains, day-glo t-shirts, Beiber hair cuts, fake eyeglasses, lip rings, acne, and they all talked like the grew up in South Central L.A. but are really from suburban Bucks County. I just about had a panic attack, so I got out of there before Kreayshawn made me want to join Kip and kill myself as well.

It was an experience. To sum up he bands, the Shins headlining set was a disappointment -- my fandom of them might be over. Surprisingly, Panda Bear was actually interesting and borderline awesome (and borderline stupid with the smoke machine). Dale Earnhardt Jr. Jr. made a big mess. Elbow was the best of the two days. Budos, Titus, Cults, Hold Steady, Yuck, POBPAH and Rakim all solid. I could have gone without Company of Thieves and Cage the Elephant.

Here's a sampling of the photos from the weekend. I'll throw up some picture posts in the weeks to come.

BTW, Miller Lite is not a sponsor of this space. If I had time I would Photoshop it out.

The Shins

Elbow

Titus Andronicus

Yuck

The Pains of Being Pure at Heart

Panda Bear

Sun Airway

Rakim

Hold Steady

Cults

Company of Thieves

Charles Bradley

Cage the Elephant

Budos Band

Girls / NOBUNNY @ Bowery Ballroom: Flower Power

I want girls, girls, girls, girls, girls all over the world.

The misfits from San Francisco played their first of two sold out show last night. If you are going to Girls  tonight, make sure you wear some flowers in your hair and take your allergy meds.

For those who always ask, they go on at 11:15, played until 12:40 and the pot smoke starts at 11:17.

The setlist:

• Lust For Life
• Laura
• Heartbreaker
• Love Like A River
• My Ma
• Vomit
• Alex
• Honey Bunny
• Darling
• Die
• Broken Dreams Club
• Hellhole Ratrace
• Morning Light

This could be prove to be the breakout year for the band, where they play to even larger audiences and get name checked in mainsteam media. Their 2009 debut LP, Album, appeared on many Top 10 list, and their recent release, Father, Son, Holy Ghost, could do the same. Lead singer Chris Owens and his bandmates have set up the group as an all-encompassing, genre spanning musical journey. When we first heard them with "Lust for Life", you noticed the whiney vocals and punchy guitars. Then you see the whole picture, that's just a fraction of what they can do.

When you compare this new album to the last, you recognize Owens' vocals and those stripped-down guitar parts, but that's about it. This album is less anxious, but more ambitious with those long stretches into Pink Floyd-like opulence. They brought along a trio of backing singer to bring "My Ma" and "Vomit" into realms of unbelievable. Don't believe me, check out the applause after they play "My Ma". That performance is something special.

With their 90-minutes show, the band isn't extragant or over-the-top. They tend to let their music be the overwhelming factor in your enjoyment. Owens admitted on stage they he doesn't say much. He hides behind in long blond locks when he's songing about his lack of love in his life.

This was first time seeing them, and I was thinking of not going since I'm going to see them in Tokyo at the end of October. I can either go in fresh or do a compare and contrast. It will interesting to see how the crowd will react or just the whole atmosphere in the room. I shall report on this when I return ... if I return.

NOBUNNY, harmless -- just a guy playing Ramones-style rock tunes in his skivvies and a furry bunny mask. Yes, he's a little goofy looking and says random thing between songs, but he was fun. You get a few chuckles along the way.

Popped! Moved to The Liacouras Center at Temple University; New Set Times

This just in:

Due to forecasted weather conditions and possible flooding at FDR Park, The POPPED! Music Festival is coming to The Liacouras Center.

In an effort to save the park from thousands of people congregating over 2 days in the excessively wet area and still be able to bring a safe, exciting event to Philadelphia, the decision was made to move the POPPED! Music Festival to the Liacouras Center.

All previously purchased tickets will be honored and tickets are on sale now for the Liacouras shows through Ticketmaster. Single Day Tickets and Two Day Passes for the POPPED! Music Festival are on sale now. Advanced price tickets are available through Ticketmaster.com, ComcastTIX.com, PoppedPhiladelphia.com, The Liacouras Center Box Office and the Electric Factory Box Office located at 421 N. 7th Street (no service fees for cash purchases!). Day-of-event tickets will be available at the Liacouras Center box office.

DOORS: Open at 1:30pm

SETUP: End Stage Setup

TICKET PRICES:

SINGLE DAY ADVANCED TICKETS: $59.50

TWO DAY ADVANCED TICKETS: $110.00

DAY OF EVENT TICKETS: $65.00

PARKING: Parking for this event will be $14.00

For more information, please visit www.poppedphiladelphia.com

Friday, Sept. 23 – Doors 1:30pm

Dead Confederate 3:00
Miniature Tigers 3:35
Dale Earnhardt Jr. Jr. 4:05
The Pains of Being Pure at Heart 4:45
Yuck 5:25
Company Of Thieves 6:05
The Joy Formidable 6:45
The Hold Steady 7:25
Elbow 8:05
Panda Bear 8:55
Cage The Elephant 9:45
The Shins 10:40

Saturday, Sept. 24 – Doors 10:30am

Nikki Jean 11:25am
Anamanaguchi 11:50am
Patty Crash 12:15
Black Landlord 12:40
Zee Avi 1:05
Mates Of State 1:35
Cults 2:15
Sun Airway 2:55
Budos Band 3;35
Charles Bradley 4:15
Titus Andronicus 4:55
Rakim 5:35
Kreayshawn 6;15
Foster The People 7:00
Girl Talk 8:00
Pretty Lights 9:30

The Damn Jammage Might Give You Brain Dammage on "Stockpiling Poison"

If you have a free moment, could check out the video/single from new London outfit, The Damn Jammage. I need some back-up on this, because it's rather different. It might test your willpower because it's six minutes long, starts reallyt slow, but then around the 2:30 minute mark, it gets going. They are Man Man and Gogol Bordello with Tom Waits or Nick Cave as the lead singer. You might want to just listen and not watch the video because it's a six-minute tease.

In any event, my friend saw them at the Secret Garden Party and she said they were "brilliant". Well, there's your endorsement, right there. They'll have an EP that you can download next week, which will include the song I hope you consider below:

Thank You, R.E.M.

31 years. Best indie rock band of all time.

Previously:

• R.E.M. / We Are Scientists @ Plaza de Toros de Las Ventas