Modern Hut


Where Has All The Pop Punk Gone?

Double Dagger, Black Wine, Night Birds, Dope Body, Modern Hut - Maxwells, 11/7/09

Various ex-members of the Ergs, Hunchback, and For Science showed off their new bands at Maxwell's this weekend, on a bill that included two inventive post-punk trios from Baltimore, Double Dagger and Dope Body. And not surprisingly, many of the familiar faces from the local Pop Punk scene were in attendance, including former or current members of the Marshmallows, Steinways, Psyched To Die, Short Attention, Sandworms, and others, as well as the redoubtable Lawrence Livermore, who deemed the event important enough to temporarily lift his embargo about traveling to Jersey for shows.

This showcase represented not just a changing of the guard for the local pop-punk scene but also a good harbinger of 2010, since most of these bands will be nearing their debut full-lengths in the near future. And the first thing you noticed is that no one's playing much in the way of pop punk anymore.


Modern Hut

Joe Steinhardt (ex-For Science) and Chelsea Lacatena (Short Attention) have teamed up for the acoustic combo Modern Hut, playing low-key, laconic, often ironic folkie tunes which often recall the self-deprecating wit and dour worldview of anti-folker Jeffrey Lewis. Chelsea's lovely voice provides a perfect counterpoint to Joe's gruff, barely in tune singing, and the single acoustic guitar really lets the lyrics come to the forefront. I'm really looking to hearing the first recording from these two.


Dope Body


Baltimore's Dope Body looked like a throwback to 1992-era CBGB's, what with the band's ironic porn-star mustaches, the lead singer's sinewy torso, and a bludgeoning post-punk reminiscent of the days when Helmet, Unsane, and their ilk ruled the scene. They're certainly not the first guitarless band I've ever seen - just voice, drums, and bass - but I will say that their bassist did things I've never seen or heard before. Playing through a rack of effects pedals and working at the top of the neck, he created sounds that transcended the usual division between bass and guitar, hitting octaves and creating sounds that propelled the band's furious throbbing songs. Back in the days of AmRep this band might have been huge, but I'm not sure the market for muscle, sweat, and thud is what it once was.


Night Birds

The Night Birds - featuring Brian Gorsegner (ex For Science) on vocals, Joe Keller (ex-Ergs) on bass, and Mike Hunchback on guitar - provide a showcase for Brian to exorcise his inner Ian MacKaye, as the band rages through old school hardcore (minus the metal edge that wound up subsuming NY/HC in the Eighties.) Think, maybe, early Underdog or Gorilla Biscuits - just a good excuse to mosh around the floor a little and flair your arms while the band stampedes through high-speed solos and undulating bass runs.


Black Wine


Black Wine is the highly anticipated trio that unites Ergs guitarist Jeff Schroeck with his just-married wife Miranda (ex Hunchback)on drums and Jay Hunchback on bass. (Weird how every ex-Erg has started a band with at least one ex-Hunchback, with Mikey Erg's Psyched To Die completing the triptych.) Falling somewhere between a reinvention of classic rock (they covered Jethro Tull's "Locomotive Breath," fer chrissakes) and pure garage, the band's already got a slew of standout numbers, including the romantic "Chauteau Of Ghosts" (which references Brill Building 60's pop), the 60's garage groove of "Haunted," and a cool instrumental theme song.


Double Dagger

Headliner Double Dagger turned out to be another Baltimore combo without a guitarist, just bass, drums, and vocals. Again, "post-punk" probably comes as close to a genre tag as anyone's going to get, with the singer's flamboyant embrace of the audience (literally - he kept walking intot he crowd and hugging people) the band's keystone. Parts of it reminded me of early Talking Heads and there's definitely some sort of damaged art-rock going on there, but the delivery is explosively loud and spastic. Interesting? Very. Am I going to run at the next chance to see them? Probably not.

Cymbals Eat Guitars:
Is This It? (Yes, It Is)

It's hard to believe that one review on Pitchfork catapulted Cymbals Eat Guitars from midweek gigs at tiny clubs to national tours in major venues and opening slots for the likes of Wilco and Flaming Lips in England. And of course, nothing could be farther from the truth. Yes, that Pitchfork review kickstarted some interest, but this band has been working its ass off, going through wrenching personnel changes and sharpening its sound over the last few tumultuous months. Things have been happening so quickly - the band's been raved about in the NY Times, Village Voice, NY Press, AV Club, and more music blogs than I can count - that you wonder how they've been keeping it all together.




On the basis of tonight's performance (CEG has been opening nationwide for The Pains Of Being Pure At Heart for the last few weeks) at Webster Hall, none of the fire has gone out of frontman Joseph D'Agostino or his bandmates. The quartet attacked its material like it was the first night of tour, not the penultimate stop, pouring passion and crispness into every song. To be honest, the band's appearance about a month ago at the new Brooklyn Bowl (part of Insound's anniversary celebration) seemed more of an event, and the crowd seemed a bit more intense (with more singing along.) That's probably because the pricey ticket tonight meant that most of the concertgoers were there for the headliner, but the sizable number of early arrivals stood rapt and attentive throughout CEG's set. If they weren't fans when they got there, they were by the time they left.




It was my good luck to become acquainted with Joseph when he was a frustrated high schooler, recording demos in his basement under the name Joseph Ferocious. A few of those songs remain in CEG's set - revamped or rearranged, but still with the same intensity and melodicism - and it's been a real treat to watch this band catch on and experience so much success so quickly. I'll go so far to say that Cymbals Eat Guitars is a better live band right now than the Strokes were in 2001 (that's not saying much, since the Strokes were never much of a live band, even when they were setting the world on fire,) and Why There Are Mountains (which has its official release later this month) is a better record than Is This It. The world turned its eyes to NYC in 2001 and the Strokes were there to cash in; with CMJ 2009 on tab and a kamikaze assault on SXSW already in the works for 2010, my guess is that the world will be looking our way again very soon.

Lily and Pat Carbone performing at Jersey Idol

Jersey Idol: Look Out, Here Comes Tomorrow

Jersey Idol - Crossroads, Garwood NJ - Saturday, October 3

I had the pleasure today of serving as one of the judges at a Battle of the Bands competition as part of a benefit for St. Huberts Animal Shelter.

The contestants were vying for several prizes - a chance to sing the national anthem at a Somerset Patriots minor league baseball game (won by Elaine Magentiren,) a recording session at Soundwaves Studio (won by Sebastian Rivera,) and a consultation with a local management company (won by the hard rock band Kickdown.)

The contestants ranged from grammar school kids to teens to adults of all ages, and we judges didn't have an easy time picking the winners. Elaine, who sang "Ave Maria," had a beautiful voice with impressive range, but she vied against quite a few singers who impressed us with their voices. There were two full bands, but we liked Kickdown's style and chops a little more. Sebastian River is a young NJ singer/songwriter who reminded me of David Archuleta; he has the kind of pipes and charisma that could take him to the finals on the real American Idol.

Hopefully you will be reading about all of the winners as well as a few of the other contestants on JerseyBeat.com. In the meantime, please visit the sponsors St. Hubert's Animal Shelter and make a donation (or adopt a pet.)

Rock N Roll Gas Station - Episode 19

Jemina Pearl - I Hate People
Alex Kerns - Girls That I Want To Meet
Feelies - Let's Go
The Subjects - Winter Vacation
The Boys Club - Alone In My Principles
The Hold Steady - Sequestered In Memphis
Dan Costello - Two Buck Chuck
Boy Genius - Olde New England
Bouncing Souls - Like The Sun
Ben Franklin - Tell Us How You Really Feel
Landmines - Gunz of Brixton
Nude Beach - Skeleton Handshake
Used Kids - I Miss My Records
Yo La Tengo - Tom Courtenay
Showaddywaddy- 2 4 6 8 Motorway
White Denim - Wet Sand
Art Brut - Weird Science

Listen on www.blowupradio.com Thursday at 10 pm, and www.thepenguinrocks.com on Mondays, 2 and 9 pm.

Rock N Roll Gas Station - Sept. 24

Catch the show Thursday night at 10 pm on www.blowupradio.com
or Mondays at 2 pm and 9 pm at www.thepenguinrocks.com

Ben Franklin - "Ghosts"
The Dimes - "Damrells Fire"
Golden Bloom - "I'll Get You"
The Creetons - "In My Basement"
Fitz & The Tantrums - "Breakin' The Chains of Love"
Harvey Danger - "Diminishing Returns"
Kurt Vile - "Freak Train"
Tris McCall - "The Ballad of Frank Venieri"
The Subjects - "Winter Vacation"
The Pixies - "Here Comes Your Man"
Morningbell - "Marching Off To War"
Mission of Burman - "1 2 3 Party!"
Roadside Graves - "Take A Train"
Poconos - "Sweetheart"
Any Day Parade - "Where We Fall"
Dear Landlord - "Begging For Tips"
The Sheckies - "Orlando"

Hardcore rules, ok?

YOUTH BRIGADE, The Casualties, Off With Their Heads, Detournement - Asbury Lanes, Sept. 18, 2009

I love when an old-school hardcore band like Youth Brigade comes through on tour. A few things happen: First, the hardcore punk underground crawls out from the underground and you see things that you never see at shows anymore: Libery 'hawks, studded leather jackets, circle pits, shirtless moshing, and of course the exuberant gang singalongs. The other thing is that the event becomes a true "all-ages" show, with an audience that ranges from kids in their teens to crusty veteran punks older than me.

The whole show was fun, from the Bad Religion-esque whoa-oh choruses of Chunksaah Records' Detournement, to the frantic pop/punk of OWTH, to the early 80's throwback insanity of the Casualties, who turned Asbury Lanes into a CBGB Sunday hardcore matinee circa 1981.



And Youth Brigade still rock, with a nearly 30-year discography of feisty, fist in the air punk-rock songs that range from furious political agitprop to plain dumb fun. The band was touring behind BYO Records amazing box set which includes the documentary film "Let Them Know: The Story of Youth Brigade and BYO Records," a photo-filled historical booklet detailing their 25-year history, and a compilation CD of BYO's greatest hits. Well, not hits, of course; no label has remained this feistily indie, DIY, and underground, and its survival is definitely a feat that everyone who considers themselves "punk" should salute.

Cinema Cinema

Two By Two (By Two)

Cinema Cinema, Fugitive Souls, Status Green, Future Future - Blender Theater, NYC - 9-17-09


This was an interesting night, three Jersey bands (and one from Brooklyn) showcasing at the Gramercy Theater in front of a very sparse audience, sponsored by the Village Voice and WXRP-FM ("The New York Rock Experience," and a quick look at the station's website shows Hockey, Muse, Patti Smith, and good ole Matt Pinfield, so it might actually be a decent station). Why the Voice and a NYC rock station would bring three Jersey bands over to play a mostly empty theater, I don't know. (Note: Balcony was closed, I guess so the crowd would look bigger on the floor, although I really don't see why I couldn't sit down; what, I'm going to spend more at the bar if I'm standing up through four bands?)


Future Future

So here's the interesting part: The first and last bands both had doubled names (Future Future, Cinema Cinema) and two members (vox/guitar and drums.) Despite those similarities, the bands couldn't have been more different. Future Future look like they popped out of a Nickelodeon sitcom (in fact, they look a good deal like The Naked Brothers Band, if only the Naked Brothers were in the band and the bass and keyboard parts came from pre-recorded loops.) I give them credit for not giving in to trends and playing that awful day-glo autotuned emo pop, on the other hand, the fact that they don't sound terribly trendalicious might explain why there were so few teenage girls in attendance screaming for the boys to take their shirts off, or whatever girls at All Time Low concerts do these days. Instead of screaming synths and girly vocals, 17-year old Jordan peels off chunky riffs from and belts out poppy odes to adolescent angst, his guitar buzzing with an array of fuzz pedals, while 'tween sibling Jamie clobbers the drums. It's definitely more Jonas than Jimmy Eat World but, hey, at least they're not wearing spandex or headbands or throwing in faux raps about "hot" 15 year old girls (cf Pepper, Brokencyde). Here's the problem: I don't see the $2 PBR swilling Brooklyn hipster slacker crowd going for this, and the band's never going to reach its core audience (i.e. the kids they go to school with) playing +21 bars and weeknight shows at expensive clubs in Manhattan. If this construct doesn't click, Jordan will be off to college in a year where I'm sure he'll grow out his beard and start playing Todd P. venues in mold-covered sub-basements in Canarsie. Sunrise, sunset...


Cinema Cinema

Let's jump to the other end of the night - Cinema Cinema, also a two-man operation but sounding a lot fiercer, not so much like the White Stripes but more in the vein of the sadly overlooked grunge-era duo Local H, who ripped the throats out of many a nublie indie-rockin' coed back in the Nineties, when bands were still allowed to be vicious, aggressive, and raunchy without risking an arrest for date rape by the Politically Correct fashionistas of the Ludlow East Side.

I will skim over Status Green (serviceable if uninspiring pop/rock from Asbury Park) and Brooklyn's Fugitive Souls (channeling dated New Romantic shmaltz with a humorlessness that borders on self-parody,) all delivered with - as it oh so typically is - no real sense of stage presence, fashion sense, or communication skills. They should really do one of those designer reality shows where a cabal of fashionistas take four hopeless shlubs from some Jersey bar band and teach them how to dress for a show, cut their hair, sing into a mike, and hold an audience's attention. Assuming such a thing could even be done.

I am all for bands getting on stage, playing gigs, getting in front of people, especially when they're just starting out. Every hour young Mr. Lawlor from Future Future spends on a stage in front of real people will teach him more about being a working musician than ten hours rehearsing in the basement with his brother; such is the nature of show business. And if the gods are willing and he pays his dues, one day he'll be able to look an audience in the eye, tell a funny story, segue into an amusing anecdote about the derivation of the next lyric, and then completely charm the pants off everyone in the room from the little girls to their grandmothers. That's when you know you're on the right track; not when you can play six songs in a row and announce to the world that you have a "set" and ready to play shows.

George Ade said, "there are at least two kinds of education." I eagerly await the band who has learned how to entertain me.

The Milwaukees

Groovin' On Grove

Friday 9/11, the weekly Groove on Grove music series at the Grove Street PATH in Jersey City moved from Wednesday to Friday and featured Brooklyn's Overlord, Jody Porter & The Mens Magazines, and the Milwaukees.

Overlord performed a set of perky pop-rock propelled by the rock solid drumming of Matt "Hands" Hauser and the effervescent synth and electric organ of Mr. Tris McCall. Jody Porter (of Fountains of Wayne fame) came off as a bit of an obnoxious rock snob with his snarky remarks about "commuters" and being in "Jersey City" (pronounced with the same condescending amusement as an old Bugs Bunny cartoon using "Hoboken" as a punchline.) Porter's set started with retro 60's psychedelia in the style of Jersey City's (much better) Black Hollies and then settled into a set of solid if unremarkable pop-rock (most of which could have been - and probably were - FoW leftovers.)

Overlord

The Milwaukees came to rock and rock they did, mixing familiar tracks from their American Anthems album with as-yet-unreleased rockers like "Rich And Famous" (see www.jerseybeat.com for a video of that one) and "Victoria." Frontman Dylan St. Clark announced that American Anthems Vol. Two is "sitting on a hard drive in Hoboken," waiting to be finished up and released. I'm guessing we'll see it sometime around Christmas.