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Tag: Bushwick

Bar Reviews
06/03/15 11:54am

Party On: Bushwick Pizza Party

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06/03/2015 11:54 AM |
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photo by Jane Bruce

Bushwick Pizza Party
254 Irving Avenue, Bushwick

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If you wish you could still celebrate your birthday at Chuck E. Cheese’s but choose not to because they don’t serve hard liquor, Bushwick Pizza Party offers the next best thing. It’s both a restaurant-bar and a time capsule of sorts, a kitschy nostalgia-fest for those of us who grew up in the 80s and 90s, complete with Super Soakers, Mario Kart murals, and Magic 8-Balls.

Bushwick Pizza Party, which took over the Irving Avenue location of Verde Coal Oven Pizza, was opened by the owners of the equally whimsical but more risqué Boobie Trap, a boob-themed bar across the street. Instead of plastic nipples, the walls here are covered with the contents of a typical Millennial’s toy chest (Super Soakers on a wooden gun rack, an impressive action figure collection, a mirror framed in Hot Wheels cars), as well as movie posters from slumber party cult classics (Now and Then, Gremlins, The Goonies, Fast Times at Ridgemont High). “Party On” commands a neon sign behind the bar. The maximalist decor and attention to detail (silverware comes tied in colorful pipe-cleaners) means you’ll notice something new every time you come.

Unlike many of its neighboring bars, the spot appeals to both man-children and actual children alike. When I got there on a recent Saturday evening, a literal pizza party of a dozen squealing kids and their tired moms was in full swing. They shared several of the punnily named coal oven pizzas (gluten-free crusts and vegan cheese are available) and desserts (recommended: the handmade tiramisu). Popular favorites include the “Hawaiian Shirt,” a pineapple, ham, mozzarella, and orchid pie; “Go to Kale,” with spicy carrot ricotta, fresh kale, pesto, and bacon; and “Can You Fig It,” covered in dried figs. In between bites, the kids posed on the leopard-print booths, took turns shimmying through the beaded curtain that leads to the Mario-Kart-muraled bathroom, consulted the Magic 8-Balls adorning the bar, and drew with dry-erase markers on the tables, which are laminated with tic-tac-toe games, mazes, and MASH. Soon, though, the kids left and the post-pubescent set filed in, there for the beer, wine, mimosas, and sangria (but also for the coloring and toys and stuff, too).

Pizza Party is still waiting to get a full liquor license, so for now, they’re using soju in all cocktails, which you can pretend you bought with your older sister’s fake ID while living out this Peter Pan Syndrome fantasy.

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Featured
03/24/15 3:45pm

This Week In Live Music: Fleshy Garage Stunts, Love Letter to Der Glockenspiel, and MIDI Noise Overload

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03/24/2015 3:45 PM |
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Kitties, we’ve got shows, shows, shows galore. SXSW is freaking OVER which means bands are headed our way once again. Thank heavens! Not that we don’t have a slew of local band babes we’re crushin’ on, always. This week in Brooklyn live music, we’ve got a heady mix of noise boys, anti-folk lasses, more garage than you can throw several bundles of sticks at (this is the age we live in, people), and singular forces of magnificent flesh who will blow your damn Gulliver clear off your spine. Glad to see the Brooklyn music scene is back to normal, now get back out there team.

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A Tornado of a Man

Kirin J Callinan, Donny Benet

Wednesday March 25th, 11:30 pm @ Baby’s All Right: hella free

Who is this guy? And why is this the first I’m hearing of him? I’ve been on an Australian music kick for a hot minute now but I’ve also been stuck in a punk vortex. However I’m thinking maybe it’s time I climb the frick out– this guy, Kirin J Callinan being the number one reason I should get my head out of my bum. He’s like Tom Waits without the cigarettes and booze. Or maybe I’m jumping to conclusions, maybe Kirin J Callinan’s voice hasn’t been graveled by time and vice just yet. For now Callinan’s a smooth baritone unadulterated by anything but pure feeling, and he’s got a hell of a lot of it. Legend has it his live performances are out of this world, so even more reason to catch him at the relatively bitsy venue, BB = OK. [Nicole Disser]

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Garage Licks

Wand, Babes, Scully

Saturday March 28th, 10:30 pm @ Baby’s All Right: $10 in advance/ $12 at the door

Go for mathy space jams from Wand, but go early for the openers. At first I was all like wow these guys (Babes) sound like Burger Records in a blender, then I realized I was listening to two songs at once , which clearly I should do more often. You can imagine I was prepared for disappointment. But I wasn’t, disappointed that is. This New Orleans garage band is sufficiently nasty to be interesting, as they should be– these are bayou boys we’re talking about here and they certainly do act like it. Photos from SXSW indicate these Babes are no strangers to getting buck naked (pronounced Neck-Ed in the South, right?) And unless they’ve slipped into a bucket of extra-strength wax they should be the same ol’ balls of hair promised to us by aforementioned photos.

I haven’t gotten a chance to see the ladies of Scully just yet, I’ll admit. But my hold out might be wearing thin– their tracks present a sound rife with too-cool-for-school Western vibes and boppy pop garage beats. If everyone lets loose this show should rule. [Nicole Disser]

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Whimsical Glockenspiel 

Little Cobweb, Pony Farm, Guts Club Thelma

Sunday March 23rd, 3 pm @ Palisades: $5

Pony Farm are galloping in the vein of weird punk. Words are croaked from a putrid voice box of mysterious origin (man, woman, or horse?) and some invisible hand brings up the rear with a freaking xylophone of all things or maybe I’m hearing wind chimes? A triangle? Oh wait, outside sources have confirmed it’s actually a glockenspiel (even better!).

Guts Club is the solo anti-folk, found video collage project of Lindsey Baker and her acoustic guitar. And it’s gutsy stuff indeed. Baker is raw as hell on her record, The Arm Wrestling Tournament, where we can hear her voice crackling and earnest. Little Cobweb aka Angel Carlucci is bedroom music, literally (she recorded her album Indelible Marks in her actual, real life bedroom) and figuratively (I would imagine this is the kind of stuff you’d find yourself stressin’ bullets over when you’re lying prone in bed after getting dumped or something). Should make for a perfect late afternoon show. [Nicole Disser]

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Leave the Acid at Home (This Time) 

Jerry Paper, Helado Negro, Trabajo, Macula Dog

Wednesday April 1st, 8 pm @ Silent Barn: $10 

A man trapped inside a MIDI universe (named Jerry Paper) swallowed an auto-tuner, an accordion, a Casio keyboard, and maybe a pan flute. The result is a demented trip through the World Wide Web 1.0 and if net art had a sound, this would be it. If that sounds mean, well call me insensitive but it certainly wasn’t meant to be. I love being creeped out by music and at once pleased, and Jerry Paper succeeds in this department 100 freaking percent.

Helado Negro (Roberto Lange) brings his particular brand of dreamy, dark dance pop to the mix. Trabajo are regulars about town, so  their fractal sound sheets are probably familiar to you by now. Always worth loaning an ear to. Macula Dog have perhaps a less familiar sound, though it’s nearly as psychotic and screws-loosed as Mr. Paper. But this crew encapsulates a Weird Science, ’80s Teen-Com sensibility that is sheer memory terrorism. [Nicole Disser]

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Surprises In Store For All You Fancy Music Minxes 

Friday March 27th, 8 pm @ Alphaville

Las Rosas have a familiar, but nonetheless welcome, lonesome desert rock sound. BOYTOY write bordering on twee, pop punk about love and cute stuff. I won’t say I wouldn’t listen to this on a very low volume on my headphones when in absolute solitude. Can’t let anyone see past this rough exterior I’ve worked years to hone, how else to hide my softest of hearts deep, deep below the surface?

And there’s a surprise involved guys! Don’t you love surprises? Threats is playing. Don’t know who threats is, you say? Well you shouldn’t, coz it’s the top-secret, brand-ass new project brought to you by members of post-punk band Drowners. BUT WHICH MEMBERS?! Dunno, go see and let me know pretty please. All in all, these bands are all good excuses to go check out Alphaville, a “dive bar” in Bushwick we/ I reviewed a while back that’s blossomed into a wee venue all it’s own. [Nicole Disser]

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Sinister Atmosphere

Wednesday March 25th, 8pm @ The Silent Barn: $8

603 Bushwick Ave $8 Event https://www.facebook.com/events/1593033454273967/

Copley Medal, Fire Death, Grasshopper, S.I.E., KHF, DJ Adrian Rew

I wish I could go to this show, but (un)fortunately I will find myself at City Center seeing Bjork for the first time. HOWEVER, I like to think that if Bjork was going to a show, other than her own, it would be this. Because of course, Bjork is attracted to dramatic soundscapes and the unexplored edges of music. This bill is full of talented noise veterans who have spent years experimenting in sound. There are no factory settings. Everything is the result of whittled down hours of research. Decoder Magazine really said it best, in their description of Grasshopper,“Trumpets + drone is probably the best combination ever. It’s like peanut butter and jelly, only more sinister.” Everyone playing this bill creates an all consuming atmosphere and they also make for a delicious sandwich. [Sarah Lutkenhaus]

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Featured
03/17/15 4:49pm

This Week In Live Music: Southern Punks, Fiery Maned Folk Freak, and Glam Genius

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03/17/2015 4:49 PM |
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Unless you’re some kind of masochist, I know no better place to spend St. Patrick’s Day than far from the crowds of heathens at a  local music show. There’s at least one red-headed shredder to check out so you can still feel like you’re doing something vaguely Irish, right? Just say yes. I already did my part today– I saw two rotund white dudes with equally white, flowing mustaches bedecked in green, shamelessly ogling teenaged lasses on the train. They suggested I smile, offered me a hug (which I respectfully declined) and then asked for directions to “the parade”– you better believe I sent them straight to Canarsie. But unless you did a similar service for society, I suggest you check out some local music makers tonight. You can see your drink maker pals any other night and let’s be real, now of all days will be their worst. And lo and behold there are plenty of other rad shows happening later this week if you’d rather stay inside and hide completely from all the dimwitted debauchery. Find our weekly picks below, please and thank you.

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Featured
03/04/15 6:02pm

This Week In Live Music: Entertainment for and by Olds, Roswell Space Tunes, and Selbstmord Returns

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03/04/2015 6:02 PM |
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Hi, it’s almost SXSW which means one of two things here in New York City– either slim pickins, or the bands who are playing locally right now are either sleepless wack jobs or simply way too cool for such frivolousness as SXSW. And hey, we agree with them. Why would we ever want to spend time in Austin? Sure, it’s warm and beautiful and currently we live in a grey hell wash but, like, Texas smells like Rick Perry, which is to say freaking awful. So if you were thinking about packing up and heading south, don’t.

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Creep in the Cellar

Suicide, The Vacant Lots, Pharmakon

Saturday March 7, 8:30pm at Webster Hall: $25

There are so many bands in the city that, honestly, don’t sound like they’re from the city. They sing about not wanting to grow up and I imagine them sitting around a well furnished living room in the suburbs (or more likely, a nice apartment somewhere off the L train). It’s so far from the sweaty bus rides, mountains of trash, and utter shit that you have to deal with living in New York City. Both Suicide and Pharmakon grew out of the city’s dark side: rotting away in cold lofts and dingy basements. It’s cathartic to hear Pharmakon let out a blood-curdling scream like you’ve wanted to do so many times on a crowded subway. And what’s more seedy than New York in 1970s– the setting that inspired Suicide to craft their eerie and fractured electronics. Obviously, Webster Hall isn’t quite CBGB’s, but you’re still gonna get the creeps. [Sarah Lutkenhaus]

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Primal Electronics

Thursday March 5, 8pm at Palisades: $7

EULA Album Release w. No Bra, GULL, Martin Bisi, Algis Kizys, Bob Bert, Ian Campbell

Everyone remembers the first time they see Gull. For EULA’s Alyse Lamb, it was at the Ran Tea House. For me it was years ago at Death by Audio. He’s a multi-instrumentalist who stops people dead when they catch him playing drums, guitar, and singing simultaneously. It’s a combination of awe and a beautiful primal energy that’s mesmerizing. When I spoke to Gull, Nathaniel Rappole, years ago he told me about spending weeks playing on streets corners up and down the East Coast, the West Coast, and villages in Africa.

For the last decade, Susanne Oberbeck, aka No Bra, has been a gay icon in East London creating a unique brand of industrial pop and folk. Like her androgynous appearance, her music is wonderfully odd. She delivers extremely biting lyrics in a deadpan voice over very danceable upbeat arrangements.

Eula’s performance of their new album will tie the bill together nicely with theatrical force. Exhibiting their ability to go from calm to destructive, in a matter of seconds. They have a fluid dynamic and it goes without saying Alyse has a captivating (and sexy) stage presence. Often, they are accompanied with the incredible woodwind talents of Kate Mohanty. She can run the scales and improvise like nobody’s business. And of course, their high profile friend Martin Bisi will open the show with help from members of Swans, Sonic Youth, and Pop 1280. Who doesn’t want to know what’s kicking around in the head of Martin Bisi (who recorded Sonic Youth, Swans, John Zorn, Material, Bill Laswell, Helmet, Unsane, The Dresden Dolls, Cop Shoot Cop, White Zombie, Boredoms, etc, etc)? YAY. [Sarah Lutkenhaus]

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Ice Cold Pop

Pop. 1280, Pawns @ Nothing Changes

Wednesday March 4th, 10 pm at Home Sweet Home: $9

Unfortunately headliners HTRK from Ghostly International had to cancel last minute because apparently the vocalist lost her voice performing last night. Wah wah. Well lucky for you the show must go on. Never fear for it appears local post-punks Pawns have jumped on the bill joining Sacred Bones darlings, Pop. 1280. If driving to Roswell to scope out some UFOs and throw empty beer cans at aliens sounds like something you’d be into– this is the band for you. Is that David Yow on the mic? Not quite, but throw in some analog synths and a cyberpunk sensibility and you’re dead on dude! Goths love em! You will too!

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Have Olds Near? Take Em Here

Philip Glass, The Flaming Lips, Tenzin Choegyal, Patti Smith, Debbie Harry, Devonte Hynes, & more @ Tibetan US House Benefit

Thursday March 5th, 7:30 pm at Carnegie Hall: $35-$200

This annual benefit concert might have the feel of some exhaustive foreign variety show where fat ladies literally sing for like 50 straight hours, and it’s definitely happening at Carnegie Hall which means if you so much as sneeze you’ll find yourself locked in their gilded dungeon guarded by teething Suzuki violin students armed with daggers and polo clubs. So don’t do that, don’t sneeze. And definitely don’t bring your scumbag friends. Bring like your aunt or something and forget FOMO for the night because this will be a quality star studded affair fit only for music lovers and one that (hopefully) brings great fortune to the Dalai Lama’s cultural center.

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Listening To Soft Music To Take Soft Drugs To

Modern Rivals, Twin Wave, Walking Tree

Le Poisson Rouge: $10

Remember what summer feels like? Me neither. It’s almost as if it never existed, am I right? The only signs that such a thing exists anywhere else in the world right now are Instagram and bands like the ones found on this lineup. Beachy. Ass. Vibes. Take Modern Rivals– these dudes are totally influenced by all things beach: dune buggies, corn dogs, ice cold Cokes, the Beach Boys, power boats, piña coladas, boat shoes, dock boys, swim trunks, and Beach House. It’s all there. Just listen closely and believe in the power of the solstice. Twin Wave brings more heat wave jams: smooth sailing psych-pop and sticky teeth vibes. Go if you hate winter.

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Teen Dream 

Trash Talk, Ratking, Lee Bannon, Show Me The Body

Wednesday March 4th, 9 pm at Webster Hall: $15

Hey Hungry Foodies we’ve go a killer combo for ya right here we’ve got here. New School NYC rappers just a hair over high school, West Coast space-goth trap, and… sludge metal? All happening at Webster Hall of all places. This show can’t not be rad for the ADD, slice eating club kid in ya.

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So Hot Right Now

THEESatisfaction, MoRuf Record Release Party

Friday March 6th, 7 pm at Santos Party: $13 advance/ $15 door

Check out this record release party at Santos Party House for THEESatisfaction‘s latest Earthee out on Sub Pop. You might remember this hip experimental R&B duo from their collaboration with Shabazz Palaces. Their meandering, soulful songs are anything but structured so be prepared for some surprises. And we’ve heard these kids know how to throw a party, so come prepared to get down. Speaking of soulful, joining them is MoRuf whose super chill, well crafted hip-hop songs recall A Tribe Called Quest and summer time stoop hangs.

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Night of the Barbarians

Couch Slut, No Way, Bardus, Grizzlor

Friday March 6th, 8 pm at the Acheron: $10

The ladies of Couch Slut can seriously rip out some filthy nasty tunes. Though it’s annoying they’ve gotten so much attention for having a cartoon penis ready for a sex act on the cover of their album. Frankly, we’ve seen much, much worse and their music warrants more attention than the possibility that they are “naughty” women. Last we checked, fellatio was not all that subversive. But you know what is? Unapologetic rage vocals and the fact that we’re seeing more and more women in metal and punk and noise and rock and all of it. So let them have their fellatio cartoon, OK? Joining them is Grizzlor, a snotty thrash rock band from New Haven who, frankly, Couch Slut could rip into a million pieces.

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Hope These Guys Are Still Marxists

Gang of Four, Public Access TV

Saturday March 7th, 7 pm at Irving Plaza: $25

Yes we know the dudes from Gang of Four are old as fug, but they’re still the coolest Marxist post-punk band ever. So what do you they sound like now? Well, you’re not allowed to be surprised that their new shtick bears little resemblance to their classic albums from the early ’80s, but you are allowed to be hurt. Whoever produced this new album should literally be drawn and quartered. I will personally captain one of the pulling horses. Just PM me. But seriously whatever these dudes are still legends. Just hope and pray your little heart out they play all of Entertainment! So what if it’s been almost 40 years?!

Dunno if Alison Mossheart from the Kills will show– she’s on a few of the tracks. But that might be #cute gesture. Joining the Gang are the garage-pop monster children of Public Access TV. They legit have a photographer following them around right now with strict orders to only take photos of them from angles that make them look like the Ramones or something. So please report back and let me know if they actually look like Ramones IRL, otherwise send that photographer along to me.

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Featured
02/17/15 3:33pm

This Week In Live Music: Detroit Punks, Homegrown Hardcore, and NYC Queer Rap Goodies

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02/17/2015 3:33 PM |
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The last thing you want to hear right now is another person kvetching about the shit weather. Yeah it’s horrible out–venues are freezing right now, beers turn to slushies before you can sip em, and everyone can see you’ve been crying because your tears turn to icicles before you even have a chance to wipe them off your face. Woe is everyone, y’all!

Best way to stop feeling terrible in this final stretch of winter–seriously, just blink and when you open your eyes, you’ll be paper bagging it at Prospect Park, eating tacos on the curb, and frolicking out at Fort Tilden–is to warm yourself by the fire of these rad performances. I don’t know if you’ve heard of live music or remember what life was like before Spotify, but we’re here to inform you of one of the few real joys earned from subjecting yourself to the painful daily drudgery of living in money city: the long list of great shows happening in your own backyard. (more…)

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Featured
02/10/15 5:24pm

This Week In Live Music: Promiscuous Swing, Troll-Core Folk, and Blissed-Out Beats Like What

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02/10/2015 5:24 PM |
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(Pawns Self-Titled 7")

So normally I’d be all like rah rah Valentine’s Day is for dweebs or something, but to be perfectly honest this year I’m feeling pretty #blessed about being free of romantic obligations. I can legit strip down to a pair of very unattractive underwear, crack a bag of Cooler Ranch, and spread out on my bedroom floor amongst an array of Crunchwraps (Supreme, BLT Slider, Spicy Chicken–the options they’ve got these days are truly mind-boggling) and like listen to records or something. I won’t be disappointing anyone except myself. (more…)

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Uncategorized
01/21/15 11:18pm

This Week In Live Music: Jesus Returns, Sufjan Stevens Plays the Rodeo, and Why Listen to Music When You Can Feel Noise?

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01/21/2015 11:18 PM |
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(Amen Dunes, Cowboy Worship EP, Sacred Bones)

Oh hey, did you miss us on Tuesday? We bet you did. But to be honest this week has been a wild one already– Martin Luther King Day was not spent being productive, we’ll tell you that much. We’ve been playing catchup and have failed to bathe, forgotted to feed our roomate’s fish, and have been literally sleeping in a pile of garbage and dirty laundry since we were trusted with a three day weekend. Never again. So naturally, we thought we’d give ourselves an extra day to gather our wits because chances are you needed one too. Here’s to hoping you made not-like-us and spent the long weekend resting up for all the sick shows happening starting now.

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Uncategorized
01/13/15 10:04pm

This Week In Live Music: Hardcore Man Hams, Mr. Bada$$ Returns, and Album Releases Galore!

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01/13/2015 10:04 PM |
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Welcome to another list. Has anyone told you yet your life will just be an endless series of lists, really? Long ones, short ones, completed ones, unfinished ones. Well, we promise you this list is less depressing than all those other lists. This list will not make you feel inadequate, in fact it will make you feel pretty cool.

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Sick Sounds

Cult of Youth, Astral Knife

Wednesday January 14th, 10 pm – 4 am at Home Sweet Home (Lower East Side), tickets $7

Brooklyn-based industrial and post-punk revivalists Cult of Youth released an excellent new album last fall, Final Days, and now they’re embarking on a cross-country tour, which means this is probably your last chance to see them for a few months yet. Don’t sleep on it, this is essential bad weather music. Joining them at Nothing Changes–Home Sweet Home’s weekly foray into industrial, punk, goth, and generally spooky vibes– is Astral Knife, a New York City-based experimental noise outfit that trades in deathly soundscapes and distant wails worthy of an exorcism.

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Stay Cold

Pop. 1280 7″ Release Party with Bootblacks, Anasazi

Thursday January 15, 8 pm at Saint Vitus (Greenpoint), tickets $10

Boy are we lucky– even more Sacred Bones bands are playing this week. Catch Anasazi (brutal death punk from NYC) and Bootblacks (post-punk darkness also from the city) alongside Pop. 1280 to celebrate the latter’s new 7 inch at Saint Vitus. Pop. 1280 are taking off on a tour themselves, though these bbs are headed to European shores. According to the band, they won’t be playing another show in the US for at least four months, but get excited for their return because the band is slated to release a full-length album sometime this year.

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Brassy Brawds and Dreamy Bros

What Cheer? Brigade, Unstoppable Death Machines, Big Figment

Friday January 16th, 8 pm at Aviv (Greenpoint), tickets $10

An 18-person brass band (What Cheer? Brigade) will cram inside Brooklyn’s newest DIY venue on Friday, which could be either absolutely insufferable or totally insane (in a good way)– either way it’s going to be a freaking spectacle and you really shouldn’t miss it if you can tolerate old world nostalgia. Also on the bill is Unstoppable Death Machines, offering up a totally different sonic experience with their hyped-up bro-garage rock. We forgive them though– the Tucci brothers could swat us in the eye with their lovely long manes and we’d still be OK with watching them perform. Big Figment, a brass-based jazz fusion punk band of sorts (sorry, I don’t know what the hell that means either, just listen to them to clear up that mess) are also set to play. We highly recommend grabbing those $5 cups of champagne and sloshing back a few of those before hand.

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Long Live the ’90s

The Vaselines

Friday January 16th, 8 pm at the Bell House (Gowanus), tickets $22

No matter that this Scottish band was formed almost 30 years ago, their songs remain classic odes to love, drugs, and death and continue to be reinterpreted, covered, and imitated decades later. After a years-long hiatus, and nothing more than a retrospective released on Sub-Pop, the band surprised everyone with a new album back in 2010, Sex With An X. The Vaselines are touring once again and will make a stop at the Bell House to promote their new album, V For Vaselines, which the band says was inspired the Ramones, shows that the Vaselines are nothing if not consistent. And that’s something we can totally be happy about.

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Just Go, K?

U.S. Girls, Slim Twig, Bottoms, Eaters

Saturday January 17th, 8 pm at Palisades (Bushwick), tickets $8 in advance $10 at the door

Meghan Remy aka U.S. Girls writes some seriously catchy songs in the vein of Dirty Beaches, if Dirty Beaches had a clearer vocal presence. And though it’s been at least a year since I’ve blasted one of her songs in my room, it appears U.S. Girls is touring again despite the fact that her last full-length release, GEM, was from all the way back in 2012. Could this mean a new album is on the way? Who knows. All we know is that you should totally go check her out. Ms. Remy’s musical confidante, Slim Twig (another Toronto one-man band) will make an appearance to. Two acts are opening for the Canadian pair, Bottoms (“a gender-problematizing goth band”) and Eaters (freaking seriously amazing stuff– one part pop, one part out-there synthscapes).

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Hardcore Rant

Haymaker, The Rival Mob, Sex Prisoner, Brain Slug

Saturday January 17th, 8 pm at the Acheron (East Williamsburg), $15

YARGHHHH– a night to show how supremely manly you are. JK it’s a night of hardcore at the Acheron! Well, the two aren’t mutually exclusive by any means, but like, can I just take this opportunity to say I’m sick of going to hardcore shows and being socked by neanderthals for no reason? As much as I despise macho garbage, I do love the music (even if it is from Boston) and will continue going to shows despite all the hateful piss spewed on women at these things. So I guess here’s to hoping it doesn’t happen to anyone at this one.

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Quit Whining

Scherzo, Taiiga, Caladan, Haunted America, Love Spread

Sunday January 18th, 3 pm at Palisades, tickets $5 at the door

Actually interesting indie rock music led by a frontman with the voice of a fallen angel, Jordyn Blakely, is your breakfast this Sunday at Palisades. If that’s not enough to cure your hangover, consider that a gaggle of experimental noise musicians there. That’s not a funny joke, you say? Well, why don’t we try not being hungover on Saturday. Impossible, you say? Well this show is honestly the best thing for you then. Peel yourself off your cat-covered linoleum, pop some aspirin, and order a stiff drink immediately upon arrival at Palisades. Dr.’s orders.

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Don’t Puke, But…

Vomitface, Laundry Day

Monday January 19th, 8 pm at Cakeshop (Lower East Side), tickets $7

Vomitface brings me back to the absolute worst period of my existence– before I discovered punk, I spent a lot of time listening to bands like this. Now, I’m not going to say which bands because that would be embarrassing for me, but I will say they sounded a lot like Vomitface. Regardless, you should probably put in some quality time at Cakeshop, because it might be closing soon, and hey the opening bands are going to be pretty great, including Laundry Day.

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Boy Wonder

Joey Bada$$

Monday January 19th, 6:30 pm at Rough Trade (Williamsburg), free entry with purchase of album

Joey Bada$$ returns to the U.S. after what was reportedly a fraught tour across Australia. But no matter– the 19-year-old Bed-Stuy-based indie rapper is co-founder of the Brooklyn collective Pro Era and was nominated in 2013 for Rookie of the Year at the BET Hip Hop Awards. He has almost half a million followers on Twitter and was profiled by Pitchfork back in 2012. Bada$$ was recently name dropped in a New York Magazine compendium of 100 reasons to love New York City. In short, things seem to be going pretty well for Mr. Bada$$, what’s more he’s dropping his debut album next week and performing a show at Rough Trade to celebrate.

 

 

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12/30/14 9:27pm

This Week in Live Music: Thrash the Pain Away, New Queers Eve, and Mykki Freaking Blanco

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12/30/2014 9:27 PM |
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esk

People this is your last week to party, and there are plenty of excellent shows happening from now until next week when going back to work will involve, you know, actual work. We’ve got everything from New Year’s rock n’ roll parties (in the case you’re looking for more “dance”-oriented stuff, check out our Sleep When You’re Dead List) to events that are sure to snap you back to reality. Your resolution was to get off your butt and take advantage of all the cool stuff happening around the borough, right? Get to it.

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12/09/14 2:00pm

This Week In Live Music: Pop Puppetry, No Wave Idols, and a Black Metal Takeover

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12/09/2014 2:00 PM |
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Swans_To_Be_Kind

Welcome to our weekly installment of the ten best shows around town. And boy is it a good week for music. If you’re already facing imminent meltdown due to the fact that X-mas music is EVERYWHERE, yet again (something you try to forget every single year), put your Scrooge rage on ice, because nearly all of our picks for this week embody the antithesis of holiday spirit. Eat it up while you still can kids.

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