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.
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]
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]
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]
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]
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]
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]