Come down to Elm Bar for an awesome night of noise pop, electronica, and good times.
The Field Recordings got a new album to check out and will most likely play a lot of material from it.
Fake Babies just finished recording a couple new tracks as well and will also be playing those that night (no links yet for the new stuff but keep your eyes and ears open, they'll be hitting soon).
Night Owls: CT melodic-hardcore/post-punk. They will be releasing their definitive EP in August and hitting the road for a few dates with Deadlights. Ex-Don’t Say I Wont
Friday, September 2nd, 2011, Indie Night @ the Oak brings:
Location:
Charter Oak Cultural Center
21 Charter Oak Ave
Hartford, CT
All Ages - 8 PM - $6 or only $5 w/ a canned good donation for Hartford Food Not Bombs
Co-headlined by Shrinnirs (aka Bimbo Shrineheads/Shrin/The Shrinnirs), this Dog-Faced Hermans-like duo starts off the night, going on at 8:00, so do not be late. Dawn Cook (vocals) and Joe Malinowski (drums) are a non-genre. Not to be missed.
Old Man Lady Luck, will be finishing the night off. Dark instrumentals, like The Notekillers slowed to a vicious crawl, setting the mood for a David Cronenberg autopsy scene. With drumming as good as Todd Trainer from Shellac, and an early Jesus Lizard feel, do yourself a favor and stay late for Old Man Lady Luck.
While their name might be a little bit misleading, because there are no Jeffs in the band, brothers Jake (guitar/vocal) and Jamin (drums) Orrall play a stripped down version of garage rock that touches on punk, glam, psycehedelia, power pop and 70’s hard rock. While some people say they the duo sounds like Weezer, to these older and more seasoned ears, I hear traces of the Ramones, Cheap Trick and a whole bunch of bearded anonymous 70’s riff mongers in their sound. Whatever you want to call it, they take all these cool influences and turn it into one energetic and thoroughly enjoyable racket.
To put it bluntly, this shit rocks.
On their newest record (and fifth overall) entitled “We Are The Champions”, which was released through the duo’s own Infinity Cat Recordings, they bring the rock early and often giving a listener an infectious jolt of rock n roll, that’s sure to tickle the their pleasure centers.
Opener “Hey Friend” builds off a primitive, yet effective, beat from Jamin and adds a psychedelic, Middle Easter sounding guitar riff to the mix as Jake sings about loving your mom… and dad. “Cool Out” is a Ramones-like speed workout, while “Bummer” piles on epic and catchy rawk riffs. “Shredder” lives up to its name, as the band plays fast and furious with a riff that is eerily reminiscent of Turbonegro in their “Apocalypse Dudes” hey day. This one just accelerates and accelerates until it explodes in your lap. “Ripper” quite frankly, rips with its combo of punk speed and groove laden riff breakdowns, while “Diamond Way” is pure power pop bliss. Closer “Wastoid Girl” merges all that is good about the band’s sound into one rousing finale. (They also made a very cool video of this song, which will hopefully be featured below. One thing though, it does contain some nudity.)
What’s even more amazing about the duo, is that Jake only plays with three strings on his guitar and Jamin uses just three drums and three cymbals. It’s interesting how they can turn this minimalism into maximum rock’n’roll and have been doing so since they started playing together in their hometown of Nashville back in 2002.
So here’s a chance to see a really excellent band in a nice intimate performance space. Still, this band does sound like they would go better with booze, and The Space, is alcohol free, but no problem, you can just cross the parking lot to the Outer Space and get your drink on if you are so inclined.
So, what are you waiting for?
Manic Productions Presents:
JEFF The Brotherhood
Colleen Green
Ovlov
Dead Wives
Friday, September 2, 2011
The Space
295 Treadwell Street
Hamden, CT
7:00pm - $10 – All Ages and 21+ to drink in the Outer Space
Also playing:
"Green One" is Colleen Green's first release for Hardly Art! Four tracks of lovely, catchy, fuzzy songs that range from 80s pop goulash to psychedelic drone; from 90s power punk to homemade Sebadoh-style songs of heartache.
Ovlov is an alternative grunge rock band based out Newtown, Ct. As Steve and Dave's previous band, Home Movies, had finally come to its slow but certain demise, they decided to pick up where they left off with a heavier take on the pop rock scene, and a new name, of course. Priding themselves on being the loudest band in the room, Ovlov craft alternative rock songs that are smart and infectious. They may wear their influences on their sleeve, but that shouldn’t suggest that they’re simply retreading old territory. The grunge elements are all there, but they’re rearranged in a way that feels fresh. Ovlov perform their songs with such infectious energy and enthusiasm that you’ll banish any thought of this being some winking, ironic tribute to the sounds of yesteryear. If anything, they are carrying that lo-fi torch into the future.
Dead Wives started in 2007, inspired by songwriters such as Robert Pollard and Lou Barlow to compile a vast musical catalog. Their fifth and most recent demo tape was completed in summer 2010, with more apparently on the way, all of which heavily incorporate the muddiness of 80’s proto-grunge. Dead Wives' current lineup formed in 2009, a dynamic 3-piece including members of Ovlov and The Screw-Ups. Some initial reviews described the music as “skate-rock,” a tag the band has proudly adopted. Their “Scuz Bucket” EP was self-released in February 2011.
Malcolm Tent will be there (once again) selling records with Trash American Style.
The Fresh Cut (Chuck Fresh) will be providing the sounds you hear between bands.
Heavy Breath celebrate the release of Ugly Americans on August 26th, out on Get Young Records. The A side is their new Ugly Americans EP (recorded in June with Jay Maas at the Getaway Group) with their debut EP Synthemesc Dreams on side B.
I was lucky enough to hear all of Ugly Americans shortly after talking up Heavy Breath's July 22nd show. Their track Real Man felt to me like the band was going into more conventional territory, becoming more accessible. Kilian sent me the EP to prove otherwise. My mistake, since the full EP isn't like that at all, and Real Man's accessibility is necessary in the context of the rest of the songs, being essentially a flagship track railing against gender-based violence. The overall theme of the EP, summed up with the final lyric of the EP asking, "What do you stand for?" points to how high the bullshit has been piled in our country, from the economy to our politics. So Heavy Breath is keeping the counter-argument of political hardcore alive, even while facing the fact that the effort might be an exercise in futility. The one exception is their nod to Gaspar Noé's film Enter the Void in the song by the same name. A view of existence through a disembodied drugged consciousness on the one hand, and a search for rebirth on the other, I wonder if it's not the hopeful nature of Heavy Breath asking with this song if life isn't all for nothing.
The E.Ps will be available in red, white or blue vinyl - 100 of each color. The first 25 pre-orders come with a cassette copy of the LP.
Playing with them:
My Fictions (melodic hardcore from MA, check out their awesome new EP I Want Nothing!)
Yeller (Johnny Clarke and an acoustic guitar, Gravity Collective)
Canvas (members of Call it Arson, Stab You, The Distance, Cold Snap, GYR)
