Asher & Brendan Murray at Cafe Fixe

Brendan Murray & Asher
Brendan Murray
Asher

Photos by Susanna Bolle (my camera was acting up).
Check out more on Flickr.


Last night was the second "experimental coffee house" put on by Non-Event (who totally rule). The first was Geoff Mullen & Keith Fullerton Whitman (also at Fixe), which I sadly missed out on. But I was determined to check out this seemingly jive coffee shop who hosts cool music and HOLY SHIT YOU NEED TO GO. Let me break it down for you...

It's kinda like the Weirdo shows. It's a small space (though not nearly as small as Weirdo. Fixe has tables & chairs. Though to be fair, they don't have hundreds of records, either). You go early and hang out, instead of buying records you drink coffee, and see a single amazing performance. Cheap, intimate, go home early, what's not to love?

Asher Thal-Nir is a dude I had never heard of before this event but since he was performing with Brendan Murray, I knew the guy was at least awesome by association. Turns out he's pretty cool on his own, too, but whatever. The music is what matters.

It started out pretty simple, just a dried up ocean desert of white noise. Some alternating high & low long form sonar blips, perhaps of the piano origin. Very tranquil. Very desolate. Then someone passes out on their car horn, just laying on that thing, bleeding an electronic organ tone way out in the distance. Suddenly something that sounds like flowing water comes into ear shot, like a geyser is slowly bubbling up, refilling the ocean, although everything remains mostly peaceful for a period of time. But then shit turns dark and scary. Like the water coming back is threatening to summon the deep sea monsters as well. And that sonar returns, too, but this time at a more rapid pace. You realize it's steady, though, so whatever it is is staying put. Eventually, the bubbles fade, and one by one, the dozens of layers you didn't even know where there drop out. Total silence. Show's over. Applause. Curtains. Socializing. Home.

Benny Nelson & Brandon Terzakis at Weirdo Records

Seriously guys, Weirdo Records is the place for live weekly experimental awesomeness. This is the third time I've been there within the past month and it looks like August & September are only going to be better. If you haven't gone yet, you're already missing out. This past show had Benny Nelson and Brandon Terzakis collaborating with a chord organ and prepared guitar (respectively).

They bookended their set with two pre-recorded pieces that they brought on CD. Regardless of how weird it was to sit there with the two of them doing nothing while their music played overhead, the music itself was pretty great. But the stuff they played live, that was something special.

It started out, literally, almost completely inaudible. The thunderstorm of pedestrians and traffic out on Mass Ave was either ridiculously distracting or added an interesting atmospheric/field recording feel to the music, depending on your viewpoint. Benny was pressing down on two organ keys, so I knew I was supposed to be hearing something, but Brandon was hunched over some electronics and his guitar so I couldn't be too sure if he was actively creating or not.

The music was so delicate and so subtle, I feel like even if I were listening to it at home or on my headphones, no matter how loud I turned it up, it would still be barely there. But slowly, very slowly, the volume increased. Every few minutes or so, I'd notice that it was louder than before, even though I couldn't pinpoint a specific time where it changed.

The piece lasted maybe 15 or 20 minutes, hardly changing at all, 95% static save for a slight wavering and the continual amplification. Benny's two fingers infinitely pressing those two keys, and Brandon doing who knows what with an e-bow and various pedals and knobs, doing almost nothing while making such light beautiful drone. Then, abruptly, the music cut out and I realized just how loud they got it cranked up. It was weird hearing nothing after I thought what I was hearing was bordering on nothing. They smoothed things out and cleansed your aural palette with a little more quiet tones before playing the last taped piece. The whole thing was simple, understated splendor.

Most likely you didn't see this show, as there were only a handful of people there (including plenty of local noise makers like KFW, Howard Stelzer, and Ophibre). So if you didn't, you can look forward to a split (not collaboration, sorry) between Benny and Brandon coming out soon courtesy of Mr. Whitman. Otherwise, just hope they'll do this again. And if they do, trust me, you don't want to miss it.

Oneida, Sunburned Hand Of The Man, Big Bear, Glenn Jones at Outside The Lines Studio

Glenn Jones

Big Bear

Proceeding chronologically with the recent shows I've been to (also saw Benny Nelson & Brandon Terzakis last night at Weirdo, review soon), here's a recap of what happened at the highly honorable Outside The Lines Studio, which, in case you don't know, is a gallery/studio space for adult artists with developmental disabilities. The place is a big warehouse that is overrun with art everywhere. Sculptures in every corner, paintings on every empty wall. Awesome, right? Even more awesome is the artists get %85 of all sales. That is fucking outrageous. In a really really good way.

Anyway, Glenn Jones (of Cul De Sac) started things off (replacing World Map). Apparently I saw him at Brainwaves last November and I didn't remember until he started his set. I was more than happy to see him again. This guy plays the most amazing guitar. It sounds like he's got 4 or 5 guitars all going at once. I have no idea how he does it but it's wonderful. Simultaneously dusty and clean, with a slight Americana sound. So good. I especially love when he plays the banjo. Because, well, I love the banjo.

Big Bear played next and HOLY SHIT I have never been able to hear all instruments and vocals live before. Whoever did the sound somehow made everything stand out from each other. I heard Jordyn's singing clear as day, both the keyboard and guitar, AND the bass. I never hear the fucking bass. It blew my mind. I have no idea what went differently but it was weird. I'm actually not even sure I liked it better or not. Either way, though, they mostly stuck to songs from their new record, with a couple older and newer than new ones. Fucking great. As usual.

I mentioned before that I thought seeing Sunburned Hand Of The Man live would push me one way or the other over the fence regarding whether or not I actually like them. Well, this performance definitely landed me on the "Sunburned is not my thing" side. I don't know if this is how they usually do things, but they had some bearded ponytail wearing guy come up twice to do some freestyle singing. That didn't go over too well with anyone I don't think. After coaxing everyone for too long to "fucking dance already" some guy in the audience ran up to the singer, grabbed the mic and yelled "I fucking hate you!" and threw both of his sandals at him. Taking it in stride, the singer said "Now there's a man with courage!" But even if it was all instrumental, I don't think I would feel any differently. I might be permanently writing Sunburned off after that night.

And then thee glorious Oneida stepped up, totally fucking outshining Sunburned's set. I didn't know this until Saturday night, but Oneida is seriously a band that can not be fully appreciated until seen live. They are a totally different beast. An amazingly beautiful beast of destruction. They played a bunch of stuff off of Rated O (which I just picked up at the show and can't wait to hear). The best part was seeing how much Oneida enjoyed playing live. They just radiate this sincere carefree joy that makes it's way into the audience. Everyone loved them. They were super tight. Kid Millions needs to get a fucking award or something. Dude is honestly one of the best drummers out there. Oneida is worth seeing live just to watch Kid smash his drums.

P.S. This show made me realize that I don't like to take pictures if I want to rock. So I apologize for never ever having any pictures of (especially) Big Bear and (specifically) Oneida.

Homegrown Fest at Church

I was only able to go to the second night of the Homegrown Fest at Church but I'm OK with that. You know why? Because that night had one of the best lineups I've ever seen. Fucking ridiculously awesome. Because so many bands played and I could easily write a whole review for each set, I'm just going to post the pictures I took coupled with what I wrote on Twitter immediately after each performance. There are more photos on my Flickr page if you're into that sorta thing.

Gary War
"Gary war just played good clues. I am happy."


Magic People
"Magic people just played a very short but killer set to a surprisingly unappreciative audience."


Reports
"Who knew reports were so awesome. I sure didnt."


Quits
"Quits just fucking lit my face on fire and melted my brain."


Infinity Window
"Once infinity window finished i realized that i think i forgot to breathe the whole time."


Bobb Trimble & The Flying Spiders
"Holy shit gary war just played with bobb trimble. Coolest thing ever. Except bobbs guitar. Wooden with oak leaves carved in it."

Then once I got home...

"So Gary War played with Bobb Trimble because he's an official member of The Flying Spiders. Nice. Thanks internet!!"


Sightings
"Sightings were painfully amazing to watch."

Goat Of Arms at Weirdo Records

I had no idea Goat Of Arms had such a following. When I went to Weirdo to see Steve Norton, there were only 6 people in the whole room. Last night when Goat Of Arms played it was the exact opposite. There must've been 20 to 30 bodies squished into this tiny closet sized record store along with a whole drum kit. It was very, um, intimate.

The band brought a large tray of chocolates that they handed out to the audience (which seemed to consist mostly of everyone who knew everyone else). There were also some Tofutti Cuties being passed around (peanut butter ftw!). Somebody brought their dog. It was more like a party or cookout with friends than a proper "concert." And that just made it all the more pleasant.

So Goat Of Arms are a girl/girl accordion/drum duo. Imagine an accordion accompanied to some percussion. That's pretty much what Goat Of Arms sounds like. It's nothing surprising or out of the ordinary. Not to dis their music or anything. They're fucking great. They play wonderfully charming minimal, slightly foreign sounding tunes that I haven't heard from the likes of anyone else (partially because they're the only accordion/drum duo I know of). It was entirely acoustic (anything else would've been madness) with most of the drums and cymbals having some sort of padding to soften the blow. The drummer would occasionally sing in Spanish, doing the whole aye-aye-aye yelping thing. It sounded like it had been a while since they last played live, with the sporadic slip-up in timing & synchronization and the periodical mis-starts but that all added to the semi-uncouth magic of the evening.

One of the highlights was halfway through their set, some kid walking by on the sidewalk shimmying his way through the front door to sneak one of the chocolates left right by the doorway. I don't know who he belonged to or how the hell he knew there was free chocolate inside. Everyone who noticed looked at each other completely baffled and incredulous. We silently laughed as the band continued playing, either not noticing or not caring. 'Twas a great night that you should've missed only if you went to Gay Gardens to see Animal Hospital et all.

Aaaand I picked up a copy of Dead Machines Plays Invasion Of The Body Snatchers. FUCK YEAH. Should have a review of that (plus all the backstock of vinyl I got piling up) once I get my stylus in the mail.

Big Bear, Child Bite, Ketman, The Gondoliers at PA's Lounge

Big Bear
Big Bear
Child Bite
Child Bite
The Gondoliers

More photos on Flickr.


Big Bear and Child Bite put out a split 7" (green vinyl with killer artwork and it's only 4 bucks, fucking buy it already) and this was the record release show. It was also the beginning of their tour together. Aaaand if you went to this show, you got a free copy of the 7". Fuck. YES. Nothing so sweet as the words "free Big Bear 7"."

Anyway, The Gondoliers kicked the show off. Normally I'm not a big fan of bands with gimmicks, unless those gimmicks are awesome (The Locust, Harry & The Potters). The Gondoliers have been added to that list of exceptions. They were two guys on drums and guitar (with a shit ton of pedals), wore all white clothes, pitch black shades with words written on them (one said "Never" the other said "Quit!"), and kingly crowns that lit up. Of course, all the lights were turned out in the place, forcing them to play by halo-light. They didn't utter a single word to the audience. Instead, in between every few songs they had a computer recite in a Speak-N-Spell type voice little speeches they wrote that said something about how the governing party of The Gondoliers were not up for re-election and how even though they were quitting, it wasn't actually like quitting because they were letting Big Bear and Child Bite get their thing done (aka Palin's dumbass shit). Well, their shtick really got to me and I thought they were great. Not to mention their ridiculously awesome music. It wasn't anything super original but they did the math rock/sludge/metal/pop thing really well. Kinda reminded me if Torche was a duo and really into Don Cab. So it was pretty fucking great.

I skipped out for a bit and didn't see Ketman. Not that I'm all that disappointed. They're not really my kinda thing anyway.

Child Bite was up next and although I'd heard plenty about them and their "next big thing" status, I hadn't actually heard anything of theirs before I went to this show. I really enjoyed them. They had tons of energy to match their mostly-danceable punk rock fun. The bassist looked like a metal mix of Cheech and Chong and had massive hair that could not be contained by his hat. For some reason, he kept putting his hat back on and no matter how many times he did, his repeated head banging knocked it right off again. Kind of hilarious to watch. Also hilarious? The guitar/joystick solo duel. The lead singer had an arcade style joystick hooked up so it made crazy electronic sounds whenever you moved it around and pressed buttons. Kinda cheesy, mostly awesome.

And to finish off the night, Big Bear slayed, as always. This was the first time I'd seen them live where I was standing in front of Joanna playing the keyboard so it was weird to actually hear her. For some reason I always end up in front of Joel and all I can ever hear is his crazy guitar. Not at this show. They played 3 new songs (new as in not on their brand new record, which is self released and now available at their shows and you should buy because it's fucking great and you've been waiting years for it to come out). Those 3 new ones kind of sound like Big Bear's take on pop music. Which is fucking weird as shit and makes me think that Big Bear isn't quite as big as they used to be. If they keep heading in this direction, they'll end up being Regular Sized Bear. Which is fine by me. I love bears of all sizes. And their new sound is still awesome stop-n-start loudness.

Like I said, they just started their tour together so if they're coming your way, you best get out and see them. I'm fortunate because I get to see Big Bear pretty much whenever I want. You might not be so lucky. So take the chance to see them. And buy their new album and 7". Great stuff all around, I assure you.

Steven Norton at Weirdo Records

More photos on Flickr.

How serendipitous! I was supposed to be to work yesterday at 11 AM but showed up at 4 PM instead. Whoops. But hey, night off! Right? I still had time to catch Steve Norton's show at Weirdo Records. Which, if you've never been, is a TINY place. Like, the size of a large walk-in closet. And that's not counting all the CD racks and such. Luckily, including Norton, me, and two employees, there were only 6 people. So not exactly cramped but not too roomy either. But these are the best kinda shows.

So Steve's forte is reed instruments along with some strange percussion and bird call things. He started with some tin can rattling, shaking everything between two drumsticks like he had Parkinson's and was trying to use chopsticks to eat his food. Then he moved onto the saxophones (alto and soprano) which made me feel like I had teleported into some strange future where classic instruments could be played backwards. I don't know what he did but he is able to make the sax sound like it's being slowly rewound on a cassette tape. So bizarre.

In between each reed instrument, he would do some haphazard percussion, such as when he emptied a box of tiny wood panels and tin can lids on the floor, throwing them around, organizing and reorganizing over and over again, like he had OCD. But every little sound mattered, including dragging the things back that went flying across the floor, scraping them along the wood floor, or putting the instruments down on their stands. Everything had this kind of premeditated feeling while still being completely improvised as if he had an insanely fast brain that would see something and know exactly what to do to make it sound perfect.

And he saved the best for last. The bass clarinet. Man, the things he can do with that clarinet are fucking astounding. I have never heard a reed/brass/woodwind instrument be played so differently than it was meant to, including Greg Kelley's trumpet. I'm pretty sure he was circular breathing at times. And he could make it sound like a didgeridoo without repositioning his fingers. It was all in his throat and it was the most amazing thing ever. Sometimes it didn't even sound like a clarinet, sometimes it just sounded like some tight snare drums. Other times it sounded like it had a filter of static. I have no idea how he did any of those things but trust me this guy is totally worth seeing live.

News Flash: ICA On Fire!

Prefuse 73 - Smile In Your Face


The Institute Of Contemporary Art in Boston is cranking up the heat this summer. And it's about fucking time! Someone needed to take the place of "museum that has awesome shows" because whoever was the booker at the Museum Of Fine Arts up and left. In the past couple years, the MFA treated us to such wondrous concerts as Matmos and Stars of the motherfucking LID. Thanks for that. But it's been way too long since anything decent has happened at the MFA music-wise and the ICA must've noticed as well.

Between now and September, the ICA will give us the opportunity to see Prefuse 73, DJ/Rupture & Matt Shadetek, Fauna & Uproot Andy & Oro11, Black Moth Super Rainbow, and Dirty Three, not to mention amazing movies like They Live, Bomb It, Scratch, and Stoked: The Rise & Fall Of Gator. Fuck yeah! Major props to the people behind the scenes at the ICA for giving us some high quality entertainment this summer. Now if only they could lower their ticket prices a smidge...

Predator Vision, Oneohtrix Point Never, Sudden Oak, Swanox, Gemstoned, Fluffy Lumbers at The Butcher Shoppe

Predator Vision
Oneohtrix Point Never
Sudden Oak
Swanox
Gemstoned
Fluffy Lumbers

More photos on Flickr.


The Butcher Shoppe is a DIY venue geared towards a very specific audience. Namely, those who already know about it. But if you've never been, there's still hope for you. Saturday night was my first venture to the strange place and my fears of pretentious people and feeling like an unwanted party crasher were unjustified. It was exactly like all of the parties I used to go to when my wife was at Montserrat, except I didn't know anyone here. So if you're not a fan of art school house parties, then maybe you should wait until whatever band you wanted to see plays another show.

As is probably the youzh with The Butcher Shoppe, a couple of bands were added at the last minute. The first band didn't start playing until 11 (Note: don't plan on taking the train home) and at that point everyone headed down to the smoke filled basement/cave where the magic happens. Their name was Fluffy Lumbers and they were part of the ultra reverb laden echoey as shit super catchy garage pop scene like Wavves and the them. Even after their hour long setup time, they still had major technical problems and only played for 15 minutes to a mostly indifferent crowd. I liked 'em, but just kinda wish they didn't show up at the last minute to play and take forever setting up.

Next up were a duo that I believe might be called New Yoga but when someone yelled out "What's your name!?" they replied "Gemstoned. Either Gemstoned or blahblahblah." I can't remember what the other name he said was so I'm going with Gemstoned. There was no band that played that called themselves New Yoga (even though they were billed) so I'm doing the process of elimination thing. Anyway, they were pretty great. The drummer had a beat/sampler pad through which he did some live processing of the guitar. Very weird. And he would fuck with the guitarist all the time, changing shit up and randomly turning him off and stuff. What a joker!

Swanox played next. One guy with 3 pedals and a old keyboard that musta been a tag sale find or something because it had old stickers of unicorns. The first piece he played was some fucking evil Satan in the graveyard shit. Totally awesome. The next piece was a bit lighter but no less rad. Great great stuff. And I'm pretty sure he runs the Caligulan label that put out Usputuspud's Disco tape that I love so much it makes my nips hard just talking about it.

Then Sudden Oak came on and they were working the sax/guitar sound. Totally psychaotic noise with roots in scarily experimental jazz. The sax player just dropped the mic right into the bell. No need for a mic stand (which was actually a mic taped onto a broomstick that was stuck onto a mic stand base). Totally crazy awesome.

Oneohtrix Point Never set up his stuff and fucking dazzled everyone with his unmatched synth skills. The first and last piece he played sounded like some fucked up version of the dungeon music in old school Zelda games. So, obviously, I fucking loved it. The middle piece was some totally nasty glitched out nut buster that could've been long lost radio transmissions between the ancient Mayans and their alien friends.

2 am rolls around and Predator Vision are just starting it up. Apparently they brought along Julian Lynch to play with them. Yeah, the same Julian Lynch who did that wonderful Born 2 Run CD I reviewed a while back. So weird meeting him there. Small world. Anyway, live PV is not like PV on tape. Nope. This was a fucking monstrosity of killer face melting jams. In short, I came home looking like this. See them live. They will make you happy.

Harry And The Potters, Previously On Lost, Anamanaguchi at The Middle East Downstairs

Hello My Name Is Jumpin Justin

Anamanaguchi

Previously On Lost

Previously On Lost

Previously On Lost

Plenty more photos on Flickr.

Anamanaguchi
*Best 8-bit rock band out there
*Super charming nerdy hipster guys
*Great taste in shirts (lead guitarist was wearing a new design from Seibei)
*Sweet 8-bit visuals
*Played intro to Lit's "My Own Worst Enemy" in between songs
*Crowd ate it up, even those who had no idea who they were
*Actually sound better live
*Side note: Go to their Myspace page and listen to their cover of "So Bored" by Wavves because it's fucking awesome

Previously On Lost
*100% songs about Lost
*Ridiculous stage setup
*Panda Bear Theremin (I have no idea how it still works)
*Enormous cardboard plane flew threw then crashed in the audience
*Inflatable palm trees
*Silly costumes
*Huge picture of JJ
*Super fun tropical rock music and I've never seen Lost

Harry And The Potters
*Lotsa energy
*Played some obscure stuff like "The Enchanted Ceiling" and new weird songs from Priori Incantatem including "Bacon"
*Very small yet faithfully devoted crowd
*Tons of fun, as always
*Young Harry made me the best name tag ever

Dan Deacon, Future Islands, Teeth Mountain at The Middle East

Teeth Mountain


Teeth Mountain were fucking incredible.

Future Islands were fun as shit.

Something weird happened when Dan Deacon came on. I can hardly remember any of it because I was overcome with DANCE FEVER. The only thing that vaguely sticks in my mind is that it was the funnest night of my ENTIRE LIFE.

I'm sure my bro Ben over at Rebuilding Year will have more in depth coverage of the show if you're craving that sort of thing.

Keith Fullerton Whitman & Geoff Mullen, Eli Keszler & Ashley Paul, Perispirit, Zerfallt, Double Awake at Great Scott

Geoff Mullen & Keith Fullerton Whitman

Eli Keszler & Ashley Paul

Perispirit

Zerfallt

Double Awake

More photos on Flickr

Double Awake: thick drone, vocal based and stuttered out with abrupt volume shifting

Zerfallt: the audio version of a lead blanket so heavy your legs can't hold out

Perispirit: power beauty

Eli Keslzer & Ashley Paul: the usual controlled frenzied awesomeness with the addition of a bowed banjo

Keith Fullerton Whitman & Geoff Mullen: not gonna touch this one; you'll just have to imagine it

Windy & Carl, Benoit Pioulard, Lambs Laughter at Oxfam Cafe

Windy & Carl

Benoit Pioulard

Lambs Laughter

More images on Flickr.

Last night was like a lucid dream. I was aware of my surroundings and able to control my body but actually hearing Windy & Carl live was nothing short of spectacular. Coupled with the strange visuals projected during each performance, I was forced to doubt whether or not it was actually happening.

Lambs Laughter started the show off. I saw them (read: Windy and Thomas Meluch of Benoit Pioulard) play at Brainwaves in November and it was fantastic. Their performance last night was just as good. Super droning with little to no plucking of strings which made every smooth and organic. At times, the music sounded almost like some sort of blackened ambient doom but then they would snap right back to the sunny harmonic drone. The last song was entirely a cappella and their voices echoing together sounded beautiful.

They were off stage for less than 5 minutes before Meluch came back to perform as Benoit Pioulard. His was truly astounding, forming all sorts of magical sounds from his guitar and array of pedals. Performing alone, he had to create the loops on the spot for the foundation of his songs. Then he would sing in that inimitable voice that sounds slightly Irish and slightly like Julian Koster. Hearing him live is nothing like listening to one of his records. It's a much fuller and more dramatic experience.

The best way to enjoy Windy & Carl would be to lie on your back spread eagle in the middle of an enormous open field where the grass is greener than it should be and the breeze is keeping you perfectly cool on an otherwise too hot day. I had to settle for the second best scenario. Sitting curled up in a ball, holding my knees to my chest with my head down while Windy & Carl played less than 2 feet in front of me. It seriously felt like I was in a dream. Their drones are simultaneously soporific and uplifting, a magnificent combination.

They're still on tour for another month or so, heading down the coast to NY, Richmond, Asheville, Atlanta, Lexington before they head west. It's a given that everyone should see them live, but as an extra incentive, they're selling a limited edition tour 12" (500 copies) with hand painted and screened covers. You know you need one.

Shit, b°tong, Oldine, Tamagawa at Oxfam Cafe

Tamagawa
Tamagawa
Oldine

Tamagawa: thick heavy mind-boring guitar drone

Oldine: Ty Braxton style vocal/guitar looping with hints of pop and Americana

b°tong: sample-heavy minimal industrial power glitch

Shit: had to leave before Shit played

Mountains, Mind Wheel at Oxfam Cafe

Mountains
Mind Wheel
Mind Wheel


Second night within the week I went to Oxfam Cafe for a superb show. Last week when I saw Parts & Labor there, I had very little problems with the sound system. I mean, it wasn't perfect but as long as it was loud (and it was) there was little I had to complain about. Not so with Mountains. With music as delicate and subtle as theirs, every crackle and quiver from the speakers brought me right back to the cafe. And the cafe is not where I was when I was listening to Mountains. Nope. I was actually being carried through a stream that was flowing upwards towards to sky. However, it wasn't because the current's so powerful, it's due to a lack of gravity. It was beautiful and transcendent. I'm fairly certain that's something everyone should experience sometime in their life. And now you don't have to find an upward flowing stream, you just have to go see Mountains live.

The band that played before Mountains was Mind Wheel from Portland, Maine and they were exceptional. At times they sounded like a Fuck Buttons/Mountains blend, sometimes they had a naturey Americana sound, but whatever they happened to be doing, it was absolutely wonderful. Felt like I was hovering through this, cruising around at ungodly speeds. They're in the process of booking a show at PA's Lounge, so keep an eye out for that. You don't want to miss these guys when they come back to Boston.

So, yeah. It only seems fitting that the creators of one of the best records of the year would put on one of the best live shows, too. Mountains = awesome. Live Mountains > awesome.

Parts & Labor, Wallcreeper, Kid Romance at Oxfam Cafe

Parts & Labor

Parts & Labor

Parts & Labor

Parts & Labor

Wallcreeper

Kid Romance

More photos on my Flickr.


Oxfam Cafe: cozy little place that's impossible to find with no stage and ample lighting for taking pictures. They don't list anywhere on the internet that other bands are playing. Oh yeah, good coffee, too.

Kid Romance: Really great stripped down garage punk rock with guy/girl vocals that maybe needs some more time in the oven.

Wallcreeper: Talented musicians making music you couldn't pay me to care about.

Parts & Labor: Fucking euphoric epic power noise pop that warms the cockles of your heart and puts a smile on your face. They played "Wedding In A Wasteland" (my favorite off Receivers) which I hadn't heard live yet. They also played a new song that they're calling "Hurricane" which was awesome as shit. Easily my favorite band to see live (sorry Big Bear) and I now have the requisite day-after-bangover.