Show Review Mashup - The Walkmen, Mates of State & The Black Keys

Hey yawl. So I've been to a ton of shows as of late and have been slacking on the reviews...I know. I recently saw The Walkmen at Union Transfer in Philly, Mates of State at Le Poisson Rouge NYC and The Black Keys at Madison Square Garden in NYC. I have some photos and quick video snippets to give you a taste of the experience for each. Lets start with Mates of State.

Mates of State @ Le Poisson Rouge NYC - 2/17/12 

I've never been to LPR. I've walked by it many times and never knew what it was (mysterious marking's above the doorway). Its right on Bleecker Street in the heart of the douchebaggery district of bars (Kenny's Castaways, The Back Fence, Thunder Jacksons, I could go on). The first time I heard about the venue was oddly on Pitchfork TV when they featured Dead Man's Bones, a band featuring Ryan Gosling and his buddy Zach Shields. Yep.

The venue itself is pretty cool and intimate. Reminded me of the old Knitting Factory on Leonard street or North Six in Williamsburg. I hadn't seen Mates of State in a few years and what a better way to reunite. My "beyonce" Tracy had never MOS so we were pretty pumped. The show was awesome. When I saw them on the last tour they were good but they had string players and Kori played mostly piano tunes off the new album so I was a little thrown off as it wasn't what I was used to. This time around they got back to the fun roots of kickin organ/drums....with a little muted guitar and a trumpet. It was just a better arrangement, sounded a lot better and was just a lot more fun to see/hear.

They played all of their up-tempo hits like Whiners Bio, For The Actor, Goods and of course Palomino which was amazing. It was so much fun to see them up close again. The best part of the show involved a guy in the audience...bigger than me...absolutely immersed and excited about the show. Normally you get pissed then the tall-guy stands in front you at a show but he was so into it...no one minded. Net-net, great venue, great showing by one of my favorite bands of the past decade. Set list is below.


1.        For the Actor 
2.        My Only Offer 
3.        Maracas 
4.        Now 
5.        At Least I Have You 
6.        Whiner's Bio 
7.        Unless I'm Led 
8.        The Re-Arranger 
9.        Sway 
10.      Think Long 
11.      You Are Free 
12.      Get Better 
13.      Basement Money 
14.      Ha Ha 
15.      An Experiment 
16.      New song 
17.      Palomino 

Encore:


18.      Goods (All in Your Head) 
19.      Mistakes 
20.      Proofs





"An Evening With The Walkmen" @ Union Transfer Philadelphia - 3/3/12


I've been to many Walkmen shows over the years and I have never been disappointed. They always play a representative sample from the entire catalog. I always walk away feeling changed for the better (if that makes any sense). When I heard they were playing a one-off show in Philly at the new venue Union Transfer I was pretty excited. My cousin, bestie and show buddy Danny alerted me and I immediately grabbed tix. 

From what I understand Union Transfer was opened by the guys who run the Bowery Ballroom in NYC. The Bowery Ballroom is still my favorite venue and mainly because of the sound. Union Transfer just kicked it to #2 in that department. It was truly the best sounding show I've been to yet. Back in the day the space was an old spaghetti warehouse or mail depot or something but what ever they did to develop into a music venue...it worked. Unreal. The Walkmen never sounded so good and we were not in the best spot (against the wall to the left of the stage).

The show was played in two acts like a Broadway play...which kinda fits the bands persona. They played all of the tracks I wanted to hear including some rarities/b-sides. They played some new tracks also which were so rockin. Couldn't find the setlist but here is one from a recent show in San Francisco to give you a good idea.

First part
1.        What's In It For Me 
2.        The Rat 
3.        No Christmas While I'm Talking 
4.        Little House of Savages 
5.        The Blizzard of '96 
6.        We've Been Had 
7.        My Old Man 
8.        In the New Year 
9.        Stranded 
10.      Love is Luck (New Song)
11.      Dreamboat (New Song)
12.      Love U Love (New Song)
13.      French Vacation 
14.      On the Water 
15.      Angela Surf City 
16.      Hang On, Siobhan 
17.      Dónde está la playa 
18.      Red Moon (with horns)
19.      Canadian Girl (with horns)
20.      Louisiana (with horns)


Second part
21.      Your Southern Soul (new song, Hamilton solo)
22.      138th Street (Hamilton solo)
23.      Everyone Who Pretended To Like Me is Gone 
24.      Rue the Day 
25.      I Lost You 
26.      Woe Is Me 
27.      Wake Up 
28.      Unknown Cover 
29.      Thinking of a Dream I Had 
30.      Heartbreaker (New Song)




I wish I had a better shot of the backdrop as it was an old-timey photo of ballet dancers. It may have been in the liner notes of You & Me as it looked the same style. The whole experience was just amazing. The mood, lighting, crowd, sound...the band interacting with the crowd etc. Some of the guys in the band are either from Philly or currently live in Philly so there we a lot of shout outs/local banter. It was like they were playing a back yard BBQ. Very informal. Loved it. Net-net if you have a chance to see a show at Union Transfer...please...please do. I'm still blown away but how perfect the sound was.

The Black Keys @ Madison Square Garden NYC - 3/12/12 

 I'm going to be completely honest. I wasn't 100% excited about seeing the Black Keys in a venue as large as MSG. I've only seen two shows at MSG prior. One was Radiohead and the other was Blink 182/Green Day...um yeah. Secondly, I wasn't 100% loving El Camino either. Boy did they prove me wrong. The sound was excellent despite being in the 200 level towards the back and the catalog was varied. When I saw them at Central Park Summerstage a few years ago they played mostly tracks from Brothers. With this show they played pretty much all of the old school tracks I wanted to hear including Girl Is On My Mind and Your Touch which knocked my socks off. The guitar was so sharp, loud and reverberated around the vast space...giving me chills. Some of the new-er songs they played sounded great also. Set list is below.

1.        Howlin' for You 
2.        Next Girl 
3.        Run Right Back 
4.        Same Old Thing 
5.        Dead and Gone 
6.        Gold on the Ceiling 
7.        Thickfreakness 
8.        Girl Is On My Mind 
9.        I'll Be Your Man 
10.      Your Touch 
11.      Little Black Submarines 
12.      Money Maker 
13.      Strange Times 
14.      Chop and Change 
15.      Nova Baby 
16.      Ten Cent Pistol 
17.      Tighten Up 
18.      Lonely Boy 


Encore:
19.      Everlasting Light 
20.      She's Long Gone 
21.      I Got Mine




I went with my sister who is 7 months preggers. It was a fitting event to get the kid exposed to rock and roll early. Its hard for Dan Auerbach's intense riffs not to influence child development...in all respects. Wheeeoa 

!

SOLID show. 

Nada Surf @ The Bowery Ballroom: LIVE STREAM on YouTube - 10pm TONIGHT

Check out the Nada Surf YouTube channel tonight at 10pm for a live stream of their show at the Bowery Ballroom.

CLICK HERE AT 10PM: http://www.youtube.com/nadasurf

They will be on Jimmy Fallon on 1/30 also.

I still have yet to listen to the new album. Pitchfork panned it but that means absolutely nothing to me (see an old post here for a reference). Missed out on tonight's show but will be seeing them @ Webster Hall on 4/7. I'll let you know how that goes. Cheers.

CUGEROCK TOP 15 ALBUMS OF 2011: IN ORDER!

Sorry for being late in the game with this post. So much stellar music came my way this year but here are my top album picks. Some press darlings in there but hopefully some other stuff you've haven't heard of. Happy New Year kiddos. Psyched to see what's in store for 2012. At The Drive In and Refused reunion announcements are a good start!!! Enjoy.

1.  Wild Flag - Wild Flag

2.  Real Estate - Days

3.  Fucked Up - David Comes To Life

4.  Maritime - Human Hearts 

5.  Arctic Monkeys - Suck It And See

6.  The Joy Formidable - The Big Roar

7.  Stephen Malkmus & The Jicks - Mirror Traffic

8.  Yuck - Yuck

9.  Mates of State - Mountaintops

10.  Washed Out - Within & Without 

11.  Trail of Dead - Tao of the Dead

12.  Fleet Foxes - Helplessness Blues

13.  M83 - Hurry Up, We're Dreaming

14.  Cults - Cults

15.  Sloan - The Double Cross

Mates of State Live on Letterman - "Palomino" (10/10/11)

A little late on this post but I was watching this again and forgot how kickass this performance was. Pretty sure this was their first network TV appearance but prove me wrong Cugerockers. Best albums of 2011 coming soon. Happy Holidays!

 

Happy Halloween! No tricks, all treats.

Treat #1 - Superchunk covers The Misfits Where Eagles Dare available for download for Halloween

http://www.superchunk.com/mp3/Superchunk-WhereEaglesDare.mp3

Treat #2 - Danzing/Samhain/Misfits (Glen and Doyle) video of the Danzig Legacy live show in Chicago on 10/7 (full hourlong show) Amazing. Also amazing that I learned about the 10/29 NYC show too late. Hellfire.

Thanks BrooklynVegan for the links.

VIDEO: Stephen Malkmus & The Jicks - "Senator"

Star studded...

Summer Album Reviews: "Comin Atchya"

Hey kiddos. I've been meaning to roll out a number of album reviews over the summer but got a little sidetracked...sidetracked meaning I got engaged (roaring applause). Godblessher. That all said I figured I'd combine all of the reviews into a very truncated format with some videos to boot. Enjoy.

Stephen Malkmus & The Jicks: Mirror Traffic
Excellent record. Concise and catchy tracks. No long ass jams seen in previous albums. Similar to Pig Lib.



The Joy Formidable: The Big Roar
One of my favorite new bands. I saw them perform Austere on Subterranean. Then the same track live on Conan. I proceeded to but their latest EP and Album (a few overlapping tracks). I'd really like to see them live. They were insane on Conan and I've only read solid reviews of their live shows.



Fucked Up: David Comes To Life
My first summer album pick-up which was highly anticipated as I'm a huge Fucked-Up fan. The album is over an hour long. Its a rock opera of sorts but don't let that throw you off. Its amazing and I'm as jaded as they come. If you've never heard Fucked-Up before then this may be an acquired taste or total distaste (you can hear the hardcore roots in Damians voice). All of the tracks are solid but songs like A Little Death and The Other Shoe come to the top. Madeleine Follin (Cults...see below) guest vocals on The Other Shoe and a few other tracks I believe. All in all a great evolution for this band but not too evolved (see my MoS comment)



The Rapture : In the Grace of Your Love
A few mediocre tracks. I wish they would bring back their early/more rockin style on previous records or at least reminiscent of dance/punk Echoes (which is one the top albums of all time). Its like they lost their drive. Very disappointed.

Wild Flag: Wild Flag
Top notch super group of riot gals who pushed out a equally top notch album. Great to hear Carrie wail while Janet pounds the skins again. Mega pumped to see them in a few weeks.



Mates of State: Mountaintops
I love these guys. Always have. They also seem like a cool couple that I would totally be BFFs with but why oh why cant they bring back the organ more. We need another Team Boo. Don't get me wrong. The album is high energy and pop-tastic but I just wish bands would stop experimenting and go back to the sound that built their fanbase.



Cults: Cults
Saw a video for Go Outside on MTV2 (below) and noticed that it starred that douchey character that was on Scrubs - The New Class (or whatever they called it). That realization quickly faded as I listened to the song. Incredible. So I bought the album. Very good dreamy pop. An easy listen like that Best Coast record but not something on repeat at the moment.



Washed Out: Within and Without
Once I heard that Washed Out was responsible for the theme song to the Portlandia IFC show I had to pick up the latest record. Not to mention the album was repeatedly in the press. The bad news is that the Portlandia theme song (Feel it All Around) is on the Life of Leisure EP...which I subsequently picked up also. Both are good records if your into the genre...which is electronica I guess? (Dom help me out).  I place them on the same bill as M83. Stellar compositions but again...not something I toss into an album shuffle...maybe a few tracks in a playlist.



Iceage: New Brigade
Garbage. Another Pitchfork pumped-up disappointment. Sounds like a cat thrown into a lawnmower...in Denmark.

Artists I need to explore...

• James Blake - Never heard this cat but he seems to be on everyone's must listen list
• Jens Lenkman - Heard one song years ago and it was awesome. That's all I got.
• The War On Drugs - Hot press and recos from my friends (mainly Meg)
• Battles - Mirrored didn't blow me away as much as the critics but I like some of the tracks I heard on Gloss Drop. Should I pick up?
• M83 - Really dug the other records and saw a killer live show. Even if he looks like Ryan Reynold's. The new album is supposed to be kickass

If you have any of these records and can throw some reviews in the comment section I would very much appreciate it.

Bands/artists I'm sick of hearing about...

• Das Racist
• Girls
• Weeknd
• Neon Indian
• Wilco
• Jeff Magnum

BTW - Pre-ordered the new Surferblood album Tarot Classics (out 10/25) which came with a free download of an advance track (Miranda). Decent. Nothing earth shattering but decent. Psyched to hear some new stuff from these young bucks.

Going to see Maritime and Wild Flag in the coming weeks. I'll try and throw up some reviews following. Have a great Christopher Colombo weekend.

Cuge

Let's Talk Nada Surf For A Moment Shall We?

Ok. Lets get this out of the way. I'm sorry for my lack of posts over the summer. Its been busy on the cugefront. Changed jobs, weddings, had some family milestones etc. I actually saw DFA79 during that time (Brooklyn) but it was literally hottest day on record in NYC so sorry for not jumping on my laptop afterwards. No excuse...despite the heat the show was incredible (worthy of the shirt in my cugerock pic and decal on my Honda).

I actually ran into a few people at the thousand weddings I attended over the summer that commented on my lack of content. I was initially flattered that they followed Cugerock then very disappointed at myself for being MIA. Apologies.

I was/am going to come back with a post surrounding the many albums I've been listening to this summer (Joy Formidable, Cults, Washed Out etc) but had to take a brief moment and discuss Nada Surf.

So I got the three Nada Surf albums I own (Let Go, Lucky, The Weight Is a Gift) on shuffle "on the pod" and it got me thinking - "man these guys are good, I wonder if they're playing any upcoming shows....wait...didn't they have a new album come out last year?". So I got into work and checked their site. No shows in NYC in 2011...boo. Then I remembered that the album If I had a Hi-Fi came out in 2010 but I never listened to it. The next step there was to go to Pitchfork to see if they reviewed it. No....they didn't...but they did review Let's Go...and gave it a 3.8. I was mystified. Then I read the review.

Doooooouche. He obviously only knows Nada Surf from their 90s one MTV hit wonder Popular. He rips on song titles containing the chorus lyrics? Welcome to pop music asshole. You need to look at certain bands and their genres for what they are...in Nada Surfs case...its indie pop. Deal with it. I usually get angry when reviewers knock albums that I have an affinity for but in this case I was more confused and amused by his lack of rationale.

Let Go is a phenomenal album. Blizzard of '77 should be on every mix anyone's ever compiled. It's one of those records that immediately brings me back to a time and place....specifically to my days living in the East Village in my 20s. Its one of the top records in my collection and I forgot how good the other two albums are as well. Given these guys do live in NYC I guess I have a better appreciation of the lyrics (see also: Paper Boats) but the album is solid for any rock fan in any city. Yeah...there are a few misses on Let Go...mainly the song in French (and its nothing against the language..I'm a HUGE Stereolab fan) but all-in-all its a top notch effort. Psyched for future recordings/shows and will now think twice before referencing critics reviews.

Jaysus...I have Spotify...why don't I use it more or buck-up for the mobile app. Need to make some changes peeps. Fall is coming. Yes! No more sweat and bring on the sweatshirts!

Here's some Nada Surf videos. Enjoy.

David Indeed Comes To Life!!

If you haven't picked up the new Fucked-Up album David Comes To Life yet...please do so now. It is an epic masterpiece. A true step forward for these Canadian hardcore alums. I'm pumped to see these cats with Dinosaur Jr in NYC next week. I've seen them many times before but never in a venue this size (Terminal 5).

Lets see if Damian can muscle through the crowd and get up on the bar for this gig. Check out my prior F-ed up show reviews on Cugerock HERE and HERE

Also, here is some history on the band and the concept behind David Comes To Life. So fing good.

Weezer Covers Radiohead's "Paranoid Android"? (Scanners head explosion)

In my mind Weezer hasn't put anything good out since Pinkerton (Maladroit was ok) but this is pretty freakin rad...a pleasant surprise if you will. Enjoy.