Screaming Females Played Industry City in Brooklyn with Swearin', 6/28/19

Screaming Females by Rose Lamela

Out of the Cave and into the Summer Breeze

Words and Pictures by Rose Lamela

It had been too long since I'd been to a show. I knew the amount of excuses I'd been making would have to eventually come to an end. I haven't even been listening to music lately which is rare for me. I've been in this self-reflective space where the mundane and quietness of my apartment is all I crave. Even being well into the summer, my favorite season, I was not very inspired to feel the hot sun in my face. The Screaming Females show was approaching, and I could hear that voice in my head telling me to get over it and head out to Brooklyn. Little did I know that Industry City's music venue is outside, and nothing beats a show on a hot summer night.

I headed out to Brooklyn with my windows down and my music blaring. It felt free and familiar. When I parked the car, I went for a nice 20 min walk to go find some coffee. I started to feel like myself again. Even though summer has a bittersweet feeling these days, I wanted to change that. I found myself saying that, no matter what happens, it's going to be OK. I mean when you find good parking in Brooklyn, it's always going to be OK.

I entered the maze of Industry City -- maze of cool shops and eateries full of the hip Brooklyn scene. When I saw where the stage was, I felt like a child finding the raddest playground. There was a nice breeze and some familiar faces. I have been to so many Screaming Females shows that it feels like seeing family every time I go. There was a sweet spot in the front, and I had some good company. A friend decided to come along, and I was hoping she would be blown away by the speed and craziness of Marissa's riffs. Is it possible not to be?

It was nice to see Swearin' open up the show. I had seen them live before, but they were right on Friday night. I'm a big fan of Allison Crutchfield's vocals and the sound of the band's distorted angst. I have become familiar with their music as I have browsed their tunes a few times on Spotify. They played "Grow into a Ghost" which is one of my favorites. Allison also told the crowd about how it was nostalgic for them to play with Mike, Jarett, and Marissa again. I am always very intrigued about the friendships these bands build on the road together. It's a world that I find intriguing as I watch from the outside, or from behind a lens.

Swearin'

Swearin'

Swearin'

Swearin'

Swearin'

There was a brief moment before Screaming Females came on where the breeze picked up. I know I can be melodramatic about these things, but the summer all of a sudden felt like it officially arrived. Music was filling my stubborn void, and I was hoping to hear the energy this trio brings to the amps above my head.They have yet to disappoint, and it's always a gift to hear them play a tune you have not heard live yet. "Step Outside" was that gem. They jammed out quite a bit which was ironic as I was having a conversation earlier in the night about someone labeling them a jam band. I mean they rock pretty hard to be in that category, but if that is what someone wants to label them, then I guess I'm into jam bands now.

Screaming Females

Screaming Females

Screaming Females

I'm always happy to hear "Ripe" as that is my goto song some mornings when the coffee is just not cutting it. Getting to also hear "Triumph" and "Criminal Image" was much needed as Rose Mountain will always be my favorite album. They came out for an encore and played "I'll Make You Sorry" which is growing on me. Every time I hear it live I get closer to the lyrics. It does not matter what is happening in the universe, the drive of their music will keep me present and spark up my subtle desire to do my awkward air guitaring that I always hope no one notices.

Screaming Females

Screaming Females

Screaming Females

We left BK and headed to America's best diner according to some foodie publications. It was an ideal summer Friday night. Good company, great music, and some waffle fries before bed is all anyone needs. The summer is here, and it's time to feel the sun on my face, the breeze in my in my hair, music in my ears, a lens to view life through, and good parking. I'm back in the game and ready to hear the noise.

Check out the rest of the pics from the evening over at Flickr.

Hinds Played Warsaw with QTY and Sharkmuffin, 5/10/18

Hinds

Me Divertí

The first time I ever met Tarra Thiessen and Natalie Kirch of Sharkmuffin was back at Northside Festival in 2014. I took some really terrible pictures of them at Bar Matchless and had a brief conversation with Tarra who handed me a download card for some of their music.

As I walked past the location of Bar Matchless on my way to Warsaw last night, I noticed that the place had been shut down. The old, corner bar was boarded up; and graffiti covered the walls. Kind of sad. But, also, kind of a reminder of how far Sharkmuffin have come since that night in the tomblike performance space at Matchless. I was heading to Warsaw to see them open a sold-out show for Spanish garage quartet, Hinds.

I'd only ever shot at Warsaw in the past as press for Northside or CMJ. I don't know if that conferred any special rights upon me or if the place has just changed their photo policy since then; but the rules for the evening were the typical "3 songs and out" for the openers and then, curiously, "wait 45 minutes BEFORE shooting Hinds." OK. I'm nothing if not a rule follower.

The cavernous space had started to fill in as Sharkmuffin took the stage; and, bang-bang-bang, three songs were over before I even really had a chance to get my bearings. I filed out of the photo pit with the rest of the photographers and took in the rest of Sharkmuffin's set from the crowd. They made the most of their 30 minutes, Tarra's voice ricocheting around the huge space on favorites of mine like "Fun Stuff" and "I Called You from the Moon."

Sharkmuffin's Tarra Thiessen

New York's QTY were up next. Rose Lamela shot their set when they opened for Cults at Monty Hall a few weeks ago, but I'd never heard or seen them before. Rose failed to mention to me what a good band QTY are. Co-fronted by singers / guitarists Dan Lardner and Alex Niemetz, QTY play a style of rock that owes as much to Stephen Malkmus as it does to The Strokes. Definitely in my wheelhouse, and I've been listening to their self-titled debut all morning.

QTY

Speaking of bands who have come a long way, I first saw Hinds in 2016 at South By Southwest. I caught them playing something like a 12 noon set at Frank, a bar / restaurant that serves artisanal hot dogs. There were maybe 50 people there; and, when the set was over, the women of Hinds set out to play several more shows that day. Throughout the week, I would run into them on the street rolling amps and dragging gear from venue to venue. Last night, they sold out an 800-person room in Brooklyn and played to a crowd that knew just about every, single one of their lyrics.

Hinds

Both of Hinds's albums -- 2016's Leave Me Alone and this year's I Don't Run -- are charmingly lo-fi and ramshackle. They sound like they're being piped out of one of those little toy, plastic guitar amps made by Danelectro. In a good way. Singers / guitarists Carlotta Cosials and Ana Perrote trade accented vocals that can veer between whispers and wild screams in an instant.

Hinds

The songs sound sunny and fun, but many of the lyrics deal with the downsides of relationships. I Don't Run is both lyrically and sonically more mature than its predecessor; but it still has that lo-fi vibe. Interestingly, while the lo-fi sound is there during the band's live performance; Hinds -- who also include Ade Martín on bass and Amber Grimbergen on drums -- are about as tight and polished in their delivery as any band I'd describe as "ramshackle" has a right to be. Songs like "The Club" and "New For You" from the latest record and relative oldies like "Bamboo" sounded fantastic while retaining everything that makes Hinds Hinds.

The other thing that makes Hinds Hinds is an exuberance on stage that infects the whole crowd. When 45 minutes were up and photographers were allowed into the pit, it became apparent why the band wanted us to wait. QTY took over guitar duties from Cosials and Perrote for the band's cover of "Davey Crockett;" and the pair climbed onto the barricade and tossed themselves into the crowd. They surfed around in a crazy scrum until making their way back to the stage. Security hustled us out again as the band closed things out with "New For You" and "San Diego." They sprayed the crowd with Champagne and lingered, dancing as the house music came up.

Hinds

For various reasons, I've been struggling with inspiration here at the site. Last night was cool, though. Seeing how far a couple of bands I've followed for a few years have come gave me some perspective on how much water has gone under the bridge here. Being inspired by a new (to me) band made me see that there's still plenty out there to get excited about. And, simply, Hinds never fail to put a smile on my face.

I had fun.

Pics are on the Facebook page and in the Flickr galleries.

PHOTOS: Screaming Females Played Market Hotel w/ Thou and HIRS, 4/6/18

Photos By Rose Lamela

Contributor Rose Lamela (@rosi_music79) headed to Brooklyn's Market Hotel this past Friday to catch Screaming Females. They're, obviously, a favorite around here; and I'm pretty bummed that I keep having to miss their shows (even though Japan is awesome). Thankfully, Rose got some great shots of not only Screaming Females, but also Thou and HIRS.

Rose had this to say via Instagram:

"This is one of the most amazing bands to see live. I absolutely love photographing them. They bring an energy to their performances that can only be understood if you are there with them and giving them your ears. I am honored to have discovered them even though it was only just a year ago. It's also amazing to find out that Marissa and Mike grew up in the same neighborhood that I did and graduated from Roselle Catholic!!! Maybe one day they will end up getting a page in The Lion."

Check out some of the shots here, and head over to Rose's Flickr for the full sets.

Screaming Females

Thou

HIRS

Titus Andronicus Played Market Hotel with Winstons and Dinowalrus, 12/14/17

The Best Laid Plans

Yesterday -- Friday -- was a lost day. I got home from Brooklyn at about 2:15am and then had to take CoolDaughter #1 to her swim meet up at Rutgers for a 7:15am warm-up. Even though I don't drink anymore, I still feel a hangover of sorts from late nights and getting only three hours of sleep. I took the rest of Friday after the meet to let my old bones recover. That doesn't mean, though, that I regret my decision to head up to Brooklyn to catch the only headlining set of 2017 from Titus Andronicus. It was totally worth it.

The last time I'd been to Market Hotel was for The Thermals back in 2016. I had tickets for the last Titus Andronicus show scheduled there, but the place ended up getting shut down over some liquor license stuff I think. That show got moved to Manhattan and pushed a little earlier, so I had to miss it.

Market Hotel re-opened back in November; and their solution (for now, anyway) on the beer front is to have a tasting room for Bronx Brewery set up in a separate, little chamber attached to the performance space. The main bar carries only soft drinks, including a wide variety of flavored seltzers, a thing I wish more bars would do. It was pretty funny watching folks walk around the venue with three-ounce tastes of beer.

During my first and only experience at Market Hotel, I noticed that the space was pretty dark. I've been kind of down on fighting for space and standing for the whole show in order to take pictures lately; so I decided to stick the point and shoot in my pocket, not to worry about where I stood, and to make this a non-work night. I got up to Brooklyn by about 8:30 and parked right in front of the venue.

Dinowalrus went on right after 9pm. I hadn't seen them since they played The Saint a summer or two ago. I liked their whole take on post-punk, shoegaze, dream pop, whatever back then; and I enjoyed their set on Thursday as well. Winstons were next. I caught them last when they opened for Twin Peaks at The Stone Pony. They're a two-piece that play blues / garage rock. Drummer Ben Brock Wilkes is one of the most fun drummers to watch live. There really wasn't much trouble standing up front for either set; and I thought about how I really, really don't like watching shows over a sea of heads from the rear of the venue. I kinda just stayed there for Titus Andronicus.

Dinowalrus

Winstons

That got kind of wild. Titus Andronicus opened with just Patrick Stickles and keyboardist Alex Molini on stage for "Upon Viewing Oregon's Landscape with the Flood of Detritus." It's a song I've thought about a lot in the last several months, especially with its reference to drivers' frustrations at being delayed by a fatal car accident. Whenever I've been stuck in traffic caused by a crash lately, I've been making an effort to be empathetic.

Anyway.

Patrick Stickles

From there, the band went into "Fatal Flaw" from The Most Lamentable Tragedy. The crowd went nuts, heaving behind me for, pretty much, the rest of the set. Clearly, some people had either had a bunch of three-ounce beers or planned ahead. I just went with it. It would have been useless to have my camera in that scrum after all.

Down in it

18 songs from the entire Titus Andronicus catalog, about an hour and forty-five minutes. There was the great run from TMLT of "Mr. E. Mann" / "Fired Up" / "Dimed Out" and the quieter interlude of "No Future Part V: In Endless Dreaming" / "Stable Boy." They closed the set with The Monitor favorites "Four Score and Seven" and "A More Perfect Union," finishing with a cover of Bruce Springsteen's "Glory Days."

Patrick Stickles gave the site and me a little shout-out from the stage, which always feels good; and, even though my feet hurt and I probably have a few bruises on my back, I had a blast being the oldest person by about 15 years who braved the front row. I couldn't help laughing at myself a little. After all my talk about taking it easy and just standing in the back, there I was getting pummeled all night just so I'd have a good view of the band. I'll eventually be "too old for this shit," I guess; but, for now anyway, I can still take it.

Bully Played Music Hall of Williamsburg with Aye Nako, 11/13/17

Bully

Mondayin'

I took it kind of easy last week show-wise. CoolMom had a business trip to DC during the first part of the week. Getting up and out to do anything has been kind of a chore for me lately; and, when the temps dropped this weekend, it sapped most of my resolve. I did get to spend some time with CoolMom following her return. We hung out and caught up on some TV shows which is one of our favorite ways to spend time.

Anyway...

By Monday, I was feeling like I should force myself to get out and "cover" something. I scrolled through the "Discover" section on Facebook and, after a while, came across the Bully / Aye Nako show at Music Hall of Williamsburg that I remembered I'd been really interested in when it first came across my feed. "Not sold out. Done."

I've had Bully's Losing in HEAVY rotation since it came out about three weeks ago. And 2015's Feels Like (along with the Bully EP) is one of my goto albums for late-night drives home from Asbury or Brooklyn. Despite my Bully fandom, I'd never managed to catch them live. The fact that Aye Nako, a band I'd already seen live a couple of times and who put out a great album of their own with this year's Silver Haze, were also on the bill made the whole thing that much more of a no-brainer.

Aye Nako

I got to Music Hall of Williamsburg super-unfashionably early. I figured I'd just zone out with my phone up against the stage until the music started, but then Ed from You Don't Know Jersey showed up. We talked a little blogger inside baseball until Aye Nako came on at about 9.

The last two times I'd seen Aye Nako were in the cavernous Asbury Park Convention Hall and in a dark, red-lit space down in Austin. Jade Payne and Mars Dixon traded off on lead vocal duties throughout last night's set; and, without a doubt, Aye Nako sounded as good as I've ever heard them. Loud, sometimes discordant, but still kind of poppy, Aye Nako's 90s-inspired rock pairs well with Bully. And damn if "Particle Mace" isn't just as great live as it is on Silver Haze.

Aye Nako

Bully came out at about 10 and did a roughly one-hour set that hit just about everything in their two-album catalog. Bully driving force, Alicia Bognanno, sometimes sings in a scream so forceful, it's hard to understand how she's able to speak afterwards. But, then, there she is speaking to the audience as if none of that ever happened.

Bully

Bully

For singles like "Trying" and "Feel the Same," audience members rushed up to the stage to sing along about a foot or so from Bognanno who seemed to enjoy it. At the end of both the main set and the encore, Bognanno slammed her guitar down on the stage with a forcefulness that made me wince a little bit, even breaking a string the first time. I have to admit, though, I'm a sucker for rock theatrics; and it was pretty cool.

Bully

It was also pretty cool that I forced myself to head out. Yeah, it's a long drive to Brooklyn; and, yeah, finding parking in Williamsburg kinda sucks. Seeing Bully live, though, has been on my list for a while now; and it all ended up being more than worth it.

Bully

Part of the reason I get there so early is to take pictures. All of those are available in the Flickr galleries and on the Facebook page.

Bully and Aye Nako bring their tour to DC's U Street Music Hall tonight, 11/15. And I've got my fingers crossed that I'll be able to catch them again down in Austin at SXSW.

Fruit & Flowers Played Baby's All Right with Surf Rock Is Dead and Sic Tic, 6/29/17. Show Recap and EP Review.

Fruit & Flowers

Drug Tax

On Thursday night, I wormed my way into the Dickmans' car for another trip into Brooklyn. This time, we were heading to Baby's All Right to celebrate the release of Drug Tax, the Little Dickman debut for Fruit & Flowers.

I have to go back and check the stats, but it seems like either Fruit & Flowers or Sharkmuffin are the non-Jersey band I've seen the most live. Over the last year-and-a-half or so of live shows, I've become a huge Fruit & Flowers fan. The band combine surf, punk, and dream pop into a sort of retro / otherworldly vibe that can be, at times, either cool and precise or frantic and wild. Drug Tax collects songs that I've come to love in their live versions and gives them a full, studio treatment.

[...This will be the part where I talk about the EP.]

Things start surfy and poppy with "Out of Touch." There's a contrast between the darkness of the intertwining vocals of Caroline Yoder (bass), Lyzi Wakefield (guitar), and Ana Becker (guitar) and Becker's sprightly y leads. Then, it's right into the highly-moshable "Subway Surfer." The bass and Jose Berrío's drums chug methodically; and the harmonies are spot-on. But the song repeatedly builds tension before bursting into moments of abandon. Fruit & Flowers combine 80s post-punk and 60s psychedelia for "Dark Surf," which opens with a haunting guitar intro and features more hypnotic vocal harmonies.

The title track is one of my favorite songs -- maybe ever. It captures everything that's great about Fruit & Flowers -- the hints of surf and post-punk, the wall of beautiful sound created by all three vocalists, the incredibly tight rhythm section, Becker's guitar, the building tension, the "HEY!"s.

Fruit & Flowers are the complete package. They're unique yet accessible. They just released one of the best records of the year, and the EP even looks great with artwork by Jose Berrío. Fruit & Flowers also happen to be a great live act.

Fruit & Flowers' Jose Berrío

The show on Thursday at Baby's All Right bore that out.

[...This will be the part where I talk a little bit about the show.]

Sic Tic and Surf Rock Is Dead joined Fruit & Flowers. It was a great bill, and there was enthusiastic support for both bands. Surf Rock Is Dead absolutely blew me away and landed a spot on my regular, personal playlist.

Sic Tic

Surf Rock Is Dead

The night, though, belonged to Fruit & Flowers. The band sparkled -- literally. They all wore something shiny or sequined. During fast-paced songs like "Subway Surfer" or -- another Drug Tax track -- "Pick Fairy," the crowd thrashed and bounced along with the band. At one point, singer / bassist, Caroline Yoder, surfed the crowd. By the end of the night, members of Brooklyn's Ex-Girlfriends and other members of the audience had joined the band onstage for a cover of The Zombies' "She's Not There."

Fruit & Flowers

Fruit & Flowers' Lyzi Wakefield

Fruit & Flowers & Friends

It was a triumphant evening for a band who, I really believe, are destined for big things.

Drug Tax is out now via Little Dickman Records.

Pics from Thursday night will be up in the Flickr galleries or on the Facebook page.