2016 Year-End Mini Catch-Up Review: Bueno, Illuminate Your Room

Album Review

Back in September, I humped it up to Jersey City's Monty Hall to catch a Titus Andronicus tour kickoff show. The openers on that bill were Staten Island's Bueno. The room hadn't quite packed out yet when they played, but those of us that had gotten there early were treated to a great set of some very NYC-sounding post-punk / indie rock. And in that funny way that things always seem to work, I ran into Bueno frontman, Luke Chiaruttini, at the Lost Boy ? release show just two days later and got to tell him just how great I thought their set was.

Since then, I've been spending time with Buenuo's Illuminate Your Room, and I've been meaning to mention it. Just like the vibe I got from Bueno's Jersey City set, there's something about Illuminate Your Room that makes me think of the heavily-populated, fast-moving big city. Maybe it's the cool, matter-of-fact delivery of Chiaruttini. Maybe it's the occasional sax or the wonky guitars. There are definitely allusions to the style of New York icon Lou Reed (and many of those he influenced) throughout the record.

"I Got Your Back" and "Oh Lord I'm Confused" make for a standout one-two punch following instrumental opener "Rosebank 5:00AM (Intro)." "Eye on the Cards," with its jet-setting businessman-type narrator and 80s vibe, conjures images of Patrick Bateman in my mind. I'll probably listen to "Burn This Year" more than any other song during the closing weeks of 2016. "Babyface" is a short snapshot of outgrowing "the scene." The album sails out on the title track's billow of smoke.

Illuminate Your Room is one I've kept coming back to since that night back in September. I listen as I sit at CDMHQ thinking of bands I'd love to see play Asbury Park. I listen as I sit in traffic on the BQE heading up to Shea Stadium. I'm sure I'll keep listening for months and years to come.

Illuminate Your Room is out now on Babe City Records / Exploding In Sound Records.

Titus Andronicus Played Monty Hall with Bueno, 9/8/16

Rockers on the Road

I'm preparing to head up to Jersey City for the second time this week. I don't think that's happened since back in the days when I was living in Hoboken. For me, though, these were two can't-miss events. Today, I'll be spending the day with Sniffling Indie Kids and Mint 400 Records at the North Jersey Indie Rock Festival; and, on Thursday night, it was another evening with Titus Andronicus.

It was my first trip to WFMU's Monty Hall, and I got there in plenty of time despite having a little trouble deciphering the complex and confusing Jersey City parking signs. "I will be here for more than 2 hours, but it is after 5pm. Do I need a permit? Will I get towed? Hard to tell. That must be on purpose."

Anyway, I eventually made my way into the friendly, carpeted confines of Monty Hall and promptly found my friend, and yours, Ed The Punk. The space would be at capacity (a couple hundred); so, just before openers Bueno hit the stage, Ed and I strategically positioned ourselves up front.

Ed

The Staten Island five-piece play a combination of very New York sounding post punk and indie rock. Frontman, Luke Chiaruttini, delivers stream of consciousness lyrics while the band produce some satisfyingly off-kilter sounds led by guitarist Mikey Gagliardi's explorations. Their latest is called Illuminate Your Room and worth grabbing.

Bueno

Titus Andronicus came out to the small stage at around 10pm. Now a four-piece with Liam Betson (guitar), Chris Wilson (drums), and R.J. Gordon (bass) backing Patrick Stickles, the band led off with the "hits" going immediately into "No Future Part 3" ("You will always be a loser!"), "Titus Andronicus" ("Your life is over!") and "My Time Outside the Womb" in quick succession. Stickles appeared genuinely thrilled by the room and the crowd, and the show was a hugely positive, if extremely sweaty, affair.

During a break in the action, Stickles took time to shout me out from the stage, noting that I was right up front taking the "snapshots" that have made me "famous throughout the Tri-state Area." That was cool and much-appreciated. Whatever you may think of Titus Andronicus or Patrick Stickles, I've personally always found that -- from bringing friends' bands on tour to working the door at Shea Stadium to shouting out little vanity project websites during a tour kick-off show -- Stickles and the band keep it, as they say, real.

Titus Andronicus

The show proceeded on the early positive vibes. The crowd got rowdy but never really violent. I ended up on the bottom of a pile a couple of times, but young Ed was there to help me up; and I was having too much fun to worry about it.

Titus Andronicus closed the set on a double dose of Monitor epics: "The Battle of Hampton Roads" and their worldwide mega-hit "A More Perfect Union." They left the stage, destined for Horsham, PA; but the crowd managed to coax them out for one more. Stickles said he didn't really like doing encores. Rock star silliness. But he did think a short one would be appropriate, and so the band sent everyone home with their rendition of "Blitzkrieg Bop."

Titus Andronicus

I was soaked to the bone, my jeans weighed down by sweat and sliding down. But it was another night during which I enjoyed myself immensely. At no point, even as about a half-dozen bodies pinned me to the floor, did I say to myself, "Damn. I'm too old for this." And that is why I do this.

Titus Andronicus are currently on their "Rockers on the Road" North American tour, and I'll catch them for the first of two Brooklyn homecoming shows at Market Hotel on October 7th.

All the pics from the show are in the Flickr galleries and on the Facebook page.

TITUS ANDRONICUS “ROCKERS ON THE ROAD” TOUR DATES:

Sep 11 Richmond, VA – The Camel %
Sep 13 Durham, NC – The Pinhook %
Sep 14 Asheville, NC – The Mothlight %
Sep 15 Nashville, TN – The High Watt %
Sep 17 Birmingham, AL – Saturn %
Sep 18 New Orleans, LA – Gasa Gasa %
Sep 20 San Antonio, TX – Paper Tiger %
Sep 21 Austin, TX – Barracuda %
Sep 22 Dallas, TX – The Loft %
Sep 23 Norman, OK – Opolis %
Sep 24 Columbia, MO – Rose Music Hall %
Sep 25 Iowa City, IA – The Mill %
Sep 27 Madison, WI – High Noon Saloon %
Sep 28 Chicago, IL – Bottom Lounge %
Sep 29 Detroit, MI – El Club %
Sep 30 Toronto, ON – Lee's Palace %
Oct 4 Boston, MA – Brighton Music Hall ^
Oct 5 Portsmouth, NH – 3S Artspace ^
Oct 6 Rockville Center, NY – Cannon's Blackthorn ^
Oct 7 Brooklyn, NY – Market Hotel ^
Oct 8 Brooklyn, NY – Market Hotel ^
% - w/ A Giant Dog
^ - w/ Happiness