New Vids from High Waisted, The Red Room

High Waisted announced a new single and album.

Coupla Videos for Your Valentine

The Red Room, "Joke in Utopia"

NJ four-piece, The Red Room, have been out there working hard for the last little while now. Their name comes up in the weekly listings post here just about every weekend. They recently put together shows with Spookey Ruben, and they opened for Richard Lloyd of Television just last month. We even had them on one of our shows back in the spring.

At the end of last year, the band released their debut album, Mind Razor. The record showcases The Red Room's combination of 90s grunge and heavy psych rock. Last week The Red Room released a video for Mind Razor single, "Joke in Utopia." Shot at Atlantic Highlands Art Council by Kris Khunachuk, the clip is a performance video augmented by some psychedelic visuals.

The Red Room are at Brighton Bar in Long Branch this Sunday, February 16th; and Mind Razor is available now. Give the guys a follow on Facebook to keep up with their steady stream of live dates.



High Waisted, "Boys Can't Dance"

NYC's High Waisted are a band who work hard and play hard -- or maybe it's more accurate to say that High Waisted are a band who work hard at making sure their audience plays hard. At any rate, encouraging people to let out their inner wild side has always been part of the High Waisted playbook. That ethos is on full display in the video for the band's latest single, "Boys Can't Dance."

Singer / guitarist Jessica Louise Dye says in a press release announcing the single, "There's nothing more freeing than getting lost in your favorite song and letting your body wiggle, shake and twist void of worry or insecurities in the middle of a crowded room. Everyone deserves to dance."

"Boys Can't Dance" ratchets up the energy of High Waisted's 60s-inspired garage surf, and the Zachary Wright-directed video does a great job of bringing that freeing feeling Dye was talking about to life.

"Boys Can't Dance" is the lead single from High Waisted's upcoming sophomore LP, Sick of Saying Sorry. Co-produced by The Hold Steady's Tad Kubler and Saves The Day's Arun Bali, the album is due on May 22nd.

High Waisted will be at Mercury Lounge in NYC next Saturday, February 22nd.

High Waisted Release Volume 4 of Acid Tapes Series. Playing Mercury Lounge TONIGHT, 10/18, to Celebrate.

Acid Tapes, Vol. 4

NYC's surf-inspired High Waisted have kept things DIY for five-plus years. From planning and executing five, separate "High Waisted at Sea" party cruises around Manhattan, to booking their own tours, to releasing several 7-inches and one of my favorite albums (2016's On Ludlow) of the last several years, High Waisted have maintained a work ethic to which other bands should aspire. The band work hard, but they also have a blast doing it.

One of the projects that has illustrated both High Waisted's evolution and their work / party attitude over those years is the ongoing Acid Tapes mixtape series. Earlier this week, the band released the fourth installment in a series that has seen them cover the likes of Otis Redding, Swinging Blue Jeans, Roy Orbison, The Ramones, and Parquet Courts along with some, maybe, more obvious choices like Dick Dale and Surfaris. Each mixtape has also included High Waisted originals making the series a nice glimpse into both the band's influences and what they're currently up to.

"Our recording process has come a long way from the first cassette," says front woman / singer / guitarist Jessica Louise Dye. "Acid Tape Vol. 1 was recorded while we were on acid, all in one go, in a haunted house in Nashville. A buddy of ours threw a room mic over the chandelier and ran it through the tape deck and away we went.

"Now, the recording process is more deliberate, articulated and better executed. Vol 4 was recorded entirely in our new studio which [High Waisted drummer] Jono Bernstien and [former High Waisted guitarist] Stephen Nielsen built in Bedstuy. We're mixing digital and analog gear with vintage instruments and a little magic. I think this will be the dreamiest cassette to date."

Photo by Jono Bernstein, White Sands, NM.

Dye isn't wrong. On Volume 4, instrumental and spoken word interludes draw you in as if you're having a dream in which High Waisted are performing. Dye's vocals shine on The Zombies' "The Way I Feel Inside" as well as the band's own "Giving Up." The band put their own spin on the oft-covered "Whole Wide World" by Wreckless Eric, 10cc's "I'm Not in Love," and Kacey Musgraves's "High Horse." They lend their already Lynchian personality to "Laura Palmer's Theme."

"The hardest part of this project is narrowing down what songs we're going to choose," continues Dye. "Which is why I don't see this series ending anytime soon.

"The best part of this recording process is getting to dissect songs we love, throw everything we know about them away and rebuild something entirely new. It changes the gravitational pull in my creative mind, often spawning a big writing period of new High Waisted material as well."

Photo by Jono Bernstein

Photo by Jono Bernstein

All four High Waisted tracks here represent an evolution from the sounds of On Ludlow, leaning, perhaps, a little more heavily into the band's dream pop sensibilities than straight-up surf sounds.

Check out Acid Tapes, Vol. 4 over at Soundcloud.



High Waisted celebrate the release of Acid Tapes, Vol. 4 tonight, October 18th, at NYC's Mercury Lounge with Yella Belly and Songs for Sabotage. You should be able to grab a physical copy there. You can still get tix for the event here. If you can't make it, you can also order directly from High Waisted's website.

What's Been Going On?

Titus Andronicus at Rough Trade NYC

So, What Have I Been Up To?

I always kinda hate reading blog posts that are like, "Sorry. I know I haven't posted in a while." But, sorry...?

For a variety of reasons, I haven't been feeling the fire that I used to around here. Some of it is feeling the need to maintain some perspective about what's important in life. Some of it is probably just age. Some of it is wanting to spend more time with the coolfamily before the cooldaughters start to move on to the next big phases in their lives. Some of it is... ...well, I don't really know.

I felt a little surge of inspiration around Father's Day Weekend with shows from Sweet Spirit / High Waisted, William Tyler / Renee Maskin. Then, later that week, I got out to a great show with White Reaper, TWEN, and Dentist. It felt like I was getting back in the groove.

Sweet Spirit at Rough Trade NYC

High Waisted at Rough Trade NYC

William Tyler at The Saint

Renee Maskin at The Saint

Dentist at Wonder Bar

TWEN at Wonder Bar

White Reaper at Wonder Bar

The following weekend, I hit both local release shows with Titus Andronicus for An Obelisk. I got to watch and talk to my favorite band. I took a bunch of pretty cool pictures. But I never got around to saying anything about the shows. Same for the excellent Happy Mondays that week with Daddies, QWAM, and Shut Up.

Titus Andronicus at Rough Trade NYC

Titus Andronicus at Rough Trade NYC

Titus Andronicus at vintage Vinyl

QWAM at Wonder Bar

Shut Up at Wonder Bar

Daddies at Wonder Bar

As usual, though, our fantastic contributors, Henry and Rosi, kept the content coming with Henry's reviews and a truly in-depth interview with Chris Stamey and Rosi's coverage of Screaming Females and Swearin' at Brooklyn's Industry City. Tom Barrett also honored us with the opportunity to premiere his solo EP, Three Songs.

Screaming Females by Rose Lamela at Industry City

Swearin' by Rose Lamela at Industry City

This past weekend, CoolMom and I hit the heartwarming (and body-roasting) show with The RockNRoll Hi-Fives and Mulch (who we all know by now is Dentist, right?) at Asbury Park Yacht Club; and I made a last-minute decision to catch Potty Mouth and Colleen Green at Asbury Park Brewery on Sunday night. That was a good call. More pictures.

"Mulch" at APYC

The RockNRoll Hi-Fives at APYC

Potty Mouth at Asbury Park Brewery

Colleen Green at Asbury Park Brewery

I've also been listening to lots of stuff including new albums from Pip Blom, Mannequin Pussy, Rick Barry, and of course Titus Andronicus. Reviews haven't been coming as easily as they used to, but I plan on writing something about at least a couple of these.

Anyway...

What am I saying? I'm not sure, really. I've toyed with the idea of saying that, for all intents and purposes, I'm done here; but I don't think that's the right call. It's been fun spending more time at home with the coolfamily, riding my bike, and watching my Yankees / Mets games; but I also love taking and editing pictures. And almost nothing makes me happier than the feeling of being at a live performance for a band that I love. Every one of those shows I mentioned above elevated my frame of mind for, at least, a little while.

So, I guess, I'm going to keep doing whatever it is I've been doing here as best I can for a little while. I'll continue to share whatever Henry, Rosi, and whoever else want to provide. I'll tote my camera along to shows, and I'll do my best to help my friends find places to play their music. And I'll always be a place where artists can share their art if they want to continue to give me that opportunity.

I haven't been reading emails or messages as religiously as I used to, and I'm sorry for that; but that kind of stuff has taken kind of a backseat to things like driving the girls around or riding my bike by the beach.

Thanks for reading and thanks for sticking with me.

Oh! And don't forget to come out to The Saint on 7/29 for the show... ...No! THE THING!... ...I've been most excited about this summer. You might get to see my heart burst right out of my chest, and you'll have a blast.

Poster by Matt Hockenjos

In the meantime, you can follow me on Instagram at @cooldadmusic. All the pictures I take eventually show up in the Flickr account.

Peace.

Sweet Spirit, High Waisted, Spiral Heads, William Tyler, Renee Maskin, Father's Day, and a Wedding, 6/14 - 6/16, 2019

Sweet Spirit at Rough Trade NYC

Inspiration

So, here's how things have been going around here lately.

I had a great weekend. Spent Friday evening with CoolMom at a lovely wedding. On Saturday, I headed into Brooklyn to see Sweet Spirit, High Waisted, and Spiral Heads. Sunday was Father's Day, of course. CoolMom and the cooldaughters made it a great day full of hugs, gifts, and great food. That evening, I headed over to The Saint for the early show from Renee Maskin and William Tyler.

Throughout the weekend, I had some interactions that made me feel pretty good about the site. People mentioned how they'd like to see me keep on trucking here. I got compliments from several folks on my photographs, and I heard some pretty affirming and validating things about what I've been doing here for the last seven years.

Rejuvenated and inspired, I planned to write about all of that here yesterday. Then... ...I just didn't. That's how things have been going. Motivation -- even after a run of fantastic experiences -- has been tough. I'm working on it.

Anyway.

CoolMom and I headed out to New Hope on Friday night for a wedding. The weather was beautiful, and so was the ceremony. I'd had tickets for Sweet Spirit's Philly stop for a while, but I ended up handing those over to Chris Dickman while CoolMom and I celebrated with friends.

I did manage to hump it over to Rough Trade on Saturday for Sweet Spirit's Brooklyn show. I've mentioned it before, but there's just something about what Sabrina Ellis, Andrew Cashen, and their bands get across through their various projects that fills my heart with joy at every one of their live performances. Saturday was no different. Sweet Spirit is the poppier, more accessible maybe, offshoot of A Giant Dog; but all of the passion and abandon are still there. People around me bopped non-stop to new songs "Touch" and "Los Lonely Girls" as well as older tunes like "Pamela," "Rebel Rebel," "The Power," and "I Wanna Have You." Sweating and singing along with Sweet Spirit: I'll take it any chance I can get.

Sweet Spirit

Sweet Spirit

Sweet Spirit

I brought my little, crop sensor Sony and a few primes so that I could travel light. The lighting was  a little rough. It made me wish I'd brought one of the full frames. And there were moments when I got too wrapped up in things to snap pictures. I managed a few shots, though. Such a great band to shoot.

High Waisted were also on this bill; and I, honestly, can't remember the last time I caught one of their sets. On Ludlow remains one of my favorite records; and hearing "Party in the Back," "Trust," and "Shithead" again put a big smile on my face. That was helped by the fact that High Waisted always bring it during their live shows. Also nice was getting the chance to catch up over by the merch table.

High Waisted

High Waisted

Spiral Heads, the latest project of Simon O'Connor of Simon Doom, opened as the space was filling up. Jess Dye of High Waisted walked by just after Spiral Heads finished their set and echoed my own thoughts when she said to me, "Did you catch that last band? They fuckin' rocked."

Spiral Heads

Spiral Heads

After a really beautiful and lazy Father's Day spent out by the pool, I headed down to Asbury for the early show at The Saint featuring William Tyler and best bud, Renee Maskin. Whether it's with Lowlight or solo, every set from Renee is a unique and intimate experience. She lives in her songs; and, no matter how many times I hear them, they sound fresh and true.

Renee Maskin

Renee Maskin

William Tyler is a revelation. Tyler introduced most of his songs by relating what inspired them: solo drives through America's wide-open spaces, looking for life in the barren desert. And, as someone steeped in rock and pop, the idea to me that specific ideas could come across simply through the guitar, without lyrics, is a little foreign. But, damn, they do. The audience sat rapt and attentive; and, when I wasn't snapping a picture, I closed my eyes and let the sounds wash over me.

William Tyler

William Tyler

William Tyler

As I was leaving The Saint, I commented to a few friends that I'd had an "inspiring weekend." Inspiration hasn't come easily for me lately. That's not because the sources of inspiration have been fewer. I just think I've been less capable of responding to them than I have been in the past.

I managed to get all of the pictures from the weekend edited before going to bed on Sunday, and I woke up Monday with big plans to pump out some Real A+ Content ^TM. Then... well, we've been over this. Sweet Spirit, High Waisted, Renee Maskin, William Tyler, the coolfamily, and my friends all started to break through a bit this past weekend. Lots of cool stuff coming up in the next few weeks. Should be inspiring.

SXSW Day 6 w/ The Gloomies, Dentist, Lee Bains III & The Glory Fires, Fruit & Flowers, BOYTOY, Sharkmuffin, Kino Kimino, High Waisted, Honduras, A Giant Dog, and Roky Erickson, 3/17/18

A Giant Dog on the big stage.

Rock Or Die

Saturday was the big day of our "Rock Or Die V" showcase. Little Dickman Records, The Garden State Beard & Mustache Society, and I worked on it together; and we held the show at Valhalla Tavern right in the thick of it on 7th and Red River St. The line-up was chock full of friends and favorites with The Gloomies, Dentist, Lee Bains III & The Glory Fires, Fruit & Flowers, BOYTOY, Sharkmuffin, Kino Kimino, High Waisted, and Honduras. All of these bands were super-busy throughout the week, and it was great to be able to get them all for our show.

The Gloomies

Dentist

Lee Bains & Tim Kerr

As for the show, what can I say? With the amazing folks on stage and in the crowd, it was a beautiful day. The Gloomies won me over during their 11:30 time slot, their Southern California vibe a perfect start to the day. Dentist's Emily Bornemann took a pretty serious spill following one of the band's shows on the way down to SXSW, but she played all of Dentist's showcases -- including Saturday's -- like a trooper. Except for the Band-Aid on her chin, you would never have known she was injured. Lee Bains III & The Glory Fires played at around 1pm with all of the abandon and passion that you'd expect to see in a packed room on a Saturday night. High Waisted have a new line-up, and brought a rainbow of color to the darkened bar. As Honduras were finishing up their set, a group of us bounced along with the music while cheering CoolDaughter #1 on in her 200 yard breaststroke final as I livestreamed it on my phone. Everyone else was, without exaggeration, fantastic, ripping through 25-minute sets and leaving us all wanting more.

Fruit & Flowers

BOYTOY

Sharkmuffin

And this is the kind of stuff I live for. Lee Bains or Kim Talon (Kino Kimino) bringing their guitar down into the crowd to play a bit in the scrum. Tarra Thiessen asking us all "Are you still having FUN at SXSW??" during Sharkmuffin's "Fun Stuff." The crowd screaming for more from BOYTOY or Fruit & Flowers as the house music came up.

Kino Kimino

High Waisted

Honduras

Almost as important, the show ran on time; and everyone was able to get to their next gig. After packing up and loading out, a bunch of us -- the Dickmans, Matt Beardo, Joe Stalker, the guys from Dentist, and I -- headed over to the big, outdoor stage for A Giant Dog and Roky Erickson. The stage was set up in a vast green space next to Austin's Lady Bird Lake. The photo pit was huge, and that left a giant space between the audience and the main stage.

A Giant Dog

A Giant Dog

A Giant Dog played their set and were maaaaaybe slightly more subdued than they were at Hotel Vegas on Monday. They didn't censor themselves at all for the family audience, which was welcome (by me, anyway); and they owned the big stage.

This got me thinking, though. The show was such a stark contrast from the show we just threw at Valhalla and even from A Giant Dog's own set earlier in the week. I missed being thrown around by the crowd at Hotel Vegas as the dust flew up from the ground and as Sabrina Ellis or Andrew Cashen got right in my face. I missed the connection you feel with the band and the audience in those close quarters.

This is no knock on A Giant Dog. Their songs are more than strong enough to bridge much of the divide created by the big stage. And they deserve to be playing the biggest stages in the world. They are that good. But the contrast made me understand what it is I love about going to shows. It's the music, sure. But it's also the shared, communal experience of living those moments -- an experience that doesn't really happen for me when the band is several yards away and several feet above my head. (Aside: I realized that I'm not as comfortable shooting those kinds of shows either.)

Anyway.

Following A Giant Dog's set, we hiked around the grounds in search of some food. I hadn't eaten anything all day. We got back in time for the set by psych-rock pioneer, Roky Erickson. Both times I've seen him, the experience has reminded me of seeing Brian Wilson in recent years. Neither is the same as they were when they were younger (Who is?), but they are surrounded by a band that seems to know all of their idiosyncrasies. And the chance to hear classic songs ("Night of the Vampire," "Don't Shake Me Lucifer") performed by the person who created them is a chance I never like to miss.

Roky Erickson

There was a lot more stuff going on late into Saturday night and into the wee hours of Sunday morning, but I had walked / stood / bopped / bounced / taken pictures about as much as I could for the week. My flight was at noon the next day (Which, in SXSW time, might as well be 6am), so I went back to the hotel to pack and get some rest.

And so my third year at SXSW drew to a close. As I've said before, if I were better at this music website thing, I probably would have had a bunch of artist interviews or photoshoots or whatever; but I'm first and foremost a fan. I pretty much just went to shows and took it all in. There were bands I missed for one reason or another (A Place To Bury Strangers, METZ), and I had some pangs of FOMO as I watched the Instagram feeds of my friends who stayed through Sunday for the "hangover parties;" but this was my most rewarding year in Austin. By now you know that I'm all about shared experiences, and there's just something so cool about being away from home and sharing this experience with friends. I hope I can do it again next year.

I've got a ton of pictures to edit, so keep your eyes peeled for a few big photo blasts in the coming days. For the most part, though, it will be back to our regularly-scheduled programming.