New Stuff from Lyons, YJY, Fruit & Flowers. They All Play Asbury Park This Weekend.

Lyons just released their s/t debut EP.

Solid Weekend Coming Up

Gonna try and get right to this before we slide into CoolDaughter #1's big, frantic graduation day. Three of our faves around here released new stuff today and are playing Asbury Park this coming weekend, so yeah... Here goes.

Lyons,  Lyons

This Asbury Park five-piece just released their self-titled debut EP with In The Clouds Records, and it's a stunner. CoolDad Music has had Lyons on a show or two in the past, and I've always loved their surfy, dream poppy, post-punk.

On Lyons, singer / guitarist Amy Malkoff belts out swirling vocals as Sharon McDonaugh provides those chiming leads that I always love so much. The rhythm section of Jenny Vickers (drums) and Lisa English (bass) contribute to that post-punk vibe, and the added prominence given to Charleen Artese's keys on the recording is a major (and welcome) sonic component to several of the songs here.

Sounds range from the new-wavey darkness of "Wrapped Up" to the epic post-punk of "Midnight Drive" or "Walking the Line" to the melodramatic, retro-inspired "Cloudless Blue." It all adds up to a collection that picks, chooses, and re-assembles influences that I've always loved into something I've had on repeat all morning.

Lyons celebrate the release of Lyons, with a free show this evening at Anchor's Bend to close out the Asbury Park Night Bazaar that also features The Cold Seas and Holiday.



YJY, The Enduring YJY

I premiered this one here the other day, but I don't think I really gave it any kind of review.

This one's tough. YJY are another band who have been a big part of CoolDad Music over the last few years. Little Dickman Records and I had them at one of our Sundown at the Carousel shows, and they played the CoolDad Music Indie Pop Winter Formal a couple years back. In addition to that, I've become good friends with Steve Sachs, Dave Sachs, Ricky Lorenzo, and Tim Fitzpatrick; and it's sad to know that this is the band's first and last album.

They do go out on the top of their game with this one, though. In my conversation with singer / guitarist Steve Sachs earlier this week, he said he hoped that people would notice the band's progression in terms of songwriting and production; and it's not really something you could miss. From the very early strains of "Passport Photograph," the pains that YJY took in the studio become apparent.

While YJY experiment a bit more here, they do stick with their formula of producing infectious pop music. Steve Sachs turns his sometimes snarky vocal delivery to something more pleading on "Somebody Take My Phone;" and Ricky Lorenzo, who's often contributed some of the more shoegazey or noisy songs to the YJY catalog turns into a pop songsmith on "Loathe" with its "doo doo doos." Ricky and the band are back to something a little more manic with "Cold."

About two years ago, I shared YJY's first single, "Couch Surfin' USA," with you right here. For The Enduring YJY, the band have re-recorded the sing along crowd-pleaser which seems wholly appropriate for a farewell release. Give the people what they want, you know.

YJY simultaneously mark this release and the end of the band with a show at Asbury Park Music Foundation this Saturday, 6/17, with help from NGHTCRWLRS, Julian Fulton & The Zombie Gospel, Avery & The Man Devils, and Jeff Lane.

The Enduring YJY is out now via Sniffling Indie Kids.



Fruit & Flowers, "Subway Surfer"

Fruit & Flowers released a video for "Subway Surfer" off of their upcoming Little Dickman Records debut, Drug Tax, today. The song has been a favorite of mine from the band's live sets for a while. Lyzi Wakefield's bassline and the triple-shouted "HEYs!" always hit like huge, bold-faced exclamation points.

The video finds the band and their fans going wild at a live show, while it also shows Fruit & Flowers snaking their way through the subterranean world of the city they call home.

Fruit & Flowers play Sunnyvale in Brooklyn tonight to celebrate the video's release along with Kino Kimino, Good Tiny, and Big Bliss. Tomorrow they come down this way to play Bond St. Basement with GayGuy / StraightGuy and Plus Plus Minus.

Drug Tax comes out on June 30th.

New Single from Yawn Mower. EP Release Saturday, 3/11, at The Saint.

"Shed Is Old"

Yesterday, our good buds in Yawn Mower released the first single off of their upcoming EP, What's All This New Piss? "Shed Is Old" has been a set staple for the band for a little while now, and you may have grabbed a download of the song last month when Yawn Mower made it available for just 24 hours in order to raise funds for the ACLU.

"Shed Is Old" is a straight-up, noisy garage rocker that features a shout-along chorus and just the right amount of cowbell. The song closes out Yawn Mower's sophomore EP; and the band celebrate the release of What's All This New Piss? when they play The Saint on Saturday, March 11th.

That show is brought to you by Little Dickman Records; and it's part of Burger Records' Burger Revolution V, a worldwide series of shows all taking place on the same day. Also on that bill are gods, Lyons, Stained Glass, and Pamela Flores.

What's All This New Piss? will be available on CD, cassette (Cassanova Cassettes), and lathe-cut vinyl (In The Clouds Records); and you should be able to get it in some format at the release show.

New Stuff Friday with Shellshag, Yawn Mower, and Ba Babes

New Shellshag!

It Ain't Over

At the end of the year, with everyone dumping their TopBestFavorite lists on you, it's easy to miss some of the new stuff that comes along. This is just a little reminder that we've still got a little more than two weeks left in 2016, and there's still a chance to make this a great year. It's slim, I know; but these bands are here to help in any way they can.

Shellshag, "More Survival Tips from the Bay"

It's always great to get new music from one of your favorite bands. Shellshag's songs are often catchy and upbeat, even when they're about difficult subjects. "Hello My Name Is," the A-side on this three-song single is an example of that as Shell sings, "I got a little monkey on my back / Now the quicksand's up to my neck / Rescue me."

Shellshag recorded the title track for San Francisco's Streetopia, providing lyrics for music by Matty Luv and Aesop Decker who both get mentions in the song. Part of Shellshag's heart is always in the Bay Area, and that comes out in the song.

This was a nice, little, year-end surprise for me. "More Survival Tips from the Bay" is available now via Shellshag's Starcleaner Records.



Yawn Mower, Yawn Mower Ruins Christmas

Just today, our buds in Yawn Mower released this 5-song Christmas EP. Every band needs a Christmas record, right? Here, we get Yawn Mower's take on classics like "Frosty the Snowman" and "Silent Night." That means noisy, fuzzy versions of some of your favorites; and you get an Asbury-born version of "Santa Claus Is Coming to Town" that isn't the mind-numbingly ubiquitous version you hear every year. That alone makes this one worth it.

Yawn Mower Ruins Christmas is available as a Name Your Price download over at Yawn Mower's Bandcamp page or as a limited-edition 7" lathe-cut vinyl from In The Clouds Records.



Ba Babes, "Dareo Days / Come Back Home (With Me)"

Toms River garage rockers, Ba Babes, have done a few dates recently featuring their original two-piece lineup of James Reilly and Michael Walsh. As sort of a commemoration of that, I guess, the band released for the first time two songs recorded back in 2011.

Recorded by Nicky G at The Byrdhouse in Toms River with help from Biff Swenson (currently of some band called Yawn Mower), both tracks are fast, frantic, lo-fi garage rock. They're the kind of thing to which you want to be bouncing wildly as you spill beer all over anyone within a few feet of you. Both Nick and Biff have also played in various incarnations of Ba Babes over the years; and, whatever the future holds for the band, this release is a nice little record of a moment in their history.

The tracks are available as a Name Your Price download or as a very limited lathe-cut vinyl over at Ba Babes' Bandcamp page. Ba Babes original, two-piece lineup plays Deck The Hall 4 in Asbury Park's Convention Hall this Saturday, 12/17.