Albums from Grace Vonderkuhn and Karen Mansfield

Grace Vonderkuhn at The Saint

Delayed Reactions

Admittedly, I've had a hard time lately putting too many thoughts down here. I'm not sure why. It's not like I have a shortage of inspiration. I guess, like with anything, there are ups and downs with running a website.

Anyway.

I did want to share a couple of things with you (Well, more than a couple actually; but let's start with these).

Grace Vonderkuhn, Reveries

On February 22nd, we hosted Grace Vonderkuhn at The Saint. It was the night before Reveries came out. The weather was terrible. Grace and the band drove up from Delaware right after work for a weeknight show. They pulled up to The Saint at about 8:05 pm and were set up and ready to play at about 8:35. It was nuts. They were great. Over the course of a hectic and shortened set, Grace Vonderkuhn won over the whole room. After the show, I became the first person to officially purchase Reveries. The album falls somewhere at the sweet intersection of psych rock, garage rock, and power pop.

"Livin' in a Dream, Pt. 1" starts things off with some lively guitar before things turn doomy as Vonderkuhn sneers, "Life is good... When you got no self-esteem... and you're livin' in a dream." On "Worry," Grace Vonderkuhn's pop sensibilities start to shine through along with a theme. "It's not that serious / It's all in your head." Questioning your own mental health, feeling isolated from others who don't understand.

"Crazy All the Time" is a, mostly, stomping rocker that kicks into a soaring chorus. Standout "Cellophane" deals with the invisible barriers we put up between ourselves and the rest of the world. "There is no pain when you're wrapped in cellophane." "Bad Habits" has moments of frantic garage rock.

The songs on Reveries hang together so well thematically that they could form a concept album. Grace Vonderkuhn does an excellent job of delivering some intensely personal songs through sometimes noisy, sometimes spacey, sometimes melodic, but always meticulously-arranged garage pop.

Reveries is out now on Egghunt Records. Grace Vonderkuhn plays Brooklyn's Our Wicked Lady on Saturday, March 31st, with Darkwing, Grem Smiley, and Cold Beaches.

Karen Mansfield, Thistle & Boon

Asbury Park singer / songwriter Karen Mansfield released Thistle & Boon digitally to fans at the end of last year. Mansfield has been a mainstay of the Asbury Park music scene and took on the task of self-releasing Thistle & Boon, financing the project through a successful crowd-funding effort on PledgeMusic. Mansfield worked with legendary producer Steve Greenwell on the record and enlisted the help of a band that includes Jimmy Farkas, Aaron Comess, Jack Daley, Emily Grove, Jay Shephard, Billy Siegal, and Michael Sullivan. The result is an album that showcases Mansfield's range as a songwriter and as a performer.

There's the late-night drive, Neko Case-like darkness (and that's not a comparison I make lightly) of "Lover for the Ride," "There Was a Girl," and "Gone." There's the soft beauty of "The West Side" and "Break Away." The latter, a piano-centric ballad, has a real classic Asbury Park feel about it. There are also rockers like "Ain't Half Bad" and "Don't Do." Mansfield is able to give her vocals whatever personality is just right for the song while maintaining her own distinctive soulfulness throughout.

The songs here deal with experience, lost innocence, growth, change, and memory. All of the things that shape us as people.

Thistle & Boon is available now. Karen Mansfield plays the Makin Waves 30th Anniversary Party on Saturday, March 31st, at Wonder Bar. Mansfield also has a release party scheduled for Thistle & Boon on April 6th at Asbury Park Yacht Club.

Holly Miranda Played The Saint w/ Karen Mansfield and Dan Waszay, 6/10/15 (PHOTOS)

Holly Miranda

Asbury Cafe

I toyed with the idea of staying in last night. I'll be headed up to Brooklyn for the next two evenings at least, which means I won't be getting much sleep. The Saint, though, had an intriguing show headlined by Detroit, MI singer / songwriter Holly Miranda. Karen Mansfield and Dan Waszay were also on the bill; so, as I always do, I chose the show over an early night.

The Saint had been decked out with seats for one of their Asbury Cafe evenings. Sitting at the bar, I had a chance to talk with the warm and gracious Ms. Miranda; and, at one point, she mentioned that she played bass in Scarlett Johannsson's Go-Gos-inspired band. I'd remembered hearing something about that before.

Conversations pretty much stopped when Karen Mansfield took the stage. Mansfield had everyone in the small crowd introduce themselves, which was cool. She interspersed her songs with stories, letting us know her inspirations, and delivered everything in her sweetly beautiful voice.

Holly Miranda took the stage at around 9:30. She didn't go acoustic, instead opting for a telecaster and an electric piano. From her first song, all I could think -- and this is meant as no slight to Scarlett Johansson who's as charismatic as they come -- was, "How can this person not front any band that she's in?" Miranda has an amazingly touching voice and engaged the crowd throughout her set.

"Are you guys alive?" she asked at one point, heading over to the piano. "I think I got a few slow claps from people."

*slow clap*

The crowd laughed along with her, and I detected an uptick in enthusiasm from that point.

For "Pelican Rapids" from her latest, self-titled release, Miranda looped backing vocals, a chord progression, and an E-bow for a pretty mesmerizing solo rendition. She closed with current single "All I Want Is to Be Your Girl."

Dan Waszay took the late set. He wore a cowboy hat that he said he found in The Saint's back room. His set mixed originals like "100 mph" and "River" from his self-titled CD with covers by Depeche Mode, Dum Dum Girls, and Elliot Smith. He also used the looper to pretty cool effect on a couple of songs.

I drove home listening to Waszay's CD, and something about it is perfect for late-night solo drives when there's nobody else on the road.

So glad I didn't punk out on this one.

Here are some photo highlights of all three sets. As always, full sets are in the Flickr galleries.

I feel like I need a nap.