Sink Tapes Played Brighton Bar with The Skullers, 1/2/17. New Year, Same Me.

Sink Tapes

First!

Here's just a quick note to commemorate the first show I attended in 2017. Sink Tapes kicked off their latest tour with an early show at Brighton Bar in Long Branch last night. Joining them were the new power trio, The Skullers, fronted by former solo artist, Jack Skuller.

Jack Skuller

The Skullers played some blues-y rock. The songs that stood out most to me were a couple in the middle of the set that had a kind of surfy / spaghetti western vibe. This was one of the first sets for the band in its current form, and I think they'll have an eventful 2017.

The Skullers

Sink Tapes aren't the most talkative or interactive live band in the world, but they get up there and do their thing extremely well. I've said before that the band are so prolific, with a huge catalog of existing songs and new ones always in the pipeline, that they never play the same set twice. Last night was no exception, and the band have definitely evolved by spreading out the lead vocal responsibilities and exploring some more twangy, even countrified, sounds.

Sink Tapes

Sink Tapes

Sink Tapes

One of the best parts of last night? I was in my car headed home by about 9:45. Two good bands and in bed at a normal hour on a school night. Nice way to ease into what is going to be a big 2017.

All the pics from both sets are in the Flickr galleries.

Here are the dates for Sink Tapes' current tour.

High Waisted Played Brighton Bar with Teenage Halloween, Lunch Ladies, and Trans Charger Metropolis, 7/14/16

High Waisted

Party in the Back

Back in April, I wrote about my then obsession with High Waisted's On Ludlow. That really hasn't subsided. The album has been one of my goto records for late-night drives back from Asbury Park or Brooklyn, and it is just solid solid from front to back. I caught the second half of one of High Waisted's sets at South By Southwest; but, since then, the stars have never aligned so that I could see them again. On Thursday night, they finished up their recent tour at Long Branch's Brighton Bar and were even better than I could have expected.

It was an eclectic bill featuring the GBV-inspired rock and power pop of Trans Charger Metropolis, the shoegaze / dream pop of Lunch Ladies, and the heartfelt pop punk of Teenage Halloween in addition to the headliners. All of the openers turned in fine sets, Trans Charger Metropolis not showing any of the rust of an extended layoff and the two younger bands playing to an enthusiastic crowd of friends.

Trans Charger Metropolis

Lunch Ladies

Teenage Halloween

High Waisted played almost all of the songs from On Ludlow, including surf instrumentals "Shanghai Spy" and "Kitchen Safari." At the end of "Hey Hey," Emily from Dentist turned to me shaking her head and just said, "That is a great song." Singer Jessica Louise Dye made all of her demanding vocal parts seem easy -- even after a 3-week tour of singing night after night -- and she and guitarist Stephan Nielsen squeezed some of the most amazing tones out of their rigs. They closed with an aggressive cover of classic "Miserlou" that was just amazingly fantastic.

High Waisted

Pics of all the sets are in the Flickr galleries and on the Facebook page. High Waisted return home to New York tonight with a show at Knitting Factory Brooklyn that also features Total Slacker and Lionlimb.

Diarrhea Planet Were Back at Brighton Bar with Music Band, The Battery Electric, and Trans Charger Metropolis, 11/18/15

If You Build It

The first time I saw Diarrhea Planet at Brighton Bar (my second time seeing them in the area), I think there were maybe 8 people in the place not counting employees. It was a warm Tuesday night, and Gentleman Jim and I headed over from his old trivia night at Red Bank's Downtown. The band were all smiles about it, extremely gracious after the set, and looking forward to the next show at a basement in New Brunswick on Wednesday.

Since then, Diarrhea Planet have done what I wish more touring bands at their level would do. They've kept coming back. Two or three more shows at Asbury Lanes. A show back at Brighton with JEFF The Brotherhood, and Wednesday night's show. I'm going to say that there were maybe 100-150 people in the bar on Wednesday. A good chunk of them crowded in front of the stage for the Nashville band's set and sang along with even the new songs.

Music Band, Diarrhea Planet's Nashville paisanos, took advantage of the large-for-a-Wednesday crowd and did an impressive set of their un-Googlable garage / psych rock. Local openers Trans Charger Metropolis and The Battery Electric had a hand in upping the turnout, and both bands did what they do -- Trans Charger's Justin Normandy throwing in plenty of Pollard-eque leg kicks and Battery's Ron Santee coaxing the crowd closer and closer to the stage.

Diarrhea Planet were all-out with their orchestral guitar rock from the beginning of their set until the last strains of their cover of AC/DC's "Thunderstruck." The crowd went all-out right along with them, at one point hoisting frontman Jordan Smith over their heads for a little crowd surf. A couple of years ago that would have been an impossible move.

It's nice to see a band's work to build a following outside of their hometown and the big cities pay off. It can't be an easy thing, but it looks like Diarrhea Planet have built themselves a nice little midweek tour stop on the Jersey Shore.

Links to pics of all the sets are below.

Diarrhea Planet

Music Band

The Battery Electric

Trans Charger Metropolis

Lydia Loveless Played The Brighton Bar, 2/5/15 (PHOTOS)

I'm Blogging This

"Nobody's blogging this, right? There are no bloggers in Long Branch."

Well, Lydia, I wasn't blogging it right then, no.

I had to say something today, though. From my hidey-hole here in Not Long Branch.

I walked into The Brighton at the tail end of Jonathan Tea's set. As it turned out, Tea was the second of five opening acts. Five. No knock on any of the acts in particular (Nikki Sue and The Bad News even kind of blew me away), but five openers on a Thursday is a little nuts. By the time South Street Exile finished their set at around 11:15, I was ready for a nap.

Loveless and her band were set up and ready to go probably a little after 11:30. From the first strains of "Really Wanna See You" and "Wine Lips," I was wide awake. Belting her songs, pounding on her telecaster, straining with her eyes closed, Loveless is a rockstar -- a hilariously personable and foul-mouthed rockstar.

The moments before the set and between songs were riffs on anal sex, on "All About That Bass," on deeply personal acts between sexual partners that may or may not cause cancer. Loveless and the audience laughed together. Someone jokingly called her "Linda" from the crowd. She joked with her band in that way you do when you and your friends are sitting around drinking and one-upping each other with jokes and one-liners.

"That was a fucking great song," someone shouted from the back.

"Thanks."

At the end of the main set, Loveless dismissed the band to play some new material -- and a version of "How Many Women" -- solo. She joked about her lack of confidence as a guitar player, but finger-picked her way pretty well through the new material.

When she called the band back on stage, things took on kind of a free-form, all-request format.

"What should we play?"

Shouts from the crowd for early songs that Loveless and the band, for the most part, weren't ready to perform.

"Jesus Was a Wino!!!"

"Good Lord..."

We did get a version of "Paid" that guitarist Todd May managed his way through. Loveless and the band delivered a great version of "Steve Earle" -- "a song we never, ever perform." They closed with "Crazy," Loveless rolling and crawling around on stage before exiting through the crowd. I, honestly, think that they would've kept playing, taking requests until closing, if the sound man hadn't given them the old "one more song."

The show was everything that a show with a talent like Loveless should be in that setting. It was an intimate, personal, fun, and friendly exchange between the artist and the audience -- something that I don't think will be possible for much longer. Lydia Loveless is just too good. I think everyone who walked out into the 15-degree weather at 1:30 in the morning knew they'd all shared something special. I hope so, anyway.

Photos of Sink Tapes, Grand Mariner at The Brighton Bar, 1/5/15

Love the Early Monday Show

Following the release of their latest single, "Blow Me a Kiss," New Brunswick's Sink Tapes started a short, East Coast tour last night at The Brighton Bar. They had help from Grand Mariner, Moth Puppy, and Agumon. Swim carpooling commitments had me walking in the door just as Moth Puppy was finishing her solo acoustic set.

I managed to catch full sets from Howell's Grand Mariner and Sink Tapes. This was the second time I'd gotten to see Grand Mariner, and their surf / garage / psych rock once again caught my attention. I picked up what ended up being the last cassette of their Happy to Birth release. After many failed attempts, last night ended up being my first chance to catch Sink Tapes live. Once I threw caution to the wind and removed my earplugs, I started hearing the sounds that drew me to the band in the first place.

Things were done nice and early at around 9:35. That gave me time to chat a bit with Frank Defranco, one of the founders of Sink Tapes' current label, Sniffling Indie Kids. I could tell that what they're doing there is a labor of love, and I wish them luck.

Here are some shots from last night. You can see the full set at Flickr.

Candy Hearts Kicked Off Their Headlining Tour at The Brighton Bar, 9/25/14 (PHOTOS)

Sweet Thursday

Candy Hearts brought their catchy and sweet pop-punk confections to Long Branch last night as they kicked off their short headlining tour. I was listening to their Chad Gilbert-produced All The Ways You Let Me Down before I headed out, and both cooldaughters perked up their ears and enjoyed what they were hearing. I heard some subtle hints of country running through the hooks, and the themes of relationships and breakups definitely give things a Taylor Swift meets New Found Glory vibe. I may not be the target demographic, but I can recognize solid pop songcraft when I hear it.

The band translated those sounds well to the live setting of The Brighton Bar. It was an early Thursday night set, and the crowd wasn't necessarily as energetic as the music. Frontwoman and Ramsey, NJ native, Mariel Loveland, gave it her all, though, bouncing around the stage throughout the set. The whole band, really, appeared to be having a great time as they perspired under the orange glow of The Brighton's lights.

Here are some highlights from Candy Hearts' set. Click on the "Galleries" tab to see the rest. Pics of the other bands -- Paper Streets, Gin War, and Back and Forth -- coming later.

I Saw The Shock Mommies Re-reunion

And I Can't Unsee It

The Shock Mommies played their first show in nine years -- and their last show ever -- on Saturday night at The Brighton Bar. This was one of those times that I went purely as a spectator. No notes. No pics. I was just there to enjoy myself.

Oh. I enjoyed myself. I especially enjoyed all the free snacks.

You're all in luck, though, as some very intrepid individuals took pains to document the night's proceedings. Below is some video of two of the best moments from Saturday's show, including retching and, I'm pretty sure, some carbon monoxide poisoning.

Who knows? Maybe The Shock Mommies will find it in themselves to do another one of these nine years from now. If that doesn't happen, though, we'll always have the video. Because, as we all know, stuff on the Internet follows you forever.