This Sunday, February 16th, The Wonder Bar in Asbury Park plays host to "Give Love: A Benefit Show for Australia." The all-day event starts at 2pm and goes into the night. Bands slated to perform are The Cold Seas, Lyons, The Tide Bends, and Yawn Mower (who will be doing some Men At Work tunes). In between sets, DJ Foggy Notion and DJ Jay Insult will be spinning some of their favorite tunes by Australian artists. Attendees will also have the opportunity to participate in a silent auction featuring items donated by local businesses and artists. All proceeds from the show will benefit the WIRES Australian Wildlife Rescue Organisation.
Event organizers Jenny Vickers and Amy Malkoff of Lyons and and Tori Paxton of Paws & Anchor said, "We were so horrified about what was happening in Australia and wanted to do something about it. As local musicians, we thought we could bring together some of our favorite bands to perform and help raise funds for the victims of the fires and drought. We appreciate Wonder Bar lending their support for such an important and time-sensitive cause."
You can grab advance tickets for the show here, and RSVP to the event here. And, as you get ready for the show, you can check out some music from all the bands.
Yawn Mower released a new EP of 90s covers last week.
Catching Up
Lots of travel and just a lack of motivation have led to a big backup in the old CoolDad "stuff I want to tell you about" file. I'm gonna try and kick out a couple of album reviews this weekend; but, in the meantime, here are some shorter form items that deserve your attention.
Sharkmuffin, "Fate"
Sharkmuffin will release EP, Gamma Gardening, via Exploding In Sound Records on April 4th. Last week, the band gave us single "Fate." It's a loping, dreamier version of Sharkmuffin's usual noisy, left-of-center sound.
There's a release show for Gamma Gardening on April 5th at Brooklyn's ALPHAVILLE. that also features Haybaby, Catty, and Gustaf.
Lyons, "Islands"
Asbury park post-punk, dream pop five-piece, Lyons, have been on a bit of a hiatus as a couple of their members took some maternity leave. The band are gearing up for a return; and, a couple of weeks ago, they released a video for single "Islands." The clip, directed by Stu-Stu Studios and Eric Hackler, captures the moody vibe of the song through the use of black and white, slow motion, and images of the natural beauty of Lyons's home locale. The song features the chiming guitars and haunting vocals that I've missed so much over the last few months and has me pining for the band's return.
Yawn Mower, Why Work Harder Than You Have To
Last weekend at The Saint, Yawn Mower (and friends) celebrated the release of the band's latest EP for Mint 400 Records. Songwriting, according to Biff and Chick, is hard. With that in mind, the duo released another EP of covers called Why Work Harder Than You Have To. This one is 90s-themed, featuring songs by They Might Be Giants ("Dr. Worm"), Beck ("Fume"), The Promise Ring ("The Jersey Shore"), The Presidents of the United States of America ("Lump"), and Tom Petty ("You Don't Know How It Feels").
And, while the band would tell you they chose to do another covers EP out of laziness, the attention to detail on all of the songs reveals a level of effort you might not expect given the EP's title. Expanding on the band's live, two-piece format, the songs here feature trumpet, melodica, and bass.
As a longtime They Might Be Giants fan, "Dr. Worm" is a standout track for me. "Fume," at least to me, is a Beck deep cut -- a song from the Loser EP -- from that most Yawn Mower-esque Beck era. All of the songs, though, fit well with the overall quirky and not-too-serious Yawn Mower vibe. Why Work Harder Than You Have To is available now.
Lowlight, "Give It a Minute"
Way back at the beginning of March, Lowlight released, "Give It a Minute," the second single from their upcoming Telegraph Hill Records release, Endless Bummer. The song has a rumbling, Western vibe to it; and I joked with lead-singer Renee Maskin when I first heard it, "If 'Burkhalter' was your The Big Lebowski, this is your The Ballad of Buster Scruggs." And, while I was kidding, I think that does get at the cinematic feel Lowlight bring to all of their songs. Even without an accompanying video, "Give It a Minute" spools out like a road movie before your eyes.
"Give It a Minute" is available now via all the streaming platforms.
Lowlight will be playing at FM in Jersey City on April 5th with Babraham Lincoln, Fairmont, and Gillian. They'll also be playing a couple of times at Metuchen's Franklin Music Fest along with a bunch of our friends. That runs from April 12th through 14th. Dentist, "Alone in the Garden"
While we were all together galavanting around Austin for South By Southwest, Dentist premiered their video for Night Swimming track, "Alone in the Garden." The band, once again, worked with director Dana Yurcisin and producer Biff Swenson ("The Latter"). The team take the "performance clip" format and turn it on its head with a wild and frantic video that mirrors the tense and stressed out vibe of both the song and Night Swimming as a whole. Unsurprisingly, the clip has a similar aesthetic to the video for "The Latter," combining some trippy animation with the live action.
A couple of the very best Asbury Park has to offer released new music this week, and I wanted to make sure you took note.
Dentist, "Corked"
Yesterday, Dentist announced that they'd be releasing their third LP, Night Swimming, on July 20th via Cleopatra Records. To accompany the announcement the band released the album's first single, "Corked."
"Corked" starts out spare; but it quickly builds, adding rolling drums and Justin Bornemann's angular, surf-tinged guitar. Dentist are all about contrasts -- the contrast between Emily Bornemann's sweet vocals and the band's more aggressive sound, the contrast between melancholy lyrics and a tight, upbeat song structure -- and "Corked" is no exception.
7/18 Philadelphia, PA @ Ortlieb’s
7/19 Washington DC @ Black Cat
7/20 Richmond, VA @ Hardywood Brewery
7/21 Charlotte, NC @ Petra’s
7/22 Chapel Hill, NC @ Local 506
7/24 Atlanta, GA @ Smith’s Olde Bar
7/25 New Orleans, LA @ Gasa Gasa
7/26 Houston, TX @ notsuoh
7/27 Austin, TX @ Cheer Up Charlies
7/28 El Paso, TX @ Love Buzz
7/30 Phoenix, AZ @ Trunk Space
7/31 Long Beach, CA @ The Prospector
8/1 San Diego, CA @ Soda Bar
8/2 Los Angeles, CA @ Highland Park Bowl
8/3 Visalia, CA @ Cellar Door
8/4 Sonora, CA @ Winter’s Tavern
8/5 Reno, NV @ Jub Jub’s
8/6 Salt Lake City, UT @ Kilby Ct
8/7 Denver, CO @ Lost Lake
8/8 Lawrence, KS @ Replay Lounge
8/9 Columbia, MO @ Cafe Berlin
8/10 Omaha, NE @ The Down Under
8/13 Muncie, IN @ BHN
8/14 Cincinnati, OH @ The Hub
8/15 Buffalo, NY @ Mohawk Place
Lyons, "Strawberry Moon"
Asbury Park five-piece, Lyons, released a fantastic, self-titled EP almost exactly one year ago. Since then, the band have signed to Little Dickman Records. This past week, they premiered their very first single for the label, "Strawberry Moon."
On "Strawberry Moon," Lyons combine elements of post-punk, dream pop, and psychedelic rock. Chiming guitars and a relentless beat give this one a dark vibe as Amy Malkoff -- perhaps under the influence of the full moon -- sings, "I believe I have control of these feelings..."
The June full moon, or strawberry moon, occurs on 6/28. Lyons celebrate that as well as the release of their "Strawberry Moon" video, with a show this Saturday, 6/23, at Asbury Park's Bond St. Basement. That one is free and also features The Vice Rags and The Tide Bends.
This past weekend will go down as one of the absolute best I've experienced show-wise in a long time. I got to spend lots of time hanging out with friends while seeing some great bands. I went and checked out New Jersey's newest concert venue. I took and edited a whole bunch of pictures, which is why I'm so late getting this recap posted today (well, that and the weird power brownout we had here for about 4 hours).
On Friday night, CoolDad Music sponsored the release show for The Brixton Riot's latest album, Close Counts at Asbury Park Yacht Club. We had our friends in Dentist and The RockNRoll HiFives on the bill, and all three bands delivered big time.
The confetti flew on Friday night.
The Brixton Riot
The RockNRoll HiFives kicked things off; and, even after a full day of work and school, their energy level was off the charts. The floor of APYC was a sea of confetti following their set. The Brixton Riot's Close Counts is song after song of expert power pop, and the band brought all of that great, tight songcraft to their set. Dentist shared some new material, and it sounds like some of their best so far. I'm really looking forward to hearing what they've been doing in the studio. Beyond just the music, though, the show felt like a real party; and it was fantastic to have CoolMom, the Dickmans, Mint 400, and all the bands there to celebrate.
Dentist
Saturday brought a show I'd been looking forward to for what felt like months. Little Dickman Records assembled a bill at The Saint that featured L.A. Witch, Honduras, Pink Mexico, and Lyons. Asbury turned out in force for the show, and the people who were there saw a good one. The sound at The Saint is top-notch, especially with Hinge at the board on Saturday nights. Pink Mexico took full advantage of it and shook all the dust from the ceiling during their set. Lyons played to an enthusiastic crowd of friends and brought out some new material of their own. Honduras are like some kind of psychedelic post-punk combo and BLEW. ME. AWAY. L.A. Witch closed things out in almost total darkness with reverb-heavy, psych rock vibes.
Pink Mexico
Lyons
Honduras
L.A. Witch
A quick stop over to Bond St. Bar to wish a happy birthday to Dentist's Emily Bornemann turned into a not-so-quick stop. It's okay, though, because we gained an hour; and I got home at a semi-reasonable time.
Come Sunday, I was pretty spent. Kind of a weird day in general with the whole reversion back to Eastern Standard Time thing. CoolFamily ate dinner at around 4:30 because we were going by the kitchen clock which nobody had bothered to adjust. That worked out because I had one more show to get to for the weekend, and it was all the way up in Jersey City. I'd be heading up to the brand new White Eagle Hall for Waxahatchee and Ought.
White Eagle Hall is a beautiful venue. Kind of a cross between something like Bowery Ballroom / Music Hall of Williamsburg and WARSAW. Lots of space. Good sound. Food. Access to the bars didn't seem too bad. It also had really nice stage lighting, which always makes me happy. Security were a little weird about wanting to maintain a "buffer zone" between the audience and the edge of the stage. Everybody was relatively laid back, though, so it wasn't really a problem. Looking forward to the next time I can make it up there.
I've been a fan of Katie Crutchfield's Waxahatchee project since its lo-fi, bedroom beginnings on American Weekend. The band has evolved quite a bit since then with the latest record, Out in the Storm, being the most polished and -- I think -- most consistent. I've seen Waxahatchee / Katie Crutchfield in various live incarnations over the years, but it's been a while. On Sunday, I saw a set honed by years of touring and performing. Crutchfield and her band have really taken things to another level performance-wise, and the set touched on most of Waxahatchee's back catalog as well as the new material. There were moments of all-out rock and moments when it was just Crutchfield, her amazing voice, and her guitar.
Katie and Allison Crutchfield
Katie's sister, Allison, is part of the Waxahatchee touring band playing keys and guitar. The pair's voices play off of each other beautifully.
Post-punk band Ought opened the evening and turned in a pretty amazing set of their own. It reminded me how much I liked 2014's More Than Any Other Day, and I spent most of today listening to that. The band have another LP coming out early next year, and people in the audience already seemed pretty familiar with single "These 3 Things."
Ought
So, what is that? Nine bands over three days? Kinda crazy I guess, but I've been happily reliving it all by going through the pictures today. You can check those out in the Flickr galleries or on the Facebook page. I thought briefly about making it four nights in a row by heading out again tonight, but I am totally exhausted. Live to fight another day, I guess.
I don't know what happened on Friday. Several albums came out that I do want to talk about, but I just never got myself going. One cup of coffee doesn't do it for me. If I don't have that second cup, I'm useless for the rest of the day. Also, I'd done a photoshoot with Dentist the day before; and, I think, just wandering around in the searing heat all day did a number on me.
At any rate, even if I wasn't posting, it's not like I took the weekend off.
There was the aforementioned photoshoot with Dentist. I don't really have a lot of confidence with band promo shoots. The spur-of-the-moment, reactionary nature of live music photography seems to be more of a strength for me; but I'm pretty proud of the shots we got. I think I'm starting to learn how to photograph groups and -- come on -- Dentist are just a good-looking band.
Dentist at Asbury's Outpost artist hangout
Summer -- at least the month of July -- is about swim teams here at CDMHQ; and the cooldaughters had a summer camp swim meet scheduled for Thursday night. When that got washed out, CoolMom and I headed down to Porta Asbury Park to catch Dentist's evening set. This was my second time seeing them as a 3-piece, and it's really working for them.
Dentist at Porta AP with the Sony RX100IV
Then Friday. Daytime: blah. Dinner time: CoolMom killed it with a nice dinner of homemade chicken parm. That evening, I stopped in at Asbury Park Music Foundation to see -- for the first time in a while -- our denim-clad brothers in The Battery Electric. They were playing the release show for Roxbury, NJ's Strange Eclipse, and the alcohol-free set still got pretty wild with the young headliners hopping up to sing "Does He Love You" with the Battery boys.
The Battery Electric and Strange Eclipse at APMF with the RX100IV
For their part, Strange Eclipse, who look to be just a little older than CoolDaughter #1, were impressive. They turned in an extremely tight set of heavy blues / garage rock that had me forgetting they were teenagers. I headed home straight after, since the cooldaughters had a two-day swim meet with their club team starting the next day.
Strange Eclipse at APMF with the RX100IV
I thought I'd get some posts done during the excruciating boredom that is being a spectator at a big, club swim meet. But things were so mind-numbingly boring that I could barely move my fingers. Also, I may only have had one cup of coffee on Saturday.
Then, it was back from Princeton for a busy Saturday night. The Asbury Park Brewery was hosting an early show that featured Staten Island's Kerbivore, Neptune's Holiday, and local Asbury favorites, Lyons. Kerbivore came highly-recommended from our good buddy Sugarblast Al C of the Signal2Noise radio program, and their power-punk-pop (think GBV, Replacements, etc.) didn't disappoint. Holiday are a low-key trio that make some big sounds which always remind me of Neil Young or Built To Spill. And Lyons closed things out with their chimey post-punk.
Kerbivore at Asbury Park Brewery
Holiday at Asbury Park Brewery
Lyons at Asbury Park Brewery
I'm quickly warming to the brewery's tasting room as a venue. It's a little loud and echo-y, but it's nice to have another independent spot where you can see bands and enjoy some nice, local beers.
Quick hustle over to Bond St. Basement for Lowlight, Little Vicious, and The Jolly Daggers. It was a beautiful summer Saturday in Asbury, so that meant parking super far away and people watching as I walked to Bond. I started wondering where they keep the machine that spits out all these Jersey Shore cast-member clones that wander downtown Asbury in the summer.
Anyway...
The Bond St. show was a late one with Lowlight kicking things off at around 10:45. They were great as usual, and we even got a few moments of Renee without her hat. Little Vicious had people dancing and going apeshit with help from a guy named Dan who wailed on a block for just about the entire set. The Jolly Daggers hit at about 1:10 in total darkness, and were fun as always. I mean, they are led by Captain Fun, Ron Santee; and, on this night, they also featured a wig-clad Marguerite King of Little Vicious on lead guitar. I was toast afterwards and headed home.
Lowlight at Bond St. Basement
Little Vicious at Bond St. Basement
Jolly Daggers at Bond St. Basement
Back to Princeton Sunday morning for about 6 more hours of sitting around at the meet where, again, I got no blogging and very little editing done. I did have time to reflect, though, on what a cool few days I'd just had. CoolMom and I got a little pizza date on Thursday. I got to hang with some of my very best friends and see them play. I saw and got to know a a couple of new bands. I took a whole bunch of what I consider to be pretty cool pictures. The five or so minutes that the cooldaughters were actually in the water were exciting as always.
I really need to stop complaining so much.
Pics from this weekend are pretty much all edited and will be appearing in the Flickr galleries and / or on the Facebook page if they haven't already.
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.
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.
Yawn Mower released What's All This New Piss? at The Saint
I Feel Like I've Already Started
I leave bright and early tomorrow morning for Austin and my second year at South By Southwest. I've heard grumbling over the years from people -- including me -- about how corporate the festival has become; but my experience last year was one of the best times I've ever had doing anything. For someone who enjoys live music, South By Southwest is like a trip to a musical theme park. Just about every minute of every day, there is a band playing somewhere; and you do not have to step foot into a single official showcase to experience it.
I feel like I got myself into festival mode a little early this weekend after heading out to three different shows over the course of about 24 hours and spending most of the time in between editing shots. Personally, I was at The Stone Pony, the Danny Clinch Transparent exhibit at The Asbury Hotel, and The Saint; but this was a busy weekend in Asbury with all of the usual spots hopping.
On Friday for me, it was Sammy Kay, Vanessa Silberman, Hot Blood, and Ruby The Hatchet at The Stone Pony. It had been a while since I'd seen Hot Blood, and it was nice to see that they're still the same rowdy and ramshackle crew. Ruby The Hatchet had lots of friends, family, and fans in the audience. They're destined for even bigger things, I think, as they prepare for their first European tour.
Sammy Kay and The 4th St. Singers
Vanessa Silberman from Los Angeles
Hot Blood
Ruby The Hatchet
Saturday, I edited pictures for a while, drove CoolDaughter 2 home from her cooking class, and headed back to Asbury Park for an afternoon of music at rock photographer Danny Clinch's Transparent exhibit. The spot has become, as Clinch called it, "A regular weekend hang" curated by Rachel Ana Dobken on Sunday afternoons. This past week's edition was on Saturday and featured Joe P of Deal Casino, a short performance from Dobken with some help from Clinch, Joe Michelini of American Trappist, and Michael Maffei of Hunter & Wolfe. It was relaxing and -- for me -- inspiring to sit and listen surrounded by Danny Clinch's work.
Rachel Ana Dobken with Danny Clinch
Joe Michelini
Michael Maffei
Then, it was back home for a bit to edit a few more pictures, have dinner with the coolfamily, and pick up CoolMom for the Burger Revolution / Little Dickman Records / Yawn Mower release show / Planned Parenthood Benefit at The Saint. Throughout the course of the evening, The Saint packed out (sold out?) as Pamela Flores, Stained Glass, Lyons, Yawn Mower, and gods took the stage. Yawn Mower celebrated the release of What's All This New Piss? by, along with all the other bands, raising over $1200 for Planned Parenthood.
Pamela Flores
Stained Glass
Lyons
Yawn Mower
Things got late; and CoolMom and I had to miss the set from gods in order to relieve our babysitter, CoolDaughter 1. I was a little down about this because gods have absolutely blown the lid off of the room the last few times I've seen them, but parenthood...
I've said this before, but we're pretty lucky here when you think about it. It may not be 24/7; but there are lots of weeks when Asbury Park can feel like its own little music festival.
More editing this morning, and then I turned my attention toward packing for South By Southwest. I'm not sure how frequently I'll be posting here, but I'll try to keep you posted on things that should be on your radar throughout my time there. You can follow the CooldDad Music Instagram for regular updates from Austin.
All of the pictures from this weekend will be up in the CoolDad Flickr galleries as soon as they finish uploading.
