YJY Played (Their Final Show) at Asbury Park Music Foundation with Avery and The Man Devils, Jeff Lane, Julian Fulton and The Zombie Gospel, and NGHTCRWLRS, 6/17/17

Through Being Hip

I've given a bunch of space in the last week or so to the end of YJY. The band are a great bunch of guys with great songs; and, on Saturday, they called it quits with a show at Asbury Park Music Foundation. By the end of the evening, the room was so packed out that the air conditioning couldn't keep up with the body heat. That meant for a sweaty and joyful sing along with "Couch Surfin' USA" and some pretty damp hugs to close out the night.

Before things got to that point, though, we had sets from several YJY friends and fans. Avery Mandeville opened things up solo; but, when we reached 8pm (the official "let's make some noise" time), she brought up her backing band, The Man Devils. It was my first chance to hear her songs live in the full-band arrangements that appear on the EP; and they were spot on.

Jeff Lane followed with a solo acoustic set that included mostly new songs along with a cover of dollys' "I Know." The crowd was rapt, remaining amazingly quiet and attentive for the entirety of Lane's set.

Julian Fulton had opened a previous release show for YJY as a solo act. On this night, however, he brought the full Zombie Gospel, an amazing collection of musicians who did great renditions of the songs from Fulton's Battered Receptions along with earlier stuff.

NGHTCRWLRS, featuring Sniffling Indie Kids label co-honchos Frank DeFranco and Eric Goldberg, revved up the crowd with their own, contagious, manic energy. With the crowd starting to pack in and the guys bouncing on the stage, I found it a little hard to take pictures. They played what felt like a pretty short set -- even including a brand new song -- to make way for YJY.

When YJY did take the stage, the weird "audience buffer zone" that existed for the whole evening shrank down to a few inches. Steve Sachs, Ricky Lorenzo, Dave Sachs, and Tim Fitzpatrick did about a forty-five minute set that included the "hits" like "Summer Lifeguard," "Ameila," "Surreal," "Through Being Hip," "Past My Prime," and "Couch Surfin' USA" along with songs from The Enduring YJY like "Somebody Take My Phone," "Best Coast Weather," and "Loathe."

At one point, singer / guitarist Steve Sachs acknowledged the community that made YJY possible: the folks at Sniffling Indie Kids, the people who worked with them on recordings, played shows with them, offered them a place to play, covered the band, or just came out to shows. You could feel the sense of community in the room, and the looks on the faces of the band members as the crowd screamed "Couch Surfin' USA!!!" back at them were worth the price of admission.

It's pretty easy to get jaded in any music scene. Booking shows, getting people to come out to shows, overcoming that general feeling of -- well -- shoveling shit against the tide sometimes are not easy things. They can wear on you and make you question why you stick with it. But, then, there's an evening like Saturday night. YJY were able, if even for just a little while, to look out over a crowd of sweaty faces and know that -- together with everyone in that room -- they were able to put a little joy into some people's lives. That's no small thing, and it's something I hope the guys take with them no matter what else they do.

Pics are going up in the Flickr galleries and on the Facebook page a little later today.

Friday Stuff: Blox Cord Recap, NGHTCRWLRS, The LeMats, Very Fresh

Slonk Donkerson

POTPOURRI

Moving slowly today. Got home early this morning from Queens, but damn it if those cooldaughters don't still have to get fed and driven to school in the morning. Anyway, I spent the morning editing pictures and thinking about some of the stuff I'd like to tell you about.

Blox Cord 1 featured Slonk Donkerson, Fruit & Flowers, The Vaughns, Leland Sundries at The Footlight Bar in Ridgewood, Queens

Here are just a few quick notes and links to some pics from last night's first-ever monthly Blox Cord showcase at Ridgewood's Footlight Bar.

1. It was great to meet the folks from Elmore Magazine and The Joy of Violent Movement face-to-face. The music world is an interesting place now with people laboring to tell you about new and interesting stuff just because they feel like it. Emily and William are dedicated folks who also know how to rock out.

Will (The Joy of Violent Movement), Emily (Elmore Magazine), and Mike (SIMGE)

2. The guy in the front bar made some amazing sliders: pulled pernil, vegan, more. He was also very cool despite being a Red Sox fan.

3. The bill was eclectic and solid. My first experiences with Leland Sundries and Slonk Donkerson were highly positive. The Vaughns made the absolute most of their debut NYC gig. And -- I think I keep saying this -- Fruit & Flowers are just better and better every time I see them.

The Vaughns

4. The Footlight is a great room with an up-to-date and really nice backline. I'd love to see more stuff happening there in the future.

5. Thanks to Mike over at Speak Into My Good Eye for including me on the first go 'round. Good luck with the future showcases. And don't lose my number.

Pics from the evening are in the Flickr galleries and on the Facebook page.

NGHTCRWLRS, "Coffee and Weed"

NJ-based alt / indie rock band, NGHTCRWLRS, are back next week with their sophomore LP, Raging Hot. Earlier this week, they gave us single "Coffee and Weed."

It's a one-minute burst of a guitar freak out, short on lyrics but long on emotion. I'm going to admit to being able to identify only with the magic of a morning cup of coffee, but I get where the guys are coming from.

NGHTCRWLRS

Raging Hot is out on 11/11 via Sniffling Indie Kids.



The LeMats, "The Astronomer"

New Asbury Park four-piece, The LeMats, released their first single just before playing the Halloween installment of Happy Mondays at Wonder Bar.

"The Astronomer" is alt-rock with some prominent lead guitar. The guitar moves in tandem with the vocals in a way that -- and I'm reaching back into the memory bank here, but sometimes music will shake things loose like that -- reminds me of a band like The Church. Remember them?

Anyway, it's a solid first effort from a new band with kind of a classic sound; and it will be interesting to see where they take things from here.

The LeMats

You can download "The Astronomer" as a Name Your Price download from The LeMats' Bandcamp page.



Very Fresh, Hey, It's Me!

Sometimes, you come across something that just gives off a vibe that speaks to you. Very Fresh ringleader, Cindy Lou Gooden, infuses EP Hey, It's Me! with a personality and sense of humor that manage to connect with my indie-rock fan brain.

The sound of Hey, It's Me! harkens back to 90s indie like Pavement and Liz Phair (though, I've read interviews where Gooden says she hasn't spent much time listening to Phair): left-of-center guitars, vocals that alternate between sneering almost spoken word and sweet singing. The subject matter is personal: the struggle to grow up and act responsibly ("Schedule IV"), mapping your life out according to a pre-determined set of expectations ("Cool Kids"), and wrapping part of your identity up in a relationship ("Hat Tree").

It's some pretty inwardly-focused type stuff that I've wallowed in a bit myself over the years, and Gooden seems to acknowledge having some guilt over her feelings on "Kamikaze."

Hey, It's Me! is funny, honest, and self-aware; and, rather than treating its subject matter in quiet, acoustic, singer / songwriter style, it pretty much rocks.

Very Fresh

Hey, It's Me! is out today on New Professor Music / Inflated Records.

Sniffling Indie Kids and Mint 400 Records Announce The North Jersey Indie Rock Fest

Jersey City's Cathedral Hall, September 10th

Over the last year or two, we've grown pretty close here with our friends at Sniffling Indie Kids and Mint 400 Records. Their stable of acts includes many of the bands we feature often here like dollys, Sink Tapes, LKFFCT, C.R. & The Degenerates, NGHTCRWLRS, YJY, and more. Honestly, CoolDad Music would be a much more boring place without the work that SIK and Mint 400 do to bring the music of these bands into the world. That's why it's so exciting to me that the two labels will be teaming up to bring us The North Jersey Indie Rock Festival on September 10th from noon to 8pm at Jersey City's Cathedral Hall.

CoolDad Music and Sniffling Indie Kids co-presented the Indie Pop Winter Formal back in January.

The event is being presented in association with Jersey City's 4th Street Arts Organization, BGT Enterprises, and The Rock-It Docket. I'm also really excited that CoolDad Music, along with just about every New Jersey music website and music publication you can think of, will be co-sponsoring the festival.

Cathedral Hall is a newly-renovated arts space at the corner of Montgomery and Brunswick Streets in the heart of Downtown Jersey City. The former church will play host to 20 bands representing both labels. There will be two levels of live music in addition to North Jersey craft vendors, food vendors, and beer and spirits vendors. Bands run the gamut from scene veterans to new acts, from bluegrass to punk to indie rock. The event promises to be a showcase for the North Jersey arts community. The organizers hope that this can evolve into an annual event that brings in more bands, labels, and vendors as it grows.

Check out the event poster below for the full line-up of bands, and keep it tuned here for more information.

First Single from MAUCH

"Shades of Blue"

Sometimes the Universe works in pretty mysterious ways. Without boring you with the details, let's just say that writing and blogging (or sleeping or exercising or cleaning or anything) haven't been coming particularly easily for me for the last several weeks. Today, in particular, I've been struggling with a few things I want to get out the door but that I just can't seem to tie up.

Then, I came across the first single from MAUCH. LKFFCT / NGHTCRWLRS drummer (and one of the hardest-working people in NJ music), Max Rauch, got himself a couple of vowels and recorded "Shades of Blue" with Subtitles' Ben Petty. The song is our first taste from MAUCH's upcoming EP for Sniffling Indie Kids, Feed Your Head.

So here I am, wallowing a bit in my inability to get anything done; and I click on a Bandcamp link only to be presented with a song dealing with "the hereditary cycle of clinical depression and mental illness." Mind blown.

Anyway, "Shades of Blue" comes at its serious subject matter from a jangly and poppy perspective, even employing some whistling right at the beginning. It reminds me a little bit of those Mitch Easter-produced R.E.M. sounds from back in the day.

Check out MAUCH's "Shades of Blue," which is available as a Name Your Price download over at MAUCH's Bandcamp page, and stay tuned for news on the band's EP.

Also, consider this your TMI post of the week.

New Videos from C.R. Gennone and NGHTCRWLRS

Max Rauch

They Make Videos

I know what you're saying. You're saying, "I need more videos with Max Rauch from LKFFCT and NGHTCRWLRS. I don't need vowels. I just need videos with the guy who seems to be on a whole bunch of NJ records lately." Well, here at CoolDad Music, we've got what you need.

NGHTCRWLRS, "Smiling"

A little over two weeks ago, NGHTCRWLRS released a video for the opening track to their self-titled Sniffling Indie Kids debut. The video features several clips of NGHTCRWLRS performing at some pretty iconic venues around NJ, rehearsing, and hanging out. There's plenty of Max Rauch, too. The song highlights the fun and humor that runs through just about everything NGHTCRWLRS do, while also showing off the band's unique combination of indie jangle and post-rock noise.



C.R. Gennone, "Lookin' Back"

A couple of months ago, I shared with you the video for C.R. Gennone's "Angels." That was an under three minute bit of noisy indie pop. The second single from Gennone's Goodbye Wisdom EP, "Lookin' Back," goes for a more wide-open feel. It brings in strings and acoustic guitar that lend to the build-up and epic vibe of the track.

Appropriately, much of the video takes to the open road. Oh. And I think I see Max Rauch.

Content Blast: Pics of The Battery Electric, Smalltalk, Dentist, YJY, NGHTCRWLRS, The Cold Seas, Accidental Seabirds, Radiator Hospital, GayGuy / StraightGuy, more

Asbury Lanes, Wonder Bar

For various reasons, I fell a bit behind on picture editing this weekend. I did make it to shows on Thursday, Friday, and Sunday nights, however. On Thursday, Accidental Seabirds kicked off their tour at Asbury Lanes; and I got all teary as Andy Bova played his last set with Dentist. On Friday, The Wonder Bar hosted a fantastic bill that, among several other moments, saw Alex and Brent of The Battery Electric covering "Territorial Pissings" with GayGuy / StraightGuy. Sunday night brought our friends YJY back to Asbury for a show with their labelmates, NGHTCRWLRS, Illinois band Campdogzz, and The Cold Seas.

My apologies to gods, who played last on Friday night at Wonder Bar. CoolMom and I had to leave so that we could wake up early on Saturday. Please do yourself a favor and check out gods' Endless Stunner, a really good collection of psychedelic garage rock; and keep your eyes peeled for the next time they play a show around here.

Asbury Lanes, 7/30/15 -- Drummer Andy Bova's Last Show with Dentist

Bone & Marrow

Dentist

Accidental Seabirds

Radiator Hospital

Saintseneca

Wonder Bar, 7/31/15

GayGuy / StraightGuy

Smalltalk

The Battery Electric

Asbury Lanes, 8/2/15

NGHTCRWLRS

Campdogzz

YJY

The Cold Seas

C.R. Gennone, First Single from Upcoming Solo EP

"Angels"

Here's something for you on this finally Friday. Songwriter and guitarist Chris Gennone released an LP with his band Winnebago late last year. The defiantly lo-fi Turbine Lounge gave us a glimpse into Gennone's songwriting sensibilities.

Next month, Gennone will be releasing a solo EP as C.R. Gennone called Goodbye Wisdom; and he's given us the first track in the form of a video featuring several faces and places you've probably seen around our little NJ music scene. One of those familiar faces, drummer Max Rauch of Lake Effect and NGHTCRWLRS, recorded and produced the EP. Rauch's Lake Effect bandmate, Keith Williams, plays bass on "Angels."

The song is a little less lo-fi than anything on Turbine Lounge, but still features a noisiness that has it playing right into my wheelhouse. You're probably getting tired of reading this by now (But, hey. It's my blog, so...), but I enjoy anything that deftly weaves pop and noise into a nice little package. "Angels" does a nice job of this.

Check out the video for C.R. Gennone's "Angels" below, and here's hoping that it can be part of the soundtrack to an early Friday afternoon exit from work for you.

More Stuff I Missed from NGHTCRWLRS, Psychiatric Metaphors, and Hot Blood

Hot Blood at their release show for Overcome Part 1.

Roundup Number 2

Going through my inbox and my stacks of CDs (and flexis) has revealed a few more things that I always meant to say something about -- thought I had said something about even. Here are three more New Jersey releases of note for you to go check.

NGHTCRWLRS, NGHTCRWLRS

Another project of Sniffling Indie Kids co-founder Frank DeFranco (see: Fleeting), NGHTCRWLRS also feature one of Frank's partners in label moguldom in Eric Goldberg along with Brian Goglia and Max Rauch. The foursome meld the sounds of classic indie rock, shoegaze, and post-hardcore into a sometimes tongue-in-cheek bit of weirdness that gets pretty epic at times.

We premiered single "You're Living the Life" here. That song is a good example of NGHTCRWLRS' combination of influences as jangly guitars give way to an explosion of noise. Songs like opener "Smiling" and set-closer "Reclusive Me" also highlight that combination of indie twang and swirling noise. "Insert Name Here" relies heavily on some 90s sounding octaves. Goldberg's high-register delivery gives everything some added tension. The band also aren't afraid to get deeply philosophical with lyrics like "Jabroni / Eat pepperoni" on "Homies."

NGHTCRWLRS is available as a Name Your Price download over at NGHTCRWLRS' Bandcamp page.



Hot Blood, Overcome Part 1

I posted the video for "Blood On My Hands." I recorded and posted a video for "Rust." I told you about Hot Blood's release show. But I never gave this set a proper review here. The songs on Overcome Part 1 have been part of Hot Blood's sets and part of my own personal rotation for a while, so I guess I just took them for granted. Mistake.

I wrote about Downtown Boys a while back that I was impressed by their politically-charged punk, impressed "that someone in American popular music in 2015 is actually singing about these things at all." Hot Blood have been singing about these things since they started. The physical edition of Overcome Part 1 (a flexi disc put out by our friends at Little Dickman Records) includes a freakin' manifesto by Rick Perosi for Chrissake.

The Pete Steinkopf-produced set is short, to-the-point, and incredibly cohesive. "Rust" and "Blood On My Hands" deal with the subjugation of an unskilled working class constantly kept on the brink of ruin by a society that sees them as chattel. An ultra-militarized police force keeps the rabble in check in "Cop In A Tank." A re-recorded "Class Warfare" is the inevitable explosion that results from all of this built-up pressure.

It's hardcore. Angular, stabbing guitars from Alex Rosen and Mat Kiley. Vocals that make you wonder how Kiley does it without blowing out his larynx. A Gattling gun rhythm section of Charlie Schafer and Billy Straniero. But these are also songs with musicality and choruses. Hardcore for people who don't think they like hardcore.

Overcome Part 1 is a joint release between Little Dickman Records (physical) and Basement Records (digital). The packaging on the flexi is extremely cool with artwork by Rosen and that included manifesto.



Psychiatric Metaphors, "Hexenkopf"

Sam Taylor's psychedelic experiment, Psychiatric Metaphors, rolls on with single "Hexenkopf." Part of a comp called Pizza or Die, "Hexenkopf" comes down a little more on the "punk" side of Pychiatric Metaphors' version of "psych-punk."

It chugs along on a repeated riff. Taylor's reverbed and buried vocals and a set of backing "oooh ooohs" give an appropriate level of dark spookiness to a song whose title translates to "Witch's Head" and may refer to a hill in Pennsylvania supposedly haunted by the vengeful ghost of a hanged witch.

The Pizza or Die comp, as well as "Hexenkopf" are Name Your Price downloads at Bandcamp.

Photo Highlights of Scenes Collide AP / NB Showcase at The Stone Pony, 3/20/15

I finally got to see Amy Malkoff and The Moonshines do their own thing as a full band.

This Had to Be the Last of It

I was obsessively checking my email for the announcement from the school that the evening's performance of Shrek The Musical Jr. would be canceled. I scanned my Facebook feed expecting to see word that the show at The Stone Pony would be postponed. As the snow / slush piled up, though, both shook their metaphorical fists in the air and said, "It's spring damnit! Screw the snow! Let's do this!" And they did it.

The middle schoolers at Markham Place acquitted themselves quite well during the abridged version of the Broadway musical version of the Disney / Pixar animated feature. I sat grinning like a fool every time CoolDaughter #1 and the rest of the ensemble players made their way onto the stage. CoolDaughter #2 cracked up throughout.

We got out of there a little after 9; and, after cleaning off the car and dropping everyone at home, I headed to The Stone Pony. I arrived just as Plato Zorba's set had gotten underway. Unfortunately, I'd missed Feeny, Monterey, and City Limits. Next time guys. Plato Zorba played as a trio since keyboardist Ryan Gregg was over at The Saint playing with his other project, The Shady Street Show Band. It's pretty easy to get lost in the cinematic, surfy virtuosity of the band; and the crowd seemed to eat it up.

The Black Sox Scandal, representing New Brunswick, were next and did a set of fast-paced pop punk. Even when they said they were slowing things down, things didn't slow down that much, which was fine. They'll be at The Brighton on Sunday, March 22nd.

I finally got to see Amy Malkoff and The Moonshines as a full band doing their own songs. I'd seen Amy solo before, and I saw the band's great set as Black Sabbath on Halloween; but I'm pretty sure this was my first time catching them doing their own thing. I definitely saw why they were able to pull off such a good Black Sabbath set as their own sound is loud, pure rock. It's highlighted by Eric Rudic's guitar and, of course, Malkoff's vocals.

Attendance at last night's event was, understandably, a little off; but people magically appeared for The Moonshines' set. The crowd swelled even more for Deal Casino who again whipped their fans into a frenzy. A couple of guys jumped on stage to scream the chorus to "BANG BANG BANG," and I'm telling you. This Deal Casino pants thing is becoming an actual thing.

Anyway.

North Jersey quartet NGHTCRWLRS, also representing New Brunswick, closed things out. The band and the remaining crowd were all a little punchy after a long night and some harrowing drives, but NGHTCRWLRS turned in a good set featuring songs from their just-released, self-titled LP. I posted a video of part of their performance a little earlier today.

It felt good giving winter the finger one (hopefully) final time last night. Here are some photo highlights. The rest of the pics are in the Flickr galleries, and you can totally click here to see them all.

Song Premiere: NGHTCRWLRS, "You're Living the Life"

Self-titled Debut Out 2/28

New Jersey quartet NGHTCRWLRS are set to release their self-titled debut LP this Saturday, February 28th via Sniffling Indie Kids. The members of NGHTCRWLRS have histories with several active and inactive New Jersey bands like Holy City Zoo, All Sensory Void, Lake Effect, and The Nico Blues. Together Frank DeFranco, Eric Goldberg, Max Rauch, and Brian Goglia produce a sound that's somewhere between classic guitar-based indie rock and post-hardcore emo. It's a combination that's evident on the latest single from NGHTCRWLRS, "You're Living the Life."

The two-movement single starts out almost jangly, slows down as it meanders through the psychedelic bridge, and then transitions to something louder and more explosive. It does all of this in just over three minutes.

NGHTCRWLRS will be celebrating their album release on February 28th at Jersey City's The Dopeness along with a completely loaded bill featuring Cicada Radio, France, and Dentist. Check out "You're Living the Life" below and head up to JC this weekend for the show.