Last Weekend with The Jesus and Mary Chain, Freaksgiving, and BOYTOY, 11/16-11/19/17

The Jesus and Mary Chain

Freaky Weekend

I've wanted to summarize how amazing last weekend was for a few days now, but half days for the kids and a pretty nasty back problem have been distracting me. Here are some quick notes on the weekend that was before we head into the holiday.

Jim Reid of The Jesus and Mary Chain

On Thursday, I got to shoot The Jesus and Mary Chain at The Stone Pony; and it was awesome. I think, if you discount bands like The Beatles and The Beach Boys, The Jesus and Mary Chain and The Smiths are two of the bands who are responsible for most of the sounds I currently love. The wall-of-sound, reverb, and fuzz of The Jesus and Mary Chain are things in which I can always lose myself, and Thursday was no different. Being right up front, in the photo pit for "April Skies" and "Head On" has to be a 2017 highlight for me.

Mark Crozer and The Rels

Thursday's openers (JMC bassist) Mark Crozer and The Rels did a set of immensely enjoyable power pop. Guitarist Shawn Lynch took the time to say hi to me before their set and spoke briefly about how much The Rels were enjoying their weeklong run with The Jesus and Mary Chain.

On Saturday, the cooldaughters each had separate swim meets in separate parts of NJ. CoolMom and I had to do some juggling to make sure everyone was covered while giving me time to make it over to Asbury Park Brewery for our Freaksgiving: A Friendsgiving Fuzz Fest.

The RockNRoll HiFives

Dentist's Emily Bornemann and Yawn Mower. Do the robot.

The evening at the brewery was a beautiful experience with some of our best friends -- Dentist, The RockNRoll HiFives, and Yawn Mower -- doing great sets. For The RockNRoll HiFives, it was their 100th show. I've seen a good chunk of those; and it dawned on me later that The RockNRoll HiFives played the first show CoolDad Music ever presented back in 2014. All three bands are like family around here, and it was amazing to have everybody sharing the evening with us.

Winner of Miss Lady Luck

Outer Limits Beard Winner

The Garden State Beard and Mustache Society were the show's main organizers and held their 6th Annual Beard and 'Stache Competition between sets. Also presenting were the fine folks at Little Dickman Records who do so much to keep Asbury interesting. The evening was a benefit for the American Foundation for Suicide Prevention; and, thanks to everyone's efforts, we raised nearly $1000 to help fund the research and community building done by that organization. Not bad for a $5 show.

BOYTOY with The Off White's Matty Beans

Von Mons

The Tide Bens w/ Colin Carhart jimmy-jangling

Speaking of Little Dickman Records and all they do, on Sunday night, the label threw a show at The Saint featuring The Off White, Von Mons, The Tide Bends, and BOYTOY. We had more swim meet stuff at home until the evening, so I walked in just after The Off White had finished. I love those guys, and they always bring it. Sad to have missed them. All of the other bands, though, were great. It had been a while since I'd seen the touring machine that is BOYTOY, and they have gotten even better. Some bands just have a charisma and a presence that can draw in a whole audience, and BOYTOY are one of those bands for sure.

It was a busy, tiring weekend for the books. I'm pretty sure all of the activity has something to do with my current back problems, but I'll take it. My back will get better, and I wouldn't have wanted to miss anything.

Pics from the whole weekend are up in the Flickr galleries and on the Facebook page.

...and New Sharkmuffin. They Play Bond St. Basement on 7/21 with Von Mons and The Off White.

Sharkmuffin are releasing a split EP with The Off White and come back to Asbury Park this Friday.

"Where's My Mimosa"

As a band, Sharkmuffin recently marked their fifth anniversary. Founding members Tarra Thiessen and Natalie Kirch, along with Chris Nunez and Drew Adler, are celebrating their graduation from band toddlerhood with a new EP. Sharkmuffin did the upcoming Split Cassette with their (and our) buds in The Off White, and the thing comes out on Friday, 7/21, via Little Dickman Records.

Yesterday, Sharkmuffin released the first single from the tape, "Where's My Mimosa?" The lyrics I can make out find frontperson Tarra Thiessen forcefully wondering, "WHERE'S MY MIMOSA???" I'm gonna go out on a limb and say that this is the band's way of placing the affront of having to wait for a mimosa at Sunday brunch into the context of the rest of the world's problems. Or something.

The Off White

Anyway, Sharkmuffin and The Off White play two release shows for Split Cassette this week. First, they'll be at Muchmore's in Brooklyn on Thursday with Darkwing, Grandma, the overs, Street Rules, and Whiner. Then, both bands come down to Asbury Park for a show at Bond St. Basement with Von Mons on Friday.

The tracks on Split Cassette are dedicated to Ron Thiessen and Michael Nugent.

Thursday 2/2 at The Gutter and Friday 2/3 at Knitting Factory Brooklyn

Shellshag at Knitting Factory Brooklyn

Second Wind

I just wanted to say a few things about the shows I attended on Thursday and Friday nights last week.

On Thursday, I headed up to Brooklyn's Gutter Bar for Ex-Girlfriends' / Fruit & Flowers' tour kickoff show. The evening doubled as the release party for You're Next, Ex-Girlfriends' Little Dickman Records debut, and also featured Kino Kimino and The Off White. I'd been planning to attend ever since we had to cancel our Kino Kimino / Fruit & Flowers show at The Saint a couple of weeks ago; but, as the prospect of getting up to Brooklyn and coming home in the wee hours of the morning loomed, I began to lose my resolve. When Chris & Amy Dickman offered to handle driving duties, I bucked up and went for it.

The Off White

Kino Kimino

It was the right call. The Off White's loose and gritty charm has only been enhanced by their decision to bring Pat Brenner out from behind the drums to shepherd things as wild lead vocalist / ring master. Kino Kimino blew me away again with their off-center, 90s-inspired art rock. Ex-Girlfriends brought the riot grrrl punk as they slashed through the tracks on their burner of an EP. And Fruit & Flowers just mesmerized with their post-punk surf noir. More than all of that, though, the overall vibe of the evening was an uplift. Little Dickman, their bands, the friends of the label, everybody comes together in a beautiful, little community at all these shows; and it's a nice reminder of why I do all the stuff I do here at CoolDad Music.

Ex-Girlfriends

Fruit & Flowers

On Friday, I was beat. The second night of Don Giovanni Records' annual showcase was happening at Knitting Factory in Brooklyn, and it was coming down to a game-time decision as to whether I was gonna make it or not. Vacation, Shellshag, Lee Bains III and The Glory Fires, California X, though, are all bands I love; and I wanted to finally catch Painted Zeros and Peter Stampfel. Off I went.

Painted Zeros

California X

Vacation

And -- I gotta say -- once again, the sets by each of the bands gave me a second wind. Vacation were relentless. One of the best punk bands going right now. Period. There's something very special about seeing Shellshag in a room full of people who know every song and adore the band. Lee Bains III and The Glory Fires leave everything on the stage, as they say; plus, they're this refreshing combination of straight-up southern rock and political awareness. Peter Stampfel is joyfully old-school, lefty, freak folk. California X bring the 90s fuzz I love so much, and Painted Zeros earned a new fan in me following their set of dream-, shoegaze-pop.

Peter Stampfel

Lee Bains III and The Glory Fires

Like Thursday, the music was only part of the experience. It's always fun catching up with the folks at Don Giovanni. The label has been super-supportive of CoolDad Music over the years; and, like Little Dickman, they've built a real sense of family and community. I felt it in the music and I felt it in all the time I spent chatting with people throughout the night.

I'm not the 42-year-old spring chicken that I was when I launched CoolDad Music back in 2012. Humping it into Brooklyn, standing at shows, and taking pictures for several hours can sometimes take a toll on me physically and mentally. So it's nice to spend a couple of days like I did last week singing along and chatting with people who are out there making art and giving it a chance to thrive for all the right reasons. It's the kind of thing that keeps me coming back... ...in a few days... ...after I've had a chance to rest up a bit...

Photos from both nights are up in the Flickr galleries.

Monday, 10/10, Shows w/ Surfbort, Darkwing, The Off White, Dentist, Beams, Fun While You Wait

Brooklyn's Surfbort come to APYC for a Monday night special.

Goodbye Blue Monday

CoolMom and I will still be in New Orleans this coming Monday, and I'll be missing a couple of really good, free, local shows. I'm not complaining. I mean, New Orleans. Plus, I won't have to choose between some solid bills. Your mission, should you choose to accept it, is to head out to one or both of these, have a great time, and tell me what I missed the next time you see me.

Little Dickman Records Presents: Surfbort, Darkwing, The Off White at Asbury Park Yacht Club, 8pm, FREE

I saw Brooklyn's Surfbort at SXSW. They played an early, indoor set at Cheer Up Charlie's in Austin. They call themselves SLIMY ICE-CREEEM LICKIN FILTH ROCK, and that just about sums it up. Vocalist Dani Miller is a weird, wild force of nature; and -- rounded out by our friends Darkwing and The Off White -- it should be a pretty interesting evening at the Yacht Club to say the least.







Happy Mondays: Dentist, Beams, Fun While You Wait at Wonder Bar, 8pm, FREE

Dentist are back at Happy Mondays this coming week. They'll be joined by Toronto's Beams and Freehold's Fun While You Wait on an eclectic bill that mixes Dentist's 90s and surf-influenced rock, with Beams's dark psych folk, and Fun While You Wait's ukulele-fronted pop.

My love for Dentist is well-documented here. Beams bring seven members, a singing saw, and the experience of having recorded their last EP with John McEntire (Yo La Tengo, Stereolab, Broken Social Scene). Fun While You Wait deliver upbeat folk pop fronted by Devon Moore's ukulele and soulful voice.







So, I don't want to hear any crap about how it's a school night or you have work in the morning. Free music. Cheap beer. Toughen up.

CoolDad Does Austin: SXSW Day 5 (and a travel day)

Mrs. Magician

Car Seat Headrest and Little Dickman Records w/ Mrs. Magician, Sharkmuffin, BOYTOY, Dentist, and More

Saturday was my last full day in Austin, and I'd checked off many of the bands I wanted to see during the week. Car Seat Headrest were playing their last set of the festival for BrooklynVegan at noon over at Cheer Up Charlie's.

After Friday night, noon felt extremely early for me on Saturday; but I managed to make it downtown just as Car Seat Headrest were starting their set. The outdoor stage area at Cheer Up Charlie's had already packed out, so pictures weren't really going to happen. I'm glad, though, I got to check out the band. Their sound is based heavily in a lot of the acts that I love (Stephen Malkmus, Yo La Tengo), and it was a great way to start the day.

From there, I decided I'd spend the day with our friends at Little Dickman for their showcase at Dozen Street. Lots of friends would be there as well as some bands I hadn't seen before. One of the latter was Brooklyn's Rosebug, who started things off. Formed by members of Sideasideb, Rosebug are a dream poppy band fronted by vocalist Becca Chodorkoff. I really enjoyed their set, but I didn't quite figure out the lighting in the room for pictures until after they were done.

Then it was time for a run of familiar faces as Psychiatric Metaphors, The Off White, Dead Stars, Darkwing, and Dentist all took their turns on stage. Psychiatric Metaphors and The Off White had just arrived in town, and both showed how much touring has honed their performance. This was the second time I'd seen the very busy Dead Stars this week, and I still love them. Darkwing brought members of Sharkmuffin, Fruit & Flowers, and Sidebitch up for a song. Dentist played a great set to a room that was really starting to fill.

Psychiatric Metaphors

Sean Jones of The Off White and Amy "Dickman"

Dentist

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Darkwing with help from Sidebitch, Fruit & Flowers, Sharkmuffin

Dentist have been recommending San Diego's Mrs. Magician for some time. Little Dickman booked them for the show, and the room filled up nicely by the time they took the small stage. The Swami Records band shook the room with a sound that mixed garage, surf, and pop. They had fans singing along and turned out to be some of the sweetest guys around. Check 'em.

From there, things went at a breakneck pace as the time (even though it had been extended by the venue) was running short. In quick succession we got BOYTOY (for whom I'd been waiting all week and sounding a little beefier with Lena Simon from La Luz on bass), Sharkmuffin (who won the "Who Did CoolDad See the Most at SXSW" contest. Congrats to them!), T.V. Tramps (featuring Tony Bones), Fruit & Flowers (doing a great Zombies cover), and Sidebitch (Chris Pierce on drums. First show ever.).

BOYTOY

T.V. Tramps

On Friday, I'd run into A Deer A Horse's Rebecca Satellite. She came by the show; and, when the venue told Little Dickman they had more time, A Deer A Horse became a late addition to the line-up. They waited patiently and then delivered an intense four-song, fifteen-minute set that was a great capper to the day.

A Deer A Horse

Dinner at Waffle House with Dentist and the crew from Little Dickman. I headed back to my hotel and stressed about my early flight the next morning.

On Sunday, the line for security at 6am was disastrously long. I was randomly chosen to have my shoes swabbed in case I was the second person in the history of commercial aviation to try boarding a plane with exploding shoes. In the confusion, the TSA gave my MacBook to the wrong person; and I flew to Nashville with tears in my eyes thinking of all the things I could've done and didn't do to back up my pictures for the week.

As I waited for my connecting flight, the very conscientious Samuel DiRaddo of the TSA called to tell me that my laptop had been located in Miami. The individual would be FedExing it to me immediately. Disaster averted, and I just had to wait until Tuesday to get my baby back. I will cover it with stickers and other identifying markings when it arrives.

In all, I absolutely loved my time at SXSW. Sure, I didn't even attempt to see some of the very biggest acts, but you can check out SPIN or Pitchfork or Rolling Stone or NPR to see how those went. I punished myself a little bit physically in the name of taking in as much as I could, but I got to see some new bands and bands that I love and lots of friends. I'd no doubt do it again.

Once I get my computer back, I'll finish going through the pics and post them to the galleries.

Show Preview: The Nude Party / BOYTOY / The Off White / Psychiatric Metaphors at The Saint, TONIGHT, 12/16/15

BOYTOY

Wednesday Rock

I just wanted to call your attention to a great Wednesday night show happening at The Saint in Asbury Park tonight. It promises to be an evening of garage and psych rock as several of our friends join North Carolina's The Nude Party.

Sundown at the Carousel alumni, BOYTOY, make another trip to our area from Brooklyn in support of their debut LP Grackle. It's really cool to see that BOYTOY keep coming back our way. They're a great band, and we're lucky that they're starting to feel at home here. Our old friends, The Off White and Psychiatric Metaphors, bring their own fantastic noise to round out the bill. All of these bands fit well with The Nude Party and their "psychological rock from a mountain."

I know that not everyone thinks of Wednesday when they're looking to rock out; but, just pretend it's Friday night and get over to The Saint. Doors open at 7:30 and $8 gets you inside.

The Jolly Daggers Played Happy Mondays w/ Chris Brown, Psychiatric Metaphors, and The Off White

Yo Ho Ho

It was a staycation Happy Monday for me last night as I wasn't going to miss The Jolly Daggers for a second time. The Pirate-themed quartet of Ron Santee, Robbie Butkowski, Boris Thertus, and Sweet Joey were playing their second official show with help from folk-punk troubadour Chris Brown and psych rockers Psychiatric Metaphors and The Off White.

While the Daggers did have one song with a "Yo ho ho" in it, the pirate theme applied mostly to their outfits. The rest of the set was some surf and rockabilly-inspired garage rock that had the late crowd moving in the uncharacteristically warm Wonder Bar.

Both Psychiatric Metaphors and The Off White blew the place away with a squall of wonderfully messy noise, while Chris Brown gave us acoustic selections from his catalog as well as renditions of "Happy Birthday" and "In My Life" for a woman named Nikki who was celebrating her sixth annual 21st birthday.

Check out photo highlights from all the sets below and head to Flickr for even more pics.

Pride Eve with AP Night Bazaar, Psychiatric Metaphors, The Off White, Governess, and The Battery Electric, 6/6/15

The Battery Electric's Alex Rosen and a fellow Turbojugend member from Sweden who made a special trip from NYC for last night's show.

LGBT Pride Rockin' Eve

CoolMom, the cooldaughters, and I headed down to Asbury Park at about 6pm last night to check out the first Asbury Park Night Bazaar. Every Saturday in June, the Grand Arcade will host artists and vendors from 6-10pm; while The Anchor's Bend presents an evening of free or nearly-free music. Last night, we saw jewelry, crafts, chocolate, local honey, vegan treats, and more including our friends from Freehold's Big Slick Pomade Company.

(l-r): Rosie, Vincent, and Magda

The girls and I headed out onto the boardwalk for some dinner and then said our farewells as they left me to my evening duties. I made my way back to Convention Hall and The Anchor's Bend in time to catch the set from Psychiatric Metaphors.

Psychiatric Metaphors

I really like the dark and dirty pyschedelic sounds produced by Sam Taylor with his Psychiatric Metaphors project, but this was my first successful attempt at catching one of their live sets. They played as the breeze rolled in off the ocean and as the waves crashed behind them. People danced in the squall of reverb as the sun set. Pretty cool.

Little Dickman Records had put together the evening's music; and Little Dickman artist, The Off White, closed out the first night bazaar. The Off White's Pat Brenner and Mike Bongi are part of the Psychiatric Metaphors live band, and the two acts definitely share an aesthetic. I'd place The Off White a little more on the snotty garage rock end of the spectrum, though. They were sounding great and taking advantage of the open-air Anchor's Bend to enjoy a few smokes during their set. A spilled beer on a bass head ended things abruptly, though. The band shrugged, and we all decided it was time to head over to APYC.

The Off White

As I rolled up to Asbury Park Yacht Club, I could already see the crowd spilling out onto the boardwalk. I heard the sounds of Buffalo's Governess coming from inside and noted to myself, "I think they have kind of a Motörhead thing going." Then, as I walked in...

Governess

There were lots of familiar faces who'd come out for The Battery Electric, and it started turning into one of those evenings I just love in Asbury Park. Handshakes, hugs, smiles, and just a lot of cool vibes.

The small space at Asbury Park Yacht club started to become basically impassable. They'd added a couple of tables, and it didn't really help things. By the time The Battery Electric started, the bar was wall to wall people. A pit sprang up almost instantly. At one point, Sean from The Off White leapt from the bar and landed atop the crowd. He surfed around getting tangled in the Christmas lights hanging from the ceiling. He wasn't the only crowd surfer, and the normally sedate Yacht Club had become a roiling sea of bodies.

I snapped a few shots and then listened to most of the rest of the set from outside. The Battery Electric played songs from The Heart and The Thrill. They did covers by Sam Cooke, Etta James, The Misfits. They even did a little Weaving Spiders, bringing out "Shock Hazard" for the first time in a while. As they finished up, frontman Ron Santee asked "Hey! Who wants us to do YMCA?"

The Battery Electric and friends.

I guess the vote was yes, so the band and the crowd did a rendition of the song to ring in Asbury Park's annual LGBT Pride celebration. 

It was an amazing night of love, friendship, and rock and roll. As I said, it was full of hugs, sweat, and smiling faces. A great night in a great town. Things started as a fun, Saturday night family outing in the early evening sunlight and ended with music that went into the wee hours of Sunday morning. You can do it all here.

All the pics that I managed from last night are up at Flickr.

The Off White, Don't Take Kindly

Album Review

I mentioned last week how much I love indie pop. The discipline it takes to craft a song, the clean production, the attention to detail all appeal to me. I often marvel at a pretty, pristine pop song. But sometimes... ...sometimes you want to get your hands a little dirty. Sometimes you want to get down in it. For those times, you've got bands like The Off White.

The Off White are a Long Beach Island foursome whose debut full-length, Don't Take Kindly, came out about a week and a half ago on Asbury's Little Dickman records. It's a record that sounds like it's coming to you from another time. And I'm not saying that because all the songs have a retro vibe to them, which they do. I also mean that in kind of a physical way. The songs on Don't Take Kindly, buried in dirt and grit and lo-finess, sound like they're coming through from some distant dimension. It's like you're receiving a ghostly transmission from some dark place.

Opener "You Never Listen to Me" features some barely discernible vocals buried behind walls of guitars and layers of reverb. The refrain of "You never listen" gets twisted and contorted among a barrage of "no no nos" from the rest of the band. "Karma, Bitch!" starts out-fast paced with some piercing guitars but slows down for the sneered group chorus of "aaah aaahs." Back in February, I said that single "Rumors" was a "dark and dirty antidote to all things pristine and slickly produced;" and by the time that song comes around here, there's no doubt about that statement holding true for the whole record.

The band slows and quiets things down a bit at times, adding some country twang on "Hiding Song" and giving "The Itch" a foreboding, repeated riff and some strategic stops before letting the tension slowly build again. "Bedroom Floor" is The Off White's version of a love song, quiet and twangy again, but darkened up just a bit with the line, "girl you know I'm crazy, but I still want you for my baby."

So, yeah. You've got your music that comes in a nice package. Often times, it took a lot of blood, sweat, and work to get it to you in that form that hits you just the right way and gets you singing along. And then you have your music from bands like The Off White where the blood and sweat are still right there for you to see and feel. All of the edges and grit and grime scrape at you and get you to feel something in a totally different way.

They both work for me. Depends on what kind of mood I'm in. Don't Take Kindly is there for those times when you really want to get down in it.

Don't Take Kindly is available on CD (now) and cassette (this week) from Little Dickman Records. It's streaming for a limited time from Little Dickman's Soundcloud.

Stream a New Song from The Off White

"Rumors"

Lo-fi, garage rock quartet, The Off White, have released the first single from their upcoming lo-fi, garage rock full-length Don't Take Kindly. Asbury Park's Little Dickman Records will be releasing the Long Beach Island band's record on April 7th on both CD and cassette.

"Rumors" is a loud, dark, and dirty antidote to all things pristine and slickly produced. I can only imagine how the cassette version would've rattled the little, dual-cone speakers of the 1987 Toyota Tercel hatchback CoolMom and I drove around the whole time we lived in Seattle. "The Pod" wouldn't have known what hit her.

Next month, The Off White hit the road down to Austin with Psychiatric Metaphors and TV Tramps to bring some NJ noise to points south by southwest.

NJ EPs from The Off White, ROMP, Blithedale Romance

NJ EP Roundup

Going through the inboxes of my brain and my Gmail account reminded me that there have been a few EP releases from NJ bands in the last month or so that I found pretty interesting. The three I'm listing out here are all different from one another and showcase a few strains of what's going on in New Jersey rock music.

The Off White, The Off White EP

The Off White are a five-piece from Long Beach Island who have been making some incursions northward with recent shows at The Brighton Bar, APYC, and an appearance at CBGB fest. They even have some more local shows coming up on November 26th and December 5th at Red Bank Rehearsal Studios. The Off White recently signed with Asbury Park's Little Dickman Records who released this four-song EP.

The collection consists of four tracks firmly planted in the garage / psych rock of bands like The Black Lips. They range from the surfy and easygoing "Let's All Move to Mexico" to the chugging "Jaguar Jay Shot the DEA." Guitars, reverb, sneeringly snotty vocals, and shambling group singalongs: they're all there, and they make for a fun four-song ride.



ROMP, Sorry, Not Sorry

ROMP caught my attention last week with the early release of "Portrait" from this, their first EP. I felt like they brought kind of a late-80s, early-90s alt pop sound to the table (think The Primitives or The Cranberries), blending it with some more modern and edgy guitar sounds.

Sorry, Not Sorry more than delivers on the promise of that first single. Second track, "If Your Head Gets Any Bigger You'll Float Away," even shows that the band are capable of some fast-paced rocking out. Madison Klarer's powerful yet still conversational vocals are one of ROMP's defining characteristics, but everything works together to produce a sound that I think could take the trio beyond the basements of New Brunswick sooner or later.



The Blithedale Romance, Wanderer

The Blithedale Romance are another New Brunswick band. The quartet comes down on the harder, heavier end of the alt-rock spectrum. I've never seen the band before, but Wanderer makes me feel like they must deliver a pretty wild live show.

Single "State of Fear" is timely given how we're all meant to be cowering in our homes for fear of catching ebola or being beheaded by ISIS. It features a jagged guitar riff that, combined with Rob Graham's vocals, had me thinking of Electric-era Cult. Wanderer gets more melodic and reveals the band's ear for pop on "Treason." It's occasional nods like that which allow Wanderer to sound dark and aggressive while remaining accessible.



That's a pretty diverse trio of releases. I feel like at least one should fall somewhere in your own personal wheelhouse. If not, there are plenty more sounds coming from New Jersey; and you don't even have to search that hard to find them. I may even mention a few more right here every once in a while to make it easy for you. So watch this space, I guess.

Show Preview: Little Dickman Records Presents The Off White, Ms. America, Psychiatric Metaphors at The Brighton Bar TONIGHT, 8/13/14

Wednesday Night Dickman

Asbury Park's Little Dickman Records understand a thing or two about branding. If their name is on something, you can be pretty sure about what you're going to get. It may be punk. It may be psych. It may be garage. But you can rest assured that it will be rock and that every attempt will be made to melt your face.

Tonight, Little Dickman Records bring an evening of psych-heavy garage rock to The Brighton Bar as The Off White play their first-ever headlining gig at the Long Branch venue. Supporting them will be two other New Jersey acts: Ms. America and Psychiatric Metaphors. Each of these bands bring their own take on that Nuggets-style rock that never goes out of fashion.







I've still got tomorrow's weekend listings to put together, but I wanted to make sure that this one was on your radar to maybe brighten (Brighton?) this dreary day.

Doors open for tonight's show at 8p. This one is 18 and over, and $8 gets you in the door.