The Vansaders Release a New Lyric Video

The Vansaders at Wonder Bar back in February

"Red and Blue"

Back on Leap Day 2020, before the era of social distancing and shelter-in-place, The Vansaders celebrated the release of Quixote x Broken Bird, their 7" split with latewaves, with a show at Wonder Bar in Asbury Park. Today, The Vansaders are sharing the lyric video for one of the songs from that split, "Red and Blue."

Our relationship here with Doug Zambon and The Vansaders goes way back. I first caught the band back in, probably, 2013 when I stumbled into The Saint just as they were hitting the stage. The lineup was different from the current one, but the songs were there. At the end of 2014, Doug performed at the first-ever CoolDad Music-presented show when we joined forces with Little Dickman Records for our first holiday benefit. Since then, The Vansaders have shown themselves to be one of the crown jewels of the Asbury Park music scene, fusing fist-pumping, punk energy with a knack for crafting crowd-pleasing, shout-along anthems. I'm grateful for our connection with The Vansaders, and I'm always honored when we get to showcase one of those anthems here. "Red and Blue" delivers on everything we've come to love about The Vansaders.

Maybe you missed that show at Wonder Bar or maybe you were looking forward to another Vansaders gig that got canceled. I won't speculate as to when you'll be able to see the band live again. I'll only say that, when you get the chance, make sure you take advantage of it if you're able. In the meantime, shout along with "Red and Blue." Pump your fist in the air and look forward to the time when we'll all be able to do that together again.

Stay safe and sane.

Quixote x Broken Bird is out now. You can stream "Red and Blue" wherever you like to stream stuff or grab it from The Vansaders' Bandcamp page.

Premiere: New Video from The Vansaders. Releasing Split with latewaves on 2/29.

The Vansaders by Kara Donnelly

"Siren's Song"

Today, Asbury Park's raucous and rowdy punk four-piece, The Vansaders, are sharing their video for the raucous and rowdy "Siren's Song." The track is part of an upcoming split 7" with Asbury paisanos, latewaves. The Quixote x Broken Bird 7" is due at the end of this month.

The Vansaders once again worked with producer Pete Steinkopf at his Little Eden Studios for "Siren's Song." The song is a familiar story in which our narrator is unable to resist his lover's charms even though he knows it will probably lead to his demise. Appropriately, "Siren's Song" adopts kind of a seafaring vibe embellished by The Vansaders' trademark harmonies, huge drums, and a blistering guitar solo. The Chris Shashaty-directed clip features Sara McDermott.

The Vansaders and latewaves will celebrate the release of their split Quixote x Broken Bird 7" on February 29th at The Wonder Bar in Asbury Park along with special guests kqhyt kqhyt. $3 from each ticket and $2 from each record sold at that show will benefit animal rescue organization Wag On Inn. "Siren's Song" will also appear on The Vansaders' next full-length, scheduled for this summer.

Pre-orders for Quixote x Broken Bird are available from Gruesome Twosome Records.

Wyldlife Played FM Jersey City with The Vansaders, Wombat In Combat, Crüelty, and Hollow-Eyed, 1/25/20

Wyldilfe by Rose Lamela

Wake Up! It's 2020!

Words and pictures by Rose Lamela

So I have been sort of trudging through the winter with no real desire to go to shows, but I knew it was time to "Wake Up." I picked the perfect show for that at FM in Jersey City this past Saturday. From the moment Hollow-Eyed stepped onto the stage until Wyldlife ended there, I was fully pumped and a little more ready for what is ahead. It was a 5-band line-up of heaving riffing and shouting. I also got pushed around a bit. It was the best remedy for my winter snooze.

I am also sad that FM is closing this upcoming weekend, and I do regret not spending more time there. Being there on Saturday and being part of a packed house felt good. Hearing all the questions about why FM is closing was a little heartbreaking. I root for more music venues to open their doors in the 6th Borough. It's one of my favorite Jersey stomping grounds and deserves a robust scene.

Anyway, enjoy the photos!! Full photosets are up at Flickr.

Wyldlife

The Vansaders

Wombat In Combat

Crüelty

Hollow-Eyed

Premiere: New Single from The Vansaders

"Kiss the Bottle (Jawbreaker Cover)"

On January 15th, Asbury Park's The Vansaders will release Standstill. "The album," according to Vansaders principal songwriter and frontman Doug Zambon, "will feature new renditions of old songs as well as a few surprises."

Today, we're happy to present the first single from that record. It's a cover of the Jawbreaker classic "Kiss the Bottle." There are numerous covers of the song floating around in the world (Foo Fighters, Lucero, Rise Against), and Zambon himself has featured the song as part of his solo set for a while now. Here, Zambon's solo version gets the full treatment as strings complement finger-picked guitar to add just that extra tinge of regret.

The original effectively makes its point through gritty, lo-fi punk. The Vansaders come at this one from a quieter, more contemplative perspective, really driving home the song's sense of loneliness and missed opportunities.

Check out The Vansaders' take on "Kiss the Bottle" below, and look for Standstill in the new year.

Tomorrow night, 12/21, The Vansaders head down to Trenton's Millhill Basement for a holiday celebration that also features The Cryptkeeper Five, Hot Blood, and White Cactus.

Jersey City and Asbury Park with The RockNRoll Hi-Fives, Lost Boy ?, NO ICE, Vacation, Resounding No, Daddies, and The Vansaders, 8/16 & 8/18, 2018

The RockNRoll Hi-Fives at APYC

Home and Away

This past weekend was a big one in terms of New Jersey shows. I'm only one person, so I always have to make choices. Ever since Rose Lamela started contributing here, though, I've had the opportunity to squeeze in coverage of a few things I would otherwise miss. On Thursday night, we were both in Jersey City. Rosi hit Monty Hall for Vacation, Daddies, and Resounding No; while I made it over to FM for the first of two homecoming shows for The RockNRoll Hi-Fives. That one also featured a solo performance from Lost Boy ?'s Davey Jones as well as NO ICE.

CoolDad Music hosted the second Hi-Fives show at Asbury Park Yacht Club on Saturday. We got help that night from a huge post-Gaslight Anthem crowd and the always amazing Vansaders.

But first, Thursday...

Here's Rosi.

Thursday Trio

Thursdays have been my Fridays for most of the summer as I get some nice perks at my day job. Last week was the end of that, and the feeling that summer is coming to an end was getting me down. There is nothing like a three-band line up at Monty Hall to cheer you up after a case of the end of the summer blues.

What could possibly cheer me up? Getting to see Daddies, Resounding No, and Vacation was all I needed to feel like I can take on the rest of the year.

Daddies gave us a little bit of their garage punk antics and even featured back up singers for a few tunes.

Daddies by Rose Lamela

Daddies by Rose Lamela

Daddies by Rose Lamela

Resounding No brought me back to a more pensive place with their crunchy grunge sound.

Resounding No by Rose Lamela

Resounding No by Rose Lamela

Resounding No by Rose Lamela

Vacation was the final push for me to get back to where I wanted to be. They absolutely rocked Monty Hall. There were times I was scared I might get hit in the head with a plastic Fireball bottle, but it wouldn't have taken me out of the refreshed mood I inhabited as I shared my last summer week with a gang of rock misfits. It's the little notes and beats in life that get us moving on to what is ahead even if it's the possibility of a cold dreary winter.

Vacation by Rose Lamela

Vacation by Rose Lamela

Vacation by Rose Lamela

I absolutely feel what Rosi is saying there. For me, personally, there really are very few downer type emotions that a live show can't cure for at least a few hours. That's what it was like at FM in Jersey City on Thursday night.

Davey Jones of Lost Boy ? performed new songs from his upcoming Paranoid Fiction. He sang to tracks that he'd recorded, produced, and played every instrument on and did not lose a single step as a frontperson without a band.

Lost Boy ?

Lost Boy ?

It had been about two months since I'd seen The RockNRoll Hi-Fives as they'd been on a nationwide tourcation. Among friends, they played loose and relaxed, filling in the spaces between songs with stories from tour. I can't tell you how good it felt to see and rock with them again.

The RockNRoll Hi-Fives

The RockNRoll Hi-Fives

NO ICE closed out the evening. They are one of the most fun bands out of Brooklyn right now. They can write a damn rock song, and the people who stuck around late all sang along.

NO ICE

NO ICE

That whole show was love, friendship, and smiles all around -- a real escape from whatever could have been eating at you for the rest of the week.

I spent Friday with friends and family as we geared up for the show at Asbury Park Yacht Club on Saturday night.

With a sold-out Summer Stage show and Ted Leo and The Pharmacists over at The New Legendary Asbury Lanes, Asbury was hopping. We'd had a few storms, so the temperature was coming down to a comfortable level; but, once I finally found parking and made my way inside APYC, I realized that the heat and humidity from earlier in the day would be hovering in the bar for the entire night. This turned out to be the hottest show I've ever attended (with, maybe, the exception of Lost Boy ?'s Goose Wazoo release show at Shea a couple years back).

The RockNRoll Hi-Fives took the stage just as the place was starting to pack out following The Gaslight Anthem. They brought it, even in the face of crushing heat. Confetti flew everywhere; and I was right in the line of fire. My sweat dissolved the colored tissue paper into pink, purple, and blue tattoos on my skin.

The RockNRoll Hi-Fives

The RockNRoll Hi-Fives

The RockNRoll Hi-Fives

I'd been trying to book the Hi-Fives on a bill with The Vansaders for a while, and the fact that it finally came together for Saturday's show was probably the best possible outcome. The Vansaders are a Damn. Good. Band. Great songs. Full of emotion. They deserve to be big.

The Vansaders

The Vansaders

The Vansaders

When the music ended, the crowd was sopping wet. I had purple rectangles on my face, pink squares on my arms. We filed out onto the boards and took in the cool, beach air. Again, the music and community made us all forget the heat and any other negative energy for a little while.

This wasn't only a homecoming show for The RockNRoll Hi-Fives. It was also a going away party of sorts. The band have relocated their base of operations to North Carolina, and Saturday's was their last show as residents of New Jersey. It was a pretty emotional night in that way. If you've been a reader here for the last little while, then you know that the Centenos are family to us here, and we'll miss having them close by. They're Jersey through and through, though; so we'll get plenty of opportunities to see them when their need for real bagels and real pizza gets the best of them (like 9/8 at the 4th Annual Bond St. Block Party in Asbury or 9/30 at The Hoboken Arts & Music Festival).

If thoughts of the end of summer or back to work or back to school or maybe missing your friends start to get you down, head out to a show and feel happy. It really has a way of changing your perspective and putting a positive spin on the world.

All of the pics from the weekend by Rosi and me are up at our Flickr galleries.

I've Been Quiet But Busy: Folked Up, Record Plants, Fruit & Flowers, Sweet Spirit, Michael VM, The Vansaders, and More

Sweet Spirit at Johnny Brenda's

What Have I Been Up To?

There was a time, back in the early days of CoolDad Music, when I would write recaps and reviews of just about every show I attended, no matter how large or how small. As I've become a veteran, jaded blogger, I've done less of that. I'm not complaining here because it's 100% my own choice to do all of this, but it's a fair bit of work to put together a post about even a small show if I want to include pictures and all that kinda stuff. Sometimes, I just get lazy.

I still attend a shit-ton of shows, though. Here's a round-up of what I've been up to in the last week or so.

Let's Get Folked Up!, Watermark, Asbury Park, NJ

On Wednesday, May 16th, I attended the inaugural Let's Get Folked Up "writers' round" presented by Chris Brown and Megan O'Shea in conjunction with Nashville recording artist Jo Smith. In addition to Smith and Brown, the line-up for this first show in a proposed series included J.T. Makoviecki of Jackson Pines, Renee Maskin of Lowlight, and Matty Carlock.

Jo Smith

Chris Brown et al

Artists took turns sharing songs and stories over the course of two sets before finishing up with a group performance of Leonard Cohen's "Hallelujah." It was a pretty laid-back evening in a beautiful space with waves crashing just outside the windows behind the stage. I'm hearing that the next installment will happen in July; and, if last week was any indication, it's definitely something worth checking out.

Thursday with the Dickmans, Independent Record Pressing, Bordentown, NJ / The Outpost, Asbury Park, NJ

On Thursday morning, Chris Dickman and I headed over to Bordentown where Randy Now has organized a tour of the new Independent Record Pressing plant which sits just a few minutes away from the Man Cave. We got a walkthrough of the production floor and saw vintage and new vinyl presses pumping out titles from bands like Radiohead, Queens Of The Stone Age, The Menzingers, and Snail Mail. It was pretty damn cool, especially to know that it's happening right in our backyard.

Fruit & Flowers

That evening, Chris & Amy managed to get me into a party that surf, skate, swim lifestyle brand Volcom were throwing at Asbury Park's Outpost. Fruit & Flowers, long a favorite of ours around here, were providing the musical entertainment. I, amazingly, hadn't seen the Brooklyn band since Austin; and it was nice to see that they could still blow me away. Earlier this week, Fruit & Flowers left for their first-ever tour of the UK.

Sweet Spirit / The 1910 Chainsaw Company, Johnny Brenda's, Philadelphia, PA

I already wrote briefly here about what a tough day Friday was. As the day wore on, I made the last-minute decision to head down to Philly to catch Sweet Spirit at Johnny Brenda's.

Sweet Spirit is a project featuring Sabrina Ellis and Andrew Cashen of A Giant Dog along with Josh Merry, Jake Knight, Jon Fichter, and Danny Lion. Where A Giant Dog are glam punk, Sweet Spirit are more soulful, more poppy. Ellis, though, is probably the most charismatic presence in live music right now. It doesn't matter which band she's fronting. And, I hate to put this kind of thing on artists who don't know me from a hole in the ground; but Ellis and Cashen have "been there" for me at times when I really needed it. Catching them at this show was really a no-brainer for me, and they didn't disappoint.

Sweet Spirit

I only brought the point & shoot and spent most of the set enjoying myself rather than shooting. Openers The 1910 Chainsaw Company were a nice surprise. To me, they sounded like what you might get if you crossed Pavement and The Beach Boys.

The 1910 Chainsaw Company

Side note: Philly is like 30 miles further from me than Brooklyn, but the drive on Friday was about 30 minutes shorter each way than my usual trips up to Brooklyn. I'll be heading down there more often.

Michael VM / Metal Mountains, Mercury Lounge, New York, NY

After taking Saturday night off from shows in order to spend some time with the family, it was back to it on Sunday for an early show at Mercury Lounge. Our good buddy Michael VM made the trip up from North Carolina with his family to celebrate last year's release, the happiest man on earth. I reviewed the album right around its original release, and it finds Michael in a quieter more contemplative place following his marriage, his move from NYC to NC, and the loss of his mother. He played live with a band that included several members of his former band, The Everymen, as well as his father, Ray. The songs translated well to a live setting and were as moving as they are on the record.

Michael VM

Duo Metal Mountains opened. Helen Rush (vocals / guitar) and Pat Gubler (guitar) delivered, maybe, the mellowest, most low-key set I've ever seen. Metal Mountains' Facebook bio reads simply, "Quiet in the noise..." and that's pretty spot-on.

Metal Mountains

Pastrami from Katz's after the show.

Kali Masi / The Vansaders / Have A Good Season, The Saint, Asbury Park, NJ

On Monday, I headed over to The Saint to catch The Vansaders, Have A Good Season, and Chicago post-hardcore / emo-ish band Kali Masi. Emily was working the door. Scotch LaRock showed up. Alex. Billy. Neil. It wasn't a huge crowd, but there were lots of familiar, friendly faces.

Have A Good Season do the 90s fuzzy guitar indie thing (Dinosaur Jr., Built To Spill) really well, and it's always cool when I catch one of their sets. I was saying to someone over the weekend that I've never seen The Vansaders turn in a bad set, and last night was no different. Just big gut punches of punk-inspired anthems. Kali Masi played to the small Monday night crowd as if they were working a packed room, which is always good to see.

Have A Good Season

The Vansaders

Kali Masi

Things ended relatively early -- always a bonus after a busy few days.

So, even though it's been quiet here at the site, I've been pretty busy. I've got a few interesting things lined up this week that I'll share with you before the coolfamily and I head down to Savannah for the long weekend.