Big City Life

A great man once said, “To be continued,” and that brings me to our upcoming trip back to NYC. But first, we must go back to October 22nd, when a van (we took a van last time, truck and trailer this go round) slap full of sexy beasts emerged from the Appalachian Mountains in Williamsburg Brooklyn. We have done the CMJ thing before, several times, and honestly had no intentions of going back. SXSW is a damn hoot, but CMJ is a bit much; too many bands in one very small area, you can’t get around easily, it costs a small fortune unless you care to stay in Newark, the shows don’t pay well, if at all, been there, done that. Well, Brooklyn Vegan got in touch with us through our PR people, and asked if we would come play their showcase for CMJ at Music Hall of Williamsburg. A. Brooklyn Vegan is a great blog and they have a taste in music more akin to our own, B. Music Hall of Williamsburg is a fantastic venue and that whole conglomerate of clubs treats bands well, C. It’s not in Manhattan , so it’s not quite the mess other places are, and D. The other bands on the bill were “buzzworthy.”

When we showed up for sound check, which we never got (big bill, no ones fault really, and we were the least in need due to setup), it was obvious that the Sammies would be the odd men out on the bill. The first guy we met was Thor, the drummer/percussionist/clarinet/etc guy from Shearwater, that night’s secret guest. 

He couldn’t have been nicer and when we mentioned that they were the “secret” band he said, “Well, I’ve known about it for weeks.” Anyway, I was tempted to run get us all scarves or something, so we didn’t stick out, but I figured our accents would give us away before long, what’s the use. Besides the fact we looked different, I soon found out rock and roll was music of yesteryear to folks in Williamsburg. The first band, Emmy the Great, was female fronted, acoustic for the most part, and had a song about abortion. I mention that b/c we were next.

We only had 30 minutes, never played The Music Hall before, so, that left us no choice but to play a strict, balls-to-the-wall, rock and roll, in the face set. Plus, if we were going to stand out, we really wanted to stand out! Success:



The Sammies came up next and they were the most WTF choice on the bill (at least that's what I gathered from the look people gave me whenever I brought them up). To quote Bill (who hasn't listened to their new album) (like I have many times), "they were fun and unpretentious and offered a constant stream of photo-ops". Brooklyn Vegan

- Thanks BV for having us and rocking out the album!

“…even at their best moments they were just a warmed over homage to Led Zeppelin, AC/DC, and generic Southern rock (see the song "Treat Her Like a Queen" on their MySpace). Idolator

- Although phrased as a “stone-cold bust” I really appreciate this review. Please compare us to those bands any day of the week.

The first band I caught was The Sammies, a down home rock ‘n’ roll party band that reminded me of swilling beer at bonfire parties. The guys were talented, too. And with lyrics referencing taking your clothes off and running in the rain, how could they not be fun to listen to? The band is from North Carolina and made mention of it more than once. “In case you weren’t aware we’re the rock portion of the night,” said the lead singer and guitarist. Indeed. NYCPress

- Indeed!

I've written about Emmy already, so straight to the North Carolina's The Sammies who were odd men out on the bill. They reminded me a lot of stuff I used to play when I was a college radio DJ, the many bands who formed in R.E.M.'s wake. (In fact, their new album was recorded at Mitch Easter's studio, he the man who produced Murmer and Reckoning.) The Sammies don't aspire to be anything more than fun, riff-heavy rock n' roll and in that they succeed. An image makeover could help their rep a bit but it might also make them seem like phonies. I say stay just the way you are. Soundbites

- Would you drink fake beer; then why listen to fake rock and rollers?

The next band began to set up, and I spotted cowboy boots and a guitarist noodling a blues riff during the quick soundcheck. This could be good or bad. The Sammies are from Charlotte, North Carolina, with their drummer explaining, "That’s why I sound like this" (referring to his Southern twang). Some middle-aged men waved wildly to my left and I realized that this band of boys had some dads in the house. Aww. The Sammies launched into a set reminiscent of The Black Lips’ chaos and The Drive-By Truckers’ exuberance, and I’m not surprised when I find these two bands on their MySpace Top 8 later that evening. The bassist owned this band, driving them along at a boot-stomping clip, and the drummer screamed to his heart’s content when he managed to get near his mic. The Sammies urged the crowd to "do a social," and they obliged, but the house largely did the standing-still for the set. Too jaded on rock ‘n’ roll bravado? It’s possible. The Sammies aren’t exactly doing anything new, but for a pack of guys who look like they should still be in a basement somewhere, their chops are disproportionately polished. Sandwich, their second album, is out now on Morisen Records. Tinymixtapes

- True, Gastonia would put their asses to shame, but they paid $15 to stand still so be it.

Favorite set was by the band from North Cakalacki, The Sammies. This band has some really catchy rock tunes and a live set that one just has to see. A few of my pics are below and the rest are on my flickr. Freshbread

- And I fucking love good, freshly baked bread!

Next up was The Sammies, a rock band from North Carolina that reminded us a lot of the Strokes circa 2001 –unpretentious and fun. Except with Southern accents and facial hair. Despite their occasional tendencies to veer toward country jam-band territory, they probably

would have been way buzzworthy half a decade ago. Sothisiswhatthevolumeknobisfor

- Strokes? I still don’t get that reference. Someone please help me out.

We did arrive in time to see The Sammies begin playing. They seemed set on letting everyone that they were a rock band by saying things like “In case you haven’t noticed, we’re the rock band on tonight’s lineup.” Enlightening, truly. Subterranean blog

- I guess we stated the obvious that night.

(Apologies to the Sammies, who played in between Emmy the Great and Shearwater. I missed their set due to a severe wave of jet lag, thanks to coming back from Iceland Airwaves a little over 24 hours previous.) pitchfork

- No worries, we’ll play many more shows. We appreciate the honesty and the past reviews. Getting around NYC is a bitch even when 100’s of bands aren’t playing all over the damn place.



OK, so that was just a taste of the blogs I found with a quick Google search. So crazy! You play one “tastemaker” show and viola. But, I must say, if you live in Williamsburg Brooklyn you either play in a band, write a blog, or are a Hassidic Jew; and possibly a combination of them all.



Alright, continuing on with the night’s billing. After our brief set Shearwater took the stage. I think they are really talented, and so do many others, just look at the “best of” lists, but after our set it was a bit of a sleepy transition. So spot on though, minus the fact you could hear a pin drop, and did a couple of times, if you like chiller music I highly suggest them, check out "rooks."

Batting next was another “best of” band, Ponytail. Don Yale said they were very entertaining to watch, female fronted, and she screams kind of the whole time, but still fun to watch. I downloaded their hit, "Celebrate the Body Electric," and it sounds good, is somewhat catchy, but at 7 minutes, doesn’t make the iPod cut, because when you shuffle you don’t want to run across that. They should remix to 3 minutes and it would be a damn awesome song!

Fighting out of the blue corner (aka next) was Passion Pit. This is one of the bands I could get down on. Their hit, "Sleepyhead," is a great electronic song. Supposedly penned as a Valentine’s Day gift for the front guy’s girlfriend, the EP fell into others hands and then became desired. I would go see them again.

First runner up happened to be who I was most excited to see, Jens Lekman, but billed as, the Singing DJ Jens Lekman.

Read the bigger blogs, he sucked!  He has a great, very interesting sounding LP, but when your highlight is spinning Mariah Carey you're jacked up as hell!  Maybe he's bored with himself already, such an artist in some respects, then where's the next album?  Wait, that was not cool, I used to be a closet musician, and it may have been the best creative times of my life, but music is to be shared...Jens will come through, and it may be some of the best music you never hear.

Finally, last but not least, The Phenomenal Handclap Band. Fronted by two NYC DJ’s, and accompanied by a host of other area musician’s from, but not limited to, Jon Spencer Blues Explosion, Calla, TV on the Radio, Mooney Suzuki, and others.  I feel bad for sound guys sometimes, especially with such an ambitious bill, but kudos to them for reeling it all in.

It was a long night, and a long drive back to Charlotte, but where are you going to park a van full of equipment, safely, in the city? Exactly, that’s why we always head back, or to the next show.

Brooklyn Vegan was beyond fucking awesome for having us, and everyone we saw and met there couldn’t have been nicer. Thanks again! Funny enough, I’m listening to Brooklyn Vegan’s show on SIRIXMU channel 43; XM/Sirius Radio merged and now the stations are all listed different. This blog is posted late b/c I wanted to include some cool links and pics, then the holidays hit, so here we are, crap, or do I mean carp! Hope to have another post soon!

Be excellent to each other!