Tropic of Nelson, Grandchildren, and Rad Racket Played Death By Audio
Friday night, Death By Audio proved to be the place to be. I went there fully aware that Tropic of Nelson was going to blow the doors down. The quartet features Christoph and Anton Hochheim of 8-bit shoegazers Depreciation Guild—who have recently begun getting their much deserved attention. But this is no shoegaze band, Tropic of Nelson is a pure frenzy of rock and roll not reminiscent of greats The Jesus Lizard and Drive Like Jehu. Maybe this isn't the cool sound of the moment, but they're good enough where they might make it that way, and they'll surely knock you on your asses. All those people on the Fucked Up bandwagon should definitely check them out.
The band has recently recorded an EP, and RCRD LBL has some nice words to say about them, and some new tracks available for download.
Following Tropic of Nelson was the big surprise. After a long long week, I was tired and ready to call it a night, but I stuck around to see if the next band Grandchildren were any good, and I was immediately rewarded for giving them a chance. The Philly band sounded great despite the terrible sound of Death By Audio. Over a backing tracks that reminded me of Fuck Buttons, they played an energetic mix of electronic, rock, shoegaze. I always felt like the post-apocalyptic sounds of Fuck Buttons were a solid foundation that needed something else, and Grandchildren seemed to be adding that necessary something else.
What happened next was the most interesting moment of the night. Finishing their set as Grandchildren, the band restructured themselves, switched instruments and maybe a member or 2 and then played another set. This time they played as Rad Racket, and though there were similarities in sound, they were definitely distinctly different bands, with Rad Racket often having a more straightforward rock sound highlighted by Roman Salcic's melodic vocals—especially on "Morning Trolley."
Tropic of Nelson, Grandchildren, and Rad Racket are all bands I highly recommend checking out.
Pendulum Wraps Up First US Tour at Bowery Ballroom
Pendulum
Bowery Ballroom, 10.26.08
"It's been a long day, long week, long month, long year, but we don't give a fuck!" shouted Ben "The Verse" Mount, frontman of Australian band Pendulum.
Yes, it has been a long week. In fact, the past week of CMJ hysteria destroyed me. I find it hard to stand, and I'm suffering temporary hearing loss in my right ear, which in turn puts my whole body off balance.
My first attempt for recovery came on Sunday with a long lazy day of laying around watching bad TV (Degrassi) and bad movies on TV (Mod Squad). Unable to go cold turkey from concerts, I once again found myself in front of a live band. This time it was at Bowery Ballroom and the band was Australian drum and bass/rock act Pendulum.
No idea what to expect, a few drinks were quickly poured down my throat. Pendulum had just sold out Webster Hall the night before as part of CMJ, and Sunday night was to be the final show of their first ever American tour.
Already playing huge venues in Europe and other parts of the world, Pendulum has only begun to make a splash in the US, but that was hardly noticeable at the Bowery Ballroom, where fans packed the house and danced passionately through the entire beat-driven set.
After being used to indie shows where fans stand still with arms crossed, it was refreshing to see people acting openly passionate about music. And why is it that indie kids hardly dance at all? Are we just that depressed and self-aware that we can't dance?
Supporting their new album, In Silico, Pendulum's sound is a combination of influences of bands like Prodigy and stadium rock. They even use the same lighting guy as Prodigy. Motivated for big things, their shows are energetic and exciting to watch, and after a recent tour with industrial rock legends Nine Inch Nails, they are spending time with right type of bands to learn how to make their shows bigger and better.
Live Picks 6/15/08 - 6/21/08
Buddy Cole Claims that Jesus Was Gay
During their second sketch of the night, Buddy Cole (Scott Thompson) providing the audience with a sidesplitting monologue, claimed that the Son of God was in fact a homo. As sharp as any sketch from the prime of their careers, it was obvious that the Kids in the Hall still haven't lost their comedic touch.
It's been a while since The Kids in the Hall have displayed their hilariously absurd comedy to a public audience, last touring back in 2000. This past weekend they performed four times at the Nokia Theater in Times Square.
In the late ’80s till the mid ’90s, the Kids in the Hall brought the world some of the best absurd sketch comedy since the days of Monty Python’s Flying Circus. Characters like The Headcrusher, Buddy Cole, The Bird Lady and Running Faggot will always be remembered.Bruce McColluch, Kevin McDonald, Dave Foley, Scott Thompson, and Mark McKinney have aged, but their comedy hasn't. It's still fresh and just like the Monty Python crew, the Kids may actually have grown sillier with age—which is far from common in the comedy world, just ask Eddie Murphy, Steve Martin, Chevy Chase...etc. Every bit as funny as they were in their prime 15 years ago, they still know how to offend, and they make for funny women.
