Tonight: Raccoon Fighter Release Party + After Party

Raccoon Fighter is playing Mercury Lounge tonight to celebrate the release of their latest 7". They go on bright and early at 7pm sharp. Also on the bill are Three Blind Wolves from Scotland. I know nothing about them but as a proud descendant of Clan Donald I like all things Scotland, except the Campbells - those dirty fucks.

After the show the Raccoon clan heads over to St. Jerome's for the after party. My homeboy Carlos (who I throw Smell The Glove with) is DJing punk & rock n' roll. There's also $2 Bud until 12 so come party with the family.

RSVP & Details

Tonight: The Drums @ Mercury Lounge; Dirty Fences @ Don Pedro's

I'm still pissed at The Drums for cancelling last minute on two shows I was involved with back when they first started getting popular (not cool bros). That said, they're a good band you should try and see at some point ($15 cover tonight). But if sunny, surfer music isn't your speed you can head to Don Pedro's for one of the best down and dirty rock n' roll bands in NYC, Dirty Fences (FREE SHOW).

DIRTY FENCES by DIRTY FENCES

Tonight: Raccoon Fighter & Gunfight! @ Cake Shop; So So Glos & Hussle Club @ Mercury Lounge

Our homeboys in Raccoon Fighter are playing the last night of their residency at Cake Shop tonight with our pals Gunfight!. If I wasn't there I would be at the Rocky Business release party at Mercury Lounge with So So Glos and Hussle Club. The after party is at Darkroom with Schoolboy, Dirtyfinger and Prince Terrence DJing.

Link:

Raccoon Fighter Residency

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Hussle Club & So So Glos

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After Party 

CMJ Day #2: STRIFE!

Yesterday's CMJ festivities started with the press mixer at the Rivington Hotel. They had a 3-hour open bar and finger foods. Needless to say I left drunk and full. I was actually surprised by how few people I bumped into. I mean, the place was packed but very few of the NYC crowd was there. Anyway, it was a nice way to kick off the night.

After that I ran over to Webster Hall for the Orchard party. Surfer Blood and The Drums were playing upstairs but I just wasn't feeling it. Especially knowing that one of my all-time favorite hardcore bands was playing a free show at Mercury Lounge. All I could think about was how much I would hate myself if I didn't get in. So I had a couple of drinks and split.

I got to Mercury Lounge around 10:30 (I think) and had to wait a few minutes to get in but there wasn't a line. The joint was packed and Iron Age was just getting started when I got there. I've heard their albums and thought they were good but holy shit, they're fucking killer live. Next up was Disembodied and well, it's pretty generic hardcore - nothing special.

After Disembodied finished up the place kinda cleared out. I don't know why because Strife was due up next. I was so friggin' excited to see Strife. I think I may have seem them in the 90's but I can't say for sure. Those days are a blur now.

Strife took the stage and upon the first strike of a chord the crowd busted open and the middle of the room cleared out. The familiar circle of a mosh pit took shape, I can't say I've ever seen that at the Merc before. The crowd was a nice mix of hipsters, CMJ music nerds, beardo metal-heads and only a handful of hardcore goons. The pit was the fun kind where you don't have to worry about ending up in the hospital.

Rick, the vocalist, was pretty much on the floor in the pit the entire show. He's still got his trademark shaved head but nowadays he's sporting a monster beard to go with it. He was fucking shit up the whole time down there and passing the mic off to damn near everyone who wanted to get in on the action. It was an old-school hardcore show, the kind that simply don't exist anymore.

I was singing along to all the words that I could remember, which were fewer than I expected. Despite a busted knee I was right up front, standing around the edge of the pit, hoping someone wouldn't roll over my knee (almost happened - from Rick!).

I can't even express the sense of nostalgia that came over me. This was the type of show that made me love music and I felt like a fucking kid again. Sure, it's cliche but it's totally true. I miss these types of shows. Hell, every show used to be like this but that scene is dead now and these shows are gone.

But I digress - Strife fucking ruled! When I say one of the best shows I've been to in years I'm not exaggerating. Go see them tonight in Brooklyn at DBA, it's $10 and worth every penny. DBA is a DIY venue so it'll be pretty nutso.

Long live Strife!

***Sorry about the pic quality, didn't have time to edit.

Tonight: FREE Strife Show @ Mercury Lounge

CMJ is all about randomly discovering new bands but every once in awhile an older well established band will play a couple shows. In this case the legendary hardcore band Strife is playing two shows. The first is tonight at Mercury Lounge and it's free with RSVP. The second is tomorrow at DBA in Brooklyn. You should get fuckin' hyped up because Strife is one of the best goddamn hardcore bands ever. Sure, there's gonna be a bunch of goons beating on each other but it's fucking Strife! Who cares? You get to see motherfucking Strife, live!

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RSVP & Venue Location for tonight

DBA Show Info

Chikita Violenta Is Playing Mercury Lounge Tonight + Tour With Ra Ra Riot

Chikita Violenta is an indie band from Mexico I've been meaning to write about for awhile. I saw that they were playing tonight so I figured it's now or never. Their tunes are light and airy, even when they speed things up and start rocking.

I have a feeling these guys might get fairly big so if you check them out at Mercury Lounge tonight in three years you can brag to your friends about how you saw them when nobody knew who they were. Your friends won't believe you because you make up bullshit stories all the time but at least you'll know the truth.

Starting on September 27th they join up with Ra Ra Riot for a tour all the way across the good ol' US of A. I'd list the tour dates but that means copying and pasting from MySpace and that just gets sloppy so just go and see for yourselves.

Link:

Chikita Violenta MySpace

MP3:

 Chikita Violenta - War by BrooklynSkiClub 

Hank & Cupcakes Playing Beyond Race Mag Benefit

Beyond Race Magazine is hurtin' and Hank & Cupcakes are coming to the rescue. The band is playing a benefit show at Mercury Lounge on June 1st to help raise money for the mag. They even created this sexy video to help promote. Is it NSFW? Eh, depends where you work. There's some boob action but no nip or porn or anything like that (man, I managed to work in NSFW, boob, nip, sexy and porn in there. The search engines are sending a lot of traffic my way today!).

If you're back in town by the first you should check out the show. I'm not sure if any other bands or playing yet or not.

Everybody Was In The French Resistance...Now Played Mercury Lounge 5/12

On Wednesday night I headed to Mercury Lounge to check out Eddie Argos' new band, EWITFRN (that's way easier). Eddie is the front man for Art Brut and being a fan I was pretty interested to hear the new stuff. I hadn't yet listened to anything from the band so I went in with a blank slate not knowing what to expect.

I got to the show a little bit early and caught about half of Murder Mystery's set. To be honest I just did not dig these cats. The chick singer had a good rapport with the crowd, which was rather large, but the music just wasn't doing it for me.

While they were on Eddie and his bandmates were hanging in the back chatting with some fans. Eddie Argos is a very tall man, I was not expecting that at all. Once MM cleared off French Resistance headed backstage for a few and then took the stage.

They attempted to make a grand entrance with the French national anthem playing but the sampler crapped out and the chick in the band had to run on stage to fix it. It was a comical start to a very comical set. Once the band made their not so grand entrance Eddie started explaining the concept of the band. As he pointed out it was a concept band after all.

Apparently, all of their songs are reactions, replies and rebuttals to other songs. For example they played a tune called "Billie's Genes," which is about how Eddie is the love child of Michael Jackson and Billie Jean. It was hysterical and not a bad jam either.

Overall the tunes were way more dancey than I was expecting based on Art Brut's stuff but the humor was there ten-fold. Eddie Argos is undoubtedly the funniest and most charismatic front man in rock. This makes any band he's in an instant hit. Despite the fact that he can't, nor even bothers to attempt, to actually sing. He doesn't need to and it doesn't matter at all. The crowd loves this dude and for good reason. The music was good, the lyrics were great but the between song banter was by far the best part. Vive le Eddie Argos! Vive le France!

Link:

More on Flickr

Tonight: Everybody Was In The French Resistance...Now @ Mercury Lounge

Eddie Argos (Art Brut) has his new(ish) band in town for a show at the Mercury Lounge. I haven't actually given them a spin so I'm not 100% sure what to expect but Eddie knows how to have fun so it'll be good times, I'm sure.

Everybody Was In the French Resistance...Now (feat. Eddie Argos) - 10:30

Murder Mystery - 9:30

Blackbells - 8:30

Phil & the Osophers -7:30

Tonight: Sigmund Droid @ Mercury Lounge

Our homeboys Sigmund Droid are playing tonight at Mercury Lounge. You should go see them.

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More info

Art Brut Tour Dates - 5 NYC Shows @ Mercury Lounge

Art Brut is hitting the States in June to support their new album Art Brut Vs. Satan. They're playing five shows in NYC at Mercury Lounge.

US June Tour

June 1 New York, Mercury Lounge
June 2 New York, Mercury Lounge
June 3 New York, Mercury Lounge
June 4 New York, Mercury Lounge
June 5 New York, Mercury Lounge
June 6 Philadelphia. Johnny Brendas
June 8 Chicago, Schubas Tavern
June 9 Chicago, Schubas Tavern
June 10 Chicago, Schubas Tavern
June 11 Chicago, Schubas Tavern
June 12 Chicago, Schubas Tavern
June 13 Seattle, Neumos
June 15 San Francisco, Independent
June 16 LA, Spaceland
June 17 LA, Spaceland
June 18 LA, Spaceland
June 19 LA, The Echo

Apes & Androids @ Mercury Lounge (Recap & Pics)

On Saturday night I attended the sold out Apes And Androids show at the Mercury Lounge. If you're a regular reader of BSC then you know that I A&A is one of my favorite bands to see live. On top of that another fave of mine, Sigmund Droid, was opening the show.

I got to the show around 9:30, about thirty minutes before Sigmund Droid hit the stage. It's been awhile since I've seen them play so I was excited. After about two minutes I realized that they have gotten much better. They were good before but it seems like they really got it together these days. As they played the room quickly filled up and was about 2/3rds full by the end of the set. People were clearly enjoying themselves. Towards the end they played one of my favorites, "Liverpool Sluts", and based on the crowd's reaction I'm not the only one that loves that song.

Next up was Die Romantik. They set up strings of cheap chandelier lighting across the stage. I think they were going for a "romantic" feel - get it? Well it didn't really work in my opinion. The band wasn't bad... they just made no sense sandwiched in between Sigmund Droid and A&A. To be honest with you I was on the couch for the entirety of their set.

After they cleared the stage the A&A stage set up was revealed. They had five metallic alien heads with glowing red eyes hovering over the stage. After a few minutes of waiting the boys of A&A took the stage. As always they were decked out in face paint and shiny clothes. By this point the Mercury Lounge was insanely packed - you simply couldn't move. The crowd was a strange mix, not typical of an A&A show. But I guess that's what a bands "Merc show" is all about - exposure.

They played a fantastic set which included many of my favorites including "Riverside", "Nights Of The Week", "Golden Prize" and "Hot Kathy". The first time I saw "Golden Prize" performed was a few weeks ago. The entire band pulls out drums for some kind of tribal alien crunk shit - it's incredible and it was clear that the crowd was in awe. "Hot Kathy" was awesome, as always, but I'm still not sure why they don't close with it more often. It gets the crowd so hyped up and all of my favorite shows of theirs had "Hot Kathy" as the closer.

Anyway, halfway through the set the lights went down and the band ducked behind the speakers. Then the alien overlords began their communication. The five heads, eyes ablaze, had a discussion in several alien languages. The middle overlord spoke English in exactly the bad ass voice you would expect of an overlord. It was awesome and hilarious!

Overall, this was classic A&A. They were spectacular and everyone in the crowd was going crazy. Everyone knew they were witnessing something special - a band about to burst. It was like everyone there was in on a secret and this was the last chance to feel special about being an A&A fan. After all this was A&A's Mercury Lounge show, the show that broke many of your favorite bands. A successful Merc show is incredibly important for an upcoming band. I've been to many of the shows at Merc that broke bands and I have to say that none were even half as good as what I witnessed Saturday night. Apes and Androids are ready and you better be too because they are the future.

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The rest of the pics on Flickr

Wolfmother/Black Lips At Merc Lounge

I arrived at this show not really knowing what to expect. I had only heard about 2-3 songs by Wolfmother and I thought they were decent. The hype storm around them made me buy tickets just because they were cheap and I wanted to see what was up. I got there unusually early and decided to grab some pizza before the show. Famous Original Ray's shouldn't be famous and it's not very original.

Anyway, I made my way into the Merc Lounge during the middle of the first bands set. I have no idea who they were but I wasn't digging it. I decided standing at the bar and drinking a $4 PBR was a much better idea. After they cleared the stage I made my way back into the performance room and grabbed a seat while the next band set up.

Before this show I had never heard of the Black Lips before and now I can honestly say I'll never forget them. Within 30 seconds of the first song I jumped out of my seat and grabbed a spot against the stage. The music was just killer rock n' roll - kinda like Kings Of Leon meets Swamp Rats. My brother went for a simpler explanation and just said they sound like the Kinks.

The first thing I noticed about the band was the guitar player. He was short and had a creepy porno mustache. On top of that he was wearing a pink tie-dye shirt with half cut sleeves and the neck band removed. On top sat a shitty Kool cigarette hat that they give away at bars as promotional items - the brim was straight and the back was buttoned. He also had some weird gold chain with a medallion on it, which added to the whole porn thing.

The next thing I noticed was the little tiny amps. They were playing out of practice amps - the really small kind you played in your bedroom in 7th grade. Actually, one guy had a half stack but it was still pretty weak looking. All of these things just told me something weird was about to happen. The tunes were sloppy as fuck and a few times they actually had to restart entire songs. Coming from a small town DIY background this was kinda refreshing for me.

They played way more songs than they were supposed to and eventually the sound guy killed the mics, turned on the lights, and blasted the house music. That didn't stop Black Lips - they just cranked up their amps and kept playing "one more song". The last song had no vocals but that didn't seem to matter - it wasn't about the music at that point.

What happened next will go down as the craziest thing I have ever seen at a show. During the last song the creepy mustache guy pulls out his dick, runs across the stage, and starts making out with his bass player. Ok, big fucking deal right? Then this twisted fuck walks over to the middle of the stage kneels down and starts pissing on the stage. Oh and then it gets good - he gets up, grabs his dick, aims it towards his face and starts pissing in his own mouth! To top it all off he then spits his pissy saliva all over the goddamn crowd.

I was absolutely in awe of this crazy fuck - GG Allin would have been proud. Afterwards people lined up to shake this piss-soaked maniac's hand. It was so punk rock and I feel like I've been ruined for life. How can any band compete with this? They can't. I was shocked and I've never been shocked in my life. Long live Black Lips.

Next up was Wolfmother - seriously at this point who fucking cares, really? They started their set standing in a puddle of piss. They weren't at all what I heard on those MP3's I discovered and I left about three songs in. I keep hearing people compare them to Sabbath and Bleach-era Nirvana. I didn't hear either to be honest They sounded like Bleach-era Soundgarden being raped by Rush. I wasn't digging these guys at all. When your band is 25 years old and all of the people there to see you are 45 years old, maybe you took the retro thing a little too far.

Wolfmother

Black Lips

People In Planes @ Merc Lounge

First of all, I want to make it clear that I do marketing for these guys so I may be a bit biased. If you want an unbiased opinion of the show check out The Music Slut.

So I show up at the Bowery Ballroom at 8:30 on the dot. Except the Bowery is completely shut down, at this point I realize that the show is at the Merc Lounge - fuck. So I hop in a cab and rush over to the Merc trying not to miss the beginning of the set. Of course when I get there the first band hasn't even gone on yet - so I just wasted six bucks on a fucking cab. Don't even let me get started on cabs.

When I got inside I grabbed a beer and hung out at the bar while the first act played. People In Planes were at the bar drinking. When the first act got done I waited until PiP left the bar and then I headed into the stage room and got a spot up front. After a few minutes the band hopped on stage and went right into thier first song.

The entire room was packed with people - I think this was an industry crowd (label peeps, bloggers, etc.). Either way it was hard to move - which is why all my pics are from the same angle. Anyway, the band tore through the set. They were very good, I wasn't really expecting so much. The singer has a fucking ridiculus voice. You know how most bands you see the singers voice is kinda weak compared to the album? Not this kid - it was sick how good he could sing. The bass player reminded me of Angus Young for some reason - I don't know why.

The last two songs were the highlights of the set. The first of the two was their single "If You Talk Too Much...", which I really dig. They tore that shit up and then went into a song called "Barracuda". This song was by far the most dirty rock n' roll tune they played. The riffs in the song were pretty badass.

I have to say - I was pleasantly surprised by People In Planes. I work with quite a few bands but you don't really see any of them on BSC - yet you're seeing PiP, that should tell you something. I honestly think these guys have the chops to please both the indie crowds and the radio rock heads - I see big things in their future.










Oh, I have two pairs of tickets for a People In Planes acoustic set tomorrow (Thursday) in NYC. The show is at 7PM and it's for Spin. Email me if you want a set. BrooklynSkiClub@yahoo.com