There’s no surprise how much we love NY’s Lucius, with their sparkling harmonies and matchy-matchy outfits, but we love ‘em even more when they have new music to stream and a show in our area! Coming off a whirlwind of dates including Bonnaroo, the five-piece are making a stop at Baltimore’s Metro Gallery where they will most likely play this great new song they’ve released for their fans to hear.

Listen to the demo version “Until We Get There” below and grab your tickets to their show tomorrow night 6/19 here.

Monday June 17 2013
Low @ 6th and I Synagogue

Low is an American indie rock group from Duluth, Minnesota, formed in 1993. The group is composed of Alan Sparhawk, Mimi Parker and Steve Garrington, and is characterized by slow tempos and minimalist arrangements. The band’s latest album, The Invisible Way, is the tenth full-lenth record in its twenty-year history, and was produced by Wilco’s Jeff Tweedy.

Tuesday June 18 2013
The Postal Service @ Merriweather Post Pavillion

You can spend all the time and money in the world trying to craft the perfect pop-music scenario, but sometimes the stars have to align all by themselves. Even though early on the members of The Postal Service jokingly referred to “Such Great Heights” as “the hit” on their debut album, Give Up, there’s no way anyone could have predicted the eventual impact made by a mail-order album designed in a pair of West Coast bedrooms.

It’s been 10 years since the little project that could from Seattelite Ben Gibbard (also known as Death Cab For Cutie’s frontman) and Angeleno Jimmy Tamborello (Dntel, Figurine) emerged from seemingly nowhere and began to burrow its way into the ears of anyone who came into contact with the band’s infectious electro-pop. To celebrate, Sub Pop is reissuing The Postal Service’s one and only album, including in the multidisc set B-sides, rarities, and two brand new songs, “A Tattered Line of String” and “Turn Around.” Equally noteworthy is the announcement that the band is back together, at least in 2013: The Postal Service will hit the road for a long-overdue victory lap, one that will give most fans their first (and last—seriously, don’t ask) chance to see the group in person.

Of course, the music that The Postal Service created was more than just electro-pop, and the force with which Jimmy and Ben captured the indie-rock zeitgeist of the early aughts made them more of a phenomenon than just a regular old band. The guys exquisitely matched synthetic sounds with organic ones, a marriage that also brought together fans spread out across the musical spectrum. The fact that such artists as Ben Folds, Amanda Palmer, Streetlight Manifesto, and Confide (who knew Cookie Monster liked The Postal Service?) have covered “Such Great Heights” is a testament to both the song’s magical spark and its melodic inclusivity. – subpop

Wednesday June 19 2013
Lucius @ Metro Gallery

When they wrote their self-titled EP, Lucius was living in an old Victorian house in Brooklyn’s Ditmas Park. They found the place on Craigslist, not knowing it was a recording studio and music school for 60 years prior. There were so many treasures that had been left behind – like the 100 year old Steinway piano that would nurture their writing habits. The four-story musical fortress also housed 8 other musician friends and would soon open their doors to bandmates, Danny Molad, Peter Lalish and later, Andrew Burri.

Holly and Jess have had a relationship filled with coincidences. Their lives are uniquely in sync. “When we were ready to make our record we felt it was imperative that the recording reflect that synergy. None of us were concerned with trying to sound like ‘a band’, we just wanted to create a unique environment for each song to sit in.” Much of their record is about these unique experiences, told from the same perspective, at the same time, with the same sentiment. Two voices as one.

Lucius has been hailed by the New York Times as “the next Feist” with “luscious, luminous, lilting lullabies.” Seventeen Magazine also describes them as “alluring and magnetic.” Their self-titled EP, produced by Tony Berg (Phantom Planet, Aimee Mann, Beck), bandmate, Dan Molad (Elizabeth & The Catapult, Luke Temple/Here We Go Magic) & Steve Wall, is an exciting debut. – MTV

Dawes @ 9:30 Club

While the city of Los Angeles has been both an inspiration and a home to the four members of Dawes, they found themselves traveling East last fall to record their third album in the Blue Ridge Mountains of North Carolina with newly enlisted producer Jacquire King. It was a chance to hunker down and work each day for a month away from familiar landmarks and routines. The tracks they laid down at Asheville’s Echo Mountain Studio have yielded a 12-song disc of tremendous sonic and narrative clarity, book-ended in classic album fashion by two very different versions of the wistful “Just Beneath The Surface” – a misleading title, really, since the songs stacked in between dig so deep. Stories Don’t End is not so much a departure from the quartet’s previous efforts as a distillation of them. It spotlights the group’s maturing skills as arrangers, performers and interpreters who shape the raw material supplied by chief songwriter and lead vocalist Taylor Goldsmith into an artfully concise and increasingly soulful sound. -jambase

Thursday June 20 2013
Cold Cave @ Rock and Roll Hotel

Cold Cave is the creative rebirth of acclaimed musician and writer Wesley Eisold.

Cutting his teeth in underground bands American Nightmare (Give Up The Ghost) and Some Girls, Eisold’s body of work has truly effected a generation of listeners. Through constant cross-pollination Eisold has gained mass appeal, influencing underground and popular culture with his ever evolving artistic vision.

With an already prolific number of releases, Cold Cave has become a name synonymous with the contemporary resurgence of Darkwave and Synth Pop sub-genres. Propelling Cold Cave to perform at world class museums The Getty and the Guggenheim, as well as performances with legends Sonic Youth, The Jesus and Mary Chain, among others. – lastfm

Friday June 21 2013
Chvrches @ Black Cat

The three members of Chvrches span a wide range of both ages and previous career experiences. At 25, vocalist Lauren Mayberry is the youngest and the one with far more educational credentials than indie cred– she’s already got a law degree, a masters in journalism, and a sense of humor about the futility of such assets in today’s job market. “I’ve always worked in cinemas or cafes to make money because it turns out freelance journalism is quite hard to get into,” she admits. Meanwhile, Iain Cook, 38, and Martin Doherty, 30, were previously in brooding post-rock bands whose volcanic soft/loud dynamics positioned them as progeny of Scottish standard bearers like Mogwai and Arab Strap. – first avenue

Crocodiles @ The Ottobar

“Welcome to the art-punk renaissance”, declared Rolling Stone magazine last year, triumphantly heralding Crocodiles’ debutalbum. It was all just deserves for a San Diego duo who’d spent years kicking against the mundanity of their sprawling military town. As singer Brandon Welchez remembers it: “My neighbourhood was just so boring that a lot of my friends started doing hard drugs at an early age. A lot of kids were growing up too fast, like, in a gross way…losing teeth. Plus my high school was full of racists and homophobes. Music was an escape from all that.”

Sharing both Brandon’s love for girl groups and punk, and his feeling of small-town-alienation, was guitarist Charles Rowell. Meeting at an anti-fascist rally when they were teenagers, the two have been in countless bands together since.

Last year the pair released their acclaimed debut album as Crocodiles. Alongside Rolling Stones support, ‘Summer Of Hate’ also garnered them endless blog buzz and tours across the US and Europe supporting bands like Holy Fuck and The Horrors. Straddling vast sonic terrains from the jagged guitar stabs of street-strutting lead single ‘Neon Jesus’, to throbbing kraut rock, expansive shoegaze and irresistibly danceable disco-punk jams, ‘Summer Of Hate’ drew comparisons with The Velvets and Primal Scream. – fat possum

Saturday June 22 2013
Trains and Guns @ Foundation Gallery & Liveroom

Trains and Guns is an up-and-coming Rock band from Kensington, MD. What started as two friends, RJ Arthur and James Abbott, jamming on their guitars quickly became a project bigger than either of them had expected. As the thrill of playing together grew, they became more and more interested in playing live shows. They were quick to recruit mutual friend and life-long drummer Mark Leverrier. Looking to flesh out their sound and complete the rhythm section, they added friend and bassist Steven Macker. The band immediately clicked together, playing heavy but danceable rock songs. The audience has been growing larger and larger with each show. The band recently headlined a sold-out show on New Year’s Eve at My Brother’s Place, a local bar in Washington DC. There has been a lot of buzz around facebook and the DC area, and the consensus seems to be that that Trains and Guns is a great time.

Sunday June 23 2013
Fitz and the Tantrums @ Rams Head Live

Brimming with imagination, energy and genre-smashing scope, Fitz and The Tantrums defied the odds to become an indisputable phenomenon, a chart-topping, show-stopping modern pop combo unlike any other. The Los Angeles-based sextet– comprised of Fitz (vocals), Noelle Scaggs (vocals/tambourine), James King (saxophone, flute), Jeremy Ruzumna (keyboards), John Wicks (drums, percussion) and Joseph Karnes (bass) – played its first show in December 2008 at Hollywood’s Hotel Café. After the self-released 2009 EP Songs for a Breakup, Vol. 1, Fitz and The Tantrums found themselves appearing on KCRW’s “Morning Becomes Eclectic,” touring with Maroon 5 and recording their full-length debut, Pickin’ Up the Pieces. The album, which was awarded three-and-a-half stars by Rolling Stone, spent 73 weeks on Billboard’s Heatseekers chart, peaking at No. 1. The band was named a “You Oughta Know” artist by VH1 and views for the video for the hit single “MoneyGrabber” surpassed three million. For their 2013 Elektra Records debut, More Than Just A Dream, Fitz and The Tantrums worked with producer Tony Hoffer (Beck, M83, Phoenix) and ramped up the timeless song craft and sonic force that made them a worldwide sensation. – facebook

“Don’t Swallow the Cap” by The National seems fitting for the gloom of today’s weather. There’s a stability in emotion throughout the track that seemingly builds up to one really great National track. Check it out below and be sure to listen to all of Trouble Will Find Me in its entirety.

Fort York & Garrison Common was the place to be last Saturday as Toronto’s beloved record label, Arts & Crafts, celebrated their 10th birthday with their own Field Trip Festival. Thousands of fans came together to see some of A&C’s finest acts but most importantly, the reunited collective that started it all for indie-label, Broken Social Scene.

The music. Oh, the music. It were two stages filled with great musicians. Up and coming band Gold and Youth started off the day, giving the early birds a live taste of tracks from their debut record, Beyond Wilderness. FYI, “Jewel” is perfect. From Stars’ Amy Millan (and daughter) to Brendan Canning, Jason Collett brought some of the Broken Social Scene family to join him during his hit, “I’ll Bring The Sun.” UK-band Bloc Party were tremendous, playing hits like “Modern Love” and their awesome “Flux” that was easily transitioned in from Rihanna’s “We Found Love.” A&C Alumni, Stars are always so great to watch. The energy and passion that normally comes from Torquil Campbell was amplified in height of all the memories of being home in Toronto. Co-headliner Feist started off her folk-laden set with the accompaniment of Snowblink and AroarA, later winding down into a trio and also giving the crowd a pretty accurate imitation of “a Kevin Drew” (Put your pulses to the sky. Put your pulse to your heart. Put your pulse on the heart of the person next to you…don’t get sexual!)

It was then we all gathered to embrace the classic You Forgot It In People in its entirety. The record helped launch this band to musical awareness and it only made sense to play in front of 10,000 fans from start to finish. The set also included “Meet Me In The Basement”, “Fire Eyed Boy”, and the rare track “Jimmy and the Photocall”, which started off with a surprise appearance by Metric’s Jimmy Shaw, who wasn’t expected to be there. It was powerful, emotional, and full of embraces. It was exactly as Torquil Campbell had preached to us earlier in the day, “Start a band with you friends. Incredible things will happen if you do.” That is Broken Social Scene.

As an American looking in, not only was Toronto filled with amazing bands and festivities, Toronto was a huge part of what brought this entire festival together. The history is there, the music is there, and that’s something special. With overcast skies, the mood at Field Trip was nothing but bright and sunny. And it can only bring the desire for more. If so, it’ll be a field trip I care to take each year.

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Monday June 10 2013
Animal Collective @ 9:30 Club

The strange, shimmering star at the center of the early 2000s psych-pop revival, Animal Collective garnered both critical plaudits and rabid, devoted acolytes by blending Brian Wilson-esque vocal harmonies with spaced-out instrumentation, tribal percussion and odd ribbons of sound. As their name implies, the group is more a loose aggregation of performers rather than a standard rock band. Each of the members assumes a kind of nom de psych under which they record: David Portner is Avey Tare, Noah Lennox is Panda Bear, Josh Dibb is Deacon and Brian Weitz calls himself Geologist. The names add an air of both mystery and personality to an already bizarre and singular group. It’s music is defined by a sonic restlessness, and an ability to change sounds and styles — sometimes radically — from album to album.

The group’s four members attended the same high school in Baltimore (Dibb and Lennox had gone to middle school together, as well). All of the members had been dabbling in music individually up to that point — Lennox had even put together a cassette of his music with hand-drawn panda bears on the cover. Upon graduation, Lennox and Dibb went to Boston to attend college, while Portner and Weitz went to New York.

The early part of the decade found the group steadily gathering steam, and the end of it found them reaping their rewards: 2009 proved the most successful year in the band’s history. The group (minus Dibb, who had taken time off for personal reasons) released Merriweather Post Pavilion, named for a Maryland concert venue, to immediate critical accolades and commercial success (the album peaked at Number Thirteen on the Billboard charts). The remainder of the year was spent touring, including a high-profile stint at Lollapalooza. At the end of the year, Merriweather had topped a number of critics best lists, including the Village Voice’s Pazz & Jop poll. The group continues to cultivate an active and dedicated fanbase, making frequent appearances on the “Collected Animals” message board to answer fan questions directly. – rollingstone

Wild Nothing @ Metro Gallery

Ask Jack Tatum what ‘Wild Nothing’ means and he’ll answer: ‘a contradiction’. In 2010, 21 year old Tatum released one of the finest cult pop records of the summer whilst ensconced in his senior year of college in Blacksburg, VA, a small mid-atlantic town better known for producing football fans and engineers than musicians. Tatum lives in contradictions. You’ll often hear Wild Nothing referred to as a ‘one man pop band’. Jack creates in the studio, alone. On the road, he’s with a band. There are two Wild Nothings. -capturedtracks

Tuesday June 11 2013
Of Monsters and Men w/ HAIM @ Merriweather Post Pavillion

Of Monsters and Men is an amiable group of day dreamers who craft folkie pop songs. But last year, the normally mild-mannered six pack transformed into total rock stars after stomping out their competition during Músiktilraunir, a yearly battle of the bands in their native Iceland. -MTV

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Hailing from the San Fernando Valley, HAIM consists of, “Three sisters, and a mister” that has been shaking things up in the city of Los Angeles for the past four years. It is truly a family affair for the band which prides themselves on being able to switch from instrument to instrument with complete confidence and ease, and all while singing in three part harmony.

The sisters, Este, Danielle, and Alana, grew up playing classic rock songs with their parents in a family band, called “Rockinhaim,” which played for charity events and street fairs. After years of playing with their parents, the girls decided to strike out on their own, and began writing their own material. Este, the eldest of the three, plays bass guitar and found time in between touring to graduate from UCLA with a degree in Music. Danielle, the 22 year old lead guitar player, who previously toured with Jenny Lewis, Cee-lo Green, and Julian Casablancas. Alana, the youngest in the band, plays rhythm guitar, keyboard, and percussion. Rounding out the group is Dash Hutton, who previously played drums for LA bands Wires on Fire and Slang Chickens. Over the past few years, the band has opened up for Julian Casablancas, Cold War Kids, Ke$ha, Group Love, No Age, The Bird and the Bee, Edward Sharpe and the Magnetic Zeros, Chief and The Henry Clay People. In February 2012, HAIM released a three song EP titled Forever, which is also the title track on the record. It can be downloaded for free at Haimtheband.com. – bighassle

Cold War Kids @ Rams Head Live

Los Angeles four-piece Cold War Kids elevate their passionate take on indie rock with their emotionally-raw fourth album Dear Miss Lonelyhearts.

Formed in 2004, the band’s breakthrough debut Robbers & Cowards was released to considerable acclaim in 2006. The darker Loyalty To Loyalty followed two years later, and 2011′s Mine Is Yours introduced deeper anthemic qualities to the eclectic group’s catalog.

Dear Miss Lonelyhearts, which features the rollicking, energetic single “Miracle Mile,” is Cold War Kids’ first release with former Modest Mouse and Murder City Devils guitarist Dann Gallucci, who also handled its production alongside Lars Stalfors.

“We were shaken up, ready to let certain songs go further than before by trying new styles and arrangements, while keeping others sparse and caring more about the finished product and less about how we got there,” explains frontman Nathan Willet about the ten-track album, which was recorded at the band’s private studio in San Pedro, CA. -paradigmagency

Wednesday June 12 2013
Ice Age @ Rock and Roll Hotel

Just out of their teens, it seems Copenhagen’s Iceage have only added to the anxiety and tension that made their debut album, New Brigade, so compelling. But now, they’re challenging their raging emotions instead of simply expressing them. You’re Nothing, Iceage’s sophomore album, is the sound of a band pushing their singular mix of punk, Goth, hardcore, and post-punk to even further extremes. It’s overwhelming how many ways Iceage have found to write the short aggressive rock song.

When you see Iceage live you get the feeling the songs are just about to fall apart before miraculously recovering, always rewarding you with a climax. This menacing energy is more forceful on You’re Nothing. It is a more epic sound, like a rough sea.

Iceage is Jakob Tvilling Pless (bass), Dan Kjær Nielsen (drums), Elias Bender Rønnenfelt (vocals/guitar), and Johan Wieth (guitar). Since the release of their full-length debut, New Brigade (What’s Your Rupture?/ Abeano/Escho), the band has performed at festivals including Pitchfork, Roskilde, Chaos in Tejas, and plunged themselves into various other projects. Jakob and Dan have been working on their metal band, SEJR (“victory” in Danish); Elias has released a solo 7″ under the name Marching Church on Posh Isolation, and a 7″ with Vår, a project for which he’s working on a full-length album. Iceage will release their sophomore solo album, You’re Nothing, on Matador Records on February 19th. Escho will release the record in Denmark. -pitchperfect

Friday June 14 2013
Baths @ Rock and Roll Hotel

For mercurial L.A. music-maker Will Wiesenfeld, Baths has been a long time coming. The 21-year-old has spent the better part of his days living amidst “pleasant” and “unremarkable” in the suburbs of the San Fernando Valley, so perhaps it’s due to a general lack of local inspiration that Wiesenfeld’s own work has never fit into a prefab box of its own. Over the last six years, under the handle of [Post-Foetus], Wiesenfeld has gainfully explored the intersections and outer reaches of both electronic and acoustic music. With Baths, his eclecticism finds its greatest focus yet, in a hail of lush melodies, ghostly choirs, playful instrumentation and stuttering beats. -anticon

Saturday June 15 2013
Sean Chyun & the Deceivers @ FNDTN Gallery & Liveroom

A talent beyond his years, Sean Chyun draws his influence from the likes of The Beatles, Tom Petty, Joe Strummer, and Brian Wilson, while carving his own unique plot on the rock and roll landscape. The result is an accessible pop/rock sound with complex music textures with guitar driven sensibilities. His songwriting reflects an uncommonly deep understanding of the innocence and romanticism that is the hallmark of great rock and roll. Add that to an unwavering honesty in the face of a world hell-bent on being overly “cool” and you have an artist that is a true pleasure to experience.

Impressing audiences with jaw-dropping, high energy live shows featuring his band, Sean Chyun & The Deceivers, Sean is winning fans across the east cost making intimate club shows feel like a larger-than-life homage to almighty rock and roll. The band consists of veterans of the DC/Baltimore music scene: drummer El Torro Gamble (Tom Principato, Bill Kirchen, Kajun Kelly Band) and bassist Ian Burke (The Invisibles, The Moderate, ex-Justin Jones). Aside from his commitments with his band and songwriting Sean often plays with other local musicians and heavy hitters such as Greg Grainger, Gary Grainger, Kevin Walker, and Derek St. Holmes. – reverbnation

Torche @ Rock and Roll Hotel

Miami has earned its fair share of notoriety over the last 30 years, but most of it has been nothing to brag about: The Liberty City Riots, the Mariel Boatlift, and the Cocaine Wars of the early 1980s recast the formerly sleepy beach town/retirement colony as a lawless urban hellscape crowded with pimps, powder queens and cutthroats, where liquor-store shootouts, revenge bombings and police corruption threatened to drown the tourist trade in an ocean of blood, booze, and yayo. But now the peace-loving citizens of Miami finally have something they can hoist high as an enduring emblem of cultural and civic pride – the agency group

Torche @ Rock and Roll Hotel

It’s high noon in Brooklyn but its always midnight on southern, dead end suburban streets. Here, there is total silence except for the house at the very end, where inside a tin roof garage, teenagers are kissing for the first time. The humidity is too great, the boys peel off white t’s and the girls cheeks are flushed, beet red under the garage’s two fluorescent stripes. In a pond behind the house an alligator waits for a snow birds’ Pomeranian to take its night stroll. A child is sleep walking for the first time. Some one is running away for the last time. The music is too loud on the 12 D battery boom box radio, the cops are on their way. It’s at this moment you hear the music of Twin Shadow on a radio station transmitting suburban ghost dreams that sound like a slow motion shot of a cannon, singing about spirits, visions, and aural hallucinations cutting through the first American night. 4ad

Sunday June 16 2013
The XX @ Merriweather Post Pavillion

Atmospheric English indie pop group the xx formed in London in 2008 around the talents of Romy Madley Croft, Oliver Sim, Baria Qureshi, and Jamie Smith, when the bandmembers were still in high school. Captivating and cool, the group cites influences that run the gamut from R&B (Aaliyah and Rihanna) to classic alternative rock (the Cure and the Pixies). Built around the duel vocals of Croft and Sim, the group’s signature brand of moody, soulful indie rock first appeared on the public radar in early 2009 with the single “Crystalised,” which created a huge buzz among critics and fans alike. The xx released their self-titled debut LP in July of that year in the U.K.; it was released in the U.S. the following month. Late that year, Qureshi was no longer part of the group; the rest of the xx released a statement via NME saying this was due to “personal differences.” During 2010, the live dates only continued, including spots at several high-profile summer festivals, and in September, their album won Britain’s coveted Mercury Prize. Meanwhile, Smith worked with Gil Scott-Heron on the remix album We’re New Here (in turn spawning the Drake song “Take Care,” which sampled the pair’s “I’ll Take Care of U”). In mid-2012, a pair of singles, “Angels” and “Chained,” heralded the release of the group’s second album Coexist that September. ~ James Christopher Monger, Rovi

Philadelphia-band Nightlands brought the mellow vibes to DC9 last Thursday night, entrancing the crowd with their powerful harmonies and dream-pop like tracks. Dave Hartley, known for his work in The War On Drugs, brings the music from his solo project to the diamond stage, complete with a supporting lot of musicians to bring his live music to life.

Check out photos from the show below.

Monday June 3 2013
Charli XCX @ U Street Music Hall

The nom de pop of Charlotte Aitchison, Charli XCX mixes influences and inspirations as diverse as the Spice Girls, Kate Bush, Lil Wayne, Quentin Tarantino, and Twin Peaks into moody-yet-catchy synth pop described by some as “neon goth.” She began making music at an early age while growing up in Hertfordshire, England, and released a pair of singles, 2008′s “Emelline/Art Bitch” and “!Franchesckaar!,” while still in her teens. She also recorded her first album that year, which she sold at concerts although it never saw an official release. Three years later she returned with a slew of new material, including the singles “Stay Away” and “Nuclear Seasons”; the mixtapes Super Girls, Super Love and I Like Boys Who Cry, which respectively gathered the female and male artists who shaped her music, and cameos on Starkey’s “Lost in Space” and Alex Metric’s “End of the World.” Her first original mixtape, Heartbreaks and Earthquakes, arrived in May 2012 and was followed by her U.S. debut EP, You’re the One, and another mixtape, Super Ultra. She scored another hit that year with the Icona Pop single “I Love It,” on which she appeared and co-wrote. Early in 2013, the single “You (Ha Ha Ha)” arrived shortly before Charli XCX’s full-length debut True Romance dropped that April. -allmusic

Tuesday June 4 2013
Best Coast @ 9:30 Club

Best Coast is a surf pop band that formed in Los Angeles, California in 2009. The band comprises Bethany Cosentino (vocals, guitar) and Bobb Bruno (lead guitar). Best Coast released their debut album, “Crazy for You,” on July 27, 2010, on Mexican Summer Records. The album debuted at No. 37 on the Billboard Hot 100. Songfacts reports that actress Drew Barrymore directed the music video for their track Our Deal.

Beach blanket lo-fi pop from Bethany Cosentino, (formerly of Pocahaunted), inspired by Bethany’s longing for Los Angeles while spending her days in NY attending Eugene Lang College, Best Coast sprung forth during her first days back in California. She says we can expect “songs about summer and the sun and the ocean and being a lazy creep,” with “drums, beach boys bass lines, and other amazing things” added by her friend Bobb Bruno.

Side Projects/Past Bands: Pocahaunted, Uphill Gardeners, Polar Goldie Cats, Goliath Bird Eater, submissions. – lastfm

Wednesday June 5 2013
Buke Gase @ 9:30 Club

Since 2008, New York.
Arone Dyer and Aron Sanchez.
Instrumental inventions, due to limited size, breed compositional challenges that lead to instrumental upgrades, further influencing musical direction.
Buke: atypically small 6-string guitar.
Gase: guitar/bass hybrid.
Minimal big beats from foot-activated, low and high frequency percussion.
Musical content may consist of volatile rhythmic scenery and panoramic vocal melodies.
Discerning difficult intervals: fives and fifteens are fun!

Buke And Gase have performed festivals and stages throughout North America and Europe with: Deerhoof, Death Grips, Flying Lotus, Laurie Anderson, Lou Reed, Tinariwen, Extra Life, Daniel Higgs, Owen Pallett, Tune Yards, Reggie Watts, The National, Mission of Burma, Talk Normal, The Ex. Festivals: All Tomorrow?s Parties, Moogfest, Big Ears, Bang On A Can, Pop Montreal, Cross-Linx, Fusion Fest and more. – brassland

Thursday June 6 2013
Beach House @ 9:30 Club

Beach House is Alex Scally and Victoria Legrand and Bloom is the band’s fourth full-length album. Like their previous releases (Beach House in 2006, Devotion in 2008, Teen Dream in 2010), it further develops their distinctive sound yet stands apart as a new piece of work.

The landscape of Bloom was largely designed on the road, between the countless sound checks and myriad experiences during two years of tour. Throughout this period, melodies, chords, rhythms, words, and textures surfaced in moments of their own choosing. These spontaneous ideas were later gathered and developed in Baltimore, Maryland where the band lives and works.

Bloom was then recorded in late 2011 over a period of seven weeks at Sonic Ranch Studios in Tornillo, TX and mixed for another two at Electric Lady in NYC. The band co-produced the record with Chris Coady.

Bloom is meant to be experienced as an ALBUM. It offers a singular, unified vision of the world. “Many songs were omitted or dropped because they lacked a place within our vision for this album,” notes Scally. Though not stripped down, the many layers of Bloom are uncomplicated and meticulously constructed to ensure that there is no waste. Each chord and melody performs its role to form a whole. The songs have depth and reveal themselves in new ways through repeated listening. As a complete work, Bloom transcends the banality of simple emotions and arrives at a realm of honesty and complexity. It soberly reveals how frightening and temporary, yet beautiful, our existence is. It creates an honest reflection of death, as it must to relate to life. To this Legrand adds, “Bloom is a journey. – subpop records

Black Girls @ Tropicalia

Black Girls were born from the putty of their fore fathers and will continue to do so.

Richmond, Virginia’s BLACK GIRLS have become a staple in their hometown almost overnight. In a city where there are probably more bands than actual citizens, they have quickly developed a large and dedicated fan base in their short one year history. As editor of RVA Magazine, Andrew Necci puts it, “they have somehow accomplished the impossible in Richmond–they play out more than any band I can think of, yet still bring out legions of fans and musical peers.”

The shorthand for their sound is “snuff rock” — which the band refers to as psychedelic southern soul. On tape, it sounds like Freddie Mercury was raised by swamp people. Onstage, it sounds like Dick Dale playing at the Apollo.

Beginning with the release of a self-titled anthology of collected demos, Black Girls have turned heads up and down the East Coast. As that album went into it’s second pressing, they released a vinyl single of “Broadway” as a split with local heavy hitters NO BS! BRASS BAND – the pet project of Bon Iver’s horn man, Reggie Pace. Black Girls have shared stages with bands such as Fucked Up, Wavves, Girl Talk, Best Coast, The Alabama Shakes, Soft Landing, Wild Nothing, and Fang Island. – reverbnation

The Dig @ Beats

The Dig’s sound has been developing ever since the band’s two singers Emile Mosseri and David Baldwin started making music together when they were eleven years old. After meeting California native Erick Eiser, the three songwriters have been writing tunes and playing in different bands since they were 16 years old. Anchored by sharp guitars, a woozy synth backdrop and airtight vocal harmonies, the new album Midnight Flowers which is produced by Bryce Goggin (Pavement, The Apples In Stereo, Swans, Antony & The Johnsons) will come out on 5/29 on Buffalo Jump Records. It recalls styles ranging from T. Rex to Brian Eno to The Everly Brothers. – girlie

Friday June 7 2013
Metric @ Rams Head Live

METRIC is Emily Haines, Jimmy Shaw, Joshua Winstead and Joules Scott Key. An independent rock and roll band empowered by their innovative approach to the music business, METRIC self-released their last album FANTASIES on five continents without the benefit of a label and earned themselves multiple radio hits around the world with songssuch as “Gimme Sympathy,” “Gold Guns Girls,” and “Help I’m Alive.” They went on to sell over a million singles and 500,000 albums worldwide.

FANTASIES earned METRIC “Album of the Year” and “Band of the Year” at the Canadian Juno Awards, and the band finished 2010 with their music featured in two major Hollywood films including Scott Pilgrim vs The World and the Twilight Saga: Eclipse. The Twilight soundtrack was nominated for a Grammy Award and landed METRIC on the Academy Award nomination short list in 2011 for the theme song they co-wrote with composer Howard Shore. They have since partnered up with Howard Shore on another project: The score to David Cronenberg’s latest film Cosmopolis, composed by Shore and performed by METRIC, due out this year.

Their fifth full-length studio album SYNTHETICA will be released on June 12, 2012. Sonicallyfuturistic yet organic, this album sounds like the culmination of all the music the band has made in their 10 years together. First single “Youth Without Youth” examines the fraying social state with a bristling energy and a driving beat. “Breathing Underwater” and “Speed the Collapse” both deliver on the classic METRIC chorus of soaring melancholy, while the lyrics for “Lost Kitten” and “Clone” call out some bad behavior and the consequences. Hard rocking title track “Synthetica” offers an epic conclusion to suspenseful album opener “Artificial Noctune.”

METRIC will be on tour throughout 2012 and have already announced select tour dates in North America, UK, Europe and Australia. – ilovemetric

Cut Copy @ 9:30 Club

Cut Copy is the musical lovechild of Melbourne human giraffe and 70’s MOR fetishist Dan Whitford. A project born in the early 21st century, Cut Copy was originally more of a solo project for Dan to exercise his love of sampling and instrumental hip hop, before he took a turn for the dancefloor and released the I Thought Of Numbers EP in 2001. Following it’s release and a live mishap that saw his sampler fried, Dan recruited a posse of friends for the recording of his sparkling debut album, Bright Like Neon Love.

Enter Tim Hoey [guitar/bass/keys], Sonic Youth groupie and all round renassaince man with a penchant for mainlining espresso shots; Mitchell Scott [drums] avid bird watcher, owner of the largest collection of rare African stick insects in the world; and Bennett Foddy, [bass/keys] library dweller, the sensible one.

These gents joined Dan in the recording process to form like Voltron and make the Cut Copy sound what it is today – scuzzy disco, post-post-punk, electric lovers rock, sweet space pop. A sound that references 70’s rock staples like ELO and Fleetwood Mac, late 80’s/early 90’s indie like Sonic Youth and Guided By Voices, the disco production of Nile Rodgers and Bernard Edwards, post-punk and French house.

Since Bright Like Neon Love’s release in Australia, Cut Copy have gone on to sell out shows nationally, play the festival circuit, appear on the Kitsune Midnight compilation, complete a bunch of remixes, find God, lose him again, break hearts and win them back, release Future and Saturdays as singles, and win a massive amount of love along the way. Bennett took a leave of absence and has been buried in the books studying for a Phd, and the outfit was streamlined down to a 3-piece mid-2004.

March this year saw them play their first shows overseas, with appearances in the UK, New York, Texas for SXSW, LA and Miami. So successful was the jaunt they were invited to support Mylo on his 12 date UK tour, and have scheduled more shows and trips for the remainder of 2005 to capitilise on the albums UK and US release.

The music of Cut Copy is like rediscovering lost memories and hearing the sound of the future both at the same time, and making you want to grow a discoball for a head and electric guitars for arms. Let it light up your life, Bright Like Neon Love… – RA

Saturday June 8 2013
Lissie @ U Street Music Hall

Lissie Maurus was raised in the riverside town of Rock Island, IL, and she drew upon those blue-collar Midwestern origins to create her own form of indie folk music. The granddaughter of an international barbershop quarter champion, she grew up singing in theater productions, eventually picking up the guitar and playing her own songs at local coffeeshops as a teenager. Lissie was also something of a rebel; she got thrown out of high school during her senior year, spent a brief period at Colorado State University, relocated to Paris for a semester, and eventually ditched college altogether to pursue her music career. Returning to the U.S., Lissie headed west and settled in Los Angeles, where she became a fixture on the local venue circuit and landed a national tour opening for Lenny Kravitz.

Lissie’s music had already appeared on shows like The O.C., Veronica Mars, and House by the time she moved to California, and she widened her fan base by launching a weekly songwriter’s circle at her local bar, Crane’s Hollywood Tavern, and releasing a self-titled EP. Things truly began picking up speed in 2009, though, when Lissie released the dusky Why You Runnin’ and toured the country alongside Ray LaMontagne. Part of the Why You Runnin’ EP had been recorded in the U.K., and she returned there in early 2010 to promote the release of her first full-length album, Catching a Tiger. Although she also made several appearances in America — including a standout performance at the Bonnaroo Music Festival and a single date with the rebooted Lilith Fair — Lissie spent most of her time touring Europe, where her debut record was released in June. An American release followed in August, courtesy of Fat Possum Records. ~ Andrew Leahey, Rovi

Portugal. The Man @ 9:30 Club

There has to be some credit given for this band’s name alone — co-founder John Gourley once explained it as an attempt to create a demi-mythic entity bigger than the individual members. Formed in Wasilla, Alaska, Portugal. The Man (yes, there’s a period in the middle of their name) grew out of the ashes of Anatomy of a Ghost, a post-hardcore band whose vocalist and guitarist — Gourley and Zach Carothers, respectively — opted to continue working together. Rounding out the new band’s lineup was keyboardist/singer Wes Hubbard, himself a veteran of other Alaskan groups, and the trio eventually relocated from Alaska to Portland, Oregon. Their initial existence in the Pacific Northwest was the typical hardscrabble life of a band with few resources, but drummer Jason Sechrist (formerly of Konmai Defense System) joined to form a more stable lineup. The band’s profile received a boost from the Internet (the musicians made heavy use of MySpace and PureVolume for promotional purposes), and Portugal. The Man released an initial EP in 2005 before issuing their debut album, Waiter: You Vultures!, in early 2006. The next year, the group (whose lineup had once again reverted to three members, as Hubbard had left and was replaced by touring keyboardist Ryan Neighbors), issued Church Mouth, whose aggressive sound bore traces of Led Zeppelin and Jane’s Addiction. The bandmates then opted to finance their third record themselves, drawing upon a wealth of guest musicians — including trombonists, trumpeters, and violinists — to create the eclectic Censored Colors. In 2009 the group released The Satanic Satanist, then quickly followed up the next year with the mellower and more electronic American Ghetto. Later that year, the band signed with Atlantic Records. Guitarist Noah Gersh joined the band for their 2011 summer tour. The group recorded their major label debut album, In the Mountain in the Cloud in late 2011; it was produced by John Hill, mixed by Andy Wallace, and released in July of 2012. A month earlier, Sleep Forever, a 13-minute short directed by Michael Ragen, and shot entirely in Gourley’s hometown, premiered on the Independent Film Channel. This was the last recording for members Sechrist and Neighbors, who were replaced by drummer Kane Richotte and keyboardist Kyle O’Quin. Portugal. The Man enlisted Danger Mouse (Brian Burton) as producer for 2013′s Evil Friends; the album was released in June of 2013. ~ Ned Raggett, Rovi

Field Trip Festival @ Fort York & Garrison Common

2013 marks the 10-year anniversary of Arts & Crafts.

Among a series of event and releases intended to commemorate this milestone is the Field Trip Music & Arts Festival, to be held in Toronto on Saturday, June 8 at Fort York and Garrison Common.

The lineup includes Broken Social Scene, Bloc Party, Feist, Stars, Cold Specks, Gold & Youth, Hayden, Jason Collett, Ra Ra Riot, Still Life Still, The Darcys, Timber Timbre, Trust, Zeus, and Dan Mangan.

See BSS perform all of their seminal album You Forgot It In People in its entirety at Field Trip!

Scottish electro-pop band, Chvrches, have a new single out called “Gun”, following the release of their last EP, Recover. The band will be making their way to DC for a sold out show at the Black Cat on 6/21. If you were lucky enough to grab a ticket, we’ll see you there! Listen to “Gun” below.

Also, how about that Game of Thrones cover, eh?

Tuesday May 28 2013
The Uncluded @ 9:30 Club

In 2007, while on tour supporting his album None Shall Pass, indie rapper/ producer Aesop Rock wrote a fan email to folk singer/songwriter Kimya Dawson. A few years later they reconnected during the creation of arts-and-oddities blog 900Bats, which in turn sparked the pair’s collaborative musical efforts. After appearing on each other’s respective recent solo records, Aesop Rock’s Skelethon (Rhymesayers) and Kimya Dawson’s Thunder Thighs (Great Crap Factory), both found more worth pursuing within the group dynamic, and The Uncluded were hatched.

“Unclude – verb- Keeping things you don’t appreciate out of your life.” – Michael Bernard Loggins

The group name The Uncluded was chosen based on an excerpt from the book Imaginationally by artist/writer Michael Bernard Loggins. Imaginationally is an illustrated dictionary of words Loggins created to describe his daily experiences and thoughts.

The Uncluded’s debut album Hokey Fright was recorded over the course of a year using a variety of locations and devices, from voice memo recorders to fleshed out studios. Aesop and Kimya wrote, performed, and recorded the whole album, with the exception of the drums on “Delicate Cycle”, which were played by James McNew of Yo La Tengo.

Having both experienced some loss in recent years, conversations about mortality served as a starting point for what would eventually become an album as much about finding therapy through writing/sharing as it is about being ok with admitting fear in the face of adversity. There is a sense of self-exploration and discovery that happens during the songs, as if the two are doing the problem-solving in front of you. While much of the album maintains a serious tone, Dawson and Rock’s oddball humor plays an integral part in humanizing the obstacles that can initially seem too massive to process.

Kimya Dawson is a Grammy winning, platinum selling singer songwriter most widely known for her work on the JUNO soundtrack and her former band, The Moldy Peaches. She has released 7 solo albums, including a children’s album “Alphabutt”. Aesop Rock (aka Ian Bavitz) is a critically acclaimed hip hop artist/producer, recognized for his dense and abstract word play. He has released six solo albums, three EPs, and a 45-minute piece of music designed for runners, commissioned by Nike. Lyrics have been published in the New York Times Best Seller Hip Hop Speaks to Children, as well as Yale University’s Anthology of Rap (Nov. 2010). – rhymesayers

Wednesday May 29 2013
Black Alley @ Howard Theatre

Born and bred in the District of Columbia, BLACK ALLEY has pushed the rhythmic limits of DC’s music scene for 5 years now. By standing on the shoulders of tradition, Black Alley embodies the best of jazz, funk, rock, r&b, and hip-hop to form its own musical niche called “Soul Garage.” By forging our own unique path, BLACK ALLEY seeks to create a space where people and music vibe on a higher level. The goal: for our music to be a sanctuary for people who want more – more passion, more love, more out of life. – facebook

The Dandy Warhols plays 13 Tales from Urban Bohemia in its entirety @ 9:30 Club

Often compared to the druggy psychedelic pop of the Velvet Underground, the Dandy Warhols do possess more than just a passing resemblance to Lou Reed and company at times, but elements of such modern rockers as Love and Rockets and Ride can be detected in their sound as well. Formed in Portland, Oregon in 1994, the Dandy Warhols consist of members Courtney Taylor (vocals, guitar), Zia McCabe (keyboards), Peter Holmstrom (guitar), and Eric Hedford (drums), who signed on with the independent label Tim/Kerr shortly after their formation. In 1995 came the release of the quartet’s debut release, Dandy’s Rule OK?, and while other rock bands may be a bit hesitant to spell out their influences, the Dandy Warhols decided to openly advertise it, as the album contained such song titles as “Lou Weed” and “Ride.”

Capitol Records signed the group the same year, but the Dandys’ new label rejected a second album they submitted (claiming it didn’t have any “hits”). Disappointed but undeterred, the group reunited once more with the producer of their debut album, Tony Lash, and came up with Dandy Warhols Come Down, issued in 1997. While the album didn’t exactly establish the group as a household name, it did prove to be an underground fave (especially in Europe, where the group became the toast of the critics and enjoyed more substantial commercial success), while the single “Not If You Were the Last Junkie on Earth” received some attention, for which a promo video was filmed by renowned celebrity photographer David LaChapelle. At the height of the band’s popularity, Hedford left the band to take up DJing in Portland, and Taylor’s cousin Brent DeBoer stepped in to play drums. In 2000, the band issued its third full-length overall, Thirteen Tales from Urban Bohemia. “Bohemian Like You” was a hit at college radio. Two summers later, founding member Peter Holmstrom married his longtime girlfriend and took her maiden name of Loew. Taylor also got a name change when he opted to go by Courtney Taylor-Taylor after an interviewer misinterpreted the pronunciation. – youtube

Thursday May 30 2013
Nightlands @ DC9

Nightlands is the recording project of Philadelphia-based multi-instrumentalist Dave Hartley. The music he creates in his bedroom is itself a bed of delicate, chiming strings and bubbling synths beneath a blanket of choral vocal arrangements. It’s dreamy in the literal sense — the seeds for the album were sown when Hartley began archiving musical ideas that occurred in his sleep with a simple bedside tape recorder. As a result his debut album Forget the Mantra is, in essence, a field recording of Hartley’s dreams — a travel journal through pop music and a collection of psych-hymns from the first human lunar colony. The songs sound both huge and intimate, breathy and cavernous like massive echoes of a faraway concert. It’s the big, shadow music from just across the lake. – secretly canadian

Moe. @ 9:30 Club

Via their transcendent live performances, their well-crafted studio albums, the thriving taper culture, and their unique events, moe. developed a vital relationship with a dedicated, everexpanding fan base. “There was never a moment,” Al explains, “when we decided ‘Hey, people really like us – we need to capitalize on this!’ It’s been a very organic relationship that’s grown like a friendship. None of it was manufactured because of a contest or someone told us that we needed to capture e-mail addresses…and we’re not counting on our next single to maintain it.” With the release of Smash Hits Vol. 1 in the spring of 2010, moe. tackle that most predictable of career milestones – the greatest hits package – with typical irreverence and innovation. An informal poll was conducted, with the band members all chiming in with what they thought to be the group’s most popular songs – not necessarily their personal favorites, but songs that fans have reacted to strongly over the years. Then they asked the people around them – management, wives, webmasters, guitar techs, etc. – to make similar lists. The lists were then compiled and tallied, with all the votes weighed equally, and a track list emerged. – moe.org

Friday May 31 2013
Fall Out Boy @ 9:30 Club

Fall Out Boy emerged in the 2000s as the biggest band in emo-pop. The Chicago quintet attracted tons of teenagers (most of them girls) to their shout-along tunes, which mixed snarky humor and big, deep-feeling choruses. As the decade wore on, Fall Out Boy continued to find new ways to market themselves — from Myspace ads to an FOB-branded video game — as the group began to sell out arenas. Pete Wentz, the band’s heavily mascara’d bassist, songwriter and leader, became something of a celebrity and entrepreneur, marrying Ashley Simpson, starting a clothing company, and signing bands like Panic! At the Disco to his label, Decaydence. – rolling stone

Saturday May 31 2013
Caroline Ferrante @ Foundation Gallery & Liveroom

Caroline Ferrante broke into the acoustic music scene in September 2011. She was featured in Songwriter Showcases at the Frederick Coffeehouse, Brewers Alley, The Athaneaum, The Music Cafe, and Everfest. She creates unique blend of originals and acoustic arrangements of classic rock, folk, and jazz and performs at The Main Street Cafe, The Limerick Pub, The Royal Mile, and the Music Cafe. Caroline studied voice and dance at Northwestern University, worked with the Goodman Theater and the Sundance Theater, and was featured in the Songwriter Association of Washington Showcase at NERFA (Northeastern Regional Folk Alliance) in November and will open for Birds of Chicago at the Arts Barn Songwriter Showcase (Gaithersburg, MD) in December 2012. Caroline adapted and wrote original music for two children’s plays in 2012, which were showcased in Frederick MD and Bethesda MD. She also teaches musical theater, dance, and songwriting at the renowned ‘Creative Summer’ program at Holton-Arms in Bethesda. Caroline performs Flamenco and Latin dance, and owns Creative Fitness LLC (www.creativefitnessllc.com). She and an outstanding team of instructors teach music, dance, performing arts, and fitness classes. carolineferrante.com

Nightlands is the solo project of The War On Drugs bassist, Dave Hartley and is our latest featured artist on Pick-Up. Continuing on with the release of his sophomore record Oak Island, the Philadelphia musician is on the brink of starting a new tour with a stop at DC9. We reached out to Hartley to talk about the originals of his bandname, inspirations, Oak Island and more!
Get to know Nightlands below.

See Nightlands live on 5/30 at DC9 with Hands and BRETT. Tickets are available here.

Is there a story behind choosing Nightlands as the name of your solo project?

I came across the term in two books in a short amount of time: Blood Meridian and 2001: A Space Odyssey. Coincidentally both of those novels have had an enormous effect on my life, the term jumped out at me and I seized it for a bandname. Only later did I realize how significant it would be, as most of the songs on the first record were gleamed from a bedside tape recorder that I used to record my dreams.

What musicians influence the sounds you make in Nightlands?

It’s hard to say… Everything I’ve ever listened to? My friends? I certainly love Brian Wilson’s musical brain, as well as some of Jeff Lynne’s sonics. The ELO record ‘Time’ is a big one for me. Also Jorge Ben’s melodies and Adam Granduciel’s guitar playing. Philadelphia is a rich, rich musical city and I’m lucky to count some incredible musicians among my friends.

You released your latest record Oak Island in January. How has the reception been so far from your fans?

Very positive. I think it’s a natural progression, so I get a lot of people saying that they love this record as an extension, or companion piece, to the first. It’s also a dense and, I think, at times challenging record–so I think when someone comes to me now and says “I dig the record,” a lot of times it’s because they had to hear it a time or three to process it. I never set out to make something instantly accessible.

From writing to recording, can you tell us about your creative process for this record?

Well, every song on the record I wrote from the ground up. Meaning, I started with rhythmic elements and gradually sculpted sounds and melodies and vocal layers to create a song. It’s a strange process, but I don’t feel like I write well with a guitar or at a piano. My biggest goal is always to write something unique, so I try to find unique paths and methodologies.

Was the process for Oak Island any different from when you created your first full length, Forget the Mantra?

Very much so. On Forget the Mantra I looked mostly to my bedside tape recorder “dream recordings” for inspiration: lyrics, melodies, etc. I did that because, honestly, I had terrible writer’s block and felt everything I did was utter crap. The dream method unclogged that, so to speak. On Oak Island I was consistently inspired and never really felt I needed a boost. It just came really easily, so I spent my time just working away in my studio.

You’re about to start a new tour with a date at DC9. What’s your favorite thing about touring, whether with Nightlands or The War On Drugs?

Leaving and coming back. I love the renewal process of a tour. It reinvigorates my creative process. It recharges me, though it can be exhausting. That and finding pinball machines all over the world.

For anyone who has yet to see Nightlands live, how would you explain your live show to them?

I rewrote almost every song so that it could be performed live. The recordings are just too dense to be pulled off faithfully, so I’ve stripped down and rearranged. You are going to see four people singing like angels.

Finally, how long does it usually take to put on all that tin man-type make up?

An hour to put on, a week to get off.

Thanks for talking to us at Pick-Up. Any last shout outs for the readers?

Change the Wizards back to The Bullets!

For more information on Nightlands and his upcoming shows, visit his website, like him on Facebook, and follow him on Twitter.

Arts & Crafts are cranking out all this amazing music as a way to celebrate their 10-year anniversary with a collaborations record, Arts & Crafts: X, that features musician pairings within the record label. Broken Social Scene, A&C’s most beloved collective, has been paired up to perfection with Years for this first streaming single called “Day of the Kid.” The band, who’s been on indefinite hiatus since 2011, will return for a one-night only performance at Arts & Crafts’ Field Trip Festival on June 8th in Toronto, along with other A&C artists and alumni like Feist, Stars, Bloc Party, and more! Other artists on the record include Amy Millan & Dan Mangan, The Darcys & Ra Ra Riot, and more. Arts & Crafts: X is out on Tuesday, May 28th.

Listen to “Day of the Kid” via Stereogum.

Here’s a teaser for what’s to come from Arts & Crafts: X

Brooklyn’s folk-rock songstress, Lady Lamb the Beekeeper concluded her Ripely Pine tour at DC’s Black Cat with label mates Xenia Rubinos, and Cincinnati-rock band, Healing Power. After seeing Aly Spaltra twice before but as openers for Beirut and Typhoon, she headlined the night with a full band, two members consisting of Xenia Rubinos and Marco Buccelli, who had performed earlier that night. Spaltro is well-crafted in her performances, keeping us locked in lyrically and melodically with nice shifts of beat and guitar. She reserved a section of her set for a few solo songs, which I were used to in seeing her in previous shows, each song absorbing the member of the audience to dive into each lyric. I have a feeling that there are only bigger things to come in Lady Lamb’s musical career, a full-length record was just the beginning.

Xenia Rubinos was fascinating to watch after never hearing any music of hers prior to the show. Using her keyboard and a live drummer in Marco Buccelli, the set was filled with rhythmic-pop tunes, a lot experimenting with different sounds that made anyone watch and listening enveloped in the sound.

I LOVED Healing Power. What a rockin’ collective, each in the same outfit from shoes to shirt, with members alternating instruments throughout the set. They were perfect for Backstage, warming up the crowd of those who had come right when doors opened and performing tracks with the pop-punk vibe.

Healing Power

Xenia Rubinos

Lady Lamb the Beekeeper

Fully reformed from their hiatus, The Hush Sound made their way back to DC last Friday night performing for the crowded room at the U Street Music Hall. And the band has not missed a beat! Coming into the night, I had decided that I would be the happiest girl if they played just about anything off of Like Vines. And they did. The band went right into “Sweet Tangerine” from that record, already bringing in the crowd to sing-a-long with them. I was one of them, reverting into the 16-year old that swooned over every track off that record. The entire set the energetic, filled with songs from their past records and performing the two new songs they’ve debuted from their latest 7″ Forty Five. “Not A Stranger” from the record turned into a fun, interactive dance party to win a handmade version of the vinyl. Hearing the new tracks live make me and every other fan of theirs excited for more new music to come out and learn for live sing-a-longs.

Hockey shared in co-headlining the night, playing old tracks and new ones from their recently released record Wyeth IS, which they mentioned had taken the two-some four years to write and record and that we should take a listen to so we know what that sounds like. Ben Wyeth is known to be quite animated with this mannerisms while performing, eluding such charisma throughout their set. The crowd was into it, bopping heads and moving hips. A pretty good parallel to the co-headlining pair on this tour.

River City Extension, Genevieve Schatz, and Lucas Carpenter were all opening for the headliners, each band warming up the crowd as the night progressed.

Lucas Carpenter

Genevieve Schatz

River City Extension

Hockey

The Hush Sound

Monday May 20 2013
Lady Lamb the Beekeeper @ Black Cat

More than anything, Aly Spaltro has 20,000 second-hand DVDs to thank for her first album. Despite being recorded at a proper studio in her recently adopted home of Brooklyn, Ripely Pine showcases songs conceived during her tenure at Bart’s & Greg’s DVD Explosion in Brunswick, Maine. Little did customers know, the same store they’d drop off their Transformers movies was providing the ideal four-year cocoon for the development of a major musical talent.

At 23, with five years of taking music seriously under her belt, when she ventured to the next milestone—recording an album. This would be the first time she did so in a professional studio (not just her and her 8-track) and the first time she shared the process with anyone else. Luckily, she met Nadim Issa at Let ‘Em Music in Brooklyn. He was taken enough by her abilities to dedicate nine full months towards the recording of Ripely Pine, and she with his producing abilities to ease comfortably into making him a part of her recording process. She wrote everything. All the songs, all the arrangements. And the two of them assembled an album that finally fit what existed in Spaltro’s mind. Keeping the songs’ stark rawness, the record is a pure representation of her sound.

Ripely Pine shouts the introduction of a new talent from every groove. Here, finally, are recordings of Lady Lamb that come as close as possible to conveying the intense majestry of her live shows. And, much like her performances live, a narrative breathes through the record’s progression. The album opens with urgency and anger, settles into reconciliation and reciprocation, and ultimately reaches towards resolution, realizing infatuation leads to a loss of self; instead, embracing one’s own strengths is the most powerful thing of all.

No surprise that Spaltro ultimately sings a mantra of individuality. A listen to Ripely Pine proves she has a lot to say for herself and certainly doesn’t need anybody’s help to do it. -mtv

Tuesday May 21 2013
We Were Pirates @ Velvet Lounge

We Were Pirates is the musical brainchild of Mike Boggs, a multi-instrumentalist who writes and records songs in his home studio in the DC area. To date, Boggs has released three We Were Pirates albums and a film score for ‘Dear Mr. Watterson’ in 2013.

‘Dear Mr. Watterson’ is a documentary film about the impact of the comic strip, Calvin & Hobbes. We Were Pirates’ original score includes fourteen instrumental songs that range from jangly, upbeat pop, to darker, more introspective tracks. The score features Boggs on guitar, drums, keys, and some bass, while contributor Kate Rears Burgman (The Mean Ideas) lends her cello and bass skills to several songs. The score was co-mixed by Boggs and TJ Lipple (Aloha), who also mastered the album.

2012 marked the release of We Were Pirates’ second full-length record, Change. Lyrically and musically, Change is slightly more mature and aggressive than Boggs’ previous works, yet has the same trademark WWP catchiness that causes listeners to curse the band while humming the infectious melodies over and over. Thematically, the question of whether people are truly capable of change is explored, which allows for a new, welcomed depth to We Were Pirates.

Wired Magazine featured We Were Pirates in their March 2012 issue, saying: “You heard this band’s public radio-friendly pop on This American Life and you heard its tracks on MTV’s: The Real World: DC. So don’t miss ‘Better Off Without You’ from the new album. Catchy synths will have your crew dancing a jig.”

Boggs’ 2009 debut LP, ‘Cutting Ties,’ features a version of “The Three of Us,” a cover song that Boggs recorded which was featured on the Chicago Public Radio show, This American Life. As a result, Chicago Tribune rock critic and co-host of Sound Opinions, Greg Kot, heard We Were Pirates’ version of the song and described it thusly: “Pure pop. This should be the next Fountains of Wayne single…genius.” We Were Pirates reached #41 on the CMJ Top 200 chart for ‘Cutting Ties,’ as well as being mentioned on NPR, Geekdad, and more. Since then, We Were Pirates’ music has continued to be utilized on multiple television programs on both MTV and E!.

At the moment, We Were Pirates live shows feature Gabe Fry (The NRIs) on guitar, Kate Rears Burgman on cello and bass and Pat Frank (The Mean Ideas) on percussion. -wewerepirates.com

Wednesday May 22 2013
Paper Route @ DC9
Here’s the situation. In Nashville, there’s an old, decrepit plantation house where three bedraggled but refined, white gentlemen drop beats, craft wordplay, design artwork, and arrange orchestral maneuvers in the dark. The structure is called Joy Mansion, and the men who dwell there staring each other down and exercising their creative rivalry for all it’s worth collaborate under the moniker of Paper Route. Having toured relentlessly with the likes of Passion Pit and mewithoutyou, won hearts and minds with their debut album Absence (2009), paid musical tribute to Lou Reed to the man’s imperturbable face at South by Southwest, and insinuated themselves into pop culture consciousness when their song, “The Music,” appeared in the film (500) Days of Summer, Paper Route have now seen fit to go for broke on the possibility that epic earnestness, lyrical depth, and poetic heft can all coincide within one ridiculously catchy song collection primarily preoccupied with—wait for it–tragedy, disappointment, and loss. Behold The Peace of Wild Things.

“Everyone can relate to hurt,” observes J.T. Daly, Paper Route’s chief lyricist, singer, and artwork conjurer. For Daly and bandmate Chad Howat, The Peace of Wild Things banks on the hope that popular art can be made to arise out of horrible situations. Whereas the timing of the album’s production schedule coincided with a dire cancer diagnosis within Howat’s immediate family, the lyrics Daly brought to the table largely document the dissolution of his marriage. As Daly sees it, the risk of raw candor and vulnerability is the whole point, “If I’m not terrified by what I’m doing, I’d prefer to move back to Ohio and work on my art. I’m drawn to the fact that it makes me feel uncomfortable.”

With songs like “Letting You Let Go” and “Glass Heart Hymn,” he’s determined to show his hand at every turn. Irony and cool detachment be damned.

The same goes for in-house, music-making competition and the angst Daly felt as he stood on the staircase listening to everything Howat was working on. “I’m going to have to come up with something better than that,” he’d note with dread as he leaned into their collective commitment to try to out-interesting each other. In this sense, Daly and Howat are joined together in a pact of escalating catchiness, a refusal to “throw in the towel on this whole idea of instant melody.” Daly explains, “I have so much respect for artists who continue to infiltrate pop culture” with “ideas executed so brilliantly that they’ve kind of Trojan-horsed malls across America.” The trajectory he has in mind is evident with The Peace of Wild Things’ lead single, “Better Life,” which is carefully calibrated to colonize the public imagination in under five minutes.

Given such standards, it’s no surprise that names like Kate Bush and Peter Gabriel are spoken with awe and reverence around Joy Mansion. Howat notes the way Peter Gabriel’s So is comprised of one undeniably infectious track after another even as it’s clearly a creative labor in which he’s “trying to please himself” at every turn in “a perfect juxtaposition of pop culture and artistic endeavor.” With mixing and recording responsibilities falling in Howat’s lap (“The computer is my first instrument”), the work of sorting through two to three albums’ worth of material and narrowing it all down to something worthy eventually became a question of serving the band’s obsession with block-rocking beats: “Everyone in the band loves beats, and the beats we gravitate toward are hip-hop-esque beats.” For Howat, the love affair began at 14 when a Yamaha V-50 was vouchsafed upon him (”My dad bought it for me as an 8th grade graduation present.”) an artifact Paper Route won’t get caught touring without. Incidentally, it’s the move from studio to live performance that wouldn’t be possible without the energies of drummer Gavin McDonald (Howat: “We wouldn’t be a band without Gavin.”) who landed with Paper Route through his work with fellow Joy Mansion occupant Canon Blue (AKA Daniel James).

While The Peace of Wild Things lyrically chronicles specific experiences of soul- crushing disillusionment and a fractured sense of faith and wonder down to the minute particulars, its creators presume—very much in the traditions of Romantic poetry and 80’s New Wave (Tears for Fears, A-ha)–that creatively fixating on the local, the achingly personal even, is probably the surest path to the universal. And it is here that the concluding track, “Calm My Soul,” offers a determined hopefulness well-earned by the preceding sad songs which have said so much. In this way, Paper Route shoots for a continuum with Daly’s go-to writers, Wendell Berry and Douglas Coupland, whose presence as an influence is as a-typical and unexpected as the band’s guiding presumption that pop songs, making them and hearing them, might occasionally render pained life more livable. -Dr. David Dark

Thursday May 23 2013
Future Birds @ 9:30 Club

Baba Yaga, the second full-length album by Athens, GA’s Futurebirds, marks a milestone in the continuous evolution of the eclectic ensemble. The 13-song album finds Futurebirds – Thomas Johnson, Carter King, Dennis Love, Brannen Miles, Daniel Womack, and Payton Bradford (who has since left the lineup to pursue a non-musical career path) – delivering an expansive yet intimate set that takes the band’s trademark mix of earthily accessible songcraft and free-spirited experimentation into inspired new territory.

Fortunately, Futurebirds has emerged from its business travails a more confident and determined creative unit – a fact that the band plans on demonstrating by touring as much as humanly possible.

“The songs can take different lives from night to night,” King says, “because you feed off the energy of the crowd, and that energy can be really different from night to night. The most important thing is to keep things fresh and not be up there going through the motions.”

“Musically, we’re a lot sharper now than we’ve ever been, and that’s a product of playing so many shows,” Johnson concludes. “Going into the recording of the record, we were much better musicians, songwriters and collaborators than we’d ever been, and we feel like the end result reflects our maturity and development.” -futurebirdsmusic.com

Saturday May 25 2013
JEFF the Brotherhood @ RNR Hotel

The best rock ’n’ roll, the kind that gets under your skin and makes all your senses heighten, is simple and comprised of hard work and unrelenting passion—all of which JEFF The Brotherhood embody and exemplify on their Warner Bros. Records debut LP, Hypnotic Nights. Brothers Jake and Jamin Orrall have been playing together since they were little kids and formed the group when they were in high school. The boys grew up with a voracious appetite for any music they could get their hands on.

The band incorporates a DIY ethos in everything they do, including their raucous live shows. JEFF have been touring tirelessly for the past 10 years, playing any and all conceivable venues—from basements and backyard sheds to Bonnaroo and The Bowery Ballroom. The duo clocked in over 400 shows in the past two years alone and have shared bills with Best Coast, Fucked Up, Pentagram, The Kills, The Greenhornes and more.

When it comes to creating their desired sound, JEFF believes that less is more. This idea is reflected in Jake’s decision to play a guitar with only three strings. Jake explains, “When we started the band, I didn’t know how to play guitar,” he remembers, “I thought, in order to teach myself, it would be easier to play if I simplified it. I started with two strings, but you can’t really play any chords that way, so I added a third string [which added] this interesting limitation that forced me to create my own style and approach to the instrument.”

In the end, Jake and Jamin just want to write great songs, play great shows and inspire fans to rock along with them. For JEFF The Brotherhood, blood is thicker than water—and music runs through the band’s veins. -jeffthebrotherhood.com

Sunday May 26 2013
Kelly Rowland @ Fillmore Silver Spring

Pittsburgh-based singer-songwriter Joy Ike hasn’t always wanted to be a musician but in 2013, she’s already released her third full-length record, All Or Nothing. “The depth of subjects she tackles in her poetic lyrics are perfectly complemented by a unique blend of neo-soul, with just the right dash of pop,” say NPR about Ike. We reached out to Joy Ike prior to her Buncearoo show, asking her about inspirations, her latest record, and more.

Tickets are still available for tonight’s show at Foundation Gallery & Liveroom w/ Liz Longley. Click here for tickets.

When did you realize being a musician was what you wanted to do?

I actually never wanted to be a musician, but I did want to be a songwriter. Especially in high school. Every time I listened to music, I was always intrigued by how artists crafted their words and how someone could find new ways to say the same thing.

Who were your musical inspirations growing up?

There weren’t too many, but I truly loved artists like Jars of Clay, Audio Adrenalin, and Vertical Horizon. In my later years I’ve come to deeply love the music of Sara Groves, Brooke Waggoner, Death Cab for Cutie, and Aqualung.

You released your third full-length record All Or Nothing earlier this year. How has the reception been to it so far?

It’s been exciting to hear people’s thoughts on this album…especially those who have been following my music over the past 8 years. The feedback has been encouraging. I think people see (and have voiced that they’ve seen) a development in the song writing, musicianship, and production quality.

From songwriting to recording, what can you tell us about your creative process for this record?

I have a lot of friends who will write 1 song a week or a couple each month. I on the other hand, don’t write that often. I probably average 5-6 songs a year. I dunno why it works that way, but it does. So for me, the songs are always very centered around what was happening in my life during this 2-3 year time frame. Songs take a lot of time to boil up in me and it usually takes months of processing an idea before it materializes. So for that reason, most of my projects have been themed. As soon as 10 songs are done, I know its time to go into the studio. There are rarely songs that “didn’t make it.” All that to say, the songwriting-to-recording process almost feeling like living out a chapter of life before moving onto the next one. I guess there could have been many ways to answer this question

Was the experience any different this time around from your other records?

Yes, recording this album was very different. I really felt like I had a partner in the studio and someone to bounce ideas off of. My producer took on the project as if it were his own, which made everything easier. Recording an album is a huge undertaking and for the previous two projects, I wanted to get it over as soon as possible. This project was just enjoyable from start to finish.

You’ve got some shows coming up, one being the Buncearoo show at Foundation. What do you love most about touring?

Meeting people. No doubt. “Hate getting there. Love being there.” If I could invent a teleportation device that would magically transport me to all my shows, I would. If I could get rid of spending hours in my car while on tour, I would. But my favorite part of traveling is certainly the people I get to meet on an almost daily basis. People are so interesting. Every single person is unique and just…interesting!

Favorite current guilty pleasure musician?

B.Reith. When I need a pick me up I listen to him. He’s a singer/songwriter out of Nashville who blends hip hop and soul. His writing is quick, quirky, contemplative, and comedic. I especially enjoy how much he writes about the plight of the starving artist and that idea of wanting to “make it.” It’s just something I identify with on a daily basis.

Thanks for talking to us at Pick-Up Productions. We look forward to your Buncearoo show. Any last words for the readers?

I’m looking forward to the evening and thanks for having me

Music and food fans came together in the rain and mud for Sweetgreen’s 4th annual day long Sweetlife Festival last Saturday at Merriweather Post Pavilion. Major headliners came onto the 2013 lineup like Phoenix, Yeah Yeah Yeahs, Kendrick Lamar, Passion Pit, newcomers like MS MR and Haerts and more!

Check out photos from the Music and Food festival below.

All photos by Alex Long.

Haerts

MS MR

Solange

Kendrick Lamar

Passion Pit

Phoenix

We reached out to Nashville singer-songwriter Liz Longley prior to her Buncearoo show at Foundation Gallery & Liveroom this Thursday night. With the release of her latest single “This Is Not The End”, Longley has continued on a whirlwind of musician life, writing and recording her upcoming record, keeping the list of tour dates steady and long, all while making a fan out of John Mayer at the same time.

We spoke to her about her single, inspirations, her upcoming record, and more. Read our interview below and get to know Liz Longley.

Liz Longley will join Joy Ike for a Buncearoo night of music at Foundation Gallery & Liveroom. Tickets can be purchased here.

Who were some of your musical inspirations growing up?

I fell in love with lyrics and songwriting when I heard Joni Mitchell’s ‘Blue’. That album changed everything for me… she is a huge influence. Eva Cassidy has also been a huge influence as far as singing goes. Her voice is truly from another planet.

You released your single “This Is Not The End” last month. How has the reception been so far from your fans?

Wonderful! “This is Not The End” is a song I co-wrote in Nashville last year. Shortly after we wrote and recorded it, it was placed as the finale song for Lifetime’s hit series, Army Wives. The reaction was like nothing I’ve ever experience before. Army Wives fans were emailing me numerous times a day, looking for this song. So now that we’ve released it, things have almost calmed down!! It was a good problem to have!

The single is off your upcoming album. When should fans expect the record to come out?

At the moment, there is no official release date. A month ago I signed with Red Light Management. It was a huge step in my career and I am thrilled to be working with them. They have big dreams for this new record and are sending it out to record labels to get an idea of interest before we decide to release it independently. In the meantime, I’ll have it available at all shows.

From songwriting to recording, what can you tell us about the creative process for the record?

A majority of the songs on the record have been around and on the road with me for about two years. They are all songs written from personal experiences, outside of the Queen song I covered, “Crazy Little Thing Called Love”. The recording process was particularly special because Gus Berry, who has toured with me for the past two years, produced the record. He knows these songs better than I do, I swear. He knows my listeners and he did an incredible job taking the special parts of the live show into the studio. Thanks to 650 generous supporters, I was able to hire the best musicians in Nashville and rent out my dream studio, Ocean Way Studios, for two days.

You’ve got a ton of show dates coming up, bringing you from one coast to the other. What is it that you like the most when it comes to touring?

The people I meet at shows keep me on the road. No matter how long the drive or how bumpy the flight, every night they remind me why I love to make music.

What’s your favorite city to perform in?

It’s impossible to choose! I particularly love to play in Boston though. Gus and I lived there for a combined total of 8 years so we have lots of memories there and love to hang in our old favorite spots before we hit the stage.

Favorite current guilty pleasure musician?

My guilty pleasure is always Taylor Swift. But my non-guilty pleasure is Marc Scibilia. Check him out!! He is the real deal.

Thanks for talking to us at Pick-Up. We look forward to your Buncearoo show. Any last words for the readers out there?

Thanks for taking the time to read this! Hope to see you at a show soon! Thanks!

For more on Liz Longley and her upcoming tour dates, visit her website, like her on Facebook, and follow her on Twitter.

Chicago’s The Hush Sound are back and reformed from their four-year hiatus, lifting all the spirits of the fans who have waited for this moment. Now they’re set to start their next tour, co-headlining with Hockey and making a stop at DC’s U Street Music Hall. The band recently released a two-song EP called Forty Five, getting their fans excited from more new music to come. We reached out to the band and spoke to Greta Morgan about Forty Five, their stop at SXSW, and their upcoming tour.

See them live this Friday night (5/17) at U Street Music Hall. Tickets are available here.

It’s 2013 and The Hush Sound are back with some new tracks out and a new tour on the way. As the band gets set to take on a new journey together, is there anything you all are approaching differently this go around?

We’re approaching everything differently. Personally, my mindset about touring and recording is much more positive. I enjoyed the last tour more than any tour I’ve been apart of in recent years.

You recently wrapped up your West Coast tour and trip to SXSW. How was the experience during your time on the road? Any crazy stories you can share?

Though their have been some crazy tour stories in our long history, this run was pretty calm.

It’s been over five years since the fans have received some new tracks to listen to over and over again. But luckily for all of us, Forty Five was recently released, featuring tracks “Scavengers” and “Not A Stranger.” How has the response been so far from the fans?

Awesome! We are very grateful they are sticking with us. We’ve received tons of comments from people saying that hearing those new songs felt like Christmas in March.

From recording to songwriting, could you talk a little bit about the creative process for Forty Five?

Bob had demo-ed “Not a Stranger” and I had demoed “Scavengers” with basic instrumentation and most of the lyrics and melodies finished. As a full band, we worked in my rehearsal space in Los Angeles for a few days to nail out the musical arrangement to suit our playing as a group. Then, we went into the studio with producer Sam Farrar and engineer Tom Biller and recorded the songs live.

You all are making your way back to DC as part of a co-headlining tour with Hockey. What do you look forward to most as this tour approaches?

I’m excited for all the old friends I’ll be reuniting with on the East Coast. That’s one of the most beautiful things about being on tour — it’s basically a paid vacation if you look at it that way. Also, I’m very excited to watch all these awesome other artists every night.

Besides touring, what else can fans expect from The Hush Sound this year? Are there more new tracks in the works?

We are hoping to record another batch of songs for release later this year.

Thanks for talking to us at Pick-Up Productions. Can’t wait to see you all back in DC in May! Any last words for the readers out there?

Thank you for reading!

For more information on the band and their upcoming tour dates, visit their website, like them on Facebook, and follow them on Twitter.