As Andrew Jackson Jihad, Sean Bonnette (with partner Ben Gallaty) exists in a unique realm of decidedly punk rock musicianhood. With each consecutive album, the band manages to gain slightly more attention from the larger independent music listening world. AJJ is known for their bare bones, agressive folk sound that utilizes acoustic guitar and upright bass, but also with each conescutive release, they’ve began incorporating horns, more strings and even on the last record, Knife Man, kazoos. Most immediately striking about […]
Band Booking: Jamie Stewart of Xiu Xiu
There are two ways to look at Jamie Stewart’s songs: 1. You take them at face value. You listen to one or two songs and say to yourself that his lyrics are too bleak or his music is too depressing. 2. You realize that at it’s core, music isn’t always a happy experience, and that Stewart’s lyrics are complex and brilliant. I listen to Xiu Xiu and align myself with the number two folks. With each and every album, I’m […]
Band Booking: Jennifer O’Connor
Over the past few years, Jennifer O’Connor has established herself as a fine writer of emotionally direct yet catchy songs, including a pair of albums on Matador Records. Her latest album, I Want What You Want, features a cyclical structure, some of her strongest songwriting, and guest appearances from the likes of Kendall Meade, Richard Baluyut, and Tim Foljahn. Following a tour with Foljahn, O’Connor checked in with us over email to talk about the making of this album, her work […]
Band Booking: Lee Ranaldo
It might not be necessary to write an introduction for Lee Ranaldo, so I’ll state the obvious and mention he’s one of the founding members of Sonic Youth. What I’ve always respected about Ranaldo and his now-former bandmates is their ability to move across musical genres and artistic mediums, and somehow have it work out. As musicians, Sonic Youth always strove to work with various artists from Cypress Hill to Yoko Ono, and the members’ various interests outside the group included fashion, zines, […]
Band Booking: Terry Malts
Not long ago, I described Killing Time, the debut LP from the San Francisco-based trio Terry Malts, as “the perfect blend of late-70s Ramones and late-90s Magnetic Fields.” I’m sticking to that pitch: there’s a rapid-fire I wanna/I don’t wanna-ness that places them in a classic punk rock tradition, and an underlying sense of melancholy that taps into something deeper. I volleyed some questions to guitarist Corey Cunningham; this is what he had to say.
Band Booking: Twin Sister
Udbhav Gupta (pictured above wearing glasses) is a multi-instrumentalist from Long Island- and Brooklyn-based buzz band Twin Sister. Their full-length LP In Heaven came out last fall, an understated successor to their critically acclaimed EPs Color Your Life and Vampires With Dreaming Kids, and their most mature outing yet. Along with Andrea Estella, Brian Ujueta, Gabe D’Amico and Eric Cardona, he just finished a countrywide tour promoting the album, following right on the heels of a European tour. I caught […]
Band Booking: Trophy Wife
You may know Katy Otto from her time in the bands Del Cielo and Bald Rapunzel, or her label, Exotic Fever Records. I know her simply as one half of Trophy Wife, one of the most inspiring rock bands I’ve seen in well over a decade. My band, Bells≥, had the good fortune to play a couple of shows with them earlier this month, and we’ll do so again this Saturday at Secret Project Robot. I caught up with Katy […]
Band Booking: Christian Wargo of Poor Moon
In 2004, I first heard the music of Crystal Skulls, group making smart, witty pop music (think Talking Heads, think Steely Dan) and led by singer/guitarist Christian Wargo. (I’m not exactly impartial about the band; I ended up directing a video for the song “No Room For Change,” from their first album.) The band called it a day after releasing two albums on Suicide Squeeze. Since then, Wargo resurfaced as a member of Fleet Foxes; and now, he’s in the […]