Haybaby at Brooklyn Bowl

Haybaby are a band with a number of female fans apparently. I'm not sure what all the bra-tossing was about but they certainly make lousy pairs of frisbees.

Many of Haybaby's songs start with quiet lyrics sung over a drone or hum, then switch to much heavier rocking out, then back again. It's too intense to be shoegaze, more like grunge, and very cool. On the other hand they have peppier songs like Babies and Storm King (?) which are almost... silly? Not ridiculous, but more of an "I understand what you said but why in the world did you say it" sort of thing. More like The Pixies both lyrically and musically. You might think of Haybaby as a good quiet-loud rock band with a few weird but cute songs thrown in for variety. Or perhaps they just love the early 90s.

I wonder about bands like this where their songs have distinct styles and everyone sings lead at times. Is there more than one songwriter in the band? Is there some actual competition between the different styles, an open question about what the band wants to be? It will be interesting to see how Haybaby evolves.

Posted: 2/19/2013 at 9:06pm     Tags: Brooklyn Bowl  Haybaby 

Hunters at The Studio at Webster Hall

Hunters are one of those rare polished punk bands. They are not the least bit sloppy but their music is still aggressive, their lyrics even a bit viscious. The gutteral rumblings of the instruments contrast nicely with the higher-pitched lead singing. The contrast gives their songs a quiet-loud quality without actually varying the volume all that much. It stays nice and loud.

The last time I photographed this band they were playing at Death by Audio. I know they've played plenty of loft shows too. This band illustrates how to break out of the Brooklyn punk haus circuit and take a shot at the big time. Not everyone wants that but if you do this is how it's done: be good musicians, have an interesting sound, and don't water it down.

Also, it doesn't hurt if your lead singer resembles Madonna circa 1984. More generally putting on a show doesn't hurt. I mean, if you just want people to hear your music you can always put out albums and not play any gigs. If you want to play gigs, if you want to perform, then it doesn't hurt to put on a performance, you know?

Posted: 2/18/2013 at 11:20pm     Tags: Hunters  The Studio at Webster Hall 

Xray Eyeballs at The Studio at Webster Hall

The lineup of Xray Eyeballs seems to change pretty frequently. Since the last time I photographed them they've had at least three other drummers. That's three drummers in 20 months, or 0.15 dummers per month, which is SI units is 1.5x10^-1 Spinal Taps (ST).

Currently the band includes a keyboardist (Liz of Runaway Suns among other bands) who also plays guitar, and a drummer who plays while standing (Tom of Food Stamps). Whatever the lineup their sound has remained the same: fast and sloppy with lots of hooks. They used to toss in a few slower, moodier songs but not this time. That's probably a good choice. Their faster, bouncier songs always did work best.

Posted: 2/17/2013 at 5:37pm     Tags: The Studio at Webster Hall  Xray Eyeballs 

Converse Rubber Tracks Live at Music Hall of Williamsburg

Apparently as a local music fan in the Williamsburg area I am in such a coveted demographic that companies keep giving me things for free. Consider for example shoe manufacturers. The House of Vans in Greenpoint has been throwing free concerts for a few years apparently as a marketing thing. Now it seems that Converse feels the need to grab some hipster mindshare. They have started their own concert series at the Music Hall of Williamsburg. Personally I am looking forward to the old-school rap concert series sponsored by Adidas.

The best part is that at 37 years of age I am far too old to pay attention to their advertising so their marketing dollars are wasted on me. Wasted I say! Having said that this was a 16+ show (yes, sixteen and older) because these corporate types know very well who marketing works on.

You would think that four good bands at one of the better-sounding venues in the area would be a crowd-pleaser and this show certainly did not disappoint. I was particularly glad that Vivian Girls sounded so good despite having been on a bit of a hiatus (I don't think they've played a gig together since last Summer). I'm not sure how many shoes it sold, but hey, thank you Converse! Please continue to give me free stuff!

The bands played (and the photos above appear) in this order: Heliotropes, Eternal Summers, Widowspeak, Vivian Girls.

Posted: 2/16/2013 at 8:20pm     Tags: Converse Rubber Tracks Live  Eternal Summers  Heliotropes  Music Hall of Williamsburg  Vivian Girls  Widowspeak 

Boxtopus at Manitoba's

It looks like Manitoba's is going to have bands play in the back. This particular show was lit by track lighting but they had some spotlights on the ceiling almost ready to go. Just move some tables out of the way to make a stage and voilà, instant rock!

The honor of being the first act at Manitoba's in a while goes to Boxtopus. They are the comedic punk duo of singer/acoustic guitarist "Don Vongiovi" and electric guitarist/nose floutist "Punchy George". Their music is catchy enough but I'm pretty sure that they are more about the comedy. The core of their humor is the hyper-masculine persona of "Don" (aka Lynne Von of Trick Babys and The Vondelles). "He" sings about how eating meat is good, eating paint chips is good (they give you "retard strength" and being strong is good) and then punches Punchy George a couple of times. Manliness, fuck yeah!

Then there are the outfits. I will let the pictures speak for themselves on that subject. Let's just say that I had some good laughs and a lot of fun catching these guys perform. Sorry, these "guys" perform.

Posted: 2/12/2013 at 7:06pm     Tags: Boxtopus  Manitoba's