Wojcik at Bowery Electric

If I recall correctly the last time I saw Wojcik they were a two piece and the drummer was a fellow. That is to say that a different, male person was the drummer last time. The core of the band is lead singer and guitarist Hailey Wojcik who seems to be backed by a revolving crew.

Now the problem with having a revolving crew is that any given lineup hasn't practiced together so much. The first show with a particular lineup is a little like the first show by a new band. This was the first Wojcik show with this new lineup. While songs like Spidersilk and Wise Blood were solid enough to show what the band is capable of, a couple of other songs were awfully messy. They just didn't sound like a band which had been around for a couple of years. Because of course they haven't been.

Wojcik have plenty of heavy songs which sound like 70s hard rock, or perhaps like Kyuss and its descendents. Other songs are more atmospheric or even experimental. It is kind of hard to believe that the same band recorded "The Magician" (a typical Wojcik song) and "Phantom of the Lake". The latter sounds is the sort of minimalist number which a darkwave artist (The Black Heart Procession?) might put at the end of an album. They have incorporated field recordings into some of their songs, in the intros if nothing else, which is not exactly common among hard rock bands. Perhaps the band is still trying out new musical identities? That might explain the lineup changes too. At the very least they aren't "just" a hard rock band even if Hailey Wojcik does thrash away on her guitar every now and then.

Posted: 1/11/2013 at 9:40pm     Tags: Bowery Electric  Wojcik 

Mindtroll at Bowery Electric

Mindtroll are a strange, strange band. They remind me a lot of the B-52s or perhaps Quintron and Miss Pussycat (also strange, strange bands) but Mindtroll are somehow even more silly than those other bands. Wow, that takes effort.

Based on the outfits and banter between songs I'd say that Mindtroll are aiming for silly. The hard part is making good music. I have to say thaty for the most part they succeeded. Some of their songs are just ridiculously catchy. It is one day after the show and I still have some of the most absurd nonsense stuck in my head like "I'm a fancy boy, I shop at Williams-Sonoma!"

I had to Google Williams-Sonoma after hearing that song. Apparently they really do sell cookware. I honestly never knew that, or cared... until now.

Posted: 1/10/2013 at 10:09pm     Tags: Bowery Electric  Mindtroll 

Psychic Ills at Saint Vitus

Psychic Ills are sort of the opposite of the stereotypical New Year's Eve party band. Although they aren't exactly quiet and some of their songs rock they are not the least bit raucous. I wouldn't say that that the music is introspective, but most songs are about one person's state of mind, their place in the world or their relationship with exactly one other person. At the very least I would say that the songs are focused internally and the band's style reflects this.

Perhaps Psychic Ills made a New Year's resolution last year to add some visual spectacle to their shows.  Every time I have seen them lately they have a projector blasting out colors and shapes. So they're certainly more colorful now, though the venue wasn't really helping by keeping the spotlights set to blue-and-only-blue the whole time. Aside from that their style hasn't changed a bit.

As I went through these photos I kept thinking "That would make a nice oil painting". I did not "oilify" a single photo but yes, in case you were wondering, I screwed around with that last shot.

Have an exciting 2013 y'all! I know I will.

Posted: 1/1/2013 at 4:13pm     Tags: New Year's Eve  Psychic Ills  Saint Vitus 

Herbcraft at Saint Vitus

Here is a short photo set of a band which played a short set. Or at least I think they did. Herbcraft's songs flowed so cleanly into one another that I can't even say how many they played. Three? Four?

Herbcraft are a two-piece from Maine who have been around for a couple of years so they've had the time to fine-tune their sound. Their music is mesmerizing, with layers of intriguing rhythms supporting ephemeral vocals and vaguely Eastern guitarwork. Unfortunately this sort of music is not conductive to keeping track of things like song counts or time. Especially when it is done so well.

On a side note the Saint Vitus calendar originally listed the show opener as "Herb Craft". So did this site's calendar because I got the listing from Saint Vitus's website. When I finally got around to checking the band out on Facebook things got interesting. Apparently one Mr. "Herbert Craft" is retired and lives in South Carolina. He probably does not play in a psych-rock band. A second "Herb Crafts" claims to be a shoe designer for Vans (wrong venue!) The third and last Herb Craft has no profile picture and no public info. He (?) is a Facebook ghost.

Posted: 1/1/2013 at 12:12pm     Tags: blue  Herbcraft  New Year's Eve  Saint Vitus 

Ay Balazo at The Paper Box

Sometimes I feel like doing something a little different. Today it was catching a show where all four bands sang entirely in Spanish. Do I speak Spanish? No I do not (okay, a tiny bit) but that really was not a problem. Rock music does not require deep or clever lyrics so why should it require intelligible ones? Remember Nirvana, or for that matter The Kingsmen ("Louie Louie")? And as for Latin dance music so long as I can move my feet to it I'm happy.

On this occasion all four bands were at least decent, but the real champs were Ay Balazo, a rock band from Queens. They have catchy hooks and plenty of musical energy, plus an active front man and rather goofy bassist who give them a fun stage presence. This is not just American rock in Spanish either. I recognize those chords, those catchy hooks are clearly Latin.  Add a bit of guiro and cowbell and you get a sound which is distinctly different from what I am used to, but which is still rock-n-roll enough that this gringo can enjoy it.  Very nice.

The Paper Box opened about a year ago so it is a relatively new venue. I had been there several times but never took photos. In fact I had never even seen the stage lights in use. So again, I did something new today.

When I arrived they had one spotlight pointed at a painting on the wall. Now, I know that some of these music venues double as art galleries (and vice-versa) but that is just weird. Why are you using a 500W bulb to light a picture? Fortunately the venue got that fixed (ahem) mid-way through the first band's set.

Once they pointed all of their firepower at the stage it started to look quite good. Perhaps a bit behind the level of The Knitting Factory but better than 90% of the venues in this town. They made good use of that smoke machine too. Not too much, just a bit here and there, like during the finale of Ay Balazo's set. I do believe I will enjoy taking photos there again.

Posted: 12/30/2012 at 4:06pm     Tags: Ay Balazo  guiro  The Paper Box