Jeff The Brotherhood at Santos Party House

Jake, the guitarist of Jeff The Brotherhood, plays a guitar with only three strings and I swear to you it sounded out of tune. It's only three strings! Tune it! This made a few of their slower songs sound a bit strange. Fortunately every time they picked up the tempo (which was most of the time) they definitely rocked. Meanwhile, I was worried that the lighting in the basement of Santo's would be too dark. Ha ha on me.

Posted: 7/19/2012 at 7:42pm     Tags: Jeff The Brotherhood  Santos Party House 

The Henry Clay People at Brooklyn Bowl

what is it about California which inspires so many kids to form pop-punk bands? They don't like their pop too light, but they don't like their punk too serious either. The Henry Clay People are definitely not serious. In fact they're goofy as hell on stage and quite a lot of fun because of it. And when the band (and audience!) are having fun and the venue has good lighting the result is some great photos.

Posted: 7/3/2012 at 11:21pm     Tags: Brooklyn Bowl  The Henry Clay People 

Sean Kershaw and the New Jack Ramblers at The Grand Victory

I'm not sure who decided that Sunday night should be honkytonk night at The Grand Victory but they sure know which bands to book. These guys play a whole range of musical styles, from Country to Western, from fun dance music to more serious stuff. Okay, I'm not sure exactly how seriously to take a song called "Coney Island Cowboy". But it sounded serious, as if to say that Sean Kershaw knows a little something about being an outsider and not caring.

Posted: 6/18/2012 at 7:24pm     Tags: Sean Kershaw and the New Jack Ramblers  The Grand Victory 

Dustin Wong at Public Assembly

You know those guys who use a guitar and some delay pedals to build songs out of layers? Somehow they always make it work and I am always amazed. Dustin Wong creates layers which sound very clean, as though they came from a synthesizer. The resulting songs are particularly pretty and closer to electronic music than rock-n-roll. Perhaps that is why at the end where he finally stood up and rocked out with that guitar. I mean, he was a guy on stage with a guitar. Wouldn't you?

Posted: 6/17/2012 at 5:52pm     Tags: Dustin Wong  Northside Fest  Public Assembly 

M.A.K.U. SoundSystem at Public Assembly

As you can see from the photos above M.A.K.U. SoundSystem not only have three drummers, but three different types of drummers. That's shorthand for Latin dance music. That certainly is the core of their style. The surprising thing is how widely they manage to wander with that core. One song will be funky, the next more punky, and then another more Caribbean with an emphasis on the horns. That quirky mix also inspired plenty of dancing both times I've seen them.

Posted: 6/16/2012 at 11:21am     Tags: M.A.K.U. SoundSystem  Northside Fest  Public Assembly