A-Bones at Brooklyn Bowl

Have you ever heard some random old song from the early days of rock-n-roll and said to yourself "Wow, that's really catchy?"  Then as a sense of deja vu sets in it occurs to you that every time you hear a song from back then it seems so fun, so energetic, that you wish you could hear that sort of thing more often? It seems that the A-Bones not only had this experience but really took it to heart. They play nothing but that great early rock-n-roll. Some songs are covers, some are originals, but all of them are great fun.

A-Bones singer Billy Miller and drummer Miriam Linna are also the head honchos of Norton Records, a record label which releases exactly that same kind of awesome early rock-n-roll plus newer stuff along the same lines. Their warehouse in Red Hook, Brooklyn was hit pretty hard by Hurricane Sandy. I see something in that article about "four feet of water". Yeah, that's not good. Apparently most of their stock (meaning "records" and so on) was either damaged or destroyed. The Norton Records website has more info. Anyway, folks from the musical community are helping out by throwing fundraiser shows such as this one (I think). Hopefully Norton will recover quickly.

Posted: 1/20/2013 at 6:41pm     Tags: A-Bones  Brooklyn Bowl  Norton Records Benefit 

The Swingin' Neckbreakers at Brooklyn Bowl

The Swingin' Neckbreakers are as close to being a punk band as a band can be without actually being punk (got that?) They're loud, aggressive, and have all sorts of attitude. They were giving the bowlers shit ("You kids suck at bowling!") the audience shit ("What an ugly crowd!") and even themselves shit ("Who's that fat guy on TV?" while pointing to a screen which showed them on stage). The difference is that their music is not raw. The band is sharp. The tunes have actual melodies (and they're catchy as hell too). This is almost punk, but really it is rock-n-roll played with maximum attitude, and it is a blast.

Posted: 1/20/2013 at 6:06pm     Tags: Brooklyn Bowl  Norton Records Benefit  The Swingin' Neckbreakers 

The Piggies at Brooklyn Bowl

Writing about your friends' band is always a little awkward. They are likely to have an opinion about your opinion and to actually tell you. Don't you hate it when other people tell you their opinions of you? Horrible!

So anyway, the four members of The Piggies have probably been in fifty bands between them. I'm pretty sure that every single one of those bands was either a punk band or a garage band. So while it might be accurate to say that The Piggies are a blues-rock band they still have some pretty deep garagepunk roots. They aren't as heavy or introspective a blues band and some of their guitar solos sound more like rock solos than blues solos. On average, that is. They also have straightforward blues rambles like "Dumptruck" and songs like "As Sweet As They Come", a bass-heavy grinder which sounds completely different for the rest of their stuff.

The most distinctive feature of their music is probably the quirky lyrics. And yes, I am well aware that "quirky" is one of those gets-you-in-trouble words. If challenged on this the lyrics of the song Wanna Go To Heaven are probably my best defense. Let's just say that The Piggies's lyrics contain some creative turns of phrase, some just brilliant, others kind of odd. And again, not every song is like this. They do have some songs which are relatively straightfoward "love" songs (for a rather horny definition of "love") and for that matter an instrumental or two. The important thing is that their stuff is really catchy. It just happens that if you pay close attention you might be in for a surprise.

Posted: 1/20/2013 at 5:55pm     Tags: Brooklyn Bowl  Norton Records Benefit  The Piggies 

DIIV at Brooklyn Bowl

DIIV lead singer Zachary Smith seems to be quite popular with the ladies.  When he came out on stage all I kept hearing behind me was "Oh my God he's so cute!" and the like. Then DIIV started playing and before too long those lovestruck young ladies were displaced by moshing young men. As I heard the pitter-patter of their shoulders bouncing off my spine I thought to myself: "Dammit, I liked the girls better."

Mr. Smith looks a little like Kurt Cobain, and sure enough he has claimed in interviews to be influenced by Nirvana. His look might be, but musically I just don't hear it. The defining feature of DIIV's music seems to be a high-pitched guitar part, the opposite of Nirvana's deeper, metal-influenced sound. DIIV doesn't do the quiet-loud thing either. Their songs are pretty constant, and for that matter somewhat repetitive. There are subtle changes over the course of their songs but none of that aggressive stuff. Then there are the airy, indistinct vocals. Okay, maybe they have one thing in common with Nirvana but they remind me far more of a New Wave band, specifically British bands such as Joy Division, Flock of Seagulls (yes, really) and perhaps even The Cure.

Strange then that people were moshing to their music. There was a certain positive energy in the room, something those other bands I've mentioned were not really known for. Perhaps it is that high-pitched guitar part, floating over the room, soft and light, effusing us with a message "Not to worry, it's all right." Or maybe it was the fact that the band itself seemed to be having fun on stage. They certainly didn't spend all their time moping or staring at the floor. Whatever it is there is something about these guys which seemed to put everyone in a good mood, except of course for those of us who were busy receiving an amateur deep tissue massage.

Posted: 1/14/2013 at 11:00pm     Tags: Brooklyn Bowl  DIIV 

Alberta Cross at Brooklyn Bowl

Alberta Cross have no connection to Canada but their lead singer sure does sound like a Brit (which he kinda sorta is). When he speaks, that is, not when he sings. When he sings he could pass for a guy from, say, Tennessee. Appearance-wise he could pass for Jack White's meaner cousin. Of course as the singer of a band which is most accurately labeled Southern Rock he fits in perfectly.

Alberta Cross are quite good at rocking out when they get around to it (e.g. "Atx") but these guys cover so much musical ground that it takes a while to get around to it. Most songs use all five instruments and have a full and complex sound but at times they strip down to two or three and get folky. They do everything from rockers to ballads but have plenty of mid-tempo and mid-volume material. They dabble a bit in psychedelia and even Brit-pop. Doesn't "Magnolia" sound like an Oasis song combined with the drum part from "Don't Come Around Here No More"? When the keyboard moves up front they can even get anthemic (parts of "Ophelia On My Mind").

As a side note I appreciate the fact that their keyboards sound like piano, organ, or other real instruments instead of electro-bleeps. One thing their music does not need is electro-bleeps. Somewhere in Brooklyn there is a Southern Rock band which uses a Macbook in their shows. This isn't them.

Mid-way through the set they covered "Always On My Mind", a song which was a particularly big hit for the Pet Shop Boys but which had previously been covered by Willie Nelson and Elvis Presley among others. It is a song with a proper country pedigree, sensible for a Southern Rock band to cover. Their take on it was pleasant enough and sounded like Willie Nelson's version, actually. However unlike the Pet Shop Boys they did not make the song their own. It was just a cover.

I think the same can be said for their music more generally. Listening to them perform I could not shake a sense of familiarity despite the fact that I had not heard their songs before. As broad as Alberta Cross's repertoire may be their music is not groundbreaking. They have managed to create a coherent style from a wider variety of musical idioms than most bands and managed to sound good doing it, but their individual songs fit into familiar stylistic categories. Perhaps they save the more experimental tracks for their albums? If so, I want to hear them.

Posted: 12/28/2012 at 5:03pm     Tags: Alberta Cross  Brooklyn Bowl 

Gary Clark Jr at Brooklyn Bowl

It is strange to think that the Blues predates the electric guitar. No other instrument screams and moans and suffers like the electric guitar, unless you count the human voice. They were made for each other. Consider this: how many bluesmen can you name who are known for their banjo playing, or even for their acoustic guitar playing? Now how about for their electric guitar playing? I can think of a few: BB King, Bo Diddley, Stevie Ray Vaughn, and a fellow named James Marshell Hendrix who people at the show kept bringing up.

Gary Clark Jr. is one incredible blues guitarist and actually a rather good singer as well. Not that there is anything wrong with being scratchy-voiced in this genre but Gary Clark is more the smooth and subtle type. A few of his quieter songs even qualify as pretty. He is if you will a "better" singer than many well-known blues musicians. Interesting, then, that so many of his songs feature guitar solos which are longer than the vocal parts. His voice rides upon a wave of guitar noise which ultimately breaks over it. Those groaning electric guitars are the heart of his best songs. Check out exhibit A. Of course other of his songs are more poetic and pretty. He can do both, but he is most potent with that guitar.

The house was packed, and because of this I learned an important lesson. About photography, not about the Blues. When taking pictures at Brooklyn Bowl make sure to stand at stage left. Stage right is next to a wall but stage left is next to the bowling lanes, and at any reasonably crowded show some of the audience will stand in the walkway up there. It had not occurred to me before that the center of gravity of the crowd is towards stage left and that bands tend to arrange themselves with this in mind. Gary Clark Jr. stayed to that side most of the time and tended to turn to his left. I should have been over there. My bad.

Posted: 11/7/2012 at 10:02pm     Tags: Brooklyn Bowl  Gary Clark Jr 

Big Freedia at Brooklyn Bowl

There should be no question in anyone's mind about whether they like Big Freedia's music. Listen to one song and if you like it, then you'll like 'em all. The musical style is called "Bounce". While it is bouncy and you can definitely dance to it, variety is not its strong point. The question you should be asking yourself instead is "How much ass can I tolerate?" Apparently folks in New Orleans are either really into ass, or really into stretching. Feel free to decide for yourself.

Posted: 11/1/2012 at 2:41am     Tags: Big Freedia  Brooklyn Bowl