I’m going to shut up and let the music do the talking this week, there’s a little nostalgia sprinkled among some releases fresh off the block.
5) Iron Chic, Dead Heavens, Earworms, MakeWar at Saint Vitus Bar
Long Island punks Iron Chic signed to Side One Dummy last year and should be releasing a new record soon, so if you like your punk a little emo with a lot of fists in the air, I guess Vitus is the place to be. For me, the draw here is Dead Heavens, the latest band of Walter Schreifels (Quicksand, Vanishing Life, Gorilla Biscuits, Rival Schools, and more) that also includes former White Zombie guitarist Paul Kostabi. The band’s record, Whatever Witch You Are is a straight-up classic rock record with blues and psych influences. Friday 8pm
4) The Feelies at Rough Trade
New Jersey jangle legends The Feelies are basically camping at Rough Trade all weekend with shows on Friday, Saturday and Sunday nights. The first two nights are sold out but at the time of writing you can still get tickets for Sunday. Crazy Ryhthms from 1980 is rightly lauded as a wonderful album, and the band just released a new album, In Between, via Bar/None Records. Friday, Saturday & Sunday 8pm
3) Overlake, Dead Stars, Heaven at Mercury Lounge
Two New Jersey Bar/None artists in a row, Overlake are releasing their debut album, Fall, on Friday and celebrate with a record release show at Mercury Lounge. It’s a fine choice of venue as the outstanding PA will need to be at it’s best to capture their classic-shoegaze sound; indeed, when I first head Winter is Why, I actually thought it was a Slowdive song. Local favourites Heaven and Dead Stars open. Friday 10pm
2) Alex Napping, Peaer, gobbinjr, Long Neck at Sunnyvale
Alex Napping‘s second record, Mise En Place, came out last Friday on Father/Daughter Records and is one of the most wonderfully twee and whimsical indie albums I’ve heard in a long time (it made me realise once again how much I miss Veronica Falls). The song Living Room in particular is a bit of an anthem for this particular sad sap, give it a try below. Saturday 8pm
1) Buffalo Tom at Bowery Ballroom
Celebrating the 25th anniversary of their thid album, Let Me Come Over, Boston greats Buffalo Tom are playing a sold-out show at Bowery Ballroom on Saturday; the trio will be playing the record in full followed by another set of career-spanning tunes. While people may decry the band for their commercial pop-rock sound, there’s simply something to be said for a band who can consistently write good songs. Indeed, it’s possible that over the course of a 30-year career, they never wrote a single stinker of a song, how many acts can say that? Saturday 8pm
