As the great moral philosopher Blain said, “I ain’t got time to bleed”, and so we’re skipping pleasantries today to get right down to it, you have a weekend to enjoy, so here are my recommendations.
5) Bambara, The Men, Hubble, Pill at Palisades
This is a record release show for Bambara, although the album, Swarm, isn’t set for release until the 4th of March, snag some early copies here. It has to be said the new songs sound great, and with The Men, Hubble and Pill all bringing up the rear, you’ve got one of the most solid “local” shows you could book. Thursday 8pm
4) Black Sabbath at Madison Square Garden
What can you say about Black Sabbath? The heavy metal pioneers are on their “final tour” which brings them to MSG tonight (Thursday) and Saturday. Classics will be played, solos will unabashedly be aired, Ozzy will want to see your hands, and though the idea of FOMO for a band almost at their 50th anniversary and shall we say, past their prime, is slightly obscene, it is Black Sabbath… Thursday and Saturday 7:30pm
3) Ty Segall and The Muggers at Webster Hall
Ty Segall’s current incarnation with The Muggers sees Mikal Cronin, King Tuff, and Cory Hanson of Wand in his backing band, which is quite the supporting cast. There are two shows to talk about here, one on Saturday, which is sold out and features Charlie Moonhart (who fans will recognise from Fuzz), and Axis: Sova. There are still some tickets left fo the show on Sunday, which sees The Men and Dion Lunadon of Place to Bury Strangers. Saturday and Sunday 6:30pm
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vqkqsS2uxis
2) LVL UP, Potty Mouth, Stove, Cende, Arm Candy at Shea Stadium
Like a warm blanket, you know what you’re getting at Shea Stadium, and the guitars will be set to fuzz tonight with Free Willy favourites LVL Up headlining. Thursday 8pm
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WhzZ1blkivc
1) Jesu & Sun Kil Moon at Music Hall of Williamsburg
Aside from people making very accurate parodies of Mark Kozelek’s songs (I happen to think he’d see the funny side), the man himself has been fairly prolific in the last few years and his latest effort is a collaboration with Justin Broadrick of Jesu. Lyrically, the record sees Kozelek take the stream-of-consciousness style of lyrics to even more extremes (if that was even possible after Universal Themes), if you’re curious about a day-in-the-life, there are many tales, but the way he sings a line like “what does rekindle mean?” over and over again makes you question life decisions like no-one else. Musically the record is more varied than the last few releases, and if anything features more of the fuzzy guitars that were a feature of the early Sun Kil Moon albums, and there are the standard finger-picked acoustic tunes, complimented with some electronic influences as well. As far as albums go, it’s a sprawling effort with twists and turns all over the place. Friday 8pm
