There was a guy wearing a TV set on his head when I walked into Piere’s Entertainment Center in Ft. Wayne, Indiana on September 20, 2022.
That guy was Mobley – a one-man show who played a wild mix of electro and soul on everything from guitar, drum kit, keyboards, and a sequencer. His video clips displayed behind him were perfectly synchronized with his fun set, showing lyrics and images from his tracks.
Mobley
I was mainly there to see The Joy Formidable, who were opening for The Front Bottoms. The crowd was heavy with Front Bottoms fans, judging by the number of band shirts I saw in the crowd, and hardly anyone knew who The Joy Formidable were. It was also, according to lead singer and guitarist Rhiannon “Ritzy” Bryan, the band’s first time playing in Fort Wayne.
They proceeded to shred the entire stage, almost demolishing it and leaving nothing for The Front Bottoms to use afterwards. They were fired up to play, with Bryan sometimes so energetic that she head-butted bassist / co-vocalist Rhydian Dafydd in the chest – twice.
They opened with “The Greatest Light Is the Greatest Shade” and rarely let up to take a breath. They would retune, and then rip into another track, ending their too short set with a stunning, long, blazing edition of “Whirring.”
I left after their set. The Front Bottoms’ style of music isn’t my thing, and I felt bad for them having to follow The Joy Formidable, because, as one guy in the crowd who’d never heard them before said after their set, “That was some hard shit.”
“I’m aware of only half the picture. It comes down upon me like a heavy rain. The psycho Deli is out of mustard and all the Porn Stars won’t leave their homes. I’m out only to get myself, but don’t get in the way. The bugs which throw themselves at windows rarely get their say.” – Caleb Landry Jones
Award-winning actor and visual artist Caleb Landry Jones is a bonafide musical maverick, and today, announces his new album Gadzooks Vol. 2, out November 4th on Sacred Bones, with lead single/video, “Touchdown Yolk.” Following 2021’s Gadzooks Vol. 1, the “engaging affair of warped, carnivalesque psychedelia” (The AV Club), Jones’ third album is his most soothing and sublime collection to date. And while most artists don’t save some of the best music of their career for an album with Vol. 2 in the title, Jones is an artist for whom chronology is a slippery substance.
Recorded with Nic Jodoin in the famed Valentine Recording Studios, Gadzooks Vol. 2 was made alongside Jones’ The Mother Stone, hailed by Billboard as “a remarkable beast of a debut album.” The team invited a slew of heavy hitting musicians, including producer Drew Erickson, to the studio to contribute to the magic, and the resulting album sounds a bit like pink elephants in cowboy hats making ASMR — at least for the first 20 seconds before it seamlessly changes entirely.
One of Jones’s greatest musical gifts is his ability to cover a vast energetic and sonic landscape in a way with a wide array of instrumentation and vocal stylings over a wholly unique song structure, in a way that feels cohesive and euphoric. A driving number, “Touchdown Yolk” is Jones, who plays nearly every instrument on the track, at his catchiest, while still maintaining his enthralling and distinct charm. The accompanying video, which was co-created by Jones, Patrick Jones, Katya Zvereva, Natalia Zvereva, Lera Moiseeva, Jean-Stephane Sauvaire, Jacqueline Castel and Mitch Horowitz, collages handheld camcorder footage recorded around New York City, an irresistibly unsettling foray into the ever-expanding Gadzooks universe.
Austin trio Rickshaw Billie’s Burger Patrol share the official video for the single “Heel” from their forthcoming album Doom Wop today via Revolver Magazine. Watch and share the fun-loving chaos HERE. (Direct YouTube.)
Invisible Oranges recently launched lead single “Shoo In” HERE. (Direct Bandcamp.)
RBBP kick off tour dates supporting King Buffalo in late September, followed by headlining shows across the US in October. Please see current dates below.
With their 5th studio release, Rickshaw Billie’s Burger Patrol is putting a name to the style of fuzzed out, overdriven, melodic, groovy music they have been making since 2016. In 9 concise, no bullshit songs, RBBP demonstrates their ability to blend the merciless low end of Leo Lydon’s 8-String guitar, Aaron Metzdorf’s masterful chordwork on the bass, and Sean St.Germain’s driving drumwork. Lydon and Metzdorf’s vocal melodies cut through the high frequencies to deliver fresh layers to the hooks that RBBP fans have come to love.
As the name implies, “Doom Wop” is a heavy, melody-driven, party metal album. With riffs as big and dumb as ever, and lyrics that stab at the worst members of society and ourselves (while keeping tongue firmly in cheek), listeners will find all the elements that make up the soul of RBBP on this record. “Doom Wop” will be available everywhere September 23rd.
Doom Wop will be available on CD and download on September 23rd, 2022. Vinyl LP release date TBD. Pre-orders are available HERE.
Alex Lahey returns with a new single/video, “Congratulations,” the first taste in a long-awaited new chapter from Lahey, out today via Liberation Records. Marking her first new music since last year’s “Spike The Punch” and “On My Way” – the latter being the theme song for Sony Picture Animation’s Oscar-nominated The Mitchells vs The Machines, Netflix’s biggest animated release of all time – “Congratulations” is Lahey putting the focus back into her own project after a lengthy stint of collaborating with other artists as both a songwriter and producer. An examination of old relationships, “Congratulations” captures the all-too-familiar feeling of when your ex (or in Lahey’s cases, exes), move on and settle down. “Two of my exes got engaged within an improbably short space of time of one another. What are the odds? I couldn’t not write a song inspired by it.” The song itself features Lahey’s powerful alto and trademark confessional lyrics, all backed by stadium-ready guitar. The accompanying, “deeply unhinged” video (according to Lahey) was written by Lahey herself and co-directed by Jon Danovic. “It felt like the perfect time to execute a long standing concept I had of making out with myself on camera,” says Lahey. “Now both the song and the video feel like a message about choosing yourself over anyone else.”
Fresh off her tour with TheRegrettes, Lahey will head to the UK where she will open for Manchester Orchestra. Additionally, she will play headline shows across the UK and Australia where she’ll road test new material. A full list of dates can be found below and tickets for all shows are on sale now. Stay tuned for more Alex Lahey news in the coming months.
Alex Lahey Tour Dates:
Thu. Sep. 15 – Manchester, UK @ Manchester Academy – SOLD OUT * Fri. Sep. 16 – London, UK @ O2 Forum Kentish Town – SOLD OUT * Sun. Sep. 18 – Bristol, UK @ The Louisiana Mon. Sep. 19 – Glasgow, UK @ Broadcast Tue. Sep. 20 – Leeds, UK @ Brudenell Social Club Wed. Sep. 21 – London, UK @ Omeara Fri. Sep. 23 – Hamburg, DE @ Reeperbahn Festival 2022 Wed. Oct. 26 – Sydney, AU @ Oxford Art Factory Thu. Oct. 27 – Melbourne, AU @ The Corner Hotel Fri. Oct. 28 – Ballarat, AU @ Volta Sun. Oct. 30 – Wollongong, AU @ La La La’s Tue. Nov. 1 – Newstead, AU @ The Triffid Thu. Nov 3 – Adelaide, AU @ Fat Controller Fri. Nov. 4 – Canberra, AU @ ANU Kambri
* = opening for Manchester Orchestra
Keep your mind open.
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The Beths present the new single, “Knees Deep,” from their forthcoming album, Expert In A Dying Field, out September 16th on Carpark Records, and announce a 2023 North American headline tour. Expert In A Dying Field is a capsule of The Beths’ most electrifying and exciting output, a full spectrum of their sonic capabilities. “Knees Deep” was a last minute addition to the record and features one of Expert In A Dying Field’s best guitar lines, courtesy of guitarist Jonathan Pearce.
Liz Stokes adds: “I’m the kind of person who wants to go swimming, but takes like ten minutes to get all the way into the cold water, slowly and painfully. I hate this about myself, and am kind of envious of people who can just jump straight in the deep end. In a shocking twist, this is also a metaphor?! For how I wish I was the kind of person who was brave and decisive instead of cautious and scared.”
Expert In A Dying Field, the third LP from the New Zealand quartet The Beths, houses 12 jewels of tight, guitar-heavy songs that worm their way into your head, an incandescent collision of power-pop and skuzz. With Expert, The Beths wanted to make an album meant to be experienced live, for both the listeners and themselves. They wanted it to be fun – to hear, to play – in spite of the prickling anxiety throughout the lyrics, the fear of change and struggle to cope. Expert is an extension of the same sonic palette the band has built across their catalog, pop hooks embedded in incisive indie rock.
The Beths Tour Dates (Tickets available atthebeths.com) (new dates in bold) Sat. Aug. 20 – Covington, KY (Cincinnati) @ Madison Live Mon. Aug. 22 – Durham, NC @ Motorco Music Hall Tue. Aug. 23 – Richmond, VA @ The Broadberry Thu. Aug. 25 – Baltimore, MD @ Ottobar Fri. Aug. 26 – Asbury Park, NJ @ Asbury Lanes Sat. Aug. 27 – Portland, ME @ Portland House of Music Sun. Aug. 28 – Montreal, QC @ Bar Le Ritz PDB Wed. Aug. 31 – Pittsburgh, PA @ Spirit Hall Thu. Sep. 1 – Columbus, OH @ A&R Music Bar Thu. Sep. 15 – Melbourne, AU @ 170 Russell Fri. Sep. 16 – Sydney, AU @ Metro Theatre Sat. Sep. 17 – Brisbane, AU @ The Triffid Tue. Sep. 20 – Adelaide, AU @ The Gov Wed. Sep. 21 – Perth, AU @ Magnet House Fri. Sep. 23 – Wellington, NZ @ Opera House Sat. Sep. 24 – Nelson, NZ @ Theatre Royal Fri. Sep. 30 – Christchurch, NZ @ James Hay Theatre Sat. Oct. 1 – Dunedin, NZ @ The Glenroy Fri. Oct. 7 – Auckland, NZ @ Auckland Town Hall Thu. Feb. 16 – Portland, OR @ Wonder Ballroom Fri. Feb. 17 – Seattle, WA @ Neumos Wed. Feb. 22 – Minneapolis, MN @ First Avenue Fri. Feb. 24 – Chicago, IL @ Thalia Hall Sun. Feb. 26 – Toronto, ON @ Phoenix Concert Theatre Tue. Feb. 28 – Boston, MA @ The Sinclair Thu. Mar. 2 – New York, NY @ Brooklyn Steel Fri. Mar. 3 – Philadelphia, PA @ Union Transfer Sat. Mar. 4 – Washington, DC @ 9:30 Club Mon. Mar. 6 – Asheville, NC @ The Orange Peel Tue. Mar. 7 – Atlanta, GA @ The Masquerade – Heaven Wed. Mar. 8 – Nashville, TN @ Brooklyn Bowl Fri. Mar. 10 – Austin, TX @ Scoot Inn Sat. Mar. 11 – Dallas, TX @ Tulips Tue. Mar. 14 – Denver, CO @ Summit Thu. Mar. 16 – Phoenix, AZ @ Crescent Ballroom Fri. Mar. 17 – Los Angeles, CA @ The Fonda Sat. Mar. 18 – San Francisco, CA @ The Fillmore
Since Midnight Oil’s new album Resist debuted at #1 early this year, the legendary Australian band has toured around Australia, North America, and then Europe, on their last concert tour. The final leg of this epic run kicks off this week at the Mundi Mundi Bash near Broken Hill followed by rescheduled gigs in Cairns, Darwin, New Zealand, Perth and Canberra to make up for various climate and Covid disruptions earlier this year. In addition, this final leg will include shows at Broome’s Stompem Ground Festival (after a 20 year hiatus) and a new WA gig in Busselton (see below for all details).
Today, the last four dates of this tour were revealed with Midnight Oil announcing two uniquely intimate extra shows in both Melbourne and Sydney. A portion of proceeds from each of these new gigs will be donated to environmental and Indigenous causes and general public tickets will go on sale 10am local time on Monday 22 August via: midnightoil.com/tour
Melbourne will finally experience Midnight Oil playing their classic album 10,9,8,7,6,5,4,3,2,1 in its entirety at the Palais Theatre on Monday September 12 under the banner “One For The Planet”. The band had originally announced this special idea for a benefit show back in March, but Covid got in the way so, like their other cancelled gigs, they are now making good on that earlier promise.
Two nights later, on Wednesday September 14, the Oils will play a final show at the Palais under the banner “One For The Road”. This extra Melbourne date will see the band performing the entire show (ie: no support) and delivering an extended set that will include classics from every Midnight Oil album and EP across their storied career.
Sydney will experience these same two special shows a few weeks later, as “RESIST: The Final Tour” ends with a bang back in the band’s hometown. “One For The Planet” (featuring “10-1” in its entirety) will be staged at the Luna Park Big Top on Wednesday September 28. Then “One For The Road” (an extended concert including classics from every album and EP) will celebrate the end of Midnight Oil’s touring career on the Labour Day public holiday – Monday October 3 – at the famous Hordern Pavilion where the band staged some of their most memorable Sydney gigs back in the day.
“The shows we’ve just done overseas have been some of the best and most enjoyable of our career”, said Midnight Oil guitarist/keyboardist, Jim Moginie. “Every gig on this last tour has had extra emotion around it so we’re looking forward to bringing those feelings back home again.”
“We’ve always supported causes that we believe are important during our tours so these four extra gigs are partly a way of doing that”, explains frontman, Peter Garrett. “They will allow the band and the audience to have a different experience each night by digging deep into the back catalogue in venues that are a bit smaller than the ones we’ve usually been playing in over recent years.”
“From the opening track on our first album through to the last song on our new one, we’ve always been blessed to have fans who are really passionate about what we do”, observed drummer Rob Hirst. “One For The Planet and “One For The Road” are our way of acknowledging that connection over 45 years. We’ve all shared an amazing journey together, so we want to celebrate that by playing something for everyone in places that feel special”.
The Midnight Oil fan pre-sale for these new shows kick off from 10am local time (staggered times – see below) on Thursday 18 August before the General Public on sale starting 10am local on Monday 22 August. Tickets from midnightoil.com/tour
The newly announced RESIST show at Barnard Park, Busselton, WA with special guest Regurgitator on Friday 23 September now joins the existing RESIST shows at Munro Martin Parklands, Cairns with special guests Busby Marou on Thursday 25 August, Darwin Convention Centre, Darwin with special guest Leah Flanagan on Saturday 27 August and Fellows Oval – ANU Campus, Canberra with special guests King Stingray, Emily Wurramara (solo) and Moaning Lisa on Saturday 1 October. Tickets via: midnightoil.com/tour
The band’s a day on the green Nikola Estate, Swan Valley, WA show with special guests Goanna and Stephen Pigram on Sunday 25 September is on sale now.
The Beths share the new single/video, “Expert In A Dying Field,” from their new album, Expert In A Dying Field, out September 16th on Carpark Records. “Expert In A Dying Field” introduces the thesis for the record: “How does it feel to be an expert in a dying field? How do you know it’s over when you can’t let go?” Elizabeth Stokes sings. The question hangs in the air: what do you do with how intimately versed you’ve become in a person, once they’re gone from your life? “Love is learned over time ‘till you’re an expert in a dying field.”
“I really do believe that love is learned over time,” explains Stokes. “In the course of knowing a person you accumulate so much information: their favorite movies, how they take their tea, how to make them laugh, how that makes you feel. And when relationships between people change, or end, all that knowledge doesn’t just disappear. The phrase ‘Expert in a Dying Field’ had been floating around my head for a few years, I was glad to finally capture it when writing this tune.”
Densely littered with melodic hooks and the incisive phrasing that Stokes has become known for, the driving verses of “Expert In A Dying Field” intentionally contrast with a restrained, delicate chorus. Here, the stripped-back instrumentation acutely hones in on Stokes’ emotive vocals. The accompanying video, directed by Frances Carter, honors this intimacy and vulnerability. Carefully placed relics and symbolic totems strewn about a charming, white-washed home evoke a sense of nostalgia and sentimentality. While Stokes sings directly to the camera, her bandmates play their instruments and sing backing vocals in various parts of the home, surrounded by treasures laden with meaning and memory. It’s an evocative series of vignettes that perfectly match the song’s bittersweet themes and culminates in a joyful, heart-stirring full band performance that shows off The Beths’ unparallelled four-part vocal harmonies.
On Expert In A Dying Field, Stokes’ songwriting positions her somewhere between novelist and documentarian. Across 12 tight, guitar-heavy jewels, Stokes traverses the autobiographical, but also presents character sketches of relationships – platonic, familial, romantic – and more importantly, their aftermaths.
Expert In A Dying Field is an incandescent collision of power-pop and skuzz, filled with songs that worm their way into your head. With Expert, The Beths wanted to make an album meant to be experienced live, for both the listeners and themselves. They wanted it to be fun — to hear, to play — in spite of the prickling anxiety throughout the lyrics, the fear of change and struggle to cope. Expert is an extension of the same sonic palette the band has built across their catalog, pop hooks embedded in incisive indie rock.
Tickets available from thebeths.com Sun. Jul. 24 – Seattle, WA @ Capitol Hill Block Party Mon. Jul. 25 – Vancouver, BC @ Biltmore Cabaret Fri. Jul. 29 – Brooklyn, NY @ BRIC Celebrate Brooklyn! Festival Sun. Jul. 31 – Denver, CO @ UMS – The Underground Music Showcase Tue. Aug. 2 – San Diego, CA @ Belly Up Tavern Wed. Aug. 3 – Santa Ana, CA @ The Observatory Thu. Aug. 4 – Santa Barbara, CA @ SoHo Restaurant & Music Club Fri. Aug. 5 – San Francisco, CA @ Outside Lands Music Festival Sun. Aug. 7 – Salt Lake City, UT @ Urban Lounge Wed. Aug. 10 – Davenport, IA @ Raccoon Motel Thu. Aug. 11 – Cleveland, OH @ Grog Shop Sat. Aug. 13 – North Adams, MA @ Here and There Festival, Mass MoCA Sun. Aug. 14 – Toronto, ON @ Lee’s Palace
Mon. Aug. 15 – Detroit, MI @ Magic Bag Tue. Aug. 16 – Chicago, IL @ Here and There Festival, Salt Shed Thu. Aug. 18 – St. Louis, MO @ Blueberry Hill Fri. Aug. 19 – Indianapolis, IN @ Hi-Fi Sat. Aug. 20 – Covington, KY (Cincinnati) @ Madison Live Mon. Aug. 22 – Durham, NC @ Motorco Music Hall Tue. Aug. 23 – Richmond, VA @ The Broadberry Thu. Aug. 25 – Baltimore, MD @ Ottobar Fri. Aug. 26 – Asbury Park, NJ @ Asbury Lanes Sat. Aug. 27 – Portland, ME @ Portland House of Music & Events Sun. Aug. 28 – Montreal, QC @ Bar Le Ritz PDB Wed. Aug. 31 – Pittsburgh, PA @ Spirit Hall Thu. Sep. 1 – Columbus, OH @ A&R Music Bar Thu. Sep. 15 – Melbourne, AU @ 170 Russell Fri. Sep. 16 – Sydney, AU @ Metro Theatre Sat. Sep. 17 – Brisbane, AU @ The Triffid Tue. Sep. 20 – Adelaide, AU @ The Gov Wed. Sep. 21 – Perth, AU @ Magnet House
Fri. Sep. 23 – Wellington, NZ @ Opera House Sat. Sep. 24 – Nelson, NZ @ Theatre Royal Fri. Sep. 30 – Christchurch, NZ @ James Hay Theatre Sat. Oct. 1 – Dunedin, NZ @ The Glenroy Fri. Oct. 7 – Auckland, NZ @ Auckland Town Hall
Chicago band Pink Frost announce their first new album in 5 years today, sharing the video for the title track from their forthcoming album Until The Summer Comes via Brooklyn Vegan. Watch and share the high production value video directed by Chris Hershman (Alabama Shakes, Wynonna Judd) for “Until The Summer Comes” HERE. (Direct YouTube.) Pre-order/pre-save Linktree.
“It was a new torture, the waiting,” says Pink Frost vocalist/guitarist Adam Lukas.
When life suddenly froze for all of us, it wasn’t the downtime that was unbearable, it was the growing uncertainty as time dragged on that all of our loose threads would ever be connected.
The Chicago band had just completed recording their fourth album — splitting the studio time with sister band Touched By Ghoul (whose 2020 Cancel The World album title proved prophetic) — when plans to reconvene in France with longtime engineer Gregoire Yeche to mixin April 2020 became impossible.
When Gregoire eventually returned to Chicago in 2021, life in limbo seemed the new normal. Yet, the band felt somehow liberated. “We were like ‘F**k it, let’s make our dream record,’” Lukas says. “We went in depth in a way we never have before. There are no compromises on this album. No cringeworthy oversights. We almost lost our minds doing it, but I’m happy we did.”
Indeed, the 9-song album is a feast of hooks and subtle transformations that shows both a slight return to the band’s previous indie-punk take on Smashing Pumpkins style oversized alt-rock, and their ever-growing palette of shoegaze, drone and anthemic rock. There’s even an almost peak NIN, Wax Trax industrial vibe to some tracks that underscores how the band continues to wield new ideas.
“We lost (guitarist) Paige Sandlin during the pandemic,” Lukas says. “But gained Angela from Touched By Ghoul, who now plays guitar and contributed some vocals on the LP, and brings a whole new excitement to the live show.”
Until The Summer Comes was recorded in Chicago at Steve Albini’s legendary Electrical Audio with longtime engineer Gregoire Yeche, just as the band has done on New Minds (2017), Sundowning (2013) and the Traitors EP (2014). “Electrical Audio is almost like another member of the band at this point,” Lukas says. “There is a purity to their method that captures the essence of the performance and preserves it in this magical 3-D way.”
The album opens with the title track’s thumping toms in a marching rhythm, soon joined by buzzing fuzz guitars before the whole song erupts in a huge chorus with chunky guitars reminiscent of peak Downward Spiral era NIN. “Two Faces” is an explosive diatribe driven home by bassist Alex Shumard’s lunging 4-string. “On A Clear Day (You Can See The End of The World)” sets a Beatles-esque acoustic guitar led melody atop psychedelic haze and rollicking drums. “Halo” serves up a lush shoegaze ballad in which drummer Nate Furstenau nods to My Bloody Valentine’s hybrid of drum machines and live drums for powerful effect. “Feed The Hungry Bee” closes the album with a repetitively building tension that leads into a dramatic finish that’s certain to be a live favorite.
Pink Frost’s previous albums received an onslaught of praise from such revered outlets as Pitchfork, SPIN, Noisey, Brooklyn Vegan, Magnet Magazine and Chicago Reader, as well as song placements in a feature film (“The Lookalike”), TV’s Shameless, The Rookie, The Vampire Diaries, CSI: Miami and more. In December 2015, Pink Frost released a completely remixed, rethought and remastered version of their debut album Gargoyle Days, originally issued under the band’s former name Apteka.
Until The Summer Comes will be available on LP, CD and download on September 16th, 2022 via Under Road Records. Pre-orders are available HERE.
Louisville, KY’s multi-instrumentalist mainstay Jaye Jayle have reappeared with an unconventional and ultimately “Jaye Jayle-esque” cover of the song “Help!” by The Beatles. Bandleader Evan Patterson discloses the cover’s origin:
“A few months ago, I was riding in the car with my seventy-one year old father while he was listening to The Beatles’ song ‘Help!’ This is not out of the ordinary. My dad is a “Beatles Mania” guy with a ‘LENNON’ personalized license plate and stickers all about his car. Their posters and albums hang on his basement walls and he even has stuffed dolls of the Fab Four. What I’m saying is: The Beatles have been subconsciously a massive influence on my musical mind.”
Patterson continues, “For no particular reason I zoned in on the lyrics to the song ‘Help!’ and laughed about how much of a bummer they are in juxtaposition to the cheerful, childlike melody of the music. A few nights later I had a dream about making a cover of the song with music that is loosely based on the original, yet marries more to the sad cry for companionship and loneliness of the lyrics. My longtime bass collaborator, Todd Cook, and I made a demo with an 808 drum machine and sent it over to our favorite drummer in the entire world, Britt Walford. Two weeks later we recorded the song with such ease and enjoyment. There was a lot of laughter in the making of this song. It’s not meant to be taken as dark. It’s meant to make you smile. Though, I still haven’t let my father hear the cover song. I imagine that he will not dig it.”
Jaye Jayle’s standalone cover single surfaces with the group’s reemergence, playing midwestern shows and shaking off the dust over the course of the last few months. The band is currently preparing a new full-length album with details to be revealed in the near future.
“This place is like the Borg cube of music venues.”
That’s how my friend described the Andrew J. Bird Music Center in downtown Cincinnati. It’s an interesting performance space with good acoustics, but the interior “has no personality,” as she put it. It has a stark industrial feel, and hosting some industrial or goth shows in the place would be ideal. The only fixed seats are in the multiple balconies. The main floor is open, but rows of seats were added for The Psychedelic Furs and X.
This was the second time I’ve seen the Psychedelic Furs. The first was on their “Singles Tour” and this one was promoting their latest record, Made of Rain. First up, however, were L.A. punk legends X. Bassist John Doe mentioned how they’d been playing in a lot of beautiful theaters, but “I keep expecting Tina Turner to come out and tell us we’re in the Thunderdome in this place.” They put on a fun set, with Billy Zoom still shredding both guitar and saxophone, Exene Cervenka blessing the crowd, and D.J. Bonebrake playing both drums and xylophone. People were dancing in the aisles the whole time, and one guy was pogoing front and center for nearly their entire set. Billy Zoom came back out after their set and signed a few autographs.
I knew we were in for a good set from The Psychedelic Furs when they opened their show with “I Wanna Sleep with You” – one of my favorite tracks that I wasn’t sure I’d ever hear live. “Mr. Jones” followed and then the first of many great tracks from Made of Rain, “You’ll Be Mine.”
“Dumb Waiters”
Other sharp new tracks included Made of Rain‘s opener, “The Boy Who Invented Rock and Roll,” “Wrong Train,” “This’ll Never Be Like Love,” “No-One,” and “Ash Wednesday.” “Their new songs are beautiful,” my friend said. She’s right. Guitarist Rich Good puts more emphasis on the psychedelic part of the band’s sound on these new tracks.
They played plenty of classics, of course, with “The Ghost in You” being the loveliest and “Love My Way” being even more popular with the happy crowd than “Pretty in Pink.”
“Imitation of Christ”
The encore included a solid version of “Heartbreak Beat” that had everybody dancing and a stunning, beautifully chaotic (as they’d describe it) version of “India” – the first track on their first album. It was another song I wasn’t sure I’d ever hear live, and it was a killer end to a great show. Saxophonist Mars Williams played so hard and with such frenetic passion that we all thought he was going to pass out on stage at one point.
Another highlight is how Richard Butler‘s voice never seems to age, or perhaps it just gets better. He’s still on top of his game, as is the whole band. His brother, Tim Butler, still has that rockstar style and slight menace about him, and the bottom end of his bass is the band’s secret weapon. Keyboardist Amanda Kramer doesn’t go overboard with her playing, which means she’s secretly doing a lot of stuff you can barely comprehend – and she adds a mystery to the band’s stage presence behind her ever-present shades (as does Tim Butler). The band’s new drummer, Zack Alford, has serious chops and ups the volume with pure rock beats.
