CHEAP TIME, 4 OTHER SUPER BANDS INAUGURATE LAKE JOHNSON

Whatta great show this past Saturday-- five bands, two djs and everything was damn good! And Longtime loft/"art space" Asterisk is now venue Lake Johnson.

It all kicked off with the Siberians, playing their second show ever. One of the few new garage rock bands in Brooklyn this year, they have some killer songs and for once, two frontmen equally capable of writing, playing and singing. A cover of the Fabs' classic "That's the Bag I'm In" was an early highlight, as was this killer set-finisher (and apparent original!):

Next up were Providence's Black Clouds, who were new to me... they kicked off with moody instrumental sounds, probably my favorite part of their show (no dig on the vocals of course). The band rock a pretty dark late 70's/early 80's vibe but do it in a way that doesn't
feel hackneyed.

Between the bands and then for quite a while after (as my nextdaylong PBR headache can attest), myself and Erick from Golden Error spun records whilst local go-goer Anna danced (the crowd was mixed: the creeps stared and the cool cats cut a rug).

But enough about me- third in the line were the Nymphets, a great Montreal trio Charles and I booked for Hullabaloo back in February. They were even better this time, just bursting with shouty girl/boy vox and serious pop hooks. Their 7" is awesome if you can find it (produced by one member of the CPC Gangbangs I'm told) and there's apparently more of this on the
way:

Following that, Brooklyn's Golden Error took the stage. I liked this set better than what I saw of them before (when they opened for Cheap Time at Europa back in the Summer). Very tight and more melodic sounding (but then, they were just too loud at Europa...)

Finally, Cheap Time were once again better than their showing at Europa (opening for Jay Reatard). Club sound works better for their vocals (at Europa, they sounded a little tinny...) This show is so tight! With showers of power chords and attitude. Total party!

Down with Asterisk. Up with Lake Johnson!

SHIMMY
Photos: Lake Johnson

Labels: asterisk, black clouds, cheap time, cpc gangbangs, europa, fabs, golden error, hullabaloo, lake johnson, nymphets, shimmy, siberians, venues

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John Barrett's Bass Drum of Death in Brooklyn.
A rainy day like this seems a great opportunity to waste some time watching youtube clips...

I took a look recently at the videos of garage punk shows I've been posting to youtube for almost a year now and did a little ranking... here are the results, Letterman-style:

Top 10 Clips in Total Number of Views

10. 549 views - Audacity @ Don Pedro - this SoCal garage punk band came to town with Thee Makeout Party this past June and lived up to Internet hype. Very noisy but very good.

9. 606 views - Mark Sultan - Waddlin' around @ Hullabaloo/Don Pedro - from the May 17 edition of Hullabaloo, Mark's signature tune performed at Don Pedro was the tune that finally got people dancing.

8. 651 views - King Khan & BBQ Show - You Can't Put Your Arms Around a Memory @ Don Pedro - from a show last December at Pedro, the one where MTV showed up dragging tons of LES rich kids in tow (one asked me: "is it safe to live in Williamsburg?")

7. 687 views - The Rippers - A great show I saw on a trip to SoCal back in March, these Eye-talians were more like the SPITters as that's what the stage at the Scene Bar in Glendale was covered in by the end.

6. 779 views - CPC Gangbangs @ Don Pedro - First time I caught this Montreal band that's been kicking around since 2004 at least, in the still-very dark Don Pedro (with the stage in the original location)

5. 929 views - King Khan & BBQ Show - Another clip of the dynamic duo at the MTV-tainted Don Pedro show. At least "firekooch" provided some light in what was a very dim venue.

4. 1,027 views - John Barrett's Bass Drum of Death - It's pretty ironic that this clip would be in the top 4, given that only 35 people showed up to this, the only Hullabaloo ever held in NYC on a Wednesday night. Missisippi's Barrett was, and still is, the discovery of 2008 for me and it was a great first look at his one-and-a-half-man-band.

3. 1,114 views - Mark Sultan @ Hullabaloo- The first clip of Mark at May's Hullabaloo, maybe this has more views because I posted it first or maybe everyone's heard too much of "Waddlin' Around" !

2. 15,830 views - The Sonics - Have Love Will Travel - From Cavestomp 2007's miraculous reunion show. I think this is Sunday night.

1. 17,504 views - The Sonics - Psycho - Proving that he could do that vocal thing, Roslie kicks out the classic screamer. No wonder 50 people around the world watch this clip per day, every day.

And if THAT'S not enough, here are the top 10 LOCAL group clips:

10. 247 views - Shalitas @ Silk City - one of several clips of the Brooklyn band at this Philly venue.

9. 250 views - The Nouvellas @ Hullabaloo (Union Pool) - these ex-Dansettes played a great set at one of the most memorably danceable
shows I've ever done.

8. 253 views - LiveFastDie! @ Don Pedro - opening for KK & BBQ, a very fun set that involved a mannequin being catapulted into the audience and literal "air guitar".

7. 282 views - Clean Teens @ Don Pedro - Bizarrely enough, this already-gone group (lead by Charles Gaskins) got 253 views for this clip at Don Pedro. Opening for the CPC Gangbangs back in the "dark" (really!) days of don pedro.

6. 282 views - Golden Error @ Don Pedro - Another one from the Gangbangs show. The show also featured Turpentine Brothers who I missed somehow...?!

5. 284 views - Jimmy & The Wolfpack "Dancing" @ Don Pedro - this ridiculous video shows Don Pedro/Hullabaloo regulars dancing to
the local sleazy r'n'b group.

4. 299 views - The Brian Wilson Shock Treatment @ Matchless - Yet another sparsely attended show but a popular clip. I remember seeing Terre T at this one and it was a good platform for the BWST's Strawberry Alarm Clock-inspired heavy psych outing.

3. 305 views - Hullabaloo Dance Party @ Silk City - Inexplicably popular video. Watch 3 people from Philly dance to Gino Washington -- except that it's too dark to see!

2. 330 views - The Shalitas - Remember (Walking in the Sand) @ Silk City - Taken at a random Hullabaloo in Philadelphia, the Shalitas did a great (Dare I say better than Mary Weiss's?!) version of the Shangri-La's "Remember". About 6 times as many people have watched this video as saw it live that night!

1. 493 views - Ribeye Brothers @ Maxwell's - Not the Hullabaloo show, this great Jersey band opened for Roky Erickson way back in the Spring and brought a good crowd on their own terms.