Wau what a week!

The Above (see Tuesday) at Union Pool
Photo by Christophe Lopez-Huici

Monday

Okay, the the official GaragePunkNYC calendar has nothin' for Monday. However, the Almost GaragePunk calendar (which I just pulled out of my ass) has something on it. Anyway, I'm really sick of trying to come up with new ways to say "nothing's happening", so here's something.

Anna Copa Cabanna will be doing an "unplugged" show at Zebulon starting at 8pm. Not sure if that's just music or music and dancing, but the show is definitely free. Monday is also the last day of the Coney Island Rockabilly Festival. Not sure when the music starts, but something or other starts at 2pm. This also seems to be free.

Tuesday

The last Hullabaloo! was so awesome they decided to throw another a mere four days later. Head on over to Don Pedro Tuesday night at catch Spanish (yes, from Spain) rockers Wau y Los Arrrghs!!! along with local boys The Above (see above) and the local boys and girls in Foster Care (despite the fact they look too old for that sort of thing). With DJs Charly Manson and Pete Solvenly.

Just because three-quarters of the Hot Dog! DJs will be at Don Pedro doesn't mean it ain't happening. It's happening this and every week at Bar Matchless. Yes, even after the Apocalypse there will be cockroaches with funny haircuts and pointy shoes going to Bar Matchless for this thing. Featuring DJs spinning Garage Rock, Soul and R&B, and 2-for-1 drinks. From 8 till late, no cover.

Wednesday

Wau y Los Arrrghs!!! are! still! here! Wednesday night they'll be at Bar 9. Also featuring: salsa tasting night. Yes, really. At least the band gets top billing. I mean here, not on Bar 9's website. Apparently we're a bit more excited about these guys than they are, but if you missed 'em on Tuesday, this is your second chance.

Wednesday is also the night for Copycat at Otto's Shrunken Head. This week they're going waaaay back with tributes to Patsy Cline, Buddy Holly and Otis Redding. We have also been promised a "special surprise guest" instead of the usual mundane surprise guest.

What else? Well, if you're suffering from excessive stability of the head and neck then hit Motor City Bar for the the punk/rock/hard stuff night called New York Night Train Wednesdays. If on the other hand you prefer your evenings chill, check out Botanica for a night of soul grooves spun by Mr. Fine Wine of WFMU. Both fun, both free.

Thursday

Portland garage rockers Nice Boys visit our favorite Cake Shop on Thursday. They headline a great bill which includes the psych-flavored Birds of Avalon (from Raleigh), Brimstone Howl (from Omaha), and the geographically indecisive Baby Shakes.

As always you have more options for Thursday. You can catch Boogaloo Shampoo, a night of Soul music at Beauty Bar Brooklyn, and Thursday Thump, an evening of Punk, Glam, Psych rock (and basically whatever the DJs like) at Enids.

Marcus

...put a picture of The Above on this post just to tell that one stupid joke. Really.

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Easter. It's Over.

But that's no reason to stop having fun, right?

Monday is not a valid excuse for not partying. Oh no, not this week boys and girls! Cake Shop will go nuts when garage-rock lepus Nobunny takes the stage. He/it will be joined by Berkeley's finest garage rockers Rock N' Roll Adventure Kids, punk-slop legends LiveFastDie and Brooklyn punks The Jadewalkers along with DJs Shimmy and Charles Gaskins of Hullabaloo! fame. Warning: show may feature human and/or animal nudity! We expect to see you there.

As an alternative for those who prefer their nudity to be more... female, check out Captain Heartlock and Professor Z as they spin Garage and Soul at the Monday Night Burlesque at Public Assembly.

Tuesday tries once again to out-cool those cool kids Friday and Saturday (they think they're so special!) Watch and listen as Union Pool attempts to contain Nobunny, Rock N' Roll Adventure Kids, LiveFastDie and Liquor Store. Can it possibly succeed?

If perhaps you're feeling a little broke after Monday, no problem! Hot Dog! returns to Bar Matchless with no cover, 2-for-1 drinks and fine music all night long. Savalas may just be hosting Lost & Found Soul DJ Night too. Or perhaps you prefer free live music? Enjoy an evening of blues-rock with Sorceress, Daddy Long Legs and DJ William Heartbeat at Black Betty. All of these venues are in Brooklyn, because we are cheap bastards over here.

Wednesday night is your chance to dance! DJs Mike Mortician and Mike Decay host Juke Joint Howl, a night of Blues and R&B at Otto's Shrunken Head. Mr Fine Wine spins Soul music at Botanica, and New York Night Train features garage and punk rock at Motor City Bar. All of these venues are in Manhattan, because Brooklyn will be real tired at this point.

Thursday night will be a special one for all you Stalkers fans out there. They're finishing off their US tour with a release party for their new 45 "In Your Street Today" at Bowery Electric. They survived Ohio, but can you survive them? Can you?!

If you'd rather move your feet than bang your-or-someone-else's head, come listen to the sweet sounds of Soul music with Boogaloo Shampoo at Beauty Bar in Manhattan. Or catch DJs spinning punk, glam, and psych rock in Brooklyn at the Thursday Night Thump at Enids.

In NYC, not a single night is wasted.

Marcus

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COLD HANDS... WARM FEET!

It may only be getting up to a high of 18 F today, but there are so many great things happening this weekend, it's no excuse to stay at home. Consider the 2008 hangover over. Bring on the 2009 Hangover!

Kicking it off with live shows, we've got longtime L.E.S. punks the Choke at Don Pedro; the Raveonettes are at Webster Hall in the city and last but not least (at least in my opinion), the return of Hullabaloo! at Union Pool.

This time we've got a killer all-garage bill featuring Brooklyn mods the Above (in a new, keyboard-less configuration), the Brimstones (in their first Pool show in 5 years!), the Siberians and primordial organ punkers Mondo Topless in from Philly (they were on WFMU live last night, check it out).

Also appearing is the lovely Ana Marcella, who'll be Go-Going to DJ sets between bands. Charles and I will be DJing from start to well into the morning so stick around for the dance party late late! Cover for the band action is $8 and the show kicks off at 9. Dancing after midnight is FREE!

If you're casting around for other dj parties to do tonight (if so... I disown you), there's Subway Soul Club at Fontana's in Chinatown, 50's pop & rockabilly at Otto's in the village with Rebel Night, and an afterparty for the release of the new Humanbeing Lawnmower zine with DJ Josh Styles and others at Legion in Williamsburg. All three are FREE!

SATURDAY, there's another set of pretty unusual gigs so sleep when you're dead!

SILENT BARN (QUEENS): Medication and some other far out garage/psych/punkers, $?

MCCAIG-WELLES GALLERY (WILLIAMSBURG): The Brian Wilson Shock Treatment return for their first gig in a long time, prefaced by a faux horror film performance by their frontman-- early show at 9pm and FREE.
DON PEDRO (WILLIAMSBURG): Humanbeing Lawnmower release party with 70's US punk the Victims, the Stalkers, the Butchers and the Ex-Humans ($8).

SOUTHPAW (PARK SLOPE): Former Magnetic Field-owner Lee Greenfeld's birthday with the Nouvellas and the Imaginary Icons plus DJs including Tom Dash & Todd-o-phonic Todd. FREE.

GLASSLANDS (WILLIAMSBURG): NYNT's Tropicalia night with Greg Caz and Jonathan Toubin. Brazilian sounds abound for $6!

So this is a two gatorade weekend... Ifyaknowhatimean... see you soon!

SHIMMY
PS) Check out Blair's new podcast with previews of shows this weekend and beyond:
It's All Happening Here #2

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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

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Last Saturday's Hullabaloo: Autopsy

This, the last Hullabaloo of 2008, took some serious recovery so it's only today that I've finally gotten some pics and video up.

Needless to say, with these five bands, it was a total blast. First, openers the Shaydes played their most recent reunion/breakup show with a bizarre but danceable lampshade-on-head take on Link Wray's Commanche; next France's Jack of Heart played a fantastic set packed with rave-up slow-to-fast songs that got the crowd into it, frontman Piero eventually careening into everyone on his side of the stage.

Third we had Brooklyn's Abducteens with their scratchy tales of UFO cannibalism set to fast rockabilly pumped out by Rico, Stan & Ana... Rico's hilarious monologues will go down in hullabaloo history...!

Then, in a set few (least of all myself) was prepared for, Liquor Store destroyed any semblance of order by piling on the guitars, adding some muffled singalong punk melodies and then... destruction! Jersey Sarim's latest band ended in a cacophony of crash cymbals and squeeling guitar freakout while one member pelted the audience with crushed PBR cans... all caught on video:

All was nearly lost (actually a few pieces of drum equipment and guitars were!) but the Black Time (UK) provided the denouement with a tight energetic set, their last show of their US tour, even employing the use of a human guitar strap for the encore.


Thanks to Fancy Magazine's Amy for her amazing video clips and all who came and rocked it. Hullabaloo will be back in 2009.

Slideshow on Picasa
Hullabaloo Don Pedro

Video on Youtube
Shaydes | Jack of Heart | Liquor Store | Black Time

SHIMMY

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Fancy, Fun Weekend!

So, it's Thursday, which means it's time to start thinking about what you're gonna do this weekend.
I know, I know. It can be a bit overwhelming, sometimes, but I'm here to help ease the pain and direct your attention to several events I find worthy of your money being spent.
Friday, October 10, you might be interested in gathering 'round the ol' Pedro for a glimpse at seeing the D.C. Snipers, Spider Bags, Golden Boys, and Imaginary Icons. I haven't seen the Snipers since they played with the Sneaky Pinks and VCR, which was over two years ago. I'm assuming you haven't seen them for a very long time either, because they just recently reunited their forces! If you enjoy well written punk songs and Patton Oswald you'll become a fan of them instantly. Also on the bill we have The Spider Bags, who come from Chapel Hill and enjoy drinking alcohol. Here's a little story about my first time seeing them live. I was already very familiar with their music because a co-worker of mine constantly played their album in our shop. I was really getting into it, they have this great kind-of-country sound that brings images of homemade abortions and bathtub gin to the mind. When I actually got the chance to see them live I was really confused. I wasn't even sure it was the same band. It was a bunch of dudes who were trashed and could barely hold their instruments. Naturally I became an even bigger fan. The Golden Boys and Imaginary Icons are also very worth seeing, if you haven't seen them already. Show starts at 9:00.
Another option for Friday night is to head over to K&M to catch BARF-O-RAMA! with Dylan Otto Bahn and January 1963. These two people have got some great foot movin' music. If you're not in the mood for live music and would rather have a few drinks and shake a tail feather to all kinds of assorted Modness then you'll definitely have a good night at K&M.

Saturday, the 11th, there is a must do event! Not only because I'm DJing, but because there are FIVE amazing bands playing. It's HULLABALOO at Don Pedro! The headliners are Black Time, a very entertaining group from the United Kingdom. A mix of 60s garage, 50s rockabilly, and punk rock, À la the aught years, that all add up to be a modern band with non modern qualities. Confused? Good. That's more reason for you to go. Also playing are Liquor Store - the brain child of the magnificent Sarim, Jack Of Heart - from France, The Abducteens - Brooklyn trash rockers, and The Shaydes - something that just has to be witnessed. We've got a special treat this month, too! This Hullabaloo is featuring a Fancy clip party, which means tons of amazing rock'n'roll videos being projected over your head! As always, DJ Shimmy and I will be spinning the best soul, garage, r&b, and doo wop. Show starts around 9:00. Don't be late!
Alternatives to Hullabaloo are waiting for you over at Huckleberry and Union Pool. Soul Au Go Go features Jumpy and GirlSoul spinning dance music to an enthusiastic crowd of dancers, and a bar - can be pricey - which is stocked with great booze and incredible bartenders that actually know how to poor a drink. Over at Union Pool Lynne K and DJ Honky will be spinning the best soul and funk for the low, low price of FREE!


Now, I can't tell you where to go or what to do, but I, as sure as shit, can try to get you to support these events.

Don Pedro is located at 90 Manhattan Ave, between Boerum and McKibben, Brooklyn.
Huckleberry is located at 588 Grand St, between Lorimer and Leonard, Brooklyn.
Union Pool is located at 484 Union Ave, on the corner of Meeker, Brooklyn.
K&M is located at 225 N 8th St, on the corner of Roebling, Brooklyn.

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