That Was the Month That Was: Shimmy's Pick

Well, I missed the Othermen/Brimstones show and it sounds like a good one... but I have to blow my own horn for once and say the show on August 8 at Lake Johnson was pretty great.

First of all, if you haven't been there, Lake Johnson is a weird space with bedrooms, a stage, and a cool patio. The stage area has two great advantages: it's small (you might pack in 75 people in there) and it's got risers at the back so you can see if you're not at the front... admittedly, I never have a problem with THAT, but... Basically it's a black box that's really conducive to dancing, so if you've got a dancey band, book it there.

Anyhow the show opened with the Saucy Jacks from San Francisco, who I had never seen before. They've got a British Invasion-inspired sound but somehow make it a bit more modern and cool. It's also way danceable and when a show STARTS with dancing, that's a good sign in my book. I guess they're friends with the Fevers, who used to be from Pennsylvania / on Get Back records, and with the Rantouls, who are in SF and are also awesome.

Next were the Georgiana Starlington who cooled off the audience with their spooky country rock stuff, but as this show was for my birthday, it made perfect sense to me! Here's a band that just calls out for a cool trippy music video to get high to.

Finally Thee Makeout Party of Anaheim pulled out another great set-- my first time seeing them in over a year. Their new songs are pretty great and there was much to dance to once again. Why are there so many great bands in California in the last few years? When I lived there, it was awful!

SHIMMY
next month: show pick o' the month with PICTURES! wow.

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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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