HEY GIRL

Here we go, September! My favorite time of year kicks off with a stacked mother of a weekend…let’s not waste a moment:

Friday September 7th

The Psyched brings their vicious boom boom to Glasslands Gallery tonight, supported by a touring UK power-punk band of dudes with great hair called Devin…at 10pm and 11pm…

Jonathan Toubin is on the road so it’s only right and proper that Josh Styles fills in for him tonight at Home Sweet Home for Shakin’ All Over Under Sideways Down. He’s on from 11pm till closing time playing all the wild stuff of dreams gone by on ’45…$3 admission.

Our very own Viking Ninja of Trash Drew Redmond will be spinning his finest punk, garage, 50′s R&B and trash rock tonight at Bushwick’s Lone Wolf from 11pm till close. No cover for that one, I do believe….

And it wouldn’t quite be Friday in the upper realms of Manhattanville if Lady La La Linda wasn’t at Ding Dong Lounge playing funk, soul, psych and garage all night for the sloshed and unwashed, now would it? 10pm till close, no cover…

Saturday September 8th

Now that Summer is kinda sorta over your chances to see bands outdoors and in the day are dwindling fast. Also I heard you’re a creep who likes vampires, ghosts , The Cramps, eyeliner and all that other shit. WELL THEN, this is for you! Down in Jersey City, just 10 minutes from the Grove St. PATH: Life’s A Beach is a rock and roll fundraiser for the benefit of The Historic Jersey City and Harsimus Cemetery (435 Newark Avenue). From 1pm and pretty much on the hour, thrill to the sounds of live ghouls The Egos (Boston), Blue Wave Theory, The Coffin Daggers, Willy and the Wolves, Koefte’s Quiff and Labretta Suede and the Motel 6. There will be DJ’s playing surf rock, rockabilly, swing and boogaloo all day, vendors, go-go girls and hula dancers, food and drink. $10-$15 donation. Pay your respects!

I don’t need many excuses to want to spend my Saturday night in Coney Island, but if you’re out of them, check out The Dead Tricks and The Arkhams at The Freak Bar! That’s the live music portion (10pm) of an all day happening for the Harley Davidson sponsored by the Coney Island Tattoo and Motorcycle Festival that features tattoo artists, vintage bikes and at 8:30 a live version of the most primitive rock and roll kids show on TV – public access or otherwise – Ghoul-a-Go-Go !

The one and only Jello Biafra makes his only metro area stop on tour with his band The Guantanamo School Of Medicine tonight at The Knitting Factory in Brooklyn. I’m sure he’s got plenty to say about conditions today. He’s supported by the glam punk joy freaks The TV Tramps and Brooklyn hard rock group Chron Turbine. Admission is $10-$15 SUGGESTED, with 8pm doors…

The Italian glam rock posse Giuda, who according to all accounts tore it up last weekend at Cakeshop are still around to give you more, this time playing with “Maximum Oi! and B” band The 45 Adapters, post punkers Boot Blacks and The Livids (fronted by Eric Davidson of The New Bomb Turks) at St. Vitus in majestic Greenpoint, Brooklyn! 8pm kick off, $10 cover…

Of COURSE there’s a Cavestomp show tonight, you silly. Parkside Lounge will be the place to catch The Live Ones, Chris Such and the Savages (the “secret” moniker of The Headless Horsemen) and the sunshine psych sounds of The Grip Weeds…8pm doors, $6 cover, in between sounds by host and DJ Tony Lofi…

Mere blocks over at The Mercury Lounge, the one two punch of two of the town’s most fearsome, The Naked Heroes and The Nuclears, tearing up East Houston at 10pm and 11pm respectively. $10 cover for a whole lot of ruckus…

The Bell House out in Gowanus, BK hosts Ottawa, Canadian band The White Wires, a raucous group that straddles that razor edge between garage punk and power pop and are touring in support of a new record titled WWIII…support acts include Wyldelife (features members of The Pains of Being Pure of Heart) and a  Hollywood…in the “Frontier Room”, 8pm doors, $10 cover…

Rounding up the night, I BELIEVE my man Jumpy and his Soul-a-Go-Go party is happening at Grand Victory, 11pm till close, but our calendar could be out of whack so I am not sure. You out there?Anyway. You know the deal, he throws down killer no-standing-around-on-the-dancefloor  movers and you dance to them. That’s the deal!  No cover!

Have fun out there, kitten babies…

Captain Heartlock

This past weekend was a perfect example. Friday’s line up brought up The Electric Mess, Paul Caporino (of M.O.T.O.), Light Bulb Alley, The Bambook Kids and The Mess Around. Saturdays showcased Shaw Nuff (a band of garage music veterans originally formed as a tribute band to the late Greg Shaw of Bomb records) and Chris Such and the Savages (members of the 80s NYC garage band The Headless Horsemen playing under their beat/R&B combo alter ego).

As always, more shots can be found here.

-Jeff

Show Me The Way

Oh weekend, how we’ve missed you, and clearly you miss us because you give so much without taking. It’s another one of those “which way do I go, George, which way do I go???” weekends where there’s just so much quality trouble to choose from – and the weather is drop dead gorgeous to boot! And for once Saturday has even more going on than Friday! Well, you are all tough boys and girls, so tighten up your wigs, button your garters, and steel your livers!

Friday May 11th

Show of the night goes to the folks behind the resurgent series of parties under the banner of Cavestomp, tonight over at Parkside Lounge on East Houston Street: kicking off at 8pm it’s the long awaited return of  psycho-soul garagepunk witches The Electric Mess (of which I am a proud member, end of disclaimer), a solo performance by Paul Caporino of legendary New Orleans garagepunk group M.O.T.O. (more on that on Saturday!) lo-fi dirty garagers Light Bulb Alley,the Drugfront Records signed Bamboo Kids and The Mess Around! Top to bottom, it’s a kick to your soul’s gall bladder and a punch in your sad! All the bands, in that order, with strict start times and a measly $6 dollar cover…

Oh happy day: fresh off his huge joyous smash of a welcome home party last weekend at Brooklyn Bowl, the mythical beast Jonathan Toubin returns to his party Shakin’ All Over Under Sideways Down at Home Sweet Home…the man ain’t missed a beat. You know the score, he’s on from 11pm till close rocking all those wicked soul, R&B and garage 45′s for a $3 cover…tonight as a special treat for happy hour it’s none other than dance fanatic and now best selling pulp mystery novelist Jumpy spinning garage and soul from 8pm till 11!

Not much farther away at Motor City you’ve got Gories / Dirtbombs man Mick Collins spinning rock and roll for all the sharks from 10pm till close…no cover for that one…

As always on a Friday night, La La Linda is making it alright at The Ding Dong Lounge, spinning garage punk classics, summertime psych, sensuous soul and funk from 10pm till close…

Saturday May 12th

I’m just going to use the words from the promoter’s mouth as they summed this up the best: “Psychedelic sounds, garage reverberations, druggy Americana, spaghetti-western cinematic spacescapes” – yes, YES to ALL of that. For once, a good reason to be at Lit on the weekend comes to us in the form of an outstanding bill featuring the haunted talents of  Spindrift, Weird Owl, Twin Guns and The Strangers Family Band…first act hits at 9pm and you’re going on one hell of a trip for a mere $6 dollars…

Wow, these guys don’t stop ever! I applaud. A SECOND Cavestomp show this weekend back at Parkside Lounge: check out 60′s garage and mod obscurities cover band Shaw’Nuff, a supergroup that comprises various members of The Headless Horsemen, The Left Banke, The Brimstones and The Grip Weeds, amongst others! They are first at 8:30 and followed by Chris Such and The Savages, which is pretty much most of The Headless Horsemen in of itself…I’m thinking this will also be a $6 cover, or maybe free? Find out!

Another Saturday night, another rager at the natural home for all things fuzzy and savage Don Pedro: it’s a new party called Rockerville Strikes Back, with a bill kicking off at 9pm with Foster Care opening, followed by 1-800 Band, Midnight Creeps and a ultra rare appearance by the aforementioned M.O.T.O. ! With Mr. Tony Lo-Fi spinning in between and after sets and an $8 cover for one for the ages…

Over at Cakeshop: tonight it’s the psych-roots-band of gypsy hobos Your 33 Black Angels performing: they are headliners and are preceded by two heady, touring acts:  a band that encapsulates the “Haight Ashbury” era of sound, psych band Sky Picnic and Boston’s acid harmony trio Sand Reckoner! Doors at 8pm, $7 cover…

Come say bon voyage to the soul punk kings Mighty Fine before they embark for a tour of the land of “pip pip cheerio fish and chips football oi! sweetey darling” (If I’ve offended any Brits reading this, it’s only out of love)! They are joined on guitar by Mick Collins and headline a bill featuring the baroque disco sexbots Discovery and girl gang a go-go Crazy Pills, with Leah from The Nouvellas spinning all kinds of sick records between bands! 8pm doors, $8 cover…

Onto DJ gigs, chief of which tonight is the long awaited return of The Soul Clap Dance Off! Jonathan Toubin is back in the saddle slinging high octane soul and R&B 45′s while all the kids do their best to shake it to make it, competing for a $100 cash grand prize and a $75 Metropolis Vintage gift certificate! And even better, Phast Phreddie appears as guest DJ to boot! The party starts at 11, the contest is on at 1am (filled with select judges from the scene) and you’d best make sure to stake your place on the dance floor as I expect Glasslands to fill to capacity with sweaty lovers…not sure of the cover, but count on at least $8…

DJ C’Mon is your surest bet to not hear horrible top 4o music in the East Village on a Saturday night – nay, she is your your salvation, your bastion of garage rock, power pop and punk at whisky palace Idle Hands! No cover from 1opm till close…

Lovers of exotica, soul jazz (and we aren’t talking pretentious and inaccessible college jazz here) wah wah guitars, Hammond organ jams, tribal beats, international go go and grind, Latin grooves, bossa nova, all that good stuff that rich hipsters from the 50′s would shag and frug to – get thee to Zebulon for Let’s Boogaloo! Your captain’s of the high coolness for the evening are Ol’ Stark, Kamui (Hot Peas and Butta from Japan) and Popwell (Take My Tuesdays/Living For Kicks)…I suspect the Boogaloo Omnibus may stop by later on…10pm till 4am, and come to dance!

If you’re at that bad ass Mighty Fine show there’s no reason to go running out the door at the drop of the last note, as Jumpy and Big Sir immediately follow the live jams with another edition of Soul A Go-Go! They are going for high frantic right off the bat, non stop soul and 45′s for rump shaking all night from 11ish till close…

***

Great Googly Moogly, that is some fucking weekend. I am exhausted just writing all that.

Enjoy each and every moment that is your night and your life, child…                                                                                                                                   Captain Heartlock