THIS WEEK IN SHOWS

TUES, JAN 12

Led Er Est, Light Asylum
Glasslands
9:00 PM, $7, 21+
Todd Pendu’s throwing a new Tuesday Nite Disco party at Glasslands, but it’s not so much disco as “dark-electro-synth-pop.” If this lineup is any indication, these parties are going to be pretty cool. Both bands are super synthy, but Led Er Est is colder, darker, more elemental (more weird?) whereas Light Asylum plays more throwback romantic synth pop.

WED, JAN 13

The Drums, Surfer Blood, The Depreciation Guild
Bowery Ballroom
7:30 PM, $12a/$15d, 18+
Okay, another post about the weather. I’ve been thinking of this show as something like Wii surfing or like… O’Doul’s for summer? You sure won’t be capturing the real thing, but the feeling’s there. Total beach party.
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THIS WEEK IN SHOWS

Hey…so we’ve been out of the show listing game for the past two weeks, partly because there just haven’t been too many shows going on due to the holidays, but mostly because the editors have been out of town, assessing our life goals and watching old movies in bed. Anyway, it’s a new year, so time to get back in it:

TUES, JAN. 5

Real Estate, Babies
Brooklyn Bowl
8:00 PM, FREE, 21+
I think our reviewer Kyle McGovern described the evocations of Real Estate better than I can. He said they call to mind “the kinds of scorched summers that seem tedious while they’re happening and glorious when they’re not.” I know I talk about the weather a hell of a lot on this, a music blog, but man, when the heat’s out (again) and you’re duct-taping your windows shut, sometimes sunshiney music is exactly what you need to remind you that it won’t be long till you’re once again dropping ice cubes down your shirt and sticking to the subway seats. Do all the imagining you can at this free show on Tuesday.

WEDS, JAN. 6

Babies, Total Slacker, Beach Fossils, True Womanhood, The Sundelles
Glasslands
7:30 PM, $7, 21+
Ever since we found out that Kevin from Woods and Cassie from Vivian Girls were getting together to make Babies, we were like, “Yeah, let’s cover that, man, that’s gonna be the hot new shit.” But we’ve yet to see them, so one of our New Years resolutions is to get on it – might as well plan to see them twice in one week in case we flake out again. Votes for Glasslands versus Brooklyn Bowl? Well, Max, the more sophisticated JM.com editor (if you ignore his taste in beer) truly loves him some Beach Fossils, and Erin, the editor with the more impressive collection of go-go boots, is a big proponent of The Sundelles.
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THIS WEEK IN SHOWS

MON, DEC. 14

Keren Ann, Clare and the Reasons
Knitting Factory Brooklyn
8:00 PM, $15, ALL AGES

Funny, compared to 2009’s wave of bedroom pop with a melancholy undertow, artists like Keren Ann and Clare and the Reasons sound like such sparkling romantics. But let’s not forget that we need these, too – songs you can imagine slowdancing to, like Clare and the Reasons’ weepy “Pluton,” or classic pieces of seduction like Keren Ann’s “It Ain’t No Crime.” Maybe Monday at the Knitting Factory won’t push the limits of pop music to any new ground, but it should be a good showcase of tight bands with serious vocal talent.

TUES, DEC. 15

Cold Cave, Small Black
Music Hall of Williamsburg
10:00 PM, FREE, 21+

Go 18 Dummy at the FREE VBS.tv holiday party this Tuesday. Talk about a good end-of-the-aughts set; Cold Cave and Small Black have had a persistent presence in both the blog world and the real live world of shows this year, and they’ve really proved their meddle. Small Black’s more like the other sandy lo-fi bedroom stuff that the internet’s been hemorraghing lately, and Cold Cave is more of a crispy ’80s throwback, but they both exude a foggy longing that we can’t get enough of. The show’s sponsored by 1800 Tequila, which isn’t important really, but you should check out this cool special edition bottle Vice produced for the party. RSVP REQUIRED! If you wanna go, click here.
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THIS WEEK IN SHOWS

The most noteworthy concert this week is Sonic Youth with Dinosaur Jr. and Cold Cave, one of the few lineups that’d get me to Terminal 5, but that’s been sold out, so let us non-ticket holders lick our wounds at some of these other, very worthwhile shows.

MON, NOV. 16

The Jesus Lizard, Skeleton Key
Irving Plaza
9:00 PM, $25, 16+
In case you haven’t heard, The Jesus Lizard have been kicking ass all over the place this year, crowd surfing and stage diving like its 1989. It’s Monday night, and who knows how long this reunion thing will last. Get in front, put your arms up, and get ready for a handful of David Yow.

TUES, NOV. 17

Kurt Vile, Wild Yaks, Home Blitz, Pink Reason
Europa
7:00 PM,  $10, 18+
I think it would be really fun to book a show with either Kurt Vile or Wild Yaks, because both mesh well with any number of bands on a lineup, but you can’t automatically pair them with anybody in particular. There’s something more “classic rock” – I almost want to say masculine – about Kurt Vile than a lot of other “woozy” psychedelic pop acts, and there’s a poignancy to Wild Yaks’ songs that’s lacking in other bands who’re equally rowdy and debauched. Maybe they go perfectly together? Maybe not, but I feel like you can’t go wrong with this one. (For something completely different, check out Kurt Vile on Wednesday with Big Star.)
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THIS WEEK IN SHOWS

WEDS, OCT. 14

No Age, Woods, Silk Flowers
(le) poisson rouge
10:00 PM, $15, 18+
I am pretty jealous of our photographer, who’s headed to see No Age at (le) poisson rouge this Wednesday. They’ll be in town all week, but why not hit a mid-week show with solid openers, in a smallish venue? Maybe you will remember, or realize, how much you love No Age, and you’ll go catch them again when they perform The Bear at the New Museum on Friday.

Tayisha Busay and Guests
Glasslands
8:00 PM, $3/$5, 21+
From what I can tell, there’s always a lot of Spandex and a lot of dancing at Tayisha Busay shows. In fact, there tends to be a decent amount of dancing and Spandex at Glasslands, period. Then of course you have a guest performance from Cherie Lily, aerobics-musician (and Andrew W.K.’s wife), and you’re looking at a shiny, stretchy, sparkly (?), sweaty good time. It’s called the “Nasty Ass” dance party, but you could probably also name it the “Cheap Ass” dance party: $3 before 10:00 PM, open bar from 8:00 – 9:00.
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LOCAL SPOTLIGHT NYC

Photo by Ophelia Wynne

When I saw Alberta Cross last week at Brooklyn Bowl, I felt like I was the last person on earth to have heard of them. It could have been the sardine-can crowd; it could have been the sinewy blonde babes next to me mouthing the words; or it could have been the fact that the goings-on onstage were streaming live on eighteen flatscreens normally occupied by a bemeshed Lady Gaga. But new media ruses aside, the members of Alberta Cross deserve what they practice long and hard for – umpteen (400) thousand views on Myspace, slots at Coachella and Bonnaroo, some international tour dates, and opening gigs for Dave Matthews Band (?) and Oasis (?!). They’re a badass, if slightly uninventive, rock and roll band, and a gem that’s hard to come by these days.

Their first recording, the EP The Thief & The Heartbreaker, is seven juicy, carnivorous tracks long. The tropes of lead singer Petter Stakee’s Graham Nash hair, floppy Frisco Jack hat, and hilariously garbled stage banter (yes, thank Madonna, he’s actually from Europe) somehow manage to evaporate when he opens his mouth to sing. It’s because he’s singing with the wanness and grace of Fran Healy and Fleet Foxes’ Robin Pecknold combined, whilst divulging the best-kept secrets of his humanity. The crannies of the lyrics are splayed gently, as a picnic blanket, over the liveliest, sweetest-hitting, four-on-the-floor backbeats possible. “Why do we always lose what we love?” Stakee asks, as the lead guitar plucks along rhythmically, happily, almost. The influence of Neil Young is very apparent, in their attitude toward their instruments (haphazard), simplicity of structure (sing-along choruses), and the group’s evident desire to rock our socks off (honky tonk leads, tidal waves of harmony). On “Low Man” in particular, Stakee manages to command authority in his vocal vulnerability; it is the insistence on singing slightly falsetto that makes the songs so striking, forlorn, and powerful.

Alberta Cross is out of town for awhile, and then out of commission putting the finishing touches on their debut full-length Broken Side of Time, which we can look forward to at the end of September. Stay tuned, please.

by Drew Citron