The second installment of the Monolith Music festival at Colorado’s Red Rocks amphitheatre filled the weekends of many fans out here in the Mile High State. Festival heavy hitters included- Justice, TV on the Radio, Silversun Pickups, Tokyo Police Club, Vampire Weekend and Atmosphere.

   Boasting over 60 bands, spread out over 5 stages, the festival fostered both big and small bands eager to play the famed Colorado venue. Apart form the main stage, the newly remodeled Red Rocks Visitors Center provided another 4 stages of musical wizardry for smaller bands, locals and brand new acts.

    I put the camera battery on the charger, set aside a fresh notebook, laced up my sneakers, and hit the Morrison, CO venue and after an exhausting two days of over 40 sets, 8 interviews, one dead ink pen, four press passes, thousands of photos, 10 plates of catered food and many hundreds of stairs climbed, Monolith was over for us. Below is a rundown of who rocked and who didn’t. SCROLL DOWN FOR PHOTOS

DAY 1
    
Foals-
    After meeting up with the photographer, we hurried over to the main stage to catch the set from the U.K. band that has been described as “Bloc Party meets Battles.” They are the Oxford quintet Foals, whose debut album, Antidotes, is out now on Sub Pop. Around 2p.m., with the sun in their eyes, the five skinny, shaggy-haired fellows made the way to the instruments. They slowly began playing an atmospheric, jangly bit of instrumented noise for a few moments, until kicking into their set. The music- angular guitars, tight, punchy drumming and danceable melody allowed the early day crowd to quickly start tapping their feet, bobbing their heads, and generally enjoy themselves. The band played an overall great set, which even caught the attention of Vampire Weekend’s keyboardist, Rostam Batmanglij, who watched from the front row for much of the bands set. Foals played a large stage, early in the festivals beginning, extremely well.

Port O Brian and The Morning Benders-
    After hurrying up the stairs to the upper stages- a climb, that would become all but commonplace, I managed to catch the sets of two Oakland/Berkeley, CA indie folk-pop bands, Port O Brian, as they played their last song and a The Morning Benders, whose set I saw most of. Port O Brian ended with upwards of 15 people dancing, jumping, singing and playing on the small Woxy.com stage. Port O Brian’s newest effort, All We Could Do Was Sing was released in May. Golden pop cutsie band, The Morning Benders, who played an average set of pop songs laced with simple harmonies and head bobbing riffs, have previously shared the stage with The Kooks, MGMT and Death Cab for Cutie. They are certainly one to watch if the Shins, or Dr. Dog are your cup of tea.

The Muslims-
    En route to the media tent, I stopped to catch some songs of San Diego band The Muslims. Whoa, what a great band. I spent close to two songs trying to formulate the sound the foursome was making. The best I could muster up was that live, the sound reminded me very much of a [more] noisy Velvet Underground or Modern Lovers playing 80’s skate/surf punk. After chatting it up backstage with their drummer, Brian, who plays standing up by the way, I thought I recognized him as the drummer of now-defunct jazz-punk band The Plot To Blow Up The Eiffel Tower, who in the early 2000’s kept my turntable busy with their debut Dissertation Honey. He confirmed my suspicions and after chatting it up awhile, disappeared backstage. The Muslims self-titled 12” and CD are out now on 1928 Recordings.

Superdrag and Blitzen Trapper-
    After walking by Superdrag a few times, who were just that, a super drag, I headed up to one the festivals smaller stages, The Rock Room stage, where one of Sub Pop’s newest signings, Blitzen Trapper were about to perform. I caught up with Blitzen Trapper’s Marty Marquis and Eric Earley for an interview which can be found here.


Cut Copy-
    The sun would be going down soon and most of this festivals crowd still hadn’t been treated to a good ole-fashioned dance party. Australian electro-poppers, Cut Copy, who took the main stage just before the 5 p.m. hour filled this void. I wondered if the band, whose music was all too common in dark and sweaty clubs, could translate their standard 80’s electro sound into the walls of Red Rocks. Walking out with the setting sun in their eyes, only the drummer wearing sunglasses, the boys from down under got much of the festival crowd into party mode. Although they played great, as they reached the halfway point in their set, the band needed something with a little more substance. It was then that the skinny jean-clad foursome, gave the crowd some “Lights and Music,” one of the singles off of their 2008 record In Ghost Colours. This did the trick, getting much of the main stage crowd, pumping fists, clapping hands and dancing around smiling like it was 1984. The last time this band had played Denver was months prior, to a packed house at the dive-y, Larimer Lounge, so for many who missed the show, this retro-inspired sunset new-wave treat got them loose and ready for sets from The Presets and Sunday’s French heavy hitters, Justice.

Holy F**k-
    Needing a change from the dance party, I headed up the stairs to the upper stages to catch the tail end of Toronto’s Holy F**k, who played a wonderful set full of experimental electronic attack. Two of the band’s members, who jerked and jumped hunched over a mess of keyboards, cables and sequencers, supplied the density for much of the music, while a drummer banged away and a bass player brought the funky rhythm. Some called this the best set of the festival. I wish I could have seen more.
    
A Place To Bury Strangers-
    New York’s A Place To Bury Strangers was next. Not knowing much of anything about the band, and having only heard a few random songs, I took a spot up front near a speaker, crossed my arms and waited. Taking the stage around 6:20p.m., the band quickly wrenched into their first song. The music immediately kicked me in the gut and slapped me in the face. Holy **** this band was incredible. To say that live, APTBS is loud, is very much of an understatement. Three songs in, my friend couldn’t handle it, and left. She said her ears rang for the rest of the night. When I had finally left, the first few steps I took, I immediately grew dizzy and lightheaded. I shook it off and walked out. The music was spacey, thunderous and raw, it’s pysch rock, it’s shoegaze, and it’s punk- hell, its all three. Take Loveless-era My Bloody Valentine playing Stooges guitars, while Dinosaur Jr. and The Jesus and Mary Chain helped out. The band has been called New York’s Loudest band, and deserves every bit of that claim. Their self-titled record is out now on Killer Pimp. I managed to catch up with singer, Oliver Ackermann, and Bassist Jonathon “Jofo Mofo” Smith and discuss the live set up, what the singer of NY’s loudest band does for a living, and their upcoming tour schedule.  Check out the interview here.

Vampire Weekend-
    I chose to miss ex-Ladytron player Pop Levi’s blend of rock-tronica and instead give that cheeky college blog-band from up east a second chance. I have never really loved Vampire Weekend. Sure, they play simple, well written pop songs laden with afro-pop goodness and golden charm that do their job in reminding this college senior the joys of chasing sorority tail and skipping early morning classes, but in terms of the band getting musical artifact status, as being called “best of 2008,” I have always felt that their music sounded spotty, empty and somewhat lame. I knew that the Monolith main stage set would be the only time I would see them in the near future, since I would most likely not try and fend through the hordes of college prepsters and teenagers sporting Sperry Topsiders and cardigans at one of their live shows. I just didn’t have it in me. So this was my chance to walk on the wild side.
    Thanks to the joys of the press pass, I got right up front and took a seat near the center. I decided to snap some photos during the first few songs and really “try” and understand the hype. The cutsie foursome, the singer wearing boat shoes of course, walked out on stage, amongst thunderous applause. I was getting a bit anxious. What were these boys from Columbia capable of? After playing the first few songs, sounding very much like they were right off the album, the foursome loosened up a bit. Whether it was their excitement of playing Red Rocks, or that fact that they have had some world-over touring practice with the same set of 20 or so songs, the band started to sound pretty good. They played like they had been together for years, vibing off the crowd and each other, getting into this groove where the songs actually sounded better live. I was thoroughly impressed with hit songs like  “Campus,” and “Cape Cod Kwassa Kwassa.” I will admit that Vampire Weekend really surprised me. I actually liked it. As a Westword blogger noted, “the drummer wore a Phish shirt, which takes some balls in front of a jam-band-hating hipster crowd like this one.” Vampire Weekend, my hats off to you, now, someone tell me where I can get some boat shoes?

Del The Funky Homosapien-
    I descend the stairs yet again and headed over to check out sets from Del The Funky Homosapien, and White Denim. Both sounded great. When I hear Del, or the Hieroglyphics for that matter, I always seem to enjoy it. Enjoying Del’s rhymes only on a minimal level is all I really know.  I own maybe one scratched-up burned version of a Hiero album, somewhere, (I think it’s 1998’s Third Eye Vision) and when thinking off the top of my head, the first Del song I am reminded of is not even one of his own, it’s one he is featured on- “Bill Murray” by the Gorillaz. So it’s pretty safe to say that know nothing about the Del or Hieroglyphics stuff. This being said, Del The Funky Homosapien, sounded quite good. He got the crowd doing the traditional hip-hop open palm hand-bouncing thing, and seemed to rock the stage with total control. One fan in the front row, threw up a skateboard deck adorned with the Hieroglyphics circular logo.  Later a friend and also huge fan of all things hip-hop, raved to me about the set, so I’m sure it was pretty good.

White Denim-    
    This Austin, Texas three-piece rocked out hard. The band, which consists of drums, bass and guitar, all set up in a line facing forward, play fuzzy experimental garage rock blues. The set, which I saw very little of, was engaging and fun.

The Presets-
    I had seen Los Angeles band Silversun Pickups two weeks prior at a DNC-related concert, so after watching a few of the bands spacey-alt rock numbers, which were not all that memorable in my book, I ran up the stairs, knowing that in a few minutes, Australian electro-rockers The Presets were about to play at one of the festival’s smallest stages. Many had talked all day about the choice to put a band like The Presets, almost as popular as their Aussie and record label counterparts Cut Copy, on such a small stage. I pushed and squirmed my way to front and center, kneeled down and waited. I started to think what the band, which after finding out from their tour manager was feeling sick because of the high altitude, was going to be able to do in such a small arena. Taking time, to test, check and retest every keyboard, drum pad and sample they had, the band finally came out to a roar of applause from the already sweaty and exhausted fans.
    The duo, Julian Hamilton, vocals/keyboards, and Kim Moyes, drums/keyboards, knew the power they held over the room once they launched into their first song. The crowd responded well, throwing their hands up, and danced as if the day of music and stair climbing hadn’t tired them out in the least. Hamilton, whose vocals could have been better (damn that Colorado altitude), wore a neon pink slim fit blazer and gold shoes as he danced around and climbed up the large red rock in the back that the room is built around. Songs like “Are You the One,” and “My People,” which were both played near the end, sounded all right, but compared to the record, they could have sounded better. Besides dancing on stage and pushing some keys, the singer didn’t do a whole lot. Overall a good show, the synths and drums sounded good, but I hoped for just a little bit more from this duo. I guess I’ll blame it on the altitude. The duo’s newest effort, Apocalypso, is wonderfully dark and engaging and is out now on Modular Records.

Devotchka-
    I didn’t see any of Atmosphere’s set, deciding instead to sit down and chill out for a bit. When Denver’s Devotchka took the stage at 10:30 that night, the perfect moment for many to relax, sit down and enjoy a set of orchestrated, Balkan gypsy-folk rock was had. I can say that I don’t know much of anything about this band. Being aware that many of Colorado’s inclined music fans really do appreciate this band, I sat down and took some of the set in, just as a slight drizzle began to fall. The set was good I guess. It seemed to sufficiently cover all grounds of engaging rock, delicate folk ballad, and sophisticated orchestration. I had no complaints.

Passion Pit / Afterparty-
    The word on the afterparty had been slim. After un-engaging and at times boring DJ sets from Jackola and Denver’s own Boyhollow, ths Cambridge, Mass. five-piece, Passion Pit took the stage. Watching the band set up, seeing keyboard after keyboard set up and plugged in, I got kind of excited, being a sucker for anything synthesized. I took a spot in the back, I was actually getting a little tired. Once they played, a bit after midnight, some brief period of rejuvenation sparked in me and I made my way up front for a closer look. This band was great; they play bouncy synth-laden indie-rock which got most of the crowd feeling it. Not a single member of the band wasn’t rocking, through the numerous keyboard buzzes, guitar lines and drumming. Passion Pit gave us the reason we needed to stay up late at Red Rocks.  So ended the first day of Monolith.

Day two coverage is up next, with photos, reviews and check-ups from the likes of Snowden, Tokyo Police Club, The Kills, Band of Horses, Justice and more coming your way.

DAY 2
After a somewhat sufficient night’s sleep, I was awake and ready for another day at Monolith.

The Chain Gang of 1974-
    Monolith’s second day began as Denver local dance punk duo, The Chain Gang of 1974 took on one of the smaller stages. The group is made of drummer, Adam Halferty and singer/bassist, Kamtin Mohager. Playing a slot that many other bands would have cringed over, just over an hour after the gates opened, TCGO74 seemed not to care, as they took the stage looking excited and ready for a party, Mohager concealed two cans of silly string in his hands. Just as the leather-jacket-wearing singer pushed the iPod, and the sampled music began, Halferty began with a punchy disco punk staple of a drumbeat. The crowd moved up closer to the stage, at the request of Mohager and I could see that in fact, the small room was fairly packed, considering the early “morning” hour of 1:30 p.m. The band played a great set, getting most of the rows of skinny-jeaned, tight-shirted, neon sunglass-wearing hipsters dancing along to the music. There were even a few people singing along. My hats went off to the duo for the show. It was fun, energetic, to the point and pleasing.

Snowden-
    Atlanta’s Snowden played a deserving set of late 70’s early 80’s sobby post rock. As they swirled through their set, I kept thinking about the bands’ local shows in hometown Atlanta- a city that has been blowing up as of late (see The Black Lips or Treasure Fingers). Snowden is a band that belongs in someplace like New York, among the dank dive bar crowd, playing for art students or fashion-school dropouts. Apart from the small disconnect in stage- this band should have played at night, Snowden excelled my expectations. Thank god that this foursome haven’t sold out their angsty-musical atmosphere and somber lyrics- “I will burn your love letters in a parking deck…we are anti-movements, we are anti-anti,” for Georgian folkish melody and Southern charm. Lets all thank god for Snowden. I caught up with singer, Jordan Jeffares for a brief chat, which can be found here.

Tokyo Police Club-
      I like this band; they play straightforward indie-punk, that does its job in getting your head bobbing and mouth singing to the choruses. Apart from taking much too long to release a debut album on Saddle Creek, a pigeonholed label that has been lagging in recent years, I really do think this band is pretty good. A live TPC set is a different story. They sounded a bit rushed, frantic and spotty. After a handful of songs each sounded similar and formed out of the last. Nothing all that special happened in terms of a difference in live performance for the band, as they continued with the power-pop signing and punk-ish riffs. Deciding on Tokyo Police Club playing the main stage was not the best idea either. The band would have had a better fit, with a packed crowd of sweaty kids jumping up and down in front of a small stage. Having rows and rows of parched and sun-drenched fans, sitting down, staring through sunglasses to watch this band, didn’t really match the speedy pace the Canadian group brought to the stage. The debut album, Elephant Shell, is out now on Saddle Creek.

    Handsome Furs/The Swayback-
After getting stoked for the set from Wolf Parade fellow Dan Boeckner’s side project Handsome Furs, I was disappointed after I found out they weren’t playing. I got no official explanation for the cancellation, I overheard something about getting stuck at the Canadian border, but who really knows? Filling in the dead stage time, Denver rock novices The Swayback played a set of fuzzy, heavy-riffed, garage rock. Pretty much swift kick-in-the-pants kind of rock.

     Tilly and the Wall-
Taking the stage after the rip roaring Swayback set, these Omaha cuties brought tap dancing, hand clapping and general indie-pop fun. For those who don’t know Tilly and the Wall, think Of Montreal on a broke college kid’s budget, and your close. I have seen this band for years, and each time I can count on a fun, engaging, energetic set. One of the singers, dressed as she had just raided a new-wave grandma’s closet, kept a smile on her face for almost the whole show. You couldn’t deny the groups joy. Tilly and the Wall gets way more cutie-points than Vampire Weekend in my book. The band used to just be a five piece: two singers, a tap-dancer, keyboardist, and guitarist. At Monolith the band had a drummer, which confused me. What does a band, with music already lo-fi enough for three people to stomp their feet, or bang on buckets to keep the only rhythm, need a big ole bearded drummer for? It turns out it didn’t really matter, as he didn’t play the whole set and kept the skins in low volume. The band brought a needed sense of release and delight to anyone who had been in “serious mode” for previous sets from the Avett Brothers and The Swayback.
    
    The Kills-
What an ordeal this was. As the Colorado frigid-fall evening wind started to blow in off the mountains and the time reached 6:30 p.m., the U.K. duo’s scheduled set time, The Kills were no where to be found. 15 minutes later, the two finally walked out on stage, leaving me puzzled as to what had taken so long to set up a band that had only required a guitar, drum machine and microphone. I thought maybe the set would make up for the tardiness. It turns out the short show of fuzzy and spastic distorted garage rock cacophony didn’t really do much for me at all. The first few songs were good, the duo rocked, staggering around the stage, giving us pretty much what we wanted; some loud tunes, sung by a disheveled girl and her lanky guitarist friend, but as each song sounded like the last, I grew disinterested, snapped some photos, and left for a spot at Band of Horses.

    Band of Horses-
Great set. I had never seen the band and was anxious to witness the tunes off of their newest effort, Cease to Begin in the sun-setting Red Rocks backdrop. Coming out late, as the sun had finally lowered it’s head over the mountains, singer Ryan Monroe and band walked out, smiling amidst heavy applause from the main stage crowd. The South Carolina via Seattle band of six made their way to the instruments and began the first number. You could tell the comfort that this band has playing together on stage, the music flows, crescendos and falls, all within some beautiful ensemble of a stage full of scruffy southern gents. While the album’s songs are tight and rocky, glossed over with studio shine, live, the music is more organic, swirling and peaceful. The band even previewed some newer songs for the festival crowd. Singer Monroe, whose famously long beard, was trimmed back, dedicated the set to his newborn daughter calling out that, “this is [her] first Band of Horses show.”  Solid set overall.

    Does it Offend You. Yeah?
These UK new-rave punks, were actually a band I was really looking forward to seeing at Monolith. The band was scheduled to play on the Woxy.com stage at 7:10p.m., hoping that the Band of Horses set, which, was scheduled only 5 minutes off from DIOYY, would make it fairly easy to get a spot up front. Well, not all the simple. The doors to the room where the stage was were closed, crowds of fans looked confused as security and event staff told them they couldn’t get in. Even with media and photo passes, I wasn’t allowed in. It turns out the set was closed due to the Fire Marshall ruling the overcrowding unsafe. The band played, to a packed house I am sure. I did manage to catch up with two members of the band after their set, for a brief chat while they packed up their van before setting off to the Northwest for their next show. Check out the interview here.

    CSS-
Sao Paolo, Brazil’s spunky electro rock outfit, CSS were late in coming out on stage. It was actually pretty cold at this point and I was getting a little tired of the jumping up and down, rubbing my hands together method of attempting to get warm. I just wanted to see some songs, snap some photos and walk down the stairs for TV on the Radio’s set. After finally coming out, singer Lovefoxxx, wearing some sort of pile of shiny silver looking plastic scraps piled onto a sweater, jumped and ran around the stage, singing and fist pumping. I had dug CSS’s debut, but their newest offering, Donkey, which they played many songs from, seemed very cliché and uninteresting. On stage, the songs are all right. There is some energy, some rocking out and some solos, but nothing too engaging. I think that CSS, who used to walk the line between Baile Funk and electro, now have settled upon walking the line between overdone 80’s rock riffs and boring synth pop. CSS’ new songs sounded very 2003, reminding of the music that Sweden’s The Sounds had already done years before.
    
    Justice-
The white cross, built into a façade of knobs, blinky lights and cables flanked by two 3x3 stacks of Marshall amplifiers, stood empty while the French duo, Xavier de Rosnay and Gaspard Auge, were nowhere to be found. After another 10 minutes or so, the black leather-jacketed duo, walked out slowly, hands in the air, and took their spot behind the set up. The crowds cheered, and the lights went down.  If you have seen the French duo before, you know the way these boys roll, and the Monolith set wasn’t any different. Without playing much of anything new, as if they held some collective secret of heavy new tunes that only them and the Ed Banger crew knew about, the duo played a pretty standard Justice set. The hits were there: “Phantom,” “Genesis,” “Waters of Nazareth,” “D.A.N.C.E.” and even some of their remix work. They seamlessly mixed their own blend of brutal metal-electro-house that cracked through the sound system as if the rapture was really upon us.

After only about 10 minutes into the set, while the duo was just getting warmed up and the cross was starting to glow and flicker, the sound suddenly dropped out leaving silence. The crowd seemed transfixed, almost hypnotized, as if they all were waiting for the two heads atop the glowing cross to slowly bring the music back up, let it wiz and buzz until its highest decibel was reached, and then throw their hands up in the air, flip the switch and drop the beat yet again- like all live DJ’s do best. That moment didn’t come. As the boys in black started to look puzzled, they finally stepped down and walked offstage while a roadie, knowing the power he held, scrambled up to see if he could fix whatever the problem was. Minutes went by, and the duo walked back out, de Rosnay with a shrug on his face and his hands outstretched, as to offer some sort of “I don’t know, It wasn’t us,” sort of sentiment. The crowd seemed forgiving, as the duo jumped back behind the set up, and brought the music back up. The next 50 minutes went wonderfully with everything on point. When the duo mixed in their early hit, “We Are Your Friends,” de Rosnay and Auge played this fantastic call-and-response game with the crowd, letting only the words “we,” “are” and “you” come through the speakers, while the crowd, fists in the air, responded with “your friends, you’ll never be alone again, so come on!” It was pure French house bliss.

A few songs later, as if the French music gods were not smiling down on Red Rocks, the music died out again. The duo now looked thoroughly confused. They walked off the stage again, as the same roadie ran back up and frantically worked. This time he wouldn’t be so lucky, as minutes passed, without any of the Justice boys, the house lights came back on. “Eye of the Tiger,” came on the PA, and it seemed over for the French duo.  Some of the crowd booed, some clapped, while the rest began to chant “We are your friends, you’ll never be alone again, so come on.” I guess this pleased de Rosnay, who peeked his head out from backstage, walked out and sunk to his knees, as if to truly offer apology for the technical problems. The crowd seemed to buy it, as many ran up to the stage, frantically trying to shake his hand. The Frenchman went to retrieve a small keyboard controller, I guess the source of the problems, walked out in front of the white cross, raised the keyboard over his head, and threw it down on stage. He left the half-broken instrument, thanked the crowd again, and disappeared off stage for good. The bars to “Eye of the Tiger,” and the chill of the wind were all that remained. Monolith was over.

Matt Draper

CMJ- Some bands that made waves-

Every Fall, thousands converge on the already crowded streets on New York City for the annual CMJ Music Marathon.

Handfuls of lanky indie kids, musicians, label and radio honchos, bloggers and industry suits spend their time crammed into over 50 of The Big Apple’s best venues, bars, basements and cafes to watch every band (like 900 of them) that they have never heard of play shows, many of which are their first to larger crowds.

CMJ isn't like normal Lollapalooza or Coachella-type festival. Sure, there are way too many bands than you can shake a stick at, but they aren’t all in one centralized place.

Labels, blogs, publishing companies and even cities have showcases set up where they pick artists andpick a venue to introduce the music populous to “x band,” at venues all over New York City.

These shows are at every possible place, in both Manhattan and Brooklyn, in established clubs like The Bowery, to private warehouse gigs and sweaty basement shows at the famed Cake Shop.

Previous heavy hitters like M.I.A., Hot Chip, and Clap Your Hands, Say Yeah have all played to CMJ crowds at young points in their careers, going on to greater success.

The festival, which has been going on since 1980 when it was just a few small shows in the city geared to label and industry heads searching for the next big thing.

Today’s CMJ is much the same, except there are more bands, more venues, more walking, more sponsors, more people and more parties.

Its safe to say that CMJ is just five days of exhausting madness where this blogger’s typical day consisted ofgetting up at 11, catching the subway at noon and watching bands (I mostly had never seen or heard) till 2 a.m. then walking home on aching feet to the subway and my makeshift bed on the floor of a friends’ tiny Brooklyn apartment.

CMJ 2008 headliners, if you must call them that, were the likes of Crystal Castles, Coheed and Cambria, Broken Social Scene and Talib Kweli. So not the huge headliners one would be used toat a typical summer festival.

What is great about CMJ is that because hundreds of bands play every day, everybody can have a different experience or discovery from everyone else.

So, without further adieu I present some of the best shows, new bands and experiences of CMJ 2008. 

Monotonix-

(Drag City Records)

This Israeli garage-rock band play raucous and sweaty party rock. The three guys; drums, guitar and vocals, set up on the venue’s floor, and after a few songs move the entire drum kit to a different part of the venue to continue rocking. The singer took two fullgarbage cans and countless cups of beer and water and poured them on himself, his drummer and anyone in his path. The live shows are insane. Think Andrew WK meets The Black Lips meets beer and garbage. One of the best CMJ shows I saw.

Ruby Suns-

(Memphis Industries/SubPop)

This New Zealand duo play indie-experimental music that has hints of Panda Bear/Animal Collective or The Beach Boys

The Whip-

(Southern Fried/Kitsune Records)

The Whip are a Manchester, UK synth-pop group that plays music reminiscent of New Order with the perfect blend of the current UK New Rave scene’s spice of bands like Hadouken or The Klaxons. Their LP is out now in the UK.

Passion Pit-

(Frenchkiss Records)

This Massachusetts quintet play indie pop that sounds like a mixture of early Michael Jackson mixed with Beach Boys and maybe some Of Montreal (for the most rudimentary of descriptions). A certain behemoth music T.V. network questioned if this was “the band to watch at CMJ” this year and I think for the first time they may have been right onsomething.  A 7” is out now for the wonderful song “Sleepyhead.”

Cut Off Your Hands-

(679/Speak n Spell/Frenchkiss Records)

Another great band that Frenchkiss made the right call on. This New Zealand band play dancy and punchy power punk and one hell of a sweaty live show. They already had quite the SXSW buzz and have played some shows in Los Angeles. An upcoming LP is in the works for a 2009 release on Frenchkiss.

Pegasuses XL-

(Ernest Jenning Records)

This is an experimental and power/dance-rock foursome from Athens, GA. They play fun sets of synth-laden rock with a splash of experimental flare. They have released a few records as of late.

Shugo Tokumaru-

(Almost Gold/P-Vine/Lil Chief Records)

This is the solo, delicate and cheerful Japanese folk-pop work of Tokumaru. Live, he has played with members of Beirut and The National.  His new record, Exit is out now on Almost Gold in the States.

Tobacco-

(Anticon Records)

This is the work of one of the dudes from Pennsylvania’s Black Moth Super Rainbow playing some true psychedelic and beat-y freak-out instrumental music. One of the best shows saw all week. His debut, F***ed up Friends is out now.

Chairlift-

(Kanine Records)

This Brooklyn via Colorado band was quite the buzz all CMJ week, playing a handful of showcases and gigs. Having the coveted ability to say “we are the band in that newest iPod commercial,” (their song “Bruises” is in the new Nano ad) under their belts,this dreamy female-fronted electronica trio should make some waves in the scene. An upcoming tour with Yeasayer is planned and their LP is out now.

All right, that was some of my personal favorites of the CMJ week. I saw countless other wonderful bands (some favorites being A Place to Bury Strangers, Lykki Li, The Muslims, Why Oak and Crystal Slilts) play and just don’t have time to mention them here. Maybe I can do a second post. Hmmm..

Happy listening!

It's that time of the year again.

50,000+ concertgoers from the world over all descend upon the Empire Field Polo Grounds in Indio, CA to sweat it out in the 100-degree heat and watch far too many great bands that one shake a stick at.

I'm talking about the Coachella Music and Arts Festival taking place this weekend (April 17-19) in a desert of Indio. Take it from a four-year festival veteran- it's some of the most fun you'll ever have with total strangers, music and being covered in a thin layer of sweat, grime and dust for all of three days.

Excited yet? Well, you should be, and with sets from heavy hitters like The Killers , The Yeah Yeah Yeahs , Public Enemy, My Bloody Valentine (!),  M.I.A ., Franz Ferdinand and The Chemical Brothers , there should be no shortage of excitement for anyone attending.

The above headliners make up just a few of the 130 bands playing over the festival's three days. Apart from arena bands like The Cure and The Killers, there are a ton of smaller, up-and-coming acts that are worth checking out.

If your feeling overwhelmed looking at the lineup, here are some recommendations on who to see this weekend while your generally sweating your butt off with everyone else.

White Lies (Friday, 5:45 Mojave Tent) This UK threesome play sobby post rock that would have both Joy Division-obsessed Goths and fans of Bloc Party tapping their foot. Tip: If you looking to see The Killers, see White Lies instead, get your fix, way closer to the stage for that matter, and tell everyone come Saturday night, that your skipping Brandon Flowers and Co. because they were "so 2005."

Buraka Som Sistema (Friday, 5:35 Gobi Tent) Although clashing times with White Lies, some tricky running back and forth may be in order to see this band of three Portuguese DJ's who play funky, Bailie-infused electro rap. Their debut "Black Diamond" is killer and features a guest drop from M.I.A. herself. Do I smell an on-stage collaboration with the Paper Planes singer- that's what festivals are for right? I'll be catching up with BSS on Sat. for a chat, so keep your eyes peeled here for that interview.

Drop the Line, Para One, Surkin, Crookers (Saturday, 2-9:30pm Sahara Tent) In past years I have witnessed some pretty amazing sets of house, electro and French touch while crammed in the crowd at Coachella. I saw the first Daft Punk Alive set; you know, with the pyramid, Justice, Diplo, Boys Noize, blah blah...What I am getting at here, is that if you like to dance and occasionally bang your head to beat, than Saturday afternoon into the early evening, you'll want to have a good spot in the Sahara Tent. There is some real European dance music talent in this mix. From Frenchmen Para One and Surkin, to Italy's Crookers and The Bloody Beetroots, and New York's Drop the Lime, I can assure you that there will no shortage of total ass shaking going on here.

Glass Candy (Saturday, 10pm Gobi Tent) This lesser-known Portland, OR band are obsessed with disco. They play straight-outta the 70's style grooves. I completely love this band. Take it from me, Glass Candy is not to be missed.

Friendly Fires (Sunday, 2:10pm Gobi Tent) Like cowbell, the 1980's and dance rock? Then go see this UK band. Not as good as The Rapture, but Friendly Fires sure do impress in a live setting.

Paul Weller (Sunday, 7pm Outdoor Theatre) The name might not sound familiar, but Weller was the singer for the immensely influential and outright amazing 70's and 80's UK mod punk band, The Jam. He also fronted Style Council. Don't miss this if your stoked on seeing The Killers, Devendra Banhart or Leonard Cohen.

Okkervil River (Sunday 2:35 Main Stage) Like The Decemberists or Death Cab for Cutie that haven't let a mega major label get to their heads. This indie-folk band of six scruffy Texans play intensely emotional, dense and riff-laden tunes. 

Clipse (Sunday, 5:50 Gobi) Some of the best indie rappers in the game now. It's slim pickings for hip hop and rap at this year's festival, so come Sunday, after two days of music, head over to the Gobi, catch some Clipse, open up that palm, throw it in the air and start bobbing your head.

For tickets, directions, parking info and rules, head over the the Coachella site.  

I'll be heading down the desert, so stay tuned to Fuel.tv for a full report from the Coachella fest.

--Matt Draper

With ever-rising concert costs and our country gripping with the recession woes, the live music scene has certainly seen a decline in the last few years. Well, IndieMerchStore.com and thirteen of today’s best metal and hardcore acts are hoping to bring fans out of the slump this summer by offering them ten bands for just ten bucks.

That's right, for what you could spend on just one iTunes album download, your ten hard earned Washington’s can get you into the show to see ten of some of the most hair-swinging, axe-ripping metal bands on the metal and hardcore scenes today.

The 10 For $10 Tour will hitting 32 North American cities from July until August with headliners Poison the Well playing every date and rotating co-headliners Madball, Bane and Vision of Disorder playing random stops of the tour. Filling out the rest of the bill will be the likes of Terror, Death Before Dishonor, War of Ages, Crime in Stereo, Trapped Under Ice, The Mongoloids, The Ghost Inside, This is Hell and Vision. Whew! You better get those mosh-pit muscles working.

With many live music tour stops seeing below-average crowd turnouts, the people behind the 10 for $10 Tour hope that this concept will help the fans in these tough times.

“This tour concept is way overdue in my opinion. I’m glad and thankful that the people involved stepped up to actually make this thing happen! This is everyone’s chance to re-introduce themselves [into the genre] and actually get involved with a unique and authentic movement,” said Madball’s singer Freddie Cricein.

Poison the Well guitarist Ryan Primack’s feelings echoed those of Cricein, who called the tour concept “amazing.”

“Without some of the bands on this tour, I doubt we would even be a band. We’re honored and privileged to be sharing the stage with them,” Primack said.

Most, if not all, of these metal and hardcore bands have a rabid and near-legendary following and could certainly draw a huge crowd on their own. Madball have been playing the scene since the late 80’s (a then side project of hardcore/thrash band Agnostic Front), California five-piece Terror has drawn crowds from all over the world and newcomers This is Hell certainly have years of head banging action ahead of them.

The 10 for $10 Tour kicks off July 9th in Philadelphia, PA at The Trocadero and treks all across North America (including two Canadian stops in Edmonton and Calgary) until its' end August 14th in Buffalo, NY at Xtreme Wheels. See the complete list of dates below.

Amidst all the action, make sure to pick up a copy of tour headliner’s Poison the Well's newest studio album The Tropic Rot, out July 7th on Ferret Music.

 --Matt Draper

 

Date               City                                    Venue                            

7.09                Philadelphia, PA The Trocadero

7.10                New York, NY Terminal 5

7.11                Baltimore, MD Sonar

7.12                Jacksonville, NC Hooligans

7.13                Knoxville, TN Valarium

7.14                Louisville, KY Headliners Music Hall

7.15                Atlanta, GA Masquerade

7.16                New Orleans, LA The Hanger

7.17                Houston, TX Java Jazz

7.18                San Antonio, TX White Rabbit

7.19                Dallas, TX The Max

7.21                Tempe, AZ Marquee Theater

7.22                Pomona, CA Glasshouse

7.23                San Francisco, CA The Grand Ballroom

7.24                Los Angeles, CA House Of Blues

7.25                Chico, CA  Senator Theater

7.26                Seattle, WA King Cat Theater

7.28                Edmonton, AB Starlite

7.29                Calgary, AB Warehouse

7.31                St. Paul, MN Station 4

8.01                Kansas City, MO Midland Theater

8.02                Denver, CO Gothic Theater

8.04                Chicago, IL Metro

8.05                Grand Rapids, MI Intersection

8.07                Clifton Park, NY Northern Lights

8.08                Sayreville, NJ  Starland Ballroom

8.09                Worcester, MA Palladium

8.10                Montreal, QC  Fou Founes

8.11                Toronto, ON  Opera House

8.12                Detroit, MI  The Majestic

8.13                Cleveland, OH  Peabody’s

8.14                Buffalo, NY  Xtreme Wheels

A little while ago, this blogger brought you my thoughts on what was "monolithic about Colorado's Monolith Festival. " There were comments of how this was the state's only major musical gathering, how there's a greater sense of tourism in upstarts getting to play one of the best outdoor venues in the country and the sheer fact that within recent years, the state of Colorado really needs a festival like Monolith.

Well with Glastonbury hoopla still filling the blogs and tweets of many, some of the smaller summer festival news may have got lost in the shuffle. With novice gatherings like The Pitchfork Music Festival in Chicago (Built To Spill, The National, Flaming Lips, M83, Doom, etc) July 17-19th and The Sunset Junction Music Festival in Silverlake, CA  (Conor Oberst and The Mystic Valley Band, The Sonics, Delta Spirit, etc) on August 22nd and 23rd, those wishing to stay away from the large vomit-inducing crowd numbers are in luck.

Well, Coloradoans will soon have one of those special weekends of dancing, screaming, encores and crowd exhaustion when the 3rd annual Monolith Festival hits Red Rocks on September 12th. 

I told you of the early lineup and band announcements, in my last post about the festival, but some time has passed and a more mouthwatering musical rank is now official.

The lineup is better than last year’s and features a healthy mix of CO locals, hype-inducing blog darlings and global festival mainstay bands. The only mystery surrounding the lineup is the as-of-yet-to-be-announced day two headliner- the festival website has placed a big white question mark in the space. I will let you know as soon as the day two headliner is announced.

Single day, two day and VIP passes are still available over at the festival’s website , for $52 each day, $95 for both and $210 for all those wanting the VIP treatment.

MONOLITH FESTIVAL 2009 LINEUP-

The Yeah Yeah Yeahs
Girl Talk
MSTRKRFT
Of Monreal
Method Man & Redman
M. Ward
Chromeo
Doom
The Dandy Warhols
Phoenix
The Walkmen
Ok Go
Passion Pit
Ida Maria
The Glitch Mob
The Pains of Being Pure at Heart
The Thermals
Harlem Shakes
Frightened Rabbit
Monotonix
Thao and the Get Down Stay Down
The Grates
Hollywood Holt + Million $ Mano
Starfuc*er
HEALTH
Deertick
The Twilight Sad
Thunderheist
Minature Tigers
Woodhands
Spindrift
Viva Voce
Savoy
These United States
We Were Promised Jetpacks
Cymbals Eat Guitars
Beats Antique
The Antlers
Tigercity
Cotton Jones
French Horn Rebellion
Gregory Alan Isakov
The Pirate Signal
Lydia
Neon Indian
Generationals
The Knew
Edward Sharpe & the Magnetic Zeros
A Shoreline Dream
The Answering Machine
Red Wire Black Wire
Roadside Graves
Jim McTuran & The Kids That Killed The Man
Danielle Ate The Sandwich
Speakeasy Tiger
Autovaughn
Avi Buffalo
Wedny Darling
Boulder Acoustic Society
Caitlin Rose
Rachel Goodrich

-Matt Draper

Now in its sixth year, last weekend’s FYF Fest returned as the biggest incarnation the DIY-laden event has ever seen.

Stared back in 2004, by then 18-year-old Sean Carlson, who booked the entire thing from his parent’s bedroom, organized then-named F Yeah Fest in venues and bars spread throughout the Echo Park neighborhood of Los Angeles. In 2006, Carlson hooked up with Black Flag/Circle Jerks founder Keith Morris to help with booking and organizing duties.

The fest has (thankfully) now moved to an all-inclusive model, which packed in all sorts of the most arsty, hipster-chic-ed-out fans the City Of Angeles has ever seen into a fenced-in area down at The Los Angeles Historic State Park in Chinatown. Subtitled ‘Save Our State Parks,’ this year’s fest aimed to raise awareness for the California State Park System.

The lineup boasted some established heavy hitters from both coasts with Converge, Dillinger Escape Plan, Lightning Bolt, The Black Lips and Lucero, the cream of the LA-Smell fuzz-rock scene; No Age, Mika Miko Crystal Antlers, Darker My Love as well as a gaggle of blog-praised ‘it’ bands in Waaves, Cold Cave, Woods, The Strange Boys and Dan Deacon. Oh and Tim and Eric played too. Their band was called P*ssy Whip Gang Bang and they played cowbells and guitars while wearing spandex. Kitschy!

Having a horrific hour-plus line to deal with for will-call (rumors of a computer malfunction seemed the cause) many fans (around 5000 I heard), this blogger included, missed out on some great bands like Woods, Avi Buffalo, Dios and Nobunny. The majority of crowds started stumbling into the public park around the 4 p.m. hour just as Wavves was taking the stage.

(To read my Twitter timeline from the day, including updates from each band, click here)

Waaves-
San Diego lo-fi wunderkind Nathan Williams took the stage with Zach Hill (Hella) on drums and after a bit of banter, instrument checking and beer swigs, the duo launched into their first song of surfy, noise punk. With a frenzied, grungy bit of rhythm to go off, Williams seemed to perfectly keep a calm, poppy bit of beach-guitar twang atop Hill’s hairy mess of rhythmic insanity. New track “Hula Hoop,” recorded post-Hill inclusion, sounded fantastic. What made Waaves such a great live band is how Williams and Hill counterbalance each other’s playing throughout most of the numbers. You can hear how Williams sped up his playing- losing his sunglasses at one point- the sweat gathering on his brow and most likely under his half-cast incurred from a skateboarding accident, he desperately had to keep a slightly slower pace than Hill’s in order to walk that thin line between sunny, surf-pop bliss and all-out trashing brutish noise. Zach Hill could book himself at a club and drum solo for an hour and I’d pay to see it, but with the combination of Williams fuzzed out guitar and flowing bit of adolescent vocal-scuzz flowing throughout, it made for one the festival’s best sets overall.

Carbonas-
This Altanta, GA five-piece gave crowds the straight-ahead, bouncy power-punk anyone needed to get wild to after waiting in line for an hour plus. Think The Buzzcocks or The Undertones and you’re on the right track. Singer Greg King seemed to be enjoying himself nearing the end of their set; “Hey, they flew us here. Isn’t that hilarious? I spilled two beers already,” he said before launching into one of their last songs. Their self-titled third LP, which clocks in at just about 20-minutes total, is out now on Goner Records. 


Dan Deacon-
My tweet from the event sums this up. “Dan Deacon cancelled. He is sick. Sad day.”

Mika Miko-
LA underground heroes, Mika Miko playing just after 5p.m. gathered such a huge turnout on the second stage that I was forced back near the sound tent for a proper view. My guess is that the crowds would’ve been manageable if Dan Deacon was opposite them on the mainstage, but since the only other performance at the time was the sleeze-pop of Har Mar Superstar, many had decided to go see their local heroes instead. If you’re unfamiliar with this all-female fivesome, they play a bouncy blend of noise punk that centers around the same hotbed Smell scene that birthed The Mai Shi, No Age and HEALTH. The set was as I expected: solid tunes and enough energy to stoke a riot grrrl fire ablaze. Due to headliner Dan Deacon’s cancelled slot though, some of the crowd wasn’t jazzed in the least. “It’s good to know that irony is never going to go out of style,” I overhead a member of the crowd utter after the first few of MM’s songs.

Ninjasonik/Japanther
A big ole’ pile of hipster genre-crossing at it’s best. Songs with lyrics like “I love you no matter where you spend the night,” jammed against Ninjasonik’s grungy beats and samples and Japanther’s garage-rock, chugged-along rhythms sounded great. The show boasted enough onstage-hype that would get M.I.A. and her day-glo crew marching to a  beat; with enough random siren noises and hand claps to tire anyone out. Ninjasonik and Japanther together produced one big onstage version of  “Walk This Way,” for the contemporary blog-reading festival audience. Mixing the current trends of fuzzy, distorted, grunge rock of the 80’s and 90’s with the simplified, slowed-down Cool Kids, Cudi or Diplo-sounding beat section, the collaboration proved one of the best shows all day. Besides, if you can get a white LA native to headbang outside of club in broad daylight to a rap/rock song, you’ve pretty much done your job.

The Thermals-
This Portland, OR trio of indie pop-punkers played a solid set overall. Good, clean, foot- tapping tunes for a dusty afternoon in Chinatown. Nothing different from what we have grown to expect from these guys.

Lightning Bolt
I have never seen Lightning Bolt. I’ve loved their insane blend of noise rock ever since I was a teenager first hearing Ride The Skies. The rumor is that before the 2009 Primavera Sound Festival in Spain, the duo had never really played on stage, using a professional sound system. Shows in jam-packed warehouses, sidewalks, basements and garages, with crowds circled around the band were the norm. Their FYF fest performance was far from the Lightning Bolt show I could have imagined. Halfway into the sloppiness of the first song, security made the entire crowd take “two steps back,” alerting us that the fire marshal had been overseeing the show. “This isn’t quite the Lightning Bolt experience,” a fan near me said. Drummer and singer Brian Chippendale wears a decorated mask/hood which holds a makeshift microphone/telephone receiver device near his mouth while bassist Brian Gibson tunes his guitar to cello standards; in intervals of fifths, using a string assortment- including one from a banjo- and pumps the sound through an extremely distorted channel of effects, fuzz and all-out noise. The sound, normally completely amazing on record, sounded lost, swirling and tame in an outdoor setting. After another stoppage from security and the fire marshal, the set had run out of steam.  Lightning Bolt play the way they play for a reason and that purpose just seemed lost at the outdoor, sun-setting FYF fest.

Lucero-
Tennessee alt-country rockers Lucero provided a much needed chill-out for fans as the sun subsided and the 8p.m. hour approached. The first real good-ole’-fashioned American rock and rollers of the day, Lucero played an average set of their own blend of scraggily, country ‘cowpunk.’ Sounding great live, “I Can Get Us Out of Here” from 2006’s Rebels, Rogues & Sworn Brothers with it’s refrain “Saturday night, wrong side of town,” oozed with a sort of Springsteen-wholesomeness that was all but missing from the rest of the festival.

Fu**ed Up
Toronto, Ontario hardcore six-piece, on the flyer simply as F* Up played one of the day’s best sets by far.  The band commanded the large stage with the same enormous sound that emulates from their spectacular ’08 album, The Chemistry of Common Life. Singer Damian Abraham (Pink Eyes) who spent most of the set on the ground, running around the stage or attempting to climb the flanking scaffolding- he aborted after it started to wobble- finally settled on rocking the small space between the stage and crowd barricade. “We can call this the hipster Woodstock, or just say we play hipster punk rock,” Abraham shouted. After closing their set he again provided the banter that made much of audience erupt in cheers and laughter, with his comment on band merchandise. “We don’t have any merch for sale because we believe in DIY, so go make a Fu**ed Up shirt and send us between 10 and 15 dollars for the rights to use our name. $15 if it’s a good shirt.”

Peanut Butter Wolf-
Chris Manak, aka Peanut Butter Wolf, purveyor of all-things cool through his hype-inducing Stones Throw Records imprint, used the FYF fest to give all those willing a chance to shake their ass to his current ‘999’ project. The fifth date for this new project- Manak spins only nineties music (including corresponding videos) for nine nights, in nine different area codes. The established producer and label founder proved that he knew a thing or two about working the decks to the generally hip-hop-less festival. “I want to thank whoever decided to have hip-hop at the festival,” he told the crowds right before mixing a flawless whirl of Michael Jackson, Pantera, Rage Against The Machine, Prodigy and Wu Tang.

Cold Cave-
Cold Cave singer Wesley Eisold has an impressive past. After leading the onstage insanity that was American Nightmare, Give Up The Ghost and Some Girls (with members of the Locust), Eisold, a revered poet, writer and former plaintiff to Fall Out Boy’s Pete Wentz; who Eisold sued for plagiarism and won, has now moved from heavy riffs, spazzy screaming and beating pretty boys in court, to a fully distorted, dissonant pile of synth noise with his new project, Cold Cave. Featuring ex-Xiu Xiu member Caralee McElroy, Cold Cave, which used to just be an Eisold solo effort using thrift-store keyboards, has released a slew of singles and EP’s. The group has just recently signed with Matador for re-release of their debut Love Comes Close. Live, Cold Cave mimic the on-stage robotic weirdness of Suicide or early Kraftwerk with sprinkles of a catchy disco-pop hooks and pulsing beats throughout. Four keyboards, one guitar and enough atmospheric buzzes, whirls and bleeps to shake a stick at, their FYF fest set needed a few songs to get anyone watching feeling the groove. I am interested to see what Cold Cave can produce now with a hefty indie-label home over their heads. Keep an eye out.

Converge
Ah, Converge. This Salem, Massachusetts foursome have been playing their influential blend of ruthless metalcore since forming in 1990. I have enjoyed hearing this band’s progress since I was a little hate-the-world hardcore ruffian back in high school, but sadly I have never witnessed the insanity that is a live Converge show. Stories of East-Coast nights found singer Jacob Bannon swinging from light fixtures and stage diving while the polyrhythmic drum work and driving guitar filled the room. Breaking my Converge cherry wasn’t as relentless and as had imagined. Their FYF fest performance, great overall, had seemed a bit tame. The sound was all there; a thrashy hardcore skeleton, Slayer-esque breakdowns from producer and Godcity owner Kurt Ballou, complex riffing and the brute-force that is Bannon’s singing. Songs like opener “Concubine” from 2001’s legendary album Jane Doe and You Fail Me-era “Eagles Become Vultures” sounded tight and fierce, while slower ‘ballads’ sounded cleaner and more atmospheric live. The set, still great overall, lacked the intensity that I had hoped for. Maybe it was the smoggy air, or the fact that bassist Nate Newton’s close friend, a day earlier, had lost his battle with cancer (he dedicated the set to him) but, Converge, certainly a band atop the metal citadel, just sounded all too tame for a Saturday night in Los Angeles.  

No Age-
LA indie-gaze heroes No Age played a solid set during their semi-headlining slot behind festival-closers The Black Lips and Dillinger Escape Plan. Playing in front of a mess of artsy, cut-up video clips, the drum and bass duo sounded as they should’ve on a big stage. On previous live occasions, I had been slightly disappointed with their set, but at FYF, the sound, the atmosphere and the crowd all fit into place. Closing song “Eraser” from 2008’s Nouns sounded as good as it’s album version; Dean Allen Spunt’s swirling guitars and hazy distortion matching perfectly with the repeated opening cymbal smack from drummer Randy Randall until everything seems to lose control and burst into the above-the-clouds noise-gaze oblivion. There’s a reason Nouns was one of my top picks from 2008.

Dillinger Escape Plan
The one-two punch that was Convege and Dillinger playing opposite each other seemed the only way event organizers would be able to hold the crowds attention as the festival’s end was a mere hour away. After the dustbowl that was the Converge-spawned most pit had finally settled, the DEP mathcore onslaught began. Being such a fan of Jacob Bannon and Co., it pains me somewhat to say that this New Jersey five-piece’s set proved even more brutal, more technically spastic and generally more exciting than the Converge set was. A rousing whirlwind of mathcore history, the band dominated tracks from their near-entire ten-plus-year discography. From 99’s Calculating Infinity, up through their live previews of upcoming fourth LP, Option Paralysis most every song was jam-packed with tech-metal riffs, spastic singing, punchy drumming and numbing feedback.  Standout moments included a cover of Aphex Twin’s “Come To Daddy,” which, when coming out of singer Greg Puciato tree trunk of a frame, “I want your soul! I need your soul!” is far more stomach churning than when the wide-mouthed, CGI grin of Richard James says it in the video. Puciato joked towards the end of his set about how “Brent [Hinds, of Mastodon] may or may not come out during this song,” and that song-  “Horse Hunter” certainly sounded far better because of it after the red-bearded Hinds came out.  Before playing one last song- the band had three listed, but the fire marshal wasn’t having it, Puciato belted out one last scream, and hucked the mic stand into the center of the dust-covered crowd.

The Black Lips
This troupe Atlanta, GA ‘flower-punks’ jammed and jangled their way through a energetic and invigorating set of their signature drunken, merry-prankster-ed garage-rock tunes to the crowd of those that had stuck around (the metal kids had hit the road and anyone wanting to dance was over at Glass Candy). One of those bands that just sound that much better full of whatever kind of inebriants it is, the band made no attempt in hiding it; throwing cans into the air and batting at them with a guitar during song breaks, or giving the instrument a good ole-fashioned teeth-picking during track “O Katrina.” New tracks from their recent 200 Million Thousand, like single “Short Fuse” proved standouts, getting much of the crowd that was left jumping and dancing around like it was the ‘peace, love and understanding’ days all over again.

--Matt Draper

All photos used from the awesome Carl Johnson (pocketphotography) Check his FLICKR stream for more. 

(Above) The Dillinger Escape Plan cover Aphex Twin's "Come to Daddy" at FYF Fest '09.

(Updated 9.10.09 to include new photos by Carl Johnson) 

The Horrors are a busy band. This year alone, the UK fivesome worked with ex-Jesus and Mary Chain bassist Douglas Hart on a video, toured with The Kills and Nine Inch Nails on their ‘farewell’ dates in NYC and released one of the year’s best, most phenomenally-opaque attempts at a blend of garage rock and goth since the above-mentioned JAMC, that, in an icing-on-the-cake type of way, also reached number 25 on the UK Album charts and was nominated for a Mercury Prize. Phew.

With all this effervescent hype to go off, all of which is thoroughly deserved I might add, I headed to The El Rey in Los Angeles with high hopes of walking out in a few sort hours later having witnessed one of the year’s best shows. Making it to the venue a bit after the 8p.m. door time seemed to only add to the ever-growing pile of excitement that I had hoped this show would bring as I waited an hour until Costa Mesa surf-rockers Japanese Motors took the stage.

Japanese Motors
The last time I saw this foursome of tanned-up surf rockers, I was shuffling around New York’s October streets for the ’08 CMJ Festival. Under a 55-degree temperature haze, a song like “Single Fins and Safety Pins” with lyrics like “Come on down to the beach where the sun is shining, kick your shoes off and drink some wine,” became a like musical post card much in the same way The Beach Boys were (who no doubt sold records, at times, off their name alone). I remember liking the Japanese Motors then and realizing that one of the biggest things they had going for them musically, was their nostalgic take on simple, bouncy pop numbers.

Their Horrors support gig at The El Rey proved to be a far cry from the CMJ shows. Nothing really happened onstage- they played a safe set of songs, thanked the crowd and left. Shaggy-haired singer Al Knost who wore a tattered, white and blue all-over-print children’s sweater decorated with teddy bears, had a stage presence that resembled something of seminal UK-shoegazers Stone Roses' frontman Ian Brown; unassuming and jaded. Overall their set sounded like a cheesy, suntanned beach-party hangover of sorts, leaving me with a little sand in the ears that needing to be knocked out before I could continue the night.

The Horrors
Having seen only a few songs of The Horrors’ 2009 Coachella set, the idea of settling in to a close spot up front, beer in hand, seemed liked the only way to do this. The curtain raised and the filmic-swirl that is the first 1:30 of Primary Colours’ opener “Mirror’s Image” began to build to its drum roll bridge as singer Faris Badwan, dressed like the rest of the members, in tight-fitting black and white menswear; suits, skinny trousers and ties, slowly walked on stage.

Outright, The Horrors are aware of themselves and the power of their live show. There are no ‘warm up’ songs needed, no routine to settle into and certainly no on-stage banter between songs. From the start, the atmosphere was fixed and for the next hour. The room became filled with this wonderful, symphonic set of sonic density that bands like the above-mentioned JAMC or My Bloody Valentine have become famous for.

Romantic and crushing at the same time, standouts like “Who Can Say” with the sterile, almost “Love Will Tear Us Apart” similar synth line and the guitar-soaring track “Do You Remember” were, like their album counterparts, full of infectious, garage-rock charm and gothic gloom.

Amidst the swirling stage glow and the idiosyncratic playing, the night’s real spectacle centered on singer Badwan and his total progression as a frontman. From their debut Strange House days, where the primary goal seemed to excite and fright in an jolt of organ-soaked Cramps-styled blaze, Badwan has now grown up; commanding his stage and his band into something more than a fury of spastic blues-punk, but rather, into the expansive depths of a swirling, romantic abyss that begs to be recognized, studied and applauded.

It’s no wonder Trent Reznor called Primary Colours “the greatest thing I’ve heard in a long time.”

--Matt Draper

The Horrors performing "Who Can Say" at The El Rey in Los Angeles, CA 10.1.09