Friday, April 11, 10pm, $2-$8
Shock and Awe: "The Runway" Afterparty



Wednesday, April 16, 9pm, $12/$14
Islands



In this accelerated media-driven world we inhabit, bands can turn from Beatles to Wings in a mere fraction of the time previously required. It’s like bands go through their careers at hyperspace speeds in some space-aged, Ron Popeil-branded, time-saving apparatus. Set it and forget it! Such is the case with Montreal’s Islands, whose core members once made up two-thirds of the Unicorns, the avant-popsters that incited many a calloused digit within the blogosphere. With Islands’ Return to the Sea, Nick Diamonds and J’aime Tambeur are no less quirky than in their former incarnation, but the tracks are often snappier sing-alongs, easy to digest after one listen but infused with enough intricate nuances to maintain long-term appeal. "Rough Gem" opens with a swooning synth line that recalls the Cyndi Lauper/Prince collabo, "When You Were Mine," with all of the same cheeky sentiment: "I’m a rough gem!" Diamonds exclaims. But, for the more adventurous, there are trippy progged-out moments like the Police-on-peyote romp "Where There’s a Will There’s a Whalebone" and the "Me & Julio"-style picnic ditty "Jogging Gorgeous Summer."(spin.com)



Saturday, April 19, 10pm, $5
Communist Party feat. Mochipet



Tuesday, April 22, 9pm, $8
Ecstatic Sunshine, Cex, Zs



http://www.myspace.com/ecstaticsunshine

Friday, April 25, 9pm, $10
Dead Meadow, Chylde





Wednesday, April 30, 9pm, $15
Tokyo Police Club





Thursday, May 1, 9pm
Singer, Cloudland Canyon, Victory Light Black Honey



http://www.myspace.com/singertheband
www.myspace.com/victorylightblackhoney

"CLOUDLAND CANYON Requiems Der Natur 2002-2004(Tee Pee) cd 16.98 This record totally knocked us for a loop. And the thing is, I'm not entirely sure we can explain why. This is one of those rare records that is darn near indescribable. The label suggest Cloudland Canyon would appeal to fans of Boards of Canada, Animal Collective, The Dead C., Ash Ra Tempel, This Heat, Gong, most of which we can definitely see (maybe not the Boards Of Canada), there is a definitely a far out krautrock vibe, some classic long lost, extra damaged super freaked out sixties or seventies psychedelia, but filtered through modern technology. It's almost like some super computer a million years in the future began picking up these strange transmissions from the old Earth, German Oak, Faust, Amon Duul, but after traveling billions of miles and being interpreted by some alien machinery, those songs and sounds came out sounding, well, completely fucking nuts!!! It's like some sort of laptopped Dead C / Ash Ra mash up. Rich clouds of metallic shimmer surround looped guitars, creepy chanted vocals are submerged in demented spacey FX, dense deconstructed pop songs emerge from the chaos, rife with swirling vocals, and layer after layer of drone and processed harmonies, fuzzy shopping mall synth warbles beneath straining lo-fi vocals, the whole thing run through some intense stereo panning. Suddenly the band burst into some stomping propulsive psych rock jangle before the whole thing splinters into a gorgeous expanse of tranquil ambience, beneath delicately finger picked guitars, everything always within a cloud of mysterious sonic events. Dense cinematic soundscapes of keening high end and minor key pizzicato strings melt into super fuzzed out classic rock jams, with horns and pulsing basslines, but buried in a dense swirl of My Bloody Valentine haze, with relentlessly squiggly riffing, buried vocals, a dizzying array of chaotic sound, tinkling chimes and little bits of percussion. Strange collages of warped warbly sound drift into weird seventies circusy prog with calliope like organ, moody riffing, and awesome male / female vocals, like some totally drug drenched unhinged Fleetwood Mac. Nearing the end of the sonic journey, the record devolves into huge stretches of squiggly analog synth, tangled and intertwined into fuzzy warped low end drones, squirming and buzzing with the different layers constantly shifting and slipping in and out and around each other. Woah. Gorgeously and incredibly fucked. And thus completely recommended!!"--Aquarius Records

Saturday, May 3, 9pm, FREE
Ladyhawk

Sunday, May 4, 9pm, $12/$14
Caribou, Fuck Buttons



The Canadian one man band (at least in the studio) Caribou has always equally embraced indie pop and electronica in his music making. His latest ep on Merge marks a bit of a shift in the balance. Melody Day is the least electronica and most indie pop of any if his recordings to date. Still very soft and pretty, but this time Dan Snaith has opted for Flaming Lips meets Polyphonic Spree swirling luscious pop stylings. Particularly w/ angelic group vocals that sound like a children's chorus. One of the best records releases in 2007.



Saturday, May 17, 9pm
Josh Abrams (of Town & Country), David Daniell

Wednesday, May 21, 9pm
Joe Lally (of Fugazi)

Sunday, May 25, 9pm
The Helio

Friday, June 6, 9pm
Adam Green (of Moldy Peaches)

Saturday, July 19, 9pm
Pissed Jeans



Since 2004 the Jeans have spent many a night playing in their hometown, no-rules hellhole, Allentown’s legendary Jeff the Pigeon (RIP). Their first single, “Throbbing Organ” and album, Shallow (both on Parts Unknown) set many self-styled punk scholars’ hearts a-flutter. Songs like “Ugly Twin” sent jaws floor-ward by including a plaintive piano part in a bruiser of a song. Such touches abound on Hope for Men. The album is diverse, but the Jeans ain’t no dilettantes. Mixing volatility with humor is a damned hard thing to master in music. Pissed Jeans do it with smarts and poignancy. Consider the bar raised. (Sub Pop)