The boys are back, having worked hard on their upcoming follow-up to their ridiculously loaded debut album, Youth & Young Manhood. Titled Aha Shake Heartbreak and featuring a cover straight out of The Eagles’ boardroom [see below] and some new and enticing influences. You certainly can’t take the South out of the Followill brothers, but put them on tour with The Strokes and you’re bound to get some rub-offs. There are some definite Cars guitar styles going down on the new LP, as well as some hand-clapping and metronomic, hip-shaking drumming. Catch a listen on CDnow.com and their website before the LP drops on the 22nd of February.
Tickets for this highly-anticipated show go on sale TODAY, so get ‘em while they’re hot:
Full info:
KINGS OF LEON
Webster Hall
Wednesday, February 23
Doors: 7:30pm
$20 / 16+
Ticketweb phone: 866.468.7619
Bowery Presents Tickets
And catch their new video for the single, “Bucket”:
Bucket
[I don’t know about you, I’m hearing Strokes, Tom Petty, and a bit of Goo Goo Dolls in there, for better or worse… Hmmmm…]
Stabbed With A Vaguely Detached Edge
I, of course, can’t take credit for that great line. No, the credit lies within one of the finest songwriting bands in the City of New York, SPIELERFRAU. The band first caught my ear with their jazzy and ghostly lucid “Bela Lugosi’s Dead” (off of Scripted Banter). Their latest singles, “A Civilized Thing” and “Middlesex” don’t disappoint; both contain the same powerfully morboid styles of Michael Idov and company, and both too share an affinity for the power of well-scripted lyrics. A sample: “And as Piaf croaks Je Ne Regrette Rien/Well I’ve been there too/And I regret tout”. [Note: Drop your freedom fries, take a French lesson and buy Edith Piaf’s records].
Anyways, the band that LARS deems quite talented is showing off the goods tonight at Sin-E with some help from Doveman, The Savage Juliet, and ElodieO (who apparently is a “real” French chanteuse. As opposed to, say, all those fake ones running around Manhattan).
Spielerfrau – A Civilized Thing
Spielerfrau – A Civilized Thing Video
Spielerfrau – Middlesex
Doveman – Boy + Angel
The Savage Juliet – Sweet Benjamin
ElodieO – La Mer [Not to be confused with Charles Trenet’s classic, “La Mer”, which inspired Bobby Darin to write “Beyond The Sea”].
Kinky
I don’t know how much more I can say about THE SEXY MAGAZINES without being accused of running a covert fansite here. Suffice it to say, The Sexy Magazines bring the rock, particularly when they present their monster creation, SHINDIG, with The Art Shop Boys. Last time around, the event was a crazy success, and the band was this close to breaking about a hundred fire codes for crowds. This time around, I can’t even begin to prepare you for the crowd factor, because tonight is brining the otherworldly pairing of The Sexy Magazines with the VERY sexy FIVE O’CLOCK HEROES. I hasten to add that the latter are richly talented rockers, and their “Run To Her” has been ingrained in my head since the first listen. However, spend some one-on-one time with these boys and you’re doomed to become another victim of suave British/Brooklyn charm. Trust me on this one. But do they care about this nonsense? Of course not. They’re here to bring it, slap you silly with their rock. And that's what makes it awesome. Nonchalance is the muu-muu of our generation; everyone’s wearing some.
Joining these two killers are perennial NYC favorites, The GoStation, and a band that calls themselves Stalkers. Between The Killers and these guys, I can’t help but wonder whether I should start a Svengali-move and open a band called The Molesters. Or perhaps The Rapists…
[Photo taken at last Shindig by either Katy Winn or Kelsey Hall].
[Enough bad humor, more music]:
The Sexy Magazines – My Favorite Girl
The Sexy Magazines – Take Some Time
Download ‘Run To Her’ by The Five O’Clock Heroes now
The GoStation – Another Day
Rock Photo:
Lynyrd Skynyrd perform circa 1973-1975. Members are, from left: Allen Collins, Ronnie Van Zant, Gary Rossington, Ed King, Leon Wilkeson.
Taken by Neal Preston for CORBIS.
And if I say to you tomorrow/Take my hand, child, come with me-S.
