W♥M

Flashback: School of Seven Bells at 7th Street Entry, Minneapolis (13 Oct 2009)

SVIIB Setlist My Cabal Connjur White Elephant Coat Heart is Strange Iamundernodisguise Chain Bye Bye Bye Wired for Light I L U Half Asleep Depreciation Guild Setlist Sky Ghosts Crucify You November Blue Lily Trace Butterfly Kisses Heavy Eyes Dream About Me Read More School of Seven Bells School of Seven Bells (aka SVIIB) got their name from some PBS program about some "mythical South American pick-pocket academy", as mentioned on their their interview/music session on KCRW … Depreciation Guild Anyway, The Depreciation Guild played for about an hour and each song seems to build on the last song. Lots of guitars, and their second guitarist … Warpaint All-girls band Warpaint (guitarist Emily Kokal, bassist Jenny Lee Lindberg, drummer Stella Mozgawa, and guitarist Theresa Wayman ... all takes turn on vocals) has reunited earlier this year to record their new album Heads Up. …

Playing at the 7th Street in October 13, 2009, were all relatively new bands. In typical first album/first tour, School of Seven Bells played about 35-40 minutes and exhausted their entire catalog of songs … Not even an encore or cover shows were throw in to stretch out the time

My biggest regret was never able to see Warpaint again. I really loved their set and had always wanted to see them live again. Unfortunately every time they came back to Minneapolis/St Paul, I was not here or booked for another show.

>>>
I'm so glad I got a chance to catch School of Seven Bells on their recent tour. Opening up for them were two solid bands, Warpaint and The Depreciation Guild.

Warpaint

I actually quite enjoyed Warpaint , who wowed me with their melodic music as all three girls took turns singing their part. They seem like a lot of fun, and they seem really happy that a lot of people showed up early to see them play. I'll have to admit, 7th Street Entry was pretty packed that Tuesday night.

They opened up with their harmonizing cover version of "My Guy", which may sound a little outdated with such lyrics as "he's the cream of the crop" to rhyme with "I think he's tops". As soon as that song ended, they launched into an instrumental song, and continued for another thirty minutes. Setlist seems short, but all the songs I heard, I did like.

I'll have to find out more about them later, all I know is that they recently released an EP called Exquisite Corpse on the Manimal Vinyl label.

Depreciation Guild

In some ways, whoever put together this tour did a good job, because all the artists sound at least in the same kind of music genre. So, The Depreciation Guild sound more or less like the other band on the bill, a little shoegazey with sweet vocals by all very handsome young people on stage (certainly Depreciation had the best hair).

They borrowed some of their musical instruments from Warpaint and borrowed the movie projector-thing from School of Seven Bells. The movie of various colors and blocks played throughout their whole set.

I think all their live songs required some computerized help with the quirky noises, and for the most part it made their music more video gamey. Unfortunately, for one song, there was a hiccup when an unwanted looped noise continued to play onto the next song.

As you can see from their setlist, most of their songs are taken from their 2007 album In Her Gentle Jaws, which got a recent vinyl release (500 copies only) on Kanine Records. I think the future is in vinyl, so I was quite happy to see that all three bands here have continued to release music on this funky format.

SVIIB Setlist

When School of Seven Bells came on stage, after the intro song played on for about a minute, the lights on stage were turned off - save for the one lone red light that shined on Benjamin Curtis. I suppose it's to make the movie that were shown in the background to be more of the focus, but I suspect the twin girls might be shy if the spotlights are on them.

I think if I remembered correctly, that Claudia is the one on keyboard, which as it turned out is an Indigo keyboard. Both of the sisters are dressed in mostly black and, I think, Alejandra is in knee-high boots. I have photographs, but in poor light, it's not worth showing (and I'm too lazy to produce any drawing).

My favorite autotune song, "Chain", was played on their set - but it didn't sound 'tuned' live. Instead, there are stretches in the song that extended the song a bit. Other highlight from the show was probably their closer, "Half Asleep". They came back on for a one-song encore, but I don't remember what song it was.

They left a lot of eager fans who wanted more, especially the guy from Madison, Wisconsin, that wanted to have the girls record the call letters to Madison radio station (WSUM?).

Anyway, it looks like Ghostly is re-releasing their Alpinisms in a "deluxe" album on iTunes, so perhaps there'll be a real physical deluxe album release at Ghostly Records in the near future.

School of Seven Bells at 7th Street Entry, Minneapolis (13 Oct 2009) photo by Erik Hess

vu ([email protected]) ♥ weheartmusic.com ♥ facebook.com ♥ twitter.com/weheartmusic

Flashback: The Pains of Being Pure at Heart at Webster Hall, New York (03 Oct 2009)

Read More Pains of Being Pure at Heart Opening up for the show is one of our favorite bands, The Pains of Being Pure at Heart. We've been loving this band since 2007. … Depreciation Guild Anyway, The Depreciation Guild played for about an hour and each song seems to build on the last song. Lots of guitars, and their second guitarist …

Once again, Kate G is going to shows to see her favorite bands in New York. We’ve been writing about The Pains of Being Pure at Heart since 2007, and we’re happy to see how far they’ve come – playing with The New Pornographers in Nov 2014



>>>
The Pains of Being Pure at Heart, The Depreciation Guild at Webster Hall, New York (10/3/09)

Before the show, my astute friend was telling me about an evolved species of “bro” that is quickly infiltrating many concerts. Much like their forefathers, these bros are loud, obnoxious, and harbor a strong fondness for Keystone Light, but these neo-bros diverge from the pack by maintaining a level of enthusiasm for the music that is so fervent – you could even call it “pure.”

With that said, you can imagine the mixed bag that constituted the audience that night at Webster Hall. Opening band, The Depreciation Guild, played to a crowded, eager room even though it was only seven o’clock. Having seen them before, I knew that ear plugs would be handy since their brand of upbeat shoegaze is beautiful – but slightly deafening. Fronted by the Pains’ drummer, Kurt Feldman, the band had most of the audience swaying to their melodic songs, which all melded into one long, pleasantly loud medley. They played in front of a giant set of television screens that flickered technicolored squares the whole time, making their entire set feel like a dreamy music video, circa 1989. Somehow, I think that’s what they were going for.

My ears were still buzzing by the time the Pains took the stage. Fame (or at least, blog fame) has yet to change them, as they seem to have maintained all the buoyant liveliness and low-key charm from their early Cakeshop days. Lead singer Kip Berman and keyboardist Peggy Wang repeatedly thanked the audience in an almost stunned tone, and this awed disbelief of all their success was an endearing theme for most of the night.

Despite the size of the venue, it was a typical Pains show in every way: frenzied dancing, unbridled enthusiasm, and even some lame/awesome jokes (“Why can’t wizards have babies?” “Why?” “They have crystal balls!”) Opening with album favorites “This Love Is Fucking Right” and “Young Adult Friction,” the band had the audience singing along to every word – which is quite an achievement, considering how often indecipherable (in an adorable way!) Kip’s mumble tends to be. They played a few songs from their new EP, with tracks like “Higher Than the Stars” and “103” immediately winning fans over, and they even ended the night with the song that gave the band their infamously wordy name.

Having just finished an extensive tour, the band had all these songs –especially the LP ones—down flat, but at the same time, there was no denying their palpable energy, which easily translated to the crowd. As predicted, the neo-bros were in full force that night, but they were easily tolerated. I mean, it’s hard to hate someone who barks out the entire breakdown of “Young Adult Friction,” even if he does reek of Axe Body Spray.

The Pains of Being Pure at Heart: creating a world where neo-bros and pop kids can peacefully coexist, one infectious chorus at a time.

The Pains of Being Pure at Heart at Webster Hall, New York (03 Oct 2009) photo courtesy of greenshoelace

vu ([email protected]) ♥weheartmusic.com♥ facebook.com♥ twitter.com/weheartmusic

W♥M132: Shoegazing

W♥M132 (42 mins)

Shoegeezers Vu and Amy sit down to talk about Shoegazing/Shoegaze music.

Although "shoegazing" emerged from the UK in the late 80s, it wasn't until the early 90s, that the name really kicked into popularity because the UK music press (NME and Melody Maker) were using it to describe the bands and the audience for their tendencies to look at their feet at gigs.

This subgenre of alternative rock had some key elements: (1) Lots and lots of guitar effects and layers and (2) Indistinguishable vocal melodies that blend in the guitar noise

Bands on our list:

Slowdive (later Mojave 3)

Chapterhouse

My Bloody Valentine

Moose

Lush (early Lush)

Catherine Wheel

Fleeting Joys

Belong

DIIV (recently changed their name from Dive)

Twilight Sad

Ringo Deathstarr

Young Prisms

The Depreciation Guild

Song of the show is Catherine Wheel's "Black Metallic"

Just in time for the Kevin Shield's remastering of his My Bloody Valentine re-issues: Glider (Mar 27th), Ep's 1988 - 1991 (May 15th), Loveless (Jun 5th), and Isn't Anything (Jun 5th).

BONUS: Looper, not to be confused with the new Sci-Fi movie, but is the Scottish band that lived off "Mondo 77" for five years (thank you Tom Cruise), plus Dreampop and M83.

W♥M Radio is available on iTunes, please subscribe!

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Archive of this show at archive.org. More information on podomatic.com

vu () ♥ weheartmusic.com ♥ podcast.weheartmusic.com ♥ twitter.com/weheartmusic ♥ +W♥M

Serena Maneesh and Depreciation Guild at 7th Street Entry, Minneapolis (03/30/10)

Tour Dates 03/31/10 Bottom Lounge   Chicago, IL 04/01/10 Magic Stick  Detroit, MI 04/02/10 Great Hall Toronto, Ont 04/03/10 Il Motore Montreal, QB 04/04/10 T.T.  Cambridge, MA 04/05/10 Daniel Street  Milford, CT 04/06/10 Kung Fu Philadelphia, PA 04/07/10 DC9  Washington DC 04/08/10 Le Poisson Rouge NY 04/30/10 BergenFest, Hordaland 05/01/10 Tou Scene Stavanger 05/02/10 Kick Kristiansand, Vest-Agder 05/06/10 Rockefelle Oslo, Oslo 06/30/10 Hovefestivalen Tromøya 07/01/10 Roskilde Festival, Denmark 08/10/10 Øyafestivalen Oslo, Oslo Discography [2005] Serena Maneesh [2010] Abyss in B Minor

Walking around in downtown from my "secret" parking spot to 7th Street Entry, I noticed that not a lot of people and cars were out on this Tuesday evening... so I had this sudden fear that no one will show up tonight. But surprisingly there was a lot of people, at least more than I had expected, showed up early.

The Depreciation Guild - Stuck Pig

Since the last time The Depreciation Guild were here, they had a movie projector. I had concluded that they were just using the project as loan from School of Seven Bells, but still, the tiny 7th Street Entry's stage did not leave much room for such setup.

Their setlist was just as short as the last time, but the tracks were a little different from the 2009 set. With just the second song, main singer Kurt announced that it was a new song and not on their In Her Gentle Jaws album (which was released last year on Kanine Records). Perhaps the new song is from their forthcoming album Spirit Youth, to be released in May 2010?

They also explained that the roses decorating their stage was in honor of Serena Maneesh drummer's birthday.  It would be later announced that Tommy Akerholdt just turned 35 that day.

The Depreciation Guild - 7th Street Entry, Minneapolis (3/30/10)

Anyway, The Depreciation Guild played for about an hour and each song seems to build on the last song. Lots of guitars, and their second guitarist, Christoph is never seen standing still.

Also, I don't know if Christoph and Kurt are related, but standing next to each other, they look a bit alike - from hair to build to clothing.*

While their music is clashing guitars and wall of sounds, you should check out their debut EP called Nautilus, which seems to be inspired by lo-fi and SNES. It is available as a free download via 8bitpeoples.com.

Serena Maneesh - 7th Street Entry, Minneapolis (3/30/10)

Serena Maneesh is currently on tour for their 4AD record, Abyss in B Minor. As many music fans will know, a "4AD band" is generally a band that's shoegazing, since the label seems to only sign that kind of sound. Sure enough, there's some really ethereal songs on Serena Maneesh's setlist (particularly the slower song, "Don't Come Down"). The band is really good when they go really loud with loads of guitars.

Highlight of the show was either "Ayisha Abyss" or the closer "Blow Yr Brains in the Mourning Rain", the later features Emil Nikolaisen versus his shawl (the shawl was winning). Although, the band clearly demonstrated that they are great performers, their music is so loud and catchy, that I found myself just lost in dancing that I'm not paying attention to the craziness that's happening on stage.

Overall, the two bands were a nice match up, since both bands seems to live off the guitar noises and less worry about the vocals.

PS, bassist and sister of Emil, Hilma could easily double as a model (if she's not already a model).

* 3/31/10 11:38am: I am told that Christopher and the drummer are twins.

 03/31/2010 02:46:24 ♥ vu () ♥serena-maneesh.com ♥ myspace.com ♥ thedepreciationguild  

Marching Up

 

Field Music - Each Time Is A New Time

Field Music

What's coming up:

I asked to cover Field Music (official / myspace) because they are supporting The Clientele on this upcoming tour. Since I liked Clientele, it's assumed that I will enjoy Field Music.

Field Music are two brothers, Peter and David Brewis, out of Sunderland, England and just released a double album this year. I'm almost positive that they'll be playing quite a bit of those 20 new tracks on this tour, which they are kicking off in Minneapolis. If you're going to this show, come say hi!

03/15 - Cedar Cultural Center, Minneapolis, MN *
03/16 -High Noon Saloon, Madison, WI *
03/17 - Lincoln Hall, Chicago, IL *
03/18 - Blind Pig, Ann Arbor MI *
03/19 - Horseshoe Tavern, Toronto, ONT *
03/20 - Il Motore, Montreal, QC *
03/21 - Great Scott, Allston, MA *
03/23 - Bowery Ballroom, New York, NY *
03/26 - Cafe Du Nord, San Francisco, CA
03/27 - Bootleg Theatrer, Los Angeles, CA
03/29 - Casbah, San Diego, CA
04/01 - KCRW Morning Becomes Eclectic performance, Los Angeles, CA


* = w/ The Clientele

Las Rubias del Norte - Porque Te Vas

Las Rubias del Norte

Las Rubias del Norte (official / myspace) is a band based out of New York, and generally known for their Latina-music.

Co-found of Las Rubias del Norte (the blondes from the north), Olivier Conan explains: "We use Latin music a little bit like the rest of the world uses rock’n’roll, because before rock’n’roll, there was the clave." (the rhythmic pattern that is the heart of Afro-Cuban/Latin music)

It should be interesting to hear "the clave" in their songs, as they are on a tiny tour promoting their third album, Ziguala.

March 12, 2010 7:30 pm
Joe’s Pub – CD Release Party – New York, New York

March 31, 2010 8:00 pm
University of Dayton – Dayton, Ohio

April 1, 2010 8:00 pm
Morseland – Chicago, Illinois

April 2, 2010 8:00 pm
Legion Arts – Cedar Rapids, Iowa

April 3, 2010 8:00 pm
Cedar Cultural Center – Minneapolis, Minnesota

The Depreciation Guild - 7th Street, Minneapolis 10-13-09

The Depreciation Guild (myspace) are coming back to Minneapolis. I hope this time they turn up the lights....

They are promoting their new album, Spirit Youth to be out on May 18^th on Kanine Records, which singer Kurt Feldman explains is "is heavy but it’s not very shoegaze. The influence is there, but if you hear an actual 'shoegaze record', it doesn’t sound like us at all."

I'll keep that in mind at 7th Street.

3.17 - 3.20 SXSW
3.22 - Los Angeles, CA @ Troubadour
3.23 - SF, CA @ Bottom of the Hill
3.25 - Portland, OR @ Berbati's Pan
3.26 - Seattle, WA @ Triple Door
3.27 - Vancouver, BC @ Media Club
3.30 - Minneapolis, MN @ 7th Street Entry
3.31 - Chicago, IL @ Bottom Lounge
4.1 - Detroit @ Majestic Theatre
4.2 - Toronto, ON @ The Great Hall
4.3 - Montreal, QC @ Il Motore
4.4 - Cambridge, MA @ TT The Bears
4.5 - Milford, CT @ Daniel Street
4.6 - Philadelphia, PA @ Kung Fu Necktie
4.7 - Washington, DC @ DC9
4.8 - New York, NY @ Le Poisson Rouge

With Serena Maneesh

RX Bandits, Builders & The Butchers, Zechs Marquise Tour Promo

Zechs Marquise (myspace) is described as a "The Mars Volta sibling band". And fans of Mars Volta, and probalby At The Drive-In, should take note about this North American tour with RX Bandits and The Builders And The Butchers.

03/12 Dallas, TX @ Granada Theatre
03/13 San Antonio, TX @ White Rabbit
03/14 Austin, TX @ Emo's
03/16 New Orleans, LA @ House of Blues
03/18 Ft. Lauderdale, FL @ Culture Room
03/19 Orlando, FL @ The Social
03/20 Orlando, FL @ The Social
03/21 Atlanta, GA @ The Masquerade
03/23 Carrboro, NC @ Cat's Cradle
03/24 Washington D.C. @ Rock and Roll Hotel
03/25 New York, NY @ The Gramercy Theatre
03/26 New York, NY @ The Gramercy Theatre
03/27 New York, NY @ The Gramercy Theatre
03/28 Philadelphia, PA @ The TLA
03/29 New Haven, CT @ Toad's Place
03/30 Allston, MA @ Harper's Ferry *
03/31 Allston, MA @ Harper's Ferry
04/01 Montreal, QC @ Underworld
04/02 Toronto, ON @ The Mod Club
04/03 Detroit, MI @ Magic Stick
04/04 Chicago, IL @ The Bottom Lounge
04/05 Milwaukee, WI @ Turner Hall
04/06 Minneapolis, MN @ Triple Rock Social Club
04/08 Denver, CO @ The Marquis Theatre
04/09 Salt Lake City, UT @ In The Venue
04/10 Boise, ID @ The Venue
04/11 Seattle, WA @ El Corazon
04/12 Portland, OR @ Hawthorne Theatre
04/14 Orangevale, CA @ The Boardwalk
04/15 San Francisco, CA @ Slim's
04/22 Long Beach, CA @ Alex's Bar (w/ Lisa Papineau, Technology, Cast Spells) *
04/23 Pomona, CA @ The Glass House *
04/25 San Luis Obispo, CA @ Downtown Brewing Co. *

* Without The Builders And The Butchers

Here We Go Magic

Here We Go Magic (myspace) is celebrating their self-titled debut album on Western Vinyl by doing a national tour.

Secretly Canadian liked them so much that they've signed the band on their label, with a pending sophomore album coming soon. I have agreed to see them in Minneapolis, to hear their "unique sound".

I am going to see if we can attempt an interview, but judging from my busy schedule and the lack of time to listen to their album... we'll see how it goes.

In the meantime, they are touring all across the country, plus the UK later on:

Mar 13 2010 Rock n Roll Hotel  Washington DC Mar 14 2010 Local 506 Carrboro, North Carolina Mar 15 2010 The Earl Atlanta, Georgia Mar 17 2010 Little Radio Party @ Red Eyed Fly Austin, TX Mar 17 2010 Brooklyn Vegan @ Club DeVille Austin, TX Mar 19 2010 Ground Control Agency  Austin, TX Mar 19 2010 Lustre Pearl Austin, TX Mar 20 2010 Scoot Inn Austin, Texas Apr 5 2010 Jefferson Theater** Charlottesville, VA Apr 6 2010 Grey Eagle** Asheville, NC Apr 9 2010 The Social** Orlando, Florida Apr 10 2010 Jax Live** Jacksonville Apr 11 2010 Club Downunder** Tallahassee, FL Apr 12 2010 Republic New Orleans, LA Apr 13 2010 Walters on Washington** Houston, TX Apr 14 2010 The Independent** Austin, TX Apr 16 2010 The Clubhouse** Phoenix, Arizona Apr 20 2010 Urban Lounge** Salt Lake City, Utah Apr 21 2010 Fox Theater** Boulder, Colorado Apr 23 2010 Varsity Theater Minneapolis, MN Apr 24 2010 High Noon Saloon** Madison, WI Apr 25 2010 Metro** Chicago Apr 26 2010 Radio Radio** Indianapolis, Indiana

Apr 27 2010 Lee’s Palace** Toronto, Ontario Apr 28 2010 Petit Campus** Montreal, Quebec Apr 29 2010 Iron Horse Nothampton, MA Apr 30 2010 Maxwell’s Hoboken, New Jersey May 1 2010 Paradise Rock Club** Boston, MA May 14 2010 The Great Escape Festival Brighton May 15 2010 The Great Escape Festival Brighton May 18 2010 The Lexington London May 19 2010 Electric Ballroom* London May 20 2010 Liverpool Sound City Festival Kazimier May 21 2010 Magnet* Berlin May 22 2010 Molotow* Hamburg May 23 2010 Melkweg* Amsterdam May 25 2010 Orangerie* Brussels May 26 2010 La Maroquinerie* Paris May 27 2010 Cafe Rex* Toulouse May 28 2010 Primavera Sound Barcelona Jun 10 2010 Bonnaroo Music Manchester, TN Jul 18 2010 Pitchfork Music Festival Chicago Sep 11 2010 Bestival Isle of Wight * w/ The New Pornographers ** w/ White Rabbits

 03/11/2010 11:57:26 ♥ vu () ♥weheartmusic.com♥twitter.com/weheartmusic♥news.weheartmusic.com

School of Seven Bells at 7th Street Entry, Minneapolis (10/13/09)

School of Seven Bells-Chain School of Seven Bells    School of Seven Bells Setlist ♥ 7th    Street Entry, Minneapolis (10/13/09) Tour Dates 10/15/09 Lee’s Palace Toronto, ON 10/16/09 Pearl St Nightclb Northampton, MA 10/17/09 Paradise Boston, MA 10/23/09 Williamsburg Brooklyn, NY Read More School of Seven Bells http://weheartmus... School of Seven Bells (aka SVIIB) got their name from some PBS program about some "mythical South...

I'm so glad I got a chance to catch School of Seven Bells on their recent tour. Opening up for them were two solid bands, Warpaint and The Depreciation Guild.

Warpaint ♥ 7th Street Entry, Minneapolis (10/13/09)

I actually quite enjoyed Warpaint (myspace), who wowed me with their melodic music as all three girls took turns singing their part. They seem like a lot of fun, and they seem really happy that a lot of people showed up early to see them play. I'll have to admit, 7th Street Entry was pretty packed that Tuesday night.

They opened up with their harmonizing cover version of "My Guy", which may sound a little outdated with such lyrics as "he's the cream of the crop" to rhyme with "I think he's tops". As soon as that song ended, they launched into an instrumental song, and continued for another thirty minutes. Setlist seems short, but all the songs I heard, I did like.

I'll have to find out more about them later, all I know is that they recently released an EP called Exquisite Corpse on the Manimal Vinyl label.

The Depreciation Guild ♥ 7th Street Entry, Minneapolis (10/13/09) The Depreciation Guild Setlist ♥ 7th Street Entry, Minneapolis (10/13/09)

In some ways, whoever put together this tour did a good job, because all the artists sound at least in the same kind of music genre. So, The Depreciation Guild (official / myspace) sound more or less like the other band on the bill, a little shoegazey with sweet vocals by all very handsome young people on stage (certainly Depreciation had the best hair).

They borrowed some of their musical instruments from Warpaint and borrowed the movie projector-thing from School of Seven Bells. The movie of various colors and blocks played throughout their whole set.

I think all their live songs required some computerized help with the quirky noises, and for the most part it made their music more video gamey. Unfortunately, for one song, there was a hiccup when an unwanted looped noise continued to play onto the next song.

As you can see from their setlist, most of their songs are taken from their 2007 album In Her Gentle Jaws, which got a recent vinyl release (500 copies only) on Kanine Records. I think the future is in vinyl, so I was quite happy to see that all three bands here have continued to release music on this funky format.

When School of Seven Bells came on stage, after the intro song played on for about a minute, the lights on stage were turned off - save for the one lone red light that shined on Benjamin Curtis. I suppose it's to make the movie that were shown in the background to be more of the focus, but I suspect the twin girls might be shy if the spotlights are on them.

I think if I remembered correctly, that Claudia is the one on keyboard, which as it turned out is an Indigo keyboard. Both of the sisters are dressed in mostly black and, I think, Alejandra is in knee-high boots. I have photographs, but in poor light, it's not worth showing (and I'm too lazy to produce any drawing).

My favorite autotune song, "Chain", was played on their set - but it didn't sound 'tuned' live. Instead, there are stretches in the song that extended the song a bit. Other highlight from the show was probably their closer, "Half Asleep". They came back on for a one-song encore, but I don't remember what song it was.

They left a lot of eager fans who wanted more, especially the guy from Madison, Wisconsin, that wanted to have the girls record the call letters to Madison radio station (WSUM?).

Anyway, it looks like Ghostly is re-releasing their Alpinisms in a "deluxe" album on iTunes, so perhaps there'll be a real physical deluxe album release at Ghostly Records in the near future.

 10/15/2009 01:04:54 ♥ vu () schoolofsevenbells.com ♥ myspace.com/schoolofsevenbells 

The Pains of Being Pure at Heart, The Depreciation Guild at Webster Hall, New York (10/3/09)

Doing All the Things That Wouldn't Make Your Parents Proud The Pains Of Being Pure At Heart              The Pains of Being Pure at              Heart at The Depreciation              Guild at Webster Hall, NY              (10/3/09) ♥ photo by Hannah Tour Dates 10/18/09 Artists For Humanity Boston, MA 11/17/09 Bikini Barcelona 11/18/09 Circo Price Madrid 11/19/09 Tinglado 2 Valencia 11/20/09 Santana 27 Bilbao 11/21/09 Confort Moderne Poitiers 11/22/09 Point Ephemere Paris 11/28/09 Reverence @ ICA London 11/30/09 Thekla Bristol 12/01/09 Academy 2 Liverpool 12/02/09 Academy 2 Newcastle 12/03/09 Stereo Glasgow 12/04/09 Academy 2 Manchester 12/05/09 Academy 2 Birmingham Discography [Aug 2007] The Pains of Being Pure at Heart EP [Oct 2008] Everything With You (Single) [Feb 2009] The Pains of Being Pure at Heart [Mar 2009] Young Adult Friction (Single) [Sep 2009] Come Saturday (Single) [Sep 2009] Higher Than the Stars EP Read More The Pains Of Being Pure At Heart http://weheartmus... If you're into noisy indie-pop, you will probably like The Pains Of Being Pure At Heart. On the s...

The Pains of Being Pure at Heart, The Depreciation Guild at Webster Hall, New York (10/3/09)

Before the show, my astute friend was telling me about an evolved species of “bro” that is quickly infiltrating many concerts. Much like their forefathers, these bros are loud, obnoxious, and harbor a strong fondness for Keystone Light, but these neo-bros diverge from the pack by maintaining a level of enthusiasm for the music that is so fervent – you could even call it “pure.”

With that said, you can imagine the mixed bag that constituted the audience that night at Webster Hall. Opening band, The Depreciation Guild, played to a crowded, eager room even though it was only seven o’clock. Having seen them before, I knew that ear plugs would be handy since their brand of upbeat shoegaze is beautiful – but slightly deafening. Fronted by the Pains’ drummer, Kurt Feldman, the band had most of the audience swaying to their melodic songs, which all melded into one long, pleasantly loud medley. They played in front of a giant set of television screens that flickered technicolored squares the whole time, making their entire set feel like a dreamy music video, circa 1989. Somehow, I think that’s what they were going for.

My ears were still buzzing by the time the Pains took the stage. Fame (or at least, blog fame) has yet to change them, as they seem to have maintained all the buoyant liveliness and low-key charm from their early Cakeshop days. Lead singer Kip Berman and keyboardist Peggy Wang repeatedly thanked the audience in an almost stunned tone, and this awed disbelief of all their success was an endearing theme for most of the night.

Higher Than The Stars       The Pains of Being Pure       at Heart at The Depreciation       Guild at Webster Hall, NY      (10/3/09)♥photo by Hannah

Despite the size of the venue, it was a typical Pains show in every way: frenzied dancing, unbridled enthusiasm, and even some lame/awesome jokes (“Why can’t wizards have babies?” “Why?” “They have crystal balls!”) Opening with album favorites “This Love Is Fucking Right” and “Young Adult Friction,” the band had the audience singing along to every word – which is quite an achievement, considering how often indecipherable (in an adorable way!) Kip’s mumble tends to be. They played a few songs from their new EP, with tracks like “Higher Than the Stars” and “103” immediately winning fans over, and they even ended the night with the song that gave the band their infamously wordy name.

Having just finished an extensive tour, the band had all these songs –especially the LP ones—down flat, but at the same time, there was no denying their palpable energy, which easily translated to the crowd. As predicted, the neo-bros were in full force that night, but they were easily tolerated. I mean, it’s hard to hate someone who barks out the entire breakdown of “Young Adult Friction,” even if he does reek of Axe Body Spray.

The Pains of Being Pure at Heart: creating a world where neo-bros and pop kids can peacefully coexist, one infectious chorus at a time.

 10/05/2009 21:12:48 ♥ kateg () ♥ thepainsofbeingpureatheart.com ♥ myspace.com