Live review: Courtney Barnett played Bowery Ballroom

Originally posted on Free Williamsburg HERE.

It's probably fair to say that Courtney Barnett was the hottest ticket in town this week, and she duly delivered when I saw her at the Bowery on Tuesday.

Opener Darren Hanlon performed a sometimes humorous and often sweet folk set, his bio says he lived in Oxford for a year in 2005 and I have a nagging feeling I've seen him play before. Songs like I Wish That I Was Beautiful For You snuggled alongside tunes about public transport woes.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?t=15&v=jhygmCs967g

Seattle's Chastity Belt followed shortly after and played a fairly relaxed set that got everyone swaying. It came across a little more politely than what I was expecting, which I think was mostly down to drummer Gretchen Grimm's delicate style, that ended up as a plus point as the band warmed up.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EB2oPAZzAsI

These shows had been sold out for some time and there seemed to be excitement and curiosity building in equal amounts among the crowd. I've been enjoying her record, Sometimes I Sit And Think, Sometimes I Just Sit, but the songs come into their own when performed live. While the band may have somewhat of a slacker demeanor to them, the trio are a tight unit and play with more power than their recorded counterparts. Drummer Dave Mudie and bassist Bones Sloane offer backing vocals and are an integral part of the show, though most eyes in the house are on Barnett, this is a power trio in action.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=o-nr1nNC3ds

The audience are more than appreciative but perhaps a little quiet, which seems to take the band by surprise at times, but mention it's better than hearing people talking in the audience (I concur!). Whether performing rockers like Elevator Operator or the singer/songwriter Depreston,  there's a certain magnetism in the air.

Courtney plays the first song of the encore solo, performing a cover of one of my favourite Lemonheads songs, Being Around. In fact Courtney's music is probably fairly described as somewhere between that song and the other cover of the night, The Breeders' Cannonball. 

If anyone was there simply to see what the fuss was about, they surely left converted. After 3 sold out nights at the Bowery, Courtney is making the step up (in terms of capacity anyway) to Terminal 5 with a show in July, which also features Speedy Ortiz and Torres. Tickets are on sale now.

Minor Alps played Bowery Ballroom

This is a repost of a review of mine of My Social List. Original article here.

Minor Alps delighted fans at the Bowery on the 20th of November with a low-key acoustic set and what must be one of the most natural pairings in the music world: indie heavyweights Juliana Hatfield and Matthew Caws of Nada Surf.

Their record, Get There (on Barsuk Records), sounds just like what you would imagine if you put the two of them in a room together. The songs are immaculate, with melodies that are instantly gratifying but also get stronger with each listen and their voices combine perfectly. Take for example, lead single, I Don't Know What To Do With My Hands. Minor Alps is not the first time the pair have collaborated. They opened the night with a Nada Surf song that Juliana guested on, I Wanna Take You Home, which appeared on the bonus disc of their album, Lucky. Later in the set, the roles would be reversed with Such a Beautiful Girl, a song from Hatfield's 2008 record, How to Walk Alone, which featured Matthew Caws.
  Over the course of the night, most of Get There was played and we were also treated to some of Juliana's songs such as Candy Wrappers, Live on Tomorrow & June the 6th, as well as Nada Surf classics Inside of Love, Beautiful Beat, The Moon is Calling, The Way You Wear Your Head & Fruit Fly. I waxed lyrical about Nada Surf just a couple of days ago, of course. They also threw in a couple of covers, including The Everly Brothers' When Will I Be Loved.
 The acoustic format was refreshing, many of the songs on the record are recorded with a full electric band, but stripping the songs back gave them extra space to breathe and also reveal additional nuances.


Sylvan Esso opened the night and were an interesting electro-dance duo, although I found  that I lost interest in their set after a few songs as it became a bit samey. I'm sure they'd have gone down well at the recent Brooklyn Electronic Music Festival.

This was essentially a hometown show and it certainly had that vibe. Matthew is from New York and noted that his family are always watching from the balcony when he plays the Bowery, which he clearly has a lot of love for, Nada Surf always seem to play here (including two incredible shows in December 2012.) Side-projects and collaborations don't always work out, but Minor Alps seem to effortlessly combine the talents of both songwriters with an equal footing. It can be hard to gauge the longevity of these things but with one of the best and most understated records of the year under their belt and an obvious onstage chemistry, I certainly hope for more in the future.

The Men - New Moon album + Bowery Ballroom review

The Men have described New Moon as "their most intensely personal album" and they certainly serve up both an enchanting and complex record that will demand effort from any listener.

The record opens with a low-key country number, Open the Door before we're served up a double whammy of raucous Americana-like workouts with Half Angel Half Light followed by Without a Face. It's as if someone ripped up the country-rock rule book, sped things up and turned all the amps up to 11, like someone held a gun to Tom Petty's head and told him to put together a real fucking rock and roll record by the morning or they would blow his brains out (note - this record does not sound like Tom Petty...), the songs are raw and haven't been laboured over. There's definitely a Neil Young and Crazy Horse vibe on some of the songs, like I Saw Her Face, which would fit seamlessly onto Zuma, complete with raging guitar solo. 

High and Lonesome gives us a couple of minutes to catch our breaths and reflect with a forlorn slide guitar taking centre stage. It isn't long before before you're caught up in another whirlwind, as The Brass does its best to melt your brain.

Lead single, Electric, is probably closest the band come to sounding like previous record, Open Your Heart.

The album closes with Supermoon, which features more of that crazy, crashing and burning wig-out that that gives your brain a real workout, not in a look at us type way, just a band that is pushing themselves to their very limit, dragging the listener along with them whether they like it or not. The only thing missing is an actual kitchen sink! I haven't been left reeling like this by a closing song in a long time, while the band may have gone in a slightly more traditional direction they have not substituted any of their intensity and in some ways have even upped it, they have to play even harder in this setup. For me, New Moon is the strongest record of 2013 so far. 

I managed to pick up bonus EP, Campfire Songs at their record release show, a 5 song set, which sounds like the title suggests, a bunch of guys sat around a campfire with acoustic guitars. It's a lovely accompaniment to the record, the vocals are distant, almost demo-like. 

At their sold-out Bowery Ballroom show, openers Parquet Courts impressed me greatly, I had listened to their record, Light Up Gold, which did pass me by a little bit but off the back of their support slot I will certainly revisit. 

Nude Beach were also on the bill, who I had seen the previous night supporting The Babies at the Knitting Factory, they play an unashamed retro garage rock that is infectious, thankfully that night they played their best song, Some Kinda Love, which they hadn't played the night before.

This was the first time I had seen The Men, and they do not excel at subtlety! It must be a difficult job to get the sound right when you've got 5 guys going full-on all the time, the vocals were way too low in the mix but aside from that small complaint the band absolutely rifled through their set, even the slow numbers seemed to give little respite.

The set was obviously tilted towards the new material, but we still got a smattering of material from the previous two records, the venue erupted when they stormed through Open Your Heart, in particular. They are an impressive live act, and I'll certainly be hoping to catch them again now that I've had a chance to immerse myself in the album.