15 | June | 2015 | Heartbreaking Bravery

Bully – Live at Rough Trade – 6/15/15 (Pictorial Review, Live Video)

Earlier today I wasn’t planning on seeing any shows and was committed to exploring the surroundings of my new apartment (and working on the Miscreant piece) instead. A single tweet changed my entire course of action. All thanks are due to Bella Union’s Sally Hedberg for unexpectedly alerting me to a free in-store set at Rough Trade. I’d meant to catch Bully at one of their several Northside shows after spending the previous weeks fawning over their incredible Feels Like, a viable Album of the Year candidate. While I wasn’t able to attend any of those, I was able to make the easy quarter-mile walk to Rough Trade and salvaged what just hours ago had seemed like an egregious misfire.

After making my way to the front, Bully set in on a ferocious set that showcased guitarist/vocalist’s Alicia Bognanno’s vocals as much as it did the impressive overall musicality of the entire group. The rhythm section was locked in and the guitar work was incendiary but Bognanno has the kind of weaponized voice that’s impossible to override with anything else. Front and center, she led her band through a tightly controlled set that never took its foot of the gas pedal. By the time the band had torn through a set of fiery highlights, it was abundantly clear that their aim’s higher- and far more specific- than most bands venturing into major label territory. By retaining their artistic integrity and firing on every conceivable cylinder, they’re among the most promising acts of today- something further enhanced by their live show. All that’s left is to hope more bands follow their lead.

Photos and videos of their Rough Trade set can be viewed below. Feels Like can (and should) be pre-ordered here or picked up at Rough Trade NYC.

Miscreant Records Northside Showcase 2015 (Pictorial Review, Live Video)

While two days ago held the distinction of the first appearance of Montana and the Marvelles, that event only covered part of the day. An entire Miscreant showcase preceded those proceedings, providing a platform for several site favorites. Put together by Jeanette Wall and a team that she’d assembled around her, the day started with some delicious free food (there was a grillout in Palisades’ garden section) and strong sets from the first two bands: Comfy and O-Face. Both have a very specific take on indie pop and complement each other to a tee, immediately establishing a sense of comforting familiarity.

Nicholas Nicholas proved to be a relative anomaly among the otherwise punk-leaning bands, opting instead for a more subdued take on dream pop. Fern Mayo (a band fronted by A Year’s Worth of Memories contributor Katie Capri) set thing back to reflecting a greater urgency with an unexpectedly fiery set that managed to make room for an endearing Rilo Kiley cover. PWR BTTM annihilated just about everyone after a genuinely uproarious set by Mary Houlihan- one of several stand-ups to perform between bands- which roped in PWR BTTM’s Benjamin Walter Hopkins for a long guitar-driven bit involving a Bruce Springsteen concert that gave Houlihan a glimpse into something unexpected as a child.

Joe Pera bridged the gap between PWR BTTM and Jawbreaker Reunion– whose Lutheran Sisterhood Gun Club remains one of last year’s very best– with a memorable set that played off of the crowd to perfection. At one point, Pera haphazardly strapped Jawbreaker Reunion’s Bella Mazzetti’s bass on before proclaiming himself to be “supergroup Powerbreaker Reunion”, which bled into the final band’s introduction. Jawbreaker Reunion seized their headlining spot with a glee and dove headfirst into a ramshackle set with abandon, capping off an exceptional afternoon of friends, comedy, food, and live music.

Photos and videos of the showcase are below as well as two clips of Told Slant’s set at Silent Barn later on that night. Enjoy.