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August 26, 2015

Exploding In Sound’s Extended Weekend: Days 1 & 2 (Pictorial Review, Live Video)

It’s not even close to a secret that this site has harbored an excessive amount of love for Exploding In Sound, a DIY label that focuses on forward-thinking acts that have roots that run deep in late 80’s and early 90’s alternative punk scenes. Over the years, they’ve amassed a deeply impressive roster of acts that consistently garner critical acclaim, effectively rendering the label one of today’s leading taste-makers in music that frequently aims for left-of-center and connects with conviction. If anyone’s earned an extended weekend celebration that serves a dual purpose as a showcase, it’s Exploding In Sound- and that’s exactly what they’ve just done.

Over five days in Brooklyn and Boston, the cities where the vast majority of the label’s acts are based, the label hosted five packed shows. While I wish I could have caught all of them, I only managed to take in the first two- both of which reaffirmed my adoration for the work the label- selflessly run by Dan Goldin- is doing. The run of shows started on June 20th at Baby’s All Right with a characteristically stacked lineup that included a variety of site favorites: Washer, Two Inch Astronaut, Grass Is Green, Pile, and Porches.

Every single band that took the stage at Baby’s laid their hearts on the line, playing with an unusual vigor that suggested they were doing all they could to make the label proud. That commitment wasn’t the only recurring thread either; nearly every single band played a new song or a song that hadn’t found official release (a trend that would continue to the next night’s showcase at Palisades). Washer got things started with a ferocious set that leaned heavily on new/unreleased material but still allowed “Joe“, one of 2015’s strongest highlight, to close their time out. Two Inch Astronaut followed in a similar manner, almost exclusively playing songs from their forthcoming record (which is being recorded right now) and locking into off-kilter grooves so tightly that their precision was nearly unsettling.

Grass Is Green re-emerged after a long dormant period, likely due to guitarist Devin McKnight’s commitment to two other acts affiliated with Exploding In Sound (Philadelphia Collins and Speedy Ortiz) and started slow but worked themselves into a fervor. After finding their strengths in the barbed dynamics and unrelenting guitar attack, the songs went from sounding placated to downright vicious and it was a thrilling transformation to watch unfold. It also set the stage for what was arguably the evening’s main draw: Pile. Last fall, I had the distinct pleasure of seeing Pile in Chicago while they toured on the 7″ that wound up topping this site’s list for the format and, as a result, knew exactly what the band were capable of delivering. Or at least I thought I did, until Pile went ahead and exceeded those expectations.

Over the course of what felt like a headlining set, Pile managed to whip the previously gentle crowd into a mad frenzy, with several people in the front having to brace themselves by pushing back on the stage to create a supportive balance. As the band had before- and as it always does on record anyway- “Special Snowflakes” (an easy contender for song of the decade) sent chills running down my spine on more than a few occasions, as did You’re Better Than This highlight “Mr. Fish“. By the time the band was signaled offstage, the majority of the crowd was in a state of rapture. Porches. brought the first night to a graceful close in a hail of light effects, their signature brand of pop (light and sensual), and conviction. All of the songs they teased from their forthcoming record easily ranked among their best work and as they were packing up, the entire room seemed more than a little satisfied.

The second night, held at Palisades, felt a little truer to the label’s grimier sensibilities and a DIY ethos was on full display throughout the night. To kick things off, Exploding In Sound presented one of their better coups: Palm. After Palm’s revelatory set at DBTS a few months back, anything less than spectacular would have been a disappointment but the band seemed even more masterful this time around, immediately eliminating any doubts. A live band through and through, they navigated every hairpin shift with an uncanny togetherness that bordered the telepathic. Unsurprisingly, it was a crowd-pleasing start and things only got more intense going forward.

Stove, a band born out of the ashes of Ovlov, took the stage next. While the current iteration of Stove features Washer as their rhythm section, the sound (understandably) veers closer to where Ovlov left off. With Steve Hartlett in command once again, the quarter offered up enough riches to constitute a treasure, from the micropop of “Stupider” to the sprawling track contained in the video embed beneath this post’s photo gallery. With several plans for a release (or a handful of releases) in the works, the band played like it was fighting for its life, providing for more than a few moments of genuine exhilaration. Towards the end of the set, Hartlett also ceded the spotlight to Washer, who played one of their songs with the benefit of a dual-guitar attack surrounding them in bass/vocals/drums mode. The set wound up being one of the strongest highlights of either night and all but guaranteed Stove as a name that will be appearing with an alarming regularity in the near future.

Hot off of a US tour with Basement in support of an extraordinary 7″, LVL UP took to the stage with an unparalleled hunger and seemed extremely intent on proving their worth. Opening with the live debut of a monstrous behemoth of a new song (again, included in the video embed below the photo gallery) that segued straight into “Ski Vacation” left most of Palisades sold out audience breathless- and likely more than a little speechless. Keeping up a pace that was dangerously close to reckless provided a handful of reminders of why the quartet’s become one of this site’s most celebrated bands. Even putting aside the top ranking that Hoodwink’d earned last year, the band continues to occupy a very niche space in an already niche pocket that directly correlates with what this site was designed to support. All of their best qualities were brought to the forefront on the Palisades stage and by the time everyone’s clothes had grown a shade or two darker in the sweltering heat of the venue, LVL UP had managed the impossible and endeared themselves even further to an already adoring crowd.

After a set that felt genuinely huge despite a mid-bill placing, it would be tough for most acts to follow up with anything worth remembering- but most acts aren’t Big Ups (a band whose shirts were being proudly worn by a few members of the bands playing the show). Of the 10 bands that played the first two nights, this was the one I was most excited to see, having never previously caught a set in person despite praising their live show a number of times via Watch This. Animalistic in nature and deeply impassioned in the throes of execution, Big Ups’ live show is nothing short of incendiary. Pair it with an obscenely strong discography that includes Eighteen Hours of Static, one of 2014’s finest releases, and the band’s a veritable Molotov cocktail. Tension and release, whisper and explosion, the band balances volatile dichotomies with ease and constantly hits their mark. A magnetic live presence carries them to the pantheon of today’s greatest live acts with ease and their set was a perfect example of how much they’re able to coax out of decidedly minimal trappings. By the time the quartet was letting their final bursts of feedback draw back to silence, they’d comfortably delivered another powerhouse set that would put most other bands to shame.

With all four bands racketing up the evening’s consistency level, a lot of pressure can fall on a headlining act. Then again, Exploding In Sound’s resources are surprisingly vast and its talent pool runs extraordinarily deep. Those resources and that talent pool also include Krill, who have steadily amassed a cult following and are enjoying a period of heightened interest and universal acclaim following their excellent A Distant Fist Unclenching. The trio had been in excellent form on both occasions I was fortunate enough to catch one of their shows earlier on in the year but something about this particular set felt different. The band’s been slowly working on new material as some of the members move from Boston to NYC and they used the occasion to showcase some of what they’ve been shaping while making sure to make enough space for recent career highlights like “Torturer” (their opener), “Brain Problem“, and “Tiger” (their closer). At one point, for a brief run of song, bassist/vocalist Jonah Furman swapped out his bass for a guitar (one that was immediately put through a rigorous effects setup) to add a new depth and several more layers of dimension to the band’s already impressive dynamic approach. In all, the set played like a greatest hits victory lap, with the band playing in a manner that felt deeply impassioned and incredibly alive. A triumph from start to finish, the band went above and beyond exceedingly high expectations to guarantee everyone that their headliner placement was the correct call.

Ten great bands, two great venues, and one incredible label all came together over the course of two days to create and support something that felt inherently special, something bigger than any one of its individual parts. A sense of camaraderie was constantly present, musicians from other internationally acclaimed bands drove several hours to see some of these shows and all of the most uplifting, prevalent themes seem to have carried all the way through the five-day weekend. While I can’t definitively speak to the final three nights, the first two reinforced every aspect of what makes Exploding In Sound such an incredible cultural institution. On top of all that, these first two nights felt like so much more than a night out with good friends listening to great music; this was something that had historical value. As is always the case with any of Exploding In Sound’s projects, it was an honor and a privilege to watch it in motion.

View a photo gallery of the show here and a video containing performances from each of the bands that played at Palisades. Enjoy.

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August 18, 2015

Quarterbacks – Live at Baby’s All Right – 8/13/15 (Pictorial Review, Live Video)

Four bands that have been featured on this site before filed into Baby’s All Right last Thursday and saw the Brooklyn venue nearing capacity once again. Site favorites Jawbreaker Reunion got things off to a strong start with a set that leaned heavily on some genuinely great unreleased material but still made room for a few cuts off of Lutheran Sisterhood Gun Club (one of this site’s picks for the best albums of 2014 list). Every song in the band’s set was played with an unwavering passion (a recurring theme throughout the night) that makes them one of the more exciting live prospects currently playing out.

Sitcom, the solo project of Jake Lazovick, was playing without the full band that had previously accompanied him leading up to his stop at Baby’s- the last show of the band’s tour with Bellows- but gained another musician for the evening. Sitcom’s songs are acutely observed tales of existence that gained a sharp edge when presented in the decidedly minimal trappings. Lazovick’s stray-dog vocals and genuine pathos (something balanced out by Lazovick’s sharp-witted banter) made the performance feel utterly human on top of an already strong sense of intimacy. Captivating in it’s own right, it also wound up being the perfect lead-in to Bellows.

The Oliver Kalb-led project’s been a staple of The Epoch for years (something Kalb wrote about in great detail for our A Year’s Worth of Memories series) and has recently started coming into its own. As evidenced by the band’s excellent Tiny Desk session, there’s a fiercer connection at the crux of the group than usual, probably thanks in part to their involvement with each other’s other bands (a congratulations is due to Bellows’ keyboardist/vocalist Gabrielle Smith, whose Eskimeaux project was recognized by Rolling Stone earlier today). This was my first trip to see Bellows and while I’d been lightly familiarized with the band’s live show, nothing could have prepared me for the grounded ferocity of the band’s set.

From the first song onward, the band frequently dipped into a startling heaviness that the recorded work never really even lightly touches. Eliciting more than a few chills as their set progressed, the band also had to deal with a faulty amp that would occasionally cut out- something that somehow rendered their bursts of heaviness even sharper and more damaged. It was a deeply-felt, exhilarating performance that wound up stealing the night and subsequently guaranteeing that this won’t be the last time a live Bellows set is featured on this site.

Still riding high on the unexpected success of their first official full-band release, Quarterbacks took to the stage in front of an attentive audience with close to nothing to prove.
After putting out one of the best records of 2015’s first half in their extraordinary self-titled effort, the band have been tirelessly promoting the new material with an intimidating road schedule. All of their touring’s paid off as the band’s been able to cultivate and refine their live show, which still manages to come off as both compelling and as a delightful mess. Harnessing all the momentum of a runaway train, guitarist/vocalist Dean Engle and his band tear into these songs with a vicious force, never bothering to cast a look back once they’ve started sprinting.

Towards the end of their set, Engle announced it’d be the band’s last appearance for a while so they could take a break to focus on their lives but when they left the stage, it was abundantly clear that they were leaving things on a very strong note (or maybe it was some feedback). More importantly, they were leaving the door wide open for the possibility of future work and an exciting return. All things considered, it was a near-perfect closing to another extraordinary show.

View a full gallery of the show here and a video embed containing a handful of the evening’s performances.

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August 13, 2015

Charly Bliss – Live at McCarren Park – 8/12/15 (Pictorial Review, Live Video)

Last night, this site ran a summary of what went down at Sharkmuffin’s release show last Friday. About halfway through that post, a lot of ecstatic praise gets directed towards Charly Bliss, who have somehow only managed to get better since releasing what might be the best EP of the decade so far. Since the release of that EP, their name has shown up here quite a few times and guitarist/vocalist Eva Hendricks was even kind enough to submit a wonderful piece to the A Year’s Worth of Memories series. When they were announced as the pre-film band for SummerScreen, Brooklyn’s best film and concert series, I immediately cleared any lingering conflicts to make sure I could be in attendance. Their slot came right before Labyrinth, which won a poll to emerge as the “Audience Favorite” pick- ensuring that the quartet would be playing to a large crowd.

Before the show, Hendricks was wracked with nerve while the band’s other guitarist/vocalist, Spencer Fox, remained nonchalant. It took them less than a minute of diving into “Percolator”, the first song of their set, to find a middle-ground in giddy energy. One of the things that I’ve come to love the most about Charly Bliss is that when they play live, they’re clearly doing what they love and coaxing the most out of it that they possibly can. Instead of coming across as showy or theatrical, their stage antics feel grounded in an honesty that makes them even more compelling. It doesn’t fade, either, it builds as it goes until the band collectively approaches a white-hot intensity that makes the band members actually exploding seem about as likely as their amps blowing.

Unmistakably a Charly Bliss set (read: unbelievably great), the outdoor, family-friendly setting suited their sunnier sensibilities to perfection and the sound carried extraordinarily well. Small children danced, a handful of senior citizens cracked smiles, and a man on a bench outside the gates couldn’t help himself from shaking his head in admiration- and then in tempo- by the time the band hit “Love Me“, their perennial closer (and one of this site’s picks for last year’s best songs). From the audience’s increasingly positive reactions to the post-set autograph requests, it was abundantly clear that they’d made more than a few converts- and they did it on their own terms, doing one of the things that they love most. It’s exactly the kind of thing that this site was built to celebrate. As classic as Jim Henson’s Bowie-fueled fever dream has come to be, it wasn’t even close to the evening’s finest moment. Great weather, a great set riddled with great songs, and a sense of genuine camaraderie tipped the scales and everything- as it has so frequently in the past year- came up Charly Bliss.

A gallery of photos from Charly Bliss’ set can be seen here and a video embed containing a few songs from the set can be found below.

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August 12, 2015

Johanna Warren – Live at The Grove – 8/9/15 (Pictorial Review, Live Video)

Johanna Warren is an incredibly important person to me who has been a central figure in two of the larger undertakings I’ve completed in the past year. The first was her beautiful contribution to the A Year’s Worth of Memories series (one where she detailed the first effort of what was originally going to be the video for “Black Moss” before it became “True Colors“) and the second being a multimedia artist profile for Consequence of Sound that included a photoshoot, a live video shoot, and an extensive interview. After being fortunate enough to take in Waren’s unforgettable, all-acoustic rooftop performance only a few weeks ago, I was more than willing to accept her invite to come to her quasi-release show (one specific to NYC) for this year’s outstanding nūmūn.

Held at a basement venue, the menu for the evening was far more eclectic than is usually covered here and perfectly suited to Warren’s sensibilities. An abbreviated meditation session was given, poetry was read, a mothering station was set up (and very briefly caught fire), tarot readings were available, and there was a bold, intense performance art piece from Gretchen Heinel (one of the directors of the “True Colors” video) involving nudity, white flowers, foreboding music, and a blood bag (which was partially consumed by Heinel herself). All the while, a few other vendors were offering their goods or services and a looped projection from visual artist Elisa Ghs. While it was officially titled a healing fair, the two main draws came in the form of its performing artists.

After Heinel’s incredibly intense performance art piece, Mikaela Davis (a new name to this site) immediately set about bringing some tranquility back to the proceedings. Davis is the kind of performer that exudes a natural grace that can frequently easily lend itself to an inherent magnetism, so I was very close to completely positive I’d enjoy her performance before a single note was played. After she’d set up her harp and made sure that Warren was seated at her harmonium (a recent addition to her live oeuvre), the duo had me frozen with a half-minute soundcheck of a beautifully arranged Elliott Smith cover. In less than a minute, Davis went from a promising prospect to an artist with my undivided attention. By the time her first song’s last notes were ringing out (the only she’d play with Warren and/or a harmonium accompaniment), an audience member succinctly summarized everyone’s reactions with a soft, awed expletive.

That sentiment crept in again and again as Davis’ set progressed, looping through my head with each new movement and figure of her songs. Positioned in front of the projection screen, still looping visuals, the effect was so transfixing that it almost became unnerving. Undeniably beautiful and occasionally deeply mysterious, Davis’ slow-burning songs melted over a hushed audience, all of which knew they were witnessing a rarity and providing it with the according levels of attention. It was a mesmerizing set of songs that has less in common with Joanna Newsom’s work (a frequent comparison that holds some waters but mostly comes up somewhat flat) and falls more along the lines of the likes of Elliott Smith and Priscialla Ahn. As much as I wanted to see Warren perform again, it was impossible to want Davis’ set to end. It did, though, as all good things must, and watching/hearing the closing song was an unforgettable experience- one that ensured that this won’t be the last time Davis’ name is mentioned on this site. Mouth agape, it took me several moments to collect myself, process what I’d just witnessed, and prepare myself for whatever magic Warren had conjured up for the evening.

Before long, Warren was seated in front of the microphone, guitar in lap, ready to launch into a set that drew on nūmūn and new material at a fairly equal rate. “Figure 8”, “The Wheel”, and a handful of others all evoked the same stunned reactions that keep me coming back to Warren’s music and, surrounded by friends, family, and fans, she looked even more at peace than usual. When it came time for “True Colors”, Warren made sure to dedicate it to Heinel and the clip’s other director, Damon Stang, who were seated next to each other, all smiles. Warren’s set marked the third time I’d seen the songwriter perform this year and the performances have all occupied the same space of unshakable quiet intensity but, for whatever reason, “True Colors” came off as particularly alive in the basemen (officially titled The Grove).

As familiar as I’ve come to be with Warren’s work, I’d been keeping an eye on the untouched harmonium throughout Warren’s set, hoping she’d return for at least a song. Finally, at the very end of a characteristically arresting performance, Warren took a seat and began the repetitive motions required to breathe life into the instrument (one of my personal favorites). Titled “There Is A Light”, the song ranks among the best in her discography. Gentle, gorgeous, and reaffirming, it almost comes across as a once-silent prayer pulled out into the world. Instead of feeling voyeuristic, there’s a very welcoming sense found in the song’s radiant warmth- one that likely had more than a few people (myself included) on the verge of tears. As the final lines of the song hit (“Well, we could lie down and collectively seal our fate. You know it’s now or never but it’s never too late.”) and the chords drift off into silence, that silence is sustained. In that moment and the several moments that followed, no one made a sound, collectively drawing out the impact of a perfect ending.

A full photo gallery of the show’s musical acts can be seen below and a video containing some of the evenings performances can be found beneath the gallery.

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August 12, 2015

Sharkmuffin – Live at Shea Stadium – 8/7/15 (Pictorial Review, Live Video)

Sharkmuffin’s release show party for Chartreuse at Shea Stadium was the kind of show that’s worth circling multiple times on a calendar. Easily my most anticipated of the month, it didn’t disappoint. A stacked five-band bill was kickstarted by a strong set from the emergent Fruit&Flowers, who delivered their wild-eyed basement pop with a lot of psych’ed out post-punk flourishes and an emphatic punch. Boytoy- who released one of last year’s finest debut EP’s– followed suit with a riff-happy, surf-heavy angle on a similar approach. Fuzzy, sunny, and surprisingly atmospheric, the trio managed to impress on their own terms and set site favorites Lost Boy ? up perfectly.

Lost Boy ?, as they always have, brought an outsize outsider charisma to the proceedings and kicked things into high gear almost as soon as they hit the stage. The band’s extraordinary Canned would have been at the absolute peak of last year’s special releases list had it been streaming anywhere ahead of its official vinyl release in 2015 but it was kept off the internet until that moment came. Even though about a year’s elapsed between the record’s original release, Canned still feels unbelievably vibrant thanks to the explosive energy that permeates throughout literally every song on the collection. That ragged ferocity is, unsurprisingly, amplified in the live setting and nearly every song the band played felt like a giddy exclamation mark. Celebratory and occasionally punishing, it was the adrenaline jolt that made sure things kept going strong after the midway point.

Even in the seemingly impossible scenario where Lost Boy ? had faltered, the evening would’ve been easily rescued by another site favorite- Charly Bliss. Soft Serve topped this site’s best-of EP list in 2014 (incidentally, Lost Boy ? secured the 11 slot) and whenever their LP finally secures its official release, it’s not a stretch to imagine it’ll wind up securing the Album of the Year distinction or something remarkably close. I’ve been desperately searching for something I don’t like about Charly Bliss for over a year and I still can’t find anything. The band’s a powerhouse in the studio, an absolute force on stage, and they’re penning some of the best music being released today. I’ve come to accept that they’re one of my absolute favorite bands and with every set I take in, that declaration’s getting closer to shedding the “one of” and simply becoming “my favorite band.” Unsurprisingly, their set here was monstrous and left a tall order for Sharkmuffin.

To their credit, Sharkmuffin kept the evening going even stronger with a deeply impassioned set that saw the band play every cut from their excellent Chartreuse, one of 2015’s finest releases. Playing as a quartet with Lost Boy ?’s Davey Jones giving an assist on guitar, the band’s set took on several different modes with a finessed aplomb. Coy, vicious, and carefree, the band shifted their focus at will and whipped an adoring audience into frenzy after frenzy with an incredible amount of ease. Alternating between poise and recklessness, then somehow managing to bridge the gap, Sharkmuffin tore up Shea Stadium and more than earned their encore. It was the final stage of a progression that started with foot-tapping (Fruit&Flowers), head-nodding (Boytoy), headbanging (Lost Boy ?), pogo-dancing (Charly Bliss), and- finally- moshing (Sharkmuffin themselves). Combining seemingly every single one of those stages with their last two songs, the band left the stage exhausted and smiling and the audience couldn’t help themselves from exiting the venue in the exact same fashion.

Click over to the full photo gallery of the show here and watch some of the evening’s performances in the video below.

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August 12, 2015

Frankie Cosmos – Live at DBTS – 8/1/15 (Pictorial Review, Live Video)

On the first day of August, a flock of people congregated at David Blaine’s The Steakhouse to see a show packed with impressive solo artists and two secret headliners. Six acts in total and margaritas by the bucketful, the night promised to be memorable and delivered on that promise in full. Brittany Costa (who also plays in the excellent admira) kicked the evening off with a set of delicate, haunting songs anchored by her stunning voice and reverbed-out electric ukulele. Adir L.C. sustained that setting (swapping out the uke for a guitar) and blended in a distinct brand of soulfulness that elevated his songs far past the standard coffeehouse fare.

The evening’s third act, Rebecca Ryskalczyk, recently earned a feature on this site for an excellent demo packet. Ryskalczyk, who also plays in Bethlehem Steel, offered up a gorgeous set (“Other Otters”, in particular, was breathtaking) and one of the night’s most unexpected moments. Mid-set, the songwriter broke from the music for a spirited stand up set that kept the audience entranced as they laughed. Her set was the last of the solo acts and set the stage for the first full band performance. Roz and the Rice Cakes took that slot and ran with it, offering up an eclectic, manic set of carnivalesque pop.

Before long the first of two secret headliners, site favorites Girlpool, were front and center. Having just delivered a mesmerizing set at Baby’s All Right only a handful of days prior, there was the looming possibility of diminishing returns. The setting, the performance, and the overwhelming quality of the duo’s music quickly put any concerns to rest and once again provided a masterclass in minimal pop. Eliciting more than a few chills, the band made their way through a varied set with verve and grace before finally putting a bow on another unforgettable set.

Frankie Cosmos took the last headliner slot and the audience’s adoration for the trio was as palpable as it had been for Girlpool. Playing their first show with the new lineup, the trio seemed eager to test the waters and wasted no time in settling into a groove. A handful of songs bled into each other seamlessly and the band seemed incredibly locked in to their performance, providing a strong showcase for material old and new. For how gentle Frankie Cosmos’ music seems, the band’s performance can be fiery to the point of contradiction, creating a fascinating dynamic that works heavily in the band’s favor. By the time the band wrapped things up with the painfully gorgeous “Embody”, they’d likely won over anyone that wasn’t already on board and- more importantly- ended a great show on the perfect note.

Click over to the full photo gallery of the show here and watch some of the evening’s performances in the video below.

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August 3, 2015

A Small Victory in 600 Moves (Video Mixtape)

Heartbreaking Bravery has never been an overtly traditional blog. Yes, some commonplace elements and recurring themes keep it from falling apart but its essentially come to operate as a living journal of the things that have piqued my interest. It’s allowed me a place to provide documentation of recent events that blend recap aesthetics with critical analysis while simultaneously operating as a platform to showcase lesser-known bands. When it was initially devised, its sole purpose was to grant me an outlet to be able to keep writing but- over time- it grew into something that eventually had a heavy impact on my life. Whether through enabling visits to Toronto or being one of the biggest root causes of the recent relocation to Brooklyn, it’s played an enormously active role in shaping some of the biggest decisions I’ve ever made- and it’s been directly responsible for linking me to a handful of genuinely invaluable people that I’d be twice as lost without.

Now on its 600th post- and with the blue moon just barely behind us- it felt appropriate to allow the rarest of overtly personal posts. Over the near-two months I’ve been residing in Brooklyn, I’ve had the privilege of both witnessing and playing a part in some genuinely unforgettable moments. For a large handful of them, I was fortunate enough to have the camera on and rolling. The 25 clips that are all contained in this sequence are videos I’ve shot personally since landing in New York. From a breathtaking acoustic rooftop performance overlooking the city’s industry-driven sprawl to an inexplicably perfect moment at a secret wedding to secret headliners to a slew of site favorites, there’s a lot of content here- all of which made me feel like I was in the exact right place. It’s an offering that acts both as a celebration of a small accomplishment in terms of longevity and as a sincere thanks to a part of the world that has so readily accepted- and celebrated- both myself and this site. I’m genuinely unsure of what the future holds but if it’s anything as exciting as the past few months have proven to be, I’ll consider myself fortunate to share it with both my friends and anyone kind enough to lend any attention to this site.

Below the video, you can find a tracklist of the sequencing and- as this is another 100 posts- there will be links to the preceding 100 posts. Click play and browse at will. Enjoy.

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1. Girlpool – Crowded Stranger (Live at Baby’s all Right)
2. Diet Cig – Dinner Date (Live at Shea Stadium)
3. Frankie Cosmos – On the Lips (Live at DBTS)
4. Radioactivity – World of Pleasure (Live at Baby’s All Right)
5. Dogs On Acid – Make It Easy (Live at DBTS)
6. PWR BTTM – Projection (Live at Palisades)
7. Slothrust – Crockpot (Live at Suburbia)
8. Charly Bliss – Dairy Queen (Live at Shea Stadium)
9. Told Slant – I Am Not (Live at Silent Barn)
10. Montana and the Marvelles – Stand By Me (Live at DBTS)
11. Lost Boy ? (ft. Patrick Stickles) – Big Business Monkey (Live at Shea Stadium)
12. Idle Bloom – Dust (Live at Alphaville)
13. Swirlies – Wait Forever (Live at Silent Barn)
14. Tenement – Crop Circle Nation + Dull Joy (Live at The Acheron)
15. Bully – Brainfreeze (Live at Rough Trade)
16. Rebecca Ryskalczyk – Other Otters (Live at DBTS)
17. Attic Abasement – Sorry About Your Dick (Live at Shea Stadium)
18. Eskimeaux – Folly (Live at Palisades)
19. Krill – Turd (Live at Silent Barn)
20. Littlefoot – Worrydoll (Live at DBTS)
21. Florist – 1914 (Live at Baby’s All Right)
22. Mitski – I Will (Live at Palisades)
22. Adir L.C. – Inside Out (Live at DBTS)
24. Johanna Warren – Survive (Live)
25. Benny The Jet Rodriguez – Alley Cat (Live at The Acheron)

July 30, 2015

Girlpool – Live at Baby’s All Right – 7/29/15 (Pictorial Review, Live Video)

Yesterday evening, one of Brooklyn’s finest venues- Baby’s All Right- opened its doors and ushered in an eclectic mix of people that tended to skew younger than older but still boasted a handful of patrons who could have grandchildren. It was a nice sight that was likely due to the wide-reaching appeal of both bands playing the early show: Florist and Girlpool.

Both acts have built up a quiet notoriety over the past few years, with the former being a staple of the revered arts collective The Epoch and the latter being one of 2014’s great word-of-mouth successes. The show had sold out before Baby’s opened its doors and the packed room left both bands unfazed. Florist started things off with a set of gentle songs that incorporated subtle, folk-inflected influences into devastating indie pop songs.

Each song kept the audience at a silenced hush as the room swelled to capacity. For the entirety of their set, Florist played in front of a static drumkit (one that would have otherwise been used by Felix Walworth, who’s currently on tour) in what seemed to be a gesture of heartfelt solidarity. By the time their set was drawing to a close, the audience was completely at their mercy, hanging onto every soft word and ambient flourish; it was almost as if Florist was the headlining act, a notion that was supported by the waves of applause following their final notes.

Ultimately, Florist’s set was a perfect lead-in to Girlpool, who wasted no time in launching into their set once they took the stage. Now, Girlpool’s been written about enough times here that it’d be easy to collect all of those pieces and fashion a small bible- but it still felt like they had something to prove an in-person live setting. The notion that they couldn’t was dismissed completely as soon as the duo (comprised of Cleo Tucker on guitar/vocals and Harmony Lebel-Tividad on bass/vocals) launched into their first harmony sequence.

Throughout their set, both Tucker and Lebel-Tividad were in high spirits, casually joking with each other while dealing with a guitar that kept stubbornly falling out of tune. Families, couples, and musicians all watched intently as Girlpool played cuts from their outstanding self-titled EP (one of 2014’s best) and this year’s superb Before The World Was Big, while making room for at least two new tunes.

No matter what the band did, there was a pervading sense of easy camaraderie that bled into a seemingly telepathic connection between the duo. As many others have noted, at times their voices adopt each others affections and become virtually indistinguishable. While that aspect of their music can certainly be heard on record (and in several performance captures), hearing it in person is spine-tingling.

Before anyone knew what was happening, the band had seemingly everyone held at rapt attention, suspended in a moment where time was irrelevant. A brief “this is our last song” brought reality crashing back down on the proceedings and the band finished their main set exhibiting the same flair and charisma that earned them their headliner status in the first place. The encore call was immediate and overwhelming.

After a brief attempt to lead a venue wide singalong of “Happy Birthday” for the girl who cried out that it was hers, the band sheepishly launched into the first song of their encore: “Plants and Worms“. Even in a still-young discography packed with incredible material, “Plants and Worms” stands out in their catalog- and not just because it was gifted one of the best music videos of 2014. It was one of the first glimpses at the band’s maturation level and the songwriting remains some of the most staggering they’ve committed to a recording.

Decidedly darker in tone than the rest of their material, “Plants and Worms” is immediately arresting and the audience was dead quiet throughout (with the exception of a delighted reaction to the Tucker aside about the attempted birthday song), completely engrossed in the performance at hand. The evening ended with a gripping rendition of “Dear Nora”, one of Before The World Was Big‘s most quiet, affecting, and personal songs. When it drew to its silent finish, the audience gave one last enthusiastic applause and got one last glimpse of the band, smiling and waving, in front of an iconic backdrop, left with one last reminder that even though they were making their stage exit, Girlpool aren’t anywhere close to calling it quits.

A photo gallery of the show can be seen below. Underneath the gallery, watch video captures of parts of both Florist’s and Girlpool’s set below. Each video set includes two new songs per artist. Florist’s also includes “1914” while Girlpool’s includes “Chinatown”, “Crowded Stranger”, “Pretty”, and “Plants and Worms”. Enjoy.

Florist

Girlpool

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July 28, 2015

A Short Stretch (Video Review)

As was recently explained in the pictorial review of the just-initiated A Short Stretch series, there’s been an increased focus on live documentation. With that being the case, coverage for a few shows gets relegated to the sidelines as this site does upkeep on the current release cycle and features on a handful of other live shows. It’s far from a perfect system but it’d be inexcusable to simply let the photos and footage of shows that don’t get feature reviews waste away on the sidelines. In an effort to amend this, A Short Stretch was created. Here’s how the video portion will work: each band with footage will get a very brief write-up- or capsule review- of their show to accompany the live video(s). So, it’s time to take a look back at some of the great performances from shows that went uncovered.

Eskimeaux

Following a riveting performance at Palisades, Eskimeaux delivered an equally mesmerizing set at Shea Stadium, despite sweltering heat. The below video is the final piece of that set, a characteristically powerful rendition of O.K. highlight “I Admit I’m Scared”.

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Mitski

With Eskimeaux having just set the stage with a beautiful set prior, Mitski went ahead and dove headfirst into an impassioned set that had everyone in Shea sweating, smiling, screaming, and dancing. Starting the night off with two of the strongest highlights on Bury Me At Makeout Creek– one of 2014’s best albums– proved to be a great move.

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Model Train Wreck

Going into Model Train Wreck’s set at Shea Stadium on July 22, I had no prior knowledge of the band and wasn’t sure what to expect. It took them less than a song to ensure my full attention. Dark, bruising post-punk that’s unafraid of embracing a heavy pop sensibility is a look that more bands should consider attempting. This is definitely a band worth celebrating.

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Fern Mayo

After catching Fern Mayo’s ridiculously impressive set at Miscreant’s Northside showcase, catching the band’s live show again was an inevitability. For round 2, the band sounded even sharper than they had a month ago at Palisades, driven by some strong musicianship and the fiercely original songwriting of Katie Capri (who provided this site with an important piece for the inaugural A Year’s Worth of Memories series). This won’t be the last time they’re featured on this site.

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PWR BTTM

It’s taken a little over a month for PWR BTTM to become one of the most-written about bands here at Heartbreaking Bravery. A large part of the reasoning behind the centralized coverage is the duo’s insane live show. Even taking the pointed visual theatrics out of the question, the band’s an absolute powerhouse. Ugly Cherries, the band’s forthcoming full-length, is one of the year’s stronger releases and the band continues to push themselves to their limits when they play, as if they’re performing some sort of self-exorcism for the benefit of their audience. That dynamic was put on full display once again at Shea, where they weathered some technical difficulties to deliver yet another memorable set.

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Johanna Warren

A very select few shows are instantly unforgettable and more often than not the reasoning boils down to circumstance. On this occasion, a last-minute change of location was made in the interest of the people who were hoping to see Johanna Warren (another A Year’s Worth of Memories contributor) perform. The original house venue that was set to host the show discovered a bed bug infestation so the songwriter took to social media to find an emergency replacement. After some negotiating, the show was re-sculpted completely and turned into an all-acoustic affair that was set to take place on a roof in Bushwick, which coincidentally offered a stunning view of the city that stretched outwards for miles. Only a small handful of some of Warren’s friends showed up and enjoyed the perks of such an intimate affair (and the generosity of those who provided free beer, wine, and snacks for the guests). Poetry was read to set the tone and then- with the moon shining brightly- Warren took a seat in front of the Brooklyn (and Manhattan) skylines to play a career-spanning selection of songs (including some that had never been performed in public) for a hushed audience. Not even the overhead jet noise could dampen the spell cast by something so sublime.

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Idle Bloom

Just a week after laying waste to two crowds as Mitski’s guitarist, Callan Dwan (pictured above) wound up playing another show in Brooklyn after meeting up with one of her other two bands in the interim. Idle Bloom was a name that I’d seen on bills before but I’d never really had the chance to delve into the band’s discography- something that’s fairly limited, as of this writing. After Zen Hed (a new band featuring members of some prominent bands) set the stage for Idle Bloom with a shambolic set of scrappy rock n’ roll, the quartet took the stage and proceeded to dismantle their audience with an affecting blend of shoegaze, post-punk, and dark pop that was topped off with some subtle, well-placed psych flourishes. Fierce, grounded, staggeringly powerful, and- at their best- breathtaking, Idle Bloom wound up delivering one of the finest (and most unexpected) sets I’ve seen all year. With their full-length record currently going through the necessary processes in the lead-up to its release, this is definitely a band to watch closely. Stay tuned to this site for more updates on the band (as well as the record) and click play to discover an emerging act that’s worth meeting with no shortage of excitement.

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July 18, 2015

Mitski – Live at Palisades – 7/17/15 (Pictorial Review, Live Video)

Last night Palisades played host to a bill that guaranteed the venue would sell out well before doors, so expectations for the evening were considerably higher than usual. The night was headlined by Mitski (who has earned her fair share of words on this site) and made room for other site favorites like Brooklyn upstarts Normal Person and The Epoch favorites Eskimeaux. Throw in Elvis Depressedly (who now comfortably reside on Run For Cover’s increasingly fascinating roster) and any promotion outside of the show announcement practically becomes unnecessary; this one sold on its own.

Normal Person played first to a small but appreciative audience (it would progressively swell in size until the room was finally at capacity for Mitski) and brought their all. Their sole EP, the fantastic #0001, has been floating around online in some form or another for years. Recently, the tape was granted a physical release (a copy can- and should- be ordered from It Takes Time here) and it was the band’s first show to promote the tape. As is always the case with the various LVL UP side projects, Normal Person is a band that comes stacked with intimidatingly talented musicians. I only managed to catch the last stretch of their set but it was incredible enough to inspire the thought that it’ll only be a matter of time before they’re headlining these kinds of shows.

Next up was Eskimeaux, a band that’s part of the prolific Epoch collective and riding high on a wave of national acclaim for O.K., one of 2015’s best records. Unsurprisingly, the majority of their set pulled songs from that record and were played with the characteristic passion that The Epoch has become renowned for exhibiting. Nearly every song came laced with an approach that alternated between delicate and furious, spurring feelings of empathy and heartbreak in the process. It was abundantly clear that these songs carried significant meaning for guitarist/vocalist Gabrielle Smith, who delivered them with an uninhibited grace, leading her incredible band (Felix Walworth’s jaw-dropping drumming is worth singling out) through the emotional fraught terrain and- ultimately- delivering one of the best sets of the year.

Following something like Eskimeaux almost requires a certain wildness and that mania was something that Elvis Depressedly was more than happy to supply. My friend and fellow writer Sasha Geffen once said that Elvis Depressedly were “a band that records in lowercase but plays in all caps.” It’s a quote that, for whatever reason, has stuck with me over the years. I was anxious to find out what she meant and wasn’t disappointed to see the band fully embrace a much more chaotic and maximized version of themselves. They’ve assembled a strong band for this tour, which includes Greg Rutkin of LVL UP (and openers Normal Person) behind the kit. Significantly punchier than they are on record, Elvis Depressedly wound up creating a perfect bridge between Eskimeaux and Mitski with a career-spanning set largely mid-tempo numbers that had some psych flourishes and played into vocalist Mat Cothran’s outsize persona.

At this point, Mitski Miyawaki’s project has more than earned its headliner status and it was heartening to look out into the audience to see a diverse crowd of people that was dominated by a front section that skewed more towards the under 21 bracket (Mitski’s guitarist, Callan Dwan, would later reveal to me that she was very grateful for both the venue and the crowd’s size). Towards the very start of her set, Mitski addressed the crowd, thanking them for their support and encouraging the historically marginalized communities to be proud of their roots and “take up as much space as you can”, with a disarming sincerity that’s seen far too infrequently. It was a moving plea that was rooted in honesty, a dynamic that’s been translated effortlessly into her music (which is one of the many reasons behind Bury Me at Makeout Creek almost topping this site’s Best Albums of 2014 list) and is fully ingrained in her demeanor.

With ex-Diarrhea Planet drummer Casey Weissbuch (who’s also the mastermind of Infinity Cat‘s extraordinary cassette series) anchoring the trio, the band dove headfirst into a memorable set that wound up recapturing a lot of the magic of the last Mitski set to get coverage here (no small feat) while supplementing it with new intricacies. Deceptively nuanced and- a recurring theme throughout the night- unerringly heartfelt, it touched on various points throughout the songwriter’s discography, while- understandably- leaning heavily on the Bury Me At Makeout Creek material. If Mitski was baring her soul on the Palisades stage, the audience was reciprocating that generosity with extremely vocal support between songs.

At one point, in one of the evening’s most genuine and communal moments, Miyawaki ran backstage to collect the bottled water on hand for the artists and passed it out to the audience to help them cope with the uncomfortable humidity that only a small space packed with bodies on a warm day can bring. It was one in a series of moments with the band and the audience playing off of each other, which was itself a slight reflection of how well the band played off of each other during a very affirming set. Following the pained howling that closes out “Drunk Walk Home”, the band left the stage leaving its principle voice alone with the spotlight. Two tender songs later, the set was wrapped, and the audience was screaming for an encore that never came. Even if it had, it probably still wouldn’t have satiated the audience’s desires- and, really- why bother tampering with a perfect closing note?

A gallery of photos from the show can be found here and a video containing some of each act’s strongest highlight can be found underneath the gallery.

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Tag: NYC