It is indeed the morning after the Morning After Girls show at the Mercury Lounge in NYC. The gig was the first of two dates (the other is in Los Angeles tomorrow) to preview new material for their upcoming release, Alone. All eyes were glued to the 5 guys in front of us showing their new take on the gospel according to reverb. This time around there are way more hooks and melodies- as in they’ll stick in your head regardless of whether you know the damn lyrics. Not to worry; it still comes complete with plenty of fuzzy riffs, tamborine bangin’ loud as hell and yup, haircuts that could cut glass. Got noise? Bring it on. In conclusion here is the jist of a backstage convo we had with one of our fave noise band drummers outta Brooklyn:

“Erm, you know, take Pop. Pop is great. It’s everywhere. But Rock ‘n’ Roll is like sushi. Seriously just give me drums and a guitar. A bass, maybe some keys. People want Rock ‘n’ Roll. They might not know it, but they need it. Like, a punch. A punch in the face. I’ll take a punch anyday. Actually just a slap in the face, just enough to make you go Whoa.”

Exactly.

The Morning After Girls : Shadows Evolve Mp3 (YSI)

Say it with me: YAAAAAAAAAAAaaaayyyy! One of the foremost purveyors of blissed out dirty guitars rife with the creased leather of motorcycle jackets and heavy zippers, the Morning After Girls, have emerged from the studio. They’ll be testing the waters with 2 upcoming gigs. IF you are shallow enough to judge a band by the company the keep (aka open on tour for)… look no further than Black Rebel Motorcycle Club to vouch for the group, and there is footage out there of the band jamming with Brian Jonestown Massacre. Now our good pal Subinev, even though he spends an awful lot of time in Portland Maine nowadays, was kind enough to bring it all back to 2005 with *THIS PIC* from Rothko. Interesting, I thought Anton stopped biting people in 2004.

Their new single will BLOW YOUR MIND:
The Morning After Girls : Shadows Evolve Mp3 (YSI)

Now if you will excuse me, I feel like I need to crack a window, shimmy down the tree outside my bedroom and run off into the night to go meet some bad boy circa 1995. By all means COME OUT to the gigs, but don’t forget your earplugs.

Welcome to ALL THINGS IGGY. Because you are about to sit through something pretty painful, here is the latest mashup incarnation of ‘The Passenger’ courtesy of Culture Bully. Love it, hate it, call it sacrilege- it’s well done, and if you’re spinning on the LES with a multiple drunk girls repeatedly asking for Katy Perry this should shut ‘em up. After 4 hours sometimes you just give in.

Divide & Kreate : The Kissenger Mp3 (YSI)

and then there’s this AWESOME Twelves remix of BPA aka Brighton Port Authority aka Norman Cook’s single ‘He’s Frank’

BPA feat Iggy Pop : He’s Frank (the Twelves Remix) Mp3 (YSI)

Ok, ready? Brace yourself:

Oh Iggy Pop. I had to redeem your new Swift Cover commercial with an old cameo on Pete and Pete. Viva Nickleodeon!

Oh what the hell, why should Iggy have all the fun? Johnny Rotten did this ‘advert’ for Country Life Butter first. Sigh.

*If* anything because we’ve seen the Virgins play the same songs a billion times over the past few years, and they’re so low key I wonder if they’re having fun anymore. Now HOCKEY on the other hand have us so effing pumped it’s ridic. We took in their set at Santos and our dear friends from the Music Slut saw them at Merc last night. They had a bit of a different reaction:

“Dear Hockey: Can you kindly return all of the following at your earliest convenience? MGMT’s wardrobe, The Strokes’ guitar riffs, Avey Tare’s stage presence & Pete Doherty’s vocal stylings. Thank you very much!”

Hahahahah *BURN!* Here’s the part where I say um, some might construe the above as complimentary. If it’s derivative it’s only the good parts, minus the douche factor that’s had us rolling our eyes for years over the aforementioned phenomena. They’re like the best part of the Strokes (the riffs), last time I checked Avey Tare was selling out Bowery and people loved every sec, Pete Doherty has a dreamboat voice (albeit in the body of a crackhead) and of COURSE there are headbands. Male headbands are what trucker caps were to 2005. There will be many more in our future, and I haven’t heard kids give Apes & Androids, Starfucker and Peachcake grief over it. Plus they forgot to mention the tendency to break into Debbie Harry Rapture-style rap. AMAZING. Whatev, if it’s not for you that’ll just give people more room to dance at their gigs. Anyway, back to the ULTIMATE in EXCITEMENT:

Just come south of Houston St and join us tonight for the PIANOS gig to decide for yourself. We’re banking that these boys are gonna be one of the break-out acts of SXSW 2009. The FADER Fort is scrambling to book them in 3…2…1… NOW.

Hockey : Too Fake Mp3 (YSI) (Alt Link)

JUST WATCH THE FIRST 30 SECONDS AT LEAST! :

Lykke Li @ NTBR Part 4 - “Hustlin’” from Drew Innis on Vimeo.

Shout out to Disconap and Discobelle for the tip. Disco hugs all around!

… and it was AMAZING. I love going to shows the day the album gets released. Everyone was in the best mood, and Andy Beta (with his friends Piotr and Dave) was dropping beats like nobody’s business in between acts. Animal Collective topped off the set (pre encore) with my fave song ever, “Will To Joy.” Here’s a live mp3 from awhile back to tide everyone over until the photos get edited, and be sure to pick up a copy of their 9th full length, Merriweather Post Pavillion, like NOW.

Animal Collective : Will To Joy Live 05-30-2007 (YSI) (Alt Link)

PS: Whatever scumbag is scalping the ticket for tonight’s Bowery gig for $9,000.00 - that’s a world of concert-karma pain you are setting yourself up for. “This will be the best concert of your life, even better than Daft Punk at Keyspan. Don’t be cheap.” WTF?????????????? Apparently “it’s NOT ok to contact this poster with services or other commercial interests” - but it says nothing about beat-down threats or voodoo hexes! WHOOP!

The following is a mixed-media stop motion music video and celebration commemorating the election and inauguration of Barack Obama as the forty-fourth president of these United States. Audibly showcasing Adam Freeland’s remix of Daft Punk’s “Aerodynamic” and the imaginative stylings of forward thinking toy artists Dalek, Bill McMullen and Kubrick to name just a few. Independently animated and directed by the progressive minds of the directing team GOLD, the piece is a labor of love that invites everyone to join in or create their own celebration this coming Tuesday January the 20th.

Keep an ear to the ground (or just head back here) for Adam Freeland’s highly anticipated full-length album, soon to be released on Marine Parade Records this Spring. Featuring special (and apparently legendary) guest musicians, they’ll also be announcing a U.S headlining tour (40 dates) with a full 5 piece live Freeland band very soon and happy inauguration day to all!

Check FREELANDS - AER OBAMA MP3 *HERE*

Granted, it’s been 5 years since their last one. I was totally thinking why, with all the stuff in the news today, would U2 talk about ‘Sexy Boots’? Well when I did manage to make it through the rest of the song Bono did offer up an echo-ey ‘I Don’t Wanna Talk About the War Between the Nations’ background warble. Duly noted. That doesn’t mean they’re gonna NOT have some Jamie Hewlett-esque animated video with chicks in combat boots. Check out “Get On Your Boots” *HERE* I guess I just miss the U2 of yore- the one’s who unabashedly served up ‘Sunday Bloody Sunday’ and ‘Pride’ into our faces. SPEAKING OF WHICH, it’s MLK day, which means it’s time for some Pride. Wow out of all the days….