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Many aspects of MS MR's backstory have a distinct quality of deja vu — or, less charitably, done-to-death — they're based in Brooklyn, they built up blogosphere buzz via an artfully curated web presence (specifically — and this is ostensibly a point of distinction — on tumblr), and until relatively recently they upheld their blankly anonymous-sounding moniker by maintaining actual anonymity.
Their unabashedly huge-sounding, lavishly theatrical debut album, the aptly titled Secondhand Rapture (IAMSOUND), expands the picture somewhat, even as it conveniently recycles most of their tumblr hits.
It's not hard to find reference points for their style of darkly anthemic pomp-pop either — Florence + the Machine, Bats for Lashes and former tour partners Marina and the Diamonds are maybe the most obvious go-tos — but (MR) Max Hershenow's adventurous, widescreen production style and (MS) Lizzy Plaplinger's legitimately spellbinding alto are strong and distinctive enough to stand alone, particularly with a strong and infectious batch of songs that veer from martial trip-hop ("Hurricane") and thunderous orchestral rock-soul ("Bones") to stately classicism and the self-explanatory (but still intriguing) "Dark Doo Wop."
TONIGHT: Thu., May 16, 9:15 p.m., $12, with Magic Man, Johnny Brenda’s, Frankford & Girard aves., 215-739-9684, johnnybrendas.com.
Editor's Note: Please welcome City Paper food editor Caroline Russock to the world of music criticism. Don't worry, she's only going to be commenting on the potable aspects of shows around Philly.
Okay, so Kung Fu Necktie has a $4 Citywide featuring 16 ounces of Pabst and a generous shot of Heaven Hill. I had a few, they were fine. Review over, right?
Eh, not really. So Mac DeMarco has been a long time coming to Philly and last night's show was pretty much perfect. He was growly and wonderful, equal parts crooner and cool rock and roll with just the right amount of stand-up calibre band banter. "Baby's Wearing Blue Jeans" plus "Rock and Roll Night Club," "Freaking Out the Neighborhood" rounded out with a cover of Metallica's "Enter Sandman" transitioning to a sweet rendition of "Still Together" that lead to a few pretty hilarious KFN pickup attempts. Solid set and afterwards MDM asked the crowd for afterhours Philly suggestions (El Bar, obviously) earning him the title of the most party dude on Captured Tracks.
Tonight’s show at North Star Bar is a trip through a reverb-drenched sonic forest. The Downtown Club, a Philly-based trio rooted in British post-punk like Gang of Four and Public Image Ltd., will get you moving early on. Metronomic drumlines and gritty picked bass lock in tandem with singer April Harkanson’s vocals, alternating between hushed utterances and anguished belting, sitting on top of the whole mix. Stay for Cruiser, the project of local musician Andy States, and their jangly and timeless take on dream pop. Their latest EP (produced by Jeremy Park, who also produced Youth Lagoon’s The Year of Hibernation) features jangly guitars and States’s baritone moving in and out of melodic soundscapes as beautiful as they are catchy. Paris duo Isaac Delusion closes the night with party-ready synth-driven music combining hip-hop beats with light-footed vocals that’ll have you leave the venue with a smile on your face. Of course, be sure to bring your dancing shoes, as silly as they may look at whatever gallery you’re hitting up right before, because this line-up begs it of you.
Fri., March 1, 9 p.m., $8-$10, North Star Bar, 2639 Poplar St., 215-787-0488, northstarbar.com.
Permanent Wave Philly — West Philly's feminist arts/music/activism collective — continues the Create Chaos! multimedia art and performance series with a full evening of lady performers. I'm just getting into grungey drone-gazer Avataria, but you should do some clicking and see who you wanna see:
Featured performers:
Tonight, Fri., Feb. 15, 7:30 p.m., Eris Temple Arts, 602 S. 52nd St., more info here.
K. Ross Hoffman had some long sentences to say about the band formerly known as Reading Rainbow in today's paper:
Two minutes into the gently epic opening cut of Yeah Right (Kanine) — album number three from the local fuzz-pop lovelies formerly known as Reading Rainbow — the drums kick in, the pace ratchets up a few notches and there’s a shift from warm organ-drone and sweetly harmonized boy-girl vocals to a growling, pummeling guitar-smear evoking a certain other noise-obsessed band with a blood-related (and seasonally appropriate) moniker who, hey hey, also happened to release their third album last week! That feels like the moment, symbolically, when the band becomes Bleeding Rainbow, transforming from a vaguely cuddly neighborhood duo named for a PBS show to a sharp, aspirational four-piece with an unmitigated allegiance to the turn-of-the-’90s shoegaze-to-grunge continuum. From there on out, it’s a hearty, good-natured assault playing both sides of the noise/pop dichotomy, with Sarah Everton’s charmingly plain-Jane vocals channeling indie everywomen from Bilinda Butcher to Georgia Hubley to Frankie Rose.
But to complete your mental picture, you really gotta watch the video and hear the song at the top of this post. "Waking Dream" is a damn fine rock song. Play it for someone you like.
Bleeding Rainbow plays tonight, Thu., Feb. 14, 9 p.m., $10, with Pet Milk and Ghost Light, Johnny Brenda’s, 1201 N. Frankford Ave., 215-739-9684, johnnybrendas.com.
Said to be a traditional band from Puglia, Canzoniere Grecanico Salentino certainly builds upon the old styles. Pulsing compositions use the traditional instruments in arrangements rather than the jam style, with layers of voices entering and exiting. The official video of “Nu Te Fermare” gives us a clue of what to expect. We see a decrepit building, a handsome young man resting amid the refuse pondering. Cue the music, follow it around the corridor to an arts be-in complete with sculpting and painting on canvas and faces, juggling and of course, dancing -trad and trance- to the sound of the tartantella. It could be two separate songs alternating within one, the parts contrast so strongly, both supported by accordion, bouzouki, violin and bass over ceaseless frame drumming. Your people don’t have to be from the boot of Italy for this to grip your imagination; anybody who loves new acoustic music will get this.
Sun., Feb. 3, 8 p.m., $10, World Café Live, 3025 Walnut St., 215-222-1400, worldcafelive.com.
The Ramones piling out of Doc Brown’s Delorean to play the Enchantment Under the Sea Dance — that’s a pretty good visual representation of The Vaccines’ sophomore release, Come of Age. Fizzy guitars, ’50s doo-wop pop hooks and Justin Young’s woe-is-me croon attest to the West London’s Ethan Johns-produced record as a root beer float toast to the birth of American rock ’n’ roll and all its drive-in movie romantic imagery. But Young’s a loner, Dottie, a rebel, promising us he’s “not magnetic and mythical / I’m suburban and typical” on the jangly “Teenage Icon.” Closing track “Lonely World,” with its soaring guitar solos and shuffling tempo, basically invites a slow dance. Just try not to screw it up, McFly.
Sat., Feb. 2, 8:30 p.m., $20, with San Cisco, Union Transfer, 1026 Spring Garden St., 215-232-2100, utphilly.com.
If you’re looking to dance after doing the First Friday thing, head to Kung-Fu Necktie. You won’t want to miss headliners Gemini Club, the Chicago-based trio whose electronic dance-rock is continually remixed and reinvented live on stage, but you’d be wise to get there in time for show openers The Downtown Club. This Philly-based trio, rooted in British post-punk and New Wave like Gang of Four and Public Image Ltd., combines metronomic drumlines and gritty picked bass with warm synths and reverb-drenched guitars. Singer April Harkanson’s vocals, alternating between hushed utterances and anguished belting, sit over the instrumentation to create as haunting as it is groovy.
Fri., Feb. 1, 7:30 p.m., $15, Kung Fu Necktie, 1250 N. Front St., 215-291-4919, kungfunecktie.com.
Hopefully you saw Neal Santos' awesome Birdie Busch photo on our cover last week — and read A.D. Amorosi's interview. Well, then you know what you should do tonight.
The Philly Opry and album release party for Birdie Busch and the Greatest Night, Fri., Jan. 18, doors at 8 p.m., music at 9 p.m. sharp, $12-$15, with Joy Kills Sorrow and Jason Loughlin, Johnny Brenda’s, 1201 N. Frankford Ave., 215-739-9684, johnnybrendas.com, birdie-buschmusic.com.
The Philly-Brazil connection runs deep, with the major local movers in the scene traveling frequently to study with players in Rio and beyond.
The Pandeiro Repique Duo — see my album review — are part of that cultural exchange. Alex Shaw (Alô Brasil) studied with Bernardo Aguiar (pandeiro, a frame drum with jingles) and Gabriel Policarpo (repique, tenor drum) and introduced them, knowing these two young men would make a good team. Check the video to see that his instincts were correct. Another AB member, Jim Hamilton, got to hear the unadorned audio tracks they had laid down and decided right away that the world had to hear them. He also knew that the recording needed to have something for those who don't appreciate just drums and voice, so a second CD is part of the package, with tracks from the folks like Carlos Malta, fifer, with whom they played Carnegie Hall last week as part of Pife Muderno. The CD was launched Tuesday night, on Hamilton's Tension Rod label. Malta loves these young men enough to have come to Philly and played with them at Underground Arts — quite a distance from Carnegie Hall — for the release party of their self-titled CD. Better yet, those who lingered after the formal presentation got a chance to bang out rhythms batuque na cuzinha style on anything that could make an audible sound with Malta dancing and piping like a Brazilian Kokopelli.
All this week the PRD has been giving master classes at places like University of the Arts and Julliard. Sooner or later they must return to Rio, but not without Philly sambistas will giving them a farewell party of epic proportions. Members of Alô Brasil, Capoeira Roda and DJ Ginga will take part in Brasil in Philly, showcasing one final performance by the PRD.
TONIGHT, Fri., Dec. 7, 8 p.m. $10, 7165 Lounge.
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