Bush Tetras, the influential post-punk/no-wave band that got its start on the Lower East Side in the late 1970s, just released a new video for their single "Bird on a Wire."
The video, featuring singer Cynthia Sley in front of EV storefronts that housed some iconic businesses, also includes a supporting role from East Village-based photographer GODLIS.
The track is from the band's new LP, They Live in My Head, out on July 28.
Bush Tetras, the influential post-punk/no-wave band that got its start on the Lower East Side in the late 1970s, have announced a new full-length release, They Live in My Head, due out on July 28.
The band also released the first single, "Things I Put Together," last Thursday ... which Jon Pareles at the Times wrote, "reclaims Bush Tetras' muscle, dissonance and die-hard contrarianism."
Meanwhile, the band recently added bassist (and EV resident) Cait "Rocky" O'Riordan (top right). She joins founding members Cynthia Sley (top left) and Pat Place ... and Sonic Youth's Steve Shelley, who stepped in on drums in early 2022 after the death of Dee Pop in October 2021.
Earlier last week, EVG contributor Stacie Joy met the foursome at Rivington Music Rehearsal Studios as they were preparing for a sold-out show at Union Pool on May 3.
Afterward, the group walked over to Mughlai Grill Indian Restaurant at 6 Clinton St., running into downtown writer-performance artist Penny Arcade on the way...
The latest iteration of the band has been playing together for several months now.
They plan to work on new material together over the summer ahead of a European tour later in the fall.
"It sounds like when we first started," Sley said, "We're having a lot of fun."
And for the newest member? "It's been exhilarating — the basslines are so much fun," O'Riordan said. "And Steve 'Fucking' Shelley is on drums! We're all levitating all the time, and it's a beautiful thing."
Today is a good day to celebrate Bush Tetras, the local post-punk pioneers who formed in 1979.
Today marks the release of the career-spanning box set "Rhythm and Paranoia: The Best of Bush Tetras," which features 29 songs across three LPs pressed onto 180-gram vinyl and remastered by Carl Saff, plus a 46-page book with photos, an original essay on the band by Marc Masters, and shorter essays by Thurston Moore, Nona Hendryx and Topper Headon, among others.
As you may know, Dee Pop, the band's longtime drummer, passed away on Oct. 9. According to an announcement by the band, he died in his sleep. He was 65.
Don Christensen, who played in Bush Tetras for a time in the 1980s as well as the Contortions and the Raybeats, will be taking over on drums ... as there's a record-release show tomorrow night at LPR on Bleecker Street.
BTW, Stereogum has an interview with the band's two veteran members, Pat Place and Cynthia Sley, right here.
Now to the video... Wharf Cat Records recently released a remastered version of "Too Many Creeps" from 1979... a song and video (filmed along the Bowery) that remains an all-time EVG favorite.
Dee Pop, the longtime drummer for the seminal downtown band Bush Tetras, passed away on Oct. 9. According to an announcement by the band, he died in his sleep. He was 65.
Cynthia Sley and Pat Place, who started the acclaimed no-wave-post-punk band with Pop in 1979, released this statement:
Dee Pop was a quintessential New Yorker, growing up in Forest Hills, Queens and living in New York ever since. He was not only Bush Tetras drummer, but also our archivist, owning an original copy of every Bush Tetras release and t-shirt and also maintaining the band's masters.
In addition to Bush Tetras, Dee Pop played with Richard Lloyd, Michael Karoli (Can), The Gun Club, Jayne County, and The Shams, William Parker, Eddie Gale, Roy Campbell, Freedomland, Hanuman Sextet, Radio I-Ching and 1000 Yard Stare. He will be sorely missed by his bandmates and the many people he touched throughout his life.
Bush Tetras had a box-set release party previously scheduled for Saturday night at Howl! Happening on First Street. The band decided to move forward with the event, stating in a Facebook post: "We think he would have wanted us to carry on ... with our Bush Tetra release event. The band meant everything to him."
The evening became a memorial and celebration of his life and attracted many fans and longtime friends.
There were plenty of tributes to Pop on social media. Among them:
Bob Bert, who has played drums with Pussy Galore, Sonic Youth and Lydia Lunch, among others, wrote this on Instagram: "Completely DEVASTATED over the passing of Dee Pop ... a good friend [and] an amazing drummer who was a big influence to me! Extremely sad day!"
From singer-songwriter Amy Rigby: "Very sad to learn of the sudden passing of brilliant drummer Dee Pop. What a genuinely sweet person, the best of NYC. My heart goes out to his family and friends & Cynthia and Pat/his band Bush Tetras."
And via writer Howard Phillips Rodman: "Saddened to hear that Dee Pop, drummer for the extraordinary Bush Tetras, died ... The BTs innovative, propulsive work represents the very best of post-punk/no wave, and Dee Pop's drumming was its driving force, its heartbeat."
Pop was born Dimitri Papadopoulos in 1956. As Pitchfork noted, he "grew up idolizing Buddy Rich, Gene Krupa, Ringo Starr, Charlie Watts, and Keith Moon, but it was Tommy Ramone who would inspire him to start playing despite a lack of formal training."
Pop is survived by his son Charlie and daughter Nicole.
Local legends Bush Tetras, the post-punk no-wave band with roots in the East Village, will be perfoming live tomorrow (Saturday!) night from the stage at Le Poisson Rouge (LPR) ... you can find the livestream info at this link.
The band will also be introducing new bassist RB Korbet.
Photo of founding members Pat Place and Cynthia Sley by Stacie Joy from February 2020
There’s another band practicing in Rivington Music Rehearsal Studios at 188 Stanton St., Room 3 on Friday night at 6, which is when NYC legends Bush Tetras are supposed to begin their own two-hour rehearsal.
The four members of Bush Tetras are prepping for their upcoming 40th anniversary show at le Poisson Rouge on Feb. 21 with 75 Dollar Bill opening.
The post-punk no-wave band, with roots in the East Village, is Dee Pop, Val Opielski, Cynthia Sley and Pat Place. While waiting for the room to open up they decide to sign a copy of their 2018 album Take the Fall.
I get a sneak peek at the big show’s potential setlist before Dee alerts the current members of Room 3 that they are officially over time.
Once inside, Cynthia sets up some percussion instruments on a shelf and tosses down a pack of cough drops while Pat tries out her new guitar strap and sets up her foot pedals. Val takes off her shoes and pads around the space barefoot setting up her much-loved bass, which she tells me she once left on the subway accidentally (it was returned!). Dee peels some tape off the drum kit to help Cynthia hold up the show flow and they all settle in to start the business of rehearsal.
[Cynthia Sley]
[Dee Pop]
[Pat Place]
[Val Opielski]
The space is tiny, and the time is limited so after snapping some shots (and one quickie video clip of “Snakes Crawl”) I head out. Room 3 isn’t soundproofed, so I get to hear the band as I walk toward the front door, stopping to take a photo of the band’s RMRS portrait, which hangs in the hallway.
You can keep up with the band at this link. And you can hear them live on WFMU's The Evan "Funk" Davies Show next Wednesday night at 9.
Collapsing Scenery is headlining a free show in Tompkins Square Park on Friday afternoon.
The duo, Don Devore and Reggie Debris, released their latest album, Stress Positions, on June 28. As Brooklyn Vegan described the LP: "It’s quite the gonzo record that mixes post-punk, shoegaze, hip hop, dance music and more into one heady cocktail."
The show is also a benefit for Avenues For Justice, formerly the Andrew Glover Youth Program, around the corner from the Park on Avenue B. As amNYrecently put it, Avenues for Justice is "a court advocacy program dedicated to rescuing New Yorkers in their teens and early 20s from the soul-crushing spiral of incarceration."
However, an EVG Facebook friend passed along word that last night's show was interrupted twice by the NYPD due to apparent noise complaints from a nearby resident. As a result, tonight's show has been cancelled.
Here's what the band had to say on its Facebook page from last night:
PLEASE NOTE THAT THE SATURDAY NIGHT GIG AT SLIPPER ROOM WAS CANCELED DUE TO NOISE VIOLATIONS TONIGHT. REFUNDS PROVIDED FOR ADVANCE TIX. SO SORRY EVERYONE. IT IS DEFINITELY BEYOND OUR CONTROL. Thanks to those who came tonight. It was fun to play with Cindy, even with the two interruptions to stop by the club and police threatening with violations!
We're tracking down more information on what happened...
Updated: Exchanged messages on Facebook with Cynthia Sley of the Bush Tetras... She said that there are "irate neighbors who have a grudge" and call the NYPD regularly about the Slipper Room. "We were not that loud but they gave the club a huge citation," she said. "Unbelievable that you can get a violation at 8 on a Friday night on Orchard St."
Meanwhile, the band's classic "Too Many Creeps" seems appropriate...
We're just hearing the news that Laura Kennedy, a founding member and bassist of the New York-based No Wave band the Bush Tetras, died on Monday after a lengthy battle with Hepatitis C. She had been living in Minneapolis the past 12 years.
She kept a blog about her ongoing health issues. You can find it here.
We've posted this Bush Tetras video several times through the years. One of my favorites — the song and the video, starring the Bowery circa early 1980s... From 1981.
