Scenes from Nine Perfect Lives at Irving Plaza

Photos by Stacie Joy

For a band playing just its fourth live show, Nine Perfect Lives already carries itself like a seasoned NYC act. 

Saturday night at Irving Plaza, the group — featuring Helena Straight and Stella Wave from the on-hiatus Hello Mary, Cooper Ladomade of Rocket, and musician/audio technician Jeanne Hill — delivered a set that felt loose, loud, and fully locked in despite the band's short history together.

The band was the middle act of a bill featuring Television Overdose and headliners The Thing. 

Here's vocalist-guitarist Helena Straight...

... vocalist-guitarist Stella Wave...

... bassist Jeanne Hill ...

... and drummer Cooper Ladomade...

Even just four shows in, the band already sounded remarkably locked together, shifting easily between hazy shoegaze textures and punchier guitar-driven hooks.

Helena and Stella's voices gave the songs their emotional center ... sometimes floating above the noise, sometimes cutting right through it.

Nine Perfect Lives delivered a loud, immersive set built around swirling guitars, distortion and sharp pop melodies.

The band just announced its first shows outside NYC, playing with Horsegirl on a few dates in June.

Keep tabs on Nine Perfect Lives via Instagram.

These are the 'Daze'

 

We have another new video from local psych-pop trio Lukka, led by East Village-based singer-songwriter Franzi Szymkowiak.

The clip here is for "StarDazer."

Previously on EV Grieve: 

• Heady psychedelia: A conversation with East Village musician Franzi Szymkowiak of Lukka

Saturday's parting shot

Photo by Stacie Joy 

We ran into local residents Dave Sussman and Annamaria Pinna today on Ninth Street ... check out their band Vajra...

New from Lukka: 'Tombol'

 

Local psych-pop trio Lukka, led by East Village-based singer-songwriter Franzi Szymkowiak, has a new single out... check out the video above for "Tombol," featuring her bandmates Ashley Gonzalez on bass and Simon Fishburn on drums. 

Previously on EV Grieve: 

• Heady psychedelia: A conversation with East Village musician Franzi Szymkowiak of Lukka

Saturday's parting shot

Brooklyn's quietly intense Nara's Room tonight at Night Club 101 on Avenue A ... the band's next record is out on May 15.

A meditation on memory, loss and heritage

 

Tearless, thoughtless, the second record from Brooklyn's Nara's Room comes out on May 15. 

The video here is for the first single, the seven-minute ballad "Tucson." (Read more about the emotional backdrop for the song here.) 

Keep tabs on the band via Instagram... and see them live at Night Club 101 on Avenue A on March 28.

Scenes from night 3 of the New Colossus Festival

Photos by Stacie Joy

Above: Suburban Speed at Ki Smith Gallery 

The New Colossus Festival, the six-day celebration of independent music from around the world, is now underway across 10-plus venues in the East Village and Lower East Side. 

We fanned out last night to catch a handful of bands, including ... the '90s alt-punk of the Brooklyn-based Dutch Kills at Niagara...

...the Jump Cuts from West Palm Beach, Fla., at Berlin Under A...

Then it was off to see EVG faves Suburban Speed on the small stage at Ki Smith Gallery...

Yes, the idea is to discover new music among the festival's 190 bands. However, we're still partial to the cinematic atmospherics of Suburban Speed, who have added a cornet, kazoo and empty Smirnoff bottle to their instrumental lineup. (They're playing Pianos at 12:30 p.m. tomorrow. Yes, p.m.)

... and we ended the evening at the Parkside Lounge ... first with Chicago weirdos Heet Deth...

... and also from Chicago, Bussy Kween Power Trip...

Back at it today/tonight. 

Previously on EV Grieve: 

• The New Colossus Festival returns this week for its biggest year yet

Bands we like: Homade

Photos and interview by Stacie Joy 

We finally caught Homade live last month, catching an early set at the Mercury Lounge on Dec. 17 — and it was well worth the wait.

We've featured the band here before in our weekly Friday at 5 video posts this past year ... "New Girl" and "Blue Fish." 

However, seeing them in person added another layer. Their sound leans punky alt-rock with a strong quiet-loud dynamic (especially on "New Girl"). 

Homade is made up of Lola Daehler (lead vocals, bass)...

Maya Ruth (guitar, vocals)...

Suzie Ciftcikal (guitar)

... and Addie Vogt (drums) ...

While only Daehler currently lives in the East Village, the neighborhood remains central to the band's story. 

Before the show, Daehler talked about rehearsing at 6/8 Studios on Second Avenue between Fourth and Fifth Streets. 

"We started playing at Mr. Barnes' studio, down the blue staircase," she said. "It was exciting because Sonic Youth used to play there. We played in the Sonic Youth Room always! You may get electrocuted, but it's totally worth it. And Mr. Barnes is the best."

The band has been rehearsing there since its early days and even filmed the "New Girl" video there. 

"Anytime we're in the East Village playing, it's at Mr. Barnes'. So shout out, Mr. Barnes — 6/8 Studios!"

Homade says new music is on the way in 2026 — an EP for sure, and possibly an LP — with a noticeable shift in direction. 

"We're heading in a much shoegazier direction," Daehler said. "Out of alt-rock and into doomy shoegaze." 

Based on this set, that evolution sounds like one to keep an ear on.

Keep tabs on the band via Instagram.

Eyes wide shut

 

Local band Skorts (an EVG Bands we like alum) debuted a new video this week. Check out "Burden."

Skorts is our tour this fall, with a European leg coming up later in the year.

Bands we like: Puzzled Panther (plus Crazy & the Brains and Nabihah Iqbal)

Photos by Stacie Joy 

We finally got to see Puzzled Panther live last Sunday ... after hearing about them for the past 18 months or so. 

The NYC band was part of the latest Show Brain show in Tompkins Square Park. 

Victoria Espinoza and Kay Bontempo started PP as a duo. They continued to add firepower to their punky dance-floor tapestry with the addition of drummer Brian Chase, moonlighting from the Yeah Yeah Yeahs... and Eugene Hütz of Gogol Bordello, who signed PP to his Casa Gogol label. 

Hütz described last Sunday's set as a "psychosleaze spectacle," which is pretty accurate. 

Also with the band now: Ty from Genre Is Death and bassist Rob Mellinger, doing double duty this day from another band on the bill, Crazy & the Brains. 

Here are a few scenes from the inspired set featuring songs from their two EPs as well as a cover of the Velvet Underground's "Venus in Furs" and Sonic Youth's "Dirty Boots."

Puzzled Panther is off to Europe now for a tour. You can keep tabs on them via Instagram. 

It was an inspired afternoon of music with Bubbles, 95 Bulls, and Grace Begere. 

Crazy & the Brains, who got their start in the East Village, tore it up...

And there was headliner Nabihah Iqbal, who also played a sold-out show this past Monday at Night Club 101 on Avenue A, and delivered an atmospheric, genre-blurring set...

Faces in the crowd included Ty and Taylor from Genre Is Death, currently working on a new record...

... and East Village resident Alli Walls, lead singer of Skorts...

We're not sure if there's one last Show Brain show this year in Tompkins. Regardless, thanks to SB founder Ozzie for bringing so much music to the park this spring and summer.

Whisper to a 'Sting'

 

NYC band Puzzled Panther will be headlining the next (and last for 2025) Show Brain show in Tompkins Square Park on Sept. 7. 

The video here is for "Sting of Iodine (Panacea)" from the recently released EP Fits of Serenity (Casa Gogol Records).

A 'Rough' patch

 

95 Bulls are first up tomorrow afternoon for Day 1 of the free Show Brain Festival in Tompkins Square Park. 

The above video is for "It Was Rough."

Dreamin’ slow in a burnin’ world

 

Here's another video from EVG bands-we-like alum Dead Tooth... the single is "Chuckin' and Wingin' it." 

The song is on the Queens-based band's recently released debut record. 

You can find the record on Bandcamp. 

And today is Bandcamp Friday, where the platform waives its revenue share and passes the funds directly to artists and labels.

All and 'Some'

 

Avishag Cohen Rodrigues, part of the cumgirl8 collective, also has a promising solo career. 

You can see for yourself tomorrow afternoon as Cohen Rodrigues is part of the free Show Brain show in Tompkins Square Park. 

The video here is for her latest single, "Some Are."

A 'Life' of its own

 

Brooklyn's Water From Your Eyes have a new LP, It's a Beautiful Place, out on Aug. 22 via Matador Records. 

Ahead of that, they've been releasing several tracks, including (above) "Life Signs." 

You can see them live on Oct. 10 at Bowery Ballroom.

Bands we like: Dead Tooth

Photos on July 13 by Stacie Joy 

This past Sunday, Dead Tooth was part of an afternoon of free music via Show Brain in Tompkins Square Park. 

Usually a five-piece, the Queens-based Dead Tooth played as a power trio, led by lead vocalist-guitarist Zach James...

... including special guest Ozzie, founder of Show Brain (on the left), joining the band on drums this day...

Meanwhile, Dead Tooth's debut record is out today on Trash Casual. 

As our friends at Magnet noted: "Dead Tooth has essentially fashioned its own subgenre: 'rodeo core,' a sound that borrows from post-punk, goth, hardcore and (in an oddly peripheral sense) country music." (They also once opened for GWAR.) 

Here are portraits of other bands from the day, starting with Jasno...

SORRYNOTSORRY...

... and Pinc Louds...

And to Tilt — sorry that we missed you!