Our finest gifts we bring

 

Getting to some Christmas requests ... from 1998, a cover of "The Little Drummer Boy" by the Dandy Warhols...

Built to 'Spells'

 

Freak Slug — aka Manchester-based performer Xenya Genovese — saw the release of her debut full-length release, I Blow Out Big Candles, earlier this month. 

The video here is for "Spells." 

She plays two shows in Brooklyn this weekend (Baby's All Right and Union Pool), though both are sold out. 

Freak Slug will be back around in April, headlining the Bowery Ballroom.

When Love comes to town

 

In late August, news arrived that Bruce Springsteen had covered East Village-based singer-songwriter Jesse Malin's song "She Don't Love Me Now." 

Now there's a video for the track (H/T Bayou!), filmed at Heaven Can Wait on Avenue A, which also cameos. 

The song is featured on Silver Patron Saints, the triple-vinyl album on Glassnote Records benefiting Malin's Sweet Relief artist fund.

In May 2023, Malin suffered a rare spinal stroke that left him paralyzed from the waist down. Malin, a partner in several local establishments, including Niagara, 96 Tears and the Bowery Electric, plans to return to the stage for the first time since early 2023 on Dec. 1-2 at the Beacon Theater, billed as "the largest hometown show of his career." 

He will perform a set with his band. Then special guests, among others, Jim Jarmusch, the Hold Steady, Fred Armisen, Lucinda Williams, Rickie Lee Jones, Jakob Dylan, Butch Walker, J Mascis, Adam Duritz and David Immergluck of Counting Crows, will join him on stage. The Times just published a feature on Malin here.

The 'Pleasure' principle

 

The Vermont-based Thus Love is back with album No. 2, titled All Pleasure, a euphoric post-punk collection of tracks such as the self-titled single in the video above. (And we'd put "Birthday Song" as one of the best of 2024.) 

We really enjoyed seeing them live this past summer in Tompkins Square Park. They'll be back around on Jan. 17, opening for the Vaccines at Brooklyn Steel.

Art of noise

 

Going back to 1990 for the first iteration of the Breeders (Kim Deal, Tanya Donelly and Josephine Wiggs).

"When I Was a Painter" is on the band's first record, Pod. 

Meanwhile! Kim's debut album, Nobody Loves You More, will be released on Nov. 22.

'Headliner' news

 

Tuesday saw the release of a new Pretty Sick video... for "Headliner," off the Streetwise EP.

We were at the raucous Pretty Sick Halloween show last night at Bowery Ballroom. Pics on the way.

You're in a mess

 

Local duo Beau — Heather Goldin and Emma Jenney — just saw the release of their third album, Girl Cried Wolf. 

The video here is for the track "Messy." 

The longtime friends and native New Yorkers started writing music together at age 13 in Washington Square Park. 

Per their bio: "If in some alternate universe there is a place where The Ronettes, Joanna Newsom, Thom Yorke and Karen O meet, then that is the birthplace of Beau." 

Beau knows!

Headline h/t

'Picture' this

 

Los Angeles-based trio julie recently released its first record, My Anti-Aircraft Friend. 

The above video is for the previously released "pg.4 a picture of three hedges." 

The band (and one that we like!) headlines Webster Hall on 11th Street this coming Tuesday night.

A 'Sad' state

 

Fans of shoegaze-dream pop can check out the recently released debut record by the Los Angeles-based Mo Dotti.

The video here is for "Whirling Sad," a track the band says was inspired by "vintage Lush, the sweeter side of My Bloody Valentine, and SST-era Dinosaur Jr."

'Number' cruncher

 

Local trio Sunflower Bean is back with a new catchy EP titled Shake.

The video here is for "Lucky Number." 

You can catch the band live at the United Sounds NYC Festival on Oct. 25 in Red Hook. (The bill includes The Dismemberment Plan and Model/Actriz.)

'Mad' world

 

Going with some New York noise-rock legends Live Skull here — "Mad Kingship," from the band's most recent release, 2023's Party Zero. 

Live Skull is headlining a loft show tonight (late) at Pretty Garden Club, 55 Canal St. at Orchard.

Cum as you are

 

Local experimental art-punk group cumgirl8 released a new video this week for the track "ahhhh!hhhh! (I don't wanna go)." 

The single is on the band's 4AD debut, the 8th cumming, out on Oct. 4. 

As for the video, it's a parody of a 1990s televangelical talk show in which they answer the question, "What is a cumgirl?"

Home 'room'

 

Madrid-based indie rockers Hinds (now a duo) are back with a new album, Viva Hinds, which is out today. 

The video here is for a single off the release titled "The Bed, The Room, The Rain and You." 

Hinds will play Warsaw in Brooklyn this Oct. 29.

Psychedelic purrs

 

For the long weekend, a long set of music... a live performance by the Osees from the Freak Valley Festival in Netphen, Germany, earlier this summer. 

Osees, who have a new album out now (their 35th in the past year or so), are one of our favorite live acts. See for yourself this Oct. 24-25 at Warsaw in Brooklyn.

Have a nice Labor Day weekend. See you Tuesday.

'Vision' quest

 

The London-based Crows have a new record coming out on Sept. 27. 

Ahead of that, here's the Interpol-ish track "Vision of Me."

With help from some friends, The Hard Quartet pays homage to the Stones on St. Mark's Place

Last week, we posted a few reader pics of The Hard Quartet, a new supergroup with local ties, filming a video (from earlier in July) on St. Mark's and First Avenue, including inside the International. 

As we noted, group members Emmett Kelly, Stephen Malkmus, Matt Sweeney and Jim White were apparently paying homage to the 1981 Rolling Stones video "Waiting on a Friend," a classic clip with Mick Jagger and Keith Richards meeting up on St. Mark's Place. 

The band released the video today for "Rio's Song," which does its best to follow in the footsteps of "Waiting" some 43 years later ... and featuring Sweeney and Malkmus in the lead roles. 

Director Jared Sherbert told Pitchfork, "It's a DIY neighborhood production, and it wouldn't have been possible without our friends and neighbors who came together and took time out of their day to help it happen."

 

You can see The Hard Quartet live at Webster Hall on Oct. 17. The band's debut on double vinyl is out via Matador on Oct. 4.

50 years of the Ramones

 

Today (Aug. 16!) marks the 50th anniversary of the first show by the Ramones at CBGB. (Anyone take a ferry ride to Rockaway Beach?)

Fast-forward three short years to the above footage from the Rainbow Theatre in Finsbury Park, London, on Dec. 31, 1977.

'Birthday' wishes

 

Thus Love is one of the bands playing this weekend in Tompkins Square Park as part of Show Brain's indie rock fest. 

The video for "Birthday Song" dropped this week and will be included on the band's second record, which is out on Nov. 1. 

Thus Love plays live in Tompkins tomorrow from 5:20-6 p.m.

2 members of Team USA are featured in this local band's new music video

The new music video from local band Midnight Machines has a timely Olympics connection: the clip for "Burning Me Down" features two professional fencers and members of Team USA, Kasia Nixon and Jess Savner. Savner will compete this week in the Paris Games in the Pentathlon event. 

Krikor Daglian (who has contributed photos to EVG) and Krisana Soponpong are Midnight Machines, who find inspiration from a range of artists, including LCD Soundsystem, CHVRCHES, The Rapture, Phoenix, Christine and the Queens, Bloc Party and Daft Punk. 

"The song is about the complex theme of desire and whether it's better to stay safe in a situation you've known or 'burn it all down' by chasing after something new and exciting," said director Charlie Gillette. "While the lyrics explore the intricate emotions of longing and passion, I wanted to transform the abstract notion of desire into a tangible and exhilarating narrative, portraying a compelling duel between two master fencers."

You can check out the video, which was filmed in April, right here...

 

The band plays at Rockwood Music Hall on Thursday night at 9. 

Three's company

 

This week, local trio Hello Mary (Helena Straight, Stella Wave and Mikaela Oppenheimer) released more new music (and a video!). 

The track "Three" is on the band's forthcoming record, Emita Ox, due out on Sept. 13. 

Hello Mary is headlining a show at Bowery Ballroom on Oct. 24.