Vic and Gab @ Pianos

Vic and Gab were the first band on a great line-up at the Wild Honey Pie show at Pianos last night.

An indie-pop band of two sisters from Milwaukee, Vic and Gab played guitar and bass with 2 other band members — a drummer and a percussionist/Korg player.

They’re a really young band, and it’s exciting to see a band with a lot of potential at the early stages of its career.

They could talk more in between songs so there’s not dead silence, but I was impressed by the electric guitar playing and the intricate drum beats.

“Anything For You” is their catchiest song — the second vocals that come in at the end (“I’ll try, for you”) are perfect:

++VicandGab.com

Milk Carton Kids @ Largo (5/9/13)

Photo Credit: Brendan Pattengale

Last night I saw The Milk Carton Kids play the second of two consecutive shows at Largo in LA.

The Milk Carton Kids, the duo of Joey Ryan + Kenneth Pattengale, are touring in support of their new album The Ash & Clay, and they played new songs like “Honey, Honey” as well as older favorites (“New York,” “Charlie,” and “Girls, Gather ‘Round”).

The audience at Largo was really eclectic — people of all ages, and everyone seemed to really enjoy and appreciate the duo’s repartee between songs.

The crowd even (audibly) recognized “Michigan,” the penultimate song of the set, from the song’s very first guitar notes.

Joey focused more on strumming chords and was smoother in his presentation than Kenneth, who was slightly more spastic in demeanor and did more finger picking.

See upcoming tour dates at The Milk Carton Kids website for San Francisco, Portland, Seattle, Vancouver, NY, and Australia dates!

Ex Cops @ Troubadour (5/8/13)

Photo Credit: After The Show

Ex Cops played their first ever LA show last night, opening for Bleached at The Troubadour.

The band kicked off their set with “Ken,” followed by “You Are A Lion, I Am A Lamb,” which set the tone for their band as one of controlled energy, dreamy guitar tones, and lush male-female vocals.

Ex Cops (Brian Harding and Amalie Bruun) were backed by 3 other musicians, and they played to a packed house (mostly full of teenagers).

Photo Credit: After The Show

They played a brand new song that sounded good — nice bass line and chord changes. Ex Cops’ penultimate song was “James,” which sounded way too rushed! “James” is such an amazing song but I couldn’t appreciate it when it was played so fast.

Check out: Ex Cops’ official website + Twitter for 2 more LA dates + the rest of the tour.

The Henry Millers @ Webster

The Henry Millers opened for Hey Ocean! last night at the Studio at Webster Hall…and I’m so happy I saw their set.

The Henry Millers is led by John MacCallum and Katie Schecter, both on guitars and vocals. The band performed songs from their album Daisies, like the second song they played, “Diamonds,” as well as “Predator.”

I loved that they played “Treehouse” too — the female vocals that come in at the end take the song to another level.

I wish the album/studio versions sounded as full, powerful, and clear as the live versions.

The band finished their set strong with “Mr. Flash Gordon.” The echo in the choruses of “Gordon, Mr. Flash Gordon” and the interplay between both vocals sounds amazing (it’s more muddled and harder to hear on the recorded version).

+Check out TheHenryMillers.com and on Facebook

Mainland Concert: 3-23-13

Mainland was the first band that played at the Sucre show at Webster Hall (presented by Nylon Magazine) on Saturday night.

Mainland managed to draw in a sizeable crowd, and their best songs were “Margot” (the chorus of which is really catchy) and their penultimate song “The Stroll” (music video below).

+Mainland on Facebook and Twitter

“The Stroll”:

The Jim Ivins Band @ Webster

I got to the Studio @ Webster Hall early on Friday to catch The Jim Ivins Band open for Rooney’s Robert Schwartzman.

The band started strong with “Run” — very catchy chorus. Most of their songs sound like late 90s/early 2000s power pop.

The sound was good and full, but 5 people made the stage too crowded. I think they would’ve been tighter with 3 or 4 band members, ditching the extraneous Korg keyboard.

I’d be interested in hearing some of these songs stripped down/acoustic.

“Rollercoaster” was a highlight, and they ended their set with “Everything We Wanted.”

The Jim Ivins Band: Facebook + Twitter

Big Scary at Pianos

Big Scary, the Australian duo of Tom Iansek and Jo Syme, played at Pianos last night (Wednesday October 24th).

Big Scary have been a band since 2006, and they released their first songs back in 2008 .

The electric guitar driven “Gladiator” as well as the keyboard driven “Falling Away” were really great live, even for people in the audience who hadn’t necessarily heard the album versions of those songs.

Big Scary ended their set with “Purple” off of their Vacation LP, which sounded a bit out of place (it’s more aggressive, with a spoken word chorus) compared to their other songs.

Check out Big Scary’s website & Twitter!

Night Beds: First New York Show

Night Beds played their first New York show Friday night at Mercury Lounge.

Winston, the lead singer, had a unique vocal setup — he alternated his singing between two microphones, which were next to each other on the stage. One mike had some sort of echo effect which made the vocals sound like they were drifting in from far away.

Winston’s voice was the highlight of the show and the band’s secret weapon. “Even If We Try” showcases those vocals with its acapella beginning.

He seemed to switch guitars between almost every song, and the repeated unplugging/plugging/re-tuning was a little distracting, though.

I noticed a lot of musical transitions within the songs. The drummer was strong, and he switched it up with mallets and brushes on different songs.

“Even If We Try”:

“Night Beds”:

More info. on Night Beds