Author Archives: Angie Sugrim

Everybody’s working for the weekend! While I myself have been lucky enough to have been magically freed by the fates from my extended desk jockey cubicle past life, I do appreciate the fact that many of us who like to eat more than ramen noodles for dinner still push a little paper from the nine to five.

So I know you’re super psyched that it’s Friday Funday and I also know you’re cutting out early, as long as you can avoid Lumbergh (yeah, I’m gonna need you to go ahead and come in on Saturday) you’re out the door early on this lovely afternoon. If you’re wondering how you can most quickly forget the crushing corporate existence as soon as you high tail it out from under the florescent lights, well you’ve come to the right place!

Your indie-rawk pusher woman is gonna set you right after those exhausting 40 hours (20 hours on Facebook, 19 hours shopping/ looking at porn/ playing an on-line game, 1 hour productivity) at the office with your RDA of live shows, and this weekend’ s helping is sure to restore your fortitude forthwith!

This Is What I’m Talking About: Paul From Interpol. Sigh.

Tonight the AP crowd must make a very big decision indeed, as there are at least 2 great Indie/Alt Rock evenings (my favorite flavor) in town. The Paramount Theatre hosts Interpol this evening, and it’s been almost a decade since these New York based neighbors have come down to see us. And see us they will when Paul (who I will be doing my best to seduce—hey I’m a hot front lady in my own right) and the boys take the stage later this evening.

Since there’s an equally not to be missed show at The Asbury Lanes I am stepping out later to clone myself like Alice in Resident Evil so I can hit both venues. Tonight is an all-star line up of great original live acts featuring some of my absolute favorite bands at The Asbury Lanes. Accidental Seabirds, Southwork, Big Eyes, and Brick+Mortar will be taking the stage of my favorite club, plus the super fine Sam Bey, right on rock drummer for area favorites The Parlor Mob, will be spinning between sets.

I’m especially excited because I ran into Brandon of Brick+Mortar downtown last night and he’s psyched for tonight because Brick+Mortar have some all new material to debut.

There’s only about a million amazing bars/restaurants/places to hang all around town before the shows, so don’t even stop home after your cubicle liberation today. Power up at one of my favorite spots like Bond Street Bar for a wallet-friendly quality dinner (some second-to-none burgers are found here, including my fave, the veggie burger) pre-game.

Then wander over to The Parlor Gallery and enjoy FREE admission to their latest show, a fine collection of witty, urban, wink-wink, nod-nod work, “Blah, Blah, Blah”. Finally bring it in to Oceanfront AP and hit up one of the aforementioned shows!

Before you know it you will have completely forgotten about how you’re wasting your best years under the soul-sucking rigor of the obligations that hang over your head like a guillotine from the antiquated work-money system which we were all unwittingly born into lifelong, prison-like indentured servitude through ( See:The Clash’s Mag 7). Is that too dark? Sorry!

XOXO
Ang

Call me old-fashioned, but I still love college radio. That’s when why I found out that area up and comers, Accidental Seabirds are appearing on one of my favorite college radio stations, Brookdale’s own 90.5 The Night tomorrow, I was super stoked to be able to share the news with everyone out there in Web-Log land.

Accidental Seabirds is one of those bands that possess both a strong songwriting skill set as well as excellent musicianship. It’s been quite the journey for singer/guitarist Jesse Lee as he brought this group to fruition, getting the sound out of his head and into fans ears, but the group has hit their stride and their clean, folk-rock sound, intelligent and at times sarcastic and wry lyrics are capturing local hearts and minds as this fundamentally solid and extremely focused act should be.

I had the chance to ask a few questions of Mr. Lee himself, and after you study up below, make sure to tune in online or over the terrestrial airwaves at 90.5 The Night tomorrow at 6 PM. While the band is a full 5 piece, they’re stripping things down when guitarists Jesse and James of Accidental Seabirds will be catching up with area celeb DJ Jeff Raspe and playing a few acoustic versions of their songs live on air. Long Live Indie Rock and the community we compose!

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L To R: Westin Glass, Hutch Harris, & Kathy Foster Of The Thermals

The Thermals are THE number one indie alt/punk band of my generation. So it shouldn’t surprise you to find out that the first time I met singer Hutch Harris, I got a little misty. Just a little bit, just from feeling overwhelmed. This was back in 2006 outside the Bowery Ballroom in NYC. I had been spinning the band’s records to date then, their blazing debut More Parts Per Million ( 2003 Sub Pop), the boldly named Fuckin’ A (2004, Sub Pop), and the epic The Body, The Blood, The Machine (2006, Sub Pop) pretty much incessantly.

And because I am the truest of rock nerds, I went to see The Thermals, not once, not twice, but three times in a row for the Summer ’06 tour. Futhermore, I was so smitten with the band’s unique, sharp and hard-hitting brand of perfection, I had to confess my love. ( Not in a stalker way, don’t worry!)

More Parts Per Million; DIY Harris Recorded This In His Kitchen!

If you’re a tried and true rock-o-phile like me, you know the sexy game our kind plays in pursuit of proof of the often abstract world of the ephemeral rock experience. After the show’s over and 98% of the crowd is already on the way home, here we stand in some back alley by the tour van, unabashed in our complete dorkiness as we cling to our sharpie marker and magazine cover/special edition single/ freshly purchased T-Shirt in hopes of an autograph, and experiential knowledge of the rock hero up close and in 3-D.

And after seeing The Thermals open for fellow Pacific Northwesterner’s, the essential Sleater-Kinney in 2003, I was a woman possessed. The hope and pure joy The Thermals gave me from the way they effortlessly and expertly wielded their signature brand of Alt Rock filled my eyes with stars, my heart with songs, my mouth with cornball expressions of adoration. And that live show—HO-LEE-SMOKES! Dancing that will make you ache for days.

Pillar Of Salt, From The Body The Blood The Machine

The thing is, Rock was and still is divided into two time periods for me: Before Kurt and After Kurt. When frontman Hutch Harris and his superhero counter part, second-to-none bassist Kathy Foster came out swinging with debut album More Parts Per Million (recorded by Hutch in its entirety in his kitchen on a reel-to-reel), it was the first time since the awful year of 1994 that I had seen brand new blood validate indisputably the power and presence of Alt Rock for a generation of bands that proudly wore their 90’s influence on their sleeves.

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The Thermals Are Coming!

Hello Readers! As you may or may not know, I’ve been recording with The Pete (Pete Steinkopf , the brilliant guitarist for The Bouncing Souls). Yesterday we wrapped up some vocals, which required lots of patience, attention and most importantly: whiskey. Even though it was only 2 PM I knew that the screaming/singing I needed to do required some serious libation lubrication, so when Pete handed me a glass of Crown Royal, I did what I had to do. Long story short, the drinking ended about 12 hours later at The Asbury Lanes, my home away from home. ( I told lil Mike I am just going to move into the liquor closet—cut to the chase, you know?)

Somehow I Keep It Together Around This Rock Royalty: Pete Steinkopf Of The Bouncing Souls

The moral of the story is that I am gloriously hungover today, but as the saying goes, Ride Or Die. Winners don’t quit, and quitters don’t win, so I’m going to rage this weekend and keep the dream alive. I’m going to practice Charlie Sheen’s philosophy and win here and win here. Here’s where I’ll be this weekend. Fulfill your dreams of living my punk rock lifestyle and follow along!

Friday 4/29
Cheeky Monkey Sideshow. “You’ll be amazed. You’ll be amused. You’ll be just a little grossed out.” The Lanes always brings faboo freakish acts to town, so I’m sure this troop will deliver a night of bizarre, enthralling entertainment.

Saturday 4/30- Sunday 5/1
Power Pop-A-Licious Festival! The legendary Power-Pop King himself, Paul Collins curated this first ever of it’s kind extravaganza, and it’s going to be pretty spectacular! “Each day will feature bands from different regions of the country, with local DJs spinning sets to create an all-day dance party atmosphere. Similar in approach to “happenings” in 1960’s London, Power Pop-A-Licious is no mere rock n’ roll concert, it’s an event. DJs, performance artist’s video projections, and, of course, the spirited, high-energy live rock-n-roll performances from all these great new bands will provide the entertainment.”

Philadelphia International Festival Of Music And Arts Street Fair
“Gaining inspiration from the creative atmosphere in Paris over a century ago, Philadelphia is transforming into a 21st Century City of Light with incredible art, music, dance, performance, food, fashion and more. The celebration reaches a fever pitch with PIFA’s marquis event, a massive Street Fair on the Avenue of the Arts. There will also be two stages set up for live music, including performances from Sharon Jones & the Dap Kings and the Watcha Clan” and one of my all time favorite rock bands, The Thermals!

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My Old Boyfriend Joe Strummer

Status quo. If you’re a rebel worth your leather jacket you have a problem with it. It’s been like this for me since I was 16 when I discovered my inner bad ass. If you’re ever lucky enough to see the inside of my bedroom (please submit a resume and list any special skills you think might be advantageous to your postion within the employment of said space) you’d see that there’s a theme. Salvador Dali, The Clash, Van Gogh, The Slits, Nirvana, Hole (from ’93!) not to mention my collection of literature from fellow bad asses like Gandhi, Howard Zinn, Aristotle, Socrates, Plato, and Vonnegut collide in my little apartment….Basically anyone who thought that the status quo wasn’t inclusive of unjustly marginalized people makes my wall of fame.

I like to keep a certain kind of company, if you will. “I keep to a certain lifestyle,” as one of my associates is fond of saying.

One Of My Favorite Sleater Kinney Albums

That’s why when I had run ins with the police not once, but twice yesterday in twelve hours in a neighboring wealthy shore town, it wasn’t really much of a surprise. And when I was mistaken for a domestic worker by one officer even though I am a mid-level professional who is college educated and speaks English as her first language, that wasn’t really terribly surprising either.

These guys aren’t bad guys, but I got the impression that a woman of color like me just didn’t compute in an affluent shore town neighborhood. Not because they were particularly belligerent dudes, but because that was the scope of their experience.

Le Tigre’s Makes Poli-Sci Dance Worthy on Feminist Sweepstakes

I don’t really know what to do here; I don’t really have an answer. I do know that there is some serious 90’s backlash that washes over our socio-economic-political-psychological experience these days against meaningful dialogue on issues that no longer hold the attention of the national media for any significant amount of time: poverty, the –ism’s we all wish would go away, homophobia, the loss of things held in common like clean drinking water and food (access to these varies according to class,) the rampant abuse of communities by corporations gone mad with power…

Kool Thing, Come Here, Sit Down Beside Me…

It gets so that you just want to open up a bottle (pills or booze, your choice), roll up a j, turn on, tune in, and drop out. It’s no wonder we’ve gone all ‘every man for himself.’ Panic, desperation, fear and unrest generally lead to that outlook. When Krist Novoselic opened up Nirvana’s “Territorial Pissings” by awkwardly warbling the Youngbloods “Come on people now/ Smile on your brother/ everybody get together try to love one another right now,” he was asking us “What happened to those ideals?”

John & Yoko Invite You To Think About The World From Bed

It’s a scary time out there for sure. I need my rock heroes to lean on. Music has always been a huge form of protection and shelter for me. And I’m not a politco-purist: I like The Knack (My Sharona) as much as The Plastic Ono Band (Give Peace A Chance). But here’s the thing: the artists that are my heroes forever authentically wore their ideas about truth, justice, freedom and all those other lofty ideals on their sleeves in earnest.

The Minutemen: To Quote D. Boon, “Punk Rock Changed Our Lives”

And as a kid who was absolutely sick from the fear-consumption cycle that keeps most of us in check, stumbling on Joe Strummer or John Lennon or Kurt, that woke me up. You don’t feel as crazy when you realize how screwed up a lot of what you’re subjected to is.

Back in the early 90’s when Nirvana played a show to raise money and awareness for Bosnian rape victims, it gave such huge legitimacy to progressively integrating music and politics, as well as the cause itself. All of a sudden these women who were victims of a brutal regime were getting international attention to their plight.

Contrast that with the current state of affairs: exorbitantly wealthy artists like Mariah Carey and Beyonce accepted huge amounts of money from dictator Libyan strongman Moammar Gaddafi for a private live performance at a party. I don’t like that, nor do I want to put a ring on it.

Getting profiled by the cops didn’t really alter my life in a fundamental way or anything, but it definitely reminded me that I don’t subscribe to the idea that my only objective in life is to vapidly party. Kathleen Hanna of Bikini Kill and later Le Tigre said, “Don’t freak out cuz the jigsaw is laying on the floor and it’s not all the way done and has been laying there for 4 whole hours now, resist the freak out. You will get to it..it’s all part of the process.”

“I’m about to have a nervous breakdown/ My head really hurts”

I know music can’t fix everything, but at least it can make me feel like someone out there gets it. As Corin Tucker sang on Sleater Kinney’s hugely important album One Beat, “When violence rules the world outside/ and the headlines make you want to cry/ it’s not the time to just keep quiet/ speak up one time/ to the BEAT!” … But readers, don’t you worry yourself into a paralysis! It’s gonna be okay! We’re all gonna be okay!

After all “The Future Is Unwritten.”

XOXO

Ang

Punk’s not dead, and fast-rising area trio Lost In Society are here to prove it. I had the pleasure of playing with the charismatic act a few months back at The Asbury Lanes, and I found the guys and their sound immediately likeable. And I’m not the only one. LIS won Metromix Breakthru Ultimate Band Competiton at Brighton Bar last month, which was no small feat given the boatloads of great talent that made it through the many rounds of eliminations.

L To R: Hector, Zach, & Nick Take The Cake At Metromix’s Breakthru Contest

I wasn’t at that show, but I did hear about it from quite a few fans, including Pete Steinkopf of The Bouncing Souls. In addition to being a fan of LIS, The Pete has also recorded the guys a few times now, most recently for their newly released single, “Not Afraid”. When I asked Pete about the guys winning performance at the Metromix contest, he was really enthusiastic and obviously impressed. “The crowd was going wild. Everyone was moshing, kids were being floated above the crowd, jumping off the stage…It was like an old school punk show! The energy was incredible. They’re just a great band.”

Fans Go Wild For LIS At Metromix’s Breakthru Contest

I had a chance to interview the guys about their history and particularly exciting upcoming show in support of punk paragons, The Pietasters, and I had so much fun I just about forgot that we were actually working and not just messing around between classes.

That’s because LIS quintessentially capture the wide-eyed perspective and anything’s-possible fervor of youth, with a simple but inescapable energy that throws off sparks. Whether they’re sitting around making you laugh at the absolutely best brand of innocent adolescent humor or powerhousing through another messy-yet-perfect set of their punk/pop tunes their undeniable charm is apparent.

What I find most appealing about them (and there is plenty to enjoy, believe me) is how earnest these three friends are and how pure their passion is. Combined with a great sound that is, as is the case with any band worth their salt, a force magically greater than the sum of their parts. Zach Moyle leads the band with an easy and unassuming posture that allows his equally extremely talented counter parts, bassist Nick Ruroede, and drummer Hector Bonora to take their signature sound to full throttle.

Also worth noting is that these guys plainly have a great chemistry that will keep them together long after many ego-crazed acts push the ‘self-destruct’ button on their bands. That means you can give them your whole heart and they won’t break it by breaking up anytime soon!

Sometimes Zach Has Trouble Following Rules

All signs point to success as this hard working group continue to scale the face of DIY punk life, and upcoming shows like a special performance featuring my band, The Obvious (hey, gotta peddle the @$$ that God gave me, readers!) at The Seaside Music Festival on Saturday, May 21st and a full-on self produced East Coast tour will only prove me right, yet again. It’s hard being on the cusp of the next wave of authentic punk, but I will do this service for you, dear readers. (If you’ve been reading this blog, then you know how you can repay me, right? Beer me, yo.)

Find Lost In Society at The Stone Pony on Thursday April 28 in support of The Pietasters, and get ready to be roughed up (we can make a safeword if you want) nice and proper by these good time rock and rollers. And when it’s my turn to float over the crowd, don’t let me drop! I’ll return the favor once you’re up, promise!

XOXO
Ang

I first met Those Mockingbirds last year when my band, The Obvious, had the pleasure of sharing a night with the band at a show in the Bands On A Budget stage for what turned out to be an excellent night. I was immediately impressed with Those Mockingbirds sweet, appealing, ripe-apple-red sound and confident presence.

That sound is self-described by the band as “at times dirty and heavy, or ambient and unresolved, it’s music that is appropriate to work up a sweat to in a dirty basement. It strives to portray raw emotion, both musically and lyrically, relying only on their musical instincts. Some may even say that these four guys and one girl are quite hedonistic, because they are all about doing what feels good. It feels good to be bad, but, you know, the good version of bad. (like…how Prince says it)”. I personally love the Prince reference!

I had a chance to find out a little more about the band recently from singer / guitarist Adam Bird and vocalist / keyboardist / violinist Tory Daines.

Your Fair Reporter: Thanks so much for letting us get to know you a little better! Let’s start with the basics. When did your band form?

Adam: The band formed with Tory and I in 2010. We released an EP which was really just a collection of our first demos, did a bit of touring, and then met with Rob, Kevin & Jon, who are now in the band.

What area is the band from and how was that important in the group’s development?

Adam: We are from all over NJ but call Montclair our home base. It helped us develop in that it provided us with a venue (The Meatlocker) to play a lot of our early shows at.

When we played together at the Bands On A Budget office, you four guys and one gal really made an impression on me. Great show! I remember trying to pin down your sound, which is really accessible, but it was hard for me to tie you to one specific genre,which is a good thing, and speaks of your originality. Who are some of your major influences?

Adam: Im influenced by Punk & Grunge, Classic Rock, and prolific pop songwriters like Prince.

Tory Rocks Her Violin In A Live Performance

How would you describe your sound?

Tory: I would have to say it’s a combination of Alternative Rock and Classical.
Adam: It’s a combination of new and old sounds: young and old meeting for tea.

What’s the most memorable show experience your band has had?

Adam: Probably our first headlining show at Maxwells in Hoboken NJ. We packed the place… everyone was singing along. It was really special to us.

Why do you play music?

Tory: It’s something I’ve always been compelled to do. There’s not a really intellectualized answer for that for me; I just know I want to.
Adam: I am always driven by the desire to pursue a sound and perfect it; I haven’t created what I want to create yet.

What are your releases to date? Are there any you are promoting right now?

Adam: The No Symmetry EP came out in Summer 2010. We put out a Fleetwood Mac cover as a single in January 2011 and we are working on new music now.

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We’re nearing Record Store Day and I for one am pretty stoked. In what appears to be an authentically organic worldwide reaction to the sublimation of physical recordings into the ether of the digital age, bands from every genre and decade, from The Beach Boys to The Beastie Boys, are releasing material, with lots of exclusive releases produced for this celebratory event.

What I really especially like about this musical holi-day is that sales of all this great collectible music are exclusively the domain of Independent (as in we don’t have to suck Corporate Richard) Record Stores, an essential element in the foundation of the Independent Music Scene.

Foo Fighters Will Release B-Side Collection Medium Rare

In the age of downloading music, Record Store Day can be seen as a reaction to the paradoxically impersonal technological age at large. Implicit in the soul of musical experience is the humanity we seek at that experience’s core. In her document of the surge of female rock musicians in the 1990’s, Grrrls: Viva Rock Divas, Amy Raphael wrote that “we read as to not feel so alone.” I believe that’s why we listen to music, too.

Tom Petty & The Heart Breakers Re-Release, Blue & White Vinyl

When I first started listening to music, you had to get it at a store, a physical space, specifically designated to handling tangible recordings. I especially loved collecting not only records, but CD singles because of the B-Sides. I knew my record store clerks, and I knew who I would get along with at school by whether they wanted to hit the shop after class or not. Those recordings were documents, an actual record (as well as recording) of a moment.

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The weather is finally warming up out here in AP, the City By The Sea, and that means that more fun than you’ll know what to do with is about to be unleashed upon the masses in our little Rock-N-Roll resort town.

The big kick off event signifying the beginning of the season this year is without a doubt the highly anticipated Power Pop-A-Licious Festival created and executed by Paul Collins of indie heroes The Beat and The Nerves, in conjunction with the area’s illustrious DIY institution The Asbury Lanes.

I had a chance to find out a more about all the excitement to come from Paul and from what he’s shared with me, this is going to be a multi-dimensional festival that is a must-see-do-hear-be-there for anyone who gets a thrill when pick is put to string, stick is put to drum, and mouth is put to mic. Check it out, from the man himself!

Your Fair Reporter: What can fans expect when they come to the Power Pop-A-Licious Festival?

Paul Collins: Fans will be treated to some of the best up and coming power pop/punk pop/garage pop bands from all over the mid west, the south and the east coast and from as far away as Montreal and Ottawa!

What vision did you want to create when you thought of this weekend- long Pop Spectacular?

I was touring all over the country playing with all these great new bands who I really enjoyed and I thought to myself, “Why dont we have a big festival and bring them all together?!” The whole process has been really great and the bands have been so supportive and co operative it has been amazing.

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Electric People @ Glasslands

The guys at Shore Alternative are at it again, and this week in addition to some local love, they’ve thrown in some talent from our well known neighbor to the north, the city of Brooklyn, NY.

If you’ve paid any attention to indie rock in the past 2 decades, you know that like the left coasts famed adolescent rock fantasy Never-Never-Land, Portland, OR, Brooklyn’s dense community of musicians and artists has produced some of the best known touring contemporary rock acts. That roster includes Grizzly Bear, OK Go, & the Yeah Yeah Yeah’s. So it’s nice to see some crossover happening between BK and AP, and this musician personally hopes to see much more in that vein this coming Summer, so thank you S*ALT.

You can expect some wear-your-sunglasses-indoors-so-they-can’t-see-how-pinned-your-pupils-are-rock from Electric People. I can definitely hear some serious Jesus & Mary Chain and Velvet Underground influence in the confident swagger of this gang of seven.

Electric People | Just Wanna Be Dead

This band uses the standard guitar/drums/bass configuration as a foundation for a layering of complex, but well played and cohesive sounds including organs, piano and several vocalists. This dose of Brooklyn will make you feel like you took the best downers from your rich aunt’s medicine cabinet without the liver damage or any danger of overdosing. And if you start hallucinating that you’re hanging out with Andy Warhol, I mean, that’s not ever a bad thing, right?

After it kicks in, you’ll be right as rain for The Vampire Bats, self described Ancient Preemptive Apocalypse Rock From the Year 3067”, and although that might initially seem less than helpful, once you take a listen I think you’ll agree that it’s actually quite an accurate surmising. I do believe I’m catching some Iggy legacy (not American Idol Iggy, Stooges Iggy) in the vocal treatments here along with some artfully out-of-focus guitar work. (P.S. I’m glad to see that people are still taking psychedelics before sitting down to a songwriting session. I could name 40 top 40 bands that could benefit from making things interesting by any means necessary).

The Vampire Bats Get S-E-X-X-Y

So now that you’ve had a little taste for free, and I’ve got your serotonin receptors nice and primed, you’re gonna be thrilled to shell out just $5 for your next hit. I swear, you can stop any time you want. But like all other drugs, of which quality Rock-N-Roll is amongst the most pure, you’ll gladly come to regard your addiction as much more important than everything else in your life. Just don’t call me at like midnight on a Saturday asking about where you can find more. I’ll be up to my ears in my own sweat-soaked bender by then! (I know what Biggie said, but I do get high on my own supply.) See you Wednesday!

XOXO
Ang