It’s September! That means gradually bringing out the winter wardrobe, using up the last of your July fireworks collection, and groaning at department stores for putting up Halloween decorations too early.
It also means that there’s another round of excellent shows coming to the 9:30 Club all month long. Here is your September preview and an extra chance to win tickets to the show of your choice from the list below.
Born in Rugby, Warwickshire in 1990, Spiritualized was created by Jason Pierce, aka J. Spaceman, after the collapse of his previous band Spacemen 3. And no, this isn’t a 30 Rock joke from the mind of Tracy Jordan; this is real life space rock. Spiritualized have released a grand total of seven studio albums, with 1997’s most notable Ladies and Gentlemen We Are Floating in Space, which NME magazine named as their Album of the Year.
J. Spaceman reflects on their last album, 2012’s Sweet Heart Sweet Light, “When you make a record, it has to be the single most important thing in your world. This time around, I wanted to do something that encompassed all I love in rock ‘n’ roll music. It’s got everything from Brötzmann and Berry right through to Dennis and Brian Wilson. I’m obsessed with music and the way you put it together and I don’t believe there are any rules.”
The first comment I read on a Tommy Keene YouTube page read, “Tommy Keene is the godfather of Power Pop!” I think that explains it all. For the past 30 years, Keene has been going strong, and with this month’s release of 10th studio album Excitement at Your Feet, it doesn’t look like he’s slowing down any time soon.
Catch the “godfather” himself when he makes his way to the 9:30 Club on Friday, September 13, and see what all the commotion is about. Get there early to see The Deadman and Hero Jr. perform.
This year marks the release of Youth Lagoon‘s sophomore album Wondrous Bughouse. Travis Powers, the man behind Youth Lagoon, said that the inspiration behind the record spawned from what he describes as “becoming more fascinated with the human psyche and where the spiritual meets the physical world.”
“My mental state is usually pretty sporadic … a lot of this record was influenced by a fear of mortality but embracing it at the same time. Realizing that human life is only great because it is temporary. Experimenting with ideas about dimensions. I’m not a gifted speaker, so explaining things is difficult for me. But music always makes sense.” You can let Youth Lagoon’s magical mystical show take you away on Monday, September 16.
Back in 2001 in Atlanta, Georgia, vocalist Bradford Cox and drummer/keyboardist Moses Archuleta formed Deerhunter and began the ascent into “ambient punk” stardom. After five full studio albums, a few member additions and subtractions, and a brief hiatus later, Deerhunter returned with a new album in May of this year.
A new Deerhunter line-up (with additions of bassist Josh Mckay and guitarist Frankie Broyles) reconvened in January 2013 at Rare Book Studio in Brooklyn, New York to work on their 2013 sixth studio album Monomania, released this past May. Currently, the band is on the road covering their music from their early beginnings of Turn It Up Faggot to all things Monomania. Catch them Saturday, September 21.
It has been three years since Superchunk released their last full-length album Majesty Shredding, but we can’t complain much since the band took a nine-year hiatus preceding the album. Now the band is back and putting out the same rocking anthems that the Chapel Hill foursome has become famous for over the past 24 years.
On August 20 of this year, Superchunk released their tenth studio album I Hate Music, which has received generally positive feedback. At Alternative Press, Jeff Rosenstock wrote, “there is something to be said about a band who have put out 10 records and none of them are bad.” Well said, sir.
“Over the course of more than a decade together, STARS have consistently proven themselves adept at producing incisively sharp, beautifully orchestrated pop music. Their sixth album, The North, is no exception. In many ways, it is their finest record to date—a culmination of all they have learned and lost; a record of what it is to love today, of how to live a life in music.”
I first came to love STARS after I heard both of their covers for “Asleep” and “This Charming Man” by The Smiths. Though I can’t promise the band will perform either song at their performance on Monday, September 30, you can get there early and try to put on your most “charming man” face to try to make it happen.
Be sure to check back in throughout the month for more info about how to win a pair of tickets to each of the shows above. For an extra early entry, tell us below, your favorite one-man (or one-woman) act and the show(s) of your choice.
