Winter finally caught up with Manhattan. This season has been particularly mild with little snow to report. The past week changed everything. During the first half of the week it was so cold I could not stand to be outside for an extended period of time, (unless working). As the weekend approached, word of a blizzard flooded local and national newscasts. On Saturday around noon the snow began to fall and it didn’t quit until 9pm that evening. The snow caused a massive reshuffling of plans, but the weekend still ended up on the great side.
Friday night began at a slow pace. After a horrendous day at work, I returned home with the hope of shedding all remnants of the crazy work week. Some grilled cheese and a nap certainly did the trick. By 9pm I was revved up to see And You Will Know Us By the Trail of Dead at Rothko. Thank god my apartment is a stones throw away from the club because Friday night’s temperature was no joke. I met with Audrey and Dennis who were kind enough to help me get into the club, (thanks so much!). We hustled into the already jam packed venue and took a spot way in the back. As we waited, familiar faces poured into the club. Stephen Culkin joined us in the back corner while we waited for the Texans to blow us away.
It didn’t take long for the five-piece to take the stage. They warmed the crowd up with a minute long intro that lead into a run of a couple new songs. Lacking knowledge of their entire catalog, I thought the first song was an old one because I’ve heard it a couple times, but it turns out they played a lot of their new tracks at the CMJ Bowery show and the post (or pre?), Siren Festival Rothko gig. As they continued to impress me with their new material, we were joined by DJ Del who has been under the radar for quite some time. I didn’t realize he shares the exact same birthday as Mia. They both turned 30 last Monday so if you see him, buy him heaps of drinks.
One of my favorite aspects of Trail of Dead is their split personality. On one hand you have a deeply melodic pop group that uses odd time signatures and some atmospheric guitar sounds to create some beautifully dark tunes. On the other hand Trail of Dead is a hardcore band paying homage to acts like D.C.’s Gorilla Biscuits and Black Flag. This duality is pulled together by a love feedback and Sonic Youth type noise. It is easy to tell which style they are playing. It is often indicated by whoever is taking the vocal duties. If Conrad is singing expect to hear the more melodic side of the band, but if Jason comes out from behind the kit to sing, you can bet on hearing an aggressive track rooted in hardcore.
I’m thinking of starting a self help group for indie kids who hate sports. We need to get to the bottom of this because too many of you despise a good contest. In an effort to disprove the common misconception, I leaned into Craig Finn (The Hold Steady’s lead singer) to ask him why he had to hate on the Yankees during his introduction of Hostile, MA at last weeks Mercury Lounge show. The can of worms opened by this comment caused me to miss the last few songs of Trail of Dead’s set though I did manage to hear their cover of I’m Too Sexy in between poetic waxing about the Vikings and Twins. Craig sure knows his shit and is an avid fan of all sports sans hockey. This conversation along with a few others over the past few weeks make me believe its no longer ‘uncool’ to love both indie rock and sports. So quit fronting. If you were never into sports, that’s cool, but keep it to yourself, because even if some kids don’t wear it on their sleeves, deep down they may love a good game.
Once Trail of Dead finished, a sea of people dumped onto Suffolk Street. Adam and I cruised up to the Mercury Lounge with the hope of catching Say Hi To Your Mom’s set. We were greeted by Beach who was handling a sold out room. We caught a quick drink and slipped into the back were Tumblehawk and Lucy were hanging out. Mobius Band took the stage and played a somewhat unimpressive set. I’m a big fan of theirs, but Friday night didn’t move me one way or the other. I’m glad to hear they are putting out an EP with label support. They have great future in front of them, but Friday was all about Sea Ray.
During change over I shot the shit with a Dirty On Purpose crew that included DJ, Doug, Joe and Jin. They were all present to lend support to their friends and fellow musicians. Speaking of Dirty On Purpose, if you missed your chance to score a ticket to their Sold Out, February 4th show with Sam Champion and Rogue Wave at the Mercury Lounge, don’t fret. They were added to the second night which will take place on February 7th at the Mercury. Get your tickets here or by stopping by the Mercury Lounge during the day while the box office is open. Pick them up soon because these shows are sure to warm you up in the dead of winter.
Sea Ray took the stage to a huge ovation. On Friday night they played their stunning shoegaze pop for the last time. The announcement of their breakup came at a somewhat prosperous time for the band. The surprising nature of the news was facilitated by the success of their previous full length release that was highly regarded in various publications. From what I hear most of the members decided it was time to move on after nearly 10 years of playing together. Jordan is heading to Chicago to start a new band, Colin is now the drummer for The Stills (I’m wondering how this will effect their songs since their old drummer played a heavy role in writing) and Jeff is now playing keys on Longwave’s next tour. Don’t worry, they are keeping busy. Their set felt awfully emotional and despite my fatigued body, I did my best not to fall under the spell cast by their dreamy sound and intoxicating visuals. Though I’m not too familiar with all of their work, Sea Ray was a band I’d jump at the chance to see. After their set we stayed in the back for cake They were a fantastic break from the New York norm that will be sorely missed.
Saturday was the Blizzard of 2005. As the snow began to fall, Builder and I met Mandel at Clinton Street Bakery for some delicious brunch. They had a special salad dish that was basically a Cesar with seared scallops. Always a sucker for the delicious mollusks, I ordered the dish and started my day off right. With the snow falling at a good clip, I decided it was time to get a move on. Earlier last week I made plans with Diane aka Jenna to hang at the Museum of Natural History, but with the bad weather we decided sitting inside with bottles of wine would be better. I trudged my way through the snow to the Bleeker Street 6 Train without falling on my ass. Quite a feat for a man in Chuck Taylors. A short subway ride later and I was out of my league on 95th Street.
It was my first time on the Upper East Side in a number of years, but I managed to keep my bearings. Jenna lives steps away from the train station on which suited my needs dye to the inclement weather. We had planned on throwing in a movie, but with her roommate Lisa and friend Jamie hanging out, we opted for school girl banter about boys and the guidelines for being a slut. Do you know my catchphrase, “Jay Belin: A Girl’s Best Friend.” Yeah, I’m a sorry sack, but it was fun. We drank the afternoon away and by 8:30pm I realized it was time to get out of the high altitudes and back down town. On my way back to the hood, I got the bright idea to stop at Red Lobster to pick up the boys of The Upwelling some biscuits because they were part of the giant Endless Shrimp pilgrimage to Times Square. Fortunately I scored a cab driver who persisted on telling me about how when he was 23 years old he was fucking everything. I humored him for awhile until he began giving me details. At this point I ducked out of the conversation to make phone calls.
As I entered the Red Lobster take out door on 41st Street, Phillip, the super helpful employee, gawked at my request for four dozen biscuits. He asked me why I only wanted biscuits so I proceeded to tell him the story that brought me to Red Lobster. While waiting I perused the menu in search of something for dinner, but when I read the words shrimp scampi it reminded me of how sick I got after the last trip. I grabbed my biscuits and jumped another cab back to the L.E.S. This cab driver decided to tell me about how the snow makes everything beautiful. Since he was in great spirits even though the driving conditions were shite, I tipped him 2 bucks and 2 biscuits. I took the next couple hours to rest up for a big evening.
Around 10pm Alister, Builder, Miriam and Elise came by the apartment to pick me up on our way to the Mercury Lounge. We were greeted by Captain Beacheros and the Forty Thieves. We stashed the biscuits and settled in for a couple songs from the King of France. They play interesting pop songs that have definite roots in Frank Black’s music. Their lead singer’s humorous deadpan front got me involved in a conversation with Miriam about the difference between ‘taking the piss’ and ‘taking a piss’. You got to love your foreign friends. Throughout the course of the evening I ran into the always awesome Christian and the lovely Nora who joined us (or should I say helped us) for a huge tequila shot, (thanks Richard). This set the tone for the rest of the evening that included an off his ass funny appearance by Sean Bones who was reveling in his night off. Skye and Rob joined us during the later half of our evening. This came post Culkin (at the hands of Builder and Beach) that almost resulted in a scuffle because I was running my mouth. Tequila makes me crazy.
As for The Upwelling, I can’t remember specific things about their songs, but they have a great sound anchored by three guys who flash definite skills. They are a drums, guitar and keys trio, but the bass isn’t missed because in addition to playing sweeping keys parts and various samples, Scott plays the bass notes on foot pedals. Then Josh has a huge kit that he utilizes to the max, (I say ‘to the max’ now). The best part about his drumming is the use of all these different cymbals that have the ability to change the feeling of a song in a heartbeat. Ari, their singer / guitarist, has a great delivery that reminds me of a Paul Banks (who doesn’t need to be punched in the stomach) meets the lead singer of Longwave. If I’m correct, he also manipulates his vocals and guitars through a penal of pedals that sits in front of him. Give them a shot; you may like what you hear.
Later that evening we were joined by Adrian and Cami for drinks post rock show. After we finished said drinks at the Mercury, we stopped by 2A where Jen was holding down the upstairs bar. She is grand. We were joined by the whole Bowery crew that just finished closing The Fever show, and we got silly. Frank B. might be the coolest guy you don’t know. Go see his show with Sam Champion at the Luna Lounge. On our way out of the bar Beach decided to take down Builder which led to a pile on by me. Builder claims that I rubbed his face in the snow ala Daniels in Dumb and Dumber, but I couldn’t remember. We stopped into Gracefully for a Mr. Nice then called it an evening.
With a mini-shitshow weekend behind us, I ventured into Sunday looking for brunch. Thankfully Brenda, Jordan and Stevo were doing the same. Boca Chica pulled a pussy move by remaining closed on Sunday so we cruised down to some joint on Orchard and Stanton. Both brunches this weekend were fantastic because everyone was being fucking hilarious. It’s always nice to fight a hangover with a bunch of equally hurt friends who are simply looking to forget. After brunch I walked through the snow to Christina’s house. We met for a Loose Record meeting with plans to keep it brief for football. Builder and I saddled up and got back to 186 in time for kick off.
The house filled up awfully quick yesterday. Builder and I were happy to have Beach, Daylen, Dan, Matt, Dana and Mya on board for most of both games. Mya is John and Jamie’s puppy who is smart as a whip. I’ve never seen a dog as smart as her. I might have to steal her. We managed to squeeze in some Mario Tennis during both half times, and by the end of the evening everyone was exhausted from sitting around and watching the Eagles and Patriots pave their way to the Super Bowl. It should be a hell of a match up. I only wish we didn’t have to wait 2 weeks to see it. My evening ended watching the Ken Burns documentary on Jack Johnson on PBS. He was a crazy American hero. Check it out.
1 Comments:
I want biscuit.
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