Since seeing Kitten Forever open for the legendary Jack off Jill at Asheville’s the Orange Peel, I had been eagerly awaiting the fem-punk Trio’s return to North Caroline and finally got my chance this past Sunday. The Minneapolis band consists of bass, vocals and drums, a very unconventional assortment which they make even more unique by rotating instruments every few songs and singing through a telephone shaped mic. The band brought vibrant energy to Ruby Deluxe, where not a head wasn’t bobbing along to their contagious pop infused riot punk sound.
Opening for Kitten Forever was the ever so fitting local activist-punk act Pie Face Girls as well as Royal Brat who is currently touring with Kitten Forever. Each band brought the same high energy as well as messages of the struggle for equality, feminism, and taking a stand against injustices. The show all these bands put on definitely did not disappoint.
Teen Suicide, a lo-fi band from Maryland, and Museum Mouth, Double Barrel Benefit 13 band and long-time favorites of KNC, were the opening acts for Say Anything and mewithoutYou on Thursday, May 19th at Cat’s Cradle. I was most eager to see Teen Suicide after listening to their much anticipated 26-song album It’s the Big Joyous Celebration, Let’s Stir the Honeypot. The album has a diverse mix of genres ranging from typical indie pop songs like “Falling Out of Love With Me,” to the jarring industrial sounds on “Beauty.” No song is similar and it was hard to imagine what type of sound the band would be going for during the show. Teen Suicide didn’t disappoint, going with two electric guitars, bass, and drums. Doing great renditions of old favorites like “Benzo” and “the same things happening to me all the time, even in my dreams,” opting for a less ambient sound and going with a heavier indie rock sound, but still with the band’s overarching theme of teenage sadness. The songs off the new album were more indie rock sounding, like “Pavement” and “Alex.” It was a great performance and showed at least one aspect of the band’s diverse toolkit. Hopefully Teen Suicide will come back to the Triangle soon and change up their sound a little to highlight other songs on their newest album. mewithoutYou, Say Anything, and Museum Mouth had great performance as well. Museum Mouth played some newer songs like “Incubus Tattoo” and “Wave Emoji” and highlights from their newest album Popcorn Fish Guinea Pig. Lastly the show was not complete without Graham from Museum Mouth getting married to his fiancée, in the middle of the Cat’s Cradle crowd before mewithoutYou started their set. It was definitely a night to be remembered.
Wild Nothing, a dream-pop band out of Virginia, played Kings Barcade on Friday, May 13th at 9pm. The group has been releasing consistently great records for the past 6 years with Nocturne, Gemini, and equally great EP’s. Their newest album, Life of Pause, was full of energy and translated extremely well to a live setting. Playing both new tracks and old classics, every song sounded even better and vibrant in King’s intimate setting, The concert blew my expectations out of the water made me an even bigger fan of the group than I already was.
Although she is barely 22, Greta Kline (aka Frankie Cosmos) has both the aura and the experience of a fully experienced musician. She has released over a couple dozen low-fi DIY projects on Bandcamp in addition to an EP and now two proper LPs. Her newly released album, Next Thing is a big step forward both lyrically and sonically, with some of Kline’s best lyrics to date and fantastic full band arrangements that do justice to her songwriting ability.
Instead of mixing old songs with new, Frankie Cosmos played almost every track from the new LP before moving on to older material. She ended the initial section with my favorite Next Thing track, “Embody” before playing an Of Montreal cover and then running through highlights from Zentropy and the entirety of the Fit Me In EP.
Eskimeaux, the bedroom pop project of Kline’s longtime friend and touring band member Gabrielle Smith, performed before Frankie Cosmos. The band played lots of new material from an upcoming EP release. Their set was just as good as the headliner’s, as the new songs carry an immediacy that goes over very well in a live setting. Anna McLellan opened up the night accompanied by jazz-influenced piano.
This was one of the best shows I’ve been to in recent memory. Frankie Cosmos and Eskimeaux are two of my favorite artists in the scene right now and seeing them perform together was amazing. All the performances were solid and these artists have lots of great music still left to put out.
Amidst the sea of metal fans, replete with denim and leather jackets, satanic imagery, and a variety of band t-shirts and patches for every metal band under the sun, I felt a little out of place clad in my turtle neck and sweater. I probably looked more like I was ready to attend a Neutral Milk Hotel tribute band set, if that’s even a thing (I hope it’s a thing). Nevertheless, I was excited for what was essentially my first true metal show. Sure I saw Deafheaven earlier this year, but I’m not sure that counts as they are on the most divisive bands within the metal community.
Unfortunately and regrettably, I had to show up late to the show due to classes, thus causing me to miss local openers Grohg and Bobby Orr, as well as the band I was arguably most excited to see, hardcore outfit Full of Hell. I arrived about 10 minutes into Tombs’ set, the thundering black metal outfit out of New York. The band hardly stopped to talk as they ripped straight through their unique blend of metal for about 45 minutes. Being a novice to the metal scene, I was somewhat surprised at the lack of crowd participation besides the front row of head bangers. The music was definitely heavy enough for the crowd pushing each other around, but nevertheless it was a very tight set that should impress any fan of the genre.
Up next, was the Norwegian black metal band 1349. The black metal bands did not disappoint in the black metal department, coming onto the stage with corpse paint and smoke machines. The band played an extremely fast, uncompromising set filled with exceptionally hard hitting double bass drums and grim, cold vocals from front man Ravn. This set, the crowd definitely upped the ante as a mosh pit was constant and quick. The band definitely showcased why they are one of the bigger Norwegian black metal bands as they played a very smooth set. Overall, it was a good show and I look forward to attending more metal shows in the near future.
WKNC, students, and listeners bid farewell to Fridays On The Lawn for 2015. This past Friday, November 7, WKNC hosted Noah Rawlings of Sunshine Faces and The Mineral Girls. As the sun set, and the stringed lights twinkled, the two sets felt intimate, and romantic. There was a special connection to be felt between the audience and the bands.
Noah Rawlings of Sunshine Faces (above) played a solo set; he compared himself to playing without a band as something similar to Bob Dylan.
The Mineral Girls dedicated their set to mid 2000’s teen pop star, and my personal idol, Hilary Duff.
For many people in the pop-punk/emo scene, this line-up could arguably be considered the line-up of the year. Turnover released an album that everybody has been flocking to since its release. They are gaining momentum more and more with every tour they are on. Basement is a scene favorite that just came off of hiatus and are touring for their first time in 3 years. Then there’s the Story So Far, quite possibly the biggest band in the new wave of pop-punk.
Coming into this show, I was most excited to see Turnover, as they released my favorite album of the year, Peripheral Vision. Starting the show off, they did not disappoint. Playing many of the strongest cuts from Peripheral Vision with ease and near perfection. Austin Getz, lead singer and guitarist sounded on par with his on-record performance. The crowd pleasantly swayed along to the breezy guitars and hazy vocals singing along every word. This was the most calm the crowd was all night. Turnover even included what I believe to be was a new song. The crowd pepped up when they closed with lead single “Cutting My Fingers Off”, a perfect closer ripe for sing-alongs. Out of the 3 times I have seen Turnover this year, this was by far the best set. I am eagerly awaiting a headlining tour from this band after opening for so many great bands.
Second band of the night could have easily headlined the show and that is the British band, Basement. From the moment they hit the stage, the crowd went wild singing along to “Whole” and the energy hardly stopped as they played a variety of hits from their 2 full length albums, 7 inch, and a new song from their upcoming album, Promise Everything, to which kids were even singing along. Throughout the set, lead singer Andrew Fisher danced throughout the night in quite the delightful way. It wasn’t “Hotline Bling” level dancing but it was damn close. The band closed the set out with the cathartic song “Covet” to great crowd participation. A lot of bands have been going on hiatus lately and Basement acts as the perfect model for why a band might go on hiatus. Ever since the hiatus started, Basement has just grown exponentially in style and are at a peak. It appears that they are going to continue this ascent to scene favorite with their new album due in early 2016 on Run For Cover Records.
After an intermission filled with the hot hip-hop songs of today, The Story So Far took the stage to an ever eager audience. The crowd immediately pushed forward with fingers pointing straight at lead singer Parker Cannon. The band ripped through “Nerve” off the new album and called for a circle pit during “The Glass”. The crowd was highly responsive with tons of crowd surfing and mosh antics. Cannon ate it up expressing his pleasure with how fun the crowd was. Before the show, I had always heard The Story So Far lacked any stage presence or charisma, but this show proved otherwise, at least Parker Cannon definitely was energetic. As a person who got into this band when they first came out, the setlist definitely left a lot to desire skipping out on many older hits. However, I can’t really complain as they are psyched on their new material and would naturally play those songs. Overall, it was a strong show from each band proving that these bands are the cream of the crop for this scene.
As I grow older, I start to see the pop-punk scene in a new light, a more critical light. Much of pop-punk is devoted to the idea of stage dives and crowd surfing and I understand the appeal. When I was a younger, more spry lad, I was up there jumping on peoples backs and stage diving. It was fun, there’s no denying that, but it creates a place that isn’t safe for everybody. I’m not calling for the stoppage of having fun, but more for a consideration when it comes to crowd surfing. It is a problematic thing that happens at these shows filled with young attendees that could very well get hurt by the 180 pound guy flipping all over the people beneath him, just so he can have fun or sing along on top of everybody. I would like to see more bands take a stand against it like Joyce Manor. It might be an unpopular move to speak out against it, but to ensure a safer scene for all should be of the utmost importance, not just the enjoyment of a few.
True to form, NO BS Brass Band threw down at the Cat’s Cradle Back Room in Carrboro, NC last Friday night. In front of a solid but very green NC jazz crowd, NO BS introduced the Cat’s Cradle musicgoers to their very vibrant and dynamic brand of Richmond, VA brass music. Their music serves as a powerful combination of Stevie Wonder, Earth Wind and Fire, and New Orleans brass band mixed with a little bit of dynamite and salt in the wound to make you scream WOOHOO and dance around till your feet fall off.
I absolutely love this band and am excited to see them making big moves in the past twelve months to finally making it on the national stage. After a huge northeastern and midwest tour, NO BS finally returns to the mid-atlantic in order to prepare for their next album release, Brass Knuckles, on Novemeber 20th. Stay tuned for more on that!
A few minutes into her set, after blazing through “Under a Rock” and “Misery over Dispute”, frontwoman Katie Crutchfield noticed the visibly positive crowd reaction and remarked “I guess I should keep coming back”. That Tuesday night was the third time Waxahatchee has visited the Triangle in the past year; one previous show at Cat’s Cradle and one at this year’s Hopscotch Festival. Crutchfield’s songwriting is versatile, ranging from the haunting low-fi ballads of her debut American Weekend to grungy 90’s rock of her first Merge release from earlier this year, Ivy Tripp. In contrast to her solo acoustic set at Hopscotch, this show leaned heavily towards the latter. Neither Crutchfield nor her bandmates touched an acoustic guitar for the duration of the set.
The high point of the show was a rearrangement of the somber American Weekend highlight “Grass Stain” to fit into the sound and attitude of the new record. Many of the lyrics, such as “I don’t care that I’m too young to be unhappy” felt more rebellious than melancholy in this new context. While I would not have complained if more of the gorgeous acoustic songs of Waxahatchee’s early work were performed, Crutchfield showed how capable and confident she at delivering this new sound. Closing the show with a performance of my favorite Cerulean Salt track “Dixie Cups and Jars”, she displayed the powerful lyrics and great guitar riffs that make her such a fantastic songwriter.
The opening acts Weyes Blood and Try the Pie also put on solid performances. Try the Pie’s upbeat and straightforward rock music to get the night rolling was contrasted by the wistful atmospheric sound and winding vocal melodies brought by Weyes Blood. Natalie Mering of Weyes Blood showed up for her set alone, bringing just an acoustic guitar, effects pedals, and an iPhone. The guitar was run through a variety of pedals that are more often paired with an electric setup, and the iPhone was used to supply airy synths and percussion. It was an unusual but hypnotizing performance that provided a great segue into the main act.
WKNC has put on events called Friday’s On The Lawn; however, as part of Wolfpack Welcome Week, WKNC put on “Concert On The Lawn” Monday, August 17th. To kick off the year-long series, Echo Courts and Ghostt Bllonde serenaded listeners and passersby, attracting a huge crowd.
Echo Courts started off this academic year’s first Concert On The Lawn.
Echo Courts starting to draw in a crowd.
Ghostt Bllonde rockin’, singing, and dancing!
And finally, the great crowd that came out to support WKNC and hear some awesome tunes.
