New and archive stories about Packapalooza and Wolfpack Welcome Week.
Category: Blog
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Hopscotch Must-See: Swearin’
This is a personal artist spotlight on Swearin’ by Alternate Reality.
If I’m being completely honest, Swearin’ is the band that I am most excited about seeing at Hopscotch mostly because I’m going to unleash the pop-punk inside of me that hasn’t been around since I was in 8th grade listening to bands that wish they were as good as Swearin’.
It’s no surprise that their most recent self titled album is so excellent. Allison Crutchfield, the co-founder of the band along with her bandmate Kyle Gilbride, was a part of a 90s pop-punk band PS Elliot with her twin sister Katie Crutchfield, also known as Waxahatchee. This band was a cult favorite however they disbanded in 2011 and this allowed both sisters to pursue their own projects.
Swearin’ has the same punk sensibilities as PS Elliot with a lot more fuzz and excellent guitar hooks that make moshing and head banging almost irresistible. Between these fast paced punk songs, Allison and Kyle slow and sad lo-fi songs that fit perfectly with the pace of the album. In general, this album brings all the best nostalgia of pop-punk in the early 2000s but revitalizes and rethinks punk in a way that doesn’t make you feel like you’re back in 2003. It allows for seriousness and fun, making this album come together perfectly.
Favorite Track: “Here to Hear” on Swearin’
Playing: Friday, September 6 at 10:30 at The Pour House Music Hall.
The “new” version of Kings opened on Aug. 28, 2010 at 14 W. martin St after a nearly three year absence following the demise of the original Kings building. In honor of the 3rd anniversary of the opening, a very special weekend of shows has been planned for Fri 8/23, Sat 8/24 & Sun 8/25
The Friday lineup of Birds of Avalon, The Lollipops and Tonk is a fantastic representation of the diversity and strength of local bands that Kings has always been supportive of and been proud to have play our room. The show includes two bands that contain three of the four Kings owners (Birds and Tonk). Unfortunately, Polvo is not playing live at the present time or all of the owners could have taken a turn on the stage. Having not played Kings since November of 2011, Kings is excited to welcome the return of Birds of Avalon who are working on their 4th LP and will be joined by ex Love Language and Toddler Missy Thangs. Amazingly, in addition to her role as Birds’ guitarist, Cheetie Kumar has recently opened Garland – the restaurant (currently just a take out window) that is underneath Kings.
Tonk, who include a wealth or Raleigh’s best musical talent, are set to release their debut record of authentic sounding country tunes in the Fall. The Lollipops, Raleigh’s up and coming popsters, are also working on their debut release. Their two minute pop anthems are extremely engaging!
The Saturday night linup features the Olympic Ass Kicking Team reprising their amazing performance as ELO at last year’s Great Cover Up along with the fantastic Wusses. Each year during Kings annual benefit bash, the Great Cover up, there tends to be one or two bands that deliver an unforgettable set and OAKT was said band in 2012. If you missed them last year for the incredible (and difficult) performance of ELO hits, then you have another chance! Sharing the bill with them are Chapel Hill’s soft rock heroes, The Wusses. The Wusses also got their start via the Great Cover Up at the old Kings doing amazing sets as the Little River Band and Three Dog Night before adding more like minded band’s songs into an amazing set of 70’s smooth standards!
Sunday night will move away from our local talent and feature Alex Bleeker and the Freaks. Real Estate band members enjoy putting out solo records and playing on each other’s albums. R.E. Bassist Alex Bleeker is no exception. His new record’s collection of “freaks” includes members of Woods, Big Trouble, Real Estate (of course) and Amelia Meath of Sylvan Esso & Mountain Man among others. His songs have a way of veering into Grateful Dead jammy territory yet retaining a pop song format. We think that he’ll provide a great conclusion to the weekend. Matt Northrup will open the show.
Kings is proud to have returned to Raleigh’s music community in 2010 and been able to continue to bring an array of bands and artists to the capital city. Looking back through the acts who have graced the Kings stage these first three years will reveal a diverse and interesting lineup of national and international acts. We were honestly surprised at the number and variety. For reference we have attached them here in alphabetical order. Booking started with the owners, but the addition of Michael Perros as “Duke of Booking” has increased the overall number and diversity of national touring acts while still having plenty local shows to help nurture our very vibrant music community.
DJ DiGiorno and C’est La Bri
Superchunk and Merge Records are both huge institutions for music in North Carolina. We at WKNC consider them to be the foundation of budding local music, and they have helped set the bar for great acts to come from our state.
The following is taken from a blog post written by Merge Records August 19th at 10:32 A.M. regarding Superchunk’s free show at the Pinhook tomorrow night. Their latest album, I Hate Music, hits stores tomorrow, and if you’re in the area, you can pick up both the the album and a free ticket, from one of the Superchunk band members at participating record stores in the triangle.
“Superchunk will kick off their US tour dates in support of I Hate Music in Atlanta on August 22, but Triangle fans will get a release-day treat: the band will play a surprise early show at The Pinhook in Durham on Tuesday, August 20, as part of an “I Hate Happy Hour” event from 6–8 p.m. Admission is free, but you will need a ticket to get in.
To get tickets to “I Hate Happy Hour,” visit one of the local record stores listed below on Tuesday, and follow @mergerecords on Twitter for more opportunities to win. Also, a limited number of tickets will be at the door at 6 p.m. And starting at noon on Tuesday, Mac, Laura, Jon, and Jim will each be taking the helm at a local record store, selling I Hate Music and giving away “I Hate Happy Hour” tickets. See below for a full list of stores that will be giving away tickets to “I Hate Happy Hour,” including information about the stores where Superchunk will be hard at work.
Come celebrate I Hate Music with us at The Pinhook! Have a drink, listen to some upcoming Merge releases, and stay for a live performance by Superchunk! Laura will be manning the bar making a special “signature” cocktail, and we’ll welcome Jason Narducy as the live Superchunk bassist as the band prepares to kick off its tour.
Pre-order Superchunk’s I Hate Music on CD and LP in the Merge store. The album is also available for pre-order at iTunes, where Superchunk’s full catalog is on sale now at a special price.
Get tickets to “I Hate Happy Hour” beginning tomorrow at:
All Day Records^
CD Alley^
Offbeat Music^
Bull City Records^
Nice Price Books
Schoolkids Records
^ = Superchunk band member selling records beginning at noon”
This is a personal artist spotlight on Overmountain Men by DJ Salinger for Hopscotch.
It’s hard to pick a place to start when beginning to talk about Overmountain Men. The band members’ thick North Carolina roots coupled with the fact that David Childers is a lyrical genius only give a glimpse into the many reasons why Overmountain Men is a musical gem. To top it off, Bob Crawford of the Avett Brothers played such a huge role in the formation of the band—(which is enough proof to show just how talented this band really is). Wherever you start, each little bullet point on the list has a long story behind it. To simplify it down a bit, Overmountain Men is a great, foot-stomping folk band from the Charlotte area of North Carolina headed primarily by the extremely talented David Childers. Childers seems to be a very down-to-earth, proper representation of a true North Carolina man that (thankfully for us) never sat his guitar down for too long. The talent and inspiring lyrics that Childers puts forth was what caused a stirring in Bob Crawford to start the collaboration that became Overmountain Men. However, Bob is not the only Avett Brother to take a liking to Childers; the entire Avett Brothers band has covered and performed Childers “Prettiest Thing” online and in concert.
For one man to have such a big influence on a popular modern folk band speaks thousands of words for itself. You better bet that I will be in the audience for their set at Hopscotch this year with my head nodding and my heart pounding.
Favorite Track: “Some Place Along The River” on “Glorious Day”
Playing: Saturday, September 7th between 10 – 11pm at Tir Na Nog
by John Mitchell
GHOSTT BLLONDE, VIRGINS FAMILY BAND, FREE CLINIC SUNDAY AUGUST 18, 2013 SLIM’S DOWNTOWN: RALEIGH
I was working at Morning Times in Downtown Raleigh when Mark Kuzio walked up and started smoking a cigarette outside. I took a break from the website I was designing to go talk to him. It turned out that he was playing a show downtown. We planned on meeting up at the venue, and turns out the door dude is a super awesome guy, and he let me in (with large X’s and the if-you-drink-I-will-murder-you speech, of course). I entered just in time to see Wilmington garage pop trio Free Clinic sound-checking their equipment. This new band loves lots of reverb on everything. There’s a casual start to the set, with the band slowly turning their chorus-soaked lead lines and big, jangley chords on their head through a great ear for delay-tastic breakdowns. A competent, yet reserved drummer reigned everything into a nice glow. Though they mentioned they’re looking for a bass player, the atmosphere isn’t in any particular need to be pulled down. They’ve made due and developed an impressive sonic platform that will grow as their songwriting skills do.
Virgins Family Band take the stage next, and I’m impressed again. The toneless guitar and incredible keys make way for two drummers and some very fun bass lines. And while their compositions are much more complicated than those of Free Clinic, the psych-outs a little more reserved. Both bands worked extremely well together on a line-up for reasons that can’t be explained with your ear; it’s all because of the curatorial skills of that fellow I ran into at the coffee shop several hours before. Granted, it’s a little funny to say that, because I usually associate curation with quiet guys that have huge beards, not bombastic and wiry kids. But it’s this guy’s sunny presence, very similar to Iggy Cosky of the Lollipops, that makes all the bands he’s assembled for the show and all the friends he’s amassed in the crowd sync into place.
Ghostt Bllonde is a band that popped up on my radar several months ago through a taped-together cd-r sleeve in the local rack at KNC. There are blown-out tracks withered with melodramatic hooks and way-too-heavy percussion. There was real potential there though; potential to turn these ideas into hooky songs everyone wanted to sing along to. With the recent release of TrashPop//DoomWop, they’ve gotten much closer to that goal. It doesn’t lose the super-saturation or the booming drums that made the band unique to begin with, but it amplifies everything with comparatively razor-sharp articulation. Live, the energy was brought back up to the level of those first recordings, without all the necessary straining to understand what’s going on. That’s a great thing, because this isn’t heady music at all. It had the crowd, which consisted of 30-something guys with dreads, girls who’d look less out of place at the Architect, and a fair amount of plainclothes college kids bopping their heads, pulling out lighters during the slow points, and best of all, smiling. It’s going to be hard not going to Slim’s Downtown for another three months. In a few hours, the general divey-ness, tiny corner stage and half-a-foot of room I had to stand in started to feel like home.
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Top Ten Afterhours Albums for 8/19
1 GOLD PANDA ”Half Of Where You Live” (Ghostly)
2 RUXPIN ”This Time We All Go Together” (n5MD)
3 MODERAT ”II” (Mute)
4 Pretty Lights ”Color Map of the Sun” (8 Minutes 20 Seconds)
5 ETIENNE DE CRECY "Beats N Cubes Vol 2" (Win)
6 HERMITUDE ”HyperParadise” (Elefant Traks)
7 PALENKE SOULTRIBE ”Mar” (Self-Released)
8 HECTIC ZENITHS ”Hectic Zeniths” (Self-Released)
9 MINDELIXIR ”Lunology” (Outside)
10 JON HOPKINS ”Immunity” (Domino)
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Hopscotch Must-Sees: Torres
This is a personal artist spotlight on Torres by The Walrus.
Hopscotch is the festival that it is because of its uniquely diverse and maddeningly obscure lineup of artists; it is truly a music critic’s festival. Each year, I find myself discovering artists who may easily have slipped under my radar were it not for their introduction to me through the festival. Often times, it is simply because I stumbled into their show, or I tagged along with a friend, or I was just trying to fit a show in between two others. Regardless, there is always an artist who shines amongst the masses with a wonderful breakthrough performance and it is what I have begun to search for each year. After much deliberation, my personal prediction for the dark horse of this year’s Hopscotch is Nashville-based Torres.
With her self-titled debut album, Mackenzie Scott exhibits a raw, gritty sound reminiscent of early PJ Harvey. Her voice evokes a sense of urgency that, when accompanied by her beautifully dark lyrics, elevates her songs to such a high level of significance. It is the significance of someone mustering all of their willpower to speak, to sing out, and to rid themselves of the emotionally draining fears that haunt their mind. Tracks such as “Mother Earth, Father God” follow you, gripping your mind with the haunting intensity that an artist can so rarely produce.
What makes Torres all the more mesmerizing is that it is Scott’s first album and she is only 22 years old. It is the promise of even more that has latched me to her music and her wonderfully sincere songwriting. For all of this, I will not be missing Torres during their Saturday night performance at Deep South.
Favorite Tracks: “Mother Earth, Father God” / “Jealousy and I”
Playing: Deep South, Saturday 11:00 PM – 12:00 AM
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EOT122 Beat Battle 8/6/13
In this edition of “Eye on the Triangle” we hear an interview with Crystal Taylor about The Underground’s Beat Battle Aug. 7 at Deep South and a Southbound 85, one of the bands performing at this year’s Packapalooza.
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This is a personal artist spotlight on Kurt Vile and the Violators by DJ DiGiorno for Hopscotch.
Kurt Vile has become the unofficial king of Philadelphia. The mayor even recently declared August 28th as Kurt Vile Day in Philadelphia. His calming brand of guitar driven, lo-fi stoner rock has become a banner that they fly proudly. His soothing voice crooning over the wash of sound creates this warm, spacious atmosphere that you can reside in forever. His music is slow, but in the best possible way. It’s reminiscent of those long, uneventful summer days that we remember fondly.
Kurt Vile began writing solo songs as a teenager. In 2005, he formed The War on Drugs with Adam Granduciel. They released their debut studio album Wagonwheel Blues in 2008. After a tour with the album, Kurt Vile left the band to focus more on his solo efforts although he has been featured on some of their recent recordings. After leaving the band, Vile then released his debut solo album Constant Hitmaker in 2008 which is comprised of home recordings from 2003-2007. The record began to get some recognition as he began to start touring. In 2009, Vile released God Is Saying This To You… which again consisted of previous home recordings.
Vile was then signed to Matador Records in May 2009. By October, he had released his third album Childish Prodigy. This was the first time he had gotten a chance to sit down in a studio and write a cohesive album as opposed to compiling various old home recordings. Childish Prodigy was our first introduction to his backing band, The Violators. Vile was garnering attention increasingly as he joined artists such as Thurston Moore and Dinosaur Jr. on tour. Vile released his fourth album Smoke Ring for My Halo in 2011 to critical acclaim. The album made many end of the year lists and is considered his breakthrough album.
This past April, Kurt Vile put out his latest effort Wakin on a Pretty Daze. The album received very positive reviews including Pitchfork’s coveted “Best New Music” award. Wakin on a Pretty Daze is one of Vile’s most beautiful and spacious albums to date. With most songs surpassing the six minute mark, it is evident that this album has a complete disregard for time. The album is comprised of 11 songs and clocks in at about 70 minutes long. Vile takes you into his warm world where time is irrelevant. The subtle intricacies of his work demands your attention: the guitars fading in and out, the shifting of beats, or just the shuffling or leaving out of parts. The lyrics on this album are his most self-aware to date as he comments on his music and his life. It makes for a comedic as well as introspective listen.
Kurt Vile and The Violators always deliver an impressive live performance. Vile performs from behind his mass of hair as The Violators stay right in step and flesh out every corner of the song. The warm, timeless atmosphere of the songs are a great place to reside in on a late September night. This is an absolute must-see show for Hopscotch Music Festival.
Favorite Tracks: Never Run Away, Wakin on a Pretty Day, Shame Chamber, Baby’s Arms
RIYL: Ariel Pink, War on Drugs, Dinosaur Jr., Guitars, Chillaxing
Playing: Lincoln Theatre, Thursday September 5th 12:00 AM-1:00 AM