Friday, 24 Oct


Walking into the audience and across the floor, the lead singer of New Zealand’s Cut Off Your Hands leapt into the air and sang a few lines of “Happy As Can Be” perched crouching atop the bar, much to the surprise of the audience, and chagrin of the Cake Shop bartenders.  With music whose sonic landscape is expansive and rife with galvanism (along the lines of Aberdeen City), at the same time almost always retaining a hint of sly irony, Cut Off Your Hands’ stage presence emanated a fervent heat the audience didn’t know they were thirsty for until they got it.  During the second song, “You and I,” the lead singer walked onto the floor again with hands in air and clapping, and the audience dazedly attempted to follow his lead.

Striking was the fact that each of the other three band members sang backing vox, creating some impressive visual and audio counterpoint, as with the second to last song, “Expectations.”

Cut Off Your Hands' debut album You And I will be released in the US in early 2009.

Tuesday, Oct 21


Hushed, bedroom vox sinking down in a flood of halcyon sound that quakes with percussive surges.

“Motorway,” whose waves of guitars and cymbals crash over keys shimmering, bass and kick pulsating.

The anodyne sound of “Out in the Streets,” drumming rouses texture, playing with drumstick in one hand and maraca in the other.

“And I Wonder,” a mesmeric keyboard ostinato, rhythm getting inside body.

As pervading melancholic tone suffuses warm, blithe harmonic combinations, so mellifluous sound bubbles at deviant shifts in key.

Magnetic Morning, debut LP A.M., touring now.

Saturday, 11 Oct


The Bon Savants sound came on strong last Saturday at Mercury Lounge, by means of a full set of new-wavy indie rock tunes.  Replete with Jarvis Cocker-esque lead vox and salient use of keys, the band effortlessly charmed the audience with their genuine stage presence.  Even as the lead singer jumped offstage and walked into the crowd during the second song, the motion was felt as a guilelessly dashing gesture of barrier-breaking and subsequent bringing-together of artist and listener.  Catchy tune comingled with a richness of sound—one at times reminiscent of stellastarr—in what proved to be an entirely pleasure-giving set.  Catch these Boston beauties at the CMJ music marathon in NYC next weekend.

Portland’s Talkdemonic, a vox-less viola/drum kit duo of the indie-electronica persuasion, took the stage next.  Dark and surprisingly heavy, Talkdemonic’s stentorian sound comprised of an electrified, pedal-aided viola, deft drumming, and pre-recorded music provided by laptop.  More tender moments include the violist live-looping herself to create a kind of trio, and the drummer stepping away from his kit to walk through the crowd playing a tiny toy piano.  Talkdemonic head down south and westward for the final leg of their tour.

Sunday, 5 Oct


“We’ll play better for you if you show that you like us,” promised the frontman of Brooklyn’s The Courtesy Tier last Sunday night, from the Showroom stage at Pianos.  He must have been satisfied by the audience’s response, as the cohesive guitar/drum duo gave their all throughout their vigorous eight-song set.  Loud and gritty, and sounding something along the lines of The Black Keys on overdrive, The Courtesy Tier’s music was bluesy-rock mixed with a dash of chaos.  The final song in particular seemed to form out of the turbulent ether, with an extended intro featuring soft mallets on cymbals and guitar din.  Live looping and a darker, sparser sound set the third song apart from the others, while the fourth song featured a rare repeating melodic pattern in the guitar, turning the song into a kind of indie ballad.  

Frenetic and intense, The Courtesy Tier rise.

Sunday, Sept 28


Seattle’s Throw Me The Statue made passionate audio-love to their audience at Mercury Lounge on Sunday night.  At home with each other and the stage, the band quickly captivated their audience with velvety lead vox, an array of tempting timbres provided by not one but two keyboardists, and deft, heart-quickening drumming.  Their first song, warm and otherworldly, was unique in its sound from the other, harder, songs that followed.  For the second song the lead singer pulled out a stand alone floor tom, playing with the drummer and making use of his crash cymbal.  By the third song the singer was playing a kind of mini-kit, placing a snare next to his floor tom, to great effect; it was mesmerizing to watch (and feel) the mini-kit and drum kit being played simultaneously.  A cover of Huey Lewis’ “If This Is It” followed, retaining the original’s energy while also rendering it both tender and impassive, the lead singer hitting his abdomen with his drumstick when he wasn’t hitting the mini-kit.  Just before the penultimate song, he offered to answer any questions the audience might have, to which one audience member enthusiastically exclaimed, “Take your shirt off!”  He firmly but gently pointed out that this was not a question, and the band proceeded to play one of their loudest songs, coming on full force, with double time guitar-strumming and snare-attacking in the lead up to the choruses.  No ear went unsatisfied.