by Kate Hoos | Apr 27, 2022
The Mummies at TV Eye (photo by Kate Hoos)
I waited a very long time to see The Mummies and the special brand of trashy rock n roll that only this legendary garage band can deliver. I missed them several time over the years for various reasons and figured I was set and ready to go once I got a ticket for their 2020 show only to have that ruined by you-know-what. So flash forward to April 2022 and finally, finally it happened and I caught the first of their two night run in NYC (the second show was a day later at Elsewhere). While I would have preferred to see them much sooner, the wait was worth it and they delivered all the sleazy rock n roll debauchery my heart could have possibly desired.
The self described Kings of Budget Rock first emerged from their ancient sarcophagus in the late 80s and rose to become titans of the West Coast garage scene. They haven’t played as much in recent years, and haven’t released a full length since 2003, but they still bring it hard and played a rapid fire set full of rippers from their classic lo-fi catalog, throwing themselves—and the Farfisa—around all through the performance. The was set no bullshit, one song right after the other and no encore. Towards the end they asked “aren’t you tired of us yet?” and then asked the photographers up front “haven’t you guys run out of film yet?” (clearly these bandage clad boys have been in their crypts for too long).
The fans absolutely would have had them play another whole set if it were up to them, and certainly yelled for more after the last song, but they wrapped up with “Shut Yer Mouth” and that was that. A fitting end for the entire ethos of the band really and also a major standout for me because it’s one of my favorite Mummies songs. Other big highlights were “Your Ass (My Face),” and “Dog Meat” which they introduced by asking “any animal lovers here?” (The only song I really wanted that they didn’t play was “Sooprize Package for Mr. Mineo,” a long time favorite from 1992’s Never Been Caught.)
The Mummies famously eschewed recording with much more than primitive equipment throughout their career, and that lack of giving a fuck about what is current has followed them up to the present day as they most definitely do not do social media, or have any music on any streaming platforms. They do however have a website that is up to date which has a complete discography listed on it (something I struggled to find for a while), along with quite a bit of archival material including numerous flyers from the late 80s and early 90s. As with all things Mummies, of course it is just as snarky and self deprecating as their lyrics are with plenty of sardonic sass to go around. Their “About” section reads “The Mummies were a stupid band. This is their stupid Website. You cared about them enough to get this far. Now you are stupid too. That’s the Mummies’ curse,” and a recent sold out show being labeled with “you wouldn’t have liked it anyway.”
The show was opened by Philly garage act, The Out-Sect, who put on a fun and energetic set; you could definitely hear the influence of the Mummies and garage acts of the past in their music for a nice full circle feeling. Synth art/post punks Empath hit the middle spot and this is the first time I’ve really gotten to hone in on one of their sets. They played a festival I was shooting in 2019 but so much was going on, I unfortunately didn’t get to really watch them, so it was nice to finally see them and experience them full on. I was particularly captivated by Garrett Koloski’s drumming and fast hands that made for busy, explosive fills with wind chimes in place of a rack tom to top it all off, a very big added bonus to an already exciting night.
When shit has you feeling down, sometimes the exact pick me up you need is a night of getting yelled at by the undead to breathe a little life back into you.
Scroll down for more pics of the show (photos by Kate Hoos)
THE OUTSECT
EMPATH
THE MUMMIES
by Kate Hoos | Apr 26, 2022
Godspeed You! Black Emperor at Webster Hall (photo by Kate Hoos)
Godspeed You! Black Emperor made a stop at Webster Hall on their current tour and being both a huge fan of instrumental music, and never having never seen the band before, I knew I needed to make it a priority to be there to see them. That being said, I really think GYBE is less a band to watch, and more a band to experience, a band that you become fully immersed in as you are face to face with their confronting presence. Atmospheric, symphonic, cinematic—yes indeed, I was immediately lost in their world of sweeping and dynamic post rock the moment the first eerie notes rang out until the final wail of feedback faded away.
One of the beauties of instrumental music is that while yes, the creators have their own vision in mind of what any given song is specifically about—and GYBE definitely makes the political message of their music known—in the end, the listener gets to experience it the way they want to want to and can make the songs be about whatever they want. Sure the same can be said with (at least some) music that contains lyrics, but with instrumental compositions, there is infinite room for interpretation. You get to feel the way you want to feel about the music and interpret it any way you want.
And while most of the audience stayed in rapt attention throughout the set, locked in with the band on stage and focused on the projections behind them, there were those who took a different path and that open ended interpretation to heart for a more full body experience. There were two people who did a kind of interpretive dance next to the bar on the balcony for most of the set and never seemed to look at the band at all, rather letting the music flow through them, swaying and moving wildly as the dynamics rose and fell. And after I got all the shots I wanted for the night, I even took several minutes away from watching to lay on a couch upstairs on the Balcony while I closed my eyes and let the music swirl around me and overtake my senses. Not something I have really done at a live event before, but it felt none-the-less powerful to put my camera and my phone down and be 100% present, focused purely on sound rather than visual.
The set was comprised of mostly newer material including “First of the Last Glaciers,” and “Job’s Lament” from 2021’s G_d’s Pee AT STATE’S END! and some of my personal favorites, the multiple movements of “Bosses Hang,” and “Anthem for No State” from 2017’s Luciferian Towers. But the strongest reaction from the audience came when the opening contemplative notes of “Blaise Bailey Finnegan III,” from 1998’s Slow Riot for New Zero Kanada began playing and the sample of Bailey talking kicked in. They closed out the night with this opus, and I was back on the edge of the balcony to watch, the massive crescendo crashing into me like a ton of bricks. I stayed mesmerized until the very last ounce of feedback had dissolved into the air, each pedal board faded down and turned off one by one to draw out the conclusion.
The show was opened by Canadian singer songwriter Myriam Gendron, who plays indie folk with poetic lyrics. I was unfamiliar with her work before the show and I am still learning more about her, but I did discover that some of her lyrics are actually poems that were written by others that she was moved to write music to, such as the songs on her 2014 debut album Not So Deep A Well which featured her original guitar compositions to the poems of Dorothy Parker. Her work since then has combined playing traditional music or using it as inspiration for new original compositions and taking a hybrid approach to combine the old with the new. In the live setting she sang beautifully, some songs in English and some in French, and was accompanied by her own guitar and guitar from Luc Bonin for a quiet, most interesting and introspective addition to an already remarkable evening.
Godspeed You! Black Emperor Setlist: Hope Drone, Job’s Lament, First of the Last Glacier, Bosses Hang, Anthem for No State, Cliffs Gaze, BBF3/Blaise Bailey Finnegan III
Scroll down for pics of the show (photos by Kate Hoos)
MYRIAM GENDRON
GODSPEED YOU! BLACK EMPEROR
by Kate Hoos | Apr 25, 2022
Gustaf at The Broadway (photo by Kate Hoos)
There’s no denying that Gustaf is one of the best live bands in Brooklyn (or anywhere really), but since they have been getting a lot of very well deserved attention so they’ve been touring a lot (and gotten to open for some pretty big artists along the way) and thus haven’t played as many hometown shows. But as luck would have it, they announced a pair of homecoming shows at The Broadway to wrap up their most recent US tour, the first of which was on my birthday, and I knew immediately what my party plans were.
I’d last seen them open for IDLES at Terminal 5 (pics from night one here, night two here) and it was a great show, but I think the very best way to experience a band like Gustaf is to be up close and personal in a small room to really get every ounce of their infectious and relentless energy radiating at you. The packed crowd definitely agreed, sending back just as much energy and jumping joyfully throughout the entire set, reacting viscerally song after song. In particular the crowd really got moving and the entire floor bounced during “Book,” which is a standout track on their album Audio Drag For Ego Slobs and one of my favorites.
If the band was road weary at all from their busy schedule, they didn’t show it in the slightest. As with all of their shows, it seemed like at any moment things could erupt and explode, yet it never quite reached the boiling point—this is one of the things I love most about them in fact. They go right to the edge of control and tantalizingly push the line of melting down without ever actually doing so, pushing hard and pulling things back on a dime. Combining the frenzy of comically distorted backing vocals coupled with clean sprechgesang-ish lead vocals, coffee can percussion, horns and rubber chickens, and an air tight rhythm section paired with precise, clipped guitar lines makes for a fantastic and musically creative outfit that really has no current equal. But it is that anticipation of the coming calamity that makes for the most exciting part of the equation and why their live shows are so incredible.
Spitfire grunge-rocker-meets-pop-superstar, Lola Pistola, opened the show and she shredded hard with killer dance moves to match, setting the high energy pace for the evening. She also had drummer Carlo Minchillo of the Brooklyn Drum Collective sitting in for this show which was an extra treat. Carlos Truly (who co-produced Gustaf’s album) hit the middle spot with a set that brought in elements of pop, electro, jazz and lounge for a unique fusion of sounds. Playing guitar for the set, Truly claimed he “didn’t know what he was doing” and that he doesn’t usually play guitar in the band, but he could have fooled me, he sounded great and brought a lot of life to his playing. They were a fun link from the hard rocking of Lola Pistola to the potent controlled chaos of Gustaf.
I can’t think of a better birthday gift than getting to rock out in the weirdly wonderful low brow, high concept world of art punk Gustaf has created. And I’m very glad I caught them before they once again jet out of Brooklyn and on to their next tour. Happy Birthday to me indeed!
Scroll down for pics of the show (photos by Kate Hoos)
LOLA PISTOLA
CARLOS TRULY
GUSTAF
by Kate Hoos | Apr 21, 2022
Weeping Icon at Our Wicked Lady (photo by Kate Hoos)
There’s nothing I love more than a night of great music and lots of friends which this show had in spades. And on top of all that, it was an extra special night because Frida Kill were celebrating their tape release. I’ve been going to their shows since their very first one in 2019 and have loved getting to know them better as people and seeing their songwriting grow and blossom in that time. They played all five songs from the tape, my faves being “Mujeres Con Mangos,” “Get Over It,” and “Zine Song,” plus a slew of their newer material (that they just recorded as part of an upcoming full length) for a set packed full of bangers.
Video for “Mujeres Con Mangos”
Weeping Icon headlined the evening and before this night had not played a show since last August (see pics from that show here) so I was more than ready for them to hit the stage! While it may appear they have been laying low, word has it that they’ve been writing for a new record and they also recently filmed a new music video. They also provided a remix for A Place To Bury Strangers’ “Playing The Part” on Hologram: Destroyed and Reassembled remix EP. So it’s clear they have been busy even if they have not been on stage.
Audiotree described them as such: Weeping Icon is a shoegaze, doom and noise influenced post punk trio. They pen exploratory tracks with critical commentary about power dynamics, social media influence and personal trials experienced in an overwhelmingly male dominated music scene. The band’s contrarian ethos adds a layer of urgency to their massive, cathartic sound while providing rich lyrics to pour over time and time again. And I find myself agreeing with every word of this sentiment.
This is what I had to say after their last show and I think it’s an assessment that still sticks:
Their set is not so much a band playing some songs on stage for some people in the crowd— though there is nothing wrong with bands who do that—but this is a full on experience, an invitation into something more. Their performances are like a look into a gloomy space filled with dirty, distorted bass, hazy effects, and horror movie-esque instrumental/sample laden intervals in between songs rather than the typical awkward stage banter, keeping the audience rapt and locked in.
The songs can range from extended smokey, stoner doom-esque passages, to pivot over to more driving noise punk with hammering drums, punctuated by pointed lyrics from duel vocalists, guitarist Sara F. and drummer Lani. Thematically they live up to their self descriptor of “sarcasm dopegaze,” with a critical and snarky eye turned to consumption, social media use, and overall critique of the decaying world we find ourselves inhabiting.
While I do enjoy listening to their records, my favorite way to experience Weeping Icon is in the live setting, it really is the most satisfying way I think to get the totality of them as a band and as artists. I for one am hoping that whatever new music they have been working on will see release soon and that it will not be another eight month wait to see them again.
As for the first half of the show, it was full of great tunes too. Duke of Vandals kicked off the night and this was the first time I’d seen the garagey, punky trio who packed a punch and got the night off to an energetic start. The Rizzos followed them and there aren’t many other bands that are as fun as this garage pop power trio is. Song after song, their energy is dialed up to 11 and you can’t help but get caught up in that.
Scroll down for pics of the show (photos by Kate Hoos)
DUKE OF VANDALS
THE RIZZOS
FRIDA KILL
WEEPING ICON
by Kate Hoos | Apr 21, 2022
Low at Webster Hall (photo by Kate Hoos)
I’m a huge fan of instrumental music so when I found out Divide and Dissolve was going to be opening this show, I immediately knew I had to take the night off to be there to enjoy the show. (I work at Webster Hall, but there are some shows I really just want to experience as a fan rather than thinking about work and this was one of them.) They are a band I had been wanting to see for quite some time, but being that they are based in Australia and with the pandemic keeping shows at bay for so long, it took a while for it to actually happen.
The band is a two piece instrumental doom metal band and while some instrumental bands leave it up for interpretation what their songs are about, D/D is not one of those bands. Their message is uncompromisingly political, with songs that are absolutely topical and about specific things that give you plenty to think about and reflect upon. With their most recent album titled Gas Lit and merch adorned with “Destroy White Supremacy,” and “Dismantle Colonial Borders,” they leave little room for interpretation of what that message is. Regarding their album Gas Lit, they had this to say on their Bandcamp: Gas Lit is our fight for Indigenous Sovereignty, Black and Indigenous Liberation, Water, Earth, and Indigenous land given back. Gas Lit is fighting against the dispossession of our people, land, water, and spirit. Gas Lit is a call to transformation and freedom. Gas Lit seeks to make a contribution to undermining and destroying the white supremacist colonial framework.
During their set the band also took the time to do a land acknowledgement (present day Manhattan in on Lenape land) and explain briefly about the land back movement (read more here on the movement). Though there are just two members in the band—guitarist/saxophonist Takiaya Reed and drummer Sylvie Nehill—their sound is gigantic, to match the power of their message, and they shook the walls of Webster throughout the duration of their set. They have stated that the aim of their music is to affect people physically and I absolutely felt it pulsing all around and driving through me (read more in this interview). I’m hoping I’ll be able to catch them again the next time they make their way to the States because this was one of the best sets I’ve seen/heard/felt in a while.
Divide and Dissolve portrait after their set.
I attended this show with FTA contributing writer Chantal who happens to be a huge fan of Low so I will let her take the wheel on reviewing their set:
When I first saw Low in 2009, on the Drums and Guns tour, several of my friends were moved to tears. I don’t cry quite so easily, but I do recall being overwhelmed with emotion and admiration. Over a decade later, the Duluth, MN band can still enthrall an audience, and the near-capacity crowd at Webster Hall were certainly at attention.
Over the past several albums, Low have added new sounds to their impressive body of work, just as successfully as when they added distortion all those years ago. They are still a guitar and drums based band, but you’d be forgiven for forgetting that in the wake of the glitched and synthed out sound of Hey What, their latest album that came out last year on Sub Pop. Yet through all the experimental twists and turns, Low have never lost the compositional clarity that marks them as some of the finest songwriters of the last few decades. Nowhere is this more evident than when the songs are presented live.
“Stripped” is not the right word; Low have never hidden behind production or artifice. Perhaps “raw” might be a better choice, and coupled with the bare emotions of the audience, every song felt like an exposed nerve. The harmonies of guitarist Alan Sparhawk and drummer Mimi Parker are as solid as ever, a gorgeous duet that both grounds the songs and elevates them heavenward. Helped along by solid rhythm work by new bassist Liz Draper, the tracks from Hey What jumped out from the stage (and the venetian blinds-esque lightshow) one after another, until I realized the band was actually playing the album in full.
It’s a risky move to lean on mostly new material, especially when a band has enough ‘hits’ from a 30 year career to fill a setlist and many fans who might be coming based on knowledge of older work (hell, I love them, and even I hadn’t listened to Hey What until last week) but it paid off. Hey What really does work best as a full album, and as each song was revealed in its live form, I couldn’t wait to see how the rest sounded. During the quiet parts of songs (especially “Days Like These”) you could hear a pin drop.
For those familiar with Low’s prior discography, there was another slate of songs in the second half of the set, spanning six different records and including several crowd pleasers. For the encore, Low brought out “Will The Night,” from Secret Name and the disco ball came on, twirling stars over the room. That would have been a lovely ending, but the real cap on the night (“something for the walk home,” Sparhawk noted) was “Canada,” a stone-cold classic, just as vibrant as when I heard it last.
From the balcony, I only heard a smattering of requests yelled out near the very end of the show. In fact, there were comparatively few callouts at all from the enraptured crowd. One person did yell “Talk to us Alan!” to which Sparhawk answered, “I’m trying to hold a vibe, I can’t talk.” Later in the set, the band expressed their gratitude at playing. Otherwise, they aren’t particularly chatty, nor do they need to be: Low’s music speaks for itself, and on one chilly night in Manhattan, everyone was listening.
Setlist:
HEY WHAT
White Horses, I Can Wait, All Night, Disappearing, Hey, Days Like These, Don’t Walk Away, More, The Price You Pay (It Must Be Wearing Off)
Congregation, No Comprende, Sunflower, Monkey, Plastic Cup, Disarray, Especially Me, Nothing but Heart
Encore: Will the Night, Canada
Scroll down for pics of the show (photos by Kate Hoos)
DIVIDE AND DISSOLVE
LOW
