by Kate Hoos | Jul 27, 2021
Creek & Kills at Parkside Lounge (photo by Kate Hoos)
On a recent sweaty July Friday night, a “multi generational” show went down at Parkside Lounge and this was most certainly true with the band members across the four acts ranging in age from early 20s all the way up to their late 60s. And let me tell you, this is exactly what I love about the vibrant music community in NYC; being at a show where people from every age range all rub shoulders and share the stage like it’s no big deal is my kind of night (and not for the first time in more recent years, I was firmly in the middle aged tier amongst the shows attendees and performers). This was almost every band’s first show back in the (semi) after times and the excitement was palpable in the room among the crowd and musicians alike as everyone settled in for the show.
The Elgin Marbles kicked off the night with a set of 80s flavored indie art rock. They had funny quips and anecdotes between songs and definitely reminded me of a band that would have been right at home in the Athens scene that birthed REM and The B52’s in the late 70s and early 80s. In a maybe subtle, maybe not so subtle, nod to that art rock ethos- their name is taken from the Elgin Marbles after all- more than one of their songs was also about art or “art movements in the early 60s.” I really enjoyed their quirky vibe and it was a great kick off to the night.
Jekssaira hit the stage second, this being the solo venture of Jessie Rodriguez of twee punk band The Loneliers (though she has a backing band on stage with her). I’m a long time fan of The Loneliers, but this was my first time getting to see her perform in this newer project. The single she currently has out “I Want Your Love,” is more in the twee punk vein like her main project, but I immediately noticed the songs the band was performing at the show were a bit darker in tone, showing a shift in Rodriguez’s guitar style; I was very excited to see this other side of her songwriting. I love when I can see musicians growing and shifting as they try different things and move through different projects. An EP is in the works for later this year and I am absolutely ready to hear it.
Creek & Kills not only did the legwork of organizing the night, but also pulled extra rehearsals to make the gig happen as their drummer, Erin Harney, was injured prior to the gig and couldn’t drum. They didn’t show any sign of fatigue with all of that going on behind the scenes and put in a powerhouse performance with Heather Wagner of Elgin Marbles sitting in on drums; Harney- who also sings a significant amount in the band- was on hand and still performed her vocal parts. The songs had a punchier tempo throughout owing to the peppier style of Wagner’s drumming vs. Harney’s more laid back post punk sensibilities, but it really worked and it was an interesting treat as a fan to hear the songs in a different context, something that doesn’t often happen! Vocal duties in the band are shared by bassist Kate Bell and Harney- both being phenomenal singers- belting and crooning separately, and then beautifully harmonizing together. They are gearing up for the release of a new EP “Unstitching” which is due out 8/20; they will perform a release show the same night at 18th Ward Brewing.
Que Sick is absolutely one of the most fun bands I know of; they always look like they are having the time of their lives each and every time they’re on the stage. All four members share vocals across their set and the rhythm section swaps between bass and drums depending on the song, as was common in the heyday of the classic riot grrrl acts of the early 90s. Their sound does remind me of some of the riot grrrl bands of the past, with a healthy dose of the less polished pop punk of the early Lookout! era also fueling the relentless drive of their hyper bops. Lyrical themes range from love of their pet dogs, to “getting ice cream” at Friendly’s and you just can’t help but have a smile on your face listening to lyrics like that. They closed out their set with a cover of “Sugar We’re Going Down,” by Fall Out Boy which I admit was a liiiitle lost on me (remember that “firm middle age” thing. That being the case, I never got into FOB or the emo bands of the early 2000s era) but again, you just can’t help but smile and be caught up in the enthusiasm that Que Sick brings to the stage even if it’s a song you likely wouldn’t listen to outside of the context of a cover. I’m hoping they record some of these songs soon because I would love to have them available on the go, especially as I’m getting ready to commute via the NYC subway to work again, I really need things that will make me smile going through that on a regular basis.
Scroll down to see more pics from the show (photos by Kate Hoos)
ELGIN MARBLES
JEKSSAIRA
CREEK & KILLS
QUE SICK
by Kate Hoos | Jul 27, 2021
DIY comes in all forms, street art being one of the purest forms of it really, a visceral non digital form of social media* letting passersby into a secret world contained in the mind of the artist who created the work (*social media actually being an ancient concept dating to the days of cave paintings). I’m always happy to look into that secret world be it through finding random tags on the street or by going to a more formally organized event showing off works by street artists made on canvas, paper, and other mediums. And that is exactly what “Take Back The Alley” was, yes a formally organized event, but absolutely a DIY affair which saw a small alley space in Ridgewood, Queens transformed into a gallery for an afternoon to showcase artists who create both in the streets and outside of that context.
Participating artists included HISS, Big Cutlery, Trashy Dreams, Stoic Mortuorum (which is the creation of Spite Fuxxx drummer Alex), Imamaker, Sarofoxx, Brad M Bailey, and more. In addition to the work on display that was for sale, many of the artists also had sticker packs, zines, and other small works available. The best way to support artists and the arts in general is to purchase directly from them whenever possible, so I was glad to be able to pick up a few things to bring home and decorate FTA headquarters with. It was a little crowded- but no complaints from me because I always love seeing folks enjoying art- so I didn’t get to snap as many pictures overall as I would have liked, but I got a few to share below because I made sure to at least catch pics all of my favorites before I left.
While my favorite way to interact with art is to find it randomly on the street in my travels, social media (of the modern digital variety) makes it a lot easier to keep up with everything these days, including what street artists are up to and to actively support them when I’m able to. With that in mind, I absolutely will keep looking for things in my daily travels but I will also keep my eyes on what all of the participating artists In this show get up to and head out to their other shows whenever I have the opportunity to go. I love to support the arts and strive to do so any time, and in any way I can. And you should too.
Scroll down for pics of the show (photos by Kate Hoos. All art by the individual creators)
STOIC MORTUORUM
HISS
TRASHY DREAMS
IMAMAKER
BRAD M BAILEY
I’m unsure who the artist was for this but I loved the idea of a sticker pack in a gumball machine
by Kate Hoos | Jul 25, 2021
Street Art- Manhattan, 2018 (artist unknown)
Full Time Aesthetic is a music blog! Yay music blog! I love writing about and featuring music but there are also other things that I’m interested in that are maybe not music, but perhaps more music adjacent… or at least things that music fans would be likely to appreciate. And that being the case, I thought I’d add a section to the blog to feature some of that stuff- art, street art, books, movies/documentaries, record/book shops and things of the like that I find along the way in my travels or any of the other staff members in turn find in theirs. Vegan pizza place reviews are also a very distinct possibility.
I do hereby also solemnly swear that I will NOT turn this into a train/railfan/abandoned building/urbex blog. Friends and my social media followers know this is another nerdy pursuit of mine, but it is a whole other thing unto itself so I will keep it relegated to it’s own feed and my personal page…though perhaps occasionally there might be a picture or two of that if it seems fitting (or if I finally manage to throw a show on top of a particular abandoned train trestle I have had my eyes on…). That being said, I can’t promise my not so secret wish of ALSO writing reviews about weird/regional/off brand soda won’t find it’s way here because I really think that it might…as I’ve said before on FTA, UP THE SOBER SODA PUNX!
Stay tuned because more art etc happenings to be posted here soon. As always, feel free to send suggestions on things you’d like to see here or things you think we should check out, we are always on the lookout for the good stuff.
by Kate Hoos | Jul 22, 2021
WORLDSUCKS (photo by Kate Hoos)
Anyone who knows me (or reads this blog) knows I go to a lot of shows. Between playing, shooting, and (soon to be again) working shows, I’m at shows almost every night of the week. And I see shows in a wide variety of venues- from the old tennis stadium I sometimes pick up shifts at, to local dive bars and popular spots in the punk scene, to working at 1400/2800+ cap NYC venues that the latest hot mid sized bands play at. But out of all of those- and I’ve seen some cool shows either in part or in full at all of them- nothing quite does it for me like a house show. I’m now 40 years old and have been in this shit for close to 25 years of my life…and while you’d think maybe I’d have grown out of that by this age, I haven’t and I very happily don’t see that changing any time soon.
Now that we’ve set the scene, then you know that when my friends- the political thrash metal band WORLDSUCKS (which features FTA contributing writer Nick AD on drums)- told me that their first live show in over a year was going to be a house show in NJ, I made sure my schedule was clear and that I was there. I listed this as “someone’s garage,” which was slightly meant to be cheeky but also it is quite literal as it was in a garage (and as per house show etiquette, I’m not going to reveal the address of the space). The show was organized by Fknundrgrnd who has been organizing pop up shows in the Rahway, NJ area (I drove there but it is also easily accessed by NJ Transit from NYC) and it was very obvious a tight knit and passionate community of friends and fans was in attendance as is often the case at house shows. This is easily one of my favorite parts of house shows too, being invited into their own little slice of the world by like minded weirdos and this day was no different as I (and Chantal from FTA who came with me) was welcomed with open arms.
Rube was up first (also featuring members of Keefchamber and Fang Gang) and I found out later this was in fact their first show. I am a very big fan of vibing out to instrumental jams and really locked in with what they were doing. Their tunes had a funk rock groove to them and never got too heavy for a nice intro to the show. I am definitely going to keep an eye on what they get up to to see how they develop and for what they record.
Nikki Nailbomb is a veteran/still active member of several Trenton, NJ bands (Molly Rhythm, Uranium Party and more) who has a pretty prolific multi genre output. On this day, she was performing a solo acoustic set which was comprised of songs from the 2019 album Tyrannical mixed in with songs from other releases. Side note that I actually stayed at Nikki’s place on tour with an old band in 2019 which I realized about halfway through the set, but this was the first time seeing them perform so that was nice to finally get to do that!
As mentioned, WORLDSUCKS are good friends of mine and I was so happy to be at their first show back in the semi after times. They are a two piece thrash band that sits right in that sweet spot between metal and hardcore punk; they also make absolutely no bones about their political leanings or their stance on any right wing bullshit- their tagline of “loud fast and pissed” isn’t so much a declaration as a way of life. Their music is played at warp speed, punishing riffs paired with machine gun fire double bass drum punctuating some of the heaviest parts of their songs, all wrapped up with a chugging ferocity that can vibrate an entire building never mind just the room.
Not wasting any time to get things kicked all the way up to 100, they started their set immediately firing on all cylinders with the anthem “Punch Yr Local Nazi” which features on their 2020 album A Reckoning. And to make things truly fucking metal, someone in the audience promptly puked as they wrapped up the song for the ultimate crescendo- and trust me, nazis make me want to puke too (it was likely due to the heat rather than the metal AF vibes but who can really say?!) Not letting anything like the expulsion of bodily fluids slow them down**, they lived up to the other part of their tag “unrelenting and unapologetic,” with a blistering set of political ragers that included the debut of the absolutely blazing and brilliantly titled new song “The 1312 Overture,” which featured the repeated screaming of “FUCK NAZI COPS” that had the audience immediately joining in on the chant.
(**note: in all seriousness, all vomit was quickly and thoroughly cleaned up by the folks running the space)
“Punch Yr Local Nazi” music video
Keefchamber played the final set of the day and damn did they knock me right on my ass. I was unfamiliar with them before the show but became an instant fan barely halfway through the first song. I have always been a lover of two piece bands and seeing what can happen with this limited set up because often times, it results in something more intricate and surprising than a band of five musicians could come up with. I particularly love bands that accomplish this sans guitarist and feature bassists that play heavy distorted basslines. Their bassist/vocalist Taco expertly utilized drone techniques, often paired with chords and intricate patterns played over top of the drone strings to create a vast wall of sound.
That sound is firmly in the blackened sludge vein, and reminded me of a slower and even doomier godheadsilo, the creeping tempos creating the vibe and the giant bass tone filling every inch of space in the room. They don’t appear to have a large recorded output at the moment, Taco told me after the set they are just getting back into the swing of things after well…everything, so I will be for sure on the lookout for when they release something new. This was my first time seeing or meeting this band, but I can assure you it will not be the last.
This is the culture I love and live for and every day I get to do something like this, I feel just a little bit more alive.
Scroll down for pics of the show (photos by Kate Hoos)
RUBE
NIKKI NAILBOMB
WORLDSUCKS
KEEFCHAMBER
by Kate Hoos | Jul 21, 2021
SAVAK at 18th Ward Brewery
Summer Sundays presented by The New Colossus Fest weekly series of shows outside of 18th Ward Brewery continued this past weekend and incorporated a Declared Goods showcase featuring SAVAK, Women of the Night, and Tuff Sunshine (the first two time slots included Nick and the Old Sport and Squirrels From Hell and was not affiliated with the showcase).
I was definitely there to see SAVAK, because it had been over two years since seeing them last (I covered that show for BrooklynVegan which you can check out here) and hadn’t thought I’d be able to see anyone else’s set as I had a very busy day on Sunday. I arranged things just right to be able to swoop in right before SAVAK’S set since I was coming from a rehearsal that was fortunately nearby, and I initially thought I would only be able to stay for their set before having to dash off again to go back to the rehearsal space. But as luck would have it, things lined up that I was able to catch Women of the Night and part of Tuff Sunshine as well before running off again which was a nice treat.
SAVAK (which features former/current members of Holy Fuck, Obits, the Cops and Edsel) opened the showcase and their set included songs from their latest album “Rotting Teeth In the Horse’s Mouth,” released in April 2020, as well as some selections from their older albums. I was definitely very happy to get to see some of those songs played live finally as they definitely didn’t play any of them the last time I saw them (that I remember) and well…you know the rest. I really love the interplay of the dual guitars and especially when both vocalists- Sohrab Habibion and Michael Jaworski- sing together and play off of each other; these are definitely among their strongest moments and my favorite aspect of any band with dual vocalists. Head to this BTR Today feature to hear a 2020 interview with Jaworski about the writing and recording process for the album and the uncertainty of putting out music during a pandemic. They will play another show on Friday 8/6 at Mama Tried.
Women of the Night, who have a very brand new record “Sub Rosa” (it came out on 7/16), hit the middle spot and played a set of fun in the sun mod inspired garage rock. I was unfamiliar with them before seeing them and subsequently saw that they are actually a trio (or perhaps were in the past?) but they performed this day as a duo which really works for straight forward garage stuff where less is more and the stripped down feel of the music lends itself perfectly to minimalism in instrumentation.
I was also unfamiliar with Tuff Sunshine- which is the solo project of singer/guitarist Johnny Leitera- but was happy that they carried on the rock n roll fun atmosphere. For the final set of the day, they played catchy songs that touched on garage, blues and indie rock. Both bands definitely made me think of cruising to Rockaway Beach blasting this on the way, definitely heavy on the “pumping your fist driving too fast on the highway” vibes. I sadly had to leave halfway through Tuff Sunshine’s set but I was happy to be able to attend the show at all; I appreciate every person who is putting on shows right now and finding ways to make live music work as things are still on shaky ground.
Summer Sundays continue on July 25th with OK Cowgirl, Lady Pills, Cigarettes For Breakfast, Sharkswimmer, and Dead Leaf Echo.
Scroll down to see pics of the show (pics by Kate Hoos)
WOMEN OF THE NIGHT
TUFF SUNSHINE
SAVAK
