THE GOOD, THE BAD, & THE QUEEN @ Webster Hall – 3/12/07

Damon Albarn’s latest brainchild, The Good, The Bad, & The Queen will be in town tonight at Webster Hall. In his latest effort, Albarn enlists what seems to be comprised of a veritable all-star cast including Clash bassist Paul Simonon, Verve guitarist Simon Tong, and Fela Kuti’s afro-beat enthused drummer, Tony Allen. While virtually taking a 180-degree turn from Gorillaz style synth-hop, GBQ sounds much more like Albarn’s days with Blur, but it is certainly more downbeat than the majority of Blur’s footy-hooligan rowdiness. Since Blur will likely never get back together with their original lineup, this show will act as a good substitute for those Albarn fans out their.


RIYL: Blur, Oasis, Supergrass, Air, Pulp, Super Furry Animals

The Shins @ MSG 3/14

Having successfully changed the life of that dude from Scrubs, indie-pop darlings The Shins are ready to rock yr world too. They're playing @ the Theater @ Madison Square Garden on Wednesday in support of their latest effort Wincing the Night Away.


Tickets are kinda steep @ $37.50 apiece.

OF MONTREAL @ Irving Plaza – 3/9, 3/10

Athens, GA madman Kevin Barnes and his merry band will be invading the Irving Plaza this weekend and you will have a chance to see a real spectacle of a show. Ever since Barnes virtually hijacked Of Montreal and made it his own, they have gotten considerably weirder than they originally were on their Bar/None releases. In fact, Barnes may very well be the weirdest of the former Elephant 6 consortium and that, my friends, is saying a lot. Case in point, earlier this tour, Barnes’ penis made its on stage debut, much to the chagrin of a Las Vegas crowd. Let’s hope this doesn’t happen again. The eccentricities are not all bad, though. Their newest release on Polyvinyl, Hissing Fauna, Are You the Destroyer? is a much more mature album in terms of subject matter than their two previous critically acclaimed albums, Satanic Panic in the Attic, and The Sunlandic Twins, but the danceable, upbeat compositions and hyper-intellectual lyrics remain well in tact. We may never know why the bizarre Barnes felt it necessary to whip out his wanker on stage, but it could have just been another Outback Steakhouse advertisement.

RIYL: Olivia Tremor Control, Marshmallow Coast, Apples in Stereo, Elf Power

Beach House @ Mercury Lounge 3/5

Baltimore's Pitchfork-approved Beach House are playing a slew of NYC shows next week. They are opening both sold-out Grizzly Bear shows at Bowery Ballroom on Tuesday and Wednesday. If you dont have tix for that, scope them at Mercury Lounge on Monday evening.

I first came to know of this band when seeing them open for Avey Tare & Kria Brekken back in November; they blew me away. Beach House is a duo comprised of Alex Scally on guitar and organ, and Victoria Legrand on keys and vocals. Together, with the assistance of prerecorded drum loops via laptop, they make (delightful) dreamy pop songs. Listen here. Buy tickets here.

RIYL: Spiritualized, Mazzy Star, Azure Ray, Nico

THE THERMALS @ Bowery Ballroom – 3/4/07

Oft discussed Lo-Fi indie punkers the Thermals will be hitting the
ballroom this Sunday night in NYC. It's pretty much a guarantee the
Hipsterati will come out in droves to see the Portland, OR all-star
team work the crowd with their high energy stage show. They have a
tendency to combine fuzzy punk riffs and the typical snotty sarcastic
indie vocals/lyrics to create songs that barely top three minutes in
duration. While not the best nor the most innovative band in their
field, they do put on a good show and it is a lot of fun. They are
touring on the heels of their latest release The Body The Blood The
Machine on "independent" label SubPop.

RIYL: Bratmobile, Nerf Herder, Nada Surf, Presidents of the United
States of America