One of our favorite Philly bands, Pissed Jeans, will take over Underground Arts on Saturday and we’re giving away tickets. They did our Red Bull Sound Select show last year and it was insane.
For this show, they have Lydia Lunch Retrovirus and Taiwan Housing Project opening.
Like us on facebook and email us at FreeJumpStuff@gmail.com to enter to win a pair of tickets (give us your name and put “Pissed” in the subject line).
If you want to play it safe and get your own tickets, find details for the show here.
Hinds @ Union Transfer.
Last week, the four-piece garage rock/pop band Hinds took the stage at Union Transfer for their first show in Philly.
Currently on their Leave Me Alone tour, the Spanish group brought incredible energy and charisma to the stage, following performances by openers Joy Again and Sun Club.
Opening the show with their noisy demo “Trippy Gum,” Hinds then launched directly into a set full of songs from their debut album.
“This song is about a lovely plant called bamboo,” vocalist and founding member Carlotta Cosials said to the crowd before diving into their hit song “Bamboo,” a lo-fi single released in 2014 under their former name, Deers.
The playful quartet also played their other most well known songs “Garden” and “San Diego,” sipping beer in between songs, speaking to the crowd in a mixture of Spanish and English.
After leaving the stage for a brief break, the women came back on stage for an encore performance of “Davey Crockett,” a cover of British rock group Thee Headcoats.
Members of the opening act Sun Club jumped into the crowd and pulled people up on the stage, which was soon full of bodies dancing and jumping as the women ended their first, but hopefully not last show in Philly.
New Music From Thee Idea Men (and More Coming!).
Text and image by Christopher Malo.
Lat night, on the cusp of summer solstice, the guys from Thee Idea Men hung out in front of Boot & Saddle before their set, smoking cigarettes and talking as the sun still shines before their 8:30 p.m. stage time. The day before, WXPN premiered the four-piece band’s new single “Think About It,” produced by The Lawsuits‘ Joe Bisirri.
This morning, that single, from an album to be released later in the year, was officially released. But not before Matthew Jurasek, Tyler March, Kris Pirnat and Matt Raspanti slide inside to deliver their blues-infused rock/rock-infused blues sound to all the fans who came out on a Thursday night as the band opened for The Lonely Biscuits. .
Three guitars and a drum kit filled the stage. The uptempo rock drenched the atmosphere. The band blasted their way through the set of eight songs that showed off their versatility and chops in both the handling of their instruments as well as the understanding of great rock music. Signature riffs and transitions were found throughout songs that showed off the foundations of the genre(s) but never came across as inauthentic.
Blending an always energetic performance with guitarist Jurasek’s small talk between songs, fans witnessed showmanship without a contrived feeling of the band being “showy.” More reserved but far from invisible, guitarist Raspanti took the vocal reigns during “Natural Gravitation.” March kept time on the drum set and notably, they could not entrust bassist Pirnat on any vocals because he was the only one on stage without a mic.
To turn around at the end of each song is to find more people in the room than when the song began. The band made its way through cuts like “After Dark” and “She’s Got The Wand” from 2012’s Getcho Groo Von along with “Help Me Mama,” “I Know By Now” and “Shake It” off the follow-up New Level Shoes. A scan of the room revealed a crowd that nodded their heads and tapped their feet to the rhythm not out of polite obligation, but because the music is that damn good.
As Thee Idea Men’s set wrapped up with “Burglar Hats” and the sun finally dipped from the sky, the performance ended but things were far from over. Bisirri is working with the band on the new EP, which the group hopes to finish recording by the end of summer.
But between now and then you can catch them at The Wonder Bar in Asbury Park on June 20 or back in Philly at Milkboy on July 15.
The Low Anthem will perform at Underground Arts on Sunday, June 26 with River Whyless and we’re giving away tickets to the show.
Like us on facebook and email us at FreeJumpStuff@gmail.com to enter to win a pair of tickets (give us your name and put “Low Anthem” in the subject line).
If you want to play it safe and get your own tickets, find details for the show here.
Neshaminy Creek Brewing Company celebrated their 4 year anniversary with a huge indoor/outdoor party featuring The Suicide Machines at their Croydon facility.
The brewery has numerous connections to the music world. Founder and head brewer Jeremy Myers has been running the punk/hardcore/ska label Jump Start Records for about 19 years now.
The Suicide Machines put on a rambunctious show, with frontman Jay Navarro diving into the crowd on multiple occasions and inviting people to sing the words to some of the band’s classic hits like “New Girl” and “Islands.”
The Menzingers were the surprise performers of the day, announced as part of the lineup at 9:00 am on the day of the event. Drummer Joe Godino pours beers at the brewery’s tasting room when the band isn’t on tour or recording.
Off With Their Heads and Philly’s own Goddamnit also performed.
Text and images by Jordyn Cordner.
Minnesota natives Tiny Moving Parts headlined The Foundry at The Fillmore last week, performing in front of a rambunctious crowd that ravenously enjoyed every act that hit the stage.
Last minute local addition Clique played first. Their moody, indie rock coasted out over the heads of the early birds pressed against the barrier. Clique recently released a new album, Burden Piece, which they performed, along with their older material.
Nashville emo quintet Free Throw took the stage next, starting their set by clinking their glasses in cheers.
The band’s gruff vocal style and punchy energy riled fans right up, and they were met with pointing fingers and singing voices, even turning the microphone into the crowd. Their performance was as twinkly as it was energetic and, by the end, the room was packed with sweaty, excited fans.
Prawn followed, with their signature indie, post-rock drawing shouts from an adoring room. Their melodies were gorgeous and powerful and their enthusiasm was apparent in their presence.
“We’re an old band,” said Prawn’s vocalist and guitarist, Tony Clark, “and we’re touring with these young bucks.”
According to Clark, the younger bands had to “teach him what memes” were. The crowd laughed and cheered.
Tiny Moving Parts closed the show, their iconic and unique Midwest math rock indie-screamo blend captivating the crowd. Kids surfed from the back, over the barrier and onto the stage. People pressed as far as possible into the front of the room, screaming, pointing and grasping as passionate vocals and hammered strings rang off of every wall. The set ended with singer Dylan Mattheisen on the ground, halfway into the crowd (below).
The show wasn’t the only party that Tiny Moving Parts has had as of late. In fact, in their music video for new song “Headache,” the trio had, literally, the best day of their lives.
“The director pitched us the idea of a bucket list type video or ‘let’s just do a bunch of fun things,’ and then we got to skydive and stuff,” said drummer Billy Chevalier of the concept for the video. “I’m still kind of on the fence about doing this.”
Singer/bass player Matthew Chevalier, Billy’s brother, said that touring as a family is nothing strange for the trio.
“We’ve always been hanging out all the time since we were young, so it makes it easy,” said Mattheisen.“We’ve always just been together.”
After the show, the tour package headed to Washington, D.C. and is currently continuing across the country.
The Retinas have been making music for nearly five years now, steadily putting out waves of shoe-gazy, post-garage, indie rock. Their latest project, chaba, drops tomorrow. The guys will be doing a house show to celebrate the release.
We spoke with frontman Tom McHugh about life in the band.
Congrats on the new EP. Can you tell us about it?
Thank you! We’re very excited about the new chaba EP.
The EP’s title comes from the first letter of each song. We were trying to figure out a title of for the EP and nothing seemed to fit. It got to a point where we were joking around with ridiculous titles and thought of the idea of taking the first letter and making it a name. After a few variations we decided on chaba – “Cheesepuffs,” “Hey Julia,” “Accident,” “Beat It Out” and “Aries”).
The EP is a bit more lo-fi then our last one. We wanted to try and break out of a normal formula and start doing the opposite of what we would typically do musically. Half the songs were recorded in an abandoned post office in Manayunk and the other were recorded in our rehearsal space in Kensington.
What’s happening in the video for “Accident?” It’s pretty trippy.
We knew we wanted the “Accident” video to be dark and unsettling. The song itself is dark and we thought the video should follow that.
The plot points at how as conversations/relationships/love/friendships grow, they become interrogation rooms. In those rooms, you see the people as they are/what you know about them, and at the same time you have flashes of your own subconscious and nostalgia running that affect their perception, as well as the ideal perception of you want to have of them.
Among all of this you’re also learning their vices and twitches and flaws and anything else below the surface. The reason we say interrogation room is because the entire time your building the relationship, your acceptance of the worst parts about them are on trial and whether you choose to continue the relationship or to love this person is based on the darker aspects of them and whether they can be apart of your life.
You don’t truly choose or love someone for only the good things. It’s the bad things that make or break and define it.
You guys have been around for a few years now, right? How has the band evolved over the past five years?
The bands changed in a lot of ways over the last couple of years. For one, members have changed. Anthony Fulginitti (drummer) and I (singer/guitarist) are the only original members of the band left.
Musically, I think we’re transitioning out of loving our favorite bands and trying to be like them (i.e. Life At Work EP) into developing our own style. We’re not as afraid to explore different genres or write a slower song like we were before because we’re trying to doing something new and that hasn’t been done before. Or, at least, relate to people on our own level as opposed to a revivalist stand point.
You guys have been steadily hustling. What’s the goal for the project?
I guess the goal is to do something new and relate to a larger body of people while doing so.
What should we expect from the release party? And can you provide details?
The release party will be a good ole fashioned house show in North Philly. It should be a good time. We have The Chelsea Kills and a newer band, Buddie, playing with us. It’s $2-3 donation you can find the details on our Facebook page.
We caught Ceramic Animal a few weeks back when they performed at Bourbon & Branch as part of the Queen of Jeans month-long residency in May and we were intrigued. The bandmates all wore maroon suits and dark turtlenecks and their music had that jauntiness that matched their mod aesthetics. The packed crowd danced and howled along to every song.
Ceramic Animal, comprised of Walker Gall and the Regan brothers – Warren, Erik and Elliott, just released a new video (below), they’ll perform at Underground Arts on Saturday with Lou and The Binary Sea, and they’ll officially drop their debut album on June 30.
We spoke to frontman Warren Regan about the four-some from Doylestown.
Who is Ceramic Animal and where did you guys come from?
CA is a collection of four cool dudes in loose moods. We hail from the slums of Doylestown, PA. But we have all lived in either Philly or NYC at one point or another, so don’t think that we aren’t hip!
You guys are brothers? That’s a very talented family. Who encouraged you guys to be artistic?
Talented family? Gosh, that is very nice of you to say. Unfortunately, Walker Gall is not part of the family yet. But the blood has been spilt and on the next full moon, his indoctrination into our brotherhood will come to fruition and then he will be just as talented as the rest of the band.
Our Pee-paw got us all instruments when we were little boys. We would play for Pee-paw every morn.
Do all the bandmates have different characteristics? The shy one, the flirt, the brain, etc?
Most people think we don’t differ at all from each other because we will wear matching outfits on stage – they are riot, those dunces. But It has been speculated that Erik Regan is the anti-hero, Elliott Regan is the trickster, Walker Gall is the lovable rogue and I am the youngest son.
But the story is still panning out. For all we know, we may be the good guys.
What influences your music? How do you describe the sound?
We’ve been described by some as sounding like the Pacific Life “Tail Slaps Fight Song” commercial but others have said we are more like if Joe Meek’s ghost entered Arthur Brown and he helped record Spiritualized’s Ladies And Gentlemen We Are Floating In Space with Mott the Hoople.
Can’t think of any influences at the moment.
Can you tell us about the upcoming album?
It has been done for a bit now but everyone keeps telling us to wait to release it. So, maybe it sucks.
What’s on the horizon for the band?
We are going to get our matching suits dry cleaned and then sell out Underground Arts on Saturday.
Wilco @ The Mann Center with Richard Thompson.
Text by Jared Levy. Images by Amy Frear.
Walking around the Mann Center for the Performing Arts on Saturday, you could see various people wearing red hats that read, “Make Wilco Great Again.”
That hat, which is sold on Wilco’s website, spoofs Donald Trump’s slogan, “Make America Great Again,” and the joke works on multiple levels. The most obvious is that Wilco and its lead man Jeff Tweedy are clever satirists who often engage in the political moment.
Another is that Wilco, on their 22nd year as a band, are in the midst of a career renaissance. Their latest album, Star Wars, was a surprise release last July and it marked their return to experimental tendencies and catchy rock sensibilities.
And finally, with this election season well-underway and with Wilco on a country-spanning summer tour, “Make Wilco Great Again” is an appropriate slogan, a mission statement to recapture what makes them one of America’s greatest rock bands.
On their stop in Philadelphia, they seemed to win over many delegates.
The biggest surprise of the night was how long the band played for. The show clocked in at around two and a half hours. It began with the first three songs from Star Wars and then the band wove in songs from their entire catalog.
The unifying theme was a selection of Wilco’s most energetic rock songs. An example of this was three-songs, mid-set, from their second album Being There. They played “Red-Eyed and Blue” followed by “I Got You (At the End of the Century),” and then “Outtasite (Outta Mind).”
Throughout, they looked positively thrilled by their old material. They also dipped into five songs from A Ghost is Born. But the moment of the night came from during a stellar rendition of “Impossible Germany” with an incredible solo from Nels Cline. The spirit of the new album seemed to have infused the whole show, from beginning to end.
The end was extraordinary, too. There was a standard encore. But then the crowd continued to stay, chanting and applauding, while the stage crew rearranged the set-up and the result was a stripped down and miniaturized ensemble of instrumentation.
When the band came back out, Cline played a pedal steel, Mikael Jorgensen played a melodica (it was also his birthday), and Patrick Sansone played the xylophone. On these instruments they worked through fan favorites such as “Jesus Etc.” and “Misunderstood.” Each time it seemed like they found a perfect song to end on, but then they played another.
And as the lyrics of “Misunderstood,” ask, “Do you still love rock and roll?” At the Mann Center on this summer’s tour, Wilco answered with a resounding, “Yes.”
Legendary British guitarist Richard Thompson opened the night with a solo performance.
Hatebreed @ Underground Arts.
Text and images by Mina Lee.
On a humid Friday night, Connecticut metalcore crew Hatebreed took over Underground Arts, performing before a chaotic sold out crowd.
It was a restless mass of mostly large, male, sweaty bodies in Tap Out T-shirts, hyped up on Monster, thrashing and pushing each other to hits such as “Destroy Everything” and “I Will Be Heard.”
“If you don’t leave with swamp ass, we didn’t do our job,” frontman Jamey Jasta said midway through the set.
The moshing reached a fever pitch, ultimately morphing into a violent pit with spin kicks and rapid punches. Shirts were shed and the slippery venue floor became hazardous. Burly men slipped into each other and they seemed to revel in the fun.
JUMP: The Philly Music Project 