Clusterfuck: Pavement, High Zero, INEVERYROOM, XIU XIU, Death Set, Wavves, M.I.A., Christmas Island

Tonight the Metro Gallery welcomes back Xiu Xiu, who were supposed to play Whartscape but canceled after Sunday's storm. They'll be joined by the guitar and synth tribal glee of INEVERYROOM. This show starts at 8 PM and is 12 dollars.

High Zero is now going strong, with more performances scheduled all weekend long. I caught wind of of one of the awesome HighJinx events a few night's ago in front of the Charles, and I'd suggest looking out for those all weekend in addition to the main events each night.

Pavement is coming to Columbia, Maryland to play at Merriweather Post Pavilion on Saturday as part of this year's Virgin Fest. They'll be joined by LCD Soundsystem, M.I.A. Yeasayer, Maximum Balloon and a lot more. This festival is dubbed "FreeFest", but those tickets are gone and you can now buy tickets here for $125 according to organizers.



Saturday night Taxlo takes over the Ottobar with Wavves, The Death Set, Christmas Island, and Popo. Afterwords they host M.I.A.'s DJ with "surprise special guests" upstairs. Conclude what you will, this one starts at 9:30 PM.

Photo Review: Wavves and Ganglians at the Ottobar

Photos by Chrissy

The busted California lo-fi pop of Wavves blasted ears here in Baltimore on Wednesday, and brought with them the extra fine Sacramento-based Ganglians. Two complimentary but very different sounds serenaded the Ottobar, and you can read on for Chrissy's full photo set and some more wordage a la me.

A small gathering got there early enough to witness Ganglians, which is a shame because these guys were the real deal. Having put Monster Head Room on heavy rotation, I was expecting warped Beach Boys melodies and limited but generous amounts of reverb. What I got, was a whole onslaught of songs not on that album... that all rocked. There was a ton more garage influence, a ton more reverb, and the songs were all pretty incredible. Look for more good stuff from these young'uns to come.

Wavves has a new drummer, and holy crap is he better than the prior dude. I don't blame Nathan for throwing glass bottles on stage (or whatever) at the last guy, because Zach Hill is quite possibly the biggest upgrade of all time. Dude belongs in a talented hardcore band, as he conquered his basic kit with mad diligence. Zach completely stole the show, and tracks played off of Wavves' debut were amped up heavily with his presence.

While there were no outbreaks worthy of the jerks at Pitchfork getting all hot and bothered for, Nathan Williams did manage to piss off the sound guy enough for him to ditch the booth after the second song. The Wavves frontman was persistent in getting him to turn everything up to the maximum, with splintered ear drums already in full effect. With Nathan's guitar volume fully cranked and abusive amounts of reverb in use, it was tough to hear the vocals throughout the set. Luckily, vocals are certainly not the highlight of Wavves anyways.

All in all it was a solid show, and I'm stoked to hear whats to come from both acts.

Ganglians: Monster Head Room

I will be welcoming some new faces to Bmore Musically Informed from time to time, the first of whom goes by Madeline Maulding. She will present ideas from an (amazing) local musician's perspective, and I am super excited to have her on board. Here she is:

Hold on to your hats 'cause I'm about to get my hyphenate on: From its vaguely-inebriated-sounding glee-club beginning to its tripped-out-Beach-Boys ending, Ganglians' 2009 effort on the Woodsist label, Monster Head Room, exudes a barely-concealed ebullience. This already heavily-lauded four-piece from Sacramento brings their charmingly awkward brand of neo-psych to Baltimore tomorrow, and if their album is any indication of their show it will be a performance not to miss.

The album--out on a Brooklyn-based concern which has housed many a lo-fi neophyte such as Crystal Stilts, Kurt Vile, and Vivian Girls--is utterly danceable and energetic almost entirely throughout, with its Indian-brave battle cries, acoustic guitar tracks jangling alongside bouncing bass lines, and vocal harmonies all eyeball-deep in reverb...

The whole affair is generally light-hearted on a sonic level, though some songs twist the narrative line into more somber corners. "The Void" with its bad-trip breakdown, the wistful "To June" with its summertime wildlife backdrop, and the acoustic "Modern African Queen" provide pauses in the middle of the ecstatic bedlam. The highlight for me is "100 Years," a raucous garage anthem replete with enough barbaric yawping to make it sound like it came straight off one of the Teenage Shutdown compilations.

Ganglians comes to the Ottobar with labelmates Wavves on Wednesday, September 30th. It promises to be a great time, with both groups bringing their own version of the rollicking, fuzzed-out, youthful effervescence which seems to have permeated marginalized pop music in these less-than-carefree times.

Don't forget our photographic coverage of the last time Wavves was in town, right here.

Vampire Hands: Me & You Cherry Red 2xEP

I recently caught Vampire Hands open up for Wavves at Zodiac, and was thoroughly intrigued. I claimed I’d get my non-vampire hands on their release ASAP, and I kept true to my word.

Modern Radio recently reissued the Twin City crew’s original sold out EP titled Me & You Cherry Red and coupled it up with another EP called Cuz It’s a Beach Funeral. The result is pretty much a full album of psych-infused post punkish rock and roll, with an obvious knack for the unique.

In a live setting they were loud, unapologetic, and displayed grooves of every variety. Some might think the LP is a little more toned down, which would be fair, but it runs a wide array of varying styles that keeps any listener's ears glued.

The vintage riffs and killer bass lines of “Safe Word” make it an instantly repeatable number. Stream it on my green playlist or download it for free right here:

MP3: Vampire Hands "Safe Word" [via Modern Radio]

Speaking of quality band's from Minneapolis, Daughter's of the Sun have a new LP due out April 25th. Kind of a neo-sludge rock band warped with some hints of psychedelia, these dudes are cohorts of Vampire Hands and deserve your ears as well. Peep a track off their upcoming LP, Sun, below:

MP3: Daughters of the Sun "Gong the Divider" [via Modern Radio]

Photos: Wavves, Vampire Hands, Blood Baby

Photos by Chrissy

Last night's show at the Zodiac was aurally solid, and quite fun. Wavves displayed his west coast no-fidelity surf pop with pure enthusiasm that made it impossible to stand still. Nathan Williams proved he deserved the ridiculous amount of hype he's gotten as of late, and his catchy as hell tunes translated even more infectiously live.

Vampire Hands were an extremely pleasant surprise, and made me wonder why I've never checked them out. They rocked moveable psych-infused tracks that left you feeling giddy and nostalgic, and I myself hope to be getting my non-vampire hands on some of their records ASAP.

Gawk at Chrissy's photos above, and definitely check either band out next time around.

Free Show: Wavves and More!

I think the flyer pretty much speaks for itself on this one. But if you need more insight, expect no-fi surf pop anthems, crunchy post psychadelic rock tunes, and more!

Also, come tonight to determine the fate of the crying kid to the left on the surf board. Will he survive? Will he drown? Will he be eaten?

The Zodiac has your answers tonight. Expect our photo review right here tomorrow.