>> We were very impressed by The Hush Now's record release show last Thursday night, and only work and a trip over the weekend kept us from offering something more like a proper review. There are a couple important things to note that underline the fact that The Hush Now is a band to watch. First, this was technically the band's live debut. And we don't just mean this particular line-up of the band, we mean it was their first gig, and The Hush Now was very convincing: no muffed cues, no noticeable botching of anything, just big guitars and big anthems. Second, bandleader Noel Kelly told us prior to the show that the quintet had only rehearsed four times. Third, despite it being the band's live debut (we don't think a radio session with Pipeline! earlier in the week counts), the room in front of the stage at TT's was filled -- a bit shy of packed. We've been in that room a lot of nights with bigger bands drawing fewer people, so the turnout -- for a band whose players describe themselves as hermits -- speaks to a level of interest that we expect even surprises Mr. Kelly. The Hush Now played rockers including "Sadie Hawkins Dance," "Pining," a new and unfinished tune "Constellations" and debut album highlight "Traditions" (the last track featured a vocal cameo from very cool original Hush Now bassist Mike DiMinno). In lieu of further discussion we offer this link to a Flickr slideshow of snapshots we took during the set. The Hush Now's next gig is May 1 at TT's, as part of a fine evening curated by Bradley's Almanac.
>> If you read yesterday's feature about Lubec and were intrigued by the idea of the band having a more established, sonically similar scene peer in Cinemasophia, you are not alone. We spent a fair amount of time Monday night listening to the tracks at the latter act's MySpace outpost and we like what we heard. Cinemasophia is a five-year-old quintet. Unlike Lubec, the act has a couple releases under its collective belt, and Cinemasophia will release a long-labored-on (the band was mid-way through recording it 13 months ago) new collection, Fits & Cycles, April 7 on Little Black Cloud. Fits & Cycles was recorded by Richmond engineering mainstay John Morand at Sound Of Music and mastered by Alan Douches at West West Side. Cinemasophia intends to digitally reissue its two prior full-length efforts, Dialectic and Whole Ghosts, sometime in 2009. Currently floating about is a tour-only EP with some of the new material already on it (the track listing is posted at the Little Black Cloud MySpace wigwam right here, as is a stream of the new track "Detailed Night" -- stick around and listen to the tremelo-tastic beauty by Ringfinger, "Four Misused Letters"). Tour? Why yes, Cinemasophia have a handful of dates booked over the next two months, including a couple at the end of this week in New York. We're posting all of the band's dates below some free downloads we found at Last.FM. We particularly dig "Humming & Entropy," which explodes after about ninety seconds into a big crescendo of distorted guitar, and generally sounds a fair amount like Lorelei. Dig it.
Cinemasophia -- "Humming & Entropy" -- Dialectic
Cinemasophia -- "Buried In Blooms" -- Whole Ghosts
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[buy the Cinemasophia CD EP from Little Black Cloud here]
02/19 -- The Cake Shop -- New York, NY
02/20 -- Secret Show in Brooklyn -- Brooklyn, NY
02/22 -- The Reservoir -- Chapel Hill, NC
03/26 -- Johnny Brenda’s -- Philadephia, PA
03/27 -- The Czar -- Richmond, VA
>> Superman Revenge Squad's second full-length will be recorded live next month during an appearance in April and be titled We're Here For Duration, We Hope if all goes as planned. Squad mastermind Ben Parker also reports here that he intends to begin playing with a drummer and cellist, which conjures some interesting, perhaps even exciting, possibilities. Superman Revenge Squad's This Is My Own Personal Way Of Dealing With It All was one of our favorite records of 2008. We interviewed Parker here in October.
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