That Was The Show That Was: Courtney Barnett with Chastity Belt, Darren Hanlon | The Sinclair | 18 May

[PHOTO: Dillon Riley] As with the very best of rockers pegged with the descriptor "slacker," charming Australian singer/songwriter Courtney Barnett excels at quantifying the mundane. It's in Ms. Barnett's unaffected, down-under drawl, her unhurried guitar heroism, hell, it's even in her album title: Sometimes I Sit and Think, and Sometimes I Just Sit. It's unsurprising, then, that a songwriter so adept at capturing everyday nothingness in song would be so frank about jetlag on the first night of what's undoubtedly one of the biggest tours of her career.

About halfway through her set Monday night at The Sinclair in Cambridge, Mass., Barnett took to the mic in a daze and mumbled this gem in response to some fan requests: "Don't confuse me, I don't know where I am or what day it is." Fortunately her mild disorientation did not affect her performance in the least. There were few errant notes beyond the infrequent, artful clam dropped in the way only a crack live band that's logged miles and miles on the road playing the same songs night after night can pull off. And that's what struck us most about the evening: The Courtney Barnett Three -- as they were introduced -- are truly professional and road-hardened, pros despite the "slacker" designation. Barnett possesses a singular talent to be sure, but what makes the Three such a compelling live act, and what really seems to push Sometimes ahead of her previous efforts, is the band's apparent chemistry, particularly among the rhythm section.

Along with fiery takes on Sometimes standouts like the lowered-expectations lament "Pedestrian At Best" and "Elevator Operator," Barnett and co. Monday offered up geographically appropriate covers in The Breeders' "Cannonball" and Lemonheads' "Being Around." The former played up Barnett's likeness to Kim Deal, in that each woman's best songs possess a casual brilliance, whose hooks tumble from their heads like little Athenas, perfect miracles and brilliant little pop moments. "Being Around" by Lemonheads was a supreme choice given that modern-day fronter Evan Dando was a known quantity around and frequent habitué of Australia decades ago; the song also complemented well Barnett's own plainspoken lyrical style.

Garagey Seattle upstarts Chastity Belt and Australia's own Darren Hanlon -- most famous around Clicky Clicky HQ for this amazing 2010 pop confection -- opened the gig and each played to a nearly full room, which we think says plenty of good things about the Boston show-going community. Sometimes I Sit and Think, and Sometimes I Just Sit is available right here now via Mom + Pop Music. Stream some selected cuts from the record, a live session, and some Chastity Belt tunes via the various embeds below. -- Dillon Riley

Courtney Barnett: Facebook | Internerds | Soundcloud | tumblahhhhh

Chastity Belt: Bandcamp | Facebook | Internerds

Darren Hanlon: Facebook | Internerds

Today's Hotness: Samira Winter, The Bilinda Butchers, Kittyhawk

>> We noted here in our electronic pages last fall the departure from Boston to the west coast of dream-pop luminary Samira Winter. In the intervening months she has kept busy, putting together a new band, germinating new demos and executing fairly regular gigs in and around Los Angeles and, more recently, up the coast. A trip early this year went south to Ms. Winter's native South America, where she played a handful of shows and, somehow, managed to find enough time in Curitaba, Brazil, to record a superlative, short set of sparkling music, which will soon be released on cassette by LA's Lollipop Records. The collection, Ms. Winter's first solo release, is titled Tudo Azul, which (the Internet tells us) literally translates to "all blue," but figuratively means something more like "everything's cool" to Brazilians. The title certainly jibes with the EP's sunshiney, carefree vibe, which is readily accessed despite the fact that three of the four songs on Tudo Azul are sung in Portuguese. The title track leads with a descending melody that hints at the first tune on Ms. Winter's band Winter's debut EP Daydreaming, which we wrote about here in January 2013. "Tudo Azul" soon reveals itself via a lightly syncopated rhythm and hand percussion, embedded keyboard tones and organ, and tidy vocal arrangements. And, of course, pretty guitars. Every song is a winner, but opener "Eu E Eu" brings the most sizzle, with its snappier tempo, crashing cymbals and overdriven guitar in the verse. The sessions for the EP were produced by a fellow named Rodrigo Lemos and engineered by Lucas Pereira, who we mention by name here because, really, these are presently the only two names we know in Brazilian indie rock. Tudo Azul is available in a bundle that includes a limited edition CD, t-shirt, and "surprise goody." If you hate waiting and/or surprises, the EP is also presently available as a free download via Bandcamp, at least ahead of the cassette release on Lollipop. The label issued a cassette version of the aforementioned Daydreaming EP late last year; it is now sold out. Ms. Winter's music is a delight and with each successive release her rise seems all the more inexorable. So why not like now the thing that everyone else will be liking two years from now?



>> Mere days ago we made a sidelong reference to San Francisco dream-pop act The Bilinda Butchers, and now, as if on cue, we've got new music from the trio. It's spirited new tune "Edo Method" is anchored by fuzz bass and sharp rhythm tracks, which serve as a sturdy foundation for a percolating guitar melody and yearning vocals. The song is our first taste of the act's forthcoming debut full-length Heaven, which will be issued by Orchid Tapes July 15. Despite the name of the label, Heaven will be available domestically as an LP pressed to white vinyl in a limited edition of 250 pieces; every 50th order (so, you know, 50, 100, etc.) will received a bonus in the form of a test pressing of the collection. Fastcut Records will release a CD version of Heaven as well as a 7" in Japan. Heaven is a concept record concerning the diary documenting the tragic life of a woman living in late-Edo period Japan. It's unclear whether the conceit of the album is fictional, and you can read more about it here, but it sounds like everyone dies in the end, and it doesn't get much more real than that, eh? BOOM. Blew your mind, didn't we? Despite that downer, "Edo Method" is a tremendous, emotionally affecting and feedback-spangled jam, and one that abides by the adventurous pop aesthetic of the band of The Bilinda Butchers' namesake, which if you don't know, is My Bloody Valentine. We previously wrote about The Bilinda Butchers and their excellent single "The Lover's Suicide!" (whose B-side featured a cover of Rocketship's "Love So Estranged"( right here in April 2013. Pre-order Heaven from Orchid Tapes right here, and stream "Edo Method" via the Soundcloud embed below. The Bilinda Butchers have two dates booked around the release of the LP, July 17 at The Chapel in San Franciso and July 20 at The Echo in Los Angeles, and we're going to go ahead and assume that these are release shows, so plan accordingly.



>> Can we make an entire Hotness blurb based on the flimsy premise that one band is not a different band? Well, let's see. If there is a moral to the story, we suppose it is that if you cover the hits of Thompson Twins you are probably going to get our attention. Such was the case with a band called Kitty Hawk, who not only take their name from a place at which we vacationed in the late '70s, but who also covered Thompson Twins' "If You Were Here" for the 2005 American Laundromat Records compilation High School Reunion: A Tribute To Those Great '80s Films. The comp notably features former Blake Babies/Lemonheads guy John P. Strohm, Matthew Sweet and Frank Black, among others. But that's not the point of this blog post. The point of this blog post is we were very surprised to see last week that emo powerhouse Count Your Luck Stars Records had signed a band called Kittyhawk. And we thought to ourselves, "nah, couldn't be..." And it turns out we were right. The two-words-and-a-space Kitty Hawk eventually changed their name to Kitty Karlyle and we will now let them gracefully slink away from this blog post. The one-word-no-space Kittyhawk, it turns out, is actually something of a supergroup based in Chicago fronted by sometime Into It. Over It. collaborator Kate Grube; the quartet also features members of leading hitmakers of the day Dowsing, Joie De Vivre and Pet Symmetry. More importantly, Kittyhawk is fucking awesome. Its songs from a four-way split with Droughts, Frameworks and Prawn released in late 2013 tout big guitars and ample application of glorious feedback and guitar chords that just hang there in silence and lead lines that spiral around the terrifically poignant narratives put by Ms. Gruber. Count Your Luck Stars will release Kittyhawk's full-length debut Hello, Again Oct. 14th, which seems like a terribly long time to wait. That said, there is a whole lot of back catalog in the form of split singles and an EP to tide you over, all of which you can listen to at the foursomes Bandcamp dojo right here. Better still, for local folks anyway, is that you -- YES YOU -- can see Kittyhawk this coming Wednesday night at Roggie's. That's called serendipity, FOOL! Stream the amazing tunes "The Daily Dodger" and "Food Fight" below, and then get thee to Roggie's midweek to be rocked most steadfastly.

Today's Hotness: Edelweiss, Chestnut Road, The Weaks

>> Honestly, we were worried about these guys. We turned on to Edelweiss in 2011 and wrote about them here; the band caught our attention not only because the five-piece was making well-articulated, modern post-punk, but also because they were slugging it out in a Northeastern Pennsylvania town we'd been through now and again back in the day. They were also startlingly young (with an average age, at the time, of 16). Sure, Edelweiss' sound was markedly influenced by first-iteration Bloc Party, but it was, well, well-articulated. But just as Bloc Party did after Silent Alarm, Edelweiss after its 2011 EP Pre-Columbians seemed poised to focus on more dance-oriented music (we made this judgment based on some YouTube videos or something; memory fails...). And this concerned us, because, well, we like guitar-pop. So it is with much relief that we can report that Edelweiss is back with a new -- and still guitar-oriented -- EP that is even more compelling than Pre-Columbians. The new collection is titled Honduras, and it features four fresh-feeling dance-punk jams that speak to the quintet's increased focus, experimentalism and confidence as a songwriting unit. The obvious centerpiece of the set is "Withering Heights," a version of which was previously released on a Japan-only self-titled LP Edelweiss released via the Bullion label in 2012. The song alternates loping and lightning-fast guitar licks laid over airy synths and a consistent, gauzy barrage of hi-hat and crash cymbal. It is perhaps the most conventional track on the EP, and the EP's most exciting tune isn't even listed. Indeed, Honduras includes a hidden track attached to the tail of closer "Midas;" the acoustic ballad suggests Edelweiss is open to even broader influences (such as classic English folk) that point to more exciting possibilities. We're loathe to emphasize again the relative youth of the guys in Edelweiss, because it should not matter (as we said two years ago), but the band clearly has both a lot of potential and a lot of time to do something with it. We'll be listening. Stream all of Honduras via the Bandcamp embed below.



>> When we last left Toulouse, France-based Chestnut Road, the punk-pop notables had populated the flip of a recent split with Varsity Drag with some cracking numbers including a cover of Lemonheads' "Falling." We wrote about that split here in January, and we saw some Facebook photos recently suggesting that a supply of the record has finally made its way to the States. In the meantime, Chestnut Road has kept busy putting together yet another split single due out Aug. 26, this one with Birmingham, England-based post-hardcore outfit New Alaska. One of Chestnut Road's contributions to that new split, a pummelling rocker called "Trust," pleasantly echoes the energy and emotion and big friggin' guitars of '90s feel-bad geniuses Jawbreaker and Garden Variety (particularly this one). In addition to "Trust," Chestnut Road's side includes the number "Shell;" New Alaska's side contains the cuts "Caustic," "White Walls" and "Black Bones." The split is being sold in a limited edition of 300 vinyl 7" discs. The songs are being pressed into translucent red media, and these will be available in one of four different-colored sleeves (black, blue, green, red). Brassneck Records will issue the disc exclusively in a green sleeve, while Speedowax Records will use a blue sleeve. It's anybody's guess what a red or black sleeve means or who might be selling them (could it be...), but just go ahead and pre-order the thing from Brassneck right here, why don't you? Then stream "Trust" -- which is not a 7 Seconds or The Cure cover, we should point out -- via the Bandcamp embed below.



>> While you were sitting around watching "Sharknado" off your DVR again, Evan Bernard and his shape-shifting The Weaks project turned out more melodic indie gold in the form of the 85-second gem "Hey Karma." For this digital single the Philadelphia-based concern finds Mr. Bernard abetted by Chris Baglivo (guitar, vocals), Nick Fanelli (drums), Tim Jordan (bass) and Cat Park (vocals). The number perpetuates a power-pop bounce beneath neatly harmonized vocals, and leaves just enough room after a bridge and in the final 10 seconds for a second concise (but rocking) guitar solo that takes the song right into a proverbial brick wall. As admirable as the song is for its brevity, it is what IS here that makes the song so easy to listen to over and over (in that way, as well as with the flowing melodies and upbeat vibe, the tune reminds us a lot of Philly's Radiator Hospital). Indeed, The Weaks get an impressive amount of stuff done in the short space of time, and we're eager for the next installment the long-running project will offer (whatever it is). Most recently, The Weaks appeared on Clicky Clicky's Lilys tribute compilation And I Forgot A Long Time Ago How You Feel, which you can stream and download and whatever right here. Stream or download "Hey Karma" via the Bandcamp embed below.

That Was The Show That Was: Lemonheads | Boston Common | July 20

While it is not the most rock 'n' roll sentiment, seeing Lemonheads perform last night was a tremendous pleasure primarily for personal reasons: it was the first time we were able to synthesize rock-show-going and family-having. The logistics of raising two kids and managing careers just hadn't allowed allowed us to attempt every resident at Clicky Clicky HQ attending a show together until last night, and being able to have the missus and the kids along while taking in a set by a Clicky Clicky All-Time Top Five act was even more enjoyable than we had hoped. When it was announced months ago that Lemonheads would play at a relatively family-friendly hour, we began to plot our attendance, and fortunately the kids enjoyed it and the weather held out. It was also great to be at a show with Clicky Clicky Managing Editor Michael Piantigini once more. We've been silent on the issue in the blog out of respect for his privacy, but many friends of Clicky Clicky know that Michael experienced a major health issue in the late spring, and so we hadn't seen a show with him in months. It is great to have him back on the scene.

Lemonheads held up their end of the bargain by delivering a dynamite set, dipping as far back as the '80s into a repertoire that is overflowing with should-be-hits. A highlight of the set was a three-song stint featuring founding member Ben Deily, with whom Clicky Clicky readers are well familiar due to our coverage of Mr. Deily's current combo Varsity Drag. Deily -- who left Lemonheads to focus on his studies at the turn of the '90s -- joined the quartet last night for "Don't Tell Yourself It's OK," "Uhhhh" and "Amazing Grace." He first reunited on stage with Lemonhead-in-chief Evan Dando more than three years ago, but we haven't any idea when the last time was that the two shared a stage in Boston, so this was pretty special. Lemonheads also played cracking versions of personal favorites including "Stove" and "Rudderless." Mr. Dando was focused and funny, his voice as solid as ever and more than able to convey and color the emotions guiding his brilliant songwriting. The complete set-list is below. This iteration of Lemonheads is abetted by guitar virtuoso and musical journeyman Chris Brokaw, who -- in addition to playing in Come and The New Year and Codeine and numerous other acts, in addition to being a talented songwriter -- is the best utility player in rock music. Your lead guitarist get eaten by a shark? Call Mr. Brokaw. Drummer explode? Call Brokaw. In the context of Lemonheads last evening, his leads and rhythm playing stayed true to the band's recordings, while also creatively accenting tunes with well-place salvos of harmonics or other flourishes. He even occasionally recreated melodic elements from the recordings that weren't guitar lines, such as when he approximated a missing vocal line from "It's About Time." Brokaw's playing is brilliant, and damn it if he doesn't seem to get younger-looking each year, too.

Lemonheads are in the midst of a short strand of tour dates, having playing Providence Friday night and with a planned date in Connecticut tonight. We've posted a few more dates, and also last night's set list (as well as a link to a photo of same from Deily's Instragram feed) below. Surprisingly, this is only the second time we've ever seen Lemonheads; we reviewed a December 2006 show -- when the band was touring its self-titled Vagrant record -- right here. As for the future, Fire Records is expected to reissue expanded versions of the first three Lemonheads records later this year, and sessions for a new Lemonheads record -- a record that would include input from Deily and Juliana Hatfield, as we reported here -- were begun with Ryan Adams in 2012.

Lemonheads: Internerds | Facebook | YouTube

SET LIST: [Instagram]

Confetti
Down About It
Alison's Starting To Happen
Hospital
Drug Buddy
Style
Great Big No
Left For Dead
It's A Shame About Ray
Break Me
Dawn Can't Decide
Don't Tell Yourself It's OK (with Deily)
Uhhh (with Deily) [video]
Amazing Grace (with Deily)
Outdoor Type
Hannah + Gabbi
Tenderfoot
It's About Time
Stove
Rudderless [video]
Into Your Arms

MORE ROCK MUSIC:

07.21.13 -- Hamden, CT -- Spaceland Ballroom
07.23.13 -- Asbury Park, NJ -- The Wonder Bar
07.24.13 -- Brooklyn, NY -- Knitting Factory
07.26.13 -- Edgartown, MA -- Flatbread Pizza Co.

Today's Hotness: Varsity Drag, Pia Fraus, Dikembe

>> So rarely does a song rate on our proprietary Spicoli/Sneaker Rockness Axis (which, briefly, means a song rocks us so hard that listening to it makes us want to hit ourselves repeatedly in the skull with a sneaker a la "Fast Times At Ridgemont High" protagonist Jeff Spicoli), that we had to look up the small number of instances in our archives (we'll shortcut it for you: 1, 2, 3). But this new number "Mind Like A Sieve" from Cambridge, Mass.-based Varsity Drag is just such a rocker. It's 92 seconds of fourth-gear punk-pop, and it evidences Drag fronter Ben Deily's success at tapping the vibrant well-spring of rockulence that helped him write killer Lemonheads tracks like "Uhhhh" and "Anyway" and "Ever" and etc., etc., about a quarter of a century ago (ummm, holy shit). This new tune features on a forthcoming split 7" EP with a trio called Chestnut Road, and other Varsity Drag recordings on the platter include a cover of Versus' "Let's Electrify" and another new-ish original from Deily called "Particle Horizon (The Dark Matter)." But wait -- there's more Deily! Toulouse, France-based Chestnut Road covers the Cantabrigian's Lemonheads composition "Falling" on their side of the EP, which also includes the absolute belter "Bicycle" (which sounds like Goo Goo Dolls back when Goo Goo Dolls was good) as well as a tune called "Fade." Stream both "Mind Like A Sieve" and "Bicycle" via the Bandcamp embeds below. It bears mentioning that "Mind Like A Sieve" was written for the big Lemonheads reunion record that was announced in the fall to be helmed by Ryan Adams; we're not sure what the status of that is, but we do know that Mr. Adams proposed the last three notes of "Sieve." There is as yet no pre-order information for the EP, but we will certainly update you on that once the information becomes available.





>> We suppose it is a healthy realization, coming to terms with the fact that you just can't hear everything. Even so, it's nice when a label gives you a second shot, which is one of the things we think about when we stream Pia Fraus' amazing "Feeling Is New." The tune lodges breathy vocals within a dense wall of guitars in a very pleasing manner that recalls the best moments from the Chapterhouse catalogue, to pick a random example of vintage shoegaze excellence. "Feeling Is New" is one of 13 songs featured on a forthcoming compilation being released by Portland, Ore.-based Shelflife Records under the title Silmi Island. The set collects songs from the Estonian dream pop sextet's 10-year tenure between 1998 and 2008, during which time Pia Fraus released four full-lengths and a bunch of singles on labels such as Clairecords and Estonia's Seksound. Each song selected for the comp was either re-recorded or remastered for its inclusion here, so even if you were hip enough to know about the band years ago, there still might be something new for you to hear here. Shelflife is co-releasing Silmi Island Jan. 22 with Seksound in a limited edition of 500 LPs with CD included. The CD contains two bonus tracks, including a cover of the title track of My Bloody Valentine's 1987 Strawberry Wine EP (incidentally, the legendary shoegaze act's first release to include Bilinda Butcher). Buy Silmi Island from Shelflife right here, and stream "Feeling Is New" via the embed below. Grab that second chance.



>> Sure, you probably already have the MP3s, but emo label juggernaut Tiny Engines has decided to go ahead and legitimize Dikembe's apparently-controversial-but-probably-not-really debut Chicago Bowls EP by remixing, remastering and releasing the thing on 7" vinyl. The short set -- or at the least the titles to its quite excellent songs -- ridiculously celebrated both the dynastic iteration of the Chicago Bulls and pot smoking and was originally only available digitally when it was released to the wilds of the Internerds in April 2011. Tiny Engines' vinyl reissue has somewhat predictably been given the release date 4/20/2013. We'll let that sink in for a second. The new pressing will also have certain audio clips from the TV show "Freaks And Geeks" removed for licensing reasons, but that detracts not at all from how great the songs are. In other Dikembe news, the Gainesville, Fla.-based emo heroes' 2012 set Broad Shoulders is about to get a second pressing, and the foursome are already writing songs for a follow-up album that could be released before the end of the year. Broad Shoulders featured tons of great tunes, and "Not Today, Angel" was one of Clicky Clicky's favorite songs of 2012, as you can see from this handy list. The band played an early all-ages show in Boston in the first week of January that we had to miss, but we're hopeful the band returns before too long and plays a little later at night. For now, why not stream Chicago Bowls via the Bandcamp embed below. Assuming you don't want to wait until 4:20...