Photos from Boy Crisis Last Night

Wow, last night was a good time. I knew Boy Crisis would be a fun, but Francis and the Lights were a pleasant surprise. Boy Crisis, of course, brought plenty of dance tunes to the table. They actually have an incredible stage presence and as you'll see from the photos had a fun time with the crowd, and vice versa.

Francis and the Lights was the one band on the bill that I didn't check out briefly prior to the show. The New York band put out an EP last year, which can be downloaded for free off their site. Definitely worth checking out. Some real funky jams there.

Mixel Pixel opened up the night and were plenty of fun themselves, but I just loved Boy Crisis and Francis and the Lights. Mixel Pixel will be dropping Let's Be Friends on Mental Monkey on June 3. You can find/download "Sinking Feeling" off that album now. Full gallery after the pics.



Mixel Pixel

Francis and the Lights







Boy Crisis

For the rest of the photos check out the gallery.

Download:
Francis and the Lights - Striking EP

Eels Canceled For Sunday, But Wait There's More

What was a solid 3 out of 4 days of music starting this Saturday has been slightly derailed thanks to the Eels canceling their Sunday show in New Haven. Sadly that one didn't work out, but there's still two great shows coming up.

First is Wussy on Saturday at Cafe Nine in New Haven. For those of you who don't know, Wussy was formed as Ass Ponys broke up in 2005. Chuck Cleaver, vocalist and guitarist for both bands, formed Wussy and released two albums on Shake It Records. Funeral Dress in 2005 and Left for Dead this past November.

Now I haven't been able to get my hands on Left for Dead yet, but their label said, "From swampy-Americana to Velvet Underground infused folk to bedroom-produced pop-jems." All I know is that "Mayflies," off the album certainly has that folky, but more towards the direction of Rilo Kiley, oddly enough.

Second is Beach House, who have been getting a ton of great press since their sophomore effort, Devotion, hit stores exactly one month from today. I was told during Why? that is was no where near as good as their self-titled release, but I'm not much of a judge since I've just heard the latest. Either way, Beach House will be at Wesleyan University on Tuesday and as per usual it is free.

I probably shouldn't leave the one artist playing these next few days (tonight to be exact) that I actually know something about. While you won't catch me paying $20 to see him, Talib Kweli will be at Toad's Place in New Haven. This summer's Eardrum was in pretty heavy rotation for me and I actually enjoyed it a hell of a lot more than Common's whatever he put out (not looking it up, it sucked). Ed even briefly mentioned the guy in the Best Hip-Hop of Our Generation discussion late last year AND didn't get shit on by a few people on a Rawkus Records message board. Now that is saying something for Ed, congrats. Good times all around.

Beach House in the Winter

I don't know what to think of this band's name, Beach House. Listening to it doesn't make me think of warm weather or water skiing. It does seem fitting that this band is releasing their second album, Devotion, on February 26 because this music would fit more properly in a cold, empty beach house. But what do I know.

Either way, the Baltimore-based band dabbles in a bit of shoegazing here. They currently have the song "Gila" on their MySpace, which is off Devotion. So check it out and let the anticipation begin.

The band also has some dates for the upcoming months.

March 31st
Middle East Upstairs
Cambridge, Mass.

April 1st
Wesleyan University
Middletown, Conn.

Both dates are with The Papercuts, who released Can't Go Back last year.