Black Wine

I have seen Black Wine a couple of times now and while I'm pretty sure I liked them in a couple opening slots over the past year, their set the other night at The Studio reminded me that I needed to spend a little more time with the Black Wine franchise. I picked up the record and am pleased to find that this trio does pretty well on record. Black Wine features Jeff from The Ergs! on guitar and vocals along with 2/3 of Hunchback. Miranda also sings. The band may be fairly new, but there is something about this record that sounds old. Not in a derivative sense, but few bands can lay claim to having a sound more than Black Wine. The music is steeped in the Pacific NW, with traces dating from The Sonics through the Fastbacks and Sub Pop/Pop Llama heydey. When this amalgamation catches fires, like on Broken Arm Bear, it will take a week to get the hook out of your head. The three-piece format keeps things economical and the band makes the most of the space. There is nothing to hide, so even when things get stripped down to a single guitar and Miranda vocal on Greengrove Road, Black Wine is just as compelling as the coffee it takes its name from.

Get the record from the good folk of Don Giovanni here. Black Wine can be found here.

R

Live: Full Of Fancy, Lost Locker Combo, The Unlovables @ Cake Shop 11.16.8

It was a busy weekend for the pop-punk set as The Ergs! and Hunchback played their (assumably) final sets over the weekend in NJ. Chris Grivet (of The Steinways drumming fame) got this show together as a NYC capper. It featured a couple of now ex-Ergs, as well as the final show from 1/3 acid casualty band For Science and a gang of other scene luminaries making the devil's music.

The whole thing had a 'Saturday afternoon at SXSW' kind of slow and hungover air about it. As it was Cake Shop, I showed up at 2:30 to find they were still waiting for a bartender and that nothing was going on, but managed to browbeat the doorguy into taking my money so I could wait as the JS-NYC hq while they got their shit together.

45 minutes and some Gangland later, I returned to find the Unlovables setting up. That was both good and bad, as they were who I really wanted to see and I expected the old man in me would kick full-force afterward. The Unlovables were playing second, assumably as Hallie was performing in/with Fuerzabruta, and proceeded to rock the hell out of the place. Hallie has not gotten any less attractive since I've seen the Unlovables last, I'll tell you. It was kind of a short set, but pretty stellar for the second band on at a matinee. I hope those kids have a new record soon.

Without turning things totally in the direction of the lecherous, I kind of only stayed to see Lost Locker because of the glockenspeil player. Man oh man oh shevitz is that one attractively bookish woman. LLC is a school-themed band fronted by Mr. Jim Florio of (quasi-heirarchically) Bugout Society, MRR, and the Shemps. Think school outfits, wacky songs about scoliosis and the like. They were quick to label themselves as 'prop-punk' and pelt the crowd with no end of crap from the Tri-State areas finest dollar stores. Not exactly good, but certainly fun, and I refuse to front on Bugout, especially after that whole White Castle incident some years back. That said, Castle Carnage was pretty much the only thing not on the floor after their set. I don't think I'd ever buy a record, but it's fun to watch.

Next up was Full Of Fancy. These ladies (and a dude on traps) are sort of a NJ Soviettes. They sure do have great gear, if I may digress into gear dorkdom. I just wish they had better harmonies. I'd say the bassist is the stronger of the two singers, but a lot of the times they sang together were not the most aurally pleasing moments of the night. Oddly, Miranda's voice didn't show too much wear, even after playing the last Hunchback show the night before. I really want to like FOF, I'm going to try the next one drunk and see if that works for me.

For Science played after, as did The Steinways, but my OMS kicked in and I bailed to go sleep on my couch. I heard that Jeff Erg stepped in the breach for the final FS set, ironically (and somewhat anachronistically) due to the FS singer having a bad acid trip and bailing for NOLA and then Hawaii. Kids today. I heard that Jeff killed it, so maybe he'll step in full-time and give those kids some new life. The Steinways closed things out, but I was well into my Robotussin fueled covalescence by that point.

For a show at Cake Shop, not a bad time. Grivet definitely deserves props for making it happen. Once the NJ pop-punk deck is reshuffled, hopefully we'll get some more rock from the kids soon.

The Ergs - Hindsight Is 20/20, My Friend vol 1

Man, just when I was beginning to think something was happening around these parts, the whole thing starts going down the shitter. Hunchback announced their break-up today, it looks like Short Attention's days might be numbered, and perhaps the saddest of all, the Ergs are calling it a day.

Hindsight Is 20/20, My Friend is a collection of b-sides and comp tracks that was in the works well before the gents announced that they were hanging it up. As a comp of an active band, it's great, but as a posthumous epitaph it's really kind of depressing. Not because it sucks, but because they were great and they were local. I saw them a handful of times and always had a great time. I still hope to see one of their last shows, but am glad that I didn't try to see the D4 show last week, as I hear the stage collapsed four songs in. I'm not sure how it went from collapsing during The Ergs set to supporting the sultans of svelte that are Dillinger 4, but things in Brooklyn work in strange and mysterious ways.

But I digress. So there's a gang of great stuff on Hindsight: stuff from the Lemuria split, stuff from that mp3 they released on 3.5 diskette, the 3 EyesEP stuff and a gang of others that are better than your shitty band's best stuff. Pick up Hindsight Is 20/20, My Friend from Ken at Dirtnap here. Check out the Ergs web presence here for word on their final shows and start counting the days before the reunion shows.

R

Psyched To Die demo | R.I.P: The Ergs!

Brian posted on PopPunkBored that there was yet another Mikey Erg affiliated project afoot, this one called Psyched To Die. The band is sort of a Monsters Of NJ Pop-Punk franchise, with Jay Insult from Hunchback and Brian from For Science rounding out the recording line-up here. The P.T.D. Myspace notates the enigmatic (Felix?) Frump in the line-up on second guitar, as well. There are four songs on the demo. It's available on cd-r and and cassette for all you old schoolers and finds Jay and Mike splitting vocal duties, sometimes even in the same song. It's raw, but well-recorded (at Asbury Lanes, oddly enough). While they are a new band, P.T.D. have old school tendencies deeper than their name (a Deep Wound homage). They come off a little Flag-gy, with shouted vocals and pounding drums that will no doubt have the kids circle pitting all around New Jersey. With recent changes in The Ergs! world, I wonder if this may become a full-time proposition.

As I was accessing the Interwebs to get my journalistic ducks in a row about P.T.D., I came upon the first of many postings regarding The Ergs! formally announcing their break-up. There had been rumblings for a while, all of which were quickly dispelled, so I figured that given the huge amount of shows they had been playing it was all internet shit-talking. Evidently this is not so. It appears that Jeff is leaving the band. Check out the link HERE to get the word straight from the horse's mouth. They are still playing a bunch of shows before their demise, including the Dillinger Four record release party in Brooklyn on 10/14, before wrapping things up in the middle of November in their home state of New Jersey.  It appears there will be a final 7" release, as well. In the interim, get the DirtNap comp of odds and sods called Hindsight Is 20/20. It's allegedly to be released on Dirtnap, but I can't find any notice on their site. I'll keep you posted. 

R

Psyched To Die diespace

The Ergs! Myspace

The Ergs! webpage