Live: Nude Beach at Mercury Lounge 1.17.13

Nude Beach came on my radar a couple years ago when they played an in-store at Generation Records. The trio impressed me with their straight-forward rock leanings that were charmingly bereft of the Brooklyn douchebaggery that raises my old guy hackles at thirty paces. I can't say I foresaw them opening the gang of dates for Roky Erickson they scored last year, but more power to them.

I posted up as Nude Beach were settling in and the rock commenced in straight order. The singer kid is straight out of CBs in the 70s, albeit perhaps without the substance abuse issues. They romped through a little more than a half-hour of honest three chord rock that seemed more than a little indebted to The Figgs. Drinks were consumed, asses were moving and the crowd could safely be accused of having been rocked. I would venture that we'll see the gents on this side of the water again soon.

Look for a review of the reissued II soon and keep track of day to day Nude Beach goings-on here.

R

Live: RVIVR with Nude Beach and White Mystery @ Generation Records 5.18.11 early

Dashed out of work early to catch this in-store, as I wasn't sure I was really feeling hauling my ass out to (pic by Bill Shoudis/stolen from Generation web site) Silent Barn or 538 Johnson. I don't make it to the brick and mortar record stores much now that I get everything sent to JS-NYC, much less for in-stores, but it was a pleasure to beat the raindrops and hunker down in the basement.

White Mystery opened the proceedings with a half-hour or so of two-piece mixed gender Chicago rock. They had a pretty good turnout of older friends in attendance for their Spinanes-y rawk. The seemed a little taken aback at the lack of audience banter or maybe just didn't know NYers aren't friendly, but were decent enough for the price. Good drummer, too. Nude Beach were up next, a three-piece from Brooklyn that really caught some JS-NYC attention with their post-Husker Buffalo Tom-isms. I liked them a bunch. Evidently a fair part of the set was new material. This bodes well for some serious JS-NYC summer attendance at the Nude Beach.

RVIVR closed up the night in the basement with maybe three songs before a broken kick drum pedal wrapped things up early. The three tunes were decent, but above and beyond that, I'd recap as follows: lots of hot Oly ladies in the RVIVR caravan, Canino is a foul-smelling (albeit pleasant) individual and one would do well to snap up their records, as I would venture no one is getting rich off this, especially with free shows. Here's a link to the RVIVR/Rumbletowne web presence.

R