a whole lot of Drew @ The Creek And The Cave 3.6.10

So it's my boy Drew St. Aubin's 30th year. He's a good buddy and a hell of a musician, so I would give up my general hermitude anyway to celebrate one of his bands or his birthday. As I am not on the freakshow that is Facebook, I didn't realize that the evening was quite an ambitious endeavor featuring seven of his musical endeavors old and new. In a lot of ways I feel that ex-bandmates that aren't friends are much like ex-girlfriends in that you rarely need them around past your respective dalliances. As unlikable as I find him personally, it seems like it might be better to be in a band with the gent, as there was much musical love to be had for St. Aubin on the anniversary of his arrival. Here's a brief rundown:

I arrived just as Jim Of The Woods kicked things off. The ensemble marked another of the increasingly frequent Jim Wood solo band shows. This night featured the backing of his alden barton bandmates bassist Paul Bates on keys and the birthday boy on drums. It was the first time I heard any of his solo stuff, but within half a song it became obvious that Wood has talent as big as his beard, which is to say large. Keep an eye out for more solo shows soon.

Super Mirage were up next. A four, if I remember properly, piece that played the type of guitar driven indie rock I expected that (only band that didn't reunite, and the one with the most notoriety) Princeton Reverbs sounded like. A little Pavement, a lot of E6 Athensry. A good time. They were followed by more of the same with Mo' Matching Drapes, who I enjoyed until drinking with the birthday boy's lady took precedence.

Anger Management Seminar were next, and comprised the reason for the season for me musically this night. Drew had mentioned that they were the closest unit to my own little purveyors of blaaarrgh and my interest was definitely piqued. The gents dropped some angular Chicago meets DC rockage and featured a guitar presence whose hips were evidently possessed (very much to the positive) by Guy Picciotto. Good stuff, and obviously I'll be cadging the recorded material from Drew with some expediency.

By this point, Drew's voice was pretty much shot, and as I would be seeing the aldenbarton gents back 'headliner' Jason Anderson the following night, I eschewed both and rode my ass back to JS-NYC HQ. While I have seen aldenbarton many times, many other of you have not. You would do well to rectify that situation. Also know that the AB members are available for a myriad of musical projects and/or other proclivities, depending on the color of your cash. Seek them out at the aldenbarton web presence here.

R

aldenbarton - Exodus of the Eldest available on I-tunes Now!

It's mildly ironic that I've been in NYC almost two decades and been a pretty obsessed music fan for the duration, yet the bands around town have been pretty uniformly terrible for at least the last five or six years, if not more. The Hold Steady started to turn the tide in the proper direction, and bands like Steve Shiffman and the Land Of No and The Silos are helping to bring things back to a proper equilibrium, but things are still pretty bleak around these parts. And before you start crowing about The Strokes or The Walkmen, take a second and ask where they are now. Then realize that Vampire Weekend will be checking into The Rapture Suite at the No-One-Gives-A-Shit Arms before Winter's over and listen up while the adults are talking.

aldenbarton is another of the good ones. No white belts or Arabic scarves, just three dudes that have played together for years, keeping the dream alive. The band sprang from the ashes of indie darlings Princeton Reverb Colonial and settled in Queens a couple years ago, then got a house and set to giving the local scene a much-needed kick in the ass of their stupid Mom Jeans. They ply their trade in the three-piece format, with a Fender Rhodes handing the chordal end of things. Andrew St. Aubin helms the good ship aldenbarton, tossing hook after hook at you, song after song, until you're forced to either sing along with wild abandon or strangle him for being so damn good. Don't think the rhythm section is going to go easy on you, either. Paul Bates and Jim Wood are lock-step tight all over Exodus Of The Eldest, with bassist Bates providing stellar harmonies to make you feel even worse about your shitty band. That dull clunk you just heard was the bar being raised for bands here in the NYC.

And all over the place. aldenbarton are doing an end-run on crappy labels and lazy distros by getting Exodus of the Eldest out into the digital realm. It's out today on I-tunes. Get it here, and realize it's not the only Apple connection you're going to get for your digital dollar. If you liked the Elephant Six stuff or maybe Head Of Femur, this is right up your alley. If it's not, it should be. Check out the aldenbarton web presence here and get your social networking on with them here, here and/or here.

If you don't believe me, aldenbarton are also band of the moment at The Tripwire. Now go and cop that shit. And, yeah, you're welcome.

R

Live: Aldenbarton @ Cake Shop 9.25.8

Aldenbarton are rapidly becoming my favorite local band. It's hard(er) to cry such statements from the mountaintop objectively when the band's members are your friends, but they have been kind enough not to suck, which makes repeated viewings/hearings that much more tolerable. Aldenbarton didn't suck originally, but they are really hitting their stride when it comes to live shows.

I prefer my rock in the three-piece format most of the time. It keeps things cogent, everybody has something to do, and there's that more money at the end of the night. Idle hands only breed key-tars or, even worse, the singer who just sings. No one needs that in 2008. Aldenbarton are a three-piece piano-driven franchise, with a lock-tight rhythm section and harmonies to die for. Not Beach Boys four-hundred-part harmonies or Garageband 'Choir In A Box' processing, just one guy who can handle a melody and second who knows how to match an appropriate harmony. You would think that more bands would figure out how to pull that off properly.

Aldenbarton has it's roots in the indie-pop combo Princeton Reverbs Colonial. Andrew St. Aubin sang for both bands while drummer Jim Wood kept time. While PRC was more grounded in the Elephant Six/Guided By Voices end of things, Aldenbarton takes those blueprints and blazes more of a classic songwriting path. Their debut release Exodus Of The Eldest is due to be released digitally and terrestrially in the coming weeks, an eventuality that may lead to some sleepless nights for a lot of other bands in NYC. The record positions St. Aubin with the best of the Athens and Pacific Northwest indie-poppers, with angelic harmonies from bassist Paul Bates that are the frosting on the beater.

It's great recorded, but Aldenbarton do bring it live. It's a tad less lush, but when the adrenaline kicks in and the crowd is cheering, the band is at the top of their game. St. Aubin and Wood are as powerful a combination vocally as Bates and Wood are a rhythm section. Cake Shop is far from my favorite room in the city, but I sure do end up spending a lot of time there. Kudos to Aldenbarton for making it worth the trip time and time again.

Keep an eye on JS-NYC for video of the show soon and check out the Aldenbarton web and social networking interfaces for more info on the release of Exodus Of The Eldest .

xo

R