Vagina Panther - Judge

I've had the pleasure of spending time around the lady and men of Vagina Panther over the last year or so. They are a pretty aces rock franchise and a pleasure to tip a fermented beverage or hand-rolled cigarillo to/with. Their newest release is the Judge EP. Sadly (probably to no one but myself), the record is not a collection of covers from everyone's favorite New York Crew, rather a quintet of dome-splitting modern rock from a quartet of forward-rocking Gothamites.

Let's not be hasty with the MR description: we are talking rock music here that is modern, not whatever dungheap of an ad hoc ensemble some management company is foisting onto our suffering ears currently. Vagina Panther combine big fucking guitars and a pummeling hirsute rhythm section with female vocals to serve up a heady brew of quality rock you'll want to beer bong straight into your earhole(s). And eyes too: Vagina Panther are part of the Aqualamb roster, a Gotham collective that releases music in digital and vinyl formats, along with exceedingly snazzy commemorative short-run printed books ala the Judge cover art above.

VP aren't just a pretty face (see: their rhythm section). The fearsome foursome purvey candy of the aural as well as eye variety. Judge is hands-down the biggest, best sounding record I've heard in a very long time. The five songs here sound a lot like Lush covering Blondie, with maybe a little Velocity Girl for good measure, recorded to crisp 21st Century tolerances by James Brown (not that one) of Foo Fighters/Jane's Addiction fader-rocking fame. I can't underestimate how great the production values are here. You can thank the big sound Judge sports for delaying my Falling Down-esque jihad against Williamsburg douchesters sporting full-on studio cans plugged into their iPhones, as this EP is tailor-made for headphone facilitated head-fuckery. Jeff's Song captures that aesthetic the best, but there really ain't a bad song here.

Get Judge here immediately from the Vagina Panther bandcamp presence and stop by the Aqualamb virtual HQ for all your tangible rock enjoyment needs. VP tourdates and news updates is here.

R

Aqualamb

As I put more and more decades behind me, it appears that the bad sign I was born under has manifested itself in the albatross that is having to have a million bearded drummers among my favorite people. One of that questionable lot is my dear Ruttypants, who currently brutalizes the skins for Brooklyn's own Vagina Panther.

The force is strong with Vagina Panther, but in this new millennium, rocking hard is only part of the equation. VP are a sharper bunch than the average bunch of outer-borough rockers. Having realized that no one really buys cds any more and possessing formidable multi-media savvy, Vagina Panther has decided to release their stuff in book, vinyl and digital formats through Aqualamb. It's a shrewd move: music nerds get their fix, vinyl collectors have something to hold in their other hand and artistic multi-taskers can marvel simultaneously at good design work while they enjoy their rock.

Beyond the Pantera de la Vagina, Aqualamb maintains three other bands on the roster currently, namely Descender, Human Highlight Reel and Black, Black, Black. Look forward to coverage of the Aqualamb roster in the coming days and wonder how JS-NYC will connive its way into the third bass spot in Human Highlight Reel.

While you're waiting, peep the Aqualamb web presence here.

R

Live: Restorations @ Acheron 4.6.12

Regular readers know that JS-NYC loves themselves some Restorations. Man, do I wish they were from Brooklyn. The acoustic show last week was a little lacking for me, so I was pretty eager to catch the full rock band version at Acheron. I was even more pleased that it was going to be an early show. I showed up as the band were wrapping their first track and judging by the turnout, it seems like Restorations are getting themselves a bit of a buzz. There's a new 7" coming down the pike that I'm pretty excited to hear, especially if it spikes the number of shows we get here in NYC.

Restorations bring it live. They've been touring a bit, and judging by the amount of collective grinning and headstock swinging taking place on the crowded Acheron stage, seem to be firing on all cylinders. Most of the new record was covered, with some dips into the back catalog that sadly did not feature personal JS-NYC favorite Linear Notes. Save for that omission, it was a great set, sadly cut short by the second show and mildly curtailed by the archetypically not-especially-capable sound guy who sadly did not receive a Facebook posting on the phone he couldn't put down about the fact that there were no vocals in the PA for most of the set.

Keep track of the release date of the new Restorations 7" and upcoming liveage here via the Restorations web presence.

R

Counting Crows - Underwater Sunshine (Or What We Did On Our Summer Vacation)

I've been a Counting Crows fan for almost 20 years now, having fallen pretty hard for their debut August And Everything After. I saw their first show in town at Wetlands (with Jeff Buckley playing his third live show) and the SNL taping, but it was big rooms after that and I've not seen them since. I still checked out the records. The follow-up Recovering The Satellites was pretty aces as well, but also found lead singer Adam Duritz upping the douche factor by moving to LA, tending bar at The Viper Room and dating most of the cast of Friends.

Since then, the band has released three or four studio records and a gang of live stuff, managing to become a pretty big deal in the offing. I can't say I've been all that crazy about their recent output. I've seen Adam around town in various melodramatic female situations that must serve as fine song fodder. Underwater Sunshine (Or What We Did On Our Summer Vacation) came my way a while ago and languished in the review pile until I had a hankering to hear Four White Stallions and played the new version from this record. Giving it the old run-through, I'm pleased to find the boys have come up with a pretty entertaining little collection of covers for their first independent release after 18 years of Geffen.

Fifteen tracks here, with the most familiar being from Big Star and The Faces. Those are good, but the real gems here are the covers from the band's early years in the SF Bay Area. The Kasey Anderson track is exceptional, and the Tender Mercies and Sordid Humor tracks are pretty aces as well. The Teenage Fanclub falls a little short, but for the most part Underwater Sunshine (Or What We Did On Our Summer Vacation) is well worth checking out.

R

Swearin' - What A Dump

I saw Swearin' play the Little Lungs show at Death By Audio the other night and thought they sounded like pretty a decent prospect to drink beer and rock to this summer. They sounded a lot like PS Eliot to these ears, just with a bunch of dudes backing this time. I picked up What A Dump after their set and it appears that it is indeed Allison from P.S. Eliot handling most of the vocals. The other guy who sings a bit is evidently named Kyle and used to play in a band called Big Soda that I've never heard. Not sure of the provenance of the other two gents.


What A Dump is six short sharp songs, only once nosing past the two and a half minute mark and mostly rounding it down toward the two minute end of things. Swearin' make the most of the time, matching Pavement-approved indie guitar with some Kristen Hersh/Mary Lou Lord vocal flavor. It's good. Really good, actually. I'd say Kenosha is probably my favorite, but Snag and the title track are pretty aces as well. Either way, you can check What A Dump out at pay what you will pricing here courtesy of the band and the good folk of If You Make It. Swearin' web presence can be found here.

R

Live: Little Lungs with Noun and Swearin' @ Death By Audio 3.30.12

Little Lungs have been up on blocks for a while now, with very little word as to their status. I feared for the worst, and as such was pretty pleased to hear that they were doing this one-off show at Death By Audio as a benefit for MS. I had hoped to rock star in as LL jumped off, but good old punk rock standard time stymied my old man plans and Swearin' jumped off pretty much as soon as I walked in.

They sound good. I'm pretty sure there is a PS Eliot connection with the Swearin' singer. The two ladies sure sound alike, as does the band, save for them all being dudes. The foursome knocked out a pretty aces set of tight-ish indie rock that sounded like they have heard the Throwing Muses. I'll definitely see them again and picked up their debut EP. Look forward to a review soon.

Next up was Noun, aka Marissa the guitarist/singer from Screaming Females in a quasi-solo incarnation. This live show had her backed by the drummer from Cheeky. In a nutshell: less soloing, more screeching vocals ala Kim Shattuck. The Moe Tucker drumming was fun to watch and both ladies seem to be having a good time, but I'm still not a fan. That said, a good bunch of people were there to see them and seemed to dig em. I say meh.

Little Lungs split the evening into sets by both incarnations of the band. Angie, Brian and Josh kicked things off for maybe twenty minutes before Brian tagged Jackie in and they romped through most of the exceedingly awesome Hoist Me Up. Angie mentioned this was the first time they had played in two years, but you wouldn't have known to listen. It was a pretty great set and I recorded it, so mail if you'd like a copy. It was nice to see the kids back in action. Good cause aside, it seems a shame to have this be the Little Lungs swan song. Ideally this overcomes some inertia and we'll see some more of Little Lungs soon.

R

Live: Restorations with Sad & French @ American Trash 3.29.12

The JS-NYC love for Restoration should be of no surprise to regular readers. Word is that there is a new 7" coming and they have stepped up the touring a bit. This date was an acoustic set at an MS benefit curated by a woman who had lost her mother recently and was friends with all the players. I was in it for Restorations, obviously. I'd missed Sad & French a couple times before and was looking forward to catching the end of their and dipping out early. The acoustic portion did not bode well, but ultimately it was a pleasure not to have to ride over a bridge to see a show.

So American Trash is exactly the kind of dive bar you'd expect to find on the Upper East Side: a little Hot Topic, but with the trappings of a punk bar, for those of you that like to slum. I came in as someone who I'm pretty sure was Anthony Walker played his final note and hoped that Restorations were next. Instead, a guy in a Descendants t-shirt and another similarly scruffy gent hauled an upright into position and worked through a half hour or so of decent enough Jeff Klein-y rock mixed with a cover or two. The sound left a bit to be desired, but the guy can sing and the songs intrigued me enough that I will show up early enough to catch a Sad & French opening set sometime soon.

Restorations acoustic in this situation was Jon and Dave playing a short, if not especially remarkable, set for the good cause. The stripped down Restorations may translate better at house shows, but they suffered in a loudish bar that didn't really have bands with any regularity. I took solace in things wrapping early (for me, at least) and figure the full band Acheron show will be the one to see.

R