Live: Iron Chic with Laura Stevenson and the Cans, Low Culture and Swearin' @ Death By Audio 6.10.11

It's pretty rare in my cranky old age that I want to see an entire bill from stem to stern, but this show was one of them. Iron Chic have been a JS-NYC perennial since we got off the ground, and Swearin' have stepped in the breach in the absence of Little Lungs as my go-to lady fronted band in town.

I posted up just as Swearin' were getting under way and thoroughly enjoyed them. The What A Dump tape is pretty aces and they are on tour for most of the Summer, so go out of your way to check them out.

I had intended to miss Low Culture and Laura Stevenson in favor of hanging with the local bearded drummer set, but ended up sticking around and enjoying both of them. Low Culture are out for a bunch of dates with IC. Based out of  New Mexico, they have some ex-Marked Men and Shang-A-Lang dudes in their ranks and sounded like it. Grab their demo here from the Dirt Cult kids and look out for a full-length maybe in the Fall? I've ended up seeing Laura Stevenson a couple three times over the last couple years and liked her/them, but always wondered why The Cans played on the kind of indie/punk bills they did. Turns out Stevenson also plays in Bomb The Music Industry, so if you enjoy either or both, check them out. I understand LS needs some surgery, but look out for them to return to their continued heavy touring level in fairly short order. Here's a link.

Iron Chic closed out the proceedings with their usual set and respective blood alcohol levels. Things seemed to stretch out a little longer than I remember their average set being, perhaps owing to their having been playing some higher profile opening slots with Bouncing Souls and Hot Water Music in recent months. Either way, good set from good dudes and if the maelstrom of singing/flying bodies is any indication, team IC is maintaining their local fanbase quite nicely. Keep track of them here.

R

Live: Cheap Girls with Laura Stevenson and the Cans @ Europa 10.23.10

Cheap Girls have been one of my favorite new discoveries of 2010. The sons of Lansing, MI ply their trade in the time-honored power trio format, sporting two brothers and a shit hot guitar player. Think Dando-era Lemonheads with a healthy dose of The Figgs. This I like, so when said Girls were announced to be passing through town on their way to The Fest, I went out of my way to make sure that I was in attendance, even if it was in the midst of CMJ.

Europa was the venue for a second day in a row. Doors were at 5, so I packed a book and rolled up at 5:15 to the obvious strains of a band playing. It was pretty obviously not Cheap Girls, but I hightailed it in to be greeted with the schedule to the left. What was once a three band bill starting at 5 had morphed into six bands with a shuffled lineup. Good times. Back to JS-NYC HQ for a couple hours. I got back in time to catch a healthy amount of Laura Stevenson and The Cans. They sounded pretty decent, kind of a Brooklyn Jesse Sykes/Christina Wagner vibe. She can sing and the band sounded pretty decent, even more so given the replacement drummer. The crowd was pretty good-sized and seemed way into her, especially the hot lady set. I picked up her records, so look for some JS-NYC coverage soon.

As pleasant of a surprise as The Cans were, their biggest shortcoming from where I was standing was their not being Cheap Girls. The Girls were up quickly, perhaps owing to the hardline Europa curfews, launching into 40 minutes of quality rock that I thought would have garnered a bigger response. Of course I was right in front of the drunkest 'that guy' superfan, but he was almost easily avoided. Not a lot of crowd work from Team CG, but not too much left off my list of CG favorites, save for the somewhat impractical Her And Cigarettes. All My Clean Friends was a high point, but all-around it was a pretty strong showing and not nearly as disappointing a first time as the Samiam show previous. Of course, I'd like to see them play longer and drunker, but Cheap Girls are as good a time as their namesake and you won't be on the fence about being seen in their midst afterwards. I'd call that a win. You would do well to, in the parlance of Suburban Home, celebrate their entire catalog. Do so here.

Bomb The Music Industry were the headliners, inexplicably maybe covering a Weezer record in its entirety? I can't condone that really even if Drew claims they are solid people, and beat a hasty retreat back to the shack for a ramen repast. Hope it was good.

R