Seen Your Video: "123 Stop" by The Postelles

I first saw Brooklyn's The Postelles at SXSW a couple years back and loved their lo-fi do-wop sound. I got to see them open for The Wrens in Baltimore on Saturday and as usual, their high energy enthusiasm live made me wish I could dance AND hold a camera still at the same time. It's also made me listen to nothing but their EP, White Night, that came out earlier this year, and "123 Stop," which came out on their earlier self-titled EP.

The band is off to Bonnaroo again this year but the video below is them doing "123 Stop" acoustic at Bonnaroo '08. Lead singer Daniel Balk's voice seems so effortless.



The Postelles first full-length release comes out 7/27 on Capitol/Astralwerks.

Give a Listen: 123 Stop-The Postelles

The Wrens Announce Two New Shows for May

Full Play of "The Meadowlands"-The Wrens @Maxwells, Hoboken, NJ (12-4-09), originally uploaded by BetweenLoveandLike.

With the long-awaited followup to 2003's Meadowlands slowly coming along (no really, The Wrens are in the studio right now as we speak, no joke), it seems the band has decided to keep up the momentum from last year's various celebrations of their 20 years together and four full- releases by doing a couple more shows in May. You can hear singer/bassist Kevin Whelan's voice ring through the rafters of the First Unitarian Church in Philly on 5/21, or through the dirt and beer scum at Sonar in Baltimore on 5/22. Says they:

Maybe “national” is a stretch. Ok, even “tour” is a stretch. But with two consecutive nights’ shows booked for the first time in at least one SXSW ago, (Philadelphia, May 21st at the First Unitarian Church and Baltimore, May 22nd at Sonar), this, for us, constitutes a tour.

Even as I type this, bags are being packed, family farewells are in the offing, estate planning is under way, personal papers are being put in order, a tour bus has been arranged (SEPTA via NJ Transit), smoke-machine-repairpersons have been hired, vast amounts of road drugs have been grown, refined & processed…

[Clarifier: road drugs in our case being pretty much packaged snack foods (think: donuts) turning the dream cliché of “sex, drugs & Rock ‘n’ Roll” into more like “conceiving legitimate children within the bonds of marriage, donuts & enthusiastically-performed song-craft in the rapidly-aging rock‘n’roll style”. Again, for us at least.]

But what better way to ease back into touring than a wren-breaking two-day itinerary spanning as many cities, in neighboring states, over 90 miles apart?

We sincerely hope to see you there

Lights That Flash in the Evening: The Wrens @ Black Cat (11-20-09)

The Wrens came to the Black Cat last Friday as a little outing prior to their three big shows coming up the first weekend in December at Maxwells in Hoboken, NJ. Ever since discovering them at SXSW last year where I was knocked plumb off my feet from their incredible passion and power, I've made it a point to see them wherever I could. So them playing where I don't have to travel for it? Bonus!

As those Maxwells shows include a set of fan requests, a set of their entire amazing opus, The Meadowlands, and a set of new compositions, the DC show's set list was a little insight into what's to come, all tucked into their typical energetic and vigorous playing. I'm truly hoping "Leaves Ground" finds its way into the "new compositions" set at Maxwells; full of Whelan's piano, his brother's keening guitar and Bissell's loops, it's one I found on par with "13 Grand" from The Meadowlands " or "Safe and Comfortable" from Secaucus, utterly gorgeous.









While the show was great, there were a few mishaps. The sound was....well, I'll put it this way: I saw the Ramones in 1991 and the only way I could tell the difference between one song and the next was by the "1, 2, 3" that was yelled out. This show seemed a lot like that. The Wrens are a loud band, granted, and while not loud enough so that I didn't know what song was playing, their sound this night was somehow garbled enough that I couldn't tell you words at times (and I even inquired to people who were standing in front of the sound guy who said the same thing). "North to Nothing" is a favorite so I "knew" it, but at the Cat, it sounded like "khiuhiyhhihihaaaaa," I'm sad to say.

Lead guitarist Greg Whelan also had equipment issues onstage. Whelan's stage presence is the complete opposite to the human pogo stick that is his brother, singer/bassist Kevin Whelan, but when the jack on his baritone guitar cut out after the first chorus of "This Boy is Exhausted," the audience watched as the guitar went sailing to the back of the stage. (Happily, it survived to play another day.)

(The guitar just before it went airborne ...)

Probably the sweetest moment of the night was when lead singer/bassist Whelan pulled a young boy of about 10 from the audience to hit the keys during "This Is Not What You Had Planned," the last song on The Meadowlands.



At one point, Whelan asked the kid his name ("Theron") and asked the crowd to give him props. How cool must have this 10 year old kid felt hearing an entire club chanting his name? (I found out later though that his actual name was "Darren," and Whelan had obviously misheard him above the din.) Didn't matter though, the kid was beaming. $10 says you see this kid onstage somewhere in a few years.

(During "Exhausted" I think, I kept noticing singer/guitarist Charles Bissell standing up on his toes like this repeatedly as he sang. Maybe that's a new singing technique for extra power or...something?)






(See the rest of the photos from the show here)

The Wrens have been around for 20 years now and they exert more energy in three songs than many bands half that age exert in three shows. It makes you wonder how many cases of Red Bull their rider includes. Whatever it is, it's fantastic, and consistently makes for an incredible and explosive show.

The Wrens Announce a 3rd Maxwells Show, Will Play The Meadowlands in Full

As we announced last week, The Wrens are playing an couple of "themed" dates at NJ's Maxwells in December. December 3rd will be an "all-request" show and December 4th will be an "all new songs" night. Today, they announced an additional early show for December 4th, where they'll play "The Meadowlands from start to finish."

Turns out December 3rd is also bassist/vocalist Kevin Whelan's 40th birthday as well. They proclaim that there may be cake because of this, and possibly sherry, and in addition to requests, stories from Wrens' days of yore. (It all sounds very "Masterpiece Theater" doesn't it? I wonder if their stage clothing will include smoking jackets and pipes and Alistair Cooke accents.)

One can only imagine the madness these nights will bring. But if you ever wanted to see if the stories about Hoboken were true, or catch The Wrens at their best, this series of shows will be the best excuse to go for both.

Just dropping to our own electronic ghost town to say that we’ve added a third show for our 20th anniversary / mirthday shindig – an early show for Friday, Dec. 4th at 7:30. In keeping with our theme of…um, having themes, this show will be the Meadowlands record, top-to-bottom. We’d tried setting this up last year to put that baby to bed, but it never really came together. This will be the one time you’ll probably ever hear ’13 months in 6 minutes’ or whatever it is and ‘ex-grille confection’, although I think we tried that one live once. Anyway, thanks to the folks that requested this - very flattering.

Tickets here. More info on the other two shows here (two posts down).

And if you come by, maybe we’ll pour some sherry and regale you with the story of the time we walked one end of Hoboken to the other, handing out demo tapes to every bar & club in town – including Maxwell’s – in the hopes of securing one of the many lucrative live concert bookings that seemed just a lucky break away in the big city (that’s Hoboken in this story). And how we were surprised to find most of the bars closed.

It turns out both that it was the evening of January 1st – you know, the day after the busiest tavern day of the year – and that we were jackasses.
(It was also New Year’s Day 1990 but that part of the story is more about how old we are, not how dumb we were.) And come to think of it, that pretty much is the story.
Gaston, my son, it’s not much of a story, true, but hey…

And forgot to mention that if you’ll be attending the Dec. 3rd show, that also happens to be Kev’s special birthday (starts with a ‘four’, rhymes with ‘sporty’). And hilariously or sadly, depending, he’s the baby of the band. Tempted to say BYOCake but if we get it together we’ll have some there. (Wrens.com)

The Wrens Playing All-Request and All-New Nights for Maxwells' December Shows

As we announced earlier this month, one of our favorite bands, The Wrens is playing two shows in Hoboken, NJ in early December. News out today shows that while they may smell of Ben Gay and moth balls (Hi Charles! Hi Kevin!), they aren't curmudgeonly stuck in their ways after 20 years, they're letting the audience run the show (literally) for the Thursday, 12/3 show. The Friday, 12/4 show, they'll be playing all new tracks. Audience members are encouraged to come dressed as their favorite aging grape...or a bird who plays an instrument...or they just come as themselves.

Opening bands for each night will be "friends from days of yore." As these guys are known and liked by everyone from The Henry Clay People to Mates of State to The Hold Steady, one can only imagine who said openers will be.

For the Thursday, 12/3 show, you make the play, armchair Quarterflash. You write the set list. Yep, whatever obscure ditty from our vast catalog of 3.5 albums in 20.5 years that we normally wouldn’t touch with a 10-foot Kevin, you vote ‘em in, and we’ll…probably make you regret it.

Nope, you don’t have to be going to the show. How would we even know? And yes, you can vote more than once. Why would we care? The New Math that will be used to calculate your vote and compute our oldies set, exists where the plane of imaginary numbers is bisected by the tangent of nano-technology and will weed out your shabby attempts at rigging the system.

So tell us what songs to play and whichever get the most votes, go in the set. To do that, go to our contact / email the band page, drop us a message with a tune or two or even a whole set that, given an infinite space-time and a merciful god, you’d wanna hear us try to play. Maybe put ‘Play Drunk’ in the subject line since we’ll probably have to that night.

Voting will end…let’s say, a little over a week from now, October 3rd. Gives us two months to get it together.

As for Friday, 12/4, come dressed as your favorite wren. Balding, middle-aged Paunch Men are automatically disqualified per competition guidelines. Bird costumes, encouraged.

Kidding.

For that show, we’re doing all new songs. Or as many as we can muster.

Oh yeah, we’ll have some as-yet-to-be confirmed friends’ bands from the days of yore playing both shows as well. (Wrens website)

"Raise the Roof" Benefit for Brooklyn Cultural Center Announced; Charles Bissell (The Wrens), TMBG, and Nada Surf to Perform

They Might Be Giants, Charles Bissell of The Wrens, and Nada Surf (acoustic), will play a "Raise the Roof" show on Wednesday, 10/28, to benefit the Northside Town Hall Community & Cultural Center in Williamsburg, Brooklyn.

From The Wrens' site:

People often think of Williamsburg as full of trust fund hipsters, but the reality is that a significant percentage (about a third) of Community Board 1 is under the poverty level, and there are other major challenges -- displacement due to gentrification, out of control development, no infrastructure to support the influx of new people, environmental and open space issues, just to name a few.

The Northside Town Hall Community and Cultural Center is a joint project of two longtime North Brooklyn neighborhood groups, Neighbors Allied for Good Growth (NAG) and The People's Firehouse, Inc (PFI.).

In the fall of 2008, after a comprehensive proposal process with New York City, NAG and PFI were awarded the rights to re-develop the former Engine Company 212 firehouse. The firehouse will now be reborn as the Northside Town Hall Community and Cultural Center and serve as home to both NAG and PFI, as these organizations continue to serve, organize, and advocate for the community.

Regular tickets are $25, VIP tickets are $75, and both can be obtained here.

The Wrens Announce Two December Dates in NJ

Ah Hoboken, NJ, just the place to start off your...holiday season? Maybe not, but it will be the place to see one of our favorites, The Wrens this year. As they only seem to play as often as my trainer lets me eat mashed potatoes and ice cream (read: never), the fact that they've booked two shows anywhere, including Hoboken, is exciting to hear. The Wrens will be playing Maxwells on Thursday, 12/3 and Friday, 12/4, and tickets are on sale right now over at TicketWeb.

(Watch our video interview with Charles Bissell and Kevin Whelan of the Wrens here.)

Sound and Vision: My Talk with Charles Bissell and Kevin Whelan of The Wrens

Ever since seeing them at SXSW this year, my fingers have found themselves choosing The Wrens on my Ipod pretty consistently. Their live show was a total force of nature, a tsunami of hooks and energy, that left me slackjawed and thrilled; it had been a long time since I had a band knock me on my backside like that. Their history is one of music-industry legend, similar in some respect to YHF-era Wilco, so although they've been around some 20 years now, they've only put out three full-length records and a few EPs. But those few are mind-bendingly good. The last one, 2003's Meadowlands, is comprised of 13 songs that are catchy and hang together perfectly, creating an emotional opus that's an embodiment of the phrase, "That which does not kill you makes you stronger." The Wrens may be the Halley's Coment of indie rock-JD Salinger's next book may come out before their next record-but somehow, it's ok because you know what you'll hear will be truly worth the wait.



I knew I definitely wanted to get an interview with The Wrens on camera. They rarely do video, but after almost hyperventilating from laughter reading this, I was pretty sure that getting at least two of them together on camera would be hilarious. It took awhile coordinating schedules and whatnot, but we finally met up in a great little Irish bar in NYC. In a dark little corner (so forgive the lack of lighting), over pints of Guinness, bassist/keyboardist/vocalist Kevin Whelan and guitarist/vocalist Charles Bissell talked to BL&L about influences, collaborations, 20 years as a band, and how they made it together that long. That is, when they weren't cracking jokes...And I know it seems like a whole lot to watch, but I totally promise you, it's worth it.

**1/7: A 23 year-old bass guitar, Liberace, and Charles Bissell Kennedy**

References: Liberace, the Mummers

Give a Listen: North to Nothing-The Wrens (from Abbot 1135)

**2/7: Beginning as a cover band, their 20th anniversary, and mammoth Bissell fingers**


Give a Listen: Z (2007 demo)-The Wrens

**3/7: Song backstories, writing, author recommendations, and the Guinness kicking in**

References: Robert Lowell, John Berryman, Kenneth Patchen

Give a Listen: Life Stories of the Union-The Wrens, Brightest New Year-The Wrens

**4/7: More about songs, the power of Jameson, and Kevin calls out Bon Jovi for a street fight**

References: Maxwells

Give a Listen: This is Not What You Had Planned-The Wrens

**5/7: Changing band dynamics, crazy drummers, and making records opposed to songs**


Give a Listen: This Machine-The Wrens (from Abbot 1135)

**6/7: Thoughts on licensing, connections to Okkervil River, and love for KEXP**

References: WKEXP

Give a Listen: It Ends with a Fall-Charles Bissell covering Will Sheff, Black Boys On Mopeds-Charles Bissell (live, Maxwells, 9/26/04)

**7/7: Brainiac and Tim Taylor's influences, next tours, and why they consider themselves lucky**

References: Brainiac

Give a Listen: Vincent Come Down-Brainiac

The Wrens Announce Three Midwest Dates

Our favorite recluses around here who hail from the land of refinery towers, The Wrens, have announced they're playing three shows this summer (yeah!), all in the Midwest (boo!).

The two Chicago dates are in conjunction with the club Shuba's 20th anniversary celebration.

Jul 24 2009: A Schubas 20 Event, Schubas, Chicago, Illinois
w/ the Biltmores (sold out)

Jul 25 2009: A Schubas 20 Event, Schubas, Chicago Illinois
w/ TBA Guest (sold out)

Aug 14 2009: MPMF Indie Summer, Fountain Square, Cincinnati OH
w/ Goose, The Harlequins, and Hot Pipes (Free, go here for more info)

Songs, Sun, and Lone Star Beer: SXSW 2009, Day 3

Intro, Day 1, Day 2 (day), Day 2 (night)

1. The Wrens
When I saw The Wrens were playing this year's SX, one of my travelmates knew of them so I asked him to describe their music. His exact words were “awesome and awesome-est.” Said travelmate and I don’t always agree on what constitutes “awesome” music (our common ground is Springsteen and Westerberg), so I wasn't sure what I'd find upon arriving to their noon set at the Hot Freaks day party this third day.

What I found was complete and utter awesome and awesome-est. Squared. To infinity.

Sometimes, hearing enough music that is just ok-not mind-blowing, not life-changing, but palpable-enough of that and you start to think "ok" is enough. You forget what it was like to hear music so good it scrambles your brains and all you do is grin like an idiot.

Go see The Wrens live and you'll recall all of this soon enough. What a glorious full-on aural assault of melodious noise.

(See more photos from the set here)

Give a Listen: Everyone Choose Sides-The Wrens

What could follow up such a thing? I needed some time to breathe so had a few beers then set out to catch my first SX music panel. Along the way, I caught two minutes of Bishop Allen...



and Viva Voce...
(See more photos from the set here)

2. Music Panel: The Sound and the Fury
SX has a ton of panels on all sorts of things music-related. But I thought "Sound and the Fury" looked pretty interesting if only for the roster (see below). Where else would you see Sylvain Sylvain, Matthew Caws, and Jonathan Poneman (one of the founders of the Sub Pop label) in the same place?

Like the variety of perspectives Faulkner offered in his classic novel, artists' views of the music biz are filtered through their particular experiences. Without denying the difficulties facing the recorded music market, and the economy as a whole, there are opportunities for intrepid musicians to find fans and make a career out of their creativity. The artists and execs on this panel bring unique histories to their current work, and they'll share their thoughts about furthering their goals in this challenging era. But maybe we'll leave Faulkner's themes of incest and despair out of this panel.

-Moderator: Karen Glauber Pres, Hits Magazine
-Lynn Barstow, Program Dir, Emmis Austin Radio/KGSR/KROX
-Matthew Caws, Nada Surf
-Karen Glauber, Pres, Hits Magazine
-Matthew Hales, Aqualung
-Mikel Jollett, The Airborne Toxic Event
-Jordan Kurland, Owner, Zeitgeist Artist Management LTD
-Anya Marina, Performer, Anya Marina
-Jonathan Poneman, Sub Pop Records
-Sylvain Sylvain, New York Dolls

(More photos from the panel discussion here)

There were some pretty funny quotes. Sylvain Sylvain on being a cult artist: "You get laid a lot." He also talked about taking a job as a cabbie in the lean years so he could make music on the side. "I got robbed three times, once by a woman." And Matthew Caws: "We'd rather play a packed closet than a half-empty living room." (Gotta love Matthew Caws.)

3. The Henry Clay People
Playing the last of their 98786876 shows at this year's SX at Red Eyed Fly, the HCP boys were ready to cut loose.



HCP are consistent in putting on a great musical performance, even a few drinks in (well here, it was more "a lot of drinks in"). The obvious closeness of the band collectively, and of the brothers Siara as family, make for an entertaining stage show; that friendliness amongst them exudes into the audience when they play. Combine that with their excellent musicial abilities and damn catchy songs, and you've got a great can't-miss band. I see great things on the horizon for HCP.







And I couldn't get a proper shot of drummer Mike Hopkins the whole show, so he was nice enough to pose for me after. I've always said I'm too east coast to live on the west coast, but damn, if all the boys are as handsome as Hopkins, I may just have to reconsider...

(More photos from the show here)

Give a Listen: You Can Be Timeless-The Henry Clay People

After HCP, I caught up with the travelmates at the SPIN day party at Stubbs for a few minutes of Glasvegas. "Daddy's Gone" is a lovely, rather hymn-like song that really does hold up live...



Give a Listen: Daddy_s_Gone-Glasvegas

And then I headed over to Maggie Maes for the only performance at SX of The Takeover UK, who were headlining the Sonicbirds party. Out of Pittsburgh, PA, Takeover's excellent take on powerful indie Brit-pop is worth a listen (debut is called Running with the Wasters). Their energetic live show should not be missed.



My travelmate John did a great writeup on the show here




(See more photos from the set here)

Give a Listen: Ah La La-The Takeover UK