World Class Fad: The Japanese Motors in NYC this Weekend

Looking for something to do Friday night? During SXSW this year, I caught a band called The Japanese Motors. Mixing a gritty Lower East Side NY sound into surf rock, their track "Single Fins and Safety Pins" caught my ears immediately. They're coming to the east coast Friday to play the "Tux with Chucks" shindig in NYC at Studio B in Brooklyn with The Crocodiles. The video for "Single Fins" is kinda cheesy (and would, frankly, turn me off if I'd not heard them before), so what I give you instead is the video below. It also includes a little background on the lead singer, Al Knost, who's a professional surfer off-stage. Knost is an energetic frontman, and what you'll notice is the way he moves on a surf board is very similar to the way he moves around onstage, super fluid. You'll definitely be moved to move during this live show.

For you kids on the west coast, the Motors are doing a Monday night residency at the Echo throughout July.

World Class Fad: Shows This Week

All sorts of goodies this week...

Tonight! Tuesday, 12/2: Snowden (with Twin Tigers and Illinois) @ DC9-$12

When we saw Snowden this year at the Monolith Festival, we said "What makes them interesting is that the band has a great shoe-gaze fuzzy pop sound with a pretty hefty backbeat. And that was the sound in the middle of monolithic stones, imagine how it will fill DC9...Keep an eye cocked towards the bassist, she's amazing to watch.



Friday, 12/5: Nada Surf, Delta Spirit, Jealous Girlfriends) @ 930 Club-$12


Ok, I'm late to the Nada Surf train, I'll admit it...blame it on that damn "Popular" song played nonstop for a long period of time by someone I once knew, and I wanted no part of the Surf. But then at SXSW 08 I caught Nada Surf lead singer Matthew Caws singing with Roguewave, which got me to see Nada Surf when they played DC shortly thereafter, and realized my mistake. So very good are the Surf; Caws can make a venue of 1000 people seem as intimate and personal as if they were playing someone's living room.

Be sure to get there in time to see the Delta Spirit. Man are these guys good. Keep an eye out for drummer/keyboardist/vocalist Kelly Winrich, what a talent. No wonder he was so pooped after their October Rock and Roll Hotel show (that bottle he's holding was just a funny prop, we swear!)



A barn burner of rock and soul, Delta Spirit will make you dance, lift your spirits, and reveal the beautious sound that is the top to a metal trashcan.

Here are more of my shots of their October Rock and Roll Hotel show...it was sweaty, it was packed, it was inspiring.










Sunday, 12/7: Stewart Lupton (with Howlies and King Left) @ DC9-$8


In our review of the initial release of Lupton's new band, The Child Ballads, we wrote Briefly, "Cheekbone Hollows" is a bluesy toe-tapping lo-fi version of Lord Byron poetry. Which is all perfectly logical if you know that lead singer/acoustic guitar player Stewart Lupton a) was previously the lead singer for the critics' darlings and direct influencer of The Strokes Jonathan_Fire*Eater, and b) returned to DC after the dissolution of JFE, enrolled in George Washington University, landed the Lannan Poetry Fellowship, and studied poetry, medieval studies, and modern art history. Lupton's baritone voice reminds me of Marc Bolan posing as an Exile on Main Street-era Mick Jagger, all sputtering with smoldering bravado and bad-boy grittiness.

This DC9 show appears to be Lupton solo, but you'll be nonetheless entertained. He's also damn funny so be ready to chuckle one minute, then choke up the next while his his lovely poems are spoken amidst "Cheekbone Hollows" tracks and Dylan covers.

World Class Fad: Upcoming Shows of Note

Cool shows for the hot days this week....

-Tuesday, July 29


The Airborne Toxic Event @ DC9 ($10): I have already written a bunch about these guys but in case I didn't already say so, they put on a top-notch live show. With their Conan O'Brien appearance on Friday and all sorts of buzz before their debut record is even out (not till August 5th to exact), they're definitely a band on the cusp of huge. See them here at a small club like DC9 so you can say "I saw them when" as their next DC appearance will probably be at the 930 Club.

For readers in NYC, they are also playing the Mercury Lounge on Thursday, July 31 ($10).


Old 97s @ 930 Club (sold out): I first heard tracks from the 97s' newest record Blame it On Gravity at SXSW this year and I was definitely thrilled to hear an excellent return to form. If the music isn't enough to get you there, I got four words for you: Rhett Miller hip swing. Wowza...


-Friday, August 1


Bon Iver @ Black Cat (sold out):
Man, can this guy turn a phrase, just makes me heart do some serious backflips in its tenderness. Just beautiful....

(Bon Iver performing for the great Black Cab Sessions)


-Saturday, August 2


Earlimart @ Ottobar ($10): Aaron Espinoza and Ariana Murray provide another lovely gem in the form of Hymn and Her. If you love lush harmonies, smart lyrics, and lovely hooky quiet-ness (most of the time), be sure to check them out.