Jul 19 : "Shadows In the Dark" - Hollows

(an antiote to the dry spell ... part 4)

In the last few days I've realized that the "dry spell" may be coming to an end. I've seen some interesting lineups and listings for midweek shows that I can actually get to.

But, to complete the story about my trip to Glasslands the week before last, I have to tell you about the headliner that night, Chicago band "Hollows". While the first three bands had some women members, Hollows is almost an all-woman band, well, four out of five anyway. Four women out front with vocals, guitars, and keys, and a male drummer sitting in back.

Ths sound is somewhat retro. Here's a quote from a review that appears on their Facebook page. :::"There is plenty of spookiness in the band's dreamy sha-la-la. This mostly female group pulls together all the drama and tragedy of the Shangri-Las and mixes it with classic garage rock." ~Jessica Hopper, Chicago Tribune

A good sample of the "spookiness" can be heard in their song, "Shadows In the Dark", which is playing right here on my blog page :::

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6/27/20 UPDATE! ::: OOPS! Looks like the band's music and page have disappeared.

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To hear more of their organ-heavy music, here is the click :::

So I enjoyed the Hollows' show at Glasslands. It, as with the three bands that preceded it, were just the "antidote to the dry spell" that I needed. ... But now there seems to be a turn of the tide, and more interesting lineups are starting to appear. I'm just getting ready to go out to hear some more bands now. Yay!

Jul 14 : "Born Heavy" - Darlings

(an antidote to the dry spell ... part 3)

In my previous postings about the "dry spell", I didn't mean to imply that only in New York is good stuff happening. For the free time I had the week of July 2, I also looked at various venues in New York and it was just Glasslands as an isolated example that had music that interested me.

Also, within the last week I've had to back away from a couple interesting shows that I've seen coming up. Because I've had obligations early the next mornings and wanted to stay in the night before, I missed Left Of Logic playing at Milkboy last weekend and Jackie Paper playing at Hong Kong Garden last night.

So maybe I should revise my complaints about the "dry spell" to say that the "dry spell" only seems to pertain to the nights I have off, but seems to be in remission on the nights that I don't have free. Because there's some interesting music around on those other nights when I can't get away. :(

Also, available music is subject to the individual agreements reached by venues and bands as to who's playing when and where.

But back to my first choice for July 2. It seemed to be a LADIES NIGHT at Glasslands. Women were featured in each of the bands, including the third band up, which was Brooklyn band, "Darlings". Playing right here on my blog page is "Born Heavy", which the band released in 2010.

They don't appear to have any other upcoming shows listed, but they announced they do have a 7" single coming out next month. To visit Darlings, here is the click ::: Darlings (CLICK HERE)

Jul 09 : "Heat" - Boyhood

(an antidote to the dry spell ... part 2)

So this is the second in the mini-series. To clarify what I mean by a "dry spell": It's going out to hear music, but, after hearing one band or so, not hearing enough other music at that same venue that will make me want to stay in their room for the whole evening. ... As a loyal fan of the bands that I love, I want to see their shows and support them whenever I can, but, as a customer of the venues, I would like to hear more interesting music than that one band after I've paid my cover charge. The past couple months I haven't heard any "bad" "other" bands, all have been proficient, but maybe it's been a little too heavy on the generic "same-old, same-old". I'm sure this dry spell will be temporary as others have been in the past.

Which brings us back to the great evening I had at Glasslands last Monday, where they packed in some very interesting bands in one evening. My previous blog was about the evening's opener, Graveyard Lovers. The next band up was Ottawa outfit "Boyhood".

"Boyhood" is the project of Caylie Runciman, who played guitar and did lead vocals at the show on Monday. It was a "family affair". Playing with her was her boyfriend, Luke Nuclear, on bass, and her younger brother, Callum Runciman, on drums.

Sounds like excellennt Garage to me. The performance was powerful. In seeing the live show and listening to her recorded music, I find Caylie's vocal range can be anywhere from mellow to fierce. At the live performance, the stylings tilted a little more towards the intense.

An example of some of her range within one song comes in the track "Heat", which she sang at the show and also happens to be the second track on the "Boyhood EP".

There are also some interesting harmonies in her work. Check out "Where I'm Going", which is the fourth track on the ep:::

To visit Boyhood on Bandcamp, here is the click ::: Boyhood on Bandcamp (CLICK HERE)

You may be surprised, as I certainly was, to find that BOYHOOD IS A SOLO PROJECT. Caylie's boyfriend and brother play with her only at live shows, but all the recordings are solo, Caylie's performance(s) alone. She started playing music long before she can remember. Here are some additional tracks done by Caylie, prior to her actually giving her outfit the name "Boyhood" about a year ago ::: Caylie Runciman on Soundcloud (CLICK HERE)

I have more antidotes to tell you about. Check back here in a few days! :)

Jul 06 : "The World Is Ending" - Graveyard Lovers

(an antidote to the dry spell ... part 1)

What a relief to get an antidote to the dry spell. Frustrated. Miffed. Those are two of the emotions I've been feeling over the last few months as I've been unable to find what used to be "regular" back in the good old days of the Khyber, that is, an evening of four good bands who would keep my attention glued to the stage all night.

If you've been checking my page here, you've probably noticed that, for the last few months, I've been hearing one good band here and there, and, to make a good evening, have had to do "mix and matches", where I go to more than one venue to make up a good evening.

An extreme example of this comes not from me, but from my friend, David, who, a couple weeks ago, in order to salvage enjoyment out of one particular night, planned to go to THREE different venues to hear one band at each of the three. ... In the end he was disappointed at each.

Hearing David tell me about that experience really jarred me into thinking "This is Enough." I'm tired of paying a cover charge to hear a band that I like and then finding myself running for the door to prevent myself from being blanded out by the next band up.

So I was wondering what to do! Then I thought I'm going to be working up in New York on Monday anyway, so why not check out some music up there. I hadn't been to a show in New York for a while, mainly because I'm not overly thrilled about pulling a near all-nighter in Penn Station on the way back.

So I quickly realized that, in order to stave off dry spell music dehydration, I better act quickly. I cross-checked the pages of the venues and the bands and, WOW, I came across the exact ANTIDOTE I needed to combat this dry spell.

Glasslands Gallery had a lineup of four bands whose music on the web I really liked. The first band I checked out was "Graveyard Lovers", and I think they hooked me into looking at this event with serious interest.

I wasn't disappointed. At the moment I walked in the door, Graveyard Lovers was just starting to play. And their live performance was even better than what I heard on the web.

Graveyard Lovers is a two-person outfit, featuring Zach Reynolds doing guitar and vocals, and Tricia Purvis, doing drums.

The music is an interesting hybrid of blues and rock. Zach comes from Louisiana and Tricia is from New York, so they combine music from each of their roots into an experience that's very enjoyable for the listener.

Even though there are only two people in this band, the performance was so animated, it seemed like there were several more.

Graveyard Lovers put out an ep in the Spring of 2011. It's also titled "Graveyard Lovers". The last track on the ep is "The World is Ending", which is playing right here on my blog page ::::

To visit Graveyard Lovers on Bandcamp and to hear more of their songs, here is the click ::: Graveyard Lovers (CLICK HERE)

"Dry spells" come and go. We've had them before, and I'm sure this one, as with the others, will pass in time. However, in the meantime, check back here every few days. I have several more "antidotes" to tell you about. :)

Jul 03 : "Myography" - Apollo Run

Last week I headed up to North Star to hear some music, and Brooklyn band "Apollo Run" was on the schedule. This was the first time I heard them. They did a good show.

One of the songs they sang at North Star was "Myography", which is playing right now.

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6/27/20 UPDATE! ::: OOPS! Sorry! Lost this link!

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To visit Apollo Run, here is the click ::: Apollo Run (click here) When you go there, also check out the band's song, "All In Good Time", which is an interesting work whose style is atypical of the rest of the bands music. What a surprise it was when, for the last song, the band members jumped down from the stage and sang "All In Good Time" a cappella in the middle of the audience!