Sep 04 : "Why Don't You Call Me?" - The Break Lights (Parsippany)

It was the perfect night. It was the end of a horrific three-day heat wave, and NJ band "The Break Lights" was doing an outdoor evening show in the cool breezes under the towering trees of Morristown Green. This was part of the last Thursday of the month "Meet Me In Morristown" arts events. And, at the end of the heat wave, this was just the right night for it.

I went there after work. The show began about 7pm when it was still daylight. As the evening progressed, the crowd increased. The Break Lights had the whole evening to themselves, and, other than a ten-minute break, played straight through. I caught most of the show; they were still going strong even when I had to cut out a few minutes early to catch my train.

What was unique about this show (other than being "The Big Relief" from the heat wave), was the number of debuts of new songs. While I heard the band play songs that I recognized from their web page, I kept hearing "And here's another new song that we haven't played for anybody ... " I can't remember any other show where there was so much new work being presented.

The Break Lights have music from a number of albums posted on their Bandcamp page. From their newest album, "The Bright Life", released in the Fall of 2017, here is "Why Don't You Call Me?", which is the lead track :::

The Brake Lights doesn't have any other shows lined up right now, but here is the link to their Facebook page where you can keep an eye on them ::: The Brake Lights on Facebook (CLICK HERE).

Aug 27 : "Jean & Helene" - Spritzer (Brooklyn)

New Music / Freshly Written & Video Released Aug 13

NEWS! ::::: :::: Brooklyn band Spritzer just posted a video of their song "Jean & Helene". The song itself comes from their new album "Love, Lies, Decay", which was released just a few months ago.

I've seen the band perform live two times, once in Brooklyn at Sunnyvale a couple years ago, and then very recently in Manhattan at Pianos just a few weeks ago. Excellent shows both times

Spritzer doesn't have any other shows on their upcoming calendar right now, but here is the click to their Soundcloud page, where you can hear all the songs from the new album! ::: Spritzer on Soundcloud.

Aug 19 : "Johnny Nonsense" - GEEBS (New York)

THE FAST TRACK

Thursday night I went to Pianos after work and saw garage rock outfit "GEEBS" open up the evening. GEEBS is a two-piece band originally from Charlotte, NC. They recently moved to New York, and last Thursday at Pianos was their first New York show! It went very well.

GEEBS is Ezra Engler and Ian Duke. Their band has a very full sound with some fuzzy vocals, intriguing melodic lines, and distinctive arrangements to each song. And in the lyrics there's a heavy dose of relationship drama.

Here's a sample of some of their work. This track is from July, 2017. It's "Johnny Nonsense", and is the fourth track on their album, "Lucky" :::

If you want to read the lyrics as you listen, here is the click: Read Johnny Nonsense as you listen.

So what's "The Fast Track"? I think Pianos was just as impressed with GEEBS as I was, because, while GEEBS was the opener last Thursday; on August 30, less than two weeks from now, they'll be back, this time playing the prime spot at the end of the evening !!!!! Here is the click to their August 30 show at Pianos: GEEBS at Pianos on Aug 30.

GEEBS has a huge amount of work on line. Quite prolific! Here is the link to their Bandcamp page: GEEBS on Bandcamp (CLICK HERE).

Aug 12 : "Demo Capsun" - 185668232 (Brooklyn)

New Video / Freshly Produced and Recently Posted (Two Weeks)

NEWS !!! ::::: 185668232 has posted a new video, a couple weeks ago. The video, simply named, "Demo Capsun", and subtitled, "MPC Live beat looping practice", takes us on a tour through different genres that are part of one long thread, as we sit and watch close up.

185668232 doesn't have any shows coming up soon, but here's the click to the Facebook page where you can keep an eye out for the next show ::: 185668232 on Facebook (CLICK HERE)

Aug 05 : "Government Skatepark" - Trash Boy (Philly)

Philly Music!

THE EYES HAVE IT!

"Skating is an act of resistance," Chris Fortunato told me as we talked after his band's show at Kobol nine days ago. This was my second time seeing Philly punk-rock band "Trash Boy". (May 11, Jul 27)

Chris told me skating is an act of defiance, taking parts of an otherwise inhospitable urban landscape and making a personal play area out of it. And it's an act of defiance because there's an element of risk; it's re appropriating off-limits areas for one's personal pleasure. And, as people come together, skating is also a community.

While all of this may seem innocuous, it's something that the government can't tolerate, because it's still a nuisance and it's still breaking the rules. People skating illegally in urban areas make noise and keep taxpayers up at night. And there's the danger that that aura of boldness and flagrant disregard for social order might overlap into (gasp!) the political.

So something must be done. Better to have the skating and the people all under control. The solution is to build a government skatepark where all these people will be moved away and kept out of sight, as far out of the way as possible (The song says under I-95). Make the government skatepark nice, so the skaters' minds will be anesthetized and there will be no chance that their skating will evolve or meld in with any other type of social action or protest. And, of course, in the spirit of turning this "resistance" into an officially condoned "sport", make sure the skaters buy the new branded merch.

One of the most awful examples of this type of move was the destruction of the original Love Park in Center City Philadelphia several years ago. Love Park was a skater's paradise, a mecca that was known internationally as THE place to skate. People came from all around the world to skate here. I asked Chris whether this song was about Philly specifically and what he thought about that destruction. Chris said it was about Philly and its environs; he was angry about the closure and says he does skate in the new skateparks but still has some favorite (secret) spots and (decaying) infrastructure where he skates as well.

So what was different between the first time I saw the band and the second? I would say that in the second show they brought their stage presence to a new level, increasing the impact of the music through enhanced body language. Some and most bands show the emotions of what they're singing in broad brushstrokes. But in the second show the eyes and facial expressions of Trash Boy were tuned in to the lyrics line by line and word by word. This definitely undergirded the power of the lyrics. Something you don't often see.

Here is "Government Skatepark" by Philly band Trash Boy. This is from their 2017 album, "The Future Is Trash".

To read the lyrics as you listen, click here: Read the lyrics as you listen CLICK HERE.

From their web page, "Trash Boy is actually 3 people (not one boy alone) who love Philly & its DIY world and hate rules that oppress the marginalized & uphold bogus meritocracy." Trash Boy is Chris Fortunato, Dan Baggarly and Nolee Morris. They don't have any shows coming up in our area soon, but here is the click to their Facebook page, so you can follow what they're doing ::: Trash Boy on Facebook (CLICK HERE).