New York Music Blog

Andrew WK on keys. Pink Eyes, where is your loyalty?

Fucked Up's New York shows always seem to coincide with historic American days: Inauguration Day 2008, the only time in recorded history when Ezra Koenig publicly covered the Descendents, and now the day after the Yankees won the World Series. And so last night, frontman Damian "Father" Abraham paid tribute to our baseball championship (that was harder to type that you know) with a Yankees shirt. Fuck the Yankees (that was easier to type that you know), last night's real special occasion was the Toronto band recreating their stupendous 2008 album The Chemistry of Modern Life, with the Vivian Girls on back-up vocals and Andrew WK on "special keyboard parts!" Below are Rebecca Smeyne's shots of Pink Eyes smooching dudes, falling on top of dudes, spitting on dudes, flailing on dudes, putting his dirty socks on dudes. Unrelated: enjoy your parade, d-bags!

all photos by Rebecca Smeyne

David Yow, Halloween saviour

Jesus Lizard
Bad Brains
Empty warehouse, North 10th Street
Saturday, October 31

So you go to the much-ballyhooed Vice Halloween Party, the 15th anniversary bash in Williamsburg that the lifestyle brand reportedly dropped $250,000 to throw. You dress up, by the press release's official request, as a cultural cliche from 1994 (the year the magazine began, hence the anniversary, duh), and stand in a frustratingly long line that you would in no other circumstance bother with, because if you wanted to pretend you needed toilet paper in Communist Russia, you'd go to Disneyland, for fuck's sake, this is bullshit.

Screaming Females, from Myopenbar's party at Above the Auto Parts Store. Photos by Rebecca Smeyne.

​At long last, Rebecca Smeyne's final tour through the wilds of CMJ, featuring the Screaming Females, Glasser, Harlem, Boogie Boarder, Jeff the Brotherhood, Dinowalrus, Sisters, something ominously known as "the Colt 45 limo shuttle," Crystal Antlers, K-Holes, and a spooky after-hours Shank reunion at the Autumn Bowl. See you next year, Surfer Blood.

Ume at Public Assembly. Photos by Rebecca Smeyne.

​Elsewhere: Endless recaps, involuntary rants, street fashion. Right here: SOTC photographer Rebecca Smeyne, putting in work. Her first installment, featuring Small Black, Woods, El Perro Del Mar, Beach Fossils, Titus Andronicus, Heavy Trash, and Fanfarlo, came earlier. Next up? Male Bonding, Terror Pigeon Dance Revolt, Free Energy, Blondes, Ume and more, below.

Rebecca Smeyne

Let's be frank. The bonkers CMJ shows of years past--say, like, the Knife--aren't happening this year. The biggest excitement right now is, what, the XX? (Who're great, but don't misunderstand.) Clipse, then, should be a tremendous prospect, except that they're played CMJ before, a few times, and you know how that goes. Sure do love these guys, but here they were again, fulfilling their October quota at a private Spin event. Just like our attack-dog photog Rebecca Smeyne.

Fanfarlo at Pianos. Rebecca Smeyne took all these pictures.

​One day you're a normal person, the next you're speaking in acronyms and set-times, discoursing knowledgably about the difference between Surfer Blood and Surf City. So yeah, CMJ is very much upon us all. Recaps of any number of last night's showcases here, here, here, and here; below, intrepid photographer Rebecca Smeyne does the festival's first day in photos, featuring Small Black, Woods, El Perro Del Mar, Beach Fossils, Titus Andronicus, Heavy Trash, and more. We're just getting started.

No Age
Above the Auto Parts Store
Saturday, October 17

Last week, No Age played four New York shows in four entirely different settings: West Village club (le) poisson rouge, MoMA's Spike Jonze Retrospective, the New Museum for director Jean-Jacques Annaud's The Bear, and a Todd P show held Above the Auto Parts Store in Bushwick. The latter is where the band still feels most comfortable, as Randy Randall explained to us last week: "We've always played places like Death By Audio, a venue with totally fun energy in the room. But sometimes, the rooms are too small and not everyone can get in. So we have to play (le) Poisson Rouge, a place with a bar, where your feet won't get stepped on, and money is paid to security guards and whatnot. That's more strange to us." Rebecca Smeyne most definitely got her feet stepped on photographing the "fun energy" at Saturday's all-ages show. Her shots are below.

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These Are Powers played Issue Project Room on Friday, October 9, to help raise money for the non-profit's future space at 110 Livingston Street, which is also the same space where the Brooklyn threesome filmed their newest video. The show was also a way to honor the sadly departed Suzanne Fiol; TAP brought out saxophonist Jon Natchez and percussion beard Ryan Sawyer to help pay tribute. Below are Rebecca Smeyne's photographs from the occasion.

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Hardly a week since blowing out a slightly larger hall, the Yeah Yeah Yeahs played hometown heroes at a much smaller one in Williamsburg. The confetti-to-cellphone-photographer ratio was much better in Brooklyn, and for the first time since that Glasslands invasion, North Sixers could bask in O-Majesty's light without some bouncer barricade and a $100-plus festival ticket in the way. Rebecca Smeyne went to document the show.

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Post Nothing Canadian duo Japandroids did end up playing another relatively small club show here after that Piano's event--two in fact, at the Mercury Lounge--but consider these the last ones for a very long time. Photographer Rebecca Smeyne went to document the guitar-face.