Sarah Luisa Garay

Those Darlins w/The Beets
The Bell House
Friday, October 14

Better than: Minding your ps and qs.

The Tennessee country-punk foursome Those Darlins is quite darling, but they aren't entirely prim and proper; on Friday at the Bell House, they hollered anthems of lust from their aptly titled second album Screws Get Loose (Oh Wow Dang). Lead singer Jessie Darlin—clad in her signature gold-sequined leotard—was a pistol-like presence all night, but she really had fun with the Loose standout "Mystic Mind," a song that's uncharacteristically psychedelic both sonically (the riffs are straight out of a '60s Western) and lyrically (the opening of the third eye, etc.).

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Federico Bolagno

The Beets have been a YIMBY obsession since the summer of 2009, when we dubbed them "one of the most underappreciated bands in New York"—a demented rapture-strum on the very cusp of the peachy, beachy, kiwicore explosion of Captured Tracks. Two years later, these hand-scribbled mischief-makers have signed to Sub Pop's esteemed Hardly Art imprint while cuddly folk-punk bands in their wake roam every nook of Brooklyn in search of pizza parties and rides to Coney. Luckily for us, the Beets have stayed true to their school and even though the upcoming Let The Poison Out (out October 24) is a little more polished than the washed-out, tape-damaged 7"s we fell in love with, they're still a delirious, pop-perfect mix of Robyn Hitchcock and Alfred E. Neuman. To wit, their album title is taken from an especially lurid catchphrase popular on Howard Stern's show.

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The year in music, circa 2010, started at the Cake Shop, with a shred-down to the New Year courtesy of Siren Festival MVP-to-be Marissa Paternoster and her band Screaming Females. After a tour through the NYE fetes of the Lower East Side and Williamsburg, that night ended amidst a marathon show at Bushwick's Shea Stadium, right around the time the Blastoids' drummer poured paint on his kit and started splattering away.

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"Below is a video we made to celebrate and get pumped up!" says Jelly NYC. Ok.

Hey, internet people who think confronting nature in Williamsburg means getting drunk outside. Another series of free outdoor shows were just announced five minutes before they're about to start. The organizers are Jelly NYC, the famous people behind the Pool Parties at the Williamsburg Waterfront, and these Saturday-afternoon shows will take place at a new venue called the Rock Yard. The first one is this weekend, but since you'll be at Siren's 10th anniversary Festival, let's just pretend that the first one is July 31 with Priestbird. Other notable names are Bun B (!), Frankie and the Outs, Motel Motel, and ZAZA. There is also "A VERY SPECIAL GUEST" on September 11, curated by Bikes in the Kitchen. Obvious guesses: Japanther, Spank Rock, pr Matt & Kim, which could actually be feasible since their fall tour doesn't start until September 15, but you didn't hear it from us. Full schedule and flyer after the jump.

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Probably the first and last time local pop trio the Beets will find themselves with a YouTube embed on Notes on the Culture Wars. There is evidently no small amount of outrage brewing over a show staged by Less Artists More Condos and company at St. James Church a couple of Fridays ago. Brooklyn Vegan appears to be their primary source here: "Beer cans decorated pews, as did people standing and dancing on them. The lively all ages audience crowd-surfed down the center aisle where priests, funeral and wedding processions walk." Etc. Hm. Well, when you put it that way, it doesn't sound too good, does it? Aufer A Nobis, a blog about "Catholicism and East Coast Living," calls news of the show "exceedingly disturbing" and encourages you to write the church's pastor, Fr. Walter Tonelotto. American Papist takes things a step further:

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all photos by Rebecca Smeyne

Less Artists More Condos show at St. James Church in Chinatown

Those of us blessed with a long weekend had plenty to do with it. Like see Julian Casablancas at Terminal 5, take in Vampire Weekend's "emotionally grueling" marathon at the United Palace Theater, watch Gaslight Anthem's Brian Fallon cover Kelly Clarkson, or help send off Monkeytown by zoning out to the crescendoing jams of Woods' psych-fi offshoot Woods Family Creeps. (Dear four obnoxious asshats sitting beside me at Woods last night, blabbing wildly for 75% of the stellar 10:30 pm performance: Annoyed neighbors accidentally got your $6 check for cheapskate Miller High Lifes, but let you pay their more expensive tab because you deserved it. P.S. Thanks for the Chimay!) There were other tremendous options too, like the Yummy Fur reunion at the Market Hotel, the Beets at St. James Church, and an Underscore Quarterly release party at the Silent Barn. Our photographer Rebecca Smeyne attended the latter three. Her shots, as always, below.

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Yes In My Backyard is a semiweekly column showcasing new and emerging MP3s from local talent. Last time, we gave you the exclusive video of Motel Motel's "Coffee."

The Beets and some wrestler guy

The Beets are one of the most underappreciated bands in New York, especially since they should be riding high on the wavves of the whole "lo-fi" thing. Their unison-singing style is more joyous than a sea of Reatards and their mucky 8-track recordings make Blank Dogs seem like Rick Rubin. But their exact brand of pop bliss is harder to pin down: It's somewhere between the Soft Boys-style rapture-pop, the Clean-style kiwi kraziness and the riot-folk of This Bike Is A Pipe Bomb. "Don't Fit In My Head" is the lead track on a colorful 7-inch just released by Captured Tracks. The cover describes the track as "A song about ideas, and using a drill and a couple M-80s to get them out" and comes equipped with appropriately brain-exploding cover art by official "fourth member" Matthew Volz. The two-minute track it houses is equally explosive, if not with a bit of melancholy, trepidation and tape hiss.

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