MAY CALENDAR!!! (Sorry we've been lazy)

It's been a crazy couple of weeks.  We'll hopefully be getting some new interviews up shortly but in the meantime here is the most awesome shows coming up in the next few weeks.  Also, Happy Mother's Day to Mom's.  Alien and I both have rad moms so make sure to appreciate yours today.

Sunday May 8 - HUNX AND HIS PUNX w. Shannon and the Clams @ Urban Lounge - $8!!

***GO TO THIS SHOW!!!
Monday May 9 - of Montreal @ In the Venue - $19.50

Tuesday May 10 - Raekwon the Chef @ Club Elevate - $15

Wednesday May 11 - Vivian Girls w. No Joy @ Kilby Court - $10!!!

***If you want to stay in Salt Lake this night then definitely go see this show.  Should be incredible, unfortunately I will be in Provo at...
Wednesday May 11 - WET HAIR & BROKEN WATER @ THE COMPOUND IN PROVO!!!!!!!

***I'm so excited about this show.  If at all possible go to this show.  Both bands are INCREDIBLE and they're playing in a freaking CONDO!!

Sunday May 15 - Crystal Stilts w. Plastic Furs @ Urban Lounge - $12

Sunday May 15 - Jimmy Eat World @ In the Venue - $30

Friday May 20 - MAN MAN @ In the Venue - $15

Sunday May 22 - Guitar Wolf @ Urban Lounge - $12

Tuesday May 24 - This Will Destroy You, Pure X (formerly Pure Ecstasy) & Sleep Over @ Kilby Court - $12

***Super awesome line-up for this show.  All these bands are excellent.

Wednesday May 25 - Radio Moscow, Spell Talk w. Max Pain & the Groovies @ Urban Lounge - $10!!!

***Incredible psych line-up.  Should be a blast.

Friday May 27 - The Devil Whale CD Release @ Urban Lounge - $7

***One of the best local bands releases their long awaited album.  Great live band and just all around nice dudes.

Saturday May 28 - Morning Teleportation @ The Woodshed - $8

That's IT!!!!  Lots of fantastic shows this month.  I'm most excited for Hunx, Wet Hair & Broken Water, Pure X, Spell Talk and Max Pain & the Groovies.  All these shows will be awesome though.

Happy Easter!!!

Vile Blue Shades - John Thursday(yes those are vaginas) *caution* listening to this album may cause increased heart rate, uncontrollable movement of the limbs and painfully hard erections!

 

So i woke up this morning with a Vile Blue Shades song stuck in my head, i think it was Jesus' way of trying to get me to go repent cause every show of theirs i went to was full of sin and debauchery.  Thats what their show were though.  Drunk, sweaty dance parties with lots of friends. lots of ass shaking. and lots of licking strangers faces.  Click the link below the pic to buy their LP, seriously though its doesnt do their live show justice.

Its been almost a year since they played their last show at Urban Lounge (and each day that passes my party soul dies a little more.)   They were the best live band EVER.  Ryan missed like two versus in this song but no one there even noticed cause we were all having such a great fucking time.  So get drunk or do drugs watch this video and go bang your girlfriend/boyfriend/orstranger if you dont then youre totally missing the point. 

Such a great weekend!

It's officially my new favorite holiday.  Miguel, the wife and I had a great day visiting Graywhale, Randy's Records and Slowtrain.  We got to see friends, hear bands and buy some super awesome records.  My favorites we got: Television, Grateful Dead, both Black Angels, Sacred Bones Comp and also found two old Black Flag LP's at Graywhale for cheap.  Wonderful day.  The weekend started off lame with Phosphorescent having to cancel his show due to weather but was immediately brought back to life with Moon Duo being ridiculous at Kilby Court. 
Working on some interviews for the next couple of weeks and also some concert reviews.
We hope you all got out and celebrated the holiest of days this past Saturday but if not remember any day has the chance to be record store day.

Phosphorescent is Tomorrow at Urban Lounge

I think this picture is pretty representative of Phosphorescent's sound.  Stripped down jams wrapped in soft hues perfect for when you've just woken up.  Matthew Houck has recorded three great albums and will be playing selections from them tomorrow night at Urban Lounge.

His label was nice enough to share some mp3's so check him out and see if he floats your boat:  Mermaid Parade and It's Hard To Be Humble (When You're From Alabama)
 Check him out live:

Only $12 at the door.

MOON DUO!!!

In 2009 Ripley Johnson, of the uber-rad Wooden Shjips, and Sanae Yamada formed the incredible psychedelic band Moon Duo.  With Mazes, their new record available here and at Slowtrain, they have let some light into their drone jams that populated their first releases.  I was able to interview Ripley about the band and about coming to Kilby Court on Friday night (ONLY $10!!) through the magic of electronic mail so check it out:

Bad News Bear: Are you originally from San Francisco or did you migrate there to be around like minded folk?

Ripley Johnson: I'm originally from New England and moved to California to go to college.  But there was definitely a romantic notion that California would be full of like-minded people, being a big fan of the beats and all things psychedelic at the time.

BNB: San Francisco seems to be producing all my favorite bands lately, from Fresh & Onlys to Thee Oh Sees to you guys I just seem to love anything made out there.  What do you see in the community that seems to inspire such amazing creativity?

RJ: It is a community that is very supportive of the arts, even though financially it is now a very difficult place for artists to survive.  But it is a very open and free place, a comfortable place to let your freak flag fly.

BNB: So you formed Moon Duo in 2009 and have been incredibly prolific since with two incredible EP's, a couple of singles and your first full length, Mazes, which just came out at the end of March.  Is this a pace you plan on keeping up?

RJ: I hope so.  We'd like to continue to release smaller records in between LP's.  I like to maintain that flow of creativity, unhampered by label release schedules.  I was reminded on the radio yesterday that Creedence released their first four albums in the span of two years.  Pretty incredible.

BNB: Were a lot of these songs already kicking around in your head before the band started or was the chemistry just super strong right from the start?

RJ:  The template for the band, which is very basic, was there but not the songs.  It's Sanae's first band so it was easy to establish a good working process from the start.  There was no baggage and lots of enthusiasm.

BNB: Mazes is great on its own but seems intended to be consumed with an intoxicant or two, which would you recommend for optimal enjoyment?

RJ: I'm no doctor but right now I'm really into iced tea.

BNB: As a fellow beard enthusiast, what recommendations would you have for any of our readers about beard upkeep?

RJ: Shaving requires effort.  Growing does not.  Eat your vegetables.

BNB:  What would make for your ideal concert here in Salt Lake?

RJ: Lots of happy folks dancing. 

(Editor's note: That's on you folks!  Come to the show.  Info here.)

BNB: What bands led to you becoming a musician?

RJ: My dad had a huge and varied record collection.  It seemed completely random.  Lot's of good stuff but lot's of complete crap too.  I picked out the early Stones, Neil Young, Bob Dylan, ? and the Mysterians.  It was the Stones mostly that made me want to play guitar.

BNB: What are the bands today you're most excited about?

RJ: Cave, Purling Hiss, Coconuts, Fabulous Diamonds, Peaking Lights, Sun Araw.

BNB: and finally, will my dream of a Wooden Shjips/Moon Duo tour ever happen?

RJ: We've done a couple of shows together out of necessity over in Europe but it's way too much work for me.  So it's very unlikely.

AND THAT'S IT!!!

Don't miss this show.  Every song these two have put out so far have been incredible so I expect that the show will live up to that standard.  Once again, it's at Kilby Court on Friday.  It's $10!!!

Awesome Bandcamp Gold!!!

Both of these great albums are name your own price so if you dig what you hear throw them some sheckles.
Thomas Hunter and White China Gold - White China Gold (HIGHLY RECOMMENDED)

Super awesome, soulful folky cool stuff.  I love this album, it's so damn good.

Albino Father - Blanket

Awesome local band.  They opened for Sic Alps at Subterranean.  Really cool garagey goodness.  I love this stuff, it's just so pretty.  GET IT GET IT!!

I've been thinking a lot about this lately...

The Jazz suck pretty bad lately but I'm crazy excited about the future.  They're super young, have two lottery picks and a 7'2" guy coming from Europe who would be the first pick this year if he was eligible.  I have no delusions of a championship next year but if the ping pong balls show us some love we could be freaking awesome in two or three years.
I know this is a music blog but it's also a Salt Lake blog and Alien and I love us some Utah Jazz so don't be surprised to see more stuff about them.