Sax Appeal: The Brian St. John Quartet

Fresh out of New Jersey comes The Brian Saint John Quartet, a foursome folk-rock band with a sound that is strangely mellow and upbeat at the same time. The name makes these sharply dressed guys seem uber sophisticated and prestigious, like you'd hear an elementary school orchestra butcher covers of their songs on a monthly basis, but the music, although refined and tight with barely any frills, is anything but boring, with splashes of sax and other instruments you rarely hear in mainstream music nowadays. It's a little bit pop with catchy vocal harmonies and loveable lyrics, and it's a little bit rock with it's inherent energy, but it's not pop rock; it's got it's own funk...just like the water in Jersey where this up-and-coming quartet hails from.

Upon hearing the opening licks to "There Must Be More," I was reminded of a mellow party, sitting on a couch, stoned out of my mind...and content with my life. Brian's voice is akin to Bob Dylan's...if Bob Dylan didn't suck at singing.

Their influences include musicians, authors, poets, and girls who break hearts, all of which are audible in my personal favorite song, "Shame On Me." A bit slower than the rest, this song exudes a resigned confidence in a future love after a rough break up. The lyrics are depressing but at the same time oddly uplifting, since the overall idea of the song is being able to get over a bad break up. Kudos must also be given for the jazz sax complimenting the 1950's movie references ("A Streetcar Named Desire").

Checking these guys out is a must! Shame on us for not being able to make it to a show, but you should check them out on March 20 at The Box in Washington, New Jersey.

S.W.A.K. and The Black Tie Party at Potion 2.28.09

Last Saturday I went to Potion Cafe in Brooklyn, NY to see S.W.A.K. and The Black Tie Party, and let me tell you, it's been a long time since I've had so much fun at a show! First of all, the venue is tiny, so the forty-something (rough guesstimate... I'm bad with those things) people that were there filled it to its breaking point.

SWAK went on first amidst torrents of feedback and squeals that they said was their soundcheck....
Let's just say the entire night was LOUD!  It was their first show ever (they formed in December 08') and they blew the fucking roof off the place. Pure energy. Anthony pounded the drumkit with a fury that, frankly, I dont think the fisher price toy was ready for. Every so often youd see pieces of it flying off, and Anthony using any free limb he could spare fixing the drums while playing them, what coordination!
Reggie layed down some solid, fuzzy, loveable bass lines... and WHA? all with a broken hand... that's some punk shit right there:

Sydney, apparently quite the smartass, made the show seem like less of a show, and more like you were busting in and partying your ass off at one of their practices (not that it's a bad thing). You could barely hear the vocals, and all you could see was a barely discernable angry looking guy screaming behind a wall of hair over his face. Only things I could understand him say were "LOUIE LOUIE!" and "nah,... fuck that I dont want to play that song... let's do the next one"

this may sound like I'm shedding them in a bad light, but trust me, their philosophy of energy above quality really works for them. I couldn't help dancing my ass off to it all night!
They ended with a Stooges cover (T.V. Eye) and somewhere at the end of the song, we all lost Sydney, who was going apeshit screaming and strumming his guitar in a reckless manner. Then he lost it too, diving into the drumset and ending the song, and the drum hardware.

The Black Tie Party came on soon after the thinning of the crowd after SWAK's set, and beefed it right back up again. They had us all dancing and moshing to what sounded like 60's underground garage hopped up on amphetamines from outer space!

It's was their first show in four months, and we're all glad they're back on the scene.
Jay's catchy guitar hooks seemed a lot less poppy coming from a heavily distorted seemingly busted amplifier. And his Jack White esque vocals made the music that much more energetic and frantic!

Adam, not bound by his mic, unless he was chiming in with Jay, had more of a chance to run around, jumping off his amplifier and showing off that reckless abandon that you only had the balls to do back when having scraped knees was a playground battle wound!
Jesse... I have to give Jesse props... not only for amazing drumming at his first show with Black Tie Party, but being able to drum period. On the set that had been in tatters only ten minutes before his set, he somehow fixed it up and made it obey his every whim... sometimes you just have to beat these things into submission I guess.
The kit however, didnt want to cooperate on their last song.
Sydney (remember him?) went to fix it,
And somehow, him, Jay, and Jesse all wound up swimming in a sea of broken drums and feedack.

this is more a warning than a review: Lock up any valueables you have, when any of these guys are around... they love breaking things.

Welcome to the Jungle

I just moved to NYC from Los Angeles, and the biggest change that I have had to deal with is the music scene! I spent most of my time in LA lurking on and around Sunset Strip digging the music there, and when I moved to New York, it seemed like good Rock N Roll was hard to find! But that was because I didnt know where to look. That's why I started this blog, to review and promote bands that are all about great music and great times. If you are in or know of any bands that you would like to promote, just contact me and I will check them out!!