A few weeks ago Shortstack came out of hiding and performed a show at Comet Ping Pong. I went here instead. Fortunately, All Our Noise was there and shot some footage of the band. And they’re rocking out. The band’s past couple of releases–History of Cut Nails in America and 2008’s Covers EP–had some grit, but this clip has some real aggro-Creedence stuff going on.

Bite Sized Sets at Comet: Shortstack from All Our Noise on Vimeo.

We’ll skip the obvious joke about band titles with double v’s and say that indie rock seems to really love its noise these days: Nottingham, England’s Lovvers, however, serve up a much more elemental tonic to the brainier stuff we’ve become used to on this side of the pond. As part of its first U.S. tour, the group plays tomorrow at Comet Ping Pong with Small Doses and Cigarbox Planetarium.

The influences listed on Lovvers’ MySpace seem to shuffle through the dirtiest examples early ’80s American punk rock (The Germs, Wipers, The Real Kids), and since forming in 2006, the band has earned a raucous live reputation—its promotional material proudly quotes a letter to the editor in Kerrang! describing one performance as “highly offensive.” In other words: Expect young, loud, and snotty.

Read More “Live Friday: Lovvers @ Comet Ping Pong” »

Mary Timony, local guitar hero, has a new band—Soft Power. The band—originally called Pow Wow—will come as a blessing to Timony fans. The quartet’s sound hews toward the more angular rock of her Helium heyday with some well-studied kraut and psych flourishes thrown in. So far, Soft Power has posted two songs—”La La La” and “Izabella”—posted to its myspace page.

Timony is joined by band members Jonah Takagi, Winston Yu, and T.J. Lipple. It looks like the band will be playing Comet Ping Pong on June 20 and Fort Reno in July. [Timony's website puts the Comet show at June 19].

Read More “Mary Timony To Debut New Band—Soft Power” »

Sometimes, after you’ve logged some 15 hours on, say, Super Mario Bros. III, you start making up your own lyrics to a video game’s annoying, yet surprisingly hooky, built-in soundtrack. Sometimes these are about events that take place withing the game: “Watch out/here come the spikes/they’re going to get you/no, they’re not.” Other times, you make up words about whatever is on your mind.

This seems like the origin of Ear Pwr’s asthetic. The Baltimore duo’s new record, Super Animal Bros. III, features songs about sweaters, animals, and animal video games, all set to bleeping crunky synthesizers. But like the Mega-Man themes of old, they do stick in your mind.

Ear Pwr / Exactly/ Adventure @ Comet Ping Pong
Fri. May 22nd, 10 pm, $10
5037 Connecticut Ave

Music fans and demolition aficionados alike are already well aware of filmmaker Brendan Canty (of Fugazi fame) and Christoph Green’s Burn to Shine DVD series–which generally involves the duo traveling to a city, getting a bunch of bands to perform in a house, then videotaping that house as it’s getting knocked down by city authorities.

However, their latest project, feature-length Wilco concert film Ashes of American Flags,
involves more concert footage and less out-and-out destruction. The film will be screened Saturday night at The Avalon at 7 pm, as part of the DC International Film Festival (There is a second screening on April 25 at 4:30pm), should you want to check it out. If you’d rather enjoy it in the comfort of your own home, there’s a chance that you can just drop by your local independent record store and buy it on DVD as part of Record Store Day.

Read More “Wilco DVD Release @ Comet Ping Pong” »

Here at City Paper, we like us some Extra Golden. At least that’s how it seems, looking back into the archives. There’s a feature, a blog post, or a review dedicated to just about every stage of the bi-continental afro-rock band’s existence. With good reason, though. With its members split between Nairobi, Kenya, Chicago, and DC, Extra Golden tends to make a more interesting than, say, your average gang of suburban jangle-rockers. Not to mention, it’s one-part local. We have to cling to what we’ve got these days.

Extra Golden will be performing tonight at Comet Ping Pong, and instead of writing some pithy preview, I’ve opted to create a Washington City Paper/Extra Golden primer of sorts. Links below.

Extra Golden @ Comet Ping Pong
5037 Connecticut Ave. NW
$12, doors 9 pm.

–Postrock and a Hard Place

–Rockers Without Borders

–Kenya Unrest Hits Extra Golden

–Thank You Very Quickly

Also, check out Michaelangelo Matos’ recent feature in Baltimore City Paper.

Last weekend, while attending the Blues Control show, I realized that Comet Ping Pong has a pretty nice sound-system. It’s big and boomy, the kind of thing that blows Marty McFly across the room at the beginning of Back to the Future.

It certainly did the trick for Blues Control’s burbling sonic-gravy, but it will be even more appropriate
for tonight’s Lovefingers/Lee Douglas/Beautiful Swimmers throwdown. Nu-Disco will no doubt be blasting loud and clear, making Cleveland Park just little more decadent, at least for a night.

If you want a taste, check out Beautiful Swimmers’ mix, which is streaming here.

Lovefingers/Lee Douglas/Beautiful Swimmers @ Comet Ping Pong
5037 Connecticut Ave, NW DC
9:30PM – 3AM
FREE!!!

In a late-January installment of Leakproof, Black Plastic Bag linked to a new track by Queens-based duo Blues Control, taken from the their forthcoming full-length on Siltbreeze (which, according to their Twitter feed, was finished and mixed on March 11th). With a splintered drum machine splayed against lazy keyboards, intermittent cowbell, and spaghetti guitar lines, a listen to “Tenku You” might make one wonder how such a performance would translate live — especially with only two people running the operation. Wonder no longer, because Russ Waterhouse and Lea Cho will bring their sluggish psychedelia to Comet Ping Pong tonight for a free show in the pizza joint/bar/ping pong wonderland/venue’s ongoing concert series.

Supporting for Blues Control will be The Cheniers, a D.C.-based trio who deliver slacker rock in a style recalling veteran lo-fi champions Wingtip Sloat (also from northern-VA), crossed with today’s buzz-heavy new wave in the vein of Times New Viking and Australia’s Eddy Current Suppression Ring. Also on the bill is D.C. duo Protect-U, consisting of Mike Petillo and City Paper’s own Aaron Leitko. I have no idea what they sound like, but judging from their Myspace, I’m pretty sure there’s a Roland TR-707 involved. Details for the show below.

Read More “Tonight @ Comet Ping Pong: Blues Control” »

Sao Paolo, Brazil garage rockers Garotas Suecas weren’t bad Saturday night at Comet Ping Pong—I liked their organ-enhanced covers of “Respect,” Os Mutantes “A Minha Menina” (the one in the McDonald’s commercial) and Sly Stone “I Want to Take You Higher”—but the best music of the night came from the turntables of dj Neville Chamberlain (aka Neal Becton). Who knew Brazil had so much great psychedelia? Plus Chamberlain also played nice samba and tropicalia. Chamberlain, who’s also the proprietor of SOM Records, filled me in by e-mail on some of the music he was playing:

Novos Baianos – “Samba da Minha Terra” ; Os Increveis – “Vendedor de Bananas” ; Roberto Carlos – “É Proibido Fumar” ; Wilson das Neves – “Cloud Nine” ; Bebeto – “Princesa Negra De Angola”; Rita Lee- “Agora e Moda” ; and Wanderlea – “Kriola.

This town usually only gets a handful of Brazilian acts per year, but Thursday night is a doubleheader. Rio’s Marcio Local will be doing a dinnertime gig at the Kennedy Center while Sao Paolo’s Garotas Suecas will be appearing later, along with local DJ Neville Chamberlain, at Comet Ping Pong.

Local’s new “Marcio Local says, “Don Dree Don Day Don don”: Adventures in Samba Soul” on Luaka Bop won’t be officially released until May 12th, but this 32 year-old’s offerings with his band on myspace sound promising. Local says he’s trying to deliver a 2009-style combination of Jorge Ben and Banda Black Rio. That means vibrant, sunny Portuguese melodies over funky keys, bass, and percussion grooves with horns booming in and out.

Garotas Suecas’ version of samba is filtered through the Brazilian tropicalia movement and garage rock. Suecas feature shouted vocals with a touch of classic Brazilian lilt along with mid-sixties guitar, organ, and harmonica sounds inspired by both UK and American acts. Expect Chamberlain’s pre- and post-band spinning to tie together multiple Brazilian genres both old and new.

Marcio Local performs from 6 to 7 at the Kennedy Center Millennium Stage, 2700 F. St. NW. Free.

Garotas Suecas and DJ Neville Chamberlain will be at Comet Ping Pong beginning at 9 p.m. at 5037 Connecticut Ave. NW, Tickets: $10. Doors: 9pm.