Bands

Glasgow tell dark tales with a smile, tongue planted firmly in cheek. The Craft Brothers lead this producer of dramatic, progressive and quirky rock songs. They've managed to take their audience with them out of college--a solid feat.

www.myspace.com/glasgow
www.glasgowband.net
www.youtube.com/watch?v=EV_26hzZAa0
www.youtube.com/watch?v=PvTuPlOqgGY

Spickle is the sound of victory, the band I would storm a castle to. They're a sick, righteous instrumental chameleon that incorporates hard rock, sludge, and math mastery. You'll leave slackjawed.

www.myspace.com/spickle
www.youtube.com/watch?v=xCBb-NoDMlI
www.youtube.com/watch?v=EUdaZAGMO_Y

Some of A Living Soundtrack is space transistor waking music, and some of it sounds sounds like insanity in a psychedelic netherworld. A very electro--drumpad, Mac, two synthesizers, an occassional bass--band, even the acoustic drums sound like they're played by a robot.

www.myspace.com/alivingsoundtrack
www.alivingsoundtrack.com
www.youtube.com/watch?v=78ClmjhsY-M
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xTDG5KUKyt0

You heard it here, first: Rotary Downs is the best rock band in the world. Is there really anything that weird about imagining them opening for Wilco or Radiohead somewhere right now? No. Everything they do right: verbosity, dynamics, harmonies, acute attention to detail, Chris Columbo, etc. They can do short, hooky pop songs just as well as they do more epic yet mapped psychedelic excursions.

www.myspace.com/rotarydowns
www.rotarydowns.com
www.youtube.com/watch?v=VYA9I5pIDHk
www.youtube.com/watch?v=wrgcC5AHVfA
www.youtube.com/watch?v=ITals_xZl1w

Downtrodden and dark, The Happy Talk Band's blend of rock and country is always a good drinking partner. The head-bopping hooks and melodies provide a nice contrast, while the Irish barroom chants offer great catharsis. Also, you can live inside of Luke Allen's lyrics. They're working on their third album, and judging by "Legalize Suicide" and what I've heard live, it's gonna be great.

www.myspace.com/thehappytalkband
www.youtube.com/watch?v=vzghKn5Pjx0
www.youtube.com/watch?v=7S16QsjrB94
www.youtube.com/watch?v=CUCuA3KN5Jo

Big Blue Marble is a vehicle for Dave Fera's exceptional pop/rock songwriting. Lead guitarist Ike Aguilar, who brings equal doses beauty and power, has been the band's mainstay, and his southern rock influence is a perfect foil to Fera's base in '80's indie rock. Ferocious yet delicate, they are a local treasure and should be applauded more than they are.

www.myspace.com/bigbluemarble
www.youtube.com/watch?v=eRNn1WefS3c
www.youtube.com/watch?v=mhZGfXLZg-A

Felix is an irreverent, nihilistic, and crazed rock and roll band. Blind Texas Marlin's repressed anger is bubbling up, and is a pissed off bluesman, as a result. He twitches and yells above the pretty organ melodies and the pan and keg percussion.

www.myspace.com/felixnola

Narcissy is a loose garage rock trio that manages to be spectacular without letting on. The best part could be Jay Holland's acidic, matter-of-fact, slice-of-life commentary. Some songs are slower and surrounded by pot smoke, while others are more punk, almost metal. If you don't already love "The Ostrich Song," you will.

www.myspace.com/narcissy

It's weird when people talk like bands can't do a blues/rock duo now that the White Stripes have done it. Lovehog do it well, incorporating Beefheart and Waitsian elements to weird things out. There's a real sickness in this music, so it makes sense it's loud and invigorating.

www.myspace.com/lovehog
www.lovehog.com

Hairy Lamb provides a danceable soundtrack for socially awkard outsiders that still wanna get laid. The dark, freewheeling, immature, and eccentric group is made even weirder by petite singer Jeanne, who becomes just as evil as the boys. Witness Brooke Lamm's clogging and super awesome bass playing.

Rock City Morgue is a horror-themed rock n' roll band with metal leanings and a firm footing in the Cramps and Misfits-shaped world they grew up in. Though they're bound for guitar solos, the band's strongest material may be pianist Sean Yseult's ballads.

www.myspace.com/rockcitymorgue
www.last.fm/music/Rock+City+Morgue

Now that James Hall has moved away and Erik Corveau is out of a band for a second, I feel fine saying with certainty that Rik Slave is the best rock frontman in the city. His Phantoms are a 20 year-old soul and country-tinged rock group. They're a loose party starter, throwing out great Beatles, Kinks, and Stones covers.

www.myspace.com/rikslaveandthephantoms
www.sleazegrinder.com/SuicideNotesPhantoms.htm

Alex McMurray is good at expressing the cracks in between the human existence. His sardonic wit and heartfelt and gentle character pieces drive his solo work, The Tin Men--his guitar/sousaphone/washboard group(look for "Immigrant Song" and The Dirty Dozen's "Blaackbird Special"), and Royal Fingerbowl--a band that exists outside genres and captures the spirit and soul of the city so well that I wish they'd become a regular thing again.

www.myspace.com/alexmcmurray
www.alexmcmurray.com
www.youtube.com/watch?v=rOR8nmw97ro
vids.myspace.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=vids.individual&videoid=7290170
vids.myspace.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=vids.individual&videoid=7289997

At a recent One Eyed Jacks show for ten people at 2:30 a.m., Big Rock Candy Mountain showed thanks by going for throats and exhibiting a punk force. They exhausted themselves, holding nothing back. Their MySpace describes their music perfectly by just listing influences: The Dismemberment Plan, The Flaming Lips, Queens of the Stone Age, and Led Zeppelin.

www.myspace.com/bigrockcandymountain
blog.bigrockcandymountain.net/
www.bigrockcandymountain.net

It's easy and fun to get lost in the large sound of indie/folksters Silent Cinema. Micah McKee tells troubadour tales of lost friends, alcoholism, redemption, and hope, supplemented with electric guitars and horns. You'll fill up your lungs with these songs and never get tired of them.

www.myspace.com/silentcinema
www.silent-cinema.com
www.youtube.com/watch?v=nb-_ywzA8hA
www.youtube.com/watch?v=toCdpfOJnpA

New transports from Ruston recently picked up by Park The Van Records, Giant Cloud are a gentle and dreamy quintet with a romantic, Abbey Road feel. They do an awesome version of "Don't Let Me Down" to prove it. So delicate and pretty it'll put you in a daze, drifting away somewhere nice, sunflower breeze and soothing harmonies in an open field. Dig the barrelhouse piano.

www.myspace.com/giantcloudmusic
www.youtube.com/watch?v=DqploV35K80

Caddywhompus is a vibrant duo that is as equally liable to cause make-out sessions as they are to make you wanna throw your body against a wall. Sometimes herky, jerky, noisy and dancey and other times lilybed pop, the trippy, processed vocals add to the psych feel. They are loud and get to the root. Screw the audience. Dance your ass off.

www.myspace.com/caddywhompusband
www.youtube.com/watch?v=kTMr9M5Zm8E
www.youtube.com/watch?v=-LIdczQItlA
www.youtube.com/watch?v=UjuWiiIKH5Y

MyNameIsJohnMichael is a melodramatic pop/rock band shooting for the stars. They succeed with their big sound and larger energy. Leader John Michael Rouchell tirelessly engages the crowd, winning them to the music.

www.myspace.com/mynameisjohnmichael
mnijm.wordpress.com/
www.youtube.com/watch?v=8uOy7U2NiAo
www.youtube.com/watch?v=Lr0Xyb_3-Rg

I, Octopus is a local instrumental rock trio that goes from noise jams to a sophisticated, piano laced soundtrack for pot smoking in your big chair. They have an awesome sense of melody and ability for diversity. By changing their direction so many times, going quickly from one passage to another, they keep the listener at a welcome, anxious spot, wondering how many ways this could morph into something new.

www.myspace.com/ioctopus
www.youtube.com/watch?v=88J3TVoHjUA

White Colla Crimes is a joke band, a nine piece hip hop group dominated by whites that rap about crack, extortion, sex, and...office politics? Thankfully, they're as good at the funny as they are at music. It's straight out of the Dre/Snoop/B Boys playbook. Live, they bring the ruckus with a horn section and a huge bass and drums sound. "There's a bomb in the club/We gon blow this bitch up"

www.myspace.com/whitecolla
www.youtube.com/watch?v=TPHdOwIylpk
www.youtube.com/watch?v=KaKjv36Jyx8

Sick Like Sinatra is a trio that lip synchs and mimes on their instruments while their pre-recorded, synth heavy dance music plays through the PA. These theatrical vundurkinds use props(mannequins, a life-sized poster of Madonna) and lights and synchronized man-dancing to send one very important message: we're horny and we're ready to have sex with aliens.

www.myspace.com/sicklikesinatra
www.youtube.com/watch?v=9oMRM-Qf5IM

The Bruisers are a loose party band whose mix of country and New Orleans R&B is strengthened by Jason Goodman's formidable guitar work. Things are liable to get out of control real quick deep into a set, like a rollercoaster with no chance of slowing. Mary's yelling, then David's yellin', then everyone's yellin'. It's always fun.

www.myspace.com/lesbruisiersbruisersneworleans

Though they've been at it for more than fifteen years, The Geraniums remain the most unheralded, underrated band in the city. This is music that slices into your arm without you knowing--music to drown to. Vocalist Brendan Gallagher is a wonderful poet who creates a shameful yet indignant set for the music. They make sadness beautiful, and their bubbles of anxiety and frustration never, never, never pop.

www.myspace.com/thegeraniums
www.youtube.com/watch?v=Jqjg4S61z8k
www.youtube.com/watch?v=GBot0cTqd0c

A violin and two accordions, oh my! Skip the Zydepunks CD and get up close because this is a band to dance to, if you can stand the smelly mosh. This instrumental group are stalwarts of the Marigny/Bywater area and tour often. A mix of Cajun, hardcore, klezmer, Balkan, Irish, etc.

www.myspace.com/zydepunks
www.youtube.com/watch?v=LWdARvMtx-o
www.youtube.com/watch?v=LV4M4uwGHUA
www.youtube.com/watch?v=GvnE8Q8i4aU

Steve Eck and The Midnight Still are stuck in purgatory. There's a celebratory hopelessness in the songs about needles, booze, guns, and busted love--a feeling that the only way to beat the darkness is go a little further into it. Eck's haunting songs hinge on his dramatic, deep drawl and the sheer creepiness that comes with the melange of an accordion, banjo, and acoustic guitar.

www.myspace.com/steveeck

The Junior League is a group influenced by Sloan and The Minus 5, and of course, The Beatles. I think of them when I think of pop rock. They play upbeat songs but also soulful love ballads. Listen to "Beautiful Room is Empty" or "Let Me Win," and go see leader Joe Adragna's Monkees cover band, The Missing Links.

www.myspace.com/juniorleague

Wazozo features bandleader Helen Gillet singing traditional french songs by artists such as Georges Brassens and Edith Piaf, brought to life with cello, guitar, violin, and harp. Walking inside from a Twitter world, you will relax and change moods. Some songs are more danceable and upbeat, while lopers make you swear you're sitting in a French cafe pondering romance.

www.myspace.com/wazozo
www.youtube.com/watch?v=cDtHMCUweHQ

The Tomatoes are a power pop band that mix handclaps with alienation and angst. Their intense live show has a lot of punk energy, so much so that I'm waiting for a drum rim or guitar strings to draw blood. I like their raw, grunge sounding first album, but I also like their cleaner, synthesizer-laden, more epic new songs. Check out "The Futurist."

www.myspace.com/thetomatoes
www.thetomatoes.net
www.youtube.com/user/thetomatoes#p/u/0/bkxVzM22Of4
www.youtube.com/user/thetomatoes#p/u/3/fpJ0nOULSZU

The Public is a dark, dance rock band that harbors traces of goth and britpop--the kind of group growly bass was made for. The dramatic whispers about daliances and headweight set the mood, but Jack Champagne's efficient, cutting guitar lines drive the sound. They get better each time I see them.

www.myspace.com/thepublic
www.wearethepublic.com

Earplugs are a must for the aggressive and loud instrumental duo called High in One Eye. They constantly change direction, and it seems like snippets of songs are sewn together to form their hardcore/jazz sound. The two are right on top of one another throughout, showing a sick, intuitive connection. Make a mean face.

www.myspace.com/highinoneeye
www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZqD3wC-UkVY
www.youtube.com/watch?v=etjg7cwl55w

Would you like hard rock from four women that sneer sexy, uninhibited party songs about sex, drugs, and leather? Manwitch, at your service. Blistering guitar solos from Laurie Shefsky add weight to catchy riffs from vocalist/guitarist Sue Ford. They used to do a great cover of Nirvana's "Aneurysm." They've gelled much since then.

www.myspace.com/manwitch

Glorybee is anxious, sweet, and angry pop/rock/hip hop with pretty vocal harmonies from outer space and a free jazz attitude. You want weird? You got weird. Lead singer Nancy Kang will get in your face, right after she offers you a chicken mcnugget on a stick. "Are you Chinese?"

www.myspace.com/glorybeeglorybee
www.youtube.com/watch?v=2vtGszOtGNQ
www.youtube.com/watch?v=YEBFhuAzW2A

Dance yourself into a psych synth haze with The Buttons. Some of the music is cold, robotic, and German-sounding, and some is hot, dirty, nasty, funky, and wrong(in the best way). As many electro groups are, the duo are fans of the visuals. One night at The Dragon's Den they passed a box-shaped, old synthesizer with wires running in and out of it off as a real one.

www.myspace.com/thebuttonsnola
vimeo.com/4932683
www.backporchrevolution.com/artist.php?id=15

Known for his ability to manufacture a sweaty dance party, Quintron's crowd-pleasing but bizarro aural candy mixes electro, hip hop, and R&B with the help of his synth organ and custom made drum machine. Miss Pussycat provides back-up vocals and percussion. I'm still waiting for that Quintron/Ballzack collaboration.

www.quintronandmisspussycat.com
www.myspace.com/mrquintron
vimeo.com/2067198
vimeo.com/2070770

Ballzack is a bounce-influenced former stand-up with the funniest rhymes out there, along with a jones for nostalgia and local culture--especially if it has to do with The Westbank. What keeps 'em coming back are his beats and music, which Beck should be proud of. His concerts are straight-up parties, and because he's so self-deprecating and laid back onstage, even his lyrical flubs are golden.

www.myspace.com/ballzacknola
www.youtube.com/watch?v=WsVfWHPq3ng
vimeo.com/1700524
www.youtube.com/watch?v=usYZ3Wuu9gY

Naked on the Floor is a smaller version(six or seven instead of fifteen) of The Naked Orchestra, which offers original avant jazz compositions. The quality of the players is astounding--Albert, Garrison, Walsh, Green, Singleton, Gillet, Coogan, etc.--and it allows leader Jonathan Freilich to trust they'll know when to keep to the charts and when to improv. Try not to be dumbfounded and/or inspired.

www.jazzweekly.com/reviews/naked_naked.htm
www.jeffalbert.com/naked/

Well, it's a good start when the best bassist(James Singleton) and best pedal steel player(Dave Easley) in the city are in the same group--3 Now 4. This modern jazz(a nice fallback designation) quartet is alternately dreamy, filled with sadness, post-bob frenzied, and spooky. They weave in and out of styles and genres easily, and they know when not to play, a true value. Trust me--you can't lose.

www.louisianamusicfactory.com/showoneprod.asp?ProductID=123
www.youtube.com/watch?v=UHmXqZFgh20
www.youtube.com/watch?v=X-xmSiMZmac

A bass/drums rock duo of all nihilistic attitude, Bones is raw hump mixed with ennui and drug use. Michael Miller and Scott Campbell's slithery, degenerate charm complements the fuzz(Flying V) bass and cymbal-heavy songs very well. Their dirty jokes make my inner high schooler happy. If you don't take yourself too seriously, you'll enjoy their irreverent take on sex, death, and religion.

www.myspace.com/bones

The Myrtles play plaintive and tortured country/indie pop that gets a sunny reprieve when guitarist Lee Barbier floats his love of classic rock and when he straps on a mandolin. No matter how defeated the lyrics are, the music is catchy, and the five-piece band produces a large sound that'll make you move a bit. Good songs, man. It all comes back to good songs.

www.myspace.com/themyrtles

The great thing about this jazz/noise/rock band One Man Machine is that their vision is constantly evolving, and that discovery and experimentation and improv are the modus operandi. Leader Bernard Pearce floats the band over rough patches with his commitment and love for the journey and his hope that people want to experience it, too, bruises and all. Expect looping, drone rhythms, and sporadic psychedelic enveloping.

www.myspace.com/onemanmachine
www.dailymotion.com/video/x17x9m_one-man-machine_music

The White Bitch's inventive pre-programmed beats free him up to loop his guitar or play the Moog while he kicks out the jams or offers up his unique blend of falsetto-assisted white boy soul and hip hop. He's a free jazz noise dude at heart, and sidekick Ray Bong is just the guy to make sure things stay unhinged. TWB is one of the best rock guitarists in town.

www.myspace.com/thecreamywhitebitch
www.youtube.com/watch?v=WpbqEHFMtjw
www.youtube.com/watch?v=88f4GRs1X6s

The Other Planets are jazz dudes that take on all genres, flowing as they wish between them. This seven piece(saxophone, bass, keys, sampler, sequencer, drums, etc.) create orchestral, highly detailed worlds of sound, only to quickly discard one to reach another. Their acidic and irreverent sense of humor is a boon to the music.

www.myspace.com/theotherplanets
www.theotherplanets.com
vids.myspace.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=vids.individual&videoid=1847683

The Bingo! Show's mix of theatrics and music thrives because everything about it is impeccable: the color schemes, the costumes, the lighting, the music, the performers--Ronnie Numbers, Mr. The Turk, and Veve LaRoux are all very good at what they do. Clint Maedgen's songs are love letters to New Orleans, something sickly sweet for the ear.

www.neworleansbingoshow.com/Site/The_New_Orleans_Bingo!_Show.html
www.myspace.com/thebingoshow
www.youtube.com/watch?v=yU649Kwp8mE
www.youtube.com/watch?v=VbAEtsZ8fhs

Schizophrenic mania never sounded so good. Metronome The City are dark, instrumental jazz/noise rockers that take the listener on a twisting nightmarish journey of which the end can never be seen. The projections behind them move just as fast as the music, freaking your mind out even further.

www.metronomethecity.com
www.myspace.com/metronomethecity
www.vimeo.com/2457864
www.youtube.com/watch?v=qYwmruDRZ2E

Suplecs is easily one of the best metal groups in the city, and their powerhouse, groove-heavy music will make you feel like you just got caught in a storm and are about to be quartered by the air. Five words: shredding, loud, headbanging, rock horns. I'm pretty sure they play the best cover of "I Want You(She's So Heavy)" in the history of the world. For fans of High on Fire, Melvins, and Blue Cheer.

www.myspace.com/suplecs
www.youtube.com/watch?v=WwK1vNT3uTI
www.youtube.com/watch?v=DHqkILcJBIw

Time freezes, the world relaxes for a second, and you get lost. Using banjo, accordion, horns, fiddle, percussion, and bass, Hurray for The Riff Raff play dark tunes that muse and caution on street life. The slower, more delicate ones("Little Things," "Junebug Waltz," and "Fly Away") are favorites. Leader Alydna Lee's voice is beautiful, and her songs are heartbreaking.

www.myspace.com/hurrayfortheriffraff
vimeo.com/7051274
vimeo.com/2771172

If punk had started in New Orleans, Why Are We Building Such a Big Ship? is what it would have sounded like. Bursting with life and stompingly danceable, this music occurs where folk meets brass. Leader Walt McClements' voice has an urgent, swim-or-die theatricality, while the tone of the instrumentals is more carefree and fun.

www.myspace.com/whyarewebuildingsuchabigship
www.youtube.com/watch?v=aFi0CvyIerw
www.youtube.com/watch?v=1xRVQHizdB0

Chef Menteur is a local experimental and instrumental rock group from which you’re as likely to hear the hum of an oscillator as you are an acoustic guitar, banjo, xylophone, synthesizer or theremin. Some songs are lighthearted and full of wonder, some are majestically ominous, and some a cross between peace and the apocalypse. They're journeys and escapes. Chef Menteur’s not just playing around with knobs—-they’re coming into their art and doing things no one else has.

www.backporchrevolution.com/artist.php?id=2
www.youtube.com/watch?v=Wc7yW8CRA8k
www.youtube.com/watch?v=o4MU5OlEHOo

Little Freddie King will wow you with his roadhouse, wheel-gone-off-the-track blues and his high energy dance moves and showmanship. The 68 year-old is known for throwing his leg over his guitar as he skips along the stage. Try standing still.

www.myspace.com/littlefreddieking
www.youtube.com/watch?v=2ESBkT6_hZA
www.youtube.com/watch?v=fNFg1hJoLx8

I thought of Death From Above 1979 the first time I heard Microshards because J. Microshard's dance-oriented yet dark and nasty low bass sound was reminiscent. This death disco instrumental group also includes a drum machine, loop pedals, and legendary musician Ratty Scurvics on synthesizer.

www.myspace.com/themicroshards

King Louie's longevity in New Orleans music(and beyond) can be attributed to his songwriting talent. Some bands he's in or has been: Missing Monuments, The Black Rose Band, Royal Pendletons, King Louie One Man Band, Exploding Hearts, King Louie and The Loose Diamonds, Kajun SS, Kondor, Bipolaroid, etc.

www.myspace.com/kinglouieandhisrocknroll
www.youtube.com/watch?v=1IpUryxC5Us
www.youtube.com/watch?v=YSZ8Da9-3P0
www.youtube.com/watch?v=1LMNTNaTlZ0

Where else but in New Orleans will you find a rock band altered by brass instruments and folk sleaze? I love veteran sextet Egg Yolk Jubilee for their irreverence, both in their mix of styles and lyrical subject matter(it's not safe for work). One second they're playing a straight Dixieland romp and the next they're blasting a Sabbath cover. What's not to love?

www.myspace.com/eggyolkjubileemusicband
www.eggyolkjubilee.com
www.youtube.com/watch?v=u_9y7qvswIk
www.youtube.com/watch?v=a8ESqcG09Rg

After B.R. band The Eames Era broke up, Ted Joyner and Grant Widmer moved to New Orleans and formed Generationals, later recruiting former Deadboy and The Elephantmen drummer Tess Brunet. The group released their first album, Con Law, on Park The Van Records and have been touring frequently on their unique pop rock sound. I hear '60's rock, soul and girl group references, along with horns, voice and guitar reverb, keys, etc. Sounds great. Check out "Exterior Street Day."

www.myspace.com/generationals
www.generationals.com
www.youtube.com/watch?v=KRzCXWh8ysM