TUESDAY: Meinong’s Jungle Album Release Show
Meinong’s Jungle was formed in January of 2014 by Sam Rivkin, Eric VanderVorste, and Nicholas Voltaggio after nearly a decade making music together in various combinations and projects. Gigging locally around Minneapolis over the course of the next year the band honed in on a cohesive sound all its own. Using Ableton Live to loop acoustic-electric-drums, keyboards, guitars, percussion, and anything else they decide to add to their ever-evolving spaceship of gear, the trio creates a unique set of improvised music each night. 2015 brought a host of dates in Minneapolis, as well as North Dakota, Wisconsin, and several festival appearances, notably at Infrasound Music Festival. Looking forward, 2016 promises the release of their debut full-length LP, Archetype, a follow up LP, and more dates throughout the midwest and beyond.
Sounds like: Ratatat, Hot Chip
WEDNESDAY: Mary Bue | Laura Nicholson
MARY BUE: Holy Bones is an indie-pop, musical commentary regarding a frazzled & hungry society. Written primarily on electric guitar with thick bass & rock ‘n roll drums, her new sound is fresher and lighter even when exploring the shadows of the modern American psyche. Mary Bue’s 6th studio album is a creative shift from her typical piano-driven singer-songwriting, funded in part by a career development grant from the Arrowhead Regional Arts Council of Minnesota. The impetus for Holy Bones sprang out nightmares of cleaving a grand piano in half with a table saw. Sassy and full of fire and joy, the songs explore themes like simplicity, following your bliss, mindfulness and love as well as darker shades of human experience – addiction, family dysfunction, mortality and the inhumane treatment of animals. Pop-punk track “Cheribum” sings of a child angel digging around in the dump for love letters, Veal is sung from the perspective of a calf confined and going to slaughter, to “certainly never jump over the moon.” Archaeology is a wistful, country-esque love song about the history told by examining a troubled couple’s recycling bin. Holy Bones is a reflection of the shattered attention spans which swirl in modern American life, the enormous pressure we carry to attain wealth and success, and the ultimate bliss of letting go.
Sounds like: Andi Star, Jennifer Nash, Anne Heaton
LAURA NICHOLSON: When you have a dream that won’t leave you alone, it can be terrifying. And sometimes it’s not easy to say out loud. But when singer-songwriter, Laura Nicholson finally shed the fear and dropped nearly everything to pursue her passion for music and songwriting, the doors began to open immediately. The up-and-coming songstress brings her positive, adventurous approach to life into her songs. Her lyrics are sweet, uninhibited, and relatable. Over the past two years, Nicholson has been traveling back and forth between her home town of Minneapolis and Nashville, TN, to hone her writing craft and begin the process of recording her debut album. Teaming up with hit songwriter/producer Roland Gaalswyk (Cassadee Pope “Wasting All These Tears”) and singer-songwriter Caitlyn Smith (Lady Antebellum, Jason Aldean, Rascal Flatts), the three of them, along with a few more of Nashville’s finest, wrote dozens of songs for Nicholson’s debut project. “I love connecting to people through my music,” Nicholson says. “I write love songs, songs about the good times and the bad times.” Between finishing college and writing trips, she’s been playing shows all over the Twin Cities as well. Her album debut will be ready for release later this fall. After she graduates this year, she plans to make the move cross-country to make Nashville her home. Until then, the Twin Cities is in for a very special treat with the heartfelt songs and captivating voice of Laura Nicholson.
Sounds like: Caitlyn Smith, Ashley Monroe
THURSDAY: The Social Animals
The Social Animals are a full time, van-living, beer-drinking young band. Experts across the globe have called them “The Opposite Of Toby Keith”. They speak through elegantly sarcastic and thoughtful lyrics splattered across a canvas of indie rock/Americana instrumentation. They don’t do backflips at their live shows or slide across their knees into guitar solos. Instead, they play their music passionately and honestly, leaving room for a shirt-staining dance party in a crowded club, or one too many glasses of wine and a cab ride home from a listening room. Between songs, their dry commentary on the status of their lives and the world around them often causes people to look up from their phone screens, an action known to be scary and difficult for people throughout the nation. They recently finished an album recorded at Ice Cream Party Studios in Portland, Oregon. The studio, (owned and frequently used by Modest Mouse), is as eccentric, hidden, and professional as it is smoky. Produced by Steve Berlin (Los Lobos, Deer Tick), the album highlights their shift toward indie rock, while simultaneously retaining the Americana edge that helped push them to where they are today. Through a mixture of both his tremendous beard and his very intelligent ear for all things music, Berlin helped shape the band’s second release into something worth stealing online. Captured almost completely live, the album showcases the band’s growth as a professional entity, driven by powerful vocals and the dirt of endless touring.
FRIDAY: The Crash Bandits Lighten Up Cassette Release Party
The Crash Bandits are going to be releasing some music via cassette form and we’re throwing a big fuckin’ party to celebrate. (It comes with a download card for all you nerds who are too cool to have a tape player). Come join us at 7th Street Entry in drinking PBR’s and wishing it wasn’t winter. Also.. Nick Westgor died his hair bright blue and probably will wear a dress.. so if you haven’t seen him yet this a great chance. We’ve got a killer lineup: the Crash Bandits are a Rock trio based out of Minneapolis. In the last year and a half, the band has released two EPs and a full length, Better Off, produced by local veteran Knol Tate (Killsadie, Deleter, Dan Mariska). In 2014 the trio plan on releasing their EP, Closer, at the renowned First Avenue’s 7th St Entry. The Crash Bandits boast an expansive songwriting catalogue that harkens back to the late 70s roots of punk, tips its hat to the DIY hardcore scene of the 80s, and salutes the nostalgic pop punk of the late 90s and early 00s.
Sounds like: Banner Pilot, Golden Smog
SATURDAY: Fury Things | The Social Disaster (Album Release) | Phantom Tails
FURY THINGS: Fury Things are a trio from Minneapolis, Minnesota, made up of guitarist/vocalist Kyle Werstein, bassist Devon Bryant, and drummer Andrew Carson. Werstein writes compelling lyrics and shreds fuzzy guitar solos while sharing the melody with Bryant’s bass. Carson slams on cymbals higher than his head and has broken too many drumsticks to count. Together theyre making fast, loud rock music reminiscent of Superchunk, Dinosaur Jr. and fellow-Minneapolitans Hüsker Dü. Since forming in August of 2012, they released two EPs to local and national critical praise, recorded an upcoming 7″ single, toured Canada and the United States, and opened for noteworthy bands like Yuck and The Men. Their release EP2 landed them on numerous year-end lists, including City Pages prestigious Picked to Click Poll. Their relentless, energetic live reputation caught the attention of famous nightclub First Avenue, who named them one of the Best New Bands of 2013.
THE SOCIAL DISASTER: Call it a dark supergroup with Jacob Swanson (Dad’s Acid, Planemo), Jake Larson (Manheat), Jesse Hoheisel (Portrait of Drowned Man) and Ryan Nelson (Bradical Boombox, the Farsights) teaming with gritty vocals from Rachel Phoenix to create what it calls “harrowing proto pop and garage soul.” Their groove is anchored in Larson’s distorted Moog bass tones that take flight using Phoenix’s raw power. The band debuted this past winter with fans of the band members’ other projects screaming a collective “yes, please.”
PHANTOM TAILS: Phantom Tails are a deep-space doom-funk quartet hailing from Minneapolis, MN. Using vintage drum machines, analog synthesizers, fuzzed-out bass, and commanding guitar, they have developed a distinctive sound that makes you think and dance simultaneously. Phantom Tails formed in early 2009. In fact, the band never really formed so much as it emerged as part of a natural progression. All four members had been playing together for some time in other bands before indulging to embark on a more electronic, gritty, and concise musical path. Wielding distorted analog synthesizers, fuzz bass, and angular guitar while brandishing electronic drum beats sampled from vintage 808 machines, traditional sumatran folk music, and sonar whale recordings, they have executed this transition. Phantom Tails is Sergio Hernandez, Orion Treon, Logan Kerkhof and Dave Dorman. They describe their music as Deep Space Doom.
Blog by Gina Reis
