Alex Bleeker & the Freaks 12″

My Rating: 8/10
Genre/ Tags: Blues, Folk, Psychedelic

By now, I feel like most people have come across and heard of the New Jersey band Real Estate. Their music evokes a hot, hazy summer day where you probably spent more of less of that day walking on the beach in the company of good friends, old and new alike. The band I have for you all today, in terms of band members, is practically the same exact thing as Real Estate. Alex Bleeker & the Freaks features three of the original Real Estate members, being Alex Bleeker, Matt Mondanile, and Martin Courtney IV. The fourth member of the band is no less known than the boys of Real Estate though. Although he is not in Real Estate, this talented young man is known more for his solo accomplishments before anything else, and that man is Julian Lynch. If you have yet to hear any of his solo material, please stop reading right now and follow this link HERE. This is the first track on the Underwater Peoples Summertime Showcase that came out this past summer, and what a perfect first track it is.

But as for Alex Bleeker & the Freaks, these guys all left their other musical outfits at the door for this project, and put forth their efforts into one place and worked together. The result was this still fairly new 12″ record that was put out by the Underwater Peoples out of Washington D.C., and the record is kind of like a thesis statement for a band who seems to have much, much more for us up their sleeve. If you haven’t heard any of the music yet, it tends to be folky at times and bluesy at other times, but they never forget to bring forward the psychedelic elements that’s present in most of the band members other projects (Real Estate, Ducktails, Julian Lynch). Songs like the opening tracks “Summer” and “Epilogue”, as well as “Spring Jam”, and even the short but ridiculously sweet “Dead On” all feature this eye-opening psychedelic feel that I think most people would have a hard time denying how sweet it really is. As the description on the Underwater Peoples blog reads, this release was built solely on the love and passion for music, and that is crystal clear when listening to the record. As the description reads, these boys have all “channeled their romantic energies into an electrified musical powerhouse”, and what an electrified musical powerhouse it is. Have I mentioned that I absolutely love electrified musical powerhouses? If you love them too, then you really need to check out this record. You can still buy it from the Underwater Peoples website, but you better do it sooner than later, because they only pressed 1,000 copies of the LP. I myself will also say that it is a “special privilege” and quite an honor to have let these tunes flow into my ears, and to hopefully bring this wonderful bands music to your ears as well. Please do yourself a favor and BUY THIS RECORD! Thx!

Alex Bleeker & the Freaks 12″: Tracklist
1.) Summer
2.) Epilogue
3.) Spring Jam
4.) Animal Tracks (Mountain Man cover)
5.) Prisoner of the Past
6.) Dead On
7.) Common Sense
8.) Part 2

AB & the Freaks 12″ – BUY!!!
AB & the Freaks on TheirSpace
A short list of songs to check out by the band on Pitchfork

Man Man w/ Javelin Live in Philadelphia (3/5/10)

Who?: Man Man w/ Javelin and the Skin Cells
Where?: The Trocadero
When?: March 5th, 2010

Hey! So last night I had nothing better to do, so I decided to head on over to the Trocadero to check out Man Man and Javelin. As I’m standing in line to get into the show, the bouncers that are patting everybody down announce that the show has sold out! Oh no!!! I hadn’t bought a ticket for this show in advance either. Instead of just leaving right away, I stuck around near the front door for a few minutes, and as I’m standing there, this guy approaches me. He asked me if I needed a ticket to get into the show. I obviously responded “Yes”, and he handed over a ticket. For free. He just saw this random kid standing by the front door minding own business (me), and he just handed over this extra ticket. I was ecstatic – I probably thanked him 5 times in the thirty seconds we had been talking. So I get back in line, but unfortunately for me the bouncers make me leave behind my camcorder, but I still got to take in my digital camera. With that being said, the videos and photos aren’t up to par with other stuff I’ve posted up here – like the Surfer Blood show or the Fucked Up show.

By the time I had gotten into the show, I had already missed the first band, the Skin Cells. I was okay with that, because that meant the real reason I came to the show – Javelin – was about to perform next. The two cousins from Providence, Rhode Island took the stage and set up their equipment, which didn’t take long considering they only have to set up for two performers. When they got on stage they still had to do their sound check, which was kind of funny considering that is something they should have already done before starting, but oh well. They pulled down a giant curtain behind them which featured one long video on loop, which was full of pictures, colors, words, people playing tennis, and bikers riding on the roofs of houses, amongst many other things. Interesting.

Vibrationz – This track is how I originally stumbled upon Javelin. It’s a dance-y, jumpy, feel-good track that Pitchfork claims is “perfect for summer”. Javelin cousin Thomas van Buskirk can be heard in the video singing “this is a high school dance” while the other cousin George Langford can more or less be seen jamming away on his electronic drum pad. I think before the song actually started Thomas was saying how good of a track it would be to play at a 4th grade dance. I’d be lying if I said I didn’t agree.

Soda Popinski – Another fun Javelin track, this song features a loop that has to be from an old Nintendo or Sega game. Soda Popinski is the name of one of the boxers from the game Punch Out!! on NES, so my guess is that this loop comes from somewhere in this game, but I could easily be wrong. My personal favorite version of this track can be heard off of Javelins first record from Thrill Jockey. You can listen to it right on that page! Yeah but this video isn’t quite perfect. Like I mentioned above, I was forced to use my digital camera for the night. The camcorder would have done a much better job recording, but I figured I would upload it anyway.

So by the time Javelin was finished and packing up their stuff to make way for Man Man, the batteries in my digital camera decided to die. Yet another reason I wish I could have been using my camcorder, but oh well. You can’t win them all. Man Man was cool. It was intriguing to watch a band perform this weird, “circus-esque” style of music. I moved to the back when they came on, but I didn’t stick around for long after that. I was pretty bummed that my batteries had died. I was even more bummed that I wasn’t using my camcorder. Before leaving for good (you know, no re-entry), I went to Javelins merch table for a minute. In talking to Thomas, I mentioned that I had bought their most recent record “2” online from Thrill Jockey, and he hooked me up with a free 7″ by The Very Best. It features a track titled “Julia” on the A-side, and the same track on the B-side, only this time it’s remixed Javelin style. Looking forward to listening to this one. Thanks for reading, and check back soon!

Javelin on Myspace
Javelins latest release “No Más” – BUY!
Man Man on Myspace
The Skin Cells on Myspace
A few more pictures from the show here – SuperGlued

Pontiak – Sun on Sun

My Rating: 9/10
Genre/ Tags: Psychedelic, Rock

In the summer of 2008, Pontiak had signed to their then new label Thrill Jockey, and shortly thereafter, they released their first album with them. It was a 12 inch record entitled “Kale” split with a band called Arbouretum. Before signing to Thrill Jockey, the band had put out a few self released CD’s that I had a hard time finding any concrete information on. As far as I know, the band had two releases before signing to Thrill Jockey, one being an EP and another release titled “Valley of Cats”. The best I could find on these releases comes from a record label based out of London – check it out here. Unfortunately you can’t even buy either of these CD’s on that website, but if you’ll settle for mp3’s, somebody kindly uploaded all of “Valley of Cats” onto Last.fm for free download. You can check that out right here. If it wasn’t for that I don’t know where else you would find those tracks.

But moving on. Pontiak, comprised of three brothers named Van, Jennings, and Lain Carney, all put out new material like it’s their job…which technically, I guess you could say it is their job. They’re currently in the making of their latest album “Living”, which should be out sometime in 2010. In 2009 they put out two more releases, one being titled “Sea Voids” and the other titled “Maker”. A year earlier in 2008, they put out their first full length called “Sun on Sun”, which is why I’m here today. This was the first record I had heard from Pontiak, so I wasn’t really sure what to expect. The record starts out with the slow and eerie “Shell Skull” which sounds like it could be the soundtrack for a scene in a movie where a bad dude is creeping up on a good dude with intentions to kill! The face melting guitar solos are the scenes where the two dudes are duke-ing it out in efforts to save their lives!! Aw!! The second track “Swell” is an echo-y, ambient track that also brings words like creepy and eerie to mind again. Skipping ahead to the track “White Mice”, this may be the first point on the album that doesn’t potentially creep you out. About half way through they decide to draw back on the creepy (for once!) and put forth the groovy. The steady tap on the cymbal leads them into this slow, dirge-y jam that doesn’t take long until it’s heavy and all up in your face, with lead singer Van Carney howling as if he were a wolf fixated on the moon. The following track, the album titled “Sun on Sun”, is without a doubt the suite of this record, clocking in at just over 9 minutes long. As usual, things start off a bit on the mysterious side, while slowly but surely the hum of the keyboard rises to the top, followed by some laid-back guitar playing that changes the vibe from mysterious to a much more welcoming sound. Within the final two minutes, guitarist Van Carney brings the heat with some intense sliding on the guitar that can originally be heard in the beginning of the song, only to lead into some yet again face-peeling guitar work before bringing the song to a close. The next track “Tell Me About” starts off like many of these Pontiak tracks before leading into an unexpected keyboard solo topped off by screaming vocals and once again some in-yr-face guitar. The final track “The Brush Burned Fast” is a bit different from everything else on the album. It’s only an acoustic guitar and the singer (probably Van Carney) with some ambiance in the background that is strikingly similar to the ambient track “Swell”. I’m almost positive it’s the same thing. But once again, thanks for reading, and check back again real soon!!!

White Mice

Sun on Sun: Tracklist
1.) Shell Skull
2.) Swell
3.) White Hands
4.) White Mice
5.) Sun on Sun
6.) Tell Me About
7.) The Brush Burned Fast

Pontiak’s Official Website
Pontiak on Myspace
Sun on Sun – BUY! from Thrill Jockey

Surfer Blood Live in Philadelphia (3/1/10)

Who?: Surfer Blood
Where?: Main Street Music, Philadelphia, PA
When?: March 1st, 2010

As many people from the Philadelphia area may know, the recently popular band Surfer Blood was set to play a show at the Barbary last night. Awesome. The bad news is that the show sold out, so not everyone who wanted to could attend. The good news is that before their show at the Barbary, Surfer Blood stopped in a record store in West Philly called Main Street Music to play some music and show us what they’re all about. Good thing too, because I’m sure many people wanted to see this band, but they couldn’t because the show sold out. I was lucky enough to make it to the in-store with Surfer Blood, and I have the entire set for you guys here on video.

Floating Vibes – Surfer Blood appropriately started the set with the opening track from their latest effort “Astro Coast”. They apologize for being extremely late at the beginning. The set that was slated to start at 5pm didn’t get started until around 7pm or so. Being late certainly didn’t alter their music though, just check that video!

Take It Easy – They followed up with the groovy island jam “Take It Easy”, the third track from their album “Astro Coast”. Right around the three minute mark of the song, both guitarists John Paul Pitts and Tom Fekete take a quick glance at each other with a grin on their faces, almost like they’re thinking “Let’s do it”, before ending the track with some heavy, face peeling guitar work. Fantastic. Three floors of party! No…four floors!

Fast Jabroni – Faster and fun song with an energetic breakdown that leads them into their final song for the night. A fan from the crowd claims that he knows a “short cut” to their show at the Barbary. John Paul Pitts face lights up with excitement for a split second before the fan says “You have to give us a ride though.” Awwww.

Swim – More or less expected last song of the night, “Swim”. It’s dual guitar attack for the chorus and the tropical, jangly guitar and cowbell jam in the middle make it undeniably catchy, not to mention that short, hard and heavy transition that leads them back to the closing verse of the song. They finish up, thank the crowd, pack up their things, and then head on over to the Barbary to play a much sold out show. Thank you Surfer Blood!

And thank you reader! Check out some other shows coming up here on the Styrofoam Drone, and as always, be sure to check back for more on the reg. That’s right. Join our group over on Last.fm too, it’s getting a bit lonely in there. We need some discussion!!!

Surfer Blood on Myspace
Surfer Blood’s Astro Coast – BUY!!! on CD/LP/Digital