Brooklyn-based quintet Phony Ppl have shared their funky new song, “Something About Your Love”, off their forthcoming album, mō’zā-ik, due out Oct. 19. Phony Ppl blend soul, funk, and R&B and are not limited to just one genre, as evidenced by this track mixed by Grammy Award winner Qmillion. Complex premiered the song, who said “Although this track details the experience of heartache and pondering the right time to leave a toxic situation, the band creates a balance with the instrumentation that mirrors the good moments we tend to focus on when ignoring all the red flags.”
Explaining the track, frontman Elbee Thrie noted, “It’s a song about staying in a relationship you know is poisonous. We recorded it at a Universal Audio session in Santa Cruz, CA then finished back in NYC at ‘The Cabin’ at The Manhattan Center” Phony Ppl also earned cosigns from heavyweights Childish Gambino and Tyler The Creator, who named “End of the Night” one of his favorite tracks that year.
Phony Ppl have performed with Erykah Badu and The Roots, along with opening for 2017 breakout star Kali Uchis on her nationwide tour, and individual members have shared their talents on projects from Snake Hips, Princess Nokia, Mac Miller and Odd Future.
All five members of Phony Ppl come from a long line of musical families which helped cultivate their own love for the artform. Each member attended music classes and schools across the country, including Juilliard and the School of Rock, before finding each other in 2009. Those early after-school jam sessions evolved into the band’s current lineup, featuring Elbee Thrie on vocals, Elijah Rawk on lead guitar, Matt “Maffyuu” Byas on drums, Aja Grant on keys and Bari Bass on bass guitar.
Upcoming Tour Dates:
Nov. 8 – The Fillmore – San Francisco, CA
Nov. 9 – The Catalyst – Santa Cruz, CA
Nov. 11 – The Pressroom – Phoenix, AZ //
Nov. 13 – Summit – Denver, CO
Nov. 15 – Wooly’s – Des Moines, IA
Nov. 16 – The Rave – Milwaukee, WI
Nov. 18 – Vogue – Indianapolis, IN
Nov. 19 – House of Blues Cleveland – Cleveland, OH
Nov. 20 – The Danforth BIA – Toronto, ON
Nov. 21 – The Fillmore Silver Spring – Silver Spring, MD
Nov. 23 – The Fillmore -Philadelphia, PA
Nov. 24 – The National – Richmond, VA Nov. 25 – Irving Plaza – New York, NY
Nov. 26 – Irving Plaza – New York, NY
While their new album is still under wraps, LongWave has “Stay With Me,” the first single from the NY rockers in ten years. Longwave formed in Brooklyn at the dawn of the New York indie rock resurgence in 1999 and signed with RCA Records where it released the Dave Fridmann-produced (Mercury Rev, Flaming Lips) The Strangest Things, who also produced the EP Life Of The Party. The band has toured throughout the world sharing billing domestically and overseas with their friends The Strokes, as well as The National, The Vines, The Doves, bloc party, Blue October, and Kasabian among others.
The band will embark on a Fall Tour supporting Blue October, kicking off in Royal Oak, MI on October 11th. They’ve also launched a Pledge Music campaign to coincide with the upcoming tour and album release.
Tour Dates
(headlining) 11.17 – New York City, NY @ Bowery Ballroom
(with Blue October)
10.11 – Royal Oak, MI @ Royal Oak Music Theatre
10.12 – St. Louis, MO @ The Pageant
10.13 – Milwaukee, WI @ The Rave / Eagles Club
10.14 – Indianapolis, IN @ Egyptian Room
10.17 – Fayetteville, AR @ George’s Majestic Room
10.18 – Memphis, TN @ New Daisy Theatre
10.19 – Tulsa, OK @ Brady Theatre
10.20 – Dallas, TX @ The Pavilion at Toyota Music Factory
10.21 – San Antonio, TX @ Aztec Theatre
Grunge-punk trio Candy Ambulance dropped a new and intense music video for their “Spray,” the title track off the band’s EP Spray released earlier this year. The fast-paced and delightfully quirky tune explores the fixation of mania and anxiety, in a frenzied and wild ride with raw, energetic and wildly unabashed visual cut.
Vocalist Caitlin Barker shared, “Choosing “Spray” for the first video off our latest EP was a no-brainer. I was very agitated when I wrote the song. I started to see the narrative play out in my mind every time we rehearsed it; a sweaty drink glass, rubber dish gloves, smoking at the record player. It felt like a song I could see.” The band said their aim is to “make the viewer itch a little,” with a montage of scenarios throughout.
Formed in the summer of 2014, Albany-based and grunge-influenced Candy Ambulance is Caitlin Barker, Jesse Bolduc & Jon Cantiello. Lifelong friends and musical mates Bolduc & Cantiello rescued Barker from a wealthy engagement prospect and whisked her away to the land of DIY punk. Poppy melodies, dynamic vocal changes and half naked live shows have solidified this rock trio as always entertaining, unabashed fun.
With a delicious blend of gritty grunge and punk-rock hooks, Candy Ambulance continue to hone their sound into an irresistible mix, and building their name with intense, antic-filled live shows. They opened for PVRIS in May, and have performed alongside acts such as Screaming Females, Speedy Ortiz, Daddy Issues, and Dorothy.
Spray is available on Bandcamp, Spotify, iTunes and all major digital retailers. Candy Ambulance continue to tour with upcoming eastern and midwest U.S. shows, and are in the process of writing and recording new material this winter.
Long Island’s Baked Shrimp will be in Albany on Friday, October 12 to celebrate National Gumbo Day at the Parish Public House. Joining them are local Albany bands Hasty Page and Hilltop.
Baked Shrimp has been tearing up Long Island and NYC spots on their Summer Tour and embark on a Fall Tour with their first ever show in Albany. Check out our review of their album Feast of Delight. Tickets are $10 and more info can be found here.
Pete Mason: Fans in Upstate are getting their first taste of Baked Shrimp – what can they expect to get down to?
Baked Shrimp: We’re so excited to finally make it to Albany! The band has played in Upstate before, multiple times in New Paltz, and now we’re heading back to Oneonta, but getting to play New York’s capital will be a real treat. Expect the unexpected! We’re going into Fall with over 40 songs that can come out at anytime, and with Albany being the first show of the tour everything is on the table. Over the Summer, on top of teaching Jager all of the already written Baked Shrimp songs, we were also all learning together new originals, Beatles tunes, meme songs, and other cool covers for our Five Night Special that took place in Woodmere. Check out the recap from that and the rest of the Summer to see what’s on the table!
PM: Was playing on National Gumbo Day at a New Orleans themed venue/restaurant planned or just a delicious coincidence?
BS: Both! We knew Albany was planned for mid-October, and Dan from Parish Public House mentioned that it would be National Gumbo Day on the 12th. So we had to do it!
PM: What’s the best part of the Long Island scene?
BS: The best part is how close the folks in the jam/funk scene community on Long Island are to one another. Everyone knows each other, and the shows become a big gathering for everyone to meet in one spot to support the bands and the scene around them. It’s a goal of ours in the next couple of summers to do an outdoor camping festival on the island that we would host. It’s still a ways away since we’re still trying to find a proper location where we can do such an event, especially on Long Island, but we’ll make it happen! 2020!
The long-awaited music video by New York-based band Gallons of Pork, “WEED POLICE,” debuts today on NYS Music. The song has been an unexpected hit in the Northeast DIY scenes. Produced by Jack of Trades Media, the WPD are a specialized squad who gauge random folks on their Tetrahydrocannabinol levels, tirelessly searching for any dweebs who pass on that loud.
Gallons of Pork assures fans that there is more to the WEED POLICE than meets the eye: “They will arrest you for not being high / that’s about it, that’s all they do.” … Along with violent involuntary dosing, civil asset forfeiture, and brutal arrests.
Bassist and video director Frankie Krungus says of the video, “Our nerdy side is apparent; the video is rife with Dragon Ball references, combo moves, and sound effects. I was really inspired by music videos like Black Flag’s ‘TV Party’ and anything by Mac DeMarco, so I took that and peppered it with my dear childhood memories of watching raunchy dashcam footage on YouTube and the tv show ‘Cops.’
Gallons Of Pork blurs the lines between genres with versatile and high-energy music that is highly addictive, loaded with chemicals, packaged and ready to serve. Gallons of Pork are in a class of their own with bizarre caricatures and zany tonality, teetering atop the precarious point between magnetism and chaos. These are stories about the band and their encounters in a world that they never asked to be born into – each song an expertly-sourced blend of extreme elements of metal, jazz, punk, funk and more, designed to shake the hanging meat right off the hooks.
Gallons of Pork is bassist Frankie Krungus AKA Copus Krungus in WPD, guitarist and vocalist Joe Kap (the good citizen), singer Peter Grancio AKA Sneaky Pete, guitar maestro Mo LaMastro (another target of the WPD), and drummer Mike Sandbags AKA “Mikey Gash.”
The band formed when Frankie gathered these hooligans in a rehearsal space. He and Mike knew each other from back in their hometown of Staten Island, NYC. Mike performs with his band Figurehead who is based there. The first time Frankie and Joe Kap met, they jammed while an edible kicked in. Joe gave the band a home to jam and write songs out of on Dietz Street in Oneonta, NY. Mo LaMastro has developed a musical language and flavor unique to his own style and this band. Pete has been a recent addition to the band, at first as engineer, then producer, then performer. He transcends from a bizarre vocalist on the record into an in-your-face MC live. He also plays drums in the bands Elm Sun and Gamma Ghouls, whose members are all featured in the Weed Police video.
The band is currently recording their third album, The Third Annual Phram Dongleson Memorial Hot Dog Eating Contest for a digital and vinyl release in April 2019, with eight tracks that incorporate their improvisational & multi-genre instincts into a freshest farm to table sound.
“A Prisoner’s Passage,” a new song with accompanying music video from Rochester’sThe Dirty Pennies premieres today on NYS Music. The video, filmed Live at Wicked Squid Studios, will be featured on The Dirty Pennies’ next EP due out in early 2019.
The song was written shortly after their first run of regional festival appearances at Lilac Fest & Grassroots Festival. The band chose the live video route in order to embody the energy of a live show in hopes of engaging more than just the auditory senses, giving fans, both new and old, a taste of what to expect in the future.
The Dirty Pennies next show will be on Halloween at Bug Jar in Rochester, with Morning Teleportation & Desert Noises. More info can be found here.
On Sunday, September 30, Grammy-nominated singer Shemekia Copeland will perform the National Anthem on game between the New York Giants and the New Orleans Saints. The game begins at 4:25pm at MetLife Stadium in East Rutherford, New Jersey and can be watched on CBS.
Copeland is currently on tour, bringing music from her critically acclaimed, powerful new album, America’s Child to fans all across the country. NPR Music says Copeland is “head-turning and outspoken. America’s Child is a true hybrid of simmering, real-talking spirit and emphatic, folkie-and soul-style statement-making. Copeland sings slow-burning soul and rollicking country-blues with growling vigor and potent conviction.”
Produced by Americana Instrumentalist Of The Year winner Will Kimbrough (who also plays guitar on the album) and recorded in Nashville, America’s Child is a courageous and fiery statement of purpose, a major step forward for the singer whose musical consciousness continues to expand as her star continues to rise. With guests including John Prine, Rhiannon Giddens, Mary Gauthier, Emmylou Harris, Steve Cropper, J.D. Wilkes, Al Perkins and members of the Time Jumpers, America’s Child bursts with Copeland’s bravado and embraces with her tenderness.
Tune in this Sunday to see Shemekia Copeland perform the National Anthem.
Upcoming shows in New York:
Sept 30, 2018 – Met Life Stadium, East Rutherford, NJ
Nov 15, 2018 Tralf Music Hall Buffalo, NY
Nov 16, 2018 Center for the Arts of Homer Homer, NY
Nov 17, 2018 Towne Crier Cafe Beacon, NY
Brooklyn based electro-pop/rock group Beauty in the Machine recently released a mesmerizing animated video for their latest single “13 Days.” With dazzling vocals from Jennifer Cella, former lead vocalist of the Trans-Siberian Orchestra, and production by Monikkr, the monochromatic animation is a brilliant juxtaposition of sight and sound playing to the track’s effervescent theme.
Beauty in the Machine is Jennifer Cella and producer/DJ Monikkr, combining elements from progressive rock and bass-driven house music for a Sub Pop feel. Live performances combine drum machines, synths, vocals and captivating visuals that bring together a seductive, futuristic and immersive experience.
As former lead vocalist of Trans-Siberian Orchestra, Jennifer has headlined on some of the most prestigious stages in the world including beloved Madison Square Garden in New York City, as well as performed with various musical legends including Roger Daltrey of The Who, Joan Jett, Greg Lake of ELP and Jon Anderson of Yes. Monikkr, on the other hand, has DJed alongside some of the biggest names in dance music. As a former resident of legendary Webster Hall, you could find him opening for Skrillex, Dada Life, Bingo Players, Tommy Lee and many more. Before that, he was a live musician in rock bands Crash Theory and Colorblind and house music live act, Speakerbox. Together today, they’ve been compared to a modern version of Sneaker Pimps meets Portishead.
Robert Walter takes his 20th Congress out of the box and gives his songs room to breathe on his latest album, Spacesuit, out today. The album takes on a sci-fi and psychedelic sound, with meandering compositions that leaves space for improvisation in the live setting. The album lifts off with “Spacesuit” and blasts off with the funky “Nerva and Dumbo,” named for a pair of experimental NASA rockets. Songs such as “13th Key” and “Chalk Giant” jump out with catchy rhythms and a range of influences intertwined.
Indulging in this album will stoke the listener’s imagination, the progressive melodies capturing your attention and taking it on a journey. Walter, reflecting on the genesis of the album says “I always wanted to make the record that I wish I found going through the record stacks. I love the idea of trying to create an imaginary film or a record from 1972 that you wish you could buy.”
Walter spoke with NYS Music ahead of a performance at Big Henry Vinyl, next to Antone’s in Austin, Texas, to discuss the influences of the album, bringing in New Orleans musicians to record on the album, and how writing and performing with Phish’s Mike Gordon has affected his songwriting.
Pete Mason: Having been a fan going back to early music festivals this century, I have always wondered – if this is the 20th Congress, what happened to the other 19?
Robert Walter: My wife was reading a book on Soviet Russia, and the 20th Congress is the most important in Soviet history, a turning point in the Communist Party when they called off their quest for world domination. I saw my band as a chance to break away from The Greyboy Allstars and take a different turn and bring in more effects to a soul jazz sound.
PM: On Spacesuit it sounds like you are creating space in songs for more improvisation.
RW: You want to give people sign posts and material to work with, but not so much that they can’t go anywhere. At times an interesting chord change or a bar or the scale can make things irregular, but you don’t want to block people in too, letting people be natural to play. Sometimes we do just play freely, but I like to have a little bit of composition in it.
PM: How did sci-fi become an influence for the album? Was this just a shift in what you’ve been doing in the studio?
RW: I always like El Topo and Holy Mountain by Alejandro Jodorowsky’s and sci-fi has always been an interest of mine and there are a surprising amount of effects in some of these soundtracks, more synth especially. I always liked the imaginativeness where you can create things with not a lot of rules and use your imagination on it. The songs don’t have to live by the rules. I wanted to get rid of the rules of a song – is this jazz or funk? – and tear it down and let the imagination flow.
PM: For this album you brought in a pair of New Orleans musicians, drummer Simon Lott and guitarist Chris Alford.
RW: I have always been sort of attracted to drummers throughout my career, having played with several drummers from New Orleans. The music can still go places but be rooted in something, especially if you’re doing something a little left of center. They have an anchor in the fundamental American rhythms, the use of clave, but I didn’t set out to hire New Orleans guys, they’re just what I liked.
PM: How has playing and writing with Mike Gordon influenced this album?
RW: It’s been five years since I recorded on Overstep, and I’ve been playing with him in Mike Gordon Band for three years. Being around him, you feel like you can be imaginative and inspiring. If something doesn’t work, he throws it out, and he’ll try every route to try to get to something interesting. He broke me out of a lot of preconceptions of how to write music. He’s so open and positive about creativity and indulging new ideas to see if it works or not. He’s fearless.
PM: There is a great deal of futuristic funk and soul on the album. What influenced your writing this time around?
RW: I have been listening to a lot of German Krautrock, a type of prog rock from the 70s. It tends to be very spare and have a lot of space in it. Kraftwerk is a big one too, and dub reggae which is kinda the same thing. I was interested in music that was subtractive, dealing with the recording and pulling things away to reveal texture. Cymande, a British funk group from the 70s, are very minimal and have simple repetitive bass lines towards this new music. I made a playlist on Spotify of music that directly influences the album.
PM: Next up for you is a performance at Brooklyn Comes Alive on September 29 with Johnny Vidacovich and Eric ‘Benny’ Bloom. What can fans expect from your set at Rough Trade?
RW: I am stoked for the Brooklyn Comes Alive set. It’s with Johnny Vidacovich who has been on two of my records so we have a lot of history. Johnny and I used to play as a duo when I lived in New Orleans. He played with Professor Longhair and James Booker, two of my favorite pianists. Bloom is incredible as well and has great ears and is super fun to be around.
Albany’s Backseat Bullets consider themselves the noisiest band from the Capital District and that moniker is on the spot on “Bonnie Meets Clyde,” the latest single from the shoe gaze trio that combines grunge, punk and emo-pop with ease.
Geddies says of the track: “‘Bonnie Meets Clyde’ was one of four or five songs I had written and taken real Lo-fi crappy recordings of in my dorm room spring semester of my freshman year. It was the result of the convergence between a bunch of new artists and musical styles I had been getting into, some pretty obscure and interesting stuff. For the longest time the melody and later, the lyrics (mainly about all the antics love inspires), of the song played as a soundtrack for my life, something I would whistle or hum to myself on the way to class. After classes ended for Jeremy (Lopez) and I and we were back home for the summer practicing for the string of shows and small weekend tours we had coming up we would work on the song here and there but it was never something that took the spotlight.
We finally had it written the way we wanted and had gotten the chance to play it only at one or two shows towards the end of summer. A week before Jeremy left for school I remember coming to him asking “Hey let’s record this” with the intention to release it while we were away. I guess the whole thing was just pretty impulsive, we got it all recorded in a day and sent out to be further mixed and mastered later that week. It really proved to me how much important the shared importance of music and DIY ethos are between Jeremy and I. The whole mentality I had the entire time was just to use the little time we had available to us (we both had pretty intense work and personal schedules at the time ) to make a song that in the end both of us were pretty proud of.”
Lopez says of the track: “This one was pretty special because I knew it was going to be the last song we would track together as a while. It was almost like a wake up call for me to be honest with myself and admit the fact that summer is over and Zac and I will be apart for a while. With my Behringer 4 input audio interface and 4 Pyle (SM57 clones), we tracked the guitar and drums in one take which was surprising because we never do that. Our friend Matt Spinner (The Northway) was kind enough to mix and master this basement recording of ours in due time for its release. We’re proud of it and hope ya’ll enjoy it too!”
The Backseat Bullets (BSB) have a true “do it yourself attitude” and have quickly become game changers in the Albany music scene. Starting with their humble beginnings in a barn outside of the city to working their way into some of the most iconic and nationally recognizable venues in the scene. Hopeful to reinvent the old stereotype of a three piece punk band, The Backseat Bullets have roots in hardcore punk as well as modern dream pop and shoegaze music all wrapped up and delivered in a charming, mass appealing way that has caught the attention of music lovers far and wide. With recent releases including their debut EP Give You The Moon, and their most recent self produced single “Suede,” the band has announced they are currently recording a second EP that is promised to be full of 1990s grunge/emo era hooks and singable choruses.
On Sunday, September 30, Grammy-nominated singer 
