JERSEY BEAT

2009-11-17T01:19:00.001-05:00

2009-11-16T23:19:00.003-05:00

Rock N Roll Gas Station

One Hour of Indie Rock with your host Jim Testa

Tuesday, 1 pm - www.ThePenguinRocks.com
Thursday, 10 pm - www.Blowupradio.com
Monday,1 and 8 pm - www.ThePenguinRocks.com

Week of November 16, 2009

Loudon Wainwright III - Suddenly It's Christmas
Anthony Fiumano - The Movie Universe
Bionic Rhoda - Douglass Fresh
The Ergs! - Dullards & Dreadful Prose
The Measure SA - Get It Together

Aviso'Hara - Boys On Their Way Down
Black Wine - Couch Critics
Boat - We've Been Friends since 1989
Steel Train -You & I Undercover
The Dimes - Abigail, Don't Be Long

House Boat - 30 Going On 13
Higher Giant - The Bad Investment
Jello Biafra & The Guantanamo School of Medicine - Terror of Tinytown
Boss Jim Gettys - Johnny's Double Kick Drum
The Bouncing Souls - Big Eyes
Adrenalin OD - All Right Tokyo!!
Girls - Lust For Life
Ike Reilly - The War On Terror & The Drugs
The Chinese Stars - Thanksgiving Day Massacre

2009-11-08T16:04:00.009-05:00

Modern Hut

Where Has All The Pop Punk Gone?

Double Dagger, Black Wine, Night Birds, Dope Body, Modern Hut - Maxwells, 11/7/09

Various ex-members of the Ergs, Hunchback, and For Science showed off their new bands at Maxwell's this weekend, on a bill that included two inventive post-punk trios from Baltimore, Double Dagger and Dope Body. And not surprisingly, many of the familiar faces from the local Pop Punk scene were in attendance, including former or current members of the Marshmallows, Steinways, Psyched To Die, Short Attention, Sandworms, and others, as well as the redoubtable Lawrence Livermore, who deemed the event important enough to temporarily lift his embargo about traveling to Jersey for shows.

This showcase represented not just a changing of the guard for the local pop-punk scene but also a good harbinger of 2010, since most of these bands will be nearing their debut full-lengths in the near future. And the first thing you noticed is that no one's playing much in the way of pop punk anymore.

Modern Hut

Joe Steinhardt (ex-For Science) and Chelsea Lacatena (Short Attention) have teamed up for the acoustic combo Modern Hut, playing low-key, laconic, often ironic folkie tunes which often recall the self-deprecating wit and dour worldview of anti-folker Jeffrey Lewis. Chelsea's lovely voice provides a perfect counterpoint to Joe's gruff, barely in tune singing, and the single acoustic guitar really lets the lyrics come to the forefront. I'm really looking to hearing the first recording from these two.

Dope Body

Baltimore's Dope Body looked like a throwback to 1992-era CBGB's, what with the band's ironic porn-star mustaches, the lead singer's sinewy torso, and a bludgeoning post-punk reminiscent of the days when Helmet, Unsane, and their ilk ruled the scene. They're certainly not the first guitarless band I've ever seen - just voice, drums, and bass - but I will say that their bassist did things I've never seen or heard before. Playing through a rack of effects pedals and working at the top of the neck, he created sounds that transcended the usual division between bass and guitar, hitting octaves and creating sounds that propelled the band's furious throbbing songs. Back in the days of AmRep this band might have been huge, but I'm not sure the market for muscle, sweat, and thud is what it once was.

Night Birds

The Night Birds - featuring Brian Gorsegner (ex For Science) on vocals, Joe Keller (ex-Ergs) on bass, and Mike Hunchback on guitar - provide a showcase for Brian to exorcise his inner Ian MacKaye, as the band rages through old school hardcore (minus the metal edge that wound up subsuming NY/HC in the Eighties.) Think, maybe, early Underdog or Gorilla Biscuits - just a good excuse to mosh around the floor a little and flair your arms while the band stampedes through high-speed solos and undulating bass runs.

Black Wine

Black Wine is the highly anticipated trio that unites Ergs guitarist Jeff Schroeck with his just-married wife Miranda (ex Hunchback)on drums and Jay Hunchback on bass. (Weird how every ex-Erg has started a band with at least one ex-Hunchback, with Mikey Erg's Psyched To Die completing the triptych.) Falling somewhere between a reinvention of classic rock (they covered Jethro Tull's "Locomotive Breath," fer chrissakes) and pure garage, the band's already got a slew of standout numbers, including the romantic "Chauteau Of Ghosts" (which references Brill Building 60's pop), the 60's garage groove of "Haunted," and a cool instrumental theme song.

Double Dagger

Headliner Double Dagger turned out to be another Baltimore combo without a guitarist, just bass, drums, and vocals. Again, "post-punk" probably comes as close to a genre tag as anyone's going to get, with the singer's flamboyant embrace of the audience (literally - he kept walking intot he crowd and hugging people) the band's keystone. Parts of it reminded me of early Talking Heads and there's definitely some sort of damaged art-rock going on there, but the delivery is explosively loud and spastic. Interesting? Very. Am I going to run at the next chance to see them? Probably not.

2009-10-03T23:08:00.007-04:00

Cymbals Eat Guitars:
Is This It? (Yes, It Is)

It's hard to believe that one review on Pitchfork catapulted Cymbals Eat Guitars from midweek gigs at tiny clubs to national tours in major venues and opening slots for the likes of Wilco and Flaming Lips in England. And of course, nothing could be farther from the truth. Yes, that Pitchfork review kickstarted some interest, but this band has been working its ass off, going through wrenching personnel changes and sharpening its sound over the last few tumultuous months. Things have been happening so quickly - the band's been raved about in the NY Times, Village Voice, NY Press, AV Club, and more music blogs than I can count - that you wonder how they've been keeping it all together.

On the basis of tonight's performance (CEG has been opening nationwide for The Pains Of Being Pure At Heart for the last few weeks) at Webster Hall, none of the fire has gone out of frontman Joseph D'Agostino or his bandmates. The quartet attacked its material like it was the first night of tour, not the penultimate stop, pouring passion and crispness into every song. To be honest, the band's appearance about a month ago at the new Brooklyn Bowl (part of Insound's anniversary celebration) seemed more of an event, and the crowd seemed a bit more intense (with more singing along.) That's probably because the pricey ticket tonight meant that most of the concertgoers were there for the headliner, but the sizable number of early arrivals stood rapt and attentive throughout CEG's set. If they weren't fans when they got there, they were by the time they left.

It was my good luck to become acquainted with Joseph when he was a frustrated high schooler, recording demos in his basement under the name Joseph Ferocious. A few of those songs remain in CEG's set - revamped or rearranged, but still with the same intensity and melodicism - and it's been a real treat to watch this band catch on and experience so much success so quickly. I'll go so far to say that Cymbals Eat Guitars is a better live band right now than the Strokes were in 2001 (that's not saying much, since the Strokes were never much of a live band, even when they were setting the world on fire,) and Why There Are Mountains (which has its official release later this month) is a better record than Is This It. The world turned its eyes to NYC in 2001 and the Strokes were there to cash in; with CMJ 2009 on tab and a kamikaze assault on SXSW already in the works for 2010, my guess is that the world will be looking our way again very soon.

2009-10-03T22:47:00.004-04:00

Lily and Pat Carbone performing at Jersey Idol

Jersey Idol: Look Out, Here Comes Tomorrow

Jersey Idol - Crossroads, Garwood NJ - Saturday, October 3

I had the pleasure today of serving as one of the judges at a Battle of the Bands competition as part of a benefit for St. Huberts Animal Shelter.

The contestants were vying for several prizes - a chance to sing the national anthem at a Somerset Patriots minor league baseball game (won by Elaine Magentiren,) a recording session at Soundwaves Studio (won by Sebastian Rivera,) and a consultation with a local management company (won by the hard rock band Kickdown.)

The contestants ranged from grammar school kids to teens to adults of all ages, and we judges didn't have an easy time picking the winners. Elaine, who sang "Ave Maria," had a beautiful voice with impressive range, but she vied against quite a few singers who impressed us with their voices. There were two full bands, but we liked Kickdown's style and chops a little more. Sebastian River is a young NJ singer/songwriter who reminded me of David Archuleta; he has the kind of pipes and charisma that could take him to the finals on the real American Idol.

Hopefully you will be reading about all of the winners as well as a few of the other contestants on JerseyBeat.com. In the meantime, please visit the sponsors St. Hubert's Animal Shelter and make a donation (or adopt a pet.)

2009-10-01T21:08:00.002-04:00

Rock N Roll Gas Station - Episode 19

Jemina Pearl - I Hate People
Alex Kerns - Girls That I Want To Meet
Feelies - Let's Go
The Subjects - Winter Vacation
The Boys Club - Alone In My Principles
The Hold Steady - Sequestered In Memphis
Dan Costello - Two Buck Chuck
Boy Genius - Olde New England
Bouncing Souls - Like The Sun
Ben Franklin - Tell Us How You Really Feel
Landmines - Gunz of Brixton
Nude Beach - Skeleton Handshake
Used Kids - I Miss My Records
Yo La Tengo - Tom Courtenay
Showaddywaddy- 2 4 6 8 Motorway
White Denim - Wet Sand
Art Brut - Weird Science

Listen on www.blowupradio.com Thursday at 10 pm, and www.thepenguinrocks.com on Mondays, 2 and 9 pm.

2009-09-24T19:08:00.003-04:00

Rock N Roll Gas Station - Sept. 24

Catch the show Thursday night at 10 pm on www.blowupradio.com
or Mondays at 2 pm and 9 pm at www.thepenguinrocks.com

Ben Franklin - "Ghosts"
The Dimes - "Damrells Fire"
Golden Bloom - "I'll Get You"
The Creetons - "In My Basement"
Fitz & The Tantrums - "Breakin' The Chains of Love"
Harvey Danger - "Diminishing Returns"
Kurt Vile - "Freak Train"
Tris McCall - "The Ballad of Frank Venieri"
The Subjects - "Winter Vacation"
The Pixies - "Here Comes Your Man"
Morningbell - "Marching Off To War"
Mission of Burman - "1 2 3 Party!"
Roadside Graves - "Take A Train"
Poconos - "Sweetheart"
Any Day Parade - "Where We Fall"
Dear Landlord - "Begging For Tips"
The Sheckies - "Orlando"

2009-09-20T22:10:00.003-04:00

Hardcore rules, ok?

YOUTH BRIGADE, The Casualties, Off With Their Heads, Detournement - Asbury Lanes, Sept. 18, 2009

I love when an old-school hardcore band like Youth Brigade comes through on tour. A few things happen: First, the hardcore punk underground crawls out from the underground and you see things that you never see at shows anymore: Libery 'hawks, studded leather jackets, circle pits, shirtless moshing, and of course the exuberant gang singalongs. The other thing is that the event becomes a true "all-ages" show, with an audience that ranges from kids in their teens to crusty veteran punks older than me.

The whole show was fun, from the Bad Religion-esque whoa-oh choruses of Chunksaah Records' Detournement, to the frantic pop/punk of OWTH, to the early 80's throwback insanity of the Casualties, who turned Asbury Lanes into a CBGB Sunday hardcore matinee circa 1981.

And Youth Brigade still rock, with a nearly 30-year discography of feisty, fist in the air punk-rock songs that range from furious political agitprop to plain dumb fun. The band was touring behind BYO Records amazing box set which includes the documentary film "Let Them Know: The Story of Youth Brigade and BYO Records," a photo-filled historical booklet detailing their 25-year history, and a compilation CD of BYO's greatest hits. Well, not hits, of course; no label has remained this feistily indie, DIY, and underground, and its survival is definitely a feat that everyone who considers themselves "punk" should salute.

2009-09-16T23:25:00.004-04:00

Cinema Cinema

Two By Two (By Two)

Cinema Cinema, Fugitive Souls, Status Green, Future Future - Blender Theater, NYC - 9-17-09

This was an interesting night, three Jersey bands (and one from Brooklyn) showcasing at the Gramercy Theater in front of a very sparse audience, sponsored by the Village Voice and WXRP-FM ("The New York Rock Experience," and a quick look at the station's website shows Hockey, Muse, Patti Smith, and good ole Matt Pinfield, so it might actually be a decent station). Why the Voice and a NYC rock station would bring three Jersey bands over to play a mostly empty theater, I don't know. (Note: Balcony was closed, I guess so the crowd would look bigger on the floor, although I really don't see why I couldn't sit down; what, I'm going to spend more at the bar if I'm standing up through four bands?)

Future Future

So here's the interesting part: The first and last bands both had doubled names (Future Future, Cinema Cinema) and two members (vox/guitar and drums.) Despite those similarities, the bands couldn't have been more different. Future Future look like they popped out of a Nickelodeon sitcom (in fact, they look a good deal like The Naked Brothers Band, if only the Naked Brothers were in the band and the bass and keyboard parts came from pre-recorded loops.) I give them credit for not giving in to trends and playing that awful day-glo autotuned emo pop, on the other hand, the fact that they don't sound terribly trendalicious might explain why there were so few teenage girls in attendance screaming for the boys to take their shirts off, or whatever girls at All Time Low concerts do these days. Instead of screaming synths and girly vocals, 17-year old Jordan peels off chunky riffs from and belts out poppy odes to adolescent angst, his guitar buzzing with an array of fuzz pedals, while 'tween sibling Jamie clobbers the drums. It's definitely more Jonas than Jimmy Eat World but, hey, at least they're not wearing spandex or headbands or throwing in faux raps about "hot" 15 year old girls (cf Pepper, Brokencyde). Here's the problem: I don't see the $2 PBR swilling Brooklyn hipster slacker crowd going for this, and the band's never going to reach its core audience (i.e. the kids they go to school with) playing +21 bars and weeknight shows at expensive clubs in Manhattan. If this construct doesn't click, Jordan will be off to college in a year where I'm sure he'll grow out his beard and start playing Todd P. venues in mold-covered sub-basements in Canarsie. Sunrise, sunset...

Cinema Cinema

Let's jump to the other end of the night - Cinema Cinema, also a two-man operation but sounding a lot fiercer, not so much like the White Stripes but more in the vein of the sadly overlooked grunge-era duo Local H, who ripped the throats out of many a nublie indie-rockin' coed back in the Nineties, when bands were still allowed to be vicious, aggressive, and raunchy without risking an arrest for date rape by the Politically Correct fashionistas of the Ludlow East Side.

I will skim over Status Green (serviceable if uninspiring pop/rock from Asbury Park) and Brooklyn's Fugitive Souls (channeling dated New Romantic shmaltz with a humorlessness that borders on self-parody,) all delivered with - as it oh so typically is - no real sense of stage presence, fashion sense, or communication skills. They should really do one of those designer reality shows where a cabal of fashionistas take four hopeless shlubs from some Jersey bar band and teach them how to dress for a show, cut their hair, sing into a mike, and hold an audience's attention. Assuming such a thing could even be done.

I am all for bands getting on stage, playing gigs, getting in front of people, especially when they're just starting out. Every hour young Mr. Lawlor from Future Future spends on a stage in front of real people will teach him more about being a working musician than ten hours rehearsing in the basement with his brother; such is the nature of show business. And if the gods are willing and he pays his dues, one day he'll be able to look an audience in the eye, tell a funny story, segue into an amusing anecdote about the derivation of the next lyric, and then completely charm the pants off everyone in the room from the little girls to their grandmothers. That's when you know you're on the right track; not when you can play six songs in a row and announce to the world that you have a "set" and ready to play shows.

George Ade said, "there are at least two kinds of education." I eagerly await the band who has learned how to entertain me.

2009-09-14T22:08:00.004-04:00

The Milwaukees

Groovin' On Grove

Friday 9/11, the weekly Groove on Grove music series at the Grove Street PATH in Jersey City moved from Wednesday to Friday and featured Brooklyn's Overlord, Jody Porter & The Mens Magazines, and the Milwaukees.

Overlord performed a set of perky pop-rock propelled by the rock solid drumming of Matt "Hands" Hauser and the effervescent synth and electric organ of Mr. Tris McCall. Jody Porter (of Fountains of Wayne fame) came off as a bit of an obnoxious rock snob with his snarky remarks about "commuters" and being in "Jersey City" (pronounced with the same condescending amusement as an old Bugs Bunny cartoon using "Hoboken" as a punchline.) Porter's set started with retro 60's psychedelia in the style of Jersey City's (much better) Black Hollies and then settled into a set of solid if unremarkable pop-rock (most of which could have been - and probably were - FoW leftovers.)

Overlord

The Milwaukees came to rock and rock they did, mixing familiar tracks from their American Anthems album with as-yet-unreleased rockers like "Rich And Famous" (see www.jerseybeat.com for a video of that one) and "Victoria." Frontman Dylan St. Clark announced that American Anthems Vol. Two is "sitting on a hard drive in Hoboken," waiting to be finished up and released. I'm guessing we'll see it sometime around Christmas.

2009-08-22T21:30:00.002-04:00

Ya Gotta Believe

The Mets had a ceremony before tonight's game and honored the surviving members of their 1969 championship team: Tom Seaver and Jerry Grote and Ron Swoboda, even Nolan Ryan showed up. The announcers have been reminiscing and interviewing the old players throughout the game, they've been showing clips of Seaver pitching and Swoboda's catch, and you know what? I'm sure there are fans who are saying, "Enough already! We get it!" But you know what? If you weren't there, you're still not going to understand how really amazing that summer of '69 was.

I was raised in an Italian-American family of Yankee fans, and as a 10 year old, I worshipped Mickey Mantle and listened to family stories of DiMaggio and Berra and Rizzuto in their heyday. But by the time I was a teenager, the Yankees had slid into a long era of mediocrity and my interest in sports of any kind had completely evaporated. I played chess, read books, watched Star Trek, and dreaded the hours I had to spend in gym class every week. The last thing I cared about was baseball. I didn't even own a glove when I was in high school.

You have to remember, 1969 was - in almost any regard, financially or politically or socially - a horrible time to be alive. Nixon was president, two Kennedys and Martin Luther King had been assassinated, and the war in Vietnam was sucking the spirit out of the entire country and pitting generation against generation. NYC was falling apart, dirty and broke and rife with racial tension.

But the summer of '69 changed all that. First, in July, a man walked on the moon. That was big. Good ol' Walter Cronkite on TV pointing to a monitor and there was a fuzzy image of Neil Armstrong bouncing up and down on the surface of the moon. America was ready to believe that almost anything could happen.

And then the Mets started winning. Every so often, someone asks, "do you believe in miracles?" Well, I do, because I saw the Mets win the '69 World Series. It didn't matter if you followed sports, or read the newspapers, or rooted for another team. By September of 1969, everybody in New York City - and Long Island and New Jersey and probably most of Southern Connecticut - was a Mets fan. It literally became a matter of faith; you had to believe. They were our team, our lovable losers, our Amazin' Mets. And it became almost a daily ritual to watch the box scores and count down the magic number. This can't be happening, you'd think, only it is. And somewhere, somehow, you knew it was actually going to happen, even if everything you knew about the world said it couldn't.

The '86 Mets and the way they beat the Red Sox certainly ranks as another miracle; the 1996 Yankees revived the spirits of a flagging city and gave New York Pride a major shot in the arm. The 2000 Subway Series brought New York alive in a way I haven't seen since.

But 1969, man... You had to be there. And you had to believe.

2009-08-12T22:13:00.003-04:00

Ben Franklin

GROOVIN' ON GROVE: Ben Franklin and The Poconos, Live at the PATH Station

Every Wednesday, all summer long, there are live bands at the Grove Street PATH station in Jersey City, part of a series called Groove On Grove.

It continually astounds me that these shows aren’t better attended, given that, yes, they’re free, right outside a major transportation hub, and impeccably booked. Today’s show was no different; a sparse crowd for Ben Franklin, a few more people for the Poconos, but nowhere near the kind of attention these bands deserve.

Let’s start with Brooklyn’s Ben Franklin, featuring ex-Meltdowns guitarist Billy Gray, ex-One & Only Typicals/Imperialists bassist Eddie Garza, and drummer Sarah Tomek, who frequently backs Asbury Park singer/songwriter stalwarts like Rick Barry and Jerzy Jung. The trio rocks like a quintet, mixing throbbing, melodic basslines, slashing guitar leads interspersed with head-bouncing riffage, and driving backbeats, melding a hectic fusion of pop, punk, and funk – imagine Cheap Trick jamming with early Black Flag at Dismemberment Plan’s 4th of July BBQ. It’s a big sound for a 3-piece, especially when Garza and Gray start trading call-and-response vocals that fuse into spot-on harmonies on rockin’ anthems like “Tell Me How You Really Feel” or the politically pointed “Timmeh,” whose lyrics connect the dots between the financial shenanigans of the Federal Reserve and the plight of the contemporary working stiff. This band has a lot of big ideas and big sounds, and since they just finished mixing their debut full-length, we can all look forward to hearing more from them soon.

The Poconos

The Poconos were missing guitarist Marty O’Kane but the remaining four members – led by the charismatic Brian Leopold (ex-Low Flying Jets) on vocals, guitar, and harp – sounded just fine. Multi-instrumentalist Chris Smith filled in with guitar, banjo, and most importantly pedal steel, which he tuned variously to either emulate the twang of Nashville country or to add synth-like effects. Given that the Poconos are basically a traditional roots-rock combo, with catchy major-chord melodies and simple lyrics about girls ‘n’ stuff, Smith’s contributions accentuated the Poconos’ kinship to Wilco – a big city band using classic country tropes to convey small town earnestness, occasionally expanded with the use of electronics. Yes, Leopold did throw on a pair of neon sunglasses at one point, but basically the Poconos deliver unfiltered Americana, without the smug irony imposed by so many Brooklyn alt-country acts; simple, smooth, and satisfying, like chicken fried steak with white gravy.

There are a couple of Groove On Grove Wednesdays left (a big mystery band next week, or so we hear) and a can’t miss, end of the summer blowout on September 11 with the Milwaukees and Any Day Parade. Keep your eyes on JCI’s calendar and I’ll see you on the PATH train.

2009-08-11T21:16:00.002-04:00

The Lost Art of Flyering

Someone (and I haven't quite figured out who yet, although I know it's someone I used to hang with back in the day) has started an ABC No Rio commemorative blog which is well worth checking out.

My contribution was to digitize some old flyers, which I've kept in a beat up old file folder for the last 20 years. Back when the hardcore matinees started in 1990, there was a show every Saturday at ABC No Rio and a cool new flyer for every show. The shows are still happening and I am sure bands are still making flyers, but I haven't seen much lately that holds up to the creativity we saw back in the early 1990's.
Like, uh, these...

2009-08-02T02:06:00.007-04:00

Jeff Schroeck

Thank you for not coming

JEFF SCHROECK, THE MARSHMALLOWS, BEN FRANKLIN, JIM TESTA - Automata Chino, Jersey City - August 1, 2009.

This is a conversation I've avoided for a long time, but what happens when you put on a show and nobody comes?

There's an unwritten commandment among musicians that you can't ask why someone didn't come to your show; the reason being that, sooner or later (and probably sooner,) they're going to ask you the same thing when you don't show up at one of their shows.

But really, it seems like there should be some way to move this discussion beyond the self-pitying and the specific to the philosophical and the general; not so much, "why didn't you come to my show?" as "why didn't anyone come to the show at all?"

A venue, empty

Granted, All Points West probably siphoned away some of the walk-in downtown Jersey City hipster crowd that usually comes to Automata Chino on a Saturday. But let's be honest here: Who among the people who might come to a show that I book was going to be spending their day (at $90 a ticket) standing under the hot sun all day to see Tool? I wound up on the light rail with a few hundred sunburned, inebriated frat boys coming back from APW and, really, that isn't the crowd I hang with.

Ben Franklin

I'm not saying that I didn't have a good time; I did. Granted, you need an almost Vulcan-like implacability to get past the understandable human emotions of disappointment and resentment to move yourself into the moment and actually have fun at a show like this. But I'm with people I like and music I enjoy; what's not to like? So yeah, I did have fun. That doesn't change the fact that the venue lost money on the night, none of the bands got paid, and it didn't obviate the inevitable conversation I had with the booker on my way out (who couldn't understand how such good bands didn't draw.)

The Marshmallows

Did I promote the show? she asked. Well, yes, I did; I MySpace'd, I Facebook'd, I message-boarded, I even sent a few begging emails to friends. And none of it worked. As Jeff Schroeck said to me, you can book a great show, but you can't keep people from booking other shows on the same night. And, it goes without saying, you can't make people come. No one goes to shows out of a sense of obligation, or as a tit-for-tat for favors previously rendered; it that was the case, considering all the goodwill the Ergs engendered over the years, Jeff would sell out every venue he ever plays. (And quite frankly, I'd be calling in quite a few karmic markers myself.)

But it doesn't work like that. You put together a bill and you tell people about it, and then you wait and see if anybody comes. Sometimes they do, sometimes they don't. Sometimes they'll pay for the PATH train or the subway or whatever else it takes, and come to the show; and sometimes they'll stay home and play poker or Wii games.

And if you really love doing this, you move on to the next show, regardless.

2009-06-21T23:39:00.001-04:00

Live from the Wave Gathering 2009

Shane Cooley from Virginia traveled up to Asbury Park for the second year in a row to perform several gigs at this year's Wave Gathering Festival. Here he is at America's Cup Coffee performing "My Asbury Park."

2009-06-21T19:47:00.002-04:00

Rock N Roll Gas Station - Episode 16

A Conversation with Julian Peterson

This week's Rock n Roll Gas Station features singer/songwriter Julian Peterson, our studio guest who talks a bit about his life and music, and performs live for our microphones.

Download here: http://www.box.net/shared/ttfjp7sej3

2009-06-11T21:02:00.003-04:00

Rock N Roll Gas Station - Episode 15:
Wave Gathering Preview

Celebrate the Asbury Park music scene on June 19, 20, and 21 as the town's music scene, restaurants, and retailers band together to host dozens of performers from all genres of independent music - folk to pop to punk to metal. For more information, visit www.wavegathering.com. In this episode, we present some of our favorite performers appearing at Wave Gathering 2009.

Milwaukees - "Moonshaker" - American Anthems Vol.1

The Friggs - "Bad Word For A Good Thing" - Bad Word For A Good Thing

Barry & The Penetrators - "Girlfriend" - Tales From Dirty Jersey

Status Green - "Holland Tunnel" - New EP

Anthony Fiumano - "Information Age" - When Strangers Say Hello

April Smith & The Great Picture Show - "Colors" - Live From The Penthouse

Second Dan - "We Can" - We Can

Shane Cooley - "My Asbury Park" - Shane Cooley

Deena - "Gemini Guy" - Somewhere In Blue

Future Future - "Television Glow" - Future Future

Chemtrail - "Blood Bath" - Terminals

Kid With Man Head - "She Won't Sleep With Me" - Cassius Coleman

Planet Janet - "Seventeen" - Nice Socks

Chris Batten & The Woods - "From The Banks of the Old Raritan"

Eryn Shewell - "Anymore" - One Song At A Time

Tommy Strazza - "Goin' Solo" - Welcome To The Rest Of Your Life

Arlan Feiles - "Come Sunday Morning" - Come Sunday Morning

Val Emmich - "No Control" - Demo

2009-06-06T15:47:00.005-04:00

Jersey City A' Go Go

Jersey City was all about the rock 'n' roll last night, with a four-band extraganza outside the Grove Street PATH station for the summer kickoff to Groove On Grove (Wednesday nights at 6 pm for the rest of the summer), and shows at Grand Bank (a huge Japanese/Chinese restaurant on Montgomery that books bands the first Friday of the month) and Automata Chino.

Here are some pics of the Milwaukees at Groove on Grove, and Any Day Parade and the Hollies. The Grand Bank show also featured the rockabilly/swing/punk band The Fringe Dwellers and the Motown/garagey Novellas.

2009-06-04T21:50:00.005-04:00

Rock N Roll Gas Station - Episode 14

Download The Show: rnrgs-14.mp3<

Sonic Youth - Sacred Trickster - The Eternal

Ben Franklin - Ghosts - These Are The Most Delicate Songs

Push-Pull - Wright, Right? - Between Noise & The Indians

Cut Off Your Hands - You & I - Daytrotter session

Bouncing Souls - Mental Bits - Single of the Month

Kim Lenz & The Jaguars - Touch Me - It's All True

Nightmare Of You - I Think I'm Getting Older - Informaniac

Olivia Mancini & The Housewives - Crime Don't Pay - This Kind of Life

Von Hayes - Golden Ted - Quartered For The Umbrella Soldier

Vortis - Tommy Haircut - Demo

Solfege Radio - Jersey - Single

Sweet Surrenders - Die Young - Balcony Cigarettes

The Leftovers - Telephone Operator - Eager To Please

Boss Jim Gettys - Half-Baked - Kitra Vol. 2

Dead Milkmen - Surfing Cow - Death Rides A Pale Cow: The Ultimate Collection

Magnolia Electric Co. - Josephine - Josephine

Peter Stampfel & The Bottlecaps - Surfer Angel - Peter Stampfel & The Bottlecaps

The Great Nostalgic - Young Lovers - The Great Nostalgic

Great Plains -- Hall of Shame - Length Of Growth: Best Of Great Plains 1981-89

2009-05-25T19:52:00.002-04:00

Rock N Roll Gas Station - Episode 13

Elvis Costello - "Down Among The Wines & Spirits" - Secret, Profane, And Sugarcane

Ghost Town Trio - "Cold Machine" - Have You Heard

Defiance, OH - "Can't Stop, Won't Stop" - We Just Call It Roulette, Vol. 2

Illinois - "I Am Fine" - www.daytrotter.com

Big Energy - "Winding Way" - "Big Energy" EP

The Side Project - "Kicked Out of the Union" - This Machine Kills Scenecore

Superchunk - "Learned To Surf" - "Leaves In The Gutter" EP

The Legends - "Always The Same" - Over & Over

Rainer Maria - "Catastrophe" - Catastrophe Will Keep Us Together

Mose Giganticus - "Commander!" - "Commander!" EP

Movers & Shakers - "Take Your Time" - Larrabee

Wilco - "Outta Site, Outta Mind" - Being There

Rik Mercaldi - "Home Away From Home" - Rik Mercaldi

The Moths - "Enthusiastic Loser" - Lepid Opera

Roadside Graves - "The Snake & How It Got Its Legs" - My Son's Home

Future Future - "Television Glow" - Future Future

Bouncing Souls - "In Your Face" - The Thorazine Stretch Factor Compilation

Bionic Rhoda - "Chili Dog" - Bionic Rhoda

2009-05-24T19:49:00.003-04:00

ROCK N ROLL GAS STATION - Episode 12

Happy Memorial Day

>>>Download the show here<<<<

John Prine - "Sam Stone" - John Prine

Rick Barry - "Courage For A Rainy Day" - Declaration of Codependence

Julian Peterson - "Get On This Train" - Get On This Train

Yung Wu - "Waiting For The Thunder" - A Few Uneven Rhymes - A Tribute to Winter Hours

Golden Bloom - "E.H.M." - Fan The Flames

Lieder - "Doesn't Anybody Care"

Fellaheen - "Air Guitar (With Broken Strings)" - Yours For The Revolution

Super Satellite - "Such A Bore" - Super Satellite

Anthony Fiumano - "Born To Crawl" - When Strangers Say Hello

Bishop Allen - "The Ancient Commonsense of Things" - Grrr

Bear Hands - "Belongings" - Daytrotter Session www.daytrotter.com

The Brooklyn What? - "In-Crowd" - For Boro President

Cage The Elephant - "Tiny Little Robots" - Cage The Elephant

The Fuzzy Lemons - "It's Okay To Be Different" - The Fuzzy Lemons

2009-05-23T16:53:00.002-04:00

My Night With A Dead Milkman

So where was everybody? Never book a gig on Memorial Day Weekend. And this was my first Memorial Day Weekend home since 1996, when I started going to W.E. Fest.

The folks in Wilmington NC are no doubt doing just fine without me. I took the year off and spent Friday night at The Record Collector in Bordentown, NJ, performing on a bill with one of my punk rock heroes, Joe Jack Talcum of the Dead Milkmen.

Randy Ellis, aka Randy Now, who booked so many amazing shows at City Gardens during the Eighties and Nineties, has been bringing bands to perform in a small gallery at this mom-and-pop record store for a while now. He's had some big names - Ian McLagan and Graham Parker and Peter Tork - perform there, even though the space can only hold about 50 people. Well, that wasn't a problem last night, since only about ten people actually showed up.

I was fighting the flu and probably should have been home in bed, but I got through the set without a coughing fit. My guitar's pickup died but Joe was nice enough to let me use his Ibanez electric-acoustic, which is a gorgeous guitar. I did have a couple of brain freezes and had to sputter through some missed lyrics, but all in all, I thought it was a pretty good set. I finished up covering a song by my buddy Sal Cannestra's band 13 called "City Gardens" as a shoutout to Randy.

Joe was great, throwing out some old Dead Milkmen favorites (including, of course, "Punk Rock Girl") and mixing them in with a Dylan cover and songs from his Butterfly Joe persona and his split CD with Mischief Brew. His songs teeter somewhere between romantic shmaltz and deadpan ironic jokery, on tracks like "Yesterday I Was Talking To MY Sister" and "What Her Autopsy Revealed." Joe plays acoustic guitar almost like an electric (I'm all strumming, he actually plays leads) and does some nimble harmonica work.

I want to thank Randy for asking me on the bill, and Mr. Talcum for letting me use his guitar. The Dead Milkmen will be performing at Insubordination Festival in June, and I will be there in front of the stage singing my fool middle-aged head off. I hope to see you there.

2009-05-16T20:24:00.002-04:00

ROCK N ROLL GAS STATION - EPISODE 11

To download this week's show: RNRGS-11.mp3

Green Day - "The Static Age" - 21st Century Breakdown

Art Brut - "The Replacements" - Art Brut Vs Satan

Jarvis Cocker - "Homewreckers!" - Further Complications

Bob Dylan - "If You Ever Get To Houston" - Together Through Life

Cymbals Eat Guitars - "The Living North" - Why There Are Mountains

Phil & The Osophers - "We Have All Summer" - Parallelo

Canadian Invasion - "Mansard Roof" (live)

Little Brazil - "Nicholas" - Son

Conor Oberst & The Mystic Valley Band - "Big Black Nothing" - Outer South

Ben Kweller - "Problems" - Freak Out! It's Ben Kweller

The Gullibles - "Superman" - demo

Low Budgets - "Poseur Punker" - Go For Broke

The Methadones - "Take Me To Japan" - This Won't Hurt...

Graham Parker & The Rumour - "Discovering Japan" - Graham Parker Anthology

Cub - "Here Comes The Summer" - Here Comes The Summer: The Undertones Tribute Comp

Teen Idols - "Cameage" - Homage: Lots Of Bands Doing Descendents Songs

2009-05-01T18:47:00.003-04:00

Hoboken Music Awards

I was trying to figure out a way to report on the first annual Hoboken Music Awards without coming off as self-serving, since, yes, we won one for Outstanding Contribution To Local Indie Music Scene. So I'm just going to have Stephen Bailey tell you all about it. See his story and photos here.

2009-04-30T20:52:00.004-04:00

Rock N Roll Gas Station - Episode 10

Direct Download: RNRGS10.mp3

Screaming Females - "I Believe In Evil" Power Move

Roadside Graves - "Take A Train" My Son's Home

Kevin Devine - "Time To Burn" My Brother's Blood

Any Day Parade - "Waterbucket" "Where We Fall" EP

The Copyrights - "Carmelita" Art Of The Underground Single - 40

The Felice Brothers - "Penn Station" Yonder Is The Clock

The Ergs! - "Stinkin' of Whiskey Blues" Upstairs/Downstairs

Even In Blackouts - "Randy Scouse Git" Thresholds From The Basement

Junior Battles - "Hotel Bibles" Junior Battles

Deadline - "Hanging On The Telephone" Single

Pansy Division - "Average Men" That's So Gay

Pink Lincolns - "I've Got My Tie On" Back From The Pink Room

The Objex - "The Reaction" Attack Of The Objex

Radio Faces - "I'm So Lucky" Party At The Bushwick Hotel

Red Phone Dispatch - "Delicacy"

Tin Armor - "Flesh!" Art of the Underground Single - 32

Textbook - "Outside" Boxing Day Massacre

The Vines - "He's A Rocker" Melodia