popwreckoning

One of Kansas City’s most beloved venues, Record Bar, celebrated 5 years serving the scene this past weekend. They celebrated with a weekend filled with some of the best local and global acts.

Photographer Ryan McElwain was at Friday’s show that featured locals Hidden Pictures and Soft Reeds with England’s Field Music. You can check out photos from the night below:

Hidden Pictures:

Soft Reeds:

Field Music:

Frankie and the Heartstrings are a indie rock band from Sunderland, the same Northeast England town that also gave us the great Futureheads and Field Music. Despite being a relatively new band, they won many hearts on this summer’s European music festival circuit and already have a pretty devoted fanbase back home. Frankly (no pun intended), I can understand the attraction. This is not music with lots of electronic bells and whistles. They play feelgood guitar pop, taking a back to basics approach to craft their sound and creating utter perfection. Below is the video for “Ungrateful,” the band’s forthcoming single to be released next Monday (October 4th) in the UK on their own record label, Pop Sex Ltd.

If you live in New York City, you can catch them when they appear at CMJ later this month (date and time TBA).

Frankie and the Heartstrings: website | myspace

To celebrate five amazing years in Westport in Kansas City, Record Bar is celebrating and this celebration is so huge it takes a whole weekend of great shows to get the full party on.

October 1 through October 3, Record Bar is hosting live performances from Field Music, Republic Tigers, Soft Reeds, Valient Thorr and more. This is one of the first shows the Republic Tigers have done in awhile since they’ve started recording their sophomore album, so be ready for some new tunes.

You can check out the full line up below and buy tickets in advance at the Record Bar or here.

Anniversary Weekend line-up:
Friday, October 1:
9:00 pm The Future Kings
9:50 pm Hidden Pictures
10:40 pm Soft Reeds
11:30 pm Field Music

Saturday, October 2:
11:00 pm Cowboy Indian Bear
12:00 am The Republic Tigers

Sunday, October 3:
8:00 pm Hammerlord
8:45 pm Howl
9:30 pm Junius
10:30 pm Valient Thorr

“Are you ready to rock?” asked a jovial Barry Hyde of the Futureheads Friday night. Cheering ensued. He flashed an evil grin. “You’re in the right place, because we are too!” The Sunderland, England punk rock quartet played a blazing set of favorites old and new to a crowd raring to go at the Black Cat in Washington. Their latest album The Chaos was released in America this past Tuesday on Dovecote Records.

The first of two support acts, the Static Jacks, seemed perfectly matched to the punk sensibility of the headlining Sunderland rockers. This five-member New Jersey band is a band primed for success that you’ve probably never even heard of by name before. According to Wikipedia, tunes by this self-described garage-soul band have graced “The Hills” and “The City” and have been featured on stateside satellite radio. Despite sporting a haircut reminiscent of Lyle Lovett, singer Ian Devaney has the swagger and aura of coolness of Joey Ramone and the magnetism of the Horrors‘ Faris Badwan. I was standing in front of bassist Spencer Kimmins and guitarist Henry Kaye and nearly got hit in the head by wayward guitar necks; this didn’t put me off at the slightest, because this is what you should expect during a high energy punk set. You don’t expect the bass player to hit a suitcase with a stick like it was a drum either, but you go with it if the music is good. Despite their young age (all of them under 21, according to the Xs on their hands), they have a polished but aggressive sound. If they keep this up, expect big things from this band soon.

The Like, an all-girl group from Los Angeles, have previously toured with some heavy hitters – Muse, the Arctic Monkeys, and Razorlight, just to name a few. Given their sometimes punk, sometimes sunny pop sound, the comparison to the Go-Go’s is inevitable. There are also whiffs of the Beatles (check out the video for “He’s Not a Boy” below, which reminds me of the nightclub dance scenes in “A Hard Day’s Night”) and the Beach Boys with their harmonies. Oddly, their set sandwiched in between the Static Jacks and the Futureheads almost felt like a rest period because they couldn’t match the liveliness of the other two acts. I would have preferred if they stuck to punk (and showcase their technical chops) than with retro pop. Their next album produced by Mark Ronson, Release Me, will be released on June 15 on Downtown Records.

He’s Not A Boy from The Like on Vimeo.

Sunderland, nestled in the far reaches of Northeast England, has been criminally neglected by music pundits in the past, but mark my words, it won’t be for much longer. One of these days someday soon, America will come to its collective senses and realize the wealth of music there, from the likes of Field Music, Frankie and the Heartstrings, and Friday’s headliners the Futureheads. I should have known I was in for an amazing nights simply from a message lead singer/guitarist Barry Hyde sent me hours before the show, “we’re going to rock your socks off!”

The moment Hyde and his band stepped on the Black Cat stage, you could sense the electricity in the air. The driving count-in of “5-4-3-2-1!” of “The Chaos” was a superb way to begin a set that never let up in sheer intensity and fun. “Heartbeat Song” was prefaced by Hyde with, “imagine it’s the ’80s. You’re in a John Hughes film, and you’ve just fallen in love.” Wow. It’s the obvious earworm single of The Chaos, and was simply breathtaking live as a pop-punk masterpiece. I previously linked to the excellent promo video for the song on a tour announcement 2 months ago, but check out this “making of” video that shows you just how fun these guys are.

Their roadie had painstakingly taped down all the guitar cords onstage, and this was because guitarist Ross Millard, bassist Jaff Craig, and most often Hyde himself could be found roaming the stage while frenetically going at their instruments with gusto. By the second song in, all of them were covered in sweat. Having never seen this band before live, I was not expecting the very funny stage patter from Hyde and the interaction between him, Millard, and Craig. It made an already stellar gig even better, and I’d argue they rank up there with We Are Scientists for pure during-gig hilarity. Early on in the show, Hyde chided a drunk couple who had been chatting throughout the set, one of whom had thrown a empty glass at his feet. “You do know this is a gig, right?” The crowd cheered in response.

During their cover of Kate Bush‘s “Hounds of Love,” Hyde involved the audience in a shouting contest, as Millard was unable to do his harmonies due to a sore throat, Hyde admitting he was scared to sing part of a song that he’d never done live before. Aww. (If you were wondering, my side singing along with Craig won the contest due to our enthusiasm in participating.) For the encore, Hyde indulged a devoted fan as the band played “Man Ray” from their 2004 self-titled debut album, saying to her, “after every single song we’ve played you shouted for this.” Just goes to show that persistence, in the presence of a obliging band, pays off. After such an energetic set, it was obvious that these chaps from Sunderland could have played on for hours and hours and the crowd would have eaten it all up. I can’t wait to see these guys again soon.

The Futureheads Set List
The Chaos
Meantime
Heartbeat Song
Decent Days and Nights
The Baron
Area
Struck Dumb
Sun Goes Down
Skip to the End
The Connector
I Can Do That
The Beginning of the Twist
Hounds of Love (Kate Bush cover)
Jupiter
//
This is the Life
Man Ray
Work is Never Done

Tour Dates
Jun 07 – Paradise / Boston
Jun 08 – Bowery Ballroom / New York City
Jun 10 – Mod Club / Toronto
Jun 11 – Magic Stick / Detroit
Jun 12 – Lincoln Hall / Chicago

The Futureheads: website | myspace | The Futureheads Ready for June North American Tour
The Static Jacks: website | myspace
The Like: website | myspace

At just over an hour and ten minutes long, the only way I’m going to get through this review is by keeping it as summarized as possible. Short story: Field Music‘s Field Music (Measure) double album sounds like Of Montreal mashed with Herman’s Hermits, minus the druggy trip, and dragged through the BBC in 1966. Twenty songs long, Field Music (Measure) isn’t necessarily in flux, but it does carry enough variance to keep you interested all the way to the purely-for-delicate-noise instrumental exit, “It’s About Time”—what a fitting title.

And for such a double album released from a band composed solely of two brothers (David and Peter Brewis hold it together; Andrew Moore didn’t return for this reprise, and just recently have they committed to full-time replacements) and after each brother’s side project took them away from Field Music focus, it’s a completion of artistry done with smarts. They’re known for a pop-like sort of mellow, with former albums sounding a bit more jangly (Tones of Town more so than the sweeping self-titled debut).

“Them That Do Nothing” is the first single I ended up paying attention to, since “Measure” was released as a teaser back in October (but I was off concentrating on neon chucks or something). It’s shocking that I did miss the preview, but I’m glad I did, because I would have been way more stoked than I am now. The album is good—it’s still intelligent and well-paced in pop, signature vocals, and the free form of past folky love reminiscent of Lindsay Buckingham—but “Measure” has a brilliant string opening that leads to a catchy plucking that evokes banjo breakdown. “Let’s Write a Book” is romantic in staccato lyrics, diggy bass hooks, off-the-cuff xylophone, and some haunting synth. I reformat what I said in the beginning—this can be a druggy trip of a listen, but not in a modern hit, think back to the vinyl and eight track days (or remember your parents talking about it), and that’s more what you’ll get. Read: Led Zeppelin.

If you at all are a fan of mid-60s era Beatles, or trancy-but-groovy synth pop, HAL or Royal Wood, Bishop Allen, or just really dug that “You Don’t Send Me” Belle and Sebastien song, this will put a smile on your face the whole play through. A notable grit does pop up, boosting the original sound of Field Music, but they remain hook-repetitive. Apparently when you’ve got a good base, you just keep going until someone breaks out with an improv lead. A tight album wrapping “Share The Words” will definitely be the next single, and if it isn’t, you should at least groove to it once a day. In fact, any song that uses the lyrics “I’m hot for myself” paired with loose guitars and a backing off-tempo set should always make it onto playlists everywhere. “Effortlessly” keeps the repetitive theme, but carries it beyond what’s more than welcome—watch out for those. There are only a few tracks that goes off course, but when they do, it’s a rush to hit the >>| button.

Sunderland, England indie rock band Field Music, led by brothers David and Peter Brewis, have announced a North American tour for early next year. The band originally planned to tour on our side of the pond this December but had to cancel scheduled dates in Brooklyn and Chicago due to illness.

Field Music’s fifth official album, Measure, will be released in America on February 16, 2010 on Thrill Jockey Records.

Tour Dates:
Jan 30 – Bell House / Brooklyn
Mar 15 – Cedar Cultural Center / Minneapolis
Mar 16 – High Noon Saloon / Madison
Mar 17 – Lincoln Hall / Chicago
Mar 19 – Horseshoe Tavern / Toronto
Mar 20 – Il Motore / Montreal
Mar 21 – Great Scott / Allston, MA
Mar 23 – Bowery Ballroom / New York City