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The parade of Portland bands stopping by our pal Travis Harrison’s podcast/video show Serious Business on BreakThru Radio just keeps on rolling. This time around it’s Brenda – by special request of The Milkman’s Union. The guys hit the studio to record 4 songs and talk to Travis the day after playing a show at Fort Useless in Brooklyn. Fun fact: Fort Useless is named after the excellent album In Defense of Fort Useles by Travis’ band, The Unsacred Hearts. Enjoy the video below, and go here for the full podcast. Thanks for the mention, Travis!
Here’s part 2 of our Free Range Music Festival photo coverage. Photos by Conall O’Brien, Emily Qualey, and Bryan Bruchman. Check out part one here. Read on… Photos by David Zwickerhill.
There isn’t much more to say about Titus Andronicus – last night at SPACE only further solidified the band as one of my own personal favorite rock acts. The group’s first ever show in Maine (and drummer Eric’s birthday!) drew a strong crowd (especially for a Tuesday night). Brenda kicked the night off with a solid set, and Dinowalrus added a bit of noise to the equation, but it wasn’t until the headliners hit the stage that the crowd packed in tight. It was a fairly long set, but that didn’t deter the enthusiastic crowd from singing along, dancing, and crowdsurfing. Read on for a photo gallery of all three bands’ performances. Read on…  Death By Audio - Brooklyn, NY (January 2008) With all the recent theater productions happening at SPACE Gallery, it’s possible to get confused when you see Titus Andronicus on the schedule. Tonight will in fact be the punk band from Glen Rock, NJ, not the play by Shakespeare. Got it? Great.  After The Jump Festival - Brooklyn, NY (June 2008) I may have a soft spot for the band because they’re from my home state (the same thing works on Screaming Females, Ted Leo, and Sharon Van Etten, incidentally) but you can’t deny the fact that they are one of the tightest, most exciting rock band bands around these days.  SXSW - Austin, TX (March 2009) With songs that satisfy on both a visceral level and can make a history nerd smirk with appreciation, they dig through our collective American experience and use history to examine it on their latest, The Monitor. They also happen to play loud, fast, anthemic tunes whose meanings are fun to decipher. Bonus: they’re fun to photograph. Come see them tonight at SPACE Gallery. I can’t recommend this show enough.  with Pete Dinowalrus - Knitting Factory, Brooklyn, NY (October 2009) Tonight (and for this current string of dates) Dinowalrus (guitarist Pete played in Titus for a little while) and local boys Brenda open the shows. Read on for a couple videos. Read on… Brenda is currently the band at the center of the Portland indie rock scene. With deep roots and infinite connections musically and socially that touch almost everybody who spends their nights practicing and playing shows in our many venues, the trio also happens to have a knack for writing catchy songs that share a piece of Portland with their listeners. This track, “Girl Don’t Grow” (from Silver Tower) is the epitome of that, name-checking neighborhoods and streets. The video takes us along for the ride as the band starts their day, spends some time in the studio, shops at Sounds Absurd, and then plays a show at Port City Music Hall (shot at their TWO show with Marie Stella on Feb. 1). Watch the video below, and see the band live on March 29th when they open for Titus Andronicus at SPACE Gallery. Head to their site for more tour dates (including Free Range Fest). Keep yourself warm and dry on this snow day with two new demos from Brenda. The trio (sometimes more) plays February 1 at Port City Music Hall for a TWO show with Marie Stella. Poster below by Kris Johnsen.
Foam Castles is Tyler Jackson. Through collaborators, backing bands, and both coasts, the project is essentially a one-man operation. One the eve of the Peapod Recordings debut of Molly’s Jungle (though tonight it’s actually labelmates Honey Clouds‘ party, the album will be available at the SPACE gallery show), I spent some time learning more about the band’s history and process.
It only took a couple years, two great lo-fi bedroom pop albums, and a cross-country move before Foam Castles – the band – made its debut on Thursday, May 13 at Geno’s (which also served as a farewell show for Chrissy from Theodore Treehouse). Fresh for your eyeballs, directed by the excellent Nick Poulin, is a new video for Brenda’s song, “Blackout.” This track will appear on their upcoming record, Silver Tower, out June 29 on Mckeenstreetmusic.
Brenda – “Blackout” Official Music Video from Mckeenstreet Music on Vimeo. |
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