About a month ago Cooper posted a little Clams Casino produced joint called “Wassup” by ASAP Rocky. Yesterday, New Jersey born producer Mike Volpe aka Clams Casino put out Rainforest EP on Triangle Records. Although I’m not fond of the name he chose I must state Cooper is. He says “It reminds him of an Italian gangster sitting down to dinner” or something along those lines. I can agree that hes a great bedroom producer. The “Wassup” track is genius and so is hisEP.
You can grab it on the Triangle Records site although it has been showing an under maintenance message today, but give it a try back later. Big things ahead for this guy!
America and Australia Join Hands//The Twerps and Family Portrait
Tonight will be a very important night in world relations. On this night Australian Band, The Twerps share the stage with New Jersey born and bred American badasses, Family Portrait. This historical event will take place at Glassland’s Gallery.
Things may get a little crazy but with these bands coming together we are hoping to make peace between these two waring nations. Fingers crossed for a cease fire. But seriously, it’s going to be a great show so if you’re in the NYC or Brooklyn area you best be getting your asses down there!
Can we talk about how good this album is? It’s real real good! I’ve written about Screaming Females before. I literally remember dropping what I was doing to go write a post when I first heard Marissa P. shredding and howling. These are some seriously heavy guitar riffs, not to be messed with.
It beats the hell out of me why I neglected to discuss how fantastic their newest LP, Castle Talk is. You can tell that these musicians are products of early 90’s metal and grunge. It makes me nostalgic and I’m happy to hear some of that influence. As much as I love indie rock pop and shoe gaze it’s nice to hear a band that’s in your face with a heavier more aggressive style. Getting that blood pumping. However, don’t get lost in the instrumental there are some very clever lyrics in there too. If you pick this album up, pay attention to the chorus of “Sheep”.
It was hard to choose one track to share with you, but I think the one above “Wild” was a strong choice. Other favorites off the album include, “I Don’t Mind It” which was previously released and “Normal.” You can catch them tonight with DOM and Yo La Tengo at Brooklyn Bowl MOG CMJ kickoff party FREE! Also, do yourself a favor and own their album here.
I stumbled upon Jersey based duo Slow Animal while scrolling through my devious nodata.tv feed. For some instinctive reason, I have an uncanny ability to tell who the fuck is from New Jersey via cover art ALONE.
so i made the leap to their myspace to check out if this ish was worth stealing (hell, they even retweeted their leak link) and i dare say, it’s even worth buying. expect a moderate degree of chillwave, clangy guitar, hazy double vocals, and a drunken danceable groove.
I TOTALLY DIG THIS SHIT.
download their demo for freez via Bandcamp or see them a million times at CMJ:
is now available for pre-order here, so you can ensure that cute lil handwritten Underwater Peoplespackage arrives on your doorstep on June 21.
The 7” features two tracks, Droplet on a Hot Stone and Nen Vole, which honestly, you might have heard two summers ago. Still, making the jump from cassette to vinyl is a beautiful feat, and we here at MV are proud of Mr. Lynch for taking the time to release his work the way he’d like to.
Both tracks feature Julian’s voice, acoustic and electric guitar, drums, and a keyboard, making the act a veritable one-man band. Dreamy and beautiful, these songs are summer night jams to end your drunken freedoms on a loosely anthemic or weepy worple note, respectively.
and being the forward thinking label they are, UP has the tracks up for free. download it right now. you sure as hell ain’t buying it cause you can’t hear it otherwise.
Family Portrait - Mega Secrets (Homemade Flamethrower Music Video)
The new new jersey is superchill, a little surfy, and filled with jangly guitars and classic rock inspired vocals. Having grown up in the state myself, I can say this sound is, at least in part, a byproduct of basements, the jersey shore, the death of emo, and Bruce Springsteen (via baby boomers). Family Portrait, a gang of four from (surprise!) Ridgewood, NJ, reveals a little more of the picture being painted by the extremely active armpit state musicians at Underwater Peoples Records.
The above video appears to be an amalgamation of homemade flamethrower footage set to Family Portrait’s “Mega Secrets”. Nota bad idea. The track itself definitely borrows from labelmates Real Estate’s layered, reverby, lo-fi successes, but the vocals have a distinctly retro feel that will keep your hips swinging long after the beer has run out at your next suburban pool party. This is summer music people - rooftops, sunsets, drives down the parkway. boy am i excited.
If you’ve been following our posts then you already know how the Vagabonds feel about this band. I hear people saying their only fault is that they aren’t from Brooklyn because by now they would have blown up. Fuck that, they are way to raw for the bk hipsters and they are doing just fine for themselves. One of the best things about them is that they are from New Brunswick, NJ.
The band is comprised of three members Jarrett D. on drums, King Mike on Bass and Marissa P. shredding it on guitar and vocals. The first time I saw a video of them playing I was hooked they are rock and roll to the core and I can’t get enough. They also have a great blog complete with illustrations of their adventures on tour which you can find below along with their record label, Don Giovanni sampler that features three of their tracks free to download.
For those of you in the New York area you can catch them at the Don Giovanni showcase at The Bowery Ball Room, February 6th (also my day of birth). I’m sure it will be off the hook. A little birdie also told me that they will be playing at the Fire House in Northern Jersey for the next “Pantry Party” if so we will be there in force. Their song “Bell” is featured above. Other favorites include “Skull” and “I Do”. Check out the rest of their tracks on MySpace.
