9/15 UPDATED: The Boss dropped by The Gaslight Anthem’s end of the year holiday show last Friday night at Asbury Park’s Convention Hall. That’s one hell of a X-mas gift! Even more pics here!
For my first official post with Late Night Wallflower, I figured I would start things out with some pics from The Horrible Crowes‘ Bowery Ballroom performance last Thursday.
Given The Horrible Crowes frontman Brian Fallon’s strong belief in the sanctity of the live performance, I almost feel guilty for posting these photos. The man is not naive, he’s well aware we live in the Youtube age. Yet he confesses a yearning to go back in time, a time when the only way to see your favorite artist was by standing in front of their stage.
The band’s performance this past Thursday at Bowery Ballroom was the first of only two US dates. I really don’t want to give anything away for fear of ruining what the band may have in store for the lucky folks attending the LA show. I will say you are in for a treat. The band is tight, the music is right, and there’s couple of choice covers to round out the night. Enjoy.
Late Night Wallflower and Washed Up Emo are proud to present…
ALL EYES WEST (Members of The Bomb, Noise By Numbers. Academy Fight Song Records)
SOUL CONTROL (Bridge Nine Records)
SOMETHING ABOUT DEATH OR DYING (Members of The Gaslight Anthem)
DESCENDER (Aqualab Records)
Saturday, April 23rd at Lit Lounge, NYC (93 2nd Ave # A)
9 pm | $6 | 21+
As you may have noticed, we have some new members posting their best of lists this year. I’d like to welcome my friends Dustin, Brianne, and Gabe to the site. I’ve said it before but I truly believe that Late Night Wallflower is headed in an exciting new direction with the new clientele assembled. Along with a face lift, you can expect this site to become a fully function zine again. More interviews, more columns (from both us and friends / musicians), and new….attitude (yeah!). I’m excited to welcome these three on board and I look forward to seeing where the site goes as it heads towards it’s fifth birthday.
Thanks for reading and here’s to an awesome 2011.
-Matt
And now, onward with my favorite records from 2010. It was definitely a good year for new music.
Superchunk – Majesty Shredding (Merge)
Hands down, my favorite record of 2010. In a time where Pitchfork dominates what people give their attention to for 7.8 minutes and the chill-wave movement drapes its dreadful cloak of hip douchebaggery over the masses, it was refreshing to have these indie vets come back from a nine year absence and show everybody how it should be done. Every song on Majesty Shredding is so insanely infectious and lacking of any sort of pretension. No bullshit, just fun; certainly a mantra that more bands need to live by. Personal favorites include “Learned To Surf” and “My Gap Feels Weird,” but I’d be hard pressed to find one second of weakness on this record. It’s rare that you see a band this far into their career releasing their best material, but Superchunk has done just that.
Superchunk “Learned To Surf”
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Screaming Females – Castle Talk (Don Giovanni)
Yet again, Screaming Females released an absolutely stellar full-length this year that was slightly outshined by another band on my year end list (last year was Reigning Sound). I hope it doesn’t develop into Buffalo Bills syndrome. Regardless of all this ranking hoopla, Castle Talk is by far the best album the band has put out. It was pretty well-documented that the band had a rough year but instead of self-destructing, the band channeled that angst and frustration into powerful and inspired songs like “Normal” and “Boss.” If I had to pick one word to describe this record it would be urgent. Even though they’ve fallen short of the number one spot again, Screaming Females show the most promise of anyone on this list. When I talked to the band earlier this year, they spoke of expanding their sound for the next record. What that will be exactly, I can’t say, but I’m excited to see it.
Screaming Females “Normal”
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Read more after the jump.
The Gaslight Anthem and Heartless Bastards played to a massive sold out crowd at Webster Hall. Check out a few photographs below.
