insert witty title here.. listen to rumanian buck & the giraffes! blood, meat, gore, dancing. RIBS. yes, RIBS.

2 03 2009

shall we begin with a throwback?!


’slippercrumble’ live @ santos party house, 12/15/08, filmed by captain

and so without further ado, ladies & gentlemen, back we go to giraffes frontman aaron lazar’s solo project, RUMANIAN BUCK! we saw them on 2/28 @ the annex, sandwiched between RIBS and the netherlands for RB’s long-anticipated CD RELEASE!

the RB shows seriously get better every time. aaron & crew have worked hard to bring the DIY feel of the original tracks to the stage (without their instruments exploding/imploding). this time nothing could be better than the cap & i dancing in the front row with jens and damien giraffe. you HAVE to dance to this shit! you just do! seriously though — it was a BLAST. they own it.

andddd… now you can DOWNLOAD THE EP! and you really, really should. mp3s of all tracks and a pdf of liner notes & lyrics — where else can you see a bottle of xanax listed as an instrument? aaron, you so crazy.

the live version of RUMANIAN BUCK featuresssss..
aaron lazar (the giraffes) — vox & guitar
danny barria (the big sleep) — guitar
mishka shubaly (beat the devil & ribs) — bass
mitchell king (beat the devil & ribs) — drums
jessie blockton (the vitamen) — keys

BUT for a look back on how the project began, you should read an article that i’ll post here for your convenience.. ;D thanks, eric sanchez! whoever you are.. -looks around-

ONWARD.. »»





on the lookout

13 03 2008

SO! a couple things.

i almost forgot about this album (how could i?!??!).. GOLDFINGER! “hello destiny” is out april 22nd!!! they have a new song on their myspace and from what i can hear right now “one more time” isn’t bad at all.. but i wanna hear some bouncy ska! and horns! .. hahaha their second track on myspace came on (“answers”) and i literally just said “ohhh shit” out loud. there’s that driving ska geetar in the background and that slinky rhythm, oh yeah!!! gimme some of THAT! .. ahem. in any case, i CANNOT wait to see these guys in concert — i really hope they come to NYC!

aside from that – since i don’t have a lot of time at the moment – i just wanted to bring up three bands i’ve been looking into in my search for more fun local music. i’ve been looking into local venues (even in queens venues like LIC’s the creek and the cave or dominie’s hoek, since everyone always goes to manhattan and brooklyn..) and, well, out of the bands i was looking into yesterday, the majority (a.k.a. all but three) were REALLY soft and folky and sometimes just strange, with half spoken-word “vocals” and just overall this cracky MINIMALISM i really can’t get into.. so what to do?

the bands i end up digging are a rarity – they have to be UNIQUE, they have to stand out.. and, apparently, they seem to involve horns or saxophones, some unexpected kind of beats/influences or sound combinations, or just a general display of ENERGY (!!!!!!!!!!!) that is unfortunately seeming to be lacking from so many bands.. hey, i know, a lot of people can dig that sort of thing – that works, and whatever floats your boat is fine with me – but i think growing up with freddie mercury and the theatrics of queen and going to see ridiculously high energy live shows by the likes of the giraffes, electric six, night kills the day, etc. have spoiled me. or at least attuned me to what REALLY awesome music is REALLY like ;D

in short.. i stumbled upon the new york howl (punk/soul), gato loco (latin/classical/screamo.. what??), and pass kontrol. i’ll be back to look at the NY howl and gato loco (hopefully we’ll get out to a show of theirs soon), but for now, PASS KONTROL from bushwick, brooklyn.

they’re a little trippy, a little spacey, a little electronic.. sometimes a little too instrumental for me.. but for some reason, i REALLY like their track, “love is a dog in hell.” really. distortion all over the vocals, driving beat, oh yeah. LISTEN TO IT! honestly, i wish they had more tracks like this.. it’s kind of just one of those weird instances when a completely random song catches your attention.

other songs? “back in berlin” is totally funky but the repeated spoken word thing is kind of too modernistic for me.. *shrug* “accent number four is cockney.” haha. i think that’s what they’re saying..?! now i like it. not really. i just like the word “cockney.” ahem.

“the kberg nasty”: maybe it’s just because i have a headache right now, but sometimes i can’t get into semi-strange instrumental electronic music – although i really dig that nasty, deep beat that comes in from time to time.. and yeah, it seems sprawling instrumental music just can’t keep my attention (“budapest”.. although it picks up a little more than halfway through).. or maybe, as i mentioned earlier.. maybe i’ve just been spoiled by the rollickinginsaneoutofcontrolmassiveejaculationofenergy that is THE GIRAFFES, for instance.. yeah. maybe that’s it ;D

IN ANY CASE.. pass kontrol has a show tomorrow night at goodbye blue monday (the cap and i had a failed excursion out there one rainy night.. one day we’ll make it there!), and then at pete’s candy store in brooklyn on april 3rd and at space space in ridgewood (390 seneca avenue) on may 3rd. some of their songs are a bit short and very instrumental (“the fall of new hope city” is another one) – i’m kind of curious as to what they would play live. well.. perhaps we shall see.

that’s it for me, for now! hopefully we’ll have some good stuff comin’ up for you this weekend.. and in a side note, i think “answers” is my new favorite song. ;D

ROCK STEADY..

- audrey