Photo by Peter English for Shaking Through | shakingthrough.com

Indie pop quintet Glitter play upstairs at World Cafe Live tonight.  Taking cues from retro new wave pop, Glitter’s debut Wyld Hrts LP could have been the soundtrack to your favorite eighties-era tv show with its catchy guitar hooks and spacey moog synth projections.  The full-length, available on super cool clear vinyl, follows up the young band’s debut Attack On Fort Gold Paw EP (free download here).  Tickets and information for tonight’s all-ages show with Joseph Mulhollen and Katie Becker & The Bricklayers can be found here.  Stream “Mirror Master” from Wyld Hrts below.

This week’s Unlocked band Restorations will play the First Unitarian Church tonight.  As we learned from Key contributor Beth Ann Downey’s introduction to the local punk rock outfit, Restorations are upfront and straightforward in every sense imaginable, from the honest and unrestrained nature of their music to their literally-titled sophomore effort LP2.  Check out the full Restorations series for Unlocked here and download “Kind of Comfort” below.  Tickets and information for the all-ages show with Self Defense Family, Exploded Drawings and Psychic Teens can be found here.

• Kind of Comfortby Restorations from LP2Download

Even though today’s Free at Noon with They Might Be Giants and Frightened Rabbit was sold-out, you still have a chance to see the former at The TLA tonight.  The New York nerd pop / rock duo released their 16th studio album Nanobots last month following a brief stint in the children’s music arena and 2011′s Join Us LP.  Despite the multitude of releases over their 20+ year career, the 1990 hit “Birdhouse in Your Soul” remains TMBG’s highest charting song to date.  Tickets and information for tonight’s all-ages show with Moon Hooch can be found here.  Below, watch the original video for “Birdhouse in Your Soul” and then stream their new single “Nanobots.”

Philly rapper Meek Mill will finally step on to the stage at The Tower Theater tonight, several months after the release of his Dreams and Nightmares record.  The quickly-rising performer had to put his tour on hold following a court-ordered travel probation.  But with all of that behind him, Meek Mill is ready to take his Dreams Come True tour across the country this spring.  Tickets and information for tonight’s event with Ace Hold can be found here.  Below watch Mill’s interview with The Fader at Sigma Sound Studio.

Also Happening: XPN welcomes Carolina Chocolate Drops to The Grand Opera House in Wilmington, DE; XPN welcomes Joan Osborne to The Levoy Theater in Millville, NJ.  Tickets and information for both shows can be found here.

Kiel Everett, the bassist of Purling Hiss is also the guitarist, main song-writer and singer of local roots rockers Tin Horses. Their first release, 2011’s well-received American Radiance was full down-trodden reflections of days past but not missed. Everett and and the rest of Tin Horses, whose lineup has changed a little over the last several months, released A Life of Trouble at the beginning of this album to his approval.

“A Life of Trouble actually feels like a band’s album,” Everett says. “I recently listened to American Radiance and realized I distanced myself from that album. I’m not a big fan of that one and have never been shy of saying it. We were a band for only a few months and put it together.”

Aside from plans to promote Trouble in 2013, Everett is also looking to release a solo record (he actually plays a solo set at the North Star Bar tonight).

Outside of Purling Hiss, drummer Mike Sneeringer is also a member of Puerto Rico Flowers, a band fronted by former Clockcleaner singer/guitarist John Sharkey. But Sharkey’s been living in Australia. So Sneeringer, who says he’s “very infrequently said no to a gig,” has just been sitting in on whatever he gets approached to sit-in. Traditionally, drummers are always at a premium, allowing Sneeringer to wear many different hats.

“I’ve played in a lot of bands spanning from hardcore to alt-country,” he says. “Every gig I take is to make me a more well-rounded drummer. I really enjoyed playing with John (Sharkey). It was a learning experience, before that I never played six-minute songs with zero fills. It also helped me improve my meter because John liked everything to be so slow and sparse.”

Sneeringer has been playing with D.C. power poppers Title Tracks and even recently filled in for three gigs with Kurt Vile. But there’s nothing like home base. Which, he says, is how he feel about playing with the Hiss.

As for Polizze and the rest of Birds of Maya, a band best known for their live performances of long psych-improv, has some plans for 2013, too.

“We’re hoping to put out an album in the next six months,” Polizze says. “It’s not going to be presented as a live, but the A-side will be one show and the B-side will be another show.”

Polizze continues, explaining he’s unsure what label will be putting it out, so it’s still a tentative release. Regardless, he and the rest of Purling Hiss have their hands full with an upcoming two-week tour of the US before heading to Europe in the summer.

Water on Mars is the featured album in this edition of Unlocked; download the spotlighted single “Mercury Retrograde” in Monday’s post, read Tuesday’s album review, watch the “Mercury Retrograde” video in Wednesday’s post, read yesterday’s interview and check back for more Unlocked features from The Key.

Photo by Tiffany Yoon | tiffanyyoon.com

Every Purling Hiss record prior to Water on Mars was recorded exclusively by guitarist and singer, Mike Polizze. He was laying down every drum track, each bass line and every layer of grimey lo-fi guitar on his own. However, it’s now a group effort. Polizze is now accompanied by drummer Mike Sneeringer and bassist Kiel Everett on the new album; it’s a major change in not only the album’s sound but also in song writing.

“Now I’ll have an idea and practice it with the rest of the band,” Polizze says at a table in Fishtown Tavern, just blocks from their practice space. “It’s just an obvious difference for me and how it went from me literally recording everything on my own in my bedroom and now everyone puts a bit of their own spin and personality on it.”

Polizze originally put the power trio together to just be a live band. Although Water on Mars suggests otherwise. It’s a complete album with highs and lows, spot-on sequencing and maturity shown by its players by never over-stepping one another, only playing what’s necessary for each song. It’s clear that they’ve been putting their better foot forward in working together as band. And naturally as they continue to work together as a unit in practice more they’re starting to gel more.

“Now Mike will come in with ideas and they won’t be completely worked out,” Sneeringer says. “But he’s writing all the time, so he’ll just want to share a certain guitar part he came up with. And sometimes he’ll just noodle around on stuff and I’ll subconsciously start playing along.”

Immediately Everett agrees, saying that they’ve been creating music more by “picking up and playing” rather than Polizze teaching him a song or telling Sneeringer how the drums should sound. Even though Polizze is still the primary songwriter, he’s been letting their practices and jamming influence the direction of songs. And he never felt uncomfortable about adjusting their creative process.

“It’s been better in a lot of ways,” Polizze says. “I’ve learned their personalities and it’s helped me know how to bring ideas to start with because I know their playing now and how the others will complement it.”

However, the three personalities in this band are noticeably a bit different. Polizze is a fast-paced guy at times. But he isn’t hyper. It almost just seems like he can’t get all the words out of his mouth fast enough, and can be a bit tangential when he speaks as he sits straight up against the back of his chair. Sneeringer speaks distinctly slower and never without thinking first as if to not waste a word; he casually keeps one leg rested over his other knee. As for Everett, he’s a little more reserved and soft spoken, leaning forward on the table in front of him, often checking his cell phone. But combined musically they’re perfectly complementary, like three long-time friends that have gone through school together, learning a lot along the way.

That education of each other’s playing is on display on Mars. Purling Hiss’ songwriting matured beyond chord-strumming and blasting through guitar solos layered on top of lo-fi riffs as heard on the albums such as Hissteria and Lounge Lizards.

As a trio they excel in more structured songs like the melodic “Mercury Retrograde,” a song Polizze says is about “everything being on the fritz and going wrong.” Which actually seems to be a recurring theme. The mid-tempo track, “The Harrowing Wind,” where Polizze sings “A change in atmosphere/ Rebukes a longing/ And your money no longer pays/ The harrowing wind came today,” shows a side of the songwriter that wasn’t seen on prior releases. Now there’s clearly something inspiring Polizze’s writing, something that’s a little heavier than the simple lyric writing he’d done on song like “Midnight Man,” from Lounge Lizards. The same goes for “Face Down.”

“I had a friend that got mugged in Philly,” he says. “Someone who’s not from Philadelphia might have a totally take and not know it’s about this city. It’s essentially about the darker side of living in an urban atmosphere.”

Sneeringer’s drumming on “Face Down,” twists Philly pretzels around the listener but is never convoluted. That’s how he plays on the entire record actually. Sneeringer’s playing isn’t ever that flashy, but it’s rock solid. And for a driving, fuzz grunge record like Water on Mars, Sneeringer plays exactly what’s necessary and nothing more.

“I really enjoy jamming with these guys,” Sneeringer says. “But I come from a more punk background where everything is just super short songs and everything’s to the point. So drum-wise, my playing is being shaped a little because Mike has great drum instincts to give me ideas. He’s super attentive to the overall sound of the band, which I’ve never experienced.”

The improv they’ve been doing and working into their live shows is of the adventurous variety at times. The album’s title track, “Water on Mars” features five minutes of classic Polizze guitar noise, bending notes beyond recognition and toying with feedback.

“I like making music that’s almost interactive to the listener,” Polizze says. “I don’t want to make anything entirely complete. That’d mean that it’s done. I always love listening to music that I can keep going back to for ideas.”

Water on Mars has also shone a new side of Purling Hiss paying more attention to song lyrics. The simple guitar strumming on “Dead Again,” leaves the listener with little more than the lyrics to pay attention to and try to make sense of what Polizze is singing. He says he was trying to make it psychedelic lyrically rather than sonically.

Lyrics were basically the only part that wasn’t collaborative on Mars. Surprisingly, Everett, who is the main songwriter in his own band, Tin Horses, didn’t work with Polizze on lyrics.

“I didn’t write any [lyrics] because I think lyrics need to come from whoever’s singing them,” Everett says. “They need to be able to feel them. I know I personally wouldn’t be able to sing someone else’s lyrics.”

The Hiss recorded Water on Mars at Uniform Recording in North Philly with Jeff Zeigler at the production helm. They also brought long-time friend, Adam Granduciel of the War on Drugs into the studio with them to give some input on production.

“Adam’s really understands us as a band,” Sneeringer says. “He’s seen us grow and change since the beginning. So it helped to have someone in the studio who’s witnessed that progression so closely.”

But it doesn’t take a close friend to see that Purling Hiss has changed, rather, moved into the next phase of their sound since Sneeringer and Everett began playing with Polizze. The more team-oriented effort in writing has only proven that they truly are a trio and no longer just a one-man recording project.

Water on Mars is the featured album in this edition of Unlocked; hear the spotlighted single “Mercury Retrograde” in Monday’s post, read Tuesday’s album review, watch the “Mercury Retrograde” video in yesterday’s post and check back tomorrow for more on the extracurricular activities of Purling Hiss.

Photo: Gary Miller/FilmMagic

Dave Grohl gave an inspiring and insightful Keynote Speech at last week’s SXSW [link]

Cursive and The Good Life frontman Tim Kasher came to Folkadelphia in his solo acoustic capacity for this week’s live session [link]

Mondays’ My Morning Download featured L.A. five piece The Lonely Wild and their track “Everything You Need” [link]

Florida / NYC duo The Saint Johns were highlighted for XPN’s Gotta Hear Song of the Week with their song “Your Head and Your Heart” [link]

Barenaked Ladies, Ben Folds Five and Guster announced a date at The Mann for July 18th [link]

Purling Hiss are the focus of Unlocked this week; their major label debut Water On Mars was released on Tuesday through Drag City [link]

Philly bands Vacationer, Grandchildren, Lantern and more invaded Austin for SXSW with an impressive showing of hard work and talent [link]

Appel Farm announced a line-up for the June 1st festival that includes Brandi Carlile, Low Cut Connie and Delta Rae [link]

The Philly Drum Project will celebrate its first anniversary at World Cafe Live on April 23rd [link]

Get an exclusive listen of Amos Lee covering “Some Days Are Diamonds” from The Music Is You: A Tribute to John Denver [link]

Slingshot Dakota‘s positive, upbeat pop / punk songs shine in this week’s Key Session [link]

Water on Mars is this week’s featured album on Unlocked, by Purling Hiss. Yesterday we reviewed the whole record; today’s it’s all about the video for the first single, “Mercury Retrograde.” It features the band playing in space and really looking only half-interested in being there. But their cover is blown for a quick second at the beginning as each of them are show in front of a green screen. Don’t lie, you were fooled.

“Wait until you the see the ‘Mercury Retrograde’ video,” said guitarist and singer Mike Polizze, laughing with the rest of the band when I talked to them. So their intention is obviously a bit flippant. As if that wasn’t clear enough in the shot drummer Mike Sneeringer growing to mammoth proportions at the start of the first chorus. Or the shots of Polizze and bassist Kiel Everett flying around in a chair in kaleidoscope formations and across the cosmos. They’re even tailed throughout the video by ultra-violet colors as they play. It was directed by Jon Khanlian of Philadelphia Philms.

Water on Mars is the featured album in this edition of Unlocked; download the spotlighted single “Mercury Retrograde” in Monday’s post, read Tuesday’s album review and check back tomorrow for an interview with the band.

Without a doubt, Purling Hiss is the definition of that type of lineup. In an age of Pro Tools perfecting every note on the record, the Mac laptop and complex synth arrangements nearly being a standard part of the rock setup, it’s refreshing to hear stripped-down rock n’ roll again. And guitarist Mike Polizze, drummer Mike Sneeringer and Kiel Everett on bass are unrelenting on Water on Mars, the band’s first release with the full lineup.

That’s due in part to where these songs come from. Polizze is still the Hiss’ primary songwriter and he’s still exploiting his guitar as much he had on his prior releases. And he doesn’t hesitate to burst into a threatening solo on most songs on Water on Mars. However, his unabashed guitar slaying never feels too noodley.

In fact, the opener “Lolita” is not only the perfect blast-off jam for the album, but its minimal lyrics allow the music to speak more. Polizze adds an entire vocabulary of words to the song by way of screaming guitar noise and wah-pedal work. The title track, “Water on Mars,” speaks in tongues from the same planet. There’s about five minutes of Sneeringer and Everett casually wandering together, never deviating from their comfortable pace while Polizze plasters more and more noise on top of their path. The noise is what the ears hear at first, but on every following listen, the casual guitar melody Polizze’s plucking layered underneath comes more to the front.

“Rat Race,” may be the record’s most narrative song is sing-along, party rock gold. When Polizze repeats, “Everybody’s steppin’ on my shoes,” at the end, it seems like it was inspired by someone killing his buzz on a good night out. The existential and stripped down “Dead Again,” paired with “She Calms Me Down,” makes the album’s mid-point feel like the appropriate intermission before slamming back into the action on “Face Down.”

That attention paid to sequencing is what makes Water on Mars feel more like a complete album rather than just a collection of rock songs. Much like the album’s middle section, the placement of “Mary Bumble Bee,” is spot on. They thoughtfully let the listener down easily with a mid-tempo sway, and Polizze even sings, “So long, goodbye” as the last chord rings out.

The pace of the record is what’s most striking. Polizze’s writing is still just as direct as Purling Hiss’ first four releases. They don’t wasting any time to even introduce a song’s main riff, much like on Hissteria and Lounge Lizards and most of the songs end almost a bit suddenly, none just fading out. However, none of the songs from Mars are nearly as lo-fi, ultra-fuzz psych like Polizze’s early work, such as their self-titled record or Public Service Announcement. Which he’d played all the music on.

Water on Mars is a major change for them on many fronts– from band lineup to songwriting and overall album sound, at least compared to prior releases. And while NASA’s Curiosity is still roving around the red planet looking for some answers, Purling Hiss has definitely found all they’ll need to know what’s working for them from here on out.

Water on Mars is the featured album on this week’s edition of Unlocked. Download “Mercury Retrograde,” the album’s highlighted single, in yesterday’s post, and check back tomorrow for its video and an interview with the band later in the week.

“Mercury Retrograde” is the album’s first single and it showcases a new, controlled approach from the band. The song is driven by Polizze’s catchy guitar melody guitarwork – which is actually a bit reserved, considering what he’s capable of – but it nonetheless blasts off into three minutes of raw rock. This week we tread through Water on Mars on Unlocked, The Key’s regular series spotlighting new and noteworthy releases coming out of Philadelphia. We begin today with a free download of “Mercury Retrograde.” Get your mp3 below, and be sure to check back all week for an album review, music video, interview with the band and more.

Photo of Kate Crutchfield of Waxahatchee by Rachel Del Sordo

The Hot Philly 15 is a completely subjective list of Philly-made and Philly Local music happenings we love this week. It’s somewhat informed by what we’re playing on the radio, what we’re blogging about and what you’re talking about.

1 – Waxahatchee: With an excellent new album, Cerulean Salt, a fantastic Key Studio Session, a high profile upcoming gig at SXSW with NPR Music, and Best New Music on Pitchfork, we’re in love. You should be too.

2 – The Delfonics – Who would have thought 45 years after the release of “La La Means I Love You,” William Hart would still be kickin’ it? Listen to Adrian Younge Presents The Delfonics here. Download the new song, “Enemies” here.

3 – Keep your eyes on the road, your hands upon the wheel: Philly Bands heading to SXSW include: DRGN KNG, Blayer Pointdujour and The Rockers Galore, Creepoid, Lantern, Bleeding Rainbow, Norwegian Arms, A Life Once Lost, Dangerous Ponies, The Fleeting Ends, Lushlife, The Kalob Griffin Band, Katie Frank & The Pheromones, Nothing, Cold Fronts, Free Energy, Thee Idea Men. If we forgot you, sorry. We never got your press release.

4 – Chill Moody: We want him to be the mtvU Freshmen Video of the Week. Vote for him here.

The Lawsuits | Photos by Matthew Smith | Montage by Bryan Schreck

5 – The Lawsuits Key Studio Session – listen to it here.

6 – Heavy Rotation: The Fleeting Ends release their poptastical new album, Our Eyes Are Peeled, on March 22nd. It’s getting lots of advance play in the office here.

7 – The Hotbox Studio (video) Sessions recently kicked back into action with Cheers Elephant and Grandchildren

8 – Tayyib Ali dropped his new mixtape, Keystone State Of Mind 2. Download it here.

9 – Tara Murtha’s Philly Weekly cover story on the closing of Fluid. Read it here.

10 – Stereogum premiered a new jam from our friends Free Energy. Download it here.

11 – Questlove and D’Angelo get down at the Brooklyn Bowl here. Okay, so the Brooklyn Bowl isn’t Philly. Neither is D’Angelo. But Quest is.

12 – Mike Slo-Mo Brenner gets all world music on our asses with a new collection of Indian slide guitar music he recorded in Calcutta.

13 – Duet of the moment: Juston Stens and Jessica Lea Mayfield, “Strange Love.” Download it here.

14 – Entertainment Weekly debuted the new Purling Hiss video for the song “Mercury Retrograde” here. It’s psychedelic, baby.

15 – Work Drugs: The Philly smooth-fi music machine drops yet another new single, “Sunset On High Street.” Download it here and don’t miss them tomorrow night with Night Panther at Kung Fu Necktie.

The new album picks up right where their impressive debut, American Radiance, left off. Tin Horses’ sound is a mixture of twangy Americana and long, gritty guitar freakouts reminiscent of Neil Young’s work with Crazy Horse, if they were into late 80s’ indie rock like Dinosaur Jr.

What sets A Life Of Trouble apart from their debut is the harder rock edge found on some of the songs, such as “Sad Dust Glories.” The track starts off with some feedback and some some guitar interplay before going into the songs main riff over a rumbling drum beat from Rockwell. For the last minute of the song Everett proves there’s more than just one guitar hero in Purling Hiss, cutting loose on one of the albums many blistering solos.

The juxtaposition of more straight forward bluesy roots rock songwriting alongside longer, more jam-oriented tracks filled with impressive guitar work makes A Life of Trouble an interesting listen. Check it ou in the player below.

Photo by Peter English for Shaking Through | shakingthrough.com

Philly fuzz-rockers Purling Hiss have good reason to celebrate this spring – and it has to do with a little bit more than the photographic possibilities of foliage. The band’s brand new LP Water on Mars comes out on Drag City Records on March 19, and their local release party is set for April 5th at Johnny Brenda’s. The album covers a lot of ground under the guitar-rock umberella. There’s the heaviest of the heavy – “Lolita,” which you heard last year in a Shaking Through session – but then there are some moments that are roped-in and a little more “classic rock” (you’re gonna love “Mercury Retrograde”), others that are hooky and practically sing-along-able (check out “Rat Race,” filmed live at Johnny Brenda’s back in November by Pilgrim’s Progress). Tickets for the show go on sale Friday at noon; for more information, consult the WXPN Concert Calendar.

Purling Hiss | Photo by John Vettese

Big congrats to a couple of our Philly scene favorites, Purling Hiss and Nightlands, who both made Spin Magazine’s 5 Best New Artists list for the month of January. (Both artists made our own crystal-ball-gazing list as well.) The Hiss has their awesome new full-length, Water on Mars, coming out on Drag City Records on March 19. Spin put it at the top of its list, saying:

Once code for the searing solo experiments of former Birds of Maya guitarist (and Kurt Vile and the Violators associate) Mike Polizze, Purling Hiss has mutated into a frightening, full-fledged power trio of late, as captured last year on an Adam Granduciel-curated episode of WXPN’s Shaking Through series. Afforded the opportunity to record with a budget, Polizze and his bandmates offered up “Lolita,” a headbanger whose chorus we’ve been humming ever since.

Nightlands’ Oak Island is out on Secretly Canadian Records on January 22, with a release show at Kung Fu Necktie on the 26th. Spin called Nightlands main man Dave Hartley a “rugged bedroom pop individualist, layering watery synthesizers and roaming percussion with delicate, desperate choir boy vocals.” Check out both writeups here, and watch Purling Hiss tear up The Bowery Ballroom with “Almost Washed My Hair” below.

“I’m not going to stand here and tell you when it’s midnight,” Adam Granduciel told the New Year’s Eve crowd at Johnny Brenda’s. “You can work that out amongst yourselves.”

If he was attempting to play coy – like this was just another rock and roll show, rather than one of the biggest nights of the year with one of the biggest bands in Philly - Granduciel’s true excitement to be ringing in 2013 with The War on Drugs showed through in other ways. He handed out streamers to the capacity crowd before the set. He had a posterboard of multi-colored Jello shots spelling out the band’s name waiting in the wings (Key contributor Nikki Volpicelli posted a photo of this on her Philadelphia Area Music Showcase blog). And he timed the set perfectly, so the krautrock rhythms of “Your Love Is Calling My Name” raced nearly to midnight, then dipped into the genteel space jam “The Animator” while the clock (somewhere) struck 12. As streamers popped open, confetti flew and champagne was poured, the band closed the trilogy with an outstanding, moving rendition of “Come To The City,” the centerpiece of their 2011 album Slave Ambient. But the show was just getting going.

Kicking off with an inspired cover of The Waterboys’ “A Pagan Place,” Granduciel and his bandmates were energized. New drummer Patrick Berkery fit tightly in the ensemble, and kept a solid grounding to their exploratory jamming. On stage left, Charlie Hall rocked out vigorously on second guitar. Robbie Bennett happily plugged away beneath a towering assortment of keyboards at stage right. And bassist Dave Hartley was focused and Zen-like at the center, riding the groove and breaking out his trumpet for added ethereal effect.

Paul Vile – brother to War on Drugs founding member Kurt – joined the band to play harmonica on a rousing “Arms Like Bouders” from 2008′s Wagonwheel Blues. Later, band buddy Jeff White of Arctic Splash and Creepoid joined them for acoustic guitar on “Brothers.” The Future Weather EP was visited with a yearning “Coming Thru,” and the band closed the out with Wagonwheel‘s “A Needle In Your Eye #16″ – but not before tearing up “The Ties that Bind” by Bruce Springsteen. (Here’s a video of them performing it the night before – the  night they played it twice. It sounded just as great the third time around.)

Purling Hiss performed just before The War On Drugs, their grungy power-trio rock building up the energy in the room. Guitarist Mike Polizze and bassist Keil Everett played charismatically off one another, while drummer Mike Sneeringer goaded them on. The set mixed up ragers from their forthcoming LP Water on Mars – trust us, you’re psyched to hear this record – and wapped up on the dense and rousing “Almost Washed My Hair.”

Opening the show was Avery Rosewater, a new four-piece fronted by Julien Rossow-Greenberg of Arches. The band’s catchy, dreamy psych-pop carried hints of New York trendsetters DIIV, except with less fog and more beat. Those that turned up early for them got a treat – if you didn’t catch them, hear what you missed in this free download.

The War on Drugs setlist
A Pagan Place (Waterboys cover)
Baby Missiles
Arms Like Boulders
I Was There
Your Love Is Calling My Name
The Animator
Come to the City
Brothers
Coming Thru
Best Night
Black Water Falls
The Ties that Bind (Bruce Springsteen cover)
A Needle In Your Eye #16

Purling Hiss setlist
Lolita
Run from the City
Voices
Rat Race
Mercury Retrograde
Mary Bumblebee
Don’t Even Try It
Almost Washed My Hair

All photos by Jeff Levy | www.jefflevyphoto.com

Last night The Hold Steady brought its trademark rambunctious and animated live show to Bethlehem’s Musikfest Cafe as its winter tour moves onward. Tonight, the band headlines a sold-out Union Transfer with Swearin’ opening; last night, they were joined by Philly shredders Purling Hiss. Check out a photo recap of the Bethlehem show in the gallery above and either get excited for tonight’s show if you have tickets, or see what you’re about to miss if you don’t.

DRGN KNG Photo by Nicky Devine

Who’d we forget? Probably dozens more. Our apologies if we left you out. We hope you get the point though; these days, Philly is miles deep and miles wide with talent and creativity. If 2012 was a “ten,” here’s 15 reasons why Philly’s music scene is about to go to 11 in 2013.

1. The highly anticipated Kanine Records debut from power punk rockers Bleeding Rainbow, Yeah Right, out on January 29th.

2. Not wanting to be out powered by their noise brothers and sister – Bleeding Rainbow – Purling Hiss tear the blisters off their fingers when they release Water On Mars on Drag City on March 19th. Hiss guitarist Mike Polizze redefines the concept of “shredding.”

3. Not from the old school or from the new, rapper GrandeMarshall is from his own trippy, ethereal school of hip-hop. Recently signed to Fool’s Gold, his 800 mixtape was one of the best of ’12, and there’s more to come in the one-three.

4. The recent return of Reef The Lost Cauze with Reef The Lost Cauze Is Dead.

5. Don’t call it a comeback he’s been here for years: William Hart, lead singer of The Delfonics is back with the sounds of symphonic soul with Adrian Younge.

6. Roots collaborators Greg Porn and Truck North are in serious music making mode.

7. Dr. Dog drummer Eric Slick and singer-songwriter Brendan Mulvihill, aka Norwegian Arms, release their new Wolf Like A Stray Dog album on January 15th. It’s a collection of wonderful wierdworld indie-folk.

8. Pattern Is Movement will release its new album, There Will Be, next year. PIM performed new material at this show recently and by all indications the new jawns are mind blowingly funky and right on time. Rumour on the street is that new record was inspired by drummer Chris Ward and keyboardist Andrew Thiboldeaux listening to thousands of hours of Frank Ocean’s Channel Orange. When they hear the new PIM album, the Dirty Projectors will attempt to make a record like Drake’s Take Care and fail.

9. We’re pretty certain that Work Drugs will continue to release at least one new song a month. If not, we’ll be disappointed.

10. Not familiar with the mind blowing pianotechnics of jazz pianist Elew? Well you should be. This past summer he released Elew Rockjazz, Volume 2, and we’re just saying that his takes on rock classics will take you to another planet, which is a good thing. Originally from Camden, NJ and a graduate of Overbrook High, Elew is Eric Lewis. He’s toured with Wynton Marsalis, Josh Groban, Cassandra Wilson and many others. His musical world Is a planet where Thelonius Monk, Keith Jarrett, Michael Jackson and The Killers all make sweet music together. Don’t lose sight of this guy.

11. The Fleeting Ends is a trio who release their second album, Our Eyes Are Peeled on January 29th. Their attention to pop detail, songwriting and arrangements is frighteningly good, bordering on obsessive. Oh yeah: string arrangements by the legendary Larry Gold.

12. Dominic Angelella and Ritz Reynolds are DRGN KNG. The geniuses at Bar None Records were smart enough to sign them and are releasing Paragraph Nights on January 22nd. Oh yeah, did you catch that nice little writeup in Rolling Stone?

13. Ron Gallo and his band of merry ramshackle roots rockers Toy Soldiers release their new album next year. Produced by Bill Moriarty, Maybe Boys promises to deliver on their fun live performances and Gallo’s knack for writing songs that bring to mind a Sun Records meeting of The Band.

14. Our pals Free Energy unleash their new collection of bubblegum indie-rock, Love Sign, on January 15th. More infectious than The Cars and the Ohio Express.

15. When he’s not bassing it up for The War On Drugs, Dave Hartley, has his own groovy musical project called Nightlands. Hartley releases Oak Island on Secretly Canadian on January 22nd. While we are certainly amazing by his musical talents, Hartley is also a pretty sharp basketball fan and shares his insights with us in his basketball column for us, Top Of The Key.

Photo by G. Widman | GPTMC

With 2012 wrapping to a close, there aren’t many more questions that have to be answered this year. One that you should definitely think about, though, is which concert you will be attending on New Year’s Eve. The two-night stand at Johnny Brenda’s from Philly’s The War on Drugs is sold out as of this morning, but we’ve got a round-up of what else is going on. So now all you have to worry about is how many friends will be begging to tag along!

Schoolly D at Ortlieb’s Lounge
Resident Original Gangsta Schoolly D is ringing in 2013 in his hometown of Philly at Ortlieb’s Lounge. Given the rapper’s rep as a trailblazer for acts like Public Enemy and Jay-Z, this concert is going to be an event you won’t want to sit out. Tickets for the 21+ show start at $45, which includes a buffet and an open bar from 9 p.m. to 2  a.m. Go here for more tickets and information.

Nico’s Gun, El Malito, The Fleeting Ends at Milkboy Philly
Funky pop rockers Nico’s Gun are bringing the party to Milkboy Philly on the one year anniversary of their debut full-length PLUSH. When former bits and pieces of Philly band Cortez, Cortez teamed up with producer Harry Zelnick, the mission was just to create tracks for hip-hop samples, but the Nicos Gun’s psychedelic rhythms and catchy lyrics caught attention as a worthy stand-alone act. Stream PLUSH here, and find tickets for the 21+ concert here.

Brothers Past, The Heavy Pets, Disco Sucks at The Troc

Indie psych band Brothers Past are jamming out at the Trocadero with Florida reggae rockers The Heavy Pets and DJ project Disco Sucks. One of the most celebrated independent acts from Philly in the last decade, Brothers Past has released three full-length records, including 2005′s This Feeling’s Called Goodbye. You can listen to their live recordings including their show at Union Transfer last spring here, and order tickets for the New Year’s concert on our calendar here. Doors for the 18+ show open at 8. Watch Brothers Past’s performance of “Squeeze” from their Union Transfer show above.

Jane’s Addiction at House of Blues

Alt / psych frontrunners Jane’s Addiction will be rocking the Atlantic City House of Blues for a New Year’s Eve showcase after the wild success of their Theatre of the Escapists tour this year, supporting 2011′s The Great Escape Artist. Between the band’s tumultuous on-again, off-again history and breaking barriers for alt-rock’s shift into mainstream attention, Jane’s Addiction have made their mark as one of the most influential bands in the last 20 years. Find tickets for the all-ages concert here; above, check out the video for “Irresistible Force” from 2011′s The Great Escape Artist.

PhillyBloco at World Cafe Live

Brazilian beat masters PhillyBloco are bound to get your groove on this New Year’s Eve at World Cafe Live. The music and dance ensemble draws its roots from blocos of Rio de Janeiro with vibrant, infectious rhythms and energetic performances, bringing heat to any dance floor in Philadelphia. Find tickets and information for the celebration here.

Devil Makes Three and Brown Bird at TLA

Devil Makes Three and Providence duo Brown Bird are crooning at the Theatre of the Living Arts for a festive celebration. Devil Makes Three, a folk punk trio from California, are known for their unique style encompassing ragtime, indie rock and rockabilly. Their most recent album, 2011′s Stomp and Smash, peaked at number 4 on Billboard’s Grass Charts. Brown Bird’s Salt For Salt, which you can stream here, has a dark folk sound in the vein of acts like The Civil Wars. Tickets for the show are available here, and below you should watch Brown Bird’s 2011 performance of “Thunder & Lightning” at WBUR Studios above.

The Making Time New Year’s Eve Hyper-Rager at Union Transfer

DJ Dave P and his buddies in the Making Time crew are bypassing the featured-live-guests thing for New Year’s Eve, instead presenting an assortment of the city’s best DJ crews in various nooks and crannies of Union Transfer. The Sorted crew brings the indie-dance, Rock Tits does garage rock nuggets for the masses, Broadzilla hits hard with electronic beats and Dave P himself brings an assortment of futuristic sounds for a Making Time hyper-rager. Tickets and information can be found here.

…and then there’s:

Ben Arnold at Steel City Coffeehouse

XPN Welcomes Americana rock singer-songwriter Ben Arnold to Steel City for a special all-ages New Year’s concert celebrating the release of Arnold’s “Circle ‘Round The Sun” album. Arnold’s steady blues rock sound has made him an WXPN favorite, so take the opportunity to check out his music here, and find information and tickets to the release party here. 

Francis Dunnery at The Tin Angel

English singer-songwriter Francis Dunnery will be at the Tin Angel for a very intimate New Year’s Eve performance. Dunnery, who got his start as part of It Bites and a revival of The Syn, released his latest album, Made in Space, in 2011. The album is Dunnery’s first without any guitar and features vocals from Dorie Jackson. You can find tickets for Dunnery’s 21+ show here.

Goodie New Year’s Eve at Underground Arts with Fur Coat, Someone Else, Rob Paine & Dirty (Worship Recs)

Venezuelan electro / dance duo Fur Coat are bringing their game to Underground Arts for New Year’s, supported by the smooth beats of Someone Else (Get Physical) and techno act Rob Paine & Dirty. The 21+ dance party starts at 9 PM; check out tickets and information here. 

Octane, Kid Felix, Bong Hits for Jesus, & The Endless March at the Electric Factory

The Electric Factory is bringing you a very alt-rock New Year’s Eve with performances from Philly’s own Octane, Kid Felix, Bong Hits for Jesus, and The Endless March. Post-metal Octane’s 2006 release When All Is Said and Done churned out cult favorites like “Pure” and “Gasoline”–maybe 2013 will see a new generation of headbanging…maybe? If you’d like to be part of that revival, find tickets and information for the all-ages show here.

For a complete list of more concerts in the region not shown above, visit our calendar here. May 2013 bring you fun, happiness, and another year of sweet, sweet music.

I moved back to Philly 140 days ago today and for a while I wasn’t happy about it. I was living in Portland, Oregon for a year and a half. It’s like adult summer camp and it’s a really hard place to leave. Still, it was time to come home, get a job, sign a lease, and ask my parents for money and food. The past six months have been the most challenging and rewarding so far. Here’s a list of special songs that helped me feel really sorry for myself at times and slapped sense into me at other times. These five songs are part of a revolving play list of local music that I can’t get enough of, part of a scene that’s showed me my folly and made it easier to come home from summer camp.

1. Cruiser, “The Fritz” Cruiser EP

“DON’T WANNA GO, DON’T WANNA GO HOME NOW…” really resonated with me because a) I totally didn’t want to and b) once I was back home, I never wanted to leave the bar. I’d stay up late Wednesday nights and close out the El Bar. To get myself going in the morning, I’d blast this song as loud as allowed to dissolve any bad feeling (hangover) risen from the night before. So peppy, it really helped me wake my brain up and start all over again. Which, when successful, inevitably led me back to the bar. Sigh.

2. Purling Hiss, “Running from the City” Public Service Announcement

The scraggly guitar intro is just as exciting as it is painful. Its deep, fuzzed-out vocals are under decipherable, so the song can be about anything you want it to be (see: starting over! making new friends! not regressing, not regressing, not regressing…). Call it free association.

3. Vacationer, “Summer End” Gone

I remember when this song first found me. It was September and I was in my little kitchen cooking up a stir-fry dinner. The heartbeat drums, lyrics filled with nervous energy, the mention of summer ending, it was all too hard to not feel like someone was Truman Showing me. Too relatable, too topical. This song opened up my memory box–full of rocky coastlines, ice cold waterfalls, sunny rivers and damp campsites–and it splayed all of those pictures right out in front of me. That’s what this track is to me, a memory box, and it might forever be that, the way I said goodbye to Portland.

Vacationer – Summer End from Vacationer on Vimeo.

4. The War On Drugs, “Baby Missiles” Slave Ambient

By the time I got into playing this track over and over again, things were really looking up! I got a full-time job and was able to throw a few bones to the credit cards companies that were funding me up to this point. My roommate and I decided to stick around for another year and I was finally feeling at home in my new Fishtown. No longer did I need some angsty, scratch-fuzz rock to gnaw at my open wounds.

5. GrandeMarshall, “Dearly Beloved” 800

How can you feel sorry for yourself while you’re listening to this? It’s the apple pie of rap (you can even hear little children playing in the background!) I got super excited when a friend turned me on to GrandeMarshall while I was still in the Northwest. Not sure I knew yet about my plane plans, but I was proud that this young kid from Philly could produce a classic, genre-f*cking mix tape like 808. I played this song for everyone, it was annoying I guess. When I got back to the East coast, I thought I’d be swimming in a sea of GM fans, but I was wrong. He’s still this diamond-in-the-rough (listen to “SEC580,” it literally twinkles), and while he’s had some buzz through Fader magazine and plenty of mix tape blogs, he’s still under the Philly pavement. Listen and learn.

Purling Hiss have a deeply satisfying way of drawing from the red, white and blue wells of 60s, 70s, 80s and 90s rock to inform their own sound, giving things a retro ring while doing what they do in the Philadelphia of today  – and no other time could apply, really. Water On Mars is heavy stuff from Purling Hiss, unknotting the strings that tangled all their previous records together so righteously to reveal – another, greater storm within.

Purling Hiss will open for The War on Drugs’ New Year’s Eve show at Johnny Brenda’s with Avery Rosewater.  Tickets and information for the 21+ show can be found here.  Below, watch Purling Hiss’ Shaking Through Session when they recorded the song “Lolita” and check out the track-list for Water on Mars.

Shaking Through: Purling Hiss from Weathervane Music on Vimeo.

Water on Mars track-list

1. Lolita
2. Mercury Retrograde
3. Rat Race
4. Dead Again
5. She Calms Me Down
6. Face Down
7. The Harrowing Wind
8. Water on Mars
9. Mary Bumble Bee

Pomegranates bring their tour to MilkBoy tonight in support of their latest record Heaven.  The Cincinnati band covers a wide range of genres on the new album, from psych-rock to garage punk to dream pop, and each one is guaranteed to get the crowd dancing.  Opening for Pomegranates are The Hounds Below and Black Dirty.  Tickets for the 21+ show are $10 here; doors open at 8:00 p.m.  Below, watch the band performing “Pass Away” from Heaven.

Kate Faust joins Res for a show at World Cafe Live tonight.  Indie pop/soul singer Res returned to her hometown of Philadelphia a few years ago and began a new, independent chapter of her career.  Recently, she teamed up with Tom Spiker to record a Fleetwood Mac cover album called ReFried Mac and she is working on her next full-length called Reset.  West Philadelphia’s Kate Faust is celebrating the release of her new Kickstarter-funded Crucial Companion EP, which came out today.  Tickets to the all-ages show are $15; more information is available here.  Below, watch a live video of Res covering Fleetwood Mac’s “Dreams.”

Electronic-pop producer Dan Deacon will take the stage at Union Transfer tonight.  The Baltimore native’s show is part-two of the Philadelphia Poster Guild series, with Bonnie Brenda Scott contributing a graffiti-art print for the event.  If you want to get involved in the concert experience beyond just attending, download the Dan Deacon app and you’ll be able to contribute to the light show during his set.  Opening for Dan Deacon are Height with Friends, Chester Endersby Gwazda and Alan Resnick.  Tickets are $15 for the all-ages show, and doors will open at 7:30 p.m.  More information is available here.  Below, watch Deacon’s new video for “True Thrush.”

Philly noise-rock outfit Purling Hiss play Johnny Brenda’s tonight.  As we learned earlier this week, the original Purling Hiss tracks were recorded in Mike Polizze’s bedroom while he focused on his main project with power trio Birds of Maya, and the tracks were not intended to be released.  Luckily, though, that intent changed and after releasing a series of home-recorded EPs and albums, the experimental trio is now looking towards the release of their first studio record expected in April through Drag City.  Purling Hiss headlines the 21+ show tonight with Chicago’s Cave and Running; tickets are $10, available here, and doors open at 8:00 p.m.  Below, stream a live take of Purling Hiss’ ”Run From the City” recorded during a stop at WFMU.

Photo by Philippe Midy

When Mike Polizze started recording the songs he’d eventually release under the name Purling Hiss, Purling Hiss did not exist. Recording just for kicks with a four-track in his bedroom, Polizze had no intention of ever releasing a proper album. “I’ve been documenting ideas on my four-track since I was a teenager,” he says. “It’s like my diary. I thought of these songs as just another recording, or old bedroom ideas. I didn’t originally make them for a record, or thinking anyone would hear them. I think that has a tendency to spoil songs. These were all very raw, honest, unfiltered ideas.”

Polizze’s solo work remained on the down-low until a surprise call came from the boss of Permanent Records, who’d heard a few tracks on MySpace and was eager to release an album. It was then that Polizze came up with the name Purling Hiss, and his self-titled debut dropped in 2009. Like the music he’d been making with his other band, the no-frills power trio Birds of Maya, Purling Hiss is a dirty, mean and off-the-cliff plunge into rock’n'roll excess. Sloppily spinning with reckless might, the songs are mostly first takes, with Polizze throwing down a beat and then improvising the guitar and bass parts. “I’d just hit record and go,” he explains. “I’d just jam on bass, and then rip guitar.”

The next year, Purling Hiss released Hissteria and Public Service Announcement, on Richie Records and Woodsist, respectively. While the former borrowed heavily from that beautifully gnarled Birds of Maya trash-rock vibe, the latter was more overtly experimental, and a dash conceptual. A mysterious layer of white noise had noticeably lingered (hissed) beneath Polizze’s other songs, but on Public Service Announcement it seemed as if he was using it as a tool to resurrect childhood memories of 24-hour pizza parties, wanky Van Halen fantasies and bizarro, psychedelic Miami Vice boat chases. “There are multiple layers of sizzling, fried, squalling guitars,” says Polizze, “but also noise and degenerated, destroyed samples.” And all this hissing didn’t help make these memories any less foggy; instead, it distorted them into a whole new, idiosyncratic universe of slacker-rock absurdity.

Once the cloud dispersed, Purling Hiss had morphed into a trio, with Kiel Everett on bass and Mike Sneeringer on drums. The band’s first tour was opening for Kurt Vile, and they’ve now shared stages with Mission of Burma, Dinosaur Jr, R. Stevie Moore and Woods. Last month, Fan Death Records released A Little Off Center, a cassette capturing a raucous in-studio WFMU performance from late-2010, and Purling Hiss’s first studio album as a trio comes out in April on Drag City. The album, recorded by Jeff Zeigler at Uniform Recording and crediting Adam Granduciel of War on Drugs as co-producer, completes the transition of Purling Hiss from a bedroom solo project to a three-headed beast.

“I love collaborating with other people, and being in a band,” says Polizze. “I love solo stuff, too, but I didn’t want to go that route with Purling Hiss. When I’m at home, in my bedroom experimenting, that’s my private canvas—I can get really weird there. But I ultimately want to work with other people. The new record’s definitely a guitar record—everything always goes back to the guitar—and it’s still the old Purling Hiss. Now we’re just taking all that weirdness and channeling it through a live band, taking it in a whole new direction.”

Purling Hiss performs with Cave and Running on Thursday, November 15 at Johnny Brenda’s, 1201 N. Frankford Ave. Tickets to the 21+ are $10, more information here.

Gritty lo-fi garage rock band Purling Hiss are playing a free hometown show tonight at Morgan’s Pier with Bandname as part of R5′s Free Saturday Summer Concert Series. The show starts at 6 p.m. and you must be over 21 or accompanied by a legal guardian for entry. Below check out the official music video for the Purling Hiss’ song “The Hoodoo” off their EP, “Lounge Lizards,” out on indie label Mexican Summer.

Rapper and Philly native Meek Mill is a dedicated self-promoter. The hip-hop artist has self-produced and released 14 mixtapes and his hard work has paid off. Meek Hill has collaborated and opened for the likes of Drake, Lil Wayne, and Diddy. Now he is playing two headlining shows at the TLA tonight as part of his Dreamchasers Tour, followed by a slot at the Jay-Z-curated Made in America Festival. The first show tonight at 7 p.m. is sold out, but there are still tickets available for the 11 p.m. show, which are on sale here for $57.50 each. Both shows tonight feature support by rapper Black Cobain. Below check out the music video for Meek Mill’s song “Amen” featuring Drake and Jeremih.

XPN welcomes Pittsburgh alt rock/soul band Lovebettie to The Garden in Carlisle, PA tonight. The show is part of The Garden’s Ladies of the Early Evening series, which features a free show by a female artist every Saturday evening from 4 p.m. to 6 p.m. through September 24th. Bring your own chairs or blanket, relax, and enjoy the free tunes. Listen to Lovebettie in the player below.

Although not quite in Philly, not too far away is the annual Dave Matthews Band concert series. There is no way to describe the incomparable group and the mass effect they have had globally, both with their music and their strong ambition to create a more peaceful world. Last year in the summer of 2011 they took a break from their yearly tour, instead celebrating their 20th anniversary by playing multi-day shows along with other artists for a Caravan Tour, one which took place in Atlantic City. This summer, DMB’s tour is back, the first of a two night residency is tonight at the Susquehanna Bank Center. Brandi Carlile opens for them; she played at our Non-Comm this year and you can listen to her live performance here. General admission tickets to the show can be purchased here, show starts at 7 PM.

Purling Hiss, the most recent Shaking Through all-stars, play at Johnny Brenda’s. You can check out their episode curated by The War on Drugs, Adam Granduciel, here and purchase tickets to the 21+ show here. Purling Hiss plays with The Young and Far-Out Fangtooth at 9 PM.

Over at Milkboy Philly, the electronic indie project, Exitmusic will be playing with Stagnant Pools and Lockets. Tickets to the 21+ show can be purchased here. Doors at 8 PM. Listen to the session WXPN’s Eric Schuman did with the band here.

PhilaMOCA hosts the weekly Tuesday Tune-Out, tonight featuring a local favorite, Oh! Pears. Show at 8 PM; tickets to the all ages show can be purchased at the door for $5.

This month’s episode of Shaking Through—the online audio and video collaboration between Weathervane Music and WXPN—features a song by Purling Hiss called “Lolita.” This month’s episode was recorded in early April at Miner Street Recordings, and guest curated by The War On Drugs’ Adam Granduciel.

From the folks at Shaking Through:

We’ve been hearing about Purling Hiss and its creator, Mike Polizze, for some time now, echoing within the inner circuit of Philadelphia’s most esteemed music elite: Kurt Vile, Richie Charles, The War on Drugs. Local promoters can’t seem to get enough of band as well — their enthusiasm fueled by The Hiss’ huge sound, out-sized energy and classic rock n’ roll vibes.

Adam Granduciel, frontman and guitarist for the Philadelphia-based band The War On Drugs, curated the episode. Of everyone he knew, Purling Hiss was the one he believed would seize the opportunity and create something remarkable, and so he and the band converged at Miner Street in Philadelphia to record “Lolita” over the course of a warm weekend in early April. The result: Polizze’s swirling guitar riffs, and the band’s rebellious rhythm (Mike Sneeringer on Drums and Kiel Everett on Bass), take the listener into a triumphant rock-n-roll landscape, one that can’t be passively pushed aside in today’s music.

You can listen to the track and watch the video below; visit Shaking Through’s website to see photos, interviews, and more from the session.

Don’t adjust your speakers, as the saying goes: Purling Hiss is supposed to sound like that. Across the better part of its recorded output, the Philly shred-core trio offsets hooky, timeless rock and roll songs with caustic, abrasive noise and production values. Which is one hell of a gauntlet to throw down – “we’re going to write this music you’ll immediately love,” they’re essentially saying, “and then we’ll make you work hard to love it.” Fortunately, the payoff is totally there in the end, and if you see the Hiss live before you grab its albums, you’ll find it all the easier to get what they’re doing. This month, the band hits the road with Dr. Dog – getting to play before some well-earned mass audiences – and its last gig before departing is tomorrow night, Jan. 20, at Pi Lam in West Philly. To wish it a good sendoff show and happy / thrashy trails ahead, today’s Philly Local Phile digs into an early favorite from the Purling Hiss catalogue: “Run From the City,” the lead off track on 2009′s Public Service Announcement LP on Woodsist Records. For some compare / contrast fun, see how that number sounds alongside the version Purling Hiss recorded at its Key Studio Session almost a year ago.

• Run From the Cityby Purling Hiss from Public Service AnnouncementDownload

• Run From the Cityby Purling Hiss from The Key Studio Sessions, March 2, 2011Download

Scott Troyan http://www.flickr.com/photos/sxt/

Philly psychedelic rockers Purling Hiss played a show on Friday, November 18th at the Cameo Gallery, a music and art space in Brooklyn. NYCTaper was there to record the show that you can download here. Below, check out the set list. The photo of Mike Polizze from Purling Hiss was taken at Johnny Brenda’s by Scott Troyan. Go here to view more of his concert photos.

01 Limerence
02 Lolita
03 Run From The City
04 Passenger Queen
05 The Hoodoo
06 Voices
07 [tech and tuning]
08 [untitled new song]
09 Don’t Even Try It
10 Been Teased
11 Almost Washed My Hair