Philly metal band Surgeon will release their new album tonight at Johnny Brenda’sKung Fu Necktie (the show was moved due to a water main break). Chemical Reign has been a long time coming for the local four-piece: we first got a sample of the new songs back in 2011 when the band stopped by for a Key Studio Session, a few years after their 2008 debut Angry Guest was released. Tickets and information for tonight’s 21+ show with Swarm of Arrows, Ominous Black and Skeleton Hands can be found here. Below, watch a live video of Surgeon performing “Greed.”
Funky dream pop band Twin Sister plays at Johnny Brenda’s tonight. The band moves within elements of sound, all staying roughly onthe dreamy side, but also mixing indie pop with chillwave. Their album In Heaven was released in September of 2011. Tickets and information for the 21+ show with Lockets and Acres of Diamonds can be found here. Below, enjoy the music video for Twin Sister’s “All Around And Away We Go” from their Color Your Life EP.
XPN welcomes California band Animal Liberation Orchestra (ALO) to The Blockley tonight. SIgned to Jack Johnson’s Brushfire Records, ALO create a laidback, jammy brand of surf rock / pop that has bound them to other Johnson-fan favorites Donavon Frankenreiter, Matt Costa and G. Love. In 2012 ALO released their seventh studio album Sounds Like This. Tickets and information for tonight’s 18+ show with Ryan Montbleau Band can be found here. Watch an acoustic performance of “Storms & Hurricanes” from the new album below.
Denison Witmer celebrates his album release at Johnny Brenda’s tonight. The self-titled record is Witmer’s ninth and most personal effort since the start of his career fifteen years ago. Recorded at his Brooklyn studio The Honey Jar (co-run by Philly native Devin Greenwood), the Lancaster-born musician called in friends Sufjan Stevens and Greenwood for creative collaboration, though the stories told on the album’s ten tracks are purely Witmer’s. Tickets and information for tonight’s 21+ show with Soporus can be found here. Below, stream and download “Asa,” a song named for Witmer’s young son.
New Sweden head down to Phoenixville for a show at Steel City Coffeehouse. The Wilmington five-piece enthralled a Saturday morning audience at the 2011 Noncommvention with their rootsy, robust folk rock and they’ve been climbing the proverbial ladder ever since. With two Tri-State Indie awards on the shelf and a buzzy appearance at SXSW earlier this year, the local band hasn’t slowed down one bit after the release of their debut LP The Mountain. Tickets and information for tonight’s show with The Turnips can be found here. Watch New Sweden perform “Frying Pan” below.
The Hooters and Good Old War play a hometown show at The Electric Factory tonight. An institution in the Philadelphia musical cannon, The Hooters got their start in the 80s with hits like “All You Zombies” and “And We Danced.” In recent years, members of the band have sparked their own projects, with drummer David Uosikkinen’s In the Pocket and vocalist / keyboardist Rob Hyman’s Elm Street Studios in Conshohocken. Good Old War, a trio that is becoming a local institution in their own right, returns to the stage in support of 2012′s Come Back As Rain while working on material for a new album. Tickets and information for the all-ages show can be found here. Below, watch The Hooters’ video for “And We Danced” followed by Good Old War’s “Amazing Eyes.”
Philadelphia’s Toy Soldiers will be bringing their roots rock-inspired music to Johnny Brenda’s tonight as a debut for the band’s documentary The Maybe Trails. The documentary, shot by Seth Klinger, follows the band as they travel across the U.S. The film’s soundtrack was done entirely by Toy Soldiers, and as the event page on Johnny Brenda’s says, will have glimpses of songs that will be on their upcoming album. Beginning their band as a two-piece, since then, Toy Soldiers has expanded and reduced in size to its current status as a five-piece, while at its most having ten members. They have six releases on their bandcamp as of now, more than enough to have a great time listening to their medley of blaring, heartfelt, and upbeat tunes. Tickets and information for the show with Holy Ghost Tent Revival and the showing of the documentary The Maybe Trails can be found here. Below, watch the trailer for Toy Soldiers’ documentary, as well as a HotBox Session for their song “Throw Me Down”.
With a style that seems to be an amalgamation of New Orleans brass bands and South Philly Mummers, Portland’s MarchFourth Marching Band will takeover The Blockley this Sunday, April 14th. The west coast big band combines horn sections, percussion and other instruments with live performances by acrobats and dancers for a cinematic effect similar to that of The Imaginarium of Doctor Parnassus. Tickets and information for the event with Philly’s New Sound Brass Band can be found here. Watch a preview of MarchFourth Marching Band below.
R&B recording artist Shuggie Otis will celebrate the deluxe reissue of his 1974 record Inspiration Information (paired with a selection of unreleased tracks on Wings of Love) next Tuesday when the double album is released through Sony’s Legacy label. Now streaming in full courtesy of NPR’s First Listen series, the release comes hand in hand with an international tour, which brings the iconic musician to Philadelphia for the first time in two decades in August. From NPR:
Shuggie Otis has long been adjacent to worldwide stardom. His late father, the R&B legendJohnny Otis, is in the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. The younger Otis’ most ardent fans consider his brief late-’60s and early-’70s recording career to have produced works on par with those of Sly Stone and Jimi Hendrix.
The nine-songInspiration Information… took three years to record, in part because Otis insisted on playing and singing every part himself. But the work itself — a sublime mix of psychedelia, blues, pop and soul — possesses a dreamy quality that’s intoxicating and untethered to any era.
Best known for his 1971 hit “Strawberry Letter 23″ (recorded by The Brothers Johnson and sampled by OutKast for “Ms. Jackson”), Otis has kept to himself over the years but has recently announced plans to work on a brand new album with his new band. Get prepped for Shuggie Otis’s return by streaming Inspiration Information / Wings of Love here and watch him perform “Strawberry Letter 23″ live in London below. XPN welcomes Otis to The Blockley with Mutlu on August 9th; tickets and information can be found here.
Preeminent Philly MC Reef the Lost Cauze performs tonight at University City’s The Blockley. Following up the release of Reef the Lost Cauze is Dead, he recently dropped an instrumental / remixed version of his early SnowGoons-produced project Your Favorite MC. Joining him on the bill is up-and-coming Philly names Grande Marshall, Assad and the inimitable DJ Afrodjiak; the 21+ show begins at 8 p.m., more information at the venue’s website. Below, listen to Your Favorite MC’s Favorite Beats.
Philly pop-punk / modern rock five-piece Modern Suits headline The Barbary tonight. The band recently released its debut EP Promises, which you can listen to below. The all-ages show with Pretty and Nice begins at 6 p.m., more information can be found at the XPN concert calendar.
Philly rockers Satellite Hearts and Black Stars play upstairs at World Cafe Live tonight. Black Hearts is celebrating the release of its new self-titled EP. Tickets and information on the show can be found here. Listen to their song “Raise Your Soul” below.
Funky dream pop band 
Philadelphia’s 
With a style that seems to be an amalgamation of New Orleans brass bands and South Philly Mummers, Portland’s 
R&B recording artist 
Preeminent Philly MC