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April 24, 2013 | 10:36 PM | By

Unlocked: Watch the video for Bad Braids’ “Ode to Fig”

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We continue this week’s Unlocked series with Bad Braids, and the video for “Ode to Fig” from Bad Braids’ forthcoming album, Supreme Parallel, out on May 1st.

Bad Braids – Ode to Fig from Daughters on Vimeo.

I won’t ruin the ending for you, but I will say it’s unexpected. That’s the best thing to do when it comes to introducing film, isn’t it? Because if you start by telling someone there’s a strange twist, they can’t help but watch the entire way through. It’s in our nature as human beings to be curious when it comes to that type of stuff.

Not that this music video for “Ode to Fig” is a chore to sit through whatsoever. It looks like the best day of playing hookie imaginable. The video (which was created by Tamyka Smith and Diana Martinez of the Daughters Project in Brooklyn) is basically one grown man getting super day drunk and playing house in someone’s summer cabin the middle of the woods.

To be more specific: the furry fellow artist Mr. Troy Swain sits on a porch and frolics through the woods, aimin’ guns and drinking whiskey from his morning coffee cup all the way through the day until dusk, when he switches to the bottle. A rolling, folk guitar riff comes in over a lake full of sleepy, autumn foliage that’s sliced up through hazy transitions and shots of blinding sunlight. Everything is green, from the hunter color of our hero’s shirt to the long grass fields and trees growing out of them.

It’s a serene, pretty video that looks like it was as fun to film as it is to imagine yourself taking a day off and into the subject’s shoes… if he was even wearing them. The filmmakers, who are both great friends of Biscieglia, expected to be able to capture her as a similarly carefree woodland creature, but the poor girl sprained her ankle falling off of a tree stump before the shoot.

But that’s not even the most unexpected twist (you’ve got to watch all the way to the end for that).

To pre-order Supreme Parallel, visit Haute Magie. To preview some of the songs from the record, you can check out the Bad Braids Bandcamp page. Download “Pennies” from the album here.

FILED UNDER: Artist Profiles, Artists, Bad Braids, Unlocked
April 23, 2013 | 5:09 PM | By

Unlocked: The Key’s Review of Bad Braids’ Supreme Parallel

Bad Braids' Megan Biscieglia / Photo by Elizabeth Lennox

Bad Braids’ Megan Biscieglia / Photo by Elizabeth Lennox

I didn’t set out to write a “walking” review of Bad Braids’ Supreme Parallel, but once I started I couldn’t stop finding the, uh, parallels, between the songs and the scenes around me. The second record from local singer-guitarist Megan Biscieglia’s dark art/folk project is a longtime journey of ritualistic storytelling and gypsy-like instrumental concoctions. There is a vein of solitude that runs deeply through the album, making it best experienced alone. For me, it was while walking through my neighborhood on a damp, overcast Monday morning when no one else seemed to be out in the world. Suddenly, my surroundings became foreign and open to interpretation, and my imagination went wild running through the songs on the record.

It hit me during “Clover,” (the third track off of the group’s intimate second record), that I was experiencing some form of serendipity. I passed a church on Hewson street just as a pickup truck drove by with a bed of bright, fresh flower arrangements. A funeral. Cars blocked the street with nobody in them, just tiny orange flags fluttering from their antennas. “Clover” is an eerie outcast of a song. It’s sounds like being a stranger passing a stranger’s funeral. It’s a different kind of lonely, with recurring Braids’ collaborator Paul Christian on organ creating haunting, church-based harmonies.

“Ships” dives deeper into that solitude, suggesting the idea of tiny vessels in the mind that can take you far away. You can embark on your own wild adventures without actually going anywhere. I pass a place called the Penn Home, which is carved out like the White House with red, white and blue flags and ribbons wrapping around every window and a well kept green yard out front, between right and left wings. It’s not until I see a tiny wooden sign on the corner of the building advertising “three meals daily, laundry and housekeeping,” that I realized I let my imagination sail away for awhile, maybe a little too far.

Continue reading →

FILED UNDER: Album Reviews, Artists, Recordings, Bad Braids, Unlocked
April 22, 2013 | 12:38 PM | By

Unlocked: Download “Pennies” by Bad Braids

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Bad Braids’ front woman Megan Biscieglia has a voice that would make a Siren jealous.  It’s hauntingly powerful and perfectly positioned in “Pennies,” a brief and unassuming track off of the psych-folk outfit’s sophomore release, Supreme Parallel (available in full May 1). We previewed a few tracks from the album last October during Bad Braids’ Key Studio Session, but this week we’re devoting daily posts to the new material for our Unlocked series, where we feature in-depth coverage of new releases from notable Philadelphia-based artists.

“Pennies” starts off as a delicate trickle, utilizing Biscieglia’s multi-instrumental expertise through plucky guitar and haunting harp harmonies. Her vocals start out carefully spaced-out and cavernous, but grow brighter and more structured as the song carries on. At less than three minutes, it’s the perfect introduction to the Braids’ sound: experimental, evocative and tragically beautiful, a sound so mesmerizing it could sink mythical ships.

FILED UNDER: Artists, Downloads, News, Single Reviews, Bad Braids, download, Unlocked
April 5, 2013 | 3:45 PM | By

Unlocked: Meet Carlin Brown, Philly’s punk-drumming foodie (recipes included!)

When Carlin Brown isn’t making sweet beats behind the drum kit of Philly punk band Restorations, he’s making sweet eats inside the kitchen of some of the city’s most popular restaurants and bars.

Currently a cook at The Industry Bar, Brown’s restaurant resume is almost as long the list of serious bands he’s played in. He said these two jobs are also surprisingly quite similar.

“Being in a kitchen, you’re trapped in this weird, strange little environment with this one group of people, and you can only rely on this one group of people. These are the only people you have to do this job with you, so you just figure out strengths and weaknesses and go ‘OK, we’re going to make this work.’ We’re going to figure this out,” Brown said. “The band stuff translates just as well. In music and in food, in the same way, sometimes egos get out of check. You’ll have these [musicians] that think they deserve things and that sort of thing. The same thing with chefs. Every now and then, you’ll see a chef get out of line. He’s drinking too much or doing this sort of thing, and everything fails eventually because they don’t care about what the original purpose was in the first place, which was making good music or food. You’re supposed to take care of your friends and make something good happen.”

Today’s post details Brown’s experiences from working in some of the top-rated bars and restaurants in the city, along with a few of his favorite recipes. Brown figures that many musicians in Philly have also picked up the same trade due to flexibility with taking time off to tour.

“When you’re in Philadelphia, if you walk into a kitchen and the people who are working in the kitchen don’t have tattoos, the food is probably going to suck,” he said.

Continue reading →

FILED UNDER: Artist Profiles, Artists, Concert Previews, Events, Interviews, Restorations, Unlocked
April 4, 2013 | 4:18 PM | By

Unlocked: Restorations and the ever-improving sound of new punk

_MG_9457_V1_FilePhilly punk outfit Restorations seems to have carved out its own little corner of Fishtown.

Right across from Miner Street Studios, where the band recorded its last three releases, is their warehouse practice space. A series of doors open into cold, dank space, then to a homier environment with a kitchen and sofas. Someone there has jokingly crossed out part of the “Restroom” sign so that it now bears the band’s name. The five-piece squeezes into a tiny, sealed-off room, sometimes also visited or accompanied on a fourth guitar by their producer, Jon Low.

Tonight, songs like “D” and “Let’s Blow Up the Sun” off the band’s newly released LP2 are blaring – seeping through the walls and wafting out on to the adjacent street. Past favorites like “When You’re Older” join the new ones, as do laughs and the spontaneous 30-second launch into a cover of “Slide” by the Goo Goo Dolls.

This little corner of Fishtown is where the fun and the magic happen, but a far journey from where Restorations started with the project in 2008.

“We had all come in as defeated, resigned musicians being like, ‘Who cares, we’ll play for a couple of beers and gas money,” said frontman Jon Loudon, who started the band with guitarist Dave Klyman after the split of their post-hardcore band, Jena Berlin. “That’s all we really wanted. If we recorded, great! Cool! And that was it, we’d have something to do on Thursday nights. That was the M.O. of the band for the longest time.”

In the beginning, it was never the intention for Restorations to be the band they are today — one with an extensive and constantly maturing discography, a new record deal and the ability and opportunity to soon tour the country. They agree that the August announcement of their signing to SideOneDummy Records — home to bands like Anti-Flag and The Gaslight Anthem — was a “we made it” moment for this collection of musicians who had given up on that dream multiple times before.

“We finally just got the job that we wanted,” said drummer Carlin Brown. “So now, it’s actually time to work.” Continue reading →

FILED UNDER: Artist Profiles, Artists, Interviews, Restorations, Unlocked
April 3, 2013 | 4:53 PM | By

Unlocked: Let’s talk about Fest – a live video chronology of Restorations

restorations-8In 2011, Gainesville’s annual Fest proved to be a defining moment and performance for Restorations. The Florida hardcore festival showcases both the big and the upcoming-and-coming acts in punk rock, pop punk, post-hardcore and metal music. For those who have never heard of it, think of it as the South by Southwest for the non-ironically tattooed.

The 2011 installment (Fest 10) was Restorations’ first, aside from a one-off house show at Fest 7 before guitarist/keyboard player Ben Pierce was even in the band. It was one of the only out-of-the-Northeast shows the band was able to play with most members carrying full-time jobs. They took on the small club at the festival called Loosey’s. And to that small but packed house, they must have played the set of a lifetime because, after Fest 10, everyone started to take notice.

Continue reading →

FILED UNDER: Artist Profiles, Artists, Concert Photos + Videos, Events, First Unitarian Church, Restorations, Unlocked
April 2, 2013 | 6:07 PM | By

Unlocked: The Key’s review of LP2 by Restorations

11298_fullsizeYou can’t do a Restorations album justice listening to it just one way. When you hear one of the Philly punk band’s sprawling songs for the first time, it rushes over you like a waterfall, seeps into your ears, muddles every single one of your senses, and most likely leaves you breathless.

This band’s ability to generate a wall of sound is what made the generation of “grown-up” punks gravitate toward Restorations, building their reputation after the release of their self-titled LP in 2011. But close listeners of any Restorations song will pick up on more than just the overview, the surface. They’ll hold on to a subtle but notable guitar lick, a slamming bass note or a simple, poignant lyric that in turn gets stuck in your head for days.

This week’s release of LP2 will not disappoint long-time fans. The sophomore full-length not only crashes over the heads of listeners, but sweeps you away into the sea of complexity, maturity and the band’s full-blown ability to rock. They’re brand is much different from the fuzz rock phenomenon of today. The crispness and thoughtfulness behind each layer and effect are heightened under the direction of producer Jon Low, who mixed self-titled and produced Restorations’ last two 7-inch records. These also aren’t the loud-and-fast, two-minute bursts that often characterize a “punk song.” They’re sometimes slow and steady, with hills and valleys that still lead you somewhere very, very loud by then end. Continue reading →

FILED UNDER: Artist Profiles, Artists, Concert Previews, Concert Reviews, Events, Recordings, First Unitarian Church, Restorations, Unlocked