Forest Fire
It's been a little over a year since Forest Fire came to Shea and played a set of amazing slow burners. Maybe I'm just thinking back to when I first heard them but their sound is like cruising around in a washed out Oldsmobile on a sunny fall day. Their songs have a distinct country twang to them, and a sprawling narrative quality. If you missed out on them, definitely take a listen. It's an extraordinarily cohesive set that'll go down like a nice rye. -LC
Pop. 1280
This week we'll be taking a look back at a March 2012 set by New York's own Pop. 1280. It's pretty fitting this band took their name from a pulp fiction novel because the typically literary setting of "dystopian future" seems to fit this band more than most musical categories. Their sound is aggressive, dark, in your face (sometimes literally, frontman Chris Bug tends to bring his show to the crowd), and something you'd imagine would be accompanying a montage of someone hacking into the mainframe of UNESCO. A highlight of this set includes their cyberpunk ode to exhibitionism "Step Into The Grid", which like most of this set is worth a listen for the great synth work alone. Their LP "The Horror" was released this past year on Sacred Bones. -LC
Spectre Folk
Spectre Folk is a supergroup of sorts, with members including Pete Nolan of Magik Markers, Steve Shelley formerly of Sonic Youth & Aaron Mullan of Tall Firs. The result of this melting pot of influences is something equal parts noisy, chaotic and melodic. The jams are very patient and somewhat hypnotizing with intermittent vocals provided by Nolan. It's certainly a deep listen, but definitely among the best the archives has to offer. Their first LP "The Ancient Storm" was released last month on drummer Steve Shelley's Vampire Blues record label. -LC
Anamanaguchi
We'll be featuring another short set this week, and definitely not one to be overlooked. NYC's own Anamanaguchi is purely instrumental affair, reappropriating decades old video game hardware alongside traditional guitar bass & drums in order to make some of the best party jams ever performed at Shea. Their sound is bombastic in a way that makes it hard not to find yourself headbanging along: just ask any of the kids who packed out the room losing themselves in rock and roll bliss. Here's a small sampling of their past two shows at Shea -LC