FIDLAR
If a can of Miller High Life, a bottle of Jim Beam, and a pack of Marlboro Reds started a band together, pretty sure this is what it would sound like. These dudes play no nonsense, balls to the wall rock and roll. Here are some highlights taken from the two shows they played at Shea (only three days apart) while the band was in town back in October. Definitely one of the stickiest floors we ever had to mop, this is some classic LA sleaze. - AR
The Pharmacy
One of the more underrated bands of the past few years, this Seattle trio is a dying breed. In a time where greater emphasis is placed on "fresh" sounds, genre bending, and general sonic "relevance", bands are often villainized for "playing it safe" and crafting a sound too deeply rooted in 1960s and 70s cliches. The Pharmacy have been spitting in the face of these so called stigmas for years, perpetually zig-zagging across the United States and Europe for no other reason than for the love of what was once cherished as rock and roll: the music and the lifestyle. Whether it's a show in a friend's kitchen or to a larger crowd of several hundred, it almost seems like they could care less, because in the end they are just doing their duty to preserve a tradition that contemporary musical culture is doing its best to leave in the past. Whether or not that is for the best remains to be seen, but one thing is for sure-- this is not your average garage rock band hiding behind a murky wall of reverb and fuzz, trying to play down such associations. This is the sound of celebrating your scarlet letter. The Pharmacy are a rock 'n' roll band. - AR
Hard Nips
The first show of 2012 was just that: a rager. One of the most fun nights in recent memory, things really kicked into gear when Brooklyn's own all-girl Japanese punk rock quartet Hard Nips took the stage. The band, doing their best to ensure everyone was partying as hard as possible, passed out tequila shots between songs to the audience as things progressively got more wild. The relentless riffage heard here set the scene for a party that would last long past 3AM on a Wednesday night. By the end of this set, we were pretty sure all 300 in attendance had hard nips. - AR
Bird Names
"These blissed out psych-pop weirdos from Athens, GA played the first show ever at 20 Meadow Street. This was their first time back since then. They took the stage at the end of a long night, well past 2AM and completely melted the faces off all 10 people in the room. Now it's time for well more than 10 people to get down." - AR