The Shiners
@ Rodeo Bar, New York City

With the success of the Oh Brother Where Art Thou soundtrack and the Starbucks set catching on to bluegrass, traditional acoustic music is real big right now. Richmond, Virginia’s Shiners are acoustic based, but like the Gourds and Bad Livers, they’re more than a little bit left of center, which probably accounted for the sparse crowd. If you were at Rodeo Bar this Friday night, you saw a lot of whiskey being consumed and one hell of a scary bluegrass band. If this wasn’t the type of bluegrass you expected, the Shiners didn’t care. These kids came to town like the Huns, churning out driving biker bluegrass with an edge like a broken bottle. Fiddler, and main female singer Jyl Freed couldn’t make the trip, so this was a little more testosterone oriented, but no wise man will tell her husband Wes to stop singing. It didn’t appear that anyone tried, as the Shiners churned through three hours of music and about a gallon of whiskey before they even thought about stopping. If there was a sober or unsatisfied person in the room at the end, I didn’t see one. Do yourself a favor, go see the Shiners before they come see you. You’ll be a better person for it.

Rambo
Manifesto Jukebox
Lakojta
@ ABC NO RIO, New York City

ABC has been around for a long time now. They’ve come a long way from being the next Happyland Social Club for the punk rock set. Now that you can actually go and maybe even escape if there was some sort of disaster, it’s kinda fun to see a show there. It’s close to the house and the kids never charge me, so it’s a win-win situation for this old guy. Statistically, the bands start getting good by the second or third band at ABC, so my fashionably late arrival was just in time for Minneapolis rockers Lakotja to rip my face off with an amazing set of post-Fugazi rock with vocals ala the Hot Water Music. I’ve been kicking myself ever since for not picking up their record. Raspy vocals were the order of the day and Manifesto Jukebox brought some Leatherface to the table with their brand of Finnish rock. They have a new record out on BYO called Remedy that good for what ails you. I’ve seen it in every cut-out bin in town, you need it, go buy it now. Now I’m not sure that I’d buy a Rambo record, but I will go see these smart asses every time they play. It’s sort of by-the-numbers hardcore, but funny as hell without being Good Clean Fun. That being said, the crowd that goes to see them at ABC is pretty much a bunch of 15 year old idiots, so let that be a caveat to you, but the best thing is that you can shove them around in the pit and get away with it. Teach the younger generation how to act at a show and go out to see a show at ABC soon.

Hey Mercedes
Piebald
Koufax
@ Bowery Ballroom, New York City

This was a great bill, so great that I was really shocked that they didn’t attract a bigger crowd. Koufax and Hey Mercedes are both Vagrant bands, so you figure that the indie rock sheep would be out getting their emo on. Now I’m not even close to being a Koufax fan, so I could see showing up late, but it was a pretty sparse crowd all night. So, Koufax are pretty horrible, pretty much the band from your high school that had the guy from your music class who could play all the Beatles and Billy Joel songs on but couldn’t come up with a decent original song to save his life. Koufax’s version of Stepping Out I saw in Chicago last Spring still gives me nightmares. Boy was that a travesty. They are a little better now, but still well worth missing. Piebald, on the other hand, just keep getting better and better. Travis’ voice had crapped out in the Midwest and this was the first of a couple shows for them after a week off the tour. Save for the fact that Travis is rocking a scary John Walker look, they were great and the kids were way into them. I’ll say it again, buy We Are The Only Friends That We Have. It will restore your faith in Boston rock. Hey Mercedes closed out the night, which seemed odd given the kids and how they love the Piebald on the East Coast, but they held their own. Hey Mercedes is still not Braid, but Every Night Fire Works is great record and they play well live. Not the most exciting band in the world to watch, but obviously one with staying power. Piebald and Hey Mercedes will both be around in the Fall, see them in a small room near you.

Kind Of Like Spitting
@ Mercury Lounge, New York City

I missed KOLS to cancellations in Austin and at Brownies, so I was damned if I was going to miss this show. Now if you listen to any of the KOLS records, you expect a real Tim Kasher type of tormented guy. Kind of a shock when the guy ends up being some sort of alien from Planet Posi. The other guy was even rocking a Positive Force ringer T. Yikes! This is a doctoral thesis in venting one’s frustrations through music. That being said, KOLS mastermind Ben Hillard is a pretty fucking talented guy. This tour was going to be with a full band, but after they lost their drummer right before go time, it was folk duo time. Irregardless of orchestration, the songs stand up by themselves. The rainy night kept numbers down, but people shouted requests all right and Ben played them all with a damn smile. Word is getting out, and KOLS will be playing as a full band opening for Saves The Day all this Fall, so watch them blow STD off the stage and Vagrant court them like R Kelly at a girl scout camp.