King Gizzard & the Lizard Wizard play Underground Arts this Sunday

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Still from “The River” music video

King Gizzard & the Lizard Wizard shows are sacred experiences. And if you’ve yet to attend one, now’s your chance. The seven of them will play Underground Arts on Sunday night (5/15/16) in support of their new album Nonagon Infinity– an album intended to be played in a continuous loop. Probably one of the most unpredictable bands out there right now, King Gizzard treats each album as its own conceptual piece. On Nonagon Infinity, each song flows into the next, including the last track back into the first, creating a never-ending circle of psych.

Accompanying them will be Philly’s own Mercury Girls and Melbourne’s The Murlocs.

While consisting of members of King Gizz, The Murlocs have a bit more of a melodic, folk-rock grounding. Stu Mackenzie (lead guitar/vocals of King Gizz) produced their latest album and second full length LP, released this March on Flightless Records and titled Young Blindness.

Mercury Girls (members of Literature and Little Big League) perfect a jangly pop-meets-shoe gaze sound, and are touring in support of their new 7″ and a split EP with Spook School, Tigercats and Wildhoney.

WKDU will present the show on Sunday (after the Punk Rock Flea Market), so come say hello, check out our merch and pick up one of our free zines!**

Watch videos for King Gizzard’s “Gamma Knife” and The Murlocs’ “Unknown Disease,” and stream Mercury Girls’ new single, “Ariana,” below.

 

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Concert Preview: Babymetal @ Electric Factory 5/7/16

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— By Patrick Magee

On the heels of a major viral success, capped off with a performance on Stephen Colbert, Babymetal released “Metal Resistance” to fanfare and surprisingly positive critical acclaim. For a moment, it seemed like the viewing public was united on something they weren’t before: these three girls from Japan legitimately kick ass. That’s not just a reference to their new single, “Karate”, either.  With an album that switches between symphonic metal and drum ‘n’ bass with ease (and without too much camp!), Babymetal has made the transition from side-note to main event for many.

The group, now on their second international tour, will be making their first appearance in Philadelphia on Saturday, May 7th. After rocking Wembley, the Electric Factory should be no challenge for the three girls and their powerful backing band. Although Babymetal started as a spinoff from a more traditionally Japanese pop “idol group”, you won’t be seeing school uniforms and cute poses. With an explosive energy that makes their choreography look like an army drill, Babymetal is sure to stir up a circle pit on Saturday night.

Babymetal consists of members Su-metal (Suzuka Nakamoto), Yuimetal (Yui Mizuno), and Moametal (Moa Kikuchi). Their median age is 17.  After finding success outside of their original group, Sakura Gakuin, Babymetal gained attention largely as a novelty act through the viral success of their early music videos. Following the release of their first album, it became clear that while the girls didn’t write their own music, but rather make an excellent and convincing vehicle for a new spin on pop. Even after working with acts like Dragonforce rather than strictly their original composers – something relatively rare in the confusingly xenophobic J-Pop scene – Babymetal has a unified sound on their albums. They’ve done songs with rap sections and even touched lightly upon black metal with their latest effort. Though it can be easy to see a pop act like this as superficial, they’re wildly entertaining and refreshingly straightforward.

London punks Fat White Family coming to Underground Arts tomorrow w/ Dilly Dally and Philly’s Littler!

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Fat White Family live in NY 12/2014 by Gretchen Robinette for BrooklynVegan

Fat White Family is touring in support of their Fat Possum/Without Consent-released album Songs for Our Mothers (out this past January) and bringing the party to Underground Arts tomorrow, April 29. Known for putting on a great live show, FWF are as entertaining as they are bizarre – and a band that Vice once called “British rock’n’roll’s final hurrah.” Watch the video for the album’s first track, “Whitest Boy on the Beach,” below.

Joining them is Canadian band Dilly Dally (Partisan Records)– if Courtney Love and Joey Santiago had formed a side project in the 90s, this is who you’d get. Katie Monks’ gritty voice paired with lush pop guitar distortion make for some delectable rock tunes. Watch “Purple Rage” below and don’t miss them.

Get there early for Philly (seltzer-loving) band Littler, who just independently released Of Wandering in March will open the show. Watch their video for “Slippery,” below (from AV Club).

Additional show info here or here.

Continue reading “London punks Fat White Family coming to Underground Arts tomorrow w/ Dilly Dally and Philly’s Littler!”

Interview: Cloud Nothings (April 6, 2011)

When Dylan Baldi Came to Town: An Interview with the mastermind behind the Cleveland lo-fi pop-punk band Cloud Nothings

 By Carolyn Haynes

About an hour before Dylan Baldi and fellow bandmates played at Johnny Brenda’s back in April 2011, I had a chance to sit downstairs and talk with him about what this band was all about. While he didn’t blow up “Wavves fast”, he has gotten a considerable amount of attention in the past three years. The current lineup (which features TJ Duke, Jayson Gerycz and Joe Boyer, along with Baldi, of course) has only been together for a year and a half and already they’ve toured Europe three times supporting acts like Yuck and Toro Y Moi. Not to mention playing SXSW two years in a row, touring with Wavves, and signing to Carpark Records.

Continue reading “Interview: Cloud Nothings (April 6, 2011)”

Interview: Honus Honus of Man Man (January 18, 2012)

By Paul Brown

On Wednesday, January 18th, 2012 I caught up with Honus Honus, lead singer of Philadelphia band Man Man. This was just before their first ever show at the newly opened Union Transfer, and just about eight months after the release of their fourth album, Life Fantastic.

We would end up talking about everything from Man Man’s creative process to the wild circumstances surrounding the creation of their 2006 masterpiece Six Demon Bag to the impending Mayan Apocalypse. You can read the entire interview below:

Continue reading “Interview: Honus Honus of Man Man (January 18, 2012)”