The Ruckus | Record Reviews, MP3s, Videos | Up the punx.

Attention New York: Here are your weekend plans!

A little over a year ago, I saw Pearl and the Beard and the David Wax Museum play together in New Jersey, and it easily ranks as one of my all-time favorite shows. While the universe is not granting me that gift again, I am so incredibly excited that this weekend I will see the David Wax Museum at the Mercury Lounge on Friday and Pearl and the Beard at The Bell House on Saturday.

Please, go see these bands! If not in New York, then in a city or town near you.

Right now, Pearl and the Beard is in the midst of a quick tour up the east coast. The David Wax Museum is on their perpetual tour to everywhere.

Here are both bands performing a song together from last year:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ftQfGhdCUQI

Loitering With Intent: Cory Branan

[caption id="attachment_29291" align="aligncenter" width="564"] © 2012 Emma Speakman[/caption]

I've seen a lot of people play an acoustic guitar over the years, but no one compares to Cory Branan. He can go from playing soft and subtly one minute to beating the crap out of his guitar the next, never once making you feel like he doesn't know what he's doing. Not only that, but he's a damn fine songwriter too and it was great to have him sit and play a brand new song for Loitering With Intent.

Here's Cory playing 'The Highway Home' - a song that, presumably, will appear on his new record, which is expected to come out sometime in 2013.

The Interview: Emily Barker

[caption id="attachment_29288" align="aligncenter" width="564"] © 2012 Greenland Photography[/caption]

The Revival Tour has left European shores for another year, but whilst the gang was in Manchester Hannah and I caught up with Emily Barker. The Australian singer/songwriter - who supported Frank Turner with, her band, The Red Clay Halo and released 'Almanac' last year - talked to us about her multiple projects, her latest single and dealing with the spontaneous nature of The Revival Tour.

Tracks: Peter & Kerry - 'Split for the City'

I have been in possession of Peter & Kerry's slightly ever so French album, 'La Trimouille' for a while now and I get a little giddy when it pops up on Le iPod. It's infectious pretty synth pop, with witty vocals from the London based duo. Peter & Kerry's voices blend together like, um, Saturday night & vodka? Thanks to a good friend of mine I became enamoured with them at The xx sounding 'Knees'. Now we have 'Split for the City', a quaint tune, accompanied by a video of Kerry hunting down Peter, the all too cool city slicker. 'Split for the City' is out on Tape Club Records on December 3, put your pennies together and make someone happy by getting it for them for Christmas. They'll be popping off on tour with the BRILLIANT Laura Mvula soon.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=A6bRPWPVaTg

Jenny Owen Youngs and Mirah, Live at The Space

There are some lineups that are the stuff of dreams, as if they were designed solely for you. I will take responsibility for the recent show featuring Jenny Owen Youngs and Mirah at The Space in Connecticut. I mean really, could it get any more perfect?

It has been a long time since I saw Mirah perform: way back in 2002 at Brownies. Her record, You Think It’s Like This But Really It’s Like This, saw me out of high school, and in and out of some pretty terrible relationships. Her next record, Advisory Committee, helped me through many a long commute to and from college, as I fought for seats on the 7 train and clutched my discman close to my heart. I’ve casually followed her career since then, but those two records will always be the most special to me, since they held me together during a time when I was at my most fragile.

Our love of Jenny Owen Youngs is pretty well established here at The Ruckus, so when I saw that they were playing together, on the luckiest of days (11/11), I knew that I would have to find some way to get to the show. Thankfully, my husband is just as crazy as I am, so off to Connecticut we went.

The Space is a wonderful venue, and I have to say that I am extremely jealous of the teenagers in Connecticut who get to have it in their lives. An all-ages cafe that hosts amazing indie bands? My sixteen-year-old self is sobbing. And my old lady self? Well, it has a parking lot. Enough said.

Jaymay opened the show with some incredibly catchy indie pop songs, and the crowd adored her. At one point she asked, since she had been a very recent addition to the bill, if anyone knew who she was. The very enthusiastic crowd immediately replied with a chorus of yeses. Unfortunately, I had not been part of that contingent, but her performances of “Rocks Scissors Paper ” and “Gray or Blue” left me eager to hear more from her.

Next up was JOY, who killed it, as per usual. A few months ago I saw her perform with Frank Turner and Larry and His Flask for a raucous crowd. When she sang “Ring of Fire,” the entire crowd screamed along. She initiated the “Ring of Fire” singalong in Connecticut as well, and though the crowd was very different, they were no less enthusiastic to sing along.

When it came time for Mirah, I was getting a little giddy. It had been so long and the two times that I saw her in the early aughts were so important to me. Ten years ago, she performed solo, with short bleached hair adorned with barrettes and a shockingly huge voice. This time she was accompanied by a band - drums, cello, and violin. Though I already admitted to being slightly remiss in keeping up with her later albums, the feeling was still the same and the music was still beautiful.

Tin Horn Prayer - Grapple the Rails

I’d like to say it took me so long to review this album because I was trying to separate personal feelings from musical appreciation, but that is pretty much impossible for me. As you know, Tin Horn Prayer is my favorite local band. Naturally, I was pretty excited for their second album release. When it was picked up by Paper + Plastik I couldn’t wait for my friends in other locales to get a taste as well.

Then there’s the record itself. Grapple the Rails is dark. It’s bookended by gritty, bare bones, lo-fi tracks (“Execution Line”, “Dear Friends”) which after many listens, I’ve decided define the album for me. The topics of substance abuse, death, god, adultery, and imprisonment are introduced immediately in a stomping, gospel style tune. The pace picks up with the second track, but not the tone. “Fire In the Jailhouse” is a chilling account of incarceration and police brutality, including some sobering name checks of people who died as a result.

You’ve heard “Rose” (featuring Chuck Fucking Ragan) and “Stumble” (one of my favorite songs of the year/ever) but I couldn’t do this review without at least a mention.

“Call a Priest” is a brilliantly catchy song recalling the tale of a prisoner awaiting execution and waiting for god to intervene. I really want to go over more tracks but this has gotten quite long and you probably lost interest a paragraph ago, so I’ll close with “Dear Friends”, which also concludes the album. This track is gutting- it feels like an admittance of mistakes, an apology to loyal friends, and a goodbye. The sparseness is contrasted by cello, hammering the final heartbreaking nail in.

Tin Horn Prayer - Call A Priest

Grapple the Rails is available on vinyl and/or as a digital release from Paper + Plastik here. Please join me at the album release show Friday (November 29th) at the Bluebird Theater (tickets here). The Gamits, The Photo Atlas, and Anchor Point are also playing if you weren’t already convinced.

The Interview: Tim Barry

[caption id="attachment_29025" align="aligncenter" width="564"] © 2012 Hannah Neild[/caption]

Tim Barry has to be one of the most interesting people in music. The former Avail frontman now plies his trade as a singer/songwriter, playing songs about his hometown and the places he's been. The thing is, he seems to have been everywhere. Myself and Hannah sat down to talk to him in Leeds before he played in support of, Xtra Mile label-mate, Frank Turner. We discussed everything from, his new record, '40 Miler' to his life outside of music and what he's got planned for the future.