DIRTY HOLLYWOOD V8 on Thursday, December 15th 2011 here at The Drunken Unicorn.
Featuring
Eryn Woods
With her signature red Mohawk, vintage shop style and school-girl voice, 23 year-old singer Eryn Woods is ready to dominate the world with her eclectic brand of Pop-Rock. Her music has already been featured on Vh1 and MTV and she has an endorsement deal with Betsey Johnson, where she does meet-and-greets, makes in-store appearances, as well as performs at boutiques throughout the country. As the queen of the “Kupcake” brigade, a term she coined to define her “sweet, fun and diverse” fan base, Woods musical and fashion influence on young Kupcakes is spreading around the globe.
Of The Vine here at the Drunken Unicorn on Wednesday, December 14th, 2011.
"Every time I think I have a good handle on who’s who and what’s what in the Atlanta music scene, some band comes along and reminds me that I’m probably only listening to and touching on a fraction of what’s really going on. This week’s epic punch to the membrane comes courtesy of post-rockers, Of the Vine, who last Friday held a record release show at the Drunken Unicorn in celebration of their new self-titled EP.
I wish I had some sort of back story to provide you with but all I know is the band has been around is some form or another since early 2005. In 2006, they released their debut EP, the three-song We Took Our Trembling Hands From Our Ears and Their Cries Were Heard (told you they were post-rock). Somehow they managed to fly under my radar for all of six years, which makes me feel awfully lazy for some reason.
But now that I’ve heard them, I’m going to sing their praises. If you are into the epic swells and dynamic textures of post-rock, of music that aspires to climb and cling to the heavens, you would do well to check these guys out. The most obvious comparison would be to Explosions in the Sky and you can’t deny that the trio shares EITS’s penchant for crafting cinematic songs whose ebbs and flows carry the listener on an emotional journey. It may not be storytelling in the traditional sense with words and concrete actions, but within their elaborate song structures there are definite narrative arcs that lead you along and help invoke a certain symphonic sense of place and movement.
Of the Vine’s music is by turns dramatic, elegant and fragile. But when the moment suits them, they can also turn positively thunderous traversing into more metallic territory with muscular grooves and crushing guitars. Simply put, this band destroys. It’s some of the most beautiful and engaging stuff—local or otherwise—I’ve heard all year." Latest Disgrace
Good Weather For Airstrikes are going to be the second performer of the evening.
Good Weather for Airstrikes is a four-piece indie-rock band from Howell, MI. Since the band's inception, a wide and diverse amount of influences and experiences have enabled the group to refine a unique sound that combines the brooding ambience of post-rock with dynamic, guitar driven passages and impassioned lyrics reminiscint of modern indie and emo music.
Good Weather for Airstrikes was formed in the summer of 2008 by James Radick and Bill Grant, with Joe Hillier and Josh Fenn joining by the end of the year. The four released an EP, "Yearning," as well as several digital releases before putting out their debut full-length "To Have Our Hearts Emptied, To Be Left as We Came" in October 2011.
We protect you from Sunlandic Demons, Seabound Demons, Nordic Warewolves, and Comic Sans Fonts.
We also make music sometimes. But mainly we do our witchcraft and stuff.
Kathryn Calder here at The Drunken Unicorn on Saturday, December 10th
Kathryn Calder is one of those artists who belies her age. She began her professional music career as a teenager, and by the time that most people are just stepping into their first independent record store, she had recorded 2 EPS and 4 CDs with the Victoria based Immaculate Machine (from whom she parted ways in 2008), and toured the world and recorded three albums as the newest member of The New Pornographers.
"Where that first album of hers, Are You My Mother?, was incredibly personal and introspective, Calder’s sophomore album is much more open and outward-looking. According to Calder herself, Are You My Mother? was an album that she wanted to record for her dying mother at the time, and that deep personal emotion could be plainly heard, bearing itself on each and every song from that album. As a follow-up, Bright and Vivid finds Calder exploring wider sonic landscapes that range from cutesy synth-pop (“Who Are You?”) to more experimental indie rock (“New Frame of Mind”, “All The Things”). While I usually commend artists for branching out, some of the risks she takes on Bright and Vivid just don’t convince me that she is sold on these ideas either." - Luke Larsen / Paste Magazine
On "Hard Times," the third album from Victoria, BC’s Himalayan Bear aka Ryan Beattie exhibits an indisputable level of ingenuity, a fetish for reverb and a voice that is as delicate as it is potent. Beattie may be best known as the front man of Chet or the guitarist of Frog Eyes, but he started making records in his early teens and has amassed a large catalog over the nearly two decades since. It’s his solo project Himalayan Bear which best shows his inimitable talent and remarkable voice, and "Hard Times" is his finest effort to date. "Hard Times" will be released on August 2nd, 2011 by Absolutely Kosher Records.
Much of the album hinges on tension and desperation, but his years of experience show in a subtle guarded confidence throughout the album’s seven tracks. Though the songs may inspire a deep loneliness, Beattie certainly wasn’t alone in the recording process. The chosen studio, The Last Resort, proved to be a social hub of the Victoria scene which allowed for brainstorming, last minute additions and a casual, but creative environment for the album to develop in. Instrumentation ranging from lap steel to trumpet to double bass all made their way on to the record, sometimes acting to ground Beattie’s vocals on tracks such as "Half Wit Son," but also at times drawing the listener into Beattie’s world on tracks like "Man of Fire."
Lucy Dreams will be the second performer of the evening.
"Lovers of noisy rock take note! Lucy Dreams have released their album ‘Vivian’ and they’re still in High School – these kids rock! ‘Skull Mask’ sits squarely in the middle of the nine track release, it’s a spaced out rock tune with lots of melody. The laid back introduction doesn’t give away the energy of the chorus, it’ll get stuck in your head. The scratchy lead guitar break works well against the cleaner sounds too. ‘Skull Mask’ is one of the more sedate tracks on ‘Vivian’, standing out together with ‘VHS’ and ‘Death March’." - Sounds Better With Reverb
Like Teeth EP is the new release from Atlanta band SwingSet. With their fuzzy guitars and catchy choruses Swing Set is making records for people who still think music matters. Originally started as a bedroom projectSwing Set is now a full band consisting of ex-Waterliars/Long Knives rhythm section Thad Goad (drums) and Chris Poma (bass), Mike Copen (guitar/vocals) and Sodajerk frontman Alex Brenner (vocals/guitar). Their live shows are loud distorted hook laden goodness reminiscent of bands like Dinosaur Jr. and Archers of Loaf. The songs are short and sweet taking the Tom Petty method of “don’t bore us-get to the chorus” with no filler. The Like Teeth EP contains three reworked songs from the previous Great Shakes EP and two new songs. Recorded by Ben Price at Studi Laroche SwingSet has captured their raw live sound and infectious hooks that are sure to have listeners singing along.
Baby Baby will be headlining The Drunken Unicorn on Friday, December 9th, 2011.
Baby Baby as written by Gun Party -
Quit hatin. These dudes are fun. Raucous party tunes. Sometimes feete shufflink , sometimes a touch of metaltastic. These guys like hard work and ball sweat. If you haven't started moving yet, then you are really really running out of excuses at this point. Save your excuses for when you need them, like the next day when you were supposed to meet this cute girl for coffee at eleven AM, which you make but then have to explain your godawful smell because you met her at bible study and want her to think you are something that you are not.
They have an album. That they recorded. Do that.
Manray are performing second and are celebrating the release of their new album "Tournament" as well.
"For the uninitiated, Manray’s sound pulls from math rock, metal, punk, hardcore and even a smidgen of non-boring prog rock." Gordon Lamb / Flagpole
"Manray is one of the newest arrivals on the Athens math rock scene. The members of the band—who hail from Athens (or “Mathens,” as they jokingly refer to it)—perform progressive rock music characterized by abstruse time-changes and atonal chord voicings.
Touchstones for the band include King Crimson, Tortoise, The Mars Volta and local powerhouse Cinemechanica." -John Seay / Flagpole
CUSSES is a rock three piece band consisting of a conjoint, raw, forceful drummer, named Brian Lackey. With an insane vocal box named Angel Bond, and a gargantuan wave of guitar known as Bryan Harder. With a new lease on the vast world of music. The three set out to put a burn rather than a mark in endless music community. They hope to become a home grown affair for the Savannah borough and then anyone else that follows. The band looks forward to thrive in the live front so please join them in a defiant release of optimism.
