//Photo by Tommy Cole//

Destination : Rock Show – Semi Precious Weapons
with Christine Keenan

Read The Interview & Watch Episode 1!

We recently put our heads together to create a new web series based on the culture surrounding local music called Destination : Rock Show. Through a friend of Sidehatch we got the opportunity to hang out with Semi Precious Weapons on the set of their first major label video shoot. Lucky for us the shoot was exactly what we were looking for. The inspiration for the video was their life and experiences together as a band, which translates to: a rock and roll party at an intimate venue in New York City.

What are Semi Precious Weapons? In the words of lead singer Justin Tranter: “filthy, violent but beautiful rock and roll.” Picture four dudes from Berklee; now picture one of those dudes in skin tight leggings, high heeled stiletto boots, flashing his nipple while shouting obscenities and how he’s going to sleep with your girlfriend after the show…  More on this later. First let me tell you about their video shoot.

We arrived on set; where they were shooting at the Studio in Webster Hall. A cool 300 capacity venue our friends KID:NAP:KIN recently rocked. We were greeted by Matt from Interscope who explained how they were currently shooting in a decked out men’s room. I thought to myself….ah, ‘filthy glamour.’ Since we were all feeling pretty famished we went out to grab a quick bite before meeting up with the band. When we came back we were hustled through the crowd and squished into the green room, amongst suit cases spilling with batty get ups, makeup artists, feathers, sparkles, masks and champagne bottles plastered with Justin’s face, hairdressers and friends of the band primping to rock out in full glam.

The band piled onto the couches to answer a couple questions with us. I didn’t even have time to think as Matt introduced me to them. Wait, have I ever interviewed a band before? Who are all these fantastically dressed people hanging out in here? Didn’t I prepare a bunch of questions for these guys- where did I put those? Fallon was standing there, flip cam in hand, waiting for me to start so I had to say something. Eek! “How is it playing at Radio City Music Hall?” “Magical.” So we were off, our first webisode for Destination Rock Show. It was great hanging with the guys; Justin, Dan, Stevey and Cole; they were fun to talk to, sweet, genuine and undeniably charismatic. We chatted with them for a couple minutes before they had to shoot the next segment in the “gentlemen’s room.”

While they finished shooting in and around various parts of the venue we checked out the bands on the bill for the night in the Studio. When the set wrapped up everyone was cleared out except for those “who had the look.” “You know who you are.” Now the only inhabitants of the venue were folks of truly unique creativity and flamboyancy. Dan came by to make sure we were sticking around to party. We assured him we were pro at rocking out. No extras were hired, the band called up their friends and said ‘hey we need to show everyone what a rock and roll party with SPW is like, get here!’

While the cameras, track, and lights were set up we were left to party to some good jams, hang with some of the band’s friends and really just have a good time.  For the remainder of the night we were encouraged to rock out like our lives depended on it, no, really rock out, ‘not like some NYU dorm party.’ Everyone was dancing like mad. At one point, while a member of the crew kept pushing us back into the crowd away from the camera track, we found our selves jumping (via fist pump) and rocking right in the thick of everyone with Justin smack dab in the middle of us. Everyone was awesome, each person added to the aura with an extravagant outfit or unrivaled dance moves. There were ladies in giant feathered wings, go-go dancers (male and female) in underwear, boas, faux fur, fauxhawks, masks, make up for all genders, sparkles, sequence, you name it. Glam rock is back.

When was the last time you saw a band that is trying to change the world’s view on music, fun, sex, gender, rock and roll, and glamour? Unless you have been transporting to and from Brit rock shows in the 80s featuring AC/DC, you haven’t seen anything like this. Watching Semi Precious Weapons on stage is like a rock and roll Altoid; curiously strong, you want to spit it out at first, but it’s just so good you have to keep sucking it. Sitting in the orchestra section at Radio City Music Hall where SPW opened for Lady GaGa, the night after the shoot at Webster Hall, we witnessed the initial disorientation first hand.  The facial expressions on the folks around us were priceless. They sat there with their jaws on the floor, speechless, once in a while you’d hear a “what-the-f is this?!” from one of the dudes whose date was out perusing the GaGa merch. The outrageous behavior of SPW is an absorbing dose of the car crash effect. You can’t turn away. You MUST watch; and then, miraculously, you realize you’re getting your face melted off by unrivaled raw intensity and glam slammed like its 1983.

The band recently signed to Perezious, HausOfGaGa, Streamline, Geffen, Interscope records. They are a filthy glam rock band out of New York City who just recorded their self-titled EP at Ocean Way Recording with producer/engineer Jack Joseph Puig. You can get your hands on three songs off their EP released January 19^th; the remainder of their “You Love You” album is set to drop later this spring.

Visit the Interscope page to check out the new video for the cleverly titled track, Semi Precious Weapons.

Semi Precious Weapons are…
Justin Tranter: vocals
Cole Whittle: bass
Daniel Crean: drums
Stevey Pyne: guitar

Read The Interview & Watch Episode 1!

Album Review: Lunar Sway – Where the Birds Don’t Fly

with Gio

Certain bands today like to play up their own grandeur over every other aspect of the music. Perhaps it’s the justifiable admiration for Led Zeppelin that makes these groups think they can pull it off just as well. Well I’ve got news for you: no one will ever be able to match the majesty of Led Zeppelin. Lord knows there are plenty who try, from Muse to Mars Volta to Cave In, and there are plenty of listeners waiting to just eat it all up (I’m especially partial to the first couple of Mars Volta releases). What hurts these bands is that sometimes it sounds as if they’re only playing for themselves. Then again, sometimes it totally rocks.

This is the teetering balance that is displayed on the debut EP, Where the Birds Don’t Fly from Los Angeles’s own Lunar Sway. The recording comes dangerously close to being cheesy, in that Nickelback or even Nu-Metal kind of way, but manages to hold steady mostly because they’re simply a better band. Vocalist Drew’s voice is a good match for the band’s grandeur, using a lot of falsetto and taking many cues from Muse and Bends-era Radiohead and his use of keys definitely recalls the very same bands. The rest of the band, guitarist Preston, bassist Clint, and drummer Barrett, sound really great with each other. Whether or not it’s true, Lunar Sway sound as if they’ve been a band for a long time, but they may have the drummer to thank, who took over the production duties and did a superb job.

Like most L.A. bands, Lunar Sway seems to be shooting for the majors, and let me be the first to tell you that they just might succeed in their quest. The MTV crowd could be easily wooed by the overwrought lyrics and power-choruses, which, I think, are where this album’s weaknesses lay. The verses tend to be stronger than the choruses and this can be sort of a let down, akin to seeing an over-anticipated movie sequel like Men in Black 2 only to find that it’s nothing like the original and your girlfriend wont make out with you. “St. Mark’s Square” for instance sounds like a sweet Radiohead b-side during the verses, and then quickly cuts into a power-stance, windswept-hair refrain.

The first two songs, “Where the Birds Don’t Fly” and “The Enemy is Me” are the best here, the former opening with a sweet, meaty riff, and the latter using expert atmospherics with nice keyboard effects, staccato guitar parts, and the best drumming on the EP. “Comfortable Silence” could easily be the single as it sounds the most like Muse and is pretty damn hooky. This band will surely grow to separate themselves from their influences. If they experiment with different dynamics and grooves, they will certainly have a strong full-length on their hands.

-Gio Coviello | (Y)OURscene Boston

Upcoming Shows:
Catch Lunar Sway live on their West Coast swing up to Seattle, WA.
Details at LunarSway.com!

Lunar Sway Online:
.COM | iTunes | Facebook | MySpace

Album Revisited: Kiss Kiss – Reality Vs. The Optimist
with Steph S. of The Thread Zine

The Thread would like to take a moment to revisit an album released a few years ago that did not receive the recognition it so greatly deserved. Kiss Kiss (Eyeball Records), hailing from Milton, New York debuted their first full-length album, Reality Vs. The Optimist in February 2007. With ghostly, asymmetrical time signatures, and a hypertonic, Tim-Burton-esque sound, the album literally blew me away.

The opener, “Janet” is a catchy canzone that jump-starts the album nicely, while the next song, “Iris and Eye” takes the listener to a dark, haunting realm mirrored throughout the rest of the album. The band’s use of electric violin separates Kiss Kiss from others in the genre and adds an orchestral tone that cannot be beat. Tracks 7 and 9, “Dress Up” and “The Cat in Your House” respectively, are two ravenous songs that have easily become my favorite on the album. The former is a fast paced, screamy tune that uses unusual samples of a chainsaw. Awesome. And the latter is a mysteriously sleek tune that builds up consistently throughout.

If all of the previously mentioned genius didn’t convince you to buy(or listen) to this album, the last two tracks alone will cause you to fall in love with the band. “Vagabond” starts out a bit poppy, but morphs into a truly beautiful song with a catchy chorus outro. And finally, the ballad, “Stay the Day” succeeds in bringing the listener down from the overwhelmingly powerful high sustained from the rest of the album.

Listening to Reality Vs. The Optimist is an ethereal experience and should have made more noise for Kiss Kiss. We here at The Thread give it 5 out of 5 stars.  If you’re really digging their style, check out Kiss Kiss’s latest album, The Meek Shall Inherit What’s Left.

Steph S. | (Y)OURscene NY

PS…  Catch Kiss Kiss live RIGHT NOW on their US Tour!  They are also playing at South by South West  in Austin, Texas this March.  Click HERE for tour dates.

Do you have any idea what it’s like to quit smoking?

It’s kind of like being perpetually stuck in between seasons.  You feel uncomfortable in your own skin, simultaneously cold and humid like your body is a house with bad insulation.  If you’re particularly self-aware you can feel yourself slipping into a worse and worse mood; you can actually watch your own progress as you descend from Reasonable-Human-Town into Intolerable-Asshole-World.  Nothing’s funny.  Nothing can reverse your mood.  Some people say that snacking on things like Goldfish will distract you from the agony, but these people are lying devils.  Those delicious, adorable fish crackers can do nothing to alleviate the urge to grind your teeth to nubs and gnaw holes in your cheeks.  There is only one way to successfully cease smoking: you must Stop Being A Musician.

Seriously.  I don’t think it’s too much work to figure out why.

But that’s not what I wanted to talk about.  I mean it is, indirectly, but not really.

I’ll get out with it: it’s impossible to quit playing music in Austin.  The music bug permeates every corner of the place like cigarette smoke in the rear of a subway train creeps it’s insidious way up to the front seats.  It’s inescapable.  Everyone here makes music at some level.  To see what I mean go hang out on South Congress; if homeless Jonny Next UK doesn’t sing you a song about love, weed, and/or cops for a dollar then it’s an oddball of a day.  Are you understanding me?  The vagrants are songwriters!  Architects manage bands!  Waiters and stoners alike all have a Fender Rhodes sitting on the floors of their shitty eastside apartments, and no one thinks this is unusual in any way!  How could I in good conscience ever trade my instrument for a spreadsheet and a salary?  My potential boss is probably a nasty drummer.

The only reason I’m bringing this up is because Austin is one of the few places in this country where a scummy musician like yours truly can find a job with relative painlessness.  Elsewhere, tracking down gainful employment can feel like slamming your hand in a car door, and the cost of living in the Major Music Cities (you know who you are!) forms a wall that’s nigh impossible for 8 bucks an hour to overcome.

-Grant | (Y)OURscene Austin

Album Review: The Thickness – Karaoke Headliner

with Gio

The Thickness aren’t from Cali? Based in a city on the opposite corner of the country from their heroes, The Thickness bring a sunnier sound to Boston’s cold, dingy soul. Their new EP Karaoke Headliner boasts influence from bands like NOFX, Face to Face, Strung Out, and Rise Against with an overall tone that certainly lives up to their name. Karaoke Headliner has an even “thicker” sound than their previous releases. Lightning fast strums, punk drums and bleeding gums make this an exciting release for Boston’s ever-growing, ever-diversifying music scene.

This five-song EP offers two really good punk anthems that wouldn’t sound out of place on a Fat Wreck Chords compilation, the first being the opening track, “Proclamation.” The chorus on this one is undoubtedly catchy with creative use of gang vocals behind frontman, Tiny. His is a name which, in this case, is used in the same way as Curly from The Three Stooges or Frank Beard from ZZ Top (the only guy without a huge beard). Some may be turned off by Tiny’s voice, but in my opinion he expertly uses a classic skate-punk timbre in a way that is very much his own. The song also showcases the band’s ability to evoke movement; I can visualize plenty of punkers bouncing around to this tune, and undoubtedly challenging deed.

Another highlight is the song “Leave Narcissism to the Experts,” which cites the futility of Facebook, a very punk rock move. Here, the “experts” may as well represent “the Man.” The song, in turn, acts as a reminder for us to hold onto integrity. Just my guess. Since questioning authority and steering away from the norm is definitively punk, I do question why they refer to themselves on their MySpace as a comedy band; satire and sarcasm is funny and all, but it can also be pretty badass (case in point: Kurt Vonnegut).

The rest of the album is not bad at all, but doesn’t quite compete with “Proclamation” and “Narcissism.”  “Loaded Gun” can become repetitive and “Lose My Head” is a little vanilla despite superb musicianship; drummer SIDEchief Ben’s fills took me by surprise and I can hear the Berklee influence in the guitar-work of Mo’licious and Rev. Tremendous. I do like “Planter” though, which is pretty metal at times with its palm-muting and strategically placed pinch harmonics. I may be biased though, as metal was a huge part of my early high school years.

Karaoke Headliner is a very strong effort from these guys, keeping their place as one of the hottest acts to see in Boston. And I do recommend seeing The Thickness live; I got the chance to see them in a basement in Allston, and despite the acoustics, the band was massively entertaining and needless to say, blew me away.  Come out and support them at their CD release show where they officially drop this EP on March 5 at All Asia in Cambridge, MA.

-Gio Coviello | (Y)OURscene Boston

Listen to “Leave Narcissism to the Experts”  HERE