Vacation is in full effect, and as such, the LARS you see here has been shamefully neglected. That being said, I’d be lying if I said that I haven’t been doing significant legwork behind the scenes, including uploading more black-&-whites on My Photography, working up ideas for the soon-to-come website for LARS (including several radios, ooh-la-la), and of course writing my ass off with both reviews and lists to publish on the current blog. Thought I forgot about those lists I had mentioned when I was crazy sick earlier this summer? Think again; Xanadu, Boogie With a Suitcase 10, Get Yer Rocks Off 10, The Dude’s Old Lady 10, The Boys And Girls From Ipanema 10, and 2 Ubiquitous Mentions are finished and ready now for individual song reviews.

In the meantime, the show updates aren’t going to be as frequent. I’m hoping that the Events Calendar will keep you all updated. As a farewell gift before the family takes off for the exotic locale that is Niagra Falls, I’m listing below several links and one kickass Warhol that have been rotating through my Powerbook lately. Rock on kids, the dog days of summer are fast nearing their end.

Green Day: American Idiot Video. Still rocking hard and putting out sweet videos

Citizens Here And Abroad: Appearances Video. Great song and even better video

The Polyphonic Spree: Media Player, with beautiful photography to boot

The Beastie Boys: ‘Three MCs And One DJ’ Video, Live in Melkweg Amsterdam, May 2004

The trailer for the new Wes Anderson feature, The Life Aquatic, which features great usage of two Bowie classics, ‘Queen Bitch’ and ‘Starman’


The Honorary Title ‘Bridge and Tunnel’ Video, shot by Andrew Paul Bowser. This song is by far one of my favorites of the summer


‘Gun’ by Andy Warhol, ca. 1981-82. Andy Warhol Foundation/CORBIS.






Let all the children boogie-S.

There is simply nothing better than the winning combination of having your birthday on a summer weekend at home with friends and family. Suffice it to say that multiple barbeques, bonfires, Beirut tables and games of bullshit pyramid went down this weekend. And the end result is that I don’t think I’ve been this tired and dehydrated since…well, ever. But this weekend was just stellar in all sorts of ways, not the least of which was the romping good time had by all at Little Steven’s Underground Garage Festival. More on this later, but for now, let’s get down to business with a series of Monday gigs that will get your week back on track:

First up are a great pop/rock group that go by the name NIGHT MOVES. I first caught on to their talent earlier this year with their single “Angor Wat”. It’s quite hard not to fall in love with a single as catchy as this one, with its great guitar melody and signature nasal vocals. The music is full of angularities, stop/starts, and garage-rock spirit. It’s taken them awhile to catch on fire, but I wholeheartedly believe that by the end of this year, Night Moves will be New York’s latest darlings. At the very least, they’re a band with song-writing talent and a strong sense of Kinks-inspired rock who could definitely give The Unicorns a run for their money (and yes, as much as rock journalists love to throw Kinks references around, it’s both appropriate and complimentary in this instance). At the very most, they have more in common with Bob Seger than you or I could ever hope for. And that alone is priceless.

Night Moves play Pianos tonight beginning at 7:30pm (158 Ludlow at Stanton Sts., $7). They’ll be supported by Port, Mystic Underground, and the amazingly-named Kids Against Combs.

Night Moves – Real Talent

Port – Head On Tight

The Mystic Underground – Mary’s Dead

Kids Against Combs – Fuck This, I’m Moving To Canada

And then we’ve got the cream of the crop, the soup du jour, the Fonz of all shows. That’s right, everyone’s favorite New Wave/rock group is playing the Bowery Ballroom tonight. They’ve got the style, the talent, the good-times-roll stage presence, and quite the ability to get your snobby New York ass dancing. And oh yes, The Killers are playing with them too. Tonight, the Bowery Ballroom welcomes one of the best bills this summer, the pairing of THE KILLERS with one of my all-time favorite groups, THE HONG KONG. The band’s EP Rock The Faces just got released at the end of July, and they are now on cruise-control after setting several different clubs on fire. The Hong Kong are just great musicians who love to play, a combination that comes forward both on their EP and live. Songs like “Mazerati” and “It’s On” bring the party in spades, while synth jams like “Super Collider” and “Birds” display the beauty of lead singer Catherine Culpepper’s voice. Will they finally play the wickedly great title track live tonight? Will the Bowery be swarmed with hyperventilating Killers fans swathed in leg warmers and glitter? Will the bloggerati turn out in full force? Answers to these burning questions and more tonight at 9pm over at 6 Delancey and Bowery Sts. How do I know? Well, somebody told me. (Too easy, I’m sorry for that one).

The Hong Kong – Mazerati

The Hong Kong – It’s On Clip

The Killers Jukebox

How does it feel to be/One of the beautiful/People?

Rock Photos of the Bowery Beauties:

The Killers.





The Hong Kong (Taken by myself at the Elle Girl party).





Lastly, some old news to address. I had a wonderful birthday weekend, no doubt about it. But one of the best presents was the satisfaction of having one of the summer’s best concerts occur on my day of birth. Little Steven’s was, by all accounts, a rocking success. The best part for me though is the fact that one of my favorite bands, a group that has the rare ability to actually make me scream in joy at their concerts, had a wickedly great time as well. True, THE SEXY MAGAZINES took the stage at Randall’s at the ungodly hour of 11am. But not only did they probably pack a serious punch on that one, their very own Marc E. Guitarplayer subsequently kicked it with their good friends and tourmates, THE MOONEY SUZUKI. Good times + great exposure for a talented underground NYC band = boss. Proof now comes in the form of CORBIS.com images featuring that darling curly-haired virtuoso. Well done boys, LARS salutes you.

Mark E. of The Sexy Magazines. All images taken by Katy Winn on 8/14/04 at Randall’s Island for CORBIS.





The Mooney Suzuki f/t Mark E.





David Johansen of The New York Dolls.





Iggy Pop and The Stooges.





Out in the back seat of my ’60 Chevy/Workin’ on mysteries without any clues-S.

Starting to get back in the swing of things. Now, I bring you an update on an update: the LARS Links 2 Page has been freshly updated with the following links. Before you know it, the Music Releases pages will be up to date. And then there’ll even be reviews. Jesus!

And because I'm freaking high on life right now, thanks mostly to the new Concretes LP, I'm going to even give you mp3s for the bands I've added. So browse these briefly before you go here:





Links:

Camera Obscura Twenty-Five Diamonds

Dopo Yume Jukebox

Hula Website

Joan of Arc What If We Are Not After All, All Destined For Greatness?

M. Ward A Voice At The End Of The Line

Modest Mouse Float On Video

New Grenada The Day After Video

On The Speakers Share Yourself

Sam Champion Company Dance

Sono Oto Norman Rockwell

Sufjan Stevens Sister

The Concretes Jukebox

The Mobius Band City vs. Country

Dusted Magazine

Coolfer

And I hear them shouting under my feet/And I know it’s got to be real-S.

You know, I will admit that sometimes I feel a bit like Conan O’Brien when it comes to LARS. I come on here, hyping the latest shows, telling you that tonight’s going to be special. And it gets redundant. So what, praytell, is different about tonight? What, as we say for Passover seders, makes this night different from all other nights? Well, besides some live appearances by FRENCH KICKS, YO LA TENGO, UNISEX SALON, GOSTATION, MORNING THEFT, DETACHMENT KIT, and a group who goes by the name SCOTLAND YARD GOSPEL CHOIR, we’ve got one Mr. MICK ROCK DJ’ing at the Lit Lounge. And by Mick Rock, I mean the man who brought you the iconic images like the one below:





The man is a living legend, a rock deity who never picked up an axe. And he’s DJ’ing for your pleasure at that dungeon of a club over on 2nd Avenue. And it is for this reason that this night is different from all other nights. I may be away from New York temporarily, but it gives me great pride to say that we New Yorkers know how to do it properly. New Rock City, ladies and gentlemen. So go out tonight and take a bite.

An mp3/link for every show on the Calendar today. Because life is beautiful.

French Kicks – Oh Fine

Yo La Tengo – Little Eyes

John Wesley Harding Music Page

The GoStation – Wandering Away

Morning Theft – Horseshoes And Hand Grenades

Detachment Kit – Ted The Electric

Unisex Salon – Turning Me On

The Blue Van – Word From The Bird

Now, The Scotland Yard Gospel Choir deserves a little more than just an mp3. I found them while looking through the listings, and was immediately intrigued by the name. Obviously, we in the States have been enjoying quite the influx of music from the United Kingdom, so I was expecting more Franz and Gomez and the like. Surprise! They’re from Chicago. Despite this, the band’s sound is quite English; songs like “Ellen’s Telling Me What I Want To Hear” are wonderfully catchy and innocent, complete with Cure acoustic guitar backbeats and dreamy Belle & Sebastian vocals. The band’ll be playing Maxwell’s tonight and then the Mercury Lounge this Saturday, which just so happens to be my birthday. More on that later. For now, enjoy the sounds of SCOTLAND YARD GOSPEL CHOIR:

Bet You Never Thought It Would Be Like This

Ellen’s Telling Me What I Want To Hear

She Just Wants Me To Move

Stupidest Things

In other music news:

Speaking of Franz Ferdinand, the band’s going to release a new single on the 16th. What else could it be but that darling dance whore, “Michael”. Click here for a preview.

Jenny Eliscu of Rolling Stone gave the new Concretes album three stars. Read here for more.

Personal favorite off of the new album? “Chico”.

The Libertines perform for Rolling Stone, making me wish once again that I could assume the body of David Fricke, ‘Quantum Leap’-style. (You know you’ve been watching too much ‘I Love The ‘90s’ when you reference ‘Quantum Leap’).

And, lastly, today in rock history:

Though it was technically yesterday, I think it still goes to qualify that this week in 1966, The Beatles landed at Chicago’s O’Hare Airport to start their last tour of the US. Soon after at their concert, the iconic image of two young Beatles fans was captured.

“Original caption: Chicago: The Beatles (L-R) John Lennon, Ringo Starr; Paul McCartney and George Harrison, arrive here, to start their third American tour with appearances starting August 12. The British singers, slipped into Chicago after a crowd of 250 screaming teenagers had been decoyed to the wrong end of O'Hare International Airport. Their appearance in concert will test whether their popularity had dimmed because Beatle John Lennon's alleged remark "We're more popular than Jesus."
Taken for Bettmann/CORBIS.






Original caption: 8/20/1965-Chicago, IL- While thousands screamed, these two Beatles fans sobbed their hearts out during an afternoon appearance of the British rock and roll performers at Comiskey Park here 8/20. About 20,000 fans were on hand for the early performance.
Taken for Bettmann/CORBIS.





She said you were to know/That she almost lost her mind-S.

A bit tangled up in blue, so to speak. It’s late and I’ve basically missed the deadline. But for future reference, keep an eye on the Events Calendar, which houses the info on such notable goings-on as tonight’s Melody Nelson-sponsored gig at Rothko. It’s a red-hot bill with LOOKER, GOODFINGER (which comprises former members of Strangelove), and THE HONG KONG. Much more LARS work to be done, so keep your eyes peeled. Until then, rock on.

Goodfinger Music Page

Looker – Tickle My Spine

The Hong Kong – Mazerati

Rock Photo:

The late, great Rick James. Taken by Lynn Goldsmith in 1980 for CORBIS.






Moment of Zen Photo:

Bush and McCain are peachy-keen in Pensacola, FL. Taken by Doug Mills for The New York Times.







She will never let your spirits down/Once you get her off the street-S.