Seeing Animal Years at Brooklyn Bowl proved to me that you can transform any atmosphere into a wholesome Fourth of July Picnic while your heart is calmly nestling itself in an Easy-Bake Oven. They’ve drawn the crowd from their seat to the front of the stage with a nice display of musicianship with songs “Heart On Heart,” Worried Mind” and album title track “Sun While Rise”. They’ve honed the anthem rock feel that makes even Bono grow a beard and rock some flannel.

The well-to-do vocals of Mike McFadden did produce a nice range – from a campfire calm to a arena soar – that couldn’t been done without the help of a core foundation of the Two Tonys – Anthony Spinnato on drums and Anthony Saladino on bass. The two worked the set with great dynamics with the dreamy guitar lines of Kevin Johnson bringing it all home into a Utopian Americana.

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One of my favorite shows of this year’s CMJ music festival – the annual audio buffet featuring a smorgasbord of bands, tight jeans and IPAs – was at Spike Hill in Williamsburg, featuring The Grayces from Nashville, TN, on tour supporting their second album, Westing.

I always love when touring bands come into town—they can actually play. Walking in just when their set began, I was immediately taken by the vocal prowess of Iz Stone. She had a voice like the big-ass blades coming out of the walls in that hallway in Indiana Jones and a look like Patti Smith: classic t-shirt and jeans, hair going down past her eyes. She was always right on the note, great range, and played her Telecaster in pure confidence. The scene is still so male dominated, but this was a chick guitar player that got your attention.

The rhythm section must have had a million years of conscious thought because those two were seriously tight. Chas Cantrell was on the drum kit, with snare chops as if he had drum core running through his veins. And then Patrick Ward playing without a pick like a pro—if Geddy Lee and John Paul Jones had a child, it would be him. “Mona Lisa” was the best of the set, delivering a dangerous cool to the crowd for a good three and a half minutes. Stone and Cantrell were the leather jacket and Ward’s bass line was the zipper that joined them together for a night of kicking some ass.

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Video by Rahil Ashruff

American Wookie

Seeing Liquor Store at Death by Audio on the night of the fourth proved to be a good decision. “In these times of high spending and jacked up rent,” I said to myself, “tonight, on the most patriotic and sacred of holidays, I will live as a wild man set on a path for Dionysian debauchery.” And I’m proud to say, I did. It was the perfect way to enjoy the music of these north Jersey natives, who did what they’re known for: bringing true rock n roll. No flashy lights tied to keyboards here, no slick kids dressed in all black still jerking off to Joy Division. You don’t need brains to get this music. Just lead singer Sarim Al-Rawi entertaining the crowd with jams about suburban rage and good-times-gone-weird, backed by the lead lines from Evan Campbell and the steady force of Derek Warren on bass and Bill Bailey on drums.

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Sad news via Andy Schwartz, NY Rocker: RIP Tom Erdelyi a/k/a TOMMY RAMONE (January 29, 1949 – July 11, 2014).

“The last Ramone standing: drummer, producer, engineer, songwriter, sonic architect of one of the most influential bands in the history of Our Music. Sincere condolences to Claudia Tienan, Andrea Tienan, all family and friends. This image based on original cover photo by Roberta Bayley for debut album RAMONES (Sire Records, 1976).”

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Homesick Aliens, You Bred Raptors? at Crescent & Vine, June 6, 2014

Coming out of New York City’s busking scene, You Bred Raptors? delivers a well-crafted statement that references the last half millennium of music—heavy post rock woven through with passages symphonic enough to make their tracks sound like a score to a gritty (but hopeful) urban lifestyle. It’s no wonder they’ve been commissioned to do the soundtrack for an upcoming feature film from TROMA Pictures, as well as 6 independent films produced by PVAF Films throughout 2014 – 2015.

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