Inquisitive in Queens : Free Show

Last night saw a slew of southern tinged rock take over Pier 84 as Asheville, North Carolina to Portland transplant Sallie Ford and New Orleans outfit Generationals filled the sweet summer air with some sweet summer grooves. Waxahatchee , the heartbreaking solo project of Katie Crutchfield, was also there, and played a set that was raved about by the other acts, but I was unfortunately too late to see. Any latecomers weren't allowed to wallow in self-pity for long, though, as Sallie Ford slapped everyone who wasn't familiar with her music with a surprising, powerful set.

Sallie Ford and the Sound Outside is like Johnny Rockets gone badass. You would think that their music is meant for early American Bandstand, and in a way it is. Musically, they have that swaying 50's feel that is so easy to jive to. But don't be fooled by this seemingly innocent music, or Sallie Ford's harmless appearance, because when she takes the stage, she owns. Her voice is a confluence of old school women soul singers and has the power of contemporary singers like Amy Whinehouse, minus the melancholy. It packs a punch. Her whips of "Fuck that!" and "Don't gimmie no lip boy" are goosebump inducing, catching me totally off guard. Sallie's domineering stage presence is surprising and exhilarating, and the Sound Outside execute with the precision of a veteran band. Lead guitarist Jeffery Munger breaks off into surf rock style riffs with a deftness and nonchalance that epitomizes the coolness of a band that might get misinterpreted as nerdy. Jeffery busted out jokes as well as riffs, and took over as a candid entertainer when the band experienced technical difficulties. The Sound Outside is a well read band that knows their influences well, yet they choose not to conform to any one label. They are Rockabilly but not totally. Sallie stretches her lungs for soul, but often tapers of to a nasally moan. Sometimes it seems like they are fully embracing the image that they maintain; at other times it all seems a satire.One label, however, is totally accurate no matter what genre they employ, humble and unassuming.

Generationals is another band that must be full of music nerds because their music is flooded with a variety of influences. They incorporate heavy, layered synth patches into what would otherwise be cookie cutter pop-rock. They too flirt with nostalgic sounds, incorporating church organs and beehive hairdo baselines. Another band that eludes pinning down, Generationals have some songs in their repertoire that are dripping in synth and others that are straightforward indie albeit with bass that's so infectious, your hips will disobey your better judgement and start gettin' down. Their set got off to a slow start but by the end almost everyone in the crowd was shaking what their mama gave them. A cover of "Friday I'm In Love" fit in nicely with the overall sound of the show and gave some of the people who just stumbled onto the pier because it was free something to sing to. Even with so many apparent influences, Generationals copy none, they simply pick and choose. They have successfully crafted their own sound entirely and are not afraid to keep trying something new, the mark of a band that will have longevity.
Pier 84 is a beautiful place to catch a show, and while it may not be in the "cool" part of town, the music that it continues to draw makes it worth switching from the L to have a nice night out. Best of all, the shows there are FREE! The Pier will have two more shows this summer: Foxygen with Thao and the Get Down, Stay Down on July 25, as well as Titus Andronicus with Ducktails on August 8th. Both shows are absolutely worth the money, or lack thereof.

See pictures of last nights show below and KEEP IT LOCKED!
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SALLIE FORD

Generationals

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By the time I arrived at South Street Seaport for this year's installment of the Village Voice's 4Knots Festival, my shirt was already showing damp patches and beads of sweat were racing each other down my face. The air was still and lacking the familiar breeze from the East River that the seaport is usually graced with. Still, there was a festival to be had, and while the day may have been hot, the bands were hotter.

This year's 4Knots was a marked change of style from last years easy-going pop-heavy line up that included The Drums, Hospitality, and Nick Waterhouse. Gritty, dirty guitars and an overall unkempt sound was the highlight of this year's acts. Brooklyn based Parquet Courts who are touring in support of their 2012 release "Light Up Gold", stole the show. They brought their anthems of confusion, lack of direction and good ol Ridgewood, Queens wandering to the stage at the seaport where they delivered a dense, energetic set. The anti-establishment tinged "Master of my Craft" kicked off a small mosh and provided the perfect moment of irony. The satire of business interests praising the dollar played at the Village Voice's huge event, a weekly, whose parent company since last year Voice Media Group recently cleared the paper of its beloved writers to 'rebrand'. The end of Parquet Courts set featured front man Andrew Savage going off on a rant, which kept with the anti-conformist themes. All that could really be mustered over the cacophony of guitars was the last repeated line "sun bathing animal". Despite the apparent insult to all of us sun bathing animals soaking up tunes and rays, Parquet Courts seriously killed it.

Reigning Sound's set was almost ruined for me by a severely intoxicated 50-something year old woman, but was saved by their head-bopping jams and was a good way to cool down from the constant assault of power chords and angst. Bringing their glossed over, dance worthy, heavy jams all the way from Memphis, Reigning Sound had everyone, including the aforementioned drunk lady, grooving heavy. Frontman and well-respected musician Greg Cartwright crooned over melancholy songs of lost and broken love. The drunkard said we were all scared to love. Nonetheless, Reigning Sound really reigned in the day, and set the stage for what I'm assuming was a good Kurt Vile set (left early :P)

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