Hi! It’s Mo, known on Twitter as @sadgayfriendx. Festivals like Northside can be a mammoth to navigate, what with so many cool (and lame) bands playing all over North Brooklyn. Everyone is trying so hard but will any of them make it? Will any of us? Will there be free beer? I don’t have any answers to those questions, but I do have 5 show picks for you to help you avoid having a scheduling crisis (or thinking too hard about what happened to CMJ.)
Thursday June 8th
Dirty Projectors, Kamasi Washington, Jay Som @ McCarren Park 6:30 pm
What better way to kick off the weekend then spreading a blanket out and checking out Indie’s brightest stars. Jay Som put out on of on the best albums of the year, and I can’t think of a better place to enjoy it than in the sun among friends. I don’t have any friends and will be smoking weed on a blanket alone. But the set should be fun! Event Link here.
Parrot Dream, Yucky Duster, the Fruit + Flowers, Dirty Dishes, Salt Cathedral @ Goldsounds 7:30 pm
Ok now that Jay Som has finished playing and the people on the blankets next to you start trying to talk to you to score some weed, quick quick quick dash for the train. You’re headed to Gold Sounds to see Yucky Duster and Fruit & Flowers. Honestly Parrot Dream’s chill, beach-ready indie isn’t reinventing the wheel, so if you wanna stop and get some dinner I won’t judge you too harshly. Just be sure you get to the venue for Yucky Duster. These indie pop pranksters make hilarious tunes that cover friend-zoning, networking and being trash. Onstage they’re constantly cracking fart jokes, but their songs have serious bounce and bite. After the dusters are “surf noir” quartet Fruit + Flowers. I booked this band at my friend’s house venue The Bronze and the crowd almost wrecked the living room. Expect. Moshing. The band themselves are lean, mean, and harmonize like evil angles. This leads into Dirty Dishes, whose soft/loud dynamics, squalling guitars, and scorched-earth grandeur evokes Eight Arms to Hold You-era Veruca Salt. It should be an epic end to your night. Event Link here.
Friday June 9th
Lexie, Ian Sweet, Girlpool @ Warsaw 8 pm
The hottest bill of the entire festival tbh!!! Seriously this bill is so stacked that I wouldn’t be surprised if it reaches capacity, so get there early. Lexie is one of the newest bands on the Brooklyn DIY scene. They only just now made a Bandcamp page. Still, their supergroup status (Greta Kline! Other members of Frankie Cosmos with members of Wharehouse!) has plenty of people interested. Get to the gig early to judge whether or not they live up to the reputation of the member’s more famous projects. Next up is Ian Sweet, whose lead vocalist Jill Maples yowls and howls like the beautiful bits of the Karen O. The rest of the band never lets you rest, constantly serving up shifting tempos, keeping you jerking around while Maples regales you with songs about Skateboarders, Michale Jordan, and Nickelodeon.Finally, it’s Girlpool, who have already proven they can draw massive crowds at Coachella. Their new album Powerplant has done nothing to slow their rise and brings in a drummer to add some depth and backbone to Harmony Trinivad’s and Cleo Tucker’s bittersweet songs. They were magnetic as a just a two piece and now’s your chance to see them really bring the noise. Event Link here.
Saturday June 10th
Psychic Twin, Suburban Living, Peaer +more [Rooftop Party!] @ Our Wicked Lady 3 pm
What says festival in the city better than a rooftop show? Nothing. So, head on over to Our Wicked Lady for a ~wicked~ rooftop hang. The sets start at 3 and will be going into the night. I recommend getting there at 5 in time for Fern Mayo (whose lead singer is a friend of mine, but only because her singular guitar shredding and nasally coos bewitched me so much that I went to every gig they played). After Australian act Jacky Winter plays his Gorillaz-style pop, the night will belong to Den-Mate. The DC artist is backed by a full band to sound appropriately massive and is hot off releasing her Entropii on April 14th which combines the best of Bjork and Crystal Castles. It’s going to go great whether or not you smoke a joint on the roof. Then local DIY rock faves Peaer will be playing their unassuming brand of indie rock that draws inspiration from Weezer’s lackadaisical harmonies and nerdish manner. Not initially flashy, their songs have a way of creeping up on you until you find yourself having an existential crisis to their song “Sick” in a Walgreens. Factor in the sunset happening halfway through their set and you have a cinematic “my life is a coming of age movie” moment. The Philadelphia outfit Suburban Living craft a guitar-based dream pop that’s just as transcendent as Den-Mate’s but much more visceral. Psychic Twin (whose members Erin Fein and Rosana Caban are not twins, shut up) will close the night with some synthpop under the stars. Event Link here.
Sunday June 11th
Wow so it’s the last day of the fest! Hopefully, you’ve really leaned into the doucheness of a musical festival and treated yourself to a boozy brunch. Now that you’re a lil tipsy, it’s time to wind down and get ready for work in the morning. JUST KIDDING! Everything sucks so you might as well head back to MaCarren park to thrash with PUP. These Toronto bros make soaring and breakneck songs about being a shithead and make it seem profound, which is the whole point of punk for some people. Just ask the Ramones. Plus it’s free with an RVSP, so you have no excuse. It’s your chance to dance out any demons this weekend before heading back to your hot apartment.
Cheers Y’all. Catch me at any of these gigs moping the corner on my phone or maybe dancing if you’re lucky.
