Monday 12/15:
- Sony Hall: Sun Kil Moon
- Christmas came early. Ghosts of the Great Highway is one of my favorite albums of all time. Imagine Carry Me Ohio’s warm acoustic center filling Sony Hall, December frost outside.
- Nightclub 101: Annie Blackman, Charlotte Rose Benjamin, Kayla Philips
- Annie Blackman’s songwriting is sweet; a velvety voice coated by indie guitars. Make sure to listen to Blackman’s new single Soul Search before the show.
- Bowery Ballroom: Yo La Tengo
- Yo La Tengo is playing Bowery Ballroom each night this week for Hannukah. With 17 studio albums, the band has more than enough music to play a diverse set for seven nights straight. But, I do hope they play Everyday (my favorite Yo La Tengo song).
Tues 12/16:
- Barclays Center: Lorde
- Lorde’s new album Virgin is no Pure Heroine, but it’s a solid album. It’s an addition, not the star, of Lorde’s discography. Regardless, Instagram reels have done their job and drilled What Was That into my consciousness.
- Music Hall of Williamsburg: Audrey Hobart
- One of my best friends put me on to Audrey Hobart’s song Sex and The City the other night. Hobart’s debut album Who’s The Clown? is poppy, fun, and gets to the heart of the reality of being 23 and flailing. It’s good to know I’m not in this alone.
Weds 12/17:
- Music Hall of Williamsburg: This is Lorelei, Dutch Interior
- Nate Amos never stops. After releasing It’s a Beautiful Place and touring for Water Your Eyes throughout the year, This is Lorelei follows up the critically acclaimed Box for Buddy, Box for Star with Holo Boy. The album is more upbeat than Amo’s other work. In this new chapter, This is Lorelei is all confidence.
- Baby’s All Right: YHWH Nailgun, KeiyaA, Taxidermists
- Free show at Baby’s… and YHWH Nailgun is playing. Whoever put this show together is a saint. 45 Pounds is one of the most inventive albums I’ve heard in a while.
- Nightclub 101: current joys (dj), untitled halo (dj), dutch interior (dj), brutus viii (dj)
- Musicians can dj too (not me though). A tequila soda and Nightclub 101’s basement are guaranteed to warm you up from the cold.
Thurs 12/18:
- Stone Circle Theatre: pierre, D.A. Crimson, Mariah Houston
- pierre, the project of Brooklyn based multi-instrumentalist and songwriter Isabella Bunstoby’s, debut album Faux Ghost is angelic. It places you into a cathedral, staring into sunlight filtering through stained glass. I truly love this album, and pierre deserves more hype.
- Xanadu: Current Joys, Dutch Interior, iluvboyband
- I have not listened to Current Joys since 2015 when Kids came out. Nicholas Rattigan’s solo project has remained active since the defining indie song of my freshman year of high school with the release of East My Love last year.
Fri 12/19:
- Baby’s All Right: Cash Only Tony’s, The Dallas Cowboys, Ideas for Conversations, Xcotland
- Cash Only Tony’s is gearing up for tour and playing one last show in NYC before they hit the road. Make sure you get to Baby’s in time to see The Dallas Cowboys and Ideas for Conversations, this bill is epic.
- Centre Station: Built to Spill
- Bid farewell to 2025 with Built to Spill. Carry the Zero into 2026.
- Purgatory: Oldstar, Circuit Y, Ethan Beck & The Charlie Browns, and “Smash”
- 2025’s yearly Charlie Browns Hanukkah show comes around once more and brings the best of alt-country (Oldstar), post-punk (Circuit Y), power-pop (Ethan Beck & The Charlie Browns), and special fuzzed out guest “Smash.” It’s all going down at Purgatory.
- The Sultan Room: SKORTS, Miss Grit, Caitlin Starr
- SKORTS new album Incompletement sounds like it came off a Matador mix in 1995. Reminiscent of PJ Harvey and Cat Power (later in Chan’s career), SKORTS hold a palpable alt rock energy.
- The Warsaw: Protomartyr
- My dad loves Protomartyr, therefore I am very familiar with the band’s catalog. Let me just say… The Devil in His Youth rocks.
Sat 12/20:
- Footlight Presents at the Windjammer: Fraternal Twin, Glaring Orchid, Sun Organ, Snoozer
- If you like TAGABOW, Double Virgo, or feeble little horse, this show is for you. Before the show, check out Fraternal Twin’s new single Evil Eye and fall down the cloud rock hole.
- Market Hotel: Anamanaguchi, Ovlov, Bueno
- In 2022, Chiptune rock outfit Anamanaguchi visited Polyvinyl and heard that the American Football house was scheduled to be destroyed. A year later, the members of American Football bought the iconic structure and invited Anamanguchi to write and record in the very home of midwest emo. Out of this came Anyway, Anamanaguchi’s latest album.
Sunday 12/21:
- Truth be told, the only show worth noting on Sunday is Yo La Tengo’s final night at Bowery Ballroom.