Mon. 9/21
- King’s Theatre: Fontaines D.C., Rew
- Nightclub 101: Love Spells, Orca
- Love Spells, the moniker of Houston artist Sir Taegen C’aion Harris, stated that “to live and die with romance is the point.” True to his belief, Love Spells titled his new album LOVE IS THE LAW, an oeuvre of romantic bedroom pop tinted in sepia.
Tues. 9/22
- Central Park SummerStage: Young the Giant, St. Lucia
- Fuck ticks. Young the Giant is playing a free show supported by the Steven & Alexandra Cohen Foundation’s Cohen Lyme & Tickborne Disease Initiative in Central Park to raise awareness about climate change and the resulting increase in tick-borne diseases (like the Lonestar tick and alpha-gal syndrome…). Never skip that tick check.
- Terminal 5: Jane Remover, Live Exhibit, Dazegxd
- Jane Remover’s show at Terminal 5 will 100% get you “Dancing with your eyes closed.” The artist’s dense digicore and rage rap is redefining internet music, and doing so with ease.
Weds. 9/23
- Elsewhere: Dan English, Wendy Eisenberg, Bella Litsa
- Dan English’s latest album Sky Record is beyond beautiful. Within its folds, intricate melodies, layered acoustic guitars, and instrumentals achieve notions of nostalgia. Blending 60s folk with present indie, Sky Record brings you to an open plain, wind rushing through your hair as you stare up at the swollen sun.
- Forest Hills Stadium: TURNSTILE, Clipse, julie
- Last time I heard about TURNSTILE, the band’s former guitarist Brady Ebert was facing first-degree murder charges for the attempted murder of Brendan Yate’s father. While Ebert undergoes a “competency evaluation,” the hardcore punk band continues on their NEVER ENOUGH tour. Not even murder can stop these guys.
- Music Hall of Williamsburg: The Beths
- Auckland indie rock band The Beths know the ins and outs of jangle. On their latest album Straight Line Was A Lie, the band juxtaposes power pop with life’s harsh realities. Is it a little on the nose? Yes. But, Straight Line Was A Lie is a fun listen nonetheless.
- Nublu Classic: The Americojones Experience, Leonard Van Vuuren, Slav Sister
- Al Citizen Editor in Chief Nasa Hadizadeh’s been on her travel wave and is now bringing a night of music discovery from around the world to Nublu Classic. Hosted by 1-800 Girlfriend, see acts from Mexico City, Oslo, Russia, Ukraine and Bosnia.
Thurs. 9/24
- Barclays Center: Phoebe Bridgers, Alex G
- Phoebe Bridger’s new album Lost Weekend documents post-pandemic disappointment through Bridger’s hallmark melancholic singer songwriter sound. Bridgers is playing the Barclays Center from Thursday to Saturday with Alex G opening, issuing in a subdued environment for contemplation. Listening to Phoebe Bridgers never fails to makes me cry.
- Elsewhere: Oakwood, Camping in Alaska, Empty Parking Lot
- Texas based midwest emo band Oakwood disbanded after the release of their self titled debut in 2013. After their song “I’m Still Cheering for the 1980 U.S. Hockey Team” blew up a few years later, the band reunited. Now, thirteen years later, we finally got a full Oakwood LP. Make sure to listen to Blurred Away.
- Trans Pecos: Otto Benson Group, Amiture Music
- Peanut, Otto Benson’s latest release, is the artist’s first vocally-focused album. With lo-fi textures and whispering lyricism, at this show, you just might find solace.
- Ruins at Knockdown Center: Automatic, Freak Heat Waves, Accessory
- Sexy austerity is the tone of Is it Now? Automatic, The LA based post punk trio’s, recent album is an experiment in rhythm and dubby spaciousness, inviting glamour and visions of drinking a cocktail in a dimly lit club.
- Music Hall of Williamsburg: Bikini Kill, Downtown Boys
- Riot Grrrl icons Bikini Kill are playing three nights in NYC: Thursday at Music Hall of Williamsburg, Friday at Brooklyn Steel, and Saturday at CBGB Fest. For all the people who listened to “Rebel Girl” as a tween, I’m right there with you.
- TBD: Lambrini Girls
- English punk group Lambrini Girl’s upcoming album No Refunds doesn’t drop until January, but the band is playing a free show at an undisclosed location this Thursday. Hit that link to RSVP.
Fri. 9/25
- Baby’s All Right: Icona Pop
- It’s hard to conceptualize that Icona Pop is playing Baby’s All Right. I thought the pop duo would at least play Brooklyn Steel or the Paramount. They better play “I Love It.”
- Co-Cathedral of St. Joseph: james K, James Ferraro, DRUMLOOP
- MEZAME is bringing james K, James Ferraro, and DRUMLOOP to the cathedral for an evening that moves between the physical and the digital. In the nave, please remind yourself that james K is the closest thing we have to an angel.
- Le Poisson Rogue: Dutch Interior, Racecourse
- Sunday night, sunset on the horizon, beer in a koozie… Dutch Interior are masters of rural sounding indie rock. Long live the twang.
- Under the K Bridge: The Prodigy, Brutalismus 3000, Sextile, Lip Critic
- I have a visceral memory of my dad playing “Breathe” on a road trip to the Chesapeake Bay. For some reason, as a kid, I thought it was a Blur song. Nope. The Prodigy are the opening act for CBGB fest, and though I haven’t listened to any of the music they’ve released post 1997, I believe that they will rock.
- Warsaw: Horse Jumper of Love
- Ten years of Horse Jumper of Love. The band’s anniversary edition of the album comes out this Friday and I can’t conceptualize that I’ve been listening to “Orange Peeler” for ten whole years. Celebrate the occasion at Warsaw.
Sat. 9/26
- Knockdown Center: Flying Lotus (Layer3), ∈Y∋ (Boredoms), Olof Dreijer (The Knife), Black Dice, By Storm, Carrier, gyrofield, Silicone Valley
- Another month, another OUTLINE fest. Let’s get esoteric. Before the show, listen to Flying Lotus’s new electronic album BIG MAMA.
- Under the K Bridge: Morrissey, Patti Smith, Interpol, Sex Pistols, Bikini Kill, Agnostic Front, Buzzcocks, Panic Shack, Mannequin Pussy, Circle Jerks, Jackie and Judy, Bad Nerves, Military Gun, High Vis, Haywire, Violet Grohl, Upchuck
- It’s CBGB fest! On some level, it’s disheartening that a music festival is memorializing a rock club that encapsulated what music used to be to sell tickets. Alternatively, I love all of these artists. Punk will never die.
- Union Pool: Laveda, proun, Alexalone, Fish Hunt
- Austin based indie rock band proun is on tour for the release of their new album Maybe Luck. Written over the course of two years, singer/songwriter/guitarist Jamie Weed used the record to express her shifting perspectives on identity and relationships several years into transitioning. Optimistic and forward focused, proun is rooted in the real and raw.
Sun. 9/27
- Music Hall of Williamsburg: Mannequin Pussy, Evil Adeline
- If you missed Mannequin Pussy’s set at CBGB fest, don’t worry: the band is playing a set at Music Hall of Williamsburg. I love this band, and so does my father: he once saw Mannequin Pussy on his own volition and bought my sister and I matching “Pussy” baseball hats.
- Nightclub 101: haha Laughing, Peachole, First President of Japan
- haha Laughing is a “duo of slugs” from Austin featuring musicians Jay Dilick and Aby Oviedo. Creating overdriven and dense experimental noise rap, the two’s new release BIG WHATEVER holds no room for air, only rage.
Festivals this weekend!
Arrowood Farms, Accord NY: Woodsist Fest
- Performances by: Destroyer, Cate Le Bon, Woods, Divine Songs: The Music of Alice Coltrane (Special tribute performance), Mdou Moctar (Solo performance), Frog, Toody Cole (of Dead Moon), Rogê, Hayden Pedigo, Ryan Davis & the Roadhouse Band, Okonski, Jens Kuross, Dutch Interior, Otto Benson, Ruby of Thank
Forest Hills Stadium: All Things Go
- Performances by: Zara Larsson, Lola Young, Rebecca Black, Cara Delevingne, Blue DeTiger, Chloe Aisha, Brandi Carlile, Ethel Cain, CMAR, Jensen McRae, Meg Staldeur, Natalie Jinju, Muna, The Beaches, Hemlocke Springs, Grace Ives, Cherry Bomb, Carly Rae Jepson