Lucid Culture

Kind of a slow week in terms of live music: everybody gearing up for the July 4th weekend, getting out town. But some good things happening if you’re sticking around:

Weds June 27 Demolition String Band plays an acoustic show at Banjo Jim’s, 9 PM. Probably a good chance that they’ll do some stuff from their awesome Ola Belle Reed cover album of a couple of years ago.

Fri June 29 Meg Braun plays the Living Room, upstairs, 7:30 PM. Backup singer to the stars and incorrigible extrovert with that big, powerful soul voice. Her acoustic stuff can be singer-songwritery but she really hits her stride when she cranks it up and belts.

Also Fri June 29 the Howlin Thurstons play Lakeside, 11 PM. Putatively a surf band but they also have a noisy, occasionally skronky indie rock side. All instrumental and completely unique.

Also Fri June 29 the 4th St. Nite Owls share a double bill with Jack Grace at Barbes, 8 PM. The openers are a tremendous barrelhouse blues band with great guitar and keyboards; the headliner is one of the funniest guys in country music and also a hell of a songwriter in an old school, 50s mode with a touch of Tom Waits barroom jazz.

Also Fri June 29 System Noise plays the Blaggard on 38th St. west of 5th Ave., 10:30 PM. If you want to get away from the crowds of tourists, there will assuredly be none here at this midtown Irish pub. See our review of La Fete de la Musique on our Reviews page for a look at what these scorching rockers sounded like last week playing on the street.

Sat June 30 Greta Gertler & the Extroverts open for One Ring Zero at Barbes, 8 PM. See our Reviews page for a look at the opening act, a brilliant keyboardist and art-rock songwriter now taking a stroll through Retroville. The headliner have an oldtimey feel, use antique instruments and have a good sense of humor.

Also Sat June 30 Big plays Magnetic Field in Brooklyn Heights, 8 PM. The joke is that all 3 women in this Joy Division-influenced trio are all about five feet tall. Sit N Spin guitarist Mony Falcone fronts the unit, which portends very good things.

Sun July 1 Stephane Wrembel plays Barbes, 9 PM. This amazing gypsy jazz guitarist channels Django Reinhardt, I kid you not, and he’s very popular, if you’re going to the show get there at least an hour early.

Mon July 2 a surprisingly rocking doublebill at the Living Room with the Silos and then Jim Campilongo starting at 10. The openers have been around forever and are more on the powerpop Americana tip than their indie rock from 15 years ago; their cd release show here a couple of years ago was amazing. The headliner has been playing Mondays here for like forever, a virtuoso guitarist on the twang/surf tip with a Big Lazy-esque  noir soundtrack feel sometimes. He and Steve Ulrich should do a dueling guitars album sometime.

Also Mon July 2 Rev. Vince Anderson returns to Black Betty, two sets at 10:30 PM. Who needs fireworks when the Rev.’s playing: pyrotechnic piano/organ work, a spectacularly authentic old-school 60s gospel vibe, the Rev.’s great stories and pure spiritual vocals. If you are in a party mood this is your destination. 

If you’re in town on the 4th there are a couple of things going on. Canadian power popsters the New Pornographers play Battery Park in the afternoon: I say afternoon because your best best is to show up around 1 and scope out the area for a place to park your ass. Last time we were there it was a labyrinth of fences worthy of the King of Minos

Later on the 4th Mercurochrome plays Cake Shop, 9:30 PM. Sonic Youth ripoff, better than most, although nobody in the band can sing. Then again nobody in Sonic Youth could sing either.

Thurs July 5 Duke Robillard plays Wagner Park, north of Chambers on the west side, 7 PM. Don’t let his past with Roomful of Blues scare you away: the guy can play. Sort of the Stevie Ray Vaughan of jazzy blues. A million notes, a mile a minute, but he has a sense of how to build a solo and most of them hit the mark.

 Later Thurs July 5 the incomparable Rachelle Garniez plays Barbes, 10 PM. One of the most charismatic rockers in the world, an accordionist adept at just about every style of music that existed prior to 1990. And a damn fine lyricist, and a hell of a singer, and she has guitarist Matt Munisteri in the band. What more could you want. Just get there early.