Recapping the Past Week

Apologies for the infrequent posts, we're still getting out of the July 4th holiday daze. Here's a quick recap of some recent happenings for me.

Last Thursday: Went to Mercury Lounge to catch one of my favorite new bands, The Little Ones. They occupied the second slot on the evening of the Dirty on Purpose record release party. An NYC band called A Place to Bury Strangers opened and although I know absolutely nothing about them, I was impressed by what I saw. It was difficult to hear a lot of the mumbled vocals but their rock element more than made up for it. The Little Ones played a short 25-minute set including all of their songs on their Sing Song EP and with some solid internet buzz, Mercury Lounge was full in time for their 8:30 start. Simply put, if you're in a funk, this is the music that will take you out of it. I didn't stick around long enough for the Dirty on Purpose set but you can be damn sure that I left after The Little Ones in a great mood. One of the cool things about seeing new bands at Mercury Lounge is knowing that you may be seeing the rare buzz band that makes it big (I'll never forget seeing Editors here). Only time will tell whether The Little Ones will join that list of special bands but I'll be rooting for them. You can still download 3 songs from their EP here:

MP3: The Little Ones: "Lovers Who Uncover"
MP3: The Little Ones: "Cha Cha Cha"
MP3: The Litle Ones: "High On A Hill"

Weekend: Pearl Jam on Vh1 Storytellers did not disappoint. As you would expect with any Pearl Jam event nowadays, the show was very political and Vh1 didn't hold back on commentary which I fully appreciated. My only complaint was that the show was too short - 1 hour - I wanted to see and hear everything.

Heard the first song off of the new The Mars Volta Album. It's probably not what you're used to hearing from TMV and speaks a bit more to what we read previously.

Jose Gonzalez free show @ Central Park Summerstage. I won't go into this in much detail. Top already covered his recent DC show here. I think the audience issue is going to be a frequent problem for Jose. His music, as great as it is, isn't conducive for most live venues. It's a shame, really, and Summerstage - a free show in Central Park - was obviously no different. Hearing his version of Teardrop, however, is always a highlight.

Fireworks from a rooftop apt on the water in Brooklyn. My birthday tomorrow. Not a bad week...