Extraordinary! As usual. 10/10. Read my brand new interview with LC! here.

More photos, the setlist & a LC! selection AFTER THE JUMP…

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Mental. Brilliant. Intense. 10/10. Their sophomore LP will see daylight soon.

(Setlist) Fainting Spells. Baptism. Courtship Dating. Insectica. Doe Deer. Celestica. Empathy. Reckless. Crimewave. Air War. Alice Practice. Intimate. Black Panther. Yes No. Bye.

MP3: Liars – It Fit When I Was A Kid (Crystal Castles Mix)

All photographs by Alexis Maindrault. The Brutalist Bricks is out now.

View more shots & download a Ted Leo selection AFTER THE JUMP…

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Yet another outstanding set! Official TMS Rating: 10/10. Read my Q&A with The Cribs here. In November, The Cribs debuted a video for ‘We Share The Same Skies’. Be certain to catch The Cribs on their North American trek.

More photos, the setlist & a Cribs tune AFTER THE JUMP…

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Kooky and brilliant, as per usual. Last night’s set included a handful of tunes from his new LP (Minor Love), a selection of fan faves (‘Jessica’, ‘Morning After Midnight’, ‘Dance With Me’) & even a teaser line from the Moldy Peaches classic, ‘On Top’. Official TMS Rating: 9/10. Visit Adam Green on MySpace. Prior to Adam’s sensational performance, I chatted with him for a forthcoming segment on TMS TV. It’ll be featured on the site very shortly! Adam Green will head out on a brief UK journey later this month.

View more photos & download an Adam Green tune AFTER THE JUMP…

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‘Do I look like Lady GaGa? Yes? Then I’m taking it off. I’ve been wearing wigs since that bitch was still in high school’! That hilarious statement was uttered by Casey Spooner a few minutes past midnight at Fischerspooner’s sensational New Year’s Eve gig. If I described their Music Hall performance as brilliant, then this week’s show was positively otherwordly. Official TMS Rating: 10/10. Watch Fischerspooner’s official video for ‘We Are Electric’ here. Not to be discounted by any means, Dangerous Muse did a fabulous job as the evening’s opening act. All accompanying photos by Santiago Felipe.

View more shots & download a Fischerspooner tune AFTER THE JUMP…

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Last night, Devo performed their legendary 1978 album, Q: Are We Not Men? A: We Are Devo!, in its entirety (alongside a handful of extra treats). As you might have guessed, the gig was undeniably incredible. TMS Rating: 10/10. Read my Q&A with Devo here. Visit Devo at their official site. Devo’s Mark Mothersbaugh recently scored Circle Of 8. All photos by Alexis Maindrault.

View more shots & download a Devo selection AFTER THE JUMP…

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Details are as follows:

June 8th
The Fillmore
8pm

Ticket info can be found here.

MP3: Battles – Atlas

May 19th @ NYC’s Fillmore – Irving Plaza.

This year’s roster includes:

Mary Weiss (The Shangri-La’s)
Richard Lloyd (Television)
Jesse Malin
Cheetah Chrome
Walter Lure
Tish & Snooky
Jean Beauvior
Andy Shernoff
Joe McGinty
JP Thunderbolt
Al Maddy
Ivan Julian
Bobby Steele & Mickey Leigh
Charm School
Semi-Precious Weapons
The Independents
Local H
L.E.S. Stitches
Rachel Newman

For further updates, head here.

MP3: The Ramones – Merry Xmas

Matt: After the teases Jen and I both received while witnessing the live spectacle that is Mew for their brief half-hour set with Bloc Party last summer, and their succinct 45-minute set with Kasabian this past September, it was beyond exciting to hear the band was headlining their first US tour and actually playing a complete show. The Irving Plaza gig last night highlighted tracks from both of their releases, Frengers & And The Glass Handed Kites and was 80 minutes of sheer euphoria.

Mew’s unique blend of post/prog/straightforward and every other genre of rock give the Danes a distinctly recognizable sound as well as a galaxy of authenticity. It was reassuring to see that despite three trips to North America over the last nine months, frontman/guitarist Jonas Bjerre is still as shy and stoical as the band’s first visit. The juxtaposition between the band’s soaring melodies and Jonas’ introverted stage presence is magical, I must say. I can almost picture Jonas, with his captivating voice, auditioning for Danish Idol (yes, it really exists) and having that modest grin on his face upon the judges telling him he is amazing. Although, I’m sure his good looks alone would take him into the finals.

Mew’s usual shtick (a la their backdrop featuring all sorts of creepy images) was in full effect last night. Cats, giraffes, intense neon light beams, line drawings, you name it and it was probably on the screen behind Mew. Probably the most well-received tracks of the night were ‘The Zookeeper’s Boy’ and the set-closing ‘Comforting Sounds’. The latter of which swelled into one of the best live tracks I may have ever seen live before. ‘Comforting Sounds’ is an epic 9-minute tune that only increases in perfection as the end nears. A fantastic song to close the show!

Still want to learn more about Mew, or are just curious as to what Jonas is like in an interview? Check out Jen’s ’8 Questions With’ Mew from August. I may be a tad bit biased, but Jen conducted a fabulous Q & A with Copenhagen’s finest vocalist.

Setlist: Circuitry Of The Wolf/Chinaberry Tree/Am I Wry? No/156/White Lips Kissed/Behind The Drapes/She-Spider/Apocalypso/Saviors Of Jazz Ballet/The Zookeeper’s Boy/Snow Brigade/Louise Louisa//Special/Comforting Sounds

Jen: Oh No, Oh My are really funny. No seriously they are, like, hilarious. The first time Matt and I saw them over CMJ, they were a riot. Not so much last night though. I chalk it up to them being a wee bit nervous in front of the expansive crowd. There was a small group up front of well-wishers and fist-pumpers that continuously shouted out songs, which was nice.

ONOM are…innocuous. A band more fun to see in a small space than a large venue. Their music is twee and some songs, especially drummer Joel’s ‘I am not a monster’ would fit well along side any Boy Least Likely To track.

Their one shining, standout track is the lovely summertime tune, ‘Walk in the park.’ It’s happy, lovely and invokes great imagery of walking barefoot through your lawn on a hot day. It again has that skippy, airy, folk BLLT sound, but with the advantage of a catchy melody.

Irving has the problem of a generational gap. The crowd tends to part the sea with 16-20 year olds on one side and 30 plusers on the other. With the relatively high ticket prices and the low admittance age, many struggling twenty-somethings tend to avoid Irving, always making for an odd mix of people at the venue.

Therefore last night saw a great divide of hardcore high schoolers up front singing all the words and the older crowd hovering around the fringes, nodding their heads. We were somewhere inbetween.

Mew’s music is dense (like plum pudding not George Bush). What comes at the audience is a wall of sound with ominous drums and layers of singing over crescendo guitars. Throughout last night’s set, I tried to put my finger on what the sound of Mew actually reminded me of. For an hour I alternated with 80′s hair band ballad, Guns and Roses ‘November Rain,’ Sigur Ros and 90′s grunge. What I came up with was that Mew is all of the above. They combine the best of these efforts together to make a sound completely all their own- the ‘November Rain’ guitar solo with the vocals of Sigur Ros over it, White Snake mixed in with Kurt Cobain. But mostly, what you find is that it is all Mew, a shy boy from Copenhagen leading a band of punky Danes playing music with a passion.

MP3: Mew – The Zookeeper’s Boy