Kerry Davis and Two Tears will be serving up plenty of tasty garage rock and punk with Gringo Star, Howlies, and other bands at Fleck PR Showcase
Fontana’s
105 Eldridge St. between Broome & Grand Sts.
Thursday, October 21, 8:30
www.cmj2010.com
www.fleckpr.com
This is the one we’ve been waiting for. Many of the shows at the CMJ Music Marathon, which features more than 1,200 bands playing some one hundred venues, are sponsored by music magazines and websites, public relations firms, beverage companies, and other music-related businesses. On Thursday night, Fleck PR, which specializes in garage rock and punk, will be presenting seven of their artists, including three that help make this one of the best lineups of the festival. The evening begins with L.A.’s Nightmare and the Cat, followed by NYC’s Two Tears, Atlanta’s Gringo Star, Brooklyn’s hunters, Atlanta’s Howlies, Brooklyn’s Stalkers, and the Lower East Side’s Doppelganger. We’re particularly looking forward to seeing Two Tears, Gringo Star, and Howlies. We first fell for Gringo Star and their punk-injected southern garage rock with a twist at the 2008 CMJ, where they played songs from their debut disc, ALL Y’ALL; they’re headed back to the studio to record a new album, and it’s about time. (They’ll also be playing the Cameo Gallery on Friday night and Ace of Clubs on Saturday.) Last month we raved about former “one lady band” Kerry Davis, now known as Two Tears, who blasts short bursts of experimental bluesy garage punk with such titles as “Eat People,” “Die Tonight,” and “Shit Fucking Job.” Howlies have just followed up their February 2009 debut, TRIPPIN’ WITH HOWLIES, with the stunningly awesome five-track EP STUNNED, the illegitimate child of mid-’60s Stones and late-’70s Ramones, with bold dashes of southern rock and surf punk thrown in for very good measure. (Howlies will also be at the Living Room and Union Hall on Thursday night before the Fontana’s gig, followed by shows Friday afternoon at the Heartland Brewery and Friday night at Piano’s.)
Also
Savoir Adore, Public Assembly, 3:30; Bowery Electric, 7:15
New Collisions, R Bar, 8:00
Franz Nicolay, Coco 66, 8:15
French Horn Rebellion, the Studio at Webster Hall, 9:15
Hsu-nami, Fat Baby, 10:15
Reggie Watts, Comix, 11:00
Hypernova, R Bar, 11:00
Das Racist, Santos Party House, 11:30
The Pains of Being Pure at Heart, Music Hall of Williamsburg, 11:30
Drink Up Buttercup, Bowery Electric, 11:45
After the breakout success of BORN TO RUN in 1975, Bruce Springsteen became embroiled in a lawsuit over control of his music that prevented him from going into the studio to make the highly anticipated follow-up. Springsteen found himself at a crossroads; “You didn’t know if this would be the last record you’d ever make,” he says in the revealing behind-the-scenes documentary THE PROMISE: THE MAKING OF DARKNESS ON THE EDGE OF TOWN. Combining archival footage of the DARKNESS sessions shot by Barry Rebo with new interviews with all the members of the E Street Band in addition to producers Jimmy Iovine, Jon Landau, and others, editor and director Thom Zimny melds Bruce’s past with the present, delving deep into Springsteen’s complex, infuriating, and fiercely dedicated creative process. “I had to disregard my own mutation,” Springsteen says at one point, regarding his battle to avoid getting caught up in the hype that came with BORN TO RUN, so he decided that his next album would be “a meditation on where are you going to stand.” Rebo captures Springsteen and the E Street Band — from a bare-chested Bruce to a bandanna-less Steve Van Zandt — rehearsing and recording alternate takes of familiar songs as well as tunes that would later wind up on such albums as THE RIVER and TRACKS, opening up Bruce’s famous notebooks and examining his intense creative process, which included throwing away dozens and dozens of songs that he believed just didn’t fit within his vision of what DARKNESS should be. Two of the most fascinating parts of the THE PROMISE, a recent hit at the Toronto Film Festival, involve Patti Smith discussing “Because the Night,” which is about her waiting for her boyfriend at the time, Fred “Sonic” Smith, to call her, and Toby Scott talking about mixing the DARKNESS record to get the sound pictures in Bruce’s head onto vinyl. THE PROMISE: THE MAKING OF DARKNESS ON THE EDGE OF TOWN is screening Wednesday night at the CMJ Film Festival (and will be followed by a Q&A with Zimny moderated by Q04.3 deejay Jonathan Clarke), which opens Tuesday with CIRCUS MAXIMUS (Thomas J. La Sorsa, 2010) and also includes such films as GAINSBOURG AND HIS GIRLS (Pascal Forneri, 2010), PASSENGER SIDE (Matt Bissonnette, 2010), FIREWALL OF SOUND (Devin DiMattia, 2010), and THE CHILD PRODIGY (Luc Dionne, 2010); select showings will feature introductions or postscreening Q&As with the filmmakers, performers, and others.