this week in music

BUILT TO SPILL

Built to Spill will be kicking out the jams at four area shows this week (photo by twi-ny/mdr)

Webster Hall, 125 East Eleventh St. between Third & Fourth Aves.
Monday, October 12, and Tuesday, October 13
Music Hall of Williamsburg, 66 North Sixth St.
Wednesday, October 14, and Thursday, October 15
Tickets: $30
http://www.myspace.com/builttospill

At this past summer’s Siren Festival on Coney Island, Doug Martsch, Scott Plouf, Jim Roth, Brett Netson, and Brett Nelson showed the youngsters – both onstage and in the audience – how it’s done. Idaho-based indie jam band Built to Spill, who formed back in 1992 (with a slightly different cast, led by Martsch), closed out the fest with an inspired set, letting the music take them away as they extended nearly every song, noodling in the shadow of the Cyclone. With his thick, graying, bushy beard, Martsch currently resembles one Bob Weir, and he cites J Mascis as a major influence, so expect plenty of guitar jams. Built to Spill is back for four hotly anticipated area shows in support of their brand-new disc, THERE IS NO ENEMY (October 6, WEA/Reprise), playing Webster Hall and the Music Hall of Williamsburg with Disco Doom and Violent Soho; believe it or not, there are still some tickets available for some nights, but you better hurry.

PONYTAIL

Molly Siegel holds nothing back at Brooklyn Ponytail show (photo by twi-ny/mdr)

The Bell House, 149 Seventh St., Gowanus
Saturday, October 10, $12, 7:30
http://www.myspace.com/ponytailtunes
http://www.thebellhouseny.com

We didn’t know quite what to expect when we headed out to Brooklyn this past summer to catch Ponytail in East River State Park, and after seeing them, we’re still not quite sure what we experienced. But it did make us feel good all over – and more than a little creeped out as well. The Baltimore-based quartet is led by the rather diminutive Molly Siegel, who was dressed sorta like a bumblebee and pranced across the stage making faces that had some people wondering if there was something not quite right about her. Her eyes would run back in her head, revealing nothing but white orbs, and her lips would curl and quiver in odd ways. Meanwhile, musicians Dustin Wong, Jeremy Hyman, and Ken Seeno keep things moving and grooving while Siegel belts out hums, shouts, shrieks, and other sounds and noises. But somehow, it all works for these art rockers. Ponytail will be at the Bell House on October 10, with local duo Javelin opening up, who will be bringing their boombaatas and encouraging plenty of audience participation.

TURBO FRUITS

Turbo Fruits will turn things upside down in area shows

Santos Party House, 96 Lafayette St.
Friday, October 9, $13, 7:00
Market Hotel, 1142 Myrtle Ave. at Broadway
Saturday, October 10, 8:00
http://www.myspace.com/turbofruits
http://www.myspace.com/markethotelnyc
http://santospartyhouse.com

The Turbo Fruits hit some trouble out on the road when their van window motor broke on the way to Detroit. Worried about someone breaking into the van and stealing their stuff, they pulled into a gas station to get it fixed. “Not cheap but at least we won’t get robbed in between freezing our balls off with the window down,” they noted on their blog. And that’s good for us, as former Be Your Own Pet Jonas Stein is leading the threesome to us, touring behind their awesomely freaky new album, ECHO KID (September 2009, Fat Possum), the soundtrack of a fun, raucous life.

Turbo Fruits play an infectious mix of psychedelic retro garage surf punk with a heavy dose of humor, as one can guess from such song titles as “Mama’s Mad Cos I Fried My Brain,” “Broadzilla,” and “Naked with You” (which could be a lost Ramones classic). Stein does a little Dylan on “Hold Me,” throws in a bit of the Troggs on “Get Up Get On Down (Tonite),” and really cuts loose on “Broadzilla.” It all makes for one hell of an impressive alterna-AMERICAN GRAFFITI meets QUADROPHENIA. The album is a nonstop party, one that should continue on October 9, when TF will be playing with Israeli sensation Monotonix and the Beets at Santos Party House and on October 10 at Brooklyn’s Market Hotel with Monotonix, Ill Ease, Static Static, Stalkers, and EMOK.

BOB MOULD

Bob Mould is looking back at his life these days (photo by twi-ny/mdr)

The Fillmore New York at Irving Plaza

17 Irving Pl. between 14th & 15th Sts.

Thursday, October 8, $21.50-$28, 9:00

212-777-6800

http://www.irvingplaza.com
http://www.bobmould.com

Twenty years ago, Bob Mould left seminal postpunk band Hüsker Dü and recorded his first solo record, the intimate, acoustic-based WORKBOOK followed by the gruffer BLACK SHEETS OF RAIN. Mould then formed the power trio Sugar, which released such impressive discs as COPPER BLUE and BEASTER, before continuing his solo work. Currently working on his memoirs – which will detail, among other things, his drug abuse and homosexuality – Mould also turns back the clock on his most recent album, the unflinchingly honest and personal LIFE AND TIMES (Anti-, April 2009). “What the fuck, what kicked up all this dust / taking me back to the places I left behind / the old life and times,” he sings on the title track, preparing the listener for both a trip down memory lane as well as a peek into the future. “I rewind the interstate in my distant memory,” he sings to his signature guitar sound on “City Lights (Days Go By),” adding, “I hope you understand I need to find my city lights.”

Recalling the sound of WORKBOOK, Mould, who recorded LIFE AND TIMES in his current hometown, Washington, DC, with just a drummer and himself, opens up about anonymous, casual sex (the hard-driving “Argos,” the smooth, melodic “Bad Blood Better”) and the end of love (“I’m Sorry, Baby, But You Can’t Stand in My Light Any More”) while also bringing up memory and the past on “Wasted World” and “MM 17.” At forty-eight, perhaps Mould is a little young to be looking back so much, but as he says on the album’s final track, “What a lifetime we have.” He’ll be celebrating that life at Irving Plaza on October 8, playing songs from throughout his career. We’ve seen him several times over the years at Irving Plaza, and he always sweats out everything he can. Brooklyn singer-songwriter Miles Benjamin Anthony Robinson opens the show.

THEE OH SEES

Thee Oh Sees' Dwyer really loves his guitar (photo by twi-ny/mdr)

Mercury Lounge, 217 East Houston St.

Thursday, October 8, $10, 7:30

The Bell House, 149 Seventh St., Gowanus

Friday, October 9, $10-$12, 8:00

http://www.myspace.com/ohsees
http://www.thebellhouseny.com
http://www.mercuryloungenyc.com

A true DIY dude, John Dwyer is the lead singer and guitarist of San Francisco psychedelic garage rock band Thee Oh Sees. Dwyer, keyboardist Brigid Dawson, guitarist Petey Dammit, and drummer Mike Shoun are back in town for a couple of shows in support of their 2008 disc, the stellar THE MASTER’S BEDROOM IS WORTH SPENDING THE NIGHT IN, which feels like a Nuggets-era soundtrack to a movie that was never made. Thee Oh Sees (a continually changing riff on the OC, Orange County) play it fast and loose, with lots of groovy guitar breaks and high-pitched singing. The album kicks off with “Block of Ice,” a driving mix of Jefferson Airplane filtered through the B-52s. “Quadrospazzed” is filled with fuzzy distortion, while “You Will See This Dog Before You Die” gets downright spacey. Around the middle of the album, things slow down a bit with the appropriately moody “Graveyard Drug Party.” And “Adult Acid” actually has a countryish beat.

It all makes for a helluva good time, as the band displayed at this past summer’s Siren Festival. Dwyer twisted his guitar around his body, often playing it at eye level and other uncomfortable positions, He also has the curious habit of drooling or sending an expectoration into the air and trying to catch it in his mouth. While he makes his weird faces and strange poses, Dawson and Dammit hold down the fort at the front of the stage, standing tall while Dwyer acts out. On October 8 THEE OH SEES will be playing the Mercury Lounge with the Fresh & Onlys, Girls at Dawn, and Still Life Still, and they’ll be at the Bell House on October 9 with Golden Triangle and the Fresh & Onlys.

THE SHELLS

Bombshell trio brings cosmo-country to the Canal Room

Canal Room

285 West Broadway

Thursday, October 8, $10, 8:00

212-941-8100

http://www.theshellsonline.com
http://www.canalroom.com

Not to be confused with the Austin-based indie band of the same name, the Shells are that rarest of breeds, a New York City all-woman country trio. Actually, their sound has been labeled cosmo-country, mixing in folk and pop elements and beautiful harmonies. Originally an a cappella group, Carrie Welling, Melanie Klaja, and Jessica Rae Waltz have been augmented with a touring band as they support their debut album, WRITTEN ROADS (October 8, WeThreeRecords). The Shells, whose name came from “bombshell,” will be holding a CD release party on October 8 at the Canal Room, so come on down and see what all the fuss is about.

THE PAINS OF BEING PURE AT HEART

Pains will pour their heart out at Webster Hall (photo by twi-ny/mdr)

Webster Hall
125 East Eleventh St. between Third & Fourth Aves.
Saturday, October 3, $16, 6:00
www.myspace.com
www.websterhall.com

The Pains of Being Pure at Heart are nice. No one — and certainly not a creative band that emits an edgy mix of indie rock, energetic pop, and experimental ambient music — wants to be called nice, but that’s sort of what they are. The local group plays pleasant music that subtly gets into your head. We caught them this past summer at the South Street Seaport, putting on a pure pop performance that was wholly satisfying if not quite ass-kicking. Songs such as the much-hyped “Young Adult Friction” and the slower “Stay Alive” kept the audience mesmerized with upbeat guitars and soft yet powerful vocals, shared by guitarist Kip Berman and keyboardist Peggy Wang-East, who seemed a little too excited about playing in the shadows of a large pizza chain. Following their U.S. tour, the Pains of Being Pure at Heart are back in New York on October 3 at Webster Hall with buzz band Cymbals Eat Guitars and the Depreciation Guild.