On the Beat: Sept. 3-Sept. 10

THE LOVE ME NOTS

Find Vienna

Pennsy alt-rockers play Muse music, hit up Six Flags Great Adventure’s (1 Six Flags Blvd., Jackson) Live & Local stage today with a brand-new EP, “In Your Favorite Colors,” in tow. Shows start at 2 p.m. Free with admission to the park. All-ages.

Happy Machine

Moody electronics and synthesized blips and beeps has this Red Bank duo – playing Championship Sports Bar and Grill (931 Chambers St., Trenton) tomorrow night –  getting off on Ladytron-styled computer love. Show starts at 9 p.m. The Timid Roosevelts, Midtown Dickens and The Tea & Whiskey round out the bill. Tickets cost $8. 21-plus.   

To Live and Die in NJ

Thrash-rapping “self-loathing ego maniac, (who) stays partying like Rodney Dangerfield in ‘Caddy Shack’,” rips comedic slim-shadys with MC Paul Barman flows at McGuinn’s Place (1781 Brunswick Pike, Lawrence) tomorrow night. Lawrence’s “new rap Fonzi’s” lyrical slugs also works with gnarly, mosh-inducing punk rock. Show starts at 9 p.m. Karma Bat! and 14 Points play, too. Tickets cost $5. 21-plus.

The Successful Failures

The Dipsomaniacs alt-country side set – headlining The Record Collector (358 Farnsworth Ave., Bordentown) tomorrow night – remains stellar in its harmony-driven guitar pop seen in early Wilco, Superdrag and The Smithereens. Show starts at 7:30 p.m. Mike Chorba, a Burlco English teacher who fronts both the Dipsos and Failures, opens the show with a solo set on guitar and piano. Tickets cost $10 in advance, $12 at the door. All-ages.

Telling On Trixie

Lead singer can do a killer Belinda Carlise, as in the way-too-serious “Mad About You” cover the New Yorkers do. The rest of the alternatives – firing up the Live & Local stage at Six Flags Great Adventure (1 Six Flags Blvd., Jackson) tomorrow - sounds like either Incubus or Live, sometimes both. Shows start at 2 p.m. Beyond Hope Lies gets to rock log flume, too. Free with admission to the park. All-ages.

The Reverend Horton Heat

Western-wrangling without a psychobilly freakout in sight, the guys mosey into The Stone Pony (913 Ocean Ave., Asbury Park) tomorrow night with its 12^th LP, “Laughin’ and Cryin’ With The Reverend Horton Heat,” and its Roy Rogers selling moonshine to a pack of wild Indians vibe. Show starts at 7 p.m. Nashville Pussy, opens. Tickets cost $22.50 in advance, $25 at the door. All-ages.

Misery Index

Balti-morbid death-core crushers jet in from Finland – the metal holy land – to drop a giant-sized anvil of musical brutality through left-wing theologies on Championships Sports Bar and Grill (931 Chambers St., Trenton) Saturday. For fans of hating your parents and Dying Fetus. Show starts at noon. Criminal Element, In Wake of the Plague, Esquilax, Saws of Cerberus, Her Dead Womb, Napier, Jettison Grey Matter, The Necrophiliac, Yacht Club, Catalyst of Thought, Tomorrow Never Dies and Sedna play, too. Tickets cost $12. All-ages.

The Love Me Nots

Go-go glorious desert dwellers – headlining The Record Collector (358 Farnsworth Ave., Bordentown) Saturday night - get tripped out on slinky ’60s psychedelics through stinging keyboards and a vixen lead lady with a Jim Morrison complex. Also good for fans of The Cramps, cheapo alien conspiracy movies from the ’50s and Jefferson Airplane. Show starts at 6 p.m. Philadelphia garage-rock legends, Mondo Topless, and New York’s The Anabolics round out the bill. Tickets cost $10 in advance, $12 at the door. All-ages.            

The Black Crowes

Boo to no chance of spotting Kate Hudson sunbathing by the Atlantic. Yay to a great rock show in a relatively tiny venue like The Stone Pony (913 Ocean Ave., Asbury Park) on Saturday night and the chance to absorb the melodies from the Robinsons’ eighth studio album, “Before the Frost … Until the Freeze.” Hand jiving to “Hard to Handle” is fun, too. Show starts at 5 p.m. Tickets cost $40 in advance, $45 at the door. All-ages.           

Splintered Sunlight

Crazy to say, but it’s these Philly downtowners - playing The Stone Pony (913 Ocean Ave., Asbury Park) on Sunday night – who constructed the Grateful Dead tribute band model the many, many others in this area follow. Show starts at 4 p.m. And you better get your jam-face on, because it’s going to get hippie silly with Lemon Juice, Doug Mikula & Domino Effect, Greg Herritt’s Heavy Road and Karmic Juggernaut in on the fun, too. Tickets cost $15 in advance, $20 at the door. All-ages.        

DJ Pat Money

With any luck, this Bronc-rooting sound selector lets a bevy of college babes  slide on some of his hip-hop bangers at The All Call Inn’s (214 Weber Ave., Ewing) first college night party of the Fall on Tuesday. It’s been a happening spot before. And who actually does their homework on the week of school? Starts at 9 p.m. Free. 21-plus.   

Scott Frost’s On The Beat concert listing appears in The Trentonian every Thursday. If your band is playing around town, hit up the On the Beat webline at djscott111@aol.com.

 

 

 

 

Dj Cobra: Thr-iller Night

FREE DOWNLOAD

DJ Cobra – Iller

If you like any of Girl Talk’s last two records, you’ll love this free offer from On The Beat – DJ Cobra’s “Iller” mix tape. It’s one of those discs that have it all: booty anthems blended over classic rock, pop hits overlapping alternative rock. It’s pretty freakin’ awesome. Even us music snobs who dodge Lil Wayne songs because their lame, stupid and only acceptable smashed into a Rolling Stones song. 

DJ Cobra is on tour this summer with The Knux. He's also worked with P. Diddy and Prince. 

Chairlift: Massive Attack

Slinky Chairlift singer Caroline Polachek made her directorial debut for the synth-pop trio's new single, "Ceiling Wax." According to Brooklynite's people, Polachek brought in her sister for the sexy interpretive dance you can check out below.

"Ceiling Wax" (video)

As you can hear, the song's too dark to sell Nano iPods like "Bruises" did. But there aren't too many on "Does You Inspire You" that do. Anyone who saw them at All Points West (photo left) last month felt the group's bass-bin barrages cave in their chest. Had they not be from New York and so appealing to look at live, you could suggest that Chairlift - playing Kung Fu Necktie on Sunday in Philadelphia - can in fact fill the void in the indie trip-hop. Don't see a little Massive Attack, Tricky or Portishead in the bunch. Some of the darker songs go that way. 

Enjoy!

On the Beat: Aug. 27-Sept. 2

Karma Bat! headline McGuinn's Place (1781 Brunswick Pike, Lawrence, NJ) on Friday night.

Marionette Roulette

Montclair musical mad scientists – headlining Six Flags Great Adventure’s (1 Six Flags Blvd., Jackson) Live & Local stage today - creep like the Squirrel Nut Zippers and “Rocky Horror Picture Show” touring a haunted carnival. Show starts at 2 p.m. Free with admission to the park. All-ages.

DEMO

Percussion-pounding noisemakers – shaking the memorials off the wall of The All Call Inn (214 Weber Ave., Ewing) tomorrow night - sound like Animal Collective bashing aliens critters with a sack of nails. For fans of The Melvins and Rob Zombie murder flicks, too. Show starts at 9 p.m. Suicide Project, Slutty Earth and Omnious Black round out the bill. Tickets cost $5. 21-plus.

Karma Bat!

Lawrence madcap meanies – playing McGuinn’s Place (1781 Brunswick Pike, Lawrence) tomorrow night - fuse No Doubt ska-pop with Aquabats silliness. Show starts at 9 p.m. To Live Or Die in NJ, Shape and Cap City, open. Tickets cost $5. 21-plus.   

Red Sea Affair

Epic emo-core preachers deliver a sermon of prog-prodding Coheed and Cambria theatrics at Championships Sports Bar and Grill (931 Chambers St., Trenton) tomorrow night. Show starts at 9 p.m. Deluxe Thumps, Calm & Reprose and Amskray play, too. Tickets cost $8. 21-plus.

Brothers Past

Synth-sonic Philly jam-head’s rockin’-and-ravin’ blends and mind-spinning trance struts – set to headline the two-day Stir Fry Music Revival festival at Snipes Farm (890 W. Bridge St., Morrisville, Pa.) this weekend - run electro crazy without swaying too far from its hard-driving improvisational cycle. For fans of the New Deal, Disco Biscuits and Splintered Sunlight, who incidentally headline Friday night. Brothers Past play Saturday with bluegrass, funk and hip-hop outfits Steel Breeze, Dirty White Boys, Pete Kranz & WEMB, Sage, the Dirk Quinn Band, The Godniez Brothers, Si Senorita, Strange Sun, American Babies, Old Blotter, Turbine, The Hustle, Psychedelphia and deejay sets from Fish and Friends and DJ Fro. Friday’s lineup includes Newtown Creek, Tin Bird Choir, the Mantawny Creek Ramblers, two sets from Frog Holler, The Coyotes and late-night deejay sets from Re:Build and Smokey. Tomorrow’s events begins at 4:20 p.m. Saturday’s show begins at noon and runs through 3 a.m. Sunday. Tickets cost $40 in advance, $50 at the door. All-ages.

All Time Low

The melody-perfect Warped Tour headliners every-single teenybopper can’t help to bop to survive on sugar-happy pop hooks that made Midtown infamous and Fall Out Boy famous. The MTV wonder kids headline Six Flag Great Adventure’s (1 Six Flags Blvd., Jackson) Northern Star Arena Show tomorrow evening.  Show starts at 5 p.m. The White Tie Affair open. Free with admission to the park. All-ages.

Sunday’s Murder

Lumberton alt-rock romantics  – hitting up Six Flags Great Adventure’s (1 Six Flags Blvd., Jackson) Live & Local stage tomorrow afternoon – get sappy Oasis dramatics. Shows start at 2 p.m. Man On Earth plays, too. Free with admission to the park. All-ages.

The Gas House Gorillas

Brooklyn hep-cat swinger’s Royal Crown revving runs wild on The Wonder Bar (1213 Ocean Ave., Asbury Park) tomorrow night. Show starts at 9 p.m. Tickets cost $5. All-ages.  

Atrophia

Jersey death-core brute’s metallic head-shakers and In-Flaming Swedish thrash headlines Day 1 of Championships Sports Bar and Grill’s (931 Chambers St., Trenton) End of the Summer Bash Saturday afternoon. Show starts at noon. Echoes of Dead Gods, Scissors in a Cupcake, Crushed Beneath, Beauty in the Breakdown, Taking the Tide, The Mad Spatter, Beyond the View, Abserdo and Sella Turcica round out the bill. Tickets cost $10. All-ages. 

Cover Her Face

East Rutherford piss-core powers-of-pain pound out punishing tech-metal daggers slice like Ion Dissonance at Championships Sports Bar and Grill (931 Chambers St., Trenton) Saturday night. Show starts at 9 p.m. Saturday. Night headlines. Crawl 2 Chaos, Panopticon, World Lost and Dichotomy open. Tickets cost $8. 21-plus.   

Jeffrey Gaines

Not to plug cover material, but the singer’s heart-melting remake of Peter Gabriel’s “In You Eyes” still gets the girlies’ knees weak. Captain cool, who single-handedly gave man-hating singer-songwriting sex appeal, headlines The Record Collector (358 Farnsworth Ave., Bordentown) on Saturday night. Show starts at 7:30 p.m. Tickets cost $15 in advance, $20 at the door. All-ages.

50 Cent

Many expect the G-Unit-founder’s thug-rap “In Da Club” party machine – firing up Six Flags Great Adventure’s (1 Six Flags Blvd., Jackson) Saturday night – to include the first taste of the gangsta’s upcoming “Before I Self Destruct,” LP. Set to drop in November, the record’s been in the works for over two years, and was described by Mr. Curtis in an MTV interview as a “darker,” more “aggressive” than his previous work. Show starts at 7 p.m. Redrum opens. Tickets cost $20. All-ages.

We Own Egypt

Eyeliner-metal melody-melters mix up Senses Fail/Atreyu – headline Day 2 of Championships Sports Bar and Grill’s (931 Chambers St., Trenton) End of the Summer Bash Sunday afternoon. Show starts at noon. A Little Affair, C.F.C., Panopticon, Araena, Paul Kartelias, Four Our Lifetime, Ugly Girls Crying, Morbid Visions, What Lies Beneath and Home Court play, too. Tickets cost $10. All-ages.

Peter Frampton

David Bowie’s high school classmate and Humble Pie guitarist - who sold $6 million copies of his 1976 “… Comes Alive!” record, only to find it for sale at any flea market for $1 – saw his career in decline after appearing with the Bee Gees in the failed rock opera “Sgt. Peppers Lonely Heart Club Band.” The never-say-die Brit – who headlines the Stone Pony Summer Stage (913 Ocean Ave., Asbury Park) on Sunday – has found success in his ’60s, winning a Grammy in 2007 for Best Pop Instrumental Album. Show starts at 5 p.m. Tickets cost $42 in advance, $45 at the door. All-ages.

Scott Frost’s On The Beat concert listing appears in The Trentonian every Thursday. If your band is playing around town, hit up the On the Beat webline at djscott111@aol.com. 

 

Very Best: M.I.A. Party Mix Down

FREE DOWNLOAD

The Very Best - 

"Rain Dance" 

Feat. M.I.A.

M.I.A.'s success has opened the states to a wide view on international music. From Brazilian funk to Middle Eastern/Indian soundscapes heard on her albums and the soundtrack to the Oscar-winning film "Slumdog Millionaire" (which she contributed her voice, tracks, remixes and production), Maya's spearheaded a movement to bring worldwide musical flavors to American ears.

Now we have M.I.A. lending her talents and revolutionary party beats to a European production team and Malawian singer Esau Mwamwaya Afro-conscious project, The Very Best. "Warm Heart of Africa" just dropped on Tuesday and it's awesome.

(NOTE: it's only out digitally. The CD hits stores Oct. 6)

The Very Best is receiving critical acclaim for its high-energy live performances and genre-bending sound in wake of its first U.S. tour. The band came together when Mwamwaya first met Radioclit’s Etienne Tron in 2007 while haggling over a bicycle in the London second-hand furniture shop he ran near the duo’s studio. Following the exchange, Mwamwaya was invited to Tron’s house-warming party where he met the other half of Radioclit, Johan Karlberg. Esau was asked to come to Radioclit’s studio after he told Karlberg he was a drummer. It turned out Esau was a singer too and they decided to collaborate, combining Radioclit’s vast production experience and self-described “ghettopop” style—having produced and remixed tracks for the likes of M.I.A., Lily Allen, Justin Timberlake, Santigold, Britney Spears, TV On The Radio, David Banner, Buraka Som Sistema among others—with Mwamwaya’s emotive vocal approach. Karlberg dubbed Mwamwaya “the African Phil Collins,” and they have been recording songs together ever since. 

Squirrel Nut Zippers: Big Band Buzzing

(Above) The Squirrel Nut Zippers circa 1996.

(Below Left) Chris Phillips works on the new record.

FREE DOWNLOAD

Hell (Live)* (via ZShare)

* From the band's "Lost At Sea" CD

The Squirrel Nut Zippers are finally returning to shore with the forthcoming release of their new album "Lost At Sea." 

The album is the band’s first new release in nine years.  Lost At Sea (Southern Broadcasting/MRI) also shares the distinction of being the band’s first ever live album as well. 

Recorded live at Southpaw, in Brooklyn NY, the Squirrel Nut Zippers performed many of their greatest hits and strongest material for a standing room only audience.  “Danny Diamond,” “Put A Lid On It,” “Bad Businessman,” “Blue Angel,” and many other Zipper classics make up the set.  The band delivers energetic, sometimes loose, sometimes clairvoyant, but always spirited performances on Lost At Sea.

The title of the new release is very appropriate considering the bands unfortunate departure from public life in 2002 when the Disney cruise ship they were performing aboard hit a massive island of trash and was rendered unseaworthy. The Squirrel Nut Zippers were forced into a dingy which was quickly swept away by ocean currents and deposited on a remote and uninhabited island.  Surviving on coconuts and monkey scat they managed to stave off death until a location scout for the television reality show "Survivor" stumbled upon them and brought them back to the United States.

 Rejuvenated by this mishap and with a new lust for life, the band returned to the road in 2007 with the core of their original line up intact: Jim "Jimbo" Mathus (vocals and guitar), Katharine Whalen (vocals, banjo, ukulele), Chris Phillips (drums, percussion), Je Widenhouse (Trumpet) and Stuart Cole (Bass).

“The crowds we’ve had at these shows since coming back have been nothing short of fantastic,” Phillips commented.  “It’s been great to reconnect with our old fans and meet all of the ones who didn’t catch us the first time around.  It’s truly been a heartwarming experience.”

 The Squirrel Nut Zippers still rejoice at the difficulty people have in pigeonholing their unmistakable sound. A perpetually evolving, hybrid-stew of Southern roots traditions, the Zippers have been tagged with every label from “swing band,” to “hot jazz band” to even "'30s punk." 

As far as future plans go for the Squirrel Nut Zippers, Phillips is excited.    “Honestly, the band is getting along better than we ever did in the past and I believe the desire is there to try recording a new album for release in 2010.”

Kraftwerk: Werking It

In celebration of its 35th anniversary, original robot rockers Kraftwerk has remastered its entire collection and offering it in one big bunch on Oct. 6, entitled "12345678 The Catalogue." According to our favorite peeps over at Astralwerks, the German computer-dance maestros spent the year upgrading their Kling Klang masters with the latest studio technology and "these eight magnificent recordings still sound like nothing else in the history of music."

On the Beat got a hold of a sampler set of tracks from the remastered tapes, and it's like listening to a whole brand new set of tunes, seriously.

Check it out yourself with one of Kraftwerk's biggest hits, "Autobahn."

Autobahn (remastered)

Autobahn (original)

The proof is in the pudding, right?

"The Catalogue" will be offered in an 8-disc CD box set in a "mini-vinyl" card wallet or individually. However, due to licensing restrictions in the U.S. only five of the eight albums will released as separate CD editions: "Autobahn," "Radio-Activity," "Trans Europe Express," "The Man Machine," and "Tour De France (2003)." As a result, the only way for fans to own the entire catalogue on CD is to purchase the Box Set. It'll also be out in a five-vinyl set and as digital downloads.

Simian Mobile Disco: Rave Rip-Off

There's been a nice build up to the new Simian Mobile Disco on On the Beat Beat.

The Brit techno junkies hit up Philly in April to try out new jams from "Temporary Pleasure" and we were there throwing our hands in the air.

Then, with the first single "Audacity of Huge" leaked to the blog world for everyone to enjoy, we had resident spinster Deejay Non-Chalant open his Meatballs 2 mix tape with the electro banger. Download the mix tape here.

Now, with the record expected to hit the states on Tuesday, we waited 'till midnight to snag "Temporary Pleasure" off iTunes and let it rock our faces off. But nooooo!!! The guys released the new disc - to Europe! What about us on the states side. We get jiggy, too! 

It looks like we have to wait two more weeks before it comes to America. And that's just lame. So what we've done here is let our loyal readers get a taste of the record's more sought after track for free here On the Beat. It's called "Bad Blood" and features Alexis Taylor from Hot Chip. We're also giving you a new remix of "Audacity of Huge" for you to rock out too. Enjoy!

Bad Blood (feat. Alexis Taylor)

Audacity of Huge (Dekker & Johan Remix)

Paint It Black: Surrendering

Paint It Black plays The First Unitarian Church in Philly on Sept. 10. The guys - featuring former Lifetime and Kid Dynamite players - released its "Surrender" EP 7'' on Tuesday.

Anyone remotely in touch with the hardcore punk scene is, no doubt, familiar with PAINT IT BLACK. Fronted by the esteemed Dan Yemin of the genre defining bands Lifetime and Kid Dynamite, PAINT IT BLACK have taken today’s hardcore movement by the throat and tighten their grip with each compelling release. With 3 full-lengths under their belt, PIB have decided to return to the 7”/EP format as they explain here:

"We feel really fortunate that we’ve been able to release three albums that have been both exciting for us, and also well-received by the kids and the press," Yemin said. "That being said, we can’t think of a single hardcore punk band that has released more than three awesome full-length records, and we’re not nearly arrogant enough to imagine that we’ll be the first band to make that happen. 

"The 7” EP has always been the ideal context for the kind of music we play, and so we’ve decided to release music in that format for the foreseeable future. The most exciting thing about this decision is that we don’t have to wait so long to release a new record, which lets us be more spontaneous and stay more intimately connected with the kids that support our band."

The lead single to the EP is the mile-a-minute title track. Never to rip off its fans, PIB let On the Beat a chance to give its fans a free taste of the EP. Here's a free download of "Surrender." 

 

On the Beat: Aug. 20-26

A.S.B.P.K.

Wayne rap-jam-jolt’s nice-guy rhyme schemes hitting Six Flags Great Adventure’s (1 Six Flags Blvd., Jackson) Live & Local stage at 2 this afternoon encompass 311 hip-pop and a Jack Johnson, beach bon-fire feel. Vapor Child play, too. Free with admission to the park. All-ages.

The Celebrities

Former Luzers – playing a rare local gig at McGuinn’s Place (1781 Brunswick Pike, Lawrence) at 9 tomorrow night - bang out Beach Boys-inspired, sugar-pops and harmony-heavy toe-tappers with melodies reminded of Ok Go and Superdrag. The L.A.-based foursome has shared stages with The Strokes and Beach Boys, and is slated to contribute tracks for tribute records to Jellyfish and Ricky Nelson. 14 Points open. Tickets cost $5. 21-plus.                                           

Makeoutmusic

Too sloppy for pop-punk labeling, these New Yorkers -  smashing through Championships Sports Bar and Grill (931 Chambers St., Trenton) at 9 tomorrow night with Post No Bills and house band, FreeDoom – weave mile-a-minute, SoCal-inspired punk like NoFX and Lagwagon without the pompous zings and coherent bitching. Come Out Swinging and As Summer Fades round out the bill. Tickets cost $8. 21-plus.  

Savage School of Rock

Blackwood pre-teens not under the tutelage of Paul Green rock first, learn instrumentation later, and then show off its live muscle between the Log Flume and Runaway Train at Six Flags Great Adventure’s (1 Six Flags Blvd., Jackson) Live & Local stage on a hot Friday afternoon. Déjà vu, indeed. Fun starts at 1 p.m. Free with admission to the park. All-ages.

Joe Zook & Ernie White

The Trenton rock ’n’ blues celebs’ traditional blazing guitar solos come in an unplugged tandem at The Record Collector (358 Farnsworth Ave., Bordentown) at 7:30 tomorrow night. Tickets cost $10 in advance, $12 at the door. All-ages.

The Waking Alley

Bergen County death-metal mystery men hit up Championships Sports Bar and Grill (931 Chambers St., Trenton) at noon Saturday with A Red Sky in Mourning, Ollipeist, MRSA, A Dream Worth Dying For, Open Denile, Mythology, Tomorrow Never Dies, Monstro and What Lies Beneath. Tickets cost $10. All-ages.

Travesty

Ewing’s pimp-daddy rhymesayer, who’s headlining the TerraCycle Graffiti Jam after party at The All Call Inn (214 Weber Ave., Ewing) at 8 p.m. Saturday, has a flow similar to Murs and Everlast, lives the “Gangsta Gangsta” mind frame that “life ain’t nothin’ but bitches and money.” Holla! One Dae will also take the mic. The Dream deejays. Tickets cost $5. 21-plus.

Sentient Machine

Funk-spun dance-core has these New Yorkers raving like Faith No More high on a Prong E-pill at Championships Sports Bar and Grill (931 Chambers St., Trenton) at 9 p.m. Saturday with Night, Decades Lost and Taxidermy. Tickets cost $8. 21-plus.  

The Lost Patrol (pictured above)

Shoegazing New York new-wavers – headlining The Record Collector (358 Farnsworth Ave., Bordentown) at 7:30 p.m. Saturday - feature “Clueless” director Amy Heckerling’s daughter singing and a sound that’s painfully surfy, heavy on the distortion and ghostly on the vocals as if the Cocteau Twins attempted to revamp the “Crow” soundtrack with more Smiths sorrows. The Beat Rats open. Tickets cost $10 in advance, $12 at the door. All-ages. 

Like The Stars

Point Pleasant powerless-popsters sport Thundercats belt buckles, Jonas Brothers vests and mellifluous teen-rock twee headline Six Flags Great Adventure’s (1 Six Flags Blvd, Jackson) Live & Local stage at 2 p.m. Saturday. Joshua Louis is also on the bill. Free with admission to the park. All-ages.

Miss TK & The Revenge

Lifetime husband and wife team, who play cheeky, synth-silly, hip-shake-disco alternatives like The Yeah Yeah Yeahs and The Rapture, dance-it-up at The Stone Pony (913 Ocean Ave., Asbury Park) with River City Extension at 7 p.m. Saturday. Scott Liss & the Sixty Six, Brick and Mortar, Montagna and the Mouth to Mouth and Future Future play, too. Tickets cost $10 in advance, $12 at the door. All-ages.

Jessica Paris

Sassy, strong-minded, singer song-writing Jersey girl - and one of Randy Now’s favorite on-air guests – plays Six Flags Great Adventure’s (1 Six Flags Blvd., Jackson) Exploration Station at 1 p.m. Saturday. Free with admission to the Wild Animal Safari. All-ages.

I Know the Struggle

Former Break Away pop-punks handle the opening duties for Ritter’s final show at The Khyber (56 S. 2^nd St., Philadelphia) at 9 p.m. Saturday. Answer For Everything and St. James Hotel play, too. Tickets cost $10. 21-plus.

Sorry And The Sinatras

Philly rockers mesh of “Roots Radical” oi!, gutter and snot punk – and a needed understanding the influence the ’80s California hardcore scene and bands like Social Distortion and Circle Jerks had in cultivating East Coast’s own rock snarl – could make these guys, headlining Championships Sports Bar and Grill (931 Chambers St., Trenton) at 2 p.m. Sunday, the next Rancid. It’s what the Warped Tour used to sound like before All Time Low T-Shirts became all the fad. Yuck! Keys to the Cadillac, Vegas-N-Space, Death to Surprise, C.F.C., Smoker and the Rollers, Might Makes Right, Hard Way, Off 537 and Triple Shot round out the bill. Tickets cost $10. All-ages.  

Mouth Of Wilson

Trenton pop-rockers hit up Six Flags Great Adventure’s (1 Six Flags Blvd., Jackson) Live & Local stage at 2 p.m. Sunday with Coldplay-type harmonies and retro song-styles reminiscent of The Police. Their “Cashmere” cover’s quite nice, too. The August Infinity and Redshift open. Free with admission to the park. All-ages.

All Else Failed

Philly hardcore hatebreeders – reuniting for the first time in at least five years at Maennerchor Field (3650 Cold Spring Creamery Road, Doylestown, Pa.) at 5 p.m.  Sunday – were cut from the same cloth as Korn and Life of Agony, usually mixing hardline effects, brutal breakdowns and monster melodies with progressive beauty. Bucks County pissed-core players Burdens open. Tickets cost $12. All-ages. 

The Ruining

The former Checker’s white-collar punking comes with a super-sized live show Hot Water Music fans would find impossible to deny. The Hamilton-based band hits Asbury Lanes (209 4^th Ave., Asbury Park) at 8 p.m. Wednesday with Jettison and Fire First. Tickets cost $7. 18-plus.

Bearin’ Peace

Soul-swinging rudies from Pethouse’s Bob Guccione’s old stomping grounds headline Six Flags Great Adventure’s (1 Six Flags Blvd., Jackson) Live & Local stage at 2 p.m. Wednesday - shift from party-time ska, cool-cat Royal Crown revving and Everlast rock-hop.  Free with admission to the park. All-ages.

Scott Frost’s On The Beat concert listing appears in The Trentonian every Thursday. If your band is playing around town, hit up the On the Beat webline at djscott111@aol.com. And for further entertainment news, go to Trentonian.com. 

Honah Lee: A Loss For Words

Photo Michelle Lawlor

Trenton rockers Honah Lee host its Rock 'n' Roll Record Release and Dance Party Friday night in Trenton. The show is free. So go!

So my favorite band in Trenton, Honah Lee, has this new record coming out of Friday, and I was lucky enough to get an early listen. "A Loss For Words" reminds my of an Arctic Monkeys track. It has this cool Brit-pop feel to it, which explains the collective mind-frame of each of the guys in the band. The four members have been major contributors to the Trenton music scene for a very long time in bands like Philo, The Dead Flowers and The Frantic, so hearing some of those British invasion ideas come to fruition on the first single from the album, shows that the party-pop side of Philo has taken a side-step for more melodic, even snottier new compositions. Other songs I've heard from the guys recently still has that slacker mentality - something we saw in Philo's history - and that's OK with me. But it's still refreshing to hear something left of circle - and left of the dial - from a band that could help break the Trenton music scene. 

In the meantime, here's a free download of "A Loss For Words" for you to download. It'll help you prepare for Friday night's free, all-ages bash at Maxines (120 S. Warren St.) in Trenton. 

On the Beat: Aug. 13-18

Cute cowgirls Audra Buick hits Asbury Lanes with The Loved One' Dave Walsh Thursday night.

Amleah rock Joe's Mill Hill Saloon Friday night.

Flo Rida

When this Grammy-nominated 2 Live Crew prodigy and dance-rap revivalist “says jump, you say how high, because (he) ain’t never seen anyone soar so high.” Or that’s at least the deep content your kids are getting “Low”  to on the hip-hop star’s silly new party jam, “Jump,” which is set on booty shake at Six Flags Great Adventure’s (1 Six Flags Blvd., Jackson) Northern Star Arena at 7 tonight. Free with admission to the park. All-ages.

Demic & Bawsten

Gotham City hip-hop duo - storming Six Flags Great Adventure’s (1 Six Flags Blvd., Jackson) Live & Local stage at 2 this afternoon – have “a passion for flashin” when getting down-right greasy and grimy on their branded bling raps. Get past their song’s misogynistic framework and you’ll find a fare share of street-poet thinking Mob Deep fans could raise the roof to. Deejay Non-Chalant spins also. Free with admission to the park. All-ages.

Dave Walsh

Loved Ones guitarist spends an off night reincarnating solos from his days in The Explosion while the rest of the fiery Philly punk bunch heal up for its nationwide Tour with New Brunswick’s The Gaslight Anthem. He’ll accompany Nashville country-pop beauty Audra Buick for tonight’s show at Asbury Lanes (209 4^th Ave., Asbury Park). Show starts at 5. Austin Lucas and Two Cow Garage open. Tickets cost $8. 18-plus.  

Kings X

Dream Theater’s funk-metal tour chums cast sophisticated prog-soul wizardry on The Stone Pony (913 Ocean Ave., Asbury Park) at 7 tonight. Friends of Bill Wilson open. Tickets cost $17.50 and $20. All-ages.

Honah Lee

The new tracks from the city geek-rock super-group - debuting at tomorrow night’s free record-release dance party at Maxine’s (120 S. Warren St., Trenton) - emit a refined ’90s Brit-pop-party-invasion flavor you’d expect with the combined minds of Philo, Dead Flowers and Moscow Girls behind the music. “A Loss For Words” comes at you with an Arctic Monkeys/Dandy Warhols vibe, while “I’m Insane” follows Weezer’s slacker-anthem design. Doors open at 7:30. Trenton’s Too Much Too Fast Too Soon and The Cryptkeeper Five, open the show, along with New York’s Crooked Looks and Statues of Liberty. All-ages. 

 Amleah

Former Riotones get high on harmony-enriched jam-core with System of a Down-spun melodies and Dredg vocal techniques – play Joe’s Mill Hill Saloon’s (300 S. Broad St., Trenton) Mill Hill Rock Out 2 charity concert at 6 tomorrow night with Mark Dapp, The Escapists, The Mean, Eastside Vibe, DaddyGreenJeans, Lost in Company, Chattahoochee Payload and Sideshow Prophets. A $10 suggestive donation will be collected at the door. 21-plus.

The Tea & Whiskey

Old Bridge trio, playing Championships Sports Bar and Grill (931 Chambers St., Trenton) at 9 tomorrow night, will keep its gleeful indie-pop melodies slow and steady - or should we say The Hold Steady? Terror! On the Screen and Factor X play, too. Tickets cost $8. 21-plus.

Uncle Monk

An original Ramone (and sole survivor) when Joey couldn’t keep up the tempo in 1974, the N.Y. legends’ original skinsman is 60 and starring in a bluegrass duo  - playing The Record Collector (358 Farnsworth Ave., Bordentown) at 7:30 tomorrow night - with The Simplistic’s Claudia Tienan. Known for penning “I Wanna Be Your Boyfriend” and most of “Blitzkrieg Bop,” Tamas Erdelyi also produced The Replacement’s LP that spawned the hit “Bastards of Young.” The Spinning Leaves and Laura Baird open. Tickets cost $10 in advance, $12 at the door. All-ages.

Jac

Three good reasons to see the Lambertville minstrels and former Mad Elephant players three times this weekend: Katie Campo’s accordion rocks - and her smile ain’t bad either - the new record features killer ukulele and trumpet work and there’s no other band in Trenton that’ll ever successfully blend the best of Felice Brothers, Cake and Camaron De La Isla into a gigantic collection of sounds. The official record-release party is at 9 p.m. Sunday at Clydz (55 Paterson St., New Brunswick). But there’s also shows set for 9 tomorrow night at The Fire (412 W. Girard Ave., Philadelphia) and at John & Peters (93 S. Main St., New Hope, Pa.) at 8 p.m. Saturday. Walking With Cavemen and Terminal Reynaldo open-up at all three. The Sunday show is free. Tickets cost $5 for the others. 21-plus.   

Kelly Carvin

Trenton singer’s soulful voice will take a little piece of your heart now, baby – at Six Flags Great Adventure’s (1 Six Flags Blvd., Jackson) Exploration Station stage at 2 and 3 tomorrow. Free with admission to the park. All-ages.

Hammer of the Gods

New Yorkers get the Led out at the Paramount Theatre (1300 Ocean Ave., Asbury Park) at 7:30 tomorrow night by recreating, “the mystical aura of an authentic Zeppelin concert, complete with a thunderous sound, a spectacular light show, authentic instruments and vintage-period clothing.” That means middle-aged men in puffy shirts pulling off killer shreds on two-headed axes. Dazed and confused, indeed. Tickets cost $20 and $40. All-ages.

Legend of the Fall

Ridgefield brothers - hitting up Six Flags Great Adventure’s (1 Six Flags Blvd., Jackson) Live & Local stage at 2 tomorrow afternoon with Boy Wonder - combine Hanson’s sensibilities, Metallica’s theatrics and Sum 41’s goofiness into its unique pop-core brew. Free with admission to the park. All-ages.

Sleep For Sleepers

California emo trio - who stick to the one-eye covered by your mop top look - sound like an edge-less Saosin, co-headline Championships Sports Bar and Grill (931 Chambers St., Trenton) at 3 p.m. Saturday with Ruth. Entelechy, These Branches, The Man With Dynamite Hands, Skies on Fire and Theory of Noise round out the bill. Tickets cost $10 in advance, $12 at the door. All-ages.

DaddyGreenJeans

Trenton electro-jam-heads’ spin-cycling, guitar-synth grooving take a passive – less trance, more rock – stab at Sound Tribe Sector Nine’s hippie-hypnotic force-field of funk. The guys hit up McGuinn’s Place (1781 Brunswick Pike, Lawrence) at 10 p.m. Saturday with The Escapists. Tickets cost $5. 21-plus.

Ras A’sia

Trenton rap queen-bee’s classic wordplay and R&B, soul and reggae clashes rekindle the tough-girl attitude of MC Lyte, the fluid flow of Fugees-era Lauryn Hill and the sass of Erykah Badu. And it will be on display at The All Call Inn (214 Weber Ave., Ewing) at 9 p.m. Saturday when her sisters in Royal StarR Entertainment show off their mic skills. Tickets cost $5. 21-plus.

Clifford Adams

Kool & The Gang trombonist gets down – and as jazzy as you’re more customary to with this Trenton legend - Saturday night at The Record Collector (358 Farnsworth Ave., Bordentown). It’ll be the man - and his remarkable resume of studio work with Ella Fitzgerald and Jimmy Cliff - going head to head with a jazz organ trio. Starts at 7:30 p.m. Tickets cost $10 in advance, $12 at the door. All-ages.

The Billies

Lancaster bluegrass duo strum uplifting county-fair country folk and cowgirl blues at Six Flags Great Adventure’s (1 Six Flags Blvd., Jackson) Live & Local stage at 1 p.m. Saturday. Mark Milkos, the Scott DeCarlo Band, the Tom Hood Band and Quixote Project play, too. Free with admission to the park. All-ages.

The Autumn Offering

This generation sees its first glam metal takeover with the popularity growth of this Florida emo band and its overtly-dramatic-yet-heavy-hitting, crouch-grabbing ballad battles heard on “Silence is Golden.” There’s still something exciting to look forward to when a Victory Records band – as saturated as the label’s gotten – hits town, especially when the hardcore parade includes skull-crushing Canucks, Threat Signal, as the ringleaders. The Canadians call Nuclear Blast home – which translate into body-bruising metallic crunch that’ll haunt you in your sleep (and a little Dez Fafara impersonating on the sing-alongs). The Agonist, Sybreed, Sicker Than Most, Triggered Impulse, Through The Grey, I Am The Trirme, Barbarism, Burning Hypocrisy and Circle Down play, too. Tickets cost $13 in advance, $15 at the door. All-ages.   

Paul Green School of Rock

The Princeton chapter’s summer camp super squad celebrates the 40^th anniversary of Woodstock at Six Flags Great Adventure’s (1 Six Flags Blvd., Jackson) Live & Local stage at 1 p.m. Sunday with a few Janis Joplin, Jimi Hendrix and Sly & the Family Stone covers. The Running Year is also on the bill. Free with admission to the park. All-ages.

The Mighty Mighty Bosstones

No one ever expected the Boston ska-core kings to be a full-on band again, even with a few spot shows last year – two in New Jersey. Singer Dickey Barrett – who lives in California these days and is the announcer for “Jimmy Kimmel Live” - even confirmed in an interview with The Trentonian before their reunion stop at Bamboozle April 2008 that those spot starts were all we’d get from the plaid pipers. “Where’d You Go?” with those proclamations, Mr. Barrett? Too young for retirement, the Beantown bombers skanked through a few more and their dynamite live shows – then posted two new tracks on MySpace for their ninth record. Always loving New Jersey, especially The Stone Pony, the boys decided to hit the beach, The Stone Pony Summer Stage (913 Ocean Ave., Asbury Park) at 3 p.m. Sunday. Catch 22, The Creetons and Speakeasies & The Ice Picks open. Tickets cost $26 in advance, $30 at the door. All-ages.   

TRUSTcompany

The radio hit “Downfall,” the largely-popular, post-Alice In Chains, fresh-faced, teen-friendly, vocally-centered nu metal of the times and early 2000s tours with Korn and Disturbed catapulted this Alabama post-grunge band to Gold-record status in 2002. Now seven-years since “The Lonely Position of Normal” peaked at 34 on the Billboard charts and reached sales into the 200,000, and years since Linkin Park was considered cool, the guys hit up Championships Sports Bar and Grill (931 Chambers St., Trenton) at 4 p.m. Tuesday two-years gone from its two-year hiatus with a new record brewing for the fall. And Trenton’s one of its first four stops to taste the fresh material. Lesser Of Two, Decades Lost, Cubed, One Good Reason and Vessel, open. Tickets cost $12 in advance, $14 at the door. All-ages.

Scott Frost’s On The Beat concert listing appears in The Trentonian every Thursday. If your band is playing around town, hit up the On the Beat webline at djscott111@aol.com.