The Lik-lyric Looney returns from tour to set the Trenton hip-hop scene a blaze with a brand-new album, “The Self-Loathing Egomaniac,” and record release party set for The All Call Inn (214 Weber Ave., Ewing) tomorrow night. On the record, the Lawrence Southsider’s self-described “break-neck flows” slide comic book namedrops and zany wordplay – with the favorites being the punk-rock allusions to being a sex pistol-ing rhyme engineer - over horny beat plunders orchestrated by long-time collaborator, Swisschz. His lyrics – which include a full-song homage over the depletion in value of his Spawn No. 1 comic book – prove there’s no topic too deep, shallow or personal that he can’t rhymed about. And that’s uplifting for the Tri-State hip-hop scene and its gravitation toward sensationalistic booty anthems and chauvinistic bling things that show no interpersonal depth. “It’s funny,” he tells On the Beat, “a compliment I hear a lot is people saying they love my stuff and they hate hip-hop. The subject might be different then what some are used to, but that’s the beauty of this music. They’re no limitations.” Show starts at 9. DEMO, The Man From Somewhere Else, Roebus One, Karma Bat, GDP, Swisschz and Rocky play, too. Tickets cost $5. 21-plus.
The tech-tubular nerd-core noodle-head is the only Garden State emcee to match rhymes about 2-bit sprites, Ethernet cables and video game jargon in his pale-rap parodies. The Jersey goof ball – chilling at Championships Sports Bar and Grill (931 Chambers St., Trenton) tomorrow night – parodies Run-D.M.C.’s “My Addidas” with an Atari tribute that sports dorky flows like, “I stood in line when I was 9, Thought Burger Time left the world behind,” and “You can’t go wrong with games like Pong, When I’m pit-falling, a snake bit my thong.” Funny stuff, really, especially for fans of Weird Al’s “It’s All About The Pentiums” and MC Lars’ “Hot Topic is Not Punk Rock.” Show starts at 9. The Tea & Whiskey, Montagna & The Mouth To Mouth, Black Birds and Fun Machine round out the bill. Tickets cost $8. 21-plus.
Wouldn’t it be cool if The New York Doll and protopunk icon greased up the hair again as Buster Poindexter to spark conga-line fun with his hit, “Hot Hot Hot,” at The Record Collector (358 Farnsworth Ave., Bordentown) tomorrow night. “Ole! Ole!” Johansen’s been quoted as saying that bar mitzvah treasure is the “bane” of his existence. So Vagabond Missionaries songs would be more appropriate. Show starts at 7:30. Tickets cost $25. All-ages.
Monster Magnet’s new sinister sideshow rides the lightning into the Stone Pony (913 Ocean Ave., Asbury Park) tomorrow night. Yep, they sound like Metallica. Sigh. Show starts at 7:30. New Theory, The Ominous Order of Filthy Mongrels, Our Last Sin and Finale Hill play, too. Tickets cost $10. All-ages.
The city band’s alienated free-form space jazz have a Tangerine Dream quality to them in the synth and special effects, with the futuristic guitar cycles leaning its influences to bohemian-rave stalwarts The Disco Biscuits. Also for fans of The New Deal, Lotus and Brothers Past. The guys headline McGuinn’s Place (1781 Brunswick Pike, Lawrence) Saturday night. Show starts at 9. Tickets cost $5. 21-plus.
Intergalactic prog-punk from New York? Must be Coheed and Cambria. Sounds like Coheed and Cambria. But alas, it’s not Coheed and Cambria headlining Championships Sports Bar and Grill (931 Chambers St., Trenton) Saturday night. Sigh part deux. Show starts at 9. Before The Accident Happens, Cover3 and The Reverend Christopher Eissing play, too. Tickets cost $8. 21-plus.
The Freehold quartet play ’70s-style jangle pop and bar-bluesy rock ’n’ rolling Americana that’s part Hollies, part The Refreshments. They headline The Record Collector (358 Farnsworth Ave., Bordentown) Saturday night. Show starts at 7:30. Tickets cost $10. All-ages.
The Mercer County singer, with the seductive feline stare, doesn’t “give into the syndical pollution.” Instead her revolution starts and ends with inspirational music from the heart that’s not afraid to sock-it-to-you when you underestimate its feminine vigor. For fans of Liz Phair and Ani DiFranco. Carvin opens for Christine Martucci at The Stone Pony (913 Ocean Ave., Asbury Park) Saturday night. Show starts at 7:30. Deepa Soul, Tara Elliott, Aster Pheonyx and Virago play, too. Tickets cost $20. All-ages.
The indie pop songstress stops by The Stone Pony (913 Ocean Ave., Asbury Park) Wednesday night on her way to next weekend’s Bonneroo Festival. Her music’s been all over TV – on “One Tree Hill” and “Grey’s Anatomy” – and contains lyrical whip-smarts disguised in a sea of harmonic fluff. For fans of Lisa Loeb and Sara Bareilles Show starts at 7:30. Matt Morris opens. Tickets cost $25. All-ages.
Scott Frost’s On The Beat concert listing appears in The Trentonian every Thursday. If your band is playing around town, email the On the Beat web line at djscott111@aol.com.
On The Beat resident spinster Deejay Non-Chalant debuts mixes from both "Meatballs 8" and "Meatballs 9" at Six Flags Great Adventure in Jackson, NJ, at 6 p.m. Saturday. He'll be appearing on the Live & Local stage (just outside the Northstar Arena) before New York pop punks Lake Avenue.
Philadelphia's Deejay Non-Chalant hasn't dropped a new mix tape for us from his Meatballs series in a while. So why not drop two at once. He's been digging on the new Hot Chip, Gorillaz and Yeasayer and flips of those bands make some special appearances. Both mixes are your typical Non-Chalant fare - jumping between Euro-mashed hip-hop tracks, big beat and dubstep - except in the first 10 minutes or so of Meatballs 9, which features some downbeat rock reflections that give the early goings a softer, more surreal effect. Neat stuff. As always download the mixes for free and let us know what you think.
And if you can make it out to Central Jersey on Saturday, check out the set. Email me at djscott111@aol.com for a link to $20 discount tickets we can hook you up with if you feel like raving and roller-coaster-ing. You'll be able to pick up Non-Chalants MSTRKRFT mix tape there, too, for $5,
A caldron of grease lightning and groovie-ghouling horror punk gets these South Carolina rockers doing the graveyard dance at The Court Tavern (124 Church St., New Brunswick) tonight. Inspired by The Ramones’ three-chord throw downs, the band’s 18-years of ’50s-inspired pop will remind locals of Trenton icons, The Cryptkeeper Five. Also for fans of The Misfits and the infamous “Hot Rod Herman” episode of “The Munsters.” Show starts at 8. The Hub City Stompers headline the show. Decrepit Youth play, too. Tickets cost $8. 21-plus.
The Ewing rockers have “killing” the scene since 1999 with a sadistic brand of punk-core that falls somewhere in the speed-metal spectrum between System of a Down and GWAR. They have a new record out, too, and headline the Mill Hill Basement (300 S. Broad St., Trenton) tomorrow night. Show starts at 9. Tickets cost $5. 21-plus.
The Hopewell rockers join The Sourland Band at McGuinn’s Place (1781 Brunswick Pike, Lawrence) for a few cocktails tomorrow night. Show starts at 9. 21-plus.
The melodious splendor and jangle pop feel of Mick Chorba’s (The Dipsomaniacs) alt-country band’s brand new CD, “Three Nights,” would have fit perfectly in the Chapel Hill scene of the mid ’90s, but with Uncle Tupelo controlling its export into college radio. It has a left of the dial feel, too, you’d find in later R.E.M. and humbled, reality-based lyrics that showcase Chroba’s quit-witted humor and musical imaging. What’s always great about The Successful Failure’s records is that they never try too hard to change the world. Instead, the songs paint this pretty picture of middle-class normality that along with the record’s hearty portions of Cash-y cowboy hop-alongs, induce images of a simpler time for the American music industry when there was room on the radio for “shite-kicking” rock ’n’ roll trailblazing. For fans of Ben Folds, Superchunk, Wilco and Superdrag. The official record-release party for “Three Nights” is set for The Record Collector (358 Farnsworth Ave., Bordentown) tomorrow night. Show starts at 7:30. Hamilton’s Keith Monacchio, who opens, added some country twang to his new record, “The Long Evening,” which meshes well with The Commons singer’s typical contemporary pop/blues resonance. Tickets cost $10 in advance, $12 at the door. All-ages.
“The Whore,” an intriguing track found of the Trenton coffeehouse-pop foursome’s MySpace page, takes a shot at the nation’s infatuation with the Hollywood starlet – exposing the evil cycle of the mainstream media that praises young girls only until they’ve been numbed by the attention and can be called sluts without a peep of uproar. Pretty power stuff, and nicely cocooned by the poetic and musical aura found in the works of Paula Cole, Tori Amos and Fiona Apple. Also for fans of Shawn Colvin and Dar Williams. The foursome will join a slew of music happenings at The City of Angel’s Rockfest at Tall Cedars Picnic Grove (245 Sawmill Road, Hamilton) on Saturday. Show starts at noon. Bands ranging from pop punk (Reckless), jam-prog (Red Sea Affair) and country (Sherry St. John) fill the lineup of music. Cruel School Children, Darkwater, Driven, Garden State of Mind, A Clever Con and Street Corner 5 round out the bill. Tickets cost $15, $10 for students. All-ages.
The Columbus sound-collision combatants sway between terroristic tough-guy throw downs and weepy melodies that translate into a metallic hybrid of Hatebreed and Thursday. The five-piece headline Championships Sports Bar and Grill (931 Chambers St., Trenton) Saturday afternoon. Show starts at noon. Local Demise, A Call To Arms, The Goodnight Armada, FreeDoom and NoN-SToP! round out the bill. Tickets cost $10. All-ages.
The female-fronted, Bordentown-based, avant-punk indie-rock-pop trio – think Kim Deal’s shy Pixies solos but with a more sinister poetic sass – headline a free show at Brewsters (529 Route 130 N, East Windsor) Saturday afternoon. Show starts at 3. The Stewart Dolly, Brandon C, Pandemonium and Don’t Mess With The Wizard play, too.
The Trenton rockers, who’ve been tuckered down lately working on a new album, headline The All Call Inn (214 Weber Ave., Ewing) Saturday night. Show starts at 8. The Royal Blues open. Tickets cost $5. 21-plus.
The Hub City sludge rockers’ 2009 CD “Winter Solace” layers stone-bashing grooves and classic bone-saw instrumentation into a grunge-slop potion of Kyuss, Mudhoney, Black Sabbath and Nebula. There’s some psychedelic swamp boogie in the musicianship and flutters of Kurt Cobain (“Carcinogen”), Doug Martsch (“White Lies”), Neil Fallon (“Waves”) and Gavin Rossdale (“Know How to Die”) in singer Evan Staats’ vocal sliming. The guys headline Championships Sports Bar and Grill (931 Chambers St., Trenton) Saturday night. Show starts at 9. Law, Mayday Underground, Rebel Inc. and Erase the Past round out the bill. Tickets cost $8. 21-plus.
Grandaddy
The area cover band use songs you know – and even some you despise but you dance to anyway because the girls are dancing and you’re eager to score and you know getting jiggy to bar bands is an acceptable way to rub up on some classy ladies – to raise money for the Cranbury/Plainsboro Little League at Brewsters (529 Route 130 N, East Windsor) Saturday night. Show starts at 9. Tickets cost $10. 21-plus.
The New York City legends are once again leaving their fury-filled death punch bruise on the east coast hardcore scene with “Three Steps Back” – a record that, thankfully, remained in its stripped down form of punk wallop. As the millennium approached a lot of these classic hardcore bands had disappeared and there was fear the pounding sound that defined by that era in underground music would either lose its edge to emo or totally be wiped out by the saturated fusion of screamy metalcore. Well, Killing Time - headlining The Court Tavern (124 Church St., New Brunswick) Saturday night – had called it quits in 1998, but then toured Asia and found that there was still an audience that salivated over the true-life, politically-minded and street-wise-spiritual energy of those NYC-style hardcore bands. Anyone who ever practiced their dance moves to Sick Of It All’s “Step Down,” H2O’s “Spirit of ’84” or Gorilla Biscuit’s “Start Today” could really sink their teeth into “Three Steps Back.” Show starts at 9. Legends of the scene round out the bill, including sets from Vision, Torchbearer, The Somerville Town Drunks and Voice Or No Voice. Tickets cost $10. 21-plus.
Hands Up!
Unapologetic and speaker damaging in its fear-inducing metallic approach, these New York City hardcore throwbacks insight karate kicks with a smash-mouth-style that pays homage to The Cro-Mags, All Out War and Madball. So if you like running in a circle and screaming into the microphone, learn the lyrics on their MySpace page, and then go and get your dance on at Championships Sports Bar and Grill (931 Chambers St., Trenton) Sunday afternoon. Show starts at 2 p.m. All-ages.
The man-scaping, knuckle-pounding, beer-ponging, girl-scoping, all-boy Lady Gaga parody band “likes tickle-tortures while watching the Knicks.” And you’ll be able to read the Philly fly-boys flamboyant poker faces at The Stone Pony (913 Ocean Ave., Asbury Park) Sunday afternoon. Show starts at 2. Clash of Influence, Hollywood Kills, Lost Intentions, Oval Portrait, The PTC and The DIYs play, too. Tickets cost $10. All-ages.
Scott Frost’s On The Beat concert listing appears in The Trentonian every Thursday. If your band is playing around town, email the On the Beat webline at djscott111@aol.com.
The Hamilton honky-tonk man - who several years ago took a weird root to stardom by fleeing to of all places Hollywood in search of a recording career in country music – headlines The Record Collector (358 Farnsworth Ave., Bordentown) tonight. Davis - whose vintage cowboy gospel borders western swing and country traditions found in classic Johnny Cash, Hank Williams and Merle Haggard – released a couple well-received records out in Cali with Grammy-winning producer Pete Anderson (Dwight Yoakam), but never landed the film deal he was shooting for. He did, however, tour Asia with The Charlie Daniels Band and saw his songs appear in feature films “Crash,” “The Hills Have Eyes” and “The Dukes of Hazzard II.” His music isn’t all vintage, however, as there’s enough modern twang in his vocal tones to gets fans of Jake Owen boot-scootin-boogie-ing tonight. Show starts at 7:30 p.m. Jet Weston & the Groville 5 play, too. Tickets cost $10 in advance, $12 at the door. All-ages.
Raw demo’s of this city emcee’s new bangers reveal a commercial rap appeal that flows beyond street-level mix-tape culture, as the slippery hip-hopper dips between bars and Timbaland-style beats at Ludacris speeds. No party anthem yet, but there’ll probably be a couple joints for the shorties to grind to when headlining McGuinn’s Place (1781 Brunswick Pike, Lawrence) tomorrow night, as it seems Rocky’s flashy, lyrical showmanship stay fly on all angles. Show starts at 9. Jay Lee, Scoop, K.E.O. and 2 Live & Die in NJ play, too. Tickets cost $5. 21-plus.
Bio-hazardous metal-core with neck-snapping breakdowns and vocal barks show off the Maryland band’s devil-driven Sepultura devotion. The pit-packing pillagers headline Championships Sports Bar and Grill (931 Chambers St., Trenton) tomorrow night. Show starts 9. Angels Wake, DogHouse Swine and Bob On Blonde round out the bill. Tickets cost $8. 21-plus.
Just as Bad Brains influenced punk-rock kids in the ’80s to embrace Rastafarian ideals, it was this legend who in the documentary “American Hardcore” admitted he pushed Ian MacKaye to vocalize the beliefs of straight-edge culture in Minor Threat’s music in an attempt lead their fans in the same positive direction. The always enigmatic singer tends to sway between dub, ska and reggae when flying solo – a stark contrast to Bad Brain’s spastic crash-collisions – but who knows what he has in mind for tomorrow’s live set at The Record Collector (358 Farnsworth Ave., Bordentown). Recent interviews with the 54-year-old punk icon have been free-form and scattered, while his live shows have been described as mellow and retrained and almost entirely reggae based. Not the kind of person you can ever predict, there’s still a wild child hiding behind that infamous grin, so expect the unexpected. Show starts at 7:30. Skate-punk legend Chuck Trees - who played for a time in Bad Brains - and McRad open up. Tickets cost $15 in advance, $20 at the door. All-ages.
The Gaslight Anthem front man strums whisky-wise acoustic folk-punk at The Court Tavern (124 Church St., New Brunswick) tomorrow night. Lets hope he kicks in an advance of Gaslight’s “American Slang” for fans, and plays a couple new tracks from the June 13 release. Show starts at 9. The Loved Ones’ Dave Hause plays an acoustic set, too. So will Communication Redlight. Tickets cost $10. 21-plus.
Here’s a first. A band from England modeling their candied pop sound on commercial county radio made famous over here with groups like Sugarland. There’s also folksy side to the group’s song writing in the spirit of Sixpence None The Richer and female-fronted ’90s alt-rock feel (Tanya Donelly, Mary Lou Lord), but for the most part this stateside invasion – landing at The Saint (601 Main St., Asbury Park) tomorrow night – has the intentions of swallowing-up fans of LeAnne Rimes, Little Big Town and Carrie Underwood. Show starts at 7:30. The Fave and Devil’s Holiday play open. Tickets cost $10 in advance, $12 at the door. 18-plus.
The Trenton-based screeching weasels’ brand of pop punk pays homage to “Cheshire Cat”-era Blink 182 and Less Than Jake (just without the horns). They dress up like clowns sometimes, too, which is a gimmick fit for all types of family entertainment, especially throwback punk rock fans of The Bouncing Souls and the first two Green Day records. The guys play Championships Sports Bar and Grill’s (931 Chambers St., Trenton) Saturday afternoon showcase. Starts at noon. County Drop, The DIYs, Ripping X-Ray, Radio Radio and My Name Is Drew play, too. Tickets cost $10. All-ages.
The Woodbridge-based starry-eyed pop rockers’ merry melodies – think newer All American Rejects mixed with Mayday Parade and Boys Like Girls – get their sing-along-song-on when opening for Driver Side Impact (Victory Records) at The Court Tavern (124 Church St., New Brunswick) on Saturday night. Show starts at 8. Tall Days and CJ Grogan. Tickets cost $8. 21-plus.
The diabolical dark stalkers had only one goal in mind when unleashing their sinister metallic mayhem on the world - “to perform blackened rituals in the grand tradition of old school evil black metal.” Scary stuff, indeed. Makes for the perfect soundtrack for a church burning. Also for those sick individuals worshiping Gaahl, Dimmu Borgir and sickos who get their rocks off from sacrificing virgin maidens to the tree Gods. All this wickedness lands at Championships Sports Bar and Grill (931 Chambers St., Trenton) on Saturday night. Show starts at 9. Sapremia, Haethen and Blasphemous open. Tickets cost $8. 21-plus.
If jamming out with Matisyahu at a beach bon fire with Jack Johnson, .moe, 311 and Metallica sounds like a blast, then you can totally groove to these Santa Cruz dub-head’s rock-reggae vibe. The Cali cool kids headline The Stone Pony (913 Ocean Ave., Asbury Park) Saturday night. Show starts at 7. Tomorrows Bed Seeds, Dirty Penny and Flight’s Kool round out the bill. Tickets cost $15 in advance, $18 at the door. All-ages.
Hellion-istic kill-core, complete with elbow-engaging break downs for pit pulverizing, and asphyxiating vocal barbarity allows this Long Branch metal band to shatter speakers through a maelstrom of orchestrated chaos. Appropriately signed to Choke ’Em Records, and with a sound comparable to Lamb of God driving a truck through a brick wall, the guys are the highlight of Championships Sports Bar and Grill (931 Chambers St., Trenton) Sunday afternoon ear assault. Show starts at 2. The Binary Code headline. Gloominous Doom, The Ghost in Black and White, The Doomsday Prophecy, Heartbeatstill, One Brick Down, In Wake of the Plague and Another Vendetta play, too. Tickets cost $10. All-ages.
You got to love a jam-band icon with distaste for jam-band music. Ween – the recovering Whiskey addict, not the angler – one time told Now magazine that he liked Trey Anastasio (Phish) “as a person, but as far as the music goes, all that jam band (shite) makes me want to puke.” The New Hope resident headlines a solo performance at Havana NewHope (105 S. Main St., New Hope, Pa.) on Sunday. Show starts at 6. Tickets cost $22 in advance.
Scott Frost’s On The Beat concert listing appears in The Trentonian every Thursday. If your band is playing around town, email the On the Beat web line at djscott111@aol.com.
If Joe Strummer and Kurt Cobain collaborated on a record with NOFX and Bill Stevenson production, its byproduct would sound something like the ball of energy that is this San Francisco band’s new disc, “African Elephants.” Featuring former members of One Man Army and opening for Against Me! at The Stone Pony (913 Ocean Ave., Asbury Park) tonight, DTM’s sophomore effort swishes through nearly ever sub genre known to punk rock. For instance, the album opener, “X,” gets smoked out on a dub-y, Clash-esque ragga vibe, while the next track – the grungy number “Blue” – slimes by as if it was the hidden prize in at the bottom a bottle of Nirvana’s “Bleach.” The joyous angst and sarcastic humor in the words fits nicely among the FatWreakChords lineup and it’s easy to find tracks that sway between working-class punk in an Off With Their Heads feeling and the melodic paths found in Alkaline Trio and even The Replacements. If there’s one punk-rock record to buy right now, it’s “African Elephant,” for reelz. Show starts at 6. Money Brother plays, too. Tickets cost $13 in advance, $15 at the door. All-ages.
The Ocean County noise-core addicts hired Steve Albini to produce its “Such Progress” album, due out this summer. The hire makes sense with Senium’s grungy, rhythm slices, screechy vocal pummels and musical meshing of Nirvana, Shellac, Unsane and Sonic Youth. “Second Rate,” the least spun track on the band’s MySpace page, blindly listened upon could easily be confused with an “In Utero” b-side. The trio headline The Court Tavern (124 Church St., New Brunswick tonight. Show starts at 9. Late Night, The Black Clouds, The Sex Zombies and The Dead & Gone round out the bill. DJ Stereojinx spins between sets. Tickets cost $5. 21-plus.
The Philly head bangers have spent the last 10 years rocking out to a fusion of oversexed, high-energy ’80s glam and British invasion heavy metal found in Judas Priest and Motorhead. This past March the guys did its cock-rock strut along the Crocodile Rock stage in Allentown, Pa., in their Brett Michaels gear while opening W.A.S.P. Strutting at a smaller scale of sorts is set for Championships Sports Bar and Grill (931 Chambers St., Trenton) tomorrow night, where the guys will headline a show with 3X3 and Release. Show starts at 9. Tickets cost $8. 21-plus.
First Highland Watch
The bag-piping-pipers get their rock ’n’ rolling drone-on at The Record Collector (358 Farnsworth Ave., Bordentown) tomorrow night. Show starts at 7:30. Tickets cost $12 in advance, $14 at the door. All-ages.
The Riverside death metalers have a new CD of unembellished breakdowns, unholy guitar annihilations and grisly vocal infections set to contaminate the already damaged ears of their hardcore minions. The record hits the streets officially with a celebratory show at Championships Sports Bar and Grill (931 Chambers St., Trenton) on Saturday afternoon. Clips found on their MySpace page would suggest the Burlco head-bangers melded more thrash elements into their already barbaric song structures. Show starts at noon. Tickets cost $10. All-ages.
Detension
The hardcore legends and City Gardens regular stompers back in the ’80s reunite for one-time only at The Record Collector (358 Farnsworth Ave., Bordentown) Saturday night. Show starts at 7:30. Vision - another killer hardcore outfit from that era who never really called it quits – open. Tickets cost $10 in advance, $12 at the door. All-ages.
The chubby-chasing ska-scamps released their new CD, “Ska Ska Black Sheep,” last week. It was recorded at Version City Studios and has this new-wave-era zest to it for Madness and Bad Manners fans. The guys will have six new songs of “ska-punk-hardcore-dub-reggae” – and six self-proclaimed “wicked dubs” - in their holsters and ready to blast out when headlining Asbury Lanes (209 4th Ave., Asbury Park) Saturday night. Show starts at 8. Joe Coffee & Razorblade Handgrenades, Somerville Town Drunks and Guns On the Run open. Tickets cost $10 in advance, $12 at the door. 18-plus.
The Trenton pirate-metal plunderers’ thrash-and-smash vessel dropped anchor recently for a few days of hometown pillaging after spending most of 2009-2010 ravaging Europe with Vader, Heaven Shall Burn and Dark Tranquility. However, the hardcore hornswaggles only crack Jenny’s tea cup for a short while as there’s more booty to capture and grog to engulf in the high seas of heavy-metal debauchery. A no-quartering, nation-wide tour with Hypocrisy - which eventually lands back in Europe in September - begins Tuesday with an afternoon hometown throw down at Championships Sports Bar and Grill (931 Chambers St., Trenton). Show starts at 4. Hypocrisy won’t be taking in any Trenton pork roll that day, but Blackguard and Triggered Impulse will be there to open up. Tickets cost $12 in advance, $14 at the door. All-ages.
Although based in California, the surf-rock Soviets were such a sensation in Russia they were asked to play the Moscow Live8 alongside the Pet Shop Boys. That’s pretty big for a strictly independent band. And now they got a couple of Santa Monica babes on keyboards, accordion and bass in the band to intoxicate the listener with their sensual and go-go-flavored eye-batting. The band makes its second trip to The Record Collector (358 Farnsworth Ave., Bordentown) Tuesday night. Show starts at 7. Tickets cost $22 in advance, $25 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, email the On the Beat web line at djscott111@aol.com.
The Tampa terror-metalers’ tornado-ing guitar and drum work are ear-tormenting-ly terrific. “Till It Bleeds,” the band’s new CD was produced by Fear Factory’s Christian Olde Wolberg, and comes complete with a fury-fan-tabulous sound in the style of Soulfly. They play Championships Sports Bar and Grill (931 Chambers St., Trenton) tonight. Show starts at 7. Dystrophy, Audacity, Diminished and Endemic play, too. Tickets cost $8. 18-plus.
The former Styx player - the “Ob-La-Di” to Marshall Crenshaw’s “Ob-La-Da” in the Broadway Production of “Beatlemania” – just can’t get enough of Paul, John, George and Ringo so he tours Beatle fests around the nation with his cover band Liverpool. And when he’s not doing that, he’s headlining Central Jersey Christmas shows and touring with the Electric Light Orchestra 2. The North Jersey musician, who’s written hits for Patty Smyth and Don Henley, has a 75-minute set ready for the Record Collector (358 Farnsworth Ave., Bordentown) tonight. Show starts at 7:30. Tickets cost $15 in advance, $20 at the door. All-ages.
Complete inebriation and all-out-rocking-and-socking is on tap for the Hamilton band’s appropriately named “Party! Party! Party! Tour,” which kicks off at Asbury Lanes (209 4th Ave., Asbury Park) tonight. It’ll be the first place to purchase the former Philos, Frantic and Rape Baby two-song Dropcard – a popular custom download gift card thingy that allows fans to digitally download the band’s tracks on line. The guys also crash Don Hill’s – NYC (511 Greenwhich St., New York) tomorrow with Killed By The Bull and The F-Bombers, with the tour rolling through The Mill Hill Basement (300 S. Broad St., Trenton) on Saturday. Tonight’s show starts at 8. California’s The Mystic Knights of The Cobra headline. Communication Redlight and Eyes On Me play, too. Tickets cost $8. 21-plus.
New Brunswick’s The Gaslight Anthem is a huge band. But they still seem to find comfort playing in front of a hometown crowd. So when there’s new music to be heard – it’s usually witnessed first at The Court Tavern (124 Church St., New Brunswick). Alex Rosamilia heads SADD and I have no clue what it sounds like. With that said, it’s nice to be there up front when it debuts, right? Yeah, that happens tomorrow night at home plate on Church Street. Enjoy. Show starts at 8. Michigan hardcorers Black Birds play, too. Tickets cost $10. 21-plus.
You got to love this Highland Park rock outfit’s tambourine action, guy-girl harmonies and vintage sound, especially if you’re into American psychedelic rocking and ’60s freedom folk. Better yet, the trio will host the record-release party for “Strange Change Machine” at The Record Collector (358 Farnsworth Ave., Bordentown) tomorrow night. For fans of The Byrds and Jefferson Airplane. Show starts at 7:30. Tickets cost $10 in advance, $12 at the door. All-ages.
A scene is often defined by its best instrumental band. For Trenton is was Sketch, who are playing its first show in more than three years in The Mill Hill Basement (300 S. Broad St., Trenton) Saturday night, where we first witnessed their space-jazz meltdowns at 2005’s “What the Hell Fest” – an impromptu two-day local band showcase that filled the void for the ill-fated Hellfest mega-concert shut down at the last minute due to disputed regulation infractions. Technically sound from guitar stroke to bass slap and drum snap, Sketch music is a head-trippin’ slippery mix of surf and post-punk rumbling that gets your mind wandering. Bass player Chris Frascella wouldn’t go as far as calling Saturday’s gig a reunion show since Sketch “never officially broke up.” And as far as the set list? “We’re going to do this awesome thing called trying to remember our songs,” he laughed, then noting most of the songs fans remember from those basement performances of the past are ready to go. Show starts at 9. Spearing JoCosta, Honah Lee and Mystic Knights of Cobra round out the bill. Tickets cost $5. 21-plus.
Hailing from Hostile City, Pa. - that’s fake, people – these metal madmen thrive on triumphantly old school vocal theatrics and Pantera-style thrash complete with hair-flinging breakdowns and stinging guitar solos. Also for fans of Iron Maiden, Judas Priest and manly-men in studded bracelets. They headline Championships Sports Bar and Grill (931 Chambers St., Trenton) Saturday night. Show starts at 9. Porn-metal playboys Romantic Violence plays, too, along with classic metal-headers Power Theory and Exit. Tickets cost $8. 21-plus.
The Hopewell band dodges genre-based labeling by intersecting the jam-band culture of the suburbs with the urban poetry of the city. They also know how to pack a dance floor, which isn’t an easy task at McGuinn’s Place (1781 Brunswick Pike, Lawrence) – their celebration spot on Saturday night – as those regulars tend to fear the pulsations coming from beyond the pool tables. Show starts at 9. Sel-Koh (is that how it’s spelled now?) plays, too. Tickets cost $5. 21-plus.
The Brooklyn-based swing sister and her rat-packers set the time machine on the 1930s big band era – fusing ragtime, jump-up jazz, modern folk, Delta blues and smoky, Ella Fitzgerald-inspired R&B. Tess - whose vocal harmonies have been compared to Jolie Holland and Regina Spektor – will be armed with a vintage 1920 archtop guitar when headlining The Record Collector (358 Farnsworth Ave., Bordentown) Saturday night. For fans of The Squirrel Nut Zippers, She & Him and hotties that smoke cigars. Show starts at 7:30. Tickets cost $10 in advance, $12 at the door. All-ages.
Now known for the quick-sanding nu-metal churning in (Damn) This Desert Air (“Distance Waits” is killer), these New Brunswick post-core peddlers kept the Hub City basement scene buzzing after Lifetime’s breakup with a harmonious punk-pounce-style made popular at the time by Texas Is The Reason and Gameface. Been a while since they’ve done a show. That’s what makes Saturday night’s reunion at The Court Tavern (124 Church St., New Brunswick) so special. Show starts at 9. Let Me Run, Communication Redlight and Tim Nosebleed open. Tickets cost $10. 21-plus.
Here’s a story for you. A record executive named John Kivel was looking to put together a hard-rock band for his label in 2006 when he hit up FarCry’s Pete Fry on a message board. Guitarist Fry, of Trenton, was starring on the strip in “Bite” at the Stratosphere Hotel in Las Vegas, and after a few sessions, FarCry was born. The original singer, however, was let go shortly there after – leaving Kivel on a search for a new member. Ironically, he ran into Mark Giovi – another Trentonian – while the singer was on vacation in Sin City, and later found out Giovi (yes, Giovi of Giovi’s Restaurant fame) and Fry were part of the same ’80s hair metal scene here in the capitol. Chance meeting, but it’s seemed to work out, as the hair-metal revivalists released “High Gear” last April – landing opening gigs with Firehouse, Skid Row and Dokken. Weekend warriors, they’ll release their second record, “Optimism,” this spring. And in the meantime, while Giovi’s home visiting relatives, FarCry will make their New Jersey debut Sunday night at KatManDu (Route 29 50 Riverview Executive Park, Trenton). Show starts at 7:30. Harmzway – a Hightstown/Trenton glam outfit from the ’80s – are also on the bill and playing their first show together in 15 years. Goodbye Thrill opens. Tickets cost $10. 21-plus.
The Oregon power-punk trio slides off their nation-wide tour with Cobra Skulls and The Flatliners to headline the Mill Hill Basement (300 S. Broad St., Trenton) Monday night. Super catchy, melodic, but not wimpy, the guys play a rock ’n’ roll style comparable to Jimmy Eat World and early All American Rejects - which is a good thing, seriously. AbsolutePunk ranked the band’s 2009 record “Good Views, Bad News” (Sideone Dummy) – produced by Bill Stevenson (Descendents/Black Flag/Lemonheads) the best pop-punk record of the year. For fans of Set Your Goals, Simple Plan, Blink 182 and fun times at a rock show with zero drama. Shows starts at 7. The Great Explainer (ex-Roskoes) and Downbound City (ex-Frantic, Break Away) play, too. Tickets cost $7. All-ages.
The “All Music Guide” described Black Flag’s instrumental side-track record “The Process of Weeding Out” (SST, 1985) “atonal and uncomfortable” to the “naked ear.” Sort of weird, right? It was Black Flag’s in-your-face brashness and all-out ear slugging that defined the punk rock genre and influenced millions of others since the early ’80s and Ginn was the center of that movement – an “ingredient” singer Henry Rollins would call a musical visionary who found the ferocity in avant-garde jazz. Ginn - headlining The Record Collector (358 Farnsworth Ave., Bordentown) Wednesday night - was one of the few to, according to “All Music Guide,” “embrace 12-tone experimental music” in that era. And while “The Process of Weeding Out” seemed unorthodox compared to the sheer punishing punk Black Flag infamously infected the nation with for years to come, that style was what Ginn loved the most, as he was known to be a bigger fan of saxophone and piano artistry than guitar work. More than 20 years later, the 55-year-old is back on the road playing free-form instrumental guitar based on his solo records of which the legend plays all the instruments except drums. Show starts at 7:30 p.m. Tickets cost $10 in advance, $12 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, email the On the Beat web line at djscott111@aol.com.
The Harlem rapper, whose anti-establishment prose is aimed at upending political evils, made national headlines in 2005 with “Bin Laden” – a track featuring Mos Def and KRS-One that portrayed George Bush Jr. as a sadistic and opportunistic hatemonger who used terrorism as propaganda to instill fear in the American people when it was him who was responsible for “knock(ing) down the Towers” on 9-11. The song also accuses the president of funding the creation of Al-Qaeda and using the Muslim race as a scapegoat for his wicked ways. Three years later, and with a new prez in the White House, the Penn State alum – playing a free show at the Terrace Club (62 Washington Road, Princeton tonight – turned his attention to charity work, using the money made from the 54,000 entirely-independent sales of his “The 3rd World” CD to build an orphanage in Kabul. Show starts at 9. Akir opens. 18-plus.
The Aussie road warriors, whose classic stance on hard rock will remind you of early AC/DC, headline the Record Collection (358 Farnsworth Ave., Bordentown) tonight – their last show in the U.S. before heading back to the Thunderdome for an opening spot on Deep Purple’s tour. Show starts at 7:30. Tickets cost $12 in advance, $15 at the door. All-ages.
Bittersweet Duo
The acoustic jazz tandem headlines a free show for Trenton2Nite at the Trenton Marriott (1 W. Lafeyette St., Trenton) tomorrow night. Show starts at 5. All-ages.
The Brooklynites play an intricate, highly melodic, synthesized-sonic-style college-pop mix of Silver Apples, Sonic Youth and The Shins. The slow-building intensity of their new record, “Home Acres,” also gives off this Minus The Bear feel. The guys play a free show at the Terrace Club (62 Washington Road, Princeton) tomorrow night. Show starts at 9. 18-plus.
Moneyshot
The local cover band provides the entertainment for the grand opening party for AJ’s Tattoo Shop at McGuinn’s Place (1781 Brunswick Pike, Lawrence) tomorrow night. Show starts at 9. Tickets cost $5. 21-plus.
The Celtic crusher from Irish rockers Black 47 is known for his energetic stage presence, but many don’t know he’s also an established author. Kirwan, headlining the Record Collector’s (358 Farnsworth Ave., Bordentown) “Rock, Read … and Poetry” event tomorrow night, has written two Beatles-themed books, “Liverpool Fantasy,” a “What if?” of sorts story about an early-career Beatles break up, and “Rockin’ The Bronx,” a novel set in New York around the time John Lennon was shot. Show starts at 7:30. Paul Muldoon, a Pulitzer Prize winning poet and Princeton professor whose written songs for Warren Zevon, is also on the bill. Tickets cost $12 in advance, $15 at the door. All-ages.
After 20 years leading punk heroes Avail, the Virginia native has followed a new musical path – strumming beautifully crafted, historically-minded and Arlo Guthrie-inspired, blue-collar, country-folk tunes about boozing and freight-train culture. Barry, playing Asbury Lanes (209 4th Ave., Asbury Park) tomorrow night, just finished a tour opening for Against Me! His latest record, “28th & Stonewall,” is highlighted by the track “Prosser’s Gabriel,” which is about a failed slave uprising based in his Richmond hometown. In it Barry pokes fun at the students at Virginia Commonwealth University that park in lot built over the burials sites of those freedom fighters who died in that insurgence. Show starts at 8. Virginia’s Red Clay River and Asbury’s Gimme Drugs open. Tickets cost $10 in advance, $12 at the door. All-ages.
Choking vocal growls and erratic guitar grinds has this metallic Union crew gasping for air. The break downs are brutal, too, as it seems the boys like to mix up hardcore genres – jumping from slow-churning spazz-core to noise punk, even tossing up some melodies in the instrumentation and singing. The guys headline Championships Sports Bar and Grill’s metal massacre (931 Chambers St., Trenton) Saturday afternoon. Show starts at noon. Tickets cost $10. All-ages.
The Garden State alternative rockers get high on Ted Leo-type pharmaceuticals – party-hardy at McGuinn’s Place (1781 Brunswick Pike) Saturday night. For fans of melody-based college pop, Ben Folds, The Commons and Paul Westerberg. Show starts at 9. Tickets cost $5. 21-plus.
The Philly hip-hop legend – the first to incorporate mean-street imagery in his rhymes and essentially paving the way for future gangsta rappers – headlines the Record Collector (358 Farnsworth Ave., Bordentown) Saturday night. His 1985 underground hit “P.S.K. What Does It Mean” was the first hip-hop banger to depict gunplay, drugs and graphic sex in the storytelling. Strangely enough, while the track went on to inspire Ice-T’s “6 in the Mornin” – a defining gangta rap track in its own right – and countless other left-coast emcees, the drum-rattling beat made its way across the pond and was used in the formula to Siouxsie and the Banshees’ new-wave hit, “Kiss Them For Me.” It’s been 10 years since Schoolly dropped a new record, however, he’s stayed busy providing the theme music and occasional narration to the quirky Adult Swim cartoon “Aqua Teen Hunger Force” and making unannounced appearance at local hip-hop shows when his old school buds like Kool Keith hit Philly. A few years back, he collaborated with one-time Bad Brains guitarist Chuck Treece on the indie flick “Order of the Quest” – prompting the formation of the International Super Sport, a live funk, R&B and hip-hop mash with Schoolly on leads and Treece (McRad) on drums. Show starts at 7:30. Shore ska sharks, Mad Cats and Beehives, open. Tickets cost $15 in advance, $18 at the door. All-ages.
Boysetsfire’s post-millennium life is a bit more poppy and sappy, but still emocore in its hard-line musicianship that’s less Snapcase and more Samiam. Also for those who dig Avail, Burning Airlines and Texas Is The Reason. The guys join forces with Hillsborough death-metal demons Fire From The Alter at the Court Tavern (124 Church St., New Brunswick) Saturday night. Show starts at 8. Chambers and Mayor West play, too. Tickets cost $10. 21-plus.
\Scott Frost’s On The Beat concert listing appears in The Trentonian every Thursday. If your band is playing around town, email the On the Beat web line at djscott111@aol.com.
April 1, 2010
Sweden's The Bombettes headline Asbury Lanes Thursday night.
Old school thrash metal and classic horror-punk a la The Misfits makes these shore-born crypt creepers an ideal attraction to Championships Sports Bar and Grill’s (931 Chambers St., Trenton) April Fool’s Day monster-mash tonight. Show starts at 7. Of course The Zombie Mafia will be there to take the reigns of this B-level punk creature feature. Aaron Omen and Johnny B. Morbid play, too. Tickets cost $8. 18-plus.
All Swedish girls are hot. But when you add guitars, a throwback ’70s, Runaway-meets-L7 brat-punk attack fueled by “Cherry Shots” and “Cock Rock,” all bests are off. All men better be prepared for a transformation into obedient lapdogs when these gritty, balls-to-the-wall, rock bombshells hit the stage at Asbury Lanes (209 4th Ave., Asbury Park) tonight. The best thing, is that that dominatrix-thinking here sounds pretty sexy. Leash me up, baby. Also for fans of The Donnas. Show starts at 9:30. The Bowery Riots ad Howling Hour open. Tickets cost $8. 18-plus.
Roebus One
Loved here for the nightmarish, inter-personal, tyrannical lyrical imagery found on “Reflections of Goodbye,” the Princeton emcee’s definitive juxtaposition shifts to both sides of the brain on a split EP, “Cherry Lights & Dim Hallways,” due out this August. The rapper tells On the Beat the new EP features his traditional slippery, symbolic flow-scheme of deep-rooted witticism, but only half way through. The other part, he said, is “happy pop,” not as depressing and not as Cage-y coma-rap. Maybe that happy medium will find its way onto the set list being prepared for his show at McGuinn’s Place (1781 Brunswick Pike, Lawrence) tomorrow night? Hope so. Billed as the kick-off party for Roebus’ four-month-long east coast tour with To Live & Die in NJ and The Man From Somewhere Else, the show starts at 9. His tour mates are also on the bill. Swisschz, Raymond Strife, Universol and DJ Stylus rock the spot, too. Tickets cost $5. 21-plus.
FSOD (First Signs of Disaster)
These not-so-Pleasantville hardcore hell-blazers mix up Cali skate-punk with New York City thrash – think Suicidal Tendencies or The Cro-Mags. They also cap-off their basement performances with keg-standing mosh pits, and that’s what punk rock is all about, right? The booze’ll be flying at Championships Sports Bar and Grill (931 Chambers St., Trenton) tomorrow night with these guys in town. Show starts at 9. Stereo Atomica, Straight Mangled and Torch the Throne round out the bill. Tickets cost $8. 21-plus.
Slow Six
Explosions in the Sky come to mind when trying to digest this Brooklyn space-rocker’s ambient chamber music, but with screechy violins taking over for the EITS’s typical guitar droning. The orchestra’s “Private Times In Public Places” debut was selected by Time Out New York magazine as one of the top 10 classical albums of 2004 for its “melodic style of ethereal minimalism, but with a unique tension between structure and sentiment.” It’s some tripped-out stuff and comes to life with a psychedelic, multi-colored light show with an acid-’60s edge - crashing landing at The Terrace Club (62 Washington Road, Princeton) for a free show tomorrow night. Show starts at 11. Lymbyc System opens. 18-plus.
Lightening Sword of Death
L.A. black-metal mind-benders – think Behemoth and Kataklysm - jump off their tour with Kreator for an opening gig for Philly grime-core castaways Rumpelstiltskin Grinder at Championships Sports Bar and Grill (931 Chambers St., Trenton) Saturday afternoon. Show starts at 1. Lazarus A.D., Sedna, Immolith, Esquilax, Lethal Strike, Anticosm, Strydnia, Divided Skies and An Ambiguous Descent round out the bill. Tickets cost $12 in advance, $14 at the door. All-ages.
Angels to Some Devils to Others
“Money is like crack,” and these commercial-minded rhyme cats are “addicted to paper” – banking in on booty-banging club beats and a party-rap flow for shorties to grind-up-on-you-to. The crew features Poor Righteous Teacher’s Wise Intelligent on the beat-up-Bollywood track “Mon Don’t Pause.” Check out the video on their MySpace page and listen for Wise’s Trenton Times diss. For fans of Lil Wayne and R&B-flavored Common joints. The crew drop it like it’s hot at McGuinn’s Place (1781 Brunswick Pike, Lawrence) Saturday night. Show starts at 9. The DotCommiez open. Tickets cost $5. 21-plus.
Blue Coupe
Heed my advice when hitting up the stoner-rock show at The Record Collector (358 Farnsworth Ave., Bordentown) Saturday night. First off, avoid the temptation of staring directly into the floating eye when the Bouchard Brothers – Al and Joe of famed classic rockers Blue Oyster Cult – snap into the solo from “Don’t Fear the Reaper” or you’ll head won’t be right all spring long. Also, don’t be that douche in the back insisting for “more cowbell.” Will Ferrell is not behind the curtain. Either is super-producer Bruce Dickenson. It’s bassist Dennis Dunaway from The Alice Cooper Band that completes this super group puzzle. Show starts at 7:30. Frankenstein 3000 opens. Tickets cost $15 in advance, $18 at the door. All-ages.
Jac
The accordion-rocking, ukulele-plucking Lambertville minstrels headline John & Peters (96 S. Main St., New Hope, Pa.) Saturday night. Show starts at 9:30 p.m. Jersey City’s Terminal Reynaldo and Philly’s Shutters play, too. Tickets cost $5. 21-plus.
Bad Karma
The Hub City rockers, who helped define the New Brunswick scene in the ’90s, return to The Court Tavern (124 Church St., New Brunswick) Saturday night after a short hiatus. Show starts at 8. American Medicine and Trenton garage-rock legends, The Swinging Neckbreakers, play, too. Tickets cost $10. 21-plus.
Keller Williams
Hippie headlines suggest this Virginia folk icon on the jam-band scene plans to get his double-necked guitar all-smoked-out when joining Grateful Dead drummers Bill Kreutzmann and Mickey Hart at this summers Gathering of the Vibes festival as the final piece behind The Rhythm Devils. Until then, he’ll headline The Stone Pony (913 Ocean Ave., Asbury Park) Saturday night. Show starts at 7:30. Tickets cost $20 in advance, $23 at the door. All-ages.
Woe Of Tyrants
The Chillicothe – that’s in Ohio – kill-dozer’s kamikaze crush-core is a metallic assault on the dome. The hardcore head-smashers, who specialize in brooding song structures, brutal instrumentations and dramatic guitar solos, are currently touring with Over Kill and Vader. “Threndy” is their new record on Metal Blade. For fans of All That Remains and Morbid Angel. The ferocious fivesome headline Championship Sports Bar and Grill (931 Chambers St., Trenton) Monday afternoon. Show starts at 4. The Doomsday Prophecy, Within Cold Blood and Advent The Adversary open. Tickets cost $10 in advance, $12 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, email the On the Beat web line at djscott111@aol.com. And for links to music and videos for the bands above, plus a review of Alkaline Trio’s recent Philly show, a peak at Massive Attack’s new short film and to check out the audio slavery that is Hesta Prynn, surf over to http://onthebeatphilly.blogspot.com.
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David Johanson of The New York Dolls gets all "Hot Hot Hot" at The Record Collector in Bordentown Friday night.
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