Ezra Furman & The Boy-friends At The Middle East Upstairs, Cambridge, MA — Live Review

ezra_furman_and_the_boyfriends — Ezra Furman and the Boy-Friends

The Boston trio Krill is fronted by Ezra Furman’s brother. He wore a red baseball cap with a hoodie over it, effectively hiding before getting into their set. Vocally, he had a higher range than expected, with a bit of a Hank William whine going on. The lyrics were clever if not a bit infantile, as subjects ranged from turds in the bowl to a dumb-ass in a pair of shorts. This song in retrospect must have been for his brother, Ezra, who was sporting a blue and white culotte romper under his leather.

Ezra and his brother both talked about working at the Fresh Pond Theatre, and both thanked Spirit Kid who opened. Ezra said of Krill that they were the best band in Boston in his opinion, but he is biologically biased. Krill have a record of their own coming out in February. Complex guitar runs in quirky pop-punk make for catchy tunes, but the subjects head towards the intentionally obscure or obscene.

Ezra has talent, I’ll give you that, as do his boyfriends. But he also sports a bit of pretentious smart-ass wit and a dollop of smarmy sycophantic fawning. A penchant for the plaintive, vocally, Ezra still comes off as smirking even when the subject is self-loathing. He has been compared to the likes of Gordon Gano of the Violent Femmes, but I found myself thinking of the New York Dolls and early Lou Reed. Maybe it was the dress. They also tend towards a bit of quirky casbah craziness like They Might Be Giants, and if you throw in a little Green Day for looks, ie, Billie Joe Armstrong and Ezra have a similar look, you’re getting close. They’re good, no doubt – drums, sax, bass, guitar and keys work together to keep the sound swinging from jumpin’ jive to punk rockabilly, and they’re hard working, barely taking a breath between songs for most of the set. Ezra got into his Dylan-esque persona as the set progressed breaking out the acoustics guitars and the harp. An androgynous hispster hero in the making if he can only live down his own internal legend.

“Day of the Dog,” Ezra Furman and his band the Boy-Friends. Available now on Bar/None Records.

The Lovers At The Middle East Upstairs, Cambridge, MA – Live Review

We came in at the tail end of Shepherdess performing a wacky little ditty called “Fries.” They finished out their set with a couple more tunes before leaving us, upstairs at the Middle East. My date and I headed to the back of the room to the “make out couch” and contented ourselves with watching the crowd while we waited for The Lovers to set up. The crowd was definitely more female than male and younger white students for the most part. Not being that familiar with the lez rock scene or it’s music, or Lovers, a queer outfit from Portland, OR, I was afraid I’d be uncomfortable, but I was glad to find that the audience was reasonably diverse given the conditions. There were some oldsters hither and yon, including a couple that looked like parents and a number of middle aged men, but mostly small clusters of mixed gender or women. The androgynous trio all sport short mop tops, and wear plaid – grunge or simply cause their from Oregon, don’t know, but their cute, and good-natured.

The Lovers started right in with “Purple Sage,” off their new record, A Friend In The World. Interesting, there were no guitars in their performance, though there are on the record. Instead, they used a synth and two drum kits, one regular handled expertly by Emily Kingan and one small electronic kit that Kerby Ferris (Keys) played. Carolyn Berk (Vocals) used hand gestures like a DJ emphasizing her message and the emotional journey of each song. She waved goodbye on “Modern Art Museum Of The Modern Kiss,”and thus began the dancing to the heavy bass riff that grounded the groove and shaped the space like a womb. They didn’t announce that the first songs of the set were off the new record until “Oh, Yeah.” Berk’s yips and growls were fun and the chorus was resplendent with harmonies. As the set progressed, they pulled out all the stops on “Boxer.” The song lending itself to Berk’s hand gestures and the double drums from Ferris and Kingan. With Kingan at the kit pounding out the beats, an overdub of synth riff and Ferris on her own small kit, it killed – and the place smashed forward.

When they broke out the old familiars everyone was grooving to the heavy sound. Heading into the stratosphere with electronica that sounds like a space probe the audience head bobbed along. On “Don’t You Want It,” Berk offered a nice growl to accompany the soaring harmonies with all three voices singing different lines at some points. A small break and the ladies were offered shots on stage. Berk and Ferris warned not to try this at home saying they were “Olympians in their thirties.” The young guy next to me with his female date, asked if this was the last act for the evening. I found it amusing that he’d whoop like he meant it, but had no clue he was watching the headliner. I think he may have had other things on his mind, as a watched him curl his fingers through his dainty date’s hand.

Throughout, I kept hearing shades of Nina Hagan, Romeo Void and Au Pairs, wrapped in heartfelt stories of love and loss in a danceable synth sound. Their sound consisted of layers galore that could take even more overdubbing. They took us out with two more danceable numbers from their new record, “Sweet Lavender” and a less breathy, heavier version of their own “Wild Horses,” song, not the Rolling Stones cover.

Check out The Lovers on tour and grab a copy of their newest work. From their website (http://www.loversarelovers.com/) : “With their seventh album, A Friend in the World, Lovers fuse intimacy and empowerment into a modern atmosphere of honesty, new feminist humor, and rhythmic complexity.”

The Lovers New Release: A Friend In The World on Badman Records.

Porfirio DiDonna A Painter’s Journey At The Danforth

A retrospective of the work of Profirio DiDonna (1942-1986) is currently on exhibit at the Danforth Museum of Art, Framingham. The accomplished and mature work belies the artist’s death at a very young age. In many of the large, late career paintings sinuous vertical marks reach upward forming a path vibrating with color to create a kind of mystical, enrapturing experience — meditative, magical, very powerful. John Baker, author of the recently published Porfirio DiDonna: The Shape of Knowing, in commenting on the “undulating corridors” has said, “… the pathways suggest a metaphorical as well as a literal allusion to the existential and historical evolution of [DiDonna’s] work.” Baker suggests the “road” may be seen as “the symbol for [the artist’s] entire studio journey.” Baker further opines that “perhaps movement and change [as seen in these paintings] may be seen as the radiant core of any human search for meaning in life.” This interpretation gives these paintings and the evolutionary drawings in the exhibition a universality that reaches far beyond their beauty. Author John Baker and poet, essayist, and publisher William Corbett will be present at the Danforth on Sunday October 20, 3-5 pm for a reading and book signing of Baker’s book on the artist Porfirio DiDonna.

Curated by John Baker and Nina Nielsen former owners and directors of Nielsen Gallery, Boston
Danforth Museum of Art, Framingham, MA, September 8 – November 3, 2013

didonna_reception — DiDonna Opening Reception at the Danforth Museum, Framingham, MA

Coming Of Rage – Wes Craven & Steve Niles’ Horror Comic

Steve Niles (left) and Wes Craven team up for Coming Of Rage.

Wes Craven (“Nightmare on Elm Street”) and Steve Niles (“30 Days of Night”) have teamed up to make a horror comic. Craven talked a little about the new book, five in the series, at the Boston Book Festival during the “Writing Terror: An Exploration of Fear” panel talk. He said that the basic premise is a college aged boy is called home because his father is ailing. Dad wants him to take over the family business and leave school. He doesn’t want to. The family business as far as he knows is an expensive wine import-export business. The kid runs off to drown his sorrows on the wrong side of town and gets in a bar fight when some guys hassle a girl. Pushed to the breaking point, the kid flies into a rage and fangs pop out of his mouth. Dad’s business isn’t exactly shipping wine. It’s shipping blood, and dad is a one of the most powerful vampires in the syndicate. The beginning of the series is due out at the end of the month, according to Craven, and being released by Liquid Comics. We can only hope that this story boarding will end up on film. Sounds like wicked good fun.

On a more solemn note, Steve Niles’ house was flooded. Check his site for more info and how you can help. http://www.steveniles.net/

English Beat at Johnny D’s in Somerville — A Review

Antonee First Class (left), and Dave Wakeling of the English Beat

The English Beat again graced the stage of Johnny D’s in Somerville. The mellow round tones of Matt Morrish’s (Sax/Vocals) sax and the jangly street sound of steel drums from Kevin Lum’s (Keys/Vocals) Korg predominated the room. They started the night out with a rocksteady version of “Rough Rider,” the Prince Buster cover. Dave Wakeling (Lead vocals/Guitar) commented that the room felt like a submarine.

Yeah, the ceilings are low at Johnny D’s, but it makes for an intimate space and the sound isn’t overpoweringly loud. After all, some people were eating supper. But the dance floor filled up quick for “Hands Off She’s Mine.” Well dressed teds next to punks and regular folks in jeans and tees stomped to “Twist and Crawl.” A shout out to all, and Wakeling waved at the audience. Antonee First Class (Toaster) told us it doesn’t matter who you are or if you remember the 1980’s. The younger ones think they started it. Wakeling added The 1980’s were the best two or three years of his life. He said, if we could help him remember, he’d take us there, and went right into, you guessed it, The Staple Singers cover “I’ll Take You There.”

After that soulful number the band played the seminal “I Confess.” The song turned into a sing along, and Wakeling added a little scat-rap ending with First Class reaching out to the crowd, in the chant “hey.”

As the set progressed, they played hit after hit flawlessly, and First Class called “all the rude boys say yo,” with the audience supplying a mighty call back. Wakeling added, “I’m gonna need fucking heart pills for this,” as First Class called “all the ladies scream!”

The fun banter continued with Wakeling telling us a tale of his boyhood days in Birmingham. Staggering home after pints of Guinness on any given rainy Tuesday dreaming of girls where he wrote “Sooner or Later.” They followed that with “Stand Down Margret,” wonderfully, Wakeling presented the two fingered salute for ‘ol Maggie. Then getting a little less political, they broke into “Best Friend.” The place was jumping. Even this old girl was skanking. They did a terrific rendition of Andy Williams’ “Can’t Get Used to Losing You,” their highest charting single release ever. Which is hard to believe since every tune is practically a pop standard.

Wakeling switched back and forth from his iconic teardrop Vox to his red Fender. The Vox replacement is yellow with a Beat airplane sticker on it. The “real” one, as I understand it, was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame this year and has taken it’s place next to Jimi Hendrix’s axe.

Roger Bueno (Bass/Vocals) asked me to order him a Jack and Coke, and I eventually saw the drink poised and vibrating on the back of the bass rig. They did a new number followed by “Too Nice To Talk To,” in quick secession. The newer material offered a marked change in sound with heavy bass, no sax or reggae steel drums ringing out, but nice harmonies as there are on many a Dave Wakeling tune.

One of our party came back and reported that in the men’s room there was a pissed off guy in a kilt. Seemed fitting that the next tune had First Class calling “a brand new dance called the tolerance,” and showing us how to get ‘er done, dancing up a storm on stage. We hoped Mr. Kilt was listening and dancing.

“Soul Salvation,” had Wakeling saying “life is a miracle, life is a fucking miracle,” and we mellowed out with a taste of piano and whistling as they did the General Public number “Tenderness.” Another killer drum solo by Rhythmm Epkins (Drums/Vocals) followed with a final rap about finding what you need in Somerville, and our evening ended with “Ranking Full Stop,” and “Mirror in the Bathroom.” Two hours of solid playing, no encore, and no opener, and no stopping.

Just in case you want to know who’s who and what’s what: the English Beat’s front man Dave Wakeling (Lead Vocals/Guitar) is the only original member in the US version of the 2-Tone ska band. In the alternate universe of the UK, another version of the same band exists called The Beat fronted by original member Ranking Roger (Toaster). The English Beat is touring the US in a giant bus. Look for it near you.

A new box set called “The Complete Beat,” a five-disc set containing expanded remastered versions of all three of the group’s albums, 1980’s “I Just Can’t Stop It,” 1981’s “Wha’ppen?” and 1982’s “Special Beat Service,” was released plus a two-disc collection of “Bonus Beat” material that contains a CD of 12” mixes and dubs and a disc of recordings from the Peel Sessions and four cuts live from a November 1982 gig in Boston.

English Beat In Somerville, Wednesday, 10/16/13!! Buy Tickets Now!

The English Beat return to grace the stage at Johnny D’s in Somerville, MA this coming Wednesday October 16th. Come out and dance to the legendary Two-Tone Ska beat as Dave Wakeling, and Ranking Roger show off their manic struts.

A new release, “Specialized II – Beat Teenage Cancer” is scheduled to drop later this year with all proceeds going to the Teenage Cancer Trust. “Music has always had a healing aspect, and 2-Tone a bit more than most, as it was designed to bring people together,” says Wakeling. “These songs have been a big part of my life, and I am honoured that they could be of use to the Specialized project… a wonderful opportunity to assist a worthy cause, the Teenage Cancer Trust, and remember, when we help others, we help ourselves…one hand washes the other!”

“Specialized II” will include a re-recording of “Mirror In The Bathroom” and more than forty other Beat classics. Helping out are Hunt Emerson, creator of the iconic Beat girl logo, guitarists Dave Steele, Andy Cox, rhythm by Everett Morton on drums and Lionel Martin AKA “Saxa” adds that extra dash of cool on Sax.

Come out and dance the skank with the English Beat next Wednesday at Johnny D’s. Tickets still available.

Ezra Furman & The Boy-Friends New Release on Bar/None and Tour

“My Zero,” the new video for Ezra Furman and his band the Boy-Friends, and one of the cuts from their new album “Day of the Dog,” offers up a crisp poppy sound with overtones of seventies orchestral charm. In a lyric wrapper of knowledgeable worldly ideals, that hint at algorithms and over population, the song is that breed of love song – quirky but honest. Furman strains his voice in a heartfelt nasal whine that’s more early John Lennon than Bob Dylan, but the songs are stories with straightforward composition that’s an easy listen. A good folk-rocker, but with fantastic saxophone Charlie “Bird” Parker-esc solo finishing out the song for the new release on Bar/None Records.

Ezra Furman & The Boy-Friends Tour
Thu 10/10 – Springfield, IL – Donnie’s Homespun
Fri 10/11 – Champaign, IL – Mike & Molly’s
Sat 10/12 – Chicago, IL – Subterranean
Wed 10/16 – Columbus, OH – Ace of Cups
Thu 10/17 – Pittsburgh, PA – Club Cafe
Sat 10/19 – New York, NY (CMJ Showcase) – Living Room
Tue 10/22 – Cambridge, MA – Middle East Upstairs
Wed 10/23 – Brooklyn, NY – Shea Stadium
Thu 10/24 – New Hope, PA – Triumph Brewery
Fri 10/25 – Philadelphia – North Star Bar
Sat 10/26 – Marietta, OH – Adelphia Music Hall
Sun 10/27 – Yellow Springs, OH (Antioch College)
Tue 10/29 – Detroit, MI – The Loving Touch
Wed 10/30 – University Center, MI – Saginaw Valley State University
Thu 10/31 – Cincinnati, OH – MOTR Pub
Fri 11/1 – Indianapolis, IN – Do317 Lounge

“Day of the Dog,” Ezra Furman and his band the Boy-Friends. Available now on Bar/None Records.

“David Bowie is” Opening In Toronto

If you didn’t catch it in Londinium, you know, across the pond, that place where they have the terrible infrastructure, since the bridge is falling down, and you happen to be in Toronto, there is an exhibit you must check out. The North American debut of ‘David Bowie is’ will premiere at the AGO this fall. Costumes galore, and did you know that the ‘Thin White Duke’ has a 26 1/2” waist and they had to design manikins to exhibit his clothes. Think about that. Manikins were too wide to use. We found and offer up a list of Bowie’s top 100 book recommendations. So, if you can’t look like him, and you can’t go see the show, well, maybe you can read like him.

David Bowie is will open on Sept. 25, 2013 and runs to Nov. 27, 2013, at Art Gallery of Ontario (AGO).

David Bowie’s Book List from Open Book Toronto.
The Age of American Unreason, Susan Jacoby, 2008
The Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao, Junot Diaz, 2007
The Coast of Utopia (trilogy), Tom Stoppard, 2007
Teenage: The Creation of Youth 1875-1945, Jon Savage, 2007
Fingersmith, Sarah Waters, 2002
The Trial of Henry Kissinger, Christopher Hitchens, 2001
Mr. Wilson’s Cabinet of Wonder, Lawrence Weschler, 1997
A People’s Tragedy: The Russian Revolution 1890-1924, Orlando Figes, 1997
The Insult, Rupert Thomson, 1996
Wonder Boys, Michael Chabon, 1995
The Bird Artist, Howard Norman, 1994
Kafka Was The Rage: A Greenwich Village Memoir, Anatole Broyard, 1993
Beyond the Brillo Box: The Visual Arts in Post-Historical Perspective, Arthur C. Danto, 1992
Sexual Personae: Art and Decadence from Nefertiti to Emily Dickinson, Camille Paglia, 1990
David Bomberg, Richard Cork, 1988
Sweet Soul Music: Rhythm and Blues and the Southern Dream of Freedom, Peter Guralnick, 1986
The Songlines, Bruce Chatwin, 1986
Hawksmoor, Peter Ackroyd, 1985
Nowhere To Run: The Story of Soul Music, Gerri Hirshey, 1984
Nights at the Circus, Angela Carter, 1984
Money, Martin Amis, 1984
White Noise, Don DeLillo, 1984
Flaubert’s Parrot, Julian Barnes, 1984
The Life and Times of Little Richard, Charles White, 1984
A People’s History of the United States, Howard Zinn, 1980
A Confederacy of Dunces, John Kennedy Toole, 1980
Interviews with Francis Bacon, David Sylvester, 1980
Darkness at Noon, Arthur Koestler, 1980
Earthly Powers, Anthony Burgess, 1980
Raw (a ‘graphix magazine’) 1980-91
Viz (magazine) 1979 –
The Gnostic Gospels, Elaine Pagels, 1979
Metropolitan Life, Fran Lebowitz, 1978
In Between the Sheets, Ian McEwan, 1978
Writers at Work: The Paris Review Interviews, ed. Malcolm Cowley, 1977
The Origin of Consciousness in the Breakdown of the Bicameral Mind, Julian Jaynes, 1976
Tales of Beatnik Glory, Ed Saunders, 1975
Mystery Train, Greil Marcus, 1975
Selected Poems, Frank O’Hara, 1974
Before the Deluge: A Portrait of Berlin in the 1920s, Otto Friedrich, 1972
In Bluebeard’s Castle : Some Notes Towards the Re-definition of Culture, George Steiner, 1971
Octobriana and the Russian Underground, Peter Sadecky, 1971
The Sound of the City: The Rise of Rock and Roll, Charlie Gillete, 1970
The Quest For Christa T, Christa Wolf, 1968
Awopbopaloobop Alopbamboom: The Golden Age of Rock, Nik Cohn, 1968
The Master and Margarita, Mikhail Bulgakov, 1967
Journey into the Whirlwind, Eugenia Ginzburg, 1967
Last Exit to Brooklyn, Hubert Selby Jr. , 1966
In Cold Blood, Truman Capote, 1965
City of Night, John Rechy, 1965
Herzog, Saul Bellow, 1964
Puckoon, Spike Milligan, 1963
The American Way of Death, Jessica Mitford, 1963
The Sailor Who Fell From Grace With The Sea, Yukio Mishima, 1963
The Fire Next Time, James Baldwin, 1963
A Clockwork Orange, Anthony Burgess, 1962
Inside the Whale and Other Essays, George Orwell, 1962
The Prime of Miss Jean Brodie, Muriel Spark, 1961
Private Eye (magazine) 1961 –
On Having No Head: Zen and the Rediscovery of the Obvious, Douglas Harding, 1961
Silence: Lectures and Writing, John Cage, 1961
Strange People, Frank Edwards, 1961
The Divided Self, R. D. Laing, 1960
All The Emperor’s Horses, David Kidd,1960
Billy Liar, Keith Waterhouse, 1959
The Leopard, Giuseppe Di Lampedusa, 1958
On The Road, Jack Kerouac, 1957
The Hidden Persuaders, Vance Packard, 1957
Room at the Top, John Braine, 1957
A Grave for a Dolphin, Alberto Denti di Pirajno, 1956
The Outsider, Colin Wilson, 1956
Lolita, Vladimir Nabokov, 1955
Nineteen Eighty-Four, George Orwell, 1948
The Street, Ann Petry, 1946
Black Boy, Richard Wright, 1945
The Portable Dorothy Parker, Dorothy Parker, 1944
The Outsider, Albert Camus, 1942
The Day of the Locust, Nathanael West, 1939
The Beano, (comic) 1938 –
The Road to Wigan Pier, George Orwell, 1937
Mr. Norris Changes Trains, Christopher Isherwood, 1935
English Journey, J.B. Priestley, 1934
Infants of the Spring, Wallace Thurman, 1932
The Bridge, Hart Crane, 1930
Vile Bodies, Evelyn Waugh, 1930
As I lay Dying, William Faulkner, 1930
The 42nd Parallel, John Dos Passos, 1930
Berlin Alexanderplatz, Alfred Döblin, 1929
Passing, Nella Larsen, 1929
Lady Chatterley’s Lover, D.H. Lawrence, 1928
The Great Gatsby, F. Scott Fitzgerald, 1925
The Waste Land, T.S. Eliot, 1922
BLAST, ed. Wyndham Lewis, 1914-15
McTeague, Frank Norris, 1899
Transcendental Magic, Its Doctrine and Ritual, Eliphas Lévi, 1896
Les Chants de Maldoror, Lautréamont, 1869
Madame Bovary, Gustave Flaubert, 1856
Zanoni, Edward Bulwer-Lytton, 1842
Inferno, from the Divine Comedy, Dante Alighieri, about 1308-1321
The Iliad, Homer, about 800 BC

The Feelies At The Sinclair – Review

Last spring, around the time of the Boston Marathon manhunt for the mad bombers, the Feelies were scheduled to perform at the Paradise. The show was canceled, but the Sinclair and the Feelies, honored those tickets. The Sinclair, as it turned out, may have been a better venue for the Feelies. I’m not dissin’ the ‘dice here, it’s just that the sound levels for the room were so perfectly set. No earplugs required, something I usually need.

The room was overflowing with a polite standing room only crowd. You could actually hold a conversation, but hardly anyone did once the Feelies took the stage. They started at nine, promptly, with no opener. The crowd didn’t dance for the most part, but grooved out nonetheless, because the Feelies were phenomenal with their signature jangly pop rock sound. There was little banter and no hesitation between songs. They started out steady with old favorites like “Original Love,” and “Crazy Rhythms,” interspersed with covers, like “Who Loves The Sun,” by the Velvet Underground, and the Beatles’ “Ticket to Ride.” They also hit their more recent material like “Nobody Knows,” and “Away,” their 1988 charting hit, adding in a fantastic rendition of “Dancing Barefoot,” the Patti Smith ballad.

Everything about this concert was well executed, down to the staging, lighting, and if you will, costuming. Whether they have someone color coordinating their plaid shirts, Glenn Mercer (vocals/lead guitar) in red with his green sunglasses, Bill Million (rhythm guitar, backing vocals) in grey-green, and Brenda Sauter (bass, backing vocals) in pink against her fab powder blue bass, or they’re just really, really in tune, sorry bad pun there, the Feelies rocked with precision, grace and a little reverb. Fantabulous. Stan Demeski (drums) and Dave Weckerman (percussion) were fucking machines, and Sauter helped out on percussion on a number or two, as well.

No moody lighting, or lasers in you face – the lighting was clear white and I could see standing in the back by the board, no problem. During the second set, with the lighting, they mixed it up a little – some red and blue washes, and turned up the volume a smidge as Mercer ran amok with some blazing guitar solos with more great songs like Velvet’s “There She Goes,” and originals like “Higher Ground.”

Maybe with the closing of Maxwell’s they’ve taken back their Jersey roots in a new way because they did an incredible version of the Stooges “I Wanna Be Your Dog,” wait, the Stooges are from Detroit, oh well – anyway – many a veteran Feelies fan I spoke to had never heard them play that, and they did a great growling version.

End of the evening after almost three hours we got four, count ’em, four encores. Covers included and are not limited to the Stones’ “Paint it Black,” and a bass and percussion heavy “Get Off Of My Cloud,” followed by their volatile version of REM’s “Shaking Through,” with their final selection from Crazy Rhythms “Fa Cé La.”

If I had any criticism at all it would be “more cow bell,” oh wait, I mean wooden block. Kidding. Go see them, and get their new record “Here Before” (Bar/None CD 2011) and Feelie good about helping out an incredible progenitor of the indie rock movement. Re-release’s of “Crazy Rhythms,”(1980), and “The Good Earth,” (1986), the first two LPs by the Feelies are also available this month from Bar/None.

The Lovers World Tour This Fall

Cue the pyrotechnics. From their website, it says: “The three first encountered in 2002 after Berk’s near-fatal van explosion while on tour with an earlier incarnation of the band.” How cool is that? It’s like an origin story for a super hero trio. And within the feminist community maybe Lovers is just that. They write songs that let you cry your heart out or might just inspire you to dance through it or drunk dial your girlfriend. Carolyn Berk, singer, and the mainstay in the band, since its inception, writes most of their material. This current version of the Lovers has seen its way to making two records. Their newest release on Badman records, “A Friend In The World,” is a seasoned second for the trio. Emily Kingan and Kerby Ferris make up the rest of the band. Berk and Ferris met in San Paulo, and it would seem may have been influenced by Argentine Wave, since their music can have a palpable pulsing trance quality to it. Berk calls Portland home, but made Somerville her home once, so come out and support the peeps from the hood. Whether you call it “heartfelt bedroom-pop” as Pitchfork has called it, or “queer synth-rock” as The New Gay has called it, the music is a well produced, professional and worth a listen.

Catch them on tour this fall supporting their new release “A Friend In The World.”

http://www.loversarelovers.com/store/music/a-friend-in-the-world/

Sat Oct 5, 2013
Seaside OR @ EDEN PNW
Fri Oct 18, 2013
Pittsburgh, PA @ BrilloBox (Operation Sappho)
Sat Oct 19, 2013
Buffalo, NY @ Ambush! (Duke’s Bohemian Groove Bar)
Sun Oct 20, 2013
Providence, RI @ Machine with Magnets
Mon Oct 21, 2013
Boston @ the Middle East
Tue Oct 22, 2013
Burlington VT @ Nectars
Wed Oct 23, 2013
Philadelphia PA @ Kung Fu Necktie
Thu Oct 24, 2013
Richmond, VA @ The Camel
Fri Oct 25, 2013
Durham NC @ Pinhook
Sat Oct 26, 2013
Baltimore, MD @ Club K
Sun Oct 27, 2013
Brooklyn NY @ Glasslands
Thu Oct 31, 2013
Berlin Germany @ Südblock [www.suedblock.org]
Fri Nov 1, 2013
Copenhagen DK @ TBA
Sat Nov 2, 2013
Stockholm Sweden @ we need help!
Sun Nov 3, 2013
Oslo Norway @ Café Mir [www.lufthavna.no/cafe-mir]
Mon Nov 4, 2013
Göteborg Sweden @ TBA
Tue Nov 5, 2013
Malmö – SE @ STPLN [http://stpln.se/]
Thu Nov 7, 2013
Hamburg Germany @ Centro Sociale [http://www.centrosociale.de]
Fri Nov 8, 2013
Bremen, German @ Die Friese [http://diefriese.de/]
Sat Nov 9, 2013
Amsterdam, Netherlands @ OCCII [www.theopenseries.wordpress.com]
Sun Nov 10, 2013
Brussels, Belgium @ TBA
Tue Nov 12, 2013Who: LOVERS
Cologne -DE @ AZ [http://az-koeln.org/]
Wed Nov 13, 2013
Stuttgart – DE @ Contain’t e.V.
Thu Nov 14, 2013
Paris FR @ TBA
Fri Nov 15, 2013
Paris France @ TBA
Sat Nov 16, 2013
Nantes, France @ Queerdrome [www.queerodrome.com/]
Sun Nov 17, 2013
Toulouse France @ TBA
Mon Nov 18, 2013
San Sebastian Spain @ TBA
Tue Nov 19, 2013
Bilbao Spain @ TBA
Wed Nov 20, 2013
Madrid Spain @ TBA
Thu Nov 21, 2013
Barcelona Spain @ TBA
Sat Nov 23, 2013
Grenoble, France @ TBA
Sun Nov 24, 2013
Bern Switzerland @ Flurstrasse 14a [Sonntags Brunch mit LOVERS]
Mon Nov 25, 2013
Zurich Switzerland @ Autonomer Beautysalon [http://autonomerbeautysalon.wordpress.com/]
Tue Nov 26, 2013
Innsbruck, Austria @ Café DeCentral
Wed Nov 27, 2013
Graz – A @ Postgarage
Thu Nov 28, 2013
Munich, Germany @ Kafé Kult [http://www.kafekult.de]
Fri Nov 29, 2013
Leipzig Germany @ Connewitz
Sat Nov 30, 2013
Berlin, German @ ://about blank
Wed Dec 11, 2013
San Francisco @ Bottom of the Hill
Thu Dec 12, 2013
Los Angeles @ TBA
Fri Dec 13, 2013
Long Beach, CA @ Que Sera
Sat Dec 14, 2013
Superior, AZ @ Magma
Sun Dec 15, 2013
Tucson @ Solar Culture
Mon Dec 16, 2013
Las Vegas @ Artifice (http://artificebar.com + https://www.facebook.com/ArtificeBar).
Tue Dec 17, 2013
San Diego @ Tin Can
Wed Dec 18, 2013
Los Angeles @ The Smell
Thu Dec 19, 2013
Oakland @ TBA
Fri Dec 20, 2013
Sacramento @ Bows & Arrows

jessica fisher willson

writing, pop culture, musings, reiki, running, trends, tarot, zombies and stuff.

Author: Jessica