POPFEST! day one: the ballet, my teenage stride, the metric mile, dream bitches, the soft city, and knight school

NYC POPFEST 2009! The Ballet @ the Cake Shop, New York (May 14, 2009)

(This is the first in a series of week-late Popfest reviews. I will try to keep them short, but it is so hard when I had such a great weekend!)

Somewhere between Chicago and New York, it was raining, delaying our flight before take-off for more than an hour. Luckily, I made it to the Cake Shop in plenty of time to catch Knight School kick-off NYC Popfest 2009! Filled with NYC bands, the first night proved to be a great start to a wonderful weekend of music.

I have long been charmed by the cover (featuring many cats) of Knight School’s CDR The Poor and Needy Need to Party released on LostMusic, but I finally ordered it a few months ago and have kept it on frequent rotation since. Buzzy and loud but full of hooks, Knight School certainly fits in with the rest of the NYC pop scene, but there is something uniquely appealing about them. They played a loud and fast set that left my ears ringing for the rest of the night.

The Soft City played a nice set, too, even if it was their first show! They just have one tiny single out on Cloudberry, so I am interested in hearing more. Some videos of their set from Popfest are up now on their Myspace, and I am really enjoying “Capital Soul,” even a week later.

The crowd was definitely into the four heavily tattooed and bobbed girls in Dream Bitches, but something about their style of pop music is a little too much for me. Snotty 90s girl pop is all well and good, but sometimes it just seems so contrived. They sounded and played great, though, so I have no complaints. And it may just have been their last show, which is too bad!

Appropriately, someone called out “The Field Mice!” during The Metric Mile’s set. Certainly, the band sounds very much like The Field Mice, but only in the best ways possible. Soft synth with lush orchestration, they may have been the band I was most pleasantly surprised by for the evening.

That would be, of course, until My Teenage Stride played. I’ve had their album forever, but I don’t listen to it that frequently. What a mistake that is!! They played an energetic set with fantastic pop songs. I guess they’ve been releasing a song a month lately, so that is something I need to check out.

And, finally, The Ballet. I think I am a relatively latecomer to this NYC band, but god knows why—a gay pop band (and there are so few!) with perfectly crafted songs should have found me immediately. They did a really great job of translating their songs live, and it’s always nice to not hear the album replayed for you. They did a great cover of “Take Ecstasy with Me,” appropriate for the NYC-themed evening, and played all of the songs I have come to love over the past few months, “Personal,” “In My Head,” and “Cheating on Your Boyfriend.” They said they are working on a new album now, which is very exciting. They didn’t have the live cello player as has surfaced during previous performances, but that was perfectly fine. They were an absolutely perfect finish to a wonderful first night of pop music.

Download:
Knight School - "Pregnant Again"
Knight School - "Crybaby"

The Soft City - The Soft City
The Soft City - "Wallflower"

The Metric Mile - "Amateurs"
The Metric Mile - "In Praise of Ski Jumpers"

My Teenage Stride - "Ears Like Golden Bats"

The Ballet - "Personal"
The Ballet - "Cheating on Your Boyfriend"

very truly yours

I am almost too excited to see the Pains of Being Pure at Heart tonight. I know at some point, I am going to have to stop listening to their album so I don't get too burned out before the show. And, while that time may not quite have come (I mean, the show's not until 9pm...), I can gear up in a different way—by listening to the wonderful openers, Very Truly Yours.

I don't know too much about the band, and what I do know is all second-hand from friends, including my best friend, the Internet. But Chicago pop is hard to come by, which is why I feel it is necessary to say some kind words. Very Truly Yours strike a pure pop beauty that isn't overly saccharine or precious. It is sincere and beautiful with just the right amount of distortion in the background to make it a little messy. I guess think of the Softies fronted by Amelia Fletcher, or Strawberry Story when Hayley Beckman is at her most calm. Made up from three-fourths of contributors to the Chicago band the Lorimer Sound, Very Truly Yours is the perfect simple pop band Chicago has never had.

They just released a great split EP on Cloudberry on January 1st with the Understudies from the UK. They were also just on a WeePOP! comp and are releasing a new song on an upcoming Series Two comp! Wow! Certainly a pop band to watch, and one of the few we've had from Chicago in a long time. And they're only a few months old!!

And don't forget to come to tonight's show! The Pains of Being Pure at Heart with the Depreciation Guild and Very Truly Yours @ Schuba's, 9pm. Tickets are only $8! The show will be put on by my good friends Colour Me Pop!

Download:
Very Truly Yours - "Popsong '91"

I would also like to take this time to ask: WHAT THE FUCK IS UP WITH THE TWEE.NET POLL/SERIES TWO RECORDS DRAMA?! For a bit of background, Series Two swept the Best Record Label of 2008 category with around 60 more votes than any other record label, and about 60 more votes than were even present in any other category... Slumberland came in a far second, and I don't think anyone was arguing that the label that put out so many solid indie pop releases of 2008 deserved to be #1. But some are taking quite a bit of offense to this drama. Cloudberry went as far as saying that Series Two owner, Chris B, was causing "terrible damage" to the twee pop scene. His response? "Better luck next year!" Ouch!

komon - punk ep re-release

Komon - Give Me Speed

"Give me twee!" It's something I say every day, but hearing Lund, Sweden's Komon say it is so much more charming. I heard Komon a while ago with her free download from Cloudberry off of her Punk EP, but I have been searching for more songs ever since. Now that I've found them, I just can't take them off repeat. Fortunately for us who want even more, a ton of songs are streaming on her Myspace and on her Last.fm page.

Komon is Antonia Pehrson who started this solo project after purchasing an electric organ. Her music is a refreshing combination of witty lyrics, drum beats, organ and classic indie-pop melodies. I can understand the comparisons to Amelia Fletcher and like-minded twee-pop ladies, but who can resist the addition of sped-up drum machine beats and analog synth?

Her Myspace promises a new album soon, but she's just re-released the Punk EP with an extra song. You can order it by contacting her from her Myspace page.

Download:
Komon - I Made New Friends
Komon - Poetry for the Winter
(What would this post be without including her totally cute free holiday pop song download?)