Alright Junior

New Band Alert: Hot Brush

Posted on by Kristen

According to the band, Hot Brush is defined as an intense moment/experience; enlightenment; an alignment of fate. If it is fate that brought together Jace (Alright Junior) and Elissa (Karma Bat) on their musical journeys, then certainly we should pay attention! This duo from Philadelphia only has a couple songs up for our listening pleasure, but I’m quite excited about what I hear.  I’ve always been a huge fan of Jace’s voice and I find it only enhanced by the sweetness of Elissa’s harmonies in “Bloodfed Trees”. I’m also digging the pluckiness of the ukulele which is a fantastic juxtaposition to the darker lyrical tones. The other Hot Brush tune “Dr. Fuller” (see below) is another gem. It reminds me of a darker version of Egyptian’s “Doctor Doctor“…it’s as if Hot Brush is the east coast’s answer to the west coast’s power duo of Aja (Nico Vega) and Dan (Imagine Dragons). But I digress…

If you’re in Philadelphia, you need to go check out Hot Brush (and kindly report back). They have a couple shows on the calendar. May 30th at Kung Fu Necktie and June 1st at PJ Ryan’s Underground in Pheonixville.

In the meantime, like them on facebook, follow them on twitter, listen to some tunes on reverb nation, and generally fall in love with some new music! yay!

 


~ Kristen

 

Watch This! “Never Quite the Disappearing Act”

Posted on by Kristen

Alright, Junior has released a new music video!! I’ve been looking forward to this one for weeks. Check out the video for one of my fave tunes (made my best of ’09 mix), “Never Quite the Disappearing Act”.

For more on Alright, Junior go to their website. And keep checking back here because LMN was in Philadelphia for the band’s last show at Northstar Bar. We’ve got some great pictures and video coming your way!

~ Kristen

Kristen’s LA Concert Calendar: 1/24-1/30

Posted on by Kristen

Amanda and I are in New York City at the moment. Just came back from seeing the boys of Carney rock Spiderman: Turn Off the Dark (again). They made some changes in the second half that I loved. As you know, we ventured to the east coast because my first favorite band, Pepper’s Ghost, had a reunion show at The Grape Room, Saturday in Philadelphia (their first show since 2007…). There are no words to describe how I felt about seeing this band play again. The whole day, really, spent with some of my favorite people and seeing a couple of my top bands (we also went to Northstar to catch a bit of Alright, Junior’s set) is bound to go down as one of the best days of my year…hopefully I’ll find some time to put up some pictures and, fingers crossed, video (!) soon.

But, in the meantime, we’ve got lots of great shows to look forward to this week in LA! Can’t wait to get back (and not just because I’m freezing my fingers off over here)! Here’s what I’d like to do:

Monday: Cold War Kids at Bootleg (10:30)
ALSO: Camp Freddy at Whiskey a Go Go (9pm)
ALSO: The Script at Jimmy Kimmel (6:45…with reservation from 1iota.com)
ALSO: Iron & Wine FREE at Amoeba (7pm)
ALSO: Songwriters in the Round at Room 5 (9pm)
ALSO: It’s a School Night at Bardot featuring Royal Bangs and Gary Clark Jr. (10:30)

Tuesday: Cold War Kids at Amoeba (6pm)
ALSO: Anna Nalick at Saint Rocke (10:30)
ALSO: WPA featuring Glen Phillips and Sean Watkins at The Hotel Cafe (7pm)
ALSO: The Vaccines at The Satellite (9pm)
ALSO: The Canyons at Molly Malone’s (9pm)
ALSO: Iron & Wine at The Wiltern (8pm)
ALSO: Olin & The Moon FREE at The Echo (10pm)
ALSO: 8mm at The Good Hurt (11pm)

Weds: Red Circle Underground at Silverlake Lounge (11pm)
ALSO: Keaton Simons at The Roxy (8pm)
ALSO: Iron & Wine at The Wiltern (8pm)
ALSO: Bryan Greenberg at Saint Rocke (10pm)

Thursday: High Voltage Presents at The Mint featuring Armada, 8mm, etc. (8pm)
ALSO: Amos Lee at The Music Box (9pm)
ALSO: Graydon at Silverlake Louge (9:30)
ALSO: Steel Train at The Troubadour (8:45)

Friday: Queen Caveat and Nico Vega at Saint Rocke (9,11)
ALSO: The Postelles and Free Energy at The Roxy (8pm)
ALSO: Honeyhoney at Bootleg (9:45)
ALSO: Parade of Lights at Club Cohiba in Long Beach (7:30)
ALSO: Juke Kartel at The Hotel Cafe (10:30)
ALSO: Maxim Ludwig at The Sante Fe Seven (11:45)
ALSO: Rocco Deluca and Daniel Lanois at The El Rey (8:30)

Saturday: Charlotte Martin at Bootleg (10:30)
ALSO: Tyler Hilton at The Hotel Cafe (9pm)
ALSO: Oh Darling at the Santa Monica Pier (5:30)

Sunday: George Stanford at The Hotel Cafe
ALSO: Against Me! at The Music Box (8pm)
ALSO: The Shakers at O’Briens

To Keep in Mind:

Feb 1st: Patrick Park at The Hotel Café
Feb. 1st: Queen Caveat at The Viper Room
Feb 5th: The Silent Comedy at El Rey
Feb 9th: Sarah McLaughlin at Nokia Live
Feb 9th: Tina Dico at The Troubadour
Feb 16th: Nicole Atkins at The Troubadour
Feb. 16th: Scars on 45 at The Hotel Cafe
Feb. 20th: Beth Hart at The Echoplex
Feb 26th: Josh Ritter and Scott Hutchinson (Frightened Rabbit) at The Music Box
March 1st: Biffy Clyro at The Troubadour
March 3rd: Civil Twilight at The Troubadour
March 4th: After Midnight Project at The Roxy
March 22nd: War on Drugs at The Troubadour

~ Kristen

Kristen’s ’10 Mix – Track 13 – Alright, Junior

Posted on by Kristen

13. “The One I Love” – Alright, Junior

Alright, Junior is one of my fave bands from back in Philly. Unfortunately, they don’t tend to leave the east coast, so I only get to see them about once a year…if I’m lucky! This year, I was able to catch their show at North Star Bar where they played a fantastic new song, “Burn”. They did a local radio show for 104.5, playing that song along with this cover of REM’s “The One I Love.” When I first heard this cover, it literally brought tears to my eyes.  I love this band!

http://alrightjunior.com/alrightjunior/home.html

Unfortunately, I can no longer find the link to the video online…but someone did capture their radio performance of “Burn” so ENJOY!

I love this band!

 

~ Kristen

track 12: Scarlet Grey
track 14: The Academy Is…

Kristen’s LA Concert Calendar: 8/23-8/30

Posted on by Kristen

I write to you now from a bench outside one of my favorite dining establishments down the street from where I went to college in Bryn Mawr, PA. I’m waiting for my college roommate and her sister to come pick me up and carry me through the next leg of my east coast journey. I flew in yesterday to Philadelphia in time to see one of my favorite local Philly bands, Alright Junior, at The North Star Bar. It had been a year since I’d seen them and words are hard to conjure to appropriately explain how incredibly happy I was to be in their presence again . It’s one thing to listen to a CD over and over again, but nothing can really replace the live experience and last night was just a validation as to why Alright Junior is one of my favorite bands.  

A week from now I will be writing to you a tad on the late side…I will be a beach house in South Carolina enjoying the singer songwriter extravaganza, Hotel Carolina. I will unfortunately not have internet access so I apologize in advance for next week’s delayed concert list.

For me this week is going to be somewhat dry as far as concerts are concerned. I’ll be in the Washington DC area if anyone knows of a good band playing in those parts please let me know. I’ll definitely be envious of all of you back in LA enjoying all the amazing shows, such as:

Monday:  Hellen Stellar at Silverlake Lounge (10pm)
ALSO: Andy Clockwise at The Hotel Café (6pm)
ALSO: The Outline and Heavy Young Heathens FREE at Spaceland (8:30)
ALSO: Paris Carney and Songwriters in the Round at Room 5 (8,9pm) 

Tuesday: Monster Eats the Pilot , Diamond Light FREE at The Viper Room (11,12)
ALSO: Thriving Ivory at The Troubadour (10pm)
ALSO: Jake Newton at Molly Malone’s (9pm)
ALSO: The Maine at House of Blues (7:30)
ALSO: Fitz and the Tantrums FREE at Amoeba Records (7pm) 

Weds: The White Buffalo at The Mint (10:30) 

Thursday: Filter at The Roxy (8pm)
ALSO: The Shakers and Purple Melon at The Viper Room (9:30,10:30)
ALSO: Rick Cornette at The Cat Club (8pm)
ALSO: Flight from Above at The Troubadour (9pm)
ALSO: The Beth Hart Band at Whiskey A Go-Go (7pm) 

Friday: Sunset Strip Music Festival featuring:
               * The Silent Comedy  (9pm) and Run Devil Run (10pm) at The Viper Room
               * Nico Vega (10pm) and Unwritten Law (11pm) at The Roxy
               * The Other Side of Morning at The Cat Club (9pm)
ALSO: Denim Family Band Reunion Concert at The Hotel Café (11pm)
ALSO: John Williams at The Hollywood Bowl (8:30) 

Saturday: Sunset Strip Music Festival featuring:
             * Queen Caveat at The Viper Room (9:30)
             * Transfer at The Key Club 
             * Street stage with Semi Precious Weapons, Neon Trees, The Smashing Pumpkins, etc.
ALSO: Something Corporate at Club Nokia (7:30) 

Sunday: Tyrone Wells at Saint Rocke (9pm)
ALSO: Travis Warren at The Hotel Café (10pm)
ALSO: Green River Ordinance, Switchfoot, and Goo Goo Dolls at The Greek Theater (7pm) 

…and because I might be late and don’t want you to miss out…

Monday (August 30th): Haim and Whispertown 2000 FREE at Spaceland (8:30)
ALSO: Venus Infers and 8mm at Saint Rocke (8pm)
ALSO: Songwriters in the Round at Room 5 (9pm) 

To Keep in Mind:
September 4th: After Midnight Project at The Key Club
September 18th: Heart at Gibson Amphitheater
September 25th: Band of Horses at Greek Theater
September 25th: Muse at Staples Center
September 30th: BIFFY CLYRO at The Bootleg Theater
October 1st: Brandi Carlile and The Avett Brothers at Nokia Theater LA Live
October 13th: Frightened Rabbit at The Mayan Theater
December 11th: The Black Crowes and Truth & Salvage Co. at Hollywood Palladium

~ Kristen

Biffy Love: Bubbles

Posted on by Kristen

Biffy Clyro: I am SILL obsessed with this band. Their CD, Only Revolutions, has joined Jealousy Curve, Alright Junior, and MUTEMATH as a permanent staple in my car. The band recently released a new single for their song “Bubbles” along with some additional unreleased tracks.  Unfortunately, they will not be accompanying the release with a US tour…I will have to make do with the new video. I love this song. I love this CD. I love this band.

~ Kristen

What a Way to Start the Day!!

Posted on by Amanda

One of my fave Philly bands, Alright Junior, just released this music video for their song “Fish vs. Ambulance” off their most recent EP Our Temporary Everything. I LOVE this band and I think this video does a great job capturing their essence. It’s particularly amusing for me as I have definitely used this song as a wake up alarm. It’s just such a great way to start the day!

I hope you enjoy this video as much as I do!

~ Kristen