Monthly Archives: September 2009

The Cavemen Go confirmed for Elm City PopFest

Posted on September 28, 2009 | Leave a comment

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New Haven/Boston popsters The Cavemen Go have been added to the bill for the Nov. 14 Elm City PopFest.

The Cavemen Go have made a name for themselves as one of — if not the — premier pop band in New Haven. They consistently stand out from the crowd in New Haven with great pop songwriting and musicianship. The Cavemen Go fuses the past and the present with influences as varied as the British Invasion and Motown, as well as nods to the poppier end of contemporary indie rock and even shades of country and folk-rock.

The New Haven Advocate said about The Cavemen Go’s album “New Lives”:
The Cavemen Go, which began as a gown/gown blend of Yale and SCSU students in the early 2000s, have always understood that blue-eyed sensitivity and chord-heavy R&B keyboards are as essential to gritty ‘60s-style American garage rock as hair-shaking gyrations, tambourines and “woo-woo”s. Add an alt-country twang at times and this soul-bending band matches early-‘70s Kinks for artful, articulate pop cross-pollination.

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The Sugarplums confirmed for Elm City PopFest

Posted on September 26, 2009 | Leave a comment

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Baltimore’s The Sugarplums will be rounding out the pack of out-of-state bands for the Nov. 14 Elm City PopFest.

The Sugarplums are a four-piece band that play “fuzzy, cuddly pop songs.” According to their myspace, they are “three boys and one girl playing magnificently realized, yet poorly recorded pop songs and having lots and lots of fun.”

The Jezebel Music blog said this:
The Sugarplums’ sound reflected their name, but not in a naïve way; the vocal lines pranced in front of the reverberating guitars and were interesting, poppy, and pleasing to listen to. The Plums were tapped into that K Records jangle sound; they inspired me to get reacquainted with some Saturday Looks Good to Me and Beat Happening, bands with modest guitar hooks, romantic vocals, and stories about being drunk at summer pool parties.

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One Happy Island confirmed for Elm City PopFest

Posted on September 25, 2009 | Leave a comment

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We’re excited to have Boston indiepop band One Happy Island play the Elm City PopFest on Saturday, Nov. 14.

One Happy Island are fresh from playing the huge Indietracks festival in England with countless other pop bands. OHI draw influence from The Beach Boys, The Lucksmiths, Rose Melberg, Camera Obscura, New Pornographers, Acid House Kings and Squeeze, among many others.

From their myspace:
One Happy Island is an indiepop band from Boston with sloppy DIY tendencies. Chief exports include handclaps, ukulele strings, harmonicas, bittersweetly jangley ballads, furiously unfocused kazoo solos, and unashamed lo-fi recordings. It is the intention of Shannon, Rebecca, Clint, and Brad to take their songcraft and melodies to new levels of fun, fun, and fun.

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The Metric Mile confirmed for Elm City PopFest

Posted on September 23, 2009 | 1 Comment

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We are excited that The Metric Mile will be headlining the daytime show of the Nov. 14 Elm City PopFest.

The Metric Mile is a pop band from Brooklyn, NY. According to the band, “The Metric Mile make pop music out of guitars, keyboards, drum machines and anxiety.” They draw influence from bands such as The Field Mice, The Wake, Orchestral Manoeuvres in the Dark and The Magnetic Fields, among others.

“The Metric Mile sports a dreamy pop sound and a really endearing delivery. Their devotion to the drum machine adds something interesting to the mix, too. They’ve got a deep love for 80s pop that pours out of every chord and note.” – The Needle Drop, Feb. 18, 2009

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Elm City PopFest

Posted on September 19, 2009 | Leave a comment

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Tweefort is teaming up with New Haven Artspace and CT Indie to bring you a day full of pop music to support the arts in New Haven.

Mark Saturday, Nov. 14 on your calendars to head to the ArtSpace gallery in New Haven to hear 6 great pop bands headlined by Philadelphia dream pop band A Sunny Day In Glasgow.

Four bands will play an afternoon show — then come back at 8 p.m. for the ArtSpace Underground with The Tyler Trudeau Attempt and A Sunny Day In Glasgow.

Check back often and click the “Elm City PopFest” link to the right for more updates including the afternoon line-up of bands.

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New Haven ArtSpace Underground — Sept. 19

Posted on September 13, 2009 | 1 Comment

The New Haven ArtSpace Underground art parties are back! We’re excited to be helping out again this year.

Below is the press release directly from the ArtSpace:

NEW HAVEN – Dear New Haven: we’re baaack! Did you miss us? After three months of fun in the sun, the hottest party in New Haven is back and funkier than ever. So grab your BFFs, come down to the gallery and rock out with us on Saturday, September 19th, from 8-11PM.

Artspace Underground is Downtown New Haven’s only gig that brings you art, a sick DJ, live indie rock bands, and the sexy cool vibe of a SoHo-style Downtown gallery. But this year, we’ve got some new tricks up our sleeves. We’re gonna do themed parties now! Plus, we introduce “happenings,” relatively unscripted performance events that engage the whole audience, bridging the gap between art and life. It’ll be ridiculous.

The theme for September is FACTORY. Think pop art. Think Andy Warhol. On September 19th, Fake Babies performs live; New Haven art scene regular Phil Lique creates a surprise “Happening”; and resident-DJ Peter Kuhn spins the hottest indie hits. As always, 116 Crown provides sexy drinks and an equally sexy staff. Yum. What a way to ring in the school year. $5 admission includes one free drink ticket to redeem at 116 after 11PM; $6 dollar drink specials. Oh, and if you wear something ultra fabulous or FACTORY related, we’ll let you in for $2. So go get creative!

Fake Babies is Justin Courtney Roberts, Gary Kiernan Velush, and Robert James Nuzzello Jr.  Justin spends most of his time with his girlfriend, Gary rarely shuts the fuck up, and Robert thinks about a lot of pointless stuff all day. Babies usually makes what they like to call Noise Soul (and the occasional smooth R&B tracks which never get good enough to release).  One day they hope to get signed to Joe Jackson’s new record label, Chi-Coast Entertainment.  Or just enjoy a decent meal at a decent price with a decent person and a decent neo-soul-acid-jazz version of Fake Babies’ “Belly” playing faintly in the background.

Phil Lique is a really cool dude. He holds an MFA from Western Connecticut State University, and was most recently featured as Artist in Residence in the 2008 City-Wide Open Studios. The thing you’ll most likely notice about Phil is his crazy vintage style. Lord knows what Phil will come up with for his “happening” performance. Brace yourselves.

For more information about Artspace Underground, or to find out how you can get involved, contact Madison Moore at hipsterdanceparty@gmail.com

Bands can also contact Tweefort at tweefort@gmail.com

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Cars Can Be Blue and The Lovely Eggs with School Safety Patrol @ Two Boots — Thurs., Sept. 10

Posted on September 9, 2009 | Leave a comment

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Athens, Ga., popsters Cars Can Be Blue will perform with European pop duo The Lovely Eggs, Thursday, Sept. 10 at Two Boots, 281 Fairfield Ave., Bridgeport. Connecticut pop duo School Safety Patrol will also perform.

Cars Can Be Blue, from Athens, Ga., play simple, fun, catchy songs that combine bubblegum pop with a satirical, sometimes even naughty sense of humor. Think Dressy Bessy with Sarah Silverman singing, Tullycraft meets Adam Sandler, Beat Happening meets Tenacious D. Now you’re getting the idea. How do they do it? It all comes from the unique chemistry of Nate Mitchell and Becky Brooks.

Cars Can Be Blue started during the summer of 2002 after the dissolution of Nate’s cover band and Becky’s improv comedy group. Cars Can Be Blue have shared stages with bands like Mates of State, The Lucksmiths, Jason Anderson/Wolf Colonel and xBxRx, stand-up comedians Eugene Mirman and Bobby Tisdale and even warmed crowds up for the hilarious Found Footage Film Festival.

The Lovely Eggs are a pop duo from Lancaster, UK. They like to play music together and share a drink. Holly likes books and historical things. David doesnt like books and historical things so much. He prefers cine light shows and fixing things that are broken.

The music of the Lovely Eggs is mainly influenced by “the ecstasy of the modern mind and all its trappings.” They site such bands as The Velvet Underground, Daniel Johnston, Red Crayola, Sonic Youth, Scout Niblett, the Brian Jonestown Massacre, he Modern Lovers and the Moldy Peaches as influences.

School Safety Patrol is one of the many musical incarnations of Peter and Julie of the Sawtelles and Poptelles. They play Ramones-inspired punk pop on a fuzzed out electric uke and modified drum kit. Peter and Julie can be seen playing all over the state of CT from farmer’s markets to rock shows.

Cars Can Be Blue and The Lovely Eggs will perform with School Safety Patrol Thursday, Sept. 10 at Two Boots, 281 Fairfield Ave., Bridgeport. This is an all ages show, but lyrical content is for mature audiences. Music begins at 9 p.m. $5.

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Eula with Cleemann and Human Pontiac @ Cafe Nine — Sept. 8

Posted on September 4, 2009 | Leave a comment

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New Haven post-rock band Eula will headline a bill with Danish indie artist Cleemann Tuesday, Sept. 8 at Café Nine, 250 State St., New Haven. New Haven’s Human Pontiac will also perform.

Eula may be the hardest working band out of New Haven, continually playing shows in and out of the city, as well as New York, Massachusetts and beyond. Alyse, Nate and Jeff play a unique brand of post rock that’s all the rage right now. They’re getting buzz all over the blogosphere and continually packing venues and playing with some of rock and pop’s hottest indie acts.

The music blog Pop Tarts Suck Toasted said about the band:

“Eula absolutely propel themselves with their dynamic rhythm section and then stab you again and again with front lady Alyse Lamb’s high-pitched, shrill voice. It’s an exciting sound, one that makes you want to slam dance or just plain slam things.”

Cleemann is a Danish one-man project centered around singer, multi-instrumentalist and composer Gunnar Cleemann. His album “45 Minutes Mostly About Caring” was co-produced with Mario Thaler, who has worked with the likes of indie bands The Notwist and Lali Puna. His music has been described as “subtle acoustic textures blending with computerized beats and loops,” and has a stripped-down Radiohead feel to it.

The music blog Fensepost said about Cleemann:

“Cleemann’s music is about as unique and interesting as pop music comes. However you wish to classify the mystery that is Cleemann, it’s hard to deny that there’s something genius about his work.”

Human Pontiac is the solo project of New Haven’s Adam Malec, who has made a name for himself in the local music scene in bands such as Groovski and Procedure Club. Malec uses computerized beats and loops while playing guitar to create 3-minute bursts of electronic pop. The live show is a must-see.

Eula will perform with Cleemann and Human Pontiac Tuesday, Sept. 8 at Café Nine, 250 State St., New Haven, Conn. Doors open at 9 p.m. Music begins at 10 p.m. The show is free and 21+.

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Swedes please (and thank you)

Posted on September 4, 2009 | Leave a comment

Big thanks to everyone who came out last night to hear some great pop music. And thanks to The Nathan Hall Band, The Tyler Trudeau Attempt and Lisa Bouvier and The Pop Messengers.

The Nathan Hall band played their first live show and they were great. They played some cool rockabilly and 80s-inspired pop music. Nathan Hall jangled so hard he broke two guitar strings. The band wanted to play all night long, rocking and popping for over 45 minutes. They’re definitely a group to add to the list of CT pop bands to watch.

The Tyler Trudeau Attempt were great as usual. A very solid set from the New Haven veterans.

Lisa Bouvier took the stage at around 12:15 and played a very cool, although abbreviated set. It’s good thing their songs are short and sweet. I learned that John Mordecai isn’t the only person that plays a keyboard on a strap — Lisa rocked a cute little keyboard with a strap held on with duct tape and caution tape. They also played a guitar they bought at Wal-Mart and a little kid’s mini Disney electric guitar. I’m wondering now if they bought all their gear after they got to the U.S. They were so good and very fun to watch live.

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Lisa Bouvier with The Tyler Trudeau Attempt and The Hallways @ Cafe Nine — Thurs., Sept. 3

Posted on September 1, 2009 | Leave a comment

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Lisa Bouvier, of the Swedish indie pop band Stars in Coma, will perform with her own backing band Thursday, Sept. 3 at Café Nine, 250 State St., in New Haven, Conn. New Haven power pop outfit The Tyler Trudeau Attempt and Fairfield, Conn.’s The Hallways will also perform.

Lisa Bouvier, hailing from Malmö/Lund/Karlshamn, Sweden, plays infectious pop music that straddles the pop punk line. Covering such topics as love and longing, Bouvier and her band, The Pop Messengers, keep heads bobbing and toes tapping. A busy woman, Bouvier splits her time among multiple other bands, including indie pop blog darlings, Stars in Coma.

New Haven’s The Tyler Trudeau Attempt has been compared to Elvis Costello, Billy Bragg, The Ramones and Richard Hell. Really it’s just great power pop. They can be seen on stages all over the state of Connecticut.

The New Haven Advocate said the following about The Tyler Trudeau Attempt’s EP, “In My Despair I Took Up Painting”:

“[In My Despair, I Took Up Painting is] an EP brimming with social satire, gleeful punk music, enough organ for a prog band and Trudeau’s instantly recognizable whine… The TTA looks back to the roots of punk and finds something immensely energetic, often hilarious and always political. On top of that, it’s catchy as hell.”

The Hallways are a three-piece pop band from Fairfield that feature guitar, drums and a stand-up bass. Guitarist Nathan Hall writes and sings Smith’s-inspired pop tunes.

Lisa Bouvier will perform with The Tyler Trudeau Attempt and The Hallways, Thursday, Sept. 3 at Café Nine, 250 State St., New Haven, Conn. Doors open at 9 p.m. Music begins at 10 p.m. The show is free and 21+.

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