Space Capone Album Release Show (11/16/12)

Press play.

We had been hearing about Space Capone for a couple years now. They have been gaining momentum and have been turning up on festival lineups. We saw these guys for the first time earlier in the year at Starry Nights Music Festival near Bowling Green, KY. They played in the middle of the day and we had all been drinking.

I was very excited to see Space for the first time and was thoroughly impressed. We danced our asses off in the sun and it was beautiful.

I was very curious to see how the band would translate into a venue. As we have said before, Mercy Lounge is probably our favorite place to see a show in Nashville. We got there kind of early and were worried that the crowd was going to be small, but people started filing in and there ended up being an impressive turnout. You could tell that there was a buzz about the crowd and that they were ready to dance. Magnolia Sons started off the show and proved to be a solid precursor. Their music wasn't nearly as funky as Space Capone, but they definitely got the crowd dancing. When Space Capone came on, everyone crowded forward and the dancing erupted immediately. Hipsters, hippies, and frat dudes were all breaking it down. The most impressive part of Space Capone is how tight they are. Every single beat is perfect, something that is difficult to do with a 10ish piece band.

Space Capone did not disappoint and delivered a nearly 2 hour long set. I found myself very sweaty by the end.

I felt the need to include this gem of Kevin and his dance partner for the night.

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My advice regarding Space Capone is see them live and purchase the album. The album is a funk masterpiece and has some super thick grooves to draw you in. Keep your eye on these guys, my guess is that they will be playing tents at most of the big festivals this summer.

The Wayside Shakeup (Philadelphia, PA)

As always, I recommend that you go ahead and click "play" while you are listening.

The blog has been going for about a month now and I just want to stop for a second and say that we have been pleasantly surprised by the amount of readership we have had so far and I would like to thank everyone and I hope you are enjoying what we have had to offer so up to this point. With that being said, this post, featuring The Wayside Shakeup is the first post I have had a chance to do from a submission. We are not pretentious assholes as many music bloggers tend to be and one thing that we are very thankful for is the opportunity to help bands out and get them some exposure.

The Wayside Shakeup is from Philadelphia, PA. As I listened to this self titled album for the first time, I thought I had accidentally clicked "pause" on SoundCloud and "play" on Spotify. From song to song, the genre seems to completely change. This band does not blend their influences, each of there songs seems to reflect a different influence. The first track, "I'm Not Responsible For Your Happiness," has a Pearl Jam feel to it. This song was not my favorite from the album, but things started picking up for me when I got to track 2, "Nothing But A Good Time." This song has a super fat groove to it and starts off very laid back, super danceable, and has a little funk to it. The next track, "Don't Run Away," is by far my favorite track on the album. The first part of the song has a kick drum drenched with reverb behind an acoustic guitar and Jack White style vocals. The middle section drops into a haunting, psychedelic chant-like high gain guitar solo. This song is very solid and although I am an "album in its entirety" kind of guy, if you only have time to catch one track, go ahead and skip to this one.

The switch between "Don't Run Away" and "Where You Gonna Go Alone" is a great characterization of what I was saying about the music weaving between so many genres. This song pulls in a kind of island feel that will resonate in a few other tracks through the rest of the album. "So Fast" is the other track on the album that I was really drawn to. The beginning keeps the same island feel as "Where You Gonna Go Alone." The gem in this song is the slow groove style jam with a mandolin solo layered on top. About half way through the solo, an electric guitar comes in and weaves its way in and out of the mandolin. This was a very tasty way to take it to the end.

The Wayside Shakeup describes their music as "ranging from shameless pop to wobbly blues." I would agree and take it a step further. They have a very strong 90s influence mixed with an island style jam feel. However, they don't hesitate to take their music to psychedelia and they even delve into country a bit. So, check out The Wayside Shakeup and show them some love on social media (links included below).

-Cory

Facebook-https://www.facebook.com/TheWaysideShakeup

Twitter-@WaysideShakeup

The Weekly Jam 2

Please subscribe to our playlist if you like what you're hearing. Last week's is no longer available.

The Weekly Jam

Alright, Cory and I decided we're going to make a playlist and update it weekly with whatever we're digging at the time, and you'll probably dig it too if you're musically promiscuous. We're using Spotify so you may have to download it to listen in.

-Kevin

Drop Electric

I have been wanting to do a post covering a smaller band. Today I was listening to Drop Electric, a band I started listening to this time last year. I actually stumbled across them based on an ad that they were running on Facebook.

These guys are from Washington, D.C. and describe themselves as experimental rock. I would be inclined to compare them to Explosions in the Sky or Mogwai (who just released an EP). They are post rock but not post rock at the same time. They have the ominous guitars with uplifting refrains, profound vocal samplings, and their songs move similar to post rock songs. However, they build much quicker. I think this is the most attractive part of them, they put everything that is good about a 26 minute Mogwai masterpiece into a 7 minute song and then add some other elements to it.

Anyways, I felt moved enough to write this post randomly, so I would definitely urge you to check these guys out. Also from what I could tell, they are pretty into cinematography and their videos reflect it. Here is one from their sampler that is available for free on their Bandcamp

Bandcamp:http://dropelectric.bandcamp.com/album/drop-electric-sampler-platter Spotify:http://open.spotify.com/album/3y3Y4OHqIrPNWZ8lEo6kSs

-Cory

The Features (Show) 10/31/2012

I don't have enough good things to say about The Features. About this time 3 years ago during my freshman year of college, I was roped into attending one of their shows at Exit/In all because of a rumor flying around that Kings of Leon was playing a secret show with them. That didn't happen. What did happen was me leaving that show with a new favorite band. Since that time, I have rarely missed a show in the eastern half of Tennessee. Recently, I described The Features to a friend as the best band on the planet, by planet I mean Tennessee, and by Tennessee I mean the planet.

Hailing from the small town of Sparta, TN, these guys are the best kept secret of the Nashville music scene. From what I know of their history, they started off playing together during high school in the mid 90's and have been at it ever since. They are truly a road tested and battle hardened band. After their first full length album, Exhibit A, their label dropped them due to lack of sales. Not about to give up, they were eventually picked up by Snakes & Serpents, Kings of Leon's label. The Features went on to record Some Kind of Salvation and most recently Wilderness with them. All of us owe Kings of Leon for keeping them alive. I read an interview about The Features touring with KOL and Caleb Followill said he went outside and puked after The Features set because he was so nervous about how they would follow them up.

On to the night's show, The Features kicked off their "late" night set with everyone clad in their Halloween costumes. Cory was a hipster ghoul and I was the infamous Steve Bartman. They opened up with "Kids" starting the night off right with a heavy hitter. The show, as usual, did not lack intensity. I was surprised to hear old favorites such as "2x2", "The Beginning (Week One)", and "Contrast" all which are rarely played, at least the shows I've been to. They squeezed in as many songs as possible during their longer than usual hour and half set. The crowd started to dwindle about halfway through mainly due to the fact that it was past midnight and most in attendance had school or work the next day. Those of us die hards who stuck around got to hear a new track that should be appearing on their new album supposedly coming out in March of 2013. For the last of song of the encore, The Features broke out the fan favorite "Thursday". I consider this to be their equivalent to "Free Bird". It's always the most bittersweet part of the show because everyone in the crowd loves belting out all the "Ya da da das", but you also know the show is coming to a close. With all this being said, The Features gave us all treats and no tricks on this All Hallow's Eve, and I can't wait for the next show.

-Kevin

The Features "Thursday" from Lake Fever Sessions on Vimeo.