First Aid Kit - Black Cat Mar. 30
There’s something about Swedish musicians that makes them capable of boiling any genre down to scientific perfection. ABBA did it with pop music, Swedish House Mafia did it with house music, and now First Aid Kit is doing it with folk.With a sound like a cross between Fleet Foxes and the Indigo Girls, Swedish sisters Klara and Johanna Söderberg, aka First Aid Kit craft classic, no-frills American folk out of soft acoustic guitar and country-tinged harmonies. First Aid Kit doesn’t break any new musical ground, but they do play perfectly crafted folk with admirable skill.
As part of their North American tour in support of their new album The Lion’s Roar, First Aid Kit will play a show this Friday at the Black Cat. The Swedish sensations will be supported by British folk and rockabilly band Peggy Sue, who play folk that is much more rough-around-the-edges and unpolished, like a female Avett Brothers. The trio hails from Brighton, England and is touring to support their 2011 release "Acrobats," a more plugged-in take on the band's more traditionally folky sound. Together, the two bands offer a one-two punch that will satisfy folk fans of all kinds, whether they prefer the stripped down, confessional style of Peggy Sue or the refined, tight harmonies of First Aid Kit.
Plants and Animals - Red Palace Apr. 6
Canadian indie rockers Plants and Animals, whose third album The End of That came out in February are the kind of band that caused “indie rock” to become a genre rather than a statement of label circumstance. The band’s jangle-pop-meets-classic-rock sound is basically what comes to mind when you think of “indie rock,” which has made it difficult for the band to stand out in the past.That’s not to say, however, that the band doesn’t have flashes of brilliance. These moments often grow out of engaging, powerful guitar work that injects an energy into the band’s sound that keeps them from becoming another forgettable indie act. At their worst, they sound like the background music for a montage in a bad teen movie; at their best they sound like a more upbeat Television, which I guess makes them the epitome of indie as the genre it’s become.
With most of their most recent album leaning towards their better side, Plants and Animals are poised to put on an enjoyable and accessible show at Red Palace on April 6.
Howler - Red Palace Apr. 13
Before the Sex Pistols for better or worse turned punk into a slobbering mess, the premiere punk rockers like the Ramones drew most of their inspiration from comparatively tame early rockers like Chuck Berry and the Beach Boys. On their debut album America Give Up, Minneapolis surf-rockers tap into this rockabilly-influenced early punk and couple it with the kind of fuzzed out reverb and stoner lyricism that have become a requirement for all garage rock bands.To put their sound in anecdote form, 19-year-old bandleader Bob Gatesmith allegedly met keyboardist Max Petrek because they were both tapping their feet to the same Ronnettes song in the lobby of Planned Parenthood with their respective girlfriends. It's hard to tell if this story is true given Gatesmith's reputation for making things up, but it does do a pretty good job of summing up the band's sound.
Howler, which was formed by Gatesmith in 2010, generated a lot of buzz after releasing their first EP This One's Different in 2011. The band rode this hype to a stent opening for The Vaccines on their UK tour last year before hitting the studio to record America Give Up, a finely-tuned album wherein the band settles into their own surf-punk sound with great results.
Howler is set to perform this album at Red Palace on Friday, April 13.
