Hot Tea...

... because that's what you are, a HOT-TEA.

That is verbatim what I said when I picked up my computer from the doctor, all healthy and pretty. It is also what I aptly said when seeing this band I think you all should check out. They're a little outift from Brooklyn, you might have heard of them: THE FIERY FURNACES. Playing equal cuts from their whole catalogue (with an obvious tilt to Bitter Tea tracks), the siblings juggernauted (is that even a word?) noisely along. Among the highlights were re-arranged knock-outs like "I'm in No Mood", "Bow Wow" and a fabulous Rehearsing My Choir medley beginning with "The Garfield El" and continuing on with "A Candymaker's Knife in my Bag". Man Man opened the soiree and pretty much blew my mind. Desoto Jeremiah succinctly described it as "John McEnroe meets The Manson Family meets the Muppets". I couldn't have put it better myself or if I was wasted on $4.75 Bud Lights.


Man Man: This is pretty sedate for them.

A couple nights before, I took in a classy evening of The Walkmen. They too played a set comprised of all their albums, favoring their newest release A Hundred Miles Off. Ham Leithauser (that's what his friends/hanger-oners call him according to William H. Glover and Daniel "The Chosen" Rosen) brought it from the beginning, his blood curdling shriek illuminating opener "All Hands and The Cook". The boys carried on with hits like "Wake Up" and "The Rat" and closed the set with "Louisiana" complete with a ragtag mariachi brass section (including Seth Cohen-lookalike bass player of opener Mazarin), blaring the s out of their horns.


The Walkmen: Classy, not assy.

Two of my favorite bands and two very enjoyable shows. Huzzah. God bless the interweb (specifically YouTube):



Next: Top Songs of the first half of 2006. I'm pretty jazzed.

The Fiery Furnaces: http://www.thefieryfurnaces.com/
Man Man: http://www.wearemanman.com/
The Walkmen: http://www.marcata.net/walkmen/
Mazarin: http://www.mazarinband.com/