LOUFEST | PHOTO BY Jason Gonulsen LouFest is now in its sixth year, and its gates are set to open this Saturday at Noon at Forest Park in St. Louis. The music schedule can be found here; tickets are still available here. Today, we’re throwing it back to the first LouFest in 2010 and the … Read more
All photos by Tim Bottchen Los Angeles rockers Everest were back at The Firebird this past Friday for a show with St. Louis’ Old Lights. The ATO/Vapor recording artists released Ownerless is 2012, and we recommend cranking that shit on this fine Monday morning. Also crank-worthy is Old Lights 2011 EP, Like Strangers (but you … Read more
On Saturday at The Pageant, Schlafly will celebrate its 21st birthday with local bands The Bottle Rockets, Bunnygrunt, and Old Lights. The show is free, although you’ll need a ticket to enter. And, sorry, but all tickets have now sold out. All three bands are worth the trip down to The Pageant, but for this … Read more
Photo courtesy of Old Lights’ website. The first line in this song is bullshit; the last line is not. “Loud Song” is my favorite Old Lights track because of the emotion it brings — there is a battle going on in this song. And I’ve never met David Beeman of Old Lights, but I … Read more
We can blame it on the circumstances Oh, at least we took the chances we had to I used to sing this song with a pretty special person on long drives rolling down lonesome highways. From the first time we heard it, we knew it was for us, especially the lyrics noted above. We would … Read more
Photo by Carson Minow St. Louis’ Née is Kristin Dennis, Mic Boshans, David Beeman (of Old Lights), and Lex Herbert. While we’ve written about the group before on SIC, they’re now cooking up a soon to be released EP, Finches, which was recorded on “analogue, vintage gear” at Native Sound. I’m not usually a fan … Read more
Photo by Matt Wignall All of the feelings that I know you never felt, and all of the simple words you never said, I want you to keep them like a secret to yourself, they’re not for me. It was just last August, on one of the hottest nights of the summer (seriously, my car … Read more
Artwork by Nate Jones of Kentucky Knife Fight New Year’s Eve can be hard, man. It’s usually flavored with the cynicism of downtrodden naysayers or the overly high expectations of innocent eager beavers (see: all the people who paid money to see this). Between the solo whiskey sippers and the prix fixe four course dinners … Read more
Photo by Graham Tolbert “Baby Missiles” perfectly illustrates everything I adore about musical juxtaposition. ’80s synth pop mixed with country-rock? Yes, please. I’ll have that. The War On Drugs frontman, Adam Granduciel, has a purposefully wobbly delivery on “Baby Missiles” that reminds me a little bit of Mark Knopfler on Dire Straits’ “Walk of Life.” … Read more
LouFest, it seems like we hardly knew ye. But, it was fun while it lasted. Thanks again to Louis Kwok of music VS man for providing us the picture proof that LouFest II kicked some major ass. To see all of the photos, head on over to our Facebook page. For more about LouFest 2011, … Read more
On the second to last song of Old Lights’ set, which opened day two of LouFest, Beth Bombara broke a string on lead singer David Beeman’s guitar. It wasn’t the first problem the band had with their guitars throughout their well-received set — there were tuning problems as well. Those were the only issues, however, … Read more
The countdown is on! LouFest is only a week and a half away, and we at Speakers in Code could not be more psyched for the second coming of a plethora of fantastic local and national musical acts, set right smack dab in our city’s biggest bragging right, Forest Park. ‘Twill be a glorious two … Read more
Photo by Nate Burrell Speakers Rating: 90/100 It doesn’t take long to gather from the album art of the latest Old Lights EP, Like Strangers, that we’re treading into some disturbing territory here. Oh yes, love is a many splendored/splintered thing, and the six-song collection from the Saint Louis foursome isn’t afraid to delve into … Read more
Album art credit: Nate Burrell and Kristin Dennis 1 The Cool Kids | When Fish Ride Bicycles (Green Label Sound) Release Date: July 12th Listen: “Bundle Up” 2 Sleepy Kitty | Infinity City (Euclid) Release Date: July 12th Listen: “Gimme a Chantz!” 3 William Elliott Whitmore | Field Songs (ANTI-) Release Date: July 12th Listen: … Read more
Last Friday, Saint Louis local music fans packed Off Broadway to celebrate the release of Beth Bombara’s new solo album, Wish I Were You. For the girl who, admittedly, went from “punk to country,” it was clear, as she played to an adoring crowd, that she made the right move. On Sunday, she tweeted about … Read more
The Saint Louis alt-country band, The Dive Poets, is set to release its debut EP, The Good and the Light, in just a couple of weeks. Opening for SIC faves Futurebirds at Cicero’s over the summer, the fivesome threw down its scrappy, foot stompin’ flare and won the crowd’s heart. Now, it’s The Dive Poets … Read more
Last weekend, I had a conversation with Saint Louis musicians, Seth Porter (vocalist/guitarist of The Blind Eyes) and Cassie Morgan (musician/songwriter of Cassie Morgan and The Lonely Pine) that included (in addition to bowling shoes and small towns), “The State of the Saint Louis Local Music Scene.” Straight from the horse’s mouth (well, two horses’ … Read more
Union Tree Review is Saint Louis’ answer to genius indie folk. Today’s Pajammy Jam of the Day, “Let Me Be,” instills a sense of longing in me that can’t be undone. It’s an chugging, acoustic train, reminiscent of Ryan Adams: brilliant lyricism, piano in all the right places, plenty o’ references to booze and regret. The track … Read more
Photo Credit: Jon Gitchoff “And lately you don’t make sense to me.” I can’t stop listening to this song from singer-songwriter and fellow Saint Louisan, Beth Bombara. There’s something about it that makes me think of my favorite albums I like to play in the fall. Albums like Neko Case’s Furnace Room Lullaby and Kathleen … Read more