The Revere Release The Great City

Warrington's The Revere are making waves of late with the release of their first album, The Great City, on Rock Ridge Music. In a growing trend in the music industry, the threesome has decided to release the album digitally for free on its website.

At first listen to the lyrics on this album, I did get a "Lord Of The Rings" vibe. My suspicions were confirmed by the the band's website, which called the album "the first installment of a two part journey concerning individuals called in a dream to follow the Old Man to an unknown destination."

Musically, the band definitely lands in the new school emo genre. Despite the occasionally acoustic ballad, the band pushes full-fledged rock along the same lines as say, Coheed and Cambria.

I remember playing with these guys a few years back at Puck when they were really young. They've grown up a bit - all three are currently music students at Temple University -- and it's nice to see them keep things together to release a very decent album.

The Revere play Friday, August 13 at the Chalfont Methodist Church with I Am Alaska and The Sainthood Reps.

Doylestown Shows

I've noticed that in late-July early-August there are a bunch of cool shows going on in Doylestown.

07.31.10 | 7 PM
SIRENOISE PRESENTS: A VERY COMMUNAL COMMOTION
PEASANT @ CIGAR PARLOR
THE FEVERFEW @ ESTETIKS
PERSON L @ SIREN RECORDS

For Person L, think ex-Starting Line. For Feverfew, think one of Doylestown's best kept secrets. For Peasant, think is it 2006 again? ("Peasant at the Cigar Parlor" just sounds RIGHT.) And bravo to Sirenoise, aka Siren Records, for putting on these Communal Commotions. I think this is #5 and it's a much needed institution in Doylestown. Here's to number #555.


08.06.10 | 7 PM
SIREN RECORDS
SUPERGOOSE + METROPLEX

Supergoose is Bucks' answer to MGMT, but the more electronic side of MGMT, rather than the psychedelic side no one really likes as much. Supergoose is Joe Ujj's band - you'll remember him from Birdie Num Num. For all the awesomeness of Birdie Num Num, I think I already like Supergoose better.

08.07.10 | 6:30 PM
ESTETIKS
PSEUDO SLANG + THRIFT STORE JOCKS

This is an interesting hip-hop show featuring Pseudo Slang, a mid-western(?) hip-hop group in the Digable Planets/Tribe vein. I think Thrift Store Jocks are from dtown, but I can't find anything online about them. Post a comment if you know.


...and finally, the boys in Cheers Elephant just emailed me to tell me they are playing Puck on August 5. That's a Thorpe Productions/Origivation show, so alt-rock is probably on the menu along with CE.

Peter Joseph Gets Colorful

If you've been to any shows in Bucks County over the past few years, you probably saw Peter Joseph open up for someone, armed with only an acoustic guitar and a bunch of effects pedals. Joseph started as a solo singer-songwriter, but he's recruited a full line-up for his first proper EP, Colorful.

The record, which Joseph produced himself, features locals Rich Pena on guitar and Noelle Casella on cello, along with a host of other musicians collectively know as The Roaring Twenties. The result is a nice blend of blues, folk and straight up rock 'n' roll. Hearing Joseph's tunes fleshed out with proper backing definitely shines a light on his talent.

Hear for yourself at the CD release show on August 26 at Puck in Doylestown.

[LINKS]
theroaringtwenties.net

Honeychurch To Play Puck

Doylestown's much loved and much missed Honeychurch will be playing their first show in over a year at Puck this Friday, May 21 at 8:00 P.M. This acoustic show costs $8 and will also feature Jay Ansill and The Accident That Led Me To The World.

I discovered this show the old fashioned way, by spotting a flier posted at Siren Records, which felt really good. (Love the photo on the flier, btw.)

I guess Honeychurch ending its hiatus inspired me to do the same.


[Links]
myspace.com/honeychurchtheband
jayansill.com
theaccidentthatledmetotheworld.com

Covering the Bucks County Music Scene (2005-2007)

In the past two years, I wrote quite a few articles on the music scene in Bucks County and the Philadelphia area for Philly Edge. This publication lost its funding a few months ago for its print (newspaper) version, and because of this I'm not covering local music for it anymore. Considering this, and that I haven't contributed to this blog in almost a year, I thought it would be a good time to look back over the past two years at some of the articles I wrote for the Edge. Believe it or not, PE wasn't all T&A all the time...

Although I covered the entire Philly area, I've only included articles below that mentioned bands from Bucks County, as this is what this blog is all about. The majority of of the writing I did on local music was through a Q&A feature called Edge Exposure. Looking back at my records, of the 40-plus bands I interviewed, a dozen were Bucks-based bands, including: Illinois, The Writing Birds, The Andy Browne Trio, Playwright (who would become Drink Up Buttercup), Peasant, Except After Sea, The Cobbs, Witness, Ponieheart, Mike Pfieffer, and Birdie Num Num & The Spirit Squad. A few of these Edge Exposures are below.

I also wrote a handful of cover stories for Philly Edge. Besides for bigger pieces on Eastern Conference Champions, Zolof The Rock And Roll Destroyer, Aderbat, and Illinois, I also penned a couple of round-up stories on local music, including a 2006 Year in Review (Peasant) and 10 Bands To Hear Now (Drink Up Buttercup, Witness). All of these articles are included here.

Since moving to Doylestown from Chicago over three years ago, I've done my best to get involved in what I always thought was an impressive music scene, whether it was by writing articles about music I liked or by playing shows with my own band The Administration. It's been really fun to watch some of these bands I've written about and played with go on to bigger local (and national) recognition.

So, without further ado, here are links to some articles on PhillyEdge.com, as well as links to pdf files of the print versions. If I covered your band, and it's not included here, send me a note or leave a comment, and I'll do my best to get you a copy.

Enjoy!
Joe Simek

Cover Stories

Bucks County Bands On The Edge (PE | PDF)
2006 Year In Review (PE)
Illinois (PE | PDF)
10 Bands To Hear Now (PE | PDF 1, PDF 2)

Edge Exposures

Ponieheart (PDF)
Playwright (PDF)
Birdie Num Num & The Spirit Squad (PDF)
Andy Browne Trio (PDF)
Upstairs Underground - Cigar Parlor (PDF)

Songwriter behind Ponieheart and Crane Orchard moves to Doylestown

As of this winter, Doylestown is now home to another talented musician, Paul Fugazzotto, who recently moved to Bucks County to “pursue school and continue to play music.” As the main guy behind the lo-fi folktronica of Ponieheart and as a co-contributor to the indie rock of Crane Orchard, Fugazzatto is a busy man. The songwriter just released a double full-length album featuring both projects and has been touring the entire country in support of the release. Fugazzotto also brings some impressive credentials with him: he's opened up for the likes of Mountain Goats and Bonnie "Prince" Billy, and the latest Ponieheart disc was produced by Jamie Stewart of Xiu Xiu. Not a bad addition to the BC indie scene, huh?

Check out Ponieheart May 12 at the Cigar Parlor in Doylestown with Drink Up Buttercup.

[Links]
myspace.com/ponieheart
www.ponieheart.com

Doylestown Native Returns To Play John And Peter's

John Verruto is coming home. The frontman for San Diego’s High Rolling Loners will return to his Bucks County roots when his band plays John and Peter's on March 27. High Rolling Loners is supporting its debut EP by crisscrossing the country playing its brand of up-tempo alt-americana. As the Central Bucks East grad Verruto puts it, we’ll be “swinging by John and Peter's to give New Hope some twangy lovin'.”

[Links]
myspace.com/highrollingloners
myspace.com/johnandpeters