Today is the inauguration of a new (and likely short-lived) feature here on Out of Focus, one called (stay with me), “This is not a music blog but….” I’m not going to suddenly try to start giving people info on the hot new bands because there are so many others out there more in the know who do it better than I do. BUT, as I have been making it to a lot more live music recently and I have wanted to chat about it a bit, every now and then, I’m going to add my two cents.
When Luna Lounge shuttered its decade-old Ludlow Street home on June 11, the band that had the opportunity to headline that night and go down in history as the last band to play Luna was The Picture. I had actually been handed a disc of theirs one night coming out of Irving Plaza, and I had listened to it and enjoyed it … and forgotten about it. Then I saw them at Luna that night and absolutely loved them.
Tonight at Bowery Ballroom, The Picture is the first band on a great bill that includes Benzos and Longwave (who released their third album yesterday and was another Luna favorite and mainstay; in fact, Rob Sacher who owns Luna released Longwave’s first album on his own indie label, Luna Sea Records).
It should be a great show, and well-worth seeing. Some of The Picture’s songs are ridiculously catchy, in a Fountains of Wayne/New Pornographers way, and you can get them on their just released EP. You can also stream four of their songs on their MySpace page. I particularly enjoy “Blind Side” and “Sellout.” Give ’em a listen.
(Hmmm … is anyone bothered by the fact that I did not include a picture of a band called The Picture? No? Good.)
Out of Focus 