The Parsnip Revolt

The Parsnip Revolt are a very talented four piece that include Geremiah Giampa on vocals & guitar, Jake Williams on guitar & vocals, Doug Holton on drums & vocals and Brian Finucane on bass. Rooted in acoustics and rock, there's a lilting and comforting Travis meets Damien Rice vibe to the band's music.

And what's really cool is that one of the band's new songs, "Follow Me" was selected for Neil Young's "Living With War Today" song site. The song says guitarist Jake Williams "is about the war and the state of affairs here at home."

Check the song out here -

Follow Me - The Parsnip Revolt

The band has a promising EP that you can download for free here

Cheers Elephant

They may be pretending to be the Monkees in the above picture, however Cheers Elephant are more like The Kinks meet the 13th Floor Elevators. They've got a bunch of shows coming up including a full-on residency at The Khyber in January, but closer opps to see them include a gig at the Downingtown School of Rock on November 24th. And on Thursday December 6th, the boys will be a part of WXPN's Philly Bands Together, a benefit for Musicians On Call with a great lineup including Matt Duke, The Trolleyvox, Nicole Reynolds & more TBA. More info here. In the meantime, here's a couple Cheers trax for your entertainment pleasure.

Hey Pagoda - Cheers Elephant
Tracking The Whale - Cheers Elephant

Jotto

I know it's been a while, so I figured I'd get back to local biz with some cool new stuff from Jotto, some local Philly indie-rockster fellas who probably owe as much to the Gang Of Four and The Rapture as they do to Kylie Minogue and Oingo Boingo. The band's new EP immediately grabs you on to the dance floor in an "I'm almost too indierock to dance" kind of way, and then sort of spazzing out in an interesting Strokes/indierockdance manner that's deserving of repeated listenings. But here's the thing: I can play all the spot the influences I want with this band, but so far they've managed to come up with something that's uniquely different and familiar at the same time. The guitar/keyboard interplay is dynamic and cool and lead singer Aaron has this slightly affected yet compelling charm in his vocals. Way to go Jotto.
Young In The City - Jotto

You can buy the EP here

Downtown Harvest

Downtown Harvest's new album, Golden Dragon, is one of those records - had it been released in 1988 or 1993 - that would have been described by music critics as some "brilliant postmodern alt-rock hip-hop masterpiece." It is an album that probably would've sounded more comfortable during that era than the one we're in now. And that's the reason why the record sounds so g-damn good now. It probably would've gotten lost back then. It's a throwback but it sounds so stylishly fresh. They're a rock/dance/rock/funk/rock/newwave/did i say rock? crew that owes as much to Beck and the Lo Fidelity Allstars as they do to early Chili Peppers, the Ohio Players, Hot Chip, and Philly's very own raprock allstars, The Goats.

I know: that's a lot to digest. But dig if you will the new album from this foursome who shift musical gears and moments with ease and creativity and some tough beats. The Harvesters take some familiar elements and make them sound brand new - between the heavy beats and sinewy grooves and the horn flourishes and grungy sounding guitars there's more than a handful of great songs on this record that you'll find yourself putting on repeat no matter where the party is, even if its in your own head. Here's one of those songs and if you dig this one then find it in your heart wallet to buy the album.

Killer Queen Bee - Downtown Harvest

Downtown Harvest's myspace

Now, That's What I Call Philly Indie Rock, Volume 1

Inspired by my guest post yesterday over at The Late Greats, here's a Philly music bonanza for you to check out. When The Duke asked me to pick my Philly 7 From '07, I couldn't just stop it at 7 and decided to take it to the limit.

Worst Trip - Dr. Dog
Dr. Dog myspace

Ball of The Dead Rat - The Teeth
The Teeth myspace

Diamonds - The A-Sides
The A-Sides' myspace

Mystical - Birdie Busch
Birdie's myspace

Alone Again - Illinois
Illinois myspace

Mr. Pie Eyes - Drink Up Buttercup
Drink Up Buttercup myspace

Jean Jacket - The Trolleyvox
Trolleyvox myspace

Bonusdelphia old school track
Expressway To Your Heart - The Soul Survivors

Van Helsing Boombox
Man Man's myspace

Glory Bound - The Lowlands
The Lowlands' myspace

It's Time They Knew - The Swimmers
The Swimmers' myspace

Danger In The House - Bitter Bitter Weeks
Bitter Bitter Weeks' myspace

Modern Thinker - The New Motels
The New Motels' myspace

Open It Up - Okay Paddy
Okay Paddy myspace

Sugaring - Illuminea
Illuminea's site

Mirage People - The Capitol Years

Sister You've Fuckin' Got It - Orphan Family
Orphan Family myspace

The Orphan Family Have Fuckin' Got It

New local upstarts the Orphan Family really aren't new; essentially it's the dirty leftovers of The Situation who broke up and have morphed into some heavy fucking jangly-psychedelia gangsta singer-songwriter shit. Sort of like a Dandy Warhols/Robyn Hitchcock/Kinks kind of thing with three of the four Situationists including Jared Styles on bass, John Paul McCartney Bonham Travis on drums and Christopher Tucker on the lead vocals and guitars. The fourth member of the O-Fam is an Apple mac that shoots out mad images in a multi-media experience that will leave you hot and bothered and always ready to rock. Like these guys do. This song is dope. Check it out and play it loudly.

Sister, You've Fuckin' Got It - Orphan Family

The Trolleyvox

My history with The Trolleyox actually goes way back almost 20 years to when I first started volunteer DJ'ing at WXPN doing the late night alt-rock show called Beat Planet back in the '80's. I was one of a number of DJ's who spun the late night college/alt-rock and one of the DJ's was Andrew Chalfen - the songwriter, guitarist and sometime singer currently behind Trolleyvox. Back then he was the DJ who turned me on to just about any cool band that played jangly melodic pop. From (early) REM to the Chills to Miracle Legion, Big Star, the dB's, Let's Active, and The Verlaines and the many bands who were tagged a part of the Paisley Underground, Chalfen was back then and still is a lover of psychedelic melodic pop. Great chords, singalong choruses, Rickenbackers, mostly 3 & 1/2 minute energy charged pop leaning rock songs. Back in the 80's and almost into the 90's, Chalfen was also a member of The Wishniaks, an important band amongst a handful of important bands in the local music scene, along with Electric Love Muffin, Nixon's Head, The Johnsons, Flight of Mavis, The Low Road and Baby Flamehead.

All this history to say that while Andy has been in a number of bands since The Wishniaks, The Trolleyvox have just released their fourth album. That Chalfen remains a vibrant part of the local music scene is a testament to his ability to write timeless pop songs. I should say albums since it is a double disc; Your Secret Safe is the electric disc and was produced by Brian McTear; Luzerne is the acoustic collection - just Andy and vocalist Beth Filla(recorded by Chris Unrath). The rock side features Chalfen on guitar and some vocals, Owen Biddle on bass, Adam Stranburg on drums along with Beth on lead vocals.

Jean Jacket - The Trolleyvox

You can buy the record here

Sure Juror

New Jersey's Sure Juror are on to something interesting. They got a delightfully skewed sense of popstrionics. At the heart of their songs, are um, real songs, and sometimes heaped on top of the all the cool indiestructure is some crazy experimental stuff that's just enough to keep you on your toes rocking and your little indiemind challenged. Musically they've got a lot going on, some lo-fi here, some punk rock there, a little jazz breakdown thing here, some found noises that float withinandwithout...it's a collision of styles that works.

Sure Jurors have two albums out, both available for download (how about that!) on their website. Here's a little sampling from both of their albums including their latest Smut.

Making Friends Has Never Been This Easy - Sure Juror
Broken Crayons - Sure Juror
Ex-Cuties - Sure Juror
The Drive Will Do You Good - Sure Juror
Christmas Shopping - Sure Juror

Sure Juror perform at The Khyber on Tuesday Sept 11th with Windsor Park Walkers, Mean Streets and CounterVision. A good chance to support local music. And for the NY'ers in the house, Sure Juror play Piano's on Sept. 21.

Sure Juror's myspace

Going Back To School With The Geator With The Heator

Jerry Blavat, The Geator With The Heator remains one of Philly's most incredible DJ's. He had a hand in breaking the careers of all the greats, and he's done a little recording of his own. In celebration of the new school year, here's a side he did on Cameo-Parkway back in 1962. It's a classic.

One More Time Back To School - Jerry Blavat

Tripping down memory lane with the Executive Slacks

Philadelphia's Executive Slacks were way ahead of their time, which in their heyday was around early 82/83 until about 1986/87 when lead singer and guitarist Matt Marello ended the band to pursue his career in art. They were one of Philly's proto-electronica/goth/industrial/techno bands and pretty damn good at it. I used to see them a lot particularly at Revival on 3rd Street in Philly. The band included Marello on guitars, John Young on synths and effects, Bobbie Rae on percussion and Stuart Levy on organ. The Slacks' earlier works were produced by former Killing Joke bassist Youth (the band were fans). Adding a bit of some Philly history to the mix, their now classic Fire And Ice album was one of the earlier words mixed by the now legendary Phil Nicolo and Andy "Funky Drummer" Kravitz.

With their moody, funky, atmospheric and noisy patchwork of searing guitar, found sounds and hip grooves, Executive Slacks were a mainstay of the local music scene back in the day. Here's a couple from Fire And Ice including their cover of Gary Glitter's "Rock And Roll."

Rock And Roll - Executive Slacks

Wide Fields - Executive Slacks

Trouser Press - Executive Slacks

The Sw!ms

The Sw!ms hail from Scranton Pennsylvania and mine a popspace where early Elvis Costello & The Hollies comingle. Their retro-psych stands out all the better due in large part to the strength of the songwriting and their confident playing. The band consists of Brian Langan on vocals, guitars & percussion; Phillip Price on Farfisa and Hammond organs, Moog and Korg synthesizers, Rhodes piano, vocals & theremin; Matt Walsh on bass, vocals, percussion and Neil McCann on drums & percussion. Their most recent album came out in Feb '06 called Ride Of The Blueberry Winter and it sure does rock.

We Need Lava - The Sw!ms
Noid - The Sw!ms
Depth Charge - The Sw!ms

The Sw!ms myspace

The Thursday Triple Threat

Tonight at Johnny Brendas is the record release party for The A-Sides; newly signed to Vagrant Records and ready to rock your world with the Sept 18th release of their dazzling new Silver Storms. Special guests include Bitter Bitter Weeks - the work of super-producer and musician Brian McTear (who produced the forementioned Silver Storms) and The Capitol Years. If there's ever a night to see three bands who represent the finest side of the local music scene in Philly it's this one.

Cinematic - The A-Sides
Danger In The Halls - Bitter Bitter Weeks
Mirage People - The Capitol Years

Listen to The A-Sides live set from this summer's WXPN Xponential Music Festival.

The A-Sides spill the beans to the Philly Weekly

Drink Up Buttercup

The daisy age of Philly indie-rock is upon us.

Led by bands like Dr. Dog and The Capitol Years, Drink Up Buttercup are the latest in this group of very creative up-and-coming day-glo indie-rockers from outside Philly in Bucks County, where there's definitely something good in the water. The four lads in the band include Jim Harvey guitars and vocals, Farzad Houshiarnejad (Keys/Bass/Melodica/Vox/Percussion), Ben Money (Keys/Bass/Melodica/Vox/Percussion) and Mike Cammarata (Drums).

Sometimes when people use words like quirky or eclectic it doesn't always connote a positive thing. However as I think of these words to describe what these lo-fi demos sound like to me, I say it in only the most positive manner. This is the sound of a young band with an ambitious musical vision. Clearly there's psychedelic influences however there's something more going on here which will present greater opportunities once the band gets down to doing more proper recordings. They're working on an EP which could be out in the Fall. They are touring a lot. They do a residency at The Fire in Philly the last three Wednesdays in September, as well as a show in Brooklyn at the Lit Lounge in November. Be on the lookout for them.

Drink Up remind me of Love You era Beach Boys and early Frank Zappa. Drink Up!

Mr. Pie Eyes - Drink Up Buttercup

Sosey And Dosey - Drink Up Buttercup

Read more here at Playphilly.com


Music MP3 music

Illinois in the weeds

Some of you Weeds watchers may have recognized one of the songs during "The Brick Dance," and if not, it was Philly's very own Illinois. Check out the scene and then grab some tunes from one of Philly's finest.

The Brick Dance


Along Again - Illinois
Screendoor - Illinois

George Stanford

The name George Stanford may be familiar to fans of the band he formed in Philly called Townhall. After the band split up, Stanford went to LA, City of Dreamers and Rock Stars in search of the elusive deal. Well, he deservedly got one. He signed an initial deal with Epic Records however, the corporate record company world being as fucked up as it is, a shake-up took him to the revitalized Mercury Records. Good news is that George has an EP out on Smash Records (I think they're an indie-in-disguise-as-a-major) with a record coming either by the end of this year or early next.

Stanford's always been a soul-singer at heart who can sound a little like Paul Simon and the songs on his EP are outstanding. Here's one of them from his myspace page and one from his old days with Townhall.

Let's Stay Here - George Stanford

Night Patrol - Townhall

Tickley Feather

I'm intriqued by Tickley Feather (real name: Annie Sachs) whose electronica is hypnotic and lush and gorgeous and all the other things hipsterindieposeur bloggers would say about some new band from Iceland or Scandanavia somewhere only that Tickley's from Philly which is about as close to Ice as we'll ever get to Iceland and we're darn proud of it. But I will tell you that Tickley's got much more than just ice. The girl's got vision and some twisted beats inside her cold cold heart.

You may have seen Tickley open for Panda Bear here in Philly and she's about to head out on the road opening for Animal Collective. Right now, Ms Feather has a limited, yet excellent amount of music avaialble including a split 7-inch single on Badmaster Records, a couple of songs on another split single on CNP Records

Natural - Tickley Feather

The Python - Tickley Feathers

Tickley - "Sex Face"

Philebrity has a foggy notion

It's a candy. It's a gum. It's a party. It's Philebrity's Foggy Notion. Phileb's Joey Sweeney has got on the surface what looks like a cool idea in a 24 hour party people kind of way - DJ's and livemusichipsterindierock.

Tonight (hey, that's tonight!), the Notion throws down at Silk City with Dark Horse And The Carousels and on Sept 13th it's the newly signed to XL Records New York indierock sensations Vampire Weekend. WOW!

Foggy Notion Party Trailer No. 1 from Philebrity and Vimeo.

The Break Up - The Trouble With Sweeney

Lima Research Society

Thankfully, without the aid of any drug-induced personality change enhancers, I have fallen giddily in love with the Lima Research Society. LRS are a four piece from New Jersey (Lima, Ellen, Michael and Chris) which is close enough to Philly for Blogadelphonic. They remind me of a cross between Schoolhouse Rock, The Flaming Lips, The Banana Splits, Animal Collective, the lighter side of Paul McCartney and are playful, hyper-melodic and just plain fun.

If you like this song, you'll love their new EP which you should buy here. I promise you'll want to cuddle up with this along with your webkinz at night.

Magic Juice Box - Lima Research Society



LRS's myspace

Unlikely Cowboy

Unlikely Cowboy are Daniel Schwartz, Alison Wadsworth, Andrew Vick, along with Peter Burton, Eric Hickey and Damien Mason. Their altcountryrock is pretty darn solid stuff; harmonies that remind me of John Doe and Exene with The Knitters and catchy songs. The band are currently working on (and perhaps almost done recording) their second album.

What Am I To Do? - Unlikely Cowboy
You're The First - Unlikely Cowboy
Out Of The City - Unlikely Cowboy

Dan also has a very cool solo project called The Ground Became A Church and you can download some songs from his myspace site. It's well worth the visit.

UC's myspace

Joe Jack Talcum

I used to love love love The Dead Milkmen. The band included Joe Jack Talcum on guitar & vocals, Dave Blood on bass, Dean Clean on drums, and lead vocalist Rodney Anonymous. Saw 'em dozens of times back in the day. Sadly, Dave Blood committed suicide in 2004. The band were funny, stupid, irreverent, topical, satirical, insightful and astute and wacky observers of pop culture and trends. They'd make fun of almost anything and anybody. And they were punk rock. I once went to one of their record release parties in a bowling alley somewhere in Pennsauken, New Jersey and Rodney stuffed crudite vegetables in the holes in the bowling balls and bowled a game like that. It was one of the funniest nights in my rock and roll life. And I'll still dance to anything by Depeche Mode.

On Monday, September 3rd Joe Jack Talcum is playing a show at Johnny Brendas and couldn't help but link over to his site where he's got some cool audio posted. Here's some selections from his site.

Girl Hunt - The Dead Milkmen
Wisconsin - Ornamental Wigwam (side project with Joe and Dave)
Autumn Leaves - Buttefly Joe (another Joe side project)
Ask Me To Dance - The Dead Milkmen
Goodnight Moon - The Cheesies (Joe and Brian Sprenger lo-fi project)

Much much much much more audio here

Yo Phillytubeization

Here's some Philly through the ages videos I found while looking around the tube....

Bruce "Streets Of Philadelphia"


The Spinners "Could It Be I'm Falling In Love"


Robert Hazard "Escalator Of Life"


Chubby Checker "Let's Twist Again"


The Dead Milkmen "Punk Rock Girl"


The Hooters "Man In The Streets"


Billy Paul "Me & Mrs. Jones"

The Swimmers

There's plen-tea of reasons why we love The Swimmers. For starters they've made one of the best albums of 07 that hasn't come out yet (soon come, they say), and they're going to open for Camera Obscura at their Philly show at the TLA on August 22, plus they're rocking Johnny Brendas this Friday night. And for all you fans and soon to be fans they're giving up a six song EP of five live songs and a studio outtake. How about that!? Here's a taste:

Heaven - The Swimmers

All The New Sounds - The Swimmers

The Ocean Lifts Her Dress - The Swimmers

You can download the full EP here

And here's a bonus live cover of ELO's Mr. Blue Sky
Mr. Blue Sky - The Swimmers

Catch the band on tour in a city near you:
Aug 20 Pete’s Candy Store/NYC
Sept 3 Schubas/Chicago
Sept 14 Tritone/Philadelphia
Sept 15 Mercury Lounge/NYC
Sept 22 PA’s/Boston

The Swimmers myspace

Swivel Chairs

If you long for the daze of 80's college radio rock ala The Feelies, Miracle Legion, Guadalcanal Diary and The Verlaines (I will not include IRS-era REM cause that would be so lazy of me) then look no farther than Swivel Chairs. They've got some super melodic jangly jingly goodness going on.

The Swivel Chairs have mostly been Jason Brown and Jeremy Grites with an assortment of their talented friends over their decade plus of performing together. While they have a Philly/Brooklyn dual citizenship thing going on, we'll keep them as ours.

This Saturday, August 11th they celebrate the release of their new album at Johnny Brendas along with some other Philly hotness like The Novenas, Walker Lundee and Canadian Invasion.

Here's a couple of tunes from their excellent new album The Slow Transmission on the Philly based Transit Of Venus records.

Here Out Of Reach - Swivel Chairs

Easy Now - Swivel Chairs

Candy Night - Swivel Chairs

Swivel Chairs' myspace

A Phillytube classic - The Delfonics

Old School - Philadelphia Freedom remembers a classic from The Delfonics



Didn't I (Blow Your Mind This Time) - The Delfonics

Brown Recluse Sings

Belle & Sebastian. The Left Banke. The Zombies. David and Bacharach. The Stone Roses. I'm reminded of all these and more when I tune in and turn on to the day-glo sounds of Brown Recluse Sings, a five piece who were recently brought to our attention by the fabulous ears and minds of Badminton Stamps. "Your favorite new band," they write. And now mine too. Indeed - everyone knows they're windy.

Night Train - Brown Recluse Sings (Via Badminton Stamps)

Western Meadowlark - Brown Recluse Sings

Brown Recluse Sings' myspace

The Major Leagues

Thanks to my pal Josh over at Badminton Stamps for the tip about The Major Leagues who are from Lancaster & Philly. The five piece include Peter Plaxa, Andrew Jake Senkowski, Andrew Mattey, Henry Koon and Marc Snyder. With the Philly indierock scene in full effect, The Major Leagues are absolutely ready to make their marks on it. A little Lou Reed-ish, a little Broken Social Scene vibe, The ML's come out swingin' on these two lovely rock and roll songs.

The Major Leagues play on Saturday April 11th at the North Star Bar with The Canon Logic and The Bee Team

Moonlit Daydream - The Major Leagues

Alright - The Major Leagues

The New Motels

I'm digging this New Motels EP called Domestic Life on Prison Jazz Records . Definitely has a touch of the classicrock in the mix; i.e. Petty, Byrds (although Petty & The Byrds is sort of redundant doncha think?). My bet is they've also listened to Heroes & Villains a bit in their time. Worth repeated listenings.....this here tune.

Modern Thinker - The New Motels

Send us your music, we'll make you stars

The Sound of Philadelphia has never been better. Here at Blogadelphonic we hope to introduce you to the new sounds of Philly. Send us your music. We'll make you stars.