1.21 Gigawatts Issue Nine

ISSUE 9

ROSES

DANCES

MANNEQUIN PUSSY

THE GRADIENTS special guest editors TOTAL SLACKER

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EDITOR S LETTER SOME MAGAZINES

put a band on the cover when they release a new album. We asked one to ride shotgun for the whole issue.

This is the first time that we’ve ever had a guest editor on an issue. Total Slacker’s new album, Slip Away, is out this month and while they’re super homies of Gigawatts, they’d already been on our cover before so we couldn’t do it again. The alternative was to have them contribute as editors. Tassy even went above the title of editor and wrote a piece for the issue which you can find on the last page.

With Total Slacker on this issue, it’s not surprising that we’ve gone back to our guitar based, rock n roll roots. Bringing a fresh opinion into the mix is usually a good thing, with Total Slacker we got four people who all had a long list of things they wanted to see included. For the most part, I think we covered it while adding a few bands that I’m obsessed with as well.

made. I like the weird. We might keep it weird like this. If you’re sitting there thinking "Danny is full of shit, this isn’t weird." Then please put this down and go back to whatever weird shit you do that’s so much better.

Shortly after this comes out, we’re going down to SXSW in a van with our friends Slonk Donkerson, Dances, Ceramics and Hippy. If you’re down there, come fund us and get drunk. If you’re reading this at SXSW, come find us and get drunk. If you’re not going to SXSW look out for the bands mentioned above on tour and look out for Total Slacker on tour with Miniature Tigers and Bear Hands.

Enjoy this issue, or don’t. Either way, thanks for at least reading all this shit I just wrote.

--Danny.

From photoshopping google images photos into our images, to printing an article about internet cat drawings, this is probably the weirdest issue that we’ve ever

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TEAM ISSUE 8

EDITOR IN CHIEF

DANNY KRUG

GUEST EDITORS

TOTAL SLACKER

ASSOCIATE EDITOR/ILLUSTRATOR

ELIZABETH FARRELL

PHOTOGRAPHY/LAYOUT DESIGN

DANNY KRUG

WRITERS

DYLAN WHITE ELLIE FALLON LEAH MARCHESANO PRESTON OSSMAN DAVID TASSY

CONTACT gigawattsmag@gmail.com facebook.com/gigawattsmag instagram @gigwattsmag 2

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CONTENTS contents ART DAVID OWEN BEYERS

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comics by

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KRISTEN LIU-WONG

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ROSS CONDON

MUSIC 10

THE GRADIENTS

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MANNEQUIN PUSSY

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BLUFFING

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BOYTOY

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DANCES

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LVL UP

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SUNFLOWER BEAN

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ROSES

EXTRAS 28

CONSIDER THE PUSHEEN

by david tassy

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COMICS

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David Owen Beyers

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KRISTEN liu-wong

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Kristen Liu-Wong is a Brooklyn by way of San Francisco artist working in painting, illustration, printmaking, video and "fun stuff," as her website puts it. A former illustration student at Pratt Institute, Kristen cleary has expanded her work and chosen mediums beyond that of traditional illustration. Most of her work has a back and forth between the fun, bright colorful side of things with a distinct tendency towards the surreal and disturbing. Like a musician that writes fun songs about not so fun things, Kristen’s art is deceptive in that the colors and somewhat unrefined use of colors and space make the viewer feel welcome at first allowing the piece to contain a darker or sometimes just weirder subject matter. Kristen’s work feels both familiar and original.

It fits into the landscape of what appears to be happening in illustration and visual art in general right now while carving out just enough of a unique point of view to not feel like a retread like a lot of illustration does currently. check out more artwork at kristenliuart.com

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ROSS

CONDON

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In the early 70s, Ross’ dad grew his hair long and drove his beetle across the states from Jersey towards the mythical San Francisco; it broke down in Albuquerque.

Around this time, his mother left the suburbs of Missouri on a train, also heading for the golden coast; she ran out of money in Albuquerque. They met at a Dunkin Donuts next to the UNM campus, got married, had Ross’ two brothers and then hisself. His mom painted abstract water colors of the holiday beaches of Virginia while the older brothers grew up cynical and in a fit of restlessness moved to the city. Eager to follow but needing to finish his parents wanderings, he first went north then west to the sea where he met the biggest influence on his work: the wholehearted Bosnian Davor, who taught him how to draw distinguished folks and introduced him to his current favorite materials of ink and watercolor. In Brooklyn, he continues the practice inspired by far out conceptual collaborations with his friend Tucker and larger scale work with his buddy Austin. check out more artwork at mindcoasts.tumblr.com

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The Gradients are one of the few bands in Brooklyn whom I genuinely enjoy listening to on a daily basis. Their fuzzy rock sound fuels my walks through the streets of Buswick, Williamsburg and Manhattan. The raw power behind Charlie DY, Luca Balser, Sammy Weissberg and J Boxer makes your toes curl and your veins pulse. With Carlie Luca and Sammy knowing each other since middle school and J knowing the boys through the Brooklyn music scene, combining forces was inevitable.

"When we started the band we were listening to a lot of late 70’s NYC groups like Talking Heads and Television but, since then we have been exposed to a lot more music from different decades" said Charlie. As you listen to tracks like ‘Old Habits’, you 10

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can hear the influence of early 70’s rock bands filtering through the Gradients own updated sound.

Luca added, "We never decided that we were going to try to sound like a certain band or era, but just developed as we started writing original material."

Stating influences like The Replacements, Pixies and George Harrison, The Gradients have a strong musical head on their shoulders. They’ve looked back to a time when rock music was at its peak, at the beginning and have embraced its warmness, its animalistic tendencies and its staying power.

The Gradients have released two singles and an EP with the help of Mama Coco’s Funky Kitchen.

When speaking of MCFK founder Oliver Ignati-

us, the boys had nothing but kind words. "I think what Oliver is doing is really great and positive in a scene that can get a bad rep for being judgmental and closed m ­ inded", proclaimed Charlie. The Brooklyn music scene is made up of musicians from every inch of the states and even further. The diversity found here is something that is really unlike any other city in the world. J explained, "I think that the Brooklyn musical community is unique in that it’s extremely vast and diverse, thus harder to pin down geographically other than calling it ‘the Brooklyn scene’ ­­. Though most of the people that comprise it aren’t natives, which everyone in this band is. Having spent the better part of a decade playing music in Brooklyn, I’ve found that occasionally there is a clichéd but nonetheless very real self­important New Yorker attitude which can prevail. I would ideally like NYC to be more like a city like New Orleans, turning more towards an inclusive and non-judgmental attitude. ­­Though, one can find places like that in any city’s musical community if they seek it out." Luca continued, stating, " The DIY scene means ideally striving towards making some sort of a community rather than being focused solely on profit or popularity."

Continuing the bands thoughts on the DIY scene, Sammy said, "It’s something that we all grew up

with since we’re from here, and it gives opportunities for people to play who might normally not be able to."

The Gradients have just finished recording their first full length LP with Scott Andrews at The Silent Barn and plan on releasing it later this year.

The Gradients live shows are also something not to be missed. Charlie happened to sum it up by saying "When we play live our goal is that the audience shares our energy. Going to a see a band can be an amazing experience if the whole room is engaged with them. As for listening to our music, we want to make songs that people can relate to on an emotional level. Many of our songs portray a feeling more than tell a story." When it all comes down to it, thats what we want out of a band. People we can relate to, share stories with, dance with.

We go to a show to make a connection and to feel the energy bouncing off the walls and our fellow concert goers. The Gradients have embraced that attitude, they’ve fueled us with their music and I can only look forward to what they have planned for us in the coming months. words by leah marchesano photography by danny krug

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"It’s my damaged mind that comes up with this stuff," says Marisa, the lead vocalist and guitarist for Mannequin Pussy, a Manhattan 3-piece whose bone-crushing live set and snarky lyrics have been rightfully making waves around the city and beyond. Mannequin Pussy, whose memorable name was suggested by a drunken friend, started in September of 2010 as a duo between Marisa and her childhood friend Thanasi.

"We were in Tumbling Tots together...Thanasi and I were definitely both interested in music growing up," remembers Marisa, "but Thanasi had infinitely better taste than I did."

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The formation of Mannequin Pussy was closely preceded by an unfortunate situation for their lead singer. This fact serves as evidence for the band’s claim that their music is not the product of any predetermined set of influences, but rather of untapped emotions. "We started playing together while my Mom was in the hospital at Bellevue, after she had a stroke. I needed a place to get away from the sterility of hospital life and Thanasi was more than supportive to help provide that."

In October of 2013 the Connecticut natives became a trio by adding drummer, Drew. Immediately following Drew’s induction was the group’s first US

tour with the Colorado rock outfit Lust-Cats of the Gutter. The tour was clearly a beneficial one for the 3-piece, as their energetic live sets have been generating enthusiasm on several fronts. One need not look far for evidence- in early January, their video for "Clue Juice" debuted on the Impose Magazine website. The video features a tightly packed room of riled-up twenty-somethings doing the only thing there is to do when confronted by such intensity.

Along with their October tour came the release of their "tour tape" Gypsy Pervert. It is, as of this writing, their only unofficial release. The concise, 10-track assault is brimming with well-harnessed aggression. Marisa’s sneering vocal jabs cut through a fiery and dynamic collection of songs, and deliver lines ranging from reflective to malicious.

It is worth noting that, before playing guitar for Mannequin Pussy, Marisa was the touring bassist for the equally excellent indie / punk-popster Colleen Green. "I used to live at this punk house in Boulder, CO called The Goss House and Colleen was one of the first shows we ever hosted," says Marisa. She continues, "My friend and I sent her a message through Myspace and offered to turn

her TBA Colorado date into a show in our kitchen.

She came with the band she was on tour with and it was one of the best house parties we’d ever had.

8 months later, I was living in NYC and got a message from Colleen asking me if I knew how to play bass. I said yes, quit my job and flew out to LA to meet up with her a few months later." Despite the considerable stylistic differences between the two groups, the association is not entirely surprising.

Each group has a unique and decidedly DIY approach to punk, but with a firm grasp on their own pop sensibilities. One such hard-edged melodic track by Mannequin Pussy is "Someone Like You," which is available for streaming at their Bandcamp. "It’s about the fundamental differences we have that can plague our personal relationships.

About allowing others to have too much control over our desires, instead of making those choices for ourselves," says Marisa. "The whole ‘It’s easy to say that X knows best...’ to me, it’s about looking for approval from others rather than finding it yourself."

words by dylan white photography by danny krug

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words and photography by danny krug

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BLUFFING is the punky, poppy, generally loud but always fun duo of Olivia Drusin and Jon Edelstein aka J Boxer aka the guy in every band in Brooklyn plus a rotating cast of fellow musicians and friends. The band started in April of 2012 and now, almost two years later, their debut LP, Sugar Coated Pills of Wisdom, is set to release on March 25 through PaperCup Music (which is also home to bands such as The Teen Age and BOYTOY).

With 10 songs clocking in at a total of just over 16 minutes, BLUFFING is certainly taking a more punk approach to their LP than a lot of bands do today. "All of our songs are under two minutes," says Olivia. "I don’t want it turn into some sort of a gimmicky thing, because it should be more about the songs, but we did found [the band] on really trying to push ourselves to write shorter songs," adds Jon. Like so many musical projects and products in the Brooklyn scene, BLUFFING’s record has contributors and, as a result, influence from other bands in the scene. "All our friends helped us make this record, like Scott [Andrews] at Silent Barn and Mike Tucci from Unstoppable Death Machines mastered it," Jon explains.

The recurring intertwining and incestuous nature of the Brooklyn scene can’t be more apparent than it is with BLUFFING and all of the projects with which Jon is involved, including The Gradients, Le Rug, sham-poo and Butter the Children. "We’re generally all about promoting our friends, we’re so influenced by our friends’ mu-

sic, like No One and the Somebodies [stickers] are on my bike, and Turbosleaze as well," says Jon. "We both grew up in New York City, so for a really long time we’ve been going to our friends’ shows. The first show I ever went to, one of Jon’s old bands was playing," Olivia explains. While Jon is in a bunch of other bands, he identifies with BLUFFING as his more than the others. Olivia and Jon collaborate on all of the songs whereas in other bands, Jon doesn’t have as much involvement in the writing process.

Every week it seems there is a new article about the "return of pop punk," and that genre is something that BLUFFING aims to explore with this album. It’s not limited to the Green Day, Blink 182 pop punk that popularized the term, however.

BLUFFING wants to explore the idea of pop punk as it exists through out the history of rock including the 70s and 80s. Jon poses the question, "Would you call the Ramones pop punk? It wasn’t a term then but every pop punk band respects the fuck out of the Ramones." If you took all your favorite loud and fast things and squished them into 16 minutes, you’d get something that sounds like BLUFFING’s new record.

I have a love/hate relationship with Brooklyn’s surf culture. It’s a little irksome in the way it grates against my schema of what a surf culture is, but you can find an undeniable sun-bleached, wave-tossed vibe here, when you’re looking for it.

Enter BOYTOY, a band who in the dead of winter can make you feel like you are bumming it on the sand.

Lead singer Saara Untracht-Oakner’s vocals push the limits of shiny. Her voice is tinny, but energizing. In play with the rest of the band the effect is something like if Blonde Redhead had been formed on the West coast, and Kazu Makino enunciated more and took stimulants. Untracht-Oakner isn’t lacking on guitar, but her voice is definitely the frontwoman’s most distinguishing contribution 16

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to both BOYTOY, and former primary project, You Can Be A Wesley.

Glenn Van Dyke, formerly of Beast Make Bomb, is back up vocalist and guitarist, balancing Untracht-Oakner in both roles. Her subtle, but full doubles, and even just a simple "oh, oh," add weight and texture that ground Untracht-Oakner.

Van Dyke recalls how the two came to play together: "Saara and I met when we were playing in our previous bands...We had met Nick, the old bassist of [You Can Be A Wesley] in Austin, TX and ended up playing a show with them back in Brooklyn where we all hit it off and proceeded to book little, mini northeast tours. Our bands’ friendship led us back to SXSW together and after the demise of both, Saara and I started playing music on a whim

at like 2AM and we both said ‘Whoa, cool, let’s do this.’"

Drummer Matthew Gregory—or, affectionately, Matty Beans—is the newest member of BOYTOY, but he and Saara go back to high school when their bands played shows together. Original drummer Dylan Ramsey moved home to Washington, but not before playing on the band’s forthcoming EP. Matthew also plays alongside Lost Boy ? singer Davey Jones in Toons.

Each member of the group got into playing music at an early age. Gregory was born into a musical family. Van Dyke wanted to play drums as a kid, but her parents only ceded to the relatively quiet saxophone--let us all imagine that this was more of a Del-Tones moment than a "Hot Cross Buns" moment--which she eventually traded for the guitar. Untracht-Oakner has a diverse musical history: "I was singing and messing around on a piano ever since I can remember. I remember being really young and making up a song on the piano about an ‘Indian Boy’ (it was the early 90’s so ‘Indian’ was still proper for ‘Native American’). My mom

saw my interest in piano, so [she] got me lessons around 6 years old. Lessons have always bored me though, I like figuring out instruments on my own way more than a structured regime. I’ve played cello, trumpet, clarinet, and started playing the guitar around 12 years old."

Half of BOYTOY’S material available to stream or download are demos and recordings from shows, but the three-piece is preparing to drop their first EP in the Spring. PaperCup Music, who signed the band in January, will be releasing the debut record on vinyl and in digital. Burger Records will release it on cassette. Untracht-Oakner’s perspective on signing with PaperCup is fairly straightforward: "We get to work with some awesome guys and put out a record with a team to help promote it."

Her tone is consistent with their sparse internet image and casual nature on stage, but she may be downplaying the significance of landing on the same roster as buzzworthy, local act Racoon Fighter. The EP, recorded with Chris McLaughlin at his 1867 Recording Studio in Boston, will be a game-changer.

words by ellie fallon photography by danny krug words by ashley canino photography by danny krug

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words by ellie fallon photography by danny krug

"We’re a very egalitarian band," Trevor Vaz jokes as he divvies up the dregs of the pitcher between the four of us before turning to order some of the Commodore’s infamous nachos. The Brooklyn-based trio consists of Vaz on guitar/vocals, David Su on drums, and Sam Stoeltje on bass/vocals. A collaborative project, their songs are laden with Beatles-inspired harmonies and melodic bass lines that are injected with elements of psychedelic and 90s garage rock while maintaining a sort of pop sensibility.

"Dances has been a thing for a few years now," Trevor starts. Pre-Dances, which was also previously known as Big Naturals, he was in an electronic band that took rock songs and translated them into synth pop. What began as his personal songwriting project has ultimately evolved into the collaborative endeavor that it is today.

"I was still at Columbia when I had a class with David. It was raining one day and we shared an umbrella back from class," he smiles wryly, as I revel in the sheer adorableness of their meeting.

After the two chatted for a bit, it turned out Trevor was seeking a drummer for a project he was starting and coincidentally David played drums.

Sam, originally from San Antonio, was introduced to the equation after meeting Trevor several times through a mutual friend while he attended Vassar.

Post graduation, Sam moved to the city and Trevor was in need of a bassist. "He asked me at a party if I knew how to play, and I was like ‘Not really,’" they laugh. "And I was like ‘sounds great!’" Trevor interjects. "Also, I think at this point it was basically just the two of us drunk in my apartment, everyone else had left." After showing Sam some songs, to which he envisioned "a bunch of harmonies, man," and from there Dances was formed.

Before their current lineup, they played as a four piece, but after a few trio shows when the second guitarist wasn’t available, they realized that they had a much better energy as just the three of them. After a while, they forewent the second guitarist permanently to pursue the more "off kilter, hyper energetic" vibe they favor in their live set. "We for whatever the reason sound better as a trio," Sam clarifies. "It’s just how the songs are written. We happen to write pieces that are conducive to a three piece performance." We then discuss the advantages of having only three people

in the band, which includes having fewer mouths to feed. "Now we can split an order of nachos from the Commodore, and that’ll be dinner for all us."

While Trevor remains the primary songwriter, they continue to experiment with a more collaborative songwriting approach as well. As it is, they each write their respective parts for each song and combine them and fine-tune them until they’re just so. "It’s cool to have more than one writer," Trevor says. "You don’t get this onslaught of a single personality."

Despite their varying personal musical tastes, they all come together to agree that they love "indisputably great rock bands." They list off the Pixies and the Beatles, along with names like Keith Moon and Richard Hell as influences citing inspiration from their "spastic and explosive" live sets.

Trevor with his melodic, yet moody vocals is quite reminiscent of Blur’s Damon Albarn, to the point where he was actually interrupted by some guy at a recording session at NYU a few years back who barged in and was like "Woah, sorry, I thought Damon Albarn was recording some vocals, didn’t mean to interrupt." David, who hails from Beijing, cites an underground indie scene there as a major inspiration for him. The scene is centered around a venue called D22 and heavily influenced by 80s guitar rock like Sonic Youth. From it rose one of the leading Chinese independent labels Maybe Mars, whose roster includes Carsick Cars, Snapline, P.K. 14, and Joyside.

After opening for Team Spirit at Muchmore’s back in September, frontman and Black Bell Records founder, Ayad Al Adhamy, took interest in the band, which has since snowballed into a freshly signed record contract for the guys. Even with success approaching quickly, they’re handling it smoothly and with the appropriate amount of seriousness.

"We want to be honest and we want to have a good time," Trevor says. "I think there’s this pressure on bands to feign some sort of veil of mystery. Which is sort of impossible in today’s internet-obsessed culture."

Their EP, Whiter Sands, is due out in April, but a cassette edition is set to be released on February 22nd. Rest assured, Sam promises "a huge watershed of Dances in the near future."

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words by preston ossman photography by danny krug

My first experience with LVL UP was seeing them live. The boys took the stage following heavy sets by New Jersey band Sail Hatin’ and New Paltz lo-fi rockers Dumb Talk. My expectation was for LVL UP to follow in suit, playing a set of fairly abrasive punk music. Yet, as soon as the band took the stage I was taken aback. They looked like a bunch of nerds! At this point I was sure they were gonna be a chiptune band. The video game themed name, the baseball ringer tees and silly sweaters gave me the impression that one of them would pull out a Gameboy at any moment.

They never pulled out said Gameboy. Instead, what they pulled out was some of the tightest pop punk I had heard since my brother brought home Weezer’s Blue Album in middle school. Not to be confused with the pop punk pervasive in Hot Topics in malls around the country, LVL UP are more akin to the Cars or Rocketship, with honest lyrics, solid musicianship, and a lo-fi aesthetic without being a gimmick. Since my first experience with the band, they have released an EP (Extra Worlds) and a split with Exploding in Sound band Porches, in addition to their debut LP Space Brothers released 18

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on their own label, Double Double Whammy.

More recently still, I had the pleasure of speaking Mike Caridi, Dave Benton, and Nick Corbo about how the group started. "Long story short," Mike explains, the group started when Dave and him formed the band as a "silly" side project from our other bands (Spook Houses among them) as a two piece acoustic pop band. They recorded a few songs in the student center at SUNY Purchase that were meant to go on a split release with Nick’s solo recordings. As the songs progressed, however, they decided to join forces, put the tracks together and release it as "Space Brothers".

Subsequently, they brought in Greg Rutkin to play drums when we started playing shows, which was actually after the release of "Space Brothers".

Although this formation was seemingly casual, the group attributes the bands success in part to the music scene at Purchase, conveniently located a half hour from NYC. "It’s a weird haven for musicians and has been churning out bands we look up to for years." Dave goes on to explain that Purchase was "definitely a great place for us to de-

velop. Not only did we all become friends through the music community, but we started working on the band, Double Double Whammy and other endeavors at school." In fact, the group in unsure if LVL UP would even be happening happening right now if it weren’t for their "incubation period" at Purchase.

The label began late 2011, in order to release LVL UP’s first cassette, "Space Bros"and grew slowly from there. They mentioned how they joke that "Superchunk/Merge Records are Lvl Up/Double Double Whammy’s spirit animal," speaking of the 90’s group who began their own record label to release their music, but have since seen the success of bands like Spoon and Neutral Milk Hotel, and received their first Grammy Award in 2011 for The Suburbs by Arcade Fire. Although DDW will continue to release amazing albums by them and their friends, there was no speculation about when they expect to get their Grammy.

LVL UP are brave in the face of todays mercurial market. They mention the importance of making friends, bands like recent tour mates Saintseneca and Western Mass record label Exploding In Sound. "When you have really good friends," Nick says, "it almost feels like you can just chill with each other and riff off of each other and just ignore the ‘music industry’ and do your own thing." Admittedly, the music industry doesn’t really make much sense. "It’s not worth it to measure yourself against what’s going on around you anyway," Dave confesses. "Write good music and play as often as possible. I feel extremely lucky that we enjoy each

other’s company, and the company of the bands that we’re lucky enough to play with."

Despite this optimistic attitude, it has been hard to run a label and tour immediately after graduating college. Dave and Mike moved in with their parents and picked up "sorta" shitty jobs as soon after graduating around 6 months ago as a means to tour without worrying about rent and other expenses. Although this sounds miserable, Mike makes the case that it was extremely practical. "It definitely was a huge life saver. In the past 6 months we’ve done three separate three week long tours, and have something going on pretty much every weekend." Many bands would hesitate to reveal that they live at home, or would instead choose to spend what money they have on renting an apartment, a practice space, and and office space to run their record label. Avoiding that cost might seem "lame" to some, but it is a practical option for musicians, or anyone trying to establish a career after college, trying to get on their feet. Instead of trying to find a job in an office, however, LVL UP would rather spend their time dedicated to making and distributing the music they love. "Real work sucks," Mike adds, "so pretty much any chance we get to play or tour we do it. And obviously the dream is to make the band and label, our full time jobs, but how often does that really happen, ya know?" Ultimately, LVL UP are a bunch of nerds, but the best kind of nerds, nerds who dedicate their time to doing what they love doing, even if at means they have hang out in their parents basement for the time being.

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Sunflower Bean is a 3-piece Neo-Psychedelic band from Long Island. Guitarist Nick Kivlen and drummer Jacob Faber have for the past 3 years been fixtures of the Brooklyn DIY circuit as members of Turnip King, the similarly lo-fi, guitar-driven New York psych band. The band has existed in various forms since January of 2013, but it has only been since the August addition of bassist and lead vocalist Julia Cumming that they have deemed themselves fit to play out. According to Kivlen, this formation is the first that has balanced the respective strengths and weaknesses of their members. " Despite the relative youth of the project and its members, Sunflower Bean offers compelling and imaginative material. Their first single, titled "Bread," is to date their only available recording.

At just under 5 minutes in length, it is a rollicking and mysterious Kraut-tinged psychedelic romp.

The lyrics are surreal, and the dynamic shifts are momentous. Cummings’ vocal delivery is at once refined and refreshingly naïve, while Kivlen’s guitar lines are both wandering and purposeful. Kivlen, whose primary influences include DIIV and Pink Floyd, originally conceived of the project as a means to channel some of his creative impulses that went un-used with Turnip King. However, says Kivlen, "things are becoming much more collaborative." He continues, "Usually I’ll start a basic idea for a song, and [Faber and Cumming] will fill in the blanks, we’re still trying to find our sound."

It is a promising revelation that Sunflower Bean’s creative process is undergoing a shift towards the collaborative, especially considering the independent efforts of their members. In April of 2012, Julia Cumming joined with her former Supercute! bandmate Rachel Trachtenburg and lo-fi home recording pioneer R. Stevie Moore to record "Coming Up," a fuzz-laden, quirky ode to self-improvement.

If the delightfully weird results of that collaboration are any indication of what is to come from Sunflower Bean, then the Brooklyn DIY scene certainly has something to be excited for.

Perhaps what is most inspiring about Sunflower Bean is their regard for the local music scene and what it has to offer their very young lives. The members of Sunflower Bean have spent some of their most formative teenage nights at 285 Kent, soaking up influences from such acts as Total Slacker, DIIV and the now-defunct Night Manager. The young members of Sunflower Bean have in various forms subjected themselves to these influences as fellow participants in the scene, and this clearly had a significant impact on them.

There can be no doubting that Sunflower Bean could be among the groups to lead the next generation of Brooklyn bands. To say the least, their development is one worth watching. words by dylan white photography by danny krug

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Starting as a recording project of Andrew Grant Tobiassen, formerly of Deer Tick, and Keith Zarriello of The Shivers, Roses was the result of two very talented friends that were living in a practice space in Long Island City.

electronica nature wants to be number one so you just have to battle it, throw some guitar riffs at it."

Roses enjoys the juxtaposition of playing warm, bright guitar riffs with melodic vocals over top of the cold programmed drum beats.

After the recordings came a tour, after the tour Zarriello left to pursue other projects he was working on. Tobiassen continued on with Roses adding members Matt DeCosta and Nick Dawson who hold down the electronic beats and synths while Tobiassen plays guitar and sings lead vocals. This current version of Roses was originally based in Providence, Rhode Island but has since migrated to Brooklyn and now they’ve embarked on a perma-tour that has already taken them from Texas to Brooklyn and will take them back down to Texas and out to California before they end up back in Brooklyn.

Currently, in the live show, DeCosta controls all of the percussion from what looks like a table full of wires plugged into more wires with some buttons, Dawson is using analog synths and Tobiassen has his guitar. Early on, DeCosta and Dawson decided that if they were going to do electronic music they weren’t going to use laptops. "There’s no mystery to a laptop, there’s no rock and roll. People see you play it and they’re like ‘Oh, I have one of those,’"says DeCosta. Roses maintains mystery with their analog electronic setup. Between DeCosta and Dawson, they’re both collaborating live to create the bass, drums and keys that blend with the traditional rock guitar. The band doesn’t discount the usefulness of computers in music though. They’re just boring in a live setting, which is 100% true.

They joke that they can add Dawson’s old Apple II to their live rig and have him mess around with it just to screw with the audience.

Roses’ first track online was a cover of Velvet Underground’s "Sweet Jane" which was quickly followed up by their EP that was released last year and mixes indie and 60s and 70s style pop rock with electronic beats, but it’s not some fucked up Skrillex meets Grizzly Bear kind of situation (hopefully nothing like that exists). It’s more in line with what Colleen Green is doing with punk and her drum machine but replace the punk with a Beach Boys and Velvet Underground vibe and add keys. There are synths and electronic drums mixed with melodic vocals, catchy lead guitar and vocal harmonies.

"We’re all rock and roll based players. This past year would be the first time I’ve had any interest in doing anything using synths and beats and stuff like that," says Tobiassen, "I saw a way to bring that into the mix and make it really cool. I felt like no one was really doing that right now." Dawson adds, "A lot of the people who use the type of setup that we have, would step more in the electronic direction. The nature of the instruments, the

"I eventually want to have live drums incorporated into the show," says Tobiassen. They’re not looking to add a traditional drum kit to the mix but perhaps a mix of drum pads and other acoustic drums that can add to the set. Seeing bands like Twin Shadow and Washed Out opened Tobiassen’s mind to what Roses could be in the future. The band is open to adding other members including bass and another guitar. They understand the live elements that maintain interest in a show setting.

"Having Andy up front with a guitar, singing rock songs is what makes it. If it was just Nick and I with keyboards, you would lose that," acknowledges DeCosta.

As long as the current roster of Roses has been together, it seems like they’ve been touring fair-

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ly constantly between short mini-tour bursts and more full-fledged multi-week tours. The large amount of shows has made Roses an extremely tight live band who knows their material well enough that they can have fun with it on stage. At their most recent Brooklyn show, they managed to get the whole audience dancing, or at the very least moving to the music in some fashion, which can be quite an achievement here as audiences have a tendency to stand perfectly still.

Tracks like "I See it All" and "KISS KISS KISS" on Roses self-titled EP stick out as examples as to why Roses deserves your attention. They’re songs that can make a bad day better and a polar vortex feel like summertime. In a time when so many popular bands are leaning towards the heavier,

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louder side of things, it’s nice to have a band that isn’t afraid to play higher up on the guitar neck and throw some upstrokes into their strumming pattern.

"This year we’re going to do a full length. First a 7" single and then the full length," says Tobiassen.

Amidst all of their touring, Roses somehow will find time next month to record their full length.

The band also has an unreleased music video that may or may not see the light of day according to Tobiassen. The video has a strong yet successful Harmony Korine vibe to it and at times feels like a scene lifted straight out of Gummo. Roses has scheduled themselves to be one of the hardest working up-and-coming bands of 2014, and as

long as the tunes stay catchy and fun they’ll do well for themselves. While a lot of bands sit around trying to figure out how to get out of Brooklyn and on the road, Roses are just going for it and hoping it all works out. If their most recent tour with Houston-based band, New York City Queens, is any indication, it seems like it’s all gravy.

Roses should be back in Brooklyn in the next couple months, but, with the way they’ve been going, it could only be a pit stop. Hopefully the new record sees the light of day sooner rather than later.

that commiserates with your sad soul, Roses is NOT for you. Roses current, self-titled EP is available on Bandcamp online or at their shows on cassette.

Have some fun, listen to some Roses.

words and photography by danny krug

If you’re bored at work or whatever cafe you’ve adopted as your office for the day and aren’t afraid of doing one of those weird "in your chair" dances, give Roses a listen. If you want to listen to music

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Consider The Pusheen

By David Anthony Tassy

I used to think whatever Sergei Vasilievich Rachmaninoff did was brilliant. Yet as marvelous as his work may be to the untrained ear; it lacks in depth and emotional growth. One could argue that you can find this missing link in the work of James Joyce. Unfortunately within the first paragraph of Ann M. Martin’s The Baby-Sitters Club Joyce’s "Ulysses" comes off as amateur and poorly written. It shows itself to be the death rattle to the modernist avant-garde of the early 20th century. We are lead to believe that mankind hit its artistic zenith with films like Bob Clark’s Baby Geniuses or Tom Dey’s Failure to Launch. Whatever Raphael, Michelangelo, or Da Vinci did is sophomoric comparable to anything on Disney XD. Am I tired of being told artists like Oscar-Claude Monet are amazing and Superbabies: Baby Geniuses 2 is not? My whole life I’ve been told what to think is a great work of art and what is not. I’m honored to say that within my generation a great work of art has rivaled itself. The work I speak of can be seen as portal into the future of mankind’s artistic endeavors. It shows itself to be a belly laugh in the face of art & culture as we know it. It hangs above us as if it were here all along underneath us waiting to surface. I’ll be the first to let you know that it has risen to spit in the face of art. And its spittle is that of saccharine goodness. Alfred Vance Churchill, Anne Banti, and Auour Ava Ólafsdóttir would sigh at the sight of what I have witnessed in my life time. A sigh that only occurs when one has witnessed something so utterly captivating they are forced to do nothing but give up on hope. It is the very hope that we as a species could create anything greater. I am of course taking about the Pusheen. Embodied in the Pusheen is what all these works of art lack, humanity. All of our emotions, all of our trials, all of our desires, wants, and needs have showed themselves in a pudgy feline. We are the Pusheen. Am I not the Pusheen reaching for the cup cake? Do I not long for the sweet nectar of love and the pursuit of happiness? Am I not the one pushing around a shopping cart in a vacant grocery store? Is my cart not filled with all of lives blood? Am I not lost? Am I not the one with a heart above its head constantly keeping love and affection on the mind Am I not the one laying around who can barely stand on its own four feet? Finally, are you not the one who puts the sunglasses on? The one who hides from the truth? The one who fails to realize the future is bright and inevitable?

Thank you for wasting your time reading this essay, I love you Pusheen, Sincerely, Tassy

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STUFF WE’RE LISTENING TO AND THINK YOU’LL DIG

Cheatahs - S/T

Ava Luna - Electric Balloon

Speedy Ortiz - Real Hair

Total Slacker - Slip Away

Krill - Steve Hears Pile in Malden and Bursts into Tears

BLUFFING - Sugar Coated Pills of Wisdom

Against Me! - Transgender Dysphoria Blues

Together Pangea - Badillac

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FA S H I O N

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C U LT U R E

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