The Bowery Presents

The Mercury Lounge upcoming shows

These United States
10:30
Motel Motel
9:30

Company of Thieves
8:30
Nick Howard
7:30

Venue:
The Mercury Lounge
Date:
Thu 8/27
Notes:
21+
Doors: 7:30 PM / Show: 7:30 PM
$10
Tickets
These United States
official website
myspace
These United States are the songs of Jesse Elliott, flipped, forged, phased, and fermented; stolen, re-taken, elongated and elevated, beaten and bruised, occasionally imbued, by an ever-battling band of music-mad robber-barons, enthused aesthetic thieves of the long and winding subway tunnels and underground railroads of our cacophonous nation.

In the opening chapter of our epic tale, an uncomfortable duo locks eyes in ninth grade English class. Their mutual admiration is frowned upon by the clan of each, springing forth as they do, one from a bohemian bevy of experience-gobbling yes-sayers – the other, from a covert cavern carved deep within the confines of his own mind, a recluse of reckless proportions. Binding them only, each one lonely, is the Written Word, which they will soon render Hummed, eventually Heard.

Flash forward seasons: the two have not talked since parting on unspoken terms, drifting off into the universe in disparate directions, one towards painting, the other politics, one then towards fossils, the other then film. They reunite in the blossoming bosom of a tiny town, somewhere in the east of Iowa. Memories stirred, a collective co-habitated, garages refashioned, and a Project born. Sparked, summoned, stoked, eventually though squandered and severed. Again. Off, again.
Motel Motel
official website
myspace
Motel Motel is a history of rock youth in a blender. They croon in the spirit of an old country ballad, but one careening through the tunnels and avenues of their home base, New York City. Formed there in the fall of 2006, they honed their music in garages, kitchens, and basements until the February of the next year found them playing their first shows across the city and surrounding states. Received with open arms both by claustrophobic bars in the Lower East Side and the skyline-painted barns of Richmond VA, they find peace in their dualities. Home for them is not the city; they hail from four distinct corners of the United States: Denver, Hawaii, Albany, and Virginia. For them, country rock is not the antiquated charm of the past, nor is rock and roll a commercialized beast of the present—rather both are the same: a desperate, loud rattling of America’s motel rooms and their cloistered road warriors. In early May, Motel Motel recorded the EP Old York at a scattering of studios, including Midtown Sound, UCC Studios, Jewett Sound, and others, and finished mixing at Sub Terra Engel Studios in Albany. The disc still warm in their hands, they headed out on an 11-date cross-country tour, from Boston to Denver. Now living in Colorado and currently recording their first LP, New Denver, they are cleaning the life of the road from their bodies. They are preparing to meet all of America, and hope to eventually find their home.
Company of Thieves
official website
myspace
The members of Company of Thieves are collectively grounded, and well-versed in the challenges the world faces today. "This is a scary time for a lot of people, government-wise, art-wise, and especially business-wise," says singer Genevieve Schatz. "People seem to be very held back in what they're willing to invest in – personally, emotionally, and financially. But at the same time, there's a new, gutsy energy coming out right now, almost a generational thing. Today's youth, and to some extent their parents, are really wanting a change, and there's a feeling that we're at the edge of big change right now. Great art always rises up when change is going on."

These exciting – if uncertain – times are reflected in the eclectic sound of Ordinary Riches, an album that moves effortlessly from the seemingly jaunty, piano-led "In Passing" and the catchy pop tones of "Pressure" to the arena-ready sing-along chorus of "New Letters" and the Jonny Greenwood-ish guitar figures on "Old Letters." They are erudite without being pretentious, hooky without being saccharine, and plainly dedicated to its ideals, Company of Thieves' stunning debut album Ordinary Riches reveals a band very much of its time.

"It's true what they say about new bands, that you wait your whole life to write your first record," says guitarist Marc Walloch. "This is the sound of us piecing together things we wanted to try out, playing different parts to see what happened."

"We're influenced by a lot of different artists," Schatz adds. "Everything from jazz and Motown to Billie Holiday and the Beatles. Seeing how they expressed themselves helped us to figure out another way to express ourselves in music.

"It's like when you read a really good novel," she continues, "and you end up thinking like that character, or in that writer's style."

While the influences are at times detectable – a little Fiona Apple angst here, a bit of John Lennon's social activism there – the band is far from being mere mockingbirds.

"That's where the band's name comes from," Walloch says. "We've taken what we know and put our own twist on it. It's a kind of 'thievery,' but it's all about paying our respects to what we were inspired by."

One of those inspirations is Oscar Wilde, whose name not only serves as a song title but whose essay The Soul of Man under Socialism also gave the album its title: "Ordinary riches can be stolen, real riches cannot. In your soul are infinitely precious things that cannot be taken from you."

The Anglo-Irish bard may not be everyone's idea of a rock n' roll icon (notwithstanding his appearance on the Sgt. Pepper cover), but Schatz explains that his Victorian-era lifestyle speaks loudly to the group.

"He was very in-tune with his culture and upper-class society, but at the same time he was making fun of them in his work," she says. "And they embraced and loved him for it, but at the same time they so disapproved of his private life that he was shunned. And in the industry, there are a lot of big shots running around who love the idea of having an artist around only when it's convenient. People like that embrace you but don't realize there's more to life than all this other, superficial stuff."

Another lesson from Wilde that applies equally to the group is his indefatigable spirit, says drummer Mike Ortiz. "It's better to struggle doing what you love than just settling for doing whatever everyone else is doing," he says. "We all took risks with this band, and had to make sacrifices in our personal lives, but if you really pursue what you love then you'll ultimately reap benefits from it."

That Company of Thieves presents such a united front is no accident: this is very much a band, as opposed to what they laugh off as "a chick singer with a backing group."

"For at least the past 10 years in mainstream music there's been this overwhelming focus on the 'front man,' which has really gotten out of hand," Walloch says. "When we were kids we knew the names of every member. It was the bands who were important then, and we're hoping to bring that kind of feeling back."

The band also strives to hearken back to a time when songs' subject matter went beyond hitting the dance floor and hooking up. Time and again, Ordinary Riches presents a cinematic vision of a relationship gone sour or a world in turmoil that speaks to deeper truths.

"We all go through life processing so many things all the time – the weather, the setting, the mood," Schatz says. "Lyrically, we're exploring real-life experiences and how people navigate relationships. Traveling around the Midwest allowed us to see America for what it is and isn't, and helped us get in touch with ourselves."

As such, Company of Thieves songs are often more outward- than inner-looking. "They're not necessarily first person; more from the point of view of a camera," she says. "This is about us presenting our worldview and how we see things today."

That's not to say the album's all about abstract emotion, however. "The Tornado Song" is an intensely personal song for Schatz, based upon a dream of her divorced family trying to reconcile itself and highlighted by a climactic, near-operatic peal of emotion from the gifted singer.

"That's a great example of how we're about not limiting ourselves," Walloch says. "It's not something you hear on every pop/rock album, and it was a challenge for Genevieve – but at the same time it showcases her different vocal abilities. We never feel like we 'can't' do something, and we plan to limit ourselves even less in the future."

One constant factor, Schatz says, will be the band's empathy with the world around them and their peers.

"A lot of people come from a place that's very judgmental, which in turn makes them paranoid about what people are thinking of them. That results in their not allowing themselves to truly connect with someone and have a real relationship, or even a genuine conversation.

"A friend of ours recently said that, for all its flaws, Chicago is a forgiving city, and we really do come from a forgiving place" she adds. "It's about wanting to hear somebody's story. Isn't that what life is all about?"
Nick Howard
official website
myspace
British singer/songwriter Nick Howard has received and experienced tremendous accolades both in the US and in his native UK. Having been featured this past year by MTV, Fox, Comcast, TLC, CBS, ABC, the BBC, Vogue Magazine, Tommy Hilfiger and Lifetime as well as having several of his songs featured in shows such as The Hills, Army Wives, LA Ink, and in movies such as My Sassy Girl and Knuckle Draggers, the music of Nick Howard has succeeded in entertaining audiences all over the world.

Nick recently broke into the US radio airplay charts with his single A Better Man and was featured by Clear Channel's NEW! campaign as a top emerging artist to watch out for in 2009.
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