The Bowery Presents

The Mercury Lounge upcoming shows

Early Show

Gringo Star
7:30

Hymns
6:30

Venue:
The Mercury Lounge
Date:
Tue 4/06
Notes:
21+
Doors: 6:30 PM / Show: 6:30 PM
$10
Tickets
Gringo Star
myspace
By condensing a palate of swirling and innovative guitar voyages and a sweat-soaked baroque punk ethos that loses itself in carpet-crawling majesty, Gringo Star has emerged as Atlanta’s favorite rock and roll sons. Brothers Nick and Pete Furgiuele, along with Pete DeLorenzo and Matt McCalvin have continually built momentum, crisscrossing the country and honing their chops on rock and roll’s frontline.

Crafting an art-damaged and intense presence, the group’s sound falls somewhere between The Animals, Motown and The Kinks. In person, the group’s soft-spoken demeanor instills a sense of alluring mystery, but on stage, Gringo Star explode. Never ones to hang on to the same instruments for too long, each member of the group sprints and hurdles from station to station, swapping out guitar for bass for drums for voice, keyboard for accordion, kazoo for tambourine. As a result, the band’s multifaceted musicianship culminates in dense and cerebral rock mantras that are hard-wired to the head and heart.


"'All Y'all' is an exuberant rush of early Kinks guitars, tambourines, handclaps, multi-part harmonies, and bits of tinkly piano, all catchy." –Pitchfork

"A little scuzzy, a little jangly and a lot awesome." -Blender

"A tapestry of jangly guitar and multi-part vocal harmonies, and ranges from psychedelia to garage rock to surf pop. A bit off-kilter and more than a little charming, it's Atlanta pop at its best and communicates as well as any recording could what it's like to see the band live. No song better represents the band than the title track (and first single), 'All Y'all': It's anthemic, hook-filled and catchy as hell." - Paste
Hymns
official website
myspace
HYMNS bucked tradition on 'Appaloosa,' trading in the isolated flatlands of Texas where they recorded their first two albums for the urban bustle of Los Angeles. Surrounding themselves with a host of friends including Grammy-nominated fiddler Tracy Bonham, Ned Brower and Taylor Locke of Rooney, and acclaimed producer Dan Horne, the band managed to turn out a six-track EP that stands as their most diverse and adventurous work to date. 'Appaloosa' keeps one foot planted firmly in HYMNS' southern roots and another square in the heart of the thriving Brooklyn indie scene they now call home.

From the very first, HYMNS have always embraced musical contradictions like these. Guitarist Jason Roberts and singer/songwriter Brian Harding met growing up in southern North Carolina, cementing their friendship as teenagers over a shared love for the Americana roots of The Band and the distinctly not-southern rock of Nirvana. The two parted ways after college when Roberts joined Ben Kweller's touring band and Harding relocated to New York City, but it was only a matter of time before the undeniable musical chemistry that the two shared brought them back together.

"Brian and I are complete opposites," explains Roberts, "but we understand each other better than anyone. I think I'm the only person who can really tell what he's looking for in a song, so we learned to rely on each other's strengths."

The duo reunited in Brooklyn in 2005, fleshing out their sound with a drummer and bass player before traveling to rural Texas to record their debut album, 'Brother/Sister,' for Blackland Records. An exhilarating blend of country twang and indie drive, 'Brother/Sister' was a critical hit drawing comparisons to Tom Petty and Gram Parsons. HYMNS suddenly found themselves touring nationally with The Lemonheads, Ben Kweller, and Canadian star Sam Roberts, while back home in New York they began sharing bills with artists like Beck, Hot Hot Heat, and The Redwalls.

Expanding on their rootsy sensibilities by adding horns, banjo, and pump organ to the mix, HYMNS followed up 'Brother/Sister' with 2008's ‘Travel in Herds’ and a series of stellar performances at SXSW. “If Pavement and Neil Young took a road trip to Burritoville” raved SPIN magazine, which named the band an "Artist to Watch.". Similar accolades rained down from The New Yorker, The Village Voice, Daytrotter, WNYC's Soundcheck, and MTV's John Norris, who praised the band's "tight, effortless chemistry onstage." They hit the road for U.S. tours again in 2008-9, pairing up at various points with Locksley, Daniel Johnston, Butch Walker and many more. Most recently Hymns were noted by Paste as the ‘Best of What’s Next’ in February 2010.

The release of 'Appaloosa' marks the beginning of an exciting new chapter for HYMNS and finds them once more on the road, touring with newest member Joey McClellan on bass.
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