Self Defense Family Archives -

Superior, Self Defense Family

By Jennifer November 12, 2016 November 12, 2016 NaBloPoMo, song embed

The real point of this post is to tell y’all that Run for Cover Records has put a whole lot of its catalog on bandcamp and that everything is “pay what you can” for the weekend, with the proceeds going to Planned Parenthood. They’re matching up to $5000, and last I looked the total donation was at $14,000.

Superior by Self Defense Family is one of the records available. Self Defense Family is an artistic/musical collective mostly from upstate New York, sufficiently fluid in composition and style that every record is distinctive and unlike the last, though they tend to drift on the hardcore-shoegaze currents. This particular record is more shoegaze, which for them means it’s a little softer and there’s no angry yelling.

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2014: A Year In Pictures

By Jennifer December 31, 2014 December 30, 2014 feature, Rock 'n' Roll Photog, Year in Pictures

A year of rock n’ roll, in pictures, including two shows from late December 2013, which I shot after I posted last years’ Year in Pictures.

Tonight I’m headed out to dance the New Year in with Erasure (!); have fun and be safe, y’all, and I’ll see you on the other side.

The Districts, Brooklyn Bowl, Brooklyn, NY, Dec. 30, 2013

The Felice Brothers, Brooklyn Bowl, Brooklyn, NY, Dec. 30, 2013

Team Spirit, Irving Plaza, New York, NY, Dec. 31, 2013

Andrew W.K., Irving Plaza, New York, NY, Dec. 31, 2013

Fadeaway Friends Benefit 001, NGHBRS, Maxwell’s, Hoboken, NJ, Jan. 10, 2014

Fadeaway Friends Benefit 001, States and Kingdoms, Maxwell’s, Hoboken, NJ, Jan. 10, 2014

Fadeaway Friends Benefit 001, Frank Iero, Maxwell’s, Hoboken, NJ, Jan. 10, 2014

Fadeaway Friends Benefit 001, The Gay Blades, Maxwell’s, Hoboken, NJ, Jan. 10, 2014

Fadeaway Friends Benefit 002, Fred Mascharino, St. Vitus, Brooklyn, NY, Jan. 18, 2014

Fadeaway Friends Benefit 002, States and Kingdoms, St. Vitus, Brooklyn, NY, Jan. 18, 2014

Fadeaway Friends Benefit 002, Geoff Rickley, St. Vitus, Brooklyn, NY, Jan. 18, 2014

Fadeaway Friends Benefit 002, Frank Iero, St. Vitus, Brooklyn, NY, Jan. 18, 2014

Fadeaway Friends Benefit 002, I Hate Our Freedom, St. Vitus, Brooklyn, NY, Jan. 18, 2014

Fadeaway Friends Benefit 002, The Gay Blades, St. Vitus, Brooklyn, NY, Jan. 18, 2014

Deep Pockets, Santos Party House, New York, NY, Jan. 19, 2014

Patrick Kindlon with Loss Leader, Santos Party House, New York, NY, Jan. 19, 2014

Ovlov, Santos Party House, New York, NY, Jan. 19, 2014

Pity Sex, Santos Party House, New York, NY, Jan. 19, 2014

Patrick Kindlon with Self Defense Family, Santos Party House, New York, NY, Jan. 19, 2014

X Ambassadors, Roseland Ballroom, New York, NY, Feb. 4, 2014

The Colourist, Roseland Ballroom, New York, NY, Feb. 4, 2014

Panic! at the Disco, Roseland Ballroom, New York, NY, Feb. 4, 2014

Rob DiPietro, Subculture, New York, NY Feb. 7, 2014

The Grahams, Subculture, New York, NY, Feb. 7. 2014

Z Berg, The Deep End Club, New York, NY, Feb. 9, 2014

The Grahams, Chez Andre, Feb. 17, 2014

Phone Home, Shea Stadium BK, Feb. 20, 2014

Weird Womb, Shea Stadium BK, Brooklyn, NY, Feb. 20, 2014

The Dirty Nil, Shea Stadium BK, Brooklyn, NY, Feb. 20, 2014

Samantha Crain, Mercury Lounge, New York, NY, Feb. 27, 2014

Murder By Death, Mercury Lounge, New York, NY, Feb. 27, 2014

Sleepwave, Best Buy Theater, New York, NY, April 15, 2014

tonightalive., Best Buy Theater, New York, NY, April 15, 2014

Taking Back Sunday, Best Buy Theater, New York, NY, April 15, 2014

The Used, Best Buy Theater, New York, NY, April 15, 2014

Andrew W.K., Subculture, New York, NY, April 25, 2014

Kate Myers, Bowery Ballroom, New York, NY, May 3, 2014

Sean Van Vleet, empires, Bowery Ballroom, New York, NY, May 3, 2014

Margot and the Nuclear So & So’s, Bowery Ballroom, New York, NY, May 3, 2014

Rhymin’ and Stealin’, Brooklyn Bowl, Brooklyn, NY, May 6, 2014

LaToya Kennedy with Rhymin’ and Stealin’, Brooklyn Bowl, Brooklyn, NY, May 6, 2014

Leroy Justice, Brooklyn Bowl, Brooklyn, NY, May 6, 2014

Bottom Dollars, Brooklyn Bowl, Brooklyn, NY, May 6, 2014

AF THE NAYSAYER, Trash Bar, Brooklyn, NY, May 26, 2014

Durazzo, Trash Bar, Brooklyn NY, May 26, 2014

Brendon Urie, Panic! at the Disco, The Theater at Madison Square Garden, New York, NY, August 5, 2014

Alice Cooper, Jones Beach, Wantagh, NY, August 29, 2014

MÃ¶tley CrÃ¼e, Jones Beach, Wantagh, NY, August 29, 2014

Slomile Swift, Spike Hill, Brooklyn, NY, Sept. 11, 2014

SKYES, Spike Hill, Brooklyn, NY, Sept. 11, 2014

AF THE NAYSAYER and friends, Spike Hill, Brooklyn, Sept. 11, 2014

Rosie Flores, Hill Country BBQ, New York, NY, Sept. 13, 2014

The Dirty Nil, Brooklyn Night Bazaar, Brooklyn, NY, Sept. 20, 2014

Cory Branan, The Mercury Lounge, New York, NY, Oct. 1, 2014

Mumblr, Shea Stadium BK, Brooklyn, NY, Oct. 4, 2014

The Eeries, Irving Plaza, New York, NY, Oct. 20, 2014

Gerard Way, Irving Plaza, New York, NY, Oct. 20, 2014

The Eeries, Webster Hall, New York, NY, Oct. 23, 2014

Gerard Way, Webster Hall, New York, NY, Oct. 23, 2014

NGHBRS, Baby’s All Right, Brooklyn, NY, Nov. 14, 2014

Cold Fronts, Baby’s All Right, Brooklyn, NY, Nov. 14, 2014

Sean Van Vleet, empires, Baby’s All Right, Brooklyn, NY, Nov. 14, 2014

Tom Conrad, empires, Baby’s All Right, Brooklyn, NY, Nov. 14, 2014

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Postcards from the Pit: Self Defense Family / Pity Sex / Ovlov / Loss Leader / Deep Pockets, Santos Party House, 1/19/14

By Jennifer February 28, 2014 February 28, 2014 Postcards from the Pit

Better late than never, pt 2!

I suppose I should explain this venue too. The Santos Party House, which opened in 2008, is partially owned by Andrew WK, King of All Things Party-Related. This particular show was held in the basement, which is medium-swanky, as opposed to the upper levels which I have never seen but are at the “table reservations available” level of fancy.

Anyway, onwards to pictures!

Deep Pockets: I only caught about three of their songs, but what I heard I liked. They classify themselves as indie grunge on bandcamp, but they sounded like a punk band with a refined pop sensibility to me. As it turned out they had the lightest vibe of the evening; it would get progressively darker and sludgier from there.

Loss Leader: My notes on this one were “aggressively weird heavy droning rock and roll” and please know I meant that in the best possible way. I spent most of their set watching their lead guitar clamber all over the stage – and one point I lost him, only to realize a few seconds later that he was perched on the top of a nearby wall – and the end of their last song was punctuated by the sharp crack of a broken guitar. Musicians destroying guitars is not a new trick, but this time it felt more like a sharp reminder to pay attention than wanton, careless destruction.

Ovlov: For them my notes were “they put the “heavy” back in heavy metal” – they classify themselves as indie pop on bandcamp, which, what, no, – but though they were a little bit sludgy they also had good energy, and were not just a wall of (slightly fuzzy, feedback-y) noise. Unfortunately the sound was super muddy so I couldn’t really hear their singer at all, but I nonetheless enjoyed their tunes. They’re playing at Shea Stadium Brooklyn tomorrow (Saturday, March 1) if any of you will be around and want to have your faces gently melted.

Pity Sex: I think my first response was Oh, now this band is going to be fun to Google when i get home. Followed immediatly by And I had better tweet . . . carefully. Really, though, it’s an awesome band name. They were a little bit lighter than Ovlov, maybe a hair less drone-y. I’d call their sound punk fused with shoegaze with metal accents, I think. I couldn’t hear their singer(s) either, which was minorly disappointing, but again, I still enjoyed their tunes.

Self Defense Family: They aren’t so much a band as they are an artist collective whose medium happens to be heavy music. The entity referred to as “Self Defense Family” is just one of their many collective and individual projects. They tend towards the abrasive; Patrick Kindlon does most of the singing and his vocal style is, shall we say, an acquired taste. (He’s also the vocalist for Loss Leader, above, and the only thing the two bands have in common is his voice.) I’ve been listening to odds and ends of Self Defense Family’s stuff for a few years now; some of it I like, some of it I don’t, but what I do like, I like a lot.

Seeing them live is also kind of abrasive – they’re loud, there’s a certain amount of yelling – but some aural scratches and scrapes are worth it for the experience of watching Kindlon sway in the center of the whirlwind of sound while conducting the symphony of angry noise.

At one point he asked us why we were so quiet. My feeling, then and now, is this: he (they) had our undivided attention, and we were listening, waiting to see what might happen next, and possibly taking a moment to catch our breaths.

Some of these pictures are fuzzy; I’ve included them to try and convey the general ambiance of their set.