First Weekend in NYC: Suckers

My first weekend in NYC is pretty emblematic of how musically-rich and freaking awesome this city is: two amazing shows in three days (Suckers on Friday, Karen Elson/Grizzly Bear/Band of Horses on Sunday). Yes, please!

Suckers

I flew in Friday night, cabbed it to my good friends' East Village apartment, took shots and headed to Brooklyn to see Suckers play at the Music Hall of Williamsburg for their CD Release Party, Wild Smile.  

Our picky friends at Pitchfork recently described Suckers as a band that "make[s] music with personality." But listen closer and you will see they are much more than that. Comparable to a conglomerate of sounds from Animal Collective, to Tears for Fears, to Modest Mouse, Suckers mixes all kinds of funky instruments with whistling, high-pitched vocals, jam buildups and blasting, yelping finales. 

Some of my favorites from their new LP, "Save your Love for Me," "Black Sheep," "Before your Birthday Ends," "You Can Keep Me Runnin' Around," (the first four tracks on CD, actually) and "It Gets Your Body Movin'" were even better live. Ultimately, I do have to agree with the good ol' Fork: Suckers makes music with personality. After seeing them live though, it became clear that Suckers is responsible for giving music personality as well. And a fucking good one at that - from the lead singer's psychedelic wardrobe, to the their synthetic, raucous-soaked energy, to the fact that they welcomed audience members join onstage to dance around...and play drums with them? Wow, maybe I was a little more blackout than I thought. Thanks, Suckers, for a kick ass time. 


PS Karen Elson/Grizzly Bear/Band of Horses to come very soon.