Back to the basics: The Bronx whip it out March 18. All photos by Kimberly Chun.
Get away from the grip-and-grin events and rambles through parties that offer free drinks and barbecue (though Jackpine Social Club’s Nick Tangborn supposedly threw an ace bash yesterday for ex-Parkside honcho Sean’s Batter Blaster pancake spray product) – there’s music out there if you seek it out. The corporate sponsors may be relatively absent, but there’s still plenty of intrigue, sonically, if you seek it out: PJ Harvey and John Parish, J. Tillman of Fleet Foxes going solo, the Pains of Being Pure at Heart, Blk Jck, We Have Band, et al.
One great budding band of women: Portland, Ore., trio Explode Into Colors. An all-power two-drum approach draws from the Slits and Gang of Four to fashion impassioned, sinewy primal punk. Fully formed and in full possession of their own voice. The group played March 18’s Finally Punk-curated all-ages music-made-by-women show at Ms. Bea’s, which also included Pocahaunted, Yellow Fever, Micachu, and the East Bay’s Splinters.
Boy meets girls: Explode Into Colors.