Party Lights: Aiding Ailing Hearts In The Big City

I first became familiar with New York City's Party Lights a few years ago when they simultaneously released records on the No Front Teeth label with their sister group The Recordettes. I loved both records and instantly wanted to interview both bands but I noticed both bands shared some members so I randomly just picked to interview The Recordettes.  Well, fast forward to 2015 and The Recordettes have now gone into hibernation and Party Lights are still going strong.  Their songs employ so many elements I love about rock n' roll.  This band manages to bottle up the bounce of 60's girl groups,  the energy of 70's punk, and the melodies of late 70's and early 80's power pop and new wave. That's why  I picked their debut LP I See The Light as one of my top records of 2015 and if you haven't heard it yet, you're doing your drab life a disservice.  

Interview by J Castro

Who is currently in the band and what does everyone do in it?

ANNA:  The band is Joan Chew on bass & vocals (and keys on our recordings), Dave Smilow on drums, and me (Anna Blumenthal) on guitar and vocals. Our other guitarist Elliott Klein absconded to LA earlier this year to become much more famous than us. He currently sends us weekly emails reminding us that New York is a city full of pizza-eating rats and that he wouldn’t move back to New York if Johnny Ramone himself rose from the grave and sent him an engraved invitation. 

How did you all meet and decide to play music together?

ANNA: It was part of a plea bargain.

What band or musician first inspired you to want to pick up an instrument and learn to play and/or write music?

ANNA: Cheap Trick, The Knack, The New York Dolls, Big Star and The Runaways. But The Ramones were the band that made me realize that after learning just three chords I had all I needed to start writing songs (our bass player Joan knows like 945 chords and is going to punch me when she reads this).

How would you describe you band to your grandparents?

ANNA: By yelling really loudly.

What sorts of things do you typically enjoy writing songs about? 

ANNA: When life is peachy keen, no songs get written. I’m not saying I like drama, but a nasty divorce is good for about 46 albums worth of songs.

I See The Lights LP released September 29th 2015

I’ve heard people say that playing and writing music is therapeutic to them.  Have you ever found this to be true?

ANNA: 100% yes. Writing songs about weird things in your life is so therapeutic. It’s awesome to turn crappy situations into good songs. And then getting to crank your amp and sing and play them with your bandmates (who in my case are incredible musicians and equally awesome people) is the best thing ever.

Does it annoy you or distract you at all to see some of your audience members fondling their phones while you’re up on stage performing?

ANNA: I assume they are all texting their friends “HOLY CHRIST I’M WATCHING THE BEST BAND ON EARTH!!!!” so it’s all cool. That, or they’re sexting, which we also approve of.

After one of your shows, what sort of feeling or sentiment do you hope your audience walks away with? 

ANNA: Our goal is for everyone to be in a slightly better mood than they were before our show.

What is your favorite album to listen to from start to finish?

ANNA: Way too many to list. I can tell you the last one I listened to all the way through though: Blondie’s Parallel Lines. Amazing album.

What’s the best advice anyone has ever given you that you still follow to this day?

ANNA: I’m left handed and I was told to learn to play guitar righty. Thank god.

What is the best way people can hear and get a hold of your music?

ANNA: www.partylights.bandcamp.com for our album – we’ll also have our brand new 7” (coming out in a few weeks on Hidden Volume Records) available at shows. And it’ll be available at www.hiddenvolume.com too.

What lies ahead for the band in 2016?
ANNA: More shows (next one is at The Gutter in Brooklyn), a new album later this year and our own brand of potato chips. Currently crowdsourcing for flavor ideas.

Follow Part Lights on all of their adventures on social media!  

https://www.facebook.com/partylightsband

twitter.com/partylightsband

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Bruiser Queen

Photo by Brian McClelland

Bruiser Queen are a fantastic two piece band based in St Louis MO which consist of Morgan Nusbaum on guitar/vocals and Jason Potter on the drums.  They've been called "part Riot Grrrl and part Art Rock" which sounds pretty spot on to me.  Morgan recently took some time out  to gab a bit with us about their terrific LP Sweet Static, her musical influences, and waffles!  

Interview by J Castro

Tell me about how you two met and decided to play music together?

MORGAN: We were in different bands in the same scene. Jason was in Left Arm and I was in The 75s. I was a bassist then and just started dabbling in electric guitar. Left Arm’s guitar player was heading off to law school and Jason asked me to fill in for a Ramones cover set. It was a blast and we decided to keep at it.

Can you remember early on, what band or musician first influenced you to want to pick up an instrument and want to learn to play/write music?

MORGAN: I would say Hole’s album Live Through This really changed my life, but Heart’s Dreamboat Annie probably planted the seed early on.

How would you describe Bruiser Queen’s “sound” to someone that’s never heard your music before?

MORGAN: 60’s girl group meets 90’s riot girl.

When you started playing together, did you have a particular sound/direction in mind for Bruiser Queen or did the music kind of take on a life and direction of its own after you started playing together?

MORGAN: You know what we actually did have a vibe in mind. Jason was into garage rock and I was stuck on early post hardcore. So when we started hanging out he was introducing me to all this amazing music and I was majorly inspired. I feel like our sound gets better all the time as we hone in on our strength in song writing and as my guitar playing improves.

Photo by Brian McClelland

Your new LP Sweet Static came out in October of last year, can you tell us a bit about it? 

MORGAN: In Sweet Static we tried to show a little bit more variety of songwriting. Our previous releases were on the bashers side. Songs like “Tiny Heart Attack”, “Girl Like Me” and “Some Girl’s Ghost” are definitely a departure from those punk leanings. We went into the recording process with a focus on the songs and songwriting. I played bass, organ and even a deeply mixed acoustic guitar on most tracks. 2012’s LP Swears was the opposite. We went in specifically looking for a recording that sounded exactly what we were live. With Sweet Static we weren’t worried about trying to translate the songs live the same as the record. I imagine future records will be tackled the same way. The process was so rewarding and freeing to not have to worry about the live schematics of being a two-piece.

Bruiser Queen - Sweet Static CD 2014

Can you recall the most bizarre person or event that inspired a song of out you?  Is there any topic you try and steer clear from in your song lyrics?

MORGAN: I write about pretty much anything. I have songs about my childhood home, romance, bands staying at my house, ghosts, aliens, catch phrases my friends say, age, movies, wolves, sunny days, rainy days, family, global warming, gender stereotypes… The list goes on.

Bruiser Queen is currently based in St Louis, MO.  What’s it like playing shows out there, is there a supportive crowd that gets what you guys are doing musically?

MORGAN: I would say we have a very supportive STL fan base. We keep things weird at local shows. We’ll do crazy things like holiday themes (The 12 Bassists Of Christmas, For All The Hunnies Valentine’s Day Show) or we’ve even done an evening with Bruiser Queen where we do a mix of acoustic songs, new songs, old fan faves and covers; just us for 3 sets.

You cover the Lost Sound’s track “Black Coats White Fear”, did Alicja Trout and Jay Reatard’s music have a big influence on Bruiser Queen?

MORGAN: Jason was a huge fan of Jay and his death came right around the time we first started hanging out. So we listened to tons of his stuff. I fell madly in love with River City Tanlines, which we had the pleasure of playing with once. So I’ll say it had a significant influence, especially on my guitar playing.

 In your band’s Facebook page, you list “Waffles” under band interests.  Tell me about the best waffle you’ve had and where did this momentous occasion take place?

MORGAN: Go to MELT in St. Louis and get the Knockout waffle: chocolate with chocolate chips and chocolate syrup. Comes with whipped cream but if you wanna be a real American throw on a scoop of chocolate ice cream. BOOM.

What lies ahead in for the band in the near future?

MORGAN: We are working on tons of new songs and touring the US extensively in the next year. Keep an eye out for new singles to be released in early 2016 and tour dates around your town!

What are the best places to go or log on to hear or buy your music?

MORGAN: We absolutely love Bandcamp but we have music anywhere you buy music: Spotify, Itunes, Google Music, CD Baby, you name it. Request us at your local record store J

Keep up with the continuing adventures of Bruiser Queen on your favorite social media outlet!

http://bruiserqueen.com

http://facebook.com/bruiserqueen

http://bruiserqueen.bandcamp.com

http://twitter.com/bruiserqueen

http://instagram.com/bruiserqueen

Follow @AAmmunition