Atlas Sound to Play New York/Philly in October
Bradford Cox (Deerhunter) will bring his solo act back to our area with October shows at Brooklyn’s Music Hall of Williamsburg and Philadelphia’s First Unitarian Church. Each show will be a co-headlining gig with UK electronic artists Broadcast. It’s been a busy year so far for Cox, who released Deerhunter’s Rainwater Cassette Exchange EP a few weeks ago and will release Logos, his second solo record in as many years this Fall. Deerhunter plays the Flying W Airport Resort in Medford, NJ this Saturday with Dan Deacon and No Age. Tickets are still available through TicketWeb here. Cox will also play with his band and as Atlas Sound at the Flaming Lips curated ATP New York show in September. Links to the Atlas Sound points of sale below:
Atlas Sound/Broadcast - First Unitarian Church, Philadelphia, NY - October 18, 2009 (on sale now)
Atlas Sound/Broadcast - Music Hall of Williamsburg, Brooklyn, NY - October 21, 2009 (on sale July 31 @ noon)
“Walkabout” by Atlas Sound (feat. Panda Bear)
White Lies @ First Unitarian Church
White Lies have plans to conquer America and are off to a perfect start after putting on an absolutely inspired performance at First Unitarian Church in Philadelphia on Wednesday night. It’s easy to assume that you won’t be able to see this band in venues this small after their current NME tour. With a chart-topping debut album in the UK and incredible buzz in the states, White Lies will soon enough be playing arenas to masses of fans who are drawn to their brand of New Wave pop. I’d be lying if I said this wasn’t instantly one of my favorite shows of the year. In light of our recent dismal economic times, White Lies play dark and gloomy songs that give you something to hold onto.
The energy and emotion of lead singer Harry McVeigh was as engaging as I’ve seen in recent memory. Right when you think he’s about to lose it in some of the more dreary lyrics (the songs 
aren’t exactly upbeat, see “Death,” “To Lose My Life,” and “Nothing to Give”), McVeigh is able to get it together again. He announced to the crowd of 500 that his voice was not so good this night, but any detriment to his vocals went unnoticed. Several in the crowd shouted “Harry!” in between songs to express their satisfaction with his inspired performance.
The tech crew took a painfully long time to set up for a band who wasn’t even the headliner on this particular night. We were glad they did, as the sound and mix were absolutely perfect. First Unitarian, especially the basement, has not been known for good sound. Kudos to the sound engineer for not drowning out Harry’s vocals like so many other venues tend to do. McVeigh needs to be front and center to fully appreciate one of the biggest buzz bands around, and that’s exactly what we got. I gave White Lies debut album a satisfactory review, which I’m sticking to. However, I would urge all to catch them while tickets are still cheap and easy to come by. Before you blink White Lies will be playing the Wachovia Center for $60 a pop. This is a band you should not miss live.
http://www.myspace.com/whitelies
Here is the video for their current single, “Farewell to the Fairground”: