The Bowery Presents

Music Hall of Williamsburg upcoming shows

Me First and the Gimme Gimmes
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None More Black
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“It’s a struggle but we’re going”. The last lyric of the song “Dance on the Ruins” off their much anticipated new full length This Is Satire, pretty much defines the history and attitude of None More Black. In five years the band has gone through a few member changes. While singer/guitarist Jason Shevchuk and bassist Paul Delaney have remained constant, the two have struggled to keep it together.

The past year has been an enlightening one for None More Black. “It’s like we are putting the past behind us and starting over completely”, says Shevchuk about his excitement With the addition of guitarist and long time friend Colin McGinniss and drummer Jared Shavelson. The band finally has something that Shevchuk always wanted, chemistry. “Things just click with us now. We have fun. That’s inspiring”

The band recently shacked up in Baltimore with producer J. Robbins (Against Me!, Jawbox) to record what Shevchuk humbly admits is the greatest album he’s ever been a part of. While in the studio with J. Robbins, the band became inspired and fearless. Which lead to a pretty diverse sounding rock record.

None More Black is awaiting the release of This Is Satire, their first full length in three years. They plan on hitting the road hard. Having toured the U.S., Canada and Europe in the past, they are anxious to pick up where they left off.

“In an age of crisis, satire is a way of challenging accepted precepts by making them seem ridiculous.” Some of the earliest satirists were playwrights. So, imagine yourself at a performance. The curtain rises, and the lights focus on four men; friends, with shared feelings about music, relationships, and freedom. Their roles are set. They are here to perform what the intersection of their lives has created in material form: a record, appropriately entitled This Is Satire.
Teenage Bottlerocket
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Smoke or Fire
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Smoke or Fire is the latest of gritty post-hardcore bands to emerge from the Southeast's plentiful punk scene. Some say we are influenced by our predecessors like Hot Water Music and Avail, but we also blend in some additional elements of Americana with hints of The Replacements and Springsteen.

Our "debut" album, Above The City, was co-produced by Fat Mike and was released in March 2005. It’s 14 songs of socially-conscious Southern-fried punk rock from a band that relies on our musical merits rather than imagery gimmicks or a trendy sound. Fashion-core be damned, Smoke or Fire’s upbeat and earnest brand of rock flies in the face of the musical carpetbaggers prevalent today. Refreshing concept, no?
Dead To Me
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The Flatliners
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Punk rock used to be about haggard road warriors. Before all the breakdowns and flat irons, there were busted transmissions and collect calls home. The Flatliners grew up believing in the later and rejecting the former, and after seven years playing together, they’re unleashing Cavalcade, their third full-length record and an epic sonic testament to the life they’ve chosen.

Over the last four years, the Flatliners have spent almost thirty months in vans, dive bars, and concert halls across North America, Europe, and Japan, building up a dedicated following with a sound that mixes the endless fury of ‘90s skate punk with the nuanced, intelligent songwriting of classic post-punks like the Replacements and Hot Water Music. After releasing the ska-punk tinged Destroy to Create (Union Label Group) in 2005, the band evolved into a harsh melodic machine with 2007’s The Great Awake (Fat Wreck Chords), completing their transition into a vital modern punk unit with the Cynics 7” (Fat Wreck Chords) in late 2009.

For Cavalcade, the Flatliners once again teamed up with long-time producer and friend Steve Rizun, recording sporadically between tours in their hometown of Toronto over the course of 2009. Seeking to immortalize the last year of their lives on the road, the end result is easily the band’s finest hour; from the thrashy immediacy of “The Calming Collection” to the dub-influenced “He Was A Jazzman”, it’s the sound of a band hitting their stride musically and finding their voice lyrically, exploring the idea of unity through disconnectedness, of positivity in uncertain times. Driving home the theme are the numerous guest appearances on the record: members of Cancer Bats, A Wilhelm Scream, Dillinger Four, The Snips, Junior Battles, Permanent Bastards, and the Expos all contributed to Cavalcade. Add to that the presence of veteran punk Fat Mike, who flew up to jam with the band in November of 2009, earning an additional production credit and making one of the band’s childhood dreams come true.

They’ve grown up on record and in front of a crowd of like-minded punks. They’ve made sacrifices to keep the wheels of their van on the road, and Cavalcade is the reward. It really is, as the band says, “a call to arms to all who travel throughout the world on the wings of their creativity.”
Cobra Skulls
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