Angie Boylan Birthday Tribute

Guitar tapping for Little Lungs @ NYU Strawberry Fest

Most music tributes that I've read focus on famous musicians usually when they have passed away. But why not celebrate someone's career that's already alive. Someone that I actually know and care about deeply because I respect the music they make. I may not be so steady in writing posts on this blog, but I want to make sure that I get this birthday tribute up to a musician buddy I've been following since 2008. With a goofy smile, a sweet heart, and an ambitious talent on vocals, guitar, and drums, Angie Boylan, is a local Brooklyn based musician who deserves a few words. 

Drumming for Each Other's Mothers @ Stolen Sleeves

Angie plays guitar and drums and sings. She's been in at least five bands that I know of: Cheeky, Little Lungs, Each Other's Mothers, Scantron, and Aye Nako. And all those bands are wonderful with a different sound. I'm a little embarrassed to admit that I have all her bands releases whether digitally, on vinyl, tape, or CD. I'm consistently impressed with her style and how awesome her bands are. I've had the pleasure of seeing all her bands live except for Scantron, who was short lived and just put out one release and played a few shows.

When I go to Brooklyn punk shows it's easy for me to feel disconnected and like an outsider, but Angie makes a kind effort to make me feel welcomed. She high fives me or hugs me and chats with me, and though these seem like small gestures, they mean a lot. I'll always remember one particular night. After seeing Aye Nako at Manifesta Loft, it was pretty late and I was chatting with Angie. Before I left she said to text her when I get home to make sure I arrived ok. I thought this was sweet. It reminded me of when my buddies would tell me to text them after a late night out when I in college. 

You see, Angie is a nice person and nice people are hard to come by. She's an example of a musician I wish I was friends with and not simply just a Facebook friend or a buddy I only see at a show. If you like melody, punk, and rock, I recommend listening to any of her bands and if you have a chance to hang with her at show, do so. Happy Birthday, Angie. Thanks for being cool.

NOTE: Billy Gray of Ben Franklin reminded me that Angie also plays in Very Okay. I don't know how I forgot since they are really awesome. I guess it's just hard to keep up with Angie! So I edited that band info in below. 

Cheeky: Bratty, fun pop-punk with Angie on drums. Listen here: http://quoteunquoterecords.com/qur016.htm

Little Lungs: Superchunk like indie-punk with Angie on guitar and vocals. 

Each Other's Mothers: Instrumental math-rock you can move to with Angie on drums. Listen here: http://www.ifyoumakeit.com/album/each-others-mothers/3-song-demo/

Scantron: Riot-grrrl influenced rock with range and Angie on guitar. Listen here: http://thegirlsare.blogspot.com/2010/01/introducing-scantron.html

Aye Nako: Some of the sweet pop-punk with a hardcore song thrown in for good measure with Angie on drums. Listen here: http://www.ifyoumakeit.com/album/aye-nako/demo-2010/

Very Okay: Catchy pop-punk with dual male/female vocals. Angie keeps it steady on the drums, of course. Listen here: http://quoteunquoterecords.com/qur048.htm

Live Photos: NYU's Strawberry Festival f/ JEFF, Screaming Females, Fiasco, Little Lungs, Hop Along 4-30-10

It's that time of the spring season when colleges are having their end of semester festivals and concerts. We joined NYU for the 25th annual Strawberry Festival, a celebration of the sweet, red fruity goodness. The fest included games, activities, strawberry shortcake, and of course music. The line-up included a nice nix of NY (Little Lungs, Fiasco), NJ (Screaming Females), PA (Hop Along), and even TN (JEFF the Brotherhood) bands. The fest was mostly punk and rock 'n roll. It was a beautiful day for an outdoor festival in the early afternoon. It was loads of fun.

Album Review: Little Lungs bring darker indie-punk on Living Hell

Little Lungs, Living Hell 7'' (2010)
Brooklyn, NY
Salinas Records

For fans of: indie-punk, Superchunk, Jawbreaker

With a new bassist and a new attitude, Little Lungs emerge in 2010 with their second 7-inch release entitled, Living Hell. The 5-song record takes you to the darker side of Little Lungs lyrically, yet still maintains the sweet, indie-punk sounds of Hoist Me Up! with, perhaps some craftier guitar work. Singer and guitarist Angie Boylan talks about not being able to rely on others. In "Estranged" she sings "you can't convince me that you care," while in "Talking in Squares" she sings "what you think, isn't always what it seems." The fourth song, "Things Fall Apart" is the best one on the record. Boylan sings, "I can't rely on you anymore, can't afford this shit anymore." The songs are catchy, with a subtle math driven guitar sound and softer vocals. It standouts because of the audible bass, nice vibe, and tingly guitar. It closes with "Blankets," where there's a sweet delivery. The  record goes by quickly, clocking in at just 10 minutes, but that's all the more to listen to this record over and over again.

Live Review: Little Lungs @ Death By Audio

Sexy Crimes @ Death By Audio w/Matt & Kim in audience

Little Lungs kicked off their month and half long tour with a show at Brooklyn's, d.i.y, all ages space, Death By Audio. Starting the night was Thousandaires who sounded great with their melodic, sometimes screamy indie-punk sound. Switching it up a bit was Sexy Crimes from Richmond, Virginia, a two-piece drum and bass duo with fast, fun, spastic songs. Matt & Kim were there to, smiles, and all. Their last song was a cool cover, but for the life of me I can't remember which song it was. It was also cool seeing another female drummer. The past few times I've been to Death By Audio there's been some female percussionist representation (Cheeky, Zombie Dogs, Hand Jobs), which is great to see. It comes with complete comfort that Entertainment4Every1, who promotes these DBA shows, stands true to their core, promoting shows with diverse line-up for the indie/punk/hardcore crowd both in sound and styles, plus catering to all ages.

Next, was Honky Horn & Bad Mouth. I don't know how to describe them but they had somewhat folky, mostly heavy punk twang going on. At this point, I found myself putting in my ear plugs because they were rather loud, more so than the edgy 4-piece who was next. The hardcore/punk, female fronted Passive Aggressor ripped through their set. Toward the end, singer Meredith walked through the crowd, so she could sing in the middle of the crowd. They played a solid set with driving guitar and a somewhat messy style with a harsh, screamy vocal.

Litte Lungs U.S. & Australia Tour Dates + Quick Interview

Little Lungs is gearing up for a month and half long tour of the U.S. and Australia in support of their new release, Living Hell, and we got a quick e-mail interview with guitarist, Angie Boylan:

1. How many songs are on the new record? It's a new 7" and there are 5 songs squeezed on there.

2. What can fans expect at the shows? Fans can expect the darker side of Little Lungs... Little Lungs in a Living Hell!!

3. So how stoked are you for this tour? You're going to a lot of different cities. How did you wind up getting a tour in Australia? How did that come together? I'm really excited for this tour. Personally, it's coming at a really good time for me. Dead of winter in NYC sucks. I'm ready to get out. And it's summer in Australia, so that's a big plus! Australia happened thanks to a magical being named Tara from Alphabet Snakes and Circuits who set the whole tour up for us. We didn't have to do much. But we booked all the U.S. dates on our own, so we already had our work cut out for us!

The Brooklyn trio mix indie-rock and pop-punk for a driving sound. Listen to their new song "Estranged" here and join the band at one of their record release shows before they head on tour.

Saturday January 30th

@ Mr. Beery's

4019 Hempstead Turnpike

Bethpage (Long Island), NY

Little Lungs

Yes Sensei

Fellow Project

Weed Hounds

Dude Japan

8pm ish / $5 / 21+ / Mike Rok Lok's 30th Bday!

---------------

Sunday January 31st

@ Death By Audio

S 1st St. btwn Wythe and Kent

Brooklyn, NY

Little Lungs

Thousandaires

Passive Aggressor

Sexy Crimes

Honky Horn & Bad Mouth

8pm sharp! / $5 / all ages

See below for FULL tour dates.

5 Points News: Exit She Calls, Little Lungs, P.S. Eliot, Screaming Females, and Slingshot Dakota

5 Points news is back!

Exit She Calls have posted three new songs from their recently released debut album entitled Out of Reach. They perform with Bayonet in Perth Amboy, NJ tonight and have a bunch of upcoming shows.

Little Lungs have posted a new song called "Estranged." It's from the bands new 7-inch record called Living Hell out on Salinas Records. They will also be on tour in the February and March, so check out those dates, both in the U.S. and Australia. The next local show is at 538 Johnson on Jan. 16 with Hail Hydra, Field Day, Sweet Bulbs, and Broccoli Destroyer.

P.S. Eliot have also posted a new song called "Bear Named Otis." It's from their 7-inch called Living in Squalor out on Freedom Schools Records in February. The band is also touring March. E-mail them here if you'd like to help book one of the dates.

Screaming Females have posted a somewhat new song called "I Do." It was originally a Surgery on TV song (Marissa and Mike's old band). It was released on a split 7 inch with JEFF: the Brotherhood and now will be released on the bands singles collection CD EP out on Don Giovanni Records on Feb. 9. The band play in New Brunswick this Saturday with Campio Formio (from Puerto Rico) and Natural Child.

Slingshot Dakota are busy writing new songs but they are playing a few local shows. One of them is tonight at 538 Johnson with Tigers Jaw, Aficionado, End of a Year, and Sleepwell. Last year they released a free, 3-song demo on If You Make It.

Little Lungs News: 7-inch, Tour & Brooklyn Show

Little Lungs @ Meat Town USA 7-8-09

Little Lungs have issued the following update:

Hey friends -
We're set to record with our new bass player, Brian Crozier, for a new 7" that will be out February 2010. Also, we're doing a pretty large US tour and also spending two weeks in Australia. Check our myspace for tour dates and show info (to be updated more in the coming weeks). Contact us with any questions, concerns, or if you know a rad place we should be playing on tour.....
In the meantime, we have limited edition Hoist Me Up 7"s on color vinyl and brand new tshirts. You can contact us to mail order anything.

Our last show of 2009 is on December 30th at Lost n Found Bar with Stolen Parts, Thousandaires, and Josh's other band, Gordie Howe Hat Trick (brand new demo out!).

Psyched!
See ya soon,
Angie

Hop Along, Queen Ansleis/ Little Lungs/The Diamond Sea/ P.S. Eliot @ Meat Town USA- pics

From Sarah @ Tumblr:

i saw hop along last night in new brunswick and don’t really have any words for how amazing the set was. p.s. eliot, diamond sea, and little lungs also played, and they all complimented each other’s styles and sound. it was as if each band was building up to frances quinlan’s set and the basement got progressively louder and each song was more intense than the last. such great stuff.

The first band that played was Bird Names. They were alright, but they seemed to have too much going on. They were jammy, but in an everything thrown together and doesn't fit sort of way. Check out the photos. There are more under "read more."

The Diamond Sea from Australia put on a great show and the drummer was awesome to watch.