The Raincoats, Viv Albertine and Soft Power Show

Viv Albertine (of the Slits) opened the sold out show at the Knitting Factory in Brooklyn on Friday night. Viv was an excellent storyteller.  It was interesting to hear her talk about the early London punk scene.  Her songs were at times confessional and touching and at other times funny (see Confessions of a MILF below.)  She said she was devastated after the Slits broke up and hadn't picked up a guitar in 25 years, until a year and a half ago.  Pretty inspiring!  I picked up her CD (limited to 500.)

 

Soft Power played next, which is Mary Timony's new band. So it's not surprising that they put on a great show.

let's get technical

Soft Power | MySpace Music Videos

And then came the amazing Raincoats. Wow! Hawnay Troof (who I saw open up for Stereo Total before) did a sick job playing drums. I'm not sure where Palmolive was, but they did mention they were meeting up with her on Saturday (probably in Boston.) They played a mix of songs and literally blew me away.  It was a powerful, amazing show. I even loved their version of Lola more than the Kinks!  The show was totally worth the overpriced hotel room and cramped bus ride to NY.  Of course I picked up the repress of the Raincoats self titled debut LP from Kill Rock Stars. It also came with a digital download, which is pretty cool.  Before the show I also binged at Generation Records so I will write about my purchases soon!

image courtesy knittingfactory.com





     

The Raincoats

I'm excited to take a trip to NY in October to go see The Raincoats! So I'm reposting this from KRS blog.

We all love our secret bands. Kurt Cobain came across a Raincoats album, and found there a bunch of soul mates whose honest emotions affected him so much that he tracked down founder member Ana da Silva somewhere in Notting Hill, persuaded DGC (Nirvana’s record label) to re-issue The Raincoats back catalogue and encouraged the band to re-form. In 1977 da Silva and Gina Birch, inspired by the example of the Pistols and the Clash, of course, but also by the women of the Slits and X-Ray Spex, had responded to punks DIY call to arms and eventually persuaded the Slits’ drummer Palmolive to join their ranks. With the addition of the classically trained violinist Vicky Aspinall, The Raincoats were an all female band who owed nothing to male fantasy outfits like The Runaways, and produced a primeval punk-folk sound on original songs like “Fairytale in the Supermarket” and “In Love” or deconstructing the Kinks’ “Lola” with cheek, fun and a pinch of salt. THE BOOK OF ROCK, Philip Dodd, Pavilion Books, 2001

Pre-order your very own copy of one of the best lps of all time and get a free button/badge designed by Ana de Silva!!!!

KRS515 The Raincoats LP w/ digital download* 

Street Date 10/13

Out in Mail Order: 10/1

Pre-Orders Ship: Late September

*You will receive your Digital Download code when your order ships.


          

The Raincoats - LP reissue and tour dates

One of my favorite labels, Kill Rock Stars is reissuing The Raincoats first LP. It will be out October 13th and this version will include the song Fairytale in the Supermarket.

Side A
1) Fairytale in the Supermarket
2) No Side To Fall In
3) Adventures Close to Home
4) Off Duty Trip
5) Black and White
6) Lola

Side B
1) The Void
2) Life on the Line
3) You're a Million
4) In Love
5) No Looking

The Raincoats will also be playing some shows in the states, including their very first West Coast dates ever:

October
09 - San Francisco, CA @ Mezzanine - Part Time Punks mini-fest
11 - Los Angeles, CA @ The Echo - Part Time Punks mini-fest
13 - Portland, OR @ Holocene w/ Panther, Explode Into Colors
16 - New York, NY @ The Knitting Factory

kill rock stars