We admit it. After we stopped laughing at this totally retarded commercial for Snuggie, the blanket with sleeves, we found ourselves kinda wanting one. [Thanks Rumproast]

These United States
These United States have jetted straight outta Kentucky, and they’re poised to be the next troop of archetypical woodsmen-hipsters to find a nook in the indie scene. They played on Wednesday night at The Knitting Factory’s Tap Bar, alongside Scotland Yard Gospel Choir and openers Mean Creek. The latter group’s formulaic sound had some political inclinations, and the band looked the part, but they didn’t exactly seal the deal.
Rather, it was These United States who mastered the small crowd by bonding with them over the frigid temperatures in the Tap Bar (apparently the heating system was broken) and playing plenty of material from their debut album, Crimes. The group’s signature is a classic southern rock mixed with glam romp appeal ‚Äì think Deer Tick’s ramshackle vibe meets Kings of Leon’s sleaze aesthetic meets Neva Dinova’s wild west fascination meets Ryan Adam’s intonation and ballads. Or you could just give the band a listen and see what we mean, because These United States deserve some of your attention.


These United States


Mean Creek
Photos c/o Mark Iantosca

A small town in Nebraska has been terrorized all month by the so-called Butt Bandit, who’s been leaving greasy ass-cheek imprints on windows all around town. This is hilarious! I thought our artists were creative, but shit, talk about exploring new mediums. Learn all about the trade of Butt Banditry at BuzzFeed.

And I Am Not Lyin‘s D.Billy put up some cool tapewriting art around Bushwick as part of Arts In Bushwick‘s ‚”BETA Spaces” event. He says, “Bushwick, the Brooklyn ‘hood that I moved to this summer, is a great neighborhood for these projects. I started this round with a tapewriting installation that ran for two floors in the stairwell of my building.”
For another more, see here and here.

So holy shit Gothamist has a photo that very clearly shows Mike Gordon, Fishman, Page’s bald spot and Trey recording in a studio – rumored to be Park Slope’s Trout Recording! Is this the real deal? Are Phish really recording an album? If so, this means there’ll be a summer/fall tour to support it! Which means they’ll be playing at least three nights at The Garden, or maybe a weekend run in Coney! And since the Hampton show ticket disaster sucked so many balls, here’s hoping a NYC/Brooklyn run will have enough dates to make sure I get a freaking ticket.
Gothamist did a little investigating and got a frank denial from a Trout studio rep, but they call bullshit and I have to agree. Here’s what they posted and which is giving me anxiety right now:

A little investigating led us to Trout Recording in Park Slope, where some of the band members have recorded in the past. A call to the studios this morning was fielded by Bryce Goggin, who told us, “There is not a band called Phish in my studio at this time.” Our secret decoder ring unscrambled this lexical puzzle and told us that it’s all but confirmed: Phish is in Park Slope either rehearsing or recording or both! Secret show at Union Hall all but confirmed!

Save the snark motherf*ckers, I grew up a hippie. Everyone loves a friend who loves Phish.
UPDATE: Phish is swimming all over the place. That photo’s from Manhattan…compare it to this. Pay attention to the walls. The word is they were there “as recently as “the beginning of this week”.
photo via Gothamist

Gavin McInnes, founder of Vice and now Streetcarnage.com, is the singer in a 80′s hardcore cover band! They’re playing tonight at Cake Shop (152 Ludlow street) with a set list that blew the batteries straight out of my boom box.
This is what they look like live:

And here’s a peak at the setlist, courtesy of streetcarnage:

80 HC SET LIST 11-20-08
Cro Mags ‚”Hard Times”
D.R.I. ‚”Rather be Sleeping”
Minor Threat ‚”Straight Edge”
Black Flag ‚”Wasted”
Angry Samoans ‚”Lights Out”
Circle Jerks ‚”Coup D’Etat”
Fear ‚”Livin in the City”
Descendents ‚”I’m not a Loser”
Agnostic Front ‚”Victim in Pain”
Black Flag ‚”Six Pack”
Iron Cross ‚”Crucified”
Suicidal Tendencies ‚”Institutionalized”
Bad Brains ‚”Right Brigade”

Oh, and it’s freeeeeeeeeeeeeee!

Look like this guy?

We’d totally forgotten about Lefty, the drug dealing Muppet who sells numbers. Topless Robot has the whole list.

We love Ben, Todd P, and Gavin…. but didn’t we cover this like 5 years ago in our send-up The Hipster Handbook? Let’s move on.

[hat tip, Williamsburg Is Dead]