Music Monday: Barons in the Attic

This past Friday, Barons in the Attic played the 4th-annual B3nson Family Funsgiving show at Valentine’s, alongside We Are Jeneric and Matthew Carefully. In addition to keeping tradition alive (which likely involved participating in the annual “beard-off” competition and eating turducken), Barons have been busy promoting their latest album, Turn It Off & Take Out The Battery.

In my experience catching them live over the years, the four-piece has successfully failed to disappoint me. Whether it was in a basement or at Valentine’s in collaboration with WCDB, I’ve learned that Barons in the Attic is a band that likes to have fun when they’re playing, and goes out of their way to express how genuinely appreciative they are that people came out to hear their music.

Self-described as “thrashfolk”, these dudes pull from a variety of rock-infused genres to create a unique blend all their own that is sprinkled with obvious passion towards their craft. Simply put: listen to this band if you want to listen to good dudes who have a good time and make good music with good intentions. No games, no gimmicks.

You can stream their latest for a limited time here.

KAB picks: “Nutshell”, “Title Theme From a 90’s Sitcom”, “Recessionist”.

Mash-up recap: Primus at the Palace

Primus played at the Palace Theatre this past Tuesday to a sold out audience and we decided to compile a dual review — one from virgin ears (myself) and one from a seasoned (and slightly obsessed) listener, Charlie Vella.

The result is just as nerdy as the show itself was. Check ’em both out beneath the jump!


All photos courtesy of Keith Foote and JamForums

From Charlie:

On Tuesday, I went with my friend Skinny to the Primus show at the Palace Theatre in downtown Albany. Primus, for those of you who aren’t familiar, Primus is a funk/thrash/jam band that has a pretty strong cult following. Here’s a really dorky blog post I wrote about them last summer. Fronted by bass virtuoso Les Claypool, Primus has recently released their first album in 11 years. I’ll get to that in a bit.

Les Claypool has a way about him that really captures the hearts of nerds across America. I think it’s something along the lines of his inability to give a fuck about anything at all in the entire world. That, and his godlike ability to slap out the raunchiest grooves known to man. Droves of nerds flocked to the sold out show (myself included), most of them older guys equipped with band tees and scruffy beards. Vibes were overwhelmingly positive before the show, with strangers saying hi to one another and not throwing a douche-fit when someone accidentally bumped into them from behind.

Continue reading…