This week on Pump Up The Jam, we’ve got Nerd Noise Night, featuring The Cybertronic Spree, Johnny Headband, and other great bands; plus new videos from Odonis Odonis; Muuy Biien; and more.
Do you have your tickets for the annual Nerd Noise Night concert extravaganza?
This year, Nerd Noise Night takes place on Saturday, September 3 at the Legendary Horseshoe Tavern in Toronto, ON.
As always, your favorite robots in disguise (and one human), The Cybertronic Spree will be taking the stage. Here’s a peek at what you can expect in the form of their latest music video, “Dare.”
Also back by popular demand is Johnny Headband, whose smooth electronic jams will definitely get your blood pumping and your feet moving. As luck would have it, they also have a new track to share called “Underground,” from their ongoing project, the Freedom Rock EP. http://johnnyheadband.com/album/freedom-rock-ep
Here’s a bit more about the band, from Deep Cutz:
Johnny Headband are space-funk specialists. The brainchild of the Thompson brothers: drummer/keyboardist/singer and mad-scientist Chad Thompson, with the lively bassist and co-mad-scientist Keith, and longtime journeymen drummer Robbie (aka “RKO”). So the rhythms, thusly, are consistently assured to be both intricate and irresistible and the live presentation, when it happens, is dangerously charismatic.
Read the full profile of the band from Deep Cutz, who premiered the track yesterday.
Also appearing at Nerd Noise Night this year are Hervana (the all-woman Nirvana cover band), Villainest, and long-time NNN faves Wordburglar and More Or Les.
For more info and to buy tickets (just $12! What a bargain!), check out the Nerd Noise Night event page on Facebook.
If you read my “Music and Movies You May Have Missed” article last year, you’ll remember I gushed a little bit about Wand. Singer and keyboardist Cory Hanson has a new solo album out in November from Drag City. His always-gorgeous vocals make the track sound like Wand but instead of psychedelic jams, there are orchestral melodies. Check out “Ordinary People.”
There are not one but TWO new videos from Odonis Odonis.
First, there’s the VR video for “Nervous,” directed by James Crispy (a.k.a. Jarod Gibson) which makes you feel like you’re in a black and white version of the first TRON movie.
Then, there’s the super creepy (and kind of JG Ballard-esque) Scott Cudmore-directed video for “Needs,” which premiered on NPR (what a coup for this band):
Although their first two albums came out in 2014 and 2015, I’ve been listening to Muuy Biien somewhat obsessively as of late. Now I can add a third album to that playlist; their new one, Age of Uncertainty, comes out October 28 on Autumn Tone / Epitaph.
The band continues to evolve, with elements of hardcore, punk, post-punk, and other weirdo styles, all mixed together. Here’s their new video for “Another Chore.” WARNING: NSFW!
I don’t know how I slept on the band My Disco, but I’m wide awake now. To quote their recent press release, “The stark, sinister minimalism of Australia’s MY DISCO is one of the most genuine and chilling examples of psychedelic music in the world right now.” I was impressed by their video for “1991,” and now there are two remixes available, one from Lustmord and the other from Regis.
Here’s your #FlashbackFriday, with MOEV’s “Alibis.”
