The New York Report: BRAHMS and Ill Prezidente

The New York Report is a weekly look into up and coming NYC based bands. We’ll keep you updated on which bands to look out for and where to check them out if you’re 5-borough-based.

photo by Shawn Brackbrill

BRAHMS - Demo

It’s not rare for an unknown opener to a show you’re really pumped for to really blow you away, but there have been few times in my life where the opener to the opener was really. freaking. good.

I arrived to last week’s Delorean and Lemonade show at Mercury Lounge far too early (I had been jazzed for weeks, what can I say?) but was lucky to catch Greenpoint locals BRAHMS.  The cap locks for BRAHMS are intentional because, as the band themselves put it, it “takes balls” to “name your band after a towering figure of the romantic period.”

Well, BRAHMS lives up to it.  Their textural goodness does evoke feelings of romanticism, as well as a longing for the dance floor. While BRAHMS definitely has a sound all their own their RIYL ranges from Hot Chip to Depeche Mode to the Killers (particularly on Subtext is Deadly) to Tanlines.

In addition to the sold-out Delorean show, BRAHMS has recently played shows with other rising local stars Beach Fossils and Sleigh Bells, and had a SXSW appearance at the Levi’s/FADER fort.

Their demo, as well as more info and upcoming dates, is available for free download at the band’s website.

Ill Prezidente - Mary Jane

Another recent gem discovered in an LES basement (NYC’s primo establishments if you ask me) was psychedelic punk rockers Ill Prezidente.

Flocked into heading to the National Underground to see a friend of a work friend play I was pleasantly surprised to watch Ill Prezidente among the dreary singer songwriter acts that filled up the rest of the bill for the evening.  The group takes on stoner punk and fuses it with performance that reached much further than the spit and sweat soaked screaming I loved in my punk days of yore.   Ill Prezidente’s infectious energy, in combination with their rad video projection and raw, rock sound, definitely made me take notice.

Ill Prezidente will be putting out Mary Jane EP later this spring and in the meantime are putting together shows with like-minded bands around the city, and spending time in  their Williamsburg practice studio where the group is a self proclaimed “black sheep in a flock full of hipsters.”

“There is a pretty cool group of bands getting together that are diverse and have their own unique pathways to success,” bassist Mannix told me over e-mail, “its a New York movement, and we are pretty stoked to be involved.”

Check them out this Friday, April 9th at Angels and Kings (11th St and Ave A) with Riot  !n Paris and keep an eye on their MySpace page for future dates.