I live in Hoboken, and I grew up about 5 minutes away, in the shadow of the city and all of its scenesters. And I’ll be the first to admit, sometimes we NJ residents get a little jaded. We often get tired of the “not New York” thing we hear so often.

 So when I first met Miles Kurosky from Beulah last summer when they opened at Maxwell’s for the Apples in Stereo, I was taken by surprise when he began to go on and on about what a cool club it was, and how the people were so friendly.  He wasn’t sarcastic when he asked the audience if someone could get him an “I love NJ” tee shirt the other night.   And in a neighborhood where we’ve all become accustomed to the “not New York” sarcasm, his sincerity was doubly welcomed. Kurosky can appreciate a good scene, and in return, the crowd at Maxwell’s this past Wed appreciated a great band.

Beulah, a six piece pop outfit from San Francisco, took a night off from opening for both Wilco and Luna on their individual tours, to headline a show of their own at Maxwell’s.  The members of Beulah just seem like nice guys. They hung out in the crowd before the show, abandoning their table to watch the other bands and chat with people hanging around.  Pat Noel, one of the keyboard players introduced himself to audience members who were standing on their own to, and Steve LaFolette, the bassist, helped the Mendoza Line with their equipment.  They got on stage at about 11, and put on a fantastic show for the good-sized crowd, and then hung around and had drinks with whoever felt like chatting with them afterward.

Beulah’s live sound comes across a bit differently than on their records. The newest record “When Your Heartstrings Break” (SugarFree) was mixed by Robert Schneider, and is stamped with the Elephant 6 sound... heavy on intricate orchestrations, vocal harmonies, catchy pop hooks, and the obvious Beatles and Pet Sounds era Beach Boys influences. The liner notes for “When Your Heartstrings Break” give the names of numerous people who came into record parts for the band: violinists, cellists, flutists, horns, additional keyboards etc. Live, Beulah has to strip it down a bit, but they manage to do it with an even added intensity. Live, they are more guitar driven, but retain the trumpet parts as guitarist Bill Swan adeptly switches back and forth throughout the performance, occasionally several times during one song. The band made an instant connection with the audience, and it felt less like a show you had just paid to get into than going to see friends play a living room at a party.  They were incredibly tight, the vocals were right on target, and the room was completely taken with this group of 6, who joked with the audience between songs, and even let a fan who was perched against the stage join them on the tambourine for their last song. 

Opening for Beulah was Mendoza Line and Lullaby for the Working Class. The Mendoza Line is a  NYC group on Kindercore, who were not particularly tight tonight, and certainly made their share of errors, but the songwriting was catchy and they definitely seemed to be having a great time just being there, which, seemed to be enough for them. Next up was Lullaby For the Working Class who hail from Nebraska. They are a mellow rock band, featuring slide guitars and a violin, in addition to the usual instrumentation.

Not much other stuff going on this week. Oh, of course there was the Stereolab show at Maxwells on Nov 8^th, but how many times can I write how amazing they were without getting a bit too repetitious. Yes, Leatitia and Mary sounded wonderful. Yes, they played a good number of older songs and didn’t limit the set to promote the new record. And Tim Gane even came close to emerging from his hidden-in-the-corner-shaking-his head trance to play a brief, but undeniable solo.  And nobody expected anything less. Great to catch them in a room as small as Maxwells, but I’d recommend going to see them when they play with Jim O’Roarke, who will open for them and hopefully sit in on the vibes, when they play Irving Plaza in December. 

Not much in the way of shows coming up before the holiday. Have a great thanksgiving!! Drop me and email if anyone has a show or release that they’d like me to check out!!!