Concert Notes: Tickets for The Breeders, The Postal Service, Johnny Marr, & More on Sale Friday

The reunion tours of The Breeders and The Postal Service highlight the concert tickets that are going on sale tomorrow (and Saturday, in one case). The Breeders are playing Webster Hall to commemorate the 20th anniversary of their breakthrough "Last Splash" album (which is being re-released), and touring with the band's lineup from that album. Their March 29th show at the Bell House sold out in a nanosecond, but you'll have a better chance of getting tickets to their May 6th show.


It's a new year, and The Breeders are celebrating with a reunion tour.

Meanwhile, Ben Gibbard and Jimmy Tamborello are headlining the Barclays Center to celebrate the 10th anniversary of The Postal Service's lone album, "Give Up."(The album will be given the deluxe-reissue treatment in April, with two new songs and 15 unreleased tunes.) The Postal Service's show also includes Rilo Kiley's Jenny Lewis and Laura Burhenn (of Mynabirds).

And there's another reunion, this time with a brand-new album: Redd Kross plays an early show at Santos' House Party to promote its comeback album, last year's well-reviewed "Researching the Blues." Tickets for this show are on sale now.

The Hives are also returning to New York to headline Irving Plaza, as are the Presidents of the United States of America and Johnny Marr (of The Smiths).

It's a great lineup of shows on sale this week; pull out your credit card and get ready to buy some tickets!

* Redd Kross at Santos House Party, Sat., April 6th. On sale now

* The Hives at Irving Plaza, Sun., March 24th. On sale Friday at 10 a.m.

* Local H at Gramercy Theatre, Wed., March 27th. On sale Friday at 10 a.m.

* Chris Thile and Brad Mehldau at Bowery Ballroom, Tues., April 9th. On sale Friday at 12 Noon (Thile, a former member of Nickel Creek and current member of the Punch Brothers, is one of the most recent winners of a MacArthur Foundation grant)

* The Presidents of the United States of America at Irving Plaza, Mon., April 15th. On sale Sat., Feb. 9th at 10 a.m.

* Johnny Marr at Irving Plaza, Thurs., May 2nd. On sale at 10 a.m.

* Ben Harper & Charlie Musselwhite: An Evening of the Blues at the Beacon Theatre, Fri., May 3rd. On sale Friday at 10 a.m.

* The Breeders at Webster Hall, Mon., May 6th. On sale Friday at 12 Noon

* The Postal Service at the Barclays Center, Fri., June 14th; with Jenny Lewis and Laura Burhenn. On sale Friday at 10 a.m. (See other tour dates and more on the Postal Service reunion tour at Consequence of Sound.)

* Happy Together Tour with The Turtles, Gary Puckett, and more - State Theatre (New Brunswick, NJ), Thurs., June 20th; Paramount Theatre (Asbury Park, NJ), Sat., July 27th; Bergen Performing Arts Center Englewood, NJ), Tues., July 30th. On sale now

Now Streaming: The New CD from Redd Kross, an Indie Tribute to Fleetwood Mac, & More

Once again there's a small selection of new albums streaming online this week, but there are a couple of big ones for fans of rock and pop: "Researching the Blues," the first album in 15 years by L.A. band Redd Kross, and "Just Tell Me That You Want Me," a tribute album to Fleetwood Mac by some of the biggest names in indie music, such as The New Pornographers, Lykke Li, MGMT, St. Vincent, and The Kills.

Redd Kross is back and rocking with "Researching the Blues."

That's a stellar line-up, and it's certainly not the list of usual suspects you'd expect to find on a tribute album by a multi-platinum-selling pop band. But then it goes to show the influence that The Mac has had on popular music for more than three decades now (and that's just going back to their Buckingham/Nicks formation).

With the new Redd Kross album and tour, the band's Steven McDonald becomes the second member of his family to return to the road after a decade and a half. His wife Anna Waronker and her band That Dog played their first East Coast shows in 15 years earlier this year, and hinted that some new tunes might be forthcoming from the band.

I missed Redd Kross when they played the inaugural CBGB Festival a couple of months back, but I'm hoping they'll come this way again. "Researching the Blues" sounds great based on the few songs I've heard, and I can't wait to dig into the whole thing. The album hits the stores August 7th.

And for something completely different streaming this week: NPR and KCRW have the new record by 22-year-old London pop singer Lianne La Havas, and KCRW has the latest by Brazilian trio Bonde Do Role, which KCRW DJ Travis Holcombe says deftly blends "traditional Brazilian music, surf rock, synth pop and punk rock."

NPR First Listen:
"Researching the Blues" by Redd Kross
"Just Tell Me That You Want Me: A Tribute To Fleetwood Mac" by various artists
"Is Your Love Big Enough?" by Lianne La Havas

Spinner.com's Listening Party:
"PLAY.ROCK.MUSIC" by Toadies
"Farewell Catalonia by Russ Rankin
"Afar" by Ice Choir
"Coast to Coast" by River City Tanlines
"Wild Quiet" by Junk Culture

AOL Music Listening Party: 
"Drink. Sing. Live. Love." by Versus the World
"Pool Party" by Ponderosa

"O' Be Joyful" by Shovels and Rope

KCRW Album Preview: 
"Tropicalbacanal" by Bonde Do Role

Happy Birthday, Steven McDonald! Download New Redd Kross Tune; See That Dog in NYC

I'm guessing it's a very happy birthday today for Redd Kross founder (and current OFF! member) Steven McDonald. After a stint working as an A&R rep for Warner Brothers, McDonald is back with Redd Kross, which is set to release its first album in 15 years. "Researching the Blues"will be released August 7th on Merge (with whom the band signed earlier this month).

You can listen to and download the title track below or at SoundCloud, and see the tracklist at Consequence of Sound.

Cover of the first Redd Kross album in 15 years.

[Note: Off! plays at Bowery Ballroom on May 29th; tickets available here.]

Besides Steven McDonald, the current incarnation of Redd Kross features the "classic Neurotica" lineup including Steven's brother Jeff, Roy McDonald (also a member of The Muffs), and Robert Hecker. The band was scheduled to play two dates in the Midwest earlier this month; more Redd Kross tour dates will no doubt be added as the release date for "Researching the Blues"nears.

  Redd Kross - Researching the Blues by MergeRecords

Redd Kross isn't the only McDonald family band that's back in the public eye. That Dog, the '90s indie-pop band fronted by Steven's wife Anna Waronker, is playing out again and performs the first show of its two-night run at the Music Hall of Williamsburg tonight. The show is sold out, but there are tickets for sale on StubHub, some for around $4 each. Tickets for Friday's show are still available through the box office.

Fred Armisen of "SNL" opens tonight for That Dog; tomorrow Kurt Braunohler and Baron Vaughn do the honors.

I've been listening to That Dog recently in preparation for tonight's show and it's been a great reminder of how many great, catchy tunes the band recorded. I haven't heard anything about them recording new material, but am looking forward to seeing them nonetheless, especially since I never caught them live during their heyday.

Podcast Review: Hit It! The Redd Kross Podcast

The McDonald clan has been one of the most prolific families in rock music over the last 20 or so years. Steven and brother Jeff have been in Redd Kross since 1980, and one or both of them have number of albums for artists including The Donnas and Imperial Teen. Redd Kross itself re-emerged to play live in 2006, and is coming out with a new album in 2008.

Hit It!: The Redd Kross Podcast features tunes by the band, of course, but includes tracks from lots of other artists as well. There are songs by some of the musicians and bands associated with Redd Kross and the McDonalds, including The Muffs and the Steve MacDonald Group. And you'll find tunes by some musicians who were part of the L.A. rock and punk scene that gave birth to Redd Kross, such as Frightwig.

In addition, the podcast includes music from the McDonald extended family: as if having Jeff and Steven in the same family wasn't enough, Steven is married to Anna Waronker (formerly of the band That Dog) and Jeff is married to Charlotte Caffey from The Go-Go's.

Episodes not only cover the band and its progeny, but explore L.A.'s emerging punk scene of the 1980s, feature live tracks from a Redd Kross concert, and includes visits from musicians including Redd Kross guitarist Robert Hecker.

I didn't know much about Redd Kross before hearing this podcast, but now I'm a fan of the band and enjoy learning about, and hearing, their various musical side projects and progeny.

Hit It! is a great way to get up to speed on the past work of Redd Kross, and to stay up to date on their present activities... including hearing a track or two from their forthcoming album.

Yo La Tengo Wraps Up 8 Nights of Hanukkah

Maybe it's taken me a week to recover from the Dec. 11th Yo La Tengo show at Maxwell's, the eighth and final night of Hanukkah, and of the Hoboken band's eight-night run at the club. It's a great tradition and a great idea: each show begins with a different opening act, followed by a set by a comedian, followed by a full set from Yo La Tengo, plus some very special guests (more about that later). In addition, YLT designates a different charity (or two) to receive the proceeds from the night's ticket sales.

Though YLT has been doing these multiple Hanukkah shows for several years, this is the first year I've actually thought about the event enough in advance to snag a ticket before all the shows sold out (I bought mine at least a month before the show). It's probably been at least a decade since I've seen Yo La Tengo in concert (and it was probably at Maxwell's), and I wasn't an unabashed fan. Some of the more experimental, free-form, guitar-noise pieces grated on me, so I usually passed on seeing the band when they came around.

Their Dec. 11th was very enjoyable, though, and while it did have its moments of discordant noise, the band played a number of tunes from all phases of its career, from soft acoustic tunes to straight-ahead rockers like their cover of "Eight Day Weekend."

The young Columbus, Ohio band Times New Viking opened the show, followed by comedian David Cross recreating his "Ask a Rabbi" routine. Then came YLT. Reading Ira Kaplan's diary of the previous shows, I was marveling at some of the special guests the band had managed to get to come to the shows to perform: Redd Kross (who have a fun podcast; more about that in a later post), Alex Chilton, and The New Pornographers. I would have loved to see the latter, but I was completely satisfied with the eighth night's guest: none other than Howard Kaylan, a.k.a. Eddie of Flo & Eddie and The Turtles.

Kaylan popped up on stage to sing harmony vocals on the latter part of YLT's first encore, a cover of Bruce Springsteen's "Hungry Heart," and then did some great rock and pop tunes, starting with The Turtles' hit "You Baby" and continuing with some Turtles and non-Turtles songs, including "She'd Rather Be with Me."

It was a great show in all, and a Yo La Tengo Hanukkah concert (at least one each year) is going to be part of my holiday season from now on.