Photos by Matt Kleinschmidt

On Friday radio station RLC, better known to the world as 90.3FM The Core held a show at the Cook Campus Center at Rutgers University.

The show boasted a pretty awesome lineup of New Brunswick’s own The Gaslight Anthem, as well as Polar Bear Club, NYC’s The King Left, and another up and coming Brunswick band, Let Me Run. A last minute cancellation by Polar Bear Club (their van broke down) slimmed down the lineup for the night but didn’t change much of the good vibe atmosphere of the room.

After being thoroughly rocked, there was nothing left to do but head out into the rainy New Brunswick air and answer the debate of whether to eat either Fat Cats from the Grease Trucks or roll over to Stuff Yer Face for the Potachoes. (more…)

THE KING LEFT played round 2 of their 3 week residency at Piano’s last night. The show debuted a new multimedia experience created by Matt Dunn, who also directed their video for “The Storm In The Teacup.” The presentation was strung together abstract clips of black and white video that was accentuated by the changes of the music. The visual element brought some new life to King Left favorites like “By The End, Juggling Wolves” and “Brant.”  They also played a cool rendition of P.J. Harvey’s “A Perfect Day Elise.”

One offbeat moment of the night came when a “random dude” walked in selling weird flashing trinkets (seen below.) Now the show was an benefit for Autism research, so a) did this dude pay to get in to sell flashing trinkets and b) were the proceeds of flashing trinket sales (I saw at least one sale) go to benefit Autism research? The answers of these questions will likely remain unknown. 

The King Left finish their residency next thursday at 9:30pm at Piano’s. Check out more photos after the jump. (more…)

On the heels of a wildly successful, sold out show at the Mercury Lounge THE KING LEFT announced another month-long residency at Piano’s.

As with their last residencey the band will be teaming up with the New York Center for Autism one night to help raise money for the charity. The band will be at Piano’s every Thursday in July with the money raised on the 17th going to NYCA.

July residencey dates.

7.8.2008 - McCarren Park Pool (acoustic) 7 p.m.
7.10.2008 - Pianos residency 9:30 p.m.
7.17.2008 - Pianos residency 9:30 p.m. NYCA benefit
7.24.2008 - Pianos residency 9:30 p.m.

THE KING LEFT held a record release show last night at The Mercury Lounge for the release of the band’s new EP, New York Nothing.

Check out more pictures after the jump. (more…)

More pictures can be seen after the jump. (more…)

BE YOUR OWN PET are living true to their new album title Get Awkward with their performance at Mercury Lounge Wednesday night.

Near the end of the set, Jemima went on a rant about her badassedness. Saying how she’s been kicked out of Nashville bars because of he mean steak. She asked the crowd if they wanted to fight. People shouted as this random guy (at at least twice her size) got on stage. There was witty banter that no one in the audience (except maybe the front row) could hear, but it was pretty obvious Jemima didn’t hear what the dude was saying to her.

The slap came after the guy leaned over to her to (at least on the opinion of myself and people I was with) say something in her ear. I guess she thought he was trying to kiss her or something. After the dude was slapped he took a few steps back and paused for a bit, probably in shock or wonder as to why he got slapped.

Then it got awkward…

The dude walked over to Jemima and tried to give her the “it’s cool” appology hug/dry hump/take the mic or something that was clearly going to be mis-interpreted. Jemima shoved him right as his hands got near her. In in an effort to protect their bandmate, the 3 men IN THE BAND instantly jumped toward the man to get him away from Jemima. Loverboy was pushed back and fell into the drumkit effectively pissing off the drummer. After about 10-20 seconds of awkwardness (which seemed like minutes). Loverboy got up and slumped off stage leaving the rest of the band to play their next song. It was more awkward than a “badass punk rock chick” moment going down and probably the fault of both parties.

Moral of the Story: Don’t be on stage unless you are in the band…and don’t be a crowd douche.

But last night Be Your Own Pet stopped by our local stomping ground at Maxwell’s in Hoboken, with our friends The King Left supporting. The King Left started the night off with their post-punk-dance jam “The Storm in a Teacup” which immediately electrified the room. Other highlights included the clap along jam “We All Fall Down” and the phaser in “Brant”. (People actually demanded more phaser!) (more…)

You can see more pictures here.

Have pictures you want to share? Send us an email blog(at)thesyn.com.

Toronto’s TOKYO POLICE CLUB finished their 1st headlining tour with a 2nd sold out show at Bowery Ballroom. The band charged through almost all of their critically acclaimed A Lesson In Crime EP, plus new songs like “Your English Is Good.” (more…)

New York’s THE KING LEFT played another packed show at the Annex Tuesday night. The band laid down the rock from start to finish, opening with an excellent re-worked verison of “We All Fall Down” off their first EP, that is hand clap-tastic, in a tasteful way. After blazing through selections off both EP’s, they ended with the jam, “The Storm in The Teacup” off their New York Nothing EP, which you can download below. The infectious beat and clever lyrics will make you keep this song on repeat at least 3 times, maybe 4. Guaranteed. Seriously.

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MP3: The King Left :: “The Storm In The Teacup”

More photos and the set list after the jump. (more…)

Brooklyn’s THE KING LEFT have announced an April residency at NYC’s Pianos club.

The band will be performing every Wed in April starting on the 4th and running ’til the 18th.

All three shows will be comprised of an entirely different setlist featuring brand new songs, very old songs, covers, and all of their current material. The April 11th show will be an acoustic performance to benefit the New York Center For Autism.

Wed April 4th - 9:30pm
Wed April 11th - 9:30pm (Acoustic show to benefit NYC Center For Autism)
Wed April 18th - 9:30 pm

The band is planning on releasing a second EP in the near future. Again produced by Sammy Siegler (Nightmare Of You, Civ, Gorilla Biscuits) and mixed by Ian Love (Rival Schools).

You can listen to a song from the upcoming EP called “A Storm In A Teacup” [here]