Dansettes 2.0: The Nouvellas and The Sweet Divines

The Pipettes debacle of a couple weeks ago really made me realize that I miss the Dansettes :(

But no fear, the gang has gone on to two new dynamite acts:

The Nouvellas, already mentioned on this blog before, will be at the Norton Records Christmas spectacular at Southpaw on December 15. They'll be joining the Reigning Sound, the A-Bones, and "Handsome" Dick Manitoba, the greatest New York glam punk rocker turned bartender on Ave B.

The Sweet Divines will be kicking off on January 18 at Magnetic Field.

And maybe one day we can get both acts to open for Sharon Jones & The Dap Kings. What the heck.

The Dansettes Are No More

This happened about a month ago.

Oh well, one less "ettes" to go around. Kind of sad when these things happen. But things move on and some of the members have reformed as the Nouvellas, and they will be joining the Insomniacs for CMJ at Magnetic Field on the 19th. (Funny enough, the next night at Magnetic, a band actually called The Ettes will be playing).

Dansettes Reprieve

Jaime gets one more show with her friends, this Saturday at the Bowery Ballroom.

Dansettes to Go Through Changes :(

From their MySpace bulletin:

Ladies and Gentlemen,

Our show this coming Wednesday would be an exciting one under any circumstances, as Country-fried surf legends Southern Culture On The Skids have invited us to open for them in one of the best sounding rooms in New York. Clearly, a recipe for a party!

But this event will also have an element of history to it, as it will be the last time the Dansettes perform in their hometown as the classic "Jennie!Jaime!Leah!" lineup. After Wednesday, Jaime -- who has delivered such staples of the Dansettes catalog as "Oh My," "Forty Days," "Don't Tempt Me," and "Don’t You Ever" -- will be doing just two more sets with us, both of which are in Detroit.

So come on out, New York City, and witness the end of an era! (You don’t even have to stay up too late on a work night.)

Wednesday, May 16th
The Mercury Lounge
217 East Houston Street, NYC
www.mercuryloungenyc.com

7:30 – Jule Brown
8:30 – THE DANSETTES
9:30 – Southern Culture on the Skids
$17 at the door
$15 advance at TicketWeb: http://www.ticketweb.com/user/nyc/venues/misc/mercury1

(Thanks to everyone who has inquired about auditions! The response has been big, and we have gotten in touch with many very talented ladies so far. But it’s not too late to throw your hat in -- or the hat of someone you know. Write auditions@thedansettes.com, and we’ll give you the lowdown.)

Indeed, here is the original blog post about auditions.

So go see these gals in their original form next Wednesday. Unfortunately, I won't be there as I will be attending my first Elvis Costello & the Impostors show that night.

New Year's Eve with the Six and the 'Settes

Electric Six; The Dansettes
@ Maxwell's
Hoboken, NJ – December 31, 2006

The year 2006 went out in a rollicking good fashion as I saw two very different for the third time each this year, on the same bill. The Dansettes were helped out on bass by the leader of the Black Hollies and the soulful Motown revival sounds kept the crowd joyous and happy. Electric Six seemed revitalized after the sluggish performance in September and despite the same jerkoff moshers causing trouble, Valentine and the boys proved to be the best kind of New Year’s Eve party band you could wish for (as was suspected all along). Though as a hardened political junkie and passionate member of the Rational and Reasoned People of the World, I have message for Dick Valentine: Try to get over the last 6 years. Yes, we still have two more to go but you can’t go bringing down the New Year’s Eve crowd by lamenting how stupid the American electorate were in 2000 and 2004. Oh heck…go right ahead.

Pictures and video here.

CMJ Send-Off

The Mooney Suzuki; Margaret & The Nuclear So & So's; The Willowz; The Dansettes; The Changes
@ Rebel
New York, NY - November 4, 2006

I remember three years ago when the Mooney Suzuki sold out the Bowery Ballroom on a Monday night. Now they 3/4's filled the new (and great looking) club Rebel, which is about a fifth or a sixth of the size of the Bowery, on a Saturday night. Take that for what you will. I've seen the Suzuki three times this year now. The first time, very early in the year, had them testing out new songs, and it wasn't THAT bad, but it wasn't great. The second time, not quite at the halfway point of the year, was a super-short set with a brand new bass player and they were still feeling out their new ways. Last night, however, the Suzuki were back in form. Playing mostly their established stuff, they were solid through-and-through. The new songs sounded a lot better, but it will be interesting to see how they turn out on the new record.
Margaret & The Nuclear So & So's were stale indie pop.
The Willowz came on stage looking like Southern Mountain folk, so I expected either hippy dippy music or something like metal. Instead, it turns out they're from California and they play garage rock with a high-pitched singer. Lots of promise but still working on it.
Them nice goils and boys in the Dansettes stunned the hipster crowd with their Motown/soul revival and that's a good thing.
The Changes started off the night and very nearly stole the whole night. Recalling equally The Smiths as well as a bit of the Jam and a tiny bit of the Replacements, these Chicago pop-rockers mixed dance-beat background with solid pop-hooks. But the last time I heard a band sound this good with this kind of music, The Golden Republic, the record turned out to be a completely different story. So there's a caveat for you.

Blue Republic's My Space Artist of the Week: The Demands

This New York band is tearing it up locally and ready to go nationwide. They recently opened up for the Dirtbombs in Hoboken and you can hear them on the Garagepunk.com podcasts.

Listen to "I Want More" on my page, then go to the band's official page and official site.

AYE CAPTAIN! The Dirtbombs Take A Short Sea Voyage

The Dirtbombs; The Dansettes; The Demands
@ Maxwell's
Hoboken, NJ - July 29, 2006

The night before the Dirtbombs set sail on a cruise off the island of Manhattan, they played at the old Maxwell's stomping grounds and dusted off old chestnuts like "Little Miss Chocolate Syrup", "Stuck Under My Shoe", and "I Can't Stop Thinking About It". It couldn't have been better (except for the confusion that led to no encore but this was made up for, the next night).
Openers The Dansettes were a straight-up Motown soul revival party band. But you should have known that by now. The Demands were another straight-up band, this time pure punk rock n roll. Excellent opener.

The Dirtbombs
@ Rocks Off Concert Cruise
New York, NY - July 30, 2006

Two full sets. That's right - two full sets. With food on board. And the Statue of Liberty and the New York skyline around us. Highlights included "Shake Shivaree", "If You Want", "I Want Need Love You ", all the usual, and covers "Missionary Man", "War Pigs", and "Oh Katrina" (the new great song from the Black Lips). They also did Brian Eno's "Baby's on Fire". Also per usual, they just about entirely trashed their instruments. All that was missing was a couple of captain's hats and some pirate talk.

Blue Republic's My Space Band of the Week: The Dansettes

Now this is a band with gumption. Sassy, spunky, cute New York girl group trio The Dansettes, backed by an all boys rock band, sing 60's soul. Sounds like Tralala? Sure - but these gals have a sound all their own. They are a local touring machine and they will open up for the Dirtbombs next month at Maxwell's. Keep checking the calendar for dates.



In the meantime, listen to "Oh My" on my page, then go to their page and official site.