Rotary Downs in NYC This Weekend!

NOLA indie-pop in NYC

show details:
Friday, January 19th Knitting Factory Tap Room, NYC
with Amandla (feat. Claude Coleman of Ween) and Esque
Doors @ 8pm, RD @ 10pm, $10

Saturday, January 20th Magnetic Field, Brooklyn
with Ursula Points
Doors @ 8pm, $6

"Local space-rockers Rotary Downs have been together since 1999, and as one of the driving stalwarts in the under-praised genre of experimental New Orleans indie-pop, the band has been a consistent favorite of the WTUL set and those who hung out at the dearly departed Mermaid Lounge. After three wildly eclectic self-released offerings, they've emerged from their Katrina experience with a new lineup and a new 14-song opus, Chained to the Chariot, that's pretty much aces. Drummer Zack Smith and bassist Jason Rhein joined founding members James Marler (vocals, guitar) and Chris Colombo (guitar and pedal steel) before Katrina, when most of the project was written and partly recorded—the band reconvened and wrapped the album in Lafayette after the storm. The addition of more drums, more assertive basslines and especially the presence of Matt Aguiluz on keyboards and trumpet, gives their formerly soft fuzz-guitar and pedal-steel-driven sound an extra dose of texture; the rich layers of sound also make it great with the headphones. "g-7 hit!" is a sunny, sloppy, psychedelic march that's the gold-star track for the album. Marler's laconic vocals and Smith's upbeat drumming on "A Feast in Squalor" evoke Brendan Benson's warm power-pop. The stormy Western ballad "Body of an Outlaw" is a black cosmic gunfight with a dash of creepy circus music. It's a diverse album that ricochets from roots-tinged psychedelia to edgier synth-pop to excursions along the spaceways, but with a sure hand on the wheel." - Allison Fensterstock, GambitWeekly (Photo by Tracie Morris Schaffer)

rotarydowns.com | myspace.com/rotarydowns