Big Weekend

Slothbear's big weekend has finally started winding down. Amps and drums were brought up scores of flights of stairs, time and time again, listless audiences abounded. Sure, there were pretty faces along the way, those whose names only appear in harsh, un-click-able, black fonts or spend their time in hazy pastures, gnawing away at the flora, never to be bridled or tamed. It started with the former, as Slothbear got ready to play a set at Kenny's Castaways, a lousy little place that my cousin saw the Ramones play at twenty five years ago, with a sound guy who apparently liked us in addition to looking like a Bauhaus loving, at least bi-curious version of Alan Rickman's Severus Snape. We huddled in a clamour of teen-boy whisperings and eventually took the tiny cluttered stage after wistfully bathing in the nostalgia never felt for the lot of bands who soundtracked Mallrats. We played a set that looks a lot like the others we've been playin: White Xmas, Olio, D, Spacey, No D, Tiger, Fluoxetine, Lil Qid. And had a good time doing so. We played for my mom, Craig's parents, lanky undeserving boyfriends of lovely girls and several coked-up (according to my mother) baby boomers who would occasionally make their ways to the stage to do strange shuffles, as their ear buds howled Steely Dan into their aging ear-holes and into and out of the folds of their brains. Sure I ended up sick to my stomach in a parking garage, but who doesn't.
The next day Doug, Ian and I made a trek out to Stony Brook for an appearance on WUSB's Oprah's Handbag, hosted by none other than Krissy, our dear affiliate. We played White Xmas, Olio, Tiger and an encore, actually solicited by Krissy, of Djam. Doug came up with a new pseudonym, "Wawn," and we shot the s-word with as little lewd language was we could manage. On the show several things were determined. Ian is Cutebear, Doug Smartbear, Myself Softbear and Craig was dubbed Useless Liar, though on second thought, I renamed him Ornerybear. We then got Green Cactus with Ross, and Ross and I got some Ice Cream. That night ended with South Park and slumber and the next day began with lugging amps, though not before Craig made me my very own Slothbear sharpie shirt, "Fierce 34" etched across my shoulders.
The lugging of amps up and down flights of stairs several times over the course of yesterday, justified Craig and I in eating our something short of healthy dinners. We played KellyFest, an outdoor show that at no given moment had much of an audience. Contrary to the warm spring air, which wafted around Craig, Ian and I (Doug was at work), like the smoke from Ian's menthol cigarette, which he smoked pimply as we began our set, the audience was somewhat less than tepid. We played Xmas, Olio/D, and ND/Tiger. Shows without bass are lame, but I had fun, sweat blinded, sending bent guitar notes out into the open air.
In the evening the lugging of amps resumed, and Slothbear brought our amps to the TAC, where we were recorded for a college radio, itunes podcast of sorts. I don't know the details. What I do know is, Patrice recorded us after we were subjected to two of the three most depressing musical ensembles on a shithole campus replete with them. We did an interesting set, which was meant to be one lengthy take but ended up two. A Fall-esque "Exceptional Bastards" gave way to "Little Qid/Swamp Boogie/Roll Over John Peel," the latter of which was a lengthy take of "Little Qid" complete with a truncated version of the interlude I play before "Little Qid" live. I don't know what is to become of this song. This recording, if we like it, might be offered as some sort of stop gap live EP. It was very off the cuff in nature. We fucked around and had fun.

That's all for now.

Josh

Slothbear in the Big City

This week was a big one for the 'Bear.
We played Death by Audio as scheduled, which I thought may have been the best set, or one of the best sets we ever played. The sound levels were stellar, and I had a lot of fun kicking out the jams. The setlist was as follows:
White Christmas
Olio/Djam
Spacey
No Dialogue/Don't Taunt a Tiger
Slothbear superchums were in attendance, including Kabir of Anna Bradley, SBEAR roommate/affiliate FDB, Thom of Horribles/Crabagado, the Ray-Keefe boys and others of course, whose feelings I don't fear hurting for not mentioning, as literally no one but Conor Seidman reads this blog. We played with Picture Books, who were one of the nicest bands I've met in a while, coming out from Chicago. We also played with Boo and Boo Too, whose set I missed because I had to head back, for I had school early. Craig, Kabir, the Ray-Keefes and I were all on the L train when Justin said "You guys were more like Rush than ever before," and then continued to liken us to the Allman Brothers Band and "Television, I guess." I figure most of these comparisons came from Djam/MFKids, or whatever it will appear on the tracklist of Qids as, whereon I had a most fervent jam, and debuted some really amateur finger-tapping.
Craig and I had a rough commute to Stony Brook, where I crashed. We didn't arrive til close to 4 AM, but arrived to a pleasant surprise. Whilst checking the Bearsloth account, Craig spotted a reply from the dude Andy who books at Cake Shop. I had sent him the following email on Monday as a joke:

Hey I'm Josh of Slothbear. We're playing Death by Audio this coming Thursday with Boo and Boo Too and we saw that you were hosting a show of theirs on Friday. We were wondering if there'd be anyway we could get on that bill, so that when we're old and grey we can tell the grandkids, "Kids, I used to be something! I once played two consecutive shows with Boo and Boo Too!"

Help an old man's dreams come true.

Also, if you don't believe we're good, or can't tell from the killer tunes on the 'space, here are other people validating my opinion! we rock!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I then proceeded to copy and paste the excerpts from press we've gotten, as seen on our myspace. I followed this email with a link to a picture of a red panda playing with a ball and the following:

I can tell from having tried to play shows and not having gotten to play said shows, that bands aren't judged solely on the merit of their music.
I guess I'll learn how to play hard ball, here's some more incentive to let us play on the seventeenth (or really anytime would be cool)...

-Josh of Slothbear

much love

Believe it or not it worked, and after six hours of sleep and a couple hours of class Craig and I rode home in the chariot of Master Babylon J. Heed, loading up the gear and heading to NYC.

We played Cake Shop with Liam the Younger, Boo and Boo Too and Real Estate.
We were the first band, and I enjoyed every set of the night, despite contracting a fever at some point. Our friend Krissy drove 2 hours out in traffic to see us, and our main man Ross made it out again. The set was as follows:
White Christmas
Olio/Djam
Spacey
No Dialogue
Don't Taunt a Tiger
Killed by Cars
Fluoxetine

We were gonna play Little Qid, but didn't have the time. All the bands were really nice, Liam's frontman complimented by soloing, which was sweet, and the perhaps equally jammy Real Estate (though in a way more akin to traditional jam aesthetics, which I wouldn't say Slothbear really share much with on a sonic level) seemed to like us as well. I hope to get to play with all three bands again, and Slothbear is set to play with Liam the Younger again on May first, my Aunt Gina's birthday, and the date of the potential show with Titus Andronicus. Krissy, is a huge supporter of the 'Bear, and is behind the May first gig, and the SBU radio show we are playing this coming Friday. She also talked to Real Estate about a show in the early fall at SBU, which hopefully Slothbear will be able to play as well. Craig was really enthusiastic about our set at Cake Shop.

We have shows this coming Thursday at Kenny's Castaways and this coming Saturday at Kelly Fest and are on WUSB Friday.

-Josh

BAND OF THE WEEK WHUT IT DEWWWWWWWWWW

http://poptartssucktoasted.blogspot.com/2009/04/band-of-week-slothbear.html

do it

Impose Magazine

"Sloth Bear sound exactly how your band sounded back in high school when you only listened to Pavement. Apparently that is still happening. I certainly can’t complain."

hm

all girls are basically whores and probably lesbians

Brooklyn Endeavors: LIVEJOURNAL LOLZ

so i'm in this alley way, and things have been dripping on me at least forty five minutes. dublique's van is broken down, he's tryin in a feverish haze to fix it, and these camouflaged garbed eye-rapists are snarling and bearing their teeth. palz and bates went to smoke and i was just sort of off to myself, there were brunettes but i was overwrought with anxiety. i kept twitching and jumping with every new shadow cast, waiting for this big, racist, inevitable event, stemming from some broken liquor bottle or look of alleged ill intent.
this violinist chick is around and she'd been shredding something ferocious, but that was way after the alley part. bespectacled i entered, unbuttoned to midriff. in this real strange christmas plaid, amphibians up in my esophagus(?spellcheck), i keep up this scoff, and i'm real nervous about nosebleeds, cuz i've had a lot lately.
twee pop and roots bullshit, i remember how rock and roll i am.
we don't do some of the favorites, but we do some of the others.

the setlist was: fluoxetine/dont taunt a tiger/killed by cars/no
dialogue/interlude/little qid.

kabir, martin and justin came out. lara and guy missed it but showed up.

so i'm in that closet, looks like a wealthy friend's father's study, and she was small and string broken. it only worsened in the hall, with kabir, palz and the newfound professor, when two girls, cumulative twenties were shaking just out of reach to quote an almost 20th c doug. one whose lip was dually punctured, one in arms of cokehead.

sure wouldve liked to play later, to the hordes of hipsters and the such, but hey, whats a boy to do? we played well it was fun and cathartic and all those things, though alas it was fleeting. we ought to get more shows with the likes of these bluegrass, key of c brooklyners, hawk and dove(cute violinists abound, missed their set eating pizza--> major faux pas), doug's new group (jealousy!) beauty feast or someshit and strange shapes, whose set i missed whilst learning from the professor, seeing two hotties (and totally blowing a chance with one of them, who definitely wouldnt have gone for a goofy ass nicka like me, but who i honestly had an easy oppurtunity to start talking to). NO REGRETS!

Anyway, we plan on training at lengths when the car's fixed in the ghetto and getting strong for DBA.

setlist tba.

oh yeah my exgirlfriend raped me.