| Frog Eyes Hop Over To NYC |
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Frog Eyes w/Alex Delivery, Chris Garneau myspace.com/frogeyes absolutelykosher.com/frogeyes.htm May 18 at Mercury Lounge 217 E Houston St New York, NY 10002 212-260-4700 mercuryloungenyc.com May 19 at Union Hall 702 Union Street @ 5th Ave. Brooklyn, NY 11215 718.638.4400 unionhallny.com  Mercer gets passionate onstage  Frog Eyes relaxing... a little Sunset Rubdown perhaps?  Swan Lake, from left: Spencer Krug, Carey Mercer and Dan Bejar  has garnered some of the best reviews of this band's burgeoning career. Taking the established Frog Eyes sound from previous recordings to new heights, "Tears of the Valedictorian" features Mercer's instantly recognizable, madman preacher vocals over the band's strongest instrumental work--mixing in strong elements of psychedelia and prog, while keeping melody at the forefront at almost all times. Though they never venture into the arena of five-minute guitar solos, penultimate track "Bushels" is truly epic, changes course repeatedly and descends into a kind of primitive vocal chant around the 8-minute mark. Not for the weak of heart (or ears), Frog Eyes's music is by turns manic, exalted and violent--blending into something beautiful and moving, more the musical equivalent of an impressionistic painting than your standard riff on the pop conventions. Not that this isn't pop music, but Jackson Browne it ain't. Along with fellow Canadian rockers Dan Bejar (of Destroyer and New Pornographers) and Spencer Krug (Wolf Parade and Sunset Rubdown), who played keyboards on "Tears"--Carey Mercer has been at the forefront of a certain movement of no-abandon, wildly-inventive abstract pop coming from our neighbors to the north and inundating the ears of some discriminating Americans. The three collaborated last year in a project entitled "Swan Lake" which is highly recommended and ended up near the top of several year-end polls. Now, New Yorkers get an opportunity to see Frog Eyes on two consecutive nights. Both shows feature singer/songwriter/labelmate/Brooklynite Chris Garneau, and another up-and-coming band, recent Jagjaguwar signees Alex Delivery. Tickets are still available for both nights--first on May 18th at the ever-popular Mercury Lounge, and then they hop over to Brooklyn for a May 19th gig at Union Hall.
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