Posts Tagged ‘Liv Bruce’

PWR BTTM – ” LOL “

Posted: May 4, 2017 in MUSIC
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With the new album from Pwr Bttm due out next week on May 12th, There isn’t too much left to say about PWR BTTM they are incredibly unique, songs like ‘LOL’ and ‘Big Beautiful Day’ and this album proves it even further.

The New York based duo consists of Hopkins and Liv Bruce, with the pair trading off vocal, guitar and drum duties on each song. They released their debut full-length, Ugly Cherries , in 2015. Pwr Bttm announced their seond album Pageant earlier this year with the empowering “Big Beautiful Day” and most recently debuted the hilarious, assertive “Answer My Text” last month. They are currently touring Europe and will launch a North American tour in support of their LP in May.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cDn4ZCo0NOU

“LOL” is a song about trying. Trying to understand. Trying to grow up. Trying to reconcile who you wish you were with who you can’t help being. Sometimes you try as hard you can to do those things and you fail. You fucking fail really, really hard. So hard that you have to give yourself a break and just laugh about how hard and weird things can be; about how no matter how secure you think you are deep down there’s a part of us all the feels like they’re doing everything for the first time

In performing the song, I tried to surround myself with people who made me feel powerful, like I could keep on trying no matter what. People like our French Horn player Cameron West, Kiley Lotz from Petal and, of course, my amazing mom Christiane Hopkins. They made me feel like I could keep going, I hope this song helps you feel the same! – Ben.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QMI2UvAR18U

The Rock duo will release sophomore album ‘Pageant’ in May

PWR BTTM – ” Live At SXSW Austin Texas 2017 “

Posted: March 21, 2017 in FESTIVALS, MUSIC
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Fear not a high kick. PWR BTTM perform during NPR Music's annual SXSW showcase at Stubb's in Austin, Texas.

When PWR BTTM takes the stage, it doesn’t take long to figure out what you’re going to get. From the first glitter-smeared seconds of the set-opening “Silly,” the band came to shred and swagger with infectious joy, complete with backbends and solos and spangly outfits — at least one of which wouldn’t survive the band’s set at Stubb’s BBQ in Austin, Texas, recorded live for NPR Music last Wednesday night.

But the New England pop-punk band, expanded since its formation from a duo to a four-piece with the addition of keyboardist Cameron West and bassist Nicholas Cummins, also paused for lengthy, heartfelt, frequently hilarious digressions. For every aside about the power and importance of music as a way to unite and protect the vulnerable, Ben Hopkins and Liv Bruce would hold court about vegan hollandaise sauce, the importance of tipping bartenders, or a fervently expressed desire to “drown in Topo Chico.”

PWR BTTM weighted its set heavily toward material from the forthcoming album “Pageant”, due out May 12 — and even brought out Alynda Lee Segarra of Hurray For The Riff Raff to join in for a shared performance of its song “LOL.” And, in keeping with the free-wheeling banter that preceded it, Hopkins had to pause to praise Segarra’s outfit: “You look like Patti Smith if she had an Etsy store.” For PWR BTTM, a perfectly balanced cocktail of blunt aggression and pointed playfulness  wryly self-effacing but always boldly rendered  proved virtually impossible to resist. Thanks to NPR,

SET LIST
“Silly”
“Ugly Cherries”
“Big Beautiful Day”
“Answer My Text”
“New Trick”
“I Wanna Boi”
“LOL”
“Trade”

PWR BTTM – ” Ugly Cherries “

Posted: July 5, 2016 in MUSIC
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“It’s fun, it’s queer and your straight friends will like it too because, ultimately, it’s about being less alone.

Everyone can relate to that. And the world genuinely feels like a brighter place with PWR BTTM in it.” PWR BTTM smoothed the rough edges of their debut EP and then turned out a polished and powerful debut album, “Ugly Cherries”, that’s as heavy on the riffs as it is on the message. Ben Hopkins and Liv Bruce switch off instruments and vocals on practically every song, and the whole project has a similarly communal, anything-goes feel. That energy transfers over to their high-energy live performances and, with such a strong start under their belts, they could even end up ushering in a whole new generation of queer punks

“My girl gets scared/Can’t take him anywhere” announces Ben Hopkins on the title track of their band’s debut, with a riff echoing “Wild Thing” and shredding that imagines Eddie Van Halen after six Mai Tais. Ugly Cherries is rent-party punk in glitter and kimonos that kicks against various tyrannies – gendered pronouns, queer-bashing, broken hearts, coming-of-age – in songs that are goofy, sweet, pained, sloppy and exhilarating. And if Hopkins and Liv Bruce’s genderqueer heroics feel precisely of their moment, they also advance a radical history of glam-rock and drag, with a reminder that horniness, the need for self-actualization and the injustice of normalcy have fueled rock & roll from the days of Little Richard

PWR BTTM – ” Ugly Cherries “

Posted: December 18, 2015 in CLASSIC ALBUMS, MUSIC
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PWR BTTM smoothed the rough edges of their debut EP and turned out a polished and powerful debut album, Ugly Cherries, that’s as heavy on the riffs as it is on the message. Ben Hopkins and Liv Bruce switch off instruments and vocals on practically every song, and the whole project has a similarly communal, anything-goes feel.

PWR BTTM is a queer punk band consisting of Ben Hopkins and Liv Bruce. The band was formed at Bard College where Bruce and Hopkins bonded over a mutual interest in bringing elements of performance and drag artistry into DIY culture. While at Bard the duo recorded a demo, Cinderella Beauty Shop, and the Republican National Convention split EP with Jawbreaker Reunion. On these releases, Hopkins plays guitar and sings, and Bruce plays drums. Since then, the two have begun to share vocal/songwriting duties and have also started to trade off instruments.

This development is very much apparent on their forthcoming LP, Ugly Cherries, an album documenting the duo’s experiences with queerness, gender, and adulthood over the course of a year of living in upstate New York. Ugly Cherries was recorded by Christopher Daly at Salvation Recording Company in New Paltz, NY and mastered by Jamal Ruhe at West West Side Music. The full-length record is slated for a dual release on Miscreant Records and Father/Daughter Records  released September 18, 2015.

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