RSVP HERE: Drug Couple Play Baby’s All Right + More

Welcome to our weekly show recommendation column RSVP HERE – your source for the best NYC shows and interviews with some of our favorite local live bands.

If J Mascis and Shania Twain started a band together after Armageddon, it would sound like Drug Couple – an actual couple, Becca and Miles, who met and fell in love in 2016 while working on the record for Becca’s former project. Since then, they have written and recorded their debut EP Little Hits and a forthcoming follow-up, Choose Your Own Apocalypse, while microdosing LCD together. You can check out their dream punk ballads at Baby’s All Right on 1/29 with Edna and Coy Sterling. We chatted with them about their dream roadside attractions, upcoming wedding, and plans to harness the power of mind control in 2020.

AF: What was your first ever show like? What was your most memorable show of 2019?

DC: The first time we played together was actually for M’s solo stuff, opening up for Chairlift in Red Hook; the first time we played as our own project was a house show on the Fourth of July at B’s childhood home in Vermont. Our most memorable show of 2019 was probably when we played at Camp Here Here, a very cool place in the Catskills.

AF: If you could play with any band alive or dead who would it be? What band would you want to play your wedding?

DC: Fucking OASIS! We’re actually getting married this summer, and the plan is to have the afterparty be a big ass show with a bunch of our friends playing throughout the night. Yo La Tengo would be pretty cool though too.

AF: Do you prefer microdosing on shrooms or LSD? How does microdosing contribute to your songwriting/recording process?

DC: DEFINITELY the latter. We were pretty into it while we were writing and recording the last record, but it’s been a minute.

AF: What album would listen to as your soundtrack to the apocalypse?

DC: We wrote our second EP, Choose Your Own Apocalypse (that we’ll be releasing this Spring) as a sort of a soundtrack to the impending apocalypse. It’d probably be pretty stressful though so maybe just some Sam Cooke or Neil Young. We’d say Al Green…but then things get all sexy and you’ve really gotta focus on minute-to-minute survival in that kinda situation.

AF: When you go on tour, what will your first road-side attraction visit be?

DC: M is a fast food connoisseur and B’s never had Wendy’s, Taco Bell, Hardee’s, or Whataburger. So those. Also looking forward to Walmart and hanging out in all those gigantic roadside gas and food centers on 80 in Ohio. This is M’s idea of a good time fwiw.

AF: Beyond that, what are your plans for 2020?

DC: Make beautiful things together that we can be proud of forever. Harness the power of mind-control. Become the surprise late entry candidates in the Presidential election that capture the hearts and minds of a nation and, after winning, save the world from its imminent destruction by being able to actually explain our fucking ideas and plans with a shred of believability, coherence, and authenticity.

RSVP HERE for Drug Couple with Edna and Coy Sterling on 1/29 @ Baby’s All Right. 21+ / $10. 

More great shows this week:

1/24 Samantha Urbani @ Elsewhere. 21+ / $10 RSVP HERE

1/24 Frank & The Hurricanes, Alberta, Greem Jellyfish, Grout, Poncili Creacion, Knife Wife, Sweet Baby Jesus @ Rubulad. All Ages / $10-15 RSVP HERE

1/25 Kal Marks, Maneka, A Deer A Horse @ Baby’s All Right. 21+ / $10 RSVP HERE

1/25 Pop 1280, Public Practice, Weeping Icon @ Trans Pecos. All Ages / $10-12 RSVP HERE

1/26 Tredici Bacci, Godcaster, Eyes of Love, Starla Online, Mr. Transylvania @ Mercury Lounge. 21+ / $10 RSVP HERE

1/28 Deerhoof, Sloppy Jane, Gold Dime @ Elsewhere. 21+ / $20 RSVP HERE

1/28 Cole Haden (Model/Actriz), Poppies, Red Ribbon, Castle Pasture @ The Dance. 21+ / $10-12 RSVP HERE

1/29 Henry Flwr (release show), JW Francis, Big Bliss, Viktor Longo, DJ Julia Cumming @ The Sultan Room. 21+ / $12 RSVP HERE

1/29 Anna Weber @ National Sawdust. 21+ $25 RSVP HERE

RSVP HERE: The So So Glos Play Farewell Show at Brooklyn Bazaar + MORE

Welcome to our weekly show recommendation column RSVP HERE – your source for the best NYC shows and interviews with some of our favorite local live bands.

The So So Glos are the quintessential New York City punk rock band. Formed in 2007 in Bay Ridge, Brooklyn by brothers Alex and Ryan Levine with drummer Zach Staggers (who they met in pre-school), The So So Glos have shaped the DIY music scene first hand over the past decade. They co-founded and resided in the venues Market Hotel and Shea Stadium, have released three full length records, gone on countless DIY tours and toured in support of Titus Andronicus,  Diarrhea Planet, Desaparecidos, and more. In anticipation of The So So Glos playing one of the final shows at Brooklyn Bazaar Friday 11/29, we talked with Alex and Zach about how the DIY scene has developed over the past decade, their favorite records to listen to on the road, and where to get the best slice in and outside of NYC…

AF: How is the state of the DIY scene different now than when you first started So So Glos in 2007? How do you think things will progress going into the next decade?

Alexander Orange Drink: It’s been quite a trip to see the DIY scene transform over the past decade. When we started out, it seemed like there were very few DIY spaces where rock ‘n’ roll was welcome. It was way more of a noise rock, (dare I say pretentious) – artsy scene. Despite so many venues closing and an ever changing NYC, I think some aspects of the underground have become way more inclusive for all types of people and artists. If we were in any way a part of helping that move forward I feel grateful.

AF: You’ve toured extensively over the years, what was your favorite band to tour with? Favorite city/non-NYC DIY show space? What’s your favorite tour story?

AOD: There’s been so many friends and extended family who we’ve toured with. It’s impossible to pick a favorite! So many hospitable venues and staff that have welcomed us. The Bottle Tree in Birmingham, AL was always a great place to roll through. They’ve got really cool trailers backstage. One time we got assaulted by the Britney Spears entourage, another time we got strip searched at the border and once my medicine was confiscated in Germany.

AF: What are your favorite records to listen to on the road?

AOD: Modern Lovers, She’s So Unusual, 2Pacalypse Now, The Specials (first album), The Idle Wheel, Songs of Leonard Cohen, too many more…

AF: Where’s the best place to get a slice of pizza in NYC? Where’s the best place to get a slice of pizza outside of NYC?

Zach Staggers: This is a much debated topic for any New Yorker and there are many exemplary spots to get a slice. That said, any pizza experience has as much to do with the environmental factors surrounding the slice. For instance, if you stop at New Park for a slice after a idyllic day in Rockaway, then, at that very moment that is the best slice in the world. Or, say if you are in the godforsaken hell zone of the low to mid 30’s on the west side of Manhattan — Pizza Suprema becomes your messiah. Perhaps, it’s just a beautiful day in the neighborhood, where Rosa’s of Ridgewood provides my staple, comfort pizza. But all this said for the record I like to rep the Margherita slice with the infamous sesame seed crust at Ciccio’s on Avenue U. It’s a little known pizzeria and doesn’t get the respect it deserves. Outside of New York? While there are good slices in Philly and some other select cities I will plead the 5th.

AF: What are your plans for 2020?

AOD: New music coming. Also… pizza!

RSVP HERE for The So So Glos, Wild Yaks, Cumgirl8, Knucklehead & SUO (DJ set) @ Brooklyn Bazaar. All Ages / $13.50

More great shows this week:

11/29 Darkwing, Sleep Leans, Shadow Monster @ Our Wicked Lady. 21+ / $10 RSVP HERE

11/29 Beach Rats, Speedy Ortiz, Restorations, American Trappist, Well WisherHouse of Independents (4-year anniversary). All Ages / $4-$10 RSVP HERE

11/30 Hank Wood and The Hammerheads, Warthog, Subversive Rite, Dollhouse @ Brooklyn Bazaar (last show!). All Ages / $15 RSVP HERE

12/3 New Myths, Katya Lee + Special Guests @ Berlin. 21+ / $12 RSVP HERE

12/3 + 12/4 The Rapture @ Music Hall of Williamsburg. 18 + / $30 RSVP HERE

12/3 Sloppy Jane, Sweet Baby Jesus, Water From Your Eyes @ The Dance. 18+ / $10 RSVP HERE

12/5 Tallies, Honey Cutt @ Alphaville. / 21+ $10 RSVP HERE

12/5 Grim Streaker, A Deer A Horse, Luggage, Shop Talk @ Trans-Pecos. $10 / All Ages RSVP HERE