Oh My Rockness presents: March Radness II

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Oh My Rockness presents: March Radness II

March 21, 2007
Holy Moly! Pardon our French, but we're just so excited! We've been waiting twelve months to finally be able to say this again and now we can, so... Let The Radness Begin!

Get Your Tickets Here!

March 31st marks our second annual "March Radness" party. We only do it once a year to give us ample time to do it good. Last year, we had Detachment Kit, Foreign Islands, The Big Sleep and Goes Cube rock Brooklyn into a blind sold-out stupor. But as Mark McGwire says, we're not here to talk about the past. This year Oh My Rockness, like the Muppets, will take on Manhattan and it will be insaner than ever. Bet.

Oh My Rockness' "March Radness II" party at the Knitting Factory on Saturday, March 31st features four bands we really love! (If we didn't love them, it would make for an awkward night, wouldn't it?) Come and party with us and Walter Meego, Oxford Collapse, Dragons of Zynth and Del Rey!

We think every band on this bill really slays, and we think you will agree. They all represent vastly different sounds (collectively, you can call this pop-spazz-space-math), and that's just the way we wanted it. The only theme here is awesomeness. So come early and stay late. You'll get good and rocked in four different ways.

Playing first is the incredible Del Rey! This is a very rare NYC appearance by a band that has been blowing Midwest minds for quite some time. Del Rey is an explosive instrumental band from Chicago that rock such crazy time-changing rhythms they need two drummers to pull off their math-rockian feats of hectic cadence.

The band started back in 1997 and it's apparent even from the very first listen that these guys are craftsmen of their instruments. In other words, they're tight as hell. It would be easy for tempo exploits such as these to sound messy and muddled from a band that didn't know any better, but Del Ray have been at mastering this for a decade and definitely have it down. Their songs slowly and surely build towards wonderful crashes of climactic release. Del Rey is a basic guitar-bass-and-drums band in the absolutely best sense. This is rock. For fans of From Monument to Masses, By the End of Tonight and Trail of Dead.

Playing second is Dragons of Zynth! This NYC band is gaining a strong word-of-mouth following based on the strength of their insane live shows. Everyone is talking about Dragons of Zynth and how awesome they are. Boy, I'm glad they accepted our invitation to play. These five guys put it all out there. Think of their sound as sort of synthy stoner rock from outer space. They are currently working hard on their debut album, with production help from Dave Sitek and Kyp Malone, their two fans/friends/touring mates from TV on the Radio. 2007 could very well be the year of Dragons of Zynth.

Playing third is NYC's Oxford Collapse. Seriously, every time I listen to their Sub Pop release, Remember The Night Parties, I find something new to love about it. It is firmly entrenched in my Top 3 Records of 2006 list. You know those rare records you listen to where every song is solid and there's not even one filler track? You have to think hard, don't you? Well, this is one of those albums.

Oxford Collapse play noisy, spazz rock that puts on emphasis on disjointed, spiky guitars, yelps and howls, tambourines, and bass-induced grooves, all done with a big dose of the "fun" factor. Basically, they're the perfect band for a party. Fans of early Dischord stuff will see an homage to the stripped-down sound of Nation of Ulysses and Fugazi, yet you can bet you can dance to this too. So good!

Playing fourth and, like Del Rey, traveling all the way from Chicago just to play this show is the mighty Walter Meego! Remember when we were talking about DataRock and Hot Chip and how they were two of the few bands that can pull off making happy electro rock? Well, silly us. We totally forgot to mention Walter Meego. We seriously love these guys.

Walter Meego's shows down in Austin became the talk of this year's SXSW. This under-the-radar (for like 2 more minutes anyway) Chicago trio kicks out the seriously cheerful synth pop jams. There doesn't seem to be a pretentious note played in their musical repertoire (which is not easily said of an indie-dance band), and that's mighty refreshing. It seems like Walter Meego's mission is just to help you party by plugging in and going off. We wish all pop was like this and not, like, Kelly Clarkson (although she's pretty catchy, too).

We are so excited for this show and hope you are, too.

Get Your Tickets Here!

We'll finish like we started... Let The Radness Begin!

Walter Meego, Oxford Collapse, Dragons of Zynth and Del Rey play Knitting Factory, on Saturday, March 31st.

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