This past Saturday night, I ventured out sick into the winter abyss to see Strange Shapes at Pianos and Yellowbirds at Cake Shop.  These two New York based bands are on opposite ends of the experience spectrum.  Strange Shapes is a young quartet with two EPs under their belt but not nearly as much touring experience as Yellowbirds’ Sam Cohen of Apollo Sunshine fame.

I couldn’t have asked for a more well-rounded evening.  After a quick stop at Katz’s Deli, I was greeted by Strange Shapes bassist Shane O’Connell outside Pianos.  Inside, the rest of the band was there to greet me, and pretty much only them.  This is becoming a trend for me as my most recent trips to this venue dealt me largely private performances from Superhumanoids and J. Irvín Dally.  This isn’t to say that I don’t enjoy an empty room when the music is great.

I saw Strange Shapes only 6 days earlier at Public Assembly, and with their set at Pianos, the guys cemented their status as one of my favorite new bands.  Their music strikes me as an equal mix of afropop and math rock, complex, atypical rhythmic structures, smooth melodies, and dissonant chords.  Strange Shapes is driven by their duo of guitarists who utilize an irregularly setup 12-string guitar and Nashville tuned 6-string (think Rolling Stones’ “Wild Horses”) to pack quite a punch.  Their EP, Star Chart, is available as a free download below.

After a 30 second walk through the cold down Ludlow Street, I arrived at Cake Shop where I immediately ran into Sam Cohen of Yellowbirds.  It was news to me that I was there for their album release party, an event that always excites me.  And quite clearly, the band was beyond excited to be sharing their new music with a crowded room of their closest friends.

I’m not the biggest of Cake Shop.  It’s a tiny space that is uncomfortably narrow and becomes insanely hot every time I’m there.  It worked on Saturday night though.  As bad as the sound can be in the small space, Yellowbirds were perfect with every note.  Cohen was joined on stage by three great musicians including the multi-talented Josh Kaufman (seen live with Thieving Irons), and though these guys weren’t all contributors on the album, it would never have been evident.

At so many record release shows, bands spend far too much time selling their album, but on Saturday night, it was if everyone already had the album and were just glad to be hanging out with an old friend.  Yellowbirds’ set was flawless, every bit as good as their recording with the added grace only a live show can deliver.  Their performance of “In Our World” was my hands down favorite of the night. Cohen’s vibrant vocals engulfed the crowd, transforming the basement venue into 60s rock club.  If you weren’t there on Saturday, you can catch the band on the 25th at Zebulon in Brooklyn.  Enjoy the album stream below!