Yesterday I had the pleasure of attending the Surprise Attack! Festival at Brooklyn’s, Cameo Gallery. The event featured 14 bands (Dot Square, Beach Moms, The Nico Blues, Il Abanico, New York Rivals, Beast Make Bomb, Edelweiss, Slam Donahue, HITS, Team Spirit, Eula, The Suzan, Electric Sun, The Click Clack Boom) and went from 2pm-1am…pretty bold. It was a very nice day in Brooklyn which only added to my building excitement as I walked through the Lovin Cup and into Cameo Gallery. It was pretty loud and though I do like it that way, I have this growing fear of developing Tinnitus. So thankfully, a friend of mine recently gave me a nice new pair of ear plugs. I took them out of their case, grabbed a Red Stripe from the bar and walked over to the stage.
The Nico Blues were in the middle of their set and I was very impressed with them. Their music was very wavey, not surfy, wavey. Really smooth and flowing. I was very pleased when Il Abanico started playing, they are a band we like very much at Dingus. Juliana Ronderos’ voice was so beautiful it only accentuated the vision of being underwater. You see, above the stage was this big sheet with long strings hanging down. So whenever the right light hit it, it gave the impression of being underwater. Very clever. New York Rivals were up next and even before they started playing I knew I was in for a treat. I was hooked immediately. A Strokes-esque style band with a memorable performance. High energy and songs that get you moving. Edelweiss were the last band I was able to stick around for. Ever since I was introduced to their music a few months ago, I have been amazed by them. They are such a young band, not a single member over the age of 20 and they write such amazing music. They have an endless amount of talent and they don’t hesitate to bring it forth during their live shows.
After Edelweiss performed, it was time for me to head home. As I was making my way towards the door, I happened upon New York Rivals’ guitarist, Erik Rudic. I told him how much I enjoyed his set and he was kind enough to give me a cd. A perfect parting gift. The second I got into my car I popped it in. As I was listening I looked up and saw a swarm of zombies coming my way. I know this sounds odd but I promise you that it’s the truth. Unbeknownst to me, it happened to be the day of the New York City Zombie crawl and I somehow got smack in the middle of it. It was literally like a scene out of 28 Days Later. There were hundreds of people walking through the road, slamming their hands on my car, dripping fake blood over my convertible top (which I didn’t really care for).
Anyway, as I was driving home I listened to New York Rivals debut album. I even took a little detour to ensure I could listen to a decent amount of the album. It;s quite an amazing album and I highly recommend you get one for yourself. That’s one thing I love about live shows. You are introduced to bands you may not be familiar with and to your surprise, you find your new favorite band. With 14 to choose from, I think that everyone who attended found at least 1 or 2 that they added to the top of their list. Lovecat
‘Dirty Me’ by Salt Cathedral (Columbia) *
‘Take Me to the Sea’ by 
