delicious foods: valentine's day Frauke, Monster Eiffel Tower, and Holy Moly @ Cake Shop

valentine's day Frauke had their album release show two nights ago at Cake Shop and attacked the room the way they always do, with wit, guile, and tightly imperfect pop-punk songs about boyfriends in prison, fake Canadian girlfriends, and hiding one's grade school erection with a Trapper Keeper. They had the room blushing, laughing, and singing along with them in what was the band's final show for an indefinite amount of time. Yes, it's true, Frauke is with Frauke and expecting the pitter-patter of little Frauke feet in the coming months. As a result, we expect the next Frauke show to include a brand new miniature Frauke and fresh lyrics about the pains of not having your diaper changed quickly enough and what it's like to be burped by a stranger.

Also on the bill were Monster Eiffel Tower and Man in Gray offshoot Holy Moly. Holy Moly's got a nice folk-country thing going with solid songwriting, excellent guitar work from Jeremy Joseph, and a pleasant male/female vocal balance. The hints of country music that showed through when Jared Friedman sang lead really resonated with me and I'm hoping the band expands on this facet of their music.

Both Frauke and Holy Moly were bands I was already familiar with heading into the show (and are both friends of mine, if you must know), but ultimately it was Monster Eiffel Tower who dominated the night for me. Sure, it probably has a lot to do with how prog-y my listening habits have been lately, but this band caught the attention of everyone else at the show too. And I'm certain that most of those other people weren't nerding out on them solely because of their chops, copious effects pedals, or resemblance to a certain Canadian band whose name rhymes with "hush". Not that they're overly Rush-esque or anything, but the comparison crossed my mind a few times watching their set. I mean, tell me that there's not a heavy dose or two of "La Villa Strangiato" in their song "Monolith" (posted below). Definitely a band to watch out for if you live in NYC. Check out more pictures from this show, and a few MP3s from Frauke and Monster Eiffel Tower, after the jump...

Holy Moly