Photos and words by Rez Avissar.

My boys in U.S. Royalty killed it again with their consistently energetic performances, playing a sampling of some new tunes from their upcoming debut full-length. Art Brut: It’s hard not to like the guy, he’s just so inherently goofy and innocent, like a grown-up child, singing about stuff like DC Comics. With a good row of devotees the performance pretty much perfectly reflected their M.O. laid out in their first album title: bang bang, rock & roll.
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[Photos and words by Rez Avissar]

The able men of D.C.’s U.S. Royalty did their thing at Piano’s on Tuesday night. There’s a lot of talent between the four of them, and their drummer, the dapper Luke Adams, has Pro Tools chops which means the band is usually putting down ideas in their Chinatown studio as they please. The last time I saw these guys they headlined Hiro Ballroom, which was a great feat, but they also fit the bill as a bar band surprisingly well, and Piano’s was a pretty perfect venue for them to play their 2-week “residency.” What didn’t change from last time, however, was the string of excited girls in the front. Catch them at one of their DJ gigs and they’ll often spin remixes of their own jams as well as some probably-never-to-be-released mixes of some classics. (They spin somewhat regularly in D.C. and recently got remix treatment by Passion Pit’s Ayad under his Bo Flex project). Also, their lead singer, John Thornley, has energy, in voice and in bodily stamina, that would make most frontmen envious. And when he’s not seated at the keys, he prances the stage. A lot. 

 U.S. Royalty has all the makings of a great band and with two EPs under their belt, they are currently writing their first full-length. We’re waiting for it and we’ll keep you posted.

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Brooklyn’s 33Hz have been rocking the NY dance and electro scene for a minute now, although they’ve caught on much more in France. Which is why it makes total sense that their newest EP is being put out by the influential French blog Fluokids as one of the first artists to be released on their new record label, Fool House Records (apparently an attempt to not seem like they’re ripping off Fool’s Gold). So last Friday they held their only NY record release show before heading across the pond to do select dates in Paris and London. Our resident videographer Maia Stern made her way to the Studio at Webster Hall and snapped a few pics of them and opener U.S. Royalty. She reported back that the smoke machine was in full effect and people were grooving. Here is what she saw.
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