At The Bar With Southern Comfort: Wild Yaks, “Way Over Yonder in a Minor Key”
- story Hanly Banks
We’re up to episode six of At The Bar With Southern Comfort, in which we travel to some of our favorite new bands’ hometowns (or as near as we can get) and film them covering some of their favorite bands’ best songs. This time we had to travel all the way across the bridge to Brooklyn to hear the borough’s native Wild Yaks at a bar where, conveniently, one of the Yaks bartends. They played a rousing rendition of Billy Bragg’s “Way Over Yonder in a Minor Key,” employing beer cans for percussion instruments. Stay tuned in the coming weeks as we travel across North America to meet up with other bands while racking up frequent flyer miles and good times.
-
posted on Sep 24, 2009 in AT THE BAR WITH SOUTHERN COMFORT, FADER TV, MUSIC CHANNEL tags At The Bar With Southern Comfort, FADER TV, Wild Yaks
Contest: Win Tickets to See Theophilus London, BLK JKs & Wild Yaks
- story THE FADER
Talk about an inspired lineup! Deep breath: FADER 52 cover stars BLK JKS, FADER 61 feature Theophilus London and FADER 57 Gen Fers Wild Yaks are all uniting under one roof this Saturday September 12th at the FADER 60 featured Santos Party House to play us awesome jams. We also heard a rumor (made it up) that the drinks page from the magazine will also come alive if you hand the bartender some money (wokka wokka). It’s as if the pages of our magazine are coming to life. Just like magic. It would be ridiculous to miss this, so get your (super cheap) tickets here, or tell us why you want to go and who you’re most excited to see in the comments and win a couple tickets. As always, don’t forget to leave an actual email address so we can let you know you won.
Food Thyme: Wild Yaks Graze Slices on Scott’s Pizza Tour
- story Rosemary Simon
We already knew that the grizzled men from Wild Yaks had a fondness for pizza and beer, but when we found out frontman Rob Bryn had pie in his blood (his brother owns Robertas in Bushwick), we decided to invite the entire band out on the ultimate pizza journey—Scott’s Pizza Walking Tour. Suspicious at the first glance of our pizza survival kits, our guide Scott Weiner shepherded us with his pizza facts, diagrams and charts, and ultimately won us over with some bad jokes. As a dude who has traveled the world sampling every species of pizza, eats nearly 32 slices a week, has attempted to climb into a coal burning oven to experience the life of a pizza, and can recite pizza facts like no other, he is #1 in the pizza hall of knowledge. Thanks to Scott, we found the answers to some very important questions, like where to find lard pizza (Keste), why the pepperonis at Lombardi’s are so delicious (natural meat casings!), and how to tell what kind of oven your pizza has been in (look at the bottom of the slice, duh). Many thanks to Lombardi’s, Alleva, Pizza Box, John’s and the old guy who’s been making pizza ovens by hand for the past 45 years (your hair looks great, btw).
-
posted on Aug 27, 2009 in ART + CULTURE FOOD THYME SHOW, FADER TV, FADER TV ART + CULTURE CHANNEL SPOTLIGHT tags pizza, Rob Bryn, Roberta's, Scott Weiner, Scott's Pizza tours, Wild Yaks
Video: Wild Yaks Live for Pandora
- story Matthew Schnipper
Perennial favorites and champions, Wild Yaks were pretty drunk last night, playing inside K+M bar in Brooklyn. “I am not playing in front of Fish Called Wanda!” Rob kept yelling, because there was a projector playing Fish Called Wanda huge behind the band. But they weren’t going to play at all because the bass amp didn’t work. Then the guitar didn’t work. But then they worked. Then they played and it was the ten thousandth time we’ve seen them and it was still killer like it’s always killer and even though that hour was competing with sleep hour, Wild Yaks won out and it was for the better despite being kind of tired today and not needing more alcohol really. Gonna go ahead and guess you weren’t there—NBD, dog. After the jump, check them out playing four tracks and breaking down their origins, “River May Come,” “Angel Eyes,” “Wish I Had a Whip” and “Tomahawk” live for Pandora.com. Kind of not the same at 10:30AM but your fault you didn’t make it last night.
Freeload: Wild Yaks, “Pondering Philosopher,” “Blood Red Field” + “Crazy But Not Afraid” MP3s
- story THE FADER
Last week, we pleaded with you, for the sake of your betterment and for our sound minds, to listen to the three Wild Yaks. We’re not going to beg any longer, just offer you a fuller spectrum of rock catharsis. We saw the Yaks play last night, last minute after some beer and pizza (appropriate). They were scheduled to play at 10 sharp. But at 10 sharp some other band was on stage that our friend Kevin said was “what you do after you graduate from Wesleyan with a drama degree.” Needless to say, it was not jamming. But immediately after they finished, in the back of the room on wide wooden planks, Wild Yaks started up, sideshow between the limp main events. Maybe that’s where they belong permanently, don’t need your gaze, limp straw hat singalongs or indie chatter. Fuck it, yeah they probably do. Write a Twitter about them or something.
Download: Wild Yaks, “Pondering Philosopher”
Download: Wild Yaks, “Blood Red Field”
Download: Wild Yaks, “Crazy But Not Afraid”
Freeload: Wild Yaks, “River May Come,” “Tomahawk” and “Wish I Had a Whip” MP3s
- story THE FADER
Most of the time we try not to take personally what you do—listen to this, don’t, whatever. But as Music Journalists, it is occasionally difficult to see the projects you champion linger in a bland obscurity. Unrelenting and full-scale praise would be an ideal, but a bad-publicity-is-good-publicity gnarly clamor is still better than a tepid ignorance. Since we learned of Wild Yaks and put them in our magazine last fall, not much has happened to them. We’ve seen them play over and over—in kitchens, bars, clubs, restaurants that have since closed. We watched Rob Bryn jump off a cliff, drank a lot of tallboys in a hallway waiting for him to get a microphone that worked, still stayed when he couldn’t. He stood up on a chair and yelled loud instead. We saw them in Texas, Martin coming around the corner of the Beauty Bar early in the evening like a skeezy messiah in tight jeans and huge shoes. You need to remedy your Wild Yaks deficiency. These songs were recorded a year ago and have been awaiting release. Wild Yaks have freed them up now, available to float electronically over land and sea to wherever you may need some encouragement, some reassuring, some noble guts. Please listen, it’s worth it.
Download: Wild Yaks, “River May Come”
Download: Wild Yaks, “Tomahawk”
Download: Wild Yaks, “Wish I Had a Whip”
Video: Wild Yaks Documentary
- story THE FADER
You know what? Wild Yaks make us feel excited to be in New York despite the fact that it is too expensive and crowded and too hot/cold or whatever else you want to say. This short doc cements that—perfectly capturing their brazen, drunken, horn-backed vibes that make you feel a part of something, even if you’re just chilling in the back, arms crossed. It must be weird to have a documentary made about you when you’re just beginning to enter into the world of music as career, but all the same, it works. Good job, Wild Yaks, keep doing your thing. (Via Born to be Nervous)
Video: Wild Yaks, “Tomahawk” + New Songs
- story THE FADER
In one of his many novel-length mass email updates, Wild Yaks’ Rob Bryn wrote, “Men singing, that’s totally beautiful. To the point where now I sometimes feel funny when I watch a band with only one singer I wonder, don’t those other guys believe in what this song is about? How come they’re not all singing it?” And he’s right. Why aren’t we all drunkenly singing everything we believe in? Actually the answer to that is that we’re not backed by what sounds like a younger E Street Band, but we like the general idea anyway. Wild Yaks just put new versions of the songs we’ve come to know and love on their MySpace page. They’re a little more polished but no less awesome. Go there and listen, go here and download their exclusive song from our 7-inch series and then go see the band live at Glasslands tonight.
Audio: Wild Yaks EP + Videos
FADER/Southern Comfort 7-inch Series #9: Little Boots and Wild Yaks
- story THE FADER
For her contribution to FADER’s 7-inch series, current cover star Little Boots gives us one of her shiniest tracks (and one of her first to be officially released). The sound of 8PM and everyone’s first drink of the night, “Magical” glistens with young prospects. It’s a cool, clean song that throbs just enough to suggest a little mischievousness.
Wild Yaks’ “I’m A Fool”, a live nugget from the Brooklyn party band, sounds like 5AM Sunday morning when you’re still trying to go hard even though you know you better go home. Singer Rob Bryn might be barely hanging onto his mic, like he wants to give it up, but he definitely can’t let go. Maybe that’s why he can’t stop wailing “I’m A Fool” over and over.
Peep the Maya Wild cover art, too. Download both tracks by clicking the link below and email contests@thefader.com with “Little Yaks” in the subject line to win a copy of the vinyl.
-
posted on Jan 28, 2009 in MP3 / STREAMS tags electronic/dance, FADER/SoCo 7-inch, Little Boots, rock, Wild Yaks
Video: Wild Yaks at the Levi’s®/FADER Fort NYC
- story THE FADER
By Saturday at the Levi’s®/FADER Fort we were exhausted, our ears were ringing and the SoCo was still flowing like water (and was still free). By the time Wild Yaks hit the stage we were ready to sleep for a week, but over the course of their thirty minute set, they got us screaming like lunatics before closing out with an organ-heavy rendition of “River May Come,” dedicated to our very own Matthew Schnipper. The song is about becoming old, and at the moment our bones were feeling pretty weary, so we’re going to pretend the song was for all of us.
