NYC Scene Report – Kinlaw, Craig Greenberg, & Two-Man Giant Squid

This week’s NYC Scene Report features Kinlaw making a “HARD CUT,” Craig Greenberg lamenting “She’s Gone and I’m Good for Nothing,” and Two-Man Giant Squid with “Weird Recordings (You’ve Got Some).”

* Sometimes a song has a power to it that is undeniable, and that’s the case with Kinlaw’s “HARD CUT.”

From the moment the pulsating beat begins it grabs your attention with its mixture of electronica, and industrial music. Then Kinlaw’s vocal delivery – which goes from intense, to poetic, to a combination of both – keeps you hooked, as it’s downright captivating.

Explaining the inspiration for “HARD CUT” in a statement, Kinlaw said, “The song is about conditions and extremes. It’s about being fed up. Ultimately, it's a song that’s about aggressively choosing yourself and offering that permission to the listener.”

“HARD CUT” is off Kinlaw’s forthcoming LP, gut ccheck (that’s not a typo), which is due out March 21st via Bayonet Records, and you can check out the video right here.

* NYC’s favorite singer-songwriter and piano man Craig Greenberg is back with a new single, but don’t be fooled by the title, “She’s Gone and I’m Good for Nothing” is actually a heck of a good time.

 “The song came out of being blindsided and left out to dry by someone I was dating,” he explains, “It was a new relationship, but still stung quite hard as I really thought everything was going well, and that it had potential. Musically, the song is inspired by New Orleans, a city I’ve been visiting since I was in college – and performing there for the last 10 years – so it was gonna seep into my writing eventually … I hadn’t planned to make an upbeat song about the experience, it just kind of started in that way, and I just went with what felt right.”

With a playful, upbeat piano opening to the song, which we hear repeated throughout, “She’s Gone and I’m Good for Nothing” is like a warm blanket for the brokenhearted that allows us to lament while loosening up a bit.

Click play, and hear the way Greenberg has once again created something joyful from pain.

* Two-Man Giant Squid is a band I initially discovered through The Music Matters concert documentary that was released last year (you can read my story on it here), and I’d been keeping an ear out for them ever since. Thankfully, I didn’t have to wait long before hearing more from the band, as they have a self-titled album due out March 7th via Mint 400 Records, the first single off of which is “Weird Recordings (You’ve Got Some).”

According to the band’s Mitchell Vinokur, “Weird Recordings (You’ve Got Some)” rose from the ashes of another song that never came to fruition.

“I had been working on a song called ‘Brian Eno’ for over six months. One day at rehearsal I decided to scrap it, giving in to my perfectionist nature about how I couldn’t get it to the place I wanted. After rehearsal our band had a big fight on the subway platform about it. My fiancé – our synth player, Sam – was really upset that I let that process take up so much of my life with nothing to show for it.”

Vinokur continued, “This song was written the very next day. It broadcasts that fight that we had on the subway platform, and it encourages people to not be afraid to show off their ‘weird sh*t,’ to let their freak flag fly. It also explores how trying to be perfect can instead lead to self-destruction. It’s done in a signature tongue-in-cheek Two-Man Giant Squid way, with me arguing with myself for most of the song.”

With the lyric “just put it out” being repeated throughout the song, it really does serve as a reminder to anyone who does anything creative that you aren’t going to reach people if you keep your art to yourself. So click play “Weird Recordings (You’ve Got Some),” think about something you’re currently working on, and just put it out!

For more of the best of NYC’s indie music scene, come back next Wednesday, and check out the archives for previous columns.