(Photo courtesy of Silent Agency's Facebook) It takes a lot for a band to reunite. On the macro level, money is usually the primary incentive (LCD Soundsystem who?). But when it comes to local bands, I can't imagine there's any reasoning other than pure passion. The band members miss thrashing around on stage with their friends and playing the music they wrote. It's a rush unlike any other. Silent Agency is an indie trio from a Minneapolis who played their last show in Minnesota six years ago. By the grace of the local music gods, they're coming back for a charity gig (which very well may be the first of several reunion shows). To celebrate their momentous reunion, Wes talked with vocalist/guitarist Evan Bakker, who lives in New York. They discussed the band's now-lengthy history, how the scene has changed, and why he's excited for the forthcoming show. Listen below. The charity event that Silent Agency will be playing is Give Sound 2019. Plann...

Hey! We're putting on a show! Woah! Along with two other extremely sick Twin Cities institutions ( Drop In Media  and Subaquatic Records ), we're co-sponsoring a show this week, featuring Vial , Partition , Juniper Douglas  (workshopping their new show), and Creative Drugs (their first show - they're so fresh, we don't even know anything about them). It's also unofficially celebrating Ear Coffee's second birthday (party time)! It's this Thursday, 8/22 at Rowhouse. Message us on any of our social media for the address, or check the Facebook event below. We hope to see you there.

There is something special about capturing a band's live performance. It has a rawness not often felt when sitting in a bedroom with a four-track recorder or a professional recording studio, but it seems the Minneapolis slowcore act Prathloons have managed to catch, and then bottle that energy, with their second installment in their  Live Loons series. Recorded at Urban Artifacts in Cincinnati, Ohio,  Live Loons: Urban Artifacts 5.19.19  captures everything from the band's overenthusiastic false start on "Jack and Jill" to the crushing climax of "Mallwood." Upon first listen, I was struck by the quality of the recordings. This album isn't a collection of blown-out/lopsided mixes recorded from the soundboard at a random show. It's a showcase of Prathloon's ability to take the introspective, melancholic stories found on their self-titled debut and give them a new sense of urgency. The album isn't fully free of the trappings found on DIY ...

We may have missed last Monday's gig-list, but we are back at it again this week to help you find a concert to go to this week. Monday 4/23 Almighty American - Turf Club Hurray For The Riff Raff w/ Waxahatchee - First Ave Valinor Excelsior w/ Threat Signal, Joey Muha and More - Lee's Liquor Lounge Tuesday 4/24 Rainbow Kitten Surprise w/ Caamp - First Ave  Langhorne Sling - Cedar Cultural Center Joan Shelly - Turf Club Wednesday 4/25 No Age - 7th Street Entry Transmission w/ Jake Rudh - VFW Post 246 The Moth Story Slam - Amsterdam Bar & Hall Thursday 4/26 King Lil G - The Cabooze Straya and Yazan - Eagles Club 34 Edward the Confessor, Candid Kid, and More - Mortimers Bar Friday 4/27 Franz Ferdinan - First Ave Indigo Girls - Varsity Theater Jeff Rosenstock - Coffmen Memorial Union (U of M) Nick Check and The Dead Century - The Pourhouse Saturday 4/28 Bon Jovi - Xcel Energy Center Mia Dyson - Cedar Cultural Center Kamelot ...

Minneapolis indie rockers Calvin Heights played an intense set at Driftwood Char Bar Thursday night. The band is playing shows around the Twin Cities in support of their album Worst Calligraphy   which was released in August of this year. The noisy atmosphere created on Worst Calligraphy translates to an even better experience in person. The music comes to life when played in front of people. Their set began with frontman Brett Carey sitting on the floor with a bag over his head. He sat rocking back and forth as his guitar fed back into his amplifier. The rest of the band followed suit until they kicked into their first song "3/7". The bag soon came off when the band continued into the next songs. Taking inspiration from The Pixies, Calvin Heights uses dynamics heavily in their set. The band would be creating as much noise as they could with Brett and fellow guitarist Sam wailing away on their guitars with drummer Jordan Wipf bashing away and then the band would be n...

Photo courtesy the Star Tribune  Progressive folk giants Fleet Foxes played two sold out shows at The Palace Theater on September 30th and October 1st. The band was touring in support of their return album Crack Up which was released in June of this year. Ear Coffee sent its two best (and only writers) to cover the second night because we are dedicated to bring you the news (also Robin Pecknold is also bae). For a venue, the Palace Theater, was the perfect venue for Fleet Foxes. The building itself is super vibey and has a reclaimed look. The front of house engineer knew what he was doing. Both bands that night sounded, for the most part, crystal clear in the PA. Pictures of the stage from the balcony The opening act was a Canadian indie band named Nap Eyes. In true indie rock fashion, there were a great number of Fender offset guitars on stage. The band started precisely at 7:30 that night. Which was a surprise because rock music never starts on time. The Nap E...

Photo credit: Ben Gabbe/Getty Images Everybody's favorite folk asshole Fay Jay Tay (AKA Father John Misty) brought his tour to the "Late Night With Seth Meyers" stage this week, performing Pure Comedy  cut "Things It Would Have Been Helpful to Know Before the Revolution." It's a classic FJM performance, check it out below.