Tragedy does not sleep in late. We made it to a motel around 3am Thursday morning and parked our weary hides in a motel 6 in Kearney, Nebraska. Apparently the person who pulled the fire alarm at 9am had not been informed that we hadn’t requested a wake up call. Subsequently — in a bold move of strategery — Russ’s camera crapped out on him, so there will be fewer photos from the road from here on out. And yet it doesn’t end there folks.
…Lawerence, Kansas! Another city, another friend’s poor fortune to have us crashing on their floor. The touring life has been pretty good to us so far, now that we’re a week in. We’ve played to some awesome crowds in Cleveland, Fort Wayne, Milwaukee, Minneapolis, and Chicago.
We were scheduled to play in Des Moines last night, but due to a blizzard we had to unfortunately blow through town. It was a shame, we really liked the venue. Don’t worry Des Moines, we’ll be back… in the summer.
Today we play at Bishop Seabury Academy here in Lawrence, something we’ve been seriously looking forward to.
“While their arena-ready power pop is often a bit much for the smaller venues around NYC that The XYZ Affair usually play, Bowery Ballroom at least approaches the sort of open space (we’re talking ceilings over ten feet) that their sound demands.”
“With their second appearance… their excitement was obvious, and felt by everyone in the room. Lead singer Alex impressed the crowd not only with his impressive vocals and guitar playing, but by showing off some sick dance moves… This show definitely solidified my notion that he’s bound to become known as the Justin Timberlake of indie rock, as if there was any doubt.”
-Bryan Bruchman
“The indie-rock show of the week features. . . Brooklyn’s XYZ Affair, which finds a middle ground between the Beach Boys and Queen.”
“The XYZ Affair, the local little power-pop band that could, has got a boost lately from a cheeky video of its song “All My Friends” that has proven popular on the Internet.”
“An unsigned band from here in Brooklyn, the XYZ Affair does quirk-pop incredibly well.”
“While tonight’s audience probably won’t feature the stellar ’90s-flashback cameos of the XYZ Affair’s vid for “All My Friends” (yes, that is Double Dare’s Marc Summers), there’s more than enough talent onstage to satiate. The Brooklynites have been steadily, if quietly, gathering acclaim, and it’s not for nothing. Their self-released debut, A Few More Published Studies, is rousing, literate indie rock, custom-made for swaying and singing along.”
– Leah Taylor
Just a quick reminder that we’ll be making musical love to your ear holes this Friday at Bowery Ballroom! If you haven’t purchased ticket yet, do it now before they sell out! Dillan! Get to da Choppa!
“On their self-released debut album A Few More Published Studies, their sound nods to Big Star’s classic power-pop, but on the rowdy-yet-vulnerable “All My Friends,” the band sounds uncannily like a more falsetto-happy version of Pinkerton-era Weezer — if Rivers Cuomo threw out his charts and graphs of the perfect pop song, that is.”
“Childhood memories, soaring choruses, and slime — it doesn’t get much better.”
