John Avlon

John P. Avlon writes a column for The Daily Beast and is author of the forthcoming Attack of the Wingnuts, to be published in January by Beast Books. He is also the author of Independent Nation: How Centrists Can Change American Politics. Previously, he served as chief speechwriter for New York City Mayor Rudy Giuliani and was a columnist and associate editor for The New York Sun.

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Two great new bands—Works Progress Administration and Wakey! Wakey!—are worth keeping an ear and an eye out for. The WPA offers an L.A. take on bluegrass with a heavy dose of alt-country. The expert collection of musicians—including Sarah Watkins of Nicklecreek and Glen Phillips of Toad the Wet Sprocket—gathered at the oasis of club Largo and while their self-titled debut album is great, it is live that they transcendently take off. There is a timelessness to these tunes. Wakey! Wakey! is a piano-driven, Brooklyn-based band with Family Records. I saw them play at the Gramercy Theater a few weeks ago and was blown away. In their songs the melody and melancholy of Ben Folds is married to the edgy introspection of The Eels. The live show offers a string section, back-up singers and unexpected doses of humor—like an oddly effecting acoustic cover of “Girls Just Want to Have Fun.”

11:07 pm, Aug 27, 2009

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Family Records, Sarah Watkins, Glen Phillips, Nicklecreek, Wakey! Wakey!, Works Progress Administration

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