All music compasses point south this weekend.
The Siren Music Festival returns for the 10th year on Saturday, for a day of hot, loud music one block from the cooling waters of the Atlantic.
To mark the milestone, the Coney Island festival will see the return of past acts, with rockers Ted Leo and the Pharmacists and punk pop duo Matt and Kim heading back to the stage.
When Matt and Kim last played the festival in 2007, the Williamsburg-based twosome, known as much for their adorableness as their exuberant dance pop, was quite a few names down on the bill; now, they headline the whole thing. Not too shabby.
New to Siren, The Pains of Being Pure at Heart have experienced even more of a catapult. Last year, the Greenpoint-based band released its debut album of shoegazy, 1980s-tinged pop that was the definition of buzz, going from a little-known, five-piece to being seemingly everywhere. Give it another year or two, and this band could someday headline.
For the tens of thousands of music fans expected to make the trek down to W. 10th Street for the festival, other acts include indie rockers Cymbals Eat Guitars and Surfer Blood, art rock band Ponytail, punk rockers Screaming Females and one band whose name we can’t even print (the first word is Holy, the second rhymes with duck, which is our cheeky way of telling you the name without getting in trouble).
Siren Festival (Surf Avenue at W. 10th Street in Coney Island, no phone), July 17, noon–9 pm. Free. For info, visit http://www.siren.villagevoice.com/2010.