Category: Alt rock

Rolling Blackouts Coastal Fever schedule Sub Pop EP release for early March 2017.

ROLLING BLACKOUTS COASTAL FEVER ANNOUNCE DEBUT EP FOR SUB POP, SHARE TITLE TRACK

“THE FRENCH PRESS” EP OUT 3/10; LOS ANGELES SHOW ADDED TO FIRST US TOUR
Today, Melbourne’s Rolling Blackouts Coastal Fever are proud to announce ‘The French Press,” their debut EP for their new US label, Sub Pop, which will see release on March 10th. Alongside the announcement, the band has shared the title track.

“The French Press” EP levels up on everything that made their debut EP, “Talk Tight,” such an immediate draw. Multi-tracked melodies which curl around one another, charging drums and addictive bass lines converge to give each track its driving momentum. Honed through their live shows, this relentless energy carries the record through new chapters in the band’s Australian storybook.

Rolling Blackouts Coastal Fever’s songs have always had all the page-turning qualities of a good yarn and “The French Press” EP is no different. Somewhere between impressionists and fabulists, lyricists Fran Keaney, Tom Russo and Joe White often start with something rooted in real life – the melancholy of travel on ‘French Press’, having a hopeless crush on ‘Julie’s Place’ – before building them into clever, quick vignettes. The result is lines blurred between fiction and reality – vibrant stories which get closer at a particular truth than either could alone.

Blending critical insight and literate love songs, “The French Press” EP cements Rolling Blackouts Coastal Fever as one of Australia’s smartest working bands.
LISTEN TO “THE FRENCH PRESS”
https://youtu.be/YEZm7BGvryg

WATCH THE VIDEO FOR “JULIE’S PLACE”
https://youtu.be/BMxrvIqqmlk

ROLLING BLACKOUTS COASTAL FEVER TOUR DATES
Fri. Jan. 27 – Melbourne, AUS @ Howler w/ Whitney
Thu. Feb.  2 – Sydney, AUS @ OAF w/ Whitney
Mon. Mar. 3 – Fri. Mar. 17 – Austin, TX @ SXSW
Sat. Mar. 18 – Philadelphia, PA @ Underground Arts w/ Tennis
Sun. Mar. 19 – Washington, DC @ 9:30 Club w/ Tennis
Tue. Mar. 21 – New York, NY @ Bowery Ballroom w/ Tennis
Wed. Mar. 22 – New York, NY @ Bowery Ballroom w/ Tennis
Thu. Mar. 23 – Brooklyn, NY @ Shea Stadium
Sun. Ma. 26 – Los Angeles, CA @ The Echo
Fri. Apr. 21 – Cats @ Adelaide, AUS @ Rocket Bar
Sat. Apr. 22 – Sydney, AUS @ Newtown Social Club
Fri. Apr. 28 – Brisbane, AUS @ Black Bear Lodge
Sat. Apr.  29 – Byron Bay, AUS @ The Great Northern
Sun. Apr. 30 – Gold Coast, AUS @ Shark Bar
Fri. May 12 – Melbourne, AUS @ The Tote
Pre-order “The French Press” EP – http://bit.ly/2k9mdKy

Hi-res photos and album art here: http://bit.ly/2hRhJ9N

Rolling Blackouts C.F. Online:
https://twitter.com/rollingbcf
https://instagram.com/rollingblackoutscoastalfever/
https://www.facebook.com/rollingblackoutscoastalfever/
https://www.subpop.com/artists/rolling_blackouts_coastal_fever 

New Pornographers “Whiteout Conditions” due out April 07, 2017.

Canadian supergroup New Pornographers‘ newest album, Whiteout Conditions, will drop on April 07, 2017, and they’ve announced an extensive spring tour to promote the new record.  They’ve yet to release a band record, and I’m sure this album won’t end their streak.  Check out their latest single if you don’t believe me.

Keep your mind open.

[Subscribe to us and attract updates straight to your inbox.]

Surf Cassette – self-titled

Surf Cassette are a garage pop trio from Milan, Italy whose self-titled album is both a good rock record and a healthy tonic for dreary days.

“Wasted,” the opener, deserves to be a rock anthem with its ear-catching riffs and catchy lyrics about how stupid people get when they’re drunk. “Lust for Life” isn’t a cover of the Iggy Pop classic (although I’m sure Surf Cassette could do a fine version of one), but rather a nice slice of garage rock played from a sunny Italian beach. The keyboard accompaniment on it keeps it bright. “Mess in My Head” is like an early Wavves track with its surf guitar, slightly echoed vocals, and light approach to the heavy subject of a relationship going wrong.

The beat on “Rebel” is infectious and will get your toes tapping no matter where you are or what you’re doing. “Wonder Woman” isn’t about the super heroine, but it is a slightly sad song about a woman who is so good that the singer knows he can’t do their relationship justice (“She’s a wonder woman. What am I supposed to be?”). “Maybe I’m Not Sober” gets back to the snotty, garage punk and is a nice companion piece to “Wasted” – as if it’s the same story told from the perspective of the drunk in the first song.

“Summer’s End” is the band’s plea for summer and good times to stick around for a while longer because what comes after might be a long bummer. The album ends with “Portami Via,” a good, loud, crunchy guitar-driven send-off that probably blows the back off clubs in Milan.

It’s always nice to discover bands from other countries, especially when they’re this fun. Catch their wave.

[Your updates don’t have to end.  Just subscribe to us and they’ll be send to your e-mail inbox.]

 

Ty Segall releases new single from upcoming album due tomorrow.

TY SEGALL PRESENTS NEW SINGLE, “BREAK A GUITAR”

https://soundcloud.com/drag-city/ty-segall-break-a-guitar/s-Xh94k

SELF-TITLED ALBUM OUT JANUARY 27 ON DRAG CITY
(above image by Denée Petracek)

Ty Segall‘s swiftly oncoming (Jan 27th via Drag City!) self-titled album is his ninth solo release since 2008, a span of records that have embodied an arcing swath of up-and-upper rock and roll music for the people. What people? They know who they are. They’re finding out all the time. They like candy-striped and scorched-earth sounds alike, and Ty keeps throwing down both and more in spades! “Break A Guitar” is the second drop from his new album, a 180-degree spin from the acoustic pastoral of the previously-leaked “Orange Color Queen,” and a reminder that beyond all the tender beauty that he’s capable of, the rifftasm of Ty’s music vision is what drives him ever forward in shows everywhere and in the minds of listeners who dig the sounds. With a week to go before the album hits, “Break A Guitar” aims to shatter the fugue-state you’re been wandering through and invite you back into the real life that’s coming! You are needed here, and with as few illusions as possible. Ty Segall will make that happen!Ty (guitar, vocals) and his magick band comprised of Emmett Kelly (guitar, vocals), Mikal Cronin (bass, vocals), Charles Moothart (drums) and Ben Boye (keyboards) will tour throughout the year, playing multiple nights in various towns and one-offs in others. All dates are listed below.

Early feedback for Ty Segall:
“a perfect introduction to those who have yet to dive into his vast discography.”
– Vulture (Most Anticipated of 2017)”With Segall’s magic touch shining brightly throughout, ‘Ty Segall’ once again demonstrates his effortless, and seemingly innate ability to make the familiar feel fresh and enticing” – MOJO“a taut exercise in ‘f**k-you’ brilliance that deftly explores the fugitive nature of truth” – Shindig“‘Ty Segall’ feels at times like a greatest-hit collection that just happens to comprise entirely new songs…one of the most cohesive sets Segall has released to date” – American Songwriter

Listen To Ty Segall’s “Break A Guitar” – 
https://soundcloud.com/drag-city/ty-segall-break-a-guitar/s-Xh94k

Listen To Ty Segall’s “Orange Color Queen” — 
https://soundcloud.com/drag-city/ty-segall-orange-color-queen

Ty Segall Tour Dates:
Fri. Jan. 27 – San Diego, CA @ Belly Up Tavern
Thu. Feb. 2 – Los Angeles, CA @ Teragram Ballroom
Fri. Feb. 3 – Los Angeles, CA @ Teragram Ballroom
Sat. Feb. 4 – Los Angeles, CA @ Teragram Ballroom
Mon. Feb. 27 – Oakland, CA @ Fox Theater
Wed. March 1 – Portland, OR @ Aladdin Theater
Thu. March 2 – Seattle, WA @ Neumos
Fri. March 3 – Seattle, WA @ Neumos
Mon. May 8 – Albuquerque, NM @ Sister Bar
Wed. May 10 – Tulsa, OK @ Cain’s Ballroom
Thu. May 11 – Indianapolis, IN @ Irving Theater
Sat. May 13 – Chicago, IL @ Metro
Sun. May 14 – Chicago, IL @ Thalia Hall
Wed. May 17 – Brooklyn, NY @ Warsaw
Thu. May 18 – Brooklyn, NY @ Warsaw
Sat. May 20 – Philadelphia, PA @ Trocadero Theater
Sun. May 21 – Pittsburgh, PA @ Mr. Small’s Theater
Mon. May 22 – Louisville, KY @ Headliner’s Music Hall
Thu. May 25 – Nashville, TN @ Mercy Lounge
Fri. May 26 – New Orleans, LA @ One Eyed Jack’s
Sat. May 27 – Austin, TX @ Stubb’s Waller Creek Amphitheatre
Mon. May 29 – Phoenix, AZ @ The Van Buren
Thu. Aug. 3 – Sun. Aug. 6 – Happy Valley, OR @ Pickathon
Fri. Aug. 18 – Biddinghuizen, NE @ Lowlands Festival
Thu. Aug. 24 – Berlin, DE @ Astra
Thu. Aug. 31 – Miranda De Ebro, ES @ Ebrovisión Festival

Ty Segall Pre-order:
Via iTunes – https://itunes.apple.com/us/album/ty-segall/id1175186018?app=itunes&ign-mpt=uo%3D4
Via Drag City – http://www.dragcity.com/products/ty-segall

Radiohead announce U.S., UK, and European tour dates for spring and summer.

Living legends Radiohead have announced a spring and summer tour that starts in the U.S. and ends in England.  It takes them to Poland, Ireland, Italy, and even two dates at the Coachella Music Festival.  Their U.S. dates are in the west and south, so catch them if you can.

03-30 Miami, FL – American Airlines Arena

04-01 Atlanta, GA – Philips Arena
04-03 New Orleans, LA – Smoothie King Center
04-05 Kansas City, MO – Sprint Center
04-08 Seattle, WA – Key Arena
04-09 Portland, OR – Moda Center
04-11 Santa Barbara, CA – Santa Barbara Bowl
o4-14 Indio, CA – Coachella
04-17-18 Berkely, CA – Greek Theatre
04-21 Indio, CA – Coachella
06-06-07 Oslo, Norway – Spektrum
06-09 Stockholm, Sweden – Ericsson Globe
06-11 Aarhus, Denmark – Northside Festival
06-14 Florence, Italy – Visarno Arena @ Parco Delle Cascine
06-16 Milan, Italy – I-Days @ Parco di Monza
06-18 Hilvarenbeek, Netherlands – Best Kept Secret Festival
06-20 Dublin, Ireland – 3Arena
06-23 Pilton, England – Glastonbury Festival
06-28 Gdynia, Poland – Open’er Festival
06-30 Werchter, Belgium – Rock Werchter
07-02 Arras, France – Main Square Festival
07-04-05 Manchester, England – Manchester Arena

Keep your mind open.

Live – Partner, Faux Furrs, So Pretty – Chicago, IL – January 22, 2017

I was happy to learn just a couple weeks ago that Canadian pop-punk band Partner were playing at Schuba’s.  I wanted to see Partner at Chicago’s Riot Fest last year, but my plans (and theirs) to attend fell through and I couldn’t make the festival.

I was still able to catch them on only the third show they’ve played in the U.S., however, and shame on you if you weren’t there.

First up were local post-punks So Pretty, who were like a combination of X-Ray Spex, Witch Mountain, and Bikini Kill.  Guitarist / co-lead vocalist Rachel Manter unleashed vocal fury at our new President on “Progress,” lead guitarist and co-lead vocalist Ashley Holman screamed about wanting to be “punk rock royalty” on “Blueberry Blues,” and they got funky on “Limbo” (with bassist James Seminara on vocals).

So Pretty

Next up was another local band – Faux Furrs.  They played a neat mix of shoegaze, surf, Americana, and dream pop.  There were songs about everything from robots falling in love to building a colony on the moon.  They had a clean, crisp sound that’s hard to pull off live.

Faux Furrs

Partner closed the show, and told me before their set that they hoped everyone would like it.  Kevin, their bassist for the tour, said they were very happy about the number of people there.  The people there were happy they showed up because Partner knocked their first Chicago show out of the park.  Seriously.  You will be upset that you missed this show when Partner become the Next Big Thing out of Canada.

Partner

Opening with “Born to Rock,” and proceeding to blast Schuba’s harder than a New Brunswick blizzard, Partner ripped through soon-to-be big hits like “Personal Weekend” and “Hot Knives.”  “The ‘Ellen’ Page” is better live than you can imagine.  Other fun moments were “Gross Secret,” “Everybody Knows You’re High,” and “Sex Thing.”

A typical day at the office for Josee Caron and Lucy Niles.

One of the best parts of Partner’s set was their reaction when it was finished.  They were humbled at the outpouring of praise from everyone afterwards and elated that their first foray into the States had been full of great audiences.

“That wasn’t even the full album (which, hopefully, is coming this fall),” Josee Caron told me after their set.  “We’ve got about fifty songs.”

Let’s hope for more stuff soon.  They’ve whet our appetites and left us craving more.  Again, you’re going to regret missing this show.

There are enough power chords in this photo to jump start a Ford F250 pick-up.

Keep your mind open.

[Don’t forget to subscribe to us before you go.  You’ll feel better.]

 

U2 announces 30th anniversary tour of “The Joshua Tree.”

I guess it was thirty years ago when I saw U2 on their Joshua Tree tour in Indianapolis at Market Square Arena (which no longer exists).  The band recently announced they will be playing the album in full during an upcoming anniversary tour that will stretch from Vancouver to Brussels.  There are plenty of U.S. dates, but you’ll have to get your tickets from the resale market if you missed the sale.  The tour sold out in minutes.

Keep your mind open.

 

A Perfect Circle to tour North America this year.

A Perfect Circle had announced earlier this year that they’d perform four tour days, but lo and behold they confirmed everyone’s hopes by announcing a full North American tour for 2017.  Catch them if you can if you’re in the west or south (or Missouri).  They don’t tour often.

April 7 – Las Vegas, Nevada @ The Pearl
April 8 – Las Vegas, Nevada @ The Pearl
April 10 – Phoenix, Arizona @ Comerica Theatre
April 11 – San Diego, California @ Open Air Theatre
April 13 – San Francisco, California @ Bill Graham Civic Auditorium
April 14 – Reno, Nevada @ Reno Event Center
April 15 – Sal Lake City, Utah @ Maverik Center
April 17 – Denver, Colorado @ 1st Bank Center
April 19 – Kansas City, Missouri @ Starlight Amphitheatre
April 20 – St. Louis, Missouri @ Chafietz Arena
April 22 – Tusla, Oklahoma @ BOK Center
April 23 – Grand Prairie, Texas @ Verizon Theatre
April 25 – Austin, Texas @ HEB Center at Cedar Park
April 26 – San Antonio, Texas @ Freeman Coliseum
April 27 – Houston, Texas @ Smart Financial Center
April 29 – Jacksonville, Florida @ Welcome to Rockville
April 30 – Fort Meyers, Florida @ Fort Rock Festival
May 2 – Atlanta, Georgia @ Verizon Wireless Amphitheatre
May 3 – Nashville, Tennessee @ Bridgestone Arena
May 5 – Concord, North Carolina @ Carolina Rebellion
May 7 – Los Angeles, California @ Hollywood Bowl

Keep your mind open.

Turn to Crime announces new album – “Secondary.”

TURN TO CRIME ANNOUNCES NEW ALBUM, SECONDARY, 
OUT FEBRUARY 3RD ON MUGG & BOPP RECORDSLISTEN TO FIRST SINGLE, “CHASING”
https://soundcloud.com/turntocrime/chasing 

U.S. TOUR BEGINS NEXT MONTH

Turn To Crime has announced their new album, Secondary, out February 3rd on front man Derek Stanton’s own Mugg & Bopp Records. Secondary is Turn To Crime’s fourth album in as many years – Phantom Buzz (2016), Actions (2015) and Can’t Love (2014). Like Actions and Can’t Love, it was recorded in Stanton’s basement studio in Detroit’s Southwest, Molten Sound. The album was mixed by Jonathan Schenke of Doctor Wu’s Studio in Brooklyn and mastered by Sarah Register, who has mastered all previous Turn To Crime albums.

The writing and recording of Secondary coincided with the release of Actions. Around this time, Stanton noticed something was off. “I started to lose hearing in my left ear,” he explains. That prompted him to obtain a hearing test. A subsequent MRI uncovered a brain tumor. “It was about a millimeter from being too big to remove and I had about a 50/50 chance of losing hearing and the movement on the left side of my face.” The band canceled their tour in support of Actions and Stanton underwent surgery only a week after that album’s release.

“I didn’t want to write a downer album about the fragility of life or anything too personal or autobiographical,” a now healthy Stanton remarks. “What came out is an important (to me) oddball pop album with a sense of urgency. I think it’s Turn To Crime’s best album to date. It’s also part of a ton of songs I wrote at the time. So, we have a few more albums just hanging out. We’re trying to figure out what to do with everything, as I keep writing like crazy, but we’re still doing the DIY thing.”

Stanton’s sense of humor and resolve is apparent on lead single, “Chasing,” premiering via Noisey today. “I love the guitar riff in this song. It’s super fun to play. When you get to the chorus you don’t want it to end,” exclaims Stanton. Stream it below.

Turn To Crime will tour in support of Secondary starting next month. A full list of dates is below.

LISTEN TO TURN TO CRIME’S “CHASING”:
https://soundcloud.com/turntocrime/chasing TURN TO CRIME TOUR DATES:
Fr. Feb. 17 – Cleveland, OH @ Euclid Tavern
Sat. Feb.18 – Brooklyn, NY @ Sunnyvale
Sun. Feb. 19 – Richmond, VA @ Strange Matter
Tue. Feb. 21 – Winston-Salem, NC @ The Garage
Wed. Feb. 22 – Athens, GA @ The World Famous
Thu. Feb. 23 – Nashville, TN @ DRKMTTR
Fri. Feb. 24 – Indianapolis, IN @ Musical Family Tree
Sat. Feb. 25 – Chicago, IL @ The Hideout

SECONDARY TRACKLIST:
1. Dead Man
2. Chasing
3. Get Your Pills From Tony
4. Fall Down
5. Secondary
6. Her Love
7. Don’t Let Go
8. Mary Jean’s Chocolate Pie

Sleater-Kinney to release “Live in Paris” January 27th.

Alt-rock riot grrl legends Sleater-Kinney will release “Live in Paris” on January 27, 2016.  This recording comes from their “No Cities to Love” reunion tour and they’re offering the album on vinyl, CD, and cassette (along with some T-shirt combo packages, too).

Don’t miss what’s sure to be a fine record.  I hope they get back in the studio and on the road again soon.

Keep your mind open.

[We hope you’ll subscribe to us before you go.]