Summer is coming to an end folks, but that does not mean it is over just yet.
Tonight the very talented Indiana rock/country act Murder By Death will be playing a FREE show at the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame Museum. This show will take place outside in front of the Cleveland staple and is open to everyone who attends.
I just checked the weather and it looks like it is going to be the perfect evening for an outdoor show. I have been getting in to Murder By Death over the years after being introduced to them through some friends of an ex of mine. At first I was not entirely sold, but the more and more I listen to them, the more I really appreciate their style. This is a band that I have been wanting to check out live for a while now. Looks like that will happen tonight.
Local rockers The Buried Wires will be opening the night off around 7pm. Make sure you get there in time to see this up and coming act. Named by Scene Magazine as a “Band To Watch” in 2010, it is safe to say they will be putting on a great show.
The FREE show is part of the Rock Hall’s Summer In The City Series and sadly, this is the last one of the year. Summer in the City is sponsored by Ohio Natural Gas, Magic Hat Brewing Company, Amtrak, KeyBank and Jim Beam.
I hate the term “latest internet craze” when it comes to all those stupid, time-killing photos tons of internet addicted humans who fancy themselves comic reliefs by “planking”, “owling”, “horsemaning”, and oh, let’s not forget “cone-ing” (although I will admit it was funny the first time I saw it).
If you have no idea what I am talking about, a.) you are lucky and b.) google them for more explanation. It’s not a craze. It is stupid and shame on you mainstream media for evening bringing it to light thinking any of it is funny.
When I think of a latest internet craze, I think of something that is a little more meaningful than some douchebag laying on a curb while some other douche takes a picture of them. Seriously, that is NOT FUNNY. Get off the hotel sign and quit pissing me off.
Anyways, enough of my rants today. I will tell you about the latest internet craze… DIY bands offering up their music online (some for free). Skipping “the man”, these DIY bands take care of it all by themselves with help of independent labels and work hard doing it.
That right there is way more interesting to me that seeing a some huge dude perch like an owl (honestly it looks like he is trying to poop his pants).
DIY bands are nothing new, but boy are they becoming more and more plentiful these days. There are tons of websites out there (some labels and some just hosts) that host DIY bands and their music like Death To False Hope Records, If You Make It, and BandCamp.
One DIY act in particular that I have been digging lately is Direct Hit!. Last night I downloaded their newest LP called Domesplitter that was put out by Kind Of Like Records. I found the download on their BandCamp page after receiving an email from one of the band members self-promoting the new release (I think I was on a mailing list from downloading one of their EPs earlier on Death To False Hope Records – I am ok with that as it is not spam). I will admit that I did not pay anythingfor the download, but I am planning on order ordering Domesplitter on vinyl (in fact, I just did, so there! Redemption on my end!).
Milwaukee’s Direct Hit! is a pop punk act with an edge. Domesplitter was a little heavier than I was anticipating and for that I loved it more. This is the band’s first full length release that actually contains songs from the band’s first five EPs – an anthology have you. Even if the album is technically not brand new material, I must say I am impressed with it. Full of hooks and anthem-like sing-a-long opportunities, the songs on this release are down right fun to listen to. This is a band I should have been a fan of since the beginning.
Dan Andriano, also known as the bassist/singer of Alkaline Trio, recently released an impressive solo album called Hurricane Season. Under the moniker Dan Andriano In The Emergency Room, the man took the album into his hands, literally. He wrote all the songs, played/sang all the music (sans the organ, piano, and a couple of harmony vocals), and even produced it. It is safe to say that Hurricane Season is indeed a true solo album. The man even took it upon himself to supply the photos as seen throughout the album and booklet.
Andriano, in case you live under a rock, is one of the impressive three that make up the popular punk rock band Alkaline Trio. Formerly of Slapstick, he is known these days for his distinguishable signing in many AK3 songs (including “Fine” as heard on AK3’s last full length This Addiction). Andriano has toyed with side projects in the past including a 2002 split as well as been a part of the punk rock supergroup The Falcon. He writes, he plays, he performs, and this time with help from Asian Man Records, he has given his talent a challenge of sorts and dropped quite the impressive album.
“It’s Gonna Rain All Day” opens the ten track album with Andriano doing what he does best; write heavy, meaningful lyrics. Such the sorrowful track with piano sneaking in and out of acoustic guitar playing making for one of my favorite tracks on the release. “Hurricane Season” followed in a more upbeat rock feel with some familiar cries coming from Andriano’s pipes. “Hollow Sounds” was more of an acoustic jam with many the reference to addicting temptations and comparisons revolving around a heartfelt memory.
“Let Me In” was a busy rock track throughout, impressive when you think that one man put it together by himself. “On Monday” had a nice country/rock feel to it. “The Last Day We Ever Close Our Eyes” was the closest thing on the entire album that resembled a heartfelt track. Then came, “From This Oil Can”, a seemingly happy ending to Hurricane Season that easily was meant to swoon someone in a clever, direct way. I really enjoyed this closing track a lot.
Hurricane Season was an album full of songs that easily could have been mistaken for AK3 b-sides or acoustic jams, but I know that is not at all what he was looking to do. Dan Andriano In The Emergency Room was more of a personal sounding voyage with deep tracks most likely that have been trapped in his mind for quite some time.
Andriano does contribute quite a lot to AK3, so it is not surprising that a lot of the tracks on Hurricane Season are dark and lost. Knowing though that this album is a solo release means that Andriano has offered so much more to it over the the typical 1/3 he probably does in AK3 as the two other members help make AK3 what they are too. The result is a personal tribute to himself. If anything, an amazing musician who probably just wanted to play some songs all by himself for others to listen to did just that. I just hope he takes this solo project on the road, only time will tell. See tour dates below. No Cleveland show, but who knows, maybe next time!
Fall Tour Dates:
Sept. 9th – Gainesville, FL at The Double Down
Sept. 10th – Naples, FL at Flieschmann Park
Sept. 11th – Ybor City, FL at Crowbar
Sept. 13th – Charlotte, NC at The Evening Muse
Sept. 14th – Chapel Hill, NC at Local 506
Sept. 15th – West Columbia, SC at New Brookland Tavern
Sept. 16th – St. Augustine, FL at Cafe 11
Sept. 24th – Chicago, IL at The Bottom Lounge
Should things go well for me, I will have this in my collection shortly:
That my friends, is the limited This Charming Man Every Little Secret EP that Suburban Home Records was so generous to re-release.
Taken from the fine folk at Suburban Home Records (they said it better then I could have):
Previous to forming The Gaslight Anthem, Brian Fallon was the singer of the punk rock outfit This Charming Man. This Charming Man’s debut EP, “Every Little Secret” is filled with catchy sing-a-long hooks and unforgettable lyrics. “Every Little Secret” is the only documentation of this short lived band and this vinyl release not only has the 6 songs from the original release, but it also has 4 untitled demos that were never released. This release is extremely limited due to the fact that this will be 1 of the final 2 Vinyl Cooperative releases. The pressing is 333 on black vinyl, 667 on brown vinyl. Due to copies going directly to coop members, the band, and XoXo who released the record originally, there will only be around 70 copies on black and 500 copies on brown for sale. I would appreciate if if you did not buy more than 1 copy of each variant. Shopradiocastwill be the only place this record will be available other than possibly XoXo or Brian Fallon/Gaslight Anthem. There will be a test press contest to go along with this. Good luck.
The 70 black vinyl EPs apparently sold out in 20 minutes on Shopradiocast. I am pretty sure I placed one of the first orders. Lightning speed internet quickness ensured a quick order for this guy. I was a tad excited to see this surface and wanted to make sure that I grabbed a copy.
Maybe it was the excessive beer intake last night, but I woke up this morning to the strangest dream I have had in a while. Not to bore you with details, but the dream ended with me in a convertible telling Ryan of Cincinnati/Detroit pop-punk act Mixtapes about this other dream I had within the dream that involved a James Bond like India adventure. He looked at me like I was high and then got mad at me when I asked him what it would take for him to sing me some Wooky Stax.
I took that as a calling today to write a little something something about Mixtapes as well as their alter ego known to many as Wooky Stax.
For those of you who do not know of the pop-punk act Mixtapes, you my friends are missing out.
The male and female front-kinda-sorta-duo sing about everything from thinking that Strung Out is a “mediocre version of the skate punk 90s” to not staying up all night and just kicking it at home drinking Diet Coke. The band is unique in that they are not looking for the fame and do it for fun (well at least I think they do). Most of their material has been released for free on the interwebs through various sites and they never seem to stop touring. They also have a handful of 7″ vinyls out for all you collectors out there.
They are a prolific band you need to check out. I’ve seen them live a couple times and it is a riot.
Wooky Stax is Mixtapes’ alterego rap project. I do not care what anyone says, I love it. It is far from the greatest hip hop and probably was created as a joke to the ever so hardworking rap music industry (can you sense the sarcasim?). Ryan and Maura do their best to rap over samples and honestly…it’s kind of catchy and it’s hella free.
