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.
Designed by the ever cool Aaron Seachrist @ okpants.com
In case you hadn’t heard, UK’s The Joy Formidable are going to be playing a show this Wednesday at the Rock Hall around 7pm.
Did I mention the show is FREE? Well, you will need to cart your booty down to Cleveland one way or another, but you get the idea.
As part of the awesome Summer In The City Concert Series, The Joy Formidable and Cleveland’s very own HotChaCha will play in front of the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame Museum to everyone who shows up. This series is a great way to check out new bands and just enjoy an evening in Cleveland for no charge. I missed the first two already this summer, but will be sure to make it to this one.
I have the feeling this is going to be one of those shows that should not be missed. I envision an all around good time already. I know some of my pals from 92.3 Radio will be there as well as other good folk.
If you have not heard any material by the three-piece, 90s rock comparable sounding, female-fronted band yet, check out some videos below. They’ve been around since 2008 and really have a sweet sound to them. Rolling Stone recently nominated them as a band to watch. Not to mention the lead female vocalist is a total fox…
(I did not know Roseanne had a cameo in this video)
I have been digging Old Man Markley‘s self-proclamed genre of “Newgrass” for quite some time now, but it appears that I forgot to let the rest of the world know. The band released Guts N’ Teeth on Fat Wreck Chords back in January and I guess I enjoyed it so much that I failed to talk it up a bunch. So, 5-months later, without further au-due, ladies and gentlemen, Old Man Markley…
So, wait – what is this “Newgrass” genre I speak of? It is a fine mix of punk, folk, and bluegrass making for one catchy sound. Think old school country jam meets folk rock / punk rock fueled by countless rounds of draft beers at your favorite drinking hole with friends.
If having a good time could be put in music form, “Newgrass” is probably what it would sound like.
Back in 2007, the band started off in LA jamming out in a bluegrass fashion as well as took countless bluegrass favorites of theirs and covered them in a much different way based upon their own punk rock standards. After a couple years the band, containing up to nine people currently, took all they knew musically and pushed out their debut album Guts N’ Teeth. The result is one of the best CDs I have heard in 2011 and I am not just saying that. Put it this way, the moment I heard the opening track, I placed my order for the vinyl because I had to have it in my collection.
“For Better For Worse” was that catchy track I heard. I was an instant fan. It was a mix of all the current types of music I have been digging lately – Folk, country, punk, and bluegrass. The song was full on energy even if singing of a girl that can’t be had. Resembling something sounding like Tumbledown meets Dropkick Murphys, the song made you want to throw a foot to the ground a few hundred times while tossing back drinks. Does it sound to you as if I liked this track? You bet your ass I did.
Following was “At The Bottom”, a banjo-heavy track full of group vocals backing up singing about passing out at the bottom of a bottle. “Running Weight” was a fiddle frenzy track that was more like an adventure if anything about getting from point A to point B without getting caught.
“Do Me Like You Do” was an entertaining cover of the 1924 song written by Gene Austin and Roy Bergere. Covered usually by jazz artists, this mean bluegrass version was full of fun a quarrel at the same time. Slowing down things a bit was “Song Songs”, a song about all the songs that many members of this band have probably written for others throughout the years.
Another track that caught my ear was “Letterman”, a song of an angered escape surrounded by some amazing folk rock music, especially the harmonica playing. With harsh lyrics like, “so now your hiding in a sad song, we don’t want to sing along”, it’s clear that the song is not aimed for good feelings one bit. “Lowdown Blues” was a prime example of what the Stray Cats would have sounded like if they ditched the whole rockabilly feel and moved to the mountains.
I would not have been surprised if Tim Barry and the Avett Brothers had something to do with “Living and Learning”. Hell, even Slobberbone hints throughout this track. I guess it’s that time where I tell you if you need to listen to one track on this album it’s this one. Seriously, good shit right here.
For a bunch of punkers from L.A. who used to be in bands such as Youth Brigade and Angel City Outcasts, Old Man Markley is downright impressive. Mandolins, banjos, fiddles, autoharp, harmonica, washboard, and high spirited singing full up this album of non-stop folk/punk/rock goodness. Like I said before, this is one of my favorite albums of 2011 and to think, it came out in the beginning of the year. I dare anyone out there who says they like folk or country to tell me that there is not at least one song on this album that made them thing “damn, them boys is good”, because as a pretty solid fan of those genres, that is exactly what I said.
Old Man Markley will be touring with NOFX and Anti-Flag this Fall and as luck would have it, they are hitting Cleveland. I know I will be in attendance that night. Something tells me I will not regret it.
Can I just comment on the above video? Best. Video. Ever.
I’ve been meaning to give some props to an online record store for a couple of weeks now. The company I speak of is called Shop Radio Cast and I have been buying from them for a while now.
Fans of limited edition pressings and especially punk rock releases will get a kick out of this site. They seem to always carry the stuff I can not find in my neck of the woods. There’s nothing like just jumping online and snagging what you want right there and then without being overpriced.
I feel like I am a commercial… Shop Cast. Shop, Radio Cast.
Honestly, it is not just the selection, but also the great customer service. The guys at Shop Radio Cast answer questions quickly and will resolve any problem as fast as they can.
Case and point: I ordered the Record Store Day version of The Menzingers Chamberlain Waits in April after having no luck in Ohio finding it. I did not open it for weeks and when I finally did this past week I discovered it was the regular black vinyl version and not the Record Store Day blue version I thought I had purchased. I emailed the company to tell them of my disappointment thinking that I was out of luck getting the limited edition version and not even a couple hours later received a response. It was a simple overlook, but the company made sure that I was taken care of, and guess what? They were able to locate a Record Store Day version for me and I should have it soon.
It’s nice to have customer service like that. I have dealt with other online records stores (whose names will remain unnamed…..for now) and either got shitty, short replies or no response at all.
So, props to you fine folk at Shop Radio Cast. You make it easy for me to waste all of my hard earned money on my addiction also known as vinyl. Keep up the good work!
Record collectors… Check them out. www.shopradiocast.com They don’t just deal with punk rock genres but also rock and indie. If you are turned down by the idea of vinyl, they sell CDs, clothing and even hot sauce. Bitchin’.
UPDATE: I feel the need to let anyone who stumbles upon this post that SRC never threw me any freebies back in 2011 when I posted this. I was being sincere.
Over the years, I continued ordering from them but pretty much stopped after the SRC vinyl subscription series was introduced.
I felt kind of cheated out in a way with that series as I was never told I was in the top 10 until I received the first record and then realized the limited edition hand numbered pressings were just records with a cardboard sleeve over them. I was expecting something a little more official I suppose.
Regardless, having Hum and Quicksand in my collection is pretty bad ass.
As far as SRC goes as a company, I know for a fact that they are not a big operation and there are a handful of them who run that show. As far as ordering and customer service, I personally never had issues with them, but that was after I realized they communicated within their website to the consumer rather than a direct email.
Seeing comments still come in to this day almost bums me out for the sake of SRC, but I also know in the world of retail, stand alone store or online, you need to bust your ass and keep things running smooth.
Here’s hoping they can fix any of the problems with orders out there and reflect as the website I once referred to.
One of my favorite indie/rock/happy bands, Minus The Bear, have decided to post their new EP titled Hold Me Down for free download (see below for link).
The EP features the title track (off of OMNI), three live tracks recorded at the Dangerbird Records studios, a b-side titled “Broken China” and a “My Time” remix.
Did I mention it is free? I think I did. You know what to do…
