Beloved Philadelphia band Dr. Dog are poised to release a staggering burst of vital rock ‘n’ roll with their new record Be The Void. The album is the raucous follow up to the group’s critically lauded Shame, Shame. Having evolved from a band whose primary creative outlet was the album-making process into one that favored the energy of their live performances, Dr. Dog knew they wanted to document the new dynamic they had developed on the road. Tracking live in the studio and turning up the guitars, the band has delivered a truly great cathartic rock ‘n’ roll album played with near reckless abandon and passion, blending their early punk-infused energy with the songwriting craft that made Fate and Shame, Shame fan favorites.
From the rollicking re-imagined blues of the disc’s title track to the searing guitars of “Vampire,” the frenetic urgency of “Over Here Over There” and the beautifully fuzzed out rock of “Warrior Man,” Dr. Dog’s Be The Void is a truly great rock ‘n’ roll record and the unmistakable sound of a band whose moment has arrived.
Chart topping U.K. rockers, YOU ME AT SIX kick off their co-headlining tour with The Swellers in January to support the upcoming U.S. release of their album SINNERS NEVER SLEEP, on Virgin Records in stores January 24th. The 17-date run begins in Cleveland Heights, OH on January 24th at the Grog Shop, and will close on February 14th in Los Angeles, CA at the Troubadour. The coast-to-coast run will be making stops in Chicago, New York, Philadelphia, Atlanta, Dallas, and Los Angeles.
SINNERS NEVER SLEEP, was released October 2011 in the U.K. and debuted at #3 on the album charts. Produced by Garth Richardson (Biffy Clyro, Rage Against The Machine, Red Hot Chili Peppers) and recorded at the famous Sound Factory studio in Los Angeles, SINNERS NEVER SLEEP sees YOU ME AT SIX exploring their most mature sound to date extending the band’s scope wider than ever before. Bring Me The Horizon’s Oli Sykes guests on the dark anthem ‘Bite My Tongue’, while Parkway Drive vocalist Winston McCall contributes to the growling intensity of ‘Time Is Money’. The hook-infused melodies of ‘Jaws On The Floor’ and ‘Reckless’ are offset by the more introspective ‘No One Does It Better’, ‘Crash’ and ‘When We Were Younger’.
Since the release of the band’s U.K. 2010 Top 5 hit album Hold Me Down, YOU ME AT SIX have enjoyed a rush of landmark events. First was the 2010 Kerrang! Awards where they won ‘Best Single’, which was soon followed by their main stage debut at the Reading and Leeds festivals. YOU ME AT SIX were also recently named as Future Flames Ambassadors by Coca-Cola, a Presenting Partner of the London 2012 Olympic Torch Relay, and will help to find inspiring young people to carry the Olympic Flame next year. This year the band was named “Best British Band” at the 2011 Kerrang! Awards.
RIYL: Biffy Clyro, Motion City Soundtrack, Boxer Rebellion, The Kooks
TRY: #2, 5, 7, 8, 12
DIRTY: #3, 6, 9
"Austin, TX natives Quiet Company have created an album that should raise plenty of eyebrows, elicit a few audible wows, and get some serious word-of-mouth buzz. We Are All Where We Belong combines different feels, influences, and energies into a work that should be sought out and listened to at full volume.
“The Confessor” opens the LP with a quiet, pulsing organ and lead singer Taylor Muse’s soft, Ben Gibbard-like vocals floating in a sea of choral ooos and ahhs. He sings, “Don’t wanna waste my time thinkin’ about the afterlife,” over one bouncy piano, all before every instrument the band can muster blasts into a raucous, church revival that would make The Polyphonic Spree envious. After that, album standout “You, Me, & the Boatman” defies you not to pump your fists amidst the exploding drums and trumpets. Muse begs his love to stay with him “until the boatman comes,” letting out some incredibly impressive screams during the line “because I don’t care about the past or future/so let’s live to love and love to live!”
Quiet Company has constructed the music to channel a kind of Saves the Day/Get Up Kids power-punk youth, only mirroring the lyrical sensibilities of, say, The Decemberists’ Colin Meloy. Muse’s lyrics tell a tale of someone moving away from God and the church and questioning a belief system that seems flawed and circumspect. “The Black Sheep & the Shepherd” puts it simply: “And into safer arms we run/with a thorn in our sides and devils inside/So who are we running from?”
With well-crafted, honest lyricism and scarily catchy instrumentation, Quiet Company has created an album that sticks to your feet, but in a very enjoyable way." - CONSEQUENCE OF SOUND (4/5 Stars)
RIYL: Death Cab For Cutie, Decemberists, Say Anything, David Bazan, Kevin Devine
TRY: #1, 2, 5, 9
Dirty Passionate Daydreaming marks the third full length release from California indie band "The Ivy Walls" following the well received 2009 record The Elegant Universe. With a subtle blend of New Wave, shoegaze, and post punk influences, Dirty Passionate Daydreaming not only charts dreamy pop territory but also has some heavier moments with a pop sensibilty.
L.A. based musicians Ryan Varon (guitar/synth), Jeff Yanero (guitar/vocals), Adam Waldon (drums), and The Count (Bass) came together to form The Ivy Walls in 2007. With new wave/post punk stylings, they nod to several 80's and early 90's indie, dream pop, and shoegaze acts, most notably Echo and the Bunnymen, Ride, The Cure, and Cocteau Twins.
The band released and recorded their debut album Lovers in Hotels in 2008 and after a string of television placements and a low budget video featuring ANTM's Joanie Dodds, they returned to the studio once again. In 2010, they released The Elegant Universe while again finding success in film and television placements. The video for the first single from their album Getaway Driver also garnered regular play on MTV and other similar outlets.
In 2011, The Ivy Walls recorded Dirty Passionate Daydreaming at the famed Henson Studios in Los Angeles. According to the band, they used some of their earliest material on the record, which was written when the band was just a seedling.
In Jan 2012, Dirty Passionate Daydreaming hit the airwaves along with a trailer of the album's first video, which stars Chris Pine (Star Trek, Unstoppable, This Means War) and Robert Baker (Leatherheads, Grey's Antatomy), on YouTube.
The video for "All I Want" is set to release on February 1st.
"the material is as fresh as newly baked bread, and the ingredients are all top quality." - Kev A. Leicester Bangs. UK.
"The music has a film‐like quality; it's dreamy, lush, and as romantic as a Hollywood score." - XYZmp3.com
"A familiar welcoming sound" - The L.A. Times
RIYL: Death Cab For Cutie, Wilco, The Stone Roses, Broken Social Scene
TRY: #2, 3, 7, 10
In July 2011, I went to Austin Texas to make a record. The Hold Steady was on a four month break, and I wanted to try something a little different. Earlier in the year, I had written a bunch of songs that were outside of the norm for The Hold Steady, a little quieter and perhaps more narrative. I also wanted to gain some experience and insight into the process of making a record by working with new people.
It was July in Austin. It was hot. Really hot. I had enlisted Mike McCarthy to produce the record. I really admire his work and his thoughts on songs and recording. Prior to arriving, I had sent Mike acoustic demos of 23 songs. They were very rough recordings, just acoustic guitar and vocals recorded live into my laptop. The songs had mostly been written in the first half of 2011, when I was experimenting with trying to write a new song every day.
When I arrived in Austin, we trimmed the list down to 14 songs and made simple but good sounding recordings of each of these, each live with just acoustic and vocal. Then we talked about possible instrumentation and arrangements. We listened to records. We conceptualized and talked about what we were hearing in our heads.
The next Monday, four musicians showed up: Josh Block, Jesse Ebaugh, Ricky Ray Jackson, and Billy White. Mike had chosen them, and he chose well. We said hellos and got to work. We moved quickly. I would show them the song and they would learn it, and quickly we were rolling tape. I sang the vocals live in the studio, something I hadn't really done before. I don't believe any song took more than three takes. These players brought a ton of enthusiasm and energy to the recording. It was really exciting to watch and hear them play together. We averaged a couple songs a day. By that Friday evening we had 14 songs tracked, including the vocals.
We spent a few days listening and then did a few overdubs. We drove around in Austin, listening to rough mixes. I left Austin three weeks after I arrived. It was still really hot. When considering the songs as a whole, I realized that a lot of the songs deal with displacement, and people that are struggling while out of their element or comfort zone. A lot of the songs are about being alone. This is all pretty fertile ground for a musician that spends a lot of time on tour. It's also telling about the way we made this record, going to a friendly but fairly unfamiliar place to work with all new people.
I'm calling this record “Clear Heart Full Eyes”. It's a juxtaposed reference to Friday Night Lights, a TV show that excited and moved me and also happened in Texas. Further, “Clear Heart” signifies honesty and transparency, and “Full Eyes” suggests experience. Thus, it's about being optimistic and open without succumbing to the weariness or doubt that comes with age and experience. To me, that is what it's all about. I hope you enjoy the music. I am very proud of it.
Thank you, Craig Finn
RIYL: The Hold Steady, John K. Samson, Frank Turner
TRY: #8, 1, 4
