Yeah you just read and saw correctly… Amanda Palmer most known from The Dresden Dolls has released an EP of Radiohead covers done her way with her ukulele. The EP includes tracks such as “Creep”, “Idioteque”, “FakePlasticTrees”, “No Surprises”, “High and Dry” and a special live string-quartet version of “Exit Music (For a Film)”. Needless to say it is amazing, well at least it is to me.
Palmer, a very vocal supporter of direct fan-to-artist support, has made the album available online through Bandcamp for a donation of 84¢ or more, 54¢ of which going directly back into Radiohead’s pockets for the legal use of their songs (with the remaining 30¢ going to PayPal to cover the transaction fee). Of course you can donate more if you wish…
A sundowner can be a lot of things (a car, drink, plane, type of wind), but in this case the Sundowner I am referring to is an amazing solo project by Chris McCaughan, the guitarist and vocalist of punk act The Lawrence Arms.
We Chase The Waves is Sundowner’s second album and like the first, it is far from punk rock and more of a brush with folk music that brings forth good moods and instant sing alongs. Recently dropping on Asian Man Records, We Chase The Waves might just be the album that gets me through the rest of the summer.
Starting as a side project, McCaughan wrote a few songs in his free time and played intimate shows around the Chicago area taking the moniker Sundowner. With help from fellow band mates and friends the project turned into a band of sorts with Sundowner’s debut being released in the spring of 2007 on Red Scare Records. Just three years later McCaughan and friends decided for a follow-up and recorded We Chase The Wave in their homes, literally, in just eight months.
Passionate and compelling are the two words that describe McCaughan’s wiring styles on the CD. The guy is a natural storyteller and just has a way with words. From the moment “In The Flicker” started off the album I was beyond mesmerized. The song was nothing more than an acoustic jam amongst friends but I was addicted, I wanted more, and before I knew it the ten track album was wrapping up.
Tracks like “As The Crow Flies” impressed the hell out of me even though the song was nothing over the ordinary. The way the song presented itself to the listener, told the story, and ended it on a positive note not only begged for another listen but might have very well inspired a certain someone typing out this review…
“Baseball’s Sad Lexicon” took words from the 1910 poem of the same title by Franklin Pierce Adams telling the tale of the Cubs succeeding over the Giants thanks to a game winning double play (the only way I ever would have known this was by reading the CD insert and Google). As an ode to McCaughan’s beloved Chicago Cubs he did a great job rendition of the classic poem.
“Mouth Of A Tiger” was a stern and ever so low opinionated track with lyrics like “I’m as lucky as a funeral” and “I’m not looking at the glass half full”. I adored the singing style on the song match up with the acoustic and lap steel guitar playing. Full of everyday truth and plain old honest opinions, the song begged to be played on repeat.
We Chase The Waves was an amazing start to finish album with no lulls in between. McCaughan nails it dead on with his catchy melodies and fine storytelling that will grow on you regardless if you are a fan of him, The Lawrence Arms, or not. Don’t look at Sundowner as a side project by a punk rock guy, look at it as a talented musician who has created something that more people need to know about.
Matt Freeman (sporting the hat in the pic to the left) is releasing a full length Devils Brigade album!!!!!! As a long time Rancid/Hellcat fan I am just thrilled to have heard this. The album will drop at the end of August and a tour will follow. With any luck he will be playing a show in Cleveland. One can only hope!
Matt Freeman is without a doubt one of my favorite bassists out there. Having played with Op Ivy as well as Auntie Christ his most known material is of course with Rancid. He and Tim Armstrong have actually been friends since they were little kids so it is no wonder that their musical careers have revolved around one another.
Devils Brigade was just a side project with a song released here and there but until now Matt Freemon never took the time to record his own album. See below on the following Epitaph press release about this exciting news!
RANCID’S MATT FREEMAN GOES UPRIGHT FOR NEW DEVILS BRIGADE ALBUM
Celebrated Bay Area punk legend Matt Freeman of Rancid and Operation Ivy fame will release the long awaited, self-titled debut album for his side project Devils Brigade on August 31 via Hellcat Records. The bass player has assimilated a touring band to join him this fall when they hit the road with labelmates Street Dogs on a US tour.
Devils Brigade was conceived in 2000, when bassist Matt Freeman began writing songs with Tim Armstrong between Rancid tours. This led to a few EPs and some songs on Hellcat’s Give Em The Boot compilation, but the project was put on the back burner when Rancid began touring and recording again. Years went by and after Rancid took a break from touring on the Let The Dominoes Fall record, Matt got the itch to reactivate the project with a new studio album.
“The original concept for this record was going to be a musical,” says Freeman. “Tim had been kicking around an idea of doing a musical about the building of the Golden Gate Bridge. He had the title “Half Way To Hell Club.” This was based on the name for the bridge workers who fell off the bridge while it was being built and fell into the safety net that was between them and the ocean. We grew up in the East Bay looking at that bridge and it has always been a part of our lives. Six of those songs ended up on the Devils Brigade record. The other songs were all original Devils Brigade songs from the first demo. We thought they were still good and we should record them again.”
In early 2010, Matt and Tim entered the studio with DJ Bonebrake from the influential punk group X and recorded twelve quick tempered songs featuring Matt’s signature, snarling vocals along with his snap, thumping upright bass, which shine through on roots driven punk tracks like “I’m Moving Through,” “Who’s Gonna Save Your Now” and “My Own Man Now.”
“It was a great vibe in the studio,” Matt adds. “The record has a real live and loose vibe. Loose in a good way. Tim’s guitar style blended really well with DJ and everything clicked very quickly. We had a lot of fun making this record. I am going to take it out on the road whenever I can when Rancid is not doing anything.”
Check out this powerful video from Set Your Goals revolving around the greed that is polluting our future…
SET YOUR GOALS CALLS FANS TO ACTION IN NEW VIDEO
Bay Area Pop-punk band Set Your Goals has partnered up with Sea Shepherd Conservation Society (SSCS) to release a timely new video for their latest single “Gaia Bleeds” from the band’s Epitaph debut album This Will Be The Death Of Us. Set Your Goals is calling fans to action suggesting they make a donation to SSCS at seashepherd.org to help support their “Operation Gulf Rescue,” which is currently training volunteers for hazmat operations and conducting reconnaissance surveys of the disastrous oil spill.
The video calls out American greed and destructive wastefulness and features an angsty, adrenaline fueled performance by the band with facts on the devastation to planet earth.
Set Your Goals is currently orchestrating the pit on this summer’s Vans Warped Tour. Don’t miss one of the tour’s hottest bands!
Set Your Goals Tour Dates: July 13 – Mansfield, MA – Comcast Center (Warped Tour)
July 14 – Darien Center, NY – Darien Lake P.A.C. (Warped Tour)
July 15 – Scranton, PA – Toyota Pavilion (Warped Tour)
July 16 – Camden, NJ – Susquehanna Bank Center (Warped Tour)
July 17 – Uniondale, NY – Nassau Veterans Memorial Coliseum (Warped Tour)
July 18 – Oceanport, NJ – Monmouth Park Racetrack (Warped Tour)
July 20 – Columbia, MD – Merriweather Post Pavilion (Warped Tour)
July 21 – Virginia Beach, VA – Virginia Beach Amphitheatre (Warped Tour)
July 22 – Charlotte, NC – Verizon Wireless Amphitheater Charlotte (Warped Tour)
July 23 – St. Petersburg, FL – Vinoy Park (Warped Tour)
July 24 – West Palm Beach, FL – Cruzan Amphitheater (Warped Tour)
July 25 – Orlando, FL – Central Florida Fairgrounds (Warped Tour)
July 26 – Atlanta, GA – Lakewood Amphitheater (Warped Tour)
July 28 – Cincinnati, OH – Riverbend Music Center (Warped Tour)
July 29 – Milwaukee, WI – Marcus Amphitheater (Warped Tour)
July 30 – Detroit, MI – Comerica Park (Warped Tour)
July 31 – Tinley Park, IL – First Midwest Bank Amphitheatre (Warped Tour)
Aug 1 – Shakopee, MI – Canterbury Park (Warped Tour)
Aug 2 – Bonner Springs, KS – Sandstone Amphitheatre (Warped Tour)
Aug 5 – Calgary, AB – Race City Speedway (Warped Tour)
Aug 7 – Salt Lake City, UT – Utah State Fairgrounds (Warped Tour)
Aug 8 – Denver, CO – Invesco Field (Warped Tour)
Aug 11 – Pomona, CA – Pomona Fairplex (Warped Tour)
Aug 12 – Marysville, CA – Sleep Train Amphitheatre (Warped Tour)
Aug 13 – Nampa, ID – Idaho Center Amphitheatre (Warped Tour)
Aug 14 – George, WA – Gorge Amphitheater (Warped Tour)
Aug 15 – Hillsboro, OR – Washington County Fairgrounds (Warped Tour)
Suburban Home Records Mix Tape Volume 5, “Someone’s Gonna Die” marks a new approach to our Mix Tape series. Partly because it costs less money and partly because we found so many songs we had to put on this mix (putting the running time at over 100 minutes), Mix Tape Volume 5 is available as a free download and not a physical compact disc. While we will miss the physical, tangible qualities of the past volumes, I won’t personally miss having to burn thousands of CDrs and hand-packing every one of them. Let me know your thoughts on this approach.
“Someone’s Gonna Die” was inspired by I Can Lick Any Sonofabitch In the House’s new album, “The Sounds of Dying”. Our own Andy Thomas helped me put together the track listing for this mix. The first two songs are from the new album which will be up for pre-order on Thursday, July 15th. The 2nd of Sonofabitch’s songs is a cover of Two Cow Garage’s “Postcard and Apologies” and their version is absolutely fantastic. We figured it only fitting to put Two Cow’s version on right after and while keeping with this mindset, we put a Townes Van Zandt cover by Michael Dean Damron (of ICLASOBITH) followed by the original song. The rest of the mix finds a number of Suburban Home tracks from the likes of Austin Lucas (new demo), Tim Barry, The Takers, Armchair Martian, Jr Juggernaut, Jon Snodgrass, Drag the River, and Look Mexico alongside some of our favorite tracks by new and old bands. We took submissions for this mix by bands who thought their music would work on this volume of our Mix Tape and while we had only planned on putting 1 or 2 songs from these submissions, we put like 6 or 7 songs. We apologize to those of you who submitted tracks that were not selected, but we hope you understand that it was impossible to put all the submissions on. Additionally, I picked a few of my favorite newer bands like The Evening Rig, Arliss Nancy, and John Moreland and the Black Gold Band. We put a number of oldies but goodies from the likes of Lucky Old Sun (Ben Nichols old band), Slobberbone, the Replacements, and more. I think that this could be my favorite Mix Tape yet. I haven’t stopped listening to it since we finished it.
Please download this mix. If you run a blog, please post it on there. If you are in a band on this Mix, please post the mix for download on your Facebook/Twitter/Myspace pages. After downloading the zipped folder, send it out to everyone you know. If our yousendit link expires, just email me or post a comment and I will replace the link with a new one. We really hope you enjoy this mix and if you find some new bands that have caught your ear, please consider buying a record from them or their label and make sure you mark their tour dates on your calendar.
If you could take anything home from our previous mix tapes, it would be great if you downloaded the mix and shared it with at least 4 other friends. I would love to see this mix reach people all over the world. As I always say, music is meant to be shared.
Download hi-resolution cover art and back art if you want to print your own covers in the event you want to burn this onto CDs (it would have to be 2 Audio CDs or 1 Mp3 CD since there is over 100 minutes of audio). Artwork done incredibly by Brandon Proff.
