After a period of chart-topping collaborations, Canadian electro-pop trio Dragonette have made a valiant return with their fourth studio album Royal Blues to be released worldwide on November 11. Perfectly timed to keep listeners warm while the winter months creep in, the 13-song collection is an irresistibly hook-laden, dancefloor-ready celebration of wisdom that only comes from life experience.
Sonically strapped with a joyous energy, the record is tinged with melancholy undertones. “Sweet Poison” is a deeply personal album cut about love that you can’t hold onto nor let go of. The purposeful simplicity of the video artistically elevates the emotion of the lyrics.
To celebrate the release, the band will embark on a 22-date North American tour making stops in Boston, LA, Chicago, Portland, Toronto and more.
Tour Dates:
* = w/ Lowell
^ = w/ Gibbz
11/9: Waterloo, ON @ Maxwell’s*
11/10: Toronto, ON @ Phoenix Concert Theatre*
11/11: Montréal, QC @ Théâtre Fairmount*
11/12: Ottawa, ON @ Bronson Centre*
11/16: Winnipeg, MB @ Pyramid Cabaret*
11/17: Saskatoon, SK @ Louis’ Pub*
11/18: Edmonton, AB @ Starlite Room*
11/19: Calgary, AB @ The Gateway at SAIT*
11/22: Kelowna, BC @ Sapphire Nightclub*
11/23: Vancouver, BC @ Imperial*
11/24: Victoria, BC @ Sugar Nightclub*
11/26: Portland, OR @ Doug Fir Lounge ^
11/27: Seattle, WA @ Neumos ^
11/29: San Francisco, CA @ The Independent ^
11/30: West Hollywood, CA @ The Roxy Theatre ^
12/2: Salt Lake City, UT @ Metro Bar ^
12/3: Denver, CO @ Bluebird Theater ^
12/5: Minneapolis, MN @ 7th Street Entry ^
12/6: Chicago, IL @ Lincoln Hall ^
12/8: Columbus, OH @ A&R Music Bar ^
12/10: Brooklyn, NY @ Warsaw ^
12/11: Boston, MA @ Royale Boston ^
After songwriting comparisons to Bruce Springsteen (“Hold Back”), Nirvana, and Fleetwood Mac (“Roll a Stone”), Communist Daughter is debuting another single from the upcoming sophomore album: the misleadingly upbeat “Balboa Bridge.” The gorgeous instrumental melodies and vocal harmonies are comforting at first take, but demand another listen to reveal another meaning.
Frontman Johnny Solomon explains the inspiration behind the song: “There’s this gorgeous park in the middle of San Diego, and there’s a bridge right in the middle of it that runs over the highway. My mom told me that when she was younger, they used to call that Suicide Bridge. I remember the times when I was thinking of that option, and how far away that bridge was from me. All I could think about was that it was this place, so far away from that basement in Wisconsin where I was getting high; it was this magical place in my mind where I wouldn’t feel the way I did anymore.”
October 21st will see the release of their highly anticipated sophomore album The Cracks That Built The Wall as well as a string of tour dates through the Midwest supporting the album – see below:
TOUR DATES:
10/12 – Sioux Falls SD – Icon Lounge
10/14 – Omaha NE – O’Leavers
10/15 – Des Moines IA – Vaudeville Mews
10/16 – Lincoln NE – Duffy’s
10/21 – Minneapolis – Electric Fetus In Store
11/3- Nashville TN – Hi Watt
11/4 Dayton OH – Blind Bobs
11/5 Florence AL – 116 E. Mobile
11/7 Lexington KY – The Burl
11/8 Madison – The Frequency
11/9 Iowa City – Yacht Club
11/10 UW Platteville – Platteville, WI
11/11 Minneapolis – First Avenue
Today I’d like to share with you a new song called “Not Even In Your Dreams” from Crocodiles upcoming album, Dreamless. “Not Even…” is the finale on Dreamless which is due out 10/21 on Zoo Music.
The San Diego based band is comprised of best friends Brandon Welchez and Charles Rowell. They’ve earned their place as one of the United States’ most engaging, hardworking and consistent rock and roll bands of the past few years. Dreamless is the pair’s sixth LP, and is, at once, their most exploratory and focused release.
Whereas Crocodiles’ first two albums made their home amongst a stew of fuzzed-out psychedelia, and the following three albums explored Welchez and Rowell’s penchant for placing pop sensibilities against whirring guitars and barbed production, Dreamless sees the duo endeavoring on an artistic departure that positions their guitars in the backseat in favor of a more spacious, synthesizer and piano-driven sound.
“We’ve always been a guitar band and I think we just wanted to challenge ourselves and our aesthetic,” says Welchez. “It didn’t start as a conscious decision but within the first week Charlie’s mantra became ‘fuck guitars’. Only one song has zero guitar but in general we tried to find alternatives to fill that space.”
The title of the album works on both a literal and metaphorical level: “I suffered insomnia throughout the whole session. I was literally dreamless,” explains Welchez. “The past two years had been fraught with difficulty for us – relationship troubles, career woes, financial catastrophe, health issues,” he continues. “In that pessimistic mindset it was easy to feel as if the dream was over.”
The pair recorded the 10-track Dreamless in Mexico City over the course of 6 weeks. Having become something of a spiritual (and in the case of Welchez, literal) home to the duo, choosing D.F. as the location for recording allowed them to again hook-up with friend and occasional bandmate Martin Thulin (also a member of post-punks Exploded View). Between them, the trio shared instrument duties, with Welchez and Rowell handling the lion’s share of guitar and bass, Thulin and Welchez the live drum work, and Thulin focusing largely on keys.
“Our relationship with Martin will serve as a pivotal point in our band’s history,” comments Rowell. “On this album Martin continued his efforts to help us take our songwriting and aesthetics to further reaches.”
Thulin’s work on Dreamless is in keeping with the exemplary production found on Crocodiles previous releases and reconciles the band’s realigned focus on keys with their experiments of often pairing down the instrumentation to allow lyrical sentiments and themes to cut through to the fore. It’s an approach that has paid off, enabling the band to take more risks, both artistically and emotionally.
“And you’ll burn and weep and suffer,” says the chilling spoken-word sample that opens Dreamless. “The sample is from a Christian preacher that we found over 15 years ago and used on the first 7” we ever did together when we were still teenagers” explains Brandon Welchez. “Back then we used it with a sense of humor, laughing at the whole ridiculous guilt trip vibe. But hearing it again in our apartment in Mexico City, within the context of the words we were singing, it took on a different air. It lost the humorous aspect and just seemed like a commentary on life.”
An unsettling insight certainly, but if Crocodiles did indeed have to burn, weep and suffer in order to write and record Dreamless, then it was damn well worth it.
DREAMLESS – TRACKLISTING
01. Telepathic Lover
02. Maximum Penetration
03. Welcome To Hell
04. I’m Sick
05. Go Now
06. Alita
07. Jumping On Angels
08. Time To Kill
09. Jailbird
10. Not Even In Your Dreams
Eclypse Records began in 2015 by Grammy Nominated DJ/Producer duo, Feenixpawl (Josh Soon + Aden Forte) and Jason Forte. The label, launched in conjunction with Wind-up Records in April, have released singles and remixes by Feenixpawl and Jason Forte, and are developing a reputation as well-known curators.
Together, Josh, Aden and Jason have been hand selecting music from a fresh batch of up and coming DJ’s, releasing tracks from the likes of Bynon, Michael Brun, Reez, Corey James, Joakim Molitor and more. The singles, which have garnered attention from major EDM and electronic outlets like YourEDM, EDM.com, Magnetic Mag and Earmilk, have also gained recognition from the likes of Billboard and other tastemakers in the blogosphere.
The label arrive today with their second compilation of original tracks, Eclypse Volume Two; available for free download now and featuring original tracks from Maxum & Simon Alex, Badr Avsar, Jose De Mara and more. Speaking of the download initiative, label bosses Jason, Aden and Josh noted, “We launched our free download initiative to release some of the amazing music we get sent every single day and it’s been an incredible success so far. We are so happy to give the opportunity to some upcoming producers who we are sure you’ll be hearing more from in the future.”
The Eclypse Records label bosses have been busy working on their own music on the label as well. Feenixpawl recently released a new single, “Quicksand” with APEK, which continues to grow across all streaming platforms, with the track being added to several select Spotify playlists, as well as play-listing looks from Proximity and Zoedic. To compliment the track’s major buzz and success, Eclypse launched the “Quicksand” Remix package following the release and an official WAVO Remix Contest. Additionally, Feenixpawl once again prove their remix abilities by releasing a Fitz and the Tantrums REMIX for “Handclap”, premiering via Blackbook. The remixed track was recently added to Spotify’s New Music Friday and Fresh EDM, and ‘Best of the Week Pop’ on apple music and currently at 146k streams in just 9 days. To further confirm, Feenixpawl’s remix of Rihanna’s “Kiss It Better” hit #1 at Hype Machine.
What’s next for Eclypse Records? “We feel the journey has just begun and we’re constantly pushing ourselves to take our music and Eclypse Records to even further heights,” adds Josh Soon.
“Persistence is the key ingredient when it comes to the story of Miniature Tigers. Originally started as a bedroom project by front-man Charlie Brand in Phoenix, Arizona in 2006, the band has since released 4 studio albums, toured the planet and cultivated a cult base of die hard fans through their constant output of brilliantly written records. Early albums such as Tell It To the Volcano and FORTRESS garnered them critical acclaim from the likes of Pitchfork, NPR and Stereogum while later albums such as Mia Pharaoh and Cruel Runnings (recorded in Jamaica) sent them on more futuristic indie-pop realms, garnering support from Neon Gold and festival appearances at Lollapalooza, ACL, Fun Fun Fun, and international touring with multi-platinum act Fun.
Like many bands after nearly a decade of hard work and moderate success, Charlie Brand started considering his future. He started an exciting buzz-worthy project with close friend Jeremy Malvin (Chrome Sparks) called Promises Ltd. , wrote and produced for other artists such as rapper Skizzy Mars and after a long relationship came to and end, naturally he turned to what he always turned to….and the output took shape in what eventually would become Miniature Tigers 5th LP.
“I Dreamt I Was a Cowboy was written after the end of a long relationship. I wanted to leave those recordings intentionally raw to maintain the feeling of that time. I wanted it to feel clear and immediate.” As the “demos” came together, it became evident that the recordings were actually album cuts. “I spent a few months couch surfing with friends in Texas and New York before eventually moving to Los Angeles. Many of the songs on the record were written and recorded while I was living on someone’s air mattress. This album felt so specifically personal that when it came time to finish I decided to not re-record anything in a studio and to just mix and master it myself. ”
The end result is a 5th album jam packed with the excitement and energy of a debut album…but with the mastery that can only come from a seasoned writer like Brand, where the lessons learned and scars born from a life dedicated to music are not in this case in vain but celebrated in the mastery of expression in it’s truest form.
Harts has already had a huge 2016, releasing two hit radio singles in “Peculiar” and “Power“, as well as touring non-stop – storming the UK and Europe earlier in the year, before returning home for a triumphant set on the hallowed Splendour In The Grass stage in July. He is now poised to unleash his sophomore album, the follow up to his critically acclaimed debut Daydreamerin 2014, and the follow up EP Breakthrough in 2015 – records that caught the attention of some of the biggest names in music, including the late, great icon Prince, who became a mentor to the young Melbourne phenom.
Despite the mammoth sonic scale already exhibited by “Peculiar” and “Power” and set to be revealed across all of the album’s 14 songs, Smoke Fire Hope Desire was remarkably self-recorded in Harts’ home studio in Melbourne – its impressive scope the culmination of what the “one-man music-making machine,” attributes to spending years developing his sound as a performer and a producer. The album is the sound of an artist who has locked his musical identity and his voice into his sights, and as Harts admits has allowed himself to be influenced by, “a lot of what I was seeing in the world around me – very current day issues, mixed with my own thoughts and challenges in my life.”
The result is a record that seems destined to find success on both a local and a global level.
Smoke Fire Hope Desire track-listing:
1. Smoke (Intro)
2. Fear In Me
3. All Rise
4. Fire (Interlude)
5. Peculiar
6. Power
7. Deeper The Hole
8. Hope
9. Unfamiliar
10. Wisdom (Interlude)
11. Realize
12. Here I Go
13. Desire (Interlude)
14. Ain’t Too Far Gone
Los Angeles-based rock band Night Riots have announced an October 21st release for new album Love Gloom (Sumerian Records). The band has already released two preview tracks from the album – “Nothing Personal” and “Fangs”.
Fans can get both “Nothing Personal” and “Fangs”—plus “Contagious,” the hit single from last year’s Howl EP—as instant downloads by clicking HERE to pre-order Love Gloom on iTunes.
Night Riots—vocalist Travis Hawley, guitarists Nick Fotinakes and Matt DePauw, bassist Mikel Van Kranenburg and drummer Rico Rodriguez—recorded the album with producer Joe Chiccarelli (Morrissey, Spoon, The Strokes) at Sunset Sound in Los Angeles.
“We recorded in the same room where Led Zeppelin recorded ‘Whole Lotta Love,’ says Hawley. “It was pretty inspiring to come in each day, walk through a hall of gold records and see pictures of Jim Morrison sitting at the console where we mixed. We even had a few weird celebrity sightings, like the time Mikel bumped into Lenny Kravitz and his procession of super models. He flashed a peace sign, said ‘what’s up,’ and sauntered off, his scarf dancing on the ground behind him as he walked.”
About the album title, Hawley says, “Love gloom is within all of us. It’s a collision of emotions. It’s when you need love and can’t find it. It’s the sickness of wanting someone and not knowing if they feel the same way. It’s the tearing of a breakup and the coldness of a partner during a fight. We wanted to make an album that sounded like ecstasy and despair and make the listener feel like they’re climaxing and suffocating at the same time.”
Love Gloom is the follow-up to 2015’s Howl EP, which featured “Contagious,” a song that hit No. 1 on SiriusXM’s Alt Nation while amassing over 4.5 million streams.
Night Riots have been compared to The Cure (by MTV) and The Killers (Earmilk), described as “new wavey bliss” (Billboard) and praised for their “anthemic, synth-laden rock” (Spin). Buzzbands, who recently premiered “Fangs,” praised the band for “fashioning the sound of urban desperados wandering rain-slickened streets, hearts playing tug-of-war with hope and despair.” Over the course of the past couple of years, the group has shared stages with the likes of Lana Del Rey, Morrissey, Cage The Elephant, Walk The Moon, OK Go, The Mowgli’s, Angels & Airwaves and many more, while garnering praise from the likes of KCRW, HuffingtonPost, KROQ, All Things Go, Nylon and AV Club, among others.
Prior to the upcoming “Alt Nation” tour with The Shelters and The Hunna, Night Riots will be playing a string of dates, including an October 21st album release show at the Troubadour in Los Angeles.
Catch Night Riots on these “Alt Nation Advanced Placement Tour” dates:
Nov 5 @ The Shelter in Detroit, MI
Nov 6 @ Bottom Lounge in Chicago, IL
Nov 7 @ Triple Rock Social Club in Minn, MN
Nov 10 @ Adelaide Hall in Toronto, ON
Nov 11 @ La Salsa Rossa in Montreal, QC
Nov 12 @ Gramercy Theatre in New York, NY
Nov 13 @ Once in Somerville, MA
Nov 15 @ U Street Music Hal in Washington, DC
Nov 17 @ Foundry at The Fillmore in Philadelphia, PA
Nov 18 @ Rex Theater in Pittsburgh, PA
Nov 19 @ The Underground in Charlotte, NC
Nov 20 @ Mercy Lounge in Nashville, TN
Nov 22 @ Terminal West in Atlanta, GA
Nov 23 @ Parish Room at HOB in New Orleans, LA
Nov 25 @ Cambridge Room at HOB in Dallas, TX
Nov 26 @ Bronze Peacock at HOB in Houston, TX
Nov 27 @ Antone’s in Austin, TX
Nov 29 @ Marquis Theater in Denver, CO
Nov 30 @ Club Sound in Salt Lake City, UT
All three songs will be part of the band’s set during the upcoming “Advanced Placement Tour,” presented by SiriusXM’s Alt Nation with The Shelters and The Hunna. Dates begin November 5th.
The Beat Is Dead is the new solo debut LP from Girl In A Coma frontwoman Nina Diaz, announced recently alongside her NPR Tiny Desk Concert and lead album track “January 9th”. Today, displaying the feistier side of her ecletctic 13-song collection, she unveils the colorful video for post-punk 80s synth driven album single “Trick Candle”.
Girl In A Coma is the critically hailed indie-punk band that was famously nurtured by Joan Jett, opened for Morrissey and Tegan and Sara, and earned multiple Independent Music Awards. The Beat Is Dead shines a light on Nina’s electrifying rock’n’roll repertoire and introspective nature, simultaneously tapping into a dark emotive place and the triumphant strength of her journey to sobriety.
Hailed for enrapturing crowds with her wildly seductive live performance & warm sense of humor, Nina Diaz will kick off a national tour this weekend with stops in NYC, Philadelphia and Chicago as well as a support date for Cyndi Lauper on 9/17 in Albuquerque.
9/10: San Marcos, TX @ SMTX Pride
9/10: San Antonio, TX @ Mission Pachanga
9/17: Albuquerque, NM @ Sandia Casino w/ Cyndi Lauper
9/23: Houston, TX @ Fitzgeralds
9/24: New York, NY @ The Studio at Webster Hall (9:45 set time)
10/6 Savannah, GA @ Wormhole
10/8: Arlington, VA @ Iota Cafe
10/9: Philadelphia, PA @ Milkboy
10/13: Columbus, OH @ Skully’s Music Diner
10/14 Indianapolis, IN @ Radio Radio
10/15: Kansas City, MO @ Riot Room
10/17: Chicago, IL @ Double Door
10/18: St. Louis, MO @ Fubar
On the heels of their acclaimed single “Like You” that charted Top 10 on HypeMachine and garnered praise from the likes of USA Today and i-D, EXES announce their debut EP The Art of Saying Goodbye set for release on October 7th.
Fronted by vocalist Allie McDonald and producer Mike Dorenzo, the duo reveal new single “Dear, Home”. Highlighted by electronic textures, the track features the work of Grammy Award winning violinist Charlie Bisharat whose credits include Beyonce’s Lemonade, Frank Ocean’s Blond, and many more. Speaking about the track’s inspiration, Allie comments:
“‘Dear, Home’ is a song for the homesick. It’s a song dedicated to the pieces of my heart I left back East. The parts of me still beating in that small town where I grew up. As a nostalgic-romantic, it is one of the most personal songs I’ve written.”
The Art of Saying Goodbye EP is an emotive six track collection packed with hypnotic beats, airy vocals, and wistful lyrics. Featuring singles “twentythousand” and “18” that garnered over 1M streams upon their release earlier this year, EXES fuse intimacy and intricacy to create a detail-oriented sort of pop.
UK band SSHH, made up of Sshh Liguz and Zak Starkey (Ringo Starr’s son and drummer for Oasis and The Who) is teaming up with TONS of amazing musicians (members of Oasis, Sex Pistols, Marilyn Manson, Amy Winehouse’s band, and more) for their upcoming album ISSUES. The album is a collection of covers using the members of the original bands! Heads up — it kicks ass!
The first single just premiered — it’s a cover of Sex Pistols’ “Problems”, featuring Glen Matlock, Pistols bassist, and Paul Cook, Pistols drummer.
ISSUES is a modern homage to all of the epic bands that made SSHH what they are today. The idea behind the record was simple. Zak and Sshh had been asked to do a radio series on SiriusXM, chatting through the music that has influenced them. But why not go a step further? Why not find the original rhythm sections from those bands and play with them? Why not make an album in the process?
The first call went out to Glen Matlock and Paul Cook, the bass and drums, the meat and veg of the Sex Pistols. If they were up for it, everyone would be up for it, and they were. And thus, during the last week of November in Los Angeles, the project began. Clem Burke, Blondie’s drummer, turned up in the studio on day one to cut an unorthodox “One Way or Another”. Day two, Marilyn Manson’s rhythm men, Twiggy Ramirez and Gil Sharone, arrived for their turn. Fellow musicians Santa Davis and Fully Fullwood (of Peter Tosh’s Word, Sound and Power) also came forward and re-recorded Tosh’s original version of “Get Up Stand Up”, with an added touch from Eddie Vedder.
The duo moved on to London and got back in another studio for “one of the most intense recording sessions of [her] life,” according to Sshh. They began with “Babylon’s Burning” and “Jah War” with the rhythm section of The Ruts, followed by “Back to Black” with Amy Winehouse’s drummer, bassist, and musical director. Darren Moonie and Simone Butler of Primal Scream showed up for a full-on, no-holds barred take on “Shoot Speed Kill Light”. Guests also include Martin Chambers (The Pretenders), Mick Ralphs (Mott the Hoople), and Kenney Jones (The Small Faces, The Who), and production credits include Youth and Ian Brodie, among others. “Of all the people who’ve taught me drums – Keith Moon, my dad [Ringo Starr], all of them – Kenney showed me the most,” says Zak.
Zak and Sshh first came together in March 2006. Zak, playing drums on tour with Oasis, played a guitar riff down the long-distance line, Sshh recorded it, built it, and put it together, and their first track “Jet Engines” was born. Years passed as Sshh was in a different kind of studio as an award-winning visual artist and Zak was touring with Oasis and The Who. In 2008, the pair played a few gigs in East London under various band names, opening for Kasabian. The two eventually settled on SSHH, the call came from Sirius, an idea was hatched, and SSHH had ISSUES.
The result of those two mad, unpredictable, spontaneous, serendipitous weeks of phone calls, new handshakes, old hugs, musical conversations, long shots and crossed fingers is a record which straddles a huge swathe of modern music history. From the original rock ’n’ roll of the sixties through punk, reggae and dub into modern soul and electronica, this is a wild journey in just eleven steps. And despite all that, it exists as its own work, knitted together with the unique sound of SSHH – a fortnight in the making but a decade in its evolution. ISSUES will be released later this month, and proceeds from album sales will go to Teenage Cancer Trust.
1. Problems
with Paul Cook and Glen Matlock of The Sex Pistols (producer Chris Thomas)(mix Thom Panunzio) 2. Jah War
with Dave Ruffy and Segs of the Ruts (producer Ian Broudie) 3. Shoot Speed Kill Light
with Darren Moonie and Simone of Primal Scream (producer Youth) 4. All The Young Dudes
with Mick Ralphs of Mott The Hoople and Martin Chambers and Glen Matlock (mix Thom Panunzio) 5. Dominoes
duet with Sshh and Robbie Furze of Big Pink with Twiggy Ramirez and Gil Sharone from Marilyn Manson (producer Nick Launay) 6. One Way Or Another
with Clem Burke of Blondie and Steve Fishman (Mix Thom Panunzio) 7. Back to Black
with Dale Davis and Nathan Allen of Amy Winehouse band (producer Ian Broudie) 8. Private Life
with Martin Chambers of The Pretenders and Glen Matlock (mix Youth) 9. Get Up Stand Up
with Eddie Vedder of Pearl Jam, Santa Davis and Fully Fullwood of Peter Tosh, Word Sound & Power (mix Youth) 10. Babylon’s Burning
with Dave Ruffy and Segs of The Ruts (producer Ian Broudie, mix John Gray) 11. Tin Soldier
with Kenney Jones of The Small Faces, Glen Matlock of The Sex Pistols, Gem Archer of Oasis (mix Shel Talmy)
Musically Amusing 
