Last month, Nashville-based alternative pop/rock duo Airpark released their debut EP Early Works, Volume 1via Eugenia Hall Records. The band is on tour now, with upcoming dates in NYC, Boston, New Orleans, Nashville and more (full list below).
The band just premiered their video for “Plenty To Pine For” at Under The Radar, who said “The brothers face off in the manner they typically create, with Michael Ford Jr. on drums and singing with an alley cat rasp similar to Spoon’s Britt Daniel and Ben playing guitar in tight lock with the slugging drum beat and lending falsetto accents.”
Inspired by minimalism, melody and groove-heavy percussion, bandmates Michael Ford, Jr. and Ben Ford launched the group in 2016, one year after their previous project The Apache Relay quietly called it quits. The Apache Relay had been a large band, staffed with six members and armed with a thick, wall-of-sound approach. With Airpark, the Ford brothers sharpen their focus and scale back their arrangements, offering songs that pack a punch with bold, basic ingredients. So far the band has been embraced by Baeble, American Songwriter, Lockeland Springsteen, WYEP, Conan O’Brien’s Team CoCo, and more.
Raised in New Orleans, the Fords grew up surrounded by music, from the Crescent City’s jazz to the soul of Irma Thomas and Allen Touissant. Later while living in Nashville, the two rekindled the music connection they’d kick-started back home, finding popularity as The Apache Relay performed alongside the likes of Jenny Lewis, Mumford & Sons and more. Michael and Ben move at a deliberately different speed with Airpark, thus finding new musical territory to explore.
Taking their cues from a wide set of influences — the rhythmic world music of Tinariwen and Lijadu Sisters; the production of Air, Damon Albarn, and Fiona Apple’s The Idler Wheel; the tenor vocal range of Big Star’s Alex Chilton and Fleetwood Mac’s Lindsey Buckingham, with the occasional pop crooner delivery of Harry Nilsson — the two unveil their new direction with Airpark’s debut EP, Early Works, Volume 1.
It’s a sound that targets the feet and the head. It’s pop music for thinkers. It’s dance music for wallflowers. And with the brothers pulling triple-duty as songwriters, multi-instrumentalists, and co-producers, Early Works, Volume 1 is their most forward-thinking project to date, pairing the band’s growing ambition with musical chops to match.
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.
Crafting artful, arena sized indie-pop set against the beat of a post-punk backdrop, LA’s Busy Living are back with new singles produced by Spoon’s Jim Eno that take cues from the likes of Weezer and The Pixies, creating a seamless fusion of futuristic dance elements with pop-centric rock. Their songs are cinematic, landing them several syncs on popular television shows including NCIS, Hawaii 5-0, and Beauty and The Beast.
Comprised of Mike Moonves (lead vocals, guitar), Tim Hutton (bass, vocals), and Matt Leddy (keys, vocals), the Los Angeles based three-piece return with a staggering collection of indie-pop, set to be released later in 2014. Busy Living were recently hand picked to tour with Communion, a multi-city showcase founded by Mumford & Son’s Ben Lovett.
Musically Amusing 
