Category: news

New Superchunk EP coming soon!

Good news in the form of a press release sent by Merge Records – Superchunk will be releasing a new EP in April, Leaves in the Gutter, their first set of new material in 8 years. The seminal indie rock band has played a handful of shows over the past few years and the tracks included on the EP were written during this time.

The most promising part of the press release is the indication that Superchunk is working on songs for a new full length. Mac McCaughan says, “We kind of felt like if we’re going to get to work on a new album we need to clear the decks of these songs first. A couple of them I really like but they already feel like they’re from another era and wouldn’t fit on a new album anyway, and the newer ones are from the new era but we’ve recorded them and they sound good so here they are.”

Leaves in the Gutter will be in stores and also available in digital format on April 7. Eleven days later Superchunk will be playing at Coachella.

Here’s “Misfits and Mistakes,” one of the songs slated to appear on the EP.

Track Listing:

1. Learned to Surf

2. Misfits & Mistakes

3. Screw It Up

4. Knock Knock Knock

5. Learned to Surf (acoustic demo)

Langerado 2009 Cancelled

Straight from the press release:

Today, the 2009 Langerado Music Festival is cancelled due to sluggish ticket sales.  The 7th annual event was slated to happen March 6-8 at their new home in downtown Miami’s Bicentennial Park.

Langerado’s independent local promoters, faced with a very tough decision in a dismal economy, cancelled the 2009 event only after every possible option was exhausted.

As Langerado Co-Promoter Ethan Schwartz explains, “Langerado has always put the fan experience first.  Unfortunately, during these difficult economic times, and facing a first year in a new venue, it’s become apparent that we cannot execute a production that lives up to the high standards of our past events. Putting Langerado on hold was the toughest decision we have ever had to make.  We are very grateful for the support of the greater-Miami community and the music community during this difficult time.”

All tickets purchased will be refunded.  Please look for ticket refunds to be processed in the next 5-7 business days.   Each order will be refunded to the credit card in full, minus the included order processing fees.  Shipping fees will also be credited for those orders that did not select the free shipping promotion.

Visit www.musictoday.com for more information.

More info here: http://www.langerado.com/land.php

Introducing Zella Day, the next, next, next American Idol

I got sucked into this show on MTV a week or two ago called Camp’d Out: I’m Going to Rock Camp. It’s one of those MTV true life documentaries and this particular one was about a camp that teens go to to learn to be rock stars. The documentary centered around a select handful of “campers” and it was Zella Day who stood out heads and shoulders above the rest of her fellow wanna be rockers. The 13-year-old acts like, surprise, a 13-year-old – really energetic and outgoing and she writes her own songs.

“Simple Song” (Zella Day original)

Zella, according to her MySpace page, has a record coming out sometime this month. I don’t know if that disqualifies her from a future American Idol appearance, but if she hasn’t already become a big rock star by the time she turns 16 (the minimum age of contestants), I have little doubt that the judges would become absolutely smitten with her and give her a golden ticket probably before she even sang her first note.

Swervedriver reissues

When I was a college newspaper reporter, I remember how we received probably half a dozen copies of Swervedriver’s Raise on cassette from either the label or the publicist. I have no idea if they were scheduled to play a show in town but all of the Arts reporters for the paper ended up with a copy of the cassette. Mine sat unopened … Swervedriver wasn’t a grunge or hair metal band so why would I have any interest in listening to Raise?

Years later, I fell in love with Jawbreaker’s Dear You CD and though I had never listened to any band that was tagged with the “shoegazer” label, I thought that this CD certainly would fall into what I thought the “shoegazer” sound was. Shortly thereafter I picked up a used copy of Swervedriver’s Mezcal Head which, to this day, remains one of my favorite CDs ever. Now THAT CD definitely is a shoegazer classic – walls of guitars and reverb, catchy hooks, and dreamy British vocals.

It’s not terribly difficult to find a used copy of Mezcal Head these days but you have to do some looking. However, you might want to wait to pluck it from a used bin as Hi-Speed Soul (in conjunction with Second Motion) is going to be re-releasing both Raise and Mezcal Head, remastered with bonus tracks and expanded booklets.

If you pre-order the CDs ($15.99 each), you get some goodies tossed in and you’ll get the CD in the mail before or at the same time you can buy the CDs at stores (Jan.20).

In other Swervedriver related news, lead singer Adam Franklin will be releasing his second solo album, Spent Bullets, on March 31. Second Motion will start taking pre-orders on Feb.15 and I believe that if you do the pre-order, they’ll send you the digital files and a PDF booklet before the street date (don’t quote me on that).

Crummy quality (poor lighting + bad sound), but here’s a live video I shot of “Seize the Day” when Franklin played in Columbus in October 2007.

Want the new The Shys CD for free? It’s only going to cost you shipping & handling.

You’ll Never Understand This Band The Way I Do came in at number 5 on my “Favorites of 2008” list and now The Shys are giving it away (you just have to pay shipping and handling – $3) at least through the end of this week. I have no idea how long this offer is going to be good for so please, please, please, do yourself a HUGE favor and discover one of my favorite bands ever (seriously, I once wrote a blog post titled “I’m gay for The Shys” in which I professed my unrequited love for the Southern California band).

Here’s the info:

The Shys will be doing a FREE GIVEAWAY every month so look out for what they will be giving away next!

Jan. 9, 2009: To get The Shys new record entitled “You’ll Never Understand This Band The Way I Do” for FREE (just pay shipping/handling):

1) Click on the “Contact” link on the right side of this page
2) Fill in your info and tell us you want the free CD
3) Click “Store Home” on the right side of this page
4) Find the free album, add it to your cart, and check out!

Keep coming back for more FREE merch!