news – Page 21 – Atomic Ned

Letters to Hannah Montana?

I threw up in my mouth a little bit when I learned that former Letters to Cleo members Kay Hanley and Stacy Jones are members of (Hannah Montana) Miley Cyrus’s touring band. I’ll admit that Letters to Cleo wasn’t the hardest rocking female-fronted alt.rock band of the mid-90s and if Cyrus starts drinking, smoking and cursing like a sailor, she may very well grow up to be the mid-90s period Hanley, but it still feels like a punch in the stomach to learn members of a band that I really liked 10 years ago are now earning a paycheck backing Disney’s latest pop queen.

Hanley spoke to The Boston Globe in December about her new job as a backup singer for Cyrus and says that she has agreed to wear long sleeve shirts in order to hide her tattoos. You can also listen to an audio interview with Hanley in which she describes how Jones hooked her up (“It’s the best job I’ve ever had,” Hanley says).

Jones and American Hi-Fi bandmate Jamie Arentzen get some facetime in Cyrus’s Good Morning America performance seen here. (New American Hi-Fi material is now available on the band’s MySpace site).

[youtube]http://youtube.com/watch?v=C1tC5Tcvga8[/youtube]

And how about Beavis and Butthead talking about Letters to Cleo’s “Here and Now”.

[youtube]http://youtube.com/watch?v=XuXw-ekpdsc[/youtube]

Local H – new CD, tour

Local H

It’s about time – Local H is set to return with their first album of new material since 2004’s ‘Whatever Happened to PJ Soles?’ on May 13. The 12-track concept album, ’12 Angry Months’ (Shout Factory), chronicles a breakup and the aftermath that singer/guitarist Scott Lucas experienced and, as usual, the lyrics are vitriolic and raw. Each track on the album corresponds to a month in the relationship and a few of the songs have been previewed live (including the excellent “Hand to Mouth”) as Local H has toured pretty regularly over the last few years. Last year at SXSW Lucas passed off a CD of demos from the album to me and the songs I’ve heard are among my favorite the duo (Lucas and drummer Brian St.Clair) have ever recorded.

Check out “Machine Shed Wrestling” on the band’s MySpace page for a preview of what to expect in May. Also check out Lucas’s side project with former Fig Dish/Caviar members Blake Smith and Mike Willison called The Prairie Cartel.

DOWNLOAD: The Prairie Cartel – “Fuck Yeah That Wide”
DOWNLOAD: The Prairie Cartel – “Cracktown”
DOWNLOAD: The Prairie Cartel – “Burning Down the Other Side”
DOWNLOAD: The Prairie Cartel – “No Light”
DOWNLOAD: The Prairie Cartel – “Keep Everybody Warm”
Local H has some tour dates scheduled for March (which means no Prairie Cartel appearance at SXSW this year unless Scott flies in on the 11th or 12th and flies back to Illinois on the 13th or 14th – fingers crossed!).

March 14 – West Dundee, IL – Clearwater Theater
March 15 – Kansas City, MO – The Riot Room
March 16 – Omaha, NE – The Waiting Room
March 17 – Des Moines, IA – St. Patrick’s Day Court Avenue (Block party)

RIP: Gruntruck’s Ben McMillan

Ben McMillan (Gruntruck, Skinyard) passed away on January 28 at the age of 47 after a lengthy battle with diabetes. Damn, that sucks! I’m pretty sure that at some point I interview Ben around the time ‘Push’ was released (1992) and they were touring with Alice in Chains and the Screaming Trees.

Here’s Gruntruck’s “Crazy Love” video.

[youtube]http://youtube.com/watch?v=kDSfDx51Dks[/youtube]

Ben left a pretty tragic message on his MySpace page in December. He must have known he had precious few days left.

Folks~ This is the first real printed word I have done in years. I’m motivated because of our Divine Maker who, I thought I had exhausted surely on Dec. 3rd 2007, when for another life dance, I was once again called out on the floor to shake it up for all those I have loved & cost , to the place we will all volchange-turn, for eternity- On Dec. 3rd my kidneys quit operating & again, I was given hours to live. Only those who take the time to know me out/in ICU, know the contract will be unsigned till my maker wants me. I spend most my time writing music & doing art but, I bet you wouldn’t know about the music. I’ve outlived the keggers & ego bonfires. I would rather be a good chair, comfy & plastic velvet-covered for hygiene & looks, but some sort of ground is more than fine. I’m keeping this short because I don’t want to exhaust you. Please though, write me on my space & if I go because, well, I’m wanted… I’ll be fine. I go to my friends and those I’ve never met. Janis, Miles, Jeff buckley, Angelo, Valentino, Nico, John, George, and Mr. Fred Astaire. Peace & Fight On. love to you and yours, ~Me, Ben

Warrant reunion a go?

2007 saw Van Halen, The Police, and Led Zeppelin (among others) reunite. It looks like we’ll see the original lineup of Warrant get back together in 2008 (yeah, I know, it’s not the “original” lineup but it’s the lineup that got signed to a record deal and put out a few albums together). There has been no official word yet – for the past 2 years the Warrant lineup has included ex-Black n’ Blue singer Jamie St. James while Jani Lane has been performing as a solo artist – but the William Morris Agency, one of the leading booking agencies in the rock business lists Warrant as a client AND has a brand new photo of the band WITH Jani Lane.

Because the reunion hasn’t officially been announced, there is no word on tour plans or a new album though both are likely. The last time this lineup recorded together was in 1992.

Live Ken Andrews CD now available

I’m of the mindset that Ken Andrews is one of the most overlooked artists of the last 20 years. Failure, the band he fronted in the ’90s, was always a favorite of the critics and of other bands, but that didn’t necessarily translate into big record sales. The band broke up in 1997 and since then Andrews has formed bands (ON, Year of the Rabbit), produced/recorded/mixed bands (Pete Yorn, Chris Cornell, A Perfect Circle) and written/recorded/toured as a solo artist with his wife, singer Charlotte Martin.

While on tour last year, Andrews recorded some of his performances and has culled songs from those performances for a release simply titled ‘ Live (Secrets of the Lost Satellite Tour, Spring 2007)’. The CD, featuring songs that span Andrews recorded career, is available in digital format through iTunes, Amazon, and Napster. If you crave an actual physical copy of the CD, you can pick one up through MusicToday or CD Baby.

Andrews is currently working on a project called Los Angeles Digital Noise (LADN) with his wife, Jordon Zardorozny (ex-Blinker the Star), Brad Laner (ex-Medicine), and Sharky Laguana (Creeper Lagoon). Andrews says in an email newsletter that he’s hoping to finish the album in February so he can prepare for the birth of his child in April.

One additional Failure note: There is a tribute CD called ‘The Nurse Who Loved Me’ which is due to be released in mid-2008.