Wednesday, July 16, 2008

Handsome Furs - New Songs

Possible song candidates to appear on Handsome Fur's sophomore album Face Control...

I finally got my hands on a wonderful bootleg from the Handsome Furs Seattle show at Neumos (April 19, 2008). The duo opened for the wretchedly terrible French synthpop band The Teenagers. Only Bad Company can get away with a song title the same name as their band. Who was responsible for pairing these two bands together? Seriously, what were they thinking?

While their opener set was slightly abbreviated with no encore, Handsome Furs delivered 10 solid songs and some great in-between-song banter. Check out the four new songs showcased that night (vide supra) - especially "Office of Heart".

Setlist:
Cannot Get Started
Snakes On The Ladder
Dead + Rural
Handsome Furs Hate This City
Heaven
Dumb Animals
Office of Hearts
Sing! Captain
Legal Tender
Radio and the Heart

Monday, July 14, 2008

Review: Wolf Parade @ Neumos (7-14-2008)

photo cred to Laura Musselman

Coming off the weekend with an excellent show, Wolf Parade treated its label-town with yet another great live show, this time with the help of Shawnigan Lake's Listening Party, and labelmate Foals...

Listening Party got things off great with a nice, short set. Next on the schedule was Foals. This was the first time I had seen them live (I missed their Neumos show last month) - but this Oxford five-piece put on an kick-ass set. While the lead singer may be suffering from a Napoleon complex, the chip on his shoulder didn't seem to effect his performance - maybe even enhanced it. And openers go, Wolf Parade couldn't have asked for a better act to pump up the crowd. Something about Foal's new wave dance grooves really got the whole Neumos crowd moving (crowd surfing in Seattle?? Unheard of...) After Foals closed their set with a juiced-up version of "Red Socks Pugie", Wolf Parade was quickly on stage setting up their gear.

Kicking the set off, Spencer announced that the song he was about to sing was a "dead song": the band hadn't played it live in over 2.5 years. Apparently "Stuart" at Sub Pop Records had bugged Spencer to play the song every time they've toured Seattle. So with that, the crowd was treated with the rarely heard "Grounds for Divorce." After the song was over, Spencer told the not-so-fired-up listeners, "That's why we don't play that song! Now we will begin the actual show..." With that said, the band broke into 3 new songs, followed by "I Am My Father's Son". Surprisingly to me, "Grey Estates" got more reaction from the crowd than "Language City" or "Call It A Ritual". True GE is the closest thing to a radio single from At Mount Zoomer, but it's the weakest track on the album, right? Am I crazy here?

The crew seemed to be in a good mood, and played all of their new songs except for "Bang Your Drum" - I was a little disappointed since I haven't heard this song played live yet. Plenty of old favorites were played too (unfortunately no "Modern World"). "Kissing the Beehive" finished the the first set off in true style - that song kicks ass. The encore was a three-song farewell, ending with "Fancy Claps". All in all, Wolf Parade has again treated Seattle with yet another fantastic show. Is it just me, or do the live versions of At Mount Zoomer sound incredibly better than the studio tracks? The raw energy was lost somewhere in the whole recording process, in my opinion. Nevertheless, a great way to start the week off, that's for sure.

Pictures from the night can be seen here: (photo cred to Laura Musselman).

Setlist:
Grounds for Divorce
Language City
Call It A Ritual
Grey Estates
I Am My Father's Son
Soldier's Grin
Animal In Your Care
Fine Young Cannibals
Sons and Daughters of Hungry Ghosts
Shine a Light
California Dreamer
This Heart's On Fire
Kissing the Beehive

Encore:
It's a Curse
I'll Believe In Anything
Fancy Claps

Wolf Parade - Secret Show - Seattle

Wolf Parade to play Neumos on July 14, 2008!!!

If you haven't heard, Wolf Parade will be playing Neumos tomorrow night (July 14) with Shawnigan Lake's Listening Party. In case you missed them at Sub Pop's 20th Birthday Party this past weekend, Neumos posted info about a "Super Special Secret Show" on their website, along with the hint: "What animal is menacing to Little Red Riding Hood, and hails from Canada." Doors at 8pm, show starts at 9pm - 17 bucks. Don't miss it Seattle. UPDATE: Foals have just been added to the lineup for the show!

Thursday, July 3, 2008

Ra Ra Riot - The Rhumb Line Cover Art Revealed

Very excited about this August 19 release - recently, the band posted the cover art seen above at their MySpace page. So far, I've yet to hear "Winter '05", but as for the rest of the album, check out four songs ("St. Peter's Day Festival", "Too Too Too Fast", "Oh, La", and "Run My Mouth") at their WOXY.com Lounge Act session here, their Kate Bush cover of "Suspended in Gaffa" from their Daytrotter session here, and four other songs ("Ghost Under Rocks", "Each Year", "Dying Is Fine", and "Can You Tell") from their EP.

New shows through October:
Jul 6 2008 5:00P
Summerfest Milwaukee, Wisconsin
Jul 19 2008 12:00P
Siren Music Festival Brooklyn, New York
Jul 26 2008 5:00P
Wicker Park Summer Festival Chicago, Illinois
Aug 3 2008 2:00P
Parades De Coura Porto
Sep 3 2008 8:00P
TBA Montreal, Quebec
Sep 4 2008 8:00P
Horseshoe Tavern Toronto, Ontario
Sep 5 2008 10:00P
Mojo’s Jamestown, New York
Sep 6 2008 8:00P
Bug Jar Rochester, New York
Sep 7 2008 12:00P
Syracuse University Syracuse, New York
Sep 9 2008 8:00P
The Basement Columbus, Ohio
Sep 10 2008 8:00P
Case Western University Cleveland, Ohio
Sep 11 2008 8:00P
Subterranean Chicago, Illinois
Sep 12 2008 8:00P
7th Street Entry Minneapolis, Minnesota
Sep 14 2008 8:00P
Jackpot Saloon Lawrence, Kansas
Sep 16 2008 8:00P
Hi Dive Denver, Colorado
Sep 17 2008 8:00P
Kilby Court Salt Lake City, Utah
Sep 18 2008 8:00P
Neurolux Boise, Idaho
Sep 20 2008 8:00P
King Cobra Seattle, Washington
Sep 21 2008 8:00P
TBA Vancouver, British Columbia
Sep 22 2008 8:00P
Doug Fir Lounge Portland, Oregon
Sep 24 2008 8:00P
Rickshaw Stop San Francisco, California
Sep 25 2008 8:00P
The Echo Los Angeles, California
Sep 28 2008 8:00P
The Casbah San Diego, California
Sep 29 2008 8:00P
Modified Phoenix, Arizona
Sep 30 2008 8:00P
Plush Tucson, Arizona
Oct 2 2008 8:00P
TBA Dallas, Texas
Oct 3 2008 8:00P
Stubbs Austin, Texas
Oct 4 2008 8:00P
Rudyards Houston, Texas
Oct 7 2008 8:00P
The Social Orlando, Florida
Oct 8 2008 8:00P
Club Downunder Tallahassee, Florida
Oct 10 2008 8:00P
Drunken Unicorn Atlanta, Georgia
Oct 11 2008 8:00P
Local 506 Chapel Hill, North Carolina
Oct 12 2008 8:00P
Black Cat Backstage WASHINGTON, Washington DC
Oct 14 2008 8:00P
Ottobar Baltimore, Maryland
Oct 15 2008 8:00P
Johnny Brenda’s Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
Oct 18 2008 8:00P
Middle East Downstairs Cambridge, Massachusetts

Tuesday, July 1, 2008

Toadies - No Deliverance Revealed


The title track off of the Toadies' third album, No Deliverance, can now be streamed from their MySpace page (listen here). Also revealed is the possible cover art for the new album, as seen above.

New concert dates posted as well:

Jun 27 2008 8:00P
Middle East Underground **SOLD OUT** Cambridge, Massachusetts
Jun 28 2008 8:00P
Trocadero Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
Jul 5 2008 8:00P
CPR Fest Biloxi, Mississippi
Jul 29 2008 8:00P
Cain’s Ballroom Tulsa, Oklahoma
Jul 30 2008 8:00P
Pageant Theater St. Louis, Missouri
Jul 31 2008 8:00P
Annex Nightclub Madison, Wisconsin
Aug 2 2008 6:30P
Lollapalooza -- Myspace stage Chicago, Illinois
Aug 21 2008 8:00P
Click’s Tyler, Texas
Aug 22 2008 8:00P
The Palladium Dallas, Texas
Aug 23 2008 8:00P
Northgate Music Festival College Station, Texas
Aug 26 2008 8:00P
The Warehouse Shreveport, Louisiana
Aug 29 2008 8:00P
Verizon Wireless Theater Houston, Texas
Aug 30 2008 8:00P
The Pavilion at Concrete Street Corpus Christi, Texas
Aug 31 2008 3:00P
(first annual) Dia De Los Toadies @ Possum Kingdom Lake Graham, Texas
Sep 3 2008 8:00P
Stubb’s Waller Creek Amphitheatre Austin, Texas
Sep 6 2008 8:00P
Dos Amigos Odessa, Texas
Sep 16 2008 8:00P
Slim’s San Francisco, California
Sep 19 2008 8:00P
Showbox SoDo Seattle, Washington
Sep 20 2008 8:00P
Hawthorne Theatre Portland, Oregon
Sep 21 2008 8:00P
Big Easy Boise, Idaho
Sep 24 2008 8:00P
Gothic Theater Englewood, Colorado
Sep 25 2008 8:00P
Lonestar Events Center Lubbock, Texas
Sep 26 2008 8:00P
Midnight Rodeo Amarillo, Texas