The Hounds Below (x-Von Bodies) Play Rock Shop Tomorrow (Nov-14) and The Delancey on Friday (Nov-16)

After Detroit garage rockers The Von Bodies broke up last year, vocalist/guitarist Jason Stollsteimer wasted no time in making The Hounds Below his next full-time project. Moving from garage rock to post-punk, All Music called the band's debut disc Light Me Up in the Dark (released last month) "a meeting point between The Cure, early U2, The Pixies and a number of other bands of similar vintage".

Last time through, The Hounds Below were supporting The Cribs so they played the not-so-intimate Bowery Ballroom and Music Hall of Williamsburg. This time around, the band is touring with Pomegranates and you can see them up-close and personal. The tour is stopping at The Rock Shop in Brooklyn tomorrow night (Tickets are $10) and The Delancey on Friday night (Tickets are also $10).



The Hounds Below released their self-produced full-length debut, You Light Me Up In The Dark, on October 9 through Slimstyle Records. Though a debut from a band that only solidified its lineup this January, You Light Me Up In The Dark is a fully-formed record. The Michigan four-piece blends melodic rock, a post-punk sense of urgency and the balladeers of yesterday, mastering the art of mature indie-pop while still winking at youth’s never-ending need to wave a flag of revolt. The result is a modern love letter to the masses that manages to paint a canvas of hope detailing wasted days and blurry nights.

Made up of Jason Stollsteimer (Vocals/Guitar), Skye Thrasher (Guitar), Mathew Hofman (Bass) and Griffin Bastian (drums), The Hounds Below is full of glaring guitars backed by energetic percussion and Stollsteimer’s ability to project Detroit’s unique personality through his lyrics. Initially conceived as a solo project in 2009, Stollsteimer was approached by friends to open as their bands came through the Michigan area. “I love playing live as much as I love writing songs so I would assemble a few friends to back me up and do the show,” says Stollsteimer. This quickly led to high-profile shows through the Midwest with Black Rebel Motorcycle Club, The Airborne Toxic Event, The Heavy, The Black Angels, and The Raveonettes.

“The youthful enthusiasm of the other guys and the power of a full band really left their own creative footprint on the songs,” says Stollsteimer. “It’s updated our sound quite a bit and we’ve written many new songs.” One of the earlier songs that is still in the band’s repertoire is “For You And I,” which Stollsteimer says glibly is about “a general distrust in something larger. You can figure it out from the lyrics.” Playing close to the vest, Stollsteimer’s lyrics are most often inspired by fantasy or from observation of his friends, including their lost loves or their relationships.

Links:
The Hounds Below

My Cousin, The Emperor Play The Rock Shop on Feb. 16th // New Disc, "The Subway EPs", Out March 29th

DOWNLOAD: My Cousin The Emperor - "Nothing Left for Us to Find"

Alt-country Brooklynites My Cousin, The Emperor release their single disc, double EP entitled, THE SUBWAY EPs on March 29, 2011. Next week, they begin a string of shows with Caitlin Cary and Matt Douglas as The Small Ponds. The two groups will head down to Austin, TX for SXSW and back, hitting Raleigh, Charlotte, Asheville, Knoxville, Little Rock and Houston before turning around to come back through Atlanta, with more dates to be added. Before they head out, both acts will be playing a kickoff show at The Rock Shop in Brooklyn on Wednesday, Feb 16th. Tickets are $10 and the show is 21+.

My Cousin, The Emperor’s SUBWAY EPs are separated into two volumes; Volume I being the acoustic PROSPECT PARK WEST and Volume II, the electric BROADWAY-LAFAYETTE, named after lead singer, guitarist and songwriter Jason Reischel’s two main stops between Brooklyn and Manhattan. Think of it as the mirrored counterpart to Dylan’s Bringing It All Back Home.

The Small Ponds was born when veteran alt-songstress Caitlin Cary (Whiskeytown, Tres Chicas) asked pop-raconteur Matt Douglas (The Proclivities) to partner with her for Raleigh, NC’s longstanding post-Valentine’s day tradition The Love Hangover, for which they learned to sing each other’s favorite songs relevant to love and/or its lacking. Upon discovering a kindred sensibility on this subject and many others, and finding they sang well and laughed easily together, they decided they’d better make it a band.

As 2011 dawns, we find Matt and Caitlin preparing songs for their third Love Hangover, celebrating the release of their five-song EP (Last Chance Records), and building up a head of steam to power a full-band Small Ponds tour en route to an official showcase and a lot of hooplah in Austin at this year’s South by Southwest music festival.

Dubbing it "really sweet Americana," No Depression calls My Cousin, The Emperor’s upcoming release, "notably clean and well-imagined. This might be a good springtime roadtrip album. Good crisp air and sunshine music.”

The title track from their debut album A Long Way From Home won the Independent Music Award‘Best Alternative Country Song of the Year’ and the quartet grabbed the crown for Brooklyn in WNYC’s “Battle Of The Boroughs.” for

On the horizon in 2011, My Cousin, The Emperor is contributing music to the film Jeremy Fink & The Meaning Of Life, based on the book by Wendy Mass, due out this summer and starring Mira Sorvino and Joey Pantoliano. They’ve also recorded a rockabilly cover of "More Than Words" for Guilt By Association 3, set for release in April via Engine Room Recordings.

MY COUSIN, THE EMPEROR & THE SMALL PONDS TOUR DATES:
Wed, Feb 16 – Brooklyn, NY – The Rock Shop
Thurs, Feb 24 – New York, NY – LES Film Festival **
Tues, March 1 – Allentown, PA - VIP Elite Lounge @ Crocodile Rock **
Thurs, March 3 – New York, NY – The Living Room **
Tues, March 8 – Philadelphia, PA – The Fire **
Wed, March 9 – Raleigh, NC – The Pour House
Thurs, March 10 – Charlotte, NC – Evening Muse
Fri, March 11 – Asheville, NC – The Emerald Lounge
Sat, March 12 – Knoxville, TN – Patrick Sullivans
Sun, March 13 – Little Rock, AR – Whitewater Tavern
Mon, March 14 – Denton, TX – Dan’s Silver Leaf
Tues, March 15 – Houston, TX – Big Star Bar
Wed, March 16 – Austin, TX – The Ale House ##
Fri, March 18 – Austin, TX – Red Eyed Fly**
Fri, March 18 – Austin, TX – Maria’s Tacos ##
Sat, March 19 – Carrollton, GA – TBA
Sun, March 20 – Atlanta, GA – TBA

** - MCTE only
## - The Small Ponds only

Links:
My Cousin, The Emperor

Tim Kasher (Cursive) Releases First Solo Single as Free Download // Show at Rock Shop on Oct. 6th

Cursive frontman Tim Kasher just released the first single, "Cold Love", from his forthcoming solo LP ,The Game of Monogamy, as a free download.

The Game Of Monogamy, which will be released October 5th, 2010, on Saddle Creek, is also now available in the Saddle Creek webstore for pre-order. The album can be purchased in multiple packages, including a special bundle with a limited edition 7" (only 100 copies made) featuring two non-album tracks, "Tightropes, Guillotines, Thin Ice, Landslides" and "Delirium Tantrums," with hand screened covers, signed and personalized by Kasher.

"Cold Love" will be released as an advance single on Sept. 14th along with the previously unreleased non-LP track "Just Don't Get Caught". This too is available for pre-order in Saddle Creek webstore.

Written and recorded in Whitefish, MT, this past January, The Game Of Monogamy is more of an arranged record than any of Kasher's past releases, filled with theatrical arrangements and lush instrumentation (including various strings, harp, oboe, flute, and trombone) to create his own blend of classic pop. This moody orchestral music evokes a 1950s-esque, conservative atmosphere, setting the stage for a dilemma that remains thoroughly modern. The protagonist's arc in The Game of Monogamy spans the wide range of distinctly human emotions tangled up around relationships in a starched shirt society. Call it the score for our collective sexual plight: expression routinely becomes repression in the name of romance.

Kasher will embark on a two-month long, full-band tour beginning September 30th at the Grog Shop in Cleveland, OH. After working his way across the country on the tour, which includes 12 dates in support of Minus The Bear, Kasher will wrap up in Chicago, IL, on November 20th at Schubas. Here is the complete set of tour dates:

SEPT. 30 -- CLEVELAND, OH GROG SHOP
OCT. 03 -- PHILADELPHIA, PA BARBARY
OCT. 04 -- ALLSTON, MA GREAT SCOTT
OCT. 05 -- NEW YORK, NY OTHER MUSIC (In-store)
OCT. 06 -- BROOKLYN, NY ROCK SHOP
OCT. 18 -- EUGENE, OR WOW HALL*
OCT. 19 -- SAN FRANCISCO, CA THE REGENCY*
OCT. 20 -- SAN LUIS OBISPO, CA DOWNTOWN BREWERY*
OCT. 21 -- SANTA CRUZ, CA RIO THEATRE*
OCT. 22 -- LOS ANGELES, CA WILTERN*
OCT. 23 -- TUCSON, AZ RIALTO*
OCT. 24 -- ALBUQUERQUE, NM SUNSHINE*
OCT. 25 -- LUBBOCK, TX JAKE'S*
OCT. 26 -- TULSA, OK MARQUEE*
OCT. 27 -- AUSTIN, TX STUBB'S*
OCT. 28 -- DALLAS, TX HOUSE OF BLUES*
OCT. 29 -- HOUSTON, TX HOUSE OF BLUES*
NOV. 01 -- DENVER, CO HI DIVE#
NOV. 03 -- SALT LAKE CITY, UT URBAN LOUNGE
NOV. 05 -- VANCOUVER, BC MEDIA CLUB
NOV. 06 -- SEATTLE, WA TRACTOR TAVERN
NOV. 07 -- PORTLAND, OR DOUG FIR LOUNGE
NOV. 10 -- VISALIA, CA CELLAR DOOR
NOV. 12 -- POMONA, CA GLASS HOUSE RECORD STORE
NOV. 13 -- SAN DIEGO, CA THE LOFT
NOV. 14 -- PHOENIX, AZ TBA
NOV. 19 -- OMAHA, NE THE WAITING ROOM
NOV. 20 -- CHICAGO, IL SCHUBAS
* supporting Minus The Bear
# with Azure Ray and Tim Fite

Links:
Tim Kasher