Red Collar Announce Ltd. Edition Vinyl Version of "Pilgrim" + "Used Guitars", Live @ Piano's, NYC 7/14/09

DOWNLOAD: Red Collar - "Pilgrim" (MP3)

Durham, NC alt-rock band Red Collar announced that a limited edition red vinyl pressing of their debut release Pilgrim will be coming out soon on Loose Charm Records.

It looks like there will be 300-500 copies pressed on transparent red vinyl.

"All of them will be hand numbered and on nice, red vinyl. All of the sleeves will be screen-printed. The track order was re-worked to give the album more of a Side A/Side B flow and the first 100 copies will be printed with special metallic silver ink. Due to length we couldn’t fit all 11 songs on one record so every copy will also have a download card for all 11 album tracks plus one bonus cover song that we will post more about soon." -- from Red Collar's blog



Links:
Red Collar's Website

Red Collar - Live Video from Show at Piano's, NYC 7/14/09

DOWNLOAD: Red Collar - "Used Guitars" (MP3)

There is a lot to be said for a band that comes on and hits it as hard as Red Collar did at their show at Piano's. I was expecting the show to be somewhat low-key given the early set time (8PM) but, while the band varied the pace, they didn't slow down in intensity during their 40 minute set. Red Collar drew a good-sized crowd and their set left the enthusiastic crowd hoping for more.

A number of reviewers have compared the band to Fugazi but I couldn't hear the basis for this when listening to the band's debut disc Pilgrim (To my ears, Pilgrim sounds like a cross between the Hold Steady and New Model Army). After seeing the band play live, I can now see where the Fugazi comparison came from. Jason Kutchma and Mike Jackson interlock their guitars with both a style and intensity similar to Fugazi's Guy and Ian.



For more info on the band, there was a detailed piece written up in Durham's IndyWeek.com a few months back.

Red Collar's upcoming tour dates




Links:
Red Collar's Website
Red Collar's MySpace Profile

Red Collar: Pilgrim CD Review - Shows at Charleston (7/13) and Piano's (7/14)

There is a distinctive 'british' feel to this disc with its precise production, melodic rolling bass lines and atmospheric guitar licks. With the vocal urgency of singer Jason Kutchma and the big hooky choruses, Red Collar's debut CD Pilgrim comes across like New Model Army meets the Hold Steady.

While Red Collar have have big sing-along choruses like Hold Steady, Jason Kutchma's lyrics are a bit more vague than the lyrical story telling of Craig Finn but yet seem to explore many of the same themes. There is a reoccurring theme across Pilgrim about being lost and struggling to find one's way. On a few of the cuts, Red Collar extend this inward-looking introspection to working class anthems about the death of the American dream. Given the current economic malaise, tracks like "Rust Belt Heart" are particularly poignant. Here are some of the lyrics from Pilgrim which are representative of the band's outlook.

- "There's such pain in dreaming, in the failure of attempt but the sting of disappointment is less than the pain of regret...I'm so sick of the cool, so sick of the cost and I'm tired of my hereos always being lost." -- "Radio On"

- "Oh f*ck! Not this shit again! I had a map and a plan but I'm lost, I'm lost. Follow mother's advice or daddy's course. They thought they knew love before the divorce." -- "Tools"

- "Ghosts of glories reign here, clothes are shadows of former selves...They're sending us home one week before we get our pension. 'Clean out your locker, gentlemen, we wish you the best' and then they watched the men walk down the suicide steps." -- "Rust Belt Heart"

Tools, live at the Cats Cradle and the Duke Coffeehouse


With the driving intensity that is captured on this studio recording, these 'ragged but right' anthems should make for a great live show. The band has obviously taken a page from the Dischord playbook as they have the following quote up on their website: "When we play live the goal is always to be able to break down the barriers between the band and the audience. When we can get past the ‘we’re up here playing and you’re all down there watching’ and get to a place where we’re all participating in the same thing, where there is no us and them, that’s when we feel like we’ve succeeded as band, and, in the end, isn’t that what rock and roll is about? ”

Red Collar are playing Monday night (7/13) at The Charleston in Brooklyn and Tuesday night (7/14) at Piano's.

Links:
Red Collar's Website
Red Collar's MySpace Profile

New Model Army - Southpaw, Brooklyn, NY 3-20-08

After being denied visas for the shows scheduled at the end of last year, New Model Army was finally able to bring the "High" tour to the US last month. Southpaw opened a bit late so I had a chance to talk with some of the other concert goers as we were all trying to fit into the same doorway to keep out of the cold. I was pleasantly surprised at the number of people at the gig who had flown in from the UK to tour the states with NMA.

By the time, New Model Army hit the stage, the room was full and the long-time fans and faithful were ready to sing and mosh along. This has to be the first time that I have seen a "pit" at Southpaw though this wasn't like a hardcore show - "The Family" was at the show and ready for a bit of fun.

Below are some of my pictures from the band's set.



New Model Army continues to perform like there is no tomorrow and mixed tracks from their latest CD High with old stand-bys like "51st State". Early in the night, there was a camera mounted to one of the posts facing the stage so I can only assume this live video for "51st State" came from that camera. It would be great to see the complete show released on DVD.



New Model Army returns to NYC on April 18 for a show at the Mercury Lounge with Echoes & Shadows. This is the band's last show in the US for this tour and they start gigging again in the UK in May.

Links:
New Model Army's MySpace Profile
New Model Army's Website

Echoes and Shadows - Southpaw, Brooklyn, NY 3-20-08

Echoes & Shadows went on right before New Model Army last Thursday night at Southpaw. Echoes & Shadows was formed from the remains of the goth/industrial band Still Life Decay and play down-tempo, dark ambient instrumentals. The band made their NYC debut in late 2006 opening for NMA and they are opening all of the local dates on New Model Army's current tour.


Echoes & Shadows have a self-released debut LP/CD, "An Emissary of Mine", which is available through the band's MySpace page. Guitarist Edu Mussi is also a member of Ascension of the Watchers with Burton C. Bell and Bell has joined Echoes & Shadows as a guest vocalist at past shows.

The band's next show is April 18th at the Mercury Lounge with New Model Army.

Bell Hollow - Live @ Southpaw, Brooklyn March 20, 2008

Bell Hollow opened for New Model Army Thursday night at Southpaw. Bell Hollow has been around for a few years but Thursday's show was the first time that I saw the band play live. Simply put - the band is impressive...Bell Hollow perfectly captures the shoegazer sounds of the early 80's Brit-pop bands. Points of comparison are The Chameleons and The Smiths.


Bell Hollow released their first full-length release, Foxgloves, last year on the five03 Records label. Three of the CD's 10 tracks are streaming on Bell Hollow's MySpace page. Standout tracks are "Copper Crayon" and "Eyes Like Planets".

The band's next show is at Annex on April 10th with Thrushes, Soundpool and The Art of Shooting.

New Model Army Forced to Cancel North American Tour

Unfortunately, bands being denied visas seems to be too common an occurance as of late. Here is the statement posted to New Model Army's website:

VISAS Denied. North American tour cancelled.
We have regrettably been forced to cancel the North American tour that was due to start this week. The US Citizenship and Immigration Service have denied the visas that the band require to travel to the USA and so until this matter is resolved all shows are on hold.

The band and management are extremely disappointed by this result as the tour was destined to be one of the greats. The new album is out, there is media attention in every city and the expectations are (were) high from the thousands of fans who had bought advance tickets.

The dates will be re-booked once the Immigration situation is resolved. In the meantime, ticket refunds are available from the point of purchase.

Hopefully the situation will get resolved quickly...

In the meantime, check out the band's latest release "High". The leadoff track from the CD, "Wired", is available as a free download. (CD review coming soon)

New Model Army Returns to New York in September

After 27 years, New Model Army is still going strong. The band is releasing their 10th CD, "High", on September 4th and are kicking off their US tour in Philadelphia on September 5th.





The band is playing three shows in the area:
September 6th - Mercury Lounge
September 7th - Maxwell's
October 5th - Southpaw (last date of US tour)

I have seen the band a few times and always thought they were a great live act - very much in the same "ragged but right" spirit as The Clash or Sham 69. The Big Takeover said that "On any night… they’re the closest thing to The Clash out there: and not even Joe Strummer has much on Sullivan".

Without ever having had a Top 20 hit in any country in their 27 year history, New Model Army have album sales in the millions, have attracted some of the biggest producers on the planet (Glyn Johns, Tom Dowd, Andy Wallace) and built up an almost religious devotion amongst fans. They’re a classic modern cult band, opting for the pursuit of musical and lyrical vision rather than celebrity status. By the mid 1990s, having grasped that the Internet was changing the whole music industry, they opted for the totally independent path of owning their own label.

"High" is NMA’s most guitar-driven and melodic album for some time, while the lyrics are the customary mixture of political and personal, timeless and absolutely current, but always with a vivid piece of storytelling at their heart. As is their tradition, New Model Army has once again placed a legend behind the boards with Chris Kimsey (The Rolling Stones, Jimmy Cliff, Killing Joke) both producing and mixing the album.

The current line up of New Model Army is Justin Sullivan (vocal and guitar), Nelson (bass), Michael Dean (drums), Dean White (keys) and Marshall Gill (guitar).

Links:
New Model Army's MySpace page (seems to be the band's main website)
New Model Army's Website (hasn't been recently updated)
New Model Army's Wikipedia entry