Everest Cale & Stone Cold Fox Plays Pianos on January 4th

Brooklyn roots-root band Everest Cale is celebrating the release of their "Beast" video with a show at Pianos on January 4th. I reviewed the band's debut EP a few months back (link) and thought the band's sound was comparable to artists like Kevn Kinney and Connor Oberst.

“Beast,” the titular single from the band’s debut EP, is a dark love song with a cinematic video to match. Shot in and around lead singer Brett Treacy’s Williamsburg, Brooklyn apartment, produced by Treetop Pictures, directed by Chris Sandas and starring NY-based actress Marisol Sacramento, the video paints a picture of deception and heartbreak matching the mood of the song.

On this note, the blog MusicUnderFire noted that the song’s opening lyric “‘Cut the apple from your eye before she takes a bite,’ is more than enough to assure that you’ve stumbled upon greatness. Love is brutal and Everest Cale is explicitly descriptive of the torture."



Also on the bill is the fabulous indie-rock band Stone Cold Fox (another local band whose sound brings to mind post Brit-Pop acts like Radiohead and Coldplay) who are also touring behind their debut EP, "The Young" (link to review).



Tickets are $10 and the full lineup for the night is Basement Batman (8PM), Everest Cale (9PM), Stone Cold Fox (10PM) and Moon Furies (12AM).

Links:
Everest Cale

The Kickback (Chicago's Answer to The Walkman) are Recording Daytrotter Session in Advance of Full-Length CD / March Residency at Schubas in Chicago

"We recorded this after our fans helped us win a Deli reader's poll and got us some free studio time. The song was originally supposed to be a take on the song "Route 66" for a Red Bull tour diary, but they didn't seem to be down with our turning it into a six-minute ramblethon and not really using the words, and we can't really blame them. But they still suck. Thanks for making this yours." -- from The Kickback's Bandcamp page

Jim DeRogatis of the Chicago Sun-Times wrote: "If your only exposure to the Kickback is via its recordings, including a dynamic, well-recorded, exquisitely arranged and very dramatic new disc called the 'Great Self Love' EP currently streaming on its Myspace page, you might think that guitarist-vocalist Billy Yost and his drummer brother Danny have escaped the usual sibling drama. But since the group, which is completed by guitarist Tyler Zee and bassist Zachariah Verdoorn, immigrated here from South Dakota last summer, the stories have begun to spread about its explosive live performances, with the members cheerfully owning up to the occasional broken chairs and bloody knuckles."



The Kickback made their SXSW debut last year but this year the band is playing a March residency starting March 5th at Schubas in Chicago. In a recent interview with Glide Magazine, the band was asked about the upcoming residency and said "Every show will be a little bit different, and the last show we’re going to perform our forthcoming LP in its entirety with a Craigslist Orchestra featuring a group of fantastic people who were willing to come and record brass and sax for our LP for nothing more than the joy of doing it. But each night will be something different, and that’s what’s most important to us. "

Links:
The Kickback

The Kickback - "Mea Culpa Mea Culpa" CD EP Review

Mea Culpa EP by The Kickback

Chicago indie-rock band The Kickback have been building up a buzz with write-ups by The Deli Magazine and RollingStone.com. RollingStone.com described the band as a "high drama Chicago-based rock band that conjures the very best parts of The Veils and The Walkmen and The Killers, writing lean, nervy songs that snarl and snap".

The Kickback just released their fourth disc "Mea Culpa Mea Culpa" which is a strong four-track EP that combines the ringing guitars of 80's college rock bands with the rich harmonies and layered psychedelic pop sounds of bands like The Zombies and Strawberry Alarm Clock.



The Kickback are making their SXSW debut this month in addition to writing and rehearsing new material for their first full-length. Like the new EP, the full-length will be tracked and mixed by the Yost brothers and is promised to be rawer than the group's past releases.

Links:
The Kickback

School of Seven Bells: Win a Copy of 'Heart is Strange' 7" // Show at Terminal 5 on Dec. 2nd

DOWNLOAD: School of Seven Bells - "I L U" (from Disconnect from Desire)

Win a copy of School of Seven Bells' new 7", "Heart is Strange" (which is backed with "Dust Devil" (White Sea Remix)!

Send your name and mailing address to Mike.BrooklynRocks at Gmail dot com. Winners will be selected at random on Friday, Nov. 26th.

School of Seven Bells are playing two local shows over the next few weeks. The first is a show at Zero Film Festival's Closing Night. This show takes place on Nov. 20th at Nutroaster Studios (120 Ingraham St., Brooklyn, NY 11237) and tickets are $12. The second show takes place on December 2nd. School of Seven Bells are supporting The Walkmen at Terminal 5 and tickets are $25 in advance and $30 DOS.

Links:
School of Seven Bells

The Walkmen Team Up with Etsy.Com to Offer Limited Edition "Lisbon" Album Packages

STREAM: The Walkmen - Lisbon (entire album)

Rather than moaning on about how illegal downloading is killing the record industry, it is great to see another band (The Walkmen) come up with an innovative offering around their newest album.

The Walkmen are teaming up with Etsy to offer limited edition packages and items inspired by their new album Lisbon. For the collaboration, the band selected three Etsy artists to collectively design a unique silkscreen print insert, album poster and t-shirt. For those unfamiliar, Etsy is an online marketplace for homemade, one-of-a-kind items.

Click on the photo to go to The Walkmen Etsy store.

PACKAGES/ITEMS:

1. LISBON CD + AUTOGRAPHED 7 INCH + SILKSCREEN INSERT
LISBON hardcover digipack CD + Yusuf Sevincli designed autographed 7" vinyl containing A-Side "Weight On My Shoulders" and B-Side "Good Days Carry On". Each 7" contains a Beauideal designed limited-edition silkscreen insert (limited edition of 200).

2. LISBON VINYL + LISBON DIGITAL DOWNLOAD CARD + AUTOGRAPHED 7 INCH + SILKSCREEN INSERT
180 gram, 12", gatefold LISBON vinyl + Yusuf Sevincli designed autographed 7" vinyl containing A-Side "Weight On My Shoulders" and B-Side "Good Days Carry On". Each 7" contains a Beauideal designed limited-edition silkscreen insert (limited edition of 200).

3. LISBON INSPIRED WALKMEN POSTER
Limited-edition 14 x 18 inch poster designed by Etsy artist LittleTired (limited edition of 150 prints).

4. LISBON INSPIRED WALKMEN CORK TEE SHIRT
Limited-edition Cork tee shirt designed by Etsy artist Sheepshead. All tee shirts printed on American Apparel.

ABOUT THE DESIGNS:

Etsy Artist Beauideal: Silkscreen Insert for 7" Description:
The artwork inserts are inspired by the beautiful pavement designs, mosaics, and motifs found throughout Portugal. This specific design mirrors the actual elaborate pavement pattern in Cais Sodré, a vibrant port and train station in Lisbon. It's one of the most active places in the city with people meeting, waiting, parting, rushing to work or home, or crossing the river for beautiful views of the city and nightlife. It's filled with stories, romance, and emotions, sparking the design for The Walkmen's "Lisbon" single. The artwork inserts are hand screen-printed using 3 colors on grey heavy weight paper.

Etsy Artist LittleTired: Poster Description:
The patterns contained in this composition are partly mimicked from decorative tiles used throughout Portugal and partly inspired by them, made in my own artistic language. The almost unequivocal saturation of decorative tile and brickwork found in Lisbon alone is reason enough to marvel at this grand old city. Mingled amongst these vibrant patterns one can also denote imagery that represents elements of The Walkmen's music that is similar in vibrancy and brilliance. Each poster is silk-screened by hand using 3 colors on heavy 100lb cold-pressed paper.

Etsy Artist Sheepshead: LISBON inspired Cork Tee Shirt Printed on American Apparel:
Cork is wonderful thing. It doesn't just stop up your wine bottles and make bulletin boards, it's got a ton of other uses including making saxophones sound nice. It also played an important role in science. Robert Hooke discovered cells in 1665 while examining cork under a microscope. The Walkmen might not have a saxophone player in the band, but this cork cell tee was made especially for the release of their new album, Lisbon. Portugal produces half of the world's cork, and The Walkmen have produced 11 great new songs on Lisbon.

The Walkmen - Angela Surf City - Live at Governor's Island courtesy of Big Ass Lens

Links:
The Walkmen

The Dig Headline Mercury Lounge on Nov. 19th; Pictures and Video Interview from Oct. Show at Maxwells

DOWNLOAD: The Dig - Three Song Demo

The Dig have been gaining a lot of attention on the local rock scene and have been playing some high profile shows with both The Walkmen and White Rabbits. The Dig released an EP ("Good Luck and Games") in 2007 which one reviewer described as "short, sweet and eminently satisfying". The band just finished up their full-length debut which is due out early next year.

The band often gets compared to The Beatles crossed with one of many recent alt-rock bands (Jet and Radiohead are two of the more popular). I'm going to go in a different direction though as I was thinking more of later-day T. Rex (right around the period where Marc started embracing 'Class of '77' punk) after watching the band perform live. Whatever the comparison - The Dig's music certainly stands out from the crowd.

Here is an interview that I did with the band prior to their show with White Rabbits last month at Maxwell's.



The Dig are currently finishing some show with White Rabbits and then are back home for a headlining show at Mercury Lounge on Nov. 19th. Here is the upcoming tour dates:

Nov. 09 2009 -- 8:00PM, Cedar C.C. w/ White Rabbits, Minneapolis, Minnesota
Nov. 10 2009 -- 8:00PM, Turner Hall w/ White Rabbits, Milwaukee, Wisconsin
Nov. 13 2009 -- 9:00PM, Lincoln Hall w/ The Walkmen, Chicago, Illinois
Nov. 14 2009 -- 8:00PM, University of Illinois w/ The Walkmen, Urbana, Illinois
Nov. 15 2009 -- 8:00PM, The Basement , Nashville, Tennessee
Nov. 16 2009 -- 8:00PM, Local 506 w/ The XX, Chapel Hill, North Carolina
Nov. 17 2009 -- 8:00PM, DC9, Washington, DC
Nov. 19 2009 -- 10:00PM, Mercury Lounge, New York

Here are more of the pictures that I took at Maxwell's...









Links:
The Dig's MySpace Profile

The Walkmen Are Playing the Conan O'Brien Show Tomorrow Night

The Walkmen are out of the road touring behind their most recent disc, You and Me, and the band is playing the Conan O'Brien Show tomorrow night. I'm guessing that the band will play either "On the Water" or "In the New Year".

The publicity machine has been cranking for this current release and there are a lot of pro-shot videos of the band posted on the 'net.

The Walkmen - "In the New Year" (Live in Juan's Basement)


The Walkmen - "On the Water" (Live in NYC, 2007)



In addition to the flood of live videos, The Walkmen also have a live version of "In the New Year" coming out on the Free Yr Radio 2008 Benefit Compilation. This compilation is to generate money for independent radio and it will be exclusively available at Insound for .99 cent, starting on Tuesday.

Links:
The Walkmen's MySpace Profile

French Kicks are Playing Bowery Ballroom on September 24th

French Kicks are headlining the bill at the Bowery Ballroom on September 24th. The band is touring behind their fourth album Swimming (Vagrant) which was released earlier this year to strong reviews.

Swimming is the first disc to be produced and mixed by the band and the band shows a new level of artistic maturity. The band's garage/post-punk roots haven't been abandoned but the band is exploring more melodic territories. You can check out some tracks from Swimming on a Daytrotter session that the band recorded over the summer. One of my favorites is "Over The World".

French Kicks are playing with Passion Pit and Salt & Samovar at the Bowery Ballroom show. Tickets are $15.00.

Links:
French Kicks' MySpace Profile
French Kicks' Website

The Walkmen Performing Live in San Francisco Available as Free Download

Wolfgang's Vault, which owns Bill Graham's live concert archives, just posted a live show by The Walkmen as a free download. The show was recorded on February 27, 2008 at Independent in San Francisco.

Tracks are:
01) On the Water
02) In the New Year (incomplete)
03) All the Hands and the Cook
04) Donde Esta La Playa
05) If Only It Were True
06) Wake Up
07) Another One Goes By
08) The Blue Route
09) Four Provinces
10) What's In It For Me
11) Little House of Savages
12) I Lost You
13) They're Winning
14) The Rat

The Walkmen Release Digital Advance of You & Me to Benefit Cancer Research

The Walkmen have released an advance of their new disc You & Me as an exclusive digital download on AmieStreet.com with all proceeds going to charity.

The new disc will be available exclusively through AmieStreet for the next three weeks as a $5.00 download and “[a]ll donations go to Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center in honor of Luca Vasallo, a friend to the band and a current patient who is seven months old and doing a great job fighting a very difficult disease. This is a very good organization that certainly deserves the attention.” Here is the link to purchase You & Me

The Walkmen are kicking off an August/September tour with two dates at the Bowery Ballroom on August 18 & 19th.