Coming Attractions: Scissors For Lefty

San Francisco band Scissors For Lefty just released their new record, Underhanded Romance on Eenie Meenie Records, and to celebrate are stopping in town tonight to play the Knitting Factory. They bring their choppy, quick-tempo'd, indie pop along with them. For 20 bucks you can get yourself a copy of the new release as well as a ticket to get in the door tonight. Not too shabby since the tickets cost almost $15. Have a listen as to what these guys are all about. This song is off the new record and is called "Lay Down Your Weapons."

Bishop Allen Release Tour Date Info

TapeRock favorites Bishop Allen have just announced their summer plans for a U.S. tour in support of their new release, The Broken String. This full length comes after the band released 12 EP's last year - one for every month. The tour winds through each region of the country and includes a supporting cast of Page France for most dates and The Teeth(!) for a couple others. Unfortunately, The Teeth drop off the tour just before the lone L.A. date, but they'll be back with Dr. Dog in early July. Here are the Bishop Allen dates:

06/27 - Chicago, IL - Beat Kitchen
06/28 - Toronto, ON - Lee's Palace
07/20 - New York, NY - South Street Seaport
07/21 - Philadelphia, PA - North Star*
07/22 - Washington, DC - The Black Cat**
07/23 - Chapel Hill, NC - Local 506**
07/24 - Atlanta, GA - The Earl**
07/25 - Baton Rouge, LA - Spanish Moon**
07/26 - Houston, TX - Proletariat**
07/27 - Austin, TX - Emo's**
07/28 - Denton, TX - Haileys**
07/31 - Los Angeles, CA - Echo*
08/01 - San Francisco, CA - The Independent*
08/03 - Portland, OR - Doug Fir*
08/04 - Seattle, WA - Crocodile Cafe*
08/07 - Denver, CO - Hi Dive*
08/09 - Chicago, IL - Subterranean*
08/10 - Bloomington, IN - The Bluebird*
08/17 - Cambridge, MA - Middle East Downstairs*
08/18 - New York, NY - The Bowery Ballroom*
* with Page France
** with Page France, The Teeth

A preview of the new record comes in the form of the song "Rain" and showcases the band's brand of upbeat catchy pop-rock:

Blowin' Up: No Age

Every once in a while a band will come around that embodies the exact sound that you've been looking for at the exact time you're looking for it. Over the past month, this has come by way of L.A.'s very own No Age. Their low-fi DIY style of noise punk mixed with the artful soundscaping meet at a perfect blend. For the band, this is a time where everything seems to be going right. They've received a lot of press lately, most notably Stereogum's Band To Watch as well as an 8.0 from Pitchfork Media (and a "Recommended Listen" title to boot.) If you read the linked articles above, you'll get the full background - but to sum up the feel-good story - 'two guys from marginally successful noiserock act Wives form new band and new record label to help put out their own and their friends' records. They volunteer and help run the local arthouse/music venue The Smell. They own in concert- go see them. The End.' Their new full length record "Weirdo Rippers" was just released in Europe to rave reviews, (due out later this summer in the U.S.) and they're on the cusp of a European tour with longtime friends Mika Miko. They have one last L.A. date tomorrow at Pehrspace (does anyone want to go with me?) before crossing the pond later next week. Here's my personal favorite off of the new record called "Everybody's Down." You can stream it here or at their MySpace. Everytime I hear this song it blows my mind - listen until the drums kick in towards the end.

"Everybody's Down" off Fat Cat Records' Weirdo Rippers:

June Mix - 6. The Decemberists - July, July

When selecting this theme for the month of June, there were two ways of going about song selection. Either pick songs that came out and were popular in the summer, or pick songs that lyrically dealt with summer or the themes therein. Although mixing criteria may make for a sloppier themed mix, this song comes from the latter thought process (and so did the last song, I guess.) I could go for the obvious and joke about how ironic it is that a band called The Decemberists made the summer mix, but I'll spare all three of you. I had totally forgot about this song, (and almost totally forgot about this band) until Zach reminded me of how great it is. I saw these guys live last fall right after the release of The Crane Wife and wasn't really impressed (and subconsciously filed them away with the likes of Death Cab.) But "July, July" is a song that reminds me of why I liked this band in the first place. The song is upbeat, with their patented quirky lyrics and anthemic chorus as well as the obvious nod to the best of the summer months. This song is a great addition to this part of the mix because it's a modern song with a retro throwback, whereas the last song was a retro song that was ahead of its time. Here's a short, kind of crappy clip (but the sound is good) of them performing "July, July" on their previous tour. I love those China Balls.

Menomena - Weird (Live from Juan's Basement)

Here's one last Menomena live vid before the show tonight @ the Troub. This one is for the song Weird off their latest release and comes from the same Juan's Basement show in Brooklyn as the last video I posted. Doors open at 8 for anyone that is going tonight. All Smiles opening at 9. They will be playing again tomorrow night at The Glass House in Pomona, but that's probably sold out too.

Editors' New Release - An End Has a Start

After buying into the hype last year about Editors' first release, The Back Room, I ended up being pretty entertained. I had been getting kind of sick of the Interpol impersonations with every other new band coming out trying to mimic Paul Banks' deadpan delivery and my first impression was that Editors fell right into this. After a couple more spins though, I realized they had more to offer in their songwriting than a She Wants Revenge type band. I like that they play a lot with verse/chorus dynamics and usually pay off a good breakdown/build up. For their sophomore record, An End Has a Start, I have high expectations that they will be able to continue the tight rope act of channeling their influences into a fresh sound instead of falling into the trap of too well tread territory. The first single, titled "Smokers Outside the Hospital Doors" has been out for about a month now. From what I can hear in this song and what I've read, An End Has a Start should be an engaging and interesting release. Check it out for yourself:
Stream: Editors - Smoking Outside the Hospital Doors (MP3)

June Mix - 5. The Beach Boys - Good Vibrations

For the fifth song of June, I figured we could use some more "traditional" summer flavor. So who better to bring the quintessential summer sounds than The Beach Boys? I picked this track because it's one of my favorite Beach Boy songs, but it was also brought to mind while reading a recent feature on the theremin. "Good Vibrations" comes from 1967'sSmiley Smile, the follow-up to what a lot of people consider the best record of all time - Pet Sounds. The mostly disappointing album Smiley Smile was recorded after the original follow-up, Smile collapsed in production. "Good Vibrations" was one of the bright spots on this record, and provided The Beach Boys with something that came rare in their career, experimentation that came with commercial success. The single went on to sell over a million copies and has a featured theremin (thus upping the irony of the song's theme by featuring an instrument that isn't even touched.) Check out this promo video that was filmed for the song - it's either really trippy or really goofy, I can't tell - but that goes for most of the material these guys ever put out.

New Promo For New Pornos

In yet another example of how indie record labels (either out of necessity or just plain intelligence) are adapting to the trends of today's music industry - Matador records has unleashed their Buy Early Get Now promotional campaign. For the fourth record in the series, they're releasing The New Pornographers' Challengers. The album isn't due out until August 21st, but in order to cut down on loss of sales due to leaky P2Pers, Matador has initiated this nifty way of getting the music early and giving a reason to actually - you know, pay for it. Click the link here to see what the deal is. For now, you can stream the first single of the record, "Your Rights Versus Mine."

New Music: Spoon - The Underdog

While this song has been floating around the internet for a week or so now, I wasn't sure what to make of it. I'm definitely not a Spoon-crazed maniac like it seems everyone else is, but I would consider myself a fan. This song took me by surprise a little (before I even heard it, I knew it would be a different Spoon having read that Jon Brion produces on this track.) After about five listens the track is really starting to grow on me. While always being known for their interesting instrumentation and arrangements, they've taken a different approach to crafting this song - horns, hand claps, and sleighbells round out the rather straightforward approach to jangly retro pop-rock. And I think they pull it off. I'm getting really excited to hear the rest of the new record - titled Ga Ga Ga Ga Ga and slated for a July 10th release on Merge. Here's a glimpse at the new artwork and for your listening pleasure - the new single, The Underdog.

June Mix - 4. The Alkaline Trio - 5-3-10-4

Chicago's The Alkaline Trio will always remain one of those summer bands that I group into the Blink 182/Green Day outdoor arena tours that would come around every year of my high school existence. This particular song is my personal favorite from their second full length release, Maybe I'll Catch Fire. When Whitney suggested I put an Alk3 song on the summer mix, I wanted to use something from the Vagrant Records debut, From Here to Infirmary - but this one from their earlier career is a great one to blast out the car speakers. I've read that the song is about doing drugs (aren't all of them?) and the song title was some sort of code that singer/songwriter Matt Skiba used. With the Warped Tour so closely linked to summertime (at least in my memory), be assured that this isn't the only pop-punk anthem you'll find on the June Mix.