Hunx and His Punx Take Their Act on the Road


Hunx and His Punx is like a modern gay Everly Brother with an entourage of three hot vixens singing raunchy doo-wop back up vocals. Whatever it is these punk darlings featuring Seth Bogart as Hunx, and four lovely ladies – or “punkettes – are doing comes together in a reckless display of playful lamentation. Their first album release, Too Young to be In Love offers 10 oldies style songs about heartbreak masked by the freedom of youth. The music and their stage antics as seen in the video for “Bad Boy” begs for a sweaty house show or a dingy dive bar small enough so as to gyrate on your neighbor. There’s a chance to do just that at one of the shows listed below, so go, dance, and find an angsty Johnny Angel of your very own.

05/13 San Francisco, CA – The Fillmore !

06/22 Seattle, WA Crocodile $

06/24 – 06/25 Calgary, AB – Sled Island

06/27 Vancouver, BC – Waldorf Cabaret $*

06/28 Portland, OR – Doug Fir $

! = w/ Of Montreal

$ = w/ Shannon and the Clams

* = w/ Sonny and the Sunsets

New Video From Wild Beasts’ Upcoming Record Availalble


The video for the single “Albatross” off the impending third record, Smother, from English band Wild Beasts is now available for viewing. The video is artfully filmed by Dave Ma focusing on an attractive, tortured female dancer while Wild Beasts look on from some kind of outside viewing station. It seems as though this beautiful dancer is a patient in an institution of some kind until her room switches to a kind of photo shoot back drop. Digital music permeates the song with serene, chorus like vocals in the background. In the video, you can see the lips of the Wild Beasts members moving, but exactly what they are singing is indistinguishable. The music is pretty and the video is abstract and captivating with lovely lighting and costumes but once it’s over the experience feels unrequited. Maybe a listen to the record as a whole is needed to be fully satisfied.

The Rosebuds to Tour Following Album Release

The Rosebuds duo, Ivan and Kelly, emerge from their last record, Life Like, and the end of their marriage to start anew with the release of their fifth album, Loud Planes Fly Low. With this new release, they have a chance to use their breakup to express themselves musically and artistically and it should prove to be an interesting change of pace. The track “Second Bird of Paradise” is a sexy, moody song with gorgeous strings and keyboard. Those components together with the soft vocals recall Home Video’s sound and style. Listen to “Second Bird of Paradise” on their website and look for Loud Planes Fly Low on Merge Records out on June 7.

The Rosebuds Summer Tour Dates:
46/10 – Brooklyn Arts Center – Wilmington, NC

6/11 – Kings – Raleigh, NC

6/15 – Grey Eagle Tavern & Music Hall – Asheville, NC

6/16 – The Earl – Atlanta, GA

6/17 – Proud Larry’s – Oxford, MS

6/18 – Bottletree – Birmingham, AL

6/19 – Stickyz Chicken Shack – Little Rock, AR

6/21 – Spanish Moon – Baton Rouge, LA

6/23 – Club DaDa – Dallas, TX

6/24 – The Parish – Austin, TX

6/25 – Fitzgerald’s Downstairs – Houston, TX

6/28 – Santa Fe Brewing Company – Santa Fe, NM

6/29 – Solar Culture – Tuscon, AZ

6/30 – The Casbah – San Diego, CA

7/01 – The Satellite – Los Angeles, CA

7/02 – Cellar Door – Visalia, CA

7/05 – SOHO Music Club – Santa Barbara, CA

7/06 – The Independent – San Francisco, CA

7/08 – Mississippi Studios – Portland, OR

7/09 – The Tractor Tavern – Seattle, WA

7/10 – The Shakedown – Bellingham, WA

7/12 – Media Club – Vancouver, Canada

7/14 – The Neurolux – Boise, ID

7/15 – Urban Lounge – Salt Lake City, UT

7/16 – Hi-Dive – Denver, CO

7/19 – 7th Street Entry – Minneapolis, MN

7/20 – House of Rock – Eau Claire, WI

7/21 – UW Union Terrace – Madison, WI

The Heavenly States Release Single with Britt Daniel

Bay Area’s The Heavenly States are crazy busy right now with releasing EPs, touring with indie (and My So-Called Life cameo) veterans Buffalo Tom, and a member judging the 2011 US Air Guitar Championships.

Their new single, “Berlin Wall” has Spoon leader Britt Daniel as a guest vocalist singing echoed and muffled wishes of living by the Berlin Wall along with prominent and pounding piano, hand claps and other percussion that together create a beautiful and triumphant composition. As if the music wasn’t charming enough, the video is an animated Humpty Dumpty interpretation with cartoon characters clapping with the song, complete with a Humpty electric guitar solo. Certainly a day-brightener.

“Berlin Wall” can be found on The Heavenly States’ Oui Camera Oui EP out now on Hippies Are Dead Records. The band will be touring the West Coast with Buffalo Tom May 17-20th, and don’t forget to stop by the Air Guitar Championships in San Francisco on June 24th where The States’ front man Ted Nesseth will be judging.

Morning Birds Birds Release New Single for Upcoming Album


The Morning Birds’ new single, “Heart’s Desire,” is a soothing, relaxing ballad to be included on their second album,The Quickening, releasing on April 26.

The co-ed duo consists of Jennifer Thorington and Samuel Marcus who complement each other’s comforting vocals. Markus has a raspy sensuality while Thorington has a higher pitched, pleasingly frail voice, nicely fitted for this lullaby of sorts. In an added push for beauty, sorrowful strings come in half way through the song. This song could be a good option for setting the mood after coming home from a lively Saturday night, but certainly not for getting pumped up beforehand.

Hermes Release Two New Singles in April

Hermes, a group of young English chaps from the small town of Cirencester are fresh on the scene with a double A side, “Anyone Who Cares / More Love In Death” available on April 25.

“Anyone Who Cares” shares upbeat instrumentation with self conscious lyrics like “I wouldn’t know the truth if it hit me/ Wouldn’t know love until it bit me.” The synth line sparkles, the buildup to the chorus is adrenalin charging and everything culminates once the chorus sets in. The echoing backup vocals compliment the lead’s in this well rounded track.

“More Love in Death” features steady, perfectly subtle drums that is the driving beat throughout the song. The liberating message of this song, emphasized by the repeating lyric “You can let go,” is blanketed under a softer, more forlorn feeling evoked from the music and vocal style. “Anyone Who Cares” and “More Love in Death” are two distinct and significantly different tracks, when juxtaposed balance each other and show the range of capabilities from this young band.

Judging from these new singles, Hermes sounds like they’d out on an awesome live show, so let’s hope they tour the US in the near future.