The new Crystal Stilts LP, In Love With Oblivion, came out this week but over at the Hype Machine you can get a free stream of the entire album to try before you buy! Throw these guys in with the likes of Ariel Pink’s Haunted Graffiti, The Fresh and Onlys, and fuck it, The Doors too — spooky, atmospheric pop songs wrapped in fuzz and reverb. On first listen, this is their most effective work yet.
About two weeks ago, we gave you guys the scoop on Javelin’s new record, Canyon Candy. Set for release on April 16th, the album marks a distinct stylistic change for the band. This week, shortly after our friends at Stereogum unveiled the album’s first single, band member Thomas Van Buskirk revealed the album’s origins.
Said Van Buskirk “We recorded some on the road, some at home when on break from tour. George and I spent a fair amount of time driving through the South and Western landscape between Feb-June ’09 … in the course of touring with Yeasayer, playing SXSW, and before that playing with our good friend Lucky Dragons in California. Somewhere along the drives we started noticing amazing National Park signs : “Crater of Diamonds” for instance. They sounded like song names.
The musician also teased us with this tidbit ” [Our] engineer said one song sounded like The Band mixed with Lil Jon.” Intriguing…
Seattle-based punk rockers Virgin Islands have released a single for their upcoming debut album, Ernie Chambers Vs. God. The album will be released on May 10th. Enjoy the the track, “No Doctor”:
Sonny Smith’s musical bio sounds a bit like Brian Wilson’s. Smith found his passion for music while a patient in a hospital in Texas. After being released to the care of his brother and wife (who would join the band), he moved to San Francisco, found himself back in psychiatric care, met a girl (Kelley Stoltz) who played drums, asked her to join the band with his brother and wife and voila! Back in 2009, while recording a triple album, a hurricane hit the area they were recording and destroyed most of the tapes. What survives of those tapes was released yesterday, April 12th, as the album Hit After Hit on Fat Possum. Their 7″ featuring the song “I Wanna Do It” comes with the surfy B-Side “Mr. Lucky.”
Sonny and The Sunsets
Hit After Hit
(Fat Possum)
Street Date: April 12, 2011
1. She Plays Yo-Yo With My Mind
2. I Wanna Do It
3. Home and Exile
4. Reflections on Youth
5. Girls Beware
6. The Bad Energy From LA Is Killing Me
7. Teen Age Thugs
8. Heart of Sadness
9. Don’t Act Dumb
10. Acres of Lust
11. Pretend You Love Me
06/04 Sonoma, CA Huichica Festival @ Gundlach
06/22 – 06/25 Calgary, ALB Sled Island Festival
08/05 – 08/07 Happy Valley, OR Pickathon
Gang Gang Dance have released a single AND a video from their upcoming album, Eye Contact, to be released May 9th. The single is called “Mindkilla” and can be heard and seen below:
http://player.soundcloud.com/player.swf?url=http%3A%2F%2Fapi.soundcloud.com%2Ftracks%2F13106642Gang Gang Dance – Mindkilla by Leemari
Early reviews of TV On The Radio’s eagerly anticipated fourth LP, Nine Types of Light, has started to trickle in, with Spin calling it “Important Music for Important Times.” Now, with the album’s release less than a week away, TV On Radio have decided to stream the album via Rhapsody. You can also pre-order the album from iTunes HERE.
In just a few days, the band will hit the road for a massive spring tour that will take them across the country and to numerous European festivals too. Full tour dates below.
April 8 || Philadelphia, PA || Electric Factory
April 9 || Charlottesville, VA || Jefferson Theatre
April 10 || Baltimore, MD || Ram’s Head Live
April 12 || Brooklyn, NY || Music Hall of Williamsburg **
April 13 || New York, NY || Radio City Music Hall
April 15 || Providence, RI || Brown University
April 16 || Boston, MA || House of Blues
April 16 || Boston, MA|| Newbury Comics (Record Store Day)
April 17 || Montreal, Quebec || Metropolis
April 18 || Toronto, Ontario || Sound Academy
April 20 || Detroit, MI || St. Andrew’s Hall
April 22 || Chicago, IL || Metro
April 23 || Minneapolis, MN || First Avenue
April 24 || Minneapolis, MN || First Avenue
April 26 || Denver, CO || Ogden Theatre
April 29 || San Francisco, CA || The Independent **
April 30 || San Francisco, CA || The Independent **
May 2 || San Diego, CA || 4th and B
May 3 || Los Angeles, CA || Music Box**
June 22 || Zagreb, Croatia || T-Mobile Inmusic Festival
June 23 || Munich, Germany || Muffathalle
June 24 || Berlin, Germany || Astra
June 27 || Manchester, England || Academy 2
June 28 || Glasgow, GBR || 02ABC
June 30 || Werchter, Belgium || Rock Werchter
July 1 || St. Gallen, Switzerland || St. Gallen Festival
July 3 || London, England || Wireless Festival
July 4 || Amsterdam, Holland || Paradiso
July 5 || Cologne, Germany || Live Music Hall
July 8 || Bilbao, Spain || BBK Live Festival
July 9 || Lisbon, Portugal || Alive Festival
July 13 || Paris, France || Olympia
July 17 || Chicago, IL || Pitchfork Music Festival
August 28 || St. Louis, MO || LouFest Music Festival
**New Dates Just Announced
Modern Mystery 
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