Recently CSS unveiled the lead single from their forthcoming album La Liberación. Entitled “Hits Me Like A Rock,” the song features guest vocals from Primal Scream’s Bobby Gillespie. Bubbling over with some serious pop energy, the track is currently available for free download HERE.
The full “Hits Me Like A Rock” single, which hits iTunes soon, will also include remixes courtesy of Dillon Francis and Mad Decent’s digital dance purveyors Depressed Buttons. So, keep an eye out for that.
New Zealand band Cut Off Your Hands have announced that they will be releasing the follow up to their 2008 album later this summer. The album entitled Hollow will be a mixture of new sounds and a rediscovered passion for playing music from band front man Nick Johnston. After 2008’s release of You & I, the band embarked on a three year tour and endured many personnel changes within the band, all of which left Johnston feeling a little disillusioned about music and wondering what his future would be.
“Something clicked in the time off between records,” says Johnston. “As I stopped worrying about what we should be doing, I began listening to records out of pure fun again and they ended up really influencing my writing.”
The result is a masterful sound of melancholic guitar riffs and melodies influenced by bands such as Echo & the Bunnymen, the Byrds, Bob Dylan and fellow countrymen the Bats and Bird Nest Roys. This time out, the band knew which direction they wanted this album to go and how they wanted this album to sound.
“A big thing for me was getting out of that songwriting slump,” explains Johnston, “realizing that making music is still meaningful for me.”
Hollow will be released on August 16th via Frenchkiss Records. There are plans for a US tour following the release.
Tracklisting
You Should Do Better
Hollowed Out
Fooling No One
Nausea
By Your Side
All It Takes
Oh Hell
Down and Out
Buried
Our favorite indie rockers, Sloan, did double duty in New York a few week ago and we were there to catch all of the action at their Bowery Ballroom show. Check out the photos below and stay tuned for an exclusive Modern Mystery interview with Jay Ferguson!
It has been a long time in the making, but the moment that you have been waiting for is here. NASH’s video for “Sad Robot Harmonies,” dropped today on Baeble Music in all of its glory.
Directed by Christopher Mills (Modest Mouse, Broken Social Scene, Interpol, Blue Rodeo), with Illustrations by Gaelle Legrand, and Executive Producer Geoff McLean, the trio create a visual masterpiece to the upbeat and catchy track.
An animated NASH will take you on a comic book ride that gets more interesting with every view. This is one video you will have to watch more than once, because you aren’t going to want to miss a thing.
“The song is a large thank you to some really good people in my life which points out the contrasts between good-intentioned people and people with agendas, and my ability to deal with or be able to cope with the latter,” says NASH. “I figured I’d be ironic about it and tell it from the perspective of a robot with artificial intelligence who’s so frustrated with humans and the terrible things that they do that he decides he can’t take it anymore and resorts to building himself a tree house so that he can be removed from his human counterparts. The song ends with the moral of: ‘No matter how shitty things get, there’s always good, and love prevails despite the sadness of things around you.'”
Though the suburban Montreal native is only just in his thirties, he’s already gone through more experiences, turmoil and hardships than a person twice his age.
NASH embraced music in his teens and it has continued to be the driving force in his life through his ups and downs and stints as a music journalist, record company employee, concert promoter, drug dealer and addict, aquatics instructor, semi-professional athlete, artist manager, studio owner, construction worker, university student, non-profit organization founder, frequent hospital patient, repeated robbery victim, singer, songwriter, composer, musician and producer. Much of his professional music career has been split between Montreal and roach-infested abodes in Los Angeles, with significant periods also spent in New York City, Toronto, Vancouver, and touring across North America.
NASH’s musical influences range from the alterno-indie-cynism of Beck to Phoenix, the quirkiness of Cake to Spoon, the rhythms of reggae and the haunting vocal touches of Failure and Depeche Mode. He takes elements from these artists and infuses them with unique arrangements, unusual instrumentation, danceable beats and memorable hooks to create a sound that’s truly his own.
In perhaps their coolest video yet, Modern Mystery favorites just launched a new one for “Taken For a Fool.” It’s so cool we’re just going to let it speak for itself. There are more Strokes in here then you’ll be able to handle. That’s not a bad thing.
Having already racked up 28 sold-out shows in 2011 (and counting) while touring in support of their latest album, Reptilians, Portland’s own STRFKR have just announced a slew of new North American tour dates with appearances at several summer festivals.
Amidst their numerous tour dates, STRFKR also found time to film a new video for “Julius” with director Jason Miller. Check out the video and a full list of dates down below.
STRFKR Tour Dates
Aug 10, 2011 – Soho Restaurant & Music Club, Santa Barbara, CA
Aug 11, 2011 – El Rey Theatre, Los Angeles, CA
Aug 12, 2011 – Outside Lands Festival, San Francisco, CA
Aug 13, 2011 – Outside Lands Festival, San Francisco, CA
Aug 14, 2011 – Outside Lands Festival, San Francisco, CA
Sep 2, 2011 – Electric Owl, Vancouver, Canada
Sep 3, 2011 – Bumbershoot Festival, Seattle, WA
Sep 5, 2011 – Kilby Court, Salt Lake City, UT
Sep 6, 2011 – Urban Lounge, Salt Lake City, UT
Sep 7, 2011 – Bluebird Theater, Denver, CO
Sep 9, 2011 – 12th & Porter, Nashville, TN
Sep 10, 2011 – The Masquerade, Atlanta, GA
Sep 11, 2011 – Cat’s Cradle, Carrboro, NC
Sep 12, 2011 – Black Cat, Washington, DC
Sep 13, 2011 – First Unitarian Church, Philadelphia, PA
Sep 16, 2011 – Knitting Factory, Brooklyn, NY
Sep 17, 2011 – Bowery Ballroom, New York, NY
Sep 18, 2011 – Middle East Downstairs, Cambridge, MA
Sep 19, 2011 – Il Motore, Montreal, QC
Sep 20, 2011 – Lee’s Palace, Toronto, Canada
Sep 21, 2011 – Majestic Theater, Detroit, MI
Sep 23, 2011 – MidPoint Music Festival, Cincinnati, OH
Sep 24, 2011 – Highdive (Pygmalion Music Festival), Champaign, IL
Sep 26, 2011 – Lincoln Hall, Chicago, IL
Sep 27, 2011 – Lincoln Hall, Chicago, IL
Sep 28, 2011 – Turner Hall, Milwaukee, WI
Sep 29, 2011 – The Cave, Northfield, MN
Sep 30, 2011 – The Vault, Sioux Falls, SD
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