Delicate Steve Fail at Attempting to Take a Detour From Near Perfection

Don’t let the title of this post fool you, even though it doesn’t give any hint as to what the post is about.  Delicate Steve just seem to invite this sort of diction – whether it be their unwaveringly funny PR email with quotes including, “We are as delicate as the wings of butterfly with AIDS. Anything could crush us. And until we all decide that art is the only thing that makes life livable, we’ll just be another instrumental five-piece from New Jersey.” and “I’ll fight anyone, for any reason. I’ll fight a dog for no reason. I’ve seen the inside of juvenile hall. I’ve tasted blood in my mouth. I’ve stepped on throats and I’ve thrown bottles at strangers. But that was all in the past. It’s still part of me, but – now – I use that intensity for good. I want to attack people with music the same way I used to attack them with my fists.” or the reminder they give us that life is more palatable when (metaphorically) take a la mode.  Whatever that may mean to you, Delicate Steve fittingly leave almost everything up to interpretation.  Being an instrumental band, in a way, you choose your own adventure.  Take the video for single, “Wondervisions” featuring Dirty Projectors’ Nat Baldwin as an example.

Delicate Steve take you back to the days when basketball players wore shoes made vintage upon conception that offered no support whatsoever.  And with that alone, a non-point has been made: if anything, Delicate Steve wanted to disassociate themselves from an effortlessly applicable “beach vibe” that gets slapped onto this kind of music (see Ducktails) and pit their music against an irrelevant backdrop.  The result is you wonder why you’re watching two men play one-on-one while you dig on a fun little jam.  And thanks to the power of editing, nobody misses a shot, and you don’t have to either because it’s streaming below.  Look for Wondervisions out February 1st on Luaka Bop.

http://player.vimeo.com/video/17367289

Black Pistol Fire Gear Up For Self-Titled LP Release

Austin duo Black Pistol Fire recently announced the release date for the self-titled debut LP for February 2011.  Taking the term “garage band” literally, Black Pistol Fire rented out a garage in Austin to write the 13 tracks that would make up their debut release before recording the album in an abandoned Detroit building with producer Jim Diamond (The White Stripes, The Von Bondies, Jon Spencer Blues Explosion).  The result is a southern rock n’ roll modern sound mixed with the edgy sound of punk resulting in a style similar to that of Kings of Leon and The Black Keys but certainly all their own.  

Black Pistol Fire features Kevin McKeown on guitar and lead vocals, and Eric Owen on drums.  The two grew up in Toronto, Canada and have been friends since kindergarten.  After their first band, The Shenanigans, disbanded, McKeown and Owen headed south for warmer climates and settled in Austin.  They will release their debut LP on February 15th, 2011 on Rifle Bird Records.  

Black Pistol Fire track-listing

1. Cold Sun

2. Suffocation Blues

3. Where You Been Before

4. Jezebel Stomp

5. You’re Not The Only One

6. Trigger On My Fire

7. Sort Me Out

8. Black Eyed Susan

9. Jackknife Darlin’

10. Silent Blue

11. Without Love

12. Bottle Rocket

13. So Heavy

 

U.S. Royalty to release “Mirrors”

usroyalty
Washington DC-based band US Royalty are finally ready to release their debut record after spending a year recording and writing the music as a band. The folk pop band has been compared to the likes of Local Natives and the Black Keys, but in reality, their inspiration is drawn from Kubrick and Ennio Morricone soundtracks.

The result is an electrifying single called “Equestrian”, which can be listened to here.

Make sure to pick up the promising “Mirrors” on January 25th, 2011.

Screaming Females Announce 2011 Shows; Release MP3

New Brunswick, NJ-based punk rockers Screaming Females have announced three initial shows for 2011.  Dates are listed as follows:

1/14 – Chicago, IL – Lincoln Hall/Tomorrow Never Knows Festival
1/17 – Los Angeles, CA – Echoplex
2/12 – Brooklyn, NY – Music Hall of Williamsburg

The band has also released a new song called “Wild” that can be found on the September 2010 LP release Castle Talk.

Screaming Females – Wild by forcefieldpr

The Glass Give Us A Controversial New Video

The Glass art

Some artists shy away from what could be considered controversial content in their music videos. The Glass gleefully dive in to questionable content headfirst, showing the (very negative) effects of drug use on their video for the song “Four Four Letter” in stark black and white contrast.

The song is off of the band’s latest At Swim Two Birds, which is out via Plant Music. You can also hear the Black Van remix of the song “Four Four Letter” right here.

Bird By Snow Travel Across the Water


In October of this year, Gnome Life Records label operator Fletcher Tucker  released his fourth full-length album with the band Bird By Snow. Entitled Common Wealth, the album has a broad yet natural sound, indicative of Fletcher himself.

Gnome Life has an exciting 2011 planned with releases from Psychic Hiking, Spencer Owen, Sean Smith & Johanna Borcert, The Range Of Light Wilderness, Aaron Sheppard, as well as a new Bird By Snow album all on the horizon.

But right now, Fletcher and company are focused on Bird By Snow’s newly released single “Across the Water,” which is available for download HERE.

Bird by Snow is also doing a couple spot shows in January, the dates of which can be found below.

 

Bird By Snow Upcoming Shows

Jan 5 Bottom Of The Hill San Francisco, CA

Jan 31 Elbo Room San Francisco, CA