The Soft Moon Announces West Coast Tour Dates

You should never stare directly into the sun, but get your ears as close as you can to the Soft Moon. After the release of two sensually dark 7 inches, Luis Vasquez of The Soft Moon, released his self-titled debut full-length on Captured Tracks, on November 16th, 2010. Vasquez channels his punk upbringing and Afro-Cuban heritage to sculpt decidedly dystopian soundscapes for a new generation of torn romantics. In otherwords, hell-freaking-yes. It’s a record set somewhere in the near post-apocalypse where technology enchants as much as it destroys. And you can hear some of it live if you’re at any of these spots in the next few weeks.
Tour Dates
02/25 San Francisco, CA – Cafe Du Nord (Noise Pop Festival) *
03/03 Santa Barbara, CA – Velvet Jones ^
03/04 Los Angeles, CA – Echoplex ^
03/05 Costa Mesa, CA – Detroit Bar ^
03/06 San Diego, CA – Casbah ^
03/16 – 03/19 Austin, TX – SXSW
04/30 Austin, TX – The East Side Drive-In (Austin Psych Fest)

* = w/ Black Ryder, Tamaryn
^ = w/ Autolux
# = w/ Violet Tremors, Anika DJ Set

The Fresh & Only’s Keep it Busy

The Fresh & Only’s make other musicians seem downright lazy.  As if touring were an excuse to not have to write new songs and you can just coast along playing the same setlist for two years before you get your ass back in the studio and find that you can’t recapture relevancy.  This San Francisco band don’t waste any time in the studio, recently recording their arguably greatest release yet, Play It Strange, in one week.  The hastiness was supposedly due to the band attempting to invigorate their studio work with the energetic and spooky nuances they pull off live.  From seeing a headlining New Year’s Eve show in The City with Sonny and the Sunsets, The Only’s can be refreshingly good and bad, but never boring — Much like Robert Pollard, this trait suits their prolific nature.

Listen for yourself on these dates:

02/27 San Francisco, CA Bottom of the Hill ~

03/16 – 03/19 Austin, TX SXSW

03/21 San Diego, CA Tin Can Alehouse

03/22 Los Angeles, CA Echo

04/12 Denver, CO Hi Dive &

04/13 Lawrence, KS The Jackpot Saloon &

04/14 Bloomington, IN The Bishop &

04/15 Pittsburgh, PA Brillobox &

04/18 Cincinnati, OH MOTR Pub &

04/19 Saint Louis, MO The Billiken Club !

04/20 Chicago, IL Lincoln Hall %

04/21 Toronto, ON Parts & Labour &

04/22 Montreal, QC Il Motore &

04/23 Brooklyn, NY Music Hall of Williamsburg %

04/24 Philadelphia, PA Kung Fu Necktie %

04/25 Washington, DC Red Palace %

04/27 Atlanta, GA The Earl %

04/28 Birmingham AL Bottletree %

~ w/ Growlers, Pleasure Kills, Wrong Words

% w/ Crocodiles, Young Prisms

& w/ Young Prisms

! w/ Crocodiles

Make Out Free EP Release February 22

Make Out will release their highly anticipated debut EP, How To, on February 22. The band, formed of New York native Hennessey on vocals, Jesper Mortensen (formerly of Junior Senior, aka Junior) on back-up vocals and guitar, Anders Christiansen on bass and Olivia Alminiana behind the drums, just performed last night at February 10  at New York’s Tammany Hall. If you missed it, the show was free!

Click Here To Download “What U Doing Later?” On PopMatters

Click Here To Download “I Don’t Want Anybody That Wants Me” + Read Exclusive Interview With The Band On SPIN.com

Fleet Foxes Release New Album, Head Out on Tour


Fleet Foxes are prepared to release their newest effort on May 3rd titled Helplessness Blues, via Sub Pop. This will be the first album for the band in almost three years. That’s a pretty long time in the indie world. Fleet Foxes hasn’t been on tour since August 2009, and for those waiting on the edge of their seat, the band has just announced a lengthy tour that kicks off in April. Take a look at the dates below and one piece of advice: Get your tickets fast because these shows will surely sell out.

04-30 Vancouver, British Columbia – The Vogue Theatre
05-01 Portland, OR – Crystal Ballroom
05-03 Seattle, WA – Moore Theatre
05-05 Oakland, CA – Fox Theater
05-06 San Diego, CA – Spreckels Theatre
05-07 Hollywood, CA – Hollywood Palladium
05-08 Tucson, AZ – Rialto Theatre
05-10 Austin, TX – Stubbs Waller Creek Amphitheater
05-11 Dallas, TX – Palladium Ballroom
05-13 Nashville, TN – Ryman Auditorium
05-14 Atlanta, GA – The Tabernacle
05-15 Washington, DC – DAR Constitution Hall
05-17 Boston, MA – Orpheum Theatre
05-18 New York, NY – The United Palace Theatre
05-21 Upper Darby, PA – Tower Theatre
05-25 Berlin, Germany – Astra
05-26 Munich, Germany – Dachau Summer of Music
05-28 Barcelona, Spain – Primavera Sound
05-30 Paris, France – Bataclan
05-31 London, England – Hammersmith Apollo

The New Pornographers to Tour with The Walkmen


Some bands were just meant to be together. The New Pornographers and The Walkmen have just announced that they will be embarking on 7 date tour with each other before and after heading their different directions. For the solo NP dates, Menomena are set to open. Check out all of the tour dates below. Sorry kids, this is a mid western tour only. Dry your tears.

The New Pornographers / The Walkmen:

04-22 Indianapolis, IN – The Vogue
04-23 Cleveland, OH – House of Blues
04-25 Buffalo, NY – Town Ballroom
04-26 Cincinnati, OH – Bogart’s
04-27 Iowa City, IA – University of Iowa
04-28 Champagne, IL – Canopy Club
04-29 Columbia, MO – Blue Note

The New Pornographers:

04-13 Boulder, CO – Fox Theatre *
04-14 Albuquerque, NM – Sunshine Theatre *
04-15 Tempe, AZ – Marquee Theatre *
04-16 Indio, CA – Coachella Music Festival
04-17 Santa Cruz, CA – Rio Theatre
04-18 San Francisco, CA – Regency Ballroom *

* with Menomena

The Walkmen:

03-02 New Orleans, LA – One Eyed Jack’s
03-03 Houston, TX – Fitzgerald’s
03-04 Austin, TX – Stubb’s Bar-B-Q
03-05 Dallas, TX – Granada Theater
05-18 Istanbul, Turkey – Babylon Club
05-20 Paris, France – Alhambra
05-22 Brussels, Belgium – Cirque Royal
05-23 Nimejan, Netherlands – Doornroosje
05-24 Amsterdam, Netherlands – Melkweg
05-28 Zurich, Switzerland – Mascotte
05-27 Barcelona, Spain – Primavera Sound Festival

Golden Dogs Releasing ‘Coat Of Arms’ LP and Upcoming Spring Tour Dates Announced


After a busy year of touring in support of their second album Golden Dogs finally returned to the studio to record Coat of Arms, their third release coming out on Dine Alone records on April 26th 2011. Lots of maturity and growth appears to have settled into the Canadian duo, who begin touring in support of the release on March 17th at the South by Southwest conference. You can stream the new album on their Web site by clicking in just a moment, here.

Tour Dates

Mar 17: SXSW @ Hole in the wall (day party)
Mar 19: SXSW @ Paradise on 6th
Mar 22:  Portland @ Wonder Ballroom**
Mar 23: Seattle @ Showbox**
Mar 24: Vancouver @ Biltmore**
Mar 26: Missoula, MT @ Wilma Theatre**
Mar 27: Jackson, WY @ Q Roadhouse**
Mar 29: Ames, IA @ The Maintenance Shop**
Mar 30: Omaha, NE @ Waiting Room**
Mar 31: Minneapolis, MN @ Varsity Theatre **
Apr 1: Madison, WI @ The Majestic**
Apr 2: Chicago, IL @ The Vic**
Apr 3: Pittsburgh, PA @ Mr. Smalls**
** w/ State Radio