New Someone Still Loves You Boris Yeltsin ‘Cardinal Rules’

There has been a talk for quite some time in the Someone Still Loves You Boris Yeltsin camp about a studio version of ‘Cardinal Rules,’ a song the band had written about their hometown minor league baseball team, The Springfield  Cardinals. The band have been playing the ever poppy tune at recent shows and it instantly became a favorite amongst fans. Will the tune be on the new record? No word on that yet, but there is word of SSLYBY working on their third record as we speak. The plans after that are to go back on tour, and we just can’t wait!

Download Someone Still Loves You Boris Yeltsin ‘Cardinal Rules’ HERE

The Morning Benders Prep New Album

Some lovely news this week from camp Morning Benders. The band is set to release their second full length titled ‘Big Echo.’  The album was recorded after the brief winter tour this year with Grizzly Bear’s Chris Taylor. ‘Wow’ to say the least. Though there is no official release date for the record, we are sure it will be out on +1 Records by the end of the year, by early next year (according to singer Chris Chu). The Morning Benders are also taking their show on the road for the first time to Europe this summer along with a handful of shows in the West Coast (even one with Beach House). The band will be playing a few festivals in the UK with Lily Allen, Wilco and Grizzly Bear, a lineup not to be missed!

Check out The Morning Benders track titled ‘Hand Me Downs’  on their MYSPACE

Tour Dates:

UK/Europe Dates:
Aug 11 2009   8:00P
Dublin Castle 
London

Aug 12 2009  8:00P
Old Blue Last 
London

Aug 13 2009  8:00P
The Boogaloo 
London

Aug 14 2009  12:00P
Way Out West 
Göteborg, Sweden
http://www.wayoutwest.se/

Aug 15 2009  12:00P
Oya Festival (John Dee) 
Oslo, Norway
http://oyafestivalen.com/

Aug 30 2009  12:00P
SF Outside Lands 
San Francisco, CA

Sep 19 2009  8:00P
MusicfestNW Berbati’s Pan (w/ Beach House!) 
Portland, Oregon

The Miniature Tigers *Music Hall of Williamsburg* June 7 2009* Brooklyn, New York*

Its always a fun time with The Miniature Tigers come to town. The band has currently been on tour with Kevin Devine and Brian Bonz, and their stop at the Music Hall of Williamsburg this past Sunday was the last night of the tour. You can see that these bands have become like old friends in such a short period of time. The Miniature Tigers took the stage and Brooklyn gave them a very warm welcome as the venue was packed. The word about the band is really getting out there and they deserve it.

They opened with ‘Last Night’s Fake Blood’which is a personal favorite of mine. The band had everyone dancing before they were even done with the first verse. This time around, the band has a few lineup changes, recently losing bass player, Lou Kummerer and temporary guitarist Darren Robinson (also of Phantom Planet). The new members of the band Alex Gerber and Algernon Quashe seem to work perfectly into the lineup, and didn’t miss a note.  Even though they didn’t have a lot of time to practice with each other before the tour started, you would never know it.  The Miniature Tigers played incredible as always.

Like prior performances we have seen from the band, Charlie Brand and Rick Schaier are dead on.  They play together like a band that is beyond their years. They are flawless and it is obvious they have a passion for what they are doing. Rick has also seemed to be doing more harmonies which blend perfectly with Charlie’s voice. Its a nice little addition to the songs.

Other songs of the night included not only tracks off their highly acclaimed ‘Tell It To The Volcano’ , but also new songs like ‘Egyptian Robe’ and ‘There’s a Japanese Woman in My Closet.’ Both incredible new songs that already have fans craving for the new record. On the album the band is perfect but onstage they bring a whole new life to the songs, filling them with astonishing little surprises and a giant burst of energy. Its amazing what they can do and I’ve seen very little bands be able to put so much heart and soul into their live set. For the last song, The Miniature Tigers  brought Brian Bonz, Kevin Devine and their band members onto the stage. They first started with a short and surprising version of Reel 2 Reel’s ‘I Like to Move It’ which oddly enough sounding really good! The band then launched into the most unbelievable version of ‘Cannibal Queen’ the world has ever laid it’s ears upon. It was like one giant party and everyone was singing along.

The Miniature Tigers have a few more dates minus Kevin Devine before they head home so if you haven’t caught them live yet, I suggest that you do so. You’ll kick yourself if you don’t.

More Photos from the Brooklyn Show AFTER THE JUMP

WATCH OUR VIDEOS OF ‘TELL IT TO THE VOLCANO’ AND ‘CANNIBAL QUEEN’ with Kevin Devine and Brian Bonz HERE

The Morning Benders, ‘Heavy Hearts’ Live

The Morning Benders was one of our favorite new bands of 2008, and still Talking Through Tin Cans is in heavy rotation almost a year after it’s release. Is there a catchier record out there? Not that we know of.

The word on the street is the band is already in the process of recording their second album titled Big Echo that may be out by this year’s end. Nice. The Morning Benders are one of those timeless bands. They have a bit of 60’s vibe to them and the most brilliant harmonies we’ve heard in a long time.

I believe we have shared this months ago, but rewatching it today made it seem so new. Its our video of The Morning Benders doing their rarely performed song ‘Heavy Hearts,’ at their Puma Instore at CMJ 2008. The Morning Benders were also the first band we made cookies for….

Check out the video on our VIMEO  page

Check out our Band Interview page for our talk with The Morning Benders.

The band is also doing a few dates with John Vanderslice in May

5.17.09 The Partisan (w/ John Vanderslice)
5.27.09 Velour (w/ John Vanderslice)
5.28.09 Kilby Court (w/ John Vanderslice)
5.29.09 Hi-Dive (w/ John Vanderslice)

The Morning Benders Return to Daytrotter

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Today Daytrotter had an extra special treat (for us at least!). The Morning Benders have returned for a second time to provide us with 3 more Daytrotter session songs. The Morning Benders are one of those bands that everything they touch turns to gold. Chris Chu’s voice is remarkable on every occassion, especially in a Daytrotter session.

The first song the band performed was an alternate version of ‘Patient Patient’ called ‘Doctor Doctor’,  which makes the song a bit darker, but nonetheless still beautiful.  The second song titled ‘Worth the Fight’ was a track that was left off of ‘Talking Through Tin Cans’ because the band didn’t feel it fit well with the other songs. Maybe a studio version of the song will make it onto the new Morning Benders record.  The final song the band recorded for Daytrotter is ‘Nothin’ in This World Can Stop Me Worryin’ Bout That Girl,’ a Kink’s cover which the band started playing around with the night before. This is one incredible cover, but hey, The Morning Benders are an incredible band.

Listen to The Morning Benders Daytrotter Session HERE

Morning Benders Announce Tour!

Its really no secret here at Modern Mystery that we are totally in love with ‘Talking Through Tin Cans’ by The Morning Benders. The guys recently announced a co-headlining tour with The Submarines that will be starting in a matter of weeks.

If you haven’t checked out The Morning Benders live (or at all for that matter), we urge you to do so. The tour is pretty extensive and if you’ve only seen the band do their Puma instore set, then you are in for another side of The Morning Benders. Either way electric or acoustic, the band delievers the goods. They are astonishing live.

Here is a video we took from CMJ week when The Morning Benders performed at the Puma Instore in New York City. They played beautifully and made us love the record even more. Plus they took requests and played a cover of ‘Love Fool’.

This is a video of the band playing ‘Heavy Hearts’ which singer/guitarist Chris Chu said they hadn’t played since they recorded the song almost a year to the day.

Watch ‘Heavy Hearts’ on our VIMEO

Check out more of our pictures of The Morning Benders at the Puma NYC Instore after the Jump

Tour Dates!
1/31 Costa Mesa, CA Detroit Bar
2/1 Tucson, AZ Club Congress
2/3 Austin, TX Stubbs
2/4 Dallas, TX House of Blues-Pontiac Garage
2/6 Atlanta, GA Drunken Unicorn
2/7 Chapel Hill, NC Local 506
2/8 Washington, DC Black Cat Backstage
2/9 Philadelphia, PA Johnny Brendas
2/10 New York, NY Mercury Lounge
2/11 Brooklyn, NY Bell House
2/13 Boston, MA Middle East
2/14 Montreal, QC El Motore
2/15 Toronto, ON Drake Hotel
2/17 Chicago, IL Schubas
2/18 Minneapolis, MN Triple Rock Social Club
2/20 Denver, CO Hi Dive
2/21 Salt Lake City, UT Kilby Court
2/23 Vancouver, BC Biltmore Cabaret
2/24 Seattle, WA Chop Suey
2/25 Portland, OR Doug Fir

Check out The Morning Benders on Myspace