For those of you who couldn’t stand all the sap in our Valentine’s Day playlist, this one’s for you. We’ve filled this week’s Soundtrax with heartache, misery, and a touch of independence for those of you looking to get away from candy-filled hearts and store-bought flowers. Frank Turner, the Buzzcocks, and OurStage artist the Airborne Toxic Event are just a few of the bands on this week’s list that are right there beside you.
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There’s nothing like a little UK rock to get your blood pumping midweek. Hailing from Belfast, Ireland and extending their reach as far as London and Rome, Unquiet Nights have been gaining notoriety since their 2011 release, 21st Century Redemption Songs. Taking ’90s influenced rock and roll to the next level with radio friendly riffs and gritty vocals, it’s no surprise that they’ve seen exposure through radio play on BBC and G3 and provided the soundtrack for several television and Internet broadcasts, including ESPN.
If that weren’t enough, the band has also broken into the OurStage Top 40 for Indie Rock with their song, “Someone’s Love On Drugs.” The charm of that single was enticement enough to check out the rest of the band’s catalog. 21st Century Redemption Songs may come in at only 35 minutes, but these guys make every second count. Where “Someone’s Love On Drugs” captures a softer side of the band, “We Were The Ones” charges ahead full force with unrestrained vigor, setting the tone for high energy, catchy tunes throughout, and making for an album that is simply bursting with ambition and potential.
Check out “Someone’s Love On Drugs” below.
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In 2001, the romance of technology was still lighthearted. For Daft Punk, erstwhile pioneers in the world of mainstream electronica, the technologies that propelled their “Digital Love” single to success in the new millennium – the soft synths and sampled wurlitzers – still weren’t at odds with human affection, human love, human communication. They were an addendum, a side note to human intimacy, which still had supremacy even in an age of gradually encroaching machines that would slowly command more time, love, and money than many interpersonal relationships. That time was still to come, though. At the turn of the millennium, America was reeling from other wounds, and the crush of technology was really not a concern. Continue reading ‘Album Review: Ra Ra Riot – ‘Beta Love’’
From all accounts, the Yeah Yeah Yeahs new album, Mosquito, is going to be as weird as possible. To squash any doubts, the band has just revealed the bizarre album art, which features a terrifying purple mosquito preparing to impale a naked baby that has apparently been eating green goo. We’re not sure what the concept behind that one is, but “mosquito” seems to be the word of the day for the New York indie rockers, as their recent album trailer also features an oversized mosquito-headed musician. The album will drop on April 16, but you can already hear two new songs that the band premiered at the Glass House in Pomona, California this past weekend. Read below the jump for the new tunes.
If you’re into the Yeah Yeah Yeahs, check out OurStage artist Love Darling!
Continue reading ‘Yeah Yeah Yeahs Reveal New Record, Weirdest Album Art Ever’
Straight out of the Twin Cities, this is one indie rock foursome you can’t take your eyes…er, ears off. With an intrinsic mix of folk, rock, and alternative, at times bordering on country twang, July Fighter aren’t afraid to take on the new and toss out the old. They’ve shared the stage with acts diverse as Everclear, Blind Melon, and En Vogue, and have topped several OurStage charts including winning the Indie Pop competition in February of 2012 What are you waiting for? Take a listen to “Echo” after the jump. Continue reading ‘Featured Artist: July Fighter’
twenty | one | pilots have announced a headlining tour this winter with support from New Politics. Promoting their latest album Vessel, the band will begin their jaunt in New York and head west before moving overseas to Japan and Korea. You can find a full list of tour dates after the jump.
Continue reading ‘twenty | one | pilots Announce Tour Dates’
It’s time to ring in the new year! 2012 has just about come to a close, and though it was a year that brought us everything from the sensational “Call Me Maybe,” to new Taylor Swift videos, we’re ready to welcome 2013 with a fistful of brand new tunes. Check out this party playlist of must-haves for any New Year’s Eve and get dancing.
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Boston posi-core fans, dawn you now your gay apparel, for tonight Glamour Kills clothing company is hosting one of the biggest alternative/pop-punk shows of the season, A Very GK! Holiday Festival. According to the festival Facebook page, the lineup and estimated set times are as follows:
10:15 – END = The Wonder Years
9:30 – 10:00 = A Loss For Words
8:45 – 9:15 = Transit
8:00 – 8:30 = The Dangerous Summer
7:20 – 7:45 = Hit The Lights
6:50 – 7:10 = With The Punches
6:20 – 6:40 = Brian Marquis
5:50 – 6:10 = Hostage Calm
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Indie label No Sleep Records have released the first of a series of compilations just in time for the holiday season. No Sleep till the Holidays contains five songs, four of which are by artists off their roster. Click here to listen now and download the compilation for free! Tracklisting is as follows:
1. Long Lost – “You Can Always Come Home” (Joe B of Transit)
2. Allison Weiss – “December”
3. TS and The Past Haunts – “I Eat You”
4. Major League – “This Holiday”
5. Young Statues – “I Don’t Wanna Know What’s Under Your Tree”
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After several years of crafting his punk-influenced solo acoustic songs to perfection, Evan Weiss finally took his Into It. Over It. project on the road with a full band this fall. The result was a raw, fully-imagined version of the electric songs off of PROPER, his last full-length album. We caught up with Evan to chat about his experience playing his songs with a full band, writing about the people around him, and his 52 Weeks project of writing a song a week for a year.
OS: What was the experience like to finally play your songs with a full band in front of an audience for the first time?
Evan Weiss: It was something else. The very first show was in Cleveland. The room had to be 780 degrees. It was rough. The stage lights kept cutting out. It seemed like everything was going wrong, but it didn’t matter. Everyone was just so happy that it was happening. After the first show, all of the jitters and technical problems were gone and the rest of the tour went off without a hitch. There was something really special about that first one though.
OS: In the mini–documentary for the full band tour announcement, all of the other band members have jobs. How did you make the tour work around their other commitments?
EW: They were all able to take off two weeks. None of them had really used any of their vacation time. Tour became their vacation. Going on a two week trip wasn’t a burden. They all had a blast. I think going back to work afterwards was kinda tough for all of them. Continue reading ‘Exclusive Q and A: Into It. Over It. Talks Full-Band Tour, Songwriting, Growing Up’
