popwreckoning

English folk/punk singer/songwriter Frank Turner is huge at home in Britain and across Europe but as of 2010 had yet to do a proper headlining North American tour. In late April, he embarked on his first, sans backing band. I guess he’s made a good impression on this side of the pond already- as early as mid-March most of the dates on this 2-week tour were already sold out and at the time of this writing, all the dates are now completely sold out, Turner saying to me that he’d been offered “crazy things” by people desperate to get into the Red Palace show in DC Friday night. Definitely a hot ticket.

The support act was Justin Jones, a local singer/songwriter with a similar folk/punk bent to Turner’s. He was joined on stage by upright bass player Tracy Epperson, a former bandmate. Jones has the distinction of being the first act to be signed to 9:30 Records, the new label created by yup, you guessed it, the folks that run the iconic 9:30 Club that looms so large on the Washington music scene. Compared to Turner’s songs and singing style, Jones is decidedly darker. This may be attributed to his addiction to heroin several years ago that temporarily wrecked his life but after rehab, translated into the kind of songs he performs today.

His tunes Friday night ran from heartfelt (a song for his wife called “Keep a Shelter”; another one called “The Little Fox” about watching his daughter play in the front yard of their house) to deep, dark, and dangerous (a murder ballad called “55 Songs”). The man has a powerful voice but it can grate when he’s shouting his heart out. In between songs he entertained the appreciative audience with crass stories, many of which I won’t type out here because they won’t make a lot of sense unless you’ve actually lived in DC (in which case, talking about neighborhoods bounded by particular streets and their relative safety, or lack thereof, is common source of jokes).

In Britain, it’s every man for himself when Frank Turner tickets go on sale. What is it that makes him so popular? Well, in that part of the world, it’s been my impression that many people feel oppressed by the status quo, and in the UK, a lot of that has to do with class inequality and the have-nots struggling to survive and make ends meet. And this man speaks their language. While you don’t have to be a completely down-trodden commoner to enjoy Turner’s music, my guess is that the people who attended the Royal Wedding the same day Frank Turner came to play in DC aren’t among his fans. His lyrics can be vitriolic, which is not all surprising, since he first started playing in a punk band and admitted to us that he was once a young, angry university student in London. But he can also write with emotional love songs, like “The Fastest Way Back Home,” the chorus beautiful with the lyrics, “weather wears down the mountains into the sea / so I will stand in the rain until I am clean / rivers carve the country, a landscape shaped by a stream / so I will swim in the river as long as you need.” Gorgeous.

Most impressive was nearly everyone in the crowd singing along to Turner’s every word, even the new single that just came out on iTunes days ago, “Peggy Sings the Blues.” The tune is the first single from Turner’s upcoming album England Keep My Bones due out in early June, following closely on from his Rock & Roll EP released last year. For me, the highlights were some of his best-known numbers (“I Knew Prufrock Before He Became Famous,” “Try This at Home”) and the more raucous ones such as “I Still Believe” that require manic audience participation in the form of shouting “I still believe!” at the top of your lungs back at Turner.

That said, I get the distinct feeling that not everyone will feel at home at one of Turner’s gigs. Red Palace is pretty small to begin with (200-person capacity) and it’s a little weird standing among burly men yelling with drinks in hand (I guess I have not been to enough gigs in Britain). But if that sounds to you like a good night out, I heartily recommend catching him live. And don’t fret if you didn’t get tickets for this tour. There’s a rumor Turner will return to the U.S. with a full band this fall, so if you didn’t catch him on this go-around, you’ll likely have another chance before the end of the year.

Tour Dates
May 02 – Beat Kitchen / Chicago
May 04 – Bottom of the Hill / San Francisco
May 05 – Hotel Cafe / Los Angeles (two shows)

Frank Turner: website | myspace | Rock & Roll EP review
Justin Jones: website | myspace

The Gallery is a rock band that knows how to write catchy hooks and sharp lyrics. The Florida band by way of Massachusetts is made up of brothers Brendan Cooney (vocals/guitar) and Ryan Cooney (drums) and their friends Shea Brennan (guitar) and Dave Mozdzanowski (bass/vocals).The band recently performed at SXSW 2011 and took some time to chat with PopWreckoning about their Come Alive EP, the festival and future plans. You can read the full interview below.

Bethany, PopWreckoning: Let’s start at the beginning. Where’d you guys meet and how did you form the Gallery?
Ryan Cooney, drummer: Brendan [Cooney] is my brother, so we met at my house. Haha. Shea [Brennan] lives in our town and Dave [Mozdzanowski] lives near by, so we’ve all been friends. We’ve played together and we kind of branched off from all the people that we were playing with and started playing in our basement and went from there. 

PW: I know on your bio that is says you’re all from Massachusetts, but you call Florida your second home. What’s the connection between the two?
Dave Mozdzanowski, bassist: We went to school down there. I went down for school, then Ry came down after a couple of years and then these two guys [Brendan and Shea] came down a couple years after. Then we met a lot of friends down there, so we have all those connections.

PW: For people who haven’t heard your band, how would you describe your sound and what are some of your influences?
Ryan: We just say rock. It’s so easy to put a bunch of adjectives in there, but I guess people say it has a kind of folk feel. We do listen to a lot of music like that. Bob Dylan – we’ve learned a lot from his songs. Then Tom Petty, 90s rock bands like Oasis or Third Eye Blind or Matchbox 20. We like everything, so I guess it just comes together to form some sort of rock music.

PW: You guys have a lot of support from a lot of online and print publications. You were just involved with a Rolling Stone unsigned cover battle contest. How did you get picked for that? Is that still going on?
The Gallery: We got involved in it – we played Miami for a festival that someone in the industry suggested that we go to and then next thing you know, we got picked. We were just in the top 16. The top 8 have already moved on. It’s over now for us.

PW: You guys have been playing every single day of SXSW. What have you learned from your experience and if you had to, what would be in a SXSW survival kit for you?
Ryan: We’ve…moderation would be the key, probably. A lot of bands, I’m sure, only play one set or a couple sets and then have the rest of the week to do whatever they want, but if you’re busy playing everyday, it’s probably not the best idea to stay up really late. Especially if you’re sleeping on the floor of hotel. We’re at the Marriott – downtown Marriott. We had to sneak in through the garage last night. Take it easy, enjoy the music and stay busy.

PW: What have been some of the craziest or coolest things you’ve seen since you’ve been here?
Brendan Cooney, singer/guitar: We were actually saying it’s not exactly as crazy as we thought it would be. I think it’s just the type of people that are attracted to this kind of music fest. There have been a lot of drunk people. That’s the craziest that I’ve seen. Coolest things? We only caught one song, but this Augustana set – that song – was the best song that I’ve seen all of SXSW.
Ryan: I feel like yesterday [Friday] we saw the best bands. At least my preference.
The Gallery: This guy from The Testament over at Rusty Spurs – this jazz fusion thing. That was the best.

PW: What’s next for you after SXSW?
Brendan: We’re actually going back to Florida and we’re playing some music festivals in Florida. Then we’re going to tour up the East coast and do some shows in the New England area. Then we’re going to hit the road for a month or so after that.

PW: You guys just released an EP. Is there a plan for a full-length?
The Gallery: We’re kind of playing it by ear. We’re not sure, but we’re always writing, so there’s always an opportunity for the next release.

The Gallery’s Come Alive EP is available now. Get it on iTunes and Bandcamp at thegallerymusic.bandcamp.com.

Ethereal Brooklyn act Acrylics had a busy schedule at 2011′s SXSW, but they found some time to catch up with PopWreckoning. The synth heavy duo, Jason Klauber and Molly Shea, chats about new album Lives and Treasure, Super moon vibes and the influence of “Twin Peaks. Check the full interview out below: 

PopWreckoning: You just played a set here at SXSW, earlier, right?
Jason Klauber, Acrylics: Yes.
PW: Was that your first SXSW performance ever?
Molly Shea, Acrylics: First of this year.

PW: You’re a fairly new band and you just had an EP that came out on Grizzly Bear‘s Chris Gehringer‘s label – the first to come out on his label. How did you get hooked up with him?
JK: Pretty much we’re a part of that Brooklyn band cesspool. We’ve crossed path Chris over the years and he thought it’d be fun to have us record some sessions. These sessions ended up being put out as an EP, so they just put it out. At the time they were just doing singles, and we were just going to record a single, but it stretched out into a 5-song thing. It was really casual. We spent about a week in a church that he records out of. It was really fun to do that. That was our first release and we’re putting out a new record – well it just came out.
MS: It came out March 1.
JK: We’ve been working on it for so long that it’s hard to say – to put it in the past tense, but it did come out.

PW: It’s still pretty new. Present tense. Now on that record, you did a song with Chairlift‘s Caroline Polachek.
MS: She’s just a friend that we met three or four years ago just through musicians in Brooklyn. It’s really true about Brooklyn, I guess.

PW: Well how would you describe that Brooklyn scene? Is it like just being in a family or…?
MS: It’s so huge that there’s so many different groups of bands that know each other. It’s hard to classify the whole sphere.
JK: It’s more of a social thing. Musicians like to hang out with musicians, and there’s a lot of them in Brooklyn. It’s as simple as that. With Caroline, she came to visit us in the studio one day and we had that song going.
MS: Very casual event.
JK: Yeah, we said you want to sing some backup vox? And she said yes, so next thing you know she’s singing.
MS: We thought it was the perfect song for her.
JK: She did some vocal athletics at the end of the song and it’s very atmospheric. Like, “ah-ah-ah-ah,” so we thought she deserved a feature and credit on it.
MS: It was a vocal solo.
JK: She’s a phenomenal singer, so it’s just fun to have her lend her talents to what we were working on.

. “Sparrow Song” ft. Caroline Polachek

PW: So for people who haven’t heard your music, why should they check your record out?
JK: It’s a good record.
MS: We put our hearts and souls into it. I know it sounds corny, but it’s true.
JK: I think there’s some good songs on it and it’s produced in a way that makes it a great record to listen to by yourself in an intimate space. It was created much with that type of intimacy. It’s like watching a movie that takes you from place A to place B while you’re lying in bed. I think you can achieve something similar if you run through the course of our record a few times as well.
MS: It’s a personal, intimate record. I imagine people listening to it on their headphones.
JK: It’s certainly not for everybody, but I think that people who will connect to it, will connect and have connected, in a very sincere and meaningful way. That’s what it’s about for us.

PW: Who are some of your influences on the record?
MS: Tough question.
PW: That’s supposed to be one of the easy questions.
JK: Haha, yeah. We didn’t want to sound like anybody else, but if we ended up sounding like everybody else, it can be a good thing, you know?
MS: We listen to a lot of different – I mean, I love a lot of 60s psychedelic music. I love a lot of loud, hard rock. That might not have come across in an obvious way on the record, but it’s there. We have a lot of punk rock roots that we feel are strong.
JK: I was in the middle of the “Twin Peaks” series when we were making the record so a lot of the Angelo Badalamenti scores for that project had some influence over the sound. In terms of the songwriting, we were just taking from everywhere. For me – most of those songs are just written on acoustic guitar in your bedroom. You decide as just two people how to build up your sound. I think we were interested in cinematic, rich, layered textures. When we were making this record, I wanted something that was connected to a classic, rooted American feeling, but we also wanted to bring in other worldly elements, so that together you’re home, but also somewhere else. You know, that feeling when you come home from being away and you feel great to be home, but at the same time, home looks different than how you remembered it. That sense of being somewhere else when you’re somewhere familiar. That sort of weird – we were going for that.

PW: Since we’re talking while at SXSW and this is kind of a huge and crazy festival, what are some of the coolest and craziest things you’ve seen while here?
JK: A fight! We saw a really crazy fight.
MS: We walked really far into East Austin to check out our friends Das Racist play yesterday. It took us about on hour to get there and it was in a strange part of town and a fight broke out after the show.
JK: Like someone getting his head stomped kind of fight. Very scary. Everyone ran out. It was like walking out into rural Arkansas in the 1960s. We live in the ghetto of New York, so…
MS: We love that kind of shit. We love to go on adventures like that.
JK: We lapped it up like a cat.
MS: We saw all sorts of strange things happen the other night.
JK: There’s this thing called the extreme super moon, which is coming on Saturday. It means that the moon is the closest to Earth that it’s been in 18 years. I think this stuff happening coincidentally with the super moon, is dark vibes.
MS: So everyone be vigilant.
JK: We thrive off those sorts of vibes. We wear black on the outside because black is how we feel on the inside. Haha. I say with a smile. Haha.

PW: Haha. So what’s next for you after South by?
MS: We’re going on a national tour, late April to May, with Junip – Jose Gonzalez‘ band. So we’re super stoked about that because we’ve never done a full tour.
JK: We’re bringing the message to the people. We’re in the process of writing a new record as well.

PW: One record just out and you’re already doing the next one?
G: Absolutely. We stay working. All the time. Writing. That’s what we do.

You can find more about the Arcylics, including tour dates, at myspace.com/acrylicsnyc.

Kansas City doesn’t usually dance at concerts, but if there were to ever be an exception to that rule, it would have been Friday night’s show at the Beaumont Club with Foals, Freelance Whales and The Naked and Famous.

Beaumont Club is usually one of the few venues that you can count on to start on time, but Friday, they actually started just a few minutes early.  Unfortunately, many were still in line to get in when New Zealand’s The Naked and Famous took to the stage with “All of This,” the opening track off their debut album, Passive Me, Aggressive You. Then the familiar synth trickle intro to “Punching in a Dream” resounded across the venue. If the audience wasn’t already hooked on this band with the first song, this one did the trick. There’s no way to stand still for this addictive Passion Pit-esque tune. A little later in the set, audience member’s who had just seen that week’s episode of “Gossip Girl” and heard “The Sun” were treated to a live rendition of the song, which at times had musical similarities to some of Phoenix‘s more instrumental-based songs. “Girls Like You” and US radio hit “Young Blood” ended out the stellar set. Alisa Xayalith and Thom Powers almost sounded even better live than on record as they traded vocals back and forth for the two final electropop numbers. Do yourself a favor: catch them live if you can. In a soon-to-be-posted PopWreckoning interview with bassist David Beadle, he says that the band should be back stateside for a headlining tour in Fall 2010.

The Naked and Famous Set List:
All of This
Punching in a Dream
A Wolf in Geek’s Clothing
The Sun
(The Source)
No Way
Girls Like You
Young Blood

“Cute,” “Adorable,” “Happy” are all words that come to mind as when New York five-piece Freelance Whales take to the stage next. But just because the band have a cutesy pop sound – thanks mostly to their avid use of glockenspiel – don’t brush them off as not serious music. They may sound like Owl City, but their songs also have the depth of a Death Cab for Cutie. The band played songs mostly off their debut album Weathervanes, many of which are familiar to through their popular use on TV shows and Starbucks commercials such as “Generator ^First Floor” as well as “Generator ^Second Floor.” But it has been just about a year since the release of their banjo-plucking swirl of a debut, so they also had plenty of new songs to share with the audience. The new songs still had the bright, sound that makes them so lovable, so look out for an official release of these songs soon. Of course, the song that really got the crowd’s attention was “Hannah,” which has winding musical phrases matching the winding spiralcase mentioned in the lyrics. This was a big singalong number that really got people smiling.
The UK’s dance-rock outfit Foals headlined the night’s electric lineup. About three years ago when this group came through the US right after their debut, Antidotes, release you could count on a band that sounded great, but seemed lost in their own little world on stage. They gyrated to their tunes, but never looked up from their hands. It made them come across as a little shy and uncertain of their own performance. Well in the three years since, they sure have changed their live show performance and they seem like a brand new band – one that’s confident in their playing and capable of embracing the audience. The result – they still sound great, but it’s even easier to get hooked as their new-found enthusiasm is contagious. It’s now as interesting to watch them as it is to listen.

Foals began with “Blue Blood,” the opening track off their sophomore release Total Life Forever. The set was an even mix of songs off that album and debut Antidotes, the second track alternated to the debut’s “Olympic Airways,” and then switched back to the sophomore release for “Total Life Forever.” The vocals on that song are just a blast to sing along to, “I knoooooow a place…” the audience howled along. “To your house,  down to your house,” the audience seemed to follow singer Yannis Philippakis‘ every crescendo and decrescendo for this song. But as the Foals’ set went on, all eyes were on drummer Jack Bevan. The man was a machine and tore up nearly every beat. Walking around the Beaumont before the set, Bevan is an unassuming figure, easy to glance over. But behind the drum set? He’s a jaw-dropping power house. He often added to his challenging rhythms by standing from his seat before a song and clicking his sticks together to get the audience to clap a pattern, but then sitting back down to play an unexpected syncopated rhythm. Bevan was the reason songs such as “Spanish Sahara” stand out as such amazing dance numbers. Seriously fantastic.

Foals’ Set List:
Blue Blood
Olympic Airways
Total Life Forever
Balloons
Miami
After Glow
What Remains
2 Trees
Spanish Sahara
Red Socks Pugie
Electric Bloom
//

?
The French Open
Two Steps, Twice

*Freelance Whales photos by Andrew Dunlap

upcoming CD Release party next week in NYC at The Knitting Factory.  PW readers a pair of tickets to the CD release show

NYC-based indie trio The Nowherenauts formed during their early teen years, brother and sister Anders and Sofie Kapur were introduced by Guided By Voices drummer, Kevin March, to Hunter Lombard. Along with live drummer Tony Franco, the three songwriters and musicians have been hailed by The New York Times as “effective miners of late-80s and early-90s indie rock, with a ferocious lead guitarist…and a kinetic lead singer.” They have played various legendary NYC venues, including The Living Room and The Bowery Ballroom, where they opened for art-punk heroes, Shudder to Think. The band is set to release their long-awaited, debut album at The Knitting Factory in NYC on Wednesday, May 4, 2011. PopWreckoning chatted with the trio about how the band formed, their first show, and what we can expect from The Nowherenauts in the future. 

Also, The Nowherenauts are giving one lucky PopWreckoning reader the chance to win a pair of tickets to the CD release party. In the interview below, the Nowherenauts share their favorite NYC venues. To enter, comment and tell us your favorite venue by May 2 at 2  p.m. EST. We’ll pick a winner then. Please use a valid email address.

Brianna Hernandez, PopWreckoning: You hail from NYC and met when you were very young. How did you meet and how old were you?
Hunter Lombard, The Nowherenauts: I met Sofie and Anders at a music school in the city when I was 12 years old.
Anders Kapur, The Nowherenauts: Sophie and I met Hunter in like 2006 or 2007. So at this point, we’ve all been playing music together in some capacity for at least four years.

PW: When did you each start playing an instrument? What are your musical backgrounds?
Hunter: I started playing guitar when I was 10. Jack White was a huge influence as a guitar player.
Anders: I started playing bass in 6th grade. A bunch of my friends had a cover band together, and, feeling left out, I borrowed a shitty bass from my friend’s dad so I could learn to play. My musical evolution pretty much followed that of your typical rocker kid; I started playing and loving classic rock like Led Zeppelin and Pink Floyd, and through the years my tastes and playing style have gravitated more toward modern sounds.
Sofie Kapur: I started playing violin when I was in second grade, but stopped around the time I started singing and taking piano lessons, when I was eleven. My dad’s dad played jazz piano and my mom’s dad loved classical music so there’s a little bit of both influences there. Also, my parents always loved music and played pretty much everything they liked when we were younger, like: New Order, The Who, Dar Williams, and Ella Fitzgerald to name a few. It was a very wide range though.

PW: How did Kevin March of Guided By Voices influence you to start a band?
Anders: Kevin taught at the music program where Sofie and I met Hunter, so I guess he recognized our potential from our time there. Kevin brought us all together as a sort of “music experiment,” and we kind of grew into our own from there. He’s been a huge help and we wouldn’t be where we are without him.
Sofie: Kevin’s vision and inspiration is what got us together in the first place, otherwise Anders and I may have never played with Hunter.

PW: What is the story behind the name, The Nowherenauts?
Anders: Well, we had a different name, Blame the Patient, but due to some unfortunate, unforeseen circumstances we had to change it. So we’d be on stage and people would yell “What band are you guys?” and someone else would shout, “They’re Blame the Patient!” And we’d say, “No we’re not!” That evolved into NowhereNauts, and it stuck.

PW: Critics have noted your 80′s and 90′s sound. Is that how would you describe your sound and style?
Hunter: As a band, we’re definitely influenced by music from the 80s and 90s, but each of us has such different tastes in music that we like to think that our sound isn’t pigeonholed into one era or genre.
Anders: I guess it’s a fair comparison, because that stuff definitely does influence us. But I don’t know how I’d describe our sound. It’s difficult. There are a lot of influences in there. We’re just trying to make music that everyone can enjoy!

PW: What was your first show like?
Anders: Our first show was a mess. We were all in high school back then, and we played this showcase at the Cake Shop with a bunch of other high school bands from around NYC. Pretty much every other band there wanted to borrow a piece of our gear, we couldn’t hear ourselves, and I’m pretty sure I broke a bass string in the middle of the set. But it was still a fun experience. Hey, you gotta start somewhere.
Sofie: It was nerve-wracking primarily because we had never played our own music for anyone before. We had practiced together and were used to that, but playing a song you wrote for complete strangers can be scary, especially when it’s a new experience.

PW: NYC is a such a great hub for live music. What have been some of your favorite places to play? How are The Nowherenauts able to stand out among all the other NYC bands?
Hunter: My favorite place to play, so far, has been the Bowery Ballroom. We played there opening for Shudder to Think a few years ago. The Knitting Factory in Brooklyn also has a really cool stage and great sound.
Anders: NYC is THE place to be if you’re a musician. We’ve had the opportunity to play at the Bowery Ballroom and the Mercury Lounge, which are both awesome venues that are also humbling to play as well. But we’ve also played smaller and more intimate shows at places like Spike Hill (in Williamsburg) and the Rock Shop that are always a lot of fun too. So far, we’ve mostly played in opening slots, so our goal for those shows is to make our act impossible to follow. The comment I keep hearing is “You guys are really tight!” It comes from college students, 20-something hipsters, elderly, high school kids, small children, scenesters, metalheads, people who just happen to be hanging out at the bar at the venue we’re playing…. If that broad a range of people care enough to tell me that after our shows, I figure we must be doing something right!

PW: If you weren’t playing music in The Nowherenauts, what would you be doing?
Hunter: I would still be making music. I would probably have another band and hope that everyone loved playing music as much as I do.
Anders: That’s a possible scenario? I guess I’d have to be playing music is some other band.
Sofie: I honestly have no idea. Possibly perpetually competing with my twin sister.

PW: What is your creative process like when you are writing a song and creating music?
Hunter: It varies. Sometimes one of us will bring in an idea and we’ll all work on it, but other times we’ll just get to rehearsal and jam until we have a song.
Sofie: Usually we come up with music and melodies and the lyrics follow. Everyone suggests ideas and plays around until we hit on something we like. It’s not until we have the basic idea that we start to really give the song a form and meaning lyric-wise.

PW: Who/What inspires your music and lyrics?
Hunter: Television and movies. I came up with the riff for “Delightfully Distracted” while I was watching Hannah and Her Sisters. I like to write lyrics with a specific character or relationship in mind, but personal experiences and people I know always help too.
Anders: We all have very different backgrounds, and I think that comes through in our writing. Hunter’s guitar playing is very influenced by Jack White and St. Vincent. I like to think of my bass playing as halfway between Peter Hook and Matt Sharp (from Weezer). And nobody can seem to pin Sofie’s influences down, which makes for something very original and interesting.
Sofie: For a lot of my melodies I listen to other singers and if there are little hooks or stylistic things they use I’ll try to capture the essence of those bits. I also try to write some lyrics as I work on melodies and polish them later. They come from books I’m reading and ideas I have. I also try to take my point of view on a situation and twist it or flip it so what I’m singing is more interesting. In fact, sometimes I even combine thoughts or experiences in one song or line to get the right mood.

PW: Who/What are you currently listening to?
Hunter: Recently I’ve been listening to Austra, Tune-Yards, Twin Shadow, Washed Out, The Avalanches, and Fever Ray.
Anders: Maybe it’s a reaction to everyone comparing us to bands from the 80s and 90s, I don’t know, but I’ve gotten more and more into that music recently. So a lot of Pavement, Dinosaur Jr., New Order, Wire, early Weezer, stuff like that. I’ve also been getting deep into a wide range of Brazilian music. But no matter what it is, rock, folk, psychedelic, samba, cheesy popular dance music like Forró, it’s all united by a strong rhythm section. As a bass player, I’m really drawn to that
Sofie: I just recently bought three albums down in Chapel Hill, NC. One was a Yeah Yeah Yeahs album and I’ve been listening to that nonstop for the past week. I tend to listen to albums I like to death. Then I listen to them some more

PW: What does the remainder of 2011 have in store for The Nowherenauts?
Anders: We have our record release on May 4 at the Knitting Factory, so after that, just gigging around and seeing where the year takes us! Writing and recording perhaps? A second album? I’m excited for whatever comes our way.
Sofie: The album release show is a looming event. We’re working like mad to be ready for it. After that we’re hoping we can keep playing and building our fan base. We have to get our music out there so that’s priority number one at the moment; let people listen and hope that they like our sound.

Omaha’s Maha Festival has started to reveal details of its lineups and its headliner announcement already has us pretty excited. Guided By Voices will headline the Maha Festival on August 13. 

Organizers also revealed local alt rock heroes Cursive would be on the bill along with rapper Matisyahu. More band announcements are soon to come.

Maha Festival is at the Lewis and Clark Landing in Downtown Omaha. Tickets go on sale here at 10 a.m., April 30.

For more information, visit mahafestival.com.

Lollapalooza is celebrating its 20th anniversary and as promised, the recently announced delivers some pretty hefty acts. 

Eminem, Foo Fighters, Coldplay, Muse, My Morning Jacket, Deadmau5 and A Perfect Circle will headline the annual event in Grant Park from August 5-7, 2011.

If you missed Death From Above 1979‘s Coachella reunion, Lolla gives fans another chance. There’s also many other classic acts such as The Cars to up and comers The Naked and Famous. You can see the rest of the announced lineup below:

Eminem, Foo Fighters, Coldplay, Muse, My Morning Jacket, Deadmau5, A Perfect Circle, Cee Lo Green, Damian “Jr. Gong” Marley & Nas, the Cars, Ween, Bright Eyes, Arctic Monkeys, Big Audio Dynamite, Deftones, Beirut, Explosions in the Sky, Death From Above 1979, Ratatat, Crystal Castles, Flogging Molly, Atmosphere, Cold War Kids, Lykke Li, Cage the Elephant, OK GO, Local Natives, The Kills, White Lies, Portugal. The Man, Two Door Cinema Club, Ellie Goulding, Delta Spirit, Beats Antique, Mountain Goats, Sleigh Bells, Manchester Orchestra, Smith Westerns, Best Coast, Grace Potter and the Nocturnals, The Drums, Black Lips, Fitz & the Tantrums, The Pains of Being Pure at Heart, City and Colour, Ryan Bingham and the Dead Horses, Cults, Noah and the Whale, Sam Adams, J. Roddy Walston and the Business, Tinie Tempah, Lissie, Dom, The Vaccines, Foster the People, Titus Andronicus, Mayer Hawthorne and the County, Chico Trujillo, The Naked and Famous, Phantogram, Rival Schools, Friendly Fires, Dale Earnhardt Jr. Jr., Reptar, Maps & Atlases, Fences, Tennis, An Horse, Young the Giant, Los Bunkers, Imelda May, Grouplove, Wye Oak, The Joy Formidable, Lord Huron, Disappears, Walk the Moon, Gold Motel, Iration, Ryan Leslie, Tab the Band, Skylar Grey, Christina Perri, Black Cards, The Pretty Reckless, Boy and Bear, Patrick Stump, Kids These Days, Young Man, The Kingston Springs, Lia Ices, The Chain Gang of 1974, Ximena Sarinana, Typhoon, Electric Touch, Kerli, Ruby Jane, Julia Easterlin, and DJ Mel.

On Perry’s Stage:

Girl Talk, Pretty Lights, Kid Cudi, the Bloody Beetroots Death Crew 77, AfroJack, Modeselektor, Skrillex, Perryetty vs. Chris Cox, Chuckie, The Glitch MOb, Busy P, Joachim Garraud, Super Mash Bros., Jay Electronica, 12th Planet, Daedulus, Feed Me, JackMaster, Collie Buddz, Savoy, Kyle Lucas and Captain Midnite, Ana Tijouxana, Midnight Conspiracy, L1ght, and Lady D.

Early Bird tickets have already sold out, but you can now buy regular priced tickets for $215 while supplies last. VIP Passes and Travel Packages are also available. A limited number of
Single Day tickets will go on sale June 7. Go here to buy tickets.

Organizers are expecting over 240,000 people.

New Kansas City camping music festival Kanrocksas has revealed the details of its lineup and location.

The festival will feature headliners Muse and Eminem at the Kansas Speedway. Eminem will headline Friday and Muse will be performing Saturday.

Also performing will be Tinie Tempah, Fitz & The Tantrums, Arctic Monkeys, Jack’s Mannequin, Flogging Molly, Primus, Girl Talk, D12, Kid Cudi, The Flaming Lips, A Perfect Circle and The Black Keys.

The event is August 5-6, 2011. The organizers say even more bands will be added to the festival.

You can find more information by visiting kanrocksas.com or following the festival on Twitter and Facebook.

Fort Collins-based dream pop band Candy Claws, played Larimer Lounge last Thursday alongside Santa Barbara indie rockers Gardens & Villa and Denver electro pop duo, FLASHLIGHTS to an amiable crowd who turned an otherwise quiet night into a blissful dance party. Candy Claws’ conceptual indie pop has recently struck a chord with various music publications and critics, including Pitchfork, as fresh and ambitious. Founding member Ryan discussed the band’s experience at SXSW with PopWreckoning, and explained the intent behind “Candy Claws in Dreamland,” a series of “documentary vignettes about nature,” that the band is releasing weekly.

Brianna Hernandez, PopWreckoning: Where does the name “Candy Claws” stem from?
Ryan, Candy Claws: The name Candy Claws sets up a vivid contrast – sharp danger with sweet innocence. There’s not much of a story behind it, just two words that sound cool together. It also rings of Christmastime.

PW: How did you come up with the idea for the “Dreamland” series? Did you approach Pitchfork about featuring them or did they come to you?
CC: Whenever we’re trying out new sounds for an album, we like to put them to video to help get the right feel. This time, we figured we’d make it a weekly thing, and let everyone hear and see what we’re up to. We live right next to the mountains, so beautiful footage is just a car ride away. Our wonderful publicist and label guys worked their magic with Pitchfork.

PW: Explain your creative process.
CC: We think of our theme first. It was the sea, then the forest, and next will be the Mesozoic Era. That helps to give a specific direction for the sounds and arrangements. We work on chords and melodies next, recording everything as we write. Lyrics come very last.

PW: You are largely inspired by nature. What else inspires your music and writing?
CC: Science and the scientific mindset. The world is incredibly beautiful, bizarre, and enthralling the closer you look at it, the further back you step. Thinking about deep time and the far future. Carl Sagan. The cosmos. Evolution. Burt Bacharach, George Gershwin, Tchaikovsky. Golden Guides.

PW: What made you want to record Christmas songs?
CC: Some of the best songs ever are Christmas songs. They have the perfect balance of sweetness and melancholy, some very clever chord changes, exciting dream pop instrumentation – sleigh bells, etc. It seemed worthwhile to add to the canon.

PW: What is it like performing with your close friends? Do they get to weigh in on the creative process? Do you ever have any disagreements?
CC: It works, for the most part. It just Kay and I making all the creative decisions on the records, so when the time comes for everyone to learn the songs for the live set the parts are already there.

PW: Your previous work has been inspired by “The Sea Around Us” by Rachel Carson and “Secret Life of the Forest” by Richard M. Ketchum? How did you get into Carson and Ketchum?
CC: I found Rachel Carson’s “The Sea Around Us” at my grandparents’ house, and fell in love at once. They have an extensive collection of really great, old science books. I love to visit and poke around for new material. Lots of Sagan, Attenborough, etc. Kay found Richard Ketchum’s “The Secret Life of the Forest” at a used bookstore in town. The illustrations were what convinced us to buy it, and when we read through it the words were just as inspiring.

PW: You performed at SXSW for a second year in a row this year. What was your experience like?
CC: SXSW was a blast. It was a special time because SXSW 2010 was our first time out on the road, so this year was sort of an anniversary for us. It’s our favorite fest to play, by far. It was hot and chaotic, and all the people and bands we’ve been in touch with over the year were all there in one place. We played seven shows in four days, and some of us were in the first annual SXSW fashion show. So fun!

PW: What does the remainder of 2011 have in store for you?
CC: We’re hoping to tour Europe in July, continue the Dreamland series, and make a new album. Fingers crossed!

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You can check out Candy Claws’ new video series here and download an mp3 of their song “Snowdrift Wish” below.

. “Snowdrift Wish”

Andy Hull and the company he keeps are gods. Five stars. Album of the year. The end.

(Just kidding, sort of.)

Words can’t explain how long I’d waited  for this album. Manchester Orchestra is one of those bands I can’t get enough of. Like a Virgin Losing a Child, their first album, debuted in 2006 and the three year wait for sophomore release Mean Everything to Nothing was brutal. I was more than ready for Simple Math and it’s finally here.

I downloaded the first single, also called “Simple Math,” the minute it was available; it already has a hefty play count in my iTunes. But the time had finally come to experience the album in its entirety. And after the first spin? I didn’t have words. And even if did, the teenage superfan in my head was squealing so loudly it drowned them out. “Mighty,” “Virgin,” “Simple Math” and “Leaky Breaks” all stick out in the best way possible. They’re starkly different from each other, yet I love each of them for their uniqueness. Strings, horns, and gang vocals add depth that we have yet to see from this band. The album as a whole is still very much Manchester Orchestra though: the same warbling guitar that slides smoothly back and forth between notes, the same brutally honest lyrics, the same sing-song voice mixed with raw and screaming vocals. But this one raises the bar. It’s an epic, orchestral masterpiece made for much bigger stages than they are currently playing.

“Deer” is a great start to the album with traditional Manchester Orchestra-like sounds reminiscent of the first two albums. The song slowly builds and we soon realize it’s the calm before the storm… Because the second song, “Mighty,” is heavy and dark and the opening few seconds are deliciously metal. It’s definitely one of my favorite songs on the record, but then again it’s tied with three others so maybe I should give it more time. Strings make an appearance about halfway through the song and wrap it up nicely. “Pensacola” is a fun and playful song, probably full of sarcasm and inside jokes, but I guess we’ll never know: group vocals shout the words “alcohol, dirty malls, Pensacola Florida bars” as horns blare in the background.  We still see the solid song-writing of Andy Hull though with the line “I am the greatest man that never lived and now I never sleep.”

Both “April Fool” and “Pale Black Eye” carry us nicely through the album, the screaming vocals reminiscent of Mean Everything To Nothing, and calmer parts nodding to Like a Virgin Losing a Child. Virgin, another one of my favorites, jolts us out of our groove and says “hey look at me! I’m dark and different and dirty!” with lyrics “we build this house with our hands and our time, our blood… to fall down/Never gonna be the same.” I could see this song in a stage production with professional dancers stalking around on beat to a choreographed dance number. This song is so much more than a song, it’s like a rock opera in and of itself. “Simple Math” is another high point of the album; the guitar in the beginning is bold and in your face, and holy falsetto, Mr. Hull… I love it. “The truth cannot be fractioned” is going to be one of those timeless lyrics that seventeen year old fans will be saving up to get tattooed on their skin, I guarantee it.

The eighth track, “Leave It Alone,” is a nice break; soft and intimate with the words “leave it alone, leave me alone.” Apprehension. Solid song. Nothing too crazy which is probably good. I don’t think my brain could handle much more at this point. The album comes to a close with Leaky Breaks. It’s a comfy, cozy song, reminds me of being curled up by a fire with whispered vocals. It’s calm and quiet but holds your attention and finishes well as a closer to the album.

Simple Math is the perfect mix of Like a Virgin Losing a Child and Mean Everything to Nothing with just enough new sound  and maturity to make it different. Simply put, it’s a rock solid piece of work and I find something new with each listen. Dare I make assumptions about the quality of a possible fourth album? Nah, probably too soon. Simple Math. Buy it. Listen to it. Worship it. Go see a show. I promise it’s worth every penny.

Track Listing:

1 Deer
2 Mighty
3 Pensacola
4 April Fool
5 Pale Black Eye
6 Virgin
7 Simple Math
8 Leave It Alone
9 Apprehension
10 Leaky Breaks