popwreckoning

The Kooks are set to release third album Junk of the Heart on September 13 on Astralwerks Records, preceded by the release of debut single of the same name on July 11. The band has also announced a limited amount of exclusive U.S. dates in California and New York, which can be seen below.

Having sold out several US tours including two sell-out nights at Terminal 5 in NYC, The Kooks are excited to play to American audiences once again. The upcoming dates will be on sale exclusively for fans on June 1st (passwords will be emailed to Kooks and Astralwerks email subscribers).  The public on sale will be June 3 for the NY & LA shows and June 5 for the SF show.

6/22 San Francisco, CA – Slims
6/23 – Los Angeles, CA – The Troubador
6/27 New York, NY – Bowery Ballroom

www.thekooks.com

Neeeeeeeeew York!

It feels like I always have to preface whatever review I’m doing. Weird right? Anyway, I’m currently tour managing for Kansas City locals Everyday/Everynight. We’ve been out for five dates and still have 12 left. So far, it’s been completely awesome.

I’ve been trying to stay away from reviewing shows that we play because it seems a little biased since I’m on tour with them. BUT I could’t help myself for this show. The lineup is soooooo flawless.

The venue is Local 269 in New York.

I missed the first act, but caught all of Chicago band Athel. They reminded me a bit of Billy Talent with a touch of Atreyu-esque guitars. Catchy at times; straight up rock at others. They were fun to watch, especially the bassist and his sweet moves.

The Numismatics, whose name instantly reminded me of Kansas City DJ’s Nomathmatics. Their music, however, was dance-y and fun but completely different.  With a Violent Femmes vibe, the whole venue got out of their seats and danced along. I absolutely fell in love with their sound. All three are completely into what they’re doing and you can tell they’re just having fun with smiles on the whole time.

Ahh and Everyday/Everynight played next buuuuut since I’m on tour with them and I think their set is awesome every night, I can’t really say much about it without being biased. Check them out for yourself!

Girl/Guy duo Lawrence & Leigh pulled out an emotional set next. With only an acoustic guitar and piercing vocals, their songs had the normally chatty bar crowd on their seats, unable to look away. They had some folk-style songs and some that were more pop, overall a good mix. You could tell they truly enjoy the music they make,which is always nice to see.

Lawrence & Leigh did a Jeff Buckley cover and I’m pretty sure I saw a few people start to cry a little. That’s just how emotional their music would make anyone feel.

Jerad Tomasino, from Everyday/Everynight summed it up best when he leaned over to me and said, “They’re the kind of band you want to hug after their set. Not because you feel sad, but because you feel like you know them.”

Oh, did I mention that this lineup was AWESOME? It was a pretty great atmosphere too. Small bar with friends just hanging out enjoying the night.

Baby Teardrops headlined the night. They are the ones who got ED/EN on the show after meeting at SXSW. I had only heard a few songs from their website but was blown away after hearing them live.

LINKS:
Athel | facebook
Lawrence and Leigh | facebook
The Numismatics | bandcamp | facebook
Baby Teardrops | website | facebook

Founding members of iconic British rock band The Verve, Nick McCabe and Simon Jones reveal the first material from their new project The Black Ships. They will be joined by Mig Schillace (Portishead, Goldfrapp) and Davide Rosse (whose string compositions have been used by The Verve, Coldplay, and Goldfrapp). You can download the entire debut EP Kurofune here for free.

Their first live appearance will take place at Kings College, London on Thursday June 2nd. Limited tickets available here.

Here’s what Nick McCabe has to say about the new project/EP:

“You just know when things are right. The four of us met in various circumstances and each meeting was accompanied by this feeling of “we’ve absolutely got to do more together”. And here we are. The joy of music: what does that really mean? Living and breathing it. Obsessing about detail whilst discovering the beauty in chance, and then doing what is necessary to give it life. All the peripheral activity, traditionally taken out of your hands in service of the big organisations of yore becomes a joy in service of the music. It is undoubtedly the hardest work we have collectively put into any band, but the satisfaction is already huge.”

Deas Vail plans to release fourth studio album on September 6th with the help of first time producer, Reliant K guitarist and Mono Vs Stereo A&R Matthew Hoopes. The twelve song album sizes up the emotion of love with beautifully poetic and eloquent metaphors; “I don’t know what love is…” admits the opening lines of the album, but it seems to know just the opposite.

See the lyric video for the first single ‘Sixteen’ here: www.deasvail.com

Deas Vail also joins forces with labelmates Fairwell Flight to release a split EP available for digital download on June 7 from Mono Vs Stereo. the band is also set to play 10th annual Bonaroo Music and Arts Festival on June 10 in Manchester, TN alongside The Decemberists, My Morning Jacket, Grace Potter and the Nocturnals, and Arcade Fire.

www.monovsstereo.com

Gearing up for a summer tour in support of their new album Hell Is What You Make It on July 12, Breathe Carolina is ready to showcase some fun dance-floor anthems.

The Rockstar Presents The Scream It Like You Mean It Tour will kick off on July 15 in Seattle, WA at El Corazon, heading across North America and finishing with a homecoming show for the band in Denver, CO. Direct support comes from Chiodos, as well as I See Stars, The Color Morale, Tek-One, and The Air I Breathe.

The band’s new album was recorded with producers Ian Kirkpatrick (Plain White T’s, Neon Trees) and Matt Squire (Panic At The Disco, 3OH!3, All Time Low) and is featured as one of Alternative Press’ 100 Most Anticipated Albums of 2011.

Visit their site here to listen to a clip of “Wooly” from the new album.

And check out their official website www.HellIsWhatYouMakeIt.com for a complete list of tour dates that trek all across the U.S.

A mixtape for you to enjoy! For FREE.

PopWreckoning teamed up with Element Recording Studios to put together a Kansas City compilation CD to take to South by Southwest. Now that everyone is back to their normal lives here in KC – the mixtape is available for your listening pleasure!

For a physical copy please email your name, mailing address and phone number to casey@popwreckoning.com. No shipping fees are necessary, it’s 100% completely free. There are limited numbers available and once they’re gone – they’re gone!

Artwork was done courtesy of Studio N8 – make sure to check out his website !

Tracklisting:
1. Root & Stem – Desert Roses
2. The Sour Babies – Vagaries & Cemeteries
3. Soft Reeds – Brave New World
4. The Caves – Weekend Blues
5. The Republic Tigers – Merry Make it With Me
6. The Architects – Heartbreaker
7. Spirit is the Spirit – Seafarer
8. Lucky Graves – Torch
9. Bryant Carter Band – One Lane Bridge
10. Jenny Carr – Places I’d Like to Go
11. Kirsten Paludan – Under My Skin
12. Full Bloods – Candy
13. Everyday/Everynight – You’ve Died in a Dream
14. Hipshot Killer – Straight Line
15. Various Blonde – Ringtone Junky
16. Jessica’s Box – 10 Chinese Buffet
17. Beautiful Bodies – You & I

Manchester Orchestra + free = Awesome. Simple math, right? You’re in luck because that awesomeness is exactly what PopWreckoning has for you. We’re giving away a copy of Manchester Orchestra’s highly-acclaimed Simple Math on vinyl. As an added bonus, we’re also including an autographed lyric booklet.

To win, just comment and tell us your answer for this equation: Manchester Orchestra + [You] = …

For example, Manchester Orchestra + PopWrecker Bethany = a party.

Now, let’s hear yours…

We’ll pick a winner* from the responses on Saturday, June 4, 2011 at 11 a.m. EST. Please use a working email address so we can contact you about mailing your prize.

Be sure to check out more from Manchester Orchestra at themanchesterorchestra.com.

*You must be 18 or older to enter. You must live in the United States to enter. Download complete terms of giveaway here.

A note from the owner of beloved Kansas City music venue Crosstown Station, Chip Mitchell:

“Crosstown Station …  will not be booking any shows after September 30^th or until further notice.  The landlord of the property has entered into a negotiation process with a potential buyer that would likely have a different use for the property.

Rumor is the space is to be turned into a church. Said one friend, “doesn’t that usually happen in reverse?” Indeed. As a Popwreckoning exclusive, we have an early design for the new space’s logo.

So normally I enjoy records where the content is random and has a good sound. Take for instance, bands like Radiohead which experiment with different sounds and lyrics in everyone of their albums to make their sound fresh. Colourmusic is just that… random! This one came as a surprise to me being this band has been out since 2005.

Yet they have only two full length albums and a couple EPs out. Another thing that struck a chord with me was they way they described their music as “hardcore and a little Oklahoma Sex Rock.” What exactly is Oklahoma Sex Rock? (Insert Oklahoma joke here.) Sorry I’m fresh out of jokes for the state of Oklahoma, especially after they stole the Seattle Supersonics.

This album can be described as mondo-bizzaro meets indie. I can’t really say there is a stand out track on this album as each one goes from decent to really random, to just flat out bizzare. Take for instance the second track off the album “Whitbey Island” is nothing but three minutes of ocean sounds. Another track “The Beast with Two Backs” sounds like stock music you would hear in a campy horror film.

However the rest the album is a breath of fresh air with a grungy sound that you would only hear with a garage rock band. Some of this album would be complimentary to an indie-film soundtrack. I’m not talking about one of those cheesy poorly produced straight to DVD films you see flooded on the new release section at Blockbuster, i’m talking like IFC produced films that make an impact.

The title of this album shows how random this little record is. Colourmusic knows how to keep their fans happy and they did just that with My ____ is Pink. I don’t know if I could put this as one of my favorites of the year, but it could be with time. This is something I would need to let grow one me for a few weeks.

Track Listing:

1. Beard Listen
2. Jill & Jack (A Duet)
3. Feels Good to Wear
4. We Shall Wish (Use Your Adult Voice)
5. You For Leaving Me
6. Tog
7. Dolphins & Unicorns
8. Pororoca
9. The Beast with Two Backs
10. The Little Death (In Five Parts)
11. Fold/Unfold
12. Mono
13. Whitby Harbour
14. Yes!

Kanrocksas has announced the remaining acts and the start of single-day tickets sales for the two-day music festival on August 5 and 6. The festival has confirmed a total of 24 acts, which include national bands, DJ’s and live electronic acts, with headliners Eminem and Muse.

Newest additions include Bassnectar, Cage The Elephant, and Ellie Goulding among others.

Single day tickets will go on sale beginning Wednesday May, 25 at 10AM starting at $89.95.

Check out the official Kanrocksas website for a complete lineup.  www.kanrocksas.com