popwreckoning

The Dear Hunter is gearing up for their first headlining U.S. tour this summer which launches July 15 in San Francisco, CA. and extends through the end of August. As with their recently wrapped trek with dredg, fans will be treated to new music from the forthcoming nine-EP collection, The Color Spectrum, which is due out June 14 on Triple Crown Records.

The Color Spectrum consists of songs inspired by the colors of the spectrum, specifically red, orange, yellow, green, blue, indigo, and violet, with white and black being included as bookends.  Casey Crescenzo, of The Dear Hunter, completed the EPs while traveling the US, documenting every step of the process.  The collection features collaborations with several producers and musicians, including Manchester Orchestra, Brendan Brown from The Receiving End of Sirens, Mike Watts (who has worked with As Tall As Lions and he mixed the band’s Act III: Life and Death), and Steve Haigler (Brand New, As Tall As Lions, Quicksand).

Ticket pre-sales will begin Wednesday, June 8 at 10am local time here:  www.thedearhunter.frontgatetickets.com.  Fans will have the option to add on an early download of the full length The Color Spectrum CD, as well as an exclusive t-shirt for an extra $15.

For an extensive list of tour dates, please visit www.thedearhunter.com

It was rather appropriate to end the Tigers, Lions and Bear Tour in Lawrence Kansas. Die-hard fans packed the Granada Theatre to see Minus the Bear with As Tall As Lions and Twin Tigers.

To start off the evening, Twin Tigers took the stage with their psychedelic influences and progressive sound. Being their last night with the tour, Minus the Bear brought them shots during the set. This continued throughout the night with every band.

As Tall As Lions had myself and everyone around me dancing the whole time. With six people on the stage and their groovy percussion jams, they kept the crowd entertained.

The trumpet solos were ridiculous and showed off their talented musicians.

Securing my spot at the front, I was excited to see one of my favorite bands live for the first time.

Minus the Bear has this organic, rich sound that moves you and takes you to a completely different world. If it weren’t for all the shoving and bumping into me, I could’ve sworn that I was there by myself.

When MtB describes their sound, they’ve been known to classify it as “classic rock from the future.” They’ve got that right – it’s definitely from the future.

They started off with “Knights” from their 2007 released album, Planet of Ice, and the crowd went crazy. Boys and girls mainly aged from 16-24 bobbed their heads and swayed their hips back and forth the entire night.

Dave Knudson’s pedal board is magnificent and the pedal work was beautiful and raised the intensity in the theatre. He showed off the pedals during “White Mystery.” Honestly, I did not even know he used all those pedals in their songs, I thought it was just a synthesizer.

Jacob Snider has gained a pretty big beard, somewhat resembling Charles Manson. That doesn’t take away from his voice though. Some bands focus on lyrics and have boring background music; MtB has beautiful music with amazing lyrics to go with it.

Their bassist, Cory Murchy limped on and off stage and had to sit on a stool to play. Snider mentioned Murchy has been experiencing back problems. During breaks in songs, Murchy had someone stretching his legs out.

MtB played songs from all albums, focusing more on Planet of Ice. They also added three new songs off their new album to be released in early 2010. One was still untitled at the time of the show.

MTB Set list:
Knights
Dr. L’Ling
Memphis & 53rd
Throwin’ Shapes
Into the Mirror
White Mystery
Monkey!!! Knife!!! Fight!!!
Ice Monster
Broken China
Let’s Play Clowns
New Song (I Got Your Nights??)
The Fix
Absinthe Party at the Fly Honey Warehouse
///
Spritz!! Spritz!!
Pachuca Sunrise

Minus the Bear: website | myspace

Today, Oct. 1, New York ‘s alternative rock group As Tall As Lions embarks on tour with MUTEMATH.

As part of a special treat in celebration of this tour, we have an As Tall As Lions prize pack to giveaway.

To enter, simply comment and tell us your favorite As Tall As Lions lyrics by next Friday, Oct. 9, 2009 at 10 a.m. EST. We’ll pick a lucky winner then.

Prize pack includes: a poster, a vinyl and autographed CD copy of their latest release You Can’t Take It With You.

You must live in the U.S. to be eligible.

*****Contest is closed*******

Tour dates:
Oct. 1 – People’s Court / Des Moines, IA
Oct. 5 – The Showbox / Seattle, WA
Oct. 6 – Roseland Theatre / Portland, OR
Oct. 8 – Empire Event Center / Sacramento, CA
Oct. 9 – The Fillmore / San Francisco, CA
Oct. 10 – Nokia Live / Los Angeles, CA
Oct. 11 – House of Blues / San Diego, CA
Oct. 13 – House Of Blues / Las Vegas, NV
Oct. 14 - Ogden Theater / Denver, CO
Oct. 16 – Beaumont Club / Kansas City, MO
Oct. 17 – First Avenue / Minneapolis, MN
Oct. 18 – House of Blues / Chicago, IL
Oct. 20 – Orbit Room / Grand Rapids, MN
Oct. 21 – Newport Music Hall / Columbus, OH
Oct. 23 – The Pageant / St. Louis, MO
Oct. 25 – New Daisy Theater / Memphis, TN
Oct. 27 – Diamond Ballroom / Oklahoma City, OK
Oct. 29 – The Palladium / Dallas, TX
Oct. 30 – Warehouse Live / Houston, TX
Oct. 31 – Voodoo Festival / New Orleans, LA
Nov. 2 – Alabama Theatre / Birmingham, AL
Nov. 4 – Revolution / Ft. Lauderdale, FL
Nov. 5 – House of Blues / Orlando, Orlando, FL
Nov. 6 – The Tabernacle / Atlanta, GA
Nov. 7 – Amo’s South End / Charlotte, NC
Nov. 8 – War Memorial Auditorium / Nashville, TN
Nov. 10 – The Norva / Norfolk, VA
Nov. 11 – Sixth & I / Washington, DC
Nov. 12 – House Of Blues / Boston, MA
Nov. 13 – Nokia Theatre / New York, NY

As Tall As Lions: website | myspace

Here at PopWreckoning, we’ve officially hit a level of mail that makes it impossible for us to give full reviews to every band. However, this does not mean we believe that these bands shouldn’t be granted some for of press.  It simply means we have to scale it down a bit. Therefore, he have opted to create a feature called Bite Size Reviews, which shall appear several times a week.  This feature will contain five reviews each under 100 words and links to the albums website, myspace or label.  We believe this is the best use of our mail and hope you too enjoy the reviews. They are as follows:

Into The Presence – Into The Presence
Though glimmers of both Muse and Queen manage to sneak through from second to second on Into the Presence self titled LP, Luis Carlos Maldonado’s larger than life vocals are not enough to keep my attention on their own.  (4 out of 10 stars)

Myspace

Castevet – Summer Fences

The contrast of bright spots to obnoxious spots of  Castevet is pretty fascinating in itself.  Musically this band could go riff for riff with the best of them. Think Get up Kids meets Casket Lottery.  Vocally however, they leave a lot to be desired, for me at least.   (Without Vocals 7 of 10 stars, With Vocals 5 of 10 stars)

Myspace

Caio My Shining Star – The Songs of Mark Mulcahy

Michael Stipe once said, ” Mulcahy is one of the greatest voices of our time.”  I must say I respect his opinion. This album of covers from the likes of Thom Yorke, The National,  Dinosaur Jr, Frank Black,Ben Kweller, Elvis Perkins and others is a fantastic listen and a brilliant way to discover an artist whom may have slipped under your radar. This album is a steal. (9 out of 10 stars)

Shout! Factory Store

The Twilight Sad – Forget the Night Ahead

Obviously from across the pond, The Twilight Sad is nothing but an easy listen for fans of the U.K. sound.  The highly anticipated follow up to the groups 2007 Fourteen Autums and Fifteen Winters is far more cluttered and in your face than Forget the Night Away, it also seems more direct. These changes are for the best.  (7 out of 10 Stars)

The Twilight Sad Myspace

As Tall As Lions – You Can’t Take It With You

Simply stated, Triple Crown Records does not release bad albums. You Can’t Take It With You by As Tall As Lions will end that streak of brilliance.  Shifting in and out of multiple signature sounds happening in the current indie scene, like emphasizing drums, backwards masking, and the UK sound somehow coming out of New York. Soothing trumpets hidden throughout songs like “Go Easy” lead flawlessly into flawlessly contrasting guitar solos, giving the album the creativity and confort of a Coldplay album while managing to keep the edge of Nightmare of You. While it is easy to give a listen, it is difficult to take out. (9 out of 10 stars)

As Tall As Lions Myspace