popwreckoning

Top 3 albums of 2011:

This was extremely hard to pick only 3 albums that, well, “rocked my world” in 2011. But, here’s a stab: 

• Innerpartysystem – Never Be Content
• Awolnation – Megalithic Symphony
• Ha Ha Tonka – Death Of A Decade

Honorable Mentions (a.k.a. the rest of my list):

• Thrice – Major/Minor
• Moving Mountains –Waves
• The Civil Wars – Barton Hallow
• The Black Keys – El Camino
• Boxer Rebellion – The Cold Still

Best show of 2011″

• Innerpartysystem @ the Riot Room – Kansas City

If I put my love for this band aside, the sold-out, extremely intimate, mess of a sweaty dance/rock show was incredible! Then to hear a few months later that the band will be going on hiatus, just made that show that much more special.

Other awesome sets:

• The Civil Wars @ the Bottleneck – Lawrence (SOLD OUT)
• Portugal. the Man @ Record Bar – Kansas City (SOLD OUT)

Most overrated of 2011

• Bright Eyes – The People’s Key: 2 songs were groundbreaking on the new album and the show left something to be desired.

Most anticipated for 2012

• The return of Carah to Shiny Toy Guns and their next album III.

Favorite musical memory of 2011

Middle Of The Map Fest – in its first year this festival was awesome! Between national bands like Cursive, A Lull, Two Door Cinema Club and Paper Route, there were also a handful of great local acts to be discovered. And to top it off, the entire weekend was $25!

Everyone’s buzzing about the hope for a “2^nd Annual Middle Of The Map Fest” /fingerscrossed

Innerpartysystem
Reading, PA
innerpartysystem.com

With the recent release of their second EP Never Be Content, Innerpartysystem is starting to set some serious standards for themselves. With the new EP came a new sound, a little more mixed, a little more DJ then their previous releases, and they finally nailed down a unique sound of their own. Now they are hitting SXSW in Austin next week to spread their infectious dance music to even bigger crowds.

I’ve been keeping an eye on them since their first EP (The Download) back in 2007, after seeing them tour with Kill Hannah, and they just keep getting better and better. Ever since then, their live shows have become more expansive and more technical, developing into full dance parties during their most recent tour opening for Pendulum. They released a self-titled full length, in September 2008, that hinted at the new directions the band was taking, but they have exceeded expectations with both the new release and their live shows.

IPS has remixed everyone from Katy Perry to The Killers, 3OH!3 to Lady Hawke. Not only do they have live shows that are borderline sensory overload, but they also do live DJ sets, spinning everything from 80’s pop to 90’s rap, new Skrillex releases and some seriously filthy new trance tracks, with a little bit of their own style thrown in. Soon they will be challenging longstanding techno masters like Deadmau5 and Skrillex or even possibly hitting up the UK scene a la Gatecrasher.

The trio will be playing three days in Austin. That’s three chances to dance to some of the most innovative and groundbreaking dance music around right now. I plan on catching them at least twice. Catch them now and again either in their upcoming European or US tour dates and be amazed at the amount of new creative ingenuity they can work into their shows in a short amount of time. I promise- you’ll have danced, clapped, and been to one of the best parties you’ve ever been to, and you won’t regret it.

15 Mar, 2011 @ Texas Media Temple Party @ Stubbs – SxSW
16 Mar, 2011 @ Prague – SxSW
19 Mar, 2011 @ Dirty Dog Bar – SxSW

Electronica act Innerpartysystem transformed Kansas City’s sold out Riot Room into a wild, sweaty dance party. The band’s catalog is full of electronica rock hits perfect for fans of fellow electronica acts such as the Faint. An intense light show made for a cool musical effect, but a tricky show to photograph. But PopWreck photographer Todd Zimmer still managed to snag these awesome shots recapturing the event:

One of the most exciting bands of the moment, Pendulum, are touring in North America right now. The Australian/British drum and bass and electronic band are playing a series of shows as support for Linkin Park, as well as headlining some of their largest shows of their own on our continent to date. I had an opportunity to ask Gareth McGrillen, bassist and co-founder of the group, some questions during a rare moment of free time while they’re on the road. He tells me how the band’s move from Australia to Britain was pivotal to their success, about their crazy fans that “destroy each other,” and how Immersion, their latest album just released this week in the U.S., differs from their two previous albums. Read on.

MC: Tell me about the beginnings of Pendulum. What was it like growing up in Perth, what is the music scene like there? How do you think it contributed to the way your band sounds and your songs?
GM: Because we started out in such an underground scene as drum and bass, but came into the scene at such a late stage, and because we had come from Perth, I think we didn’t have such strong ties to the culture of the genre. This enabled us to break the rules so to speak, and I think that’s how the sound developed so quickly. We didn’t feel out of place putting guitars and other influences we grew up with into the music, where as if we had grown up in the UK, it would have been something we’d have steered clear of.

MC:Who came up with the name, and how does it relate to what your band does musically?
GM: [Band co-founder] Rob [Swire] and I put a list together and just shortened the list until we agreed.

MC: In 2003 you moved your band from Australia to the UK. Why the UK and not America or elsewhere? Did you have any reservations/worries on making such a long distance move?
GM: At the time we were in an underground dance music scene, we had just written our first song and it blew up in a huge way in the UK (the home of electronic music), so it was an inevitable move for us, Australia was too far away from everywhere else. It’s always hard to pick up and move to such a harsh place as London when you’re young, and it was a massive struggle for a few years, but the harshness tends to push you to succeed.

MC: Did any of these worries actually come to light? Conversely, what things happened that you think would not have if you had stayed in Australia?
GM: We’d have not gotten anywhere if we had stayed in Australia, the move for us was essential. Australia is far to relaxed it makes me lazy, we needed to be pushed by a place like the UK where the music scene waits for nobody.

MC: How did you find the other members of Pendulum in the UK? Was it by newspaper advert, word of mouth, recommendation by a friend, etc.? Your music is so dynamic, I have it in my mind that you really have to have a group of people who are really in sync in order to make music that works.
GM: I had been working with Ben Verse [Benjamin Mount] as my MC in DJ shows for quite some time, so introducing him into the live show was a natural step. Perry [Peredur ap Gwynedd] had played on some of our early tracks and played guitar on other drum and bass tracks in the past. Kevin [Sawka], we found on YouTube, haha!

MC: To someone who has never heard your music before, how would you describe your sound?
GM: If you like rock and metal you’ll hear that in the music, if you like electronic music and heavy bass you’ll hear that. I think that’s why we attract so many listens from across genres – the music hits many styles all at once.

MC: I like both hard rock and dance, and I find my favourite songs of yours combines the best of those two worlds. Some of your oldest fans have stated that you have abandoned the drum and bass genre for a more commercial, alternative rock / electronic sound? How would you respond to that?
GM: The very second track we wrote had guitars and full vocals from Rob in it, back in 2003. Our first album had the guitarist and basses from the metal band Karnivool playing on it, as well as Perry playing on “Girl In The Fire,” we didn’t abandon anything, we just got more and more bored of doing the exact same thing and felt we had earnt enough of a creative license to start introducing our greater influences into the music. The fact it got big and the fact it all blew up was a secondary event. We had already done it and it turned out a lot more people wanted to hear it than we had anticipated. Selling out for us would have been continuing to write the tracks that people around us wanted us to write over and over again.

MC: I had the chance to see you play at Arena at Roskilde Festival last summer (2010). Before you got onstage and the front pits opened, fans were actually pushing and shoving each other to get the best, closest spots to the front of the stage. I got injured the night before at Biffy Clyro in the pit at the same stage, so I opted to watch you guys from a distance (probably a wise decision, as I’m small!). Is this usual for Pendulum concerts?
GM: Yes, our audiences destroy each other, it’s incredible to watch!

MC: Who does your lighting? I thought the visuals plus music were really amazing, a consummate experience.
GM: Lighting is a very important aspect to the show for us, we put in so much time and effort into the sound, so it’s also important to do the same with the visual aspect of the show.

MC: You guys have such an energetic live set. I had no idea the Scandinavians were as mental over you as the Brits. Were you surprised?
GM: All across Europe and the UK, as well as Australia, we’re getting that same reaction. I think it’s just some kind of gene we excite in people that makes them want to destroy each other.

MC: That said, it seems like the UK music scene has been more welcoming of your music than other countries – agree or disagree, and why?
GM: The UK was initially the home of what we were doing (drum and bass) so we’ve spent the longest time there, I think that’s mostly why we’re biggest in the UK. The UK in a lot of ways is the center of the universe for *new* music because of radio stations like Radio1, so a lot of new bands are broken in the UK first.

MC: Do you have a favourite show / festival moment from last year? What do you remember about it / what makes it so memorable to you in your mind?
GM: Reading Festival and Sonisphere were amazing, They all were.

MC: Your last album Immersion was released in the UK last year but is just getting released in America this month. You have some real big heavy hitters in the business on this one – Liam Howlett of the Prodigy for the track “Immunize,” for one. How did this collaboration happen?
GM: We put together a list of artists we’d like to work with and our management set about contacting them. With Liam however, we cross paths with the Prodigy guys a lot, so we were hanging out in Australia and decided to do a track to show the world we don’t hate each other.

MC: How do you feel Immersion fits in the Pendulum story so far? What are your plans for future material, are you working on new stuff now?
GM: Immersion was the best parts of Hold Your Colour and In Silico taken to the next level, we drew on our previous albums for inspiration on the third.

MC: What’s a surprising fact about you or your band that most people don’t know?
GM: We’re Australian? Many still don’t realize this.

MC: You are about to go on an extensive tour of North America, opening for Linkin Park for some dates and headlining your own shows on others. Where are you most looking forward to visiting / playing and why?
GM: America is a tough place to crack, so we’re looking forward to the challenge.

Tour Dates
Jan 28 – Xcel Energy Center / St. Paul*
Jan 29 – Sprint Center / Kansas City*
Jan 31 – Wells Fargo Center / Philadelphia*
Feb 01 – TD Garden / Boston*
Feb 02 – Guvernment / Toronto#
Feb 04 – Madison Square Garden / New York City*
Feb 05 – Irving Plaza / New York City#
Feb 07 – Bell Centre / Montreal*
Feb 08 – Air Canada Centre / Toronto*
Feb 10 – Verizon Center / Washington, DC*
Feb 11 – Mohegan Sun Arena / Uncasville, CT*
Feb 16 – Ogden Theatre / Denver#
Feb 17 – In the Venue / Salt Lake City#
Feb 19 – Showbox SoDo / Seattle#
Feb 20 – Commodore Ballroom / Vancouver#
Feb 23 – Fillmore / San Francisco#
Feb 25 – Wiltern / Los Angeles#
Feb 26 – House of Blues / Las Vegas#
Mar 25-27 – Ultra Music Festival / Miami
#with Innerpartysystem
*supporting Linkin Park

Pendulum: website | myspace | Immersion review

Until last summer, I didn’t know much about drum and bass band Pendulum, except that young people in the UK (the main audience of BBC Radio1) adored them so much that anything as much as a hint to new Pendulum material would cause mass shockwaves through Twitter. No one I knew on this side of the Atlantic knew who they were, and I expected a similar lack of knowledge in Scandinavia. But wow, what a reception the band got at Roskilde Festival last summer. I witnessed a manic crowd reaction, but in a way, I expected it: the genius of Pendulum – and also of Immersion, their most mainstream release to date – is the combination of heavy guitars and drums and quick-tempo emanating electronics that interest guys with dance beats and lead singer Rob Swire‘s sexy vocals that have proved quite popular with girls.

Here are the basics: Pendulum started out in Perth, Australia as a drum and bass band in the early Noughties. The group – then just Swire, bassist Gareth McGrillen, and DJ Paul Harding – soon relocated to the UK, the ancestral home of rave music (they’re now based in London). This turned out to be a fateful move, as after gaining several bandmates, the band released their 2005 debut album, Hold Your Colour, which contained their first UK singles top 40 hit, the double A-sided “Slam” / “Out Here.” Their second album, In Silico, was their first release in America. Coming up later this month, their third album, Immersion, will be released stateside, more than 6 months after the UK release of the album and its reaching #1 on the UK Top 40 albums chart the week of its release. Immersion reflects a more electronic-heavy, dance-driven sound than its two predecessors.

“Genesis” is the opening track of the album, and it begins not unlike something you’d hear on the Lord of the Rings soundtrack. It sets the stage for the grandeur your ears are going to experience next, mixing right into instrumental “Salt in the Wounds.” Halfway through, the songs break down, making you think it’s going to mellow out for the rest of the 6 minutes, but in the 4th minute, it’s clear Pendulum is not done making your heart race, going back to frenetic, thudding beats. This song, along with singles “Watercolour,” “Witchcraft,” and “Crush,” are ones that make you jump up and down in a packed club of sweating bodies. Or at an open air music festival, as I witnessed at Roskilde.

But the best part of this album are “The Island – Pt. I (Dawn)” and “The Island – Pt. II (Dusk)”, two halves of a sonic masterpiece. Part one is a Rocky-esque pump-up kind of song, with programming and beats not too soft and not too heavy – just perfect. Swire’s expansive vocals, as if calling out across his homeland of Australia, are alternately sweet and sweltering. “Close your eyes / let’s forget again / as you drag me down / I will take you in / what are you waiting for? / just surrender here tonight / what are you waiting for? / as we go towards the light…” – gulp. I could listen to this track all day. Rob Swire, call me. Then part two takes over, as the electronic wizardry take center stage, the track concluding with more conventional tropical beats.

The album also has some interesting and high-profile guests. Liam Howlett of seminal big beat English electronic group the Prodigy lent his cowriting and production talents to “Immunize”; while it’s no “Breathe ” or “Invaders Must Die,” it’s still pretty good. Prog/psych band Porcupine Tree founder Steve Wilson cowrote and sings on “The Fountain,” which sounds neither proggy or psychedelic and is instead the most unique track on the album, driven by piano along with the electronic beats and drums.

Metalheads will enjoy the more instrument-driven “Comprachicos” as well as “Self vs. Self,” a more straight-forward collaboration (vocals and traditional band instruments) between Pendulum and Swedish death metal band In Flames. Understandably, the latter features more aggressive (and in my opinion, quite scary) vocals from In Flames‘ Anders Fridén. This, along with “Set Me on Fire,” with vocals sounding vaguely Will.I.Am reggae, are probably the only numbers on Immersion that feel out of place.

Immersion is the kind of album that if you are into electronic music at all, you’ll appreciate the attention to detail this band has put into every single track. A couple weeks ago I was reading a UK electronic music magazine’s interview with Swire, and there was a photo of a small sampling of the complicated electronic equipment used to create the Pendulum sound. It’s astonishing what musicians and producers can do with electronics these days to make truly exciting music. If you get the chance to see Pendulum live this year, do it – you won’t be disappointed, I promise. The band make a special live appearance at Miami’s Ultra Music Festival at the end of March; I imagine surrounded by their peers and loads of fans, that would be the ultimate way to experience them.

Immersion will be released on Atlantic Records on January 25, 2011 in America.

Tracklisting:
01. Genesis
02. Salt in the Wounds
03. Watercolour
04. Set Me on Fire
05. Crush
06. Under the Waves
07. Immunize (feat. Liam Howlett [the Prodigy])
08. The Island – Pt. I (Dawn)
09. The Island – Pt. 2 (Dusk)
10. Comprachicos
11. The Vulture
12. Witchcraft
13. Self vs Self (feat. In Flames)
14. The Fountain (feat. Steve Wilson [Porcupine Tree])
15. Encoder

Tour Dates
Jan 20 – Bank Atlantic Center / Sunrise, FL*
Jan 22 – St. Pete Times Forum / Tampa*
Jan 23 – Philips Arena / Atlanta*
Jan 25 – Joe Louis Arena / Detroit*
Jan 26 – United Center / Chicago*
Jan 28 – Xcel Energy Center / St. Paul*
Jan 29 – Sprint Center / Kansas City*
Jan 31 – Wells Fargo Center / Philadelphia*
Feb 01 – TD Garden / Boston*
Feb 02 – Guvernment / Toronto#
Feb 04 – Madison Square Garden / New York City*
Feb 05 – Irving Plaza / New York City#
Feb 07 – Bell Centre / Montreal*
Feb 08 – Air Canada Centre / Toronto*
Feb 10 – Verizon Center / Washington, DC*
Feb 11 – Mohegan Sun Arena / Uncasville, CT*
Feb 16 – Ogden Theatre / Denver#
Feb 17 – In the Venue / Salt Lake City#
Feb 19 – Showbox SoDo / Seattle#
Feb 20 – Commodore Ballroom / Vancouver#
Feb 23 – Fillmore / San Francisco#
Feb 25 – Wiltern / Los Angeles#
Feb 26 – House of Blues / Las Vegas#
Mar 25-27 – Ultra Music Festival / Miami
#with Innerpartysystem
*supporting Linkin Park

Pendulum: website | myspace

Nothing quite says, “It’s the holidays” like a radio show extravaganza and 96.5 the Buzz outdid themselves this year. Instead of just one night of amazing alternative rock music, they gave listeners two festive nights at Kansas City’s majestic Midland Theater.

The first day of the Night the Buzz Stole Xmas featured Free Energy, Cage the Elephant (last minute replacement for Sleigh Bells), The Dirty Heads and Jimmy Eat World. I must admit, Sleigh Bell’s cancellation made me a little bitter toward the openers for this show. I had just brushed those bands off as “stoner music,” but then The Dirty Heads, the band that should have been the ultimate stoner music with their Sublime-esque sound, blew me away with a surprisingly rocking set that featured some killer covers. Of course, the audience really lit up when Jimmy Eat World took to the stage. The group’s latest effort didn’t really wow me like some of their previous stuff, so I was pleased to see a good mix of older songs in the set so that it wasn’t too new song heavy. The biggest treat of their set was the festive cover of “Last Christmas” near the end of the set. These guys are still as fantastic live as they were when I first saw them years ago.

Gallery photos from Night 1 are courtesy of photographer Ryan Davis.

Jimmy Eat World Set List:
Bleed American
Praise Chorus
My Best Theory
Coffee and Cigs
Futures
Little Thing
Big Casino
Action Needs an Aud.
Pain
Hear You Me
Last Xmas
Blister
Work
Get It Faster
Middle
Sweetness

Night 1 was the sit back and relax to good music evening, but Night 2 demanded that you stand up in dance. Local rockers the Beautiful Bodies started the evening with front woman Alicia Solo strutting her stuff in a peacock costume. Then Innerpartysystem revved up the crowd with their dance rock similar to the style of the Faint. A Day to Remember screamed out for the younger crowd to come forward and mosh (this was a drink break for some of the older crowd that doesn’t really do the whole screamo thing). Then finally, My Chemical Romance took to the stage with their anthem-packed alternative rock songs. With how much the band embraces the whole concept album thing, I was a bit nervous that some songs wouldn’t be able to stand up on their own, but their wasn’t a down moment to their set. They quickly proved to me that it’s true. they’re not ok…they’re fantastic.

Gallery photos from Night 2 are courtesy of photographer Todd Zimmer.

My Chemical Romance Set List:
Na Na Na
Venom
Planetary (Go!)
Not OK
Prison
Sing
House of Wolves
Only Hope
Mama
Black Parade
Teenagers
Ghost
Destroya
Helena
//
Cancer
Kids

How do you do a show a month prior to a new release? Well if you want to do it right, you take a page from Innerpartysystem’s set this week in Kansas City. With their first new CD since their 2008 self-titled album set to hit the streets in January, they were primed and ready to officially blow KC away.

Now if you did take this page, you’d see it had: previous huge hit “Don’t Stop” as an appetizer, some numbers off Innerpartysystem and a few teaser hits from the new as a main course and finally ending with “American Trash” as a delectable dessert. The entire set was oh so sweet.

Even though the set list was genius, it was still slightly risky. Putting the song that most people who’ve heard of you would know, smack dab in front lends to high expectations for the other 27 minutes. But what IPS did was take the energy off that song and used it to fuel a hit that’s possibly new or possibly revived: “Money Makes The World Go ‘Round.” If it is in fact another hint of what’s to come in January, then it tells me that the new album will have the same brunt-force tech beats that the band is good at, but set at a whole new level.

After mixing in what [I guess] will soon be called classics: “Die Tonight Live Forever” and “Last Night In Brooklyn” – they had the crowd literally bouncing off the walls. To this they answered with another newbie: “Not Getting Any Better.” At first the song came off as very techno dance, with even a little bit of a pop beat to it. But when it got to what was definitely considered the meat of the song, it exploded. The bass beats and electronic work were awesome. The previously semi-grooving audience was now fully overcome with IPS insanity. And in true “rave” form, the masterpiece was pulsed out longer than the typical song. It’s probably safe to say that no one really ever wanted that number to end.

And then there was dessert.

When “American Trash” was first intro’d back in early summer, the excitement for the new EP officially sparked. The song was perfection in mp3 form. So naturally there was no risk to this part of the show, as taking that song onto a stage would have only one result – mind-blowing. Between the dramatic lead in, the huge beat drop for the chorus and then being carried away via Patrick’s vocals near the end – the song was chaos in electronic form. By the time this song came on, there was no use trying to see the stage as everyone around me had proceeded to jump up and down. This was what the music called for.

Even though the band was minus a member, the sound had not suffered one bit. With the exit of Jesse, the remaining members decided to swap out guitars for further integration of electronics. After all that was said and done, the only difference that was noticeable (at least by me) was the introduction of excellent new music.

KRBZ 96.5 the Buzz has announced the line-up for its annual The Night the Buzz Stole X-mas and it’s a doozie this year. The Buzz is bringing not one, but two nights of great alternative rock music to the Midland in Kansas City. Night one features headliners Jimmy Eat World, while My Chemical Romance makes a return to the concert scene for night two. Local act The Beautiful Bodies even were picked to join the festive show.

Buzz Freeloaders get first shot at tickets.

Here’s the full line-up:

Night 1 – December 6, 2010
Jimmy Eat World
Sleigh Bells
The Dirty Heads
Free Energy

Night 2 – December 8, 2010
My Chemical Romance
A Day to Remember
Innerpartysystem
The Beautiful Bodies

Innerpartysystem has been seen all over the electronic dance scene lately, since after touring with Warped Tour last year when they had almost fallen off the map entirely. After announcing their “American Trash Bundle” for $25, including a limited edition gold 7” LP and limited edition T-shirt, they announced this press release via their email list.

“Phew, glad to get that all out of the way.  We wanted to mention something on a more personal note.  Outside of the 140 character variety if you’ll stick with us.  If you happen to live in Northeast ‘Merica, you know that the weather has gone from spring-jackets to swamp-ass in no time.  Which is symbolic of one thing to us:  Times, they are a’ changin’… FAST.

In the vein of change, we’ve been getting a lot of inquiries from fans as to exactly what are release plans are.  We’ve got a policy of crystal clear honesty with fans, so we wanted to let you know exactly what we’re thinking:

We’ve taken a lot of time to explore our future label/release options in the past few months feel pretty strongly that rushing out a full album right now doesn’t make sense.  Our solution was to start putting out singles ourselves.  We want to give each song the attention we feel they deserve.  For the time being we plan on releasing 2 more bundles in the coming weeks/ months, and each one better and more developed then the last.

This is not the easiest route because we’re not millionaires with tons of scratch to sink into marketing and promo.  We lead pretty modest existences by any standards, and over the past few months we’ve been keeping it “incredibly real” as anyone in Mohnton, PA will attest.  So income from ‘American Trash’, will directly fund the release of the second single ‘Money Makes the World Go Round’, and each single’s sales dictate what we can spend on future singles, albums, DVD’s, etc.

To us, that was a big flaw in contemporary label system logic.  You’re taking a huge gamble on something that ‘might’ happen, and if it doesn’t right away everyone gets a wicked case of the Mondays.  With our single sales method, it’s not as much gambling as fighting to prove your worth.  A ‘working band’s’ model.  If people believe in this band enough to buy singles, t-shirts, etc. all the profits come back to us, and allow us to invest back into marketing future singles, the live show production, touring in more areas, etc.  It’s not a revolution, it’s simple logic, and looking at the most productive use of resources.

It gets tricky because (again, crystal clear honesty) our music takes a pretty extensive process to make.  There’s a lot of ‘No this isn’t good enough.’ And each track gets written, and rewritten until it we feel it’s up to release standards.  It’s much more time consuming then a band who walks in with a producer, cuts vocals, and awaits the final mix.  Infact, this is the first time since the Download EP (besides remixes of course) that you’re hearing new IPS music untouched.  No extra producers or mixers like we were blessed with on the self titled album.  This music is recorded by us, and handed directly to your hard drive.

And that means a lot to us.  We know that if you want music today, you’re going to get it.  Just ask a friend for a link.  Once one person has it, everyone has it.  Anyone thinking they can contain that is straight trippin.

But we’re not 100% sure how to pay our mortgage if all music is free and clear.  In fact these past few months we’ve been really caught up doing extra remixes and auxiliary production work so we can bring you this release.  We’ve been fortunate enough to find some exciting commercial scoring work for promos and film to help connect the dots, more details on that to come in the near future.

Weather you buy a bundle, or you just make the extra effort to pick up the album on itunes, amazon, etc. that means something to us.  If you happen to think our music’s worth more then we’re asking and have cash to blow, we’re not going to discourage you, you can name your own price at our Bandcamp site (insert link here) If you like what we’re doing, and take the time to twitter, facebook, blog, etc. that you like it to other people you know, that REALLY means something to us.  And if you’ve actually got the motivation to call or email a radio station, sirius / xm show, etc. and let them know how much you like what we’re doing… well, shit, you get the idea.  This has always been a band that has existed on the back of people’s natural enthusiasm for what we’re making.

We don’t know what the future will hold for music, and we don’t know exactly what it will hold for us.  We may not be the band to reinvent the system, but the beauty of being a musician right now is that you have direct communication with any fan that cares enough to listen.  You are important to us.  We promise to make the best music we possibly can, we just want to figure out what the best way is for you to hear it.

Thanks for being a part of this.
-IIIII”

The bundle was released on May 25^th, and I have to say, the single and remix of American Trash is beyond amazing. The lyrics, beat, and structure are clearly of the IPS variety with some seriously sick beats and full of the brilliant ingenuity that have been a signature of IPS since The Download EP. Both the single itself and the Starkey remix are included on the LP and the T-shirt designs are pretty rad all on their own. The bundle is definitely worth the price you pay and the LP is fully functional (just make sure you play it on a decent turntable- if not you’ll scratch up the nice sparkly finish). With over half of these packs sold, there are only 250 or so left. Jump at this chance and help support Innerpartysystem now and for the next two LP releases and maybe, just maybe, we will see them on tour sooner rather than later.

Buy the American Trash LP Bundle here

After taking the nation by storm during Warped Tour last year, old and new fans alike have been waiting for an announcement of the next installment of Innerpartysystem’s unique brand of musical sound. After a ground-breaking EP (The Download EP) and a full length self-titled album, fans are more than ready for new material after an 18 month hiatus from the Industrial Rock/Electronica trio.

Between leaving their label, Island Records, in June 2009 and the recent loss of Jesse Cronan (backup vocals, synthesizer, lighting design), those last 18 months have been nothing but boring, according to the band’s blog. They have posted new remixes of both Cobra Starship‘s “Hot Mess” and 3Oh!3’s “Don’t Trust Me” on their MySpace, as well as remixes of old material of their own, such as “Last Night in Brooklyn” and “Obsession.” While these mixes kept fans satiated long enough for the band to get their bearings and start recording the album, the 2010 teaser was born.

Posted on February 22, the teaser, shows the band’s monetary-esque logo and the simple words “Get Hype,” along with a simple download button. Sparse, almost utilitarian, but plain and simple, and exactly what the fans want- a taste of the new Innerpartysystem sound.

Along with the teaser mix track that is making everyone’s skin crawl with anticipation, comes a video of Patrick and fellow band mates working on the new album, recording new mixes, playing around with new sounds for their live stage sets, tracking vocals, and… well… breaking things.

Although it is not a finite date for the release of their newest chapter, it will at least keep us on the edge of our seats until that information is revealed. For both old fans and new, Innerpartysystem will hold something new, exciting, different, and most of importantly, dance worthy. Check it out on the band’s YouTube page or on their blog, and well- Get Hyped. I know I sure did.

Written by Annastasia Gallaher