crying-run-for-cover

Crying sign to Run for Cover, touring; Tigers Jaw streaming 'Charmer'; Makthaverskan reissued 'II' & more RFC news

by Andrew Sacher

Crying
Crying

NYC-area chiptune band Crying, who put out their Get Olde EP on Double Double Whammy last year, recently announced that they’ve signed to larger label Run For Cover (Modern Baseball, Basement), who say new music is coming soon. The band have played locally a lot, and they currently have many tour dates lined up including a bunch more in and around NYC. They play Brooklyn Launch Pad on May 31, then Hamden, CT’s The Space on June 7 with Saintseneca (tickets). After that they’ll go on a short tour with Teen Suicide that includes an Asbury Lanes (6/15) show with Pity Sex and Nothing (tickets) and a Brooklyn show at Shea Stadium (6/19). Then they go on a much longer tour with Told Slant which includes yet another Brooklyn show on July 4 at The Ho_se with Frankie Cosmos. All Crying dates are listed below.

Tigers JawTigers Jaw

In other Run For Cover news, the label releases the new Tigers Jaw album, Charmer, next week (6/3) which you can now stream in full on Pitchfork and pre-order for only $5. Like I said when singles “Nervous Kids” and “Hum” were released, it sounded like Tigers Jaw was going on a different direction than their previous material, and now that the whole thing’s out there it can safely be said this is like nothing they’ve done before. The band haven’t fully abandoned their punk roots — there’s still an edge here — but like their tourmates/labelmates Pity Sex, Charmer is much more overtly indie rock than many releases by their peers. The vocals echo ’80s mope rock, and the songs themselves are driving but never really go past mid-tempo. The harmonies Brianna Collins contributes are always on point too. Highly recommended album.

Tigers Jaw’s tour with Pity Sex hits NYC on 6/18 at MHOW with Petal and Loose Planes (tickets). After that, they go on a tour with Touche Amore and Dads which doesn’t hit NYC but hits Long Island on July 15 at Revolution (tickets).

Makthaverskan
Makthaverskan

RFC also recently reissued the 2013 sophomore album by Sweden’s Makthaverskan, II. While II is ’80s-inspired post-punk through and through, which is far from a unique description of a band in 2014, Makthaverskan really don’t sound like many other groups at the moment. They very much remember that post-punk did indeed stem from punk, but not by cranking up the distortion. The guitars are all relatively clean, and the leads soar like Joy Division or Cure leads, but there’s a backbone to the rhythm section. On a song like “Distance,” all those guitars would need to do is switch to power chords and they’d have themselves a Black Flag song. But what really sets Makthaverskan apart from the rest is Maja Milner’s powerhouse voice and her lyrics. While post-punk can often be about being moody or apathetic, Maja sounds quite the opposite, wailing in a way that sounds like she demands to be heard. And when she kicks off the album with a chorus of “Fuck you”s, only to belt out “Fuck you for fucking me when I was seventeen” on album standout “No Mercy” seven songs later, it’s not hard to see why those demands are met. Take a listen to II for yourself below. No word on US dates yet but hopefully they come over here soon.

Run For Cover also recently signed Adventures (aka 3/4 of Code Orange Kids), who we caught at Webster Hall Studio not long ago. Adventures’ first release for the label will be a split 7″ with Pity Sex that includes a new song by each band, plus a cover of Turning Point’s “Behind This Wall” by Adventures and a Pixies cover by Pity Sex.

Camera Shy, the duo of Nick Bassett (who is currently in Whirr and Nothing and previously of Deafheaven) and former Whirr vocalist Alexandra Morte, recently joined the label as well and put out an acoustic dreamy pop track “Spin Me,” which you can spin below. (Alexandra isn’t the only former Whirr vocalist with a release on RFC.)

Nothing at Rough Trade NYC on Record Store Day 2014 (more by Amanda Hatfield)
Nothing

Speaking of Nothing, they bring their tour with RFC-signed Superheaven (formerly Daylight) to NYC on June 14 at The Studio at Webster Hall. Since we last spoke, UnWed (mems Hot Water Music, Small Brown Bike) were added to that show. Tickets for that one are still available.

Speaking of Small Brown Bike, they’ll release a collaborative 12″ with The Casket Lottery on Run for Cover on June 17. You can stream one of those tracks, “Wrong Hometown,” below. Able Baker Fox, who feature members of both Small Brown Bike and The Casket Lottery, are breaking their silence with a Michigan show and a set at The Fest this year. No other dates announced at the moment.

To go back to Superheaven and Pity Sex, both of those bands open for their UK labelmates Basement on that band’s reunion tour which hits NYC on August 19 at Webster Hall (tickets). Ovlov is also on that show and they just premiered a new song from their split with Little Big League (due in August via Tiny Engines) over at Stereogum. It’s called “The Great Crocodile” and can be heard below.

All mentioned streams and the list of Crying dates, below…

Makthaverskan – II

TIgers Jaw – Charmer (full stream on P4k)

Camera Shy – “Spin Me”

Small Brown Bike / The Casket Lottery – “Wrong Hometown”

Ovlov – “The Great Crocodile”

Crying — 2014 Tour Dates
5/31/2014 Brooklyn, NY @ PUlSEWAVE at Brooklyn Launch Pad
6/7/2014 Hamden, CT @ The Space w/ Saintseneca

w/ Teen Suicide
6/15/2014 Asbury Park, NJ @ Asbury Lanes w/ Pity Sex & Nothing
6/18/2014 Philadelphia, PA @ The Fire
6/19/2014 New York, NY @ Shea Stadium

w/ Told Slant
7/3/2014 Brighton, MA @ Roggies
7/4/2014 Brooklyn, NY @ The Ho_se w/ Frankie Cosmos
7/5/2014 New Brunswick, NJ @ Cooler Ranch
7/6/2014 Baltimore, MD @ Metro Gallery
7/8/2014 Charlotte, NC @ Area 15
7/9/2014 Atlanta, GA @ Mammal Gallery
7/10/2014 Jacksonville, FL @ Burro Bar
7/11/2014 Pembroke Pines, FL @ The Talent Farm
7/12/2014 Tampa, FL @ Epic Problem
7/13/2014 Orlando, FL @ Backbooth
7/14/2014 New Orleans, LA @ The Beatnik
7/17/2014 Denton, TX @ Rubber Gloves
7/18/2014 Oklahoma City, OK @ Industrial Skate Park
7/19/2014 St. Louis, MO @ the demo
7/20/2014 Chicago, IL @ Beat Kitchen
7/21/2014 Grand Rapids, MI @ The House of Pancakes
7/22/2014 Toronto, ON @ Hard Luck
7/23/2014 Rochester, NY @ Brew House
7/24/2014 Pittsburgh, PA @ The Mr. Roboto Project
7/25/2014 Philadelphia, PA @ The Golden Tea House