Post-hardcore all-star gang Rival Schools are back with Found, the band's new LP that's out NOW via the band in multiple format incarnations. Except the album isn't exactly new, technically...

Following the release of their debut LP in 2003, and after two years of extensive touring, guitarist Ian Love parted ways from the New York post-hardcore outfit Rival Schools. Rival Schools added their longtime friend and musician Chris Taynor to the lineup, and following six months of writing and recording in various studios around New York, bits and pieces of that album leaked on the internet, often being referred to as a "lost album."

Continue reading "Rival Schools' new album is 'Found' (stream a track)"

Vår may share members of Iceage (who will be here soon) and share an overall dark aesthetic, but the two projects are unmistakably distinct. While Iceage's primary MO is in the rich gothic post-punk/punk rock vein, Vår mine darkwave synths to create their poppy gems. The band is preparing to release their new LP, No One Dances Quite Like My Brothers on Sacred Bones on May 15. Stream the new track "The World Fell" below.

Continue reading "Var releasing new album (stream a track)"

The Yeah Yeah Yeahs will stream all of their new LP Mosquito starting at 3PM TODAY (4/3, aka right now). Listen in live courtesy of Noisey.

The Yeah Yeah Yeahs are scheduled to play a sold-out Webster Hall on April 7, part of a record release celebration at the venue. The band is also scheduled to play The Great GoogaMooga in Prospect Park this summer (tickets).

by Fred Pessaro // BBG

Though Dangerous Boys Club features members of Heroin, Antioch Arrow and Get Hustle, don't mistake their latest effort, Pris, for another hardcore-centric entry. The release, which features appearances from names like Joe Preston (Thrones, who recently played Saint Vitus), Mark Burden (Litanic Mask) and Kaetlin Kennedy (Lost Lockets), is more of a synth-based, over-driven slab of darkwave that stretches nine tracks across 23 danceable minutes. Look for the witchy album when it releases via Dais Records on April 9. In the meantime, though, blast the fog, turn the lights down low and slither the day away while you stream the record in full below.

DBC has a few live dates in their future, though nothing set for the NYC area thus far. Check out those live dates, listed below.

Continue reading "DBC readies 'Pris' for Dais (stream it in full)"

Caleb of Zozobra w/ Old Man Gloom at Europa, May '12 (more by Fred Pessaro // BBG)

Cave In and Old Man Gloom have been inactive as of late, which gives Caleb Scolfield time to concentrate on his post-hardcore/sludge project Zozobra. Stream all of their latest effort Savage Masters below, courtesy of Lambgoat.

Reminder, Invisible Oranges is proud to present the upcoming Zozobra/Kowloon Walled City tour, which kicks off in the second week in April and includes dates throughout the Northeast. Saint Vitus will host the April 6 date featuring special guest The Austerity Program, tickets are still available.

Tour flyer and that LP stream is below.

Continue reading "Stream Zozobra's new LP in full; The Austerity Program added to NYC date"

Cover art for 'Maimed For The Masses'

New Jersey surf-punk favorites Night Birds will release their new 7" Maimed For The Masses via Fat Wreck Chords on May 7. The single is a primer for their forthcoming LP Born To Die In Suburbia due on Grave Mistake in July. We've got the premiere of "Maimed for the Masses" which you can stream below

Meanwhile, the mostly-New Brunswick crew kick off a string of midwest dates with Give and Tenement that culminate in the previously discussed NYC show at Grand Victory on April 11 with Marvin Berry & The New Sound and Dipers (no Give, sorry). Tickets are still available.

All tour dates are listed, along with that song stream, below...

Continue reading "Night Birds releasing new 7", on tour with Give and Tenement (stream, dates)"

Thomas Meluch will release his fourth album under his musical alias Benoît Pioulard, Hymnal, on March 4 via Kranky. The record was made in England and Europe while on a year abroad, taking inspiration from the continent's many ornate cathedrals. Benoît just released the video for album track "Margin" and you can watch that below.

You may remember that Benoît just released a split with Foxes in Fiction, with whom he'll share a few dates on his upcoming March tour, though not at either of FiF's NYC shows this month. He will, however, play The Studio @ Webster Hall on March 26 with Noveller and tickets are on sale now. All tour dates are listed below.

Continue reading "Benoit Pioulard readies new LP, playing shows (dates, stream)"

by Bill Pearis

After an onstage meltdown during SXSW 2012, Bay Area band Bare Wires called it quits, though their final record, Idle Dreams, didn't come out till December. Main man Matthew Melton has formed a new group, Warm Soda, who carry on his giddy power pop vision with that would sound great coming out of a Snoopy AM radio in 1979.

Warm Soda's debut album, Someone for You, actually kind of sounds like it is coming out of a transistor radio: tinny and compressed (in a good way), but with giant hooks and choruses packed into 27-minute running time. It's a great album and it's out now on John Dwyer's Castle Face Records. You can stream "Waiting for Your Call" from the album below and order your copy here. If you like Jay Reatard, Cheap Trick, or The Nerves, you need to hear this now.

The band are going on tour at the end of the month and their trek will take them through Austin for SXSW (hopefully no problems this year) and then to the East Coast, including an NYC stop at Cake Shop on March 28 with tourmates White Mystery. All tour dates are below.

Continue reading "Warm Soda (ex-Bare Wires) released their debut LP, going on tour (dates, stream)"

by Bill Pearis

One of my favorite albums of 2012 was Restraint by Seattle trio Orca Team and the band toured the heck out of that album, coming through NYC three times. Which takes the sting out, a bit, to learn that the group called it quits at the end of the year due to real life issues and not so much the dreaded "musical differences."

Frontman Leif Anders, who is also now playing in The Intelligence, has taken no time in moving on having already formed a new band, Week of Wonders, who already have their first EP up on Bandcamp. Like Orca Team, WoW is driven by the rhythm section and Anders' nimble basslines. But the early '60s pop influences have been replaced with an almost Caribbean vibe and you could almost imagine the guitars being replaced by steel drums. You can stream Week of Wonders' Failures EP below.

For BV readers in the SEATAC area, Week of Wonders will play tonight (1/31) in Seattle at Rendezvous @ Jewelbox Theatre. The band have a few more Pacific Northwest dates as well and all are listed below.

Continue reading "Orca Team split; singer formed new band Week of Wonders (dates, stream)"

by Bill Pearis

Brooklyn band Vietnam were a fixture of the '00s local scene but went quiet a few years ago to the point where some may have wondered if they still existed. Main man Michael Gerner reactivated the name last year as a six-piece, and has put the finishing touches on a new Vietnam album, an A.merican D.ream, which is out February 26 via Mexican Summer. You can check out cover art and "Kitchen Kongas" from the album below.

The six-strong Vietnam will play a record release party in NYC at Mercury Lounge on February 28 with TV Baby and Hectors Pets. Tickets are on sale now. Shortly after that the band will head out on tour, including the inevitable stop in Austin for SXSW (which just announced the film lineup) and they play Austin Psych Fest too. All tour dates are listed below.

Continue reading "Vietnam releasing first LP in 5 years, touring (dates, stream)"