still from "I Appear Missing" video

As mentioned, Queens of the Stone Age are releasing a new album, ...Like Clockwork, which is due out June 4 via Matador. They already released the first single, "My God Is The Sun," and now they've given us another... well half of it at least. A 30-second teaser for QOTSA track "I Appear Missing" aired on Adult Swim last night (5/5), and now the band have released a three-minute video for the track, but the album version is reportedly a six-minute song. You can watch the three-minute video below.

QOTSA will be playing some festivals this year like Philly's Made In America and Chicago's Lollapalooza.

Speaking of Adult Swim, they just released the free Garage Swim compilation, which features new music from Thee Oh Sees, King Tuff & Gap Dream, Jeff the Brotherhood, Black Lips, Mikal Cronin, King Khan and the Gris Gris, Mind Spiders, OBN IIIs, Weekend, Cheap Time, Bass Drum of Death, and more. You can download it for free HERE and stream the entire thing below.

We just posted pictures of King Khan at Austin Psych Fest. Weekend will return to NYC soon on their tour with No Joy. And Cheap Time will play NYC soon on their tour with Social Distortion.

QOTSA video and Garage Swim stream below...

Continue reading "watch a 3-minute video of a 6-minute QOTSA song; download Adult Swim's free garage rock compilation"

King Tuff @ BVSXSW 2013 (more by Bruno Simões)

It's always seemed as though Was Dead kinda came outta nowhere. Even for me, I don't remember writing the songs and I barely remember recording them. I do know that they came from the purest part of my heart and they were made with a mischievous little smile on my face.

I think it was 2006. I recorded mostly late at night, in a giant dirty ballroom called Vegetable Street, in my hometown of Brattleboro, Vermont. My days were filled with endless cups of Mocha Joe's coffee, black, sitting on the stoop with my friends, and spazzing out on my guitar. Looking down at the streets of Brattleboro below and out at Mount Wantastiquet and beyond. I didn't have a cell phone or a computer and the only way to find me was either to call my mom, Lil' Smashy, who was probably already too busy cooking me something really delicious, or spot me in the corner of the coffee shop spying on people and drawing them in my sketchbook. They were very chill times.

-Kyle Thomas

Kyle, who recently tore through Austin for a bunch of SXSW shows (including one of our day parties) will stop in NYC on his way home from Europe (where he's playing Primavera Sound in Barcelona and other shows) to play Bowery Ballroom on June 2. Tickets to that show go on AmEx presale on Wednesday (4/24) at noon with the general on-sale happening Friday (2/26) at noon. It's a one-off show, not part of any North American/US tour.

All upcoming King Tuff dates are listed, along with that track stream, below.

Continue reading "King Tuff 's 'Was Dead' reissue pushed back a month; playing NYC in June (dates)"

Outside Lands Fest 2012 (more byAmoreena Lucero)

The 2013 edition of San Francisco's Outside Lands Music & Arts Festival with happen at Golden Gate Park on August 9 - 11. This year's line-up includes Paul McCartney, Red Hot Chili Peppers, Nine Inch Nails, Phoenix, Vampire Weekend, Yeah Yeah Yeahs, D'Angelo, Willie Nelson, Grizzly Bear, Band of Horses, Hall & Oates, Foals, A-Track, Jurassic 5, Kurt Vile and many more. Tickets go on sale Thursday (4/18) at noon PDT.

This is the sixth edition of Outside Lands, and the full announced line-up is below.

Continue reading "Outside Lands Fest 2013 line-up: Paul McCartney, Nine Inch Nails, Phoenix, Vampire Weekend, Yeah Yeah Yeahs ++ more)"

photos by Amanda Hatfield, words by Andrew Sacher

Austra / APTBS / the crowd

We wrapped up our stay at The Main and The Jr (aka old Emo's) with our fourth and final BrooklynVegan SXSW day party on Saturday (3/16). Unfortunately, Foxygen had to drop off at the last minute because the singer lost his voice. They would have played the outdoor stage (Pianos Stage), where we still saw sets from the arty synthpop of Empress Of, the loudest set of all of our day parties from A Place to Bury Strangers, and a super fun set from catchy UK rockers Palma Violets. Then came the sexy R&B of Autre Ne Veut, followed by a set by Austra, who were previewing expansive material from their upcoming sophomore album, Olympia. Then finally, the outdoor stage was wrapped up with a set from psychedelic pop New Zealanders Unknown Mortal Orchestra.

Inside, the show kicked off with the catchy indie pop of TEEN, followed by rockin' UK band Peace, and then three consecutive synthpop groups, Feathers, MS MR, and Doldrums. Then the show took a louder turn with an adrenaline-pumping set from White Lung, bouncy young garage punks The Orwells, and finally King Tuff.

In addition to the music, we had an interactive photo and video booth set up by Oxygen tattoo show, "Best Ink". The second season (hosted by Pete Wentz who made a surprise appearance in their booth) premieres April 3rd. Onkyo was there, sampling their new headphones which hit stores next month. mophie maker of invaluable iPhone chargers, were giving away discount cards good at their pop-up shop which was set up right across the street on Red River. We were also serving complimentary Jameson, and Zico coconut water, and free vegan queso and chips from Food For Lovers. We also had BrooklynVegan t-shirts for the first 50 people in the door, thanks to American Apparel. Also thanks to our other sponsors, Korg, Vox, Blackstar, Creative Recreation, Signazon, Zazoo, and Redigi.

More pictures from Saturday's party below...

Continue reading "BrooklynVegan SXSW Saturday day party in pics (UMO, King Tuff, Austra, Orwells, APTBS, Palma Violets & more)"

This is Day 4 of four BrooklynVegan SXSW Day Parties this year...

As you know, BrooklynVegan is returning to Austin for SXSW this year and throwing four days of day parties at The Main & The Jr aka 603 Red River Street at the corner of 6th aka the old Emo's location. Those happen Wed (3/13), Thurs, Fri and Saturday (3/16). All shows are 100% FREE with RSVP

We've announced Thursday and Friday. Wednesday is on the way. HERE IS SATURDAY..

Continue reading "BrooklynVegan free SXSW 2013 Saturday day party lineup (UMO, Austra, King Tuff, Autre Ne Veut, Foxygen, APTBS, White Lung, Palma Violets, Doldrums & more)"

Primavera Sound have announced their 2013 lineup, set to go down on May 22-26 in Barcelona, Spain. The announcement came via an animated video and artists performing include Phoenix, The Postal Service, Blur, Nick Cave & the Bad Seeds, My Bloody Valentine, Tame Impala, Wu-Tang Clan, Dead Can Dance, Grizzly Bear, The Knife, and loads more. Current lineup is below along with the flyer and video...

Continue reading "Primavera Sound 2013 line-up announced"

Festival Nrmal is happening again this year in Monterey, Mexico, expanding to a multiple day event from March 6 - 10 (just before SXSW if you're keeping track). The line-up for the fourth-annual event was just released and features Ariel Pink's Haunted Graffiti, Twin Shadow, Sky Ferreira, Mykki Blanco, Trash Talk, King Tuff, Parquet Courts, Kitty Pryde, Mortuary and many, many more. (English language bands were curated, as before, by Todd P.) The whole line-up is in the flyer below.

Advance tickets ($25) are available here. Flyer with the 2013 line-up is below.

Continue reading "Ariel Pink,Trash Talk, Twin Shadow, Sky Ferreira, King Tuff and more playing the 2013 Festival Nrmal in Monterrey, Mexico"

Brooklyn Bowl during a Deer Tick show (more by Tracy Allison)

As you probably know, we've been posting a bunch of year-end lists from artists this year, and we've also posted a few from venue guys like Josh Moore and Johnny Beach from Bowery Presents, Jack "Skippy" McFadden of Emo's in Austin, and Andy Bodor from Cake Shop. Now we've got a top 10 albums list from Brooklyn Bowl talent buyer (aka booker) Adam Geringer-Dunn. You can see Adam's full list below.

Brooklyn Bowl is where Lucero (who gave us two year-end lists) are beginning their New Year's Eve run. The country punks will play a two-night stand at the Brooklyn venue on Friday (12/28) with Nude Beach and Saturday (12/29) with Hollis Brown. Tickets for night 1, night 2, or both nights are still available, and we're also giving away a 2-day pass. Details on how to enter to win are below. Lucero also play NYE at Wellmont Theatre with The Hold Steady, which is one of many New Year's Eve options in the NYC area.

Adam Geringer-Dunn's year-end list and contest details below...

Continue reading "Adam Geringer-Dunn's (from Brooklyn Bowl) top 10 albums of 2012 +++ a chance to win a 2-day pass to Lucero"

by Bill Pearis

Pitchfork just posted their much anticipated list of the top 100 tracks of 2012. The #1 slot went to... Grimes! Whether you thought the whole of her album Visions was good or not, it was hard to deny the charms of "Oblivion." (Having that great video didn't hurt either.) Do you think it deserved to top the list? If not then what song should've?

You can check out P4K's entire hot 100 of 2012 below.

Continue reading "Pitchfork's Top 100 Tracks of 2012 (Grimes' "Oblivion" is #1)"

METZ at Knitting Factory in November (more by Fred Pessaro // BBG)

As mentioned, Toronto noise punks METZ have two upcoming free shows in NYC this month. First they'll play an in-store at Generation Records (12/18) and the next night, they'll play a Converse Rubber Tracks show at Music Hall of Williamsburg (12/19) with King Tuff, Sean Bones, and Devin. Tickets are required for the MHOW show (they just don't cost anything) but they're "sold out." However, if you missed out on getting yours, we're giving away a pair of VIP tickets. Details on how you can enter to win are below.

METZ recently stopped by BreakThruRadio to record a live-in-studio performance at the Serious Business studio and also sat in with BTR's Travis Harrison for an interview. You can watch a video of that session below.

Continue reading "METZ appeared on 'Serious Business' (watch); win tix to their free show w/ King Tuff, Sean Bones & Devin"

by Bill Pearis

TPOBPAH @ Summerstage 7/7/2012 (more by Chris La Putt)

While The Pains of Being Pure at Heart didn't release an album this year, they have stayed busy touring on the heels of last year's terrific Belong. (They did put out a covers 7" in the UK though which is worth seeking out.) The band play a free hometown show this Friday (12/14) at Brooklyn Night Bazaar with Black Marble, Habibi and Heavens Gate. Doors are at 6 PM with bands starting at 8 PM, and it's all ages. Lines to get in Brooklyn Night Bazaar have been long, but move pretty quickly.

In other TPOBPAH news, singer/guitarist Kip Berman is one of the conspirators behind "Rough Smooch" a new indiepop party that has its debut this Sunday (12/16) at Williamsburg bar Legion. Wear your cutest anorak to this night that features performances by The Hairs, Kissing is a Crime and Grand Resort, plus Kip and WNYU's Maria Sherman on DJ duty. The party is free and starts at 9PM.

And lastly, the Pains were kind enough to send us a year-end music list. The whole band are music obsessives and couldn't whittle the list down to ten, so they sent a list of "some music we thought was cool in 2012." Kip adds, "I'm certain the other PAINS would put Kurt's Ice Choir record Afar on our list, but I think it would make him feel weird and, perhaps, seem nepotistic. But his record is really good, and however you feel about Pains, you should give it a listen." Ice Choir, by the way, play Cameo on December 22 with Cool Angels and Limited (info).

Check out the list below...

Continue reading "The Pains of Being Pure at Heart list 2012 faves (NYC show is this week); Kip Berman throwing "Rough Smooch" party"

by Andrew Sacher

SPIN have revealed their list of the top 50 albums of 2012. It continues SPIN's trend of giving love to crossover punk and metal (which they've been pretty consistent with since naming Fucked Up's David Comes to Life their top album of 2011) with the inclusion of Baroness, Torche, Pallbearer, Cloud Nothings, and Japandroids, but rather surprisingly excludes the SPIN Essential'd Ceremony - Zoo and The Men - Open Your Heart, in favor of popular blowouts by Taylor Swift, fun., and Nicki Minaj. The list also shares its #1 and #2 with the two highest Pitchfork-rated albums of the year. And no Grimes.

The list begins with the Kanye-cribbed disclaimer, "Most critics' taste levels ain't at our waist level. Ain't nobody fucking with our clique." Check out SPIN's Top 50 LPs of 2012 list below.

Continue reading "SPIN names their Top 50 Albums of 2012 (Frank Ocean is #1)"

METZ at Knitting Factory earlier this month (more by Fred Pessaro // BBG)

The new-ish free bi-monthly Converse Rubber Tracks series at Music Hall of Williamsburg, which began in June with White Rabbits, continued in August with Action Bronson, and again in October with Ghostface Killah and A-Trak, will continue on December 19 at MHOW with its most rockin' edition yet: King Tuff, METZ, Sean Bones, and Devin. The show is free but you can pick up tickets to secure yourself a spot starting today (11/27) at 2 PM.

Like all of these shows go, part of the lineup includes bands who've recorded at Rubber Tracks, and for this one it's Frenchkiss labelmates Sean Bones and Devin. Converse session videos, all King Tuff and METZ dates, and the show flyer, below.

Continue reading "King Tuff, METZ, Sean Bones & Devin playing free Converse Rubber Tracks show at MHOW in Dec (dates)"

The Fly is the "UK's most popular new music magazine," but if you haven't heard of it, its because it's a free monthly that doesn't really get international distribution. You can however read it online. The mag just released it's year-end issue and topping their Best Albums of 2012 is Sharon Van Etten's Tramp (which was just released in a Deluxe edition, a fine Xmas gift don't you know). Sharon narrowly beat out Grimes, whose Visions came in at #2. The whole list, in ascending order, is below and you can read what The Fly said about each album here.

By the way you can still get tickets for the December 15 show at Cameo that Sharon curated with She Keeps Bees and Speck Mountain and "Special Guest."

A list of the Fly's Top 50 Albums of 2012 is below.

Continue reading "'The Fly' magazine's Top 50 LPs of 2012 (Sharon Van Etten #1)"

Obama hugs Bruce Springsteen (pre-election night)

A selection of tweets reacting to Obama's big win last night....

":)" - Grizzly Bear

"YES" - Amanda Palmer

"yeah!!!!" - Laurel Halo

"FUCK YES" - HEALTH

"fuck yeah." - Colin Meloy

"FUCK YEAH AMERICA!!! #OBAMA" - King Tuff

continued below...

Continue reading "Artists react to Obama's win"

King Tuff @ Knitting Factory in 2011 (more by Jessica Amaya)

We've known King Tuff were going to be at CMJ this year, as part of their tour with The Intelligence, but now we know the specifics. Kyle and the band will play three times next week: The Sub Pop showcase at Knitting Factory on 10/18 (11:20 PM) with Pissed Jeans, Metz, Daughn Gibson, Poor Moon and Debo Band, then the Inland Empire showcase at City Reliquary on 10/19 (7 PM, invite only) with Sinkane and more, and finally DIY space Cheap Storage on 10/20 (midnight) with Royal Baths, Habibi, Turnip King and Total Slacker. The band have extended their tour as well, with newly-added West Coast dates. Updated tour schedule is below.

King Tuff also have a new single out, "Screaming Skull," that isn't pulled from this year's self-titled album on Sub Pop. You can stream it below and buy it from Sub Pop or the merch table on tour.

Meanwhile, we just revealed that The Intelligence will play our BV day party at Public Assembly on Friday (10/19), headlining the back room at 5:15 PM. Check out the FULL SCHEDULE for Friday here.

Meanwhile, The Intelligence play Maxwell's on Wednesday (10/17, tickets) with Ba Babes, then the My Social List free day party at Public Assembly on October 18 (4:30 PM) with Roomrunner, Wild Yaks and Royal Baths, then later that night at Death by Audio as part of a killer bill with Montreal krautrockers Absolutely Free, locals Parquet Courts and Viva L'American Deathray Music. The DbA show is not affiliated with CMJ and $7 gets you in at the door.

King Tuff dates and song stream are below.

Continue reading "King Tuff released new 7", expands tour + CMJ week shows; The Intelligence playing Friday BV day party (dates, streams)"

Royal Baths circa now

Royal Baths are opening for Moon Duo tomorrow night (10/5) at Knitting Factory and the show will be their first with a new line-up that includes Lesley Hann of Friends on bass (who seems to have left that group, along with Matthew Molnar, if their most recent 285 Kent show is any indication). Tickets are still available.

If you can't make it tomorrow night, Royal Baths have a bunch of other shows coming up, including Sunday (10/7) at Bowery Electric (whose booking seems to be getting more interesting now that Sam Mickens has been handling some of the shows there) with Larkin Grimm, Behavior & M. Lamar; Wednesday (10/10) at Glasslands with Grooms, Dum Dum Girls offshoot SISU and Punks on Mars (tickets); October 16 at 285 Kent with Forma and the Golden Awesome; and a CMJ show at Cheap Storage on October 19 with King Tuff, Habibi, Turnip King and Total Slacker (tickets). Royal Baths tour dates are listed below.

Meanwhile, Royal Baths' Jeremy Cox features on Blasted Canyons' version of "Venus in Furs" that will be on the upcoming Castle Face Velvet Underground tribute album we told you about. That album is out November 6. Royal Baths most recent album, Better Luck Next Life, came out back in February.

Speaking of Total Slacker, the band have had a sad week with the death of their drummer Terence Connor in a hit-and-run. The band will pay tribute to him this Saturday (10/6) at Cheap Storage with a dance party featuring DJ sets from Weird Rivers, Cool Serbia, DOM, and Prince Rama. Suggested donation is $5 and all procedes go to Connor's family. More info here.

Continue reading "Friends' Lesley Hann joins Royal Baths who have a bunch of upcoming shows (dates)"

DOWNLOAD: Poor Moon - Birds (MP3)
DOWNLOAD: Poor Moon - Holiday (MP3)

Pissed Jeans at House of Vans, November 2011 (more by Fred Pessaro // BBG)

Pissed Jeans will headline a stacked Sub Pop CMJ showcase joined by appearances from King Tuff, METZ, Poor Moon, Daughn Gibson and Debo Band at Knitting Factory on October 18. Tickets are on sale or you can get in with your CMJ badge. The show is an uncharacteristic third NYC show for Pissed Jeans this year, whose last appearance was with Ceremony at LPR earlier this year (pics/video) and just a few weeks before that, at MHoW.

King Tuff, who recently played FYF in Los Angeles, will be in the NYC area for a few days with The Intelligence (who is at Maxwells on 10/17 -tickets).

Speaking of shows over Labor Day weekend, METZ recently played a pair of NYC shows in that stretch. The band is prepping to release their new LP on Sub Pop.

Meanwhile, newish Sub Pop signees Poor Moon released their debut album at the end of August (download a couple MP3s above) and will be touring most of August opening for Beach House. (No NYC show.) Their tour dates are below, along with videos from some of the rest of the Sub Pop showcase line-up.

Continue reading "Sub Pop announces CMJ showcase with Pissed Jeans, King Tuff, Metz, Daughn Gibson, Poor Moon & more (dates) "

by Bill Pearis

King Tuff

King Tuff and The Intelligence will be touring together this fall, a tour that will include stops during the CMJ Festival which just announced its initial line-up. No specifics on the CMJ shows other than King Tuff has blocked off October 18 and 19 for it. King Tuff has also been added to the FYF Fest which goes down Labor Day Weekend in LA.

The Intelligence, meanwhile, will play a headlining show at Maxwell's on October 17 and tickets are on sale. They'll be around for those CMJ dates as well.

King Tuff has a new video for "Alone and Stoned" that you can watch, along with a stream of The Intelligence's highly-recommended new album, Everybody's Got It Easy But Me, and a list of tour dates for both bands below...

Continue reading "King Tuff and The Intelligence touring together, will be in NYC for CMJ (dates, video, streams)"

Baroness at Terminal 5 in May (more by Joe McCabe)

Earlier this week, we posted an update from Baroness showing that things were looking upwards for the band. Unfortunately though, with two members having broken vertebrae and frontman John Baizely having a broken arm and leg, it doesn't come as much of a surprise that Baroness have in fact cancelled some of their upcoming North American tour dates, including their NYC show at House of Vans and LA's FYF Fest. They will not be replaced on the House of Vans lineup, which happens on August 29 and now just includes Turbonegro, Doomriders, and Nightbirds. This is a bummer but it makes sense that the band takes the time they need to recover, and we wish them a speedy and successful recovery!

Meanwhile, FYF Fest, which Wild Flag also dropped off of, recently expanded its lineup. It now features The Faint (who just announced they'll be reissuing Danse Macabre and touring the album), Glass Candy, King Tuff, and newcomers The Orwells. Tickets for FYF Fest are still available. The updated lineup and flier are below.

Continue reading "Baroness dropped off House of Vans and FYF Fest, who added bands (updated lineup)"

The full list of artists confirmed for the 2012 CMJ Music Marathon so far is below...

Continue reading "CMJ 2012 initial lineup announced"

DOWNLOAD: Jaill - Waste a Lot of Things (Mp3)
DOWNLOAD: Jaill - Perfect Ten (MP3)

Milwaukee, WI's Jaill are currently on tour with their Sub Pop labelmates King Tuff, out promoting their fine new album Traps which came out last month. You can download a couple tracks from it at the top of this post. After a run with The Coathangers through the South, Jaill will hit the East Coast for a few dates with Fergus & Geronimo (who also have a new LP), including two NYC shows: Mercury Lounge on September 10 and Maxwell's on September 11. Mercury Lounge tickets go on sale Friday, July 20 at noon with an AmEx presale beginning today (7/18) at noon. Tickets for the Maxwell's show are on sale now.

All Jaill tour dates are listed below.

Continue reading "Jaill released 'Traps' (MP3), expand tour w/ 2 NYC-area shows"

Audacity is preparing a new set of poppy garage-punk for Burger / Recess Records on July 10. The record's titled Mellow Cruisers and features the singles "Garza Girls" and "Punk Confusion," the latter of which was just made into a video and we're premiering it right here in this post. Watch it below, along with a stream of it and "Garza Girls," and a list of all their current tour dates.

While you can't catch Audacity as a band in NYC anytime soon, you can catch them in the flesh as the backing band for King Tuff. King Tuff played 285 Kent on June 9 with Habibi as part of their current tour, and will return to the NYC area to play Maxwell's in Hoboken on Thursday (6/14). Tickets are still available and remaining tour dates are listed below.

Continue reading "Audacity releasing 'Mellow Cruisers' (stream 2 tracks, video)"

photos by Chris La Putt

The Coathangers at Death by Audio - 5/30/12

The Coathangers are on a tour which brought them to NYC for two shows, including a stop at Death By Audio on May 30, the day after they supported OFF! at Bowery Ballroom with Cerebral Ballzy. Joining the bratty Atlanta foursome was support from Hunters, The Numerators and Desert Sharks. More pictures from the DBA show are in this post.

Though a return trek to NYC is not currently in the near future, The Coathangers have added a batch of new tour dates with Heavy Cream and King Tuff/Jaill (separately) that includes a stop at Capitol Hill Block Party.

Speaking of Heavy Cream and King Tuff, both bands head to the NYC area in the coming weeks for separate shows. King Tuff plays two dates -- 285 Kent on 6/9 and Maxwell's on 6/14. Heavy Cream also play a pair of shows in NYC with Hunters, on June 17th at Cake Shop with The Foxx and at Death by Audio on June 18th with Mannequin Pussy.

All dates are listed below along with more pics from the DBA show...

Continue reading "The Coathangers played DBA w/ Hunters & more (pics); touring w/ Heavy Cream & King Tuff (dates)"

by Bill Pearis

DOWNLOAD: King Tuff - Bad Thing (MP3)
DOWNLOAD: King Tuff - Keep on Movin (MP3)
DOWNLOAD: Jaill - Waste a Lot of Things (MP3)
DOWNLOAD: Jaill - Perfect Ten (MP3)

King Tuff

After a 2010 album with his band Happy Birthday, Scuzz popper extraordinaire Kyle Thomas has returned to his solo King Tuff moniker for his brand new album, out this week on Sub Pop. The self-titled LP is 12 songs of boogie riffs, Stonesy sneer, big hooks and that nasally whine you either dig or dislike. You can download two tracks at the top of this post ("Bad Thing" is pretty damn catchy) and stream the whole album -- and watch the horror spoof video for "Bad Thing" -- below.

King Tuff, whose shows at SXSW this year were rauccous fun, is heading out on tour with two stops in the NYC area on June 9 at 285 Kent with Habibi, and June 14 at Maxwell's with Habibi and Natural Child. Tickets to the Maxwell's show are on sale now.

Part of King Tuff's tour -- not the part coming to NYC -- is with Sub Pop labelmates Jaill whose new album, Traps, will be out June 12. That's a pretty good double bill! You can download a couple tracks from Traps at the top of this post as well. All King Tuff and Jaill dates are listed below.

Continue reading "King Tuff released new LP (stream), touring with Jaill (who also have a new album coming out) (dates & MP3s)"