Thank You

"look thrice, Imma Let you finish, but..."

Yup. Yesterday thrice, today Thursday. Crazy coincidence for two bands that have led such parallel and intersecting lives. We would've spaced our announcement out and given the dust a chance to settle but we are about to play a bunch of shows and we didn't want anyone to miss the chance to see us one more time, so here it goes...

If you're reading this long version of our statement, you've probably had some interaction with Thursday. We've been a band for thirteen years. We've played an uncountable number of shows, ranging from living rooms to stadiums. We've talked to every Zine, blog, Daily, Weekly, Monthly periodical... We've talked to every College, Commercial and Public Radio Station and sometimes we just hung out on the street talking to strangers. Maybe we met you. Maybe we worked together somewhere. Maybe you saw us or heard us with friends. Whatever the case may be, we owe you thanks. You've allowed us to be a band for thirteen years, to travel the world, to make records, to meet all of the people we've grown to love. And to open for our idols, work with our heroes, employ our friends (the best crew around) and see our dreams made real.

This year, Thursday has had so much to celebrate: our new record, No Devolución, came out ten years, to the week, after the record that was to become our touchstone: Full Collapse. To have one record still being celebrated a decade after it's release and another to be met with such critical acclaim was really more than we ever could've imagined. We just wanted to play basement shows in New Brunswick. It's funny... That sounds like a well-worn line now but it's absolutely the truth.

Well, if you've been touched by our music or our dedication or our embarrassingly out-of-fashion sincerity, then this is for you, friend: thank you for letting us make No Devolución. We hope you've heard it. We say "beg, borrow or steal... music is an idea... ideas are free" but we encourage you to support our fantastically sweet and hardworking label, Epitaph, by buying it if you can afford to.

Despite the fantastic year that the band has enjoyed, creatively, things haven't been as easy for us on a personal level. Without diving into detail, it's fair to say that this year has been an endless series of personal difficulties. We haven't had any falling out and are all still close. I'm sure that we will continue to create, in some capacity, together. We've talked about turning Thursday into something else: a non-profit, a band that only records sporadically, a collection of other projects... Underneath it all, the personal circumstances involved make it impossible to continue Thursday in the spirit that has made it special. So, we stop. For now, at least.

We hope to see many of you at these last shows. They'll be a lot of fun. We promise.

Lots of love,
Geoff & Tom & Tucker & Steve & Andrew & Tim & Lukas
(Thursday)

Thrice have no additional dates to report, but Thursday play their next show Wednesday at Irving Plaza (11/23) with Maylene & The Sons of Disaster before before continuing on tour with MewithoutYou and Screaming Females. Tickets for Irving Plaza are still available. All remaining tour dates are below.

Continue reading "Thursday (and Thrice) announce indefinite hiatus (which starts after their tour which hits NYC Wednesday night)"

by Bill Pearis

DOWNLOAD: Kay Kay and His Weathered Underground - He Momma (MP3)

Jon Wiley

It's another busy weekend of shows, so much so I'm breaking this week's TWiI into two parts. First and foremost on tonight's (7/9) agenda is the We Are the Wiley benefit at the Shank featuring Lightspeed Champion, Adam Green and Chairlift. Besides being a great lineup in and of its own, the money goes to a good cause. As you may have read in an earlier post, Jon Wiley -- who fronts Spacecamp when he isn't playing in Adam Green and Lightspeed Champion or being an all-around good guy -- had a scare earlier this year that left him diagnosed with MS, and a mountain of medical bills. Like most musicians out there, Jon's has no insurance so please come tonight and help out. The event is co-sponsored by Wanduta, a new national organization designed to support and protect independent musicians, and all proceeds go towards Jon's medical bills.

And you'll get to see Lightspeed Champion play his killer new stuff (he was great at Mercury Lounge a couple weeks back), headliners Chairlift who have gotten better as a live band every time I've seen them, and the always unpredictable Adam Green. And I wouldn't be surprised if Spacecamp didn't play a couple songs too, seeing as they're the backing band for both Adam and Lightspeed. Admission is $15 and is 21+.

Kay Kay and his Weathered Underground

Philadelphia's Mewithoutyou and Atlanta's The Dear Hunter (not Deerhunter) and on tour together and are playing tonight (7/9) at Music Hall of Williamsburg and tomorrow (7/10) at Bowery Ballroom. But I'm not hear to talk about them. Opening for both shows are Seattle's Kay Kay and His Weathered Underground who are one of the city's best bands though maybe you've never heard of them as they don't play outside of their hometown too often. A musical collective that expands and contracts anywhere from 10 to 15 depending on the show, Kay Kay are led by Kirk Huffman and Kyle O'Quin who have other many bands on thier own. (Huffman in particular stays very busy.) Their self-titled debut is clearly in love with the lush, baroque pop of the late '60s and early '70s: think The Zombies (or Colin Blunstone's first solo album), The Left Banke, and Harry Nilsson. If you wanted more recent comparisons, Jellyfish, Jason Falkner or The Format. It holds up to those comparisons pretty well too, as you can hear on their highly-recommend self-titled debut, which was released on vinyl and digitally last year and came out on CD in May of this year. It's too bad they aren't doing a headling date of their own somewhere, but who knows when they'll make it back this way?

Those Darlins @ Bowery Ballroom (more by Toby Tenenbaum)

And a couple other recommended shows tonight: I've been really enjoying Those Darlins' just-released debut album which is sort of like garage rock Tammy Wynette -- and they are a lot of fun live. The whole bill is solid: Jon Spencer's rockabilly explosion Heavy Trash, and the amazing Shilpa Ray & Her Happy Hookers. And if you can't make it tonight, they play Southpaw tomorrow (7/10) with Country Mice and the So So Glow.

Finally, if you haven't seen The Drums yet, they play Public Assembly tonight, but you've got lots of chances to see them.

Tour dates, videos and flyers after the jump....

Continue reading "Kay Kay & His Weathered Underground, We are Wiley & more in This Week in Indie (part 1) "