The Thermals @ Irving Plaza in 2010 (more by Alexis Maindrault)

The previously mentioned Thermals/Matt & Kim show at Terminal 5 (tickets on sale now) is actually part of a full blown tour which kicks off after the Sasquatch Festival, and will also include DJ Autobot from Flosstradamus who "will be carrying the nonstop dance party through the evening and between bands".

Before then, the Thermals are heading to Europe, and Matt & Kim are hitting SXSW to play both the Woodie Awards and the Fader Fort (note: they are touring in support of their Sidewalks album which is out on the Fader label). All tour dates below...

Continue reading "The Thermals & Matt & Kim --- 2011 Tour Dates"

Matt & Kim at Webster Hall (more by Jessica Amaya)

Matt & Kim play the Stone Pony in Asbury Park, NJ on March 20th, and the perky (or is that spelled pesky?) duo have added another NYC-area show at Terminal 5 on June 29 and with The Thermals. Tickets go on AMEX presale Wed (3/2) at noon, and regular sale on Friday. All tour dates below.

The Thermals dropped the Not Like Any Other Feeling 7" which is currently available via Kill Rock Stars Records. Their previous Never Listen To Me 7" is also available.

All tour dates, and a recent video for Matt & Kim's "Cameras" below.

Continue reading "Matt & Kim touring, playing T5 w/ the Thermals (dates)"

Big names and regulars aside, there are a few bands I want to highlight on the just-announced Sasquatch lineup: Wolf Parade ("indefinite hiatus" rumors be damned), The Flaming Lips (performing "The Soft Bulletin"), Death From Above 1979 (now three reunion shows total), Guided By Voices (they're not done yet), and... Archers of Loaf (!). The full lineup of the fest that goes down in Gorge, Washington in May (Memorial Day Weekend), is below...

Continue reading "Sasquatch 2011 lineup announced (Archers of Loaf, Guided By Voices, Wolf Parade, DFA 1979 & "The Soft Bulletin" included)"

Tonight, Friday, 1/28, Iron & Wine are playing a free show at the Apple Store in SoHo. On Monday (January 31 at 7pm), Carrie Brownstein & Fred Armisen will discuss their IFC TV show Portlandia, live, at the same location. Meanwhile you can catch Portlandia three times today on IFC, including at 10:30pm.

Carrie Brownstein's band Wild Flag is playing two now-sold-out shows in Brooklyn in March (and other dates). Catch Fred Armisen on SNL this Saturday, 1/29, with musical guest Nicki Minaj (who recently announced a tour with Lil Wayne who was on SNL not that long ago)

That picture above shows Portland band the Thermals (who play a show in Portland tonight) arriving at the Portlandia premiere party in NYC last week. The band performed at the event, though unlike some members of the Decemberists, I'm not sure if the Thermals actually get any screen time in one of the upcoming shows. Carrie Brownstein however, as you might remember, gets some screen time in the recent Thermals video for "I Don't Believe You" which is the same song the Thermals will be performing on February 1st on 'Lopez Tonight'. The song comes from the band's 5th LP Personal Life, as does the song "Never Listen to Me" which now also has a video, which you can watch with other stuff, below...

Continue reading "Portlandia is coming to the Apple Store, The Thermals have a new video (and are playing "Lopez Tonight")"

"heading to NYC to play the PORTLANDIA premiere!" - The Thermals

"good flight. I finally learned what the mile high club is. I always thought it meant getting stoned in Denver" - The Thermals

The Thermals @ 2009 Pitchfork Fest (more by Joseph Xu)

"Allow us to introduce you (against their wishes) to Forbidden Friends!

Forbidden Friends is part secret society, part torrid love affair. The kind of experience you cherish, yet would kill to keep secret. Well as of this moment the secret is OUT. You can wash your dirty sheets as many times as you want, but once the world knows all your steamy indiscretions there's no going back! Might as well post all your (formerly) deep, dark secrets as your next status update. Forbidden Friends may have hoped to keep their little club private, but it's too late now! The gossips have spoken and won. Let's tell EVERYBODY. Please help us!

Forbidden Friends is a new band from Hutch Harris, lead singer and mastermind of The Thermals, Portland's last great post-pop-punk-power trio. Initially conceived as a way for lovers to send hidden messages in plain view (isn't there an app for that?), Forbidden Friends is now a legitimate, public work of art. The band is at once old fashioned (acoustic instruments, mono mixes), forward thinking (reference-less, incredibly danceable), and timeless (classic lyrical themes of love and desire.)

Forbidden Friends will release their debut single, "Tiny Hands", on the Kill Rock Stars label March 15, 2011, on vinyl (7") and digital download. It is accompanied by the b-side "For You". Harris played the basic instruments (drums, guitar, bass, vocals), and was assisted in the studio by his fellow Thermals Kathy Foster and Westin Glass, as well as Michael Lerner of Telekinesis, on percussion. Both songs are truly upbeat and fun, and are the perfect introduction to this exciting new band." [Kill Rock Stars]

Portlandia, starring Fred Armisen and Carrie Brownstein, premieres on Friday, January 21, 2011 at 10:30 PM ET/PT on IFC, but you can watch it now in the video embedded below.

The Thermals, after the Portlandia party (1/19), have some dates scheduled on the west coast followed by a European tour with The Coathangers. Their list of dates, and Carrie's new band Wild Flag's updated set of dates, and pretty much every upcoming Kill Rock Stars-artist tour date currently listed by the label, is below...

Continue reading "Hutch of the Thermals forms new band 'Forbidden Friends' (Thermals playing a Portlandia party in NYC & other dates)"

photos by Alexis Maindrault, words by Andrew Frisicano

As their Twitter makes clear, this tour, the Thermals are into Furbys. The blinking, ear-wiggling, talking (though not during the show) animatronic creatures took the stage, courtesy of a roadie, five minutes before the band: The Thermals will not play without their Furbys. The trio came out (Hutch, Kathy and drummer Westin, who always kind of looks like their child playing drums for mom and dad's band), and it was "Here's Your Future," the rousing first track off The Body, the Blood, the Machine (BBM, if you will) that got the blood flowing to start off the night.

"We opened for Sleater-Kinney here five years ago," Hutch said of Irving Plaza, the mildly impersonal hall (partially because of the barricade between band and crowd) that hawks its popcorn and pizza (both a bit too pricy) between bands.

Tonight they were headlining, and playing in support of new record Personal Life, an inward look from the band prone to fist-pumpable anthems (the "When We Were Alive" boast of "you shoulda seen us in our PRIME" being one prime example). Shedding some light on the LP, Hutch remarked, "It's not about my personal life [pause]...it's slightly about my personal life." Which is good news for people looking for the band to take a new direction after the sorta meandering "Now We Can See," the much lighter follow-up to the agit-punk epic BBM.

At Irving Plaza, BBM's "Returning to the Fold" elicited mock baptisms and prayerful hands aloft in rapture. For that same album's single, "Pillar of Salt," even the soundboard operator, who had previously sold me my ticket (multi-tasking!), sang along.

The group also tapped into their first two albums, collections that could be described with words like "arty," "lo-fi," "post-." Thankfully, almost 10 years later, those tracks still stand up to repeated abuse live. They continue to be among the most energetically recieved, and it's fairly easy to see why. The tempos are fast, and Westin at the edge of his seat pounds the beats into the hi-hat and snare.

Personal Life is another beast all together. The drum kit is less manic, often tapping away at the ride cymbal, while the guitar drops at times to out put the bass up front. For those songs ("There's Nothing You Can't Learn," "Never Listen To Me," "Not Like Any Other Feeling") Hutch barely goes to his guitar, instead articulating the lyrics in Craig Finn-like gestures and poses. I'm sure the crowd will be jiving along with him in future shows, but here at least, it was fun to watch.

Second opener Twin Shadow (I missed So Cow unfortunately) filled in ably for Cymbals Eat Guitars, with their laid-back synth-pop. Twin Shadow's sound is immediately appealingly, syrupy and retro (chill, even), but the smooth vocals of George Lewis Jr. make the band a sexier enterprise than other gauzy '80s-inspired bands. In their hands, the big space felt like an intimate bedroom session.

More tour dates HERE. More pictures from the show (So Cow included), and the Thermals setlist, below...

Continue reading "The Thermals, Twin Shadow & So Cow played Irving Plaza (pics & setlist) "

Cymbals Eat Guitars @ Siren Fest 2010 (more by Dominick Mastrangelo)

Hey New York,
We regrettably have to cancel our performance at Irving Plaza tonight. Obviously this is a huge disappointment, but we've had a family medical emergency and family comes first. The Thermals show goes on as planned with Twin Shadow filling in for us. Thanks for understanding.
Love,
CEG

Cymbals Eat Guitars have been on tour with The Thermals this entire month, and they will continue on tour with them Thurday in Boston. Hopefully all is well with them, or maybe they just needed a night off while the tour was visiting their hometown.

"I Don't Believe You" from the new Thermals album that I can't stop listening to, below...

Continue reading "new Thermals video starring Carrie Brownstein"

DOWNLOAD: The Thermals - I Don't Believe You (MP3)

The Thermals @ Brooklyn Bowl in April (more by Andrew Frisicano)

The Thermals will release a new album entitled "Personal Life" on September 7th via Kill Rock Stars...

"For their upcoming album Personal Life, The Thermals re-teamed with producer Chris Walla (Death Cab For Cutie). Walla and The Thermals have a long history together - Chris mixed the first Thermals LP (More Parts Per Million, 2003) and produced their second LP (Fuckin' A, 2004). Walla brought his signature brand of crisp, shiny pop production to Personal Life, as he has done for records by Tegan and Sara and Telekinesis, to name just a few. Personal Life was recorded to 2" tape and mixed to 1/2" tape, and vinyl enthusiasts will be happy to know the vinyl was mastered straight from tape, with no computers involved.

Sonically, Personal Life continues the Thermals tradition of high-energy punk/power/pop while also exploring darker, more introspective territory. Lyrically, Personal Life obsesses over love and lies with the same passion The Thermals have reserved for politics and death in the past.

The lead-off single from Personal Life, "I Don't Believe You" will be released as a 7" and digitally by Kill Rock Stars on August 10th, 2010."

September is also when the Portland band will start playing shows again including a pre-tour performance at the Bumbershoot Festival, and a during-tour show at Irving Plaza in NYC on October 13th. That show, like many on the tour, is with Cymbals Eat Guitars who just played Siren Fest and Irving Plaza before that (weird for an "indie" band to play there even once these days). Tickets for the NYC show go on sale Monday at noon.

All dates below....

Continue reading "Thermals touring w/ Cymbals Eat Guitars - dates & a new MP3 "

Memorial Day Weekend officially opened the summer, and for those in the Pacific Northwest it also brought Sasquatch Music Festival (pictures from all three days are coming soon). Now the lineup for its Labor Day cousin, Bumbershoot 2010, has been announced. That fest, happening at Seattle, WA's Seattle Center September 4th-6th, will include headliners Bob Dylan, Mary J. Blige, Weezer, Hole, Rise Against, Neko Case, The Decemberists, J. Cole and "one more very special guest to be announced soon."

Tickets (including non-Mainstage 'economy' passes) are on sale now. The rest of the lineup (by day) for the seven-stage festival is posted below...

Continue reading "Bumbershoot 2010 lineup (Bob Dylan... Hole... Mary J Blige)"

words & photos by Andrew Frisicano

The Thermals completed a two-night run at Brooklyn Bowl last night (4/21). I was at the irst night, Tuesday, when they played a great set to a sold-out crowd. The band's two show run at the venue was the last stop of their two-week East Coast tour.

The Thermals crowd came ready to sing along, and got more and more riled up as things progressed (the band's "Pillar of Salt," "No Culture Icons," "Returning to the Fold" run at the end was particularly spectacular). There was a kind of girls vs. boys thing going on, with plenty of female fans belting out the words while the guys threw their bodies into it.

The hour-plus set covered the band's catalog, from the power-punk of More Parts Per Million to the cleanly cut songs on Now We Can See. The new material showed promise for Personal Life, their fifth album, due in September. Those tunes stayed intense even as the band slowed down the tempo. "Seperate" - from their Record Store Day split with the Cribs - is one new song with a different, more calculated edge (see it in a video from an earlier show on the tour, below). Here's hoping the new album will match The Body, The Blood, The Machine for lyrical sharpness and replayability. After the 20-ish song set, the band came back for a gracious encore, and repeated cries to play their Olympics anthem "Canada" went unheeded.

Spazzy punk band the Coathangers opened, with all four members taking turns at the mic as they swapped instruments. Other opener Past Lives played grungy rock that didn't really keep my attention (Tony Castles subbed for the Coathangers on the second night).

More pictures and a few of those new songs from their Baltimore tour stop are below...

Continue reading "The Thermals played 2 nights @ Brooklyn Bowl w/ The Coathangers (pics) "

The Thermals have added a second NYC show to their upcoming tour. In addition to their already-announced April 20th show at Brooklyn Bowl, they'll play again at the same venue on April 21st. Tickets go on sale Thursday, February 25th at noon (and tickets are still on sale for the first night too).

The Thermals' new record and Kill Rock Stars debut, now officially called Personal Life, is still quite a ways off, with a release date of September 7th. A bit sooner, the band is planning, (like Fucked Up) a Record Store Day 7-inch split with the Cribs, which'll include new song "Separate." And a few weeks ago, the band dropped a brief pre-Olympics ode, titled "Canada," that was inspired, so the story goes, by a bad gig in Buffalo (and we're guessing the inevitable dinner at Mighty Taco). Stream that track, available on iTunes, below along with their their updated tour dates...

Continue reading "The Thermals add 2nd night at Brooklyn Bowl, write song about Canada (updated dates) "

also, we are mixing our record in TWO WEEKS with CHRIS WALLA! the new working title is "personal life" -The Thermals

The Thermals @ Pitchfork Fest 2k9 (more by Joseph Xu)

The Thermals have announced an April tour with Past Lives which includes a return to NYC. They'll play a show at Brooklyn Bowl on Tuesday, April 20th show (ahem, 4/20), almost a year after their last New York gigs in May '09. Tickets go on sale Friday, January 15th at noon.

Before then, the band has some West Coast dates lined up for February with their Kill Rock Star labelmates Thao & The Get Down Stay Down. "We will be playing all the hits, plus a few songs from our next LP, coming later this year," writes Hutch. As it says above, Death Can's Chris Walla is mixing the new album.

Walla and The Thermals have a long history together. Chris mixed The Thermals 1st LP More Parts Per Million (Sub Pop, 2003) and produced their 2nd LP, Fuckin' A (Sub Pop, 2004). The Thermals also supported Death Cab For Cutie on a few tours in 2003 and 2004.

The Thermals are no stranger to cover songs - they've long worked Built to Spill's "Big Dipper" into their sets, and the band's festival circuit shows last summer extended their covers repertoire to include songs like Green Day's "Basket Case" (video below). The Thermals aren't immune from the cover treatment either. Seattle's School of Rock band played their song "When I Died" at a January 9th concert. That spirited rendition, the Thermals' own cover-band antics and all tour dates are below...

Continue reading "The Thermals - new album almost done, covered by School of Rock, 2010 Tour Dates (Brooklyn Bowl) "

photos by Joseph Xu

Happy Holidays! I take on more than I can handle. That results in a lot of unposted content. In the name of catching up, while also taking it easy during this final week of the year, here's some of that lost material.

More pictures from the 2009 Pitchfork Music Festival, below...

Continue reading "pictures from the 2009 Pitchfork Festival "

The Neave: How was it playing alongside bands like the Meat Puppets and the Thermals? What artists or bands, if any, would you like to play/collaborate with in the future?

Mayhaw Hoons of The Shaky Hands: To me, the Meat Puppets tour was the best of all time. We had done five shows with The Shins a few years back, and that was amazing, but I feel like we never had a good connection with the fans. They were playing places like the Greek Theatre; an awesome experience, but kind of strange for us. With the Meat Puppets, we were having great shows every night to the best music fans ever. Plus, getting to know the band was a dream come true.

Thermals fans were a bit harder to crack. They are rabid kids. Some nights were amazing; some nights it was crickets. They wanted to get to their beloved Thermals and crowd surf. Every audience is different, but The Thermals themselves were always great to be around, and as I said earlier, we had an awesome time on the road with them.

We would love to tour with the Puppets again. Other great bands would be Big Business, Tom Petty or, I don't know, Shakira?

Their two-week, NYC-to-Cali tour kicks off Wednesday, December 2nd at Knitting Factory Brooklyn, with Takka Takka, Joshua Wise/Eyeses and tourmates US Royalty . Tickets are on sale.

US Royalty will be joining the band for a few of those tour dates before being replaced by The Rural Alberta Advantage (in who are in NYC this January).

All tour dates and Shaky Hands' video for new song "Already Gone" are below...

Continue reading "The Shaky Hands kicking off December tour (dates)-- Wednesday night in Broolyn w/ Takka Takka, US Royalty"

FYF Fest: Save Our State Parks is happening this Saturday, September 5th at California's L.A. State Historic Park. Tickets for the fest are still on sale (as are limited VIP passes).

The one-day-fest's lineup is a combination of bands that are coming to NYC soon (Black Lips, Kurt Vile, TNV, Cold Cave, to name a few) and bands that hopefully will be coming back to NYC sometime soon (Dillinger Escape Plan, Fucked Up, Mika Miko, "Tim & Eric Special Musical Performance"). The full schedule and more is below.

Continue reading "FYF Fest in LA Saturday - final 2009 lineup & set times"

The final lineup for Monolith Festival, which takes place at the Red Rocks Ampitheatre in Morrison, Colorado, on September 12th-13th, is below. The Yeah Yeah Yeahs and Girl Talk headline Saturday night at the festival, and the Mars Volta and MSTRKRFT top the bill on Sunday. Deer Tick, Passion Pit, Doom, The Walkmen, The Thermals, and HEALTH are also some of the bands on the two-day bill.

Tickets and two-day passes are still on sale. We also has a pair of weekend tickets to give away. Details on that, with the full lineup, below...

Continue reading "Monolith Festival - final 2009 lineup ++ WIN a two-day pass"

DOWNLOAD: Times New Viking - Time No Hope (MP3)

Since we last spoke, The Breeders have expanded the dates and added openers to their August tour. Joining them at first will be Times New Viking (who have an MP3 off their forthcoming record, Born Again Revisited, above), and then Whisptertown 2000, who will be opening both of the Breeders' NYC shows at the Bowery Ballroom. Tickets for those shows, happening August 18th and 19th, are still on sale.

Though the Breeders didn't play the Pitchfork Festival over the weekend, if you were there you did hear their song "Saints" coming off the stage courtesy of The Thermals, who also covered Sonic Youth's "100%," Nirvana's "Sappy" and Green Day's "Basket Case."

After the show, Harris and bassist Kathy Foster told Spinner they've been playing the Nirvana and Breeders songs fairly often, but the other two were new. "Those are all of our favorite songs," Foster said. "We were a little nervous, but it was really fun."

Harris said he wasn't sure how 'Basket Case' would pop. "Pitchfork's such a hipster thing," he teased. "You've got to play it a little cooler. And it's Chicago too, so you gotta be cool. But we're not embarrassed to love Green Day."

Continue reading "the Breeders (covered by Thermals) - tour dates w/ Times New Viking (new album, MP3), Whispertown 2000 (in NYC)"

DOWNLOAD: Naomi Shelton and the Gospel Queens: What Have You Done (MP3)

Sarah Siskind @ Living Room in April (by Chris La Putt)

tonight in NYC
* DANCE
* Zap Mama @ Joe's Pub
* Toadies @ Irving Plaza
* Blacklist @ Home Sweet Home
* Ciam, Bell @ (Le) Poisson Rouge
* Your Nature, Real Estate @ The Annex
* Unwigged & Unplugged @ the Beacon Theater
* BLK JKS, The Present, Popo @ The Bell House
* Kylesa, Wetnurse, The Nolan Gate @ Maxwell's
* Naomi Shelton and the Gospel Queens @ Joe's Pub
* Keane & the Helio Sequence @ Radio City Music Hall
* Angel ov Death (Jamie Saft & Mike Pride) @ Zebulon
* Lary Seven, Nonhorse: Non-Amoral Confusion/Drone @ The Stone
* Steve Martin and the Steep Canyon Rangers @ Rubin Museum of Art
* Cymbals Eat Guitars, Hallelujah The Hills, Ford and Fitzroy @ Southpaw
* Sarah Siskind, Catherine MacLellan, Waz, Kate Havnevik @ The Living Room
* Buru Style, Faith, Hanuman Sextet & John Sinclair, DJ Spirit @ Cake Shop
* Jukebox The Ghost, Jenny Owen Youngs, These United States @ Bowery Ballroom
* A Place To Bury Strangers, Shilpa Ray & Her Happy Hookers, Sisters, Coin Under Tongue @ Pianos

Tonight, the Living Room hosts Sarah Siskind (Bon Iver & Bill Frisell tourmate & collaborator), Kate Havnevik and others. Kate will be joined by Kaki King on drums, Mike Savino (from Tall Tall Trees) on upright bass and Daniel Cho on cello.

Bowery Presents is hosting a big birthday party with five bands at Music Hall of Williamsburg tonight. It's free, but invite only. The birthday party happening at Pianos is open to the public, but costs money.

Naomi Shelton & the Gospel Queens celebrate the release of their new album, at Joe's Pub tonight.

Zap Mama plays the first of three shows in a row at Joe's Pub tonight.

A video of the Thermals making things with clay on IFC, below...

Continue reading "What's going on Wednesday?"

WAVVES @ Less Artists More Condos (more by Toby Tenenbaum)

WAVVES headlines a Todd P-like bill at Bowery Balllrom in NYC on July 15th. Opening the show is Woods, Real Estate, and Popo. It's one of just two U.S. shows WAVVES has scheduled at the moment. The other is July 18th at the Pitchfork Music Festival (July 17-19 in Chicago) which recently announced its final lineup additions. They are Final Fantasy, Cymbals Eat Guitars, Bowerbirds, Michael Columbia, The Thermals and Killer Whales. Full lineup below...

Tickets for the NYC show go on AmEx presale Wednesday at noon, and then regular sale on Friday. All dates below...

Continue reading "WAVVES adds a NYC show ++ final Pitchfork Fest lineup "

photos by Fresh Bread

The Thermals played a kick-ass show, as usual, last night at Bowery Ballroom (5/9). It was their second night in a row playing the same NYC venue, and on Monday they play the city one more time, but at Music Hall of Williamsburg. Tickets for that one are still on sale. More pictures from Bowery Ballroom below...

Continue reading "The Thermals @ Bowery Ballroom (night 2) in NYC - pics "

DOWNLOAD: Talbot Tagora - Internet Fixture (MP3)
DOWNLOAD: Le Loup - We are Gods! We are Wolves! (MP3)

Hardly Art is an independent record label based in Seattle, WA. Founded in early 2007 by Sub Pop Records, Hardly Art is run by two full-time employees and is distributed by the Alternative Distribution Alliance (ADA) and Sub Pop. The label's name comes from a lyric the song "No Culture Icons" by [ex-Sub Pop band] the Thermals [who are in town], and the unofficial motto for the label is: Quality records for quality people since very recently. [Wikipedia]

Golden Triangle @ NYU Strawberry Festival 2009 (more by Lauren Monaco)

Golden Triangle's upcoming shows include a gig on Saturday, May 9th at Rubulad with the Homosexuals. The band then plays a free show on Tuesday, May 12th at Southpaw with the Phenomenal Handclap Band. They're also scheduled to perform June 12th as part of the Northside Festival (again with The Homosexuals). All tour dates below.

Earlier this year when Golden Triangle were still unsigned, the group won the Dickies Battle of the Bands down at SXSW. The judges for that included Black Bubblegum, GZA, and Randy & Dean of No Age (who, being signed to Sub Pop, are now label cousins with the winning band).

Hardly Art intends to release Golden Triangle's debut full-length in early 2010. Other new signings by Hardly Art include Seattle bands Talbot Tagora and Unnatural Helpers.

Unnatural Helpers are a pretty righteous Seattle punk band with two former members of The Catheters, an ex-Sub Pop band of which I was especially fond and whose presence on the musical scene I miss dearly. Unnatural Helpers is ex-Catheters guitarists Brian Standeford (also of Idle Times and Tall Birds) and Leo Gephardt (Tall Birds), The Dutchess and the Duke's Kimberley Morrison on bass, though the band is the brain child of Dean Whitmore, who drums and sings. [Seattle Weekly]

Only one other Hardly Art band has an NYC date coming up: indie-pop trio Pretty & Nice play Union Hall on May 14th with the Dig and Middle Distance Runner. Tickets are on sale.

All upcoming Hardly Art tour dates below...

Continue reading "Golden Triangle & other bands signed to Hardly Art (like Talbot Tagora & Unnatural Helpers) - 2009 tour dates & stuff "

DOWNLOAD: The Thermals - Now We Can See (MP3)
DOWNLOAD: Horse Feathers- Curs in the Weeds (MP3)
DOWNLOAD: The Shaky Hands - We Are Young (MP3)

The Thermals are in town for the NYC leg of their tour. That includes Friday (5/8) and Saturday (5/9) shows at the Bowery Ballroom, both sold out, and a Monday gig at the Music Hall of Williamsburg for which Tickets are still on sale (5/11). The Shaky Hands and Point Juncture, WA open all nights.

Kill Rock Star labelmates and fellow Portlanders Horse Feathers are also in town. As you can see above, the band's kicked it adjacent style while they were in Boston on Thursday, May 7th. It's close, but not exactly the case this weekend, as Horse Feathers play Saturday, May 9th out in Gowanus at the Bell House. Joe Pug and Ben Weaver open. Tickets are on sale. Tuesday, May 12th the band plays Joe's Pub (also with Joe Pug). Tickets for that are on sale as well.

All Horse Feathers dates below...

Continue reading "Thermals/Shaky Hands here, Horse Feathers touring (dates)"

The 2009 Capitol Hill Block Party takes over Seattle's Capitol Hill neighborhood July 24-25. The Block Party is an annual music festival that draws upon and showcases the best indie and underground rock in the US, with a special focus on its Northwest artists. Launched 12 years ago, the Block Party has evolved into Seattle's most anticipated outdoor party. With over 40 bands on 3 stages, great food, and plenty of cheap beer, this is by far the best party of the summer.

Continue reading "Capitol Hill Block Party in Seattle - initial 2009 lineup"

Saturday, April 18, 2009 @ 12:00pm
Sayre Field

April 18th (tomorrow), gates open at 12pm, Sayre Field House, FREE ADMISSION
Featuring: The Roots, The Thermals, Divine Rhyme, and The Lars Danko

This weekend is also Culture Shock at SUNY Purchase, and Vampire Weekend/Talib Kweli at Columbia.

The Thermals also have 3 NYC shows coming up, and other tour dates.