Beach Fossils @ South Street Seaport last Friday (more by Chris La Putt)

Captured Tracks confirm that Beach Fossils guitarist Sennott Burke has left the band. Sennott himself got in touch and told me, "I have nothing but love for the band and everyone in it. I just need to do my own thing." He added that, "If you are interested in playing guitar for Beach Fossils, get in touch via email beachfossils@gmail.com ASAP and be ready to leave Friday." Friday is the date of their Toledo, Ohio show.

This may or may not have something to do with a bass being lobbed into a river.

This news comes the same day that Vivian Girls & Best Coast announce new drummers.

Beach Fossils are scheduled to play Mercury Lounge with Small Black on Wednesday night (7/14, before Friday, before Toledo) (and the Bug Jar in Rochester tonight, even more before Toledo). It's unclear if these shows are affected at the moment (update: Sennott says, "Yeah, I'll be there, I'm going to finish this leg of tour and possibly longer, pending replacement."). All dates below...

Continue reading "Beach Fossils guitarist leaves band (wanna replace him?)"

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1. Feb 2008: Vivian Girls start making a name for themselves on the scene
2. Sep 2008: Frankie Rose leaves Vivian Girls to play with Crystal Stilts full time
3. Sept 2008: Ali Koehler replaces Frankie Rose in Vivian Girls
4. July 2009: Frankie Rose makes her 1st appearance as Dum Dum Girls member
5. Sept 2009: Frankie Rose leaves Crystal Stilts & starts Frankie & the Outs
6. Dec 2009: Best Coast getting popular, announce tour w/ Vivian Girls
7. June 2010: Frankie Rose leaves Dum Dum Girls to focus on Frankie & the Outs
8. July 2010: Ali Koehler leaves Vivian Girls and joins Best Coast
9. July 2010: Fiona from Coasting replaces Ali in Vivian Girls

(note: dates may not be exact)

A video of Best Coast covering WAVVES' "I'm So Bored" at Primavera Sound in May, and a picture of Coasting, below...

Continue reading "Vivian Girls drummer Ali Koehler leaves VG for Best Coast! (Frankie Rose still just in the Outs)"

Frankie Rose as Dum Dum Girl @ Webster Hall (more by Brian Reilly)

WebCuts Music: You've just had band practice -- how are you sounding today?

Dee Dee Dum Dum Girl: We're sounding great. I'll let you in on a secret we've had a line-up change so we have a new drummer and our bass player is now singing. It's been a pretty intense week of rehearsals. We've had a lot of ground to cover.

WebCuts Music: What's going on there? Is it musical chairs in Dum Dum Girls?

Dee Dee Dum Dum Girl: Not so much musical chairs, Frankie Rose was drumming for us and she also sang, so we have a drummer now who's just drumming. So it was a matter of teaching Bambi the high harmonies so that we would still have those.

WebCuts Music: Was that because Frankie was just too busy? She's spent that much time in that many times, did she have other stuff to do?

Dee Dee Dum Dum Girl: She finally has got her own project underway and has been working on a record and she's not the hugest fan of touring, she would probably do it for her own band. But it was probably time to do her own thing.

Thanks Anonymous for the link to the above interview which confirms that Frankie Rose is no longer a member of the Dum Dum Girls who are about to tour with Crocodiles and Vampire Weekend.

As previously also mentioned, Frankie (Rose) & the Outs play a Northside Festival show on June 26th. They also play another Brooklyn show on July 17th with at "TBA" with "Special Guests".

UPDATE: There's also a mysterious show this Wednesday night, June 16th, at Death By Audio which Frankie may or may not know something about.

PREVIOUSLY: Frankie Rose leaves Crystal Stilts, starts band

Hey gang,

We'd like to take a moment to introduce you to our new editions:
Two fresh faces who will be joining us live on our upcoming tours.

On Bass: Dave Pajo

Pajo has a vast body of work. He was the guitarist for Slint. He has recorded as Papa M and Ariel M. And he has worked with Tortoise, Will Oldham, Zwan, and numerous other artists. So, you know....do the math.

On Keys and Vox: Brandon Curtis

Curtis is a member of the Secret Machines. Enough said.

We are very excited and honored to be working with such talented individuals.

Come and see why.

Interpol

Enough said?

Dave Pajo, the new Carlos D, was also recently a member of the Yeah Yeah Yeahs. Interpol recently cancelled most of their upcoming tour dates.

Papa M is playing ATP New York in September.

DOWNLOAD: Takka Takka - Silence (MP3)

(the new) Takka Takka @ Glasslands Gallery in Brooklyn - CMJ 2009

photo by Erin Molitor

Brooklyn band Takka Takka are playing a show in DUMBO tonight (11/5). This gig follows a few shows that the band played in town during CMJ. You can see them playing at one of the showcases in the picture above. If you're familiar with the band, you may notice some changes including one less member, and no it's not front-man Gabe Levine aka Samuel Izdat. Gabe/Samuel has started playing solo, but that's in addition to being in the band.

In light of all this, I asked Takka drummer Conrad Doucette if he would answer a few questions...

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BV: Name and position?

Conrad: Conrad Doucette, second base

BV: Did you watch the last game of the World Series last night?

Conrad: I did.

BV: Were you jumping up and down and screaming really loudly when the Yankees won?

Conrad: I was jumping up and down and screaming loudly in the alternate universe where the Cincinnati Reds have a chance to win a World Series.

continued below...

Continue reading "an interview w/ Conrad Doucette of Takka Takka (who have a new lineup & a free show in DUMBO tonight) "

DOWNLOAD: A Sunny Day in Glasgow - Ashes Grammar / Ashes Maths (MP3)

So many people have been in ASDiG since the project started in 2006 - touring members especially have come and gone. But I am happy and excited to let you know that we now have what could really be called a stable line-up now. The sad news is that Robin & Lauren are no longer singing with ASDiG. For various reasons (out of state grad school; boyfriend's broken limbs, work) neither were readily available while we were recording Ashes Grammar. These were dark times! But then all of this great stuff started to happen where Josh and I just said fuck it and kept working on the album. And then longtime fan and west philly neighbor Ryan Newmeyer wrote out of nowhere to ask what kind of fuzz pedal I use (<3<3<3 love you so much zvex fuzz factory <3<3<3) and I asked if he knew any singers. And he did! And her name was (is) Annie Fredrickson. Josh, Annie, and I would spend many many many late nights in Lambertville and West Philly and South Philly and anywhere we could make noise starting from scratch, ultimately finishing the album, and generally coming together as friends and as a band. Good times!

And then, when Ashes Grammar was done and we all got really drunk and got some normal sleep and listened to songs that weren't our songs etc... and the three of us decided we really liked the album and wanted to go on tour for as long as we possibly could to support it. But no one else wanted to go, so it was kind of dark times again. But then it turns out that Ryan plays bass! And then Josh's friend Adam Herndon joined to play drums (Josh now plays guitar/synths/whatever and sings)! And then we had this singer search where so many incredibly talented singers from all over the world sent us demos and tried out and it was crazy, we had no idea there were so many people who would want to join our little band. It was a really hard decision but in the end we are very happy to introduce you to Jen Goma when we go out on tour next week.

Anyway, things feel really good now. Everyone in this band really wants to be in this band and they are all talented people. It feels like we actually are a band and can give alot of ASDiG songs the live treatment (I think) they deserve.

Also, we've already recorded another album's worth of new songs and we are going to be touring so so so much next year in addition to this fall. Hope to see you out there! - A Sunny Day in Glasgow

A Sunny Day in Glasgow's new lineup will hit the road on November 12th and stay on it for a month until they eventually hit NYC for two shows: 12/12 @ Union Hall (tickets) & 12/13 @ Le Poisson Rouge (tickets). All dates below...

Continue reading "A Sunny Day in Glasgow (now with a new lineup with new singer) - 2009 Tour Dates (Union Hall & LPR)"

Aleks Campesinos! (in the red dress) @ Coachella 2009 (more by Darren Kim)

I don't really know how to start this. I'm not sure I can really find the right words to express how I feel about leaving the band. Not in a vaguely coherent manner anyway so I'm sorry if this all comes across as either overly-sentimental or strangely detached.

Making the decision to leave was very difficult and even though I'm excited about what the future has in store for both me and the rest of Los Camp! (once they unveil their bright spangly new line-up), I still get a lump in my throat every time I think about my time in the band coming to an end. Trust me, I'm gutted. The past 3 years have given me some of the best times of my life full of incredible experiences and wonderful people. I am really grateful to have been a part of the Los Campesinos! story. I'm going to miss so much about the whole thing and no doubt regret this move a thousand times over when I'm stuck in some dark corner of a library, while the band are busy playing to thousands in some paradise location...

On the other hand, I can't wait to attend my first Los Camp! gig and watch from the audience: I'll be like a proud parent. (Or a bitter heckler, we'll see how it goes) I know they can only get better. In any case, they better put me on the guest list.
And now our Wikipedia page will have a "Former Members" section: won't that look impressive...

That all seems massively inadequate.

To sum up:

:(

Leks x

Aleks is leaving Los Campesinos!, but not before one more record and US tour. The tour in question kicks off August 4th in NYC with a show at Webster Hall, brings them to Chicago for Lollapalooza, and ends at the end of August with their appearance at San Diego's Street Scene Festival.

Almost all dates are with San Francisco's Girls who will also be making a trip to NYC even earlier...

Friday June 26th @ MONSTER ISLAND BASEMENT

:: Real Estate
:::: Girls
:::::: Beach Fossils

| MONSTER ISLAND BASEMENT |
128 River St @ Metropolitan Ave | Williamsburg, Brooklyn
L-Bedford, G-Metropolitan, JM-Marcy | 8:30pm | all ages | $7

Girls are also playing Mercury Lounge on June 25th with The Paper Chase, Free Energy, and Radical Sons. Tickets are on sale.

Tickets for the Webster Hall show are now on AmEx presale. All dates below...

Continue reading "Los Campesinos! losing a member - 2009 tour dates (Webster Hall) w/ Girls (who have 2 sooner NYC shows too)"

by Black Bubblegum

Red Sparowes with touring guitarist Brendan Tobin (Made Out of Babies)

Red Sparowes have announced a new axe-wielder to their ranks, replacing the departed Josh Graham. The band comments:

I think it's safe to announce our new guitar player is Emma Ruth Rundle. She's an unbelievable guitar prodigy. A better guitarist than any of us. And, she works building and repairing guitars. Pretty awesome.

What role Rundle will play on the bands upcoming full-length is not known, but the band have completed seven demos to be recorded in August for release on an upcoming LP due in 2010. Look for some of those tracks to surface while the band plays a few dates "in Oct/Nov" including a date at the Fun Fun Fun Fest with the previously announced Jesus Lizard. More details about FFF Fest and the Red Sparowes tour are forthcoming. The band plans a full US tour, followed by a European tour in spring 2010.

Red Sparowes next release isn't that LP follow up to Every Heart... though, it's the Toshi Kasai co-produced (with the band) Aphorisms DVD+12" which is due this fall. That EP along with the entire Red Sparowes catalog is now available for download as "pay what you want" (over $2.50 that is) from the band. Check that out here.

Some videos below...

Continue reading "Red Sparowes get new guitarist, playing Fun Fun Fun Fest"