The Artist: Todd MacFarlane is the mastermind behind so many childhood memories I just don’t know where to start. Creator of the world renown comic series Spawn, his art style is immediately recognizable and provokes a myriad of responses from various folk the world over.
The Writer: Kirkman has already recieved accolades on this, your most circuitus of news and culture sources. Our very own BRQ lauded the man for his genius work on Walking Dead. I’m forced to agree, as a comic writer he is in a league of his own, unparalleled.
So what have they been up to lately that would provoke written word from yours truly? Possibly the next great american comic. Haunt
Following in the footsteps of Spawn we once again have a semi-dead hero who uses a kind of symbiotic suit. Catch? It’s two brothers. The dead brother was part of a secret government organization and was on a hot trail to stopping some serious corruption. The living one is a priest who obviously had some serious issues with what his brother did for a living and the fact that he stole his woman. The story picks up when the dead brother begins haunting the living one and acting as his guardian angel(ghost?) now that international bad guys are on his trail. Interesting? I’d say. Right now is the perfect time to jump into this story line as the next episode is a sort of reloading, a view of the very first issue from another perspective.
Go drop $4, you won’t regret it.
- Purchase Haunt at Midtown Comics, or support your local comic shop
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Today’s Track of the Day actually gets you 3 (or 4) for the price of one. I have been receiving an absurd amount of singles in my email lately and was sifting through them to find what gem I could post today. I prefer to put some more obscure singles out there, but most importantly, music I really like. In an effort of journalism (and elitism), I’ll even occasionally list a track that I really don’t like, just so I can review it and tell you to steer clear of all of the muck on other music blogs.
One such band has to be Pin Me Down. Pin Me Down has all of the traditional marketing of a blockbuster side project for Russell Lissack, lead guitarist of Bloc Party. A boy/girl duo, Pin Me Down features Lissack pumping out astoundingly annoying and grating pop beats, probably found on Garage Band, with Milena Mepris giving a throaty croon over the rampant electronica. The duo has an entire marketing campaign worked out to make them into the next big thing: glitzy staged photographs, interviews with NME, and appearances throughout the UK just to blast teenagers heads into an epileptic coma. To be completely honest (and Simon Cowell-like), this track sounds fit for a teenager’s karaoke machine. I could see this track doing well for about a week at the local food court. If you really want to download the single, you can do it here, at NME.
Sometimes though, the classic marketing scheme doesn’t guarantee you’ll have a quality product. We all know that when something good comes along, all it takes is some word-of-mouth to make the product a household names. There’s another boy/girl duo out there with so little known about their band that they could be almost anyone. Even a giant like Pitchfork has uncovered nothing more than the fact that they’re “a boy/girl duo” and “film students from New York”. The band has an “ungoogleable” name and no profiles on any social networking pages. This band named Cults could have music marketers everywhere rewriting their strategy books. Seeing through the cloud of mystery, Cults has released a 7″ on their bandcamp page, scheduled for release on December 23, 2010, and for free, no less. No photos, band bios, or reviews . . . just the above black-and-white, stock photo of a dancing duo. The astounding part? The music is ridiculously good. Retro-soul that is infectious with a very eerie, southern baptist vibe to it that makes you wonder exactly how it was produced. Somewhere, there’s a couple of film students very proud of themselves, wanting to keep their little secret all to themselves and proving that bands don’t necessarily need a fully-flared Myspace page, Facebook Fanpage or glitzy press kit to make it big.
MP3: “The Curse” – Cults
MP3: “Go Outside” – Cults
MP3: “Most Wanted” – Cults
Geeky white dudes that make great grooves and sexy dance rock. That about sums up We Are Scientists. It makes me wonder how much action these dudes really get from their shows seeing as how all of their singles make women go wild like Patrick Dempsey just walked into the room.
The first single from the Scientists’ latest endeavor, Barbara, finds them right where they left off. The most infectious hook possible in an all-out brawl of a dance track that basically resembles “white-people crunk music”. The track is only a radio rip, but feel free to blow out your Volvo speakers with this little gem and have fun doing it.
MP3: “Rules Don’t Stop” – We Are Scientists
- We Are Scientists Official Site
- Support We Are Scientists on
Jack White’s Third Man Records has some seriously dark, bluesy characters lurking in its roster. The Black Belles are a collection of tough looking dames playing some serious garage rock, that, I’m sure, makes Jack proud.
I really love the sound of this new single as the noir video rolls along like an Alfred Hitchcock-esque mind bender. The ladies definitely understand that simplicity of their chosen instruments and weave them together behind the sultry lead vocals.
Sounding like a toned-down Kills song, it’s really an infectious beat with very little filler that puts the vocals at center stage. Center-cut, this could be the next club stomper.
- Third Man Records
- Black Belles Official Site
- Support The Black Belles on
Those damned Mumford & Sons . . . they’re just so rad. The appalachian folk music they throw down on Sigh No More has kept them buzzing on the internet blogosphere and their street-cred is right up there with Vampire Weekend, only with a dirty, barroom blitz kind of feel.
Not being a huge Vampire Weekend fan, “Cousins” was really one of the only tracks that I really really enjoyed on Contra. Originally from the BBC Live Lounge sessions with Mumford & Sons, Stereogum recently premiered this cover and I thought it was definitely the rare case of a cover upending the original composition. A folk stomper in the highest degree, this track makes me want to go out and buy a banjo. According to Twitter, this cover comes with the stamp of approval from Vampire shoegazer Ezra Koenig, which means that folk music is the new style of prep-punk.
MP3: “Cousins” – Mumford & Sons
MP3: “Cousins” – Vampire Weekend
Seattle’s favorite sons (presumably) Band Of Horses, just announced a new album due out May 18. Details are still a little sketchy other than the fact that the album will be called Infinite Arms. There hasn’t been any other announcements on what label the album will be released on or whether or not the beards will be shampooed before the tour.[KnoxRoad via P4k]
I’m not going to lie; one of the first times I heard Band Of Horses was via one of my favorite skate video parts of all time (below). Guy Mariano . . . choose your next music as wisely, please.
What is for-sure are the Denver dates on the upcoming lineup. I’ll be working on getting a spot at the show for pics and such, so keep your fingers crossed.
03-15 Boulder, CO – Fox Theater
03-16 Denver, CO – Ogden Theatre
03-18 Austin, TX – Stubbs BBQ
03-19 Austin, TX – Central Presbyterian Church
04-08 Paris, France – La Fleche D’or
04-09 Brussels, Belgium – Orangerie
04-10 Rotterdam, Netherlands – Motel Mozaique
04-12 London, England – Koko
04-14 Cologne, Germany – Kulturkirche
04-16 Oslo, Norway – Rockefeller
04-17 Gothenburg, Sweden – Tradgarn
04-18 Copenhagen, Denmark – Vega
04-23 Raleigh, NC – Walnut Creek Amphitheater *
04-24 Raleigh, NC – Walnut Creek Amphitheater *
04-27 Gainesville, FL – University of Florida’s Rion Ballroom
04-28 Miami, FL – The Fillmore
04-29 Orlando, FL – House of Blues
05-01 New Orleans, LA – Jazzfest
05-30 Bend, OR – Les Schwab Amphitheater #
05-31 George, WA – Sasquatch
06-05 Bangor, Ireland – Ward Park !
06-09 London, England – Roundhouse
06-12 Glasgow, Scotland – Bellahouston Park !
06-19 Toronto, Ontario – Olympic Island $
09-25 Los Angeles, CA – Greek Theatre
* with Widespread Panic
# with She & Him
! with Snow Patrol
$ with Pavement, Broken Social Scene
To preface this edition of Saturday Morning Punks with something weird: Someone named Mary emailed me and told me that a good way to get more hits on a blog was to post recipes. I’m assuming this was an automated email from an “improve your blog” service seeing as how I’m a friggin music/skateboarding blogger. Nonetheless, Saturday Morning Punks will now feature, in all of its sugary glory, breakfast food just to bring even more views in who may or may not hate Danger Mouse the way I do.
Seriously though . . . The 90’s were fantastic for many reasons, but none of them more important than the simple fact that Lagwagon released so many records. These days Joey Cape is running around Europe doing acoustic shows with Jon Snodgrass, still playing a few Lagwagon songs.
The pop-culture sneer on Joey Cape’s face during this album is always present with the little movie clips interjected into the shortest album of Lagwagon’s discography. Let’s Talk About Feelings is also arguably Lagwagon’s best album, but to me it’ll always be the soundtrack to a youth of skateboarding, punk rock and random acts of watergun rebellion.
Lagwagon and french toast go so damn well together on a Saturday Morning. Cheers.
- 6 Thick Slices of Bread
- 2 Eggs
- 2/3 Cup Milk
- 1/4 Teaspoon Ground Cinnamon
- 1/4 Teaspoon Ground Nutmeg
- 1 Teaspoon Vanilla Extract
- MP3: Lagwagon – “Leave The Light On”
- Beat egg, milk, desired spices
- Heat a lightly-oiled griddle of skillet over medium flame
- Dunk each slice of bread into mixture, soaking both sides
- Place in pan and cook on both sides until golden
- You’ve just made Fat Mike proud
- Lagwagon Official Site
- Fat Wreck Chords
- Support Lagwagon on
Those damned Canadians. They get the Olympics, snag our hockey gold medal, and now they release some fine indie-rock music. Since when did Canada become an epicenter of victory? I mean . . . they’ve never even fought a war, led alone WON one.
Perhaps Canada is on the uprising these days.
The Born Ruffians are a Toronto based trio that released a great little piece of indie-pop magic in 2008 titled Red Yellow & Blue, and have been absent from the musical landscape ever since. The band apparently had some in-fighting problems but have reconciled and plan to return in 2010 with their upcoming, sophomore LP, entitled Say It.
“Sole Brother” is a downright funky groove, complete with some howling back vocals and an infectious guitar line. It’s crazy that the whitest of white kids from Canada can put together a blues/pop sensation like this song, but they definitely did an outstanding job. I’m telling you guys . . . watch out for Canada . . .
MP3: “Sole Brother” – Born Ruffians
- Born Ruffians Official Website
- Support Born Ruffians on
Among the most searched terms on TrendRobot since its beginning are “Broken Bells”, “Vaporize” and “The High Road”. All of these terms, at one time or another, appeared on the site via our Track of the Day segment and I gave nothing but praise to the duo whose main projects I loved so dearly. I am a lifelong Shins fan and an avid Danger Mouse listener and thought that the work they were going to put out together could only be as great. I, however, was shocked to find a bit of hypocrisy lying within the trenches of Pitchfork’s new favorite band, and for this, I will never again mention Broken Bells in a single post.
I’ve always been a sucker for the Bloc Party/Minus The Bear connection of Foals. The super-groovers have just released a new single for their upcoming album, Total Life Forever, to be released on May 10th.
“Spanish Sahara” is a bit more moody and mellow than anything they’ve put out in the past, but it’s a nice departure. Foals leans more on their Minus The Bear atmospheric qualities than they do the dancefloor panic side of Bloc Party. “Spanish Sahara” takes a few moments to acclimate yourself to, but once you do, it’s a beautiful thing.
- Foals Official Site
- Support Foals on
