Pretty neat stuff here, folks. The title track from Elsinore’s upcoming full length is up for download below. Plenty of tour dates coming soon, too.
August 13th – Firebird (St. Louis)
August 14th – Canopy Club (Urbana, IL)
August 20th – Black Sparrow (Lafayette, IN)
August 21st – Radio Radio (Indianapolis, IN)
August 26th – Blind Pig (Ann Arbor, MI)
August 27th – The Strutt (Kalamazoo, MI)
August 28th – Mulligan’s (Grand Rapids, MI)
September 2nd – Lemon Grove (Youngstown, OH)
September 3rd – Howler’s Cafe (Pittsburgh, PA)
September 4th – Labyrinth Press Co. – early show (Jamestown, NY)
September 4th – Mojo’s – late show (Jamestown, NY)
September 5th – Bug Jar (Rochester, NY)
Europeans, brace yourself. Jookabox have their papers, their passports and their passion all packed up and ready for baggage check. They land on your fine continent February 13th to start a few weeks of touring in support of their recent release, Dead Zone Boys. The band is now a five-piece, and borrowing from their indigenous midwestern weather, they have harnessed tornado power for maximum face twisting.
In celebration of this recent release and pending tour, Asthmatic Kitty has teamed up with Audio Recon to gift the interwebs with a ten track free remix EP. This free EP contains ten remixes by midwestern artists Amtrak, Id Obelus, Yeti One, Ligyro, DJ Solly, Whois Louis, Ablerock as well as Brad Dujmovic from LA and Nomar Slevik, based in Freeport, ME.
02/15/10 – Mannheim, Germany @ Der Bock
02/16/10 – Lyon, France @ Le Sonic
02/17/10 – Toulouse, France @ Le Lieu Commun
02/18/10 – Rennes, France @ Antipode
02/19/10 – Paris, France @ La Fleche D’Or
02/20/10 – Tourcoing, France @ Le Grand Mix
02/21/10 – Colmar, France @ Le Musee du Jouet
02/22/10 – Strasbourg, France @ Stimultania
02/24/10 – Tunbridge Wells, United Kingdom @ The Forum
02/25/10 – London, United Kingdom @ Queen of Hoxton
02/26/10 – Blackburn, United Kingdom @ 41 King Street
02/27/10 – Amsterdam, Netherlands @ Melkweg
02/28/10 – Ultrech, Netherlands @ Ekko
03/01/10 – Gent, Belgium @ Cafe Video
03/09/10 – Bloomington, IN @ Video Saloon (Pit Stop Music Marathon)
03/10/10 – Louisville, KY – Zanzabar
03/11/10 – Nashville, TN – The End
03/12/10 – Athens, GA – Caledonia Lounge
03/13/10 – Little Rock, AR – Jaunita’s
03/14/10 – Denton, TX – NX35 Fest
03/15/10 – Houston, TX – The Mink
03/16/10 – 03/20/10 – SXSW!
So, these dudes are pretty much on fire. Everything they touch just burns into nothingness because they’re just so hot to the touch. I’d like to fit another fire-related comment in, but you get the idea.
Elsinore has just released the Chemicals EP via their website and is embarking on a 4 week tour of the East Coast, Deep South and midwest. These good ol midwestern boys have inspired me so much. You’re gonna love em. I just know it.
CLICK BELOW TO LISTEN AND PURCHASE DUDE!
Transpanther Group is pleased to announce the release of Elsinore’s The Chemicals EP. This collection of songs brings the Champaign-Urbana, IL wonder-pop quintet one step closer to their potential. The EP features a preview of two tracks from their upcoming full-length, an alternate and string-heavy version of another, a brand new, road-tested home recording, as well as an invincibly addictive remix by Gentleman Auction House frontman Eric Enger.
The songwriting here has evolved multi-fold over the past few years. Playful yet poetic lyricism compliments magnetic and intelligent arrangements (this being the first Elsinore release to feature scores of strings and horns). “Chemicals” itself is either a rock song disguised as a love song, or vice versa. The song sparks with its own colorful energy, featuring an irresistible, soaring hook.It is clean and catchy, but hardly simple. “Body of Water” and “Breathing Light” showcase the now fine-tuned lyricism present throughout the EP; images of blood, water, language — simple, unconscious elements that are easily overlooked in the day-to-day. The Pet Sounds-esque”Evens” takes the band in a new sonic direction and begs for repeat headphone listens.
The pace of this fiery Midwestern workhorse has led to an impressive and incredibly consumable resume. This and The General EP (summer 2008) precede the Yes Yes Yes full-length, set to be released this summer.
Hope you like being topless, butter stick fights and songs about mailmen. Dr Manhattan is going to give you all of these things, even if you don’t want them. They’re so thoughtful.
They’re also going to give you a free jam so you can sing along at all the tour dates below!
11/5 – McHenry, IL – VFW
11/7 – Fort Wayne, IL – Brass Rail w/ Lord of the Yum Yum
11/8 – Clinton TWP, MI – The Temple w/ Lord of the Yum Yum
11/9 – Lansing, MI – Basement 414
11/10 – Grand Rapids, MI – Mixtape Cafe
11/11 – Louisville, KY – Skull Alley
11/12 – Cincinnati, OH – House Show
11/13 – Indianapolis, IN – Vollrath Tavern
11/14 – Champaign, Urbana, IL – Courtyard Cafe
11/15 – Carbondale, IL – House Show
11/16 – St. Louis, MO – Off Broadway
11/18 – Ames, IA – Ames Progressive
11/19 – Iowa City, IA – Public Space One
11/20 – Madison, WI – Snake Pit
11/21 – Chicago, IL – Snack Manor
The bone-on-bone drumbeat that opens Dead Zone Boys pounds the sound of living death, creeping forward, maw open wide. The beat is serving notice: you are about to be consumed.
Dead Zone Boys, the third album from Jookabox (Indianapolis-born David “Moose” Adamson and Co.), is love story meets psychedelic zombie-musical. The zombie part came easy: Moose grew up on the east side of Indianapolis in the 90s, an area plagued by constant recession, pandemic homicide, and racial tension. A few strong tribes chose to stay in the area despite constant warnings from fleeing acquaintances. It was this frantic energy and violence that infused itself into the Jookabox experience. Since then, the area struggles to revitalize and Adamson’s musical interests and excursions have crystallized into a startlingly singular and eclectic songwriting strategy. One thing is certain here: if vacant strip malls occupied only by shitdragged liquor stores and fluorescent check cashing joints are foreign to you, then Dead Zone Boys will be your guidebook, Jookabox your tour guide. This is more evident now than ever on what is sure to become a cult classic.
Jookabox’s debut record, Scientific Cricket, sampled a kind of primordial blues sound, children’s sidewalk-chalk rhymes and Appalachian folk. Sophomore follow-up Ropechain pinwheeled like a kaleidoscope through old-time spirituals, punk, and club music hip-hop, blending these disparate elements into a cohesive and unique synthesis. Thematically both albums have dealt extensively with the paranormal, race, and madness. Last year after wrapping up Ropechain, the genre-warping Jookabox lost a Grampall (after a haunting vision), and regrouped, gaining a second member/drummer, Ostry Okerson. This year Jookabox absorbed two-fifths of Indianapolis’ psych-pop ringleaders, Everthus the Deadbeats. Led by the stalwart Moose, this new band delivers a tightly realized live show and album replete with nods to early Ween, Black Sabbath, and fellow Indiana native, the King of Pop.
Dead Zone Boys is an infectious soundtrack to humanity’s last stand against decay and the dead. One hand with mic and the other a shotgun, Jookabox pushes through as troubador and protagonist to free the decayed city and its few outposed survivors of the fear of death. He is our protector, no need to lose hope.
10/30 – Indianapolis, IN – Big Car Gallery (CD Release)
11/3 – Columbus, OH – Treehouse
11/4 – Pittsburgh, PA – Thunderbird Cafe
11/5 – Buffalo, NY – Mohawk Place
11/6 – Boston, MA – Middle East Downstairs
11/7 – Brooklyn, NY – Bruar Falls
11/9 – Philadelphia, PA – M Room
11/10 – New York, NY – Cake Shop
11/12 – Washington, DC – The Red and the Black
11/13 – Durham, NC – Duke Coffee House
11/14 – Athens, GA – Go Bar
11/16 – Austin, TX – The Mohawk
11/17 – Houston, TX – The Mink
11/18 – Denton, TX – Hailey’s
11/19 – Little Rock, AR – Star Light House
11/20 – St. Louis, MO – The Antarctica
11/21 – Indianapolis, IN – The Vollrath
Elsinore is a band from Champaign, IL. They have the most potential for “making it” that I’ve ever seen. Their songs, drive, charm, sincerity and sheer fantasticality-ness-ing are impressive. They are finishing touching up their new full-length record, Yes Yes Yes as you read this and then they are coming after you.
Transpanther has also been hired on to produce this year’s Broad Ripple Music Fest. It’s a lot of work and probably the biggest musical undertaking I’ve ever accepted. Make sure to follow me through all of those silly networking sites for updates (or to watch me fail!).
You can expect a Transpanther / Joyful Noise Recordings / Standard Recording Co. mega blowout all day / all night faygo party at Local’s Only featuring Jookabox, Marmoset, Early Miners, Elsinore, The Deadbeats, Everything Now!, etc..
Here’s more info:
The third annual Broad Ripple Music Fest will invade Indy’s favorite cultural community mecca on Saturday, October 17th. The historic Broad Ripple Village will be the canvas for over 200 local, regional and national artists performing on 20 stages including historic live music staples such as the Vogue Theatre, as well as dance clubs, neighborhood watering holes and even family and children’s venues. Attendance is expected to exceed 3500 this year, as the overall profile of the festival has increased dramatically from years past.
The mission of the BRMF is to unite the community in which we live, work and escape to. What better way to bring everyone together than with an epic celebration?
Proceeds from this year’s BRMF will benefit local non-profit partner, Keep Indianapolis Beautiful, and will be funneled directly back into the neighborhood to help keep it clean, green and sustainable.
7/16 – Columbus, OH – Circus
7/17 – Youngstown, OH – Cedar’s Lounge
7/18 – Pittsburgh, PA – Brillobox
7/19 – Scranton, PA – The Bog
7/20 – Boston, MA – Middle East Club
7/21 – New York, NY – Cake Shop
7/22 – Brooklyn, NY – Bruar Falls
7/23 – Philadelphia, PA – Danger Danger Gallery
7/24 – Washington, DC – Solly’s
7/25 – Fredericksburg, VA – Eyeclops Gallery
7/26 – Baltimore, MD – Joe Squared
7/27 – Charlottesville, VA – Twisted Branch
7/29 – Athens, GA – Caledonia Lounge
7/30 – Knoxville, TN – Pilot Light
8/1 – Little Rock, AR – TBA
8/3 – St. Louis, MO – The Firebird
8/4 – Columbia, MO – Mojo’s
8/5 – Lawrence, KS – Replay Lounge
8/6 – Des Moines, IA – Vaudeville Mews
8/7 – Minneapolis, MN – Nomad World Pub
8/8 – Ames, IA – Ames Progressive
8/10 – Rock Island, IL – Daytotter
8/11 – Iowa City, IA – The Mill
8/13 – Madison, WI – The Frequency
8/14 – Chicago, IL – Beat Kitchen
8/15 – Fort Wayne, IN – Bill’s City Grill
McKinley Moore, Manager/Agent for Lucky Pineapple will also be joining the Transpanther roster from Louisville, KY.
Ken brings years of experience in the arts and entertainment world of Louisville as well as a keen sense of all things weird. He currently moonlights as a glass artist / professor at the Glassworks Studio in Downtown Louisville. He will be hosting a series of summer rooftop concerts in downtown Louisville as well as a few interesting fine-art related events throughout the summer.
Drew Deboy, my original business partner / agent for Transpanther is also back on-board as co-agent for Lord of the Yum Yum.
Drew brings years of touring and management experience from his 5 year stint with Everything, Now!, as well as some new experience within the local public library system. Drew will primarily be working as the “All Ages / Family Events Coordination Chief Executive” position and will be handling all park district / library / family events and kids shows for Lord of the Yum Yum and other Transpanther artists.
5/7 – Columbus, OH – Circus
5/8 – Dekalb, IL – Otto’s
5/9 – Omaha, NE – Slowdown
5/10 – Denver, CO – Hi Dive
5/11 – Salt Lake City, UT – Kilby Ct.
5/12 – Boise, ID – Neurolux
5/14 – Seattle, WA – Crocodile Cafe
5/15 – Portland, OR – Doug Fir Lounge
5/16 – San Fransisco, CA – Great American Music Hall
5/18 – Los Angeles, CA – Troubadour
5/19 – Costa Mesa, CA – The Detroit Bar
5/20 – Pheonix, AZ – Rhythm Room
5/22 – Denton, TX – Hailey’s
5/23 – Austin, TX – Mohawk
5/24 – Little Rock, AR – TBA
5/26 – St. Louis, MO – The Firebird
The Indianapolis glam protégés, Everthus the Deadbeats, will be taking their “Theatre of the Absurd” on a technicolor, mirror ball themed trek throughout the South East, Deep South and Midwest throughout the entire month of March!
Tour dates include SXSW Festival spots, jaunts with Asthmatic Kitty friend Jookabox and E6 / ex. Of Montreal popsters Casper & the Cookies, and even a Daytrotter session.
The mirror ball / prism theme represents the band’s fascination with light and color. Each tour date will be considered an opportunity to split their collective beam of light into a full spectrum of color and sound. Each costume and instrument will be completely and metaphysically reflective.
Our Deadbeats will also be unveiling several brand new songs and reworking songs from its most recent debut full-length effort with the Standard Recording Co. (brought you Of Great and Mortal Men: 43 Songs for 43 US Presidencies, Marla Hansen, Margot and the Nuclear So and So’s), John Kill and the Microscopic Lullaby.
Smoke n Mirrors Tour Dates:
3/6 – Tour Kickoff Party! – 6616 Ferguson (Broad Ripple)
3/10 – Bloomington, IN – The Bluebird (Trash Tuesday)
3/11 – Nashville, TN – The End w/ Darla Farmer
3/12 – Knoxville, TN – Pancake House w/ I Need Sleep
3/13 – Athens, GA – Rye Bar w/ Dark Meat
3/14 – Valdosta, GA – Vito’s Rock n Roll Pizzeria
3/15 – Panama City, FL – Gallery Above
3/16 – New Orleans, LA – Dragon’s Den
3/17 – Mobile, AL – Music Box
3/18 – Lafayette, LA – Blue Moon Saloon
3/19 – SXSW
3/20 – The Art Project – Standard Recording Showcase
3/21 – Back to the Future 4 Day Party (1:20pm Slot)
3/21 – Dallas, TX – The Cavern w/ Fishboy
3/23 – Little Rock, AR – ACAC
3/24 – Memphis, TN – Murphy’s
3/25 – St. Louis, MO – Firebird w/ Themselves
3/26 – KCMO – The Emerald w/ I Love You
3/27 – Lawrence, KS – Replay Lounge w/ I Love You
3/28 – Des Moines, IA – Vaudeville Mews w/ Mad Happy
3/29 – Minneapolis, MN – Nomad World Pub
3/30 – Ames, IA – Ames Progressive
3/31 – Daytrotter Session
4/1 – Champaign, IL – Mike n Molly’s w/ Elsinore
4/2 – Madison, WI – The Frequency
4/3 – Chicago, IL – Subterranean w/ Yourself and the Air / EN!
4/4 – Milwaukee, WI – Stonefly Brewery w/ EN!
4/25 – Indianapolis, IN – Local’s Only – Spring Formal w/ Lord of the Yum Yum / The Delicious
For a journalist in 2009, covering Indianapolis psych-pop quintet Everything, Now! is about as smart as offering drugs to a cop or buying second-hand uranium in the Middle East. Few, if any, noticed the November release of the band’s fifth full-length album Spatially Severed (technically their 71st, if one includes aliases and side projects). But the band has gotten their fair share of attention in the last year: some 1500 lawsuits have been filed against the band, most of which involve a large corporation suing the band as a unit or, in some cases, each individual member.
Considering Everything, Now!’s amazing knack for legal trouble, not to mention the current climate of the U.S. Justice System, I have chosen to write this article anonymously, although it is yet to be determined if any editor will be fearless enough to print it. Even mentioning certain brand names or persons has become grounds for litigation.
“Sprite, Dixie Cup, Serpentine brand Sanitary Swabs, and Do Right Man, the Christian comic book hero, all came after us before the album was even released,” claims Drew Deboy, current accountant and former keyboard player for E, N! “Not long after that it was Taco Bell, Nabisco, Phillip Morris, and all we did was mention those brands on stage.”
These are tough times for everybody, including indie rock musicians, but the corporations seem to be working harder than anyone to fight off the end-of-the-decade economic blues. Murray Shtibrick, Everything, Now!’s New York lawyer, thinks the worst is yet to come.
“Nobody is safe from the attacks of these vicious corporations,” he told me when he agreed to meet for an interview in a darkened Brooklyn alley. “I’ve tried to warn all my clients. You’d think using a copyrighted name in an artistic context would be permissible, but the laws are actually set up so that you can be sued at any time for any reason!”
In the words of Paul Simon, “Paranoia strikes deep in the heartland.”
“It’s revenge,” answers E,N! vocalist and primary songwriter Jon Rogers, born Ali Baba Robba, quite possibly an egomaniac, “We got involved in some shady activity, accidentally ran into some jokers named Paulson and Bernanke on a gay porn movie set, where we blackmailed them into giving us some bailout money. When companies started to find out about it, they got pissed. Of course they demonize us, we’ve got all the money they thought they were gonna get.”
“It seemed like a good idea at the time,” says Justin K Prim, the band’s current tambourinist and Idea Man, when asked why the lyrics on Spatially Severed contain so many brand names, “Like cosmic advertising, those names would already be out there, in space, so we just grab ‘em back, like the brand names are just different crayon colors or something for us to draw with.”
Speaking of crayons, Everything, Now! was sued by Crayola in October for describing their music as “Shocking Shrimp Electric Pink,” in a press release, a term which happens to be a registered trademark for a new Crayola color. The band is also being sued by Exavier Wardlaw for using the term “space gospel,” which Wardlaw claims to have invented three years ago, as evidenced on his album Jesus in Outer Space, from which several lines of lyrics on Everything, Now!’s Spatially Severed seem to have been blatantly lifted.
“So they basically steal all this dough from the government, from tax payers, from Wall Street,” professes engineer and Spatially Severed co-producer Tyler Watkins, famous for his work with Weezer and the Insane Clown Posse, “But they didn’t spend it at the studio like you’d expect. They paid me in beans and peyote buttons, and they spent $3 trillion to go on tour of the Moon! No one even lives on the Moon, how can they make any of that money back? Serves them right to get sued.”
Watkins claims that he desperately needs money to help fund a lawsuit in which a tampon company, Queensize Twin Air, is suing Watkins and his business partners for unlawfully using that name (registered by the tampon company in 1982) for their studio, at which Spatially Severed was recorded.
Later this month, the band will appear in court to defend themselves against allegations of a sexual nature from three major labels and six major-indie hybrid subsidiaries. Several band members and associates are laying low, adopting aliases, and wearing elaborate disguises until the trial. Others have gone “clean,” pursuing a righteous path to lessen the impact of whatever sentence may be headed their way at the end of the legal circus.
Everything, Now! drummer and licensed minister, the Reverend Sergeant Daniel Schepper is currently digging tunnels under the fence at the U.S.-Mexico border, for which he is willing to accept the consequences: if caught, he could face a mandatory four years at community college. Bassist and Spiritual Guide Eric Alexander is doing a continuous series of back flips in the air to see how long he can stay in lotus position while spinning. Guitarist and the band’s only native French speaker, David Pierre Carter, has been working on a documentary about a series of mysterious deaths involving a demon-possessed toilet.
“Ya know, it’s like the sixties man,” Carter tells me on the set of Murder Toilet, “Except it’s backwards and upside down. Because, did you know that Bob Dylan met aliens?”
Indeed.
Interested parties can find an extensive list of the lawsuits involving Everything, Now! at the band’s website, www.everythingnowmusic.com or their myspace page, www.myspace.com/everythingnow, where you can also purchase any of their albums or scope out their Moon Tour dates, Earth Tour dates, low-budget videos, and more.
