Writing about these guys sure brings back memories of seeing them play in the studio.

The beautiful Orchard LP cover below plus multiple tour dates in NYC and Brooklyn.

July
21 Hiroshima, Japan – Hiroshima Club Quattro
23 Yokohama, Japan – Yokohama BLITZ
24 Tokyo, Japan – ZEPP Tokyo
27 Kyoto, Japan – KSB Hall
28 Kyoto, Japan – KSB Hall
August
01 Montreal, QC – Osheaga Festival
04 Columbus, OH – Columbus State Fair w/Devo
28 Toronto, ON – Molson Amphitheater w/ Tegan & Sara and City & Colour
September
05 Seattle, WA – Bumbershoot
09 Portland, OR – Wonder Ballroom/MFNW
12 North Dorset, UK – End of the Road Festival
18 Geneva, NY – Three Stories Benefit @ Cracker Factory
21 New York, NY – Bowery Ballroom
22 New York, NY – Bowery Ballroom
23 Brooklyn, NY – Music Hall of Williamsburg
24 Brooklyn, NY – Music Hall of Williamsburg
27 Northampton, MA – Pearl St.^
28 New Haven, CT – Toad’s Place^
29 Providence, RI – The Met^
October
01 Boston, MA – Royale^
02 Philadelphia, PA – Trocadero^
03 Pittsburgh, PA – Diesel^
04 Ann Arbor, MI – Blind Pig^
05 Chicago, IL – Metro^
07 Minneapolis, MN – Varsity Theatre^
08 Omaha, NE – Waiting Room^
11 Denver, CO – Bluebird Theatre^
12 Salt Lake City, UT – In the Venue^
13 Crystal Bay, NV – Crystal Bay Club^
17 San Francisco, CA – Treasure Island Music Festival
19 Pomona, CA – Glass House#
20 Los Angeles, CA – The Music Box @ Henry Fonda#
21 San Diego, CA – Belly Up Tavern#
22 Tempe, AZ – The Clubhouse#
24 San Antonio, TX – White Rabbits#
26 Austin, TX – Emo’s#
27 Houston, TX – Warehouse Live#
28 Dallas, TX – Granada Theatre#
29 Little Rock, AR – Rev Room#
30 Nashville, TN – Exit/In#
November
01 Birmingham, AL – Workplay Theatre#
02 Atlanta, GA – Masquerade#
03 Asheville, NC – Orange Peel#
04 Carrboro, NC – Cat’s Cradle#
05 Washington, DC – 930 Club#
13 Vancouver, BC – The Commodore*
17 Calgary, AB – MacEwan Hall*
19 Saskatoon, SK – Louis’ Pub*
20 Winnipeg, MB – The Garric*

^ w/ Chikita Violenta
# w/ Givers
* w/ Wintersleep

London’s O.Children might be like nothing you have ever heard or seen before. Their frontman Tobi towers at 6 foot 8, but what stands out most is his booming Adams Family Lurch-esque vocals. O.Children’s heavy sound can be categorized as a post-punkish, psychedelic shoegaze that will make your insides feel like they’re being grinded to pieces inside out. You’ll hear serious nods to the likes of Bauhaus, Sisters Of Mercy, Joy Division and of course Nick Cave (who wrote the song the band took as their name). I’ve been listening to their demo CD for the past year and wonder how a little clean studio time will effect their sound. I hope not much.

Their self-titled debut full length ‘O.Children’ will be available digitally on July 12th on iTunes and physical copies here.

Preview the full-length album here. Video for O.Children’s Ruins below.

In other news if you are wondering; his musical partner Andy Bell from Erasure will release his second solo album, Non Stop, on May 25 via Mute Records.

What first stands out is the diverse ‘featuring’ collaborations with the likes of Mos Def, Lou Reed, Mark E. Smith, De La Soul and The Lebanese National Orchestra for Oriental Arabic Music. Their knack seems to be that there’s something here for everyone. Bobby Womack standouts on ‘Stylo’ and ‘Cloud of Unknowing’, how great would it have been to have Snoop Dogg on these tracks, but this would have been too easy for Gorillaz. The synthy chill-wavesque ‘On Melancholy Hill’ might as well be the breezy hit of the summer. Our only complaint is that Lou Reed falls flat and seems like an out of touch grandfather on ‘Some Kind of Nature’, which would have been better served with the likes of Lee Renaldo. We’re curious as to how they bring it all together live as this year’s headliner at Coachella. One thing is for sure, Snoop Dogg will be there as a collaborator on ‘Welcome to the World of the Plastic Beach’.

On first listen this is the sort of album you would play at your own party after all the pesky party crashers have left and only the cool kids are left. Time to get the party started by busting out the top shelf stuff you’ve been hiding and wait for the sun to rise.

Stream the whole album now with no strings attached on the UK’s Guardian

Advanced tickets are available at littlefield website. Doors open at 8 PM, flyer, mp3’s, and more below.

…Pretty & Nice re-imagine the playfully manic, barbed-wire sounds of Devo, XTC, and This Year’s Model-era Elvis Costello. Their approach is so guileless and giddy, you’ll get drunk on that spazzy, sneering sound all over again. Though the rousing, delightfully messy songs on their sophomore album are neither pretty nor nice, they do show off some masterfully economical riffs and herky-jerky (if not outright dance-y) rhythms. …swells with energy and amphetamine-addled pop hooks, making it hard to ignore and near impossible not to like. [Pitchfork]
[MP3]: Pretty & Nice “Tora Tora Tora”

Brooklyn’s Fugitive Souls are here to serenade you with the dark, romantic melodies on this week’s free download, “Hang On”, off their debut EP, Strangers. Singer, Mark Allen, formerly of the The Shapes, delivers an intimate, yet powerful performance akin to Muse’s Matt Bellamy. Beautiful piano chords punctuate Allen’s vocals while disco rhythms beat across the drummer’s hi-hat…[Our Stage]
[MP3]: Fugitive Souls “A Secret Weighs A Ton”

Long Beach’s Valley Arena deliver a dynamic, well-crafted modern rock album—I guess you could say that their sound has evolved and grown up, but they bring enough of their old building blocks to the studio to have assemble something mostly new, yet hazily familiar. They’re able to strike that delicate balance of their noisier/more frenetic elements with newly focused song structure that lends itself well to their individual playing styles. The real brilliance on this record is found in the guitar/bass tones… [L.A. Record]
[MP3]: The Valley Arena “Grayscale”

Advanced tickets are available at the (Le) Poisson Rouge website. Doors open at 10:00 PM, flyer, mp3′s, and more below.

 

“New York City’s THE GOLDEN FILTER may have just put out one of the sexiest jams of the summer with ‘Solid Gold’ and no one knows a single thing about them. A revved up, glittery disco-bassline and icy synths anchor your feet to the dancefloor while airy female vocals breeze past on rays of golden light – a combination that’s enough to cool you on the most humid of days.” [FRICTION NYC]
[MP3]: “Solid Gold”

 

“Beware; those who enter the HEARTSREVOLUTION world may never leave. Ben and Lo’s music takes hold of you with its silvery, digital clutch – cut’n’paste, overlapping beats, dream-like synths and mantra lyrics – and never lets you go.” [NME]
[MP3]: “C.Y.O.A.”

 
”
PINK SKULL‘s first full-length released earlier this year (Zeppelin 3), plays like a time- and genre-transcending masterpiece like nothing you’ve heard — a mélange of soundscapes ranging from dancefloor killers to experimental funk to psych-rock to ultra-low-key acoustic folk.” [Prefixmag]
[MP3]: “Unicorn Harpoon”

 
In part with:

Advanced tickets are available on The Mercury Lounge website. Doors open at 7:30pm, flyer, mp3′s, and more below.

 

“VIOLENS clearly draws from the mid-’80s U.K. indie scene (Aztec Camera, the Pale Fountains, Prefab Sprout) but doesn’t sound derivative of anyone; the group’s evocation of that era’s internationalist style and wit comes wrapped in a cool emotionalism that also characterizes Violens’ onstage vibe. The only issue with their shows is that we can’t get them to play a song more than once.” [Time Out NY]
[MP3]: “Violent Sensation Descends”

 

“TELEPATHE forge largely improvised guitar gusts, woodsy chirps, wraithlike Bjorkian harmonies, and powerfully jabbed drums into minimalist baroque.” [Village Voice]
[MP3]: “Devil’s Trident”

 

“PICTURE PICTURE are nestled pretty nicely in the Brooklyn nu-psych scene that’s birthed MGMT, Yeasayer, and Chairlift. ‘Liftoff’ begins with an off-tempo blues sample that’s then doused in squirming moogs, autotuned falsettos and enough jagged editing to make your skull shake. It’s heady, for sure, but it’s also strangely enjoyable, never once seeming complacent or cliché, unless to be ironically so.” [RCRD LBL]
[MP3]: “Jealous Change Of Mind”

 

“New York-based two-piece, ZAZA, let their echo-laden vocals wash over waves of gothy, post-punk-influenced guitars and muscular percussion for a sound that is, at once, sensual and suspenseful. Erotic thrillers would be well matched with these eerie, enticing songs, which can make crime scenes and sex scenes alike seem more mysterious.” [Rumblefish]
[MP3]: “Sooner Or Later”

 
In part with:

This is an ALL AGES EARLY SHOW!!! with doors opening at 6:00pm. Advanced tickets available here. The Barbary is located at 951 Frankford Avenue, Philadelphia, PA 19125 (215 634-7400).

GET HYPE!

I didn’t even write any of this people, I put in something else earlier. Justin changed my shit up, another case of not being able to delegate and being controllingly anal. -Nghia