The Sword’s new album, “Used Future,” is due March 23rd, but the first single is already here.

Metal masters the Sword will release their next album, Used Future, on March 23rd and are planning a U.S. tour to promote it.  They’ll be touring with another fine stoner rock band – King Buffalo.

The first single from Used Future, “Deadly Nightshade,” is already available and will be an instant download if you pre-order the record.

Keep your mind open.

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Clutch announce spring tour with Red Fang, the Bronx, and Fireball Ministry.

CLUTCH ANNOUNCE SPRING HEADLINE TOUR DATES 
January 30th, 2018 – Clutch has just announced a string of Spring headline tour dates starting on April 27th in Chattanooga, TN.  Supporting the tour will be The Bronx, Red Fang and Fireball Ministry.  Fan club pre-sale tickets will go on sale today, Tuesday, January 30th at 2:00 pm and will be available through Thursday, February 1st at 10:00 pm.  Fan club tickets will be available at https://www.mt.cm/clutchPassword: fans1. Tickets will go on sale to the general public Friday, February 2nd at 10:00 am at local outlets as well as at pro-rock.com and  www.facebook.com/clutchband.
The band is currently in the studio working on their new record with producer Vance Powell (Jack WhiteChris StapletonOld 97sTyler Bryant & The Shakedown, Red Fang) at Sputnik Sound in Nashville.
Clutch, The Bronx, Red Fang and Fireball Ministry Spring Tour Dates:
*Festival date 
04-27-18  Chattanooga, TN  The Signal
04-29-18  Jacksonville, FL  Welcome To Rockville*
04-30-18  Athens, GA  Georgia Theater
05-02-18  New Orleans, LA  House of Blues
05-03-18  Birmingham, AL  Iron City
05-04-18  Memphis, TN  Beale Street Music Fest*
05-05-18  Lexington, KY  Manchester Music Hall
05-06-18  Charlotte, NC  Carolina Rebellion*
CLUTCH:
Neil Fallon – Vocals/Guitar
Tim Sult – Guitar
Dan Maines – Bass
Jean-Paul Gaster – Drums/Percussion
For more  information, check out the band’s website:
Official: www.pro-rock.com
Keep your mind open.
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The Coathangers announce winter and fall tours.

The Coathangers are heading out on tour this winter and spring, starting on the west coast, to promote an upcoming live album.  Some of these dates include shows with Death Valley Girls, Dengue Fever, and Minus the Bear.  Catch them if you can!

Keep your mind open.

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Good rest to you, David James – a local Irish music legend.

Many of you might not know who David James was, but I’ll try to sum up his amazing life in a blog post.

David James was well-known in the South Bend / Mishawaka (“Michiana”) area as a legend in the Irish music scene.  He pretty much put South Bend on the map as a hotspot for Irish music, and he wasn’t even Irish.  He loved the music, promoting it, and most of all playing it.  He played banjo, fiddle, bass, harmonica, and probably half a dozen other instruments I’ve forgotten about as I write this.  He was best known, however, for his mastery of the hammer dulcimer.  David won multiple prestigious awards at Irish music festivals for his dulcimer skills.

He was a Notre Dame graduate with a degree in political science and he remained an avid advocate for social justice all through his life.  He championed workers’ rights, LGBTQ and racial equality measures, education reform, and many other causes that sought to help the underdog.

The way David affected my life was that he co-founded Nocturne – the WSND program for which I DJ in the summer and winter – in 1968.  David worked at WSND as the host of “Celtic Traditions” for many years, broadcasting Celtic music all over the world.  He would often be there when I showed up for my Nocturne shows and tell me stories of playing grimy blues clubs with blues legends, Irish music festivals with hardcore hippies, and being in the middle of the politically charged 1960’s.

He was a lover of all kinds of music and often asked me about the music I spun on my show.  He’d hang out for the first couple tunes I’d play while we chatted and sometimes stop in mid-conversation and ask, “Who is this?”  I introduced him to Ancient River when I played one of their tunes and he said, “Sounds like someone’s been listening to a lot of Doors.”  I also turned him on to Gary Wilson and Earthless one of the last times I saw him over the summer of 2017.

I’ll always think of him when I spin at WSND now, and I wish he could’ve seen the new station once the construction is done.  I’m sure his spirit will slide into the booth now and then when he’s not kicking back a ghostly pint at the Fiddler’s Hearth in South Bend.  I plan to play a tribute to him this summer on WSND with lots of psychedelic rock, blues, and his own music.

Oh yeah, as if his local legacy, national tours with multiple bands, and international awards weren’t enough, he released two albums – Tiompan Alley in 1992 and The Lone Man’s Path a decade later.

Good rest to you, sir.

Keep your mind open.

 

The Damned’s “Evil Spirits tour” has begun, and their new album is out April 13th!

THE DAMNED ANNOUNCE NEW ALBUM ‘EVIL SPIRITS’ TO BE RELEASED APRIL 13th VIA SEARCH AND DESTROY/SPINEFARM RECORDS
LISTEN TO NEW SINGLE ‘STANDING ON THE EDGE OF TOMORROW’ ON SPOTIFY

Photo: Steve Gullick
Formed in 1976 at the forefront of the fledgling London punk scene, The Damned kickstarted the birth of punk as we know it, leaving an influential legacy for generations to come. Their musical journey has seen the quintet intent on moving forward, courageously exploring sights and sounds way beyond their brash wide-eyed beginnings – and they’re back to do it all over again.
Some ten years since the release of their last studio recordings, The Damned return with a new album, ‘Evil Spirits’, to be released April 13th on Search And Destroy/Spinefarm Records, preceded by the new single ‘Standing On The Edge Of Tomorrow’, streaming online today ahead of their forthcoming Evil Spirits UK tour starting January 26th.
Propelled by an enormously successful Pledge funding campaign, the band headed to Atomic Sound Studios in Brooklyn in early October 2017 and began a frantic, high-energy, nine day burst of creativity with famed producer Tony Visconti, whose list of past working-relationships reads like a who’s who of popular music. (David Bowie, T Rex, Morrissey, U2, The Stranglers, Iggy Pop and Thin Lizzy to name but a few), Reunited with former bassist Paul Gray (who played on the legendary ‘Black Album’ and ‘Strawberries’ in the early eighties), the renewed line up took full advantage of the studio’s classic Neve recording desk, valve gear and vintage equipment to form the new record.
“We deliberately recorded the album retro style,” explains guitarist Captain Sensible.The same way our debut album was made, basically. There’s something wonderful about the seventies sounds; glam, rock and punk records, they all sound so great and Tony specializes in beautifully crafted old school production. He had us all playing live, bashing it out in the same room with a focus on getting the initial band version of each song as close as possible to the finished thing.“
The first taste of ‘Evil Spirits’ comes in the form of ‘Standing On The Edge Of Tomorrow’, a song penned by frontman Dave Vanian, that packs a punch and carries a melody that is impossibly hard to shift once heard.
It’s supposed to be very optimistic, even though it’s about a dark subject,” states Vanian.As an artist, you can’t help but reflect the times, because that’s what art does. I think we always do it, but in a slightly different way. So a song like ‘Standing…’ may seem quite joyous and uplifting musically, but some of the lyrics might be about quite dark things. That’s what I’d like to think this album is – an uplifting album, not a moaning old album – not ‘this is terrible, and that’s terrible’, and then not offering any answers. It’s more a case of, ‘If we get it together, maybe we could change things a bit”.
Across the album’s ten-tracks, The Damned get to the root of their collective song-writing and ‘Evil Spirits’ is an album which doesn’t shrink from opposing the dastardly political forces at work in 2018, and indeed triumphs in seeking higher ground, to progress beyond them.
“This album is filled with a lot of influences from our earlier, pre-’70s tastes – the ’60s stuff. ‘Standing…’ is really linked into Joe Meek, ‘Telstar’, and that kind of stuff,” continues Vanian. At first, I’d said in an interview before we started writing this stuff that the album would be psychedelic, and maybe a trip through the historical side of The Damned, as in what we like. It didn’t happen in the way I thought it would, but it still does the same thing. It still has all that in there, but it’s not as obvious as it could’ve been, which is good. It’s not like pastiches of songs you remember, it’s more a case of, what was great about something you loved as a kid has somehow influenced a guitar sound, or the way the drums are. You might not even know it if you’re one of our younger fans, but if you’re a little older, you’ll hear it, which is kinda cool.”
And of the ‘Evil Spirits’ that the album intends to dispel?  “I started buying records in 1967, the Summer of Love,” adds Captain Sensible. “There were so many positive changes happening through the 60s and 70s; civil rights, feminism, the anti-nuclear demos in particular. Whatever happened to all that? Where are today’s anti-war marches? Whatever happened to the beautiful hippy dream of worldwide peace and love?”
Evil Spirits will be available on digital download via Spotify and i-Tunes, on CD and 180g vinyl available to pre-order HERE

TRACKLISTING: 
1. Standing On The Edge Of Tomorrow
2. Devil In Disguise
3. We’re So Nice
4. Look Left
5. Evil Spirits
6. Shadow Evocation
7. Sonar Deceit
8. Procrastination
9. Daily Liar
10. I Don’t Care
Catch the band on tour this January and February. Main support comes from fabled Stray Cats drummer Slim Jim Phantom (*except Koko), whilst support at Koko and The Forum comes from Kristeen Young.
See The Damned on their ‘Evil Spirits’ tour 2018
27th January – Dundee, Caird Hall
28th January – Glasgow, O2 Academy
30th January – Leeds, O2 Academy Leeds
31st January – Manchester, Academy 1
1st February – Birmingham, O2 Academy
3rd February – Leicester, O2 Academy
4th February – Nottingham, Rock City
6th February – Folkestone, Leas Cliff Hall
7th February – Southend, Cliffs Pavilion
9th February – Cardiff, Great Hall
10th February – Bristol O2, Academy Bristol
11th February – Bournemouth, O2 Academy
13th February – Southampton, O2 Guildhall
14th February – Bexhill De La Warr Pavilion
16th February – Koko, London*
17th February London, O2 Forum
Tickets available HERE
Follow The Damned at:
Keep your mind open.
[No evil spirits will visit if you subscribe…I think.]

Ty Segall – Freedom’s Goblin

It’s hard not to like an album that opens with a song about the lead singer’s dog.

That’s exactly what Ty Segall does on his newest record, Freedom’s Goblin, a sprawling double-album with rock riffs galore, wild horn sections, funk jams, new wave trips, ballads, and psychedelic freak-outs.  The opening track, “Fanny Dog,” launches like a Polaris missile with a full brass accompaniment and Segall shredding his guitar like his dog probably shreds a stuffed animal.

Segall makes a hard right turn on “Rain,” which seems to reveal his admiration for Radiohead with its simple piano chords, unadorned vocals, slightly warped horns (which are all over this record, really) and lyrics about pining for a lover.  His cover of Hot Chocolate’s “Every 1’s a Winner” is outstanding, and one of the best covers anyone has put out in a couple years.  Segall and his crew keep the funk but up the fuzz on it, and we’re all winners for it.  Speaking of funk, the bass on “Despoiler of Cadaver” is downright slick, and the rest of the tune is a weird, disco / new wave fun zone.

“When Mommy Kills You” is appropriately hard-hitting.  “My Lady’s on Fire” is a ballad that displays Segall’s love for 1960’s folk rock, and the saxophone solo on it  immediately gets your attention.  “Alta” is stadium rock brilliance.  Want more cowbell?  There’s plenty of it on the groovy “Meaning,” which blends hot beats with guitar freak-outs.  “Cry Cry Cry” isn’t a cover of the Johnny Cash song, but it does sound like a nice salute to ELO‘s ballads.  “Shoot You Up” is a slugging, chugging song that I think is about the dark side of the record industry, or fame, or both.

“You Say All the Nice Things” and “The Last Waltz” are two love songs, one about love in the now and one about a love lost to death.  One of the longest tracks on the record, “She,” is a wild jam that would be appropriate for any lady wrestler’s entrance music or the theme song for any metal-loving dominatrix.  “Talkin’ 3” is almost a free-form acid jazz session, but with a noise rock band playing at the same time.  “The Main Pretender,” with its skronking, squealing saxophone by Mac DeMarco, was one of my top 10 singles of 2017.  “I’m Free” gets back to Segall’s love of 1960’s folk, and “5 Ft. Tall” has some 1960’s power pop touches to it and then evolves into a garage rock fuzz-fest.  The closer, “And, Goodnight,” is a twelve-minute psychedelic jam and a great finale.

As you can guess, Segall is all over the map on Freedom’s Goblin, but it all works.  He’s created a record that embraces his many influences and is having a great time exploring all of them.  It’s a treat for us as well.

Keep your mind open.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XSvPXLIJYWo

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Loma release “Joy” from upcoming album due February 16th.

LOMA SHARE NEW SINGLE, “JOY”

https://youtu.be/IMUApFRVfRw

SELF-TITLED, DEBUT ALBUM OUT FEBRUARY 16TH ON SUB POP

(photo credit – Bryan C. Parker)

 

Loma, the new project comprised of Jonathan Meiburg, best known as the singer of Shearwater, and Emily Cross and Dan Duszynski of Cross Record, will release their self-titled debut album on February 16th via Sub Pop, with their first North American and overseas tour to follow and more dates to be announced. After presenting singles “Black Willow” and “Relay Runner,” Loma shares the first song the trio wrote and recorded together, “Joy,a song about the giddy, terrifying experience of falling in love, especially against your better judgment. Of that initial session, Meiburg noted “There was something special about the combination of the three of us, and very different from either of our bands. But I think we were afraid to say so out loud, for fear of jinxing it. I remember the hairs on the back of my neck standing up when Emily hit that high, screaming note on the clarinet on ‘Joy’; it sounded like a human voice.” That sense of discovery, stoked by the album’s urgent and searching lyrical themes, is felt throughout the entirety of Loma and extends to the listener.

Listen to Loma’s “Joy” –
https://youtu.be/IMUApFRVfRw

Watch:
“Black Willow” Video – https://youtu.be/u4yA8zM0ifY
“Relay Runner” Video – https://youtu.be/GAIeORh7TLs

Pre-order Loma
http://smarturl.it/loma

Loma Tour Dates:
Fri. Apr. 6 – Phoenix, AZ @ Valley Bar
Sun. Apr. 8 – Los Angeles, CA @ The Bootleg
Wed. Apr. 11 – San Francisco, CA @ Bottom of the Hill
Fri. Apr. 13 – Portland, OR @ MS Studios
Sat. Apr. 14 – Seattle, WA @ Sunset Tavern
Tue. Apr. 17 – Salt Lake City, UT @ Urban Lounge
Thu. April 19 – Taos, NM @ Taos Mesa Brewing
Sat. Apr. 21 – Austin, TX @ North Door
Thu. April 26 – Atlanta, GA @ The Earl
Fri. April 27 – Asheville, NC @ The Mothlight
Sat. April 28 – Carrboro, NC @ Cat’s Cradle Back Room
Tue. May 1 – Charlottesville, NC @ The Southern
Wed. May 2 – Washington, DC @ DC9
Fri. May 4 – Brooklyn, NY @ Baby’s All Right
Sat. May 5 – Philadelphia, PA @ Johnny Brenda’s
Sun. May 6 – Allston, MA @ Great Scott
Tue. May 8 – Montreal, QC @ L’Esco
Wed. May 9 – Toronto, ON @ The Garrison
Thu. May 10 – Detroit, MI @ Deluxx Fluxx
Fri. May 11 – Chicago, IL @ Schubas
Fri. May 25 – Kortrijk, BE @ De Kreun
Sat. May 26 – Amsterdam, NL @ Paradiso (London Calling)
Sun. May 27 – Brussels, BE @ Botanique
Wed. May 30 – Brighton, UK @ The Hope
Thu. May 31 – London, UK @ Lexington
Fri. June 1 – Bristol, UK @ Rough Trade
Sun. June 3 – Manchester, UK @ Gullivers
Mon. June 4 – Leeds, UK @ Headrow House
Tue. June 5 – Glasgow, UK @ Hug and Pint
Thu. June 7 – Dublin, IE @ Whelan’s
Fri. June 8 – Liverpool, UK @ Buyers Club

Download hi-res press images and album art –
www.pitchperfectpr.com/loma/

MIEN release first single, “Black Habit,” and it’s a doozy.

Is it too early to say I’ve already heard one of the best singles of the year?  MIEN, consisting of the Black Angels‘ Alex MaasElephant Stone‘s Rishi Dhirthe Earlies‘ John Lapham, and the Horrors‘ Tom Furse, have released “Black Habit,” the first single from their debut self-titled album due out April 6th.

The single is a heady, almost nightmarish trip blending psychedelia with a bit of dark wave.  The album is available for pre-order and the band will play live at Levitation Austin this April.  I already have my tickets for their performance.  Don’t wait to get yours, or to order this record.

Keep your mind open.

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Five David Bowie albums due out February 23rd individually on vinyl for the first time since 1991.

All five David Bowie albums released in last year’s A New Career in Town box set are being released individually on February 23, 2018 for the first time on vinyl since 1991. The albums include all of Bowie’s iconic “Berlin” trilogy – LowHeroes, and Lodger, as well as Scary Monsters and the live album Stage.

Don’t miss out if you’re a vinyl collector, Bowie fan, or both.

Keep your mind open.

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Kelly Lee Owens announces March U.S. tour.

KELLY LEE OWENS ANNOUNCES MARCH 2018 U.S. TOUR

LISTEN TO KELLY REMIX ST. VINCENT’S “NEW YORK”
https://youtu.be/fw1uuMxoZG0

(above image by Jason Williamson)

“Kelly Lee Owens’ debut album introduces the world to a fully formed aesthetic . . Not many debuts balance emotion and economy with such finesse.” — Pitchfork, #3 in Best Electronic Albums of 2017

“Kelly Lee Owens splices luscious Cocteau Twins–influenced hymns with passages of
four-on-the-floor hypnosis. The analogue sounds of bells and tabla give standouts like ‘Bird’ or ‘Arthur’
a homespun feel, and there’s plenty of structural and lyrical intrigue nestled within the album’s all-enveloping, pastel pulse.”
The Atlantic, #9 in Best Albums of 2017

“KLO’s stunning debut is a beautifully immersive and enveloping take on all of our favorite things: emotional, floating electronic dream-pop and more propulsive and visceral dance music that pulses like an underwater heartbeat, seamlessly woven into something that feels both familiar and entirely new.”
Gorilla vs. Bear, #2 in Favorite Albums of 2017

London-based Kelly Lee Owens announces a March U.S. tour in support of her self-titled debut album, out now on Smalltown Supersound, and a remix of St. Vincent’s “New York.” Owens will play many cities for the first time on this second U.S. tour. All dates are below.

 

Named Album of the Year by the influential Piccadilly Records, Kelly Lee Owens was named the #2 album of 2017 by Gorilla vs. Bear, Loud and Quiet, and Drowned in Sound, while also making year-end lists from Pitchfork, The Atlantic, Under The Radar, Brooklyn Vegan, Bandcamp, Mixmag and beyond. Additionally, Owens capped off the year with Björk featuring the album’s lead single, “Anxi” ft. Jenny Hval, in her Cover Mix for Mixmag.

Stream Kelly Lee Owens’ Remix of St. Vincent’s “New York” – 
https://youtu.be/fw1uuMxoZG0

Watch/Listen/Share:
Kelly Lee Owenshttps://open.spotify.com/album/3Zx14dyUjtZcEas89nZZfn
“Anxi” ft. Jenny Hval video – https://youtu.be/FdDf2Ib4B64
“Anxi” ft. Jenny Hval stream – http://bit.ly/2qZpJuq
“Throwing Lines” video – https://youtu.be/oyx-lpJYGCg

Kelly Lee Owens’ Tour Dates:
Fri. March 16 – Brooklyn, NY @ Elsewhere – Zone One
Sat. March 17 – Philadelphia, PA @ Boot & Saddle
Tue. March 20 – Chicago, IL @ Schubas Tavern
Wed. March 21 – Denver, CO @ Bar Standard
Thu. March 22 – Boise, ID @ Treefort Music Fest
Sat. March 24 – Knoxville, TN @ Big Ears Festival
Sun. March 25 – Washington, DC @ Union Stage
Tue. March 27 – Miami, FL @ Floyd
Thu. March 29 – Seattle, WA @ Barboza
Sat. March 31 – Los Angeles, CA @ The Sanctuary at Pico Union
Sun. April 1 – San Diego, CA @ Soda Bar

Purchase:
Kelly Lee Owenshttp://smarturl.it/KellyLeeOwens
“More Than A Woman” – http://smarturl.it/STS32612

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