Check out this rad interview we found from the people atDirty Laundrywho sat down with none other than elusive punk princess and Cannibal Cheerleader favoriteJemina Pearl- watch the video below!
In other Cannibal Cheerleader news our mp3 hosting provider has shut us down. Very sad stuff from some rather lame record company big-wigs but we keep on killin’ it here at Cannibal Cheerleader. We’ve got some new hosting options we’re working on right now but if you find a link that doesn’t work and you desperately want that mp3, post a comment or shoot me an email at cannibalcheerleader@gmail.com. And labels, if you want a song taken down, I’ll be glad to do so, just email me!
Check out the new video for the Yeah Yeah Yeahs‘ track “Skeletons”, a standout song from their latest, and perhaps greatest LP, It’s Blitz!. Filled with spooky, graveyard visuals care of director Barney Clay, and featuring the haunting, soaring vocals of the songstress of scary, Karen O herself, this video is a Cannibal Cheerleader nightmare come true. Check it out below!
We’re introducing a new feature here at Cannibal Cheerleader today – a series of interviews we’ve dubbed the “Versus” tapes where we interview and/or film live some of our favorite bands that swing through Austin. Our inaugural edition features local indie-rock heavyweightsUmewho spoke with us after a recent performance during Free Week at Mohawk. Featuring snarling, bombastic guitar lines, snaky, searing bass, and blasting, pummeling drumlines, Ume is poised to rupture the fabric of the universe in 2010. In this video the group talks about how they formed, their plans for 2010, how their new album is going to sound, and why their song “East of Hercules” is called “Expose” on their set list – enjoy and watch out for more “Versus” tapes coming up soon!
If you weren’t at Emo’s here in Austin, Texas last night (and believe me, not nearly enough people were) then you missed out on a proclamation on the state of punk as we know it in mindblowing form – the resurgence of Jemina Pearl, infamous for her stint as the Be Your Own Petvocalist, as a solo artist quite possibly could reaffirm even the most cynical hardcore kid’s faith in the spirit of ‘77. Featuring John Eatherly, former Be Your Own Pet drummer now on guitar duties, the group ripped and snarled through what seemed like the entirety of the singer’s debut album Break It Up, with standouts like “I Hate People” and “Retrograde” sounding all the more pummeling and sharp in the live format. Complete with ‘fuck-all’ attitude and a cast over what one imagines is the gnarly broken toe injury the songstress featured on her blog, Jemina Pearl lives and breathes the punk rock frontwoman role, pouty lip-sneer and all. Wailing and spitting her way through track after track, hardly giving her band any room to breathe in-between songs, the singer seemed disconnected, bored, and altogether very punkish in a very genuine manner. Her attitude was reflected in the blazing guitarwork of the surprisingly articulate guitar-playing of Eatherly, whose chops behind the axe makes one imagine why he wasn’t shredding in BYOP to begin with.
Overall the band’s performance reeked of harsh punk sensibilities in the same manner as early Buzzcocks records. With a wry sense of humor, a lack of any ability to take herself seriously, and a serious attitude problem, Jemina Pearl reinvigorated our faith in the punk lifestyle, horrifying us with her immediacy and raping our sonic senses in the best way possible.
A great big fuck you to Jemina Pearl – and we mean that in the congratulatory punk way (seriously, how can you not love her?).
The night’s other story however is the utterly shocking and rocking opening act solo artistArum Raeof the local Austin band White Dress. The full band was on the original bill for the show but according to Rae, legal issues barred her bandmate from attending the gig. Still, the group seemed almost unnecessary upon hearing the singer’s subtle Southern croon and her understated blues finger-picking guitarwork as she belted out heartbreaker after bodyshaker on what proved to be an incredibly engaging performance. Sounding like a Black Keys meets Cat Power combo, Rae makes us want to stalk down and listen to every track she’s ever conjured – a bedroom pop sensibility strapped behind a mean, gold-faced guitar. We look forward to check her out as the year progresses.
Overall, a fantastic night here in Austin – definitely check these leading ladies out soon!
Our favorite hip-hop via indie-rock collective from across the pond, Damon Albarn and Jamie Hewlett’sGorillazare releasing their newest album Plastic Beach on March 9th, and as a teaser they’ve released the already fantastic sounding lead single “Stylo”. Check it out below along with the ultra-brief Plastic Beach Trailer. Above is the single’s artwork and below is the purported album cover. The album is going to feature members of the Clash, Mos Def, De La Soul, Mark E. Smith from the Fall, and Snoop Dogg. Check all about it here and be sure and follow Gorillaz bassist Murdoc Niccals athis Twitter page here. Check it:
01 Orchestral Intro (ft. Sinfonia ViVA)
02 Welcome to the World of the Plastic Beach (ft. Snoop Dogg and Hypnotic Brass Ensemble)
03 White Flag (ft. Kano, Bashy, and the National Orchestra for Arabic Music)
04 Rhinestone Eyes
05 Stylo (ft. Bobby Womack and Mos Def)
06 Superfast Jellyfish (ft. Gruff Rhys and De La Soul)
07 Empire Ants (ft. Little Dragon)
08 Glitter Freeze (ft. Mark E Smith)
09 Some Kind Of Nature (ft. Lou Reed)
10 On Melancholy Hill
11 Broken
12 Sweepstakes (ft. Mos Def and Hypnotic Brass Ensemble)
13 Plastic Beach (ft. Mick Jones and Paul Simonon)
14 To Binge (ft. Little Dragon)
15 Cloud of Unknowing (ft. Bobby Womack and Sinfonia ViVA)
16 Pirate Jet
We’ll also be keeping a look at the countdown bar on the Gorillaz homepage which as of right now reads 32 days and counting down, which puts the end before the March 9th album release. Also the ‘G’ on the world-map is clearly moving, albeit very slowly down the African coast. Check these two photos below.
Where will it end up? Keep it here at Cannibal Cheerleader for all your Gorillaz updates people!
The video the killer single “Landmines” by our favorite new-wave pop-punkstersthe Action Designhas finally arrived and it’s on the front page of Purevolume.comas we speak! Featuring some rip-roaring live footage, awesome lightbulb imagery, and of course, the inimitable Action Design sound, the video is well worth the wait. Check out it out at this link. Now Cannibal Cheerleader is off to the Jemina Pearl show, you should go too Austinites!
Our favorite UK progressive-hardcore kidsRolo Tomassihave been busy as of late – from a tour spanning the UK to recording the followup to their excellent debut LP Hysterics. Recentlynews arosethat the band was working with well-known DJ and producer Diplo after he caught the band during SXSW ‘09, where the band performed at ourSXSW Blood Bath. We caught up with James Spence, keyboardist and co-vocalist of the group to see what 2010 brings for the genre-defying rockers.
JS: Nice to hear from you. Hope all is well Stateside.
CC: Is the album really called Stolen Magic like Wikipedia says? Where did the name come from?
JS: Stolen magic IS NOT the title. We were asked to give a working title to a magazine for a feature they were doing on new albums in 2010 and we gave that as that was an idea we had but we came up with a much much better title that we’re using. Details will be announced in the coming week in a special way.
CC: What’s it like working with Diplo? How did you guys meet?
JS: Coming to LA and working with Diplo was a fantastic experience. The 3 weeks we were over were genuinely amongst the best times we’ve ever had as a band.
We were made aware of Diplos interest in our band from an interview he gave to Pitchfork and we contacted him with the view to have him do a remix for us and things escalated from there. He came saw us while we were over at SXSW last year but we didn’t meet him until May when he DJ’d in Nottingham.
CC: What’s the record sounding like?
JS: The record sounds incredibly heavy. To begin with the songs we wrote are far better and more developed than the material on Hysterics so we had a good base to make a good recording..
CC: Finished your album cover yet? What’s that going to look like?
JS: Simon Moody (www.linedwithghosts.com) who designed the Hysterics art and a lot of our merch is currently working on it. We haven’t seen any of it yet but we fully trust Simon to come up with something that will reflect this project. The title we’re using opens up a lot of avenues artwise. The possibilities are endless in terms of aesthetics.
CC: Coming over to the States again for SXSW? What’re your plans for March?
JS: Unfortunately we won’t be coming over this year for SXSW. Some of our friends includingPulled Apart By Horsesare going over for the first time so make sure you check them out. The record will hopefully be out in the UK at the start of April so during March we’ll be preparing to go on tour in the UK and Europe. America is totally still on our radar and we will be over to tour properly for sure before the end of the year.
Thanks a lot,
James
Can’t wait to hear all the Rolo Tomassi updates that will be springing up over the next few months. Keep it parked here at Cannibal Cheerleader RT fans, we’ve got all the news that’s fit to print!
Easily the best thing to spring from the UK last year,the Joy Formidablehave been careening across out playlists for close to a year now, so it’s safe to say that when we got our copy of their new, now painfully sold-out live album First You Have to Get Mad, we were unbelievably ecstatic. Sounding every bit the shoegazey wunderkinds we’d come to know and love them as, in the live setting they compound their strengths with a raw energy that’s equal parts sweeping alt-rock masterminds and punk rock connoisseurs. With a flair for audience participation and sweeping emotional overtures to match grinding riffs and haunting, several-minute-long wails, the Joy Formidable clearly have the crowd on their side from the beginning, tearing through renditions of “The Last Drop” and “Cradle” to the hoots and hollers of all in attendance. Still, it is their grand overture, the final three tracks of “A Heavy Abacus”, a new, as-of-yet-unreleased face-melter, the single “Whirring”, which the band extend into a distortion-laden, transcendent display, and closer, the careful and emotional “While the Flies” that truly cement this release as more than simply a record for fans and an LP worthy of all fans of shoegaze or any alt-rock in general. Highly recommended you find a copy!
Check out the new track from our favorite rapper of all timeMIA, as posted to herTwitter account:
According to the Fader this song is called “Space Odyssey”, is a metaphorical diatribe against a New York Times articlewhich claimed that Sri Lanka, MIA’s war-torn home country, was a beautiful travel destination after that pesky war ended, and is pretty much a back-packer rap dream come true. Lush, slow beats over trashed, foreign instrumentation to create a bold hip-hop concoction. Check it out above y’all!
While we Austinites may have been lamenting the start of 2010 with the University of Texas’ loss to ‘Bama in the BCS Championship, down at the coolest venue in town, theMohawk, local indie-rock titansUmewere ringing in the new year with burst eardrums and blood-curdling guitar-squalls, reaffirming their presence at the best rock group the capital city has to offer. The trio of Lauren, Eric, and Jake hiss and pound like a well-oiled deathmachine, trading off the pulsating forward momentum from instrument to instrument – from the propelling bass crashes, to the whip-crack guitar wails, to the careening drumlines, all add up to an equation of mayhem and fury that’s as much indebted to hardcore punk sentiments as shoegaze, pedal-happy antics. The group pounded through an all-too-short set that seemed to flow seamlessly from one song to the next, the silences in-between only serving as an opportunity for the audience to take a breath and empty the blood from their ears. Definitely watch out for these guys in 2010.
Ume will be on tour this summer and are busy recording a full-length LP, due this year. Tune in to Cannibal Cheerleader for an upcoming video interview we did with the band. Much more to come so stay hungry…
