STARS RECORDING NEW ALBUM. Exciting new update from the Stars camp, our favorite Canadian indie-pop collective who have been leaking material at a satisfying drip, including last year’s delectable treat the Sad Robots EP. Looks as if the group has a new album in the works, tentatively titled The Black House, The Blue Sky, and it’s being recorded in the same studio where the likes of Godspeed! You Black Emperor committed their hits to tape. This album also marks the return of Set Yourself on Fire producer Tom McFall whose work propelled the group to true indie-stardom. The band also has a new, completely dreamy song streaming on their Myspace called “Dedication” from the In Our Bedroom After the War sessions and you can follow Torquil Campbell, the opinionated male singer of the group on Twitter here. Check out more info from the official press release below:
hello beloved listeners… Stars have returned to the studio to start work on our 5th (!) album, tentatively titled The Black House, The Blue Sky. We’re working in Hotel2Tango, the magical mile end house of music put together by the legendary Godspeed/Mount Zion/Constellation records crew. It’s pretty fucking inspiring in there as you can imagine; so much great music has been made there, and Ephraim and Thierry and Howard and all the people involved in the space are such true musicians, such lovers of music, that you cant help but feel focused and inspired when you walk in the building. We feel lucky to have checked into the hotel…. Plus there are more great dogs roaming around that place than we have seen possibly ever, and you know, when there are great dogs around, you can be sure there are some great people around to tell them to stop chasing squirrels and sneak them pieces of baguette.. We are also truly blessed to have Tom McFall back with us as co-producer. Tom worked on Set Yourself On Fire with us, and since then has been enormously in demand, working with such bands as R.E.M., Bloc Party and Snow Patrol. So we are truly honoured he’s slumming it with us; Tom is a true artist, a true friend, and….well, he’s cookies and cold milk. We fucking love him.There’s a lot of synthesizers in the room, and a lot of love in the air. We think this combination of emotions running high and machines running hot is going to be pretty amazing.…fingers crossed..until then, we have a newish tune up on myspace, entitled division, culled from the original six and a half hour version of In Our Bedroom After The War, and we’ll be sending more songs you haven’t heard out into the ether in the coming months, so keep your ears open. Meanwhile, Amy and Torq continue to chug toward the finish line with their respective solo joints, with Amy in the lead by…oh, about three miles…..and, god help us, we have been told to twitter. So twitter we will…go to the twitter thingy and search “youarestars” and then sit back and wait for Torq to say something stupid….We are also extremely excited to be working with Danny Goldberg as our new manager. google the dude. He’s a fucking legend. His only weakness: he’s a Yankees fan. But at this point, you gotta feel more sorry for them than anything….We feel lucky these days. And even if everything goes wrong, i think we’re gonna keep feeling that way. Cause after all this time, and all these tears, we’re still drinking together and playing together and making fun of each other and everyone else….and that’s something to be thankful for….check you soon loves, xostars
Stars – “Undertow” ******************************************************************** WATCH FULL CONVERGE CONCERT Check out this incredible recording of our favorite hardcore act Converge at Burning Fight from Hate5Six Productions. Great stuff, lean back and soak it up over the weekend. Still can’t wait for the new full-length, details forthcoming…
Converge – “Locust Reign (live)” ******************************************************************** HEARTLESS BASTARDS LIVE TRACKS Lastly here are some sweet live renditions by the Heartless Bastards of some tracks from their excellent new LP The Mountain via Luxury Wafers. Check out the video below.
Comments? We’ve been getting a lot of good feedback recently so here’s another question for the CC faithful – we’ve been doing three hefty updates a week as opposed to five little ones on each weekday but which method would you actually prefer? Smaller daily updates or substantial thrice-weeklies? The danger of everday updates is that sometimes we find ourselves repeating the blogosphere at large (f*ck that) but we want to give you the reader what you want. Suggestions? Hail to the horror people, seeya Monday!
INTERVIEW WITH THE ACTION DESIGN So for a myriad of reasons, including but not limited to transportation issues and the Republican National Convention being cut short due to Hurricane Gustav, the Cannibal Cheerleader crew did not manage to make it up to Minnesota to film the protests. The good news however is this week will feature the same regular updates you all know and love, starting with an interview we were really honored to conduct with one of our favorite bands of the year the Action Design. TAD is of course helmed by none other than the infamous ‘M’, otherwise known as Agent M from the excellent and much-missed California punk group Tsunami Bomb, and she was kind enough to send us the answers to a few questions we had. Here’s a sample!
CC: What is the Action Design all about? Why did you choose to continue to make music after your last band [Tsunami Bomb] broke up?
M: The Action Design is about having fun, just like all bands should be. After Tsunami Bomb broke up, I wanted to keep making music because otherwise there would have been a huge void in my life — it’s really a part of me now. Also, after ending a band, you have somewhat of a clean slate to work with; a little more freedom to do what you want.
Read more at the bottom of this update and stay tuned when the entire interview gets published next week as the cover story for the Cannibal Cheerleader zine issue #2.
The Action Design – “Landmines” ******************************************************************** NEW JENNY LEWIS ACID TONGUE VIDEOOver the weekend we stumbled across a video of our Rilo Kiley favorite Jenny Lewis showing off a tune from her newest LP Acid Tongue to Death Cab for Cutiefrontman Ben Gibbard. Check it out below. Where can we get a hold of some Acid Tongue balloons?
Jenny Lewis – “The Big Guns” ******************************************************************** TRYOUTS: STARS’ SAD ROBOTS Over the weekend we received our copy of the tracks from the new EPSad Robots by Canadian indie-poppers Stars and to say that the songs represent a real return to form, with soft tender instrumentation and whispered vocals on alienation and loss, couldn’t be more correct. Of course we loved last year’s In Our Bedroom After the War, but we can’t help but dig up our old Nightsongs LP when we spin songs like “Undertow” and “14 Forever” through our headphones. It’s no coincidence it seems that Stars paired a live version of Nightsongs‘ standout “Going, Going, Gone” with these new miniature masterpieces, and it seems fitting that the band return to their more minimalist roots in the form of an EP of tiny vignettes. This EP definitely makes the Cannibal Cheerleader team though it will probably develop an impossible-to-fulfill crush on the head quarterback and write tender love notes to stick in his locker all year.
Stars – “A Threat Cut With A Carving Knife” Stars – “Undertow” ******************************************************************** THE ACTION DESIGN INTERVIEW CONT’DHere’s the rest of that Action Design interview! Be sure and catch the band when they swing through Austin on Sept. 10th at Red 7 and come pick up new issues of the Cannibal Cheerleader Zine #2 available at the show!
CC: In contrast to some of Tsunami Bomb’s tracks, the Action Design employs a greater range of musical influences, including dance-rock, and utilizes your vocal range more. Why the change in style and what are your influences for this exciting new brand of punk rock? Does maturity play a factor?
M: The change in style is mainly because, given the chance to start a new band, the music may as well be more open and versatile. It’s nice to have the opportunity to make music in a different way than I’m used to. As for maturity, I’m not sure how much of a factor it is. I guess my own musical taste may have matured, although the basis of everything we write is simple and straightforward in the same way Tsunami Bomb was. I still love catchy melodies!
CC: Explain to us your songwriting process in the Action Design. Where do you draw your lyrics from? Personal experience, life on the road, the punk rock lifestyle? Where does it all come from?
M: Usually, we each write our own parts but we also write all together — one person will come to practice with a simple idea for a part. We’ll all work on that part together, adding more to it as a group. Then, when the body of the music is written, I’ll take it home and work out lyrics and melody to it. We usually adjust it a few more times after that, until everyone is confident with the song. Most all of my lyrics are drawn from personal experience. I have written lyrics from someone else’s perspective, but it’s always easier to write about what I know. A lot of times I end up writing about people I know; the ones who make me feel any certain emotion (aside from love… I’m not too much of a romantic poet).
CC: Over the years what have you noticed about your fanbase that interests you the most? Has it changed significantly from Tsunami Bomb to the Action Design? Has it stayed generally consistent? More girls or boys? Are you gaining a larger base now as tAD? How have things like Myspace and the Internet changed how you talk with your fans?
M: Well, right now it’s still difficult to categorize the fanbase for the Action Design. We haven’t played enough repeat shows around the country yet to get a good grasp on who they are. My assumption is that a lot of the people at our shows are Tsunami Bomb fans as well, only because we haven’t had an overwhelming amount of press or ads for the Action Design yet. We don’t have as many fans as Tsunami Bomb did — we have only done a handful of tours, so we’ve still got groundwork to do before we reach that level. I’d like to say our fanbase contains an equal amount of girls and boys, but I think the girls may be tipping the scale a little. Myspace has been great for us — it’s such an easy way to connect to fans. I really enjoy communicating directly with them, as opposed to a manager or someone else maintaining our site.
CC: You’ve been in the business of making punk music for over a decade now, what are some of the trials and tribulations of that life? If you could go back would you do it all again? Is it ultimately rewarding and do you feel your message gets out there? What is the message? You’ve seen bands come and go, why have you stuck around?
M: The touring life is not for everyone. I think ultimately that’s what breaks up a lot of bands. Everyone has to be extremely tolerant of everyone else’s personalities if it’s going to work. It’s tiring, can be lonely, you’re broke a lot… that’s the trials and tribulations side. Of course, if you’re the right kind of person, touring is one of the most fun experiences ever. Aside from touring, there’s a lot of crap that goes on behind the scenes which can make things stressful, difficult and depressing. Money runs everything, and there’s pretty much no way around it. But yes, in the end it IS rewarding in many ways. Music is one thing that makes people happy, and it’s very addicting to be part of that. I would definitely do it all again. I may do some things a little differently, but I would do it again! I wouldn’t give up my experiences for anything. That’s why I’ve stuck around as a musician. I want to fill my life with great experiences, and this is one way that I know how to do so.
CC: Big question – what happened to Tsunami Bomb? Was it the pressure of the music business? Inner tension? So many bands break up for so many reasons and I understand it can be hard to talk about, but can you fill us in on whatever details you’re comfortable with? Do you feel like the band is well-respected now only because you’ve broken up?
M: Tsunami Bomb broke up for many small reasons. Most of them are business-related, the details of which are pretty boring. Basically, things were not going as we had planned, so we sat down and discussed the band from a completely business standpoint. We resolved that our unhappiness caused by the business side of things outweighed our happiness of playing music in Tsunami Bomb. We also had no way of changing course. Therefore, it was pointless for us to keep playing. I don’t feel like the band was ever very well-respected from the standpoint of the music community, but that’s probably because I try my best to not pay attention to what people think. I don’t feel like we were disrespected either — I feel more like we weren’t really part of the “scene” in general.
CC: Tell us the process behind Into A Sound and Never Say. What are some of your favorite songs and what do these releases mean to you? What are their respective themes and what goes into committing a set of songs to tape?
M: Into a Sound feels like a weird pre-album collection to me — we kinda threw all the first songs we’d written together and called it an ep. It was a little scary, starting a new band, not being completely confident, never having played a show together. My favorite songs off of the ep are “Connect/Disconnect”, “City Committee”, and “Scissor Game”. It’s kind of a mish-mash of songs, written by various members, recorded by various engineers. The theme of the ep is probably “is this going to work??” When it came time to record Never Say, we knew ourselves a lot better musically as a group. We felt confident in our song writing and our decisions on which songs to include on the record. The process for that one was that we just wrote, rewrote and rewrote again. We kept going with the songs until we felt they were complete. My favorite songs are probably “Pale Horizon”, “Tokyo Train”, “Could Not Should”, “Lounge in Formation”… it’s tough to decide with the new songs because they’re all still pretty new. The theme for Never Say (at least lyrically) is probably “Do what you’ve always dreamed of doing… because who knows when the world is going to blow up?!!”
NEW CRYSTAL CASTLES VIDEO/NEWS Our dearest friends Crystal Castles have just released a video for their single “Crimewave”, featuring a mesh-masked Alice Glass and a lonely zombie. Check it out below.
Crystal Castles – Crimewave (Crystal Castles VS. Health) In other CC news, according to NME (and confirmed by our friend Myke) the band has canceled several dates in the UK because of ‘recording committments’. Can we expect new Crystal Castles material soon? Here’s hoping so!
Crystal Castles – “Death (White Lies Remix)” ******************************************************************** FINAL BE YOUR OWN PET SHOW VIDEOS Sad as we were that one of our favorite acts of the day Be Your Own Pet broke up, we’re happy to report they left behind a trail of death and misadventure to rival the best punk acts of the day, and these videos from their final show ever prove it. Check them out below and godspeed you black-hearted punksters, we hope to see you again soon! “Super Soaked”
“Heart Throb”
Be Your Own Pet – “Hillmont Avenue” ******************************************************************** STARS ANNOUNCE NEW EP According to Pitchfork and confirmed by visiting the Sad Robots website, our favorite Canadian indie-poppers Stars are releasing a new EP entitled Sad Robots. Tracklist below, featuring five new songs and a live version of “Going Going Gone” off of Nightsongs.
01 Maintenance Hall, 4am 02 A Thread Cut With a Carving Knife 03 Undertow 04 Going, Going, Gone (live) 05 14 Forever 06 Sad Robot
Stars will be playing this year’s ACL festival (last time they came they played against Wolf Parade so I had to miss them, not this time!) so don’t miss them when they swing through Austin!
Stars – “Why I Want To Save You” ******************************************************************** CANNIBAL CHEERLEADER VS. RNC We didn’t post on Thursday for two reasons – one, very slow news day, not much to talk about. But second, we were busy planning our Cannibal Cheerleader protest trip to the Republican National Convention in St. Paul. Those familiar with us know that we’re first and foremost filmmakers (liberal ones at that) so we’re going to document the events of the RNC protests and bring them back to Texas (see, we’re not all rednecks down here!). We will be out of pocket until next Friday, but tomorrow I plan on writing mini-updates for the rest of next week. Because these will be very bare and pretty unsubstantial updates, next week is being declared ‘Vegetarian Week’ here at Cannibal Cheerleader. Fear not, I shall return with cool videos in tow and what’s more, if I find myself with an internet connection up there I’ll be sure and do a few quick updates. Any comments on this situation? Would anyone prefer I not go? Speak now or hold your peace! See you all in St. Paul!
Exciting new update from the Stars camp, our favorite Canadian indie-pop collective who have been leaking material at a satisfying drip, including last year’s delectable treat the Sad Robots EP. Looks as if the group has a new album in the works, tentatively titled The Black House, The Blue Sky, and it’s being recorded in the same studio where the likes of Godspeed! You Black Emperor committed their hits to tape. This album also marks the return of Set Yourself on Fire producer Tom McFall whose work propelled the group to true indie-stardom. The band also has a new, completely dreamy song streaming on their Myspace called “Dedication” from the In Our Bedroom After the War sessions and you can follow Torquil Campbell, the opinionated male singer of the group on Twitter here. Check out more info from the official press release below:
Check out this incredible recording of our favorite hardcore act Converge at Burning Fight from Hate5Six Productions. Great stuff, lean back and soak it up over the weekend. Still can’t wait for the new full-length, details forthcoming…
Lastly here are some sweet live renditions by the Heartless Bastards of some tracks from their excellent new LP The Mountain via Luxury Wafers. Check out the video below.
