Our favorite band of dance-rock stalwarts the Action Design blazed through a searing set last night in Austin at Emo’s downtown. While the band’s last Austin performance left us winded, M and the gang had us gasping for air this night, with a rampaging set that reminded old schoolers of the group’s hardcore roots and excited new fans with whip-crack post-punk instrumentation. Serving up entrancing performances of deep-cuts like “Lounge in Formation” and “City Committee”, complete with the group’s signature tight sound and M’s passionate croon, the band brought a level of bombast and pure-energy on rockers like “Landmines” and “Scissor Game”. The group even noodled wistfully through the Justin Timberlake (!?) interlude “Think That She Knows”, proving their ability to bring a punk edge to even the danciest of tracks. Surely the Action Design are the bastard child of Bloc Party and Blondie, a sight to behold live and a passionate group that’s in love with their music and in touch with their fans. A five-star performance from a great group, more pics below and a rare track entitled “Move On” from the group’s first, self-titled EP, limited to 1000 copies. Check it out!
Speaking of bastards, Dayton, Ohio’s favorite sons, garage-rockers the Heartless Bastards are back with the Mountain, a hearty dosage of blues and carnage that relies more heavily on the soaring vocals of lead Erika Wennerstrom than ever before. Not satisfied to rest on the laurels of their breakthrough sophomore LP All This Time, Wennerstrom and company rip and tear through 11 tracks of blues-rock blood and guts, sounding equal parts classic with a degree of modernity that makes the tunes immediately relatable and captivating. This group makes it look easy, and Wennerstrom is at her best here, steering the Heartless ship towards a woozy, dusty-road sound that evokes hard-living and harder landscapes. This is the Bastards Attack & Release, a startling achievement that calls into question the validity of their earlier work. We didn’t know you had it in you kids! Definitely makes the team but will probably get kicked off for cussing and spitting – our kind of girl!
Our favorite arena-packing synth-rockers the Killers have put together a mind-blowing new video for Day & Age standout “Spaceman”, complete with psychedelic staircases and red tights. Check it out below – do you think Brandon Flowers will play some backyard football with us in that costume?
KILLERS BEGIN DEBUTING THIRD LPThis update is all about the Killers. Is it a Quick Bite then? No, the Killers are just deserving of their own Cannibal Cheerleader update. Explaining our obsession with the Killers is difficult, considering the lack of respect they seem to garnish around the blogosphere. However, we here at CC are of the opinion that Brandon Flowers and company produce some of the best, most awe-inspiring, soaring rock and roll this side of U2, without all the self-importance. The Killers have produced two albums on which we could not find a track to skip. Throughout Hot Fuss, Sam’s Town, and even Sawdust we couldn’t find a track that didn’t feature at least some attractive qualities to us. Basically, the Killers write fantastic songs and we love them for it.
According to this Rock Daily report the Killers are eyeing a November release for their as-of-yet untitled third LP that’s being produced by Stuart Price, who remixed “Mr. Brightside” for the band. As if that wasn’t exciting enough the Killers played a special fanclub only show in NYC last night (the Victims as they’re called) and debuted some spectacular new tracks.
Here’s “Spaceman”:
And here’s “Neon Tiger”:
As far as other titles go Flowers has named the song “Tidal Wave” as another track on the LP. Of course there’s a lot of speculation running rampant about if certain tracks that haven’t been included on Sawdust but have been played at separate live shows will appear on the album. Our money’s on “Soft Surrender” being included, this Killers live gem. Enjoy!