THE ACTION DESIGN – BLOOD BATH Regular readers of Cannibal Cheerleader will be familiar with one of our favorite acts the Action Design who played our inaugural Blood Bath SXSW day party a week ago. The band rocketed through a seven song set of classics, even throwing in a Misfits cover for good measure! Seriously, this group bleeds cool in classic style and got the whole of the Peacock dancing in fine form. This group has come a long way since Tsunami Bomb and because of that we feel they’ll all the better for it, having improved their sound immeasurably to the tune of a dance-rock powerhouse. A funny story must be included about the group whose guitarist Jaycen woke up last Wednesday morning with a terrible stomach pain and had to be rushed to the hospital. We were called in the midst of the performance of opener Vermillion Lies with the news that the band’s attendance might have to be an acoustic set, if anything at all. That said, once Jaycen was freed from his IV tethers, the group raced up to Austin from San Antonio at breakneck speed and despite some delays managed to play a scorching last set of the day. Definitely worth the wait, and let it never be said that this band isn’t a troupe of troopers. Check out some videos and more pictures below!
SXSW LIVE REVIEW – THE HOLD STEADY/LUCERO Our Thursday at SXSW involved a wonderful stint at Red 7 where we were witness to an astounding double-bill of Lucero and the Hold Steady. Seems that this was the first time these two great and very similar acts were on the same bill and the set did not dissappoint, with classic tunes played by both bands. Still, it was the Hold Steady that took the cake, rampaging through songs old and new with a heavy concentration of rockers from Stay Positive including personal favorite “Slapped Actress” and barn-burning opener “Constructive Summer”. The crowd responded in kind to the band’s inclusive nature, featuring crowd-surfing, a surprising amount of moshing, and plenty of sing-along choruses. Definitely a sight to behold and worthy of the trip downtown during the busiest weekend in Austin.
NEW CRYSTAL CASTLES TRACK Long time fan-favorite and live-show standard “Baptism” from Crystal Castles has managed to weasel its way onto music sites over the past 24 hours. No one’s quite sure if this track is a result of any new recordings or if the wordless track (live the track is accompanied by Alice Glass’ trademark shouts) is off of a mysterious release. What we do know is the noodling synths and breakbeat riffs make this track a monster jam and we’re happy to finally have a real version swimming through our shuffler. Check it out below:
(turns out this mp3 was a fan-made cover – thanks Andy from Lies Records for clearing that up!)
THE ACTION DESIGN LIVE IN AUSTIN In what will probably go down as one of our favorite punk shows of the year, the Action Design, starring M formerly of one of our favorite bands of all time Tsunami Bomb, brought their powerful brand of pop-punk to an excited Red 7 audience who thrilled at seeing the gang in fine form. Whipping through a set that included four tracks from their Into a Sound EP and another seven from Never Say, the band rocketed between soul-wrenching classics like “Lounge in Formation” to balls-out rockers like “Landmines”. Dressed complete with her now famous elephant necklace and belting out tunes with all the fire we’ve come to expect, M and co. definitely recalled a time where punk meant more than askew haircuts, tight jeans, and a video on MTV. The Action Design is genuinely the real deal, punk at its finest in 2008, pop sensibility meshing wonderfully with fiery rock and roll. Definitely grab a ticket to the tour if they’re heading through your town, check out their Myspace for dates! More pictures below. The Action Design – “Empty Face” ******************************************************************** JENNY LEWIS FULL ALBUM STREAMING Over on our friend Jenny Lewis’ Myspace you can find the enirety of her new album Acid Tongue streaming right freaking now! Go now young son, and listen to the country-rock majesty of the Rilo Kiley frontwoman’s sophomore effort!
Jenny Lewis – “Acid Tongue” ******************************************************************** TRYOUTS: THE ACTION DESIGN’S NEVER SAY Having just picked up the new CD from the Action Design that is coincidentally only available right now from their tour merch table, we decided we’d right up a little review of what’s promising to be one of our favorite releases of the year. Right from the get-go, M and her TAD cohorts jump in with the soaring choruses that utilizes the lead vocals and churning guitar parts to masterful effect. Seriously, it’s as if a band has finally caught up with Emily Whitehurst’s incredible vocal delivery after all these years, creating a band that works as a cohesive whole. Standout tracks include “Landmines”, “Empty Face”, and “Tokyo Train”, though the album flows so well, working carefully through more dynamics than Tsunami Bomb’s whole discography in a single song, that to call out single songs is quite pointless. Definitely pick this one up if you can (I believe it’s available from Interpunk right now if TAD’s not swinging through your town) and buy some old Tsunami Bomb stuff while you’re at it. Definitely makes the team, though it probably spends more time skateboarding than practicing any cheers.
The Action Design – “Landmines” ******************************************************************** NEW BAND CHEER: THE BOXING LESSON If you’ve lived in Austin for any time at all you’ve probably at least heard of the Boxing Lesson, even if you haven’t heard their music directly. I moved here five years ago and in that time I’ve seen them all over the place, on every flyer on every bulletin board in town. Of course, this is not without just cause, as they’re one of the most exciting and innovative Austin acts that the capital city has to offer. With a sound that’s equal parts electronica-tinged atmospherics and chugging, psychedelic indie rock, the band has honed a unique sound over the years that coalesces perfectly on their new CD Wild Streaks & Windy Days. They’re playing tomorrow with Tokyo Police Club and the Whigs at Emo’s so be sure and check them out. We’ll be keeping track of these guys from now on!
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?!!”
We’ve had one or two posts before now about the Crystal Castles “Crystal Theft” Controversy (you know, the one where member of the ‘chiptune’ community have accused Ethan Cath and Alice Glass of stealing beats from chiptune artists’ songs and not giving proper credit to their original creators). Well it seems that music blog giant Pitchfork Media has also weighed in and posted an exclusive article featuring communication with members and management of Crystal Castles on this subject, the full text of which is below. Also, hey, thanks for mentioning Cannibal Cheerleader Pitchfork, looks like we’re getting noticed here in Austin!
From Pitchfork:
“Today, however, we present the case of Crystal Castles vs. Various Members of the 8bitpeoples Collective, a group of “chip music”-makers and software/hardware developers inspired by classic video game sounds.
Our story begins in 2004, when a fledging Crystal Castles were still honing their craft. At that time, according to the duo, they relied exclusively on samples, and a few of those samples from that period were lifted from chip music artists.
A bit of background: Like many in the chip music community, 8bitpeoples artists routinely post their music on the collective’s website for free download, with the stipulation that said music is protected under a Creative Commons License. The license provides for free copying, distribution, and transmission of the works in question, provided the person doing the copying/distributing/transmitting:
1. Properly attributes the work 2. Does not use the work for commercial purposes 3. Does not “alter, transform, or build upon” the work (aka create derivative works)
It’s also worth noting that any of these conditions can be waived given permission from the artist behind the work in question.
So, back to Crystal Castles. 8bitpeoples alleges that the duo “violated every term of the [Creative Commons] license” in its use of music created by one of the collective’s artists, a musician called Lo-Bat. They also claim Crystal Castles employed a drum beat from another chip music artist, Covox, “in no less than four…songs.”
Others in the chip music community have chimed in with accusations. A writeup on blog Gameboy Genius lists several more instances of perceived beat-jacking on the part of Crystal Castles, even going so far as to analyze a pair of audio tracks side by side.
But here’s the thing: First, as mentioned, Crystal Castles admit to the sampling. What’s more, according to them, none of the music that contains uncleared samples has been released.
As Crystal Castles member Ethan Kath wrote in an email to Pitchfork, “These infringing songs are early unreleased tracks which were never performed. They are the most awful tracks associated with the band and [vocalist] Alice [Glass] herself hasn’t heard most of these tracks. I put these tracks together myself and then discarded them because I thought they were too poor for release. Labels were interested in collecting these sample-based tracks but we did not want to release these tracks because we did not like the songs. And even if we did like the songs, there were too many samples to clear. Three of the tracks sample early Madonna, three of the tracks sample Joy Division, two of the tracks sample the Stooges, three of the tracks sample Lo-Bat, four of the tracks sample Covox.”
According to the band, the controversy stems from the appearance of several unreleased Crystal Castles tracks online. At least one– which is titled “Insecticon” (erroneously, apparently) and samples Lo-Bat– appeared on the MySpace page of Lies Records, the label to which CC originally licensed their self-titled debut album.
Explains Kath, “One of our earliest tracks is a noise-guitar track called ‘Insectica’. While teaching myself how to use a computer music sequencer program, I mashed it up with a Lo-Bat track. It somehow appeared online as ‘Insecticon’. I assume it was named for someone mishearing Alice sing the opening line ‘I, Insectica.’ Someone else posted the track as ‘Bitter Hearts’ after learning that we have an unreleased track called ‘Bitter Hearts’ and [assuming] they had found it. If I had put the song online myself I would have called it ‘Insectica (Crystal Castles vs. Lo-Bat version)’ but unfortunately I did not upload it. I do not regret this, the publicity we are receiving four years later is priceless.”
The song in question, though still titled “Insecticon”, is now credited to “CC vs. Lo-Bat” on the Lies Records MySpace. It now includes a Creative Commons License acknowledgement as well. Crystal Castles also insist that Lo-Bat has contacted their manager and expressed that he does not mind the sample and finds the controversy “ridiculous.”
In a statement to blog Cannibal Cheerleader, a Lies Records rep notes, “I myself wanted to release ‘Insecticon’ but I could not find Lo-bat to seek his permission.”
Furthermore, Kath writes, “The artists who have been sampled have agreed that the 8bit community is making too big a deal about this, plus they do not want publicity for this, they do not want to be known as the bands that Crystal Castles sampled. Instead, they want to be known for their own great music. We are trying to help with this, we are organizing a compilation of our favourite 8bit songs for release on Lies Records.”
So yes, Crystal Castles did create derivative works based on the music of chip music artists without proper attribution (though the attribution wasn’t the band’s doing)– two Creative Commons agreement no-no’s. But since they didn’t release or perform the works– and deny that they were responsible for disseminating them– it would be hard to mount a case for the third Creative Commons violation (”commercial gain”). And indeed, even the other two Creative Commons conditions wouldn’t apply to experiments that were intended to remain in the bedroom/studio.
We may never know how most of the early Crystal Castles material made it online, but since Kath and Glass insist it wasn’t their doing– and since they’ve made clear their intention to not release any of the sampled material without permission– we think it’s high time to call off the witch hunt.
In other news, Crystal Castles have loads of touring to attend to this summer, including a round of dates with Nine Inch Nails. They’ll release a new UK single for “Vanished” in 7″ and digital formats via Different Recordings on July 21. They also hope to issue a new EP and a collection of remixes in the fall. “
Once again, thanks for the shoutout Pitchfork! The article pretty much sums up the issue from inception to ‘Insecticon” and they’ve come to the same conclusion as us down here at Cannibal Cheerleader, that we need to end this senseless argument over what are essentially Ethan Kath’s home recordings. You can read the original Pitchfork post here.
Also, as you can read from this update, Crystal Castles hope to be releasing a new EP and a remix LP sometime this fall. Awesome news! I imagine there will be a lot of comments on this article so since you can’t post public comments over at the P4K, bring them here. What do people think about this one?
Crystal Castles – “Alice Practice (Future Cop Remix)” ******************************************************************** CONOR OBERST SOLO LP/TOUR WITH JENNY LEWIS According to Stereogum, Conor Oberst is revealing more and more about his upcoming Conor Oberst LP and his tour with the Mystic Valley Band. In fact you can head over to Mr. Oberst’s site http://www.conoroberst.com/album/ right now and check out two additional tracks from his upcoming release, “Souled Out” and “Danny Callahan”. Also, according to Pitchfork Conor Oberst will be touring with none other than Jenny Lewis of Rilo Kiley for some of his fall tour dates in support of his self-titled album. The tracks here sound more upbeat than Cassadaga but certainly don’t dissappoint with their creativity or spirtuality. As Stereogum said, “Nothing like some alien sightings to bring some joy back to the songwriting process”.
Jenny Lewis and Conor Oberst will both be playing solo sets at this year’s Austin City Limits Fest so maybe we’ll get our first glimpse of the two together during one of their respective sets! Here’s another Conor Oberst track taken from a Mystic Valley Band live show that’s been circling the Internet for a while. Enjoy!
******************************************************************** THE ROLLER PLAYS THURSDAY @ RED 7 And you know we’ll be there to check it out, camera in hand! Just wanted to announce this as The Roller are fast becoming one of Austin’s preeminent metal acts, so catch ‘em now before they’re too big to catch!
The Roller – “Rattle of the Shaman” ******************************************************************** MAXMILLION DUNBAR AKA VULTURE V Seems that emcee Vulture V from Baltimore’s Food For Animals (http://www.myspace.com/thefoodforanimals) has a side project as a producer under the moniker Maxmillion Dunbar, and his first 7” featuring two new tracks just dropped via Future Times. Check out this first track “Outrageous Soulz” – quite a summer sizzler if we do say so ourselves!
Maxmillion Dunbar – “Outrageous Soulz” ******************************************************************** ACTION DESIGN DEBUT NEW TRACK ON MYSPACE Our favorite post-Tsunami Bomb female fronted pop-punk act the Action Design (yay for Agent M for getting back on her feet!) has a new track on their Myspace, a cover of grunge act Seaweed’s track “Kid Candy”, and believe us, it plays in the spirit of few punkers today. Action Design sound like what reading the Love and Rockets comic book feels like – the story of punks growing up, getting smarter, and looking inside for something deep amidst all that rage. Great stuff and it’s what made us include Action Design as one of our top ten new bands this year so far. Definitely check the band out at their Myspace and listen to “Kid Candy” – you won’t regret it!
Regular readers of Cannibal Cheerleader will be familiar with one of our favorite acts the Action Design who played our inaugural Blood Bath SXSW day party a week ago. The band rocketed through a seven song set of classics, even throwing in a Misfits cover for good measure! Seriously, this group bleeds cool in classic style and got the whole of the Peacock dancing in fine form. This group has come a long way since Tsunami Bomb and because of that we feel they’ll all the better for it, having improved their sound immeasurably to the tune of a dance-rock powerhouse.
A funny story must be included about the group whose guitarist Jaycen woke up last Wednesday morning with a terrible stomach pain and had to be rushed to the hospital. We were called in the midst of the performance of opener Vermillion Lies with the news that the band’s attendance might have to be an acoustic set, if anything at all. That said, once Jaycen was freed from his IV tethers, the group raced up to Austin from San Antonio at breakneck speed and despite some delays managed to play a scorching last set of the day. Definitely worth the wait, and let it never be said that this band isn’t a troupe of troopers. Check out some videos and more pictures below!
The Action Design – “Half A World”
