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White Fence announces new LP, CYCLOPS REAP, hear a new track now

“I have cyclops vision now. But I’m not a giant. I changed my name and body only, and stabbed my social nous in the right ear. I still read fear but there are no police this year. I can repeat the same dream. I can let birds talk to me. I’m in jail. I have love and a whistle. I lay where the lotus lay and then spring the frozen flowers on any giving day. I apologize to those put in the trees, but I was gathering the Cyclops reap.

In the span of 4 1/2 years. I’ve lived in two different apartments and have used three different rooms during this time. All in Echo Park, Los Angeles, CA, only a couple miles from one another. After the death of my father in 2008 I started writing and recording non-stop in these rooms. I can’t say it was directly because of that trauma, but I think deep down it might have much to do about it. This record was initially going to be a collection of the many songs trapped between the 4 White Fence LP’s. As i was putting that together, there were more coming. a better crop. i couldn’t stop. So, instead of a retrospective i said “Fuck It”. might as well use the most current songs of the bunch. For the exception of “Make Them Dinner At Our Shoes” which is from 2009.”

- Tim Presley

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Extreme metallers The Agonist have announced a string of dates with Danzig and Corrosion Of Conformity along the West Coast! In regards to these upcoming tour dates (and the recent cancellation of their trek with CRADLE OF FILTH in February/March), the band comments:

“We were very honored and excited to have been included on this tour with three amazing bands that we have the utmost admiration and respect for…So when news of the cancellation came through we were not only disappointed but heartbroken about losing out on the entire experience of touring with CRADLE OF FILTH, THE FACELESS and DECAPITATED. All the members of THE AGONIST have been gearing up for this tour since the fall of last year and we were really looking forward to putting on an amazing show for both old fans and new fans alike…But alas, THE AGONIST moves on and is proud to announce an upcoming tour with the almighty DANZIG(!!!) as well as the legendary CORROSION OF CONFORMITY in the month of April, 2013! As a way to still connect with our fans, we will be holding specials in our online merch store throughout the next month. We want to wish the best of luck to the bands that were on this tour and as for the fans, the wait will be more than worth it when we come to your town in the upcoming year!” Read more

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Barsuk Records is excited to release Maps & Atlases‘ new video for “Fever,” off their latest album Beware & Be Grateful. NPR premiered the video as part of their “First Watch” series, and it is available for posting. The clip, which further develops the story of an anonymous man introduced in their album trailer video, was directed by guitarist Erin Elders and produced by drummer Chris Hainey.

Maps & Atlases, who just began a European tour, is thrilled to announce a spring US tour. The tour begins April 16th at The Aquarium in Fargo and wraps up on May 9 at the Waiting Room in Omaha. Full tour dates, including the current European trek, are below.

Beware & Be Grateful – which follows the Chicago-based band’s acclaimed 2010 debut, Perch Patchwork – was recorded last year in a series of week-long sessions at Omaha’s ARC Studios with producer Jason Cupp (Nurses, Good Old War) once again behind the board.

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February is now half over already, proving my personal theory that time is speeding up. Just a couple of weeks ago, which is like dog years in internet time, one of my favorite new hip-hops bands Flatbush Zombies dropped a new music video. I discovered them last year in 2012. Already quickly approaching half a million views, this unique and mind altering short film documents the emerging underground hip-hop scene of New York City in 2013. The group released their dope mixtape D.R.U.G.S. last year, and in 2013  are expected to release their new mixtape Better Off Dead. It has been on Spin, Stereogum, Pitchfork, and every other blog. This was directed by Phillip T. Annand, edited by Vinny Picone, shot by TONE & Vinny Picone, and produced by Erick Arc Elliott. We are also including a soundcloud version for ya.

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Since releasing their debut full-length Con Law in 2009, Generationals have consistently delivered pop hooks shone through a melancholic prism. 2013′s Heza brings the band to Polyvinyl and along with the label change, comes a subtle but significant sonic shift.
Recorded in phases at Jim Eno’s Public Hifi in Austin, producer Daniel Black’s Bent Black studio in D.C., and the band’s hometown of New Orleans, Heza finds Generationals more satisfied in writing songs that breathe and grow over time. These songs show restraint, with hooks developing in the spaces between sounds. The attention to rhythms and textures reveals a more patient band — one willing to dig for deeper gems than in their previous work. Tracks like “You Got Me” and “Put a Light On” use minimalist electronic frameworks to match the intensity of more straightforward guitarwork on “Spinoza” and “I Never Know,” all of them paying more attention to layers and textures than to forcing the hook. On Heza, Generationals aren’t so much shedding their old skin as growing more comfortable in the one they’ve always inhabited. Read more

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The Useless Eaters have little hints of classic punk like the Urinals and the Fall reveal themselves throughout the album’s nineteen(!) minutes, but the same could be said for most garage-punk records these days. What sets Sutton apart is his magnetic charisma and his ability to siphon all of his influences into a style very much his own.

Useless Eaters are set to release their new LP Hypertension on Jeffery Drag Records on February 19th. MTV Hive just premiered their new “Hypertension” video. It was directed by Beau Welsh, and shot in Nashville, TN.

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Brisbane, Australia’s surf-fuzz duo Dune Rats have announced that they are headed to the US in March for select shows on both coasts and appearances in several SXSW showcases (all tour dates below).  Recently the group created quite a stir with the release of the video for the  version of their new single “Red Light Green Light”, a take on a video their friends in the band DZ Deathrays did where they drank an entire bottle of liquor during the 3 minutes of the song.  Dune Rats upped the ante and for 3 minutes did, well, exactly what you might imagine would happen in a “green” version of the song.  As Vice’s Motherboard said, “Jesus Christ, what a concept…  Everyone can stop trying, is what I’m getting at.”  The Red Light version, while not nearly as wild, is equally as fun – it shows the band breaking into Coney Island last fall and running wild.

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Atlanta’s reigning garage rock daughters The Coathangers return March 19 with the third installment in their series of split 7”s on Suicide Squeeze. This time they’ve teamed up with labelmates Nü Sensae. Both new listeners and longtime fans of The Coathangers will be whipped into a frenzy with “Derek’s Song”, a party-banger perfectly encapsulating the quartet’s capacity for sharp hooks and jagged instrumentation.

Despite the casualness of The Coathangers’ approach to making music, that devil-may-care attitude and rowdy house-show vibe resonates with folks across the globe. The band will hit the road this Spring and will be at this year’s SXSW, followed by a European tour with Trail of Dead. Nü Sensae contributed “Throw” to their side of the split. Rounding out their sound with the recent addition of guitarist Brody McKnight, Nü Sensae’s newest song is a ferocious and harrowing leap forward. Brody unleashes foreboding guitar squalls while bassist/vocalist Andrea Lukic rages like Kim Gordon at her most incendiary moments and Daniel Pitout beats his drums to a bloody pulp. The Nü Sensae side will make you wanna go torch a car, check it out!.

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Neil Busch, former vocalist/bassist/songwriter in ...And You Will Know Us By The Trail Of Dead during that band’s peak is back with a new band called LVMRKS and forthcoming debut album. The group also features bassist Jonathan Hischke (Broken Bells, Hella, Dot Hacker, et al.) and drummer Dave Clifford (Red Sparowes, The VSS) alongside Busch on vocals/guitar/keyboards.

LVMRKS shares the first song from their debut today, the cupid-themed song, “Valentine” available to stream

The album, Pale Fairytale was recorded and mixed by Toshi Kasai (Melvins, Tool, Big Business) and will be available on LP and download on May 21st, 2013. Read more

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PACIFIC AIR, have hit the road with Walk The Moon. The jaunt will see the group traverse the entire east coast in support of its recently released four-song debut EP for Republic Records, Long Live Koko. Then, in February, they’ll embark on a run with Ra Ra Riot leading up through March. Watch the sunny and sexy music video for the first single “Float” on VEVO now.

In addition, they’ll appear at The Governor’s Ball June 7-9 on Randall’s Island, NY alongside superstars and powerhouse acts such as Kanye West, Kings of Leon, Pretty Lights, Grizzly Bear, The XX, The Avett Brothers, and many more. Read more