Pre-orders for The Dillinger Escape Plan’s final LP are now up.
The Flatliners – “Ahead by a Century” Cover
The Flatliners have released an acoustic cover of The Tragically Hip’s “Ahead by a Century.” You can find that below.
Every Time I Die Has Announced a Fall Tour
Every Time I Die have announced their fall tour. The full set of dates can be found below.
The Wonder Years Announce New Tour Dates
The Wonder Years will be heading out on tour with Real Friends, Knuckle Puck, and Moose Blood. The tour dates can be found below.
The Front Bottoms – “2YL” Video
The Front Bottoms have released their new video for “2YL.”
The Weakerthans’ John K. Samson Announces Solo Album
The Weakerthans’ frontman, John K. Samson, has announced a new solo album called Winter Wheat. The album will be out on October 21st. John sat down to talk with the AV Club about the new album, and stream “Postdoc Blues.”
And while Weakerthans fans have been held over by Samson’s 2012 solo album, Provincial, Winter Wheat has something that record didn’t: The Weakerthans rhythm section. Co-produced by [Jason] Tait—as well as Samson’s partner and collaborator, Christine Fellows—Winter Wheat sees three-fourths of The Weakerthans core turning up throughout the album.
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Cymbals Eat Guitars – “Have a Heart”
Cymbals Eat Guitars have released their new song “Have a Heart” on Spotify and Apple Music. The song comes from the band’s upcoming album, Pretty Years, due out September 16th.
Sponsor: Win an Amazing Ibanez and Tama Prize Package
Want to win over $5,000 in music gear and promo items from Disc Makers, Ibanez, and Tama? Of course you do. Nirvana, The Jimi Hendrix Experience, Rush — what do they all have in common? A guitar, a bass, and a drum kit, of course. Now you have the chance to add a triple threat setup to your own gear lineup with this massive prize package from Ibanez and Tama. Yes, the same Ibanez and Tama that players such as Steve Vai, Joe Satriani, and Mike Portnoy rock.
The grand prize trio includes:
- Guitar: Ibanez Talman with Combo Amp and TSMINI tube screamer mini pedal
- Bass: Ibanez Talman bass with 20 WATT 1 x 8 Combo Amp
- Drums: Tama Imperialstar 5-piece drum kit with complete hardware and cymbals
And if that isn’t enough, you’ll also win a 1,000 CD production package from Disc Makers, digital music distribution from CD Baby, 100 custom t-shirts from Merch.ly, and more. Ok, no more reading, it’s time to go sign up right here.
Review: Boys Like Girls – Boys Like Girls
10 years ago, it didn’t seem like Boys Like Girls were going to be a band anyone cared about a decade after the fact. Skyrocketed to success by Purevolume and Myspace, Boys Like Girls seemed inextricably tied to the mid-2000s even when they were just getting started. You need only look at some of the bands Boys Like Girls toured with in those early days (Cute is What We Aim For, Hit the Lights, A Thorn for Every Heart) to get a sense for what could have happened to BLG 10 years after the arrival of their debut record. Essentially, they’d have a handful of fans but not a ton of respect or clout, and they’d be cashing in on nostalgia more than pushing things forward in their music careers. Or they wouldn’t exist in any form. One of the two.
Bon Iver Perform New Album Live
Bon Iver’s full set, where they performed their new album 22, A Million in full, is up on YouTube.
Elliotte Friedman on the Viral Michael Phelps Race Call
By now you’ve probably seen the viral video of a Canadian announcer messing up the call while Michael Phelps wins yet another gold medal. Michael Rosenberg spoke with the announcer for Sports Illustrated and it’s a master class in taking responsibility and dedication to your profession:
He only has two requests. One is that I write that if an athlete messed up like that, we would want the athlete to talk, and that’s why he is doing this. He is no hypocrite. The second request is that I put the mistake entirely on him. When I ask if a producer or production assistant was in his earpiece during the race, he bristles. It’s his fault, he says. Entirely his. Write it that way.
The Shins to Release New Album Next Year
According to a recent interview, The Shins have completed their new album and it’ll be released “early next year.”
Dan Layus – “Dangerous Things”
The Election Won’t Be Rigged. But It Could Be Hacked.
As President Obama pointed out in a news conference last week, where he called charges of electoral rigging “ridiculous,” states and cities set up voting systems, not the federal government. That’s true, and it means the voting machine landscape is a patchwork of different systems, which makes the election hard to manipulate in a coordinated way.
But it’s still a bleak landscape.
Over the years, the team at Princeton, cooperating with other researchers, has managed to disable and tamper with many direct recording electronic systems that use touch-screen computers without a verifiable paper trail.
Sponsor: Thanks to the Descendents
Once again I’d like to offer my thanks to the Descendents for sponsoring Chorus this week. The band released their brand new album (and first in over a decade), Hypercaffium Spazzinate, about two weeks ago and you should definitely go give it a listen or pick it up. Do you like pop-punk? These guys are one of the first, and best, to ever do it. The new album is no exception. It’s full of fast, fun, and catchy pop-punk music.
Dates for their North American tour kick off September 15th in Minneapolis at First Avenue and wrap up November 12th in Portland at Roseland Theater. The full tour routing can be found below.