Less Than Jake’s recent tour found the ever-reliable ska punk act doling out a career-spanning mix of fan favorites and deep cuts. Watch them open with “Automatic,” “Plastic Cup Politics,” and “Shindo” – along with accompanying irreverent stage banter and toilet paper guns – live from their stop at College Street Music Hall in New Haven, CT on April 16, 2019.
I shot and edited the footage with additional filming by Sam Swider.
Alex Suskind, writing at Entertainment Weekly:
Then, during the Reputation Tour, she had an epiphany: that despite the caricature that she thought had been created of her, there were many people who saw what others had simply refused to. “I would look out into the audience and I’d see these amazing, thoughtful, caring, wonderful, empathetic people,” she says. “So often with our takedown culture, talking s— about a celebrity is basically the same as talking s— about the new iPhone. So when I go and I meet fans, I see that they actually see me as a flesh-and-blood human being. That — as contrived as it may sound — changed [me] completely, assigning humanity to my life.”
On the latest single from the Austin rock trio, “Let Me Down” finds Culture Wars navigating through a difficult relationship that is starting to drift astray. Lead vocalist Alex Dugan wears his heart on his sleeve with lyrics such as, “I don’t want to fight no more/Voicemail right away/I know how this goes.” His vocal delivery comes across as earnest, heartfelt, and powerful all at the same time.
The song is masterfully crafted around a guitar riff through the verses and builds up to a great pre-chorus that eventually explodes into a catchy hook. Lead guitarist and electronic musician Mic Vredenburgh allows the song to brood with confidence at he provides a vast, yet dark landscape to complete the picture of Dugan’s vision. Drummer David Grayson knows just when to give delicateness to the beats in the verses, and provides pulse-pounding fills in the chorus to allow the track to soar to new heights. It’s there on the chorus where Dugan confesses, “I’m just waiting for you to let me down/So get all the way, get all the way down.” The track itself allows for thoughtful reflection in the verses, while still allowing the listener to dance their cares away in the chorus.
Telethon will release their new album Hard Pop on June 21st. Today they’ve released a video for “How Long Do I Let It Go For?” and pre-orders are now up.
Charly Bliss talked with MTV about their really awesome upcoming album:
Hendricks is made of these moments. “Part of it is I have no chill, I’m a super intense person,” she says. “I remember back in high school, I’d become obsessed with one person, and felt like I was madly in love with them. I’d drive around in my car and cry about them, and I remember thinking: No one has ever felt this much, no one knows what this feels like.” That teenage feeling — the one which isolates you in your intensity, as though the whole world’s going down on a sinking ship — has extended into Hendricks’s adult life and Charly Bliss’s latest album.
A new documentary called Parallel Love follows the story of an early Tooth and Nail Records band called Luxury. The trailer is now up and more information on screenings can be found here.
‘Parallel Love: The Story of a Band Called Luxury’ follows the path of Luxury, a band from small-town Georgia, who, on the cusp of success, suffer a devastating touring wreck with long-term consequences. In the intervening years, they continue to make records and three members of the band become Eastern Orthodox priests. Through interviews and archival footage, ‘Parallel Love’ tells the gripping and poignant story of Luxury and documents the making of a new record, now as priests.
Read More “‘Parallel Love – The Story of a Band Called Luxury’”
Angels and Airwaves have upgraded some venues and added new shows for their upcoming tour. Tom DeLonge also gave a nice little shout out to Blink-182 and Simple Creatures on Instagram yesterday.
Benji Rogers, writing on Medium:
I went back into PledgeMusic just over three months ago as a volunteer to try and help the board and team turn around and sell the company, but I am sad to report that this effort has not met with success and that PledgeMusic will shortly be heading into administration.
I cannot begin to appreciate how all of you affected artists are feeling about this and I am deeply sorry for what you have been through.
I ask all of the fans to please understand the awful and near impossible situation that this has put the artists that you love and supported in, and as such I ask you to bear with them as they do their best to make any obligations to you right.
Trash Boat’s cover of Linkin Park’s “Given Up” is up on Spotify and Apple Music.
Carly Rae Jepsen is back with “Too Much.”
Bring Me the Horizon have released a video for “Mother Tongue.”
Kacey Musgraves has released a video for “Oh, Why a World.”
Much the Same will be releasing their new album, Everything is Fine, later this year.