???

I really don't know what to make of this.

An Evening With We Are Scientists (Starland Ballroom)

Sounds of Thunder: Your newest release, With Love and Squalor, has already hit the shelves in the UK, and will be making its way to record stores across the US in January. Is it true that it will be released here as a dual disc CD/DVD, with a DVD full of videos for each track on the record?

Chris Cain: Well, actually the dual disc format has been abandoned by man and record company alike, which we all know isn’t man. The record will be released on January 10th 2006 as a single disc. We will also be releasing a deluxe edition of the album. Depending on sales of the first release, it will be release a month after, or a day after. But no later than a month. We will be selling just the DVD on tour for fuckers who already bought the album and don’t want to get ripped off.

Keith Murray: Ohhh… you guys started without me? That’s it, we’re out of here. Let’s go.

CC: Oh, we were just talking about the dual disc.

KM: Ah, the dual disc, well, what’s there to say? Virgin is only doing the single disc for now. We only got one copy of it each.

SoT: Man. Has Virgin been treating you well?

CC: Yeah, we like it. Better than having to do all this shit ourselves.

SoT: Do you miss playing the smaller venues on your own and not opening for larger bands at larger places?

CC: Well, it’s nice playing to larger crowds. I remember, like, going to Columbus, Ohio once, and we literally played to Bishop Allen. And the trip to Columbus is no short order.

SoT: Will you guys ever play with Bishop Allen on tour again? Or is that out of the question now you’re on Virgin?

CC & KM: *Laughter*

KM: No, never… Probably.

CC: Well, we’ll be back in the area on tour in mid to late January. And I think that Bishop Allen have a few dates they’re working around. And as we all know, Bishop Allen doesn’t cancel shows. So, this time, it’ll probably be without them. But I’m sure we’ll play with them in the future.

KM: It’s nice playing the larger shows like tonight. Thank God for Hot Hot Heat.

SoT: Speaking of Hot Hot Heat, you’ve been likened to them musically every once in a while. Is it sort of weird opening for them?

KM: It’s very odd. It’s very like alpha-male. Everyone is kind of sizing each other up. Who’s gonna have total domination of this sound tonight? Sometimes it’s us, once it was Hot Hot Heat.

CC: I think the weirdest thing for me was the first night, when I watched their bass player, Dustin, at how he treated those songs, our songs, the songs we all play. Because there are a couple of differences, I mean it takes a bass player to know the difference. He insists it’s the same bass line. It isn’t. It’s a difference of feel

KM: There’s a certain personality to the way he kinda hits, the way he does that up. He picks upwards on that one. And you go down for that one hit.

CC: You know what it is? He wears athletic shoes. And I don’t wear athletic shoes.

KM: You wouldn’t. So the bands are quite different, if only in that respect.

SoT: So, I know you’ve heard this before…

KM: Yeah, we’ve heard it all before. Don’t feel bad.

SoT: You were kind of “discovered” in England, after a British DJ saw you guys at SxSW last year, and you’ve been touring there extensively since. Is it strange that you’re more well known in England than you are here?

KM: It’s weird because everything is upside down. Very odd.

CC: In England you write with your eraser, you uh… you know. When you fire a gun, you die. Inevitably.

KM: You use your food to eat your utensils. It’s insane.

CC: But once you get used to it, it’s kind of fun. It’s kind of kooky.

KM: When We Are Scientists shows up at a show, so do bands. It’s all backwards. It’s all exactly the opposite of the USA.

CC: Loopy.

SoT: So, at the risk of angering you guys, I was going to ask about some of the older stuff.

CC: It’s a little late to worry about that, my friend.

KM: Ask away!

SoT: First, Ode to Star L23.

KM: Rest in Peace.

CC: Not a song! Different band! Ahhh!

SoT: Is there a Star L23? I’ve done my research; haven’t been able to find anything.

KM: So then, why are you asking? You, one of the world’s foremost astronomers. Why would you ask us?

CC: When you say you did your research, do you mean you actually checked the skies for Star L23?

SoT: Yes.

KM: You’re very thorough, you’re very thorough. We recant. Our mistake, our mistake.

SoT: What was the whole obsession with Mothra? I mean, Mothra’s cool, but why was…

KM: The obsession with Mothra. I hardly think that one song is an obsession. It’s a healthy curiosity.

SoT: Weren’t there two? “Mothra Under the Sea” and “Mothra vs. We Are Scientists”.

KM: Well… let’s be honest, that was the same song. Just two different flavahs.

SoT: Like “Callbacks” now.

KM: Exactly. You could ask, “what’s our obsession with ‘Callbacks’?” Well, that’s an obsession, I’ll be honest.

SoT: Why is it that you guys don’t play any of the older material on tour anymore? I miss the days when I could go see you guys and you would play “Bomb Inside the Bomb” or “Selective Memory”.

KM: Well, that’s the thing. That’s exactly what I wanted to hear. We’re very spiteful. We’re very spiteful fellows. There’s nothing we relish more than taking the stage, and watching tears stream from a man’s eyes as we near the end of the set, and we didn’t play “Bomb Inside the Bomb”.

CC: Fuck ‘em. Fuck them.

KM: God. Seriously, such power you’ve never known.

CC: Unlimited.

KM: It’s really unlimited power. But it grows stronger with every song we write and then abandon.

CC: Then how is it unlimited if it keeps growing? Unknown.

KM: It’s a paradox.

SoT: Will we every hear these songs again?

CC: You’ll have to travel. I vow that we will play a reunion fucking set in Claremont someday. And you will have to travel. And you will. You want it that bad.

KM: So either you’ll have to travel to Claremont or travel through time.

CC: Yeah, which will be easier.

KM: Actually, what this is, is our bid at trying to bolster everyone’s ambition towards developing time travel. We really would love to travel through time. We don’t have the knowledge. So what we need to do is write a bunch of songs we then abandon to get scientists craaazy to get back there.

CC: It’s like how George Bush encourages the space program by cutting NASA’s budget. It’s the same idea. The same principle. We learn from him. Everyday actually.

KM: He encourages space travel by making the earth almost totally uninhabitable.

*Raucous laughter*

CC: Negative reinforcement in other words. Negative reinforcement.

SoT: Alright, so now we spoke a little about the dual disc already. But, about the videos. In the video for one of your new singles, “Nobody Move, Nobody Get Hurt”, who is in the bear suit? Is it a real bear? Is there a person in it?

KM: Are you asking if there’s a real bear in the bear suit? Yes. Yes there is.

SoT: How were you picked to be eaten? Did you draw the short straw?

KM: Hey, that’s nature’s way, my friend. Survival of the fittest.

CC: Yeah, exactly. Did the duck-billed platypus draw the short straw? I mean, I dunno, in a sense, yeah. But that’s just what happens. The way nature decided things should be. Now putting the bear in a bear suit, which I think was genius, was our way of dodging PETA, which can be really nasty about putting animals in videos. You have to have handlers on set, to make sure the animals aren’t abused. We didn’t have the budget. But we did have $110 to rent a bear suit to put on this California Brown Bear. So that’s exactly what we did. He handled it well. He sweated like a motherfucker, all day.

KM: We were stuffing salmon under the fold of the suit. He was a good sport.

CC: We put herring through the eye holes.

KM: He went nuts for it. And I think he started loving that by the end. I think we converted him to herring. Actually, at the end of the shoot we all got together, put cash in a hat and bought him a fucking flight to Denmark. And I think he’s going to be one happy bear.

SoT: So, to digress, Chris, how long did it take you to grow such a wonderful moustache?

CC: Well, I’ll be honest. It wasn’t until about a month that it looked anything approaching respectable. But it wasn’t until I finally understood Einstein’s theory of relativity that it started to look like Tom Sellek’s moustache. I don’t know what the connection is. I don’t know if there is one. But was it a coincidence? It was, they coincided. So, there you go.

SoT: I know that your album hasn’t even come out here yet, but you’ve had some down time. You know, you’ve had most of the material written and recorded. Some of the songs are from the Wolf’s Hour EP. Are we going to see any new material any time soon?

KM: Never. Never ever ever ever.

CC: I’ll be honest. If these songs don’t make us 100 million dollars, then I’ll bite my own head off. It’s impossible, either way. So you see what I’m saying? Why would we write more songs¸ when we have more money than we’ll ever need guaranteed to us?

KM: We don’t do this because we like it. We do this because we want 100 million dollars.

CC: To split three ways, with 15% for our manager.

KM: After everyone gets their piece, we’re looking at a tidy hundred thou’ each. That’s when we buy an island, I guess.

CC: That’s going straight into my grandchildren’s college fund.

KM: Yeah, they’ll never have to work.

CC: Never have to work again, through their way through college. Semantically that was a tough sentence, but you know what I mean.

SoT: I know Tapper’s not here, but…

KM: How do you know that? How can you be so sure?

SoT: He could be, but I don’t physically see him.

KM: Alright, fair enough.

SoT: Who were your musically influences?

KM: Well, let’s list Tapper’s first.

CC: Mariah Carey, Hall & Oates, he’s always loved all the hair metal from the 80’s, Poison, Motley Crue, up to Guns and Roses.

KM: We got here, I don’t know if you saw the sign outside said “Metal Mania” was a couple days ago, featuring Janie Lane of Warrant, Don Dokken of Dokken, Kip Winger of Winger. He walked in, and saw the set list featuring all of those illustrious names. The reason Tapper’s not here is because he’s sobbing into a towel in the dressing room that we missed it.

CC: He put a giant pancake splat right into his boxer shorts. And let’s be honest, that’s our poetic way of putting it. He loves hair metal.

SoT: What about you guys?

KM: We like Judas Priest, that’s about it.

CC: Yeah, I honestly can’t think of another musical influence.

SoT: When you were wee little Chris and Keith, who did you listen to?

CC: The first concert I went to was Def Leppard, which I undeniably enjoyed.

KM: Bon Jovi, undeniably enjoyed.

CC: I saw the Slippery When Wet tour. That was my second concert.

KM: Wow, I think I only saw, I think New Jersey was my first one. You got me.

CC: I was 12 or something. I think my sister took me.

SoT: Alright, I think that about wraps up the scheduled questions. Thanks so much for indulging us.

And yea another lad burst upon the indie blog scene, and they dubbed him Brian the Guest Writer

Hello, how are you doing? Good? Oh, that's nice. That's good to he- oh, me? I'm doing alright. Who am I? Well, I'm neither Kyle or Ross, even though this is really their blog. I am too lazy for such things, and going to school in the middle of a cornfield with no transportation (DeSales University- a history of suck) has slowed my intake of delicious indie shows to a crawl. A crawl, I dare say! However, Kyle and Ross have been kind enough to throw me the occasional hit of show during my withdrawal, for which I am grateful. They have also entrusted me to be a guest writer for their review of the Man Man show we were able to intake greedily through our ears, peepers, and the other delightful assortment of senses. So, to be concise, Kyle and Ross say I can be the occasional ghostwriter, except without the ability to be a floating yellow orb (obscure children's television show referance, squee!). Unfortunately, all I had the chance/ knowledge to write about was the Man Man portion of the show. Hopefully Kyle or Ross will add some more info about the other acts later. Hope you enjoy the review, if you squint real hard at it you'll think you're reading something right off of Pitchfork Media. MMM, overwrought!

Seeing Man Man live is like watching a kick to your head. Chaos and coherence form an organized riot on the stage, as men in differing white outfits bang out music with all the spiritual enthusiasm of whirling dervishes, spinning themselves closer and closer to a higher musical power. Look closely at each band member as they play, and you can see the passion flit across their faces, a myriad of emotions that dance and change in seeming emotive rhythm with their music. Caught in the front of the crowd, I could see the drummer’s face form into the occasional scowl, or maybe it was a yowl, as though he was crying without tears; the man who pounded mantra-beatings on my heart was feeling the music wash over him, yet still played the role of emotional conductor to the audience. Near the middle of the performance the music was a physical presence squatting on my heart, which would have had me worried if I cared about a heart attack.
It’s hard to relate the thrill of seeing a Man Man show to one who wasn’t there; at best, all I can do is toss in a cut-up of sensory descriptions from my over-stimulated mind. Two girls beside me at the show nursed a bottle of whisky back to health at the beginning of the set, so for me Man Man is a force of nature with the bittersweet rank of whiskey and sweat. Man Man is a string of glowing eyes wrapped around an electric piano base, a yellow lit drum squatting in their sight. A pair of spatulas beat against themselves, and then anything within their reach. A glowing orb thing that seemed to serve no musical purpose except to add another layer of eccentricity to an already surreal scene.
A kick ass show by a kick ass band.
If Man Man’s goal is to overwhelm their audience with both music and spectacle, they pull it off without a hitch. Their music creates a sense of chaotic melody that wraps itself around a listener’s brain, numbing him to anything else besides the sound and the show. I love it when the music takes over all your senses, leaving you to revel in the sound from your own creative zone; it’s as close to perfect meditation as I can get, and I love every band that brings me there.
Oh, and spectacle? Goodness me, but they are fun to watch. Although I’ve yet to see them perform in their crazier costumes, the show was still an unreal experience. Through the chaos ran a strange current of coherence, which raised its head occasionally throughout the show (mmm…mixing metaphors). I nearly had a stroke when, during one song, the sitting members of the band repeatedly jumped out of their chairs without seeming to have choreographed the move beforehand, and at the same time managed to leave the song flawless.
All this musical goodness, and apparently with almost all new members in the band. As Man Man mainstay and lead singer/keyboardist Honus Honus informed our inquisitive young Kyle on our way out, the Man Man we saw perform at the Terrace Club with Ted Leo back in March was an entirely different version from the one we just saw play; in fact, that version of the band broke up just a week after we were lucky enough to see them, reflecting the group’s revolving door policy.
So in about eight months, this new band was able to both perform such a tight set and also record a new album (due out soon)?
Only one word can describe that, dear reader, and it applies to the entire band as well:
Sextastic. Simply Sextastic.

Whoa! Sorry guys.

I'm must profusely appologize for the rift in posting; absolutely nothing has happened in indie news lately. However, Kyle and I have been to two shows since the last post, so expect a review of The Roaring 20s/The Harlem Shakes and the before and after parties and another review of Charles Bissell (of The Wrens), Man Man, and some Okkervil River. The reason for this post is a bit of information that was obtained from the last show we went to. After we decided to leave the show, we ran into Honus Honus, the lead singer of Man Man, and he bestowed upon us a bit of information regarding a song on their next album, Six Demon Bag. Apparently, a song of this album will be released sometime soon on Pitchfork Media, so keep your eyes open!

Man Man
Pitchfork Media

Wanna be famous?

Good news everyone! Of Montreal is looking for a new website, and you could be the one to design it. They want something fancy, and easily updateable by the band with a lot of flash animations, I'm assuming something like their new video for "Wraith Pinned to the Mist (and other games)". If you think that you might be able to satisfy their needs, please, send an email with an example of your ideas to these guys. Leave a comment if you do send them something, I'm sure our readers would love to see it.

Of Montreal
"Wraith Pinned to the Mist (and other games)" video

I Like Bands That Live Up To Their Names

Well, as Ross and I find ourselves in the greatest slump in our concert schedule since last month, there is nothing left but for me to find some fairly obscure bands and show them to you so that you can investigate each one. Like some sort of dog show, but for bands. You check their coat, look under their ears, see them walk their walk, etc. Anyway, I have a bonafide purebred for all you who read this blog (all almost twenty of you).

The Spectacular Fantastic is one of those bands who, once you hear them, you're stunned that you haven't heard of them before. In fact, after listening to their album a few times, it seems as though you have been tuning in to them for months, nay, years. Their songs just have that quality about them that makes it feel like they've been your best friend for ages. The newest material from them, entitled "The Spectacular Fantastic Goes Underground", is actually streamed on their website. That's right, you can listen to all 14 tracks, free of charge. They also have their older I Love You EP free for download on their website. Got enough free stuff? Of course not. Well, you're in luck. Mike Detmer, the brains behind the Spectacular Fantastic, also has a solo album, Four Track Heart, One Track Mind, available on the website (shhh... it's a secret). He wrote and recorded it in an apparent two week time period in 2003 after he was, for one reason or another, seperated from his love. The work itself, if considered in context, is a masterpiece. A fair amount of the tracks are obviously rough, but that's to be expected when you finish all the aspects of an album in a mere two weeks.

Anyway, to get back to the point, the Spectacular Fantastic have brought a new brand of laid back folky pop to the world, and for that, we should all thank them... and throw money at them. Unfortunately, it doesn't seem as though they get to the Tristate area all that much. As for now they're working on converting the Ohio/Kentucky crowd. Rest assured, however, that once they decide to grace the Big Apple, I'll be there. Most likely, so will Ross.


The Spectacular Fantastic
I Love You EP
Four Track Heart, One Track Mind

By the way, there may be a bit of a slackening in the posting in the next few days, from me at least. School's a bitch, ain't it? Hopefully I'll be able to muscle on through it and get to all of you adoring people out there.

Oh... and who thinks we should make "Sounds of Thunder" stickers? Leave a comment on your opinion.

The Five Maseratis

Well, by now, I think it's safe to assume that if you've been reading this blog, you know that I really like guitar pop. Well, here's another one of those obscure bands that I've known about for a while who deserve a spot on this blog.

I saw the Five Maseratis open for Ted Leo a few months ago at CBGB's alongside the Willowz (I know... the review is coming. Patience.) and others. I would say that, for the night, and besides Ted, the four-piece (that's right, four guys, five maseratis) were my favorite band that played. They are able to marry nice catchy guitar rhythms with a fair but not obnoxious amount of synthesizer. Their self-titled EP is truly amazing. I was lucky enough to get a free one at the CBGB's show. They're able to play songs like "Sandwich (I Asked For A)", and "Astronaut Ice Cream" while still keeping a serious attitude. The song titles, by the way, make sense, I promise. The cover art, seen partially above, is also excellent (the inside sports a three, yes, you heard correctly, three-necked guitar). The inside of the booklet is guitar tabs for all of the songs, which I found pretty funny.

Here are some samples, courtesy of their website:

Everything Is Falling Apart
Sandwich (I Asked For A)
Quasimoto

And yes, there is still incentive to purchase the EP for a mere 5 dollars. "Astronaut Ice Cream" is a brilliant song. Or just go see them live if you live in PA or near the great city of New York. Unfortunately, the NYC show is the same day as a Ted Leo concert. Oh, the irony.

• Friday, November 11th - The Darkhorse Tavern, 128 E. College Ave., State College, PA
  
w/ TBA
• Saturday, December 3rd - Knitting Factory, New York, NY
w/ Sticker, Group Sounds $8, All Ages

The Five Maseratis

By the way, the link for the WAS video below is up and working. Sorry for any inconvenience while it was being worked on. We're new at this, give us a break. Thanks again to Ross for having the steady hand while sheer awesome was unfolding in front of him.

It's Alive!!!!

I finally did it. I have uploaded the most incredible video footage ever to the internet. It may come as no surprise, but it is of We Are Scientists and their amazing stage presence. This is the must see clip of the year. However, I issue you a warning: Turn your volume down, it is a very loud clip. Enjoy!

Watch Me!!!

Whatever Happened To The Band That Sang About Corey Haim?

The Thrills, the band to be from the Emerald Isle, have sent an email out saying they are going to start updating a "new official myspace page" with posts of what they're up to, and perhaps even photos of what they're up to. I don't know about everyone else... but I think they need to install live feed camera's of the recording space. To excerpt from the email:

"Every record has a story. Ups and downs. It's never easy to make a good record. If it's coming too easy, you're probably in trouble. All that bullshit about 'conflict creating great art' is a myth. In terms of songwriting, anyway...If you can't communicate with your band members, you will hit a glass ceiling. And that's why the time we take away from the songs is almost as important as the back to back late night songwriting sessions we have down the country in Ireland."

So, if there's one thing the Thrills are determined to do, it's to give the people some quality music. Just what I like to hear.

The Thrills

Donate

I truly hate to do this, but I come to you now in a time of need. As you may or may not know, I live in Denville, NJ and Kyle is in Piscattaway, NJ. To get Kyle is 41 miles. To get from Kyle's to New York is 38 miles, then 38 miles back to Kyle's, then 41 miles back home... 158 miles... at the least! The trip always costs me at least one tank of gas, which is not petty change. So, if you enjoy our reviews, please click the kitty on the side and help us in our quest to go to every show we can.

Thank you all so very much ;-)

Imaginary Baseball League No Longer Exists... Wait A Second...

Well... a non-existant band has broken up. It sorta feels like not having The Unicorns anymore. The darlings from the South, Imaginary Baseball League, after months of inactivity, have thrown in the towel. A post on their website (from October 9th... I stopped checking it since then because they hadn't been updating) informed the world that after the bassist had quit the band, and after a plan to come back with two additional members, everything fell through. Creative tension is cited as one of the many reasons, and it seems the break up may have been ugly. Anyway... for some good new, they promised to release 10 or so recorded tracks and put them up on the site. I sort of hope they do the same for the old material, including the out of print EP. The post also brought hope for seeing new projects from some of the members. Singer and eulogy writer Aaron Robinson already has a MySpace with a few solo things. It has some really nice solo acoustic stuff... you should all check it out.

Another one bites the dust:

Fat Boys Are Not Athletes
The New A.M.
A Lot To Say

Imaginary Baseball League

Whaaa?

You fellas will never guess what I found! An alternate "The Great Escape" video... too racy for TV... oooooh. It actually has the cursing, and more... Watch it, but be careful not to wet yourself in excitement!

The Great Escape Video
We Are Scientists

Seven

Hey, we're one week old! Just like this adorable kitten. Awww... aren't we so cute?

Good Company

So, while just putzing around on the blogmosphere, I chanced upon something curious. I was looking at the featured blogs, and for some reason, "The Boy Who Heard Music" stuck out. And to my surprise, it turns out to be Pete Townshend's own blog, although I should have realized that the name comes from what will be his next rock opera. It seems that good ol' Pete is writing a book, one which hopefully I will eventually have time to read. What's more interesting to me is that he posted a song, who's name shares that with Chapter Two, "In the Ether". I became giddy with excitement when I saw this, as the Who are just about my favorite band ever. I should have been prepared though, I should have learned my lesson after "Then and Now" had come out a year or so ago. But I didn't. The song starts with really nice light airy guitar and a piano, very Pete Townshend. The vocals on the other hand are very Louis Armstrong, and just embarrassing for the most part. Pete was never meant to sing that low, its just silly. The song does have a few short moments, however, they do nothing to redeem the song, they only serve to taunt you into thinking how adequate a song it would have been if he wasn't being so ridiculous in singing it. Deep down inside, though, I hope he keeps writing and perhaps gets a good one up there.

Anyway, have a listen yourself.

mp3:
In the Ether

The Boy Who Heard Music
Eel Pie