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Defiance, Ohio flexed their collective musical muscles in the recording studio and have come out swinging! “Floodwaters” is a delicious slice of american made music arrayed with quirky lyrics, hot southern instrumentation and some robust lovin’. The bands new album “Midwestern Minutes” comes out via the best little punk record label ever No Idea on July 6th.
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“Floodwaters” -

Band Members:
Geoff: acoustic guitar and vocals
Will: drums, harmonica, and vocals
Ryan: upright bass and vocals
Bz: violin and vocals
Sherri: cello, banjo
Theo: drums

Tour Dates:

Visit Defiance, Ohio

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This morning we are happy to share a new song from the outstanding upcoming record by Damien Jurado, Saint Bartlett. “Cloudy Shoes” is the sweeping album opener with gentle handclaps and call-and-response vocals awash in a retro sound contributed by album producer Richard Swift.

Damien Jurado – Cloudy Shoes

Damien Jurado and his Saint Bartlett band (an eight member orchestra better known as Kay Kay and his Weathered Underground) is going on a large US tour in support of Saint Barlett.

MP3 for “Arkansas” from Saint Bartlett
Press Alcove
Damien Jurado Official Site
Damien Jurado on Myspace
Damien Jurado at Secretly Canadian

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Photos by Thirst’n Howl III
Leopold and His Fiction, Lemon Sun @ Bar Pink, San Diego, Ca.
April 29, 2010

Please read following quote or whole article in slightly inebriated slur and plenty of enthusiasm.

“San Diego!!!  You look good tonight…. San Diego!!! I wanna F^$% you!!!” shouted Daniel of Leopold and His Fiction, seconds prior to letting the Rock and the Roll ensue that was obviously promised by the opening.  Revved up Honky Tonk shoots forth from the amps and mics.  Bassist, Micayla Grace bounces barefoot and brazenly  from every corner of the small 5 ft x 5 ft area that the three piece inhabits.  Daniel falls to his knees as the Detroit fuzz escalates, and Jon brings up the tempo via the drums.  A new sound familiar to all causes everyone present to put their hands together and stomp their feet.  Once again, the gang has come in and swept a crowd off their feet.

Leopold and His Fiction have been a favorite of ours over here at IRR for quite awhile.  Daniel even did an exclusive Bionic Ear Session with us in which he recorded a song and our very own Travis did some of the Hand Claps.  Now you may be thinking to yourself ,”Big deal, I can clap my hands.”  And while that’s probably true, can you clap good enough to be recorded?  Think about that!  Now listen to it here and keep reading.

Leopold AndHisFiction (BionicEarRecording) by IndieRockReviews

Lemon Sun lugged equipment on stage shortly after, first item which was set up were a few psychedelic lights. Sometimes even in life, foreshadowing can actually be effective.  The good times were going to get gooder.  The small area of Bar Pink was somehow eliminated by the large sound of these 5.  Physics and reality be damned.  The psych rock ensued as lights swirled, heads fell back and forward, voices mingled ahead of guitars and keyboard, and a steady rhythm took our hands and eased us down the road.  The 60′s tinged indie rock careened forward as guitarist Patrick O’Connor continually prostrated himself as though bleeding the sound from his guitar and lead singer Rob Kolar climbed the drum kit as King Kong carrying his guitar high to strike down any and all aircraft.  Intricate song after ornately carved song continued until the lights fell, everyone slightly winded and completely sweated.  Smiles and high fives carried us all out into the night.

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Visit Leopold

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Written by Murdoch Watson
7.8/10

I was introduced to The Hold Steady by a friend who described them as “The E Street Band led by Elvis Costello.” That depiction alone was all it took for me to cosign on this band and devour their music. It was refreshing to hear the loose, hyper wordy, anthem rock employed by Craig Finn and co. They seemed to walk the line perfectly between a small, rowdy bar band and a summer festival staple. Their first three albums are a lesson in continuity, with each one picking up where the other left off. A not so close listen would reveal that a lot of the characters and locations in their songs move around from album to album making for a fun game of “Where’s Gideon?” (You could also insert: Charlemagne, Holly, Ybor City, St. Paul, and that chaperone who crowned them the king and the queen to name a few.) Their fourth effort, 2008’s Stay Positive, was a perfect synchronization of all that came before it. The album brought back many characters and haunts from their previous records all culminating in what feels like a giant encore, or a career retrospective.

Heaven is Whenever, THS’s 5^th studio album, introduces us to a new cast of characters and seems to reset the clock a bit. And like most origin stories, it’s kind of hard to get into at first. HIW ushers in a new era for the band. Earlier this year it was reported that one of the most recognizable members of THS, Franz Nicolay (and his great mustache), left the band to pursue other projects. Nicolay’s absence is felt throughout the album and his void is the answer to the “one of these things is not like the other” question when comparing the band’s five albums. THS make the most of Nicolay’s departure by tweaking their sound a bit, laying low on the keys and amping up the guitar riffs. After the realization sets in that this album isn’t exactly THS of the past, an excitement kicks in for what’s ahead. Besides, do we really want our favorite bands to just record the same album over and over (maybe just a little bit)?

While there doesn’t seem to be any instant THS classics on HIW like: “Knuckles”, “Massive Nights”, “How a Resurrection Really Feels” or “Stay Positive; a few come close. “Rock Problems” will sound great live, “Soft in the Center” is fun to sing along to (and air guitar to, same with “Smidge”) and “The Weekenders” will provide many opportunities for fist pumping. The song that sounds the most like old THS would most likely be “Barely Breathing”; it plays like a mini rock opera, showcases Finns runaway train-style lyric shouting and features some haunting harmonies at the end. The quiet ending to “BB” sets up the punch for the next track “Our Whole Lives”, which hits pretty hard. “A Slight Discomfort” is a pretty great album closer; one where the lyrics are as interesting as the music.

You may find yourself feeling “a slight discomfort” listening to HIW if all you are looking for is THS of old. But if you take it for what it is: a pretty great rock album that is almost as fun to listen to as their previous records, you won’t be wasting your time. It doesn’t feel right saying that Heaven is Whenever is my least favorite The Hold Steady record; but I feel fine saying it is my fifth favorite.

Visit The Hold Steady

Feed Your Ears with 20 new, free songs for this weeks MP3 Grab Bag featuring some of the best new bands in the business and some classic acts with new songs as well. Just click the link and hit play on your iTunes and you will be the owner of a butt-load of new songs!

Click here to download MP3 Grab Bag 17

Bands and Songs featured this week:
Andrew Belle – Static Waves
Anni Rossi – Crushing Limbs
Beach Fossils – Youth
Beach House – Zebra(UK Edit)
Bigbang – Call Me
CoCoRosie – Lemonade
Deer Tick – 20 Miles
GAYNGS – Faded High
GAYNGS – Gaudy Side Of Town
Happy Birthday – Subliminal Mesage
Health – USA Boys
Jail – Everyones Hip
Jail – That’s How We Burn Out
Love Of Everything – Fear Of Missing Out
Male Bonding – Years Not Long
Peter Wolf Crier – Hard As Nails
Rooney – I Don’t Wanna Loose You
Sebastian Blanck – Thunder (featuring Caroline Polacheck)
The D – On My Shoulders
The Duke – You Were Right

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Here’s Adam’s latest tour journal entry, be sure to check out pt.2 and pt.3 too:

Adam:
April 18. We bought the opening bands hotel rooms and played Wizardstaff last night in Shreveport. Hotel never even asked us to be quiet despite blaring metal and yelling like banshees all night. A sample of the evening- wrestling match, arm wrestling match, stumbling across a hotel room packed with stray kittens, a pentagram drawn on Luke’s chest, gambling, I got bit on the leg by a dog, and this morning I was awakened by two Mexican dudes screaming at the top of their lungs while trying to get (a totally different) stray dog out of the hotel. So much more happened but as the saying goes- “what happens in Shreveport…”

Woke up the next morning feeling like I’d been hit by the same train that woke me up with its self-righteous howl and then again by the dog-catchers. It was a comedy of errors at the hotel, and I spent the morning laughing in bed. We then went to Cici’s pizza buffet, which was filled with kids (and was therefore hilarious that a bunch of hungover 30 year-olds were there). Right before leaving I was given a parting gift- a little kid slipped in urine in the bathroom and fell down- then the staff came in the bathroom and complained about how they had the clean the shit stains off the walls. PRICELESS

Read MBD Tour Journal #1
Read MBD Tour Journal #2

See our MBD Photo Documentary (from when they played in Seattle)

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The latest and greatest MP3s in one download-able Zip File. Just click the link and hit play on your iTunes and you will be the owner of a butt load of new songs!

Click here to Download MP3 Grab Bag 16
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Bands and Songs featured this week:
Ane Brun – Spending Time With Morgan
Blitzen Trapper – Heaven and Earth
Braid – Grand Theft Autumn
Braid – I’m Afraid Of Everything
Braid – Hugs From Boys
Braid – Movie Clock Star
Dada Life – Love Vibrations
Deer Tick – 20 Miles
In Tall Buildings – Mosters Lair
Indian Jewelry – Oceans
Inlets – Robert
JARB – wahana psikadelia
Male Bonding – Years Not Long
No One Knows About Persian Cats – New Century
Right The Stars – We Got It All
Seinking Ships – You Didn’t Love Me
Teen Inc – Fountains
The Duke – You Were Right
The Middle East – Blood
The Radio Dept. – Never Follow Suit

Download past Grab Bags

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Lots of great, free, new music. All you gotta do is click the link and a zip file downloads to your desktop with all the below mentioned songs.

Click here to download MP3 Grab Bag 15 (zip file)

Featuring new songs by these bands:
Avi Buffalo – What’s In It For
Dr. Dog – Strange
Echo & The Bunnymen – Proxy
Fang Island – Daisy
Fang Island – Life Coach
Future Islands – In the Fall
Future Islands – Tin Man
Gil Scott Heron – New York Is Killing Me (featuring Nas)
Karnivool – Set Fire To The Hive
Lodger – Back Of My Mind
Trans Am – Apparent Horizon
True Womanhood – The Monk
Woven Bones – Alright

Download all our other MP3 Grab Bags - If You do you will have so much great music!

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Photographer Timothy Johnson
Taken March 16th, 2010

Visit Black Rebel Motorcycle Club
Visit Veils