thePULSEBy Joseph Franklin
Glamour Kills…The Tour
Glamour Kills…The Tour featuring All Time Low with special guests We The Kings, Hey Monday and The Friday Night Boys launched last month and will be coming through Boston, MA on December 3 at House of Blues. This marks the first-ever national music tour from the edgy independent lifestyle brand.
Each band on the tour will have their own exclusive Glamour Kills t-shirts to sell on the road. Glamour Kills…The Tour will also feature giveaways at each show, including Glamour Kills skate decks signed by bands on the trek and tour posters. The entrance to each venue will be set up as a “Pink Carpet” where fans can be photographed when arriving at the show. The photos will be uploaded to www.glamourkills.com for display.
About Glamour Kills:
Founded in 2005 by young entrepreneur Mark Capicotto, Glamour Kills is an edgy and chic lifestyle brand that caters to a hip music-minded demographic with minimalist artwork and vibrant tones. They offer t-shirts, hoodies, denim, swimwear and other accessories to outfit everyone from the punk rocker to the club hopper. For more information, go to the newly revamped website: www.glamourkills.com.
About All Time Low:
All Time Low’s new CD Nothing Personal (Hopeless Records) recently debuted at #4 on the Billboard Top 200 Album chart, marking the band’s highest chart position to date. Earlier this year, Glamour Kills teamed with All Time Low for a special pre-order of the CD which included a limited edition poster and the choice of one of four exclusive GK/ATL t-shirt designs. On August 13, All Time Low performed their new single “Damned If I Do Ya (Damned If I Don’t)” on “The Tonight Show with Conan O’Brien.”
Good Old War and Cast Spells
The tremendous intra-band camaraderie of the Sargent House roster continues as Good Old War and Cast Spells release a split EP together and tour sharing band members in December. Good Old War will serve as the backing band to Dave Davison’s solo outfit Cast Spells on these dates (please see full dates below). And to further the family love, Good Old War also contribute vocal harmonies to the forthcoming new Sargent House album by Davison’s other band, Maps & Atlases.
In support of this tour, Sargent House will release a 4-song EP comprised of two new tracks by each act. This is the first new music from Good Old War since release of its debut album Only Way to be Alone (Sargent House) in 2008, which has kept the band in a whirlwind of touring (including dates with RX Bandits,The Honorary Title, Heartless Bastards and Gaslight Anthem) and a multitude of radio appearances. Cast Spells released its debut 6-song EP, Bright Works and Baton (Sargent House) in August 2009, and will head overseas for a tour in March 2010 with another Dave Davison project called Hey Tonal.
The Good Old War / Cast Spells tour comes to The Middle East Upstairs on Dec. 5.
ICHABOD
Boston-based ICHABOD is one of those “secret bands” that has been engulfing fans both live and on record for three previous full-lengths over the past decade; expanding musically on each release, and tapping into new territory – both on the road and on tape. The hard working, hard rocking, and more importantly hard to ignore quartet in the underground rock/stoner/cerebral musical scene – who are already heroes in widespread stoner rock, doom, rock, communities internationally, and definitely with any lost soul who has experienced an ICHABOD performance in the live setting.
Based on the predicted apocalypse in the year 2012, ICHABOD have visualized and captured their most potent material to date in their upcoming fourth full-length 2012, set for release November 24th via Rootsucker Records. Unlike the projected approach of the apocalypse as portrayed in the new Cusack flick, this 2012 is cerebrally-oriented; maybe the comparable “zen” or “cerebral soundtrack”of what the everyday human might feel as the world collapses slowly around him presently, while building up to the proposed apocalypse in 2012, as predicted by the Mayan calendar.
Within the confines of one 5-inch slab of plastic, ICHABOD’s new CD 2012 is a testament to the limitless boundaries of music; segueing spiritual oms and trancelike realms of spacious exploration, with hyper-occult spazz-outs, with straight-up doom-ridden rock and roll, absolutely seamlessly. Fans of Alice In Chains, High On Fire, Acid Bath, Om – and even fucking Zappa – can unite to celebrate the ending of humankind under an umbrella of virtual happiness, if ICHABOD is playing in the background.
“…Ichabod’s latest is a work of dark psych and unloaded madness that simmers with unbridled intensity… It is a sound balance of intriguing progression and metallic heaviness sure to surprise many an unsuspecting head across the land.” – TheObelisk.net
“…Ichabod shows they’re not to be taken for granted with 2012, a solid ‘A’ of an album.” – StonerRock.com
“…it is a hands-down, no-brainer that 2012 is the band’s most accomplished, realized collection of material thus far… support one of the hardest working, blue collar outfits our time has seen.” – HellrideMusic.com
www.myspace.com/ichabod
www.rootsuckerrecords.com
www.myspace.com/blacklocust
Live actions and more news on the band will be announced shortly.
Jawbox
Seminal DC post-punk band Jawbox will reissue their consummate release, For Your Own Special Sweetheart, on November 24th. The album, which was originally released on Atlantic Records in 1994, sees the band returning to their roots at the renowned Dischord Records as well as their own DeSoto label, which will work together to release this reissue. Jawbox was one of the cornerstones of the pivotal DIY punk label, in good company with bands such as Fugazi, Minor Threat, Rites of Spring and Shudder To Think.
With the help of Dischord and engineer Bob Weston (Pixies, Jawbox, and member of Shellac), For Your Own Special Sweetheart is meticulously remastered and will be re-released on both CD and vinyl. And, according to bass player, Kim Coletta, “it just sounds a whole lot better.” The collection will include the entire original song line-up along with three additional tracks that appeared on the Savory +3 EP released by Atlantic in 1994. The vinyl version will include a coupon redeemable for free digital download of all songs including the bonus tracks.
Of For Your Own Special Sweetheart, Pitchfork Media raved, “It’s one of the greatest slabs of angular guitar throb that the District of Columbia produced during the 90s, which is saying something.” They called the single “Savory” “…the weirdly sexy guitar tangle that remained a cool-kid mixtape staple for at least a decade.”
Jawbox arose from the primordial pond of DC’s raucous, vibrant underground in 1989, bringing with them a loud, fast and spirited brand of punk rock that brought zealous fans into the pit in droves. Jawbox played their first show opening for Fugazi in 1989; For Your Own Special Sweetheart recalls the latter’s hardcore leanings. After two releases on Dischord they captured the attention of Atlantic Records, with whom they released For Your Own Special Sweetheart, widely considered to showcase the band at its peak. The combination of heavy rhythms, guitar-driven soundscapes and hooky melodies both hark back to and distinguish the band from their roots among Dischord’s finest underground offerings, the boundaries of which they constantly pushed.
Jawbox is J. Robbins (guitar, vocals,) Kim Coletta (bass,) Bill Barbot (guitar) and Zach Barocas (drums.)
KATHARINE MCPHEE
Recording artist and actress Katharine McPhee is preparing to release her second album ~ Unbroken ~ on Verve Records, home to some of the most renowned vocalists of all time including Ella Fitzgerald, Sarah Vaughan, Billie Holiday and, more recently, Diana Krall. Bruce Resnikoff, Verve Music Group’s President and CEO, described Katharine as ”one of the most gifted vocalists of her generation.”
The performer’s first single, “Had It All,” is out now and the accompanying stunning video recently premiered on Yahoo Music, with front page placement. Katharine chose the Paris born and raised, Cyril Guyot to direct “Had It All.” Guyot has directed many music videos and commercials for the likes of Prada, Christian Dior and MTV, among others. Both the single and video were immediately put into heavy rotation by Yahoo Music.
Katharine McPhee traveled amongst Los Angeles, Nashville and Boston to write and record Unbroken, which was produced by John Alagia (John Mayer, Jason Mraz). The album’s first single, “Had It All,” written by David Hodges, Mitch Allan and Kara DioGuardi, is an upbeat and infectious song reflective of Katharine’s evolving sound.
Katharine co-wrote six of the songs on Unbroken with Rachael Yamagata, Paula Cole, Chris Thompk ins, Ingrid Michaelson, among others. Fans can also get an exclusive behind-the- scenes look at the making of Unbroken on MySpace Celebrity. The webisodes follow Katharine throughout a week in the studio allowing fans to experience the recording process. Additional videos will roll out through the release of the album in January.
Katharine’s acting credits include an appearance on “CSI: New York,” where she premiered “Say Goodbye,” a heartbreaking ballad from Unbroken, as well as a co-starring role in the 2008 hit “The House Bunny.” As a recording artist, Katharine found early success with her debut album, Katharine McPhee, and her first single “Over the Rainbow”/”My Destiny” which both debuted at number 2 on Billboard’s 200 and Hot Singles Sales Charts, respectively.
