MP3: The Strange Boys - “Heard You Wanna Beat Me Up”

Austin, TX’s The Strange Boys evoke a wild-eyed, porcelain-skinned innocence that is capable of summoning the wayward spirit of Brian Jones. The mystery of the South couples with the mastery of rhythm making to create a sound that is completely timeless and familiar, yet absolutely raw and avant-garde. Greg Enlow’s syncopated, organ-driven grooves hark back to The Seeds’ “Pushing Too Hard” while guitarist Ryan Sambol’s acute voice wavers beyond compare. Older brother Philip Sambol keeps the pulse with the aptly named Matt Hammer, who unmercifully pounds an old Ludwig set.

The Strange Boys began as a duo (Ryan and Matt) in 2003. Philip and Greg joined in 2005 completing the line up and the band has been on a non-stop tour ever since. Since 2003 the band has recorded what amounts to several albums and EPs which were sold at shows, but never released. In 2007, Dusty Medical records released the Nothing EP and in 2008, In the Red records released the Woe is You and Me single. Now, finally, the band’s proper debut album is seeing the light of day and In The Red is proud to announce the arrival of The Strange Boys…And Girls Club. A 16 track beast that is easy to imagine being blasted out of any stereo system between The Psychedelic Sounds of the 13th Floor Elevators and Wire’s Pink Flag.

“..this is a careful, studied slouch: the loose limbs of garage-rock, rendered through a psychedelic fuzz, with melodies plucked from the blues and 1950s country music. “Heard You Wanna Beat Me Up” sounds both aggressive and aggrieved, and much of this impressive debut album manages wistfulness without sacrificing its knowing edge.” - NY Times

“It’s passionate, yowling guitar rock at its best” - Rolling Stone

THE STRANGE BOYS

04.02.09 Thu Dallas, TX Doublewide
04.03.09 Fri Memphis, TN Murphy’s
04.04.09 Sat Oxford, MS The Blind Pig
04.05.09 Sun Athens, GA Farm 255
04.06.09 Mon Atlanta, GA The Earl
04.08.09 Wed Asheville, NC The New French Bar
04.09.09 Thu Tuscaloosa, AL Little Willie’s
04.10.09 Fri Baton Rouge, LA The Spanish Moon
04.11.09 Sat Houston, TX House Show
06.05.09 Fri Denton, TX Rubbergloves *
06.06.09 Sat Austin, TX Red 7 *
06.07.09 Sun Houston, TX Mangos *
06.08.09 Mon New Orleans, LA Saturn Bar *
06.09.09 Tue Atlanta, GA Drunken Unicorn *#
06.10.09 Wed Greensboro, NC UNCG / Square One *
06.11.09 Thu Washington, DC Comet Pizza and Ping Pong *
06.12.09 Fri Baltimore, MD Sonar *#$
06.13.09 Sat Brooklyn, NY Market Hotel *#
06.14.09 Sun New York, NY Cake Shop *
06.15.09 Mon Philadelphia, PA Danger Danger Gallery *
06.16.09 Tue Worcester, MA Ralph’s Diner *
06.18.09 Thu Cleveland, OH Now That’s Class
06.20.09 Sat Columbus, Ohio Bourbon St *
06.22.09 Mon Chicago, IL Beat Kitchen *
06.23.09 Tue Minneapolis, MN First-Avenue *
06.24.09 Wed Iowa City, IA Public Space 1 *
06.25.09 Thu Lawrence, KS Jackpot Music Hall *
06.26.09 Fri Denver, CO Hi-Dive *
06.27.09 Sat Salt Lake City, UT Kilby Court *
06.29.09 Mon Los Angeles, CA The Smell *
07.02.09 Thu San Francisco, CA Hemlock #
07.03.09 Fri San Jose, CA Nickel City #
07.06.09 Mon San Diego, CA Casbah #
07.07.09 Tue Tucson, AZ Plush #
07.09.09 Thu Lubbock, TX Ash Riprock’s #
07.10.09 Fri Dallas, TX TBA #
07.11.09 Sat Austin, TX Mohawk #

* = w/ Mika Miko
# = w/ The Coathangers
$ = w/ The Death Set

The Strange Boys
The Strange Boys..And Girls Club
(In The Red)
Street date: March 24, 2009

1. Woe Is You And Me
2. They’re Building The Death Camps
3. Should Have Shot Paul
4. Mlks
5. This Girl Taught Me A Dance
6. For Lack of a Better Face
7. Heard You Wanna Beat Me Up
8. No Way For a Slave To Behave
9. Poem Party
10. To Turn a Tune or Two
11. Most Things
12. A Man You’ve Never Known
13. Then
14. Who Needs Who More
15. Probation Blues
16. Death and All The Rest

THE STRANGE BOYS LINKS:
MySpace - www.myspace.com/thestrangeboys

Label Page - www.intheredrecords.com

MP3: Faraway Places - “The Sun Goes West”

The Faraway Places have arrived, bearing musical riches that deftly blend Motown rhythm, Lou Reed
guitar, and blown-out moog-styled synths. The sound is as earnest as it is eclectic, reflecting an
obsession not only with music, but also with the exuberant natural beauty found amid the tumbledown
hillsides of their Echo Park neighborhood of Los Angeles.

The locale and lineup have changed over the years, but the core remains the same. Keyboardist/singer/chef Donna Coppola and writer/producer/Renaissance man Chris Colthart have been the constants in the lineup. The soulful psychedelia of the ’60s and the experimental reveries of German avant rockers Can have been a
constant sonic inspiration, even as the group has turned those influences inside out.

On their sophomore album, Out of the Rain, the Thunder & the Lightning, due on May 12, 2009 from Save It Records, the band connects the dots between blissed out psychedelic pop and experimental embellishment. The album germinated when Colthart traveled to Paris in 2001 with a trunk full of recording equipment and an expatriate’s fascination with the outsider experience. Allowed to percolate during the intervening years, and co-mixed with Tony Goddess and Keith Gendel (of Papas Fritas), the genre-bending romp that emerged is a freewheeling dose of sonic expansiveness that’s sincere without taking itself too seriously. “The Sun Goes West” possesses wistful radiance, while “Keep It Alive” hits the dance floor with taut, sexy introspection and “Still Be There” explores sonic collage with an arena-rock flavor, a sound the band has dubbed “California krautrock.”

The album follows the band’s celebrated debut, Unfocus On It, which was released in 2003 on
Eenie Meenie in the US and Bella Union in Europe. Recorded in a remote New Hampshire cabin, the
album featured its share of experimentation, including the spacey freak-out “Come Apart,” as well as
plenty of lush, California-style dreaming on “Marvelous Error” and the orch-pop mini-masterpiece,
“Summertime.” NME, as usual, said it best: “With gentle psychedelia, skuzzy guitar, and the sweetlystoned
surfer attitude, they serve up summery tunes by the VW camperload.”

Like the urban flora that inspires their sound, the Faraway Places strive to gather the surprising
moments of beauty, and maybe even transcendence, from the musical mess that occurs when you leave
the tape rolling and see what happens.

THE FARAWAY PLACES

May 02 Pioneertown, CA Pappy & Harriet’s
May 11 Los Angeles, CA The Echo

The Faraway Places
Out of the Rain, the Thunder & the Lightning
(Save It)
Street date: May 12, 2009

1. One Other
2. The Sun Goes West
3. Keep It Alive
4. F.F.F.F. Fall Down
5. You Can Cry
6. Just Let Go
7. Back in My Head
8. Run While True
9. Still Be There
10. One Other Another

THE FARAWAY PLACES LINKS:
MySpace - www.myspace.com/thefarawayplaces

Label Page - www.saveitrecords.com

Artist Page - www.thefarawayplaces.com