As the title would suggest, Deer Tick’s More Fuel for the Fire EP tops off an explosive 2009 for the band that released Rolling Stone’s “country-rock breakthrough of the year” nine months earlier. Taken mostly from a month-long recording session in upstate New York nicknamed “The Black Dirt Sessions”, More Fuel for the Fire features three new studio tracks as well as a live version of “Straight Into A Storm” (from Born on Flag Day) recorded in Charlotte, NC at the Visulite Theatre. The songs have become staples of Deer Tick’s live shows over the past year, and are already fan favorites-and that’s who this one’s for…
DEER TICK
11/18 - Charlotte, NC Knight Theatre *
11/19 - Orlando, FL The Plaza Theatre *
11/20 - Tallahassee, FL The Moon *
11/21 - New Orleans, LA The Republic *
11/22 - Houston, TX Warehouse Live *
* = w/ Neko Case
Deer Tick
More Fuel For The Fire EP
(Partisan)
iTunes Exclusive
Dec. 1, 2009
1. La La La
2. Dance of Love
3. Axe Is Forever
4. Straight Into A Storm (Live from the Visulite Theatre, Charlotte, NC)
Seven months after the release of theFREEhoudini- the celebrated mixtape that announced Themselves’ return - Doseone and Jel will drop CrownsDown, a careful and vicious exhibition of mastered rap tactics and sampling ethics. Themselves’ third album proper has been gestating in the gut of this seminal group for some time. It’s both a return to form and a honing of what’s come before (Subtle, cLOUDDEAD, Deep Puddle) - both the opus that these lionhearted two were always meant to make, and the album that their hip-hop-obsessed teenaged selves always hoped to hear.
On CrownsDown, Themselves hold back nothing, welding brute skill to a concrete set of tracks that represents an essential ten commandments of rap. In preparation, Doseone and Jel revisited their beloved hip-hop collections (e.g. Gang Starr, Ultramagnetic MCs, Public Enemy, Saafir) and whittled down the recurring themes that made their favorite records so sturdy. Each song on CrownsDown represents one of these archetypes - you’ll find the “don’t bite” song, the diss track, the story rap, the “bootleggers beware” song, and the “don’t fuck with my DJ” jam, among others. In this way, Themselves revisit something classic in order to invent their own future-school entry to the annals.
Naturally, things kick off with “Back II Burn,” a “guess who’s back” track (co-written by Pedestrian) that bangs forth on good ol’ fashioned synth hits and heavy thump. Rugged slow rhymes and fast-rap pile-ons are delivered with equal aplomb, and Jel ramps up the distortion as Dose spits vitriol: “Whether shining or shunned, none and all can come/and get undone by the two in the selves one.” “Oversleeping” follows with a Bomb Squad-style sampler salvo and a whirlwind of rhyme that reference-checks lyrics from both Nas and Subtle. Next up is “The Mark,” wherein Dose cautions would-be style thieves, while borrowing his own cadence from Ultramag-era Kool Keith. Jel deals out break-driven electro bounce and a furious, unprecedented rap verse of his own, while D-Styles mans the cuts.
“Gangster Of Disbelief” finds Dose dropping science (the fourth archetype) in a rich baritone atop eerie production that harks back to his and Jel’s debut. He connects the dots from Sisyphus to Werner Herzog’s writings to his own neuroses and worldview, while “Daxstrong” takes on the spread-love model, paying proper tribute to Subtle founder Dax Pierson, left paraplegic after the sextet’s 2005 tour accident. Bandmates Jordan Dalrymple and Markus Acher (13 & God, The Notwist) join Dose for an end-song sing-along of TVOTR magnitude. The next two tracks respectively take well-aimed shots at false musical prophets and modern-day bootleggers (MP3-traders). “You Ain’t It” features an Auto-tuned guest spot from Dax himself, playing the melodic foil to Dose’s jagged and rapid fire words, while “Roman Is As Roman Does” serves up electronics-damaged boom-bap for a set of X-Clan-inspired raps.
“Skinning The Drum” rains praise on Jel, who responds in kind with a trademark live MPC performance vivifying the old “Apache” and “Cold Sweat” breaks. On “Deadcatclear II,” Dose is uncommonly nude, spinning a real-life narrative about playing caretaker to a stray cat’s corpse as a child, discovering incredulity for God in the severity of death. All of which lays foundation for the crux end of CrownsDown, “Gold Teeth Will Roll.” Here, over surging cutup soul, Dose growls, “Who will come kill me/taking their rings off like women/because I will swear on their weakness,” casting Themselves in the final archetype: righteous defenders of the culture. This sentiment cuts to the core of CrownsDown. In carving out their own classic, Doseone and Jel not only aim to topple those wrongly kinged, but lay down their own sweat-and-blood-made crowns at the feet of the thing they admire most.
THEMSELVES
11/19 Austin, TX Highball #
11/20 Denton, TX Hailey’s #
11/21 Baton Rouge, LA Spanish Moon #
11/22 New Orleans, LA The Parish Room - HOB #
11/23 Atlanta, GA 529 #
11/24 Chapel Hill, NC Local 506 #
11/25 Washington, DC Rock and Roll Hotel #
11/27 Brooklyn, NY Knitting Factory #
11/28 Cambridge, MA Middle East Downstairs #
11/29 Providence, RI Jerky’s Live Music Hall #
12/01 Toronto, ONT El Mocambo #
12/02 Ann Arbor, MI Blind Pig #
12/03 Chicago, IL Reggie’s #
12/04 Minneapolis, MN Varsity #
12/05 Milwaukee, WI Cactus Club #
12/11 Salt Lake City, UT Kilby Court
12/12 Salt Lake City, UT Urban Lounge
# = w/ Eyedea & Abilities
Themselves CrownsDown
(Anticon)
Oct. 27, 2009
1. Back II Burn
2. Oversleeping
3. The Mark
4. Gangster Of Disbelief
5. Daxstrong
6. You Ain’t It
7. Roman Is As Roman Does
8. Skinning The Drum
9. Deadcatclear II
10. Gold Teeth Will Roll
Themselves theFREEhoudini mixtape
(Anticon)
1. Pay That Piper
2. Oversleeping (from the forthcoming CrownsDown LP)
3. Know That To Know This (featuring Aesop Rock)
4.Kick The Ball (featuring Buck 65)
5.1 For No Money (featuring Sole)
6. Rappers Is Interns (freestyle)
7. Party Rap Sucks (featuring Bus Driver)
8. Long Time Coming (featuring Lionesque)
9. Swarm of Bee II
10. Back2burn (featuring Pedestrian)
11. TheMark (featuring D-Styles, from the forthcoming CrownsDown LP)
12. Keys To Ignition (featuring Serengeti)
13. Roman Is As Roman Does (from the forthcoming CrownsDown LP)
14. The Medicine (featuring Slug of Atmosphere)
15. Free&Void
16. Rapping4Money (featuring WHY? / Odd Nosdam / cLOUDDEAD)
Austin, TX band Yellow Fever play minimal art pop a la Young Marble Giants, Stereolab, and 80s Rough Trade. Formed in the summer of 2006, they have released two EPs as well as a 7″ on Hugpatch records. Band members Jennifer Moore and Adam Jones coordinate as an engaged bass/vocal/drum/keyboard duo by default, though they have been periodically accompanied by additional musicians. After a summer spent recording with Luis Martinez (drummer for Bill Callahan), the band recently surfaced to play at the Whitney Museum of American Art/Dan Graham: Beyond.
YELLOW FEVER
11/11 - Tempe, AZ Bike Coop
11/12 - El Paso, TX Tequila Garage
11/13 - Lubbock, TX TBA
11/14 - Denton, TX Hailey’s *
12/12 - Brooklyn, NY Death By Audio #
“The Strange Boys appeal to me because of their brilliant recasting of the roots of rock and roll with a seditious modern twist” - Geoff Travis, Rough Trade
“”The Strange Boys make music that can only come from Texas, a perfectly formed, totally accomplished and spot-on executed rock n’ roll band. I didn’t even know they made them like this anymore.” -Larry Hardy, In The Red Records
Recorded by: Mike McHugh at The Distillery, in Costa Mesa, Ca. September 2009
Ryan Sambol: guitar, vocals, harmonica, piano
Greg Enlow: guitar, organ, piano, background vocals, glockenspiel
Philip Sambol: bass, background vocals
Seth Densham: drums
Jenna Thornhill-DeWitt: saxophone, background vocals
Tim Presley: background vocals, bass
The Strange Boys are a phenomenal young group from Austin, Texas.
They are at the same time, both timeless and refreshingly avant garde. We are extremely excited to announce that they have signed to Rough Trade Records for the world excluding the US (where they remain on In The Red Records). Set to appeal to anyone who has a liking for top quality beat and blues influenced rock n’ roll, The Strange Boys have provoked excitement and reaction in the Rough Trade offices the like of which has been unseen since the signing of The Strokes. They played their first UK shows this summer to wild reaction and their live return to the UK is hotly anticipated. Having played across Europe this summer, they’ve since returned to the US and recorded their 2nd album in Costa Mesa. Entitled, Be Brave, it is the follow up to their debut and Girls Club, which was released on In The Red in the US and became a hugely popular underground record in the UK via import copies alone.
Ryan Sambol explains the background of the new record:
“We got back from Europe and I worked out the songs that I had already started, wrote some more and sent cassette tapes of the songs to Tim, Jenna and Seth. When they got the tapes they all called me back and said they didn’t know what they were going to play, but they were interested to try. Then the three of us; Greg, Philip and I, drove out from Austin and played a few shows to get to LA. We met up with Tim, Jenna and Seth, went over to our friend John’s house, and rehearsed for a couple hours. The next day, we played FYF Fest, two days later we went to Costa Mesa, and two weeks later we came out with Be Brave.”
A limited edition 7″ vinyl single to be released on January 25th in the UK and on Jan 26th in the US will precede the new album. Title track ‘Be Brave’ will be backed by different, non-album, b-sides on the UK and US editions.
“..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
11/18 Calexico, CA La Hamaca
11/20 Los Angeles, CA Downtown Palace Theatre *
11/21 Oakland, CA Ghost Town Gallry #
11/22 Seattle, WA Showbox at the Market *
11/23 Vancouver, BC Commodore Ballroom *
11/24 Olympia, WA Northern
11/25 Portland, OR East End
11/28 San Diego, CA Tower Bar
* = w/ Julian Casablancas
# = w/ That Ghost
For further information for UK/Europe please contact:
Ben Ayres - ben.ayres@roughtraderecords.com
Jamie Woolgar - jamiewoolgar@roughtraderecords.com
