Motion City Soundtrack Acoustic EP

Motion City Soundtrack announced the release of their first ever acoustic EP, featuring acoustic versions of five tracks off of their latest release Even If It Kills Me. The EP is due out May 6th exclusively on iTunes. Marking the first time the band has recorded and released their material in an acoustic format, this acoustic EP can be purchased as a bundled package with their acclaimed album Even If It Kills Me, or “a la carte” for fans that already have a copy of the record. A physical release of EP is expected as well for the fall of 2008.

The video for the band’s new single (watch below), the contagiously clever and buoyantly catchy track “It Had To Be You,” (which also appears acoustically on the EP) is playing on MTVU, MTV2 and MTV Hits. Currently, the band is playing to sold out venues across the country as the main support for Panic! at the Disco on the Honda Civic Tour.

Acoustic EP Tracklist:
01. Fell in Love Without You
02. It Had To Be You
03. Broken Heart
04. Can’t Finish What You Started
05. Point Of Extinction

Tour Dates:
Apr 29 – House of Blues Myrtle Beach/Myrtle Beach, South Carolina
Apr 30 – Constitution Hall/Washington DC
May 02 – Alfond Arena/Orono, Maine
May 03 – RPI Fieldhouse/Troy, New York
May 04 – Bamboozle/East Rutherford, New Jersey
May 06 – Gordon Fieldhouse/Rochester, New York
May 07 – Roseland Ballroom/New York, New York (SOLD OUT!)
May 08 – Roseland Ballroom/New York, New York
May 09 – Festival Pier/Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
May 10 – Chevrolet Theatre/Wallingford, Connecticut
May 11 – Bank of America Pavillion/Boston, Massachusetts
May 13 – Metropolis/Montreal, Quebec
May 14 – The Sound Academy/Toronto, Ontario (SOLD OUT!)
May 16 – Tower City Amphitheatre/Cleveland, Ohio
May 17 – Promo West-Outdoor (LC Pavillion)/Columbus, Ohio
May 18 – Egyptian Room at Murat Centre/Indianapolis, Indiana (SOLD OUT!)
May 20 – Fillmore Theatre/Detriot, Michigan (SOLD OUT!)
May 21 – The Orbit Room/Grand Rapids, Michigan
May 23 – Congress Theatre/Chicago, Illinois (SOLD OUT!)
May 24 – Congress Theatre/Chicago, Illinois
May 25 – Eagles Ballroom/Milwaukee, Wisconsin
May 27 – Myth/St. Paul, Minnesota
May 28 – Val Air Ballroom/Des Moines, Iowa
May 30 - The Pageant/St Louis, Missouri (SOLD OUT!)
May 31 – Westfair Amphitheatre/Omaha, Nebraska
Jun 01 – Uptown Theatre/Kansas City, Missouri
Jun 03 – Fillmore Auditorium/Denver, Colorado
Jun 04 – Salt Air Theatre/Salt Lake City, Utah
Jun 06 – PNE Forum/Vancouver
Jun 07 – Paramount Theater/Seattle, Washington
Jun 08 – Portland Exposition Center/Portland, Oregon
Jun 10 – The Theatre – Grand Sierra Resort/Reno, Nevada
Jun 13 – Pearl Concert Theater @ Palms Casino Resort/Las Vegas, Nevada
Jun 14 – The Theater at the Honda Center/Anaheim, California
Jul 10 – Chilkoot Charlie’s/Anchorage, Alaska
Jul 11 – Club Millennium/Anchorage, Alaska

Motion City Soundtrack: website | myspace

Scarlett Johansson "Falling Down"

Scarlett Johansson‘s foray into the music industry can soon be heard worldwide with her debut CD of Tom Waits‘ songs and one original, titled Anywhere I Lay My Head. The album drops May 20th on Rhino Records and features guest vocals from David Bowie on two tracks, was produced by Dave Sitek (TV on the Radio), and has the likes of Nick Zinner (Yeah Yeah Yeahs) along with members of Celebration and Stars Like Fleas playing on the record.

It seems that Waits himself gave the lovely ScarJo his blessings for the album. Johansson has said, “I sent him some of the early, early recordings and he said, ‘Go ahead.’ I’m not so sure why, as I’m not a huge fan, but watch the video for track “Falling Down” and decide for yourself:

Tracklisting:
01. Fawn
02. Town With No Cheer
03. Falling Down
04. Anywhere I Lay My Head
05. Fannin’ Street
06. Song for Jo (the original song)
07. Green Grass
08. I Wish I Was in New Orleans
09. I Don’t Want to Grow Up
10. No One Knows I’m Gone
11. Who Are You?

Landon Pigg AOL Sessions

Nashville native Landon Pigg just recorded four in-studio acoustic performances as well as an interview for AOL Sessions. You can check them out here.Landon’s Coffee Shop EP, featuring “Falling in Love at a Coffee Shop” is that track in the DeBeers commercial, and can be found in stores now through RCA Records. You can also catch Landon on tour (see dates below) in select cities.

Tour Dates:
04/29 – Austin, TX - The Stubbs (small room)
05/01 – West Palm Beach, FL – Sunfest
05/05 – Chicago, IL – Schubas
05/06 – New York, NY – The Living Room
05/08 – Alexandria, VA – The Birchmere
05/09 – Philadelphia, PA – Tin Angel
06/11 – Boston, MA – Club Passim

Landon Pigg: website | myspace

Food Fight with Weezer

Weezer has teamed up with Buzznet to create a virtual food fight to coincide with the band’s new single “Pork and Beans,” currently available on iTunes. You can check out and join the food fight here.”Pork and Beans” is a teaser to the upcoming [third] self-titled Weezer album, this time around known as the Red album. Not only is the virtual food fight fun, it’s helping out a great cause.

A donation will be made in the name of the food fight’s participants to Conscious Alliance, a non-profit organization that distributes food and other necessary resources to American communities in need.

You can pre-order two versions of the Red album on iTunes now: a Standard 12-track version or a Deluxe 16-track version. Preorder of the Deluxe album allows you to download “Pork and Beans” immediately. If you pre-order the album by June 23rd (it streets the 24th), both pre-orders come with a password to buy tickets to dates on Weezer’s upcoming US Tour before they go on sale to the public.

Weezer: website | myspace | food fight | pre-order standard or deluxe
Conscious Alliance: website

Creature Video for "Pop Culture"

One of our favorite (OK, so our absolute favorite) Canadian indie dance pop rock band Creature has created a video for their single “Pop Culture.” Check it out:

Creature: website | myspace | No Sleep At All review

Interview With: Craig Whitaker of Quick Step John

I am not the kind of chick who waits by the phone for a guy to call, unless that guy happens to be the wonderfully charming Craig Whitaker of Philadelphia’s Quick Step John. Wednesday night, there was a bit of mis- communication about what time he was supposed to call, but everything worked out and I got to chat with Whitaker about the band, their album The Multiple Personalities of Last Week and Next Year, podcasts and Jesse and the Rippers. Yep, Uncle Jesse. Check it out:

Jessica, PopWreck(oning): Hey what’s up, Craig?
Craig Whitaker: Oh not too much. How are you?
PW: I’m doing well, thanks.
CW: Am I on time?
PW: You’re a little late, but that’s OK. No problem.
CW: It was 7:30, right?
PW: I think you said 7 in the email.
CW: Oh, shit. I just opened up my email and saw that it said 7. I’m sorry!
PW: Don’t worry about it, it’s fine!
CW: OK. I was all excited, I thought I was gonna be right on time.
PW: You’ve been involved with Quick Step John since the band formed in 2001. How long before that did you begin playing music?
CW: I guess I first started when I was around 17.
PW: What inspired you to start playing and what did you first start playing?
CW: I saw a kid in high school, he was senior and I was a freshman or a sophomore. He was playing all these Van Halen songs on the guitar and I was like, ‘Holy crap! What is that?!’ I went to Sam Ash and bought a guitar and all these Van Halen song books. Kind of a lofty goal for someone who’s never picked up a guitar, but I just forced myself to learn how to do it. For months and months and months, which became years and years, and just taught myself how to play.
PW: So how did the five you of get together and decide to form Quick Step John?
CW: Well Ed and I worked at a store in Cherry Hill [NJ] called Mars Music, which isn’t there anymore. I recorded a couple songs on acoustic guitar to get some news songs done, not for anything but just because I was writing and I wanted to record. He heard a tune and he really liked it. There were some other guys…it’s funny, we got a drummer from the drum department and a bass player from the bass department. We thought we’d play these songs just for fun and we had this bug July 4th party at the store so we played these songs and thought, ‘That was fun. We should record three songs as a whole band.’ So that weekend, we recorded in my kitchen.
It was so, so silly. We recorded three songs in my kitchen and they got into the hands of a talent buyer for Clear Channel and he heard it and was like, ‘Wow, you guys are good. You guys should play a show.’ He put us on a show at the Electric Factory with Pat McGee. That was it. It went from nothing to something in a couple weeks. It was really strange.
PW: Yeah, the Electric Factory is a bigger venue in Philadelphia, so that’s an impressive place to play your first real show.
CW: It was realy weird, ’cause I’d seen many show there growing up. Just the fact that I was even there was cool to begin with. Then I was like, ‘Wow, I get to be backstage. That’s pretty cool.’ Then it was, ‘Shit, I get to play?! That’s pretty cool!’
PW: Yeah, to get to be on stage and not looking at the stage.
CW: Yeah, it was just a whole weird thing. I was 21, Ed was 16. It was ridiculous. We’ve had band members come and go over the years but about a year and a half ago, met up with the current line-up and it’s been that ever since.
PW: You guys have been compared to influences you list, like Counting Crows and Ben Folds, and while those bands are obviously huge and awesome, do you appreciate those comparisons or do you wish that critics and listeners would see past that and take your sound for what it is itself?
CW: No, because our sound is a combination of all the bands we like. I think that’s natural. If you grew up listening to Mozart your entire life, and then you sit down at the piano, chances are…or hopefully, if you’re not doing something wrong…it’s gonna have resemblance to that. I think that’s just natural, to sound like the people you associate yourself with and listen to. If somebody said, ‘Quick Step John’s influences list the Counting Crows and Jimmy Eat World, boy those guys have a long way to go,’ that would kind of suck. As long as people are saying we sound like our heroes, that’s the most flattering thing in the world.
PW: I know some artists get upset that critics think they sound like certain other bands.
CW: I think that’s lame. It’s pompous.
PW: It’s just pretentious.
CW: Yeah, it’s silly.
PW: I’m glad you’re above that.
CW: Yeah! I don’t understand how you can be. It’s like, ‘Dude.’ You listen to, I dunno, The Clash your whole life and then somebody says you sound like The Clash and you say you don’t, that’s stupid. Of course you do.
PW: So the new album, The Multiple Personalities of Last Week and Next Year, came out last October. What’s the significance of the title of the album?
CW: I felt like the songs were taking…and this is totally an afterthought. I didn’t sit down and try to write this prog album at all. But after we started listening to all the songs I’d written for the album, I started to realize they were either about one of the two things: things in your past, like coming back and creeping up on you — things you thought were permanently gone, or they’re about looking to the future and hopes, aspirations, dreams, all that stuff.
So that’s kind of how the title came up: I realized the songs were split in between one of two things.
PW: It’s a great album, I really like it a lot.
CW: Thank you so much!
PW: How did the process of creating the new album differ from The Life In Our Years EP and then those [laughs] early demos in the kitchen?
CW: Hopefully they sound better [laughs] as we progressed. If the album sounds as good as the 3-song demo did in the kitchen, I’m gonna quit. All the songs, even back from the 3-song demo back to the new album, I either wrote on an acoustic guitar or a piano. Just sitting around by myself, goofing around. Something just comes out. A lot of these songs were written on my soon-to-be in-laws’ piano.
We’d be over my soon-to-be in-laws’ house after dinner on Sunday, someone doing the dishes and I’m just sitting at their piano while everyone else is watching TV. We’re just kind of goofing around, I’m just doodling around on my fiance’s parents’ piano and the majority of songs were written on that piano and recorded into my cell phone so I could remember them when I got home.
PW: Well, ongratulations on soon having in-laws!
CW: Thank you, thank you very much.
PW: Are you currently writing songs now…are you excited to get back into the studio for a follow-up album, or do you want to ride Multiple Personalities for a while?
CW: I do. You’re in the studio so long making an album that when you first go out to play it, you’re like, ‘Oh my god, I just don’t wanna play these songs anymore.’ You’ve heard them everyday for 8 months. So for the first couple you’re out touring after the record comes out, you’re so sick of it.
But then, after you get through that initial 8 week period, or 3 months, whatever it is, and the record’s been out for a while and people start listening to it and know it… Now when we go out and play places… We played this charity gig for Temple [University] a couple weeks ago and there were 20 people in the front two rows who were singing every word to every song. That is the most touching, flattering, amazing, lucky thing I could ever possibly ask for.
Now it’s like, ‘Wow, I wanna keep playing these songs’ because they’re being received well and people like them.
PW: So I guess that’s the most rewarding thing having created music.
CW: Yeah, it’s cool because if people put your song as their default song on their MySpace page and people take quotes out of your songs and make them their quote on their MySpace page. I’m like, ‘You people have got to be kidding!’ This is the coolest thing. It’s soooo flattering. I just feel really lucky.
PW: Well, it’s all because of your hard work and obvious skill and musicianship
CW: Aw, thank you.
PW: Not long after the CD came out, the single “One By One” ended up on an episode of “ER.” How did that happen? ‘Cause that’s pretty cool.
CW: It was weird. It’s so awesome. A guy sent us a message on MySpace and I know that sounds unbelievably lame. I should have a cool story like, alright, “I flew out to L.A. ’cause I was hangin’ out at The Viper and John Stamos was there and he was like, ‘Yo, Craig! I heard your record and I think it should totally be on my show.’ How about that?
PW: Nice! Too bad it couldn’t have been on “Full House,” because they would have rocked out to that. Uncle Jesse.
CW: Now back to reality, which is not nearly as cool as John Stamos asking me to be on “ER” in The Viper Room.
PW: I’m sure he would, though, if he met you.
CW: That would be awesome! I would be like, ‘Uncle Jesse, can we please have our song on your show?’
PW: ‘And can you play with us? Bring, uh…’ Oh, what was the name of his backing band?
CW: Oh my god, hang on! [yells to fiance] Carla!
Carla: Yes, honey?
CW: What was the name of Uncle Jesse’s back up band on “Full House?”
Carla: The Rippers.
CW: You are awesome and that’s why I’m marrying you! [Ed. note: Adorable!!]
PW: Yes! Nice. Get Jesse and the Rippers to play with you guys.
CW: That would be so cool. A guy on MySpace sent us a message and the record had only been out for like, two weeks. He asked, ‘Who did your licensing? I heard your songs online and I think you guys could be on network TV and feature films.’
I’m like, ‘Oh, sure.’ I figure he’s gonna try to sell us the Brooklyn Bridge or some shit like that. But we’re like, ‘OK, dude. If you’re at all legit, you’ll send us a contract and we’ll go from there.’ And by the end of the week, this guy had a contract out to us! It was completely legit. We were, ‘Alright, we got nothing to lose. This guy is either crazy. We’ve got the contract, we’ve got nothing to lose.’
He calls like a week later and says, ‘You’re gonna be on “ER” on Thursday.’ I was like, ‘Uh huh…? You’ve got to be kidding me.’ It was down to us and one other band, like two or three days before the music supervisor had to make a decision between us and another band. That was good enough for me: I was totally content to just be like, ‘Holy crap! The music supervisor narrowed it down to us and one other band.’ I would’ve been happy just with that, ’cause at least I would’ve known we could’ve had a chance somewhere else, you know? Then he calls and says, ‘You guys are gonna be on Thursday.’ Unbelievable. Just the weirdest shit ever.
PW: So did you get everyone you know together for a viewing party?
CW: Absolutely did! I remember watching it all excited and jumping up and down. I remember thinking, as we were sitting in my house, everyone came over my house, in my living room, I was thinking, ‘Holy crap, I recorded this song and wrote this song 12 feet away upstairs.’ Obviously when that was happening, nobody was thinking in a few months that we’d be sitting downstairs watching it on national television. Just thinking it went from my studio upstairs to 14 million people, or whatever it was, it’s just such a bizarre chain of events.
PW: Did you tape it, or did “ER” send you a copy since you were in it?
CW: They never sent us a copy of it, but everyone DVR’d it and we just ripped it off our DVR and put it up on our MySpace page. I saved it for as long as I could. We had a big family party, an engagement party at my house for me and my fiance a couple months ago and her family had never seen it. I was like, ‘You guys gotta see this! It’s so cool!’ I went to play it and it wasn’t there.
PW: [laughs] Oh no!
CW: I felt like the biggest bullshitter. It was so funny. ‘No, I swear to god! Go to our MySpace page!’ and they were like, ‘Uh huh. Alright, we’re gonna get some coffee.’ I was just like, ‘Nooooo!’ Damn you DVR! It was funny.
PW: You guys have played with some really great musicians, Matchbox 20, Pat McGee you mentioned earlier, Gavin DeGraw, but if you could put together your dream tour, whether you opened or headlined, who would you have on tour with you?
CW: Oh mygod, that is the most difficult question I have ever been asked.
PW: [laughs] We ask the hard-hitting questions here at PopWreck(oning).
CW: That’s awesome, I like that! I would probably want to be the opening act on a U2 tour. OR…wait, is this like, living or dead, or past/present?
PW: Just run with it. Wherever it takes you.
CW: OK, opening tour, Led Zeppelin, 1974 when they’re touring Physical Graffiti.
PW: And how old were you in 1974?
CW: Negative 4. Yeah, I was negative 4. But I would want to play guitar on “Ten Years Gone.” Sitting in, me, “Ten Years Gone.”
PW: That would be sweet. I would go to that.
CW: I would totally go to that, too. Hopefully I’d be playing.
PW: You guys play a lot in Pennsylvania and Virginia, but where would you like to play that you haven’t had the opportunity to play yet?
CW: Everything we’ve done has been Mid-Atlantic, from North Carolina to New York. I like it here but I actually really, really, really love L.A. and San Diego. A lot! I’m a warm weather guy, so if we had the chance to do some touring in L.A. and up the coast to like San Fran or down to San Diego, that would just be phenomenal.
Unless Cabo Wabo down in Mexico was still having bands, I dunno. We gotta call Sam Egger. I’ll have to talk to him and John Stamos.
PW: So other than playing, have you been to any concerts recently that you’ve gone to see rather than play at?
CW: I saw Augustana last time they came around. I’m trying to think who we saw recently. We saw Death Cab [for Cutie]…god that had to be a year ago at this point. I think Death Cab, Augustana, those are the last two shows I’ve been to.
PW: What are you listening to lately?
CW: I’ve been listening to free podcasts. Everything from “Learn Italian” to photography podcasts. I am really showing my true inner nerd right now, aren’t I?
PW: No, that’s cool. One of my writers is starting to do features on different podcasts. If you have any you’d like to recommend…
CW: Oh, absolutely!
PW: …give it a shout out right here.
CW: But yeah, I’ve been listening to a lot of podcasts lately. And I don’t know why. Just so much free, cool stuff you can listen to.
PW: You know, I actually don’t think I’ve ever listened to a podcast at all.
CW: It’s unbelievable how much stuff is out there.
PW: I think that’s why. I’m a little overwhelmed by it.
CW: Oh, it’s easy! I’ll send you some links to some cool ones.
PW: OK. If you send me some links, I promise I’ll listen to them. But I won’t keep you any longer, thank you for giving me a call.
CW: You’re welcome I really do appreciate your time.

Sweet and charming, right? Right. Well you can chat up Craig and the rest of Quick Step John if you head out to Burlap and Bean tonight in Newtown Square, Pa. (more dates below). I recommend it!

Tour Dates:
Apr 25 – Burlap and Bean/Newtown Square, Pa (All Ages!)
Apr 26 – The Escape/Bristol, Pa (All Ages!)
May 02 – Dr. Watsons/Philadelphia, Pa
May 08 – Havana/New Hope, Pa
May 09 – Firehouse Grill/Fairfax, Va
May 10 – Colonial Tavern/Fredericksburg, Va
Jun 07 – Appalachian Brewing Company/Harrisburg, Pa
Jun 20 – The Blue Room/York, Pa
Jul 19 – Steel City Coffeehouse/Phoenixville, Pa (All Ages!)
Aug 10 – Musikfest/Bethlehem, Pa (All Ages!)

Quick Step John: myspace | live review

Grand Ole Party: Replay Lounge, Lawrence, Ks

While there are a number of things I found impressive about the San Diego, Ca three piece Grand Ole Party, I must say that Kristen Gundred‘s ability to manage a drum kit while wearing some heavy duty heels takes top billing. Weighing in at a very close second, however, was Gundred’s ability to manage a crowd. From the word “go,” she opened the set with the audience resting in the palm of her hand. Hell, she even got one listener to refill her water for her. If that isn’t crowd control, then I don’t know what is.

But, off stage is a completely different story. The noticeable difference between Gundred’s singing voice and speaking voice are pretty amazing. Prior to the set, she hung around the bar, softly speaking to those who noticed her. Her voice seemed nothing more than a whisper. But, once plugged in and propped behind her kit, Gundred seemed unleashed. No doubt that her bark is bigger than her bite, yet, this was one bark I wouldn’t want to fuck with. Channeling the powers of Robert Plant, Janis Joplin and Karen O, Gundred’s forceful lyrics are not to be ignored.

But to give credit where credit is due, there is more to Grand Ole Party’s fantastic classic rock meets dance hall pop sound than just vocals. She is backed by a pair of members whose talent, in their own ways, equals Gundred’s. Bassist Mike Krechnyak and guitarist John Paul Labno supply the hooks to Gundred holler. With a sound that uses silence and accents as exclamation points, the inconstant flow of the groups progressions becomes more of a hook itself. Think, “Date with the Night“ style Yeah Yeah Yeahs with Meg White playing drums. It’s pretty wonderful. The raw energy of the group simply spills over into the crowd as indie kids and hipsters alike shake their asses and enjoy the process of seeing a unique gem making music that combines the betters aspects of both the new and old scenes.

Please, take the time to check this group out for yourself. You can catch them on their upcoming tour with Firey Furnaces, or stream their music on the groups myspace page.

Grand Ole Party’s Myspace
DH Records Webpage

And for your viewing pleasure, Grand Ole Party on Fox Rox:

Joan Of Arc New Album, Tour Dates

The new Joan Of Arc CD, Boo! Human, will be released in May 21st on Polyvinyl Records.

Frontman Tim Kinsella writes songs constantly, but now feels little urgency to put records together and expel them upon an indifferent and cynical world. By combining one week of studio time, a stack of songs and a sign-up sheet allowing participants to drop in whenever they could, each track on Boo! Human is as wildly different and uniquely constructed as the groups who produced them. The combination of 14 musicians whose previous collaborations include Wilco, Iron & Wine, Bonnie Prince Billy, Beth Orton and Prefuse 73 yields a truly diverse record that is as intense as it is intimate.

Marked by intricate guitar melodies, noncognitive wailing and tense instrumentals, Boo! Human is Joan of Arc’s most accessible, cohesive album since 1997′s How Memory Works. From the addictive syncopated “Laughter Reflected Back” to the unignorable, poetic “9/11 2,” Joan of Arc truly proves that doing it their way is the right way. We’ve got a copy of the new album, so expect a proper review shortly!

You can catch Joan of Arc on tour from the end of May through the summer. Find tour dates below, with more dates being added.

Tour Dates:
05.28 Omaha, NE @ The Waiting Room
05.29 Denver, CO @ Hi Dive
05.30 Salt Lake City, UT @ Urban Lounge
05.31 Missoula, MT @ The Badlander
06.01 Seattle, WA @ The Vera Project
06.02 Vancouver, BC @ Media Club
06.03 Portland, OR @ Holocene
06.05 San Francisco, CA @ Rickshaw Stop
06.06 @ Los Angeles, CA @ Knitting Factory
06.08 Los Angeles, CA @ Pehrspace
06.09 La Jolla, CA @ Che Cafe Collective
06.10 Phoenix, AZ @ Modified
06.12 Austin, TX @ The Mohawk
06.13 Fort Worth, TX @ Lola’s
06.14 Tulsa, OK @ Continental
07.26 Chicago, IL @ Wicker Park
07.27 Chicago, IL @ Beat Kitchen

Joan of Arc: website | myspace
Polyvinyl: website | myspace

Bridges and Powerlines New Album, MP3s

New York pseudo-spastic, synth indie pop quartet Bridges and Powerlines released their debut full-length album Ghost Types this week on their own imprint Citybird Records. While The Shins, Modest Mouse and R.E.M. are all recognizable in Bridges and Powerlines’ new release, the band remains uniquely original to create something new and catchy.

The four met in New York City in late 2005 and wanted to set themselves apart from the crowded New York music scene. They released an EP reminiscent of New York’s post-punk resurgence, which saw great success and attracted producer Chris Zane (Les Savy Fav, White Rabbits, Asobi Seksu) to work on their debut full-length.

The band’s tease teaser track “Uncalibrated” (download) rose to the top ranks of the elbo.ws blog aggregator “Hot Tracks” leading them to the “Top Ten” artists. Their first single from Ghost Types, “The Golden Age,” (download) was chosen with help from blogger 5 Acts, help which Bridges and Powerlines personally solicited.

New Yorkers can catch Bridges and Powerlines playing the Cake Shop with Spanish Prisoners on May 30th.

Bridges and Powerlines: website | myspace | blog
Citybird Records: myspace

Passenger Back in US, New EP, MP3

Passenger, the Brighton-based quintet, is coming back to the US for a two-performance stint, this June following their debut US performances at this year’s SXSW. The five will perform in Los Angles on June 9th at Hotel Cafe and in New York City on June 11th at Mercury Lounge.

On June 24th, Passenger will release the digital-only Night Vision Binoculars EP to be followed up by their debut US full-length, titled Wicked Man’s Rest, later this year. Until then, you can download “Do What You Like” here.

Passenger has already found success in the UK, having performed alongside the likes of Kate Nash, Seth Lakeman and The Hold Steady, and is sure to win over American audiences with their British brand of melodic rock, full of catchy riffs and sincere songwriting.

If you’re in the UK on May 15th, you can catch Passenger performing at this year’s Great Escape Festival in Brighton.

Passenger: myspace