Updates from Whale Tooth and The Gossip

Whale Tooth

I've always heard good things of Toronto. Fun. Friendly. Clean. And hey, the Bluejays are always interesting as well, especially when you have Roy Halladay on your fantasy baseball roster as I do.

Much to my delight, I can now add the Toronto outfit Whale Tooth to my current list of positive about the 416.

Whale Tooth are a five-piece rock/pop/indie group that will be hitting the road this July for a Canadian tour in support of last year's release of their EP and their upcoming full length.

Drop by the band's MySpace page and check out their standout single "Hibernation Song." It's super catchy, and shows the potential the band could produce on a full length. They've got a sound that I would classify as if Ben Folds picked up a guitar and started touring with Shapes and Sizes. Yeah, they've got that kind of range.

Tour Dates

June 18 @ The Boat, TORONTO (*NXNE w. Les Handclaps)
July 3 @ The Black Sheep, WAKEFIELD (w. Dress Whites, The Monster Show)
July 5 @ Green Room, MONTREAL (w. Dress Whites)
July 7 @ Gus's Pub, HALIFAX (w. Steve Gates, The Monster Show)
July 9 @ Babas, CHARLOTTETOWN
July 10 @ Paramount, MONCTON (w. Clothes Make the Man)
July 11 @ The Capitol, FREDERICTON (w. Black Diamond Bay)

The Gossip are trying to steal my birthday


I've never really known how to feel about The Gossip. My good friend from Philadelphia, Chris, had turned me on to a lot of really great punk bands like Avail and Texas is the Reason before recommending I check out The Gossip a few years back. And while I fell in love with his other recommendations, The Gossip never really hit the mark for me. But I think they're out of for my heart this year as they plan to release their first major-label offering this fall, on my birthday no less, October 6th.

You'll be able to get the album, Music for Men, earlier than that digitally (in June), but you'll have to wait until October for the shiny little CD. Having sampled a few tracks available at the band's MySpace site I still sort of feel like I'm listening to the soundtrack for a bad 80's American Ninja movie, but hey, maybe that's the appeal.

I can't promise I won't shake my groove thing at the bar if their new single, "Heavy Cross," comes across the jukebox come October when I'm out celebrating my 28th year of breaking out of the womb, but I certainly won't feel proud about it in the morning.

Minimalist music with We're into Survival and The Woodlands

We're Into Survival

I like my rock sometimes like I like my interior design: rocking yet minimalist. That's probably why I enjoyed the few tracks I streamed tonight from Mississippi band We're Into Survival.

They've got a small 3-song EP out, titled Booby Trap, and you can stream it over at their MySpace page. They're far from a finished product, but they've got a raw appeal that makes me want to head down to a club and catch a rock band, which would be a great idea if I wasn't 3 hours from one.

The Woodlands


We're fond of duos from Portland like Talkdemonic, so it seemed only natural that we enjoyed listening to a few tracks from the self-titled debut album from the husband-and-wife duo that is The Woodlands. Continuing with our minimalist theme tonight, The Woodlands offer a delicate sound that dances along quite wonderfully on tracks like "Summerland" and "Asleep in September." Drop by their MySpace page and check them out for yourself.

Nathan Oliver

I spent a good amount of time this evening deleting my way through my inbox with little luck before I fell upon a few interesting tracks from Chapel Hill, NC band Nathan Oliver. Fronted by musician Nathan White and made up of members of local Chapel Hill bands such as Schooner, Rosebuds, North Elementary, and Ticonderoga, this band really has me digging their track "Icicles for Fingers."

White and band's second album, Cloud Animals, was released earlier this year in March, and now White and crew are receiving some noteworthy praise in the Triangle NC area. I'm definitely going to recommend my sister-in-law who lives in Raleigh drop by one of the shows.

The music has a great feel to it - like something you might happen to wander upon in an empty club and wonder "why the hell aren't these guys playing bigger shows?" I put the sound somewhere between Franz Ferdinand and Conor Oberst, but you can judge that for yourself. Either way, it was the best offer tonight by far.


Nathan Oliver - "Icicles for Fingers"
Nathan Oliver - "French Press"
Nathan Oliver - "State Lines Pt 3"

Visit the band's website for more information.

Stream the new Sunset Rubdown album all week

National Public Radio has long been a bountiful provider of quality independent music, as is evidenced by their programs such as All Songs Considered and World Cafe (which first introduced me to bands like The Rosebuds). Now that cornucopia has again spileth over, this time in the exclusive first listen of Sunset Rubdown's new album Dragonslayer, which you can stream all week free courtesy of NPR.

According to the press release, Dragonslayer is a stripped down album, with most songs recorded live in the studio, much like their 2007 release, Random Spirit Lover.

If you like what you hear like I do, pre-order the album to receive an instant download, and be sure to catch Sunset Rubdown on tour this summer:

06/11/09 Cambridge, MA - Middle East Downstairs w/ Elfin Saddle and Witchies
06/12/09 Brooklyn, NY - Studio B w/ Elfin Saddle and Witchies
06/13/09 Philadelphia, PA - Johnny Brenda's w/ Elfin Saddle and Witchies
06/14/09 Washington, DC - Black Cat w/ Elfin Saddle and Witchies
06/15/09 Chapel Hill, NC - Local 506 w/ Elfin Saddle and Witchies
06/16/09 Atlanta, GA - The Drunken Unicorn w/ Elfin Saddle and Witchies
06/18/09 Baton Rouge, LA - Chelsea's Cafe w/ Elfin Saddle and Witchies
06/19/09 Houston, TX - House of Blues - Bronze Peacock w/ Elfin Saddle and Witchies
06/20/09 Austin, TX - Mohawk w/ Elfin Saddle and Witchies
06/22/09 Tucson, AZ - Plush w/ Elfin Saddle and Witchies
06/23/09 Los Angeles, CA - Echoplex w/ Elfin Saddle and Witchies
06/24/09 San Francisco, CA - The Rickshaw Stop w/ Elfin Saddle and Witchies
06/26/09 Portland, OR - Doug Fir Lounge w/ Elfin Saddle and Witchies
06/27/09 Seattle, WA - Chop Suey w/ Elfin Saddle and Witchies
06/28/09 Victoria, BC - Sugar Nightclub w/ Elfin Saddle and Witchies
06/30/09 Vancouver, BC - Richard's On Richards w/ Elfin Saddle and Witchies
07/02/09 Calgary, AB - The Marquee Room w/ Elfin Saddle and Witchies
07/03/09 Edmonton, AB - The Pawn Shop w/ Elfin Saddle and Witchies
07/04/09 Saskatoon, SK - Louis' Pub
07/05/09 Winnipeg, MB - West End Cultural Center w/ Elfin Saddle and Witchies
07/06/09 Minneapolis, MN - 7th Street Entry w/ Elfin Saddle and Witchies
07/07/09 Chicago, IL - Logan Square Auditorium w/ Elfin Saddle and Witchies
07/08/09 Bloomington, IN - Jake's Nightclub w/ Elfin Saddle and Witchies
07/10/09 Toronto, ONT - Lee's Palace w/ Elfin Saddle and Witchies
07/11/09 Montreal, QC - Il Motore w/ Elfin Saddle

Also wanted to share this story about the power of social media in the modern day world. And you thought you had a tough time getting to the computer to post a blog.

Cleveland rocks, can Coffinberry prove it?

I spent a good part of last evening having a few beers and a couple laughs with some old friends that I hadn't seen for over a year, including my good friend C, a pilot from Cleveland. We were talking about the music scene in Cleveland he mentioned that "Cleveland rocks, but nobody knows that." Well, perhaps the new self-titled record from Cleveland rockers Coffinberry, available June 30th from Collectible Escalators Records and elsewhere online, will help change that.

ON THEIR NEW, SELF-TITLED ALBUM, Coffinberry move beyond their early post-punk affections to revel in a rootsier place ever more acoustic guitars and piano, some surprising yet undeniable vocal harmonies while never failing to make a terrific and powerful racket.

Benefiting from their previous studio experience (including time at Chicago's Electrical Audio), the band retreated for months into the dimly lit basement of the house they occupy on the Cleveland/Lakewood border, to record dozens of new songs on modest tape equipment.

The resulting cut is an astonishing 14-song LP, its sound at once down-to-earth, detailed, and exuberant. Its workmanship points to Coffinberry's dedication and isolation: the bandmates live on a heavily trafficked yet anonymous roadway (a jumble of bars, car washes, and drive-thrus), an appropriate locale in which to create blue-collar narratives of sorrow and sanctuary like New Colorand The Vapors.

Check out a few tracks from the band deemed the “BEST INDIE/UNDERGROUND BAND” of 2008 by the Cleveland Free Times, below:

Coffinberry - "Long Story Short"
Coffinberry - "Smashed On Honey"

The Turf

Getting ready to enjoy some Brewers baseball here in a bit but wanted to take a moment to talk about the debut album from The Turf, titled Fascination of a Sort.

The Turf are an indie/rock/pop band from Nashville, TN that are finally releasing their debut album after a few years of playing together. Fascination of a Sort will be available for streaming this upcoming Wednesday, June 10, which I'm guessing will be at their MySpace page. There are four tracks up right now on their MySpace page that you can check out (our fav is "To the Disco"). I'd say their music is danceable, without being overly glitzy or glamorous, and raw enough to appeal to your indie rock sensibilities without being pretentious.

Drop by their MySpace page to have a listen and decide for yourself.