Posted on January 27th, 2012 by Brendan
Hung On You from New Shouts on Vimeo.
We are super psyched to premiere this new music video from Pittsburgh’s best retro soul-rockers, New Shouts! Their fantastic debut EP, Sing New Shouts, was one of our local faves of last year, and we’ve caught some stripped-down versions of their tunes on tape for their Echo Chamber session, as well. This rockin’ tune, “Hung On You”, is track 3 on that EP and gets your dancin’ shoes movin’ right off the bat with that New Shouts sound. The video, directed by Adam Steinsdoerfer, tells the tale of a lovely young lady—”the crush of all the dudes”, as it were—and stars all four band members. Keep your eyes peeled for the Pittsburgh sights where they filmed as you watch the video above, and download an mp3 of the song below, too. Then head to their Bandcamp page to pick up the whole EP and some digital singles. Rock on!
New Shouts / Hung On You
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Posted on January 27th, 2012 by Brendan
Photo by Emily Shur
Words by Vicki
Something that’s always thrilled me about music is its ability to transcend words, and yet still convey the meaning they hold. Sure, I may never know what Jonsi of Sigur Rós is saying, but that’s not stopping him and his band from making powerful, moving music. The same is true of any talented musician singing in a foreign tongue. Take Mexican singer-songwriter Ximena Sariñana. Though she’s often singing in Spanish, her meaning is not lost on me. How? Why does this work? Let’s chalk it up to another reason music is amazing and wonderful, and learn a little bit more about Ms. Sariñana while we’re at it.
Ximena Sariñana / Mediocre
Ximena Sariñana / Shine Down
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Posted on January 26th, 2012 by Jim
Bind Pilot & The Barr Brothers / Mr. Smalls / 2.10.2012 / Doors 7:00 / $13.50
Words by Jim
It’s always fun to catch a band around town and see them return a few years later, a few years older, and a few fans stronger. Case in point: Blind Pilot. I caught them back in 2009 when they played with (the seriously awesome) Laura Veirs at Club Cafe. Fast forward three years later, the band has a new album and they’re playing at Mr. Small’s. It’s really exciting to see a small indie band from Portland working hard and making it, but it’s just as exciting that we’re giving away TWO FREE TICKETS for this show. Yeah, yeah yeah. Do it!
Blind Pilot / One Red Thread
Blind Pilot / Half Moon
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Posted on January 25th, 2012 by Brendan
Words by Brendan
I sat down with Josh Verbanets, guitarist/singer/songwriter from Meeting of Important People, at Kiva Han the other day to shoot the shit and chat about the band’s plans for a new album and their corresponding Kickstarter campaign. I am a huge MOIP fan, like a lot of folks I know around town, so I was already waaayyy into this idea and eager to share it with everyone who’s remotely willing to read and/or listen. The conversation we had completely solidified all of my thoughts and passions for the band and the people involved. I want to dance in the streets, beg strangers for money, shovel sidewalks for change, anything I can to generate interest and funding for these dudes. Unfortunately, I’m a terrible dancer, strangers often scare me, and there’s hardly enough snow here to merit wearing boots, let alone necessitate shoveling, so you’ll have to bear with me as I resort to expounding on my personal love of Meeting of Important People, some band history, a rehashing of our features on them, and some excerpts and quotes from Josh about this new album that all the cool kids are talking about. Whether you read the whole thing or none of it at all, I hope you’ll consider dropping these fellows a couple of bucks. They have great songs to record, and the end result will be well worth the investment.
Meeting of Important People / I Know Every Street
Meeting of Important People / Leap The Dips
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Posted on January 24th, 2012 by Jim
Song: Catalpa
Artist: Young Brokaw
I’m a sucker for songs with spelling lessons.”C-A-T-A-L-P-A” shouted over eighth note guitar strums is music to my ears. Young Brokaw transport me back to mid ’90s awesomeness with this careening indie pop rock gem about a certain genus of flowering plants (or an album by Jolie Holland or a shipwreck or a city. Goddamn Wikipedia disambiguation). What the song is about doesn’t really matter. All that’s important is that the band has me rocking along to this album opening gem. I’ll shout C A T A L P A just as loud as I want, along with minimalist lines like “I know I need / I need a lot / All I want I already got”. Amen. I already got songs about love and loss and drinking and drugs and women and whatever else. What I need is a purely fun, catchy tune that’s going to get the blod pumping and stick with me for days and Young Brokaw are nice enough to make that happen. Thanks, dudes.
xoxoxox – Jim
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Posted on January 24th, 2012 by Jim
Words by Will
I lie to myself. I like to convince that I am worldly and cultured. Sadly, I know the opposite to be true. But worldly music leanings are a strong first step in my culturing process. Maybe, one day I will be able to escape my own preconceived bullshit. Maybe, just maybe, hopefully, you (the esteemed and probably much more cultured audience) can take this journey with me. As such, I present Brussels heavy pop quartet BRNS. This is a formal informal introduction. By reading this, you will become more cultured. As such, I feel like your resident (something smart and doctoral sounding should go here).
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Posted on January 23rd, 2012 by Jim
5 Songs is a weekly series where we point out the strange, the grand, and the unique connections between our favorite songs. Let’s get weird.
Words by Chris
I commit to “pop” because it’s more fun to say than “soda”. Look, soda is flavorless ephemera that has to be mixed with gin to work as a beverage at all
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Posted on January 20th, 2012 by Brendan
So we typically toss a video onto a post when highlighting a new band or a show preview or something and let you draw your own conclusion about it. Sometimes we throw a change-up… strike that — let’s call it a round up. Most of these videos are of bands we have previously talked about here on Draw Us Lines, so we won’t be telling you much about those bands themselves, just some musings that really aren’t worth a damn. If a picture is worth 1000 words, then a video must be worth a million. Hold on to your hats!
Video still by Zachary Smith
Today we’re featuring videos from More Humans, Ceiling Stares, Arctic Monkeys, Fanfarlo, Nerves Junior, and The Harlan Twins.
Words and picks by Brendan
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Posted on January 19th, 2012 by Brendan
Song: “Shake Can Well”
Artist: Boom Chick
I never, ever thought that the directions/warnings on an aerosol can could be converted into foot-stompin’ rock ‘n roll mayhem, but that is precisely what Boom Chick have accomplished with this tune. I honestly listened to this song three or four times before even scrolling down the page to learn that fact, which is a testament to this song’s guitar-lick-and-drum-pumping catchiness on its own. Pay closer attention and you might be able to figure out which brand name product you’ll find these words on. Ultimately, that don’t mean shit. Boom Chick have me shaking my hips well and bopping my head, and that’s all that matters to me.
—Cheers, Brendan
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Posted on January 19th, 2012 by Jim
Words by Rick Moslen
I recently overheard some old lady on the bus spew some nonsense about how 2012 marks the end of the world. Maybe she’s a Glenn Beck fanatic or the wife of some cult leader, but she was more-than-likely confusing “end of the world” with 2012’s other important event: “the 30th anniversary of K Records”—obviously. Avoiding aging traits like receding hairlines, bedwetting, and excessive ear hair, the graceful label still holds its charm thanks to an array of hip songwriters (Karl Blau, Mirah, Atlas Sound, Jeremy Jay), but it holds a meaningful place in the history of punk and indie culture, which brings us to this blog entry.
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