The last song on this week’s episode of the Hometown Sounds podcast is the title track from ska band Kill Lincoln‘s final EP Good Riddance to Good Advice on Jump Start Records. As we mentioned on the show, the band made a music video for the song, and it kicks just as much ass as you thought it would. The video features hypeman Drew Skibitsky doing what God put him on this earth to do, and that is get everyone super pumped for everything! First thing in the morning, Drew gets up, puts on a suit and tie and insanely dances his way to work, spreading infectuous joy even in the snow. There’s no way I could ever be that excited to go to work, unless my job involved whiteboarding the (totally incorrect) history of ska music to coworkers. Sadly Kill Lincoln’s show last Saturday night at the Black Cat was the final DC performance for the high-energy ska punks, so buy their EP and don’t ever stop dancing.
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Podcast for April 7th, 2015
Hear about Paul & Tony’s recent talk show/podcast appearance! (It was weird!)
Tracklisting:
Louis Weeks – Fire [haha album coming soon]
John Aulabaugh – Awake [Of Sins Present and Past album]
Boon – Medicine [Rome EP]
Pleasure Curses – Concrete [Pure Lust album coming soon]
Gravity Lens – And God Above [The Dark Between Good Times EP]
Kill Lincoln – Good Riddance to Good Advice [Good Riddance to Good Advice EP]
Or listen in SoundCloud:
Subscribe to the Hometown Sounds podcast (& rate it 5 stars!) in the iTunes Store
Mittenfields – Optimists video
“Everyone is an #optimist on #openingday”, the tweet from indie rockers Mittenfields read earlier today as their debut music video dropped for “Optimists”, the lead single and title track from their upcoming full length release on April 28th. The famously loud quintet produced these trippy, snowy visuals whose style matches the slacker 90s vibe that energizes the track. The Black Cat (maintstage!) hosts the album’s release show on Thursday April 30th with a Hometown Sounds approved all-DC lineup including Greenland, Magnetar Flares and Night Streets (full respect to Night Streets for naming both a song and their debut EP after themselves \m/ ). If this is the theme song for the opening day of Nats baseball in DC, here’s hoping we don’t have too many bad days ahead.
Kenn Starr – Say Goodbye video
DC, please welcome Kenn Starr back to our hip-hop scene. An alum of the influential Low Budget crew that included Oddisee, Kev Brown and Sean Born, Starr’s sophomore album Square One, on the influential Mello Music Group label, represents a fresh start coming a full eight years since his debut full length Starr Status. On “Say Goodbye”, Square One‘s lead off single, Starr reflects on his career and his current aspirations over a crafty beat by Detroit’s Black Milk. That thoughtful, swank Low Budget vibe sure hasn’t gone out of style.
Blueheart Revival – Early in the Morning video
Bobby Thompson’s blues rock band Blueheart Revival just released the third video from their debut full length album Stone Feathers. Like last year’s premiere video “Setting Sun”, Thompson and his talented crew along with engineer Sean Russel recorded “Early in the Morning” at Cue Recording Studio’s Red Room and Clubhill Media‘s Matt Williams was there to capture footage, but Thompson himself did the editing for this interesting view into the recording process. Iota in Clarendon is the spiritual home of this rugged style in DC, so head there Friday night to hear Blueheart Revival wail and croon with support from Jonathan Slone and Wayward Dog.
Dead Professional – Don’t Be Cruel video
The late 80s were a formative time for me musically, especially when my house got a VCR and MTV. I set to taping my favorite music videos every chance I got, much like devoted music fans taped their favorite songs off of FM radio. 1988 is heavily represented on a VHS tape I still have somewhere in my house, even though I no longer have a device to play it back. Through coincidental synergy, that year two popular songs called “Don’t Be Cruel” flew high in the charts, Cheap Trick’s cover of the original Elvis Presley song and Bobby Brown’s new jack swing anthem. So I’ll be honest with you, when I found Dead Professional‘s spare and beautiful song with the same name, I could not get these two other versions out of my head. This is totally unfair because John Harouff’s song is original, not a cover of either of my ancient earworms. “Don’t Be Cruel” is the latest single from Dead Professional’s 2014 debut EP Hard Hard Hard, recorded by John alone, but he’s recently added bass and drums to his live sets, including this version performed out in a field for The Garage Video Sessions. Dead Professional brings their simple and direct rock to the Kingman Island Bluegrass Festival on April 25th, so wouldn’t it be a grand idea to pre-order tickets today?
Incredible Change – Ecce Mono video
We’ve told you a few times now about Incredible Change, the hot hot synthpop band fronted by Ra Ra Rasputin’s Brock Boss. Their short tour with The Jaguar Club from NYC and Baltimore’s Joseph & the Beasts hits our fair town Saturday night at DC9. This video from last year for “Ecce Mono”, on their FREE self-titled debut EP, shows how much of an intense workout drumming really is. Just try to burn that many calories dancing!
Paperhaus – So Slow video
Didn’t you get the memo? Apparently March is Ben Usie month for DC music videos. Impose Magazine premiered the newest Usie-directed music video from Paperhaus yesterday, joining the ranks of Usie’s recent creations for Young Rapids and his own band Pree. Usie’s videos are always colorfully inventive, but “So Slow” could leave you scratching your head. The video, filmed in south Louisiana, features Dorian Phibian of Cloudheavy Recording Collective preparing for a big show that may never come. Paperhaus has no shortage of shows to perform, as the band continues its push for indie rock stardom with prominent spots at SXSW and a neverending US tour supporting their recent self-titled release.
Podcast for March 24th, 2015
This week, Tony shares his true feelings about pandas. Also, we show you some of the many ways DC rocks!
Tracklisting:
Sunbathers – Summer In The City (Yites Remix) [free download on SoundCloud]
Cruzie Beaux – Girlfriend [Demo 1]
Moonlight Mask – Purple Stuff [Moonlight Mask]
Dot Dash – Walls Closing In [Earthquakes & Tidal Waves]
Mittenfields – Optimists [Optimists LP coming in April]
Night Streets – Night Streets [Night Streets]
Or listen in SoundCloud:
Subscribe to the Hometown Sounds podcast (& rate it 5 stars!) in the iTunes Store
Two Dragons and a Cheetah – Lessons video
Guitarist/vocalist Maryjo Mattea and drummer Joel Wu keep the formula simple in their garage rock duo Two Dragons and a Cheetah. But simple can still rock plenty hard. Their debut music video “Lessons” shows them walking and performing around Chinatown, and I particularly love the incongruity between Wu’s hard hitting drums and the adorably tiny kit strapped to his chest. Pick up their new EP Something, Something... Poetry and Light for a few bucks on Bandcamp and clear your schedule Friday night to descend to the basement of DIT house Bathtub Republic to see the these beasts play with our faves Clones of Clones.
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