San Francisco’s City Tribe released “Wildflower” from their forthcoming debut album Undertow, a track that encapsulates Jacob Jones’ sincere vocals, Eric Wallace and Duncan Nielsen’s warm-toned guitars, and Cody Rhodes’ driving percussions. READ MORE…
We’re stoked to be presenting the world premiere for City Tribe’s new track “Gloomaloo.” Theirs is the wide-open sound of the San Francisco Bay at dusk – big harmonies and fog-shrouded Northern California hooks, definitely for fans of Beach Boys, Shins, Paul Simon, Vampire Weekend, and Fleet Foxes. LISTEN HERE…
Scott Hill never minded making substantial sacrifices for Fu Manchu, his iron-willed California stoner rock band for the last quarter-century. In the late ’90s, after several popular albums for Chapel Hill label Mammoth Records put Fu Manchu on the path toward the radio and larger stages, Hill finally sold his successful car repossession business to fund the band’s full-time touring commitment.
“It was the only company like that in Orange County, around where we lived,” remembers Hill. “I did pretty well selling it, so I was able to invest the money.”
Fu Manchu has been active ever since, releasing another album of loud, languid rock every few years and outlasting several sea changes in the recording industry itself.
In fact, in 2009, Hill and his bandmates made another deliberate decision to put the band’s finances and future in front of their own personal priorities. This time, most of the profits they took in from touring and selling merchandise went directly into a savings account, meant not only to pay for the recording of their next album but also its release. Century Media, a large metal label with offices in California and across Europe, had offered to release Fu Manchu’s latest album, but after two decades, 10 full-lengths and six labels, they finally decided to do it all themselves. Their own At The Dojo Records issued Gigantoid, the band’s most vibrant and risky effort in years, in late April.
“A record label has done everything for us every time. We wanted to take a chance and do it ourselves, to see if we could do this,” he says. “It takes a lot of work, but between the four of us and a manager, it’s not that hard. We know what to do.”
As the record industry continues to search for stability in an age of decreased sales and increased streaming, more veteran acts like Fu Manchu are turning to the notion of self-releasing their music. Without the substantial recording advances of previous decades but with the cheap duplication and distribution methods of cassettes, compact discs and the Internet, bands with established audiences can take control of their release schedule and take responsibility for letting people know they still exist. READ MORE…
Summer is here, which means it’s time to kick out the jams and beat the heat with some local music. This week, eight Atlanta rockers weigh-in with what they’ve got going on this summer.
The Head has been hard at work on two new singles for this summer. Mitch Easter (R.E.M., Pavement) is producing one, titled “It Ain’t Easy,” and Big Star drummer Jody Stephens is producing the other, titled “I’m Lost.” The group is also playing as the house band in the Georgia Shakespeare’s production of One Man, Two Guvnors throughout the month of July.
Zoners‘ song “Take It Back” was recently added to rotation at Sirius XMU. This summer the group, which includes bassist and CL Art Director Wes Duvall, will be recording, touring, and shooting a video directed by former CL music intern Kelly Stroup. In September, the group is heading to LaFayette, Ga., to play Andy Ani Male Meltasia Music Festival (Sept. 5-7) alongside Black Lips, Curtis Harding, and many more. Party in the woods!
Pillage & Plunder recently premiered a new track on Absolute Punk, titled “Keep Dreaming (It’s Not Gonna to Happen),” from its forthcoming LP, The Show Must Go Wrong. Since then the P&P crew has been working to finish up its first music video from the new album and preparing for a pre-album release regional tour in June. An extensive late-summer tour will coincide with the album’s release.
Gringo Star has signed a deal with Waxploitation Records (Gnarls Barkley, Danger Mouse, Broken Bells) to rep the group’s entire catalog. To celebrate, the Gringos are hitting the road for a 15-date summer tour around Brooklyn’s Northside Festival on June 14. The group also recently received the masters for a new 7-inch due out later in the fall and is finishing up the remaining songs for the band’s fourth album.