Twin Tigers

Hailing from the ever blooming Athens, GA scene, Twin Tigers are ready to unleash their dynamic sound unto the universe. Along with other elements of the past five decades of rock music, Twin Tigers blend noise textures with pop structure and shoegaze overtones shaping a sound that’s all new.

Formed by co-workers at the Michael Stipe-owned Grit restaurant, guitarist/vocalist Matthew Rain and bassist Aimee Morris began Twin Tigers as their previous bands dissolved. In February 2008,Curious Faces / Violet Future EP was released to great reviews. The band quickly started building a solid fan base throughout the southeast and played shows with Deerhunter, Dead Confederate, Jay Reatard, Black Lips, Dungen, Woods, Snowden and A Place to Bury Strangers.

After a slew of revolving guitarists and drummers the band debuted its current lineup with guitarist Forrest Hall, opening for Les Savy Fav at the Earl in Atlanta only a few weeks before their first trip to SXSW 2009. Upon returning from SXSW, the band began recording an album with Joel Hatstat in Athens, GA.

Following the wrap up of their full length, the band was chosen for a nation wide tour with Minus the Bear and the Antlers in the fall of 2009. Twin Tigers have been on the road supporting their recently released Gray Waves and announce national dates supporting Interpol following their stint supporting the Hold Steady! Twin Tigers’ debut album Gray Waves is out now via Brooklyn based Old Flame Records. Recommended!

Twin Tigers - Passive Idol
Twin Tigers - Live At WOXY
Twin Tigers - Automatic EP (free album)
Twin Tigers @ MySpace




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SONG OF THE DAY: M.I.A. - XXXO
(from MAYA, out 7/13 on N.E.E.T/XL/Interscope)

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Peter Wolf Crier

Peter Wolf Crier are Peter Pisano & Brian Moen. Pisano's is not a new songwriting voice. He is best known for being part of the Wars of 1812, an ascendant Wisconsin-bred quartet. Their first album together, Status Quo Ante Bellum, was more than just an album. It was relocation and aspiration and Pisano's lyrical Eden. As the Wars went on hiatus, Pisano continued to hone his craft, keeping his days full as a teacher at a small private school while fine-tuning, at night, the songs that would soon become Inter-Be. Feeling confident in the songs, Pisano approached Moen, a seasoned drummer and engineer best known for his involvement in Laarks and Amateur Love. After being asked to add some percussive elements, Moen added his thundering drum rolls and perfectly timed fills, but he also added something much more: a melodic soundscape that would complete the evolution of the songs. So was born the partnership that is called Peter Wolf Crier.

Peter Wolf Crier is set to take America by storm as they embark on their first ever U.S. tour starting June 7. On most of the dates, Peter Wolf Crier will be joined by Freelance Whales. Live, Peter Wolf Crier sound much larger than you'd expect from a two-piece. Lead singer Peter Pisano is a man possessed, strumming his overdriven acoustic guitar with force enough to draw blood and belting out the tunes like a pompadoured crooner of days gone by. All the while his feet are in constant motion, playing basslines on the pedal organ and sampling his own voice along the way. Meanwhile, drummer Brian Moen keeps the train on course with a lurching and powerful steadiness highlighted with machine-like flourishes while harmonizing a sweet yang to Pisano's yin. It is an all encompassing live experience by any measure. Highly Recommended!

Peter Wolf Crier - Hard As Nails
Peter Wolf Crier - Crutch And Cane
Peter Wolf Crier - Daytrotter Session
Peter Wolf Crier @ MySpace


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SONG OF THE DAY: The National - Bloodbuzz Ohio
(from High Violet, out May 11th on 4AD)

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Household Names

Household Names is a four-piece alternative pop band from Austin, Texas, featuring vocalist and guitarist Jason Garcia, bassist Chris Peters, guitarist Eric Roberts, and drummer Joey Spivey.

Songwriter and guitarist/vocalist Jason Garcia released The Trouble With Being Nice as a solo artist in 2000, which drew immediate comparisons to Elvis Costello, Suede, Oasis, the Kinks and Blur. After 2003’s home-recorded Hold On Tight! EP, he found the perfect musical foil in bassist/vocalist Chris Peters, and together with drummer CJ Barker they recorded 2006’s Picture In My Head, of which The Austin Chronicle raved: “guitarist/vocalist Jason Garcia is fueled by the same unrequited aspirations as Big Star devotees like Matthew Sweet and Jellyfish… precision-tuned and soaked with hooks.” “Only One”, from that record, was featured prominently in an episode of the ABC prime time series “What About Brian?” and several other tracks have been used by MTV and CNBC.

The band will self-released its third record, Stories, No Names on May 11, 2010. “Driving To LA” starts the album off with guitar and beat-driven wistful nostalgia; “Every Third Time” keeps up the band’s signature hooky rock and adds some moody atmospherics. “Definitely” is pure pop- a Beatles and Beach Boys sing-along, while “Firefly” showcases a quiet, minor-key, Elliot Smith-esque sound. “Got A Good Thing” shimmers with atmospheric, yearning guitars and simple piano, creating the album’s prettiest track. As with the band’s previous albums, Stories, No Names is co-produced with Lars Goransson (Blondie, The Cardigans). Recommended!

Household Names - Definitly
Household Names - Driving To LA
Household Names @ MySpace


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SONG OF THE DAY: Ane Brun (feat. Teitur) - Rubber & Soul
(from Duets, released 2005 on Determine Records)

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Sebastian Blanck

Ever since he left an early lineup of Black Dice ten years ago, Sebastian Blanck has made his way as a painter in New York City, all the while quietly, almost secretly, writing warm, personal pop songs away from view. That changed in 2007, when Sebastian’s brother Toby died in a drowning accident thousands of miles away. It was also the year that Sebastian’s first son, Hudson, was born.

Toby had talked of starting a label to release Sebastian’s songs. Robbed of his brother and co-conspirator, Sebastian suddenly found a new urgency to writing and recording, a process he likens to being parallel to painting: a single-mindedness bordering on obsession, blending focus and surrender to quiet the external world. Within this private space he crafted a narrative of loss as well as an emotional re-imagining of Toby’s last months, a time he had kept hidden from his family. What were the forces pushing and pulling him away from the life he had and the people he loved? These questions could have been a dialogue never had, but Sebastian was left to re-create it alone.

All of Sebastian’s roles in life — father, husband, brother and son as well as painter and songwriter — come into play on Alibi Coast. In his paintings he’s a great storyteller, crafting scenes of single moments that unfurl into the past and future. Much the same way, Alibi Coast is a record of open-source love songs, a narrative of one or more relationships moving into and through dysfunction, brushstrokes becoming penstrokes and melodies. Even though there are specific experiences within these 12 songs, anyone with a heart will recognize their own hope, yearning and love in every song. There is sadness here, but Alibi Coast is not a sad record; moment to moment and song to song, its emotion, color and shading change, like a precious stone turning over in your hand. Recommended!

Sebastian Blanck - Thunder
Sebastian Blanck @ MySpace

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SONG OF THE DAY: Emily Jane White - Liza
(from Victorian America, out April 27th on Milan Records)

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