Ten Kens - 'For Posterity' Album, Pre-Order Now

07/30/10

The second album from Toronto four-piece Ten Kens, For Posterity, is now up and available for pre-order in both CD and digital formats in the UK & Europe. You can purchase it now from the FatCat online store.

As the title of the album suggests, this release sees them looking to the future, and pursuing a distinct artistic vision that takes inspiration from a range of disparate genres and movements, from the meditative experimentation of Psychedelia to the immediacy of Hardcore, steering them towards a bold new sound that is truly unique.

It is the range of contrasts which make For Posterity such an intriguing listen. Heavenly vocals appear hauntingly over dark sludgy guitars which then themselves provide a platform for a surprisingly spiky post-punk riff, or the prelude to a screaming deluge of noise. The band have maintained the ability to record an album with a sonic narrative, through the widescreen sense of drama that characterised their self-titled debut. However, whilst the musical intent of that was to make a tangible body of work, ‘For Posterity’ feels more like a spirit, haunting the listener with a brooding dread that runs throughout the album and binds its contrasting musical elements together.

Having built up a reputation as a fearsome live act, Ten Kens are set to widen their remit for the release of the album, with US and European tours currently in the planning stages.

You can read more about For Posterity, listen to the album tracks and pre-order the record here.
To visit the Ten Kens' myspace, click here.

We Were Promised Jetpacks announce US tour supporting Jimmy Eat World

07/30/10

North America will experience its third 2010 onslaught of the relentless rock machine familiarly known as We Were Promised Jetpacks, when the Edinburgh-based foursome make their way back across the pond this fall to support Arizona-based modern-rock stalwarts Jimmy Eat World, who are releasing their seventh studio album in September. Fans can look forward to hearing WWPJ previewing new songs along the way.

We Were Promised Jetpacks with Jimmy Eat World
29 Sept - The Wiltern, Los Angeles CA
30 Sept - Warfield Theatre, San Francisco CA
1 Oct - Veterans Auditorium, San Luis Obispo CA
3 Oct - Ogden Theatre, Denver CO
4 Oct - Sokol Auditorium, Omaha NE
5 Oct - Pabst Theatre, Milwaukee WI
7 Oct - Riviera Theatre, Chicago IL
8 Oct - Royal Oak Music Theatre, Royal Oak MI
9 Oct - Newport Music Hall, Columbus OH
11 Oct - Electric Factory, Philadelphia PA
14 Oct - Terminal 5, NYC
15 Oct - House Of Blues, Boston MA
17 Oct - Kool Haus, Toronto Ontario

Photo from Flickr: revbean's photostream

Mice Parade - digital single 'Mallo Cup / In Between Times' pre-order from UK & Europe now

07/29/10

FatCat are pleased to announce that Mice Parade's new digital single, the two-tracker In Between Times/Mallo Cup is available for pre-order now in the UK and Europe from the FatCat webstore

This double A single - ‘Mallo Cup’ (a Lemonheads cover) and In Between Times - is the first single to be released from What It Means To Be Left-Handed, the stunning new full-length from Mice Parade, released worldwide on the 13th of September this year.

Band leader Adam Pierce’s decision to cover Evan Dando’s ‘Mallo Cup’ is partly intended to satisfy his formative school-age interest in 80’s and 90’s indie (Pierce at one time would perform Lemonheads covers in pre-Mice Parade bands) and partly as an opportuntiy for Pierce to “rewrite” the track as he would have liked for it to have sounded – more energy, more substance in production and performance.

‘In Between Times’ is more recognisable Mice Parade fare, though clearly an evident progression from previous records. Coloured by splashes of West African Highlife, Flamenco and Brazillian Jazz, it is flickering, enveloping and soaring. Guest vocalist Caroline Lufkin’s range is chill-inducing, bracing a blissful giddy-paced vocal duet with Pierce before the song breaks into a pseudo-Afro, percussive middle eight that showcases the stunning rhythmic interplay between Pierce and drummer Doug Scharin.

The live band is a force to be reckoned with; they will be taking their 2 drumkits and 7 people out on the road worldwide this autumn and winter, hitting the UK with Silje Nes and Europe with Laetitia Sadier (Stereolab) supporting in October.

To visit Mice Parade's Myspace click here
To buy the single, click here.

Les Shelleys - digital single 'Rum and Coca Cola / Green Door' UK/Europe pre-order

07/29/10

FatCat Records are pleased to announce that Les Shelleys' new single, Rum and Coca Cola / Green Door can be pre-ordered now in the UK & Europe from the FatCat webstore

Les Shelleys are an acoustic guitar/vocal duo from Los Angeles, consisting of FatCat’s folk asset Tom Brosseau and his singing partner Angela Correa, better known as the indie-pop singer/songwriter Correatown. This, their debut release together, is an AA digital only single to precede their self-titled album, a collection of tracks taken from a vast body of recorded works – beautiful, harmony-heavy voice and guitar arrangements of American standards and folk traditionals from various points of the last century, out on the 20th of September in the UK, and 31st of August in the United States.

There is an undeniable timelessness to Tom and Angela’s work here – something we have seen before in Tom Brosseau’s FatCat releases under his own name (three full length albums and a handful of singles) – a gracious and praising nod to the frankness and honesty of the great folk songwriters whose work they recount, and yet their work together does not sound like a simple “reissue from the vaults” or conventional covers collection.

The “Americanised calypso” popularised by the Andrews Sisters ‘Rum and Coca Cola’ here is dulcet like a lullaby, but swaying like its tropical origins. Tom begins, acoustic guitar and his flooring singing voice wrapped around the gorgeous melody, before Angela joins for the chorus and the pair tap gently together as their two voices harmonise sweetly.

‘Green Door’, originally written by Bob Davie and Marvin Moore in 1956, and covered by (among others) Shakin’ Stevens and The Cramps, is entirely a capella under Les Shelleys’ direction. Tom and Angela allow a focus on the purity and sweetness of their intermixed voices. Tapping into those inherently romantic and tender qualities of vocal harmonies that serve pop and folk music so well, an instantly likeable, charming personality is given to a time-tested composition.

To visit Les Shelleys' Myspace, click here.
To buy the single now, click here.