With the help of Nucky Thompson, The Black Keys dropped by Saturday Night Live this weekend to play two songs off their excellent forthcoming album El Camino. (As an aside, I have always, always wanted an El Camino. It’s like the nerdiest, coolest car ever. It’s a car and it’s a truck. How cool is that?! If I ever win the lottery, I am going to do two things: 1. Pay off these fucking student loans. 2. Buy an El Camino.) In the mean time, you should definitely buy the new album from The Black Keys. It was released Tuesday and it features from killer production from Danger Mouse.
First, they played “Lonely Boy” and then they shared “Gold on the Ceiling.” Each is a typically awesome song from the boys from Akron and each demonstrates a new-found depth in the sound as the duo of Dan and Patrick is augmented by a bass and grimy organ.
Tennis’ initial songs held so much promise for me. I have two (or three?) of their initial 7″ singles, but their album from earlier this year just didn’t do it for me. Everything sounded too similar in the end, and their saccharin pop formula didn’t hold up over the course of ten straight songs. 2012 will give them a chance to try again, however. Announced yesterday by the band, “Origins” is the first single from the band’s new album of the same name. It’s got a little more chutzpah than Cape Dory displayed. It’s scuffed up a little bit more, and that’s totally not a bad thing here.
Produced by Patrick Carney of Black Keys fame, “Origins” will also be released on 7″ vinyl courtesy of Forest Family Records (via Insound). It ends up being a bit of a steep price for two songs, but if you’re really into the band, you might feel the need to pick it up, as there are only 1000 copies being pressed. Origins the album will be out, cutely, on February 14th.
The first single from the forthcoming album from The Black Keys is here, with a pretty excellent video to boot. I wish I could dance that well. I wonder a couple of things, however: did that guy memorize the song in order to lip-sync the whole thing? If so, how long did it take him? Also, I like the woman who pokes her head into the window at about the 30 second mark and then leaves just as quickly.
El Camino is available for pre-order right now, and if you do pre-order it, you can have “Lonely Boy” right now for your troubles. Otherwise, it hits the streets on December 6th.
The Black Keys, riding their wave of popularity, are turning more like Radiohead, eschewing traditional models of album announcing and traditional run up time. Yesterday this video surfaced (via), featuring Bob Odenkirk as a used car salesman, and announcing El Camino, the new album from the Akron duo, which will be out on December 6. The album is available for pre-order now, and each order comes with a download of the first single, “Lonely Boy” which will be released on October 26th. Got that? ‘s all good, man.
Referrals are a big deal in the music industry. Trust is also a big deal if these referrals are to be of high quality. You hear your friend say she enjoys a band, and since you trust her taste in music, you decide to give them a listen. Voila! You have a new band to add to your collection.
That’s kind of how I came across Knoxville’s Royal Bangs. The difference being that this referral didn’t come from a friend. Patrick Carney (drummer for the Black Keys) used to run his own record label, Audio Eagle Records, and originally signed the band to release their debut album, We Breed Champions, in 2008. Based on reading that tidbit about the band, I decided to give their music a spin and found what I heard to be a raucous and immensely enjoyable experience.
On the band’s most recent album, 2011′s Flux Outside, the trio of Chris Rusk (drums), Ryan Schaefer (singer, keyboard, guitar), and Sam Stratton (guitars) blend catchy pop sensibilities with lo-fi fuzz that results in an upbeat sound that never gets to the point where it’s ever too bubbly. The synths complement the guitar hooks perfectly without ever leading the listener astray to synth-pop.
Fortunate for us that this band will be making an appearance at NxNE for a 10 p.m. show on Thursday, June 16 at the Legendary Horseshoe Tavern. They’re starting to make a name for themselves, having played Bonnaroo and Lollapallooza in 2010 and also having just made an appearance on Late Night with David Letterman back in April. If you’re not attending NxNE, but you still want to try and catch Royal Bangs live, and you happen to live in the South, then check out their tour page because they have a slew of shows going on in July.
001: Joywave - Ridge/Traveling At The Speed Of Light 7"
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Upcoming Western NY Concerts
NOTE: Concerts are in Rochester unless otherwise noted.
1/5: Les Racquet
1/12: Joywave with Old Tapes, Dave & Marissa
1/13: The Dads
1/14: My Brightest Diamond
1/17: Josh Netsky Band with Cuddle Magic
1/18: Tycho (Buffalo)
1/26: Avicii
1/26: A$AP Rocky (Buffalo)
1/28: The Crystal Method (Syracuse)
2/11: Blind Pilot (Ithaca)
2/22: William Fitzsimmons
2/24: Mike Doughty
2/25: Charles Bradley (Buffalo)
2/29: Summer People
3/3: Matthew Good
3/5: Evening Man
3/23: The Men
3/30: tympanogram’s 3rd Birthday with Born Gold, Old Tapes, TBA
4/20: fun.
4/23: Cults (Buffalo)
5/6: Bear In Heaven (Ithaca)
5/7: M83 (Buffalo)
an examination used to test the condition of the middle ear and mobility of the eardrum, and the conduction bones by creating variations of air pressure in the ear canal.
Basically, it sounded like a cool name for a blog intended to be primarily about music. We’d both had other blogs previously, but over beers it was decided that more damage could be done as a joint venture. And here we are.
We share a passion for the undiscovered and under-appreciated, and hope that you’ll be able to find something you love as well.
Disclaimer
The music offered on this blog is for sampling purposes only. If you enjoy something you hear here, please go out and buy the music, see a show, or purchase some merchandise. Posted mp3s are available for a limited period of time only.
If there are any materials featured here that are your intellectual property, and you would prefer them removed, please notify us and we will be happy to oblige.
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Do you have an artist or band you think we should hear? Please feel free to let us know and we'd be glad to give it a listen.
Submissions can be sent here, or email us for an address if you wish to send physical submissions.
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About the Author: Dave
I like music. I can't describe how I came to like the music I do, because I don't know how or why, I just do.
Many years ago, Napoleon's brother, my great-great-great-great-great-great Grandfather, came to America. He was asked his name on Ellis Island while being processed as an immigrant. Not understanding English, he was under the impression that he was being asked how he had arrived in the new land. So he turned around and pointed at the sea vessel and said, 'LaBarge.'
About the Author: Andy
I come by my music taste of my own free will. My friends listened to 2Pac, my parents to contemporary Christian and me? Sunny Day Real Estate. I can’t explain it.
“Music, true music, not just rock ’n’ roll, it chooses you. It lives in your car, or alone, listening to your headphones…” - Lester Bangs
![tennis origins single cover [stream] Tennis // Origins](http://tympanogram.com/files/tennis-origins-single-cover.jpg "tennis origins single cover")
![[mp3] Introducing // Royal Bangs (NxNE preview)](http://blaremagazine.files.wordpress.com/2011/03/royal-bangs-flux-outside.jpg?w=400&h=400 "[mp3] Introducing // Royal Bangs (NxNE preview)")
![[mp3] Introducing // Royal Bangs (NxNE preview)](http://www.assoc-amazon.com/e/ir?t=tympanogram-20&l=as2&o=1&a=B002JFCOCQ&camp=217153&creative=399701 "[mp3] Introducing // Royal Bangs (NxNE preview)"){kind=small}
