Thursday's Hotness: Los Campesinos!, Ringo Deathstarr

>> We're a few days behind, but you can be absolutely certain that the big news 72 hours ago was the release of a video and free download for Los Campesinos!' "By Your Hand." The song is the opening number on the septet's forthcoming long-player Hello Sadness, which we first wrote about here last week. Los Camp! also unveiled a short stack of tour dates which will see the Cardiff-based indie rock goliaths visiting the U.S. mid-Atlantic, as well as Tokyo and five cities in the UK; full dates are listed below (and we are holding out hope for the addition of a Boston date, yeh?). You can download "By Your Hand" by clicking this link, and you can view some nifty art and handwritten lyrics at Los Campesinos!' web site right here. As for "By Your Hand," it's a decidedly mid-tempo clapper with a cracking sing-a-long chorus that we imagine fans had already committed to memory some 71-and-a-half hours ago. Longtime producer John Goodmanson's production is wonderfully bright, and the arrangement and orchestration are sophisticated without coming across overly dense. There's some nifty brass appointments, plonky synth and the tom work in the opening section will make you think you're about to get something on the order of The Clash's "Straight To Hell," which is a bonus (and, of course, completely untrue, ultimately). Watch the video, and then snatch the download. Hello Sadness will be released Nov. 14 by Wichita in the UK and Arts & Crafts in North America. Los Camp's previous album Romance Is Boring was our favorite record of 2010.

11.07 -– LONDON -- KINGS COLLEGE
11.08 -– BRIGHTON -- THE HAUNT
11.09 -– CARDIFF -- THE GLOBE (16+)
11.10 -– GLASGOW -- ORAN MOR
11.11 -– LEEDS -- THE COCKPIT
11.16 -– NEW YORK, NY -- BOWERY BALLROOM (18+)
11.17 -– BROOKLYN, NY -- MUSIC HALL OF WILLIAMSBURG (18+)
11.18 -– PHILADELPHIA, PA -- UNION TRANSFER (16+)
11.19 -– WASHINGTON, DC -- BLACK CAT (16+)
11.24 -– TOKYO, JP -- UNIT DAIKANYAMA

>> There's a nice little nugget of information in Dom Gourlay's very good DrownedInSound interview with Ringo Deathstarr bassist and singer Alex Gehring. Namely that the Austin-based shoegaze titans have recorded a new single called "Shadow" that features guest vocals from Jason Reece of ...And You Will Know Us By The Trail Of Dead (also, conveniently as it turns out, based in Austin). Apparently when doing scratch vocals for the recording, Gehring and Ringo Deathstarr founder Elliot Frazier agreed the vocals sounded similar to something Reece would do. Later the two bands were playing shows together and Frazier asked Reece to sing on the track and he agreed. We hope at that point Frazier quoted Hannibal Smith and said, "I love it when a plan comes together." From our recollection there's no indication in the interview of when "Shadow" might be released, but we are very excited to hear this one. We review Ringo Deathstarr's July performance in Boston right here, and we reviewed the band's long-awaited full-length debut Colour Trip right here in May.

>> Just a brief programming note: we've added a link in the sidebar over there to the new Clicky Clicky Radio tumblr, where you can look at playlists and download or stream Michael P's Thursday night radio shows. You want this. Click the link, access the rock, feel your heart grow. And we have to believe you've noticed the link to the Clicky Clicky Music Blog Facebook page up there, too, yeah? We're posting stuff there all the time, 90% of which never makes it here. Maybe 95%. But either way, you can't afford to miss all the Cheap Trick, Orange 9MM and Johnny Foreigner videos we're always posting there, and all the Clicky Clicky-Approved blurbs that typically focus on indie rock singles from the '90s. Not a liker? Be a liker.