Lemuria, The Young Leaves, Varsity Drag And Ex-Magicians | TT The Bear's Place | 21 May



As we quipped on the Facebooks a couple weeks ago, summer doesn't begin until you've seen Varsity Drag performing their monster jam "Summertime" live. So summer begins, for us anyway, Tuesday night at TT's when the Cambridge, Mass.-based indie punks support Buffalo's finest, indie pop heroes Lemuria. Also performing are Holliston, MA punks The Young Leaves and locals Ex-Magicians, making this Tuesday night most steadfastly alright for rocking. More details at this Facebook event page, we assume. Maybe?

Lemuria is touring ahead of the release of its third long-player The Distance Is So Big, which Wikipedia tells us was recorded at least in part with legend J. Robbins and which will be issued June 18 on Bridge 9. That title will sound familiar to fans who have already discovered the band's new tune "Oahu, Hawaii," which was premiered at NPR this past week. Spoiler alert: the album title is ripped right from the chorus of "Oahu, Hawaii." The nine-year-old trio's current spring tour terminates on the 31st in Pittsburgh, and Lemuria already has a UK tour booked for late July/early August, and plans for a west coast tour of the U.S. after that. No rest for the wicked, eh. If you can't be arsed to click through to the NPR link above, check out the embed below of "They Are Who I Say They Are," the slow-burning b-side to the 2010 single "Chautauqua County," which was also released by Bridge 9.

Clicky Clicky faves Varsity Drag's appearance will be its first in many moons, and perhaps the first since the band's cracking split single with Chestnut Rd. was released in mid-January. The Drag's side of that release -- also embedded below -- featured the new, Ben Deily-penned pogo-anthem "Mind Like A Sieve," which we are once again embedding for your aural entertainment. There are some exciting things afoot in the larger Varsity Drag ecosystem, and as soon as they can be made public we'll certainly let you know. In the meantime, keep your fingers crossed for a new record from the Cambridge, MA-based triumvirate. Also below for your listening pleasure is The Young Leaves' excellent "Alive And Well" single from 2012 and Ex-Magicians' single from January "Adirondack Bound."