Today's Hotness: Calories, William, Lali Puna, A Weather

>> Readers will recall that earlier this month we expressed excitement at the prospect of a forthcoming Tough Love Records split single featuring Calories and William. Well, DrownedInSound got the hook-up from the label and is hosting streams and downloads of two of the four tracks on the single, namely Calories' "The Mortal Boys" and William's "Lustreless." Unsurprisingly, these tracks are awesome. "The Mortal Boys" is a typically anthemic shout-along with Birmingham, England-based Calories, and while the band has yet to alter its formula too much we can't see ourselves tiring of it soon. William, as we stated in the earlier post, is new to us, and while we don't necessarily find the referential equation (D. Boon + straightedge + Stinsons) completely accurate, we still like very much what William is doing here (clattering drums, splayed out guitar squawl, desperate vocals). Due once again to the magic of SoundCloud, we are posting the streams below. And in case you are not familiar with the SoundCloud interface, you are able to download the tracks as MP3s if you click on the downward-pointing arrow icon at right. The split single will be released Feb. 15 (and ship two weeks prior) in a hand-numbered, limited edition of 500 in white vinyl packaged with a 'zine and download codes. You want this. It wants you. Buy Buy Buy.

Calories -- "The Mortal Boys"

William -- "Lustreless"

>> Another follow-up to an earlier item: after anticipating it for more than a year, perhaps more than two years, we were thrilled to see the news of Lali Puna's next record. Our Inventions is out April 6 on Morr Music, and we've been digesting the record for a couple weeks already. The set is something of a return to the band's minimal and electronic roots, as the foregrounded guitars of Faking The Books are largely whack-a-moled back into the mix for the new collection. The first promo track from Our Inventions evidences this, and now that we think about it most of the guitar therein is actually bass. The midtempo toe-tapper pairs fronter Valerie Trebeljahr's voice with partner Micha Acher's, but it is largely electronics in the fore that drive the track. Fans will find that Lali Puna's skill at crafting pretty and affecting electropop has not diminished during the band's five year absence. Dig the MP3.

Lali Puna -- "Remember" -- Our Inventions
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[buy Lali Puna records from Morr Music right here]

>> Word from Portland, Ore.-based slow-core standouts A Weather is that Magnet Magazine will debut an MP3 from the band's forthcoming sophomore set tomorrow Tuesday. The quintet is slated to released Everyday Balloons March 2 on Team Love, as we reported here in December. A Weather's debut Cove has been lauded in this publication a number of times; most recently we named it one of the best albums of the last decade here.

Johnny Foreigner Prep "Every Cloakroom Ever" Single, Tour, Write Songs, Drink Gin, And So Forth, Forever And Ever, Amen

We regret being too busy in recent months to provide the microscopic coverage of Birmingham, England-based noise pop titans Johnny Foreigner per our usual modus operandi, and we're going to start making up for it right now. For example, did you know that the trio will finally issue a vinyl single from its superlative sophomore full-length Grace And The Bigger Picture? The single -- the third from the latest collection after the freebie "Feels Like Summer" and "Criminals" -- is for the track "Every Cloakroom Ever," and just Monday night (when we actually started typing this) the band announced the b-sides. These are two (of allegedly "like, 100") newly penned numbers "Chains" and the amazingly tited "Things I Would Have Swapped For Heart Shaped Sunglasses, 2001-6." What is even cooler is that the single is being fan financed, and if you pre-order the platter by Feb. 11 Johnny Foreigner's top serious staff artiste Lewes Herriot will include your name in the single art. More than a little awesome, yeh?

Those who pre-order will also receive high quality digital files of the tunes. The actual release date is still to be determined. Of note is the fact that the band states in one message it will be manufacturing the singles themselves. While we don't expect this is literally true, we think it is interesting that the band has struck some accord with its label Best Before that allows Johnny Foreigner to effect the making of the single (to whit: "th lovely adults who are incharge of us have consented finally to release a 7" single. um, rather, they've consented to letting us do it oursleves..."). But that makes us wonder, will "Every Cloakroom Ever" bear the Best Before imprint? Will Johnny Foreigner create a vanity label of its own under whose banner the single will be issued? We suppose time will tell.

In the meantime (we're coming to a close here, we promise), Johnny Foreigner do have a couple tranches of live dates to deliver on, including an extended jaunt to South Africa. So we think it would be foolish to expect to see "Every Cloakrook Ever" in your mailbox before March, what with the live commitments, which we list below. Finally, longtime readers may recall that "Every Cloakroom Ever" first surfaced in recorded form as a demo titled "Rhapsidy/This Trapeze Ball Thought Out," as posted here by our illustrious sister site KeepingSomeDarkSecrets.net. In case you missed it, here's the recording.

Johnny Foreigner -- "Rhapsidy a/k/a This Trapeze Ball Thought Out (Every Cloakroom Ever demo)"
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[buy Johnny Foreigner merch and order the new single right here]

02.01 -- Cabaret Voltaire -- Edinburgh
02.02 -- Ruby Lounge -- Manchester
02.03 -- The Harley -- Sheffield
02.05 -- Hare and Hounds -- Birmingham
02.06 -- Clwb Ifor Bach -- Cardiff, Wales
02.09 -- King’s College -- London

02.12 -- To South Africa

02.13 -- The Assembly -- Cape Town
02.17 -- Klein Libertas Theatre -- Stellenbosch
02.19 -- Hotbox Studios -- Pretoria
02.20 -- Roxy’s -- Johannesburg
02.26 -- RAMFEST -- Worcester

(Whew, that was a long one, and we really only just scratched the surface of what the band is up to. Make sure to read this to learn about supporting acts for the UK dates, and read this to learn where you can get more free Johnny Foreigner tracks)

Today's Hotness: Red Pens, Calories, The Labor Daze

>> Delightful Minneapolis-based noise pop duo Red Pens have it, and they are about to share it, and it is great. The act's full-length debut Reasons has a high anthem quotient and is packed with fizzing pop songs constructed out of drums, guitar and vocals. And then the whole shebang is swathed in dense, "Sister Ray"-ish fuzz. And while using The Velvet Underground as a reference point these days has sort of lost all meaning (ditto for Sonic Youth and The Beatles: virtually meaningless, people), it isn't entirely off-base either. Red Pens' limited personnel -- the band is guitarist and lead vocalist Howard W. Hamilton III and drummer Laura Bennett -- imbues its songs with the sort of primitive vibe of certain Velvets material. A fleshy embrace of grimy distortion, smart vocals and blissful melodies also recalls The Manhattan Love Suicides, for those of you hip to the now sadly defunct Leeds noiseniks. Album opener "Hung Out" is a clear winner, and we're sharing the track below. We also highly recommend the brooder "Weekends," which is slotted midway through the record and touts a big dynamic chorus. Reasons will be issued by Grain Belt Records Feb. 18; it appears the set was previously released in one form or another Sept. 15, 2009.

Red Pens -- "Hung Out" -- Reasons
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[buy Reasons from Grain Belt Records right here]

>> A helpful commenter points us to pre-order information for the forthcoming split single from Calories and William, which is slated for release Feb. 8. As big Calories fans, and as especially big fans of the Birmingham, England indie rock trio's tune "Drink The Potion," it is their side of the single we are primarily excited about. In addition to "Drink The Potion," Calories' plane also includes the track "Mortal Boys;" William's tunes are "Dilettante" and "Lustreless." The split is being issued by Tough Love in a limited edition of 500, and it is apparently the label's second in a series of double A-sided singles. According to the Piccadilly Records pre-order page for the single, William apparently sounds like 1/3 D. Boon, 1/3 straightedge and 1/3 Stinson brothers, which sounds incredibly enticing to us. Pre-order the single here.

>> Peppy, North Jersey-based indie foursome The Labor Daze is the latest act to send us a surprisingly good unsolicited submission. The band's five song Laika EP overcomes opaque production with solid songwriting somewhat reminiscent of the now sadly defunct, Michigan-based indie pop geniuses Rain Is Wet. Laika succeeds with its earlier, scritchier tunes "Introduction" and "Whitebread Standard," but slumps a bit when The Labor Daze delves into the heavier riffage elsewhere. It's probably too early in the band's career for it to have fixed on a signature sound, so it is anybody's guess whether the lighter pop will triumph over the cockier material in the long run; more optimistically, perhaps The Labor Daze will find an exciting way to meld the two. No matter, there are some nice moments on the EP, and the entire thing can be downloaded via a link at the band's MySpace dojo. We're posting "Whitebread Standard" below.

The Labor Daze -- "Whitebread Standard" -- Laika EP
[.M4A file; right click and save as]
[download the entire EP via the band's MySpace]

That Was The Show That Was: Mission of Burma | The Paradise | 16 Jan.

[File Photo: Jay Breitling] You’ve gotta give the guys in Mission Of Burma credit. They haven’t been content to just get the old band back together and play somewhat lucrative gigs at festivals and in college towns (I’m looking at you, Pixies).

Since reuniting in 2002, the storied Boston-based trio has already surpassed its 1979-1983 output: Mission Of Burma has released three excellent studio albums and managed to maintain the blistering live sound it developed the first time around. Over the weekend Burma played two shows at the Paradise to showcase material from its latest album, The Sound The Speed The Light (Matador).

On Saturday, the band played to a near-full house and, as with the several shows I’ve seen them do over the last eight years, they showed no signs of slowing down. Maybe they don't play as many gigs as they used to, but the ones they do play pack a punch. Unlike previous Burma shows, the crowd at the Paradise Saturday seemed a lot younger. Guitarist-singer Roger Miller and bassist-singer Clint Conley kept up a breakneck pace while drummer-singer Peter Prescott kept things light with plenty of his patented hollering and between-song wisecracks. Bob Weston provided tape loops from his perch at the mixing board.

Miller, whose problems with tinnitus led to the band’s 1983 breakup, no longer wears the industrial headphones onstage, opting for in-ear plugs. As with fellow ’80s indie rock guitar gods J. Mascis and Bob Mould, Miller continues to play at ear-splitting volume. Conley pounded out frenetic bass runs and seemed to have fun responding to Prescott’s remarks and pointing out familiar faces in the crowd.

The 75-minute set was packed with songs from the three newer albums -- "1, 2, 3 Partyy!!!" and "SSL83" from the latest release and "Spider's Web" and "2wice" from The Obliterati were standouts -- as well as choice cuts from the band's first incarnation. These included "The Ballad of Johnny Burma," "This is Not a Photograph," "Dumbbells," and the post-punk classics "Academy Fight Song" and "That’s How I Escaped My Certain Fate." Conspicuously absent was the band’s signature song, "That’s When I Reach for My Revolver."

Burma also broke out a few brand new songs, including "Hi Fi," which Prescott announced was "fresh off the production line." If the new stuff is any indication, it looks like we can expect more great things from the band in the future. -- Jay Kumar

Mission Of Burma -- "1, 2, 3 Partyy!!!" -- The Sound The Speed The Light
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[buy Mission Of Burma releases from the band here]

Mission Of Burma: Internets | MySpace | YouTube | Flickr

Previous Mission Of Burma Coverage:
That Was The Show That Was: Mission Of Burma | 6/14/2008
Today's Hotness: The Notwist, Mission Of Burma, Yah Mos Def
Today's Hotness: Hockey Night, The Cure, Mission Of Burma
Review: Not A Photograph | The Mission Of Burma Story [DVD]

Rock Over Boston | Wrens | Middle East | 1.16.2010

[Wrens at the Middle East, Cambridge, MA 1/16/2010. Photos by Michael Piantigini]

Wrens: Intertubes | MySpace | Facebook | Twitter | YouTube | Flickr

Be Prepared: Lali Puna | Our Inventions | 1st April

It's been more than five years (or just about five, if you count the comp I Thought I Was Over That: Rare, Remixed and B-Sides, which we reviewed for Junkmedia here), but Munich, Germany-based electropop luminaries Lali Puna are finally back with a new collection of music: Our Inventions will be released April 1 by Morr Music. We can tell you the collection is wonderful. A bit less guitar-oriented than the incredible prior release Faking The Books, but not as minimal as the stunning 1999 debut Tridecoder. Given the deliberate pace at which spouse, collaborator and Notwist fronter Markus Acher works, and the fact that the couple had a child in the last couple years, the lag between Faking The Books and Our Inventions is completely reasonable. But that doesn't diminish our excitement.

And Then This Happened | Varsity Drag and I, Pistol | Church

[Varsity Drag and I, Pistol at Church, Boston, MA 1/15/2010. Photos by Michael Piantigini]