You may recall that, when I was blogging more often (oh, say 2008), I was quite taken with The Capstan Shafts. That band kinda disappeared a year or two back, and I had recently been wondering what had happened to them. Well, wonder no more.

It turns out that head Capstan Shaft, Dean Wells, has moved on to a new band called Loud Springs, and they have a brand new 4-song EP called “Wheels to Ceiling.” And it’s pretty much the exact set of perfect minute and a half pop songs that you’d expect.

Check it out below and spend a few bucks to buy it. Apparently there’s a lot more coming, too. Excellent news.

A band I randomly discovered today. Can’t remember how. But it’s a pretty great tune.

Just heard this band on Mike Taylor’s radio show on Amazing Radio and was blown away. Wanted to something from them right away. Need to hear more from this band ASAP.

Sorry that the only Soundcloud link I could find has a NSFW image.

Actually found a widget on the Amazing Radio site with 2 different songs from the band. Check it out.

One of my favorite sets during last week’s SXSW festival (pics coming soon) came from Nashville’s Diarrhea Planet. Say what you will about their name, but that band fucking rocks. You should definitely check them out.

Anyway, while I was trying to find out more about DP this week, I found a link on one of their social media platforms to another Nashville band called No Regrets Coyote… and I may like them even more. You should check them out immediately:

The band apparently is about to release their debut LP on Spaghetti Spaghetti Records any day now. Definitely keep an eye out.

Fantastic new track from Chicago’s Inspector Owl. Can’t wait to hear the band’s new record, which was recorded with Josh Miller of the dearly-departed Troubled Hubble.**

The band is scheduled to play at The Burlington, 3425 W. Fullerton, on Friday, February 10th with Geronimo! and Deserters. You should join me there.

** Sidenote: Inspector Owl’s Corey Wills is also in the excellent Kid, You’ll Move Mountains, which features two other former members of Troubled Hubble. So if you’re a Troubled Hubble fan and you aren’t listening to either of these bands, well, fix that shit.

Charleston, South Carolina’s The Explorers Club are set to release their second LP, Grand Hotel, on February 14th.

You may remember the band from their excellent 2008 debut, Freedom Wind, but let me be amongst the first to say that that record really won’t prepare you for how good the band’s new album is.  It’s fantastic, and includes at least two songs – “Go For You” and “I’ve Been Waiting” – which will almost certainly end up on my Best Songs of 2012 list if I actually do one.

I can’t post either of those songs for you yet, but I can post the still-excellent lead single from the album, “Run Run Run”.  Check it out below.

The band will be touring on the East Coast in February, and I’m told we can expect midwestern dates – hopefully including Chicago – in March.  Can’t wait.

Oh, and if you click the album cover, it’ll take you to a site where you can pre-order the album.  I highly recommend it.

The Explorers Club – Run Run Run (album and single mixes) by expclubmgmt

The Twilight Sad have announced that their brand new, third LP entitled No One Can Ever Know will be released on February 7, 2012. That’s the artwork on the right.

The band leaked the first track from the album, “Kill It In The Morning” (actually the last song on the album), a couple of weeks ago, and you can listen to it below. You can also stream the track “Sick” over at Pitchfork.

There definitely seems to be a shift in the band’s sound this time around… less in-your-face and a little more textured and quiet. I like it so far.

The Twilight Sad – Kill It In The Morning by Fat Cat Records

If you’ve read this blog at all over the past couple of years — which, let’s be honest, isn’t that likely considering the frequency (or lack thereof) of my posting — you probably know that I am a huge fan of Austin, Texas’ Quiet Company.

Well, I’m happy to tell you that while the band’s brand new, third LP, entitled We Are All Where We Belong, comes out on October 4th, you can listen to it RIGHT NOW over at Paste Magazine.

And I highly recommend that you do so, as it’s pretty spectacular. So go do it. Now.

Some really awesome news this week from the fine folks at Comedy Minus One — they’ll be releasing remastered versions of two great, lost-classic albums from Washington, D.C.’s Edsel on September 19th.

If you don’t remember Edsel, well, first of all shame on you, and, secondly, you may know former frontman Sohrab Habibion from his current bad-ass band Obits. Other former Edsel members went on to Fort Knox Five, Chisel, Paramount Styles and Chicago’s own Chicago Stone Lightning Band.

Anyway, here’s a couple tracks to hold you over until September 19th. I think you’ll dig them. I sure as hell do. (Note: “Draw Down The Moon” seems to be wonky right now. Hopefully it’ll be fixed soon.)

More info about the albums, straight from the band, can be found here and here.

Edsel – “Buckle” by comedyminusone

Edsel – “Draw Down The Moon” by comedyminusone

This is the first official single from We Are All Where We Belong, the brand new album from Austin, Texas’ Quiet Company (out via Grooveshark on October 4th).

I’ve loved this band for a while now, and I haven’t heard a bad — or even mildly disappointing — track from the album yet. Very excited for this one, and you should be too.

Do yourself a favor and pre-order the album here.

Kid, You’ll Move Mountains, “New Blood” (from Loomings [BUY])

You might remember that KYMM’s 2009 debut, Loomings, was picked by Red Eye Chicago as the #1 Chicago album of 2009 (and a Top 10 album overall), and praised by Jim DeRogatis and the Chicago Reader, among many others.

Well, the good news is that the band is hard at work on album #2, and they’re aiming for a late Fall 2011 release! More news on this front soon!

In more immediate news, the band is extremely excited to have been invited to play WMSE’s Radio Summer Camp festival at the end of month! They’ll join such luminaries as Ted Leo & the Pharmacists, Richard Buckner, Handsome Furs and Jaill as part of the 5-day festival. KYMM plays on Saturday, July 30th at the Bay View Brew Haus at 2535 S. Kinnickinnic Avenue (on the same bill as Jaill!). You can find more info on the Radio Summer Camp fest here.

Finally, if you haven’t seen it already (or even if you have!), you should check out KYMM’s lead singer, Jim Hanke, providing backing vocals for They Might Be Giants’ recent AV Club Undercover performance of “Tubthumping” by Chumbawumba. It’s an awesome performance by everyone involved, but if you ask me Jim (the guy in glasses and a black and blue t-shirt) has the best moves in the room.

Anyway, I hope you can make it out to see KYMM at the end of the month, and if you’re interested in checking out the band’s debut, Loomings, let me know. We’ll also be in touch before long about copies of the new album! If you have any questions, just
drop me a line!

[Disclaimer: Kid, You'll Move Mountains are friends of mine that I'm doing some PR and management work for on the side. As I've mentioned here before, I only do work like this for artists I truly like and believe in (n.b., I'm a lawyer and don't have time to waste on artists I don't like), so while you should definitely be aware of the connection, it really doesn't affect my editorial judgment (such as it is) on this blog.]

Band from Worcester, Massachusetts. This seems to be their only song, and they are otherwise completely un-Googleable. But what a song it is. H/T to Mike for making sure it got played on Micha’s CHIRPRadio show last night.

A couple of weeks ago I made my radio “debut” on the excellent CHIRP Radio by helping my friend Micha put together a 2-hour radio program showcasing a bunch of new (and recent) bands from Washington, D.C. It was a fun experience, and gave me the chance to get some exposure for some really great bands – and even to introduce myself to a couple bands that have popped up since I moved away from D.C. at the end of 2009. (You can find the full setlist from the May 24th show here.)

After the show was over, I half-jokingly mentioned to Micha that, if he wanted to do something like this again, I knew a number of really cool under-the-radar bands from Austin, Texas, and I could try my hand at putting together another set. Surprisingly, he said OK.

Now, I’ve never lived in Austin, though I do have a good number of friends there and I’m down there a couple of times a year. So even though I know a number of great Austin bands, the process of putting together a list of 15-20 bands and songs was a little more involved than it was with D.C., and involved quite a bit more research and discovery on my part. Thankfully, though, I got some great recommendations from three people with their fingers on the pulse of the Austin music scene, Dan Corbin, Jennifer Leduc, and, of course, one of my radio heroes, Mike Taylor of WOXY fame and now of The Big Beat Blog.

Anyway, our Austin playlist will either feature on Micha’s show (Tuesdays from 10pm-12am Central) this week or next, but I wanted to take the opportunity to highlight a couple of great new songs from Austin’s Follow That Bird that I discovered while putting the set together. The band has been building a name for itself for the past couple of years, including being included on Matador Records’ Casual Victim Pile compilation last year, and they recently signed to Seattle’s Mt. Fuji Records.

In advance of their debut LP this fall, the band is releasing the “Wooden Bones” 7″ on June 21st. And while you can’t buy it yet, you can listen to it. And I strongly recommend that you do (below). We’ll also be featuring the band’s contribution to the Casual Victim Pile comp as part of the CHIRP Radio set.

Saw this link on Reigning Sound’s Facebook feed a little while ago… an excellent recording of the band’s recent show here in Chicago at the Empty Bottle. Awesome stuff. Check it out:

Really, really nice new song from Mark and Rose, a/k/a Washington, D.C.’s Vandaveer.

The song is from Vandaveer’s brand new album, Dig Down Deep, which you can order at the band’s website or on Bandcamp.

The band is schedule to play at the Empty Bottle on Wednesday, May 11th, with Ferraby Lionhart and Rachele Eve. Tickets are $8 or free if you RSVP (details on the Empty Bottle calendar here). You will definitely see me there.