The Muffs – “Sad Tomorrow” [Video Classics]

TFN was sad to hear about the passing of The Muffs lead singer Kim Shattuck last night. She had been battling ALS for the last two years. Kim was 56.

The Muffs put out several fantastic records over the years and Kim could absolutely wail! This video for “Sad Tomorrow” is one of TFN favorites so play it as loud as your player can go!

As with other artists, Kim’s music will live on and The Muffs actually have a new album coming out October 18 via Omnivore Recordings. No Holiday, is The Muffs’ first new album in five years, and represents a celebration of everything the band has always stood for, and continues to be. Bassist Ronnie Barnett says “I think this new album represents the depth of our band like none of our others. It could have easily been aptly called The Many Moods Of The Muffs. All of our strengths: melody, big rock, sweetness, nastiness… All on display and readily apparent. The three of us, after all these years, are a family. The love between us is well represented here. We laid it all out there on this one.”

Kim Shattuck (songwriter, guitarist, and vocalist) adds “I wrote the songs between 1991 and 2017. We decided to have a long album and use songs that had been in my arsenal but were weeded out for super concise albums. They were all great songs and we didn’t want them to go to waste. No way!”

No Holiday contains 18 tracks on CD, Digital, and a 2-LP set (with laser-etched fourth side). Drummer Roy McDonald: “I think No Holiday is the most unique album we’ve ever made. 18 songs that run the spectrum from full blown productions to intimate home recordings. This was a labor of love for us and I think that comes out in the record. We wanted to create something lasting and special. I, for one, couldn’t be happier with the results.”

You can pre-order a copy HERE. RIP Kim – we will miss you!

Dry Cleaning – “Viking Hair” [Video]

UK quartet Dry Cleaning have shared the second single off their forthcoming EP “Boundary Road Snacks and Drinks”(their second EP in just over 4 months), entitled “Viking Hair.” Trademark repetitive, melodic guitar motifs ring out over an energized rhythm section that builds to a gradual crescendo. Lyrically, “Viking Hair” is inspired by romantic ideas about someone you’re attracted to but don’t know well, and distracting things seen in the street.

The song is accompanied by a video shot and edited by the band and Pedro Pina. The band provides the following context: “Cactus Club is a weekly LGBT line dancing class and club where everyone is welcome. Based in Clapham, South London, it was established in 1993 and is run by Michael, Anne and Peter. Whilst recording ‘Viking Hair,’ we noticed the mood and rhythm of the song brought line dancing to mind. We found Cactus Club online and approached them to see if they would be interested in helping us to make a video. Dry Cleaning wish to thank the Cactus Club organizers and all the dancers who took part for sharing the fantastic atmosphere at their club with us, and for their enthusiasm and expertise.”

Both EP’s, July’s “Sweet Princess” and October’s “Boundary Road Snacks And Drinks,” will be compiled together for a 12″ vinyl release on October 25th and can be pre-ordered HERE. You can find the band’s tour dates supporting the release below.

DRY CLEANING TOUR DATES:
Oct. 17th – Dublin, IE @ Workman’s Club
Oct. 19th – Bristol @ Simple Things Festival
Oct. 20th – Cardiff, UK @ SWN Festival
Oct. 23rd – London, UK @ The Lexington
Nov. 23rd – Glasgow, UK @ Great Western Festival
Nov. 24th – Sheffield, UK @ Picture House Social
Wed. Feb. 12 – Manchester, UK @ Gulliver’s
Thu. Feb. 13 – Edinburgh, UK @ Sneaky Pete’s
Fri. Feb. 14 – Glasgow, UK @ The Hug and Pint
Sat. Feb. 15 – Leeds, UK @ Hyde Park Book Club
Thu. Feb. 20 – Cambridge, UK @ Portland Arms
Fri. Feb. 21 – Liverpool, UK @ The Shipping Forecast
Sat. Feb. 22 – Birmingham, UK @ The Sunflower Lounge
Fri. Feb. 28 – Brighton, UK @ Green Door Store
Sat. Feb. 29 – Bristol, UK @ The Louisiana
Sun. March 1 – Southampton, UK @ Heartbreakers
Tue. March 3 – London, UK @ Village Underground

Kiwi Jr. – “Salary Man” [Video]

Toronto’s Kiwi Jr. have announced a worldwide release of their debut album Football Money, via Persona Non Grata Records. Football Money will come out worldwide on January 17th, 2020, following the March 2019 Canadian release on Mint Records.

The band has shared the video for their single “Salary Man.” A virtual explosion of power-pop, the track, like the full LP, was engineered by Aaron Goldstein, and mixed by Holy Fuck’s Graham Walsh. Of the video Kiwi Jr note, “after the fall of civilized society, all that’s left is a future rife with radioactive dogs and the remains of parties that never really took off. Clad in suit and tie and unable to part with their old routine, our hero wanders aimlessly through debris and clean up crews, searching for the remnants of something compelling and desirable.” The clip was directed by Ben Rayner who says: “putting together a perspective for this video, I wanted it to be fast paced, low budget, tongue-in-cheek, and highly personable.

All natives of Charlottetown, Prince Edward Island, Kiwi Jr. are now based in Toronto and much of their songwriting is informed by the city that surrounds them. They have spent the last 5 years honing their craft both in the studio and live, including opening spots with Wolf Parade, New Pornographers and Alvvays. We think you are going to like this band!

Gong Gong Gong – “Ride Your Horse 騎你的馬” [Video]

Described by the band’s bassist Joshua Frank as “a complete statement about what Gong Gong Gong is as a band,” ‘Ride Your Horse’ travels on a mesmeric groove that evolves in unexpected ways across its sections, which were inspired, as guitarist/vocalist Tom Ng explains, by classical Chinese structures:

“Playing this song, I feel like I’m the last Cantonese cowboy in the galaxy,” says Ng. “The different sections of “Ride Your Horse” were inspired a bit by the structure of classical Chinese writing: 起承轉合, or “introduction, elucidation of the theme, transition to another viewpoint and conclusion.”

The track is accompanied by a video co-directed by Frank and shot in the Beijing neighborhoods where he and Ng live. A documentary filmmaker, Frank intends for the video to depict the “unrelenting” nature while capturing its humour and humanity.

“The video for ‘Ride Your Horse’ was shot in the Beijing neighborhoods where we live and hang out,” Frank explains. “It was directed by myself and Liu Yi, a good friend of Tom and I, who is an artist and filmmaker living here.

“I’ve been wanting to make a video that paired kung fu movements with our music, emphasizing the dance-like qualities of both. The shiny metal sword and wooden staff mirror the materials of our guitars, and I think the martial arts and music balance a sense of being brutal and graceful at the same time.

You can pick up a copy of Gong Gong Gong’s debut HERE.

Wilco – “Everyone Hides” [Video]

Wilco present a new video/single, “Everyone Hides,” from their forthcoming album, Ode to Joy, due October 4th via dBpm Records. Capping off two months of forthcoming touring through the east and midwest United States, Wilco announce the return of Winterlude — the band’s popular hometown holiday residency, this year at the Chicago Theatre — preceded by three shows at St. Paul’s Palace Theatre. Tickets go on sale Friday, September 20th at 10am CST. You can find the dates below.

“‘Everyone Hides” is the first promotional video to feature Wilco as a living breathing band of humans in close to 20 years,” says Jeff Tweedy. “Maybe for obvious reasons we’ve avoided putting ourselves forward in this way and have tried to play to our strengths musically or, I don’t know, maybe we’ve just been lazy… Or suspicious of expenditures outside of our focus on album making. For whatever reason this time around we just said f**k it and had a blast.”

Wilco Tour Dates:
Wed. Sept. 18 – Zürich, CH @ Volkshaus *
Thu. Sept. 19 – Milan, IT @ Fabrique *
Fri. Sept. 20 – Padova, IT @ Gran Teatro Geox *
Sun. Sept. 22 – Paris, FR @ Le Trianon *
Mon. Sept. 23 – Utrecht, NL @ TivoliVredenburg Grote Zaal *
Tue. Sept. 24 – Antwerp, BE @ De Roma * SOLD OUT
Thu. Sept. 26 – Glasgow, UK @ Barrowlands *
Fri. Sept. 27 – Manchester, UK @ Albert Hall * SOLD OUT
Sat. Sept. 28 – London, UK @ Eventim Apollo *
Tue. Oct. 8 – Toronto, ON @ Budweiser Stage (w/ special guest Lord Huron)
Thu. Oct. 10 – Boston, MA @ Boch Center Wang Theatre +
Fri. Oct. 11 – Boston, MA @ Boch Center Wang Theatre +
Sat. Oct. 12 – New York, NY @ Radio City Music Hall + SOLD OUT
Sun. Oct. 13 – Brooklyn, NY @ Brooklyn Steel + SOLD OUT
Tue. Oct. 15 – Washington, DC @ The Anthem % SOLD OUT
Wed. Oct. 16 – Cary, NC @ Koka Booth Amphitheatre %
Fri. Oct. 18 – Atlanta, GA @ Cadence Bank Amphitheatre at Chastain Park %
Sat. Oct. 19 – Birmingham, AL @ Alabama Theatre %
Sun. Oct. 20 – Nashville, TN @ Grand Ole Opry House %
Tue. Oct. 22 – Tulsa, OK @ Cain’s Ballroom @ SOLD OUT
Wed. Oct. 23 – Irving, TX @ The Pavilion at the Toyota Music Factory ~
Fri. Oct. 25 – Houston, TX @ Revention Music Center ~
Sat. Oct. 26 – Austin, TX @ ACL Live at the Moody Theater ~ SOLD OUT
Sun. Oct. 27 – Austin, TX @ ACL Live at the Moody Theater ~ SOLD OUT
Mon. Nov. 4 – Grand Rapids @ 20 Monroe Live #
Tue. Nov. 5 – Ann Arbor, MI @ Hill Auditorium #
Wed. Nov. 6 – Pittsburgh, PA @ Heinz Hall #
Fri. Nov. 8 – Charlottesville, VA @ Sprint Pavilion #
Sat. Nov. 9 – Cincinnati, OH @ Taft Theatre #
Sun. Nov. 10 – Columbus, OH @ Palace Theatre #
Tue. Nov. 12 – Indianapolis, IN @ The Murat Theatre #
Wed. Nov. 13 – Louisville, KY @ The Louisville Palace #
Thu. Nov. 14 – St. Louis, MO @ Fabulous Fox Theatre ^
Fri. Nov. 15 – Cedar Rapids, IA @ Paramount Theatre $
Sun. Nov. 17 – Kansas City, MO @ Arvest Bank Theatre at The Midland
Tue. Nov. 19 – Denver, CO @ Mission Ballroom SOLD OUT
Wed. Nov. 20 – Omaha, NE @ Orpheum Theatre
Fri. Nov. 22 – St. Paul, MN @ Palace Theatre
Sat. Nov. 23 – St. Paul, MN @ Palace Theatre
Sun. Nov. 24 – St. Paul, MN @ Palace Theatre
Sun. Dec. 15 – Chicago, IL @ Chicago Theatre
Mon. Dec. 16 – Chicago, IL @ Chicago Theatre
Wed. Dec. 18 – Chicago, IL @ Chicago Theatre
Thu. Dec. 19 – Chicago, IL @ Chicago Theatre
Sat. Jan. 18 – Tue. Jan. 21 – Riviera Maya, MX @ Hard Rock Hotel
Sun. Jan. 25 – Mexico City, MX @ Teatro Metropólitan

& w/ Spiral Stairs * w/ Ohmme + w/ Daughter of Swords % w/ Soccer Mommy
~ w/ Molly Sarlé # w/ Deep Sea Diver ^ w/ Bottle Rockets $ w/ Dickie

Temples – “You’re Either On Something” [Video]

UK psychedelic rockers Temples have shared the video for “You’re Either On Something”, the second single from their forthcoming third album, Hot Motion – to be released worldwide on ATO Records this Friday September 27th. The three-piece will begin their US tour on October 11, starting at Desert Daze Festival in California. You can find the current tour dates below.

In describing the mind-bending, technicolor video Temples’ frontman James Bagshaw says: “The video for ‘You’re Either On Something’ is semi-surreal depiction of a night out. Where an irrational fear replaces the fun and joviality, and the familiar becomes unfamiliar. But then, the feeling a fear dissipates and seems like a distant memory and the familiar feels comfortable again. Before you know it a guitar solo ensues…”

Tour Dates
10/12/19 – Perris, CA @ Desert Daze Festival
10/14/19 – Los Angeles, CA @ Echoplex
10/15/19 – San Francisco, CA @ The Independent
10/17/19 – Salt Lake City, UT @ The Commonwealth Room
10/18/19 – Englewood, CO @ The Gothic Theatre
10/19/19 – Santa Fe, NM @ Meow Wolf
10/21/19 – Dallas, TX @ The Granada Theatre
10/22/19 – Austin, TX @ Stubbs
10/24/19 – Houston, TX @ White Oak Music Hall
10/25/19 – 10/27/19 – New Orleans, LA @ Voodoo Music Experience
10/29/19 – Atlanta, GA @ The Masquerade
1/20/20- Washington, DC – U Street Music Hall
1/21/20 – New York, NY – Webster Hall
1/23/20 – Cambridge, MA – The Sinclair
1/24/20 – Philadelphia, PA – The Foundry at The Filmore
1/26/20 – Montreal, QC – L’Astral
1/28/20 – Toronto, ON – Lee’s Palace
1/30/20 – Detroit, MI – Shelter
1/31/20 – Chicago, IL – Lincoln Hall
2/1/20 – Minneapolis, MN – 7th Street Entry
2/4/20 – Vancouver, BC – Fox Cabaret
2/6/20 – Portland, OR – Doug Fir Lounge
2/7/20 – Seattle, WA – The Crocodile Cafe

Jimmy Eat World – “All The Way (Stay)” [Video]

Jimmy Eat World today announce details of their 10th studio album Surviving, to be released on October 18th via RCA Records. The Arizona four piece also reveal the first dates of Surviving, The Tour as well as a run of intimate UK shows for the week of album release. You can find those dates below.

Surviving is the band’s most personal, ambitious album to date and front man Jim Adkins once again proves himself as one of the most prolific songwriters in rock & roll. As Adkins himself puts it, “Surviving explores some of the different kinds of weights my ego tells me I have to carry, what I see people around me choosing to carry and what I have found to be the truth when I choose to let go”.

“All The Way (Stay)” extolls the virtues of letting people discover the real you while exposing your vulnerabilities. As a heady rush of guitars give way to an irresistible middle-eight, Rachel Haden’s backing vocals and a saxophone solo lifted from the soundtrack of the-greatest-80’s-movie-John Hughes-never-made, “All The Way (Stay)” showcases the restless creative energy of a band at the peak of their powers. The video was directed by Daniel Carberry.

The 10-track album, which was produced by the band and Integrity Blues producer Justin Meldal-Johnsen, is available for pre-order now HERE.

Surviving, The Tour Dates 2019

11/02/19 Ft. Collins, CO Washington’s

11/04/19 Wichita, KS Cotillion Ballroom

11/05/19 Lincoln, NE Bourbon Theatre

11/06/19 Madison, WI The Sylvee

11/08/19 East Moline, IL The Rust Belt

11/09/19 Bloomington, IN Bluebird Nightclub

11/10/19 Grand Rapids, MI Intersection

11/12/19 Harrisburg, PA The Capitol Room @ HMAC

11/13/19 South Burlington, VT Higher Ground Ballroom

11/15/19 Poughkeepsie, NY The Chance

11/16/19 Sayreville, NJ Starland Ballroom

11/18/19 Wilmington, DE The Queen (Wilmington)

11/19/19 Richmond, VA The National

11/20/19 Asheville, NC The Orange Peel

11/21/19 Athens, GA 40 Watt Club

11/22/19 Orlando, FL Florida Man Music Festival *

Whippoorwill – “Cold Sound” [Video]

Fort Collins alternative folk-rock trio Whippoorwill – Alysia Kraft (guitar, vocals), Staci Foster (guitar, banjo, harmonica, vocals), and Tobias Bank (drums, vocals) – finished work in February 2019 on their full-length self-released debut album The Nature of Storms. Produced by J.Tom Hnatow (Horse Feathers, Vandaveer) and mixed by Duane Lundy (Jim James, Ringo Starr) at Lexington, KY’s Shangri-La Studio, the album is the product of two years touring the American west honing a sound both expansive and raw, rootsy and otherworldly, and always landing in the grittier ‘alt’ corners of country and folk.

The band has now released their first single and video for “Cold Sound,” which you can see below. Whippoorwill
has shared the stage with Bonnie Raitt, Big Thief, Shovels and Rope, Mipso, Horse Feathers and Aaron Lee Tasjan. With palpable chemistry, dynamic live shows, and a long-game approach to their creative work, Whippoorwill has become a Colorado’s most-hyped bands on the brink.

Leeroy Stagger – “Strange Attractor” [Video]

On September 13th, Leeroy Stagger released his new album and book, Strange Path, through True North Records. This video is for the first single “Strange Attractor”. Directed by Brock Davis Mitchell, the video draws inspiration from films like ‘The Favourite’ and ‘Marie Antoinette’ and weaves an experimental narrative with shocking bursts of colour.

The name Strange Path applies as much to Leeroy’s unexpected route from the BC punk scene to southern-Alberta singer songwriter as it does to the album’s own evolution. Following from 2017’s Love Versus, itself a creative re-emergence after a years-long fog of anxiety and depression, Strange Path is the end result of a triple-album’s worth of scrapped demos, and a spirit-reviving retreat inwards. It’s also Stagger’s most ambitious and philosophical creation yet, a veritable self-help book pulled from a lifetime of struggling towards the light and brimming with the hard-won joy at the heart of his recent renaissance. It’s an album full of sharp hooks and sharper insight, and the first single “Strange Attractor” rides that line right to the end.

In making Strange Path, Leeroy surrounded himself with some of the best players in the business, including drummer Pete Thomas (Elvis Costello and the Attractions, Elliot Smith, Los Lobos), longtime collaborator Tyson Maiko, Paul Rigby (Neko Case, Garth Hudson, Jakob Dylan), Ryland Moranz and Michael Ayotte. The album was mixed by five time Grammy winner Ryan Freeland (Ray LaMontagne, Bonnie Raitt, Rodney Crowell) and Brad Barr of The Barr Brothers shared producer’s chair with Leeroy on four of the eleven tracks.

Stagger and his musicians will tour to support Strange Path throughout North America and Internationally, see below for the full tour schedule. Strange Path will be available on Spotify, Apple Music/iTunes and other digital retailers and streaming services on September 13th. For more information, check out: leeroystagger.com

Leeroy Stagger Tour Dates:
October 11 – Santa Monica, CA
October 12 – Los Angeles, CA
October 15 – San Francisco, CA
October 16 – Sacramento, CA
October 17 – Portland, OR
October 18 – Vancouver, BC
October 19 – Victoria, BC
October 21 – Parksville, BC
November 27 – Glasgow, United Kingdom
November 28 – Manchester, United Kingdom
November 29 – London, United Kingdom
November 30 – Groningen, Netherlands
December 1 – Utrecht, Netherlands
December 2 – Berlin, Germany
December 7 – Hamburg, Germany