The Pistola Press

Dirty Projectors had a busy 2009 with an endless amount of touring and releasing one of the best records of the year, Bitte Orca. They’re starting off the new year strong with releasing a 7″ of  two previously unreleased tracks from the Bitte Orca sessions. The two songs on it “Ascending Melody” and b-side “Emblem Of The World” are available digitally for free via their website. That can be found HERE. You can also buy a physical copy via Domino Records.

The band also played an amazing show at the Trocadero back in October. Review/photos of the show can be found HERE.

Even though Real Estate opened the show at Johnny Brendas for The Extroadinaires, it was clear that the majority of the crowd were there for the New Jersey quartet.  The band played a solid 40 minute set breezing through most of their self-titled debut album. Real Estate’s raw, homemade style translated extremely well live. After every song, the audience were very loud and appreciative of the music. You would have thought Real Estate headlined the show, but they didn’t. Photos below.

Martin Courtney from Real Estate dropped by for an interview earlier on in the week. The interview and a free download of “Beach Comber” can be found HERE.

Real Estate

Having signed with Matador Records last year, Philly native Kurt Vile seems to be well on his way to bigger things. Before he hit the road with Dinosaur Jr. and Fucked Up, Kurt Vile & the Violators played a sold-out show at Johnny Brendas last night. It was loud and raunchy. We’ll be seeing a lot more of him in 2010.

If you missed out on the show last night, there will be two opportunities to see Kurt Vile in the next month. Next week(1/14), he’ll play a Wilco tribute at The Fire. Also, he will open for Fucked Up at The Barbary next month(2/17). Tickets for that show can be found HERE.

Kurt Vile & the Violators

One of the most buzzed about bands at the end of 2009 was Real Estate. They put out a fantastic record in the summer which was very well received by the critics.. Lucky for us, the band will be playing a show before they head over to Europe for a few weeks. Tickets are still available for the show. Lead singer Martin Courtney dropped by earlier this week for a quick interview to talk about growing up in New Jersey, the recording process of their debut album and more. Interview, link to tickets and MP3 download below.

Download: Real Estate – Beach Comber

Tickets for the show can be found HERE.

Real Estate - photo by Oren Loloi

The Pistola: So you’re from New Jersey. What part of Jersey are you guys from?

Martin: Me, Matt(Mondanile) and (Alex)Bleeker were all from Richmond, New Jersey, which is in Bergen County. It’s like 20 minutes northwest of New York City.  Our drummer, Etienne(Duguay), is actually originally from Massachusetts. We met him a couple years ago but Me, Matt and Bleeker grew up together.

TP: Did you guys grow up playing in bands and stuff like that?

Martin: Yeah, there were a lot of different bands in high school between us and all our friends. So we played together in a lot of different stuff and separately. This is the first band that we’re all in together in a really long time. We played in a band together when we were like.. 15 or 16. That’s the last time we all played together.

TP: How old are you now?

Martin:How old are we?

TP: Yeah.

Martin: Uh… I’m 24. Matt’s 25. Bleeker is… 23. Etienne’s 24.

TP: That’s cool. Being so close to NYC, would you go in to the city for shows?

Martin: Definitely. We did that a lot. I used to, kind of, steal my parents car and tell them I was going to Bleeker’s house then go to New York, go see shows and stuff. That was right when I first got my license when I was like 17. Even before then… I remember when we all went and saw Weezer or something when we were all freshman in high school. We got Matt’s parents to drive us in. That was the thing to do especially like senior year of high school. We would just go to a ton of shows cause there was nothing really to do in our town.

TP: You were probably just a train ride away too.

Martin: Yeah, exactly. It was easiest enough to get there. It was a good resource to go there all the time.

TP: Do you live in the city or are you still in Jersey?

Martin: I live in Jersey City so I’m right across the river from Manhattan. Matt and Bleeker still live in the area where we grew up. Etienne lives in Brooklyn. We’re all pretty close together, but we don’t live that close.

TP: Right. That’s sweet. When you recorded your debut record, was it recorded in a studio or was it recorded on your own? It has such a raw feel to it. It’s really great and adds character to your music.

Martin: It was all recorded by ourselves. Not in a studio. Most of it was recorded at our friend’s house, he has like a 16 track reel to reel that we used. Some of it was recorded at my house or apartment on a 4 track, some it was recorded on an 8 track. Once, the first track, “Beach Comber” was recorded digitally by Jarvis, the drummer from Wood. He does a really good job. It’s all home recorded, mostly analog.

TP: For your next record, I don’t even know if you thought about it yet, but do you think you’ll use the same method or go into a studio?

Martin: I’m not really sure. I mean as of right now, I don’t see us being able to go into the studio. We might record in a studio. It’s really expensive, you know? We might go for it but I don’t know. I want it to sound good. Even the way that we recorded the first record, we were trying to get it to sound as good as possible. We don’t necessarily want it to sound lo-fi but we do want it to sound homemade.

TP: Yeah, you definitely have that distinct sound. I’m sure a lot of bands or artists go for that kind of feel and don’t get it from the studio. Since everything is so polished in the studio.

Martina: Yeah. It would have to be a good situation; it would have to be a good studio. We would have to see eye to eye with whoever ran it. We might end up just recording with Jarvis again. He’s a really good producer and he does a good job. And it’s free.(laughs) Or relatively free. It’s better to record with your friends, I think.

TP: Free things are always good. Friends know what you’re going for, they’re more familiar with you.

Martin: Yeah, exactly. And being under the gun in terms of time and we have a lot of freedom to basically do whatever we want. I feel like being in the studio we would have to be really on our shit, we would have to know exactly what we want to do.

TP: So you’re heading over to Europe soon. Have you ever travelled over there or played there?

Martin: I’ve done some travel. I spent some time in Spain and France. I lived for a couple months in France when I was in college. That kind of thing. But we’ve never toured over there or anything so we’re all really, really excited about that.

We’re getting that whole thing together Even today, we were trying to figure everything out. We’re leaving in two and half weeks and we still don’t know exactly what we’re doing. We’re all trying to figure it out last minute. We just got our tickets and everything. But yeah, we’re psyched. The fact that we get to go over there and play music.

TP: Are you just playing England or other countries as well?

Martin: We’re doing England and a lot of mainland Europe too. Like most of Western Europe except for Spain. We’re actually gonna go back to Spain in May for the Primavera Festival. Supposedly, it’s amazing so I’m really psyched about that.

TP: How did Saturday’s show with The Extraordinaires come about?

Martin: We’re friends with those dudes. Bleeker, our bass player, has known Jay(Purdy) from The Extraordinaires for a long time through college and stuff. They’ve known eachother for a while. We’ve been meaning to play with them and they asked us to play the show so what the hell?

TP: So do you have any New Years resolutions?

Martin: (laughs) Umm…. (long pause).. not really. No. (laughs).. keep writing songs and try to make a good second record. That’s my biggest thing right now in my head. To just, we need to make our second record really good.

TP: That’s a good one. So would you rather get eaten by a grizzly bear or a great white shark?

Martin: (laughs) Umm.. probably. Shit, that’s tough. I would probably say a shark because you could just drown instead of getting ripped apart. That seems a little bit less painful. (laughs)

Liars‘ new album entitled Sisterworld will be released March 8th via Mute. They announced today plans for an expanded edition of the record, which will feature Thom Yorke, Tunde(TV on the Radio), Melvins, Blonde Redhead and more. The expanded version will have remixes of all 11 tracks from Sisterworld by the artists listed. Sounds pretty cool, right?

Liars also announced a few tour dates,which include an April date in Philly. They will play the First Unitarian Church on Friday, April 16th with LA band Fol Chen. Tickets for that show can be found HERE. (Tour dates, MP3 download and track listing below)

Download the first single ‘Sister’ HERE

Sisterworld Tracklisting
1)Scissor
2)No Barrier Fun
3)Here Comes All The People
4)Drip
5)Scarecrows On A Killer Slant
6)I Still Can See An Outside World
7)Proud Evolution
8)Drop Dead
9)The Overachievers
10)Goodnight Everything
11)Too Much, Too Much

Liars – 2010 Tour Dates
04/10 – El Rey Theatre @ Los Angele
04/14 – Rock & Roll Hotel @ Washington, DC
04/15 – Bowery Ballroom @ NYC
04/16 – First Unitarian Church @ Philadelphia
04/17 – Paradise @ Boston
04/18 – Music Hall of Williamsburg @ Brooklyn
04/27 – Slim’s @ San Francisco
04/29 – Hawthorne Theatre @ Portland, OR
04/30 – Venue @ Vancouver, BC
05/1 – Neumos @ Seattle
More TBA
(All dates w/ Fol Chen)

The So So Glos opened for Ted Leo & the Pharmacists at the First Unitarian Church last month. The Pistola contributor Joe Gallagher had the opportunity to catch the show. His photos/review of the show can be found HERE. A few weeks after the show, drummer Zach Staggers answered a few questions Joe had for him. Zach talks about the city he calls home, the idea of DIY, their plans for the future and more. Interview below.

You guys create a really vibrant yet gloomy and worrisome picture of a city in your songs (“Island Loops,” “My Block,” etc.) Can you describe that a little bit? Is this stuff you see or think about when you step outside?

Zach Staggers: New York has always been our inspiration for our music. We grew up moving all over this metropolitan area, even did time in the suburbs, and we always reflect on what we see. So, yeah, the city, we have a relationship with it… out comes emotion, problems, politics. We love this city but its a rough time, a lot of the time. It’s exactly that, vibrant – you know, you got everyone here from all over the globe doing their thing, but its also a dark place, not much light gets through your windows and there are a lot of problems specific to New York that put an rough edge on the New York’s greatness.

Can you talk a little about the inspiration-for and the scene-around the Market Hotel?

Zach: We started the Market up with Todd P, Joe Ahearn, and a bunch of other kids. We were looking to live some place cheap after our first long tour and we figured a more communal approach in a place that we could play in and practice in made the most sense. Living there was a lot of fun. Todd puts on shows there, at least, twice a month and we would play at the Market often, which was great. Get out of bed and play on your living room stage and have all your friends over.

What are some other NYC DIY ventures worth talking about?

Zach: We are currently involved in Shea Stadium Brooklyn, which is run by our producer, Adam Reich, who is a life long friend (and Mets fan) from Bay Ridge (where we are originally from). It’s really great. He has a basic studio set up and is recording all the bands that play at Shea. Eventually, he is going to have a website to stream the material and he is calling it “Live At Shea Stadium”.

Are you guys like The Ramones who were “brothers” but not “actually brothers”? Or are there some legitimate blood-ties?

Zach: I met Ryan and Alex when I was 3 years old. They are blood bros, 2 years apart. We had a play date and our parents met. Then my dad and Ryan and Alex’s mom got involved and married soon after. Making us brothers. so yeah, we are brothers. The So So Glos officially adopted Matt at the end of 2007.

I think you guys are one of the rare punk bands that ISN’T JUST a punk band. What do you think about that?

Zach: We aint. We write what we want. We don’t try to be punk, or whatever. We write songs that sound good to us, about things that we think are important. I would say our songs are closer to The Kinks and Elvis Costello than Crass or The Voidoids. It’s all in good fun, and fuck a label on a band. We are The So So Glos.

Do you guys have certain ideas about punk or DIY that may be particular to the band?

Zach: We just try and keep it real, you know. I think the all ages movement, which fights for the right of kids to see shows, is an important one. We try to play mostly all ages shows and if we do end up playing a bar, we make sure that we sneak the little kids in the back, if they came to see us. Doing things ourselves has always been the most effective way to get things done, so until there is a better way we are totally DIY, baby.

Who were your “gateway bands”? What bands, growing up, showed you a new way of thinking or punk rock or whatever else?

Zach: The original punks, you know them! Sam Cooke was one, in the face of American racism and oppression, he twisted the night away.

Do you guys feel a certain kinship with a band like Titus Andronicus? The way I see it is both bands are kind of these “proud underdogs…” but you tell me.

Zach: Titus are our best friends and we do feel a certain kinship indeed. We just went out on a huge tour with them, called the “Bring On The Dudes” tour. It was epic. I think Titus was as they say, ‘Born to die’. but I would like to have a bit more optimism, just as I think we do in our music, and say, “We will rise above proud underdogs. Maybe we will one day be insecure frontrunners.’

What are your guys plans for 2010? Any new material in the works?

Zach: We are writing a new album, and dare I say, I am really excited about it. I think people are really going to take to it. It should be out late in spring of twenty ten, the future!

The Florida band , Surfer Blood, went from being unknown to overly hyped band in a blink of an eye. They have a catchy formula of beachy indie rock that caught the ears of many, even getting a nod in Pitchfork’s top 100 tracks of 2009. Their long awaited debut Astro Coast will be released January 19th via Kanine Records. Apparently, the band recorded the album in a room with equipment purchased with scholarship money. Surfer Blood also just announced tour dates in which they will play The Barbary on Monday, March 2nd. Tickets for that show can be found HERE. (MP3 and all tour dates below.)

Download “Floating Vibes” HERE.

Surfer Blood 2010 Tour Dates
01/13 New York, NY – Bowery Ballroom #
01/14 Chicago, IL – Schubas
01/25 St. Augustine, FL – Cafe Eleven &
01/26 Orlando FL – Backbooth &
01/27 West Palm Beach, FL – Respectable Street Cafe &
02/03 London – Hoxton Bar and Kitchen
02/04 Kingston – Hippodrome
02/05 London – KOKO
02/09 London – Scala
02/16 Orlando, FL  – Backbooth  %
02/17 Deland, FL – DaVinci %
02/18 Tallahassee, FL – Engine Room %
02/19 Atlanta, GA – Drunken Unicorn %
02/20 Nashville , TN – The End  %
02/22  Charlotte, NC – Snug Harbor – %
02/23 Morgantown, WV -123 Pleasant Street %
02/24  Washington DC – Dc 9 %
02/26 Hanover, NH – Dartmouth College  !
03/01 Philadelphia, PA – The Barbary *
03/02 Allston, MA  – Great Scott *
03/03 Providence, RI  – AS220 *
03/05 Montreal – Il Motore *
03/06 Toronto – Sneaky Dees *
03/07 Geneseo, NY – Suny Geneseo College *
03/08 Meadville, PA – Allegheny *
03/09 Detroit MI – Magic Stick  *
03/11 Bloomington, IN – the Bishop  *
03/12 Columbia, MO – Mojos *
03/13 Lawrence, KS – Replay Lounge  *
03/14 Oklahoma City – The Conservatory *
03/17 Austin, TX – SXSW
03/18 Austin, TX – SXSW
03/19 Austin, TX – SXSW
03/20 Austin, TX – SXSW*!

* w/ Turbo Fruits
^ w/ Holiday Shores
& w/ Monotonix
# w/ Drums
! w/ Small Black
% w/ Turbo Fruits & Holiday Shores

Vampire Weekend‘s highly anticipated sophomore album, Contra, will be released next week(01/12) via XL Recordings. You can listen to Contra in it’s entirety on VW‘s Myspace. Aside from offering a full preview of their new record, VW just announced a whole bunch of tour dates in support of Contra including a Philly date. They will play at the Electric Factory on Friday, April 2nd. Tickets for the show go on sale this Friday, January 8th. They can be found HERE. All of Vampire Weekend’s tour dates and a video for ‘Cousins’ below.

Vampire Weekend – 2010 Tour Dates
01/12 Henry Fonda Theater – Los Angeles CA w/ Very Be Careful
01/17 United Palace Theater – New York NY w/ Titus Andronicus
01/18 Webster Hall – New York NY w/ Holly Miranda
01/19 Bowery Ballroom – New York NY w/ Nat Baldwin
02/05 De La Warr – Bexhill, UK
02/07 Corn Exchange – Cambridge, UK
02/08 Manchester Apollo – Manchester, UK
02/09 Leeds O2 Academy - Leeds, UK
02/10 Birmingham O2 Academy – Birmingham, UK
02/12 Newcastle O2 Academy - Newcastle, UK
02/13 Barrowlands - Glasgow, Scotland
02/14 Edinburgh Picture House – Edinburgh, Scotland
02/16 Brixton O2 Academy – London, UK
02/17 Brixton O2 Academy – London, UK
02/19 Astra - Berlin, Germany
02/20 Gloria - Köln, Germany
02/21 Uebel or Gefaehrlich – Hamburg, Germany
02/22 AB - Brussels, Belgium
02/24 Paradiso – Amsterdam, Netherlands
02/25 Olympia – Paris, France
02/26 Le Bikini - Toulouse, France
02/27 Penelope - Barcelona, Spain
02/28 Teatro Circo Price – Madrid, Spain
03/14 Edmonton Event Centre – Edmonton, AB
03/15 MacEwan Hall – Calgary, AB
03/16 Wilma Theatre – Missoula, MT
03/18 In the Venue – Salt Lake City, UT
03/19 Ogden Theatre – Denver, CO
03/20 Spring Jam Core Party – Aspen, CO
03/22 First Avenue – Minneapolis, MN
03/23 Riverside Theatre – Milwaukee, WI
03/25 Riviera Theatre – Chicago, IL
03/27 Tennessee Theatre – Knoxville, TN
03/29 The LC Pavilion – Columbus, OH
03/30 The Sound Academy – Toronto, ON
04/01 Orpheum Theatre – Boston, MA
04/02 Electric Factory – Philadelphia, PA
04/03 DAR Constitution Hall – Washington, DC
04/05 Ryman Auditorium – Nashville, TN
04/06 Orange Peel – Asheville, NC
04/08 The Tabernacle – Atlanta, GA
04/09 House of Blues – New Orleans, LA
04/10 Stubb’s BBQ – Austin, TX
04/11 House of Blues – Dallas, TX
04/13 Marquee Theatre – Tempe, AZ
04/14 Fox Theater – Pomona, CA
04/19 Fox Theater – Oakland, CA

Last time Wilco played the Philadelphia area, they did not exactly play within the vicinity of the city. Instead they held a show last July about 30 minutes south of the city in Wilmington, Delaware at Frawley Park. The outdoor venue was ideal for a summertime Wilco concert. Photos/review/setlist of that show can be found HERE.

Luckily for us, Wilco just announced an east coast tour which includes a stop in Philadelphia. The band will play the Electric Factory on Saturday, April 10th. Pre-sale tickets for the show will go on sale this Wednesday, January 6th through Front Gate Tickets and on-sale to the public Saturday, January 9th through Ticketmaster. Don’t miss out on this show. Wilco always put on an electrifying performance. All of Wilco’s 2010 tour dates can be found below.

Wilco – 2010 Tour Dates
2/7 – Adams Center – Missoula, MT *
2/9 – Arlene Schnitzer Concert Hall – Portland, OR *
2/10 – Paramount Theatre – Seattle, WA *
2/13 – Live City @ David Lam Park – Vancouver, BC, Canada *
2/15 – Northern Alberta Jubilee Auditorium – Edmonton, AB, Canada (free part of the 2010 Winter Games) *
2/16 – Southern Alberta Jubilee Auditorium – Calgary, AB, Canada *
2/17 – TCU Place – Saskatoon, SK, Canada *
2/19 – DECC Auditorium – Duluth, MN *
2/20 – Overture Hall – Overture Center, Madison, WI *
2/21 – Cobb Great Hall – Wharton Center, East Lansing, MI *
2/23 – Hamilton Place Theatre – Hamilton, ON, Canada *
2/24 – Centennial Hall -  London, ON, Canada *
2/26 – Imperial de Quebec – Quebec City, Canada
2/27 – Olympia de Montreal - Montréal, QC, Canada
3/1 – National Arts Centre - Ottawa, ON, Canada
3/2 – Forum Multipurpose Room - Halifax, NS, Canada
3/3 – Halifax Forum – Halifax, Canada
3/22 – The Fillmore – Miami Beach, Miami Beach, FL
3/23 – Ruth Eckerd Hall – Clearwater, FL
3/25 -Johnny Mercer Theatre - Savannah, GA
3/26 – Fox Theatre – Atlanta, GA
3/27 – Durham Performing Arts Center – Durham, NC
3/29 – The National – Richmond, VA
3/30 – The Music Center at Strathmore – North Bethesda, MD
3/31 – Scranton Cultural Center – Scranton, PA
4/2 – The Wellmont Theatre – Montclair, NJ
4/3 – The Wellmont Theatre – Montclair, NJ
4/4 – Lupo’s Heartbreak Hotel – Providence, RI
4/6 – Orpheum Theatre – Boston, MA
4/7 – Capitol Center – Concord, NH
4/9 – Bushnell Memorial Hall: Mortenson Hall – Hartford, CT
4/10 – Electric Factory – Philadelphia, PA
4/11 – Carnegie Music Hall – Pittsburgh, PA
4/22 – Big Cat -  Osaka, Japan
4/23 – Zepp – Tokyo, Tokyo, Japan
4/27 – Civic Theatre – Auckland, New Zealand
4/28 – Wellington Town Hall – Wellington, New Zealand
4/30 – The Tivoli – Brisbane, Australia
5/1 – State Theatre - Sydney, Australia
5/2 – Factory Theatre – Marrickville, Australia
5/5 – Forum – Melbourne, Australia
5/6 – Forum -Melbourne, Australia
5/28 – Primavera Sound – Parc Del Forum, Barcelona, Spain
9/12 – End of the Road Festival – Dorset, United Kingdom
* w/ Califone