ASLEEP To Release New Album Unpleasant Companion On February 7th

Posted in Artist Watch, New Music, News, Releases with tags , , , , , , , on January 10, 2012 by Randy

In support of their highly anticipated album release, Unpleasant Companion, Asleep will be heading out on a few dates! Asleep will be performing at Ultra Lounge on February 18th. To purchase tickets or for more information, please visit: www.facebook.com/Asleep

The indie rock four-piece, known as Asleep, will be releasing their new album Unpleasant Companionon February 7th. The album was recorded in four days to capture a live dynamic onto 16-track 2-inch analog tape with legendary Chicago engineer Steve Albini (Nirvana, Pixies, PJ Harvey, Page and Plant, Iggy Pop and the Stooges). The result was a raw and powerful rock sound that will put the listener right inside their live experience!

Consisting of Todd Kaden (vocals/guitar), Jon Dean (guitar), Cory Snyder (bass/vocals), and Shawn Logan (drums/percussion), Asleep is a rock band with an experimental focus. They write pop songs that reflect a rusty optimism prevalent throughout their northeast Ohio surroundings. Their two previous releases, All These Things We’ll Never Need” recorded by Bill Korecky (Mushroomhead) and Between, Above, and Below produced by Mike Watts (As Tall As Lions, The Dear Hunter), received great reviews selling over 10,000 physical copies.

Asleep has performed at SXSW 2010 & 2011, opened for Deftones, as well as sharing the stage with The Flaming Lips, Death Cab for Cutie, Sonic Youth and Kings of Leon at Blossom Music Center and Tower City Amphitheater in Cleveland, OH. Having toured the midwest, northeast and south various times, performing well over 300 shows since late 2006, Asleep is ready to take the world by storm with Unpleasant Companion.

Unpleasant Companion is a summation of their musicianship, uniqueness and endurance. The first single “Hip To Deaf” showcases their raw sound and catchy beat, leaving you no choice but to move to the music. While “Deserted”, their second single, paints a picture with their thought-provoking lyrics, frequently reminiscent of Incubus’ Brandon Boyd.

“The album’s central theme explores how we manage to stay so addictively connected yet simplistically separated from one another through the same digital loops in the current fabric of the information age” states Asleep.

Asleep will release Unpleasant Companion on February 7th. Please go to http://www.facebook.com/Asleep for more updates.

JANE’S ADDICTION UNLEASH THE “THEATRE OF THE ESCAPISTS” TOUR ALTERNATIVE ROCK PIONEERS TO PERFORM “IMMERSIVE” SHOW IN CLASSIC THEATRES STARTING FEBRUARY 22

Posted in Artist Watch, New Music, News, Releases with tags , , , , , , , , , , on January 10, 2012 by Randy

From the beginning, JANE’S ADDICTION has thrown the most unique parties in rock, mixing a fierce musicality with theatrical flair onstage.  2012 sees the band–who’ve always outrageously combined electricity, sex and danger–return in support of their acclaimed album THE GREAT ESCAPE ARTIST (Capitol Records), which features the now-buzzing-at-radio track “Underground.” Starting February 22, this special run of North American shows—called “Theatre of the Escapists”–will bring the band to intimate venues, most of which are classic theatres. The alternative rock pioneers–frontman Perry Farrell, guitarist Dave Navarro and drummer Stephen Perkins, along with Chris Chaney on bass—are poised to deliver an immersive theatrical experience as only they can. Tickets go on sale January 14, with a pre-sale set for 10:00 EST this Wednesday, January 11. There will be a special package on JanesAddiction.com where fans can pair up their presale ticket with a high-quality lithograph. The lithograph will be signed by the band and sold only at the JanesAddiction.com presale.

“We chose to play as many of the great theatres that we could find because we wanted to immerse the audience in a unique experience unlike any they have ever seen at a rock show,” says FARRELL.   “Expect an orgy of musical and visual delights.  We like orgies, and hope you do too.”

2011 was a milestone year for JANE’S ADDICTION, marking the release of their first studio album in eight years, the Rich Costey-produced album, THE GREAT ESCAPE ARTIST. Spin, writing about one of the album’s tracks, noted that “frontman Perry Farrell and guitarist Dave Navarro both put in stunning performances…it sounds like a band re-vitalized” (August 3, 2011), while USA Today said the album finds “…core members Farrell, guitarist Dave Navarro and drummer Stephen Perkins conjuring the feral drive and mystical haze of those early works with a fresh kick to the band’s electro-rock meld (10/17/11).”  The album features “Irresistible Force,” the transfixing Top Ten alternative rock hit that Rolling Stone called “an art metal freak show set on some distant planet” (August 3, 2011). Their new single, “Underground” is currently climbing the alternative and rock radio charts.  It features some of NAVARRO’s best guitar work, according to the Wall Street Journal, which took note of the way he ”excels with terse fills long before he solos at the song’s fade.”  The publication added: “As always, Stephen Perkins proves to be one of rock’s great drummers, and his interplay with Mr. Navarro, his high-school marching-band buddy, is one of the disc’s savory treats” (October 11, 2011).

Also in 2011, JANE’S ADDICTION headlined major events such as the Splendor in the Grass in Australia, the launch of Lollapalooza Chile, Gathering of the Vibes, and the iHeart Radio Festival in Las Vegas.

In June, JANE’S were inducted into Guitar Center’s RockWalk by Rage Against The Machine’s Tom Morello. Morello made it clear that the alt-rock pioneers led the way: ” Nirvana often gets credit for being the first ‘alternative’ band to break through, the band that changed music and led rock out of the hair metal wilderness of the ‘80’s. That’s just not true. It was Jane’s Addiction.”

In August, at Lollapalooza’s 20th Anniversary in Chicago, in front of 80,000 fans, Dave Grohl of the Foo Fighters recounted the first time he saw JANE’S ADDICTION in 1991 in Los Angeles:  “…that day me and Kurt went down and we sat at the audience and we thought: ‘Oh my god, music is f%%%kin changing.’ There’s 20,000 people here. To see bands that are actually f%%%kin cool. WTF. How did that happen! So I’d like to thank Perry for changing music–thank you Perry…Well this one goes out to you Perry, cause if it weren’t for you, I swear to god, we wouldn’t f%%%kin be here right now. And when I say: ‘We.’ I mean: ‘F%%%kin We.’ Am I right! Am I Right!”

Onstage, JANE’S ADDICTION hold nothing back. They “…reminded everyone there were rock gods to be prayed to, and then defied them with feverish grace,” noted Billboard (August 13, 2011—check date) of their NYC show at Terminal 5. Writing about their Los Angeles performance at the John Anson Ford Amphitheatre, ArtistDirect.com (October 5, 2011) said:  “Jane’s Addiction stood triumphant for the entire show. It was one of those magical gigs where every element simply worked. On stage, Jane’s Addiction display the kind of mystique that’s belonged to the likes of Led Zeppelin and few others. However, they’re one of a kind.”

The cities for JANE’S ADDICTION’s “Theatre of the Escapiststour, with support act Black Box Revelation (www.blackboxrevelation.com), are as follows:

 

Saint Louis, MO
Detroit, MI
Columbus, OH
Toronto, ON
Rochester, NY
Albany, NY
Portland, ME
Long Island, NY
Wellmont, NJ
Waterbury, CT
Richmond, VA
Myrtle Beach, SC
Atlanta, GA
Tulsa, OK
Kansas City, MO
Minneapolis, MN
Grand Rapids, MI
Milwaukee, WI

www.janesaddiction.com
www.facebook.com/janesaddiction
www.twitter.com/janesaddiction

Follow the band on Twitter:
http://twitter.com/perryfarrell
http://twitter.com/davenavarro6767
http://twitter.com/stephenperkins

PRONG REVEAL NEW ALBUM TITLE

Posted in All Metal, Artist Watch, New Music, News with tags , , , , , , on January 10, 2012 by Randy

PRONG are putting the final touches on their Long Branch Records debut with producer Steve Evetts.  Says guitarist, vocalist and PRONG founder Tommy Victor of the making of the album: “It was hardest I’ve ever worked in the studio on any record I’ve ever been involved with.” PRONG (whose lineup includes bassist Tony Campos and drummer Alexei Rodriguez) has taken a major step forward in their constantly evolving brand of sonic schematics.

Titled Carved Into Stone, the album is quintessentially PRONG. It stretches into the band’s earliest and dirtiest foundations on which the band was founded on New York’s Lower East Side to the present as a staple of today’s post-metal and rock scenes.  “I always believed there were many dimensions to PRONG,” says Tommy. “Every record we’ve been associated with different scenes – hardcore, metal, industrial – even dance! I think this record brings all of that together and sounds very modern at the same time.”

For more info visit:

http://www.prongmusic.com

http://www.spv.de

http://www.longbranchrecords.com

CHEVELLE ANNOUNCES NEW HEADLINING TOUR DATES WITH MIDDLE CLASS RUT AND JANUS LAUNCHING FEBRUARY 24 in GRAND RAPIDS

Posted in Artist Watch, New Music, News with tags , , , , , , , on January 6, 2012 by Randy

CHEVELLE has just announced new headlining tour dates with Middle Class Rut and Janus. The string of shows by the Chicago alternative hard rock trio kicks off on Friday, February 24 in Grand Rapids, MI, and heads east, making a stop atIrving Plaza in New York City on Wednesday, February 29 and crossing the U.S. before wrapping in Oklahoma City, OKon Friday, March 16.

CHEVELLEPETE LOEFFLER (Guitars, Vocals), SAM LOEFFLER (Drums) and DEAN BERNARDINI (Bass, Vocals)—recently released their new album HATS OFF TO THE BULL (Epic Records) which debuted on the Billboard Top 200 Albums chart at #19 and is being hailed as one of their finest albums. Its success is being propelled by the explosive first single “Face To The Floor.” With its hypnotic and grinding riff, the song rails against the corporate corruption of Bernie Madoff and Wall Street and is a testament to the band’s songwriting prowess and eternal knack for a hit. “Face To The Floor” continues its reign at the #1 spot at Active Rock radio and is also Top 10 at Modern Rock.

CHEVELLE exclusively premiered the video for “Face To The Floor” last month (12/23) on Vevo.com. The striking performance-based video–directed by P.R. Brown (Mötley Crüe, Smashing Pumpkins, Slipknot)–mirrors the chaotic and economic state currently facing millions of Americans.  Watch the clip here: http://vevo.ly/uG43oq.

HATS OFF TO THE BULL continues to earn high marks from the media. Bob Doershuk of DRUM! wrote, “On their sixth full-length album, ‘hard alternative’ band Chevelle continue in the vein they always have: taut, intelligent, multi-layered rockled by Pete Loeffler’s trenchant vocals. On Hats Off To The Bull, however, The Chicago trio swings for the fences in more ways than one. Loeffler’s sense of outrage on this album is incandescent at times” (January 2012). Liz Ramanand ofLOUDWIRE.COM hailed the album as “an impressive collection of hard-hitting anthems and melodic tracksa solid release filled with heavy riffs, intriguing vocal layers and crashing drum patterns that show Chevelle’s maturity as a bandwhile maintaining the progressive sound that their fans have embraced over the past decade” (12/8/11).
Catch CHEVELLE out with Middle Class Rut and Janus:

DATE   CITY VENUE
Fri 2/24 Grand Rapids, MI Orbit Room
Sat 2/25 Fort Wayne, IN Piere’s
Sun 2/26 Niagara Falls, NY Rapids Theatre
Tue 2/28 Portland, ME State Theater
Wed 2/29 New York, NY Irving Plaza
Fri 3/2 Providence, RI Lupo’s Heartbreak Hotel
Sat 3/3 Atlantic City, NJ House of Blues
Mon 3/5 Baltimore, MD Rams Head Live
Tue 3/6 Norfolk, VA The Norva
Thu 3/8 Knoxville, TN Valarium
Fri 3/9 Nashville, TN Marathon Music
Sat 3/10 Indianapolis, IN Egyptian Room at Old National Centre
Sun 3/11 Springfield, MO Gillioz Theatre
Tue 3/13 Wichita, KS Cotillion Ballroom
Wed 3/14 Omaha, NE Sokol Auditorium
Fri 3/16 Oklahoma City, OK Diamond Ballroom

www.chevelleinc.com
http://twitter.com/#!/ChevelleInc
https://www.facebook.com/chevelle

http://www.myspace.com/chevelle