Hello! The Matinée hit factory continues to operate at top capacity with three new releases since the last update. Thankfully they brew the coffee strong here in Santa Barbara!
First up is the greatly anticipated new album from Melbourne heroes The Lucksmiths! Entitled ‘Warmer Corners’ (matcd039) it’s the seventh studio album from Australia’s hardest-working band and follow-up to the excellent ‘Naturaliste’ album from 2003. As always, there are lots of guitars, some soothing basslines, and a singing drummer who’s far better than Phil Collins, but this time there’s also a horn section having a party, some fiery organs, a string section who dig Phil Spector, and a lazy pedal steel. ‘A Hiccup in Your Happiness’ kicks the album off with an uplifting nod of reassurance to a girl named Louise. Coincidentally, this song also marks the recorded debut for new Lucksmiths guitarist Louis Richter. It’s a dancefloor sizzler! As well as the aforementioned strings and horns, the song features some seriously funky guitar and a bassline possibly borrowed from Orange Juice. From there, the floor just keeps rumbling with ‘The Music Next Door’ and its pleasantly off-kilter guitar riff. By now it’s evident Marty Donald’s turns-of-phrase seem to have ripened with age, while Tali White’s vocals are as warm as ever. As with the last few albums, producer Craig Pilkington was put to work on string and brass arrangements, and he’s done some seriously wonderful things on ‘Warmer Corners’. Notably, the string section on first single ‘The Chapter in Your Life Entitled San Francisco’ drops the song off effortlessly at the bridge (and the monumental first ever use of wah-wah). Later, the fruits of bassist Mark Monnone’s relocation to Tasmania are on display, namely in the hobo lament ‘I Don’t Want to Walk Around Alone No More’ which meanders along gently and runs head first into ‘The Fog of Trujillo’. The former features superb whistling and beautiful acoustic guitar, while the latter, a sort of paean to a daydream, invites the horns back for another sangria and a rockin’ party again ensues. As if that weren’t enough, the album features seven more hits including a Rickenbacker jangler called ‘Sunlight In A Jar’ and the tale of a Kansas City barbecue called ‘Fiction’ that builds to a zydeco wigout! We kid you not. We called it the best Lucksmiths album yet last month and hopefully you’ll agree. Even Pitchfork gave it a positive review – what’s going on here? The band also did a short interview with Pitchfork which you can read here. See the sounds page for a taste, and get your very own copy NOW from the trusty Matinée webshop or your favorite retailer so you can learn all the words before seeing the band live.
The band lands on US soil in a week’s time so hopefully you have your tickets bought and plans made to attend one (or more) of the shows on this criminally short tour. These will be the last Lucksmiths dates for a long while so you’d be remiss to miss them just because they’re up against Survivor or something. As we mentioned last month, Matinée labelmates Pipas and Math and Physics Club are joining them on select shows! Here are full tour details:
April 29 – LOS ANGELES, CA @ The Knitting Factory (AlterKnit Lounge) with Math and Physics Club
(EARLY SHOW! doors 7pm, music 7:30 sharp, ALL AGES, admission $10 from Ticketweb)
April 30 – SAN FRANCISCO, CA @ The Rickshaw Stop with Remedy & Wren + Math and Physics Club
(doors 8pm, 21+, admission $10 from Virtuous Tickets)
May 1 – SAN FRANCISCO, CA @ The Make Out Room with The Mosquitoes + Scrabbel
(tickets available at The Make Out Room, admission $10)
May 3 – PORTLAND, OR instore @ Anthem Records
(3:30pm, ALL AGES, FREE!)
May 3 – PORTLAND, OR @ Berbati’s Pan with Andrew Kaffer and more
(tickets available from Berbati’s Pan $7 advance, $8 day of show)
May 4 – SEATTLE, WA live on KEXP Radio
(4:30pm, tune in 90.3 FM in Seattle or at www.kexp.org)
May 4 – SEATTLE, WA @ Sunset Tavern with Tullycraft + Math and Physics Club
(doors 8pm, 21+, admission $10 from Ticketweb)
May 5 – CHICAGO, IL @ Beat Kitchen with Pipas + The Icicles + Scotland Yard Gospel Choir
(doors 8:30pm, admission $10 in advance, $12 day of show from Beat Kitchen)
May 6 – GRAND RAPIDS, MI @ Shuler’s Books and Music with Pipas + The Icicles
(EARLY SHOW! music at 7:30 pm, ALL AGES, FREE!)
May 7 – BOSTON, MA @ PA’s Lounge with The Ladybug Transistor + Pipas
(doors 8:30pm, 18+, admission $9 day of show from PA’s Lounge)
May 8 – NEW YORK, NY @ The Knitting Factory with The Ladybug Transistor + Pipas + In Interview
(doors 8pm, admission $12 in advance, $15 day of show from Ticketweb)
May 9 – PHILADELPHIA, PA @ Philadelphia Ethical Society with The Ladybug Transistor + Pipas + The Snow Fairies
(EARLY SHOW! doors 7pm, music 7:30 sharp, ALL AGES, admission $7)
May 10 – WASHINGTON, DC @ DC9 with The Ladybug Transistor + Pipas + Lil’ Hospital
(music at 9pm, 21+, admission $10 day of show from DC9)
Special note for fans attending the Los Angeles show: it’s an all-ages affair at an early hour…doors at 7pm with Math and Physics Club on stage at 7:30 sharp so get there early! It’s also in the Knitting Factory’s Alterknit Lounge so is likely to sell out. Best bet is to buy tickets in advance or get there early. We will have a full array of Matinée merchandise on display there as well so if you’re at the show please stop by to say hello. In addition to lots of CDs, the band has great new t-shirts printed courtesy of fellow-IndiePager Lo-Fi with Love so a big shout out to Joe and everybody there who worked overtime to get the shirts printed in time!
In other top news, just back from the pressing plant is the debut album ‘Northern Drive’ (matcd038) from The Young Tradition! Comprised of Swedish multi-instrumentalist Erik Hanspers and Japanese-American vocalist Brent Kenji (ex-Fairways), the duo created a classic three-track debut single “California Morning” (matinée 043) entirely through the post in 2003 before meeting in San Francisco last year to complete the songs for this debut album. The single generated lofty praise from all corners, with All Music Guide calling it “a magical EP that will leave indie pop fans desperate for a full-length,” Wide Open Road naming it “single of the year so far,” The Bee’s Knees saying “some of the most impressive recordings by a duo since Simon & Garfunkel” and Logo Magazine declaring it “a wonderful work of art.” ‘Northern Drive’ includes ten new Young Tradition classics demonstrating a sophisticated pop mix featuring guitars, keyboards, and strings with prominent bursts of trumpet, flute, and saxophone. Fans of the Fairways will undoubtedly rejoice but 60s pop aficionados should take note as well because this album is truly impressive. You can preview ‘California Morning’, ‘Pink Opaque’, ‘Northern Drive’ and ‘Now You Know’ on the sounds page and order the CD right now exclusively from the Matinée webshop. The CD is in stores the first week of May so get shopping because The Young Tradition are where it’s at!
Also just back from the pressing plant is the debut album ‘Summertime?’ (matcd037) from Brazilian trio Pale Sunday! The band turned lots of heads with its debut “A Weekend With Jane” EP (matinée 049) plus covers of Sportique and Smiths songs for the ‘Matinée 50’ (matinée 050) and ‘Romantic and Square is Hip and Aware’ (matcd030) compilations before recording the ten new songs for this album. ‘Summertime?’ is loaded with obligatory POP! ingredients…jangling guitars, sing-along choruses, tambourines, handclaps, trumpets, sha-la-la’s, keyboards, and perfect melodies. Sometimes the guitars get fuzzy in classic shoegaze fashion but in the end the spirit of C-86 wins out. You can listen to ‘The White Tambourine’, ‘My Punk Girl’ and ‘Strangeways’ on the sounds page and order the CD right now exclusively from the Matinée webshop. The CD is in shops the first week of May. Pale Sunday recently played some shows in Brazil and hope to play internationally soon so watch this space for the latest news. For now, enjoy the album!
Switching to our five recent releases, the early reviews are in and we have another few hits on our hands:
Generating plenty of love is the superb new ‘Fools in Love’ CDEP (matinée 054) from German duo The Happy Couple! Respected source All Music Guide described lead track ‘Another Sunny Day’ as ”a frothy sun-kissed track that features most of the hallmarks of classic indie pop, a swinging tambourine, walls of strummy acoustic guitars, cutie pie lyrics, swooning synth strings and “ba da ba” background vocals. It is the kind of song that you’ll want to program your personal music delivery device to play every morning when you wake up because it’ll help you start each day with a big smile.” UK mailorder Melody Bar acknowledged “The Happy Couple fly the kite for Germany and prove that the Swedes don’t have all the best tunes,” and Friends of the Heroes declared it an “instantly catchy slice of champagne-summer picnic-pop of ‘60’s vintage – all breezy acoustic rhythms, sweet female vocals and pah-pah backing.” Featuring ‘Another Sunny Day,’ ‘Hopeless Case,’ ‘The Pop Kid’ and ‘Don’t Call It,’ the EP truly is a modern classic and perfect for fans of Shop Assistants, Pipas, Even As We Speak, Tender Trap, or Club 8. You can listen to ‘Another Sunny Day’ on the catalog or sounds pages now, and order the EP from the Matinée mailorder or your favorite shop in minutes. Go on then!
Continuing to impress is the terrific ‘Weekends Away’ CDEP (matinée 056) from new Seattle quintet Math and Physics Club! We can’t say enough good things about this band, but luckily they have lots of new friends to help us out now, including Tasty reporting “this is their first Matinée release, and they’ve set a pretty high standard…I look forward to this band’s next moves with moist palms. Vanity Project joined in, calling the EP “archetypal Matinée stuff with Marr-like guitars rattling like a sunbeam chased around a barrel, drums tap-tapping like entertained feet,” while Friends of the Heroes warned “with these sweet tunes, luscious melodies and readily embraceable lyrics you’d be mad to miss out. It’s indie heaven!” In addition to the wonderful title track (now playing on the sounds page), the EP includes ‘Sixteen and Pretty,’ ‘Love, Again’ and ‘When We Get Famous.” The single is available in all good record shops or directly from the Matinée webshop now so get your very own copy soon because they’re selling fast! The band joins The Lucksmiths on West Coast dates in Los Angeles, San Francisco and Seattle next week, and were just invited to play the Sasquatch Festival at the Gorge Amphitheater in Washington state Memorial Day weekend along with 20 or so other bands including heavyweights Modest Mouse, The Pixies, Wilco and Bloc Party. In addition, the band has been nominated as Best New Artist in the 2005 Seattle Weekly Music Awards! Voting is open until May 2, so if you have a minute click here to cast your ballot. The band is already working on a follow-up EP so stay posted for details.
With all the attention on the new Lucksmiths album and US tour, don’t forget they also have a superb new CDEP out now! The ‘San Francisco’ EP (matinée 057) features the songs ‘The Chapter In Your Life Entitled San Francisco,’ and ‘Young and Dumb’ from the new album plus non-album tracks ‘The Winter Proper’ and ‘I Started A Joke.’ The latter is a splendid cover of a classic Bee Gees track from the 60s before they went all disco and, it must be said, is arguably the finest cover the Lucksmiths have ever put to tape. More than a few of the EP reviews gush about this song in particular, including Oz Music Project calling it a “heartfelt, stripped down story of humiliation which, if it doesn’t make you go all tingly, then there’s something wrong with you,” and Losing Today commenting “blessed with a harmonica that’ll cut you in half and housing a numbing sensitivity that’ll leave you silent with jaw dropped for its entire duration.” We couldn’t have described it better. The song still kills me every time I hear it and it must be approaching its 100th play already. The wonderful title track is playing on the sounds page, and the EP is now available from all good shops and mailorders plus the Matinée webshop. The single is limited to 1000 copies so get yours soon so you don’t miss out! We should have a snazzy new video for ‘The Chapter In Your Life Entitled San Francisco’ in a few days too so if anybody has friends at MTV or other music channels please get in touch so we can get this played to the masses. How cool would it be to see The Lucksmiths on TV?!
On the album front, Lovejoy is making friends with the wonderful new album ‘Everybody Hates’ (matcd035). English webzine Friends of the Heroes reported “Lovejoy are slowly yet steadily building on a fine history, and seemingly getting better at every juncture. Packed full of chime and melody, ‘Everybody Hates’ cannot fail to impress.” Meanwhile, the always right-on Tasty concluded “the fact remains that no other band I can think of are making such wonderfully depressed pop music,” and top UK mailorder Melody Bar commented “Matinée’s hot streak continues with a beguiling new CD from Lovejoy that on various tracks recalls a more subdued Saint Etienne, a sleepy Sunday morning Pulp or the sombre genius of early Brian.” Expanding on the multilayered sound of previous albums ‘Who Wants To Be A Millionaire?’ (matcd018) and ‘Songs In The Key of Lovejoy’ (matcd008) with a sophisticated mix of guitars, keyboards, and percussion plus exceptional melodies and harmonies, ‘Everybody Hates’ is undoubtedly the strongest Lovejoy release yet. The sounds page now features ‘Sid Vicious’, ‘Petrol Stars’ and ‘Everybody Hates Us And We Don’t Care’ so have a listen and see what you think. You can get your very own copy right now from the Matinée webshop, your favorite mailorder, or any decent record shop. So, has anybody noticed when you unfold the CD booklet it actually reads “Lovejoy Hates Everybody”?
Finally, favorite London duo Pipas stay above the fold with their latest ‘Chunnel Autumnal’ CD (matcd036). Although technically a reissue of the band’s debut release from 2001, this is really the first time many people have heard it because the original was limited to just 300 copies on 10” vinyl. The reaction, as is now customary with everything Pipas, has been outstanding. Our latest favorite review comes from UK magazine Unpeeled, reporting “Chunnel Autumnal has its genesis in 60’s London, its heart on the left bank, it sings about Amsterdam and has been signed by a Californian record label to be dribbled over by a bloke in Sussex.” Quite fitting for Mark and Lupe who have so many international stamps in their passports they need extra pages. Album tracks “Tout Va Bien,” “Wells Street” and “A Short Film About Sleeping” are now playing on the sounds page, and the CD is available from the Matinée mailorder and all good shops now. Pipas play the final six dates of the Lucksmiths US tour so lucky East Coasters watch out! Rumour has it they have tour goodies with them too. We’ll hopefully lure them to the West Coast again very soon.
Apologies to anyone who sent a demo in the past few months and is still awaiting a response. The pile has tipped over now so we plan to have a demo jukebox jury with members of The Lucksmiths and Math and Physics Club while they are in Santa Barbara next week. I am fairly certain some of them take bribes so do what you have to but do it soon because the jury is happening next Thursday the 28th.
With all the new releases the mailorder is doing a brisk business so thanks to everyone who has supported us the past few months. Upstarts Math and Physics Club retained the top spot on the hit parade for a second month with the ‘Weekends Away’ EP but face tough competition this month from the three new albums. Here are the top sellers for the month of March:
10. The Siddeleys – Slum Clearance CD
9. Harper Lee – All Things Can Be Mended CD
8. The Guild League – Inner North CD
7. Various – The Matinée Winter Warmer CD
6. The Fairways – This is Farewell CD
5. Lovejoy – Everybody Hates CD
4. The Happy Couple – Fools In Love CDEP
3. Pipas – Chunnel Autumnal CD
2. The Lucksmiths – San Francisco CDEP
1. Math and Physics Club – Weekends Away CDEP
Hope to see some of you in Los Angeles!
Until next month,
Jimmy
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