War Poems, We Rested is the first full length release from R. Ring since 2017's Ignite The Rest.
Don Giovanni Records has announced the new album from R. Ring titled War Poems, We Rested. The band features Kelley Deal (of The Breeders) and Mike Montgomery (of Ampline). Laura King (of Bat Fangs) contributed drums and other significant arrangements to the album as well.
Along with the album announcement, R. Ring have released the album's lead single "Still Life" to digital streaming platforms, along with an accompanying music video which can be seen HERE.
The album will be released on January 27, 2023 and it is the band's first full-length since their 2017 release Ignite The Rest.
War Poems, We Rested is available for pre-order now HERE.
Shortly after the release of their gloriously homespun 2017 debut Ignite the Rest, beguiling indie rock duo R. Ring began working on material for their follow-up. Kelley Deal and Mike Montgomery collaborated on fragments, again enlisting drummer Laura King, Lori Goldston on cello, and Joe Suer on vibraphone. Of course, R. Ring and friends had no clue that their process would be sidelined by a pandemic.
Engaged in other projects (Deal with The Breeders and Protomartyr and Montgomery with his Candyland Recording Studio) and waiting out a global crisis, Deal and Montgomery tinkered on nearly-finished tracks and bided their time. In early 2023, with a tentative hope that the coast was somewhat clear, R. Ring re-emerged with War Poems We Rested, an album replete with three-minute songs that stagger and strut in equal measure. The wait has been worth it.
The album’s opener and lead single “Still Life” - streaming everywhere now - declares itself as the first of many thrilling stylistic fake-outs. In this case, Laura King’s colossal drums quickly crescendo before toppling into a bone-dry torch song. The taunting top-line dances like a ghostly Marianne Faithful across a seasick chord progression embellished by Suer’s vibes.
Deal reflects on the song's lyrics: “It’s possible, sometimes, through substance abuse or self delusion, to exist in a realm of altered reality, where you imagine your life to be a delicious bowl of fresh fruit. When you finally wipe the haze off the mirror, you see through more sobered eyes that the fruit is rotting and the bowl is full of worms.”
Even though War Poems We Rested was momentarily quarantined, R. Ring used the opportunity to blow up the idea of album packaging and design. Singer and poet Matt Hart, tasked with writing some notes, enlisted a cadre of friends to create new poems inspired by each song, which resulted in a chapbook lovingly designed and handbound by Louisville’s alla testa. The first 200 copies of the War Poems We Rested LP will include this poetry collection featuring Sadie Dupuis, Hanif Abdurraqib, Lee Renaldo, Jackie Clark, Sara Jaffe, Rose Zinnia, Amber Tamblyn, Alejandro de Acosta, Jeremy Michael Clark, and Peter Davis.
War Poems, We Rested tracklist:
1. Still Life 2. Hug 3. Stole Eye 4. Likeable 5. Exit Music 6. Cartoon Heart/Build Me A Question 7. Def Sup 8. Embers On A Sleepwalk 9. Volunteer 10. Lighter Than A Berry 11. War Poems
War Poems, We Rested will be released on January 27 2023 and is available for pre-order now HERE.
The EP Four Songs consists of the last known recordings from the late vocalist/guitarist Jason Rosenthal who passed away in 2013.
The band was a short-lived project led by Jason Rosenthal, the late front-person of foundational Long Island emo band On The Might Of Princes. The EP was recorded in 2008 though never officially released until now, and is premiering today exclusively via BrooklynVegan.
Four Songs is now available for the first time ever on all streaming platforms and Bandcamp.
The Brass were a Brooklyn-based post-hardcore band that existed from 2008-2010, and featured former members of Long Island DIY scene staples On The Might Of Princes and Latterman.
Four Songs was recorded in 2008 by Phil Douglas (of Iron Chic, Latterman) and are the last known recordings to be released by enigmatic front person Jason Rosenthal, who tragically passed away in 2013 at the age of 35. This is the first time these songs have been released, and they are a document of a fraught and chaotic group of individuals that loved each other, who assembled for a brief moment to create together before splintering into separate and divergent paths.
The Brass on the recording of Four Songs were: Jason Rosenthal - vocals / guitar Jon Ellis - vocals / guitar Mike Campbell - bass / vocals Stella May Vlad - drums
The multi-instrumentalist, songwriter, and author Franz Nicolay will release his new album on Don Giovanni on November 11th. Lead single "New River, Spring For Me" out now everywhere.
FRANZ NICOLAY will release his new album New River on November 11, 2022. Nicolay is known as a longtime member of The Hold Steady and World/Inferno Friendship Society as well as for countless featured performances both live and in-studio with other artists including Against Me!, Dresden Dolls, Worriers and more.
Franz Nicolay is a musician and writer living in the Hudson Valley, NY. In addition to records under his own name (most recently 2015’s To Us, The Beautiful!), he has been a member of the Hold Steady and World/Inferno Friendship Society, and recorded or performed with dozens of other acts.
Nicolay's first book, The Humorless Ladies of Border Control, was named a “Season’s Best Travel Book” by The New York Times. His second book, the novel Someone Should Pay For Your Pain was called “a knockout fiction debut” by Buzzfeed; and was named one of Rolling Stone “Best Music Books of 2021” (“finally, the great indie-rock novel... like Dostoyevsky in a DIY punk space”).
One would think that between writing and releasing his acclaimed debut novel, recording albums and touring with The Hold Steady, writing journalism about the Ukrainian resistance to Russian invasion, performing session work, and teaching as a professor of music and creative writing at Bard College would keep Franz Nicolay plenty busy. For awhile, it did. But as he reflects on the period of time writing and recording the songs that would make up his forthcoming album - New River - Nicolay stated:
"For several years after my last record, I needed a break, and actively tried to keep from writing songs. But the combination of working on new Hold Steady material, writing my second book, and having unexpected time on my hands like everyone else in spring 2020 eventually primed the pump for a record’s worth (including a co-write with my Hold Steady bandmate Steve Selvidge). The years off had constituted a time in which I thought I was finished as a musician; they were time characterized by the loss of several musician friends to suicide both acute and de-facto, and by consideration of the cost of 'working the art muscle.' I was approaching a familiar sort of life crossroads which I’ve traditionally addressed on the principle of “blow it all up and see if that fixes things.'” The material was assembled in the period of time between April 2020 and spring 2021 and recorded at Atomic Garden in Oakland with drummer Ara Babajian (the Slackers) and bassist Frank Piegaro (Worriers); with help from friends including Jeff Rosenstock and Mike Huguenor (Death Rosenstock), Deanna Belos (Sincere Engineer), Lauren Denitzio (Worriers), Peter Hess (Philip Glass Ensemble), Steve Selvidge (The Hold Steady), and Todd Beene (Lucero, Chuck Ragan).
The album's coda, "New River, Spring For Me" is out now everywhere. While it is the closing track on the album, it was also the last song of the collection to have been composed, giving both thematic and emotional closure to the record. Of the track Nicolay states,
"It’s a hopeful song in its way, that takes in the past and sees a little room to plant a future. The closing line is from Anne Carson’s translation of Sappho, and I think captures some of the emotional ambivalence of the project. Ara Babajian (the Slackers) played some particularly soulful drums, Peter Hess (Philip Glass Ensemble) wrote a fantastic horn arrangement, and Steve Selvidge (The Hold Steady) added the tasty licks."
Michigan punk darlings She/Her/Hers will release their eponymous album on October 14th. Originally leader Emma Grrl's solo creative project, this is the band's first full band record, building a fuller sound from its original acoustic incarnation.
Today, they released the single "To Do Lists (Color Coded)", which harkens back to the project's folk-punk roots while broadening its scope to the Regina Spektor type balladry it's equally indebted to.
She/Her/Hers is the creative project of songwriter Emma Grrrl, beginning in 2015 as a vessel to discuss her coming out as a transgender woman. On her first two releases Emma channeled the experiences of coming out and trans life into raw and personal folk punk, recording mostly at a friend’s studio whenever they had surprise availability. The sudden nature of these sessions meant they often captured stripped down versions of the songs, arranged to be quickly and easily recorded.
On her upcoming self-titled LP Emma recontextualizes these songs through the reflective lens of hindsight. After recording the original versions at impromptu sessions, Emma entered the studio for 2 weeks with the intention of rerecording a selection of tracks with the fullness that they were originally imagined.With support of drummer Cody Kutilla, Emma built out the arrangements for a full band. Having the opportunity to develop these songs with intent and time, they evolved into something new entirely. Tracks like “Internet Ads” and “Family” have pivoted from their original folk punk fury to dynamic chamber pop confessionals. Others like “Sweaters in Summer” are beefed up with trumpets and gang vocals. Pianos, horns and woodwinds fleet in between theatrical vocals and punchy guitars, coming together as a more versatile and expressive version of these songs.
Thematically, the LP closes its focus in on the early days of Emma’s coming out process, telling stories that reflected where she was in her life at the time they were written. In returning to these songs with newfound perspective, Emma infuses them with grandiosity and new life. With so much happening between the writing and rerecording of these songs, it is fitting that these songs have been transformed through the rerecording process. “Transitioning (To a Life Without You)” begins as a traditional power-pop, but explodes into a heavy halftime breakdown complete with fuzzed out bass and guitar heroics. 2018’s “Giving Up is Sooo Last Year” is split into two parts, the Django Reinhardt inspired “(Giving Up Interlude)” and the full band jazz romp “Giving Up”. “Gender is Boring”, which was originally recorded as a folky gender manifesto on 2018’s Grrrl Angst, is transformed and expanded into emotionally maximalist piano pop. Meshed between the keys and horns are crowdsourced gang vocals from dozens of online trans friends and fans. Going all in on revisiting old songs, Emma even pulls out a cover of “Internet Ads”, a song written by her friend Scout Seshimo of the band Bogsey. Having sung backup vocals on the original track, a synthy folk punk tune, Emma reimagines “Internet Ads” as a Vanessa Carlton-esque piano ballad. In re-examining this time of her life through old songs, Emma goes a step beyond increasing the fidelity, adding a sense of reflection, clarity, and pride.
She/Her/Hers Track List 1. To-Do Lists (Color Coded) 2. Hopeful//Scared 3. Internet Ads 4. Sweaters In Summer 5. Giving Up 6. Gender Is Boring 7. Family 8. Transitioning (to a life without you) 9. Nvr Pass 10. I Think I Finally Love Myself
The Homeless Gospel Choir release new album ahead of tour dates with My Chemical Romance and Thursday.
Today, punks THE HOMELESS GOSPEL CHOIR have released their new album titled Fourth Dimension Intervention across all streaming platformsand Bandcamp via Don Giovanni Records.
The album is available to stream across all platforms, and to order HERE
The Homeless Gospel Choir started in 2009 as the solo project of Derek Zanetti. He released three albums before the addition of Matt Miller (Endless Mike and the Beagle Club, Wingnut Dishwashers Union) and Megan Schroer (Boys, Kitty Cat Fan Club) for 2020's This Land is Your Landfill. They were joined by Maura Weaver (Mixtapes, Ogikubo Station) and Craig Luckman (Belly Boys, Small Pollen) for their first full band tours in 2019. Now a permanent lineup, The Homeless Gospel Choir's Fourth Dimension Intervention is the first album featuring all five members.
Paranoid and lazy, never knowing who is your friend and who is just watching a screen, never really hungry and never satisfied. Fever Dreams and Daymares of Family Dinners with the network news so loud you can hear the white noise pop like firecrackers. Floating through this dimension on the path of least resistance, unnoticed and unbothered til you’re old enough to die. The pitiful fantasy of having people cry at your funeral, while your spirit watches from the rafters. Feeling lost in your body like a ghost under a bed sheet.
Fourth Dimension Intervention by The Homeless Gospel Choir was recorded over five days in August 2021 at The Lodge KY by John Hoffman. It's the first album to feature all five members of the band, the first self produced album, and the first full length to be released by Don Giovanni, on Sept 2 2022.
The Homeless Gospel Choir are about to embark on a lengthy US tour, including dates with My Chemical Romance and Thursday.
September 2022 11-Cincinnati OH- The Comet 12-Springfield IL- Dumb Records 13- Minneapolis MN- Turf Club 15- St.Paul MN- Xcel Energy Center # 16- Chicago IL- Subterranean & 17- Detroit MI- The sanctuary & 18- Pittsburgh PA- Club Café & 19- Philadelphia PA- kung fu necktie & 20- Newark NJ- Prudential Center # 21- Newark NJ- Prudential Center # 24- sunrise FL- Florida live arena #
#- with My Chemical Romance & - With Short Fictions
October 8- Omaha NE 11- Albuquerque NM $ 14- San Jose CA $ 15- Los Angeles CA $ 18- Vancouver BC $ 19- Seattle WA $ 20- Portland OR $ 22- San Francisco $ 24- San Diego CA $ 26- Ventura Ca $ 27- Los Angeles CA $ 28- The Fest Gainesville FL
