Hit play and count the seconds until you catch the Butch Walker cameo. (Hint: It should take about 50 seconds.)

If you blinked, you may have also missed the Ron Jeremy cameo. Also, the club version of “Synthesizers” is kind of dope.

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The Spade is available now in various formats. Butch Walker’s book, Drinking With Strangers, can also be purchased over at his website.

The video was directed by Derek Miller and Gregory Kohn, but we’re guessing Alexis’ 90s/cheer-inspired dance moves were all her.

Reign Of Terror is available via Mom + Pop Records on February 21st.

Thanks, dudes.

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Go get more Sleigh Bells news over at reignofterror.tv.

On Thursday, December 8th,
Cass McCombs and his band played to a roomful of fans at the Doug Fir Lounge in Portland, Oregon. It’s a practical supposition that– if one were not yet a fan of his music– to see Cass play live for the first time would turn a person into one. Cass showcases a talent made obvious the moment he strums the guitar and sings a phrase and by the bands he’s played with (Source, Wikipedia: Cat Power, Bonnie ‘Prince’ Billy, Andrew Bird, Blonde Redhead, Modest Mouse, Beach House, Arcade Fire, Fiery Furnaces, The Shins, Deerhoof, The Walkmen, Thurston Moore, etc., etc.) And he plays with a band of total pros. From an unassailable rhythm section touting a drummer who makes no mistakes and manages to show sustained energy as well as control throughout an entire set, to a man on the keys who went almost unnoticed (the band sounded like a recorded album at times; in a good way) until he began improvised soloing during a crowd hit, “Dreams Come True Girl,” sounding like he could’ve fit in well in the Bitches Brew personnel. The lead and rhythm guitarist was an obvious talent in the set, but what was most surprising about the guitar work was that of McCombs himself: his leads stood out as strong and inventive, and the vocal work never suffered for it but drew nearer to its perceptible liveliness.

With a standout technical crew on hand, Cass’ quiet vocal deliveries were as intimate and appreciable as listened to on vinyl with headphones, and a supremely artful backdrop of Atari-like lights, Cass McCombs and band played a memorable show. McCombs seemed mystifying in persona, as likewise do his haunting vocals and equivocal, poetic lyrics– and this is refreshing in a time when so many performers of all different types seem to want attention drawn to themselves in lieu of what they are doing. The reticent performer scarcely said a word, save for introducing his band and to quite respectfully ask the audience to quiet the barroom chatter between and during song beginnings. Go see Cass McCombs play live if you get the chance– he may not come through your town again for some time.

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For more on Cass McCombs, visit cassmccombs.com.

Butch entered the stage to Dr. Hook’s “Cover Of Rolling Stone” then launched immediately into a three song slow-jam fest, featuring Marvelous 3′s “Cigarette Lighter Love Song” as the show opener. For “Every Monday,” the microphone was turned toward the audience, who sang every word to the song while the singer sat on the stage and played along acoustically.

Playing the first six songs of the set sans band, Butch took the opportunity to revisit some pre-Widows tracks from previous albums. Prompted by a crowd who seemed to know every word to every song, the Atlanta native remarked, “I like when this place is sold out– it’s good for my ego. I remember playing the Exit/In to four people when I first played here… three of them were bartenders. We’ve come a long way, baby.”

Cary Ann Hearst of Shovels and Rope joined the band onstage for “Synthesizers,” which featured a full-on “Come On Eileen” too-la-ta-loo-ra mid-song breakdown. And to keep the homage vibe going, Butch Walker and the Black Widows later played a cover of Simon and Garfunkel’s “Cecilia” as a lead-in to “Dublin Crow.”

The highlight of the show was in “The 3 Kids In Brooklyn,” a song which features Butch’s famous “little guitar,” a prop that seems to trigger something that makes him lose his shit and encouages climbing on top of the kick drum. The energy level of the show never wavered, but it hit its peak during this particular jam.

Given that producing records is his day job, Butch Walker knows his way around a studio album, but his live show is where his most substantial connection is made as an artist. Of any of the artists we’ve covered, Butch Walker seems to be most concerned with wanting you to have as much fun at his show as he does– and Butch Walker parties. And if you have any doubts, re-watch that “Every Monday” video; his fans are that dedicated for a reason.

MFNW 2011
by Alan Justin Patterson and Joshua Cooke

Though we left Puddletown this summer in search of drier pastures, our love for Portland, Oregon remains intact. Old hat Alan Justin Patterson and newcomer Joshua Cooke hit the streets to venue hop throughout our former homebase, covering the Musicfest Northwest lineup, featuring bands like The Kills, MSTRKRFT, Suuns, and noteworthy Portlanders Typhoon and Kelli Schaefer.

And for some reason this year, no one wore shoes onstage. Weird.

Navigate MFNW in words and pictures:

Wednesday: Heligoats, Sean Flinn and Royal We, The Kills

Thursday: Handsome Furs, Phantogram, Suuns, Talkdemonic

Friday, pt. 1: Drew Grow and the Pastor’s Wives, Marketa Irglova, MSTRKRFT, Reptar, Sallie Ford & the Sound Outside

Friday, pt. 2: Glass Candy, Macklemore and Ryan Lewis, Purple and Green, TxE

Saturday: Big Freedia, DJ Beyonda, Kelli Schaefer, Typhoon

Parachute Musical chose the 5 Spot as the venue to house the Nashville edition of their Kill It Cut It Down album release and they brought fellow Nashvillians, Eastern Block to open the show.

Like Parachute Musical, Eastern Block navigate their rock-based soundscape by alternating between keys and guitars, and their heavy guitars and full vocals had no problem filling the venue as fans passed a giant tip jar through the crowd like an indie rock collection plate.

Parachute Musical took the stage for their set a little after 11 pm, with all four band members dressed in white t-shirts, causing an audience member behind me to surrender to the urge of telling a “looks like everyone got the memo” joke regarding PM’s solidarity-chic attire.

With the exception of “You Could Take A Lot” and “Hometown,” Parachute Musical played every track from Kill It Cut It Down, including a sounds-just-as-good-live-as-you-hoped-it-would rendition of “Losing You.” Taking the place of the missing tracks were old jam “No Comfort” and new jam “All Systems Go.”

The band’s incessant touring throughout the country appears to be paying off– Parachute Musical’s live show is fun and energetic, each of the four members playing an obvious and integral role in the band’s architecture. Each member makes sure to put more sweat into their performance than even the sweatiest fan could put into dancing, and bassist Andrew Samples just might be the most photogenic member of any live act, ever. Even if Parachute Musical aren’t your favorite indie band, their live show will earn your respect.

If words and pictures aren’t enough, there’s also video because we live in the future.

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For more on Eastern Block, visit eastern-block.tumblr.com.
For everything on Parachute Musical, vist parachutemusical.com.

Opening the annual concert series Live On the Green, Will played the perfect mix of new and old songs, including a version of “When I Can Afford To Lose” that featured the vocalist trading in his guitar for the keyboard. Hoge also played “Ms. Williams,” introducing it as the first of his songs he ever heard on the radio, a goosebumps-inducing rendition of “When I Get My Wings,” and rounded out the set by bringing former keys player, Jefferson Crow, up onstage for “Pocket Full Of Change.”

The event announcers made endless jokes about trying to guess whether forthcoming release Number Seven is or is not Will Hoge’s seventh album and that was almost as lame as the part when an unnamed independent music journalist may or may not have become somewhat choked with emotion during the third verse of “Even If It Breaks Your Heart.”

Number Seven will be released on September 27th.
You can stream “When I Get My Wings” (on repeat) on Spotify.

Will Hoge will begin touring in support of Number Seven at the end of this month:

09.21.11 Loveless Barn @ Nashville, TN
09.22.11 The Children’s Museum of the Upstate @ Greenville, SC
09.23.11 Peace Center Amphitheatre @ Greenville, SC
09.24.11 40 Watt Club @ Athens, GA
09.25.11 Vulcan Park @ Birmingham, AL
09.28.11 Diesel Rock n Roll Country Bar @ Virginia Beach, VA
09.29.11 Visulite Theater @ Charlotte, NC
09.30.11 Vinyl @ Atlanta, GA
10.01.11 Lincoln Theater @ Raleigh, NC
10.05.11 Canopy Club @ Urbana, IL
10.06.11 Shank Hall @ Milwaukee, WI
10.07.11 Maintenance Shop @ Ames, IA
10.08.11 The Mill @ Iowa City, IA
10.13.11 Mercy Lounge @ Nashville, TN
10.20.11 Rhythm & Brews @ Chattanooga, TN
10.21.11 Backstage at the Tin Roof @ Nashville, TN
10.22.11 Stickyz Rock ‘n’ Roll Chicken Shack @ Little Rock, AR
11.01.11 Radio Radio @ Indianapolis, IN
11.02.11 Majestic Theater @ Madison, WI
11.03.11 Double Door @ Chicago, IL
11.04.11 Off Broadway @ St Louis, MO
11.06.11 Knuckleheads @ Kansas City, MO
11.09.11 World Café Live @ Philadelphia, PA
11.10.11 Highline Ballroom @ New York, NY
11.11.11 Johnny D’s @ Somerville, MA
11.12.11 The 8×10 Club @ Baltimore, MD
11.16.11 Beachland Ballroom & Tavern @ Cleveland, OH
11.17.11 The Basement @ Columbus, OH
11.18.11 The Southgate House @ Newport, KY
11.19.11 Kirk Avenue Music @ Roanoke, VA
12.01.11 Fitzgeralds @ Houston, TX
12.02.11 The Prophet Bar @ Dallas, TX
12.03.11 Stubb’s Waller Creek Outdoor Amphiteatre @ Austin, TX
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For more on Will Hoge, visit willhoge.com, where Number Seven will also be available for purchase.

Indie-minded singer/songwriter Butch Walker premiered his video for “Summer Of ’89″ on not-so-indie website Rolling Stone today. In addition to Butch and his Black Widows, the music video stars Wes Anderson-friendly actor Seymour Cassel as the director, though the video is directed by Butch Walker-friendly director Shane Valdez:

Of the video, Butch tells Rolling Stone, “The idea was to borrow some ideas from really bad rock videos in the late Eighties and put them in perspective now.”

Mission: accomplished.

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For more on Butch Walker, visit butchwalker.com.

After a Kickstarter project (fueled and funded by their ardent and devoted fanbase) and months of free downloads, Nashville’s Parachute Musical will officially release their third full-length studio album, Kill It Cut It Down to the masses.

Kill It Cut It Down
Release Date: August 23rd, independent release

01. Back To Life
02. Reflection
03. Back To The Bottom
04. Stubborn Young Manhood
05. Kill It Cut It Down
06. Nothing Wrong
07. You Plus Me And All Your Friends
08. You Could Take A Lot
09. Hometown
10. On The Ground
11. Losing You

From the first note of “Back To Life,” the album’s opener, the tone and cadence of Kill It Cut It Down become immediately evident. The aggressive-but-bright pop-rock anthem begins with frontman Josh Foster pounding a rhythm into his piano keys, followed by a flood of lyrics that are generally grittier than the glossy and polished music accompanying them imply. The texture created by the seemingly-intentional contrast between melody and lyrics keeps the music smart, leaving room for versatility within each track. Despite the candid nature of Foster’s lyrics, Kill It Cut It Down is not at all transparent.

Produced by Jim Wirt (Fiona Apple, Incubus) in Cleveland, Ohio during the dead of winter, Parachute Musical further exemplify their proclivity to finding the harmony in contradictions. Describing their month in Cleveland as “the coldest month of our lives,” the final product sounds like a sunny and colorful summer album, untouched by freezing temperatures and Christmas carols. The music on Kill It Cut It Down subsides and escalates when you need it to, but the band reels it in during some of the crescendos, safeguarding the songs from falling victim to fist-pumping pop-rock melodrama.

The most impressive part of this album may be Josh Foster’s vocals. Powerful and melodic, it can sometimes be difficult to focus on what he’s saying because he makes it all sound so good. The band sounds solid during the loud moments, but the quieter moments of the songs shine a necessary spotlight on Foster’s lyrics and vocals, a trick best played on “Back To the Bottom,” when the music noticeably takes a backseat to each verse so the story of Foster’s past can momentarily steal the limelight.

“Losing You” is the album’s closer as well as its brightest diamond. A slow-build ballad about the beginning of the end of a relationship, the vocals and instruments on this song soar in a flourish of talent and heartbreak. The end of the album is the best place for this track because, as great as the rest of the album is, this one is difficult to get past.

Kill It Cut It Down asserts its solidity in finding perfect balance in the midst of contrast. Rather than creating a sloppy and contradictory album, Parachute Musical have found logic in the conflicting components of their music and created a lively and reflective album that will probably sound equally as fantastic when you hear it live.

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Get your own copy of Kill It Cut It Down at parachutemusical.spinshop.com.
For more on Parachute Musical and their music, go to parachutemusical.com.

Summertime– it’s festival season, and for any Northwestern U.S. residents (or really committed and globetrotting fans) this year’s Outside Lands Festival provided food, festivities, and (most importantly) a wide array of popular music artists to allow the 100,000+ attendees to cram half a year’s worth of shows into a single weekend. Before recapping the three days of aural bliss, a few things I learned while spending time amongst the glorious throngs of San Francisco’s Golden Gate Park this weekend:

1. Bacon-covered funnel cake will replace every food on your “favorites” list and you will thank it for doing so.
2. Fuzzy-eared hats are becoming waaay too popular. Among adults.
3. The tiniest women will be the most aggressive people pushing past you to the front of the stage.
4. When Phish headlines the main stage of a festival, every other stage is blissfully less crowded. Phish need to headline more festivals.
5. Whether you’re smoking it or not, at a festival you must be prepared to be high on marijuana, even if it’s just a contact high (see #4).

On to the recap, with limited picture interruption:

Day one: Phantogram, Foster the People, MGMT, Clap Your Hands Say Yeah, The Limousines, The Shins
Day two: Ximena Sariñana, The Vaccines, OK Go, Sia, Eskmo, The Black Keys, Muse
Day three: Charles Bradley & the Menahan Street Band, tUnE-yArDs, Grouplove, Little Dragon, Deadmau5, STS9, Arcade Fire, Mavis Staples