The War On Drugs - Red Eyes

After dropping hints at a new album in the near future, Philadelphia's own The War On Drugs released the utterly fantastic lead single to the 2014 LP, with "Red Eyes."

The free-floating psyche pop efforts drips in a beautiful, swirling haze of light distortion and echoing keys. It might be pretty late in for 2013, considering that every media outlet has already let out most of its year end Best Of lists. But damn if "Red Eyes" doesn't deserve some consideration for the year's best tracks.

Stream it below. The War On Drugs' new LP Lost In The Dream will be out Mach 18 on Secretly Canadian. And to mark the release, the band will be performing the first portion of next year's tour at Union Transfer in its native city.

Kurt Vile - Feel My Pain

Originally recorded during the Wakin On A Pretty Daze sessions, Kurt Vile has unveiled the brand new "Feel My Pain."

The bonus cut will be included on Vile's forthcoming It's A Big World Out There (And I'm Scared) limited edition 12" vinyl, which includes five other previously unreleased tracks. Click here for more details on the November 19 release. Fans making it out to the October 25 Terminal 5 show in New York City and the October 26 show at Philadelphia's Union Transfer will however have a chance to buy the 12" (in limited quantities).

That same day, Matador will also be releasing the Wakin On A Pretty Daze deluxe edition Deluxe Haze (Post Haze), which will include the aforementioned 12" and another previously unreleased track. Listen to "Feel My Pain" below.

XXYYXX - FADER/MoMA PS1 Warm Up mix

Before he sets off for this Saturday's set at MoMA's Long Island City, Queens site with the likes of Ryan Hemsworth, Orlando producer XXYYXX debuted his upcoming Warm Up set via FADER and MoMA PS1. The 45-plus minute mix, which is available to stream and download below, features an eclectic bunch, including; Holly Herndon, Notorious B.I.G., Thurdercat, and a new original work fitting in the finale. Tickets and more details for the Saturday show are available here.

Check out the entire tracklist and future tour dates, as well as a summer-themed interview with FADER here. Included in XXYYXX's upcoming tour dates will be a stop at Philadelphia's Union Transfer with CHVRCHES, September 18. Tickets are available here.

Union Transfer, Mar. 8 - Django Django (Preview)

Nailing down where alternative music's waves are flowing towards is really a matter of two directions, more often than not. Sure there are sub-genres going through strings of mutant mitosis every week, creating splendid off-breeds of the sounds we all know and love. But to put it simply, there are two primary directions: revivalism and new.

Django Django are unflinchingly new. The London band's post new-wave is branded with neo-futurism to a degree that makes MGMT look like its falling behind. Sprinting through the band's 13-track self-titled debut from last year and its hard to say there's much resonance from sound to sound other than the uncommon ambition to sound like no one else is doing it.

Handclaps, bizarro Afrofusion, glam, and even mulling electro spacing are all here. Sometimes all on the same song like "Firewater," which drifts and dreams like its plowing through the desert before sunset. It's a long-winded description for something that seems like ambition, which will certainly be on play tonight.

Alongside the group at Philadelphia's spectacular Union Transfer will be Minneapolis band Night Moves, which were featured on the site last August. Tickets for the show are still available here, with doors opening at 8 p.m.

Review: Black Moth Super Rainbow @ Union Transfer (Philadelphia, Dec. 7)

The birth of Philadelphia's Union Transfer, the city's newest and most-inviting venue, served as a fresh middle ground between the celebrated, but somewhat underused Electric Factory and the fun-filled heat coffin of First Unitarian Church. One, in that keeps the large crowd-friendly style of the former, but with the consistent and more money-friendly bookings of the latter. Renovated from an 1800s-era building on Spring Garden Street, the surprisingly massive venue is a stylistic carryover from New York's celebrated Terminal 5; packed with a sprawling balcony, back bars, and a large crowd floor. The distinctions shouldn't be surprising, considering Philly's R5 Productions created the venue in partnership with NY's The Bowery Presents.

Walking in the unassuming floor level, Philadelphia's own Creepoid provided what ended up being the better of the night's two lead-ins to Black Moth Super Rainbow. The cavernous lo-fi psychedelic guitar romps fit well for the early crowd, lifting the band from filler to curious with surprising ease. I can't say the same for Ryan Graveface (of BMSR) side-project Casket Girls.

Parlaying a dubious middle ground between Dum Dum Girls and any miscellaneous dream pop obsessed with VHS-era music videos, the Savannah, GA band found an easy identity. The only particular problem with it is that it's not really an identity. Maybe it was the need for the Greene sisters to always cover their eyes that made their performance seem somewhat passionless, but every stage gimmick that happened between the two of them never seemed to feel genuine. Just a routine of a band that fits in with the time, I suppose.

After ditching is face-covering hood, Ryan joined BMSR for an efficient, bass-heavy show that many of the kids rolling on acid in the crowd were waiting for. One group in particular did their best to recreate Halloween, covered in DIY patterns of black paint and a few dragonfly costumes. If the playlist were to dictate dress code, those kids seemed to follow it aptly.

Frontman Tobacco positioned himself behind his vocoder, and the most ill-placed shirt decoration possible (see in photo), and cruised through an hour-plus of droning, glittery, and atmospheric tracks. There were only a few moments teeming with tense rushes, but there were hardly any lulls either. For a band so transfixed on its artful nature, it's pleasing to see them perform without muddling any of the live process. The only problem seemed to be with the more unfamiliar fans that even the most ardent BMSR die-hards can recognize - it's pretty hard to tell when the band is going through its early discography and the most recent album Cobra Juicy (sans the "Windshield Smasher" opening). But again, maybe a for a group with such clear and distinct aesthetics, those differences aren't as important. Rather, performing the collection as one piece, serving as a more visual course helps deliver the point clearer.

Union Transfer, Dec. 7 - Black Moth Super Rainbow (Preview)

Supreme avant-garde electronica brain grinders Black Moth Super Rainbow are on a relative mission. The band's most recent output, Cobra Juicy, a hypnotic blender of sultry synths, spacey vocals, and curiously inventive hooks, becomes a much more ambitious project when you look at what the band is doing for it.

The band launched their Cobra Juicy efforts on Kickstarter in order to self-release the project, asking donors in total for $45,000. Surpassing $125,000, the project went off well, and spurned a rich array of extra goodies, all available on the group's site.

BMSR brainchild Tobacco created personalized sketches, masks, stickers, posters, and even Polaroids and a super-special offer of, yes, having Tobacco throw his own version of a roller derby disco. That last offer comes merely for $10,000.

Aside from goodies, the band's live performance is consciously weird, swirling with ever-present imagery to go along with the multitude of masked eccentricities the band brings along.

You can catch the Pittsburgh band tomorrow alongside Savannah, Georgia group Casket Girls and Philly upstarters Creepoid at Philadelphia's Union Transfer. Doors will open at 8 p.m., with tickets still available here.

Local Natives announce new album, new single

It's been way too long since we've heard any new material from Local Natives. The Los Angeles group become everyone's favorite it-band when it released their 2009 debut Gorilla Manor, and have been touring on the current of it ever since.

A few months back news broke of the band working on new material, but it wasn't certain when we'd actually hear anything. Finally, today we finally can listen to the first new material from the band in nearly three years with "Breakers." The lush single is probably the first of many from the band's upcoming album Hummingbird, which is officially scheduled for release January 29 via Frenchkiss Records.

The band promptly released upcoming tour dates with the news, with a special stop at Philly's Union Transfer April 4. You can see the full list of tour dates via the band's official website, here.

New Japandroids video - House That Heaven Built

The massive first single from Japandroids last album Celebration Rock, "The House That Heaven Built" has a brand new black and white video to support the band's lengthy tour date additions. You can check out all the dates after the video below, which includes a December stop at Philly's Union Transfer. Tickets for the event go on sale this Friday.



8/14 — Ponte Do Lima, Portugal — Paredes De Coura Festival
8/16 — Dublin, Ireland — Workmans Club
8/17 — Belfast, Northern Ireland– Mandela Hall
8/18 — Skipton, England– Beacons Festival
8/19 — Leicester, England– Summer Sundae Festival
8/22 — Reykjavik, Iceland — Gamli Gaukurinn
8/24 — Hannover, Germany — Bootboohook Festival
8/25 — Dornstadt, Germany — Obstwiesen Festival
8/27 — Frankfurt, Germany — Zoom
8/28 — Dresden, Germany — Beatpol
8/29 — Berlin, Germany — Magnet
8/31 — Poznan, Poland — Fabrika
9/1 — Warsaw, Poland — Hydrozagadka
9/3 — Budapest, Hungary — Akvarium
9/4 — Vienna, Austria — Chelsea
9/6 — Ljubljana, Slovenia — Kino Siska
9/7 — Graz, Austria — Postgarage
9/8 — Zagreb, Croatia — NKC Park
9/10 — Prague, Czech Republic — Lucerna Music Bar
9/11 — Munich, Germany — Feierwerk
9/12 — Luzern, Switzerland — Treibhaus Luzern
9/14 — Brussels, Belgium — La Chocolaterie
9/15 — Leffinge, Belgium — Leffingeleuren Festival
9/16 — Tilburg, Netherlands — Incubate Festival
9/18 — Amsterdam, Netherlands — Paradiso
9/19 — Rotterdam, Netherlands — Rotown
9/21 — Hamburg, Germany — Reeperbahn Festival
9/22 — Munster, Germany — Gleis 22
9/23 — Cologne, Germany — Luxor
9/25 — Copehagen, Denmark — Pumpehuset
9/26 — Aarhus, Denmark — Voxhall
9/28 — Gothenburg, Sweden — Pustervik
9/29 — Stockholm, Sweden — Strand
9/30 — Oslo, Norway — John Dee
10/12 — Madrid, Spain — El Sol
10/13 — Barcelona, Spain — Sala Apolo
10/15 — Winterthur, Switzerland — Salzhaus
10/16 — St. Gallen, Switzerland — Grabenhalle
10/18 — Rome, Italy — Lanificio 159
10/19 — Bologna, Italy — Covo
10/20 — Padova, Italy — Loop
10/24 — Athens, Greece — AN Club
10/26 — London, UK — Heaven
10/27 — Manchester, UK — Sound Control
10/29 — Sheffield, UK — The Harley
10/30 — Birmingham, UK — Hare & Hounds
11/1 — Paris, France — Pitchfork Music Festival
11/4 — Austin, TX — Fun Fun Fun Fest
11/5 — Dallas, TX — Trees*
11/7 — Scottsdale, AZ — Martini Ranch*
11/8 — Los Angeles, CA — Fonda*
11/10 — San Diego, CA — Porters Pub*
11/12 — San Francisco, CA — Fillmore*
11/13 — Portland, OR — Wonder Ballroom*
11/15 — Seattle, WA — Neumos*
11/17 — Salt Lake City, UT — Urban Lounge
11/18 — Denver, CO — Bluebird
11/20 — St Louis, MO — Firebird
11/21 — Nashville, TN — Exit / In
11/23 — Birmingham, AL — Bottletree
11/24 — Memphis, TN — Hi-Tone
11/25 — New Orleans, LA — One Eyed Jacks
11/27 — Orlando, FL — The Social
11/28 — Tampa, FL — Crowbar
11/29 — Gainesville, FL — High Dive
12/1 — Atlanta. GA — The Earl
12/2 — Asheville, NC — Grey Eagle Tavern
12/4 — New York, NY — Webster Hall
12/7 — Washington, DC — Black Cat
12/8 — Philadelphia, PA — Union Transfer
12/9 — Boston, MA — Paradise
12/10 — Montreal, QC — Cabaret Mile End
12/11– Toronto, ON — Phoenix
12/13 — Chicago, IL — Metro
12/14 — Minneapolis, MN — Triple Rock
12/15 — Minneapolis, MN — Triple Rock
12/17 — Winnipeg, MB — Pyramid
12/18 — Saskatoon, SK — Louis Pub
12/19 — Edmonton, AB — Starlite
12/20 — Calgary, AB — Republik
12/22 — Vancouver, BC — Rickshaw

Wednesday Bears: New Philly Venue! - Union Transfer

Pretty exciting news this morning for any local kids. R5 Productions, in partnership with New York affiliate Bowery Presents and several other agencies, will open up Philadelphia's newest music venue Union Transfer this September.

First tickets for the all-ages venue will be available this Saturday, July 16, at the UT box office on 27 N. 2nd St. You can check out the first official billings at the venue's website, with Clap Your Hands Say Yeah making the premiere performance September 21.

The 600 person venue will be located at 1004-26 Spring Garden St. (Center City).