Indie Info 9.26.02: First Edition

Posted by Eric Katz on 09.26.2002

You thought you knew a lot about music. But I bet you don’t even know HALF the bands I’m about to mention!!

Welcome one, welcome all to the first edition EVER of Indie Info. You may remember me from such films as my cd reviews. Well I’ve switched over now, in that I think an indie info column is a lot more important (or noteworthy) than cd reviews. So this is my first column. I’ll try to underline what I intend to do here, kind of give some of the sections and such that I’ll be running. This should be a weekly column, but when my life gets hectic this will be bi-weekly. Or, if there’s absolutely nothing going on in indie music, it could be hard to get a column or two out.



I Can’t Stop Raving About . . .

Texas Is The Reason. This short lived band came out with a 9 song album and a 3 song ep and broke up. But wow they were amazing. You could call this a blueprint for the modern day emo sound you here. If your familiar with Hot Rod Circuit, some of Texas Is The Reason’s chords sound like old Hot Rod Circuit. Their material varies greatly, even with 12 songs, and I think that’s pretty cool. So if you’ve got some extra cash, you might want to order a Texas Is The Reason cd. But I guarantee you won’t find it from anywhere else but Interpunk.com.



Top Story

I’ve got two top stories for you today. One of them was reported in the last two weeks, and the other has been reported all the way back in June, but it’s still pertinent and unknown to most of you so I want to cover it.



First off, this week’s top story deals with a band I personally don’t like, but I’m sure some of you might. Fenix TX, a big hitter in the crowded pop punk genre, has broken up, according to punkbands.com. Sources began reporting this story sometime last week, but confirmation did not occur until several days ago by MCA Records. Word is that most of the band members will start a new project. I can tell you that most pop punkers probably won’t care, because there’s a million and one bands just salivating at taking their place. So Fenix TX gave their two or three songs and have now faded. But, reports say that we’ll see them again soon.



My other top story deals with Thursday. Around last spring, rumors starting floating for the Thursday message board about problems with their record label, heavy hitting hardcore label Victory Records. Apparently Thursday was not aware of some merchandising that Victory had been doing for them, and felt it was a breech of contract. Besides from this, Victory has been partially bought out by a major label (no confirmation on who except we know it’s not Island Def Jam records as you’ll see later), and this major label had already begun releasing Thursday songs with their trademark on it. All of this happened with no authorization from Thursday. As it stands now, Thursday is slated to come out with a 5 song ep sometime this winter on Victory Records. However, members of the band have been telling fans that Thursday is looking to sign a deal with Island Def Jam. The reason for this is that the contract Thursday signed prevents them from leaving Victory except to go to a major label. Thus, Thursday is now choosing from the best offer of major labels. I’ll have more reports for you, but if Thursday does sign to Island Def Jam, you can be sure that the Thursday craze will reach heights than no one ever imagined.



And Now I Shall Pull A Rabbit From My Hat



Now for some random information that’s been reported this week on the indie sign.



Former Hellcat band The Gadjits have reportedly signed a deal with RCA records. This is just the next step in the furthering of the post punk retro rock scene, as The Gadjits fit somewhere in between The Strokes and The Hives. The Gadjits have gone through a lot, from being dropped from Epitah/Hellcat to being signed to a major label.



In a sad story, last week the Los Angeles County Coroner's Office confirmed that Dee Dee Ramone, bassist of the legendary punk rock group The Ramones, died from an accidental heroin overdose earlier this year. Ramone was 49. Drug overdose is truly a horrible way to lose someone so talented from such a ground-breaking band.



Ska icons Less Than Jake recently celebrated their 10th birthday with a re-release of their original cd, Pezcore. You can order the cd at Fueled By Ramon



New age emo band Taking Back Sunday’s singer, Adam Lazarra, fell offstage at a recent show with Midtown. Taking Back Sunday was co-starring the “Best Revenge” Tour. Adam will be ok but Taking Back Sunday will be off the tour for a few days. The Reunion Show will cover for them in this time. As a fan of Taking Back Sunday, I wish Adam a speedy recovery.



Back To The Future!



Let’s take a look at some of the upcoming releases from the indie scene.



First from Vagrant Records:

9-24: Viva Death (self titled) - This date has probably passed by now but I’d still like to report it. This is the long awaited side project from Trevor Keith and Scott Shifflett from Face to Face, but also featuring Chris Shifflet, a member of the Foo Fighters. Viva Death uses 3 baritone guitars and a drummer, so it’s a unique sound at that. From what I’ve heard, I’d call it a mix between Rocket From The Crypt and Face to Face, but darker.



10-22: Rocket From The Crypt (Live From Camp X-Ray) - No this is not live, but Rocket From The Crypt is back (and it doesn’t sound good from what I’ve heard).



10-22: Koufax (Social Life) - The second release from Koufax, a band that I have split opinions on. It’s big on the keyboard.



From Victory Records:

9-24: Snapcase (End Transmission) – A new release from a band that’s becoming big in the melodic hardcore scene. The cd sounded pretty good from me.



9-24: Ten Foot Pole (Bad Mother Trucker) – The first release from Ten Foot Pole since 1999. They’ve gone through a lot and I think Victory has helped add a new feel to their sound. I think this release sounds good, from the mp3’s I’ve heard.



From Epitaph:

10-8: Hot Water Music (Caution) – One of the biggest hardcore/emo bands still around. Haven’t heard anything from them yet, but HWM rarely does wrong.



From Hellcat

10-22: The Transplants (self titled) – Rancid + Blink 182 = BIG question mark. Tim Armstrong combines with Travis Barker to create a band all it’s own. Uhm, they do some rap . . . rap and punk rock equals BIG trouble.



From Jade Tree:

10-15: Jets To Brazil (Perfecting Loneliness) – The ashes of Jawbreaker produced Jets To Brazil, a much more rock/emo based group. The debut release, Orange Rhyming Dictionary was awesome but the follow up, Four Cornered Nights was horrible. This is a rebound though, but I don’t think it’s as good as Orange Rhyming Dictionary.



Coming Soon To a Venue Near You



Interested in seeing a big indie show soon? Here’s some of the big tours going on right now.



Mest, Homegrown, and Catch22

Sept 24 Club Laga, Pittsburg, PA

Sept 25 St. Andrews Hall, Detroit MI

Sept 26 The Rave, Milwaukee WI

Sept 27 House of Blues Chicago, IL

Sept 28 Quest Club Minneapolis, MN

Sept 29 NONE

Sept 30 Mississippi Nights, St. Louis MO

Oct 1 Ranch Bowl, Omaha NE



More dates can be found at Catch 22’s Website



Atreyu, Autopilot Off, Boy Sets Fire, Snapcase

Sept 24 Cotton Club, Atlanta GA

Sept 25 The Social, Orlando FL

Sept 26 The Factory, Fort Lauderdale FL

Sept 27 State Theatre, St. Petersburg FL

Sept 28 NONE

Sept 29 Engine Room, Houston TX

Sept 30 Emo’s, Austin TX

Oct 1 NONE



Anti Flag and The Bouncing Souls

Sept 25 Avalon, Boston MA

Sept 26 Irving Plaza, New York NY

Sept 27 Nation, Washington D.C.

Sept 28 The Trocadero, Philadelphia PA

Sept 29 The Trocadero, Philadelphia PA



The X96 “Big Ass Show”, Septeber 28th

Utah State Fairpark, Salt Lake City UT

Audiovent

Chevelle

Custom

Dashboard Confessional

Face To Face

Goldfinger

Our Lady Peace

Reel Big Fish

The Used

Unwritten Law

*Note: This show is a bit of a mix between indie and mainstream, but I thought I’d send word about it anyway.



The Plea For Peace/Take Action Tour

The Plea for Peace tour is an annual event run by Asian Man Records and others. It is a charity event that goes towards some kind of fund. This year the charity is for suicide prevention organizations. Here is the schedule for the next several days.



Sept 24 The Rave, Milwaukee WI: The Promise Ring / The (International) Noise Conspiracy / Poison The Well / Common Rider / Lawrence Arms / Last Place Champs



Sept 25 Quest Club, Minneapolis MN The (International) Noise Conspiracy / The Promise Ring / Poison The Well / Common Rider / Lawrence Arms



Sept 26 Ranch Bowl, Omaha NE The (International) Noise Conspiracy / The Promise Ring / Poison The Well /Common Rider / Lawrence Arms



Sept 27 Mississippi Nights, St. Louis MO The (International) Noise Conspiracy / The Promise Ring / Poison The Well /Common Rider / Lawrence Arms



Sept 28 Beaumont Club, Kansas City MO The (International) Noise Conspiracy / The Promise Ring / Poison The Well /Common Rider / Lawrence Arms



Sept 29 NONE



Sept 30 Fillmore Auditorium, Denver CO Jimmy Eat World / The Promise Ring / The (International) Noise Conspiracy / The Donnas / Common Rider / Lawrence Arms



Oct 1 X-Scape, Salt Lake City UT The (International) Noise Conspiracy / The Promise Ring / Common Rider / Lawrence Arms



Conclusion



Well that’s a wrap for my first column. I’m not really sure if this will be long enough or too long but this was really a first edition and I’m still feeling my way through. Any kind of comments you’d like to send in would be much appreciate. News, other tour dates, or something of the kind would be great. Then I could actually have a feedback section! Thanks for reading, I’m Eric Katz, and I’ll be back next week with another edition of Indie Info.