Indie Info 10.17.02: Down The Drain

Posted by Eric Katz on 10.17.2002

We say goodbye to a long-standing emo legend, some bands say goodbye to their comfy major labels, Jets To Brazil say goodbye to a month, and Thursday says hello to a new sound. Well at least something is optimistic . . . maybe.

Welcome one, welcome all, it’s Eric Katz and I’m here with edition #4 of Indie Info. I’ve got some fun news to report for y’all this week.



Top Story



All things must come to an end I suppose. Davey VonBohlen was one of the guitarists in the emo-icon band Cap’n Jazz. Well after Cap’n Jazz, Davey went to be the lead for The Promise Ring. The Promise Ring, too, became known as one of the big names in emo. Well this week the Promise Ring met their demise. Brett Gurtwitz, the owner of Epitaph, reported that;



"I think it's safe to say that they have indeed broken up. I don't know the reasons yet and all I can say is, this is very sad news”



Apparently The Promise Ring announced this at one of their Plea for Peace tour dates. I can’t say I was a real big fan of The Promise Ring; most of their releases were uninspired nonsense. But they did put out some very emo songs and they did have a key member from Cap’n Jazz, so I guess their worth having the top story. Although, I think for our sake, it’s about time for them to have broken up.



And Now I Shall Pull A Rabbit From My Hat



Lets get to the bundles of information from this week. Actually a lot of this stuff isn’t really indie but it’s all somewhat related to the indie scene and it’s the only interesting/important news of the week.



Tony Hawk’s new game is coming soon, and here’s some of the interesting songs from the cd.


Avail, "Simple Song"
Bouncing Souls, "Manthem"
Distillers, "Seneca Falls"
Flogging Molly, "Drunken Lullabies"
Goldfinger, "Spokesman"
Hot Water Music, "Freightliner"
Less Than Jake, "All My Friends are Metalheads"
Rocket From the Crypt, "Savoir Faire"
Sex Pistols, "Anarchy in the UK"
US Bombs, "Yer Country"
Zeke, "Death Alley"



Of course there’s also NWA, Run DMC, System of a Down, Iron Maiden, and ACDC on this cd. I just have one question; skating to System of a Down?



New Thursday coming soon. Their new EP, "Five Stories Falling" has 4 live tracks and one new song entitled "Jet Black New Year". This will be the first recorded song to feature their new keyboardist. I’d imagine that the keyboard will add a new element to Thursday. The question is; will it be a good element or a bad one?



According to TheScout.net, Unwritten Law has fallen out from Interscope. Their contract ran out and was not renewed, so Unwritten Law will now be label shopping. I post this only because I find it hilarious. I can’t say I’m a big fan of Unwritten Law.



Lots of rumors have stated that Midtown could get dropped off the MCA roster and throw back to the “MCA indie style” Drive Thru records. Once again, I post this for humor.



MCA did not exercise their option for the next Finch record, leaving Finch a free agent. The band will probably re-negotiate with MCA.



Jade Tree reported that due to sudden illness, Jets to Brazil have cancelled their entire fall US tour, scheduled to begin tonight in Brooklyn. This comes on the heels of their new release, Perfecting Loneliness.



To Save or Spend



New releases, new releases, new releases.



From Jade Tree Records:



Jets to Brazil Perfecting Loneliness. More of a sadder album than Orange Rhyming Dictionary, it stayed with Four Cornered Nights in that manner. Well Blake is running out of steam. I guess Jawbreaker burned him out of energy, and he’s definitely running low. I can’t picture Jets to Brazil coming out with more than 1 more full release because there’s simply no where to go.



Coming Soon To A Theatre Near You



Here’s the whole scheme of upcoming releases coming out (mostly because a lot of this stuff will be out next week)



From Vagrant Records:



10-22: Koufax Social Life Odd stuff. I don’t really go for Koufax.



10-22: Rocket From The Crypt Live From Camp X-Ray Really only for fans of RFTC. If your just looking to get a first idea of them, Group Sounds might be a better way to go.



From Victory Records:



10-22: The Reunion Show Kill Your Television Hmm, interesting. I never really listened to The Reunion Show much. It’s kind of a more upbeat Piebald sound for lack of a better term. Experimental stuff really.



10-22: Thursday Five Stories Falling 4 life songs and a glimpse into their new sound. I can’t tell because the cover’s too small, but did Geoff grow an afro? Or maybe he’s just wearing a black hat, I can’t tell.



From Fat Wreck Chords:



11-5: Avail Front Porch Stories No Comment. I have nothing to say here, really.



Conclusion



No tour information this week. The write-up there takes the most time of all and I’ve got a lot of other work to do. If your really interested, check out www.pollstar.com. It’s a great place to find out about tours. Just be careful, they make errors every so often.



So I have to cut myself short this week. Before I go, remember to read lots of other music stuff. Yea, because the music section is better than any other part of 411! Music=Ratings you know! Spread some love. Check out Adam Wallis, his work is always key. Biscuiti is always a good read too. And finally, pops to Adam Cankaya, he must be one of the best news sources on 411. Granted he doesn’t post any indie information, but hey that’s my job anyway! I’ll see you all next week