Throw Me The Statue

City: Seattle, WA

About:
THROW ME THE STATUE has been wow-ing audiences of the Pacific Northwest for the past year, earning a residency slot at Seattle's Chop Suey and a west coast tour with Jens Lekman. The release of his debut album on Secretly Canadian, "Moonbeams", is upon us! This Tuesday, February 19th, "Moonbeams" will be available in stores, and to celebrate, TMTS will be playing a cd release show in Bellingham, WA on February 22nd... This band is fucking awesome!

MP3: Lolita
Link: www.myspace.com/throwmethestatue

Black Kids

City: Jacksonville, FL

About:
When you call your band Black Kids, fans remember your name. "We like that 'Black Kids' seems subversive," says Reggie Youngblood, the Jacksonville, Florida, group's lead singer and one of its two black members. (His younger sister, Ali, is the other.) But Youngblood admits the name is trickier for the quintet's white kids. "For a while, when a stranger asked about the band, they'd just say, 'Oh, you haven't heard of us.'" That excuse no longer works, since Black Kids have gathered so much blog buzz over the past few months. That acclaim is due mostly to the freewheeling indie-rock songs they posted on MySpace, Songs like "I'm Not Gonna Teach Your Boyfriend How to Dance With You" come from times Youngblood has had to keep his ego in check. "I've often had great chemistry with a girl on the dance floor," he says. "And then she'd leave with her flat-footed boyfriend."

Shows: Tonight @ University of London Union - London, UK

MP3: Download Wizard of Ahhs [EP] FREE
Link: www.myspace.com/blackkidsrock

Vampire Weekend

City: New York, NY,

About:
The name of this band is Vampire Weekend. They are specialists in the following styles: "Cape Cod Kwassa Kwassa", "Upper West Side Soweto", "Campus", and "Oxford Comma Riddim."

Vampire Weekend are Ezra Koenig (vocals / guitar), Rostam Batmanglij (keyboards / vocals), Chris Baio (bass) and Christopher Tomson (drums).

They live in New York and met while studying at Columbia University, forming the band in the spring of 2006.

In June 2007 the New York Times wrote that "Even without an album,Vampire Weekend have made one of the most impressive debuts of the year."

Show: 02/15/08 Andy Warhol Museum - Pittsburgh, PA

MP3: Oxford Comma
Link: www.myspace.com/vampireweekend

Hymns

City: Brooklyn, NY

About:

Hymns is the current form of friends from North Carolina and Texas who now live in New York City. Last October they released their debut LP, 'Brother/Sister,' an 11 song collection of country rock folk pop that garnered critical praise. They have just completed their sophomore effort, 'Travel In Herds', which will be released in early March, 2008. The sound of the new LP is an exciting, fresh one, which blends horns, pump organs, saxophones, and harmonies, yet still remains faithful to the original Hymns sound.

Show: 02/09/08 at Union Hall Brooklyn, NY

MP3: Stop Talking

Link: www.myspace.com/hymnsband

Eugene

City: New York, NY

About:
Eugene aka Brandon Owens, lead singer and songwriter of eugene, moved from Los Angeles to New York at the age of 18. He spent the better part of the past four years touring and recording as a bassist with the elite of the jazz and pop world, such as Lauryn Hill and Terence Blanchard. In Summer 2004 he picked up an acoustic guitar, learned to use a four-track recorder and started to write his own songs. After years of playing music but never writing his own material, Eugenes songs just started pouring out, with over 40 songs captured on four-track in only a few months time. Though the recording process was painstakingly primitive, what has come out on these recordings is refreshingly honest songs that have a tremendous range, a warm immediacy and a real pop sensibility that is very different from the other sounds currently coming out of New York.

Show: 03/10/08 Club Midway - New York City

MP3: California

Link: www.myspace.com/eugenetheband

The May Fire

City: San Francisco

About:
There’s something about The May Fire that grabs you by the sruff of the neck. Perhaps it’s the cowbell chug of brilliantly fuzzy guitars that demand your attention. Or maybe you’re lured in by a voice that slithers like a lustier Patti Smith of Kim Deal. Whatever compels your ear, it doesn’t take more than a few notes to realize you’re in the presence of a band that knows how to meld indie rock, simmering ache & indestructible pop chops into just the kind of ear candy you’ve been craving.

Show: 03/01/08 Noise Pop - San Fancisco, CA

MP3: Make It Right
Link: www.myspace.com/themayfire

Jonny Rumble

City: Chicago, IL

About:
This explosive rock quartet released their most accomplished record yet on December 11, 2007. ALMOST DEAD: A concept record for our times, for those who have no time for concept albums. Throughout its 33 minutes and 12 songs, Almost Dead examines the hardships facing both mankind and rock and roll. The songs contain venomous rants, blame-laying manifestos, inspired melancholy and evocative story-telling. Tunes like "Modern Way", "Crap-ola", "First Pick" and "Saved" are packed with melodies, while well-oiled rockers such as "Shaving Cream", "You've Got it Made", "Bleed Out" and the anthemic title track "Almost Dead" are injected with the band's fully-realized pop potential. Together they weave an impressionistic tale that is both personal and global in scale.

Show: Record Release show at Corba Lounge in Chicago, IL on 02/08/08

MP3: Almost Dead
Link: www.myspace.com/jonnyrumble

Tom Schraeder & His Ego

City: Chicago, IL

About:

The door, the gutter, and the grave are three things that 23-year-old Tom Schraeder has one foot in. The door, because he’s recently been chosen as one of the Onion A.V. Club's "Top 5 Artists to Watch in 2008," inspired Chicago Magazine’s Noah Isackson to declare that “Tom Schraeder [is] on the brink of stardom,” and prompted Jim Derogatis (Chicago Sun-Times, Sound Opinions) to proclaim of his Lollapalooza set: "Combined with a moving sound equal parts alternative-country, cornfield psychedelia and Neil Young, tunes like this...marked him as a real talent." The gutter, because his world-weary voice is at times haunting and at times undeniably close to the brink of disaster. The grave, because one or another of the wine, women, and song trifecta will surely be this young man’s demise - and he’d have it no other way. The 7 song e.p. with the intensely personal title was recorded in Chicago at Studio Ballistico with Tim Sandusky (Bound Stems, Oucho Sparks), and lends the listener a glimpse of the deceptive simplicity that belies the mark of a pure pop genius. Proving to be as accomplished onstage as he is off, this Chicago newcomer with the old soul is the sort of well-rounded artist that comes around once in a blue moon...this may be the first time you've heard of Tom Schraeder & His Ego, but we'll bet you a whiskey shot that it won't be the last.

Shows: Every Monday Night in Feb at Schubas - Chicago, IL

MP3: Whiskey Song
Link: www.myspace.com/tomschraeder