Kill Rock Stars

Music:

Member Since: 5/4/2005
Band Website: killrockstars.com
Influences: CLICK HERE FOR TONS OF VIDEOS AND MP3's BY KRS AND 5RC ARTISTS PAST AND PRESENT
Sounds Like: SHY CHILD NOISE WON'T STOP IN STORES NOW

The NME declares, "Shy Child are to Kraftwerk what The White Stripes are to Led Zeppelin!" And here is their story... Nate Smith (Drums) and Pete Cafarella (Vox / Keytar) met at Wesleyan University in the mid-90's where Nate had invited Pete to join his band. Although Pete was kicked out a few days later the two formed a fast friendship that would eventually lead to the formation of Shy Child once they both had relocated to NYC. Initially the band was pursued when time permitted between their various projects. They recorded their 2004 album, "One With the Sun" with small expectations and an even smaller budget, recording it in Pete's apartment to a computer with Chris Zane for the price of pizza and beer. It would prove to be just enough…
The band caught the attention of producer Paul Epworth (Kate Nash / Bloc Party/ The Rapture) at SXSW and soon they were in the studio working on new material along with the band's previous producer, Chris Zane (Les Savy Fav/ White Rabbits / Asobi Seksu). The resulting album, "Noise Won't Stop" bristles with frantic energy and blistering tones leading with the first track "Drop The Phone" and featuring the U.S. debut sonic single, "Astronaut". And producer/artist extraordinaire SpankRock, lends a his rapping/vocals to the slickest albumJol track "Kick Drum."

listen to "Astronaut"
check out SHY CHILD on tour w/ the faint this summer
July 2008
27 - Des Moines, IA @ People's Court - w/ The Faint
28 - Sioux Falls, SD @ Ramkota Annex - w/ The Faint
29 - Denver, CO @ Ogden Theater - w/ The Faint
30 - Salt Lake City, UT @ In the Venue - w/ The Faint
31 - Boise, ID @ Knitting Factory - w/ The Faint
August 2008
1 - Vancouver, BC, Canada @ Commodore Ballroom - w/ The Faint
2 - Seattle, WA @ Showbox at the Market - w/ The Faint
3 - Portland, OR @ Crystal Ballroom - w/ The Faint
4 - San Francisco, CA @ Fillmore - w/ The Faint
5 - San Francisco, CA @ Grand Ballroom - Regency - w/ The Faint
7 - Los Angeles, CA @ Henry Fonda Theater - w/ The Faint
8 - Los Angeles, CA @ Henry Fonda Theater - w/ The Faint
9 - San Diego, CA @ Soma - w/ The Faint
11 - Austin, TX @ La Zona Rosa - w/ The Faint
12 - Dallas, TX @ Palladium Ballroom - w/ The Faint
14 - Atlanta, GA @ Variety Playhouse - w/ The Faint
15 - Carrboro, NC @ Cat's Cradle - w/ The Faint
16 - Washington, DC @ 9:30 Club - w/ The Faint
17 - Philadelphia, PA @ Trocadero Theater - w/ The Faint
18 - New York, NY @ Terminal 5 - w/ The Faint

gossip live in liverpool lp+dvd in storesnow!

Recorded live in concert on July 9, 2007, "Gossip - Live In Liverpool" brilliantly captures and focuses the stunning ferocity, energy and intensity at the heart of Gossip's groundbreaking meld of sound + politics. This incendiary concert showcase breaks out definitive performances of Gossip signature tunes including the band's UK 1 Indie chart-topping smash, "Standing In The Way Of Control"; the UK Top 40 hit, "Listen Up"; and the 3 UK Indie track, "Jealous Girls" in addition to delightfully provocative covers of Wham!'s "Careless Whisper" and Aaliyah's "Are You That Somebody?"
"Gossip - Live In Liverpool" includes a DVD of the concert, lensed by documentary filmmaker and music video director Lance Bangs (Sonic Youth, Green Day, R.E.M., Death Cab For Cutie, Kanye West, Pavement, Mike Watt and more).
gossip on tour this summer!!!
June 2008
28 - Evruex, France @ Le Rock Dans Tous Ses Etats
29 - St Gallen, Switzerland @ St Gallen Open Air Festival
30 - Munich, Germany @ Kleine Elsterhalle
July 2008
1 - Berlin, Germany @ Columbia Club
4 - Belfort, France @ Eurorockennes
5 - Werchter, Belgium @ Rock Werchter
6 - Paris, France @ Solidays
8 - Athens, Greece @ Rockwave Festival
10 - Montreux, Switzerland @ Montreux Jazz Festival
11 - Belgrade, Serbia @ Exit Festival
12 - Lisabon, Portugal @ Alive 08
25 - Naeba, Japan @ Fuji Rock
26 - Seoul, Korea @ Pentaport Rock Festival
August 2008
23 - Daresbury, UK @ Creamfields Festival
30 - Inveraray, UK @ Connect Festival
31 - Stradbally, Ireland @ Electric Picnic
THE OLD HAUNTS AND NEW BLOODS OUT NOW! The Old Haunts' Poisonous Times and New Bloods The Secret Lifenow available from kill rock stars mailorder

The Old Haunts Poisonous Times cd $12
Hailing from Olympia, WA, THE OLD HAUNTS find themselves nestled deep in the roots of the Pacific Northwest punk scene with predecessors such as the Wipers, Sonics and Dead Moon. THE OLD HAUNTS formed in 2001. Currently the band is a solid trio with Craig Extine (vocals and guitar), Scott Seckington (bass) and Tobi Vail (drums), who is most known for her time spent in Bikini Kill.
Keeping the torch lit on the vibe and sound coming from the scene that they are so deeply a part of, the Old Haunts add their own personal touch to the garagey punk they forcefully spit out. They layer wirey guitars over a pounding backbeat and the quirky vocals are delivered with urgency. Comparisons to Television and the Gun Club are not far from the mark although their spooky and razor sharp riffs are all their own.
"Poisonous Times" will be the third release from The Old Haunts on Kill Rock Stars, a follow up to 2006's Fuel On Fire and 2005's Fallow Field. The band has also independently released two EPs. THE OLD HAUNTS have toured the US extensively. They will once again hit the road in April 2008 in support of "Poisonous Times".

old haunts "not hopeless" live at rainy day records for RECORD STORE DAY!!!

New Bloods The Secret Life cd $12 / limited edition lp $10
FREE POSTER WITH PRE-ORDER. Be sure to order your limited edition lp now as we have VERY limited supplies!
The first thing you notice is the violin. It saws out high and lonesome and earthy above the rumble of bass and drums. And then you’ll realize this is more fiddle than violin; it’s American-sounding, raw and sonorous, resonating deep into the ground, past the roots of trees, sighing up to shoot holes in the clouds and drifting back behind mountains. It’s the sound of train-tracks, of boots caked with mud and farmhouses and factories and hard life in big cities.
But this isn’t country or Americana; it’s punk—lean, engaging, minimalist punk songs topping out before the three minute mark. There’s some Raincoats vibe, a little Intima, a touch of ESG and Unwound, but with dub, soul, and afro-beat influences it becomes a whole new animal, a refreshing, absorbing, exhilarating living creature, brand-new for a new struggling world. And the joyous spirit of Fela Kuti is right there switching beats alongside Buffy Sainte-Marie and the Pacific Northwest’s best DIY originators; the past is there, but it is in no way nostalgic. Ghosts notwithstanding, The Secret Life, the New Bloods’ Kill Rock Stars debut, is a focused, concentrated full-toned shot of 2008.
Since their first band practice in March 2006, the three ladies who make up the New Bloods have dropped jaws and touched off unruly, spontaneous dance moves across the dark and drizzly basement/house party landscape of Portland, Oregon. Now with The Secret Life, they’ve shone a new light that won’t be put out.
Adee Roberson’s ominous new wave/tribal drums, Osa Atoe’s sky-rising violin, and Cassia Gammill deep-shifting bass, turn songs like “Day After Day,” “Oh, Deadly Nightshade!” and the propulsive title-track into hard-packed anthems of empowerment and intense personal experience. And they sing—all of them, each totally defined and original voice tangling and crying out with the rest, shouting and proclaiming, harmonizing, singing brave and true and clear-eyed.
The Secret Life is 11 tracks of message, voice, and good-times party delivered deadly-earnest. Hear them sing. See their lanterns shine…
"Doubles" music video by Donovan Vim Crony
COLIN MELOY SINGS LIVE OUT NOW! Colin Meloy Sings Live! in stores April 8th

CD $12.00
On April 8th, Kill Rock Stars will release Colin Meloy Sings Live! – a 14-song set documenting The Decemberists’ lead singer/songwriter’s 2006 solo tour. Meloy’s two-week trek across the U.S. coincided with the release of Colin Meloy Sings Shirley Collins, his six-song EP paying homage to the revered British folksinger. While the latter collection (and its predecessor, Colin Meloy Sings Morrissey) were only sold on tour, Colin Meloy Sings Live! will be available at retail.
Meloy was heralded by Rolling Stone as “a master of improbable juxtaposition: arcane, detailed fictions of star-crossed passion and avenging bloodshed dressed up in indie-rock jangle, la-de-da choruses and vintage prog-rock bombast” in a review of The Decemberists’ show in New York’s Central Park last spring. By contrast, the live solo album presents him in a stripped-down, acoustic setting leading his audience on a spellbinding walk through his oeuvre thus far and providing a glimpse of some new material. Colin Meloy Sings Live! opens with “Devil’s Elbow” (dating back to his first band, Tarkio), touches on material from The Decemberists’ Castaways and Cutouts (“Here I Dreamt I Was an Architect,” “A Cautionary Song,” “California One/Youth and Beauty Brigade”), Her Majesty the Decemberists (“The Gymnast, High Above the Ground,” “The Bachelor and the Bride,” “Red Right Ankle”) and Picaresque (“We Both Go Down Together,” “The Engine Driver,” “On the Bus Mall”) and closes with a rarity – “Bandit Queen,” from The Decemberists’ 2006 Kill Rock Stars EP, Picaresqueties.
Of the 13 Meloy originals, two are previously unreleased compositions: “Dracula’s Daughter” and “Wonder.” Along the way, he employs snippets of songs from The Smiths, Fleetwood Mac, Pink Floyd and REM and performs a version of the traditional folk song “Barbara Allen” that owes much to Shirley Collins’ arrangement. The collection also captures ample between-songs banter, with Meloy coaxing the audience into a campfire singalong, discoursing on Collins and addressing the presence of a skull named Cheryl, a ship and a stuffed sheep on the table beside him (tracks 3, 8 and 12 respectively).
Track Listing
01 Devil's Elbow
02 We Both Go Down Together
03 Evoking a Campfire Singalong (banter)
04 The Gymnast, High Above the Ground
05 Here I Dreamt I Was an Architect/Dreams
06 Dracula's Daughter
07 Wonder
08 A Brief Introduction to Shirley Collins (banter)
09 Barbara Allen
10 The Engine Driver
11 On the Bus Mall
12 A Skull, a Ship, and a Sheep (banter)
13 California One/Youth and Beauty Brigade/Ask
14 The Bachelor and the Bride
15 A Cautionary Song
16 Red Right Ankle
17 Bandit Queen

colin meloy "we both go down together" live at jackpot records in portland, oregon!

PANTHER 14 Kt. God now! in stores now

mp3s: peurto rican jukebox // violence, diamonds
This pre-order comes with a copy of the poster and instructions on how to make your very own Panther mask! PANTHER is the two-headed effort of Charlie Salas-Humara (The Planet The) on vocals, cello, guitar, and keys and Joe Kelly (31 Knots) on drums. But even when it was Charlie's solo effort he was never really alone. Whether live or on record there was a sense that PANTHER was being overtaken by something, not an alter-ego, this was something else. Think Ian Curtis' convulsive intensity and James Browns spastic swagger and you still won't have PANTHER, but a sense of what-the-fuckness that all of them seem to call up. The early recordings born in the basements and warehouses of Portland OR around 2001 brought a new brand of broken electro that when coupled with the lunatic immediacy of his modern dance meltdowns defied categorization entirely PANTHER landed on bills as varied as opening slots from PEACHES to WOLF EYES. The monstrous throb of the beats matched by Charlie's intensity bring a sense of religious visitation to any room PANTHER humps the floor in. His panic-driven falsetto howling non-sequiturs about paranoid sexuality make his jams hysterical, compelling but most importantly danceable.
After several successful releases on indie labels Kimosciotic and Fryk Beat, the art galleries soon turned to sold out venues when PANTHER caught the attention of headliners like GOSSIP and RATATAT. And while touring in support of 2007's epic and cheerfully damaged SECRET LAWNS Charlie realized he wanted to dance to a new beat. Soon after employing the ferocious drumming of Joe Kelly the HE became a THEY and on the upcoming 14 KT GOD contagious hooks and loops over crushing drums usher PANTHER into new and lucid songwriting territory, even hinting at the political with songs like "Violence, Diamonds" and "Beautiful Condo." But just when things seem to be making sense the fever kicks in and everything suddenly unglues and before you know it you're dancing to full blown anthems about sexual obsessiveness and airplane paranoia. Rest assured, PANTHER hasn't calmed down in the slightest, they're just poised and ready to pounce.
WE ALSO GOT IN THE PANTHER VINYL!!! it's got a special treat on the lp label for all you crazy dark side of the moon fans out there.... $10! what a deal...

panther "violence, diamonds" video directed by wyld file

Panther tour dates
July 2008
11 - Portland, OR @ Work/Sound - w/ Reporter ALL AGES
17 - Portland, OR @ East End - w/ Joggers
26 - Portland, OR @ Roseland - w/ Girl Talk
August 2008
14 - Milford, CT @ Daniel St Club - w/ Digital Leather, Fiasco
15 - Jamaica Plains, MA @ The Milky Way
16 - New York, NY @ Cakeshop
17 - Brooklyn, NY @ McCarren Pool Party - w/ Aesop Rock
18 - Washington, DC @ Velvet Lounge - w/ Digital Leather
19 - Baltimore, MD @ Talking Head
September 2008
13 - Paris, France @ Fleche D'or
14 - Lausanne, Switzerland @ Leromandie
XIU XIU AND THAO IN STORES NOW!
THAO + XIU XIU U.S. TOUR ANNOUNCED!
You can now pre-order our January releases!

XIU XIU Women As Lovers CD
This will be a famous album. To hear it is to remember music's native purpose, a howl against the gloom.

Listen to I Do What I Want, When I Want
and also watch the video!

"This new track takes some perfectly inoffensive "do do do"'s and some happy xylophone-playing, runs them through a spooky electronic filter, and once again proves that Xiu Xiu write the catchiest non-catchy songs in indie rock."
NEW YORK MAGAZINE

"For a singer who at his best can seem like a kind of gothic Morrissey, with tremulous vocals akin to those of Antony Hegarty, a new album entitled Women as Lovers (after a 1994 novel by Nobel Prize-winning Austrian feminist writer Elfriede Jelinek) looks to be a tantalizing opportunity for both."
PITCHFORK MEDIA

F.T.W. video directed by Jamie Stewart

"Master of the Bump (Kurt Stumbaugh, I Can Feel the Soil Falling Over My Head)" video directed by Courtney Fathom Sell

XIU XIU SUMMER (and fall!) TOUR DATES
August 2008
14 - Los Angeles, CA @ Echoplex - w/ Evangelista
15 - San Diego, CA @ Casbah - w/ Evangelista
16 - Tucson, AZ @ Solar Culture - w/ Evangelista
19 - Lubbock, TX @ Tequila Jungle - w/ Evangelista
20 - Austin, TX @ Mohawk - w/ Evangelista, Common Eider King Eider
21 - Houston, TX @ Orange Show Center for Visionary Art - w/ Evangelista, Common Eider King Eider
22 - Birmingham, AL @ Bottle Tree Cafe - w/ Evangelista, Common Eider King Eider
23 - Atlanta, GA @ Drunken Unicorn - w/ Evangelista, Common Eider King Eider
24 - Charlotte, NC @ Milestone - w/ Evangelista, Common Eider King Eider
25 - Baltimore, MD @ Sonar - w/ Evangelista, Common Eider King Eider
26 - Providence, RI @ Living Room - w/ Evangelista, Common Eider King Eider
27 - Boston, MA @ Paradise - w/ Evangelista, Common Eider King Eider
28 - New York, NY @ Bowery Ballroom - w/ Evangelista, Common Eider King Eider, Prurient
29 - Pittsburgh, PA @ Garfield Artworks - w/ Common Eider, King Eider, Prurient
30 - Columbus, OH @ Milo - w/ Common Eider, King Eider, Prurient
September 2008
1 - Cleveland, OH @ Grog Shop - w/ Common Eider, King Eider, Prurient
2 - Pontiac, MI @ Crofoot Ballroom - w/ Common Eider, King Eider, Prurient
3 - Chicago, IL @ Bottom Lounge - w/ Common Eider, King Eider, Prurient
4 - Dekalb, IL @ House Cafe - w/ Common Eider, King Eider, Prurient
5 - Madison, WI @ High Noon Saloon - w/ Common Eider, King Eider, Prurient
6 - Minneapolis, MN @ Triple Rock Social Club - w/ Prurient
7 - Fargo, ND @ Aquarium - w/ Prurient
10 - Seattle, WA @ Neumos - w/ Prurient
11 - Portland, OR @ Backspace - w/ Prurient
13 - San Francisco, CA @ Bottom of the Hill - w/ Prurient, Evangelista
October 2008
14 - Helsinki, Finaland @ Tavastia
15 - Oslo, Norway @ John Dee
16 - Gothenburg, Sweden @ Nefertiti
17 - Stockholm, Sweden @ Debaser
18 - Malmo, Sweden @ Debaser
19 - Copenhagen, Denmark @ Loppen
21 - Berlin, Germany @ Lido
22 - Leipzig, Germany @ UT Connewitz
23 - Prague, Czech Republic @ Meet Factory
24 - Vienna, Austria @ Brut
25 - Krakow, Poland @ Unsound Festival

THAO We Brave Bee Stings and All CD
According to Thao Nguyen, she has two talents: her first is she has a knack for beat-boxing and humming at the same time (Rahzel neednâ€,,t worry about any competition just yet though…) and her second, and in her opinion finest, is that she had a capacity to watch so much TV as a kid, sheâ€,,s convinced her personality is made up of several different sitcom characters. Of course Thao, the 23 year Virginia-bred songwriter, is forgetting her unique voice, natural sense for a good melody, and striking lyrics, skillful guitar plucking and her deadly dry sense of humour. Thaoâ€,,s debut for Kill Rock Stars, showcases all these talents and more, proving sheâ€,,s a star in the making.

THAO's Swimming Pools is song of the day on KUT

Listen to Beat (Health, Life, and Fire)

"Now it's time for a Kill Rock Stars debut. We are psyched. And in love with this song. No evidence of her Linen years, at least not in the acoustic attack; Thao's strumming it out on "Beat (Health, Fire, And Life)," bringing full band and a brass section to her rich vocals and the tune's lilting melody. And she's got revealing couplets to spare: "How can you stand it / When I run, when I run like a bandit / I wear him like a habit / In the lining of my jacket.""
STEREOGUM

video for "bag of hammers"

video for "swimming pools" directed by clyde petersen
ALSO: THAO WITH THE GET DOWN STAY DOWN US TOUR DATES
July 2008
19 - Columbus, OH @ Milo
20 - Newport, KY @ Northside Tavern - w/ Tune-Yards
22 - St Louis, MO @ Off Broadway - w/ Tune-Yards
23 - Des Moines, IA @ Vaudeville Mews - w/ Tune-Yards
24 - Denver, CO @ Hi Dive - w/ Tune-Yards
25 - Salt Lake City, UT @ Kilby Court - w/ Tune-Yards
26 - Stanley, ID @ Pioneer Park
29 - Portland, OR @ Holocene - w/ Horse Feathers, Harper Simon
31 - San Francisco, CA @ Independent - w/ Horse Feathers
August 2008
1 - Irvine, CA @ Phoenix Grille @ UC Irvine - w/ Horse Feathers
2 - Los Angeles, CA @ Troubadour - w/ Horse Feathers
3 - San Diego, CA @ Casbah - w/ Horse Feathers
4 - Tucson, AZ @ Solar Culture - w/ Horse Feathers
5 - Lubbock, TX @ Bash Riprock's - w/ Horse Feathers
6 - Austin, TX @ Emo's - w/ Horse Feathers
7 - Dallas, TX @ Club Dada - w/ Horse Feathers
8 - Lawrence, KS @ Jackpot Music Hall - w/ David Schultz and the Skyline
9 - Chicago, IL @ Empty Bottle - w/ David Schultz and the Skyline
11 - Northampton, MA @ Iron Horse - w/ David Schultz and the Skyline, Pepi Ginsberg
12 - Cambridge, MA @ TT The Bear's - w/ David Schultz and the Skyline, Pepi Ginsberg
13 - New York, NY @ Bowery Ballroom - w/ David Schultz and the Skyline, Pepi Ginsberg
14 - Washington, DC @ Black Cat - w/ David Schultz and the Skyline, Pepi Ginsberg
Type of Label: Indie