Slothrust were always one of those bands that I liked but didn't quite love. I felt like I should like them more, especially since they were frequent tour mates of Weakened Friends, who have long been a favorite of mine. That all changed when I saw Slothrust this past summer at In Between Days (with Weakened Friends' Annie Hoffman on bass!) and it just clicked for me. I suddenly found myself diving back into their catalog with a newfound appreciation, and couldn't wait to see them again. I was thrilled when they announced their Of Course You Did tenth anniversary tour... until I realized that they were only playing the west coast. Luckily, they just announced east coast dates including a May 4 show at The Sinclair in Cambridge, MA! It's sure to be a perfect night of indie rock with two bands that are now favorites around here.
You can find tickets for Slothrust's Of Course You Did tenth anniversary tour here. All upcoming tour dates with Weakened Friends are below.
JAN 19 - Bottom Of the Hill - San Francisco, CA JAN 20 - Bottom Of the Hill - San Francisco, CA JAN 2 - Goldfield Trading Post Roseville - Roseville, CA JAN 23 - Volcanic Theatre Pub - Bend, OR JAN 25 - Polaris Hall - Portland, OR *SOLD OUT* JAN 26 - Polaris Hall - Portland, OR *SOLD OUT* JAN 27 - Madame Lou's - Seattle, WA *SOLD OUT* JAN 28 - Madame Lou's - Seattle, WA JAN 31 - The District Bar - Spokane, WA FEB 2 - El Korah Shrine - Boise, ID FEB 3 - The State Room - Salt Lake City, UT FEB 6 - The Holland Project - Reno, NV FEB 8 - Casbah - San Diego, CA FEB 9 - Teragram Ballroom - Los Angeles, CA FEB 10 - Chain Reaction - Anaheim, CA
APR 12 - Valley Bar - Phoenix, AZ APR 13 - Meow Wolf - Santa Fe, NM APR 14 - Bluebird - Denver, CO APR 17 - Turf Club - Minneapolis, MN APR 18 - High Noon Saloon - Madison, WI APR 19 - X-Ray Arcade - Milwaukee, WI APR 20 - Cobra Lounge - Chicago, IL APR 23 - Blueberry Hill Duck Room - St. Louis, MO APR 25 - HI-FI Annex - Indianapolis, IN APR 26 - Mahall's - Cleveland, OH APR 27 - El Club - Detroit, MI APR 28 - The Garrison - Toronto, ON MAY 1 - The Atlantis - Washington, DC MAY 2 - First Unitarian - Philadelphia, PA MAY 3 - Music Hall of Williamsburg - Brooklyn, NY MAY 4 - The Sinclair - Boston, MA
Somehow Peter Prescott of Mission of Burma and Volcano Suns has another band that I never knew about. Minibeast already released an album that I completely missed back in 2012, and they are currently at work on the follow up, Free Will. Based on a track from the upcoming album, "High Sea," Minibeast shares some common sonic ground with Mission of Burma, but with an added emphasis on the groovy side of things. It's basically the noise and dissonance of Burma but heard through a 60s surf groove, as if Frankie and Annette were punks. You can listen to "High Sea" below. Minibeast currently have a Kickstarter to help fund the final production of Free Will. You can get more information on that here . It should be out sometime in June.
Earlier this week I was expressing sympathy for Limp Bizkit. Limp Bizkit just don't seem to be riding that surge of 90s nostalgia that all sorts of other terrible bands from that era are. Sure, they're terrible. But are they really that much worse than Filter, Alien Ant Farm, and other bands on those 90s nostalgia packages. And then this video is released. The first lyrics to the song are literally "Go fuck yourself." It then features Fred Durst sitting on a toilet, bikini clad chicks pretending to fellate garden hoses and leaf blowers, and Fred Durst talking about fucking bitches, all while wearing a hoodie and a backwards red baseball hat. Then Lil Wayne comes out. Please keep in mind Fred Durst is a 42 year old man.
Photo by Annabel Kean For their latest single, New Zealand's The Beths have released "Mother, Pray for Me." This is a heartbreaking ballad consisting of Elizabeth Stokes' vocals and guitar with just the slightest hint of organ. It's a deeply personal song for Stokes, made obvious with how intimately the song comes across. It truly feels almost confessional, and it's quite simply beautiful. The Beths are most known for huge little indie rock gems perfect for bopping along to, but "Mother, Pray for Me" is quite the opposite. Stokes' vocals and lyrics are right up front on this one, and I can't imagine it any other way. Elizabeth Stokes says of her latest single: “I cried the whole time writing it. It's not really about my mother, it's about me — what I hope our relationship is, what I think it is, what it maybe actually is, and what I can or can't expect out of it. “My mother is a first gen Indonesian immigrant, and very Catholic....
