French Miami / Apple's Big Announcement

We all knew that Apple's new announcement was going to be big, we had our red markers out and touching the calendars in our minds. But sometimes Apple's technology shakes you to the bone and changes the time-space continuum, leaving us gasping for iAir and groveling for more of Steve Jobs' HTML5 jizz. But ladies and gentlemen, as much as I regret to re-inform you of yesterday's announcement, possibly sending you back to drooling on your iPuds and short circuiting them just in time so you can buy a new one in WHITE, we cannot ignore the fact that all these years of grueling negotiations have finally paid off. That's right: FRENCH MIAMI ARE ON ITUNES, FINALLY. At last you can let their appegiated guitars speed by like highway dividers, feeling the warm breeze of synth on your face, letting the beat pulse through the sun roof like street lamps at night. Motor Skills is the name of this new album and they will be using them to come to a small club in your shitty town in the coming months, where they will blow you away because you weren't expecting them to play nearly exactly and impossibly as you heard them on record. There is also a vinyl version of the album hidden some where in the continental US - stay tuned for clues! Oh wait, order it here and save some time: CLICK HERE TO BUY VINYL.

Mish math, I was taking a bath in kind words

Big Up to Delusions of Adequacy for typing such nice things about Coin Under Tongue's Reception into an html document, and then uploading said document to a server where people from around the world can access it by way of any number of compliant browsers. "

With endorsements from Spoon’s Britt Daniel and the legendary Julian Cope, Coin Under Tongue comes with a promise to deliver on its new album Reception. Further adding to its pedigree, the album is released by Death By Audio — the home of A Place To Bury Strangers’ Oliver Ackermann. So, what’s the music like?

If you remember the band Swell, you’ve got a head start on understanding the sound of Coin Under Tongue. As a reference point, both bands trade on sharp lyrics and a veering between stripped-down and amped-up compositions. Coin Under Tongue, though, gets heavier than Swell ever did, throwing in some really fuzzed-out guitar and bass (“Night Weed,” “Beyond Yes”) and throwback riffing. “Beyond Yes” does a little ransacking of Mudhoney’s playbook when it wants to make its points. On “Junksmith,” the opening measures of feedback and subsequent guitar work show the influence of Ackermann’s approach to electric guitar. What’s curious about Coin Under Tongue’s sound is the way the drums sound thin and rough. Bands usually go for a sonic aesthetic and apply it equally to all instruments, but here the guitars sound like they’re played in an aircraft hangar while the drums sound like they were recorded in someone’s basement.

The title track “Reception” seems to have to do with a wedding reception at first, but with a line like “Coming through loud and clear,” it might be that the band is playing with a double meaning here (as in “receiving” a signal). The caterwauling vocals and guitars infuse this one with a menacing aspect that makes it anything but the genteel affair usually connoted by weddings generally.

“Seizure In The Stairwell” goes for unadorned, Waits-/Swell-like tunesmithing but there’s a low, rumbling presence lurking in the background. On the opposite end of the spectrum is the Liars-like aggro experimentalism of “Conflicted,” whose nearly tuneless bursts of noise and screamed singing show the band’s raw side. There’s a decent amount of unusual pairing of musical styles on this album, and if it weren’t for the band’s competent melding of these styles it might come off as accidental or unfocused. How many bands would’ve or could’ve penned a cut like “Dogma Sheen,” where an 80s-style guitar intro (repeated during bridges) turns into a grimy, sludge-covered wall of noise? Not many, really, not many." - thanks David!

the report of the day

There will be a large review from le rapport du jour of Coin Under Tongue's Reception bookended by quotation marks directly after this sentence. "Coin Under Tongue: What an astringent jolt of a band name! Check this here review of their latest joint (rolled with metal shavings and warehouse dust):

“I came out of my shell - Into a cutesy neon hell,” sings Joe Kelly near the beginning of Coin Under Tongue’s new album, Reception, and during seven of the record’s nine songs, he does some serious screaming about it. As Kelly depicts his urban experience with a profusion of lyrics and a searing mixture of refined and unrefined post-punk guitar, bassist George Wilson and a trio of drummers (including regular band member Greg Wilson) help kick up a slamdance with metal polyrhythms that ground the noise.

Album opener “Beyond Yes,” which includes Kelly’s nifty description of the Bedford scene, invades the ears with twisted, trebly guitar cuttings and a vocal as deliciously distorted as Kurt Cobain’s on parts of Nevermind. “Dogma Sheen” clears the air with a volley of clean, Cure-like chords before the assault begins anew, and Kelly’s playing incorporates hints of Wire and P.I.L. during a luminous solo in “Junksmith.” After a mid-album respite comprised of a folk protest and a noir narrative, the volume rises again with “Reception,” a song that begins as a doom-metal dirge and quickly goes hardcore. With vivid, economic images that would make a writing teacher proud, Kelly screams about a wedding party that seems perfectly enjoyable, but instead features “a couple frozen in its prime.” It’s not the best song on the album, but the contrast between the singer’s perspective and the scene he describes is disturbing and rare.

In fact, it’s during the closing “Strong Things,” a mixed acoustic and electric song, when you start to realize that Kelly is a pretty good lyricist, something which can get lost underneath the sheer quantity of the words. “I know your schedule’s pretty packed / Mine’s just started unraveling,” he sings, over a strand of winsome, acoustic guitar, about an ex-lover from home who’s started to make it in New York. “It’s hard to hold onto strong things,” he later drones, applying a dab of lustrous black to the neon he sees around him. Kelly swipes a Stephen Malkmus chord progression to make the point, but the instrumental squall that follows is all Coin Under Tongue." - Thanks Philippe!

Must We Tolerate Mass Culture?

Another Coin Under Tongue shout-out popped up this weekend, courtesy of

How Much Longer Must We Tolerate Mass Culture:

"Coin Under Tongue, meanwhile seem to be re imagining late-70's, early-80's post Punk ( Gang of Four, Bauhaus, No Wave) as a kind of sludgey Big Rock. Kind of like what would happen if Big Black had been more Led Zep fans, and less Killing Joke fans. That means snappy, trebley bass lines, with tons of feedback guitars, but plenty of spidery reverb-drenched arpeggios as well."

Coin Under Tongue Matters

It took a full month after it's release, but Coin Under Tongue's Reception has broken through the glacier of internet reception via POP MATTERS: "In 2010, Soundgarden headlined Lollapalooza, Courtney Love covered Pearl Jam’s “Jeremy”, and Alice in Chains continued to tour. Time will tell whether there is anything left to gain from the present grunge cash in, but there is an exciting under-the-radar development happening at the same time as this mainstream resurgence. Death By Audio is offering Coin Under Tongue’s new album Reception as a free download. Coin Under Tongue strips the luster off of modern rock and explores a schizophrenic sound that falls somewhere between Black Sabbath, Fear, Jawbox, Pavement and Deep Six. Reception masters the sounds that led to “grunge” and its kindred strands of rock, without falling victim to the declawing production tendencies that always lurk close by guitar rock movements that show commercial potential. Read Julian Cope’s comments on the album at Head Heritage. In addition to the free digital download, the album is also available as a CD from Insound and other outlets."----------Since our 50 review CDs we're met with almost total fucking silence by nearly every outlet so they could make space to air their insecurities about listening to Weezer or whatever, please feel free to tell anyone you like the record, preferably on bathroom walls.

A FREE RECEPTION !

It's finally here. Coin Under Tongue's Reception is available for FREE download on a beautiful Bandcamp page designed David Dekeyser. If you click on the individual songs, you can read the lyrics to the songs while you are listening to them- HOLY DAMN! If you like what you hear, send a link to your friend and say, "Hey, check this band out. I mean, the shit is free, so fuck it, ya know?"

Death By Audio Radio Show

Our favorite bearded promoter is now spinning Death By Audio Records bands on his East Village Radio show. Listen to Edan Wilber on Tuesdays from 10 a.m. to noon for a heavy dose of ear-crushing mayhem. The best part is that many of the bands can be seen at an upcoming show at Death By Audio in the near future.

If you miss one of the broadcasts, you can always catch up on Edan's EVR Page. Sweet.

We think Julian Cope likes the new Coin Under Tongue album

This man (pictured above in the hat with his band) writes like drugs so it's a little hard to interpret until the next morning:

"Hey Kiddies, Brooklyn’s Coin Under Tongue are back with the magnificent opus RECEPTION, a fucking superb (and TOO BRIEF!) display of angular No Grunge by way of post post Post-Punk, through a hard rock filter, Methinks. Whatever it be, this record is one catchy bastardo. For RECEPTION resounds, nay, abounds with Ur-melodies and neo-riffage, crammed’n’rammed ingenious Futuretro guaranteed to re-fry listeners’ brainsacs. So while the title track dares to descend (almost) as low and as cumbersome as VINCEBUS ERUPTUM (though obviously nowhere near as ineptly), even Coin Under Tongue’s most gentle moments remain under the influence of a barely restrained sonic fury. Imagine Highway Robbery and De Presse as played by HOLY MOUNTAIN-period Sleep, or Harvey Milk-fronted by some W. Country yokel Kurdt Kobain. Well it’s not quite that but they ARE half-brothers. And we have the excellent Death By Audio Records (deathbyaudiorecords.blogspot.com) to thank for unleashing this compelling digital frisbee of 21st Century field holler, kiddies."

Sisters in Space

Check it out - Sisters just got a sweet write up in SpaceLab about their upcoming album Ghost Fits. The album comes out on Narnack Records on September 28th, but you can hear a few songs on their website, Sisters Sound

Here is a full transcript of the interview:

Sisters Emerge from Death By Audio With Noisy New Album

By: Corey Tate July 27, 2010

Sisters is a lo-fi, noisy, garage-like duo that tries to make music that sounds much larger than what you think could be possible by two people.

Now they've graduated to a release on Narnack Records, titled Ghost Fits, due ot on September 28th. It was recorded at Civil Defense studios in Brooklyn by Jeremy Scott (Vivian Girls, These are Powers, Hollowpaw, Frankie Rose and the Outs).

Check out the songs "Sky" and "Highway Scratch" from their upcoming album Ghost Fits. The songs start out as seemingly straight-forward pop songs, before wandering off of the pop map in a fury of noise and cacophony.

"Wanting to create as big of a noise as possible with just guitars and drums, Aaron started playing his guitar through two amps, augmenting the monster sound he created with pedal-based loops. Upping the ante, Matt built a custom analogue drum synth into his kick drum. Running this feed through effects in real time allowed him to get a wholly unique sound out of his kit, completing the Sisters' one-of-a-kind, 21st Century alt-rock sonic experience," reads the band's bio.

Sisters is the brain child of Aaron Pfannebecker (vocals / guitar) and Matt Conboy (drums / keyboards). They take cues from inspirations like Pixies, Pavement, Nirvana, My Bloody Valentine and Sonic Youth; then they combine that with their role in Death by Audio, a venue/collective/rehearsal space/guitar pedal factory in New York.

Matt is one of the founders of Death by Audio, and Sisters is part of that collective. They got their start by playing impromptu shows there.

"We would have these 'sneak attacks' as we called them, where we would set up really quick in between bands in the hallway or doorway and just play five or six songs. We did that for awhile, then eventually people asked us to play," said Aaron.

Cartoon of the Day

Neckbeard ringleader and professional illustrator, Joe Jurewicz drew this cartoon. He drew another one just like this where Muddy Waters goes up to the counter and asks for blue coffee, but Joe spilled coffee on it. And then a shark ate it. Oh well.

Malcolm Alchemy writes massive Reception review

A tight E-bro from way back has written the first review of Coin Under Tongue's Reception. Malcolm Alchemy has strung together so many choice words that attempting to quote from it would be a crime against flow. His Tumblr is basically a pretty cool virtual cork board, so go with the scroll when you click on through.

EXIT THROUGH THE GIFT SHOP

Go see this movie before someone starts talking about it at a bar and ruins the whole thing. Don't go look it up on IMDB or read any reviews. Just chill OUT. Make sure you have some friends with you because you'll want to argue about it later.

Starring Releases "July" Video

While all of you gluttonous hippies spent the Fourth Of July sipping on margaritas and grilling tofu steaks, Starring was busy with a bbq of their own - complete with rabbit masks, chainsaws, and lots of blood. Watch the mayhem below:

Starring -- "July" Music Video from Matt Marlin on Vimeo.

You can also read the original article on Impose Magazine

"July" is featured on the latest Starring release, "Wife of God", so go buy it and give these guys some love.

HAPPY 5TH OF JULY! - 100th POST!

We spent the early hours of yesterday's meltdown within the cool confines of the DBA loft putting together mailers containing the new Coin Under Tongue CD. They say you have to get these out a month before the "Release Date" so people have time to put it "in the next issue" - but is this theory even relevant anymore? Who knows? We screenprinted these boxes and then went to Annie's (Au Revoir Simone) birthday/ 4th of July backyard party jam. Some people climbed on the roof for a glimpse of the fireworks, which were a little hard to see this year because THEY moved them to the west side of Manhattan.

SEAWHORES - BLUNT FORCE TO THE EVERYTHING

There's no denying it - it's really here. After 2 rounds of Legal Karate and 2 Billion screenprints later, enough blood, sweat, and fears have been shed to produce a physical document of one bands' total chronic devotion. Available in only the finest audio distribution facilities in Minneapolis at the moment, SEAWHORES' Blunt Force To The Everything doesn't play friendly on the genre jungle gym. Cybernetic arcade industrial hardcore that ends on a beach of foamy drone, it's a complete loose-glove slap to the face of barely thrown together lo-fi lazy techno-hippies. They simply do not make them like this anymore. Where's the adventure these days? Where are the Indy's worshipping the Temple of Boom? It takes giant boulders chasing away the thieves to keep a treasure this tight and Seawhores have got 'em.

This LP will be available in Insound very soon; we'll keep you updated.

Motorcycle Maintenance

This is how we work on motorcycles at Death By Audio. Fuck stands.

Coin Under Tongue Releases "Dogma Sheen"

Here's your first chance to hear a sample from the new ear-shattering LP from Coin Under Tongue. The first single Dogma Sheen is a cage match between 80's Manchester and DBA-style feedback. This isn't your grandmother's Coin Under Tongue.

The new album Reception hits stores on August 24th. Coin Under Tongue has been described as "all the things you loved when you were first getting scared by music." (Britt Daniel), and "they fuck me so hard I feel like a man again." (Travis Johnson, Grooms).

Coin Under Tongue - Dogma Sheen

Death By Audio Records on Twitter

Less Artists More Condos Show at DBA TONIGHT!

I can't think of a better way to spend this Friday night than the Less Artists More Condos show at Death By Audio. 7 bands for $10? That's less than $2 per band. Plus, it's Edan's birthday.

Both Grooms and Sisters are on the bill from DBA Records, as well as Snakes Say Hisss, Darlings, Tough Knuckles, Regal Degal, and DJ Mr. A*OK.

So unless you hate music and birthdays, you have no reason to miss this show.

Coin Under Tongue Slays Eddy Current

This past weekend at Death By Audio, we got a chance to see Eddy Current Suppression Ring play to a sold-out crowd of dirty, sweaty garage rockers. The four-piece from Melbourne, Australia plays a Stooges-inspired brand of punk that incorporates a few killer riffs and loud drums. It was a fun show to see live. Since we're only weeks away from the new Coin Under Tongue release "Reception," here's their tribute to Eddy Current from a recent show at Cake Shop:

STARRING - RELEASE PARTY SHOW!

One hundred and fifteen vinyl records have been pressed of the STARRING debut, Wife of God, and then inserted in sleeves that were produced by the best screeners in town, KAYROCK. There are so few of these we can't even give them to our friends because were dicks! But, they will be for sale on June 10th at Death By Audio because Starring will be raising money for their upcoming tour, which has been listed on the right side of this blog. It should also be noted that Michael from Starring's other band, Skeletons, will be playing that night. And if that's not enough, we're going to throw Grooms on top of the dogpile which should amount to one crazy mountain of a night. Also, here's a video that appeared today on Tiny Mix Tapes for the non-album track "I Met a Looky-Likey".

I met a Looky-Likey from Starring Band on Vimeo.

SLAYING ZZ ON DRUMZ

I think this guy just invented like 20 new moves in this one song.

STARRING

Founded in 2008 by Pterodactyl drummer Matt Marlin and Skeleton$ keyboardist Mike Gallope, STARRING revisits the terrain of progressive rock by distilling it to its essence. Starring plays “prog rock” because they are in love with a sense of unscripted fun, looking to spit beer, exhilarate and electrify rather than be like "dude, check my chops.". Starring combines the forces of farfisa, viola, guitar and bass to sculpt driving, heavy, high-speed sound guns aimed at stealth bomber choruses. Beneath it all, Matt Marlin’s notoriously frenzied drumming, which is as furious here as on any Pterodactyl record, propels this distortion-addicted quintet from one transfixing riff to the next.

All five members contribute vocals over the course of the record, experimenting with figures of authority, blissed-out psychedelic narratives, or simple primal scream therapy. And each song is no less diverse in its ambitions: “July” is a monstrosity about a horrific encounter at a holiday barbeque, with a mathy, scattershot verse turning on a dime into an anthemic, Stooges-inspired chorus. “Get Over Here, Disco!” sets fire to a catchy two-note riff, and twists it into a shout-your-brains-out headbanger. And the album's final track threatens to cannibalize everything that’s preceded it, churning along for minutes in a brutal, spellbinding jam, only to be interrupted by dreamy voices that eerily plead: “Won’t you be my body double?”

Their genre-pretzeling debut, Wife Of God, will be available June 8th on Death By Audio Records. Thank you.

Inside Edition - Pics from the Loft

Here is the film to be used to make screens for the new Sisters tee shirt.

This is what 50% of the walls inside the pedal area look like. It's how we clean screens.

This is how we make sure everything gets put back in its place.

This is a show poster made out of a record.

This is the old piano that found it's way in to the practice space. It sounds like it looks.

Imagine you're about to land on the planet Trixanium, 14,000 light years from Earth in the Alpha Pentari galaxy. You decide to aim for a clearing near what appears to be an alien Stonehenge.

Now turn your flash on and imagine that you taking pictures in the closet where all the spray painting is done.

This is some shit hanging in the practice room.

These are lab coats that DBA got for some of its employees. Pictured here are Travis' from Grooms, Matt's from Sisters, and Willie's.

This is some art project that George from Coin Under Tongue is working on that involves a lot of foam circles being made from decoys?

Here are some random custom pedals that can always be found lying around on the floor of the practice room.

One time Ollie got back from tour, opened his suitcase in the kitchen area and took some clothes to his room. When he got back 30 seconds later, this cat had shit in it. A couple of weeks ago, I was going to work and noticed that this cat had peed right in a pocket of my manbag. This cat has also been known to pee in Travis' guitar pedal bag. It has no name.

Old Grungy Coins

From the mighty Shiny Grey Monotone / Colostomy Grab Bag community comes this nice, declaratory review:--------------------------------

"Reception / Hussies At Bay

And so it begins. The transistion out of Post-Post-Post-Punk into Re Grunge (that being groups emulating the Sub-Pop / Am Rep pre-Nevermind era - not to be confused with 'Post-Grunge', that's, like, Creed or some shit). And you really couldn't ask for a better spearhead. Tickling the new wavers with occasional drum machines and moments ofCure-ish pop before slamming into the full on Nirvana - Bleach / Cherubs - Icing sludge rock, they remind the kids of what their parents were likely blasting while they were shitting a diaper, and send their parents (us) into nodding approval - yes, this is how you do it. Memorable and catchy, noisy and edgy. The main difference here is instead of using Black Sabbath, Void and Pixies as their main starting points of reference, it's Nirvana, Melvins and Joy Division ---------------------------------------------------------- Currently signed to Death By Audio Records (who also make the most fucked effect pedals on earth and are headed up by Oliver Ackermann of A Place To Bury Strangers) they've actually been releasing their new album, 'Hussies At Bay' as it's being recorded, as well as their first EP Reception (aka So Far) - so this is totally legit. --------------------------------------------------------- What I'm finding highly amusing is how everyone seems terrified to use the term 'Grunge' to describe CUT, dancing all about without saying it when that is undoubtedly the largest element in their sound. Grow some fucking balls, limpwrists - you're rock critics - no one thinks you're cool anyway, whatta ya got to lose by being honest? --------------------------------------------------------- Anyway, these guys are the opening salvo, let's see how far it goes!

Post Valentine's Update

Here's what's going on:

1) On February 26th, 2010, a recording summit will be held in the kitchen of the DBA compound for the recording of new 7" record- a split featuring 2 Brooklyn drum phenoms: David Moore (from the sometimes DBA free/noise/jazz/rock band The Statler Bros.) & Ches Smith . The session will be recorded/engineered by Steve from Wodger Records. The tentative title of this ultra-limited (100) pressing will be "BBQs of the Future".

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2) DBA records finally wrangled SEAWHORES back into the corral. The tracks for a new DBA exclusive Seawhores 12" have been compiled and the pressing plant paperwork is being filed out as we speak. This too will be an ultra-limited pressing of 100 units.

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3) Have you checked out the "FREE MUSIC" section! If you ever want some free music, you can always click on the graphic on the right side bar of this site. There's already a bunch of music in there but we're here to announce 2 more free tracks: one from Seahwhores and one from Coin Under Tongue's neverending album. Have at it.

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right click (windows) or cntrl+click (mac) to keep it.

Seawhores - "Butterfly Wings Of Gold"

Coin Under Tongue - "Seizure In The Stairwell"

The Death By Audio New Year's Eve Party '10

Ollie and I played darts and set-up lights throughout the loft. We dragged in the big guns soundsystem from the practice space and set up the DJ table on the second floor. One blinking red flood light ended up in the toaster. People really started pouring in around 11 and that's when I had to start really DJing. Played some Bee Gees. Set off the smoke machine every 15 minutes. People climbed all over the cargo net that was strung up above the people dancing down below. We had a countdown and at midnight Brian cut an old guitar that had been hanging from the ceiling for years. I played "Surfin' Bird" right at midnight for about 15 minutes because I was having a hard time finding a better record. Its hard to get out of a cargo net when you're drunk. Someone puked while on the net down onto people below. Edan DJed slam jams into the wee hours. Thanks for the pictures, Gabe!

Way Late Photos from DBA Halloween '09

That Juggalos movie has been played at least three times on the projector at DBA. Somehow this theme also translated into a Kiss Army clown and a random serial killer showing up.

Here are some Street Fighter characters (Guile & Zangief to be specific) and Vampire Kaite from Salt For Desserts.

There was this creepy guy that didn't talk all night, turned out to be Ollie.

Brian ran into another Where The Wild Things Are fan on Haloween.