It’s been quite some time since I tossed a single song and video into the lion’s cage to see what shape it returned in. Leeds’ Your Vegas seems like a perfect contestant. Their fanbase has grown leaps and bounds since I first shared a song from them in February.

What do you think? Complete shit or total hit?! They’ve yet to make a huge splash in my local area, so I can’t help but wonder if there are fans elsewhere…or if the hipsters are picking their teeth with them. You tell me!

Download: Your Vegas - “In My Head”

I’ve read that Teenagers In Tokyo (I know, if I were cool the band name would be smashed together like a peanut butter and jelly sandwich under a bus tire…but I’m not, so get over it) aren’t teenagers nor are they from Tokyo. I’m here to be the first to tell you they aren’t related to Tokyo Police Club either.

I stumbled upon these four gals and a lad quite some time ago and saw they were getting more exposure on the blogsphere than the nude photo of Sean Ryan I uploaded this evening, so I left well enough alone and never posted about them…and then along came Eloise. Yeah, PR gals who are as sweet as they are beautiful have a tendency of making the silliness in my world disappear quite quickly (or do they?). Oh, enough nonsense from me…give the mp3s a listen and let me know what you think.

‘There are many things to like about teenagersintokyo. They’re 22 years old, visually magnetic, share an obvious quirky humour that comes from being long-time friends, and they write damn-good songs to boot’ - NYLON

Download: Teenagers In Tokyo - “End It Tonight”
Download: Teenagers In Tokyo - “Very Vampyr”

Well, now that my house move is pretty much done and dusted…I’m back!! So, the choice for my first post is kinda easy, as over the last few months I have been putting together a series of events. I’m proud to announce that after a lot of sweat and toil the lineup for the first in a series of Rock Sellout.com presents is now complete! The line up, I’m sure you will agree, is a pretty broad spectrum of talent. All the bands have featured on the site over the last few months.

This is a hometown gig for the wonderful Kabeedies. They played an amazing single launch show for the debut “Lovers Ought To” at Norwich Art Centre last Thursday night. Expect crowd surfers galore and general mayhem but most of all expect fun…they certainly know how to enjoy a gig!

Also featuring on the bill are the outstanding talent that is Lowline. This Manchester band I introduced to the site are creating a stir in all the right places. I tip them to have a swift rise in 2008. Also on the bill are The Loyal Few. They are a solid indie pop combo.

I’m pleased to announce this afternoon the addition of Rupert who have pulled the plug on another engagement to play for us. I will be keeping you all posted on the June show which is all but finalised as well. The venue we are using is the B2 in Norwich. This purpose built venue at the back of the Brickmakers Pub holds 200 and was voted UK Music Pub of the Year in 2007.

Doors are at 7pm. First band on at 8pm. The price is only £4.00, so get along…tell your friends and enjoy!

Download: The Loyal Few - “Sunsets And Signals”
Download: Lowline - “Sound Of Music” ) < Removed By Request
Download: The Kabeedies - “Mythical Beasts” (Live)

- Mark

It’s easy to overlook recently uncovered ‘relics’ of the punk/post-punk era. After all, it often seems that there’s a newly unearthed ‘gem’ being presented to us every week. You start to get a bit skeptical when something is routed your way and labelled as such.

Fortunately, I overcame my initial reaction with The Lines. I’ll admit my ignorance of the band prior to receiving an email about them from Acute Records, but I’ve since acquainted myself with their body of work (what’s available). The band only lasted about 5 years, but in that time managed to release 2 LP’s, 1 EP & 5 singles, as well as play alongside artists like The Cure, Bauhaus & Birthday Party. Lead singer Rico Conning went on to be a producer for bands like Depeche Mode, Front 242 & Wire.

Most of the band’s singles & LP’s have been out-of-print for some time now, and had apparently become expensive collector’s items. Acute is trying to remedy the situation by reissuing the band’s back catalogue. The first of said releases is Memory Span, a collection of all the band’s singles & EP’s, in addition to several unreleased tracks. It’s a worthwhile listen, as it captures the band’s evolution over those 5 years from simple punk arrangements to more complex experimentation.

Memory Span will be out on Acute Records on May 27th, with the band’s other releases soon to follow. As a footnote, Rico Conning has been supervising the remastering process for these reissues, so you’re guaranteed that a loving hand has gone into this.

MP3: The Lines - Blisstability

MEMORY SPAN TRACKLIST:
1. White Night
2. On the Air
3. Not Through Windows
4. Dance For a Drop of Blood
5. Blisstability
6. Uneasy Affair
7. Don’t Need Surgery
8. 2 Split Seconds
9. False Alarm
10. Background
11. Cool Snap
12. Nerve Pylon
13. Over the Brow
14. Transit
15. Part II
16. House of Cracks
17. Old Town
18. Barbican

- Sean

Oh, I know what you’re saying - ‘So what? Giving crap away for free doesn’t change the fact that it’s crap!’.

Well, even though it’s incredibly unpopular to admit it, I have to confess that I like Coldplay. Yes, yes, string me up and hang me by my toenails, all my credibility is now gone. The fact remains I like them. Oh sure, I wasn’t terribly fond of X&Y. It was a bit boring, and certainly not the intense & sweeping epic that A Rush of Blood was. But hey, it probably had legions of Coachellans wondering why they let that one German band sample them. Ya know, Backwork? Uh, Warcraft? Something like that.

Of course, whether they’re blog-approved or not, they sell a whole lotta records. A point which has not been missed by Terra Firma’s Guy Hands (the private equity firm that bought controlling interest in EMI last year), who’s hoping for a bona fide blockbuster. He probably did raise an eyebrow at the title though - Viva La Vida or Death And All His Friends.

Starting at 12:15pm (UK time) tomorrow, you can click here for a free download of ‘Violet Hill’, the first single off the new album.

MP3: Coldplay - Trouble (KCRW Acoustic Version)

- Sean

Some lucky bastard managed to capture video of The Purple One singing Radiohead’s ‘Creep’ at Coachella this weekend. All I can say is I really, really wish I’d been there. I may have had little-to-no interest in the man’s last few albums, but the guy can sing & play guitar like no one else.

MP3: Prince - Little Red Corvette
MP3: Radiohead - Creep

- Sean

My favorite electropoppers are preempting the leakers and have decided to stream their new album, Velocifero, in its entirety on their Myspace. This comes fresh off the heels of the free download for track 1 on the new album, ‘The Black Cat’.

I’m sure most of you won’t need convincing to head over there, but just in case you do - it is WELL worth it. This new album might just be the best work the band have ever done. And I say that as a Ladytron early-adopter.

The album will be released on June 3rd. You can pre-order Velocifero here. You can also pre-order the next single, ‘Ghosts’, here. It comes with a CD single as well as a signed 7-inch.

MP3: Ladytron - The Black Cat

TOUR DATES:
30 Apr Academy 3 Manchester United Kingdom
1 May Vooriut Gent France
2 May La Maroquinerie Paris France
3 May Paradiso Amsterdam Netherlands
5 May Postbahnhof Berlin Germany
6 May Backstage Munich Germany
7 May Magazzini Generali Milano Italy
9 May Forward Festival Madrid Spain
10 May Forward Festival Valencia Spain
13 May Oran Mor Glasgow United Kingdom
14 May Ditital Newcastle United Kingdom
15 May Astoria London United Kingdom
16 May Tripod Dublin Ireland
20 May The Starlite Room Edmonton AB Canada
21 May The Warehouse Calgary AB Canada
23 May Commodore Ballroom Vancouver BC Canada
24 May Showbox Seattle WA USA
25 May Wonder Ballroom Portland OR USA
27 May Fillmore San Francisco CA USA
29 May Henry Fonda Los Angeles CA USA
30 May Henry Fonda Los Angeles CA USA
31 May The Belly Up San Diego CA USA
2 Jun In The Venue Salt Lake City UT USA
3 Jun The Gothic Denver CO USA
5 Jun Palladium Ballroom Dallas TX USA
6 Jun Stubbs Austin TX USA
7 Jun Meridian Houston TX USA
8 Jun House Of Blues New Orleans LA USA
10 Jun Club Firestone Orlando FL USA
11 Jun Czar Tampa FL USA
12 Jun Studio A Miami FL USA
13 Jun Variety Playhouse Atlanta GA USA
15 Jun Bonnaroo Festival Manchester TN USA
16 Jun The Pageant St.Louis MO USA
17 Jun Vic Theater Chicago IL USA
18 Jun St.Andrews Hall Detroit MI USA
25 Jun Terminal 5 New York NY USA
26 Jun Theater Of Living Arts Philadelphia PA USA
27 Jun Sonar Baltimore MD USA
28 Jun 9:30 Club Washington DC USA
30 Jun Paradise Boston MA USA
2 Jul Metropolis (Jass Fest) Montreal QC Canada
3 Jul Theatre Imperial de Quebec (Summer Fest) Quebec City QC Canada
4 Jul Harbourfront Centre Toronto ON Canada
5 Jul Blues Festival Ottawa ON Canada
12 Jul Gorgeous Ground @ Pantai Carnival Ancol Jakarta Indonesia

- Sean

Ever find yourself humming a song and moments later you’ll hear it coming through a nearby speaker? I recently posted about the new release from Mates of States and found my self wondering what had become of The Submarines. Strangely enough, the fine folks at Nettwerk Records must have picked up on the vibes I was sending, cos I found a promo of the band’s forthcoming album, Honeysuckle Weeks, in my mailbox on Saturday. It goes without saying that I haven’t listened to anything else since I popped in in my player…there’s something about this band that makes a boy feel good.

The album will hit store shelves on May 13, but can currently be purchased on Itunes by clicking here. The band will be hitting the road with Headlights in May. More tour dates can be found on their Myspace page if you’re interested.

22 May - Schuba’s - Chicago, IL
23 May - The Crofoot - Pontiac, MI
24 May - The Drake Hotel - Toronto, ON
25 May - Le Divan Orange - Montreal, QC
27 May - Iron Horse - Northampton, MA
28 May - MIddle East Upstairs - Boston, MA

Something old: The Submarines - “Peace And Hate”
Something new: The Submarines - “You Me And The Bourgeoisie”

The Simple Carnival are a one man band from Delmont, PA. That one man, Jeff Boller, describes the sounds he produces as “what might happen if Brian Wilson and Harry Nilsson collaborated on Sesame Street”. I couldn’t agree more.

Jeff just released a South Park-esque video for the song “Really Really Weird”:

He was also kind enough to share two songs with us. “Caitlin’s On The Beach” is from his new EP, Me and My Arrow (which also features “Really Really Weird”). “She Won’t Look At Me” is from an odds-and-ends collection titled Sonic Rescue League Vol 1.

Both releases are available for purchase via The Simple Carnival’s “Souvenirs” page.

The new video for Neva Dinova’s “Clouds” premiered on Spinner today. The song is from the band’s third full-length, You May Already Be Dreaming. The Omaha quintet brought their video for to life in a local rental hall with the help of director Rob Walters. “[Walters] was going for a creepy ‘Children of the Corn’ dance vibe,” frontman Jake Bellows told Spinner. Needless to say, he succeeded. The melancholy tune inspires zombie-like dancing before things go awry and Bellows is the last man standing.

Download: Neva Dinova - “Clouds”