Old Gray "Do I Dare Disturb The Universe" Released at 5PM Today

On sale 5PM EST on January 22nd. Don't miss out.

Things that will sell out fast. New Hampshire emo rockers, Old Gray, will be releasing "Do I Dare Disturb The Universe", on a one-sided 12" with an etched B side. The unique record will be available through Broken World Media beginning at 5PM EST on Thursday, January 22nd.

"This has been in the works for quite some time and were so happy to finally get it out!" states a Facebook page post. 

"Do I Dare Disturb The Universe" is the first release by the band since the 2014 7" split with Minnesota's Tiny Moving Parts. Listen to more Old Gray tracks on Bandcamp.

►Purchase link.

Hipsters Go Home, Antique Records Wins. Limited Edition Sledding With Tigers Swag on Pre-Sale Now.

Hurry. Special sale ends at 4PM EST 1/16/15.

We're fairly certain Boston indie label, Antique Records, is including digital downloads of Sledding With Tigers' single "A Floppy Disk Worth Of A Song" on actual floppy disks.

The limited edition, numbered disks are available in various pre-order bundles of SWT's first ever vinyl pressing of Not the Beatles Yet (limit to 300). Place your order at Antique Records before 4PM EST today (1/16/15) and you could also get an equally limited edition (some say never to be printed again), Vonnegut inspired T-shirt*.

Not The Beatles Yet is set to be available on January 27, 2015. The 14-track album includes previously released tracks, studio cuts and live sample tracks. Stream the first single from the release, "Quit Yr Job", below.

*Bundle inclusions vary, see website for details.

Choke Up's Debut LP Leaves Us Speechless - Pre-order 'Black Coffee, Bad Habits'

Pre-order your copy of Black Coffee, Bad Habits today.

This band. This goddamn band. I need a moment to compose myself.

The production and orchestration of a Choke Up record never ceases to amaze. 

Black Coffee, Bad Habits (Black Numbers) is well-polished hardcore at its most sophisticated level. The type of punk you listen to with a cigar and a brandy snifter. Each incarnation of this band is an elaboration of the previous record. And each record is like a dramatic composition; Characters, plots, story lines, heroes, villains, damsels, foreshadowing, reflection and conclusions. In an effort to articulate the grandeur and intelligence of the debut LP from Boston's Choke Up, we can only muster, "Buy this fucking amazing record."

Pre-orders of the LP are available now in Forest Green (100), Clear with Blue Smoke (150) and White vinyl (250) for $12. CDs for $8. Test Press Pack for $50 and Three Pack for $30 are also available. Pre-orders ship on or around February 2nd.

Listen to "KC" below (courtesy of punknews.org) and "Thicket And Vine" currently streaming over at Brooklyn Vegan. And see Choke Up during their record release show with Pile, Raw Blow, Loom and Banquets (NJ) at O'Brien's Pub in Allston on January 24th, guaranteed to sell out so get there early.

Follow Choke Up on Facebook for additional release and show information. And find additional releases on Bandcamp.

Tour Dates

• January 23rd – Philadelphia – Golden Tea House
• January 24th – Boston – O’Brien’s Pub
• January 29th – Portsmouth, NH – The Red Door
• January 30th – Brooklyn, NY – Legion
• January 31st – Atlantic City, NJ – The Boneyard

Bishop And Rook, The Offseason, Sound Lion, All January Long

Special price, special discount, special in-store. We special yo. (image credit)

Here's some fun, exciting, pop punky news!

Bishop And Rook is part of the local music blog super group collaboration, Boston Scene Party, along with your favs like Allston Pudding and Boston Ska Dot Net.

Each month, a participating blog chooses a band to feature at the Sound Lion audio retail store in Harvard Square. Buy that band's record and get 10% off your entire Sound Lion purchase (no minimum). So like, buy ALL THE HEADPHONES, or just a pair of ear buds, still get 10% off and score new music.

Bishop And Rook kicks off 2015 as the January blog and our pick for new local music, fresh off the O'Brien's stage, your very own, power pop punk quartet, The Offseason!

The Monsieurs Release New Music Video for "Young Gun". Record Release Show to Follow

Buy The Monsieurs' S/T LP today and see them live at Cantab Lounge on 12/5/14.

Boston's garage rockers The Monsieurs have released a music video for new track “Young Gun” off of their October 2014 S/T release on Black Gladiator. It’s 2 minutes and 18 seconds of dirty, distorted, enjoyable garage rock.

The 11 song vinyl LP can be purchased at Slovenly.com. CD digipack and digital downloads can be purchased on Bandcamp. 

You can see The Monsieurs live during their record release show at Cantab Lounge (Central Square, Cambridge) on Friday, December 5th with Free Pizza and Nice Guys (Presented by Eye Design). Event details.

The Offseason / Losing Streak "Split" Record Release Show

The Offseason / Losing Streak "Split" is now available for purchase digitally via Bandcamp and on Transparent Electric Blue (limited to 125) and Transparent Kelly Green (limited to 125) vinyl via Barret Records, JUST IN TIME FOR CHRISTMAS YOU GUYS!

In celebration of the new album, The Offseason will be performing a record release show at O'Brien's Pub in Allston on December 14th with The Losing Streak (NJ), Off & On, Trophy Lungs and Agree to Disagree. 8p/$8/18+. Event details.

Music Video: The Offseason - "I'll Never Leave"

Local pop punk band, The Offseason, has premiered their first music video for “I’ll Never Leave” on music blog, More Than Sound Collective. The track is off of the upcoming 7” split with New Jersey's Losing Streak, which Bishop And Rook reported on back in October, and due out 11/11, pre-order available now via Barrett Records.

Directed by Erik Rojas and Matt Ciampa, the video sees its protagonist being literally haunted by a Jack Skellington look-alike that…get ready for this…never leaves.

Catch The Offseason at O'Brien's Pub in Allston on November 15th with Rebuilder, Up For Nothing (NY) and Bottlecaps. Event details here.

Related Stories:

The Offseason / Losing Streak Split

Why So Serious Courage Cloak? Post-Rock Shoegaze with Hardcore Punk Roots

The debut S/T LP from Courage Cloak is available now.

When you mix 3/5 post-hardcore band Life & Limb with 1/5 of hardcore band Matahari, you get Boston’s post rock/shoegaze band, Courage Cloak.

Somos Joins the No Sleep Family

So much news! So much touring! So many links! Boston indie/emo band, Somos, announced today that they are the newest addition to the No Sleep Records family.

Bugs and Rats "Adidas" LP Available on Vinyl

Purchase your limited edition pressing of Bugs and Rats Adidas vinyl now.

Lurking in the basements, blowing your eardrums out, Bugs and Rats Adidas Record is now available on vinyl via Feeding Tube Records, so get some. The Boston grunge rock trio’s 2010 11-track LP is underground noise rock at its finest and limited to 250 copies for your collecting pleasures. Bugs and Rats is part of the super expansive and slightly overwhelming Boston Hassle Fest 6 project featuring roughly 43 bands (we counted several times, we might have been a bit drunk, but still, that’s a lot of bands). An epic festival that is currently crowd sourcing an Indie Go Go donations account. Spare some change Mister?

Listen to the entire Bugs and Rats discography, including their 2014 S/T record, on Bandcamp and buy the Adidas Record on Feeding Tube Records today.

The Offseason / Losing Streak Split

Pre-order your copy via Barrett Records now.

New music from Boston’s pop punkers The Offseason! Barrett Records (Ann Arbor, MI) will release a six-song split 10” with The Offseason and New Jersey’s Losing Streak later this fall. Pre-orders are available now for Transparent Electric Blue (limited to 125) and Transparent Kelly Green (limited to 125) vinyl. One lucky pre-orderer will receive a test press. Stream two tracks on Bandcamp now and head over to the Barrett Records site for purchasing details and other information.

The Color And Sound Signed to Black Numbers

The Color And Sound Signed to Black Numbers. Wrapping up next EP Peace of Mind.

 

Boston's rip roaring all for one and one for all indie band The Color And Sound are officially signed to Black Numbers record label (NJ). And to kick off the relationship, Black Numbers is re-releasing team Color and Sound's Spring Tour EP, available for the first time on vinyl.

If you act on this pre-order now, you could snag one of the limited edition vinyl records on gold (100), blue (150) or white (250). Also available is the "3 Pack" bundle which includes all 3 variants and the "Test Press Pack" bundle that includes all 3 variants and a test press (limited to 30).

In addition to the re-release of the Spring Tour EP, the band states, "[We're] excited to announce that we have wrapped up our next EP Peace of Mind, which will be released this fall." You can catch The Color and Sound live at The Sinclair in Harvard Square, Cambridge on July 19th along with Sidewalk Driver, The Venetia Fair and Salita.

Pre-order your The Color And Sound Spring Tour EP vinyl now.

Followers of Bishop And Rook can attest to our admiration for the 2014 Rock N Roll Rumble alumni. In an effort not to rewrite the book for the third time, we quote ourselves from the spring 2013 review, The Color and Sound – The Kids Just Want to Have Fun, "As skeptical as one can be when keyboard, xylophone and banjo appear together at a punk rock show, the infectious romp stomping celebration and high velocity stage presence of The Color and Sound are extraordinarily successful in raising one’s adrenaline level."

Black Numbers is also home to Tiny Moving Parts, Crimes, Banquets and fellow Boston band Great Lakes USA.

Old Gray, Tiny Moving Parts Split

Old Gray Tiny Moving Parts split out mid May. Pre-orders available now.

NH manic emotional poetic musicians Old Gray will release a split 7” with equally heart-on-sleeve Minnesota band Tiny Moving Parts mid May.

The brain melting post-hardcore collaboration will be put out by Kind of Like Records and Broken World Media, and limited to 500 copies.

Record Store Day April 19th, 2014

Get your Record Store Day list now.

The seventh annual Record Store Day happens April 19th at an indie store near you and the list is live! … And their site has been crashing all morning. The Animals, The Standells, Veruca Salt, The Zombies? We’re going to go record poor with this lushous list.

Special Delivery: Vinyl Clubs

Support bands, grow your record collection, sign up for a vinyl club.

What could be better than coming home to a 13x13 media mail package shoved into your tiny mailbox? A case of wine sitting patiently next to your door I suppose, but the "It's here!" excitement or rather, the "Wait, which one is this?" brain teaser is like Christmas for vinyl lovers. Each month is a surprise with a Vinyl of the Month Club!

OMG IKEA? WTF!? Expedit Discontinued. Internet Explodes

The Mayans were wrong! The end of the world is now!

IKEA's recent announcement sent vinyl message boards, and German Facebook fan pages, into a flurry of OMG-level panic when the some-assembly-required particleboard furniture giant proclaimed the minimalistic shelving unit, EXPEDIT, would be discontinued. The Mayans were wrong! The end of the world is now! With a roughly 13.25" opening, this cubic bookshelf was an ideal storage solution for 12" records, and a much prettier option than milk crates.

Fear not! Per IKEA spokesperson Janice Simonsen and The Huffington Post, a replacement has been promised. The KALLAX (or the Expedit 2.0) "has the same internal sizes and uses the same internal fittings," and features rounded edges presumably to be more child-friendly, if you're into that sort of thing.

However, if you're a purist and a sucker for straight lines, don't worry. Like most IKEA products, the Expedit will likely continue to be found among it's various Swedish cousins in the used furniture section of Craigslist. Fun fact, if you push your driver's seat alllllll the way to the front, one 4X2 section of the Expedit fits PERFECTLY in a 2012 Honda Fit. You know, if death by airbag to the throat isn't a deal breaker.

We hope you like change...

Just for fun, Google "IKEA Expedit Panic"

Pre-Order Somos' 'Temple of Plenty' Today

Temple of Plenty will be available March 25th. Pre-order your copy today!

In case you missed it, Boston’s Somos premiered their new single “Dead Wrong” off of Temple of Plenty (Tiny Engines) on Pitchfork yesterday (2.11).

"’Dead Wrong’ literally bounces, its elasticity derived from the drumming, which is deceptively complex and solid, but also the rhythm of Fiorentino's lyrics,” states Tiny Engines. The fluidity of the new single certainly showcases the thoughtful advances in sound, from aggressive, rollercoaster punk on the 2012 Demo EP to the joyriding indie rock previewed on the soon-to-be-released LP.

The debut full length record will be available on March 25th and you can pre-order it over at Tiny Engines on yellow with blue and orange starburst (limited to 105 copies), opaque teal (limited to 130 copies), transparent gold (limited to 150 copies) and traditional black vinyl now (limited to 215 copies).

Swing by Bandcamp to download the band’s 2012 four-song Demo EP for free.

Somos will be on tour with labelmates Save Ends this spring. Follow Somos on Facebook for additional information on the new record and show updates.

Somos / Save Ends Spring Tour
APR 12 - Albany, NY @ The Icehouse
APR 13 - Rochester, NY @ Bug Jar
APR 14 - Cleveland, OH @ Now That’s Class
APR 15 - Chicago, IL @ Subterranean
APR 16 - Flint, MI @ TBA
APR 17 - Pittsburgh, PA @ The Roboto Project
APR 18 - Doylestown, PA @ Siren Records
APR 19 - Copiague, NY @ The Wood Shop

February Record A Day #Instagram

Hashtag fun times. Record A Day continues into February.

The vinyl community came together for thirty-one days to show off the best-of-the-best in categories like “Compilation/Soundtrack”, “Collection of an artist” and “More than two colors”, allowing people some serious bragging rights on Instagram. Part enlightening camaraderie, part daily one-upmanship, record collectors filled the photo sharing social network with prized wax possessions. And it's happening all over again beginning February 1st.

Record Store Score - NKOTB

Total score at Armageddon Records in Harvard Square (image credit)

We may have waited 15 minutes in the snow for a bus to drive us to a record store...but it was obviously worth it. New Kids on the Block 'You Got It (The Right Stuff)' 12" version, 7" version AND the instrumental track for all you karaoke fans out there. Follow Bishop And Rook on Instagram for more pictures of vinyl as we participate in the #JanuaryRecordADay post-a-thon.

31 Days of Vinly on Instagram

Show off your vinyl

Like most fake internet challenges, I said no to this until I started reading the list and thinking of all the records I'd pick. So needless to say, my #1 is up. What are you listening to? The best part of this Instagram post session is reading all of the narratives from the other vinyl lovers using the hashtag #JanuaryRecordADay.