So it's been a month since the incredible Oasis Winter Ball, sponsored by Cabin Fever Maple Whiskey, but the pictures still keep flowing in. Many of the official Winter Ball pictures have finally been released... there's just SO many, it takes a bit to sift through them. What a ridiculous night, but one question remains: Will Spring Fling be remotely as good?
There probably is no better way to kick off 2010! Terror Pigeon Dance Revolt and The Blastoids (who I discovered got their name from, yes... Pokemon) rocked the hell out of the Oasis last night! If you missed it, or just want to reminisce about dancing in the streets singing "You make my heart explode!" and cops showing up to break it up, we've got pics and video of the insanity right here!
40 Generationals "Angry Charlie"
38 Benjy Ferree "In The Countryside" 
37 Envy Corps "Screen Test" 
36 The Drums "Saddest Summer" 
34 Passion Pit "Sleepyhead" 
33 Royal Bangs "War Bells" 
32 Discovery "So Insane" 
30 Dizzee Rascal "Money Money" 
29 Lily Allen "Not Fair" 
28 Gone For Good "Happy" 
27 Ida Maria "I Like You So Much Better When You're Naked" 
26 Surfer Blood "Swim (To Reach The End)" 
25 The Thermals "Now We Can See" 
24 The Weird Beards "Willow Tree Express" 
23 Sean Bones "Easy Street" 
18 Neon Indian "Deadbeat Summer" 
17 The Drums "I Felt Stupid" 
16 Kid Cudi f. MGMT & Ratatat "Pursuit Of Happiness" 
15 Julian Casablancas "11th Dimension" 
14 Those Dancing Days "Hitten" 
13 Patrick Wolf "Hard Times" 
12 The Answering Machine "Lightbulbs" 
11 MSTRKRFT f. John Legend "Heartbreaker" 
10 Pretty & Nice "Tora Tora Tora" 
8 Camera Obscura "French Navy" 
6 Late Of The Pier "Heartbeat" 
5 The Love Language "Lalita" 
3 The Drums "Let's Go Surfing" 
I think the hardest aspect of the running this band is just trying to describe it to people. Basically we show up with a billion lights, bags and bags of costumes (enough for anyone who wants one), 60 or more light sabers and really good songs, grab some mics and say “look, this is your time; you chose to be here, you probably paid your hard earned money to be here: don’t you dare walk out that door without having the best night of your life! All these things are at your disposal, we’ll help! We’re going to throw an awesome dance party, run around and scream about how fucking cool it is to finally kiss that person you’ve been crushing on for months, how there is nothing better than partying until 5 in the morning when you have to be up for work at 7 and how your friends are so fucking great, and there’s no doubt that you’d be absolutely fucking dead if they weren’t in your life to clean you off when you get shit on. Tonight there is no such thing as uncool. If you really want to hug a wall that’s fine! But if you’ve got a dance in your feet and a song in your heart then you fucking go for it!”
And the best part is that it works. It happens. People come out of their shells and go nuts! We’ve had shows where we just hand the mics over to people in the crowd mid song cause the harmonies they’re singing are so beautiful. People bust out insane moves! People put together the most incredible outfits! And you have no idea how good sword fighters people are! At the end of it people always come up to me and ask me what the name of our band is and who’s in it, and every time I say “We’re the terror pigeon dance revolt! And every single person in this room is in it!”
Many tracks shimmer contagiously with fun synthy spots and smoothly rolling drumbeats, much like their previous album, Some Racing, Some Stopping. They’ve mastered the art of crafting peppy gems, like Wildlife’s opener “Telephones,” a track that builds up its punch and becomes a full-fledged head-bobber by the chorus, or midway through the record on “Get Going,” where crunching guitar work intermingles with a warm and hazy danceable backdrop. Headlights rock a lot like Mates of State, French Kicks or the Pomegranates, offering not only consistently good music, but an overall fun experience.
Check out the video for "Cherry Tulips" below:
Following a tour with The Meat Puppets, Delffs packed his bags and went to live in India for a month and a half, leaving behind his guitar and embarking on a fast from Western music. He sang in the temples and wrote lyrics for the new album, which the band had already started writing, but took the longest break he’d ever taken from playing in a band. This journey, which culminated with a 23-hour plane ride leading directly into a 37-hour drive to Austin for SXSW, altered the direction of the new record—although perhaps not in the most obvious way.
Delffs launched back into the rock scene immediately, playing SXSW and touring back up to Portland. The band spent nearly two months on the road with The Thermals in spring of 2009, where they wrote and developed songs, allowing the new tracks to attain lives of their own each night. After the tour, at Morris’ recommendation, the band went into Jackpot! Studios with producer Jay Pellicci (Deerhoof, Erase Errata). There they spent ten days recording the songs they’d written and practiced, mostly in one or two takes.
Check out the video for "Already Gone," which just debuted on IFC, below:
Yes, as many of you know, I AM Festival, Connecticut's largest indie music festival, takes place this Saturday, September 12th at Waterfront Park in New London CT. We are extremely excited about this event, especially cause some of today's hottest bands will be playing the fest.
Magic Hat Wacko
Southern Tier Mokah Imperial Stout
Kona Wailua Wheat
