Vincent Van Blog

TV On The Radio Visit Letterman

2008-09-27T08:25:00.000-07:00

Probably becoming full aware of their show's 'blogability,' the folks at The Late Show gave us a little treat when TV On The Radio performed last night (9/26). I'll give them credit for mixing things up, but if you're going to throw the 'Hello Deli' label onto something, at least give us a little Rupert at some point. Is that too much to ask?

-dw

Sir Martz-A-Lot Strikes Again!!!

2008-09-24T17:35:00.000-07:00

We've warned you before: stay out of this man's way. Now Erik E. is back with a review of the new Kings of Leon album Only By The Night and, boy, does he drop a heavy load on us. Be frightened.

-dw

Hot Track: Maps Of Norway - "The Runout"

2008-09-20T15:52:00.000-07:00

Cocteau Twins are not listed as an influence on their MySpace page, but there's definitely a fair amount of Elizabeth Fraser being channeled on Maps of Norway's lead vocalist Rebecca Leigh. Now if she only sang in gibberish...

Check em out:
The Runout - mp3

Ra Ra Riot - Tonight!

2008-09-12T06:48:00.000-07:00

Ra Ra Riot, a band that has recently crept into my favorites of the year, plays tonight at the 7th Street Entry with Walter Meego and I am absolutely ecstatic. Check out their vibrant video for "Ghost Under Rocks."

-dw

Lykke Li?

2008-09-04T18:37:00.000-07:00

Well...I just...love you, I guess.

-dw

Turf Club

2008-08-21T16:09:00.000-07:00

After an entire summer away, we've decided to play in Minneapolis again. We're excited to play on our home turf again after a summer of touring through other band's turf, so we've decided to play at the Turf Club.

Lineup:
Theses Modern Socks
Wishbook
Future Antiques
Plagiarists

We play first out of the four bands.

9pm
Friday, August 22nd
Turf Club
21+

Tell your friends!

-ew

The National...

2008-08-15T07:10:00.000-07:00

...debuted a new song entitled "A Thousand Black Cities" at their recent show in Copenhagen.

-ew

City Pages Review

2008-08-13T11:12:00.000-07:00

Well, we've said it before but it won't hurt to say again...

Check out his review of Literal Scene here. Thanks, buddy! You deserve a deep-tissue massage.

-dw

Muppets Go Viral

2008-08-12T11:02:00.000-07:00

Finally!

Make sure and stay to the very end of each one. They've got a bit of a new twist on an old Muppet tradition.

Stars and Stripes Forever

Ode to Joy

Classical Chickens

Habanera (my personal favorite)

-dw

More New Kings of Leon

2008-08-06T14:03:00.000-07:00

As our own Crocodile Dundee pointed out himself, Kings of Leon have a new album arriving in September. That's old news. This week they've given us another taste by means of their MySpace page, and although unfortunately titled ("Sex on Fire"?), the track is miles better than the previously-released "Crawl." Before I was just excited - now I'm stone-cold excited. Yeah.

-dw

I May Need Help. But First - More 'Mad Men'!

2008-08-06T09:36:00.000-07:00

This Onion news brief hit a little too close to home for me. I've never really felt picked on by The Onion until now, although I suppose it was inevitable that this day would eventually come. See for yourself.

-dw

Video Grab Bag

2008-08-05T06:30:00.000-07:00

Enjoy some videos, free of charge. You're welcome.

Here's one of the (sadly few) highlights from this past Sunday's 'Tim and Eric' featuring Will Forte of 'SNL.' Though silly, I do agree with his point about dogs being raw and living.

Fleet Foxes perform "Blue Ridge Mountains" on 'The Late Show' last night (8/5). I love how Dave brings the album out with him when he greets the band afterward. Whether or not this is brought on by Dave's old age and forgetfulness, or from his newly acquired love for the band, it's a beautiful moment - one that I can't say I've witnessed before.

I finally finished my summer project of making another trek through season 2 of 'LOST' (yeah, I can't believe it took me this long, either) and I stumbled upon this feature in the extras that I somehow initially missed. Why can't we get 'LOST' promos like this in America?

Few can pull off a worth-while Radiohead cover, but it appears Gnarls Barkley were up to the challenge. Known for dressing in costume when they perform, I guess Cee-lo was going for the 'Kid Rock' look?

Best Tracks of '08 (so far)

2008-08-04T07:33:00.000-07:00

Sure, technically we are 59% of our way through 2008 so doing a 'halfway' check-in of the year's best tracks seems tardy. I'm going to argue the month of January, though 31 days, ultimately equates to roughly 8 or 9 days in the music blogosphere time-table, so I'm much closer to the 50% mark in reality. Anyways, here are my personal highlights:

Adele - "Chasing Pavements'
Beck - "Walls"
The Black Keys - "Strange Times"
Brendan Canning - "Hit The Wall"
Coldplay - "42"
Cold War Kids - "Something Is Not Right With Me"
Death Cab For Cutie - "Cath..."
DeVotchKa - "The Clockwise Witness"
The Dodos - "Fools"
Estelle - "American Boy (ft. Kanye West)"
Fleet Foxes - "White Winter Hymnal"
French Kicks - "Said So What"
Frightened Rabbit - "Good Arms Vs. Bad Arms"
Gnarls Barkley - "Who's Gonna Save My Soul?"
Jamie Lidell - "Another Day"
M83 - "Graveyard Girl"
Masses With Masses - "Morning, Morning"
Mates of State - "Get Better"
MGMT - "Electric Feel"
My Morning Jacket - "Touch Me I'm Going To Scream Pt. 1"
Mystery Jets - "Young Love"
Neon Neon - "Dream Girls"
No Age - "Eraser"
The Notwist - "Good Lies"
REM - "Supernatural Superserious"
The Radio Dept. - "Freddie and the Trojan Horse"
Santogold - "Lights Out"
Sigur Ros - "Gobbledigook"
Someone Still Loves You Boris Yeltsin - "Glue Girls"
The Streets - "The Escapist"
Tokyo Police Club - "Centennial"
Vampire Weekend - "M79"
The Walkmen - "In The New Year"
The Whigs - "Right Hand On My Heart"
Wolf Parade - "Soldier's Grin"

-dw

Robert Smith is Better Than Ezra

2008-07-31T13:08:00.000-07:00

Vampire Weekend have a new video for their fan-favorite and Graceland-tripping "Cape Cod Kwassa Kwassa." They've done John Hughes proud. Check it:

And, yes, I agree. That is the most clever post title you've ever seen. I should just retire now. If you don't get it, you're clearly no friend of mine. Oh, and Peter Gabriel, too.

-dw

Plagiarists = Non-Winners (and Crazytown?)

2008-07-31T08:57:00.000-07:00

Well, we didn't end up winning the Hennessy Presents: Spin "Hot Pursuit" contest. Bummer. Luckily one of the few other halfway decent acts won, so a congratulations is order for the Atlanta band Rantings of Eva. We had an exciting run while the competition lasted, although, as mentioned earlier, the majority of the band wasn't even aware of the Pursuit's existence until the final round. I guess we'll just have to find another magazine/alcoholic beverage music competition to join. I'm looking to see if Patrón and Highlights have any sort of partnership at this point.

Though losing, one of the more giddiness-inducing moments was knowing that celebrity judges would actually be listening to our music and being forced to consider what they heard. Earlier this week the judges posted comments regarding the various entrants, and here's what the panel said about us, and more specifically, our song "Church":

Butch Walker, producer and former Marvelous 3 lead singer
"its a bold name. you gotta reallllllllllly be original to pull off the name without sounding pretentious. but pretention is so hot right now... pretention....not crazy about the song selections... there's only one to hear!!! i hate to make a fair judgment based on one song, but the song is definitely interesting. the production is adventurous and i appreciate where they are going with it. i just want to hear more to make sure it's not that thing like when Crazytown put out that record and the only good song was the one with the chili peppers sample. ok... bad example of a band.. but whatever. it's a good song. i am talking about the song by Plagiarists... not the come my lady come come my lady one...."

Peter Moren, of Peter Bjorn and John fame
"I love the Television-guitars on their song "Church." There is a weird mix of styles here and an angularity which I really enjoy. The glockenspiel-riff mixed with the guitar is nice; good bass and vocals too. Modern rock without being boring. Also went to their My Space to check out their other songs and they hold up and also add some other flavors. Especially the way they arrange the guitars are impressive. Like the pretty lo-fi sound. They should NOT go and record expensive and become Death Cab For Cutie mark 2."

Amanda Palmer, of Dresden Dolls fame
"this reminds me of cutting class & taking off in a borrowed car with the windows down, speeding through mostly-empty roads in september when the weather is crisper than summer and you're on your way to meet someone for tea at an old bookstore."

and the not so ecstatic...

Doug Brod, Spin magazine Editor-in-Chief
"This is all very well done, but aside from the compelling guitar solo, it doesn’t sound particularly distinctive me. Good luck."

Yes, the editor-in-chief from Spin did make that glaring grammatical error in his comment towards us (found on our profile, he luckily corrected himself for his Comments page posting). I guess either our music completely flustered him or he's been making a lot of Facebook wall posts lately.

Comedian Michael Showalter was a judge as well, but he was probably too busy off making a sandwich somewhere to post his comments. Oh well.

-dw

Hey, let's take a look at the Kings of Leon website...whaa? Free download? Why...thank you, Kings of Leon, you really do appreciate my patronage!

2008-07-30T17:46:00.000-07:00

Being an enormous fan of Kings of Leon, I have now listened to this song on repeat for what could be construed as an embarrassingly long time. Kings of Leon's forthcoming album Only by the Night is due out September 23rd. Mark it on your calendars, and then check out their addicting new song Crawl! (Repeat if necessary)

-ew

New Chemical Brothers Video

2008-07-30T11:19:00.000-07:00

Being a fan of The Chemical Brothers since early middle school, I always get excited when something new pops of from them, even if it's not so hot. Hey, we all know nostalgia is often more powerful than actual quality. The duo has a new collection of singles coming out soon entitled Brotherhood as well as an all-caps awesome video for new single "Midnight Madness." This video is absolutely mesmerizing and although it will most likely haunt me while I sleep, it's preferable to my reoccurring nightmares brought on by this. Ugh. Check it:

Chemical Brothers - Midnight Madness
Uploaded by mikropikol

-dw

Culture of Me Shout-Out (Part III)

2008-07-29T14:23:00.000-07:00

Yesterday the fine folks at The Culture of Me posted a third plug for our music and, seriously, these guys could not be more generous towards us (or maybe they could...). Check their write-up on "Wooden Horses" here, and if you missed their features on "Church" and/or "Pockets," click here and/or here, respectively.

-dw

Who you calling 'turkey'?

2008-07-28T13:24:00.000-07:00

Season 3 of Tim and Eric Awesome Show, Great Job! premiered last night on the Cartoon Network and the duo wasted no time in reintroducing Channel 5's charmingly inept Steve Brule. Check it:

Metro Magazine feature

2008-07-28T09:18:00.000-07:00

The August issue of Metro Magazine has highlighted Literal Scene as their 'CD of the Month' saying:

"The sophomore release from this quintet of recent St. Olaf grads combines twitchy guitars, lissome xylophone and keyboard fills, and big-riffed choruses to create an enticing blend of highly accessible indie-rock."

Pretty cool. The issue is on newsstands now and the piece can be seen here as well. Hey, we like Dosh and Dance Band, too!

-dw

the Muni in San Fran stole $20 from me and I want it back

2008-07-21T20:45:00.000-07:00

San Fransisco is a gorgeous city. Tiny stucco buildings stretch as far as the eye can see, covering the hills in an endless, multicolored collage. For many, crossing over the Bay Bridge represents an entrance into a world of freedom and expression. To those of us to whom arriving at the city meant getting out of a van in which we've spent the last 12 hours overnight from Seattle, it meant a good stretch, and much needed deodorizing of both the human and vehicular undercarriages.

El Rio offered us the rare opportunity to perform between a lemon tree and a palm tree. Few bands can say that their time in San Fran was as fruity as ours. We played to a mixture of super-hipsters wearing winter hats and glasses bigger and weirder than Brendan's, a birthday party for a really excited and most likely heavily intoxicated woman, appreciative people who wandered over from wherever, and a goth transvestite who leered at us as from under a pair of caterpillar eyebrows. Unfortunately, Davis thought this show's theme was Dress Like Your Favorite Nintendo Character. Unsurprisingly, he chose Mario, the lamest character ever.

In case you've ever wondered what touring the country in a van is like, Davis documented a video of our life over the past few weeks. Consider it a "behind the scenes" look.

Also, some exciting news! Unbeknownst to the rest of the band, Davis decided to enter us into the Spin Magazine Hot Pursuit competition. Out of 900 something entries, we've been selected as one of twenty finalists! Drinks are on me! Check it out!

-ew

Plagiarists Video Grab Bag

2008-07-19T22:59:00.000-07:00

Here are a few video clips that have kept us entertained over the past few days. Enjoy!

I don't think an hour goes by without someone quoting this Tim and Eric clip, myself being the guiltiest of all.

Our tour theme song. The track probably gets around 3 to 4 listens in Vincent each day, which is just what the doctor ordered. What do you know? - the video is classic, too.

Hey, guess what? Beck is awesome.

Last week we saw Feist for free in Omaha the day after we played there and coincidentally she just played another show in the same city as us this past evening, this time in San Francisco. I think it's safe to say we're full-fledged touring buddies now. We also love Sesame Street, so there you go.

-dw

O-o-oregon!

2008-07-15T17:51:00.000-07:00

We decided to take a stop on the coast in Oregon. Though it resulted in seriously painful sunburns for all of us, it was a necessary endeavor. Brendan and I decided to take a dip in the freezing cold water, and Mike chose to come in as well...but under slightly different circumstances. Here are some videos detailing our escapades. Share them with your friends and win a prize!*

Blake found an unwelcome surprise under the sand.

Tomorrow we play in Bend, Oregon at the Summit Lounge.
It's a later show, doors at nine.
Hope to see all of you Oregonians there!

*there is no prize
-ew

In a Big Country

2008-07-13T06:53:00.000-07:00

From Iowa to Nebraska you wouldn't think there would be much change in the scenery. And you would think correctly. Endless corn fields and highways that disappear over distant horizons are interspersed with random towns, and occasional small villages with dry wells. However, every so often, the largest ball of stamps ever created comes into view. Take THAT giant frying pan of Iowa! Go America!!!!!

Our Omaha gig was played to a heavily intoxicated crowd of Nebraskans at the Saddle Creek Bar. This shallow room was filled with pool tables, low hanging (sometimes dangerously so) lamps, and most importantly, a pinball machine on which I scored an octuple-jackpot. Luck? or skill? I'll leave you to decide. It was loud, sweaty, and free drinks arrived in the form of unlimited PBR pitchers.
We opted to spend an extra night in Omaha in order to attend a free Feist concert. Set in Memorial Park, the open night air was illuminated by Feist's magnificent voice as it floated up to the edges of the surrounding bowl. Though the crowd was somewhat unresponsive to her inclusive style of performance, she made do, and complimented the perfect weather with song after flawless song.
Indie rockers The Good Life opened the night to an ever growing crowd. In his home town, singer Tim Kasher gave an exciting performance to an appreciative crowd of hipsters, many of whom who were at the age where bringing their newly born children to concerts was the norm. It really made me want to listen to Cursive.

Seeing that the next day we had a sixteen hour drive packed in close proximity within the confines of a small metal box traveling seventy miles an hour down the freeway, stuffing ourselves silly on spicy food and heavy drinks only seemed logical. Applebees, of course, was the only place to go. However, only after we had ordered our food and drinks did the waitress inform us that half price appetizers only applied to Monday through Thursday in Nebraska. Not the normal 7-days a week food fest we're used to. Suffice to say, Blake was not pleased, and began texting furiously in search of justice. Whom he texted, the world may never know, but I can only assume that it was a being of higher power.

Today: 16 hours of driving.
Tomorrow: Tillamook, Oregon.
For now: Modern Rock: Cutting-Edge '80s will keep us sane.

-ew

Fievel...er...Vincent Goes West

2008-07-10T15:30:00.000-07:00

It's official. We're on our way to the Pacific, and Matty G has graciously elected to come and help us not die along the way. Scorching sun and smokey skies await us all.

Our first stop? Brandon, Iowa! Where we celebrated Stephen Lindley's birthday in the most elegant of fashions. By visiting the world's (actually just Iowa's) largest frying pan. Yes indeed, this baby can fry up 528 eggs at once, thereby creating an omelet capable of engulfing the four smaller Plagiarists, or one larger keyboardist, in a warm yolky blanket. Happy birthday, Stephen. Hope Space Camp: Turkey is treating you well.

Matty G is a welcome edition to our pentagon of plagiarism. Mainly because he brought his Gameboy along. So far today he's captured a Squirtle, and Caterpie on a certain, unmentionable WB-television-show-themed game (no, not this one!), and crushed my little brother's high score on Tetris. It's going to be a good trip.

On our way south, we encountered a truck filled with pigs. This, in itself was kind of funny. But all our lives were made better after Mike saw that the company was called TransPork. Bringing beef to America. This was strangely preceded by a chorus rendition of the National Anthem, complete with harmonies which...I think... was ironic...

Tonight we play in Iowa City at the Picador. Doors are at 10.
We play with Capes of Lead and Illegal Smile.

Hope to see all of you Iowans out there!

-ew

We Love Erik E. Martz

2008-07-09T10:21:00.000-07:00

The king himself returns again to City Pages with a glowing review of Sigur Ros' new album, Med Sud I Eyrum Vid Spilum Endalaust. Scope it here.

-dw

BOW TO THIS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

2008-07-08T13:20:00.001-07:00

Kanye can get away with post titles like that, so heck, I thought I'd give it a whirl. No? OK. I promise it won't happen again (wink). If the rest of the Brendan Canning album is as solid as this lead single, "Hit The Wall," it may trump his BSS cohort Kevin Drew's solo album of last year, both a part of the Broken Social Scene Presents project. Too bold? Check it out.

-dw

New Death Cab video - "Cath..."

2008-07-08T11:34:00.000-07:00

The Cutie boys get their Graduate on for the new "Cath..." video. This could just be me, but group lip-syncing comes across more affectively when multiple vocal parts are involved, as opposed to the lone lead. The track is still an '08 favorite nevertheless. Watch here.

-dw

A few really, really cute kittens!!

2008-07-07T19:08:00.001-07:00

As a general rule, I hold the belief that cats are hell-spawn put onto the earth to kill and maim everything in their way. But these little kitties are just so darn cute I can't look away!

Source: Gawker

-ew

Literal Scene Review

2008-07-07T14:18:00.000-07:00

A very generous album review. Check it out here.

-dw

New Bloc Party

2008-07-07T13:25:00.000-07:00

A Vincent Van Blog exclusive!

Not actually a VVB exclusive. I'm just a dreamer.

-dw

'Literal Scene' now on iTunes

2008-07-03T11:19:00.000-07:00

If you're itchy to listen to Literal Scene and want to cut out the frustration and/or awkwardness of dealing with an actual human being to get your hands on the music, today is your lucky day. The album is now available on iTunes for a measly $9.99, a penny less than what what we charge (how do they do it?), so you have no excuse not to check it out.

If you're looking for some FREE Plagiarists love (and who isn't?) make sure to check out 89.3 The Current's Song of the Day Podcast for a free download of "Wooden Horses" tomorrow, July 4th. If there's a better way to celebrate our nation's birth, I don't want to hear it. Okay, okay. Tubing, grilling, and eating red, white, and blue Jello is probably close in enjoyment. Anyways, if you don't subscribe to the podcast, you can do that here.

Remember: be safe and always make sure to wear your life vest. Happy 4th!

-dw

Too Good To Be True?

2008-07-03T08:19:00.000-07:00

Every so often a film announcement comes along with such a seemingly perfect casting and teaming of ingenious creative visionaries that there's absolutely no way their efforts wouldn't create the best movie of all time. Unfortunately, history often proves differently. For the time being, let's all hope and pray the pairing of Will Ferrell and Sacha Baron Cohen for a comedic revamping of 'Sherlock Holmes,' produced by Judd Apatow, will deliver to the extent that it ought to. Baron Cohen is set to play the lead and Ferrell is to play Watson, Holmes' noble sidekick. That alone is one of the most ridiculous images ever to have entered my noggin and I'll be severely distraught if this isn't the comedy of the decade. Please don't hurt me again, Hollywood.

Full story here.

-DW

New No Age Video

2008-07-03T06:15:00.000-07:00

Check out the new video for No Age's "Eraser." Now one of the best songs of 2008 also earns a ranking in the 'best videos' category. Slow motion, brightly-colored balloons, and giant papier-mâché skulls are hard to beat. Duly noted.

-DW

Lay off me, I'm starving!

2008-07-02T17:22:00.000-07:00

There's nothing like a super hero dog to get the Christmas season started!

-ew

Why So Serious?

2008-07-02T14:29:00.000-07:00

OK. So the The Dark Knight looks unreal. We all know that. The release date is finally at an attainable distance (just shy of a fortnight, baby!) and I couldn't possibly think the internal hype that has been festering inside of me could grow any higher. That was until I saw this. My God. Possibly the most intense movie poster ever created (possibly), not to mention absolutely terrifying. Did they get the Saw promoters to handle this one or what?

Love from the Music Slut

2008-07-02T08:48:00.000-07:00

Being somewhat of an unhealthy nut for music and pop culture blogs, having the latest Plagiarists shout-out coming from The Music Slut is a pretty big deal for us. Not only did we get a mention, we were a part of their Manic MP3 Monday. Check it out!

-DW

Speaking of Kicks...

2008-07-02T08:40:00.000-07:00

Expect all of us to be equipped with these later this summer. Well, at least Brendan anyway.

You couldn't make them auto-lace, Nike? Maybe we actually have to wait until 2015 for that technological advancement. I guess Velcro will have to continue servicing my laziness for now.

-DW

French Kicks on Daytrotter

2008-07-01T08:23:00.000-07:00

Plagiarists' favorite French Kicks recently floated into the Daytrotter studios for a live session this past Friday and is available for your downloading pleasure. Although they're not particularly as spot-on as they are in concert, it's still worth checking out to get another taste of their new (and one of the year's best) album, Swimming.

If you need more convincing, check out this album review from the King of Cool himself, Erik E. Martz.

Hey Kid, Where Ya From?

2008-06-30T11:28:00.000-07:00

We're now back home in Minnesota and ready for some downtime. One full week of driving, performing, and general tomfoolery will really take it out of you, but then again I guess that's what we signed up for and should have been expected. Now we return to our pitiful, mundane lives until we leave once again next Thursday, the 10th, heading towards the West Coast this time where we're gearing up to take on such obstacles as unfathomable gas prices, blazing wild fires, and Arnold Schwarzenegger (Minnesota hasn't been the same since you tore through here looking for a Turbo Man doll, you big jerk!). In the meantime, keep checking back for more updates, as well as various random things I decide to post because, let's face it, working at Rolvaag Library isn't exactly working at Hogan Brothers, if you know what I mean.

Stay fresh,
-DW

NYC

2008-06-28T09:10:00.000-07:00

You would not believe the number of Love Guru ads around New York. Seriously, the fact that the movie only made $14m with this much advertising only emphasizes how bad the movie actually must have been. Way to make smart career choices, Mike Meyers.

We got to NYC a few hours early and decided to get some food. We went to Time Square and got some NYC pizza. Oh the cliche! I proceeded to accidentally eat half of Blake's slice while he was in the bathroom. He was not pleased. Oops? But seriously, it was really good.
The girls in the back of this photo totally checked out Davis the whole time we were in there. I attribute it to his nasty moustache he's got going on right now.

The next stop was the MOMA. The featured artist was Olafur Eliasson, and it was amazing. Davis and I found ourselves staring at a color changing wall for almost ten minutes without moving. Of course, that seemed normal to most people since the room was filled with people sitting on the floor staring into the distance.

We hit up the closest Gyro stand after developing a serious case of museum fatigue. We waited in line for a while only to have Blake drop his food all over the New York sidewalk. The pigeons had a field day. Blake bought another one, as pictured.

We played at The Rehab in SoHo, which turned out to be the best tour stop so far, and probably one of the best places we've ever played. As the first of five bands we started with a minimal crowd, but by the later half our set the audience had grown to at least 25 people. The NY crowd was appreciative of our Minneapolis roots, and we got into many a conversation about The Replacements and Prince. One lady told us that we acted like The Cars, looked like the National, and was going to come and see us in MPLS as soon as she could. She then proceeded to tell us about all the different types of cutlery and crock pots she uses in her cooking every day. Don't really know how that segue happened.

Luckily we got drink tickets, since everything was three times as expensive as in MPLS.

Tonight we head to Cleveland, then home overnight to take a week before we head out west.

Listen to The Current on July 4th to hear our music as the featured song of the day!

-ew

Mansions, Monuments, Music

2008-06-25T15:25:00.000-07:00

Hey team

Since 3/5 of the band has never been to D.C., we decided to take a trip to the capital to celebrate our day off. Sadly, despite our repeated calls through the fence surrounding the White House, ol' Dubbya didn't invite us in for iced tea. We decided to pose for a few shots with a president more open to receiving visitors.

(Goobraham Lincoln)

Some random pictures:

A cheeky driver with a sign saying "be a flirt, lift your shirt"

The D.C. Metro

(Subway system jokes made ad nauseam)

Apparently, not the most exciting book for Golle.

Tonight we play at The Sidebar in Baltimore with a band called Arden. Show is at 9pm, 21+. According to Brendan, this place has "the best double esspresso martinis he has ever tasted." I'll get some pics up tomorrow.

We've also gotten a few cool press hits as we've been on the road, and are going to be featured as the album of the month in the upcoming edition of Metro Magazine!
Check out our latest review!

-ew

Cincinnati, Punk rock, Blood and Gore

2008-06-24T08:16:00.000-07:00

Hey everyone!

This blog comes to you from the back of a van moving a steady 65 mph down the highway. We'll be updating every day with pictures, stories, and videos from our adventure across the country. Tell your friends, because we might just be heading your way.

6.25 Baltimore, MD, The Sidebar
6.26 Philadelphia, PA, The Fire
6.27 New York, NY, The Rehab Lounge
6.28 Cleveland, OH, Bella Dubby
7.10 Iowa City, IA, The Picador
7.11 Omaha, NE, Saddle Creek Bar
7.16 Bend, OR, The Summit Room
7.17 Portland, OR, Towne Lounge
7.18 Seattle, WA, The Ground Zero
7.19 San Francisco, CA, El Rio
7.23, Denver, CO, Quixote's

More dates may fall into place as we drive, and we're also planning a Minneapolis show just after we return!

Anyway...

Vincent Van has already been good to us.

After a 12 hour drive, with few bathroom stops, we pulled up in front of The Blue Rock Tavern. This place was awesome, and so were the three extremo hardcore punk bands we played with, Means to an End, Hooker Spit Windex, and Brody's Militia. We were out of there by one, since each band only played a fifteen minute set, or approximately ten songs each, and we decided to limit our set to a solid 45. They were gracious enough to let us open for them, as going anywhere but first would have resulted in an unsatisfactory change in mood. Still, they were all cool guys, and we got along great.

Please notice the blood on the face of Brody Militia's lead singer's face in the picture on the right. That was self inflicted. Microphone to the forehead. Brendan and Mike moshed with these guys during the earlier punk bands (videos coming soon), even knocking a few of them down in the frivolous violence of companionship, but when Brody's Milita came onto the stage, the hardcore-ness flew to an entirely new level. Even the almighty Goob was coyed into submission. Slightly terrifying.

I'll leave you guys with a few random pictures, and some videos from our youtube channel, www.youtube.com/plagiarists

(not pictured: me, eric)

We're currently on the way to Maryland, and as per usual, Blake is quoting Aquateen Hunger Force in the back seat. We just entered Muskingum County, listening to Lauryn Hill.

-ew