the black watch un-retires, sets release date of Dec. 4th for “Highs & Lows” album, 13th of its 27-year history.

Los Angeles-based pop band’s latest single is likely first ever to reference Pretenders’ Chrissie Hynde by name.

+++

the black watch (L-R): Tyson Cornell, Chris Rackard, John Andrew Fredrick, Rick Woodard.  Photo Credit: Steve Keros.

+++

PLAY, POST & SHARE

Check out the premiere of “Pershing/Harvard Square” by the black watch via PopMatters or at the links below!

[STREAM]: https://soundcloud.com/fanaticpro/the-black-watch-pershing-harvard-square

[MP3]: http://www.fanaticpromotion.com/projects/theblackwatch-hal/mp3/theblackwatch-pershing-harvardsquare.mp3

+++

“Should’ve become a household name a long time ago.” – USA Today

“L.A. has not produced a band as capable of both My Bloody Valentine miasma and Nick Drake quietness.” — Andy Gill, Gang of Four

John Andrew Fredrick, a prolific songwriter and author – he has published three comic-literary novels and is about to release a book on the early films of Wes Anderson –  announced that his long-time, critically revered band (referred to as “a national treasure” by LA Weekly), the black watch would tick no more following the release of the band’s Sugarplum Fairy, Sugarplum Fairy album in early 2015.

As it turns out, this retirement has lasted less than a year.

Set for release on December 4^th, Highs & Lows is the band’s 13^th release in 27 years and is one of its best. An early review from the venerable magazine The Big Takeover calls the album “high art,” and notes that Fredrick “plies the refined, crafted spaces of post-Velvets pop like Go-Betweens/Orange Juice/Smiths/c86.”

Produced by Rob Campanella of Brian Jonestown Massacre, the first single from Highs & Lows is “Pershing/Harvard Square,” which Frederick believes to be the first song to ever mention Pretenders frontwoman Chrissie Hynde by name.

“I jotted down the whole thing early one morning after coffee,” he says.” I often think about the sort of person you meet in Los Angeles who, as the line in the song goes, thinks they’re Chrissie Hynde or something just because they ‘say strange things’ to people, at parties or wherever.”

Highs & Lows, the latest album from the black watch, arrives on December 4^th, 2015 via Pop Culture Press Records.  John Andrew Fredrick is available for interviews.  Contact Josh Bloom at Fanatic for more information.

+++

the black watch

Highs & Lows

(Pop Culture Press Records)

Dec. 4^th, 2015

  

Track Listing:

01. Beautiful Sleeper (VIDEO)

02. Quondam Redhead

03. Pershing/Harvard Square (STREAM | MP3)

04. There’s No Fucking Way

05. A Sort of An Overture

06. Love’s Fever Dreams

07. She’s A Mess

08. If Upon A Time That Never Happened

09. He Must Needs Go That The Devil Drives

10. Eleanor’s Not Hiding

+++

the black watch Links

ASSETS : WEBSITE : FACEBOOK : TWITTER : YOUTUBE : POP CULTURE PRESS RECORDS

+++

Contact Josh Bloom at Fanatic Promotion

WEBSITE : FACEBOOK : TWITTER : YOUTUBE : INSTAGRAM : TUMBLR : SOUNDCLOUD : SPOTIFY : LAST.FM : BLOG : E-MAIL

Back alley struts, dizzying waltzes, and surf-raga-samba-freakouts populate J Hacha De Zola’s “urban junkyard.”

Recorded in shadow of a maximum security prison, Escape From Fat Kat City arrives Jan. 8^th. Check out “Strange” now.

+++



J Hacha De Zola as photographed by Miguel Peralta

+++

PLAY, POST & SHARE

Check out the premiere of “Strange” by J Hacha De Zola via Stereo Embers or at the links below!


[STREAM]: https://soundcloud.com/fanaticpro/j-hacha-de-zola-strange

[MP3]: https://www.fanaticpromotion.com/projects/jhachadezola/mp3/jhachadezola-strange.mp3

+++

[VIDEO]: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=B9OSRmE8GEo

+++

“Delightful theatrics.” – MAGNET

“A wobbly and battered desolation that brings to mind Mark Lanegan fronting The Doors. It’s stunning stuff.” – Stereo Embers

J Hacha De Zola’s Escape From Fat Kat City was recorded in Rahway, New Jersey in the shadow of a maximum security correctional facility and an oil refinery, a setting that perfectly contributes to the slinky back alley strut, dizzying waltzes, and surf-raga-samba-freakouts that populate the record.

“I don’t write happy songs,” says the Jersey City native. “Maybe one day I will, but not today.” Indeed, themes of alienation, paranoia and isolation can be found on “Strange,” taken from Hacha De Zola’s upcoming new album, out Jan. 8^th, 2016.  Listen to “Strange” now via Stereo Embers and check out the video courtesy of Groundsounds.  “Our protagonist has a hard time discerning reality from dream, truth from delusion. This is what it is be ‘strange,” Hacha De Zola explains of the tune. “He doesn’t know where he’s headed. He’s all in and he’s willing to go down with the ship.”

Hacha De Zola goes on to say, “I realize these subjects are quite recurrent in my songs, but I can’t help it. Growing up in ‘Fat Kat City,’ you see a lot of things that leave you numb.” He takes away something positive from these experiences, however. “I am grateful for my experiences here. They have roused the fighter in me. When you don’t have much to lose, you learn to be fearless.”

With its abandoned industrial parks, rail road tracks, and refinery flares, Rahway was the perfect setting in which to create the album, which composites various musical styles ranging from Blues, Folk, Jazz, Latin, Funk, and Psychedelia and influences such as Screamin’ Jay Hawkins, Syd Barrett, Cesar Romero, and Tom Waits. A salvaged toy piano, noise makers, 25-cent whistles, rattles, plastic flutes, and cheap candy ocarinas also help to color what has become Hacha De Zola’s unique “urban junkyard” sound.

Escape From Fat Kat City by J Hacha De Zola is scheduled for release on January 8^th, 2016.  Hacha De Zola is available for interviews.  Contact Josh Bloom at Fanatic for more information.

+++

J Hacha De Zola

Escape From Fat Kat City

(S/R)

Jan. 8^th, 2016

  

Track Listing:

01. Welcome to Fat Kat City (Instrumental) (VIDEO)

02. Strange (STREAM | MP3 | VIDEO)

03. Better Run (STREAM | MP3)

04. Black Sparrow (STREAM | MP3)

05. Death Rant #1 (Rant)

06. Let It Go

07. Poison Wine

08. Hold Tight

09. Down

10. Ice Cream and Cigarettes

11. City Girls

12. Moonpies and Penny Whistles

13. 7 League Boots

14. Blue Sky

15. Next Exit (Instrumental)

+++

J Hacha De Zola Links

ASSETS : FACEBOOK : TWITTER : INSTAGRAM : SOUNDCLOUD : BANDCAMP : TUMBLR

+++

Contact Josh Bloom at Fanatic Promotion

WEBSITE : FACEBOOK : TWITTER : YOUTUBE : INSTAGRAM : TUMBLR : SOUNDCLOUD : SPOTIFY : LAST.FM : BLOG : E-MAIL

Led by The Riverboat Gamblers guitarist Ian MacDougall, Broken Gold returns with “Turning Blue” EP on Nov. 20th.

Title track from Austin-based foursome’s latest streaming now via KUTX, Austin; Band launches week of tour dates today.

+++

Broken Gold (L-R): Ben Lance, Rich Cali, Ian MacDougall, Rob Marchant. Photo Credit: Justin Wilson.

+++

PLAY, POST & SHARE

Check out the title track from the “Turning Blue” EP by Broken Gold via KUTX, Austin or at the links below!

[STREAM]: https://soundcloud.com/fanaticpro/broken-gold-turning-blue

[DOWNLOAD]: https://soundcloud.com/fanaticpro/broken-gold-turning-blue/download

[MP3]: https://www.fanaticpromotion.com/projects/brokengold/mp3/brokengold-turningblue.mp3

+++

 Pick up the “Turning Blue” EP on 7-inch vinyl and download the “Meet Broken Gold” sampler via Noisetrade!

+++

Broken Gold – On Tour

10/28 New Orleans, LA @ Siberia

10/29 Tampa, FL @ New World Brewery

10/30 Gainesville, FL @ Loosey’s

10/31 Atlantic Beach, FL @ Harbor Tavern

11/02 Pensacola, FL @ Vinyl Music Hall

11/28 Austin, TX @ End of an Ear In-Store

12/11 Corpus Christi, TX @ House of Rock

12/12 Houston, TX @ Fitzgerald’s

12/19 Denton, TX @ Rubber Gloves

+++

“Recalls the Replacements or Hüsker Dü, equal parts rousing and reflective” – KUTX, Austin on Broken Gold

The upcoming “Turning Blue” EP by Broken Gold – hear the title track now via KUTX, Austin – is the latest from the Austin-based foursome led by The Riverboat Gamblers guitarist Ian MacDougall. The efficient batch of four songs, arriving November 20^th via Chicken Ranch Records, asks some big, hard questions; concerns that have arisen organically within the band.

In 2009, MacDougall was in a serious car accident. He lost a year to recuperation, a year in which it was unclear if he would be physically be able to return to playing music. For MacDougall, who joined The Riverboat Gamblers fresh out of high school, there was no “Plan B,” and knowing the fastest way through darkness is just to drive right through it, he’s continued his pursuit of Broken Gold, galvanized by what he’s endured.

Supported by Ben Lance on guitar, fellow Riverboat Gambler Rob Marchant on bass, and Rich Cali on drums, MacDougall has written and recorded his best songs to date, mature and thoughtful without losing the jittery anxiousness of his youth. Broken Gold invites comparisons to some of the indie rock legends –  Superchunk in ‘89, Dinosaur Jr in ‘87, The Replacements in ’84 –while still sounding totally their own.

While MacDougall has already logged a solid decade with The Riverboat Gamblers, don’t misunderstand Broken Gold as a lesser version of the Austin party punk legends.  If the Gamblers represent beer-drenched, Saturday night anarchy-euphoria-oblivion, Broken Gold is the urgent desperation after the party’s over.

Like the “Turning Blue” EP itself, Broken Gold’s very existence asks the questions: How do we make sense of the chaos we’ve enjoyed? Are we responsible for the mess we’ve made, the destruction we’ve caused, and the people we’ve hurt? How are we even going to make it home?

The “Turning Blue” EP by Broken Gold arrives November 20^th via Chicken Ranch Records digitally and on 7-inch vinyl. The title track is streaming now. Ian MacDougall is available for interviews.  Contact Josh Bloom at Fanatic for more information.

Broken Gold will play a series of live dates to support the release of the “Turning Blue” EP.  See below for complete itinerary.

+++

Broken Gold

“Turning Blue” EP

(Chicken Ranch Records)

Nov. 20^th, 2015

  

Track Listing:

01. Turning Blue (STREAM | DOWNLOAD | MP3)

02. Groundwork

03. Harm/Joy

04. Nov/Dec

+++

Broken Gold Links

ASSETS : WEBSITE : FACEBOOK : TWITTER : INSTAGRAM

+++

Contact Josh Bloom at Fanatic Promotion

WEBSITE : FACEBOOK : TWITTER : YOUTUBE : INSTAGRAM : TUMBLR : SOUNDCLOUD : SPOTIFY : LAST.FM : BLOG : E-MAIL