Jingle Jangle Baby

Happy holidays!

Help Gods & Queens!

Some close friends of ours were involved in a serious accident an could really use a helping hand. From their Facebook:

I´m going to try and make this as short as I can. After all these years of touring in unsafe vans, and doing stupid things, I guess I was over due for this... We had a serious van accident in route from our show in Graz, Austria to Dresden, Germany, somewhere along the highway in the Czech.

I was asleep in the back of the van, so I'm unsure of what exactly happened. All I know is I felt the van skidding out and we started to slide and roll over. Not sure exactly how many times the van flipped but it was more than enough. I started screaming for everyone to tell me they were OK. Gertjan check, Ben check, Sara check, and I didnt hear Jeff.

Ben pulled me out through the windshield and I took off running, screaming for help with blood pouring down my face. I honestly though Jeff was dead. A car stopped and a slew of women started screaming at me and I was screaming at them. We were in the middle of no where and as I was running two things came to mind, I think Jeff is dead, and I hope I don´t get shot like Artimus Pyle. A woman pulled me into her house and her husband and son ran to the van crash site. I found Gertjan, and he said everyone is OK. The family started talking to me via Google Translation telling me everyone is safe and that an amublance is on the way.

The ambulance comes takes us to a hospital, we get taken care of...sort of. The police arrive on the scene and inform us that we aren´t leaving until the medical bills are paid in full. The were so kind enough to escort Sara and myself to an ATM machine to pay the entire lump of the bills in full on the spot. Even after we signed some strange papers saying we have 30 day with proof of citizenship, etc. What the fuck ever right? We asked where Gertjan was, and their respone was...prison. 300 phone calls and around €3,000 later we are out of the damned Czech and safe in Germany.

Long short, we are all somewhat OK. Jeff broke his collarbone, Ben got his hand jacked up, I am pretty alright, Gertjan is OK, as well as Sara. The van is destroyed. Booking these tours ourself really made me realize that we are 100% on our own. We had no one to call, no one to "rescue" us. I made 3 phone calles and the entire German punk scene came to our rescue. God damn thank you. Our new friends from Dresden Germany came to get us at the drop of a hat, no questions asked. Thank you.

So here it is, we are 3 grown adult males in our 30´s who play in a punk band. We are all stage hands at R5 Productions in Philly. That´s what we do to enable us to be here in Europe doing this. Never in our lives have we needed help like we do now. If you want to help us, please go to www.godsandqueens.bandcamp.com and purchas a record for $1.99. If you ever laughed at one of my awful jokes, or spend hours talking with us after a show, and you would like to help, please do. I always though our band would have too much pride to ask for help, but I am pretty sure we all agree that this time we need it. If you would like to help in any form please do jamiegetz(at)gmail.com is the paypal address if you are inclined to do so. We will also accept first class upgrades on US Air, Delta or Virgin.

Help them out with a download if you can.

There is also a benefit show this Sunday, December 4th, at Little Bar in South Philly (738 S. 8th St.) w/ A Life Once Lost, Fight Amp, Carved Up, SGNLS, Exemption, Snake Road, and Ominous Black. Starts at 7pm. $10

Not Live Radio Show & Winter Weekend

Firstly, if you are reading this and it is Thanksgiving Eve, tune into Ynotradio.net at 10PM to hear an in-studio performance and listen to a local playlist we picked out. We'll keep you company if you've got nowhere to go! At least for an hour.

If you're scared of the airwaves or prefer the real thing we will be playing some shows with our colleagues, Band Name, to start the winter off right. Dates are right under your fucking nose!

December 2 in Amherst, MA @ Babetown USA w/ TBA
December 3 in Ithaca, NY Big Day In 3 @ The Haunt w/ The Sidekicks, Parts and Labor and lots more.
December 4 Brooklyn, NY @ Big Snow Buffalo Lodge w/ TBA

Pre-orders for Parrot Flies are on their way to their new homes and the album is now available for sale in our mailorder section to the right of this post. Distros and stores can get in touch for wholesale at hotgreenrecords@gmail.com.

How about Algernon Cadwallader?

“How about Algernon Cadwallader?”

”They always seemed…”

“They always seemed what? They always seemed really great is what they always seemed. They picked up where your precious Cap n’ Jazz left off, and you’re sitting around complaining about no more Cap n’ Jazz albums. I can’t believe you don’t own this fucking record. That’s insane. Jesus.”

From wehateyourhate.tumblr.com.

Tour Detox, Pre-Orders, & More Tour

We arrived in Philadelphia with much turbulence, just as we had left from Belgium. The final days of our European tour--of our 3 month, 70 show, intercontinental tour--were trying ones. 10 hour drives in a van that was leaking thick black exhaust under the rear bench left us with dirty clothes, dark boogers, and achy heads. Our spirits showed ware as well after we missed what would have been our third to last show in A Coruña, Spain. Our sincere apologies go out to anyone waited around to see us that night. Now we were only minutes away from being swaddled in the comfort and familiarity of close friends. There is no questioning that this summer will be one that makes all the others shrivel up like a raisin in comparison. Settled into our lives back at home, each new morning brings with it the reminiscence of an event, a conversation, a laugh, an ocean, a mountain, a castle, a cactus, a show, a new friend, an old friend, a face to which I cannot affix a name, a shitty party, a morning slept in, a new beer. Too much to think about all at once less I'd hope to choke. They are best delivered in small manageable doses or reserved for inspirational daydreams. Every day is like smoking a cigarette after you've conquered the world.

None of it would've been the same without the company and companionship of our dear friends, 1994! and Snowing. We shared a blinding glimpse into something that will never ever be seen again. That will never change. Looking forward to whatever comes next.

The Parrot Flies vinyl will finally be in our hands early next month month. We appreciate your relentless interest and patience. This is the first official release of our brand new very own Hot Green Records and we're still getting the kinks worked out. We'll be pressing a limited run of 100 on light green vinyl which we've decided would only be fair to distribute through a lottery system. The Parrot Flies LP is hereby available for pre-order and colored vinyl recipients will be randomly selected from these pre-orders only. Place you orders before the end of the month to be eligible for this drawing. Send $12 via Paypal to hotgreenrecords@gmail.com or concealed cash, accompanied with an e-mail (to confirm the post-marked date), to 1310 N. 5th Street 2B Philadelphia, PA 19122.

Once again, right on schedule, the Fest cometh! In liu of Algernon Cadwallader touring our way down to the shit show known as Fest 10 Joe and I will be heading down as the backing band for Philadelphia's worst kept secret known as Mike Bell & the Movies. Joe and I are the Movies! Mike and I collaborated to record his new album which we will have for sale and which you can also download here now so you know the words and stuff. Come out to the show and see if you can drink more than us. Here are the dates:

October
20 Philadelphia, PA @ Kung Fu Necktie w/ Hop Along and Little Black Rainclouds
21 Baltimore, MD @ Golden West Cafe w/ Sick Sick Birds and Dead Mechanical
22 Richmond, VA @ Isaac's House w/ Double Rainbow and Josh Small
23 Charlotte, NC @ Lunchbox Records w/ Pullman Strike and Blossoms
24 Atlanta, GA @ The Cottage w/ Memes
25 Birmingham, AL @ The Speakeasy w/ Mose Giganticus
26 Talahasee, FL @ The Shark Tank w/ Big Eyes
27 Tampa, FL @ Transitions Art Gallery w/ Algernon Cadwallader and more

Mike Bell & the Movies would love to play a house show at Fest if anyone knows of any. Get in touch! Burntfoot@gmail.com.

We don't say it enough. Thank you to everyone who makes this band the most important thing in our lives. We are the luckiest band on the planet because of you.

Parrot Flies & Mid-Tour Update

I mentioned it before but yea, this shit is done and available. We're overseas and unable to do mailorder ourselves at the moment but you can the CD now from Rorschach Records, Vinyl Junkie Distro, and No Idea Records. The LP will be out soon or if you're in Europe you can pick it up now on LP or CD from Big Scary Monsters or at one the shows coming up. Check out our remaining dates to the right.

Thanks a ton to everyone who has booked us, put us up, and come out to the shows so far. This tour has been incredible and we feel very fortunate to be over here again kicking out the jams the way you like 'em. Hugs and kisses to everyone back home. We miss you and can't wait to tell you all about it.

It's Closing Time...

With only 2 days left on our tour I feel like a kid on Christmas Eve. We're all very excited to see our friends, family, and pets at home. Though it's the end of the tour it's only the beginning of our summer. We are now playing the Mitch Dubey benefit in Philadelphia on the 26th in addition to our actual home coming show on the 30th with Joyce Manor. I'm also incredibly stoked to announce that we'll be going on our second European tour next month with 1994!. Dates are below!

June 26 Benefit show for the family of Mitch Dubey @ Danger Danger Gallery in Philadelphia, PA w/ Slingshot Dakota, The Book Slave, Lion Club, The World Is A Beautiful Place and I Am No Longer Afraid to Die, 1994!, and Snowing.

June 30 Philadelphia, PA @ The Fire in w/ Joyce Manor, 1994!, and Snowing.

July 2 Washington DC @ St. Stephen's Church in w/ Bomb the Music Industry, The Max Levine Ensemble, Cheap Girls and the Wild.

July 3 Richmond, VA @ The Bike Lot in w/ Joyce Manor and Tiger Tail.

July 6 Williamstown, NJ @ 1619 House w/ Imperial Can, Onsind, and Fashanu.

July 19 Antwerpen, BE @ JC Den Eglantier w/ 1994! and more.

July 20 (matinee show) Cambridge, UK @ The Cafe project w/ 1994! and more.

July 20 Sheffield, UK @ Penelope's w/ 1994! and more.

July 21 Folkestone, UK @ Stones Bar w/ 1994! and more.

July 22 Tunbridge Wells, UK @ The Forum w/ 1994! and more.

July 23 (matinee show) Birmingham, UK @ Wagon & Horses w/ 1994! and more.

July 23 Manchester, UK @ Kro Bar w/ 1994! and more.

July 24 (matinee show) Newcastle, UK @ The Chillingham Arms w/ 1994! and more.

July 24 Glasgow, UK @ 13th Note w/ 1994! and more.

July 25 Leeds, UK @ The Well w/ 1994! and more.

July 26 Derby, UK @ The Old bell w/ 1994! and more.

July 27 Kingston, UK @ The Peel w/ 1994! and more.

July 28 (matinee show) Southampton, UK @ Planet sounds w/ 1994! and more.

July 28 Brighton, UK @ The Green Door Store w/ 1994! and more.

July 29 Aachen, DE @ AZ w/ 1994! and more.

July 30 Kiel, DE @ Lessingbad w/ 1994! and more.

July 31 Copenhagen, DK @ New Lades w/ 1994! and more.

August 1 Hamburg, DE @ Rote Flora w/ 1994! and more.

August 2 Wiesbaden, DE @ Schlachthof w/ 1994! and more.

August 3 Bielefeld, DE @ AJZ w/ 1994! and more.

August 4 Berlin, DE @ Schokoladen w/ 1994! and more.

August 5 Prague, CZ @ Chapeau rouge w/ 1994! and more.

August 6 Dresden, DE @ OffSpot w/ 1994! and more.

August 7 Trier, DE @ Exhaus w/ 1994! and more.

August 8 Sarzana, IT @ Juxe Tap w/ 1994! and more.

August 9 Toulon, FR @ Jolly Rogers w/ 1994! and more.

August 10 Barcelona, SP @ Sidecar w/ 1994! and more.

August 11 Madrid, SP @ Nasti Club w/ 1994! and more.

August 12 Galicia, SP @ TBA w/ 1994! and more.

August 13 Bordeaux, FR @ Les Lectures Aléatoires w/ 1994! and more.

August 14 Paris, FR @ Belushi's w/ 1994! and more.

August 15 Leiden, NJ @ Sub071 w/ 1994! and more.

Tour Blog

I've got blisters on my fingers, my nails are split and my knuckles are bruised. Woke up at 4 am today on a porch in Denver. A wild dog was 2 feet from my face barking it's face off at me. At first I got scared but quickly realized the dog knew I wasn't from Denver. I wrapped myself in my quilt and laid back down on my air mattress which was inflated to 28%. I've gotten the chance to sleep outside alot on this tour. I really love it. How come the sky is so big when I'm away from home? We are now on route to Lincoln, Nebraska. We've been drivin' about 5 hours and have another 3 to go. I'm not stressed because I'm hangin' with Bob Marley. It's been over 3 weeks since Ive seen home. I don't miss home. I forgot to take my medication today, I'm glad I just remembered. Next stop I'm going to buy a Sobe Apple pear drink. They rule. So far my favorite city is San Francisco again. I miss my drum pad.

-Tank

West Coast Destroyed!

Still killing it after all these weeks! We are sad to be leaving the west coast today. It's been an amazing leg of tour. Thanks again to everyone who set up a show or just came out, did a dance, and said hello. You've made this tour the best any of us have ever been on. And now, into the wild.

Here's video of our set at Gilman. You fucking know it!

Gone Tourin'

Hello friends. Tour is swell and everyone is in good health. Thanks to everyone who has come out to the shows so far. Just updated the remaining TBA dates to the right. Write us if you need further info on any of them. Cool!

Recording Week Umpteen, New Album, & US Tour

We've got a lot to cover here. A culmination of half a year's effort. I'm going to move fast so pay attention.

The light at the end of the tunnel was growing exponentially nearer. With only a few weeks left before tour we began sacrificing personal liberties such as sleep and a regular diet. We were machines working on schematics a better us had written. Joe announced a quota of mixing one song a day. They were long days. Mixing the record prompted us to add a bunch of auxiliary instruments to fill any pot holes in the songs. We finished everything with a day to spare before mastering but rather than taken a desperately needed rest Joe and Tank took the mixes over to our mastering engineers house to listen to everything on his speakers. A different pair of speakers can expose the most well kept secrets. Listening to your recording on your stereo, in the car, and on headphones is of course an important perspective but what they heard come our of those speakers was so dark and deep that they stayed there working through the night and morning. This began the marathon of sleep deprivation. Joe brought the mixes home at 11 AM and told me we had some recording to do. Some missing guitars, sour vocals, and a few other small things. We had until 5 PM when we were do back at Ryan's to begin mastering.

We brought our own computer and set up adjacent to the mastering room to tweak mixes up until the second he needed them from us. He'd finish one and come in for the next as we were printing the bounce. Our heads would pop into his side every once in a while to make sure we were happy with what he was doing. We listened to everything and wrapped up around 5 in the morning. We cannot thank Ryan enough for putting so much work into this and staying up until the wee small hours 2 nights in a row while still waking up to manage the studios at Drexel University in the morning.

Tank, Joe, and I headed to an all night diner in Center City for our obligatory celebration of this momentous completion. We were pretty cracked out and even made the regulars at this dive nervous as we shouted gibberish and failed to understand the plea of an outgoing local political candidate. Then it was back to the warehouse to finish packing, putting together records, and printing t-shirts for tour. We would never have finished getting all the merch for this 5 week tour ready without the help an amazing group of hand-selected friends. Still, this ended up in a 2nd night (3rd for Joe) of zero sleep but we were driven by a force far more compelling than comfort.

We met the rest of the crew from 1994! and Snowing in Lancaster, threw our schwag in the van, and hit the road. Finally shut our eyes for longer than a blink on the way to Hagerstown and then floated psychedelically on stage for our first show. Purgatory was ending and we were entering the dream.

So, here it is. The second album by Algernon Cadwallader entitled Parrot Flies. We've gone through a lot of changes and difficult times since releasing our first album. It feels like a new band sometimes. Or just been flying through our adolescence. I think it would be fair to measure band life in dog years. CDs are being rushed to us so we should have them by the west coast leg of our tour. The LPs will come in when we get home and we'll be able to start mailorder again. Until then you can come out and pick it up at the show. Here are the dates. All with 1994! and Snowing.


MAY
18th Hagerstown, Maryland @ Right Choice Ministries w/ LOUD
19th Blacksburg, Virginia @ JAX 130 Jackson St w/ Diarrhea Planet
20th Charlotte, North Carolina @ Treasure Fest
21st Greenville, SC @ w/ Days Become Months
22nd Birmingham, Alabama @ Spring Street House w/ The Max Levine Ensemble and Fewer Moving Parts
23rd Jackson, Mississippi @ Doc 36 w/ Les Doux and Pockets
24th New Orleans, Louisiana @ Dragon’s Den w/ Marathon
25th Houston, Texas @ Vinyl Junky Records w/ Football Etc.
26th Denton, Texas @ Lion’s Den w/ Final Club
27th Oklahoma City, Oklahoma @ Brass Bell Studios w/ Concussion Waltz
28th Albequerque, New Mexico @ Dad’s House w/ lots of bands
29th Phoenix, Arizona @ The Fixx Coffee Bare
30th Tucson, Arizona @ TBA
31st San Diego, California @ Che Cafe


JUNE
1st Los Angeles, California @ Women of Crenshaw
2nd Santa Barbara, California @ Biko Garage w/ Lumber Lung
3rd San Francisco, California @ Sub-Mission
4th Berkley, California @ 924 Gilman St. w/ Joyce Manor
5th Reading, California @ Sue's Java Cafe
6th DAY OFF
7th Portland, Oregon @ Backspace w/ Duck Little Brother Duck
8th Seattle, Washington @ Healthy Times Fun Club w/ Jason Clackley
9th Spokane, Washington @ The Cretin Hop w/ Girlfriends, DLBD
10th Rexburg, Idaho @ TBA
11th Cheyenne, Wyoming @ Crawlspace w/ Spraynard
12th Boulder, Colorado @ Astro-Land
13th Lincoln, Nebraska @ Mad Ave. w/ The Dads
14th Wichita, Kansas @ The Naked City Gallery w/ Information Welfare
15th St. Louis, Missouri @ Cranky Yellow w/ Orion Pax
16th Bloomington, Indiana @ The Bishop w/ Good Luck
17th Louisville, Kentucky @ Mowgli's House
18th Chicago, Illinois @ Strangelight w/ Sohns and Innards
19th Grand Rapids, Michigan @ The DAAC w/ the Reptilian
20th Columbus, Ohio @ Carabar
21st Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania @ Helter Shelter w/ Means to an End and Edhoculi
22nd Rochester, New York @ The Bugjar
23rd East Hampton, Massachusetts @ Flywheel
24th Scranton, Pennsylvania @ Redwood Art Space w/ Trainwrecker and Halfling
25th New York, New York @ Archeron w/ The Greek Favourites

Our First Bootleg

Finally, an alternative to a crappy desktop folder full of mp3s, our friends at Sex Cave Records are releasing a neatly packaged cassette of a professional live recording from the show we played in Vernon, CT in January 2010. It was a particularly rowdy show that really captures the live setting and showcases our fans ability to sing louder than our music. They have our permission to release it. You have our permission to buy it. Here is a link where you can purchase it. There will also be a release show this friday at UMASS in Amherst with our buddies, Band Name, Pachangacha, and Ape Up. Cool!

Recording Week 4 (Born Again)

Good morning campers. We had too much fun on our west coast tour with Big Kids and forgot about the cold sterile world of the internet. Here's what you've been missing.

We left off with our tapes now dumped onto the computer. This is usually the fun part. Overdubbing this and that, extra percussions, noises, and experimenting. We barely got that far. To save time we were now working in both Studio A and Studio B (Joe's bedroom). I would be working on vocals in A while he was doing some editing in his room and when we got bored of the scenery we would switch. It wasn't long before the cat was out of the bag; Joe and I both had reservations about the recordings. He thought this was too slow and I thought that was too fast and we both agreed that this other one just didn't feel right at all. We sat and stared at one another stroking our mustaches for few tense minutes before dropping the guillotine. We would have to re-record.

Sadly, we are no strangers to the concept of re-recording. To date every single recording we've done as a band has been scraped at least once and then re-done. It's an ugly streak but at the end of the day we rather have our record come out 6 months later than have a finished product we are unsatisfied with. Sometimes these things happen for a reason.

Relieved of the exaustion that would have been packed into the week leading up to tour we let our worries melt and fully embraced the Christmas spirit. We had another potluck at the warehouse and exchaged gifts under the physcadelic pine tree. The greatest gift truely came from above. Joe weaseled us 5 days to record in a church a mile away from our place. Our friends Jess and Josh run a non-profit rock school out of one of the rooms and arranged for us to record in the chapel. It snowed the day after Christmas. The next morning we packed up half of the studio into our van and drove it over to the church. We shoveled out a parking space and loaded in. The studio was set up in an extra room on the second floor. Transporting the tape machine would have messed up it's calibration and broke our backs so we decided to go digital for this session. This was also the quicker and more convenient option. Day one was spent getting the most glorious drum sounds we have ever heard. Tank and his kit were set up in directly in the center of the room. Stained glass windows cast colored light across them. It was dead silent in the church except for the sound of Tank's drums echoing through every room. In another effort to save time and to ressurect a live feeling that could not be found on some of the first sessions's recordings we would track the bass right along with the drums and ditch the click track. For this we used my usual bass set-up; An Acoustic 450 head and a Peavey 2x15 cabinet. We stuck this in a side room to give it a little bit of isolation and also ran a direct line into the computer. It sounded like it always does and we were happy with that.

Every morning we would meet up with Josh or Jess at the church, listen to the drum sounds, tweak anything that had shifted overnight, and track songs until we thought they sounded right taking breaks along the way for the AA meetings and to eat soup and drink coffee. When we started this session we had about 5 songs that we really thought needed to be done again. By the time our 5 days were up we had done 9 songs and would've done the rest if we could because we loved the sound so much. But we had what we needed. It was a new year and still no new Algernon Cadwallader record but we shrugged that fact right off the airplane and it landed somewhere in the mid-west. We knew our clean slate would be waiting for us when we returned.

Check out the Big Kids Blog to hear about our tour adventures. Apologies for the lapse in journalism. We are back online.

California, Here We Come

P.S. Locked ourselves out of the house while taking this picture.

1/4 San Diego, CA @ Che Cafe 3112 Midway Drive
w/Big Kids, Koalacaust, Joyce Manor

1/5 Chino, CA @ The Warehouse 13390 12th St.
w/Big Kids, Koalacaust, Joyce Manor, Summer Vacation, French Exit, Peanut Butter and Jamage

1/6 Garden Grove, CA @ The Cabin 12101 Gilbert St. 7PM
w/Big Kids, Koalacaust, Summer Vacation, Joyce Manor, Tiny Lungs

1/7 San Francisco, CA @ Cloud City 3201 3rd St. 8PM
w/Big Kids, Koalacaust, Summer Blondes

1/8 Berkeley, CA @ 924 Gilman 7pm
w/Big Kids, Summer Blondes, Sourpatch, Yi

1/9 Santa Cruz, CA @ Kickback Cafe 1222 Soquel Ave. 7PM
w/Big Kids, Koalacaust, Calculator

1/10 San Jose, CA @ Texas Toast 15560 Woodard Rd. 6PM
w/Big Kids, Comadre, Calculator

1/11 Santa Rosa, CA @ North Bay Art and Film Collective 7pm
w/Big Kids, The New Trust, Semi Evoloved Simians

1/12 Medford/Eugene/etc. (woops! looking for a show)

1/13 Portland, OR @ KPSU Radio @

1/14 Portland, OR @ The Artistery 4315 SE Division 7PM
w/Big Kids, Lee Cory Oswald, Duck Little Brother, Duck

1/15 Olympia, WA @ Chez Puget 1139 Puget St. 7PM
w/Big Kids, Livingston Seagull

1/16 Seattle, WA @ The Black Lodge 8pm
w/Big Kids, Jason Clackley, Livingston Seagull