Virginia Is For Lovers & So Is Ohio

All you need is love... and Algernon Cadwallader. Pouncing at the opportunity to expand our maturing highbrow resume we accepeted our friends' surprising invitation to provide the live music for their wedding. With utmost respect we spent weeks whittling our raw energy into classy pop instrumentals for the event. We hand picked a few of our favorite love songs to cover and learned the Peanuts theme song which was to be the bride's music. With our best t-shirts on we headed to Virginia to create the soundtrack to the joining of Cory & Courtney Bise. These two sure know how to party and we are happy and thankful we were there to celebrate with them. We also couldn't help but throw up a few mics during our wedding band rehearsals to document these re-workings of our songs and some of them turned out alright. We had our friend Francis Quinlan of Hop Along come over to sing on one of them and it will be on a cassette compilation put together by the Long Island kids at Lifeonanisland.org sometime this summer.

We were also privileged enough to be invited to play this year's Berea Fest along with the likes of Delay, The Sidekicks, Good Luck, Tin Armor, Pink Houses, New Creases, and tons of other really amazing bands. Berea Fest was started 5 years ago by the Eilbeck brothers from Delay and friends to celebrate the vibrant scene going on in Berea, OH, a suburb of Cleveland. They no doubt inspired and captured the hearts of everyone who grew up in the scene there with them and when they made the move to Columbus unsurprisingly just about everyone followed. While the excitement continues in Columbus they still return to Berea each year to pay homage to the place where it all began. I shouldn't expect anything less from these guys but I was still overwhelmed at the amount of positivity at this fest. Everyone here was friends even if you'd just met. There were plenty of volunteers helping the fest run smoothly. Free food not only for the bands but for everyone at the show. Wholly a very fun, inspiring, and encouraging get together. Thanks to Ryan, Austin, and Pat!

Last night Tank made a special appearance on stage with one of our favorite bands from Texas. With Fergus & Geronimo already booked to play Philadelphia, and Chris and Daniel visiting for the weekend, it only made sense that we would force Teenage Cool Kids to play a short set as well. Sadly, Bradley couldn't make it but Tank stood up the plate and channeled his energy to give the kids what they want.

This weekend we are looking forward to being in Richmond for the 8th annual Best Friends Day. From what I've heard over the years it's about the closest you can get to being at Camp Nowhere... for punks. We are playing the Saturday afternoon show at Hadad's Palisades Waterpark with Off With Their Heads and Negative Approach. The rest of the weekend we'll be seeing Field Day, Propagandhi, Andrew WK and enjoying the company of best friends. Cool!

Some Thing Last A Long Time

Since this 7" was released in April of 2008, righteously re-born later that year and repressed again in 2009 I have screenprinted the front and back of about 1,300 of these. Not to mention the hundreds of spray painted CDRs that also wore screenprinted armor. There was the occasional helping hand from Be Happy Records CEO Craig Woods, fellow bandmates, and EJ, Scumhand of Grizzly Records. I am more than excited to say announce that the very last cover has been finally been printed. We now have the remaining 200 of these available for mailorder. This will be the final pressing of this old old record.

While we're on the subject of 7"s, here are a couple that also have branches on the Cadwallader family tree. The first, a split between Tank's solo project, Matt = Tank, and good buddies, J. Fox. When Tank broke his foot in the winter of 2008 he was limited in movement and unable to play drums for about 6 months. His dad bought him a ukulele so he could still play music during his recovery. He took to it like a little girl in a field of diamonds and pumped out about 20 catchy tunes before anyone could even ask him how it was going. Included on the record are a couple that I produced with him in the studio along with the help of plenty of friends. The J. Fox numbers are the best yet from this Philadlephia 3 piece. Bouncy indie rock jams that bring the party vibe.

There is a guy called Pat Fortenbaugh who comes from the most interesting and nightmarishly eclectic family I have ever met. He also happens to be one of the nicest people I've ever met and has a superior taste in music. He has led me to discover some of my favorite bands today. So one day he decides he will start to play the guitar and write songs too. What soon came out were wheel-barrels of the most honest and fun songs I've ever heard in my life. He has literally brought me to tears almost every time I have seen him play live. Tears of laughter and joy. I wanted to be a part of his music as much as I wanted everyone else to hear it so I convinced him to let me record a bunch of his songs and put out a split 7" with me. Here are 2 from each of us recorded in my mom's attic on 4 track back in 2005.

All of these are now available for $5 each, postage paid. See instructions to the right on how to order. You can also download the tracks here:

Algernon Cadwallader Demo
J. Fox/Matt = Tank
Peter the Pianoeater/The Pat Fortenbaugh One

Finally, we will be playing one of our only shows this summer (yea, it's hot so it's fucking summer) tomorrow with Snowing, Boyfriends, and For Serious This Time. It's going to be a scorcher!

Get Tazza'd!

Our buddy Nick, original drummer of Algernon Cadwallader and current member of Ape Up, has been posting his own personal discography on Tumblr. The recordings range from officially released albums to demos, fun recordings, and practice tapes. There are some interesting projects you probably never heard of and some that never even saw the light of day. Some good, some bad, all worth stretching your ear hole at and getting a glimpse inside the mind of the man himself. Go ahead... get Tazza'd.

tazzography.tumblr.com

Busy Bees

It is officially sunny in Philadelphia and there is a lot going on as we crawl out of our caves and shed our winter blankets. For one, it is time again for the spring music festivals. We spent last weekend in Harrisonburg, VA at MACRoCk. The fest is officially in its 13th year but was born again last year as it became autonomous from James Madison University giving it a new breath and humbleness. This year's line-up was regional to the surrounding states and focused on up-and-coming talent which made it full of surprises. Many bands came from Philadelphia, Richmond, Washington DC, and the Midwest. My favorite moments were with Monument, Field Day, Antlers, Boys & Sex (house show), and Cloud Nothings. Let me not forget to mention that MACRoCk is strategically plotted to go down on the single nicest weekend of the year. We love you MACRoCk.

Yesterday was the 32nd annual Human BBQ at the Pi Lam in West Philadelphia. The Pi Lam is a University of Pennsylvania "indie frat" that hosts awesome shows year-round including 2 Piece Fest. The Human BBQ offers an all day celebration of the arrival of spring with nearly 20 of Philadelphia's greatest bands, front yard grilling, and 18 kegs of delicious libations. You read that correctly. And we are not talking about Pabst or High Life. Dogfish Head, Dock St., Philadelphia Brewing Company, Sam Adams... the list goes on a needless to say we were excited to be a part of this. In addition to superior beer selection, the bands gathered to play this year's BBQ were a perfect compliment. Dangerous Ponies, Netherfriends, the Extraordinaries, Double Dagger, My Mind, and Amateur Party to name a few.

No reason to rub it in now except to turn you green and make you move to Philadelphia but, a few weeks ago we played a secret Paint It Black house show at the Terrordome. It was especially surprising since just a couple weeks prior the Terrordome had announced it's closing due to increasing publicity and police presence. Somehow this went off without a stitch and everyone who got there in time to fit into the house had an amazing experience. We are glad this house is still around.

While not playing shows or doing school work Tank has been restoring vintage drums that keep falling into his lap. This is a 60's Slingerland snare that I got a hold of years ago but never had parts for. He also did a similar 4 piece kit recently. Pictures soon. note: Sriracha was not used in the restoration.

Joe just finished recording the Boyfriends/Boys & Sex split has just begun the Snowing album. I am very excited about these as I am sure you are too. Ticklebutt is putting out the split towards the end of summer and the Snowing record will be released by Count Your Lucky Stars later in the year. I recently recorded a couple songs for Towers including a GG Allin cover. Won't tell you which one but they will be on a cassette single and you can pick it up on their July tour. Prepare to be offended. Band Name stopped by my bedroom to record a couple tracks on 4 track that will be on a split tape released by Eat A Book Records in the United Kingdom. They turned out very neat and feature the debut of Cat singing. Cool!

We had a very special blood sucking visitor in the warehouse the other day. I heard the excitement and high pitched shrieks of Danny from my room. When i came out to see what the hoopla was I found myself mimicking my roommates, darting our heads from side to side with our eyes fixed on this little vampire flying all over the place. We clapped and whistled and ducked every time this creature of the night made a pass at us. He terrorized our house for about 20 minutes until he found the open window. "I miss him already" Danny said.

Listening to Alex Kerns' Demo. A lot.

Mailgoat

Got a big old package of goodies from our Japanese buddies today! Is that a CD of new recordings in there? I think so. You are jealous.

myspace.com/malegoat

Harvest of Hope

Fire ants! Probably the only thing resembling a bummer on our brief trip to paradise. St. Augustine in March is about as perfect as it gets. Nevermind the heavy rain and acres of mud on Friday. We were just glad to be out of Danny's station wagon after 17 hours. Joe was barefoot nearly all weekend. Tons of beer and whiskey helped too. That night I was making an emergency exit from the main stage where Dr. Dog set was cut short when I heard the sounds of Japanther coming from a nearby stage. They came late and were bumped to a late night slot. I remember stage diving and lots of mud and then waking up in our tent soaking wet and shivering in the middle of the night. As my drunk wore off and I could no longer stay asleep I prayed for sun. When prayers are answered it is customary to celebrate so we got right on that. Since Harvest of Hope Fest is a benefit we were basically paid in food and beer tickets. Thanks to everyone who came out to our show and made it worthwhile. Other highlights for us on Saturday were the Mercury Program, Good Luck, Anvil, and Billy Bragg who owned his audience and could have played much longer without anyone noticing. We left early Sunday morning so Joe could make it to work on Monday. Wouldn't have minded spending a couple more days or a week down there but the time we had was wonderful. Beats being locked up in this pharmaceutical laboratory!

Wild Wild Midwest Part 2

Our second winter voyage to the midwest began agonizingly like the first one had ended; at the Philadelphia airport car rental lot at 5 in the morning. We have still not found a reliable van worth our hard earned band money and so with this tour already booked and all called favors fallen short, we were forced to rent. Of course our reservations were screwed up and instead of the minivan we expected we ended up with the brand new 2010 luxury SUV you see pictured above. Fully loaded, we were equipped with On Star, a camera for backing up, and a keychain that could start the car from 100 yards away. An hour on the road and a food-poisoned Joe had already spit up out the window and all over the side of it. By the time we reached the first show we had already doubled the miles on this beauty. First up was Ferndale, Michigan at the No Bummer Zone on Leroy Street; headquarters of the aptly named Leroy St. Records. We received a friendly greeting from the most instantaneous of instant friends, Scott. The line-up was almost identical to our show in Michigan last month so I was aware the music was going to be top-notch but halfway through the show came the most incredible thing I have ever witnessed in DIY house show history. The back door swung open and in between the crashing waves of drunken boys and girls rode a knight in shining black polo shirt armor to deliver 20 pizzas! These were gone in a matter of minutes but the benevolent act of god bestowed an unprecedented sense of bliss that would send this show soaring into house show hall of fame.

TGIF and we are hanging out at the Monster House in Columbus, OH with Ryan and Austin from Delay and about 50 other awesome residents. This is a place that you visit and turn green with envy of everything they are accomplishing unless, of course, you are the type who is inspired and encouraged by that kind of scene. I desperately subscribe to the latter. The energy soared as the bands played beginning with the Ground Is Lava who were added as they arrived to enjoy the show and played on borrowed equipment. Steve from the Sidekicks killed it by himself while the rest of the band were held hostage in other parts of Ohio. The twins from Delay formed a 2 piece band called Lightning Yin-Yang to create unprejudiced music amplified through the guitars and drums they play. The result is an energetic and eclectic mix of pop punk, hardcore, and rock & roll. Carefully selected tape samples also enlightened their audience to a number of important topics. Lots of great conversation followed. In the morning we toured the town and ate falafel. I dearly missed this place as soon as we got on the highway.

It's pronounced loo-a-vill Kentucky or something like that. The important thing is that this is a home away from home and I was feeling awfully homesick. Rolling into town presented us with the problem of who to call first. We first located Jake Philly from Mountain Asleep who leaped into our moving 2 week old car and spilled coffee all over himself and the interior. Our show was at Skull Alley which is definitely the coolest venue in this part of the country. Jamie from Bright Skull Records opened this place and has been running it for about 2 years in memory of his younger brother. It has done wonders for a scene that definitely deserves it. This was our third show at the Alley and Wise Blood's first show. They sounded great and their Smashing Pumpkins cover of Zero sounded more like Ink & Dagger song. Mountain Asleep has gained a reputation and seeing them in their hometown was awesome. Rowdy sing-a-longs and crowd surfing were no stranger this room. They also played a number of new songs that were short and super sweet. And afterwards, you know there was pizza and you know there was beer. For the first time at Spinelli's, a local Philly style pizza place, we traded a CD for a pizza which is an offer open to all touring bands. Why did no one tell us this before! Alarm clocks woke us up much earlier than we would've liked from our drunken hibernation so we could make the 7 hour drive back to Pennsylvania.

We arrived in Johnstown just in time to load in and start playing. 709 Railroad is a cool community arts center that open a couple of years ago. Unfortunately we missed most of the bands and our visit was short but it was nice to get out of the car and stretch our legs before the last 3 hour drive home. The town has some creepy vibes and a guy in a gas station parking lot offered me to come "party" with him but I explained that we were on a tight schedule. Then I explained I didn't have 2 dollars for him either. We made it home safe and sadly waved goodbye to our favorite touring vehicle. Tank got some sleep before class and Joe blinked before he hopped on the train to go to work. No matter where our bodies ended up our minds would be elsewhere.