Reader, we need to be entirely up-front with you—we’re dragging today. We’re not 100% why— we got a decent amount of sleep this weekend, we ate all our veggies, and we even got out of town for a quick jaunt upstate a bit, but we are not your usual happy-go-lucky, we’ve-got-the-world-in-the-palm-of-our-hands selves.

Our only hypothesis is that we somehow ended up a super-creepy british party like our artist of the week did int he video below. Orlando Higginbottom AKA Totally Enormous Extinct Dinosaurs seems to have some issues if you go by what’s happening here—super-skeezy bearded dudes in really tight 70s pants eyeing you from across the room; multiple bizarre sets of headgear; the apparent total lack of emotion…. Dude’s in need of some serious couch time.

And yet, he can write a damn fine song. The dead-pan singing, glitchy dancy music, and super-Britishness will draw immediate comparisons to Hot Chip, but I was personally rather disappointed with their last endeavor, so I welcome this strange, strange fella’s throwing of the gigantic metal pronged hat into the electro-Brit-pop ring. Bizarre it up, sir! Bizarre it up, indeed.

BOBBY • Sore Spores
Reader, though we gave you fair warning with our last post that we’d be taking a little time away from the blog to attend to things like demanding work schedules and even more demanding party planning schedules (HAPPY BIRTHDAY, KATIE!!!), we nonetheless have been plagued by persistent pangs of guilt for shunning our committed, silent, potentially fictional audience.

So we give you a better-late-than-never Music Monday post featuring a band we saw open up for the phenomenal Thao + Mirah last week—the enigmatic, hippy-trippy, search-engine-defeating BOBBY. Yes, their name is unfortunate, we must admit, but they seem to have fully embraced it, talking about the band as an ethereal entity in and of itself—
“When Tom (primary songwriter) finally did meet him face to face in the Spring of 2010, Bobby became nervous and got sick all over his little brown tap shoes and turned into a mist. He was naught but vapor for a whole month, but soon after that, they fell in together; Tom making tunes to accompany Bobby’s sad dances.”

I know. Trippy stuff. But you’ve got to hand it to them—they have fully embraced this odd, hallucinogenic-like  persona for the band, which is pretty evident in their live show, which features Woodstock-era wavy arm dancing and some pretty kaleidoscopic bizarro visuals. Taking any of this alone, it’s easy to immediately dislike the band. Especially when they name their songs things like “Ginger (Water Birth),” “Shimmychick,” and “Tomb Bloom.” But taken as a whole, and especially in long form—either at one of their live shows or in listening to their album start-to-finish—they start to win you over with their seemingly sincere blend of chaotic tranquility, accented by catchy, unique instrumentation and a good balance of rhythm-centric and melody-centric singing.

This week’s Song of the Week—“Sore Spores”—(worst title yet), gives evidence to this with an eerily catchy keyboard/theremin line and nice call-and-response from Tom and singer, Molly Sarle. Check ’em out. Their live show really is nice—like very chilled out stumble through a psychedelic forest—and we highly suggest catching them with Thao + Mirah if you can. Excellent show overall. You can find tour dates here (looks like they’re hitting up NYC again in July). And you can pre-order their album, out next week. But give it a listen first—NPR’s got the whole thing up as one of their First Listen features.

Des Ark • Ashley’s Song

I seriously have not been able to stop listening to this week’s Song of the Week. “Ashley’s Song,” from the superbly titled album, Don’t Rock the Boat, Sink the Fucker, starts out with a whisper and quickly pulls you into what somehow feels like a guitar-heavy, spastically  rollickingly rhythmic boat ride across the Rocklantic. Yes. Exactly that.

The song comes from the sophomore album by Des Ark, led by Philadelphia’s Aimée Argote (pronounced e-MAY), which, as far as I’ve been able to find out, is a cast of characters that rotates around Aimée, her whisper-to-roar voice, and some equally, elegantly soft-to-harsh instrumentation.

You can listen to the whole album over at bandcamp and then order it in a wealth of formats (black, white, clear, AND gold vinyl?) via Lovitt Records.

Photo by Sara Sanger.

Quick note—We’ll be taking a brief break form blogging for at least the rest of the week while we catch up on actual work and dedicate some time to the redesign of our Web site (yay!) 

Computer Magic • The End of Time

I was introduced to someone over the weekend who, it turned out, was a musician. We started off in the usual manner—”What do you play?” “Do you play out much?” “Do you have anything recorded?”—and we eventually came to the part where I ask about the name of the musical entity so that I might follow up at a later point to hear some sweet, sweet tunes. Turns out, he just records under his name.

Which I totally never got. One of the BEST PARTS about playing music, aside from the enjoyment that comes from creating the actual music and getting up on stage and performing it and looking all awesome, is naming your band. Maybe I’m more alone on this than I think. Maybe it’s born of the somewhat easy-to-play-off-of last name and resulting heavy, heavy weight of countless farmer jokes I labored under as a child (“No, I do not live in the dell, stop asking, Richard Lipschitz”). Maybe I’m overly fascinated with the prospect of controlling—to some extent—the perception your audience has of you; of branding and packaging yourself in a deliberate, pre-mediatated way. Or maybe it’s just hella fun to come up with an enormous list of band names, most of which will never be used.

With the world set to come to an end tomorrow, what better time to look back and reminisce.

Confession: I used to be in a severely emo band. What do I mean by severely emo? I mean the whole nine yards, my friend—screamy singing, bleeding from playing your guitar too awesomely hard (read: incorrectly), lyrics that almost exclusively revolved around being romantically upset, songs named after Japanese bears…all of it.

Needless to say, I was pretty heavily invested in the whole genre in its mid-nineties heyday (post-DC-hardcore, pre-mall-emo).

So I was understandably psyched when it was announced earlier this week that one of my favorite mid-nineties emo bands, Christie Front Drive, was playing a reunion show at The Bell House in Brooklyn, a modest walk from my very front door. Now, I never thought I was the reunion type (as Maritime frontman, Davey van Bohlen, said of his former band, Cap’n Jazz in our earlier interview, “it sometimes makes sense to leave the past in the past”), but, after missing last year’s seemingly only ever possible Cap’n Jazz reunion show due to catastrophic weather, I now understand that it’s wiser to go see a potentially washed-up band from your youth than it is to possibly miss out on a once-in-a-lifetime awesome musical experience. So, long story short, I got my tickets.

But all these reunions—Cap’n Jazz in 2010, now Christie Front Drive, and soon new material from mid-west emo-sweethearts, Braid—all in this very specific, 16+-year-old genre, it got me thinking: What the hell is going on?

It also seems cause enough to post five of my favorite songs from this era. No, my old band’s not in there. What do you think I am? But enjoy…for, like, 24 more hours….

Braid • Urbana’s Too Dark
Braid is one of the many influential emo bands to spring forth from the rock-motional fertile grounds of the Chicago area and, happily, they’re set to release some brand new material soon. Plus they Tweet and shit. Crazy, right?

Cap’n Jazz • Little League
Another Chicago band that bore many, many bands to come, some awesome, some….very arty. Plus Davey van Bohlen et al started it when they were, what, five? And yes, I missed they’re only reunion. Ever. I’m sure it was terrible, right?

Christie Front Drive • Field
Whether this song has actual lyrics or not, I love it. Fingers crossed, guys.

Up Up Down Down Left Right Left Right B A Start • Song Competition
Sadly, I don’t think these fellas are around anymore, but our old band happened to play a show ages ago with them, and I’ve been in love with their math-rock-y sound ever since. And yes, that was their actual name. NERDS!!!

The Promise Ring • Watertown Plank
Totally my favorite Promise Ring song ever, and I think the first one I ever heard.

Alright, now everyone grab your backpack straps and fingerpoint to the sky, in all its fiery, final, Armageddon-ridden glory.

Most emo end times ever.

(above – photo by me of the most emo mailbox ever, used for many a show flyer in the day)

A few years back, we partnered with a lovely letterpress down in Carlisle, PA, Thomas-Printers, to create custom-designed wedding invite templates. The idea is to provide high-quality letterpress printing, immersed in the tradition of hand-crafted elegance, at a price point that’s open to a wide audience. So, Thomas-Printers partners with designers—like us—to create brand new wedding invitation designs that can then be ordered and customizes in color and content by the customer.

Originally, we submitted two design—the dramatically titled Cinematic and The Sparrow—and then, this past week, debuted two new hot-off-the-presses…literally…designs at the massive National Stationary Show. We stopped by the show at the Javits Center Monday to meet up with Kseniya Thomas from Thomas-Printers and be totally overwhelmed by all things paper (including a new line of greeting cards from Taylor Swift? Weird.)

In addition to running Thomas-Printers, Kseniya also co-founded the Ladies of Letterpress, a national trade organization created to “promote the art and craft of letterpress printing and to encourage the voice and vision of women printers.” So yeah, she’s cool. As are the other ladies of letterpress who exhibited with her. We were very excited to have two of our designs appear alongside such exceptional work and wish everyone safe travels as the show wraps up.

You can see our new design below (Hannah + Jack and Isabelle + Jeffrey) and they’ll be available for order at Thomas-Printers soon. In the meantime, be sure to check out the other extremely talented LoLp exhibitors when you get a chance—Kansas’ Wildhorse Press; Austin’s Studio Slomo; Philly’s Cleanwash; Painted Tongue and Dandy Lion, both from the bay area; Brooklyn’s Heartfish (holla!); Pasadena’s Anemone; Canada’s Ink Petals and Lulabelle; and Omaha’s lovely Paper Lovely.

Maritime • Air Arizona

The Promise Ring is easily one of our mutual favorite bands ever. They broke into the indie music scene in the mid-nineties and arguably provided the most visible face and swiftest legs to the burgeoning mid-west emo scene, of which we were admittedly huge fans. The band eventually broke up, as all eventually do (HEAR ME, MICK JAGGER?), but not before influencing the tastes and sounds of countless fans and musicians. In 2003 Promise Ring frontman Davey von Bohlen and drummer Dan Didier started the band Maritime, continuing the pop-centric trajectory of later Promise Ring and keeping hope alive for many of us fans. We were able to talk with Dan and Davey recently about their brand new (superb) record, ghost of emo past, and the future of the fine, fine band, Maritime. 

Kindness of Ravens: First off, have you guys ever done an interview that didn’t bring up The Promise Ring?

Dan Didier: I am sure there has been a few, but those are few and far between.

KoR: To be fair…to us interviewers, I guess…The Promise Ring was totally one of those bands that acted as a root to our personal collegiate musical interests and—I think—laid a groundwork for how we listened to and interpreted music. So. Thanks.

The closer that band got to its end days, though, the closer it got to an overall ‘poppy’ sound and the further it got from those Cap’n Jazz, early emo sounds. We’ve always wondered—was that intentional? Or even unanimous? Was anyone like, “But I want to get all screamy, man”?

DD: It was a pretty unanimous, conscious, and intentional decision to not make the same record twice. We wanted to grow as musicians and not rest on the laurels of whatever success we might of had.

KoR: Well, Maritime definitely feels well-grounded in indie pop, in a really nice way. We’ve been fans of you guys since the start—we actually have the Adios EP from, I think one of your first shows, in DC. Post-TPR, were you two just pulled into the whole band thing naturally? Did you ever consider giving the music thing up and, I don’t know, starting a nice mid-western cafe?

Davey von Bohlen: Dan and I just kept making music at the end of The Promise Ring. We really felt like there was gas in the tank, but wanted to make sure we were still challenging ourselves to make better music. Generally, we felt good, so continued on.

KoR: And very glad you did. So, is this a full-time gig for you all or is it more a jammin’ on the porch on the weekends kind of thing?

DvB: Somewhere in-between. We dont travel as much, but we still think of ourselves as musicians and try to challenge ourselves with that in mind.

KoR: Not to be all superficial, but we totally love the art for the new album. Did Jason Gnewikow work that up for you all again?

DD: No. Like I said before, that we never want to do the same record twice, I don’t want the same artist twice. All of the art on the Maritime records has been created by different designers.

KoR: Ah, yeah, I know he had done some Maritime/Vermont/Promise Ring album art in the past. You know, if you’re looking for anyone next record…. Anyway, how would you say the sound differs from We, the Vehicles or Heresy and the Hotel Choir?

DD: Kind of a mixture of the two, if I had to venture a guess.

KoR: And the new album’s out on a new label for you, Dangerbird Records, which is run by former Promise Ring Manager, Jeff Castelaz. Were you all just looking for a new start with the label shift? Or a re-connect with Jeff?

DvB:  Flameshovel sort of went on hiatus, so we were looking for a new home. We played a Pablove benefit—which is a non-profit Jeff is a part of that fights childhood cancer—and it just sort of happened. Jeff is a really passionate person, and the fit/reconnect was immediate.

KoR: Oh, very cool. So, I have to ask: Is it weird being on a label with bands like Minus the Bear, who seem to have grown from a sound that many people credit you with co-creating?

DD: No, not really. Haven’t thought of it that way. If I did, I’d have to ask of you to knock me off my high horse. Minus the Bear is a great band that has crafted a unique sound all of their own.

KoR: Totally true, and don’t get us wrong—“Hey! Is That a Ninja Up There?” is totally one of my favorite songs ever. And titles.

Speaking of re-connects, Davey, what was it like to play with all the Cap’n Jazz guys again? We got massive-stormed out of the Brooklyn reunion show, which still pains me, but we hear it was good stuff.

DvB: It was fun. those guys are wonderful people and musicians, so it was fun and challenging to pick that up after such a long time.

KoR: Are you totally ruling out any future Cap’n Jazz shows? You know, Braid‘s recording new material…. Maybe it’s a rising trend amongst the early emo scene?

DvB:  Though it was fun, I don’t see it going further considering all the music we all make individually. Plus it sometimes makes sense to leave the past in the past.

KoR: Whereas I’d tend to agree, I’m still bummed about missing you all. Okay, well, any plans for Maritime to play the NYC-area again soon?

DD: Yeah, we will get out there as soon as we can.

KoR: Can we request a live version of your Depeche Mode cover, “Enjoy the Silence,” when you do?

DD: Ha! That would be pretty unlikely, but it certainly was a fun challenge to do that song for AV Undercover.

KoR: Well, Dan, Davey, thank you both so much for taking the time to talk with us.

You can buy Maritime’s new album, Human Hearts, via Dangerbird in it’s various electronic and hardcopy formats and be sure to sign up for the band’s newslettter to keep up-to-date on shows and such. 

~Ed. Note—Since posting, we’ve followed up on the album art, which we love, and been told by Dan that it was done by Rory Wilson, who’s other superb work you can see here.~