The War On Drugs

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December 13, 2012 | 12:40 PM | By

Purling Hiss announce new album Water on Mars (playing Johnny Brenda’s on New Year’s Eve)

Philly fuzz-rockers Purling Hiss have announced that their fourth record Water on Mars will be released on March 19th through Drag City.  We heard a new release from the Mike Polizze-led trio a few months ago with the Fan Death Records-released cassette A Little Off Center, but Water on Mars marks their first foray into the studio world – they worked with Jeff Ziegler (Uniform Recording) and Adam Granduciel (The War on Drugs) for this effort.  From the label’s announcement:

Purling Hiss have a deeply satisfying way of drawing from the red, white and blue wells of 60s, 70s, 80s and 90s rock to inform their own sound, giving things a retro ring while doing what they do in the Philadelphia of today  – and no other time could apply, really. Water On Mars is heavy stuff from Purling Hiss, unknotting the strings that tangled all their previous records together so righteously to reveal – another, greater storm within.

Purling Hiss will open for The War on Drugs’ New Year’s Eve show at Johnny Brenda’s with Avery Rosewater.  Tickets and information for the 21+ show can be found here.  Below, watch Purling Hiss’ Shaking Through Session when they recorded the song “Lolita” and check out the track-list for Water on Mars.

Shaking Through: Purling Hiss from Weathervane Music on Vimeo.

Continue reading →

FILED UNDER: Artists, News, Recordings, Scene, Avery Rosewater, Johnny Brenda's, Purling Hiss, The War On Drugs
December 12, 2012 | 6:00 PM | By

The Week So Far: Eight must-read stories on The Key

Bing & Ruth’s David Moore on the ambient performance he brings to The Barnes Friday [link]

The new LP from The Fleeting Ends, Our Eyes are Peeled, gets the Unlocked treatment [link]

Dave Hartley, bassist for The War on Drugs, launches his sports column From The Key [link]

South Jersey pop-punks Aspiga treat us to a song from each release in their Key session [link]

Roots collaborator Truck North releases Our American Cousin free EP [link]

Does cover art make the album? We ponder this and look at some great local album covers [link]

Sonic Youth’s Thurston Moore and drummer John Maloney tonight at Space 1026 [link]

Brooklyn duo She Keeps Bees is features on this week’s Folkadelphia session [link]

FILED UNDER: Artist Profiles, Artists, Concert Previews, Downloads, Events, Interviews, Recordings, Aspiga, Bing and Ruth, Dave Hartley, Nightlands, She Keeps Bees, Sonic Youth, The Fleeting Ends, The Roots, The War On Drugs, Thurston Moore, Truck North
October 20, 2012 | 1:30 PM | By

Stream a Beach Boys Spotify playlist curated by Dave Hartley (The War on Drugs, Nightlands)

The Beach Boys made their mark in the mid-sixties with pop hits like “God Only Knows” and “California Girls” but War on Drugs bass player and Nightlands main man Dave Hartley is here to tell us why the band’s real genius didn’t show itself until later on.  From Dave:

The Beach Boys are much more than the just Pet Sounds and Surf-Car-Girl party songs. Here are twelve strange and beautiful songs that came after.”

In a Spotify playlist he created for his bands’ label Secretly Canadian, Hartley handpicks his favorite Beach Boys tracks from albums including 1967′s Smiley Smile, 1970′s Sunflower, 1971′s Surf’s Up and more. Continue reading →

FILED UNDER: Artists, News, Dave Hartley, Johnny Brenda's, Nightlands, Secretly Canadian, Spotify, The War On Drugs
October 18, 2012 | 5:52 PM | By

The Week So Far: 14 must-read stories on The Key

Photo by Eric Ashleigh | showtographe.com

Interview: Talking wood nymphs and a show at Ortlieb’s with Brooklyn’s Savoir Adore. [link]

Hear a new song from Nothing, sign up to be in their Key Studio Sessions audience. [link]

Interview: Craig Hendrix of Philly’s Auctioneer on songwriting and Shaking Through. [link]

Lehigh Valley jazz-psych duo XVSK stop by to record a Key Studio Session. [link]

Photos of a spellbinding night at Union Transfer with Beach House. [link]

Breaking down the numbers of WXPN’s 885 Songs that Rock countdown. [link]

Watch a jangling new music video from Low Cut Connie, filmed at the North Star Bar. [link]

Get a taste of the new record from Freeway with his Freedom of Speech mixtape. [link]

Listen to The Dead Milkmen recorded live on WXPN…25 years ago. [link]

Download a free mixtape from Black Dub’s Trixie Whitley. [link]

Watch Rap City, the WHYY documentary on Philly’s hip-hop scene circa 1988. [link]

Couldn’t make it to Austin City Limits? Neil Young and Crazy Horse‘s entire set is streaming. [link]

Also in Austin, Philly sons The War on Drugs played a killer “Arms Like Boulders.” [link]

Jack White dances and beatboxes in his music video for “I’m Shakin’.” [link]

FILED UNDER: Artists, Concert Photos + Videos, Concert Previews, Concert Reviews, Downloads, Events, Interviews, News, Recordings, Auctioneer, Beach House, Black Dub, Freeway, Jack White, Low Cut Connie, Neil Young and Crazy Horse, Nothing, The Dead Milkmen, The War On Drugs, Trixie Whitley, XVSK
October 15, 2012 | 1:24 PM | By

The War on Drugs ringing in the new year at Johnny Brenda’s with two shows (12/30 and 12/31)

Photo by Rachel Barrish

How far they’ve come in five years. When The War on Drugs played Johnny Brenda’s in 2007, there was enough room for frontman Adam Granduciel to hop offstage and play an acoustic number in the floor with room to spare (see the video from Philebrity‘s archives below). It’s safe to say that space will be at a much greater premium when the band rings in 2013 with a two-night stand at JBs on December 30 and December 31, just announced today. Tickets to both shows go on sale at noon this Thursday, October 18, and will be $18.

FILED UNDER: Artists, Concert Previews, Events, News, Johnny Brenda's, New Year's Eve, The War On Drugs
September 18, 2012 | 2:10 PM | By

Contest: Win an autographed 7″ and a pair of tickets to The Walkmen’s Electric Factory show

East coast indie rock band The Walkmen are returning to Philly for their first major show since releasing Heaven, their seventh full-length record. They will be performing at the Electric Factory with The War on Drugs on Saturday, October 6th in support of the new album. Tickets are available here for $22, or you can enter to win a pair of free tickets from The Key. All you need to do is answer this trivia question: a few years back, The Walkmen covered an album by a ’70s psych-pop songwriter in its entirety. What was the name of the artist and the album? Leave your answer in the comments and we’ll choose a winner at random to receive a pair of tickets to the Electric Factory show and an autographed 7″ from the band. The winner will be announced this Friday morning. Good luck!

FILED UNDER: Artists, Concert Previews, Events, Electric Factory, The Walkmen, The War On Drugs
September 14, 2012 | 10:54 AM | By

Watch The Walkmen perform “Love Is Luck” on Conan (playing the Electric Factory in October)

The Walkmen appeared on Late Night with Conan O’Brien, playing a couple songs from their latest album, Heaven. You can check out their performance of “Love Is Luck” below, and watch them performing album opener “We Can’t Be Beat” over at Team Coco. The Walkmen play The Electric Factory on October 6 with The War on Drugs; tickets and more information on the show are available here.

FILED UNDER: Artists, Concert Previews, Events, Electric Factory, The Walkmen, The War On Drugs