Camelfest 2012 / Benefit for Erin West Formica

Hello,

We've been a bit lax with keeping this blog up to date, so here's an update on what's happening with us. Unfortunately, it doesn't come under the best of circumstances.

 

If you attended our show at Clash Bar on Saturday, you probably noticed Mark's absence. We've already received a bunch of questions about it, so we wanted to fill everyone in on what is happening.

 

For those of you who don't know, Mark's wife Erin has been bravely battling cancer for over a year now. Erin has remained extremely upbeat and positive through this entire process which must be both physically and emotionally exhausting for her. Despite these efforts, Mark and Erin didn't receive good news on Friday. Although Erin insisted that Mark perform with us at Clash Bar on Saturday, we were all in agreement that the only place Mark should be was with Erin and their family. We missed him terribly on Saturday - it was the first time we've ever performed as a trio and it simply isn't the same without him there - but playing shows just doesn't seem that important right now.

 

In order to assist Mark and Erin in their fight, Erin's friends have assembled the Music of Life Fundraiser for Erin West Formica at Taste in Red Bank on Sunday, August 26th.  If you are interested in attending the benefit or making a donation, you can find the details and latest information on Facebook and at the end of this post.

 

Erin's benefit is the day after our next show - which also happens to be a benefit. On Saturday, August 25th, we will be performing at Camelfest 2012 at Maxwell's which is a benefit for the NJ based Roots and Wings foundation. Roots and Wings provides support and services to young adults as they age out of New Jersey's foster care system. Their vision is to "ensure those in the program have safe housing and receive personal support and guidance related to achieving educational goals, attaining life skills, securing job opportunities, having access to health services and the encouragement and guidance required to gain the skills that lead to successful assimilation into society."

We're very happy to be supporting the important work they do in New Jersey and we're equally excited to be performing with Stuyvesant, The 65's, Cinema Cinema, Gold Sounds and Bern & The Brights. Camelfest will be held once again at Maxwell's in Hoboken, NJ.  All of the latest Camelfest info can be found here.

 

Our appearance at Camelfest is our last show of the summer and is currently our only scheduled show until November.  Beyond that there really is no plan, other than standing by Mark and Erin and helping out any way that we can.  They are our family and we love them very much.

 

As always, thank you for your support.

 

Regards,

Jerry / Mark / Matt / Steve

 

 

__

Saturday, August 25th - 7 PM
Dromedary Record's Camelfest 2012
Benefit for Roots and Wings Foundation of NJ
Maxwell's
1039 Washington Street
Hoboken, NJ

Featuring:

• Stuyvesant
• The 65's
• Gold Streets
• Cinema Cinema
• The Brixton Riot
• Bern & The Brights

Sunday, August 26th - 4 PM
Music of Life Fundraiser for Erin West Formica
Taste
10 Bridge Avenue
Red Bank, NJ
$30 Door Donation (Cash Bar/Hors d'oeuvres served)

Featuring:

• Moroccan Sheepherders
• Scott Elk & Abe
• Gil Velazquez
• Laura Catalina Johnson
• Deedee Montanaro
• Alan Manzo
• Owen Bowes
• Courtney McManus

Donations can be made out to Erin West Formica for anyone that would like to donate and can't attend the fundraiser. All Checks can be sent to:

345 Broad Street
Apt # 18
Red Bank, NJ
07701

5/19 Show at Fat Baby CANCELED

Due to circumstances beyond our control (specifically a booking error by Fat Baby), this Saturday's BRIXTON RIOT / STUYVESANT show at Fat Baby has been CANCELLED.

Not really sure what else to say here as this is the first time we've had this problem. I guess our three year New York City drought will continue into the foreseeable future.

We've got several shows lined up for the summer months and we'll be posting specific details as they become finalized, but at the moment we've got nothing lined up in the NYC/Brooklyn area.  We're going to try and  remedy that with a June date, but since we're about a month out now, that might not be possible.

We apologize for the mix up and we'll see you soon. Hope we didn't mess up your Saturday night.

Cheers,
Jerry / Mark / Matt / Steve

OUT TODAY - "Palace Amusements" by The Brixton Riot

Hello.

The wait is finally over.

We are extremely pleased to inform you that our debut album, "Palace Amusements" is officially released TODAY on the Modern Hymnal Recordings label.

Physical CDs are available from CD Baby, our web store and the Modern Hymnal web store. It is also available on iTunes in your respective country. Higher quality digital downloads without Apple's DRM limitations are available from our web store.

Of course, you can avoid the shipping costs altogether and purchase a copy in person at the Palace Amusements Release Party on Friday, March 23rd at Maxwell's in Hoboken, NJ. We are very excited to be playing with some of NJ's finest - The Roadside Graves, Eastern Anchors and Lieder.

Before signing off, we want to take this opportunity to say thank you to every one of you who has attended one of our shows, bought some of our music or simply supported us with your enthusiasm for our band. This past February, we celebrated the 5th anniversary of the first Brixton Riot show. We could not have reached that milestone without your support. This record is for you. Thank you for being a part of this - we hope you enjoy it.

Cheers,
Jerry / Mark / Matt / Steve

Modern Hymnal Records Releases Free Digital Single by The Brixton Riot

The following press release is from our record label, Modern Hymnal Recordings...

Modern Hymnal Recordings is happy to release a free advanced download of two songs from the forthcoming Brixton Riot LP Palace Amusements.



DOWNLOAD - Signal To Noise
DOWNLOAD - Hipster Turns 30

Since the release of Sudden Fiction, The Brixton Riot has been steadily building an audience in the Northeast US through their high-energy shows. In 2011, they stepped back into the studio with Dave Harman at Arcade Audio and self-produced their debut full-length, Palace Amusements. The record was recored both at Arcade Audio and in their home studio. To put on the finishing touches, the band brought in well known engineer Frank Marchand (The Thermals, Bob Mould, Calexico) to mix the record, and the result is absolutely stellar.

With it’s roots in well known American acts like The Lemonheads, Pavement and Big Star, Palace Amusements really shines in its similarity to the crafty pop sensibilities of the late 80’s/early 90’s Australian power-pop scene. The vintage tonality and punk-like immediacy of tracks like “Signal to Noise” really bring to mind underground bands like The Sameloves or The Chevelles.

The Brixton Riot has a keen ear for the modern plight of underground pop in the United States. Songs like "Cover's Been Blown" ("it's an easy road home / to the commuter crawl") and "Losing Streak" ("every streak will one day reach an end") explore the push-pull psychology of playing in a rock band on the wrong side of 30. They also don't mind taking a playful jab at the fashionistas of neighboring hot spots ("Hipster can't hang with the rest of the kids / 10 years too late for a scene that fits...") on "Hipster Turns 30” or some of their "too cool for school" peers on "Canvas Shoes" ("it looks so real / I bet you're fooling them now / another street punk from a suburban town").

In a state known for celebrating scrappy working class underdogs and shallow ego trips, the Brixton Riot embraces the juxtaposition and gives it a rock and roll soundtrack.

A Bit Of Trivia, Dining Tips and Our Album Cover...

Did you know that today is the "most depressing day of the year"?

We didn't. At least not until this morning.

Apparently, it's known as "Blue Monday" (not to be confused with this far better Blue Monday)

So considering this little bit of useless trivia, it's even sweeter for us to write this post. Because we have the great pleasure to report the following news items...

ITEM #1

Palace Amusements is DONE. Not mostly done, almost done or nearly done. Not done except for mixing or tweaks. Not done all but mastering. It's done as in you have read the last of our "it's on the way, we're nearly there, we're not just sitting on our asses" posts. It's stick a fork in it, signed, sealed and delivered done.

You're probably saying "well, if it's REALLY done where's the artwork?". Oh, ye of little faith.

ITEM #2



And there it is. This is Matt's fine brush work and we're all thrilled with it. Getting four guys to agree on a cover is a lot harder than it sounds. And we'd be remiss if we didn't thank Chris Gash for his hard work on helping us with design ideas.

ITEM #3

Palace Amusements will be released by the fine people at the New York based Modern Hymnal record label on March 6th, 2012. You'll be able to get it from their website, our website, ITunes and Bandcamp. You will also be able to get it at one of our shows, which we will be resuming in March. We are currently in the process of putting together a number of dates to support the release and we'll be posting them shortly. If you had a particular venue you would like to see us in, we'd love to know what it is so drop us a line.

Here's the final track listing for Palace Amusements

Signal To Noise
Hard To See The Sun
Canvas Shoes
Our Cover's Been Blown
Pinwheel
Hipster Turns 30
Carmelita
Ocean Avenue
Strange Matter
Keep It Like A Secret
It's Been Too Long
Losing Streak

If you haven't seen it already, here's a promo video for the first track, "Signal To Noise"



ITEM #4

It's too damn cold out, so I'm getting Vietnamese Pho for lunch. If you haven't tried it, you really should. It's hard to beat on a 23 degree day.

Stay Warm, kids!

TBR

A Brief TBR Update

Since it's been about a month since we last checked in, we wanted to drop you a line about what's happening with the record, the fall dates and us in general.

When we last checked in, we were in the mixing phase. And now…we’re basically still in the mixing phase. We're eagerly awaiting the next batch of tracks as we speak, and we're sure they will sound great - but since it's already October 11th, it's safe to say that Palace Amusements most definitely is not coming out on November 15th. I’m sure I owe someone a drink for that one (I’m looking at you, Steve). And since it won't be ready by the 15th, playing a fall tour to support it doesn't make much sense. We will likely still pop in for a few dates before the holidays, but we're going to hold off on some of our bigger plans until we've got the record in hand.

That's not to say that we haven't been busy. Bryan Sargent came by our last rehearsal and took some great photos. Some of them have popped up on our Facebook page already, some of them will be added soon and some of them will never see the light of day to protect our already questionable reputations.

Meanwhile, Matt and his old group My Favorite Citizen will be performing a reunion show at Maxwell's on December 28th, which I'm really looking forward to. Standing in front of him, I never get to see him play, and I’ve always wondered how he keeps that Yankee hat centered perfectly on his head.

And finally, we're very happy to congratulate Mark on his recent engagement to Erin, who he met at one of our Maxwell's shows a few years back. I apologize for not remembering the date, but it's not like I met MY wife that night. I don't remember much about that particular show, but I do remember Erin heckling us from the audience about the Yankees. Ah, amore!

Until next time, keep it real peeps.

Cheers,
TBR

It's Quiet (For Now)

The cables have been winded. The mics have been put away. It's all gone quiet here, and it feels really strange.

It's been a few weeks since we first mentioned it, but in case you missed the news, we wrapped up the recording of Palace Amusements on August 26th. This milestone was reached the same week that a hurricane and earthquake hit New Jersey. We're not saying these events are related, but nobody REALLY knows for sure, do they?

Our songs are now in the very capable hands of Frank Marchand. Frank was the man behind the board for the last three Bob Mould records and he also remastered one of our all-time favorite 90's records, Sugar's Copper Blue. We're all very excited to have him working on Palace Amusements, though none more then Matt who got to talk to Bob Mould about working with Frank (or as Matt now likes to call him "my very good friend Bob Mould").

Palace Amusements will be released November 15th on the New York based Modern Hymnal Records. It was originally scheduled to come out on the Baltimore based Beechfields record label. We were very sorry to see The Beechfields close down over thr summer - we enjoyed our brief tenure in their strong stable of artists and have enjoyed playing with some of our label mates (like The Seldon Plan, Among Wolves, Gary B & The Notions, E. Joseph & The Phantom Heart to name a few), though we will certainly play with these fine bands again. Fortunately, Modern Hymnal stepped in and will give Palace Amusements a proper release.

Palace Amusements will be available on compact disc and digitally via iTunes as well as some other digital media outlets. The artwork duties are being handled by our very good frend Chris Gash. The final sequence of the album hasn't been decided yet, but here is the track listing:

Signal To Noise
Strange Matter
Keep It Like A Secret
Our Cover's Been Blown
Pinwheel
Canvas Shoes
Hipster Turns 30
Carmelita
Ocean Avenue
Hard To See The Sun
It's Been Too Long
Losing Streak

If you'd like a preview of one of the tracks, we posted our own rough mix of Hipster Turns 30 back in July. It's up on our SoundCloud page.

We're currently lining up a series of dates to support the release, so look for those on our Facebook page and website soon.

Finally, a big thank you to everyone who has been asking about and looking forward to hearing our record. We cannot express how much we appreciate your support and we hope you enjoy our record. Thanks for sticking around.

Cheers,
Jerry, Matt, Mark and Steve
The Brixton Riot