Tag Archives: Alternative

This Dublin based guitar-shredding group of rockers, Bouts, landed in our inbox thanks to an old Paper Garden intern who is now our consultant on all the Irish goods. If you don’t think the Irish know how to have a good time just watch the video Bouts made of “Turn Away”, off their latest release, where they pile a group of their closest friends inside four small walls of a Japanese Karaoke booth, cover those walls with the song’s lyrics and pass around a bottle of Ireland’s finest drink and a microphone.  You probably guessed that this is one of their more sing-along songs so for a heavy dose of their guitar loudness, stream and get a free download of “We Tried” off their self titled EP Bouts, which was released Oct 2011 and is up for free on Bandcamp.

 

 By the end of 2012 the band will have played nearly 50 shows including numerous Irish festivals and in support of bands like We Were Promised Jetpacks, Wintersleep and Presidents of The USA. They somehow found time to put out a limited edition double A-side 7 inch “Get Sick”//”Turn Away” in March. It’s almost sold out but you can still order a copy here or, if you are one of the chosen ones who live in NYC, just grab one when you see the band perform during CMJ! That’s right, they were selected to play at the Music From Ireland Showcases October 18 at Fat Baby and October 20 at The Irish Arts Center and we are very excited to announce that they will be playing at our Lovely Hearts Club Showcase Friday, October 19 at Spike Hill!

 

So keep up with the band on FacebookTwitter and Tumblr for additional NYC shows and updates on their sophmore album set to release in 2013. Already the band has created a sound that has been likened to Weezer, The Pixies, Pavement and Yo La Tengo so we are excited to see what they will come up with next!  

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Hours of listening to demo submissions eventually paid off when we opened The Great Afternoon‘s email to find that the banjo isn’t just for making bluegrass tunes. Christina Ward has been rocking out on the banjo along side bassist Kris Knechel and Brian Huggins on drums for over a year now. Her soothing vocals carefully guide us through some of life’s tougher realities while leaving a bit of hope for better days. Their first EP is not all doom and gloom as much as it is foot-tapping and and head bobbing thanks to a perfect blend of drum and bass lines with the unexpectedly soulful banjo picking.

The band has been playing a handful of shows around their hometown of New Jersey in support of their first EP “The Great Afternoon”, which was released just a few months ago in August. Here’s a stream of ‘Science Fiction’ but don’t stop listening there, head to bandcamp or Facebook to stream the full album and maybe even make a purchase for just $7!

The Great Afternoon will be playing Friday, November 18 at the Tritone in Philly and again at the Bus Stop Music Cafe in Pitman, NJ on Saturday, November 19. Check them out if you are in the neighborhood and let us know what you think!

Update: We are so excited to get to meet The Great Afternoon in real life right here in Brooklyn, February 24th at Roots Cafe on 639 5th Ave starting at 8 p.



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