Saturday, April 19, 2008

Riff Raff: Odds and ends in local music news (April 13-19)

By Erin Rice

Local albums hitting the webs and shelves

Photo on left taken by Hal Samples

(l) Hal Samples - (r) Ryan Cabrera (eerie)

Normally we leave Ryan Cabrera news for the likes of MTV and KROQ LA, but there's something we find eerily local about his new Hal Samples-esque hairdo. The singer/songwriter releases his first smaller label album, The Moon Under Water on May 13. According to a note on his website, the entire album was written and paid for by himself, which afforded him more creative freedom. His first single from the album, "Say," has been getting some radio attention and was the most added track on Top40.com the week after its release.

Rockett Queen, as you can probably presume, is a bit of a glam rock/pop outfit out of Tyler who were featured on the soundtrack for John Tucker Must Die. While the movie was more or less forgettable, the band wasn't and have been enjoying pretty successful year by local standards. According to a blog post, they have completed all the music for their upcoming EP and entered Rosewood Studio on Tuesday to work with Gary Leach, of Eisley and New Found Glory fame.

Moving Atlas's Elephant Gun EP

Arlington metal up-and-comers (grab hair, pull head from gutter), Moving Atlas, have not only nabbed a slot on stage at the Edgefest Pre-Party with headliners Everlast, Miser, and Early Pearl, but they will be releasing their new EP on June 7th. The Elephant Gun follows their 2006 release, Et Al. Fans can stream "Parachute," "No Ordinary Love," "How We're Infected," "Year of the Rat," and "Elephant Gun" on the band's site player. Advance copies of The Elephant Gun will be available at the Edgefest Pre-Party show.

My Son My Executioner, a local deathcore band, will release their first album in three years on May 20th. The EP, entitled The Burning, will be released through Doll House Recordings, who also represent The Secret Handshake. MSME's newest single, "Attrition of the Perverse," can be streamed here. The band sets sail on a Southwest U.S. tour in July with Triumph Over Shipwreck. Thanks to XtremeDFW.

Adventures in band members

James Villa

Even The Feds frolic from time to time. Which is made exponentially harder by holding a huge gig case.

The Feds finally filled their drummer slot with the permanent addition of Justin Carder. Having played previously with Hap~Hazard, Mindrage, Chasing The Fall, and Machina, he was also the studio drummer at Jupiter Studios in St. Louis and is working on his own project in which he plays every instrument on the record. E-Meet Justin here.

The Toadies are looking for a temporary bass player for their June tour up the East Coast. But, if your Toadies rockstar dreams go beyond simply a tour, they'll be unfulfilled because the band is NOT looking for a fourth member. They will audition potentials in May. For more information, check out the band's announcement.

Song stuffs

The Vehicle Reason... just chillin' against this brick wall now that they've been on The Hills.

Longview's The Vehicle Reason got some MTV attention recently. Their song, "Bruises Will Fade," was featured in an episode of The Hills. Despite being a wildly mind-numbing show, the producers do quite a bit for lesser known artists in the pop genre by not only choosing a variety of background songs, but dropping down a graphic that displays who and what you may be hearing during the episode, while providing details on the website. "Geez, how do you know that?" Mind your business.

One of our local favorites, Tommy Hernandez, has posted a new song to his MySpace. According to the singer/songwriter, "This one is a rap improv that Lauren Smith and I put together." He promises more rap... and not. If Tommy writes it, we're pretty sure it's gold.

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