GIRLS‘ latest tour of the states kicked into gear this week. They’re hitting the states, and east coast this week!! Can’t wait to see them with their brand new keyboard player in tow! Conveniently named tour mates Dum Dum Girls are coming along for this trip. should be a helluva show, and plus you can leave the show with a frisbee!
(sadly, there are no plans to show the above film at the Gorge during the weekend of May 29-31)
As you might’ve heard elsewhere last night, Pavement, The New Pornographers and Girls are each taking part in 2010′s Sasquatch Festival (May 29-31, The Gorge, WA). A number of our other favorites are taking part (No Age, Band Of Horses, Quasi, Public Enemy) but we’d I’d like to extend a very special thanks to the organizers of this event for NOT BOOKING SOUNDGARDEN. Keep hope alive!
1 more stop on the road to instore immortality for Girls… (apologies for the hyperbole but, you know… it’s Super Bowl weekend!)
Next Friday February 12 at 7pm Girls will be at Slowtrain for a free instore performance before their show later on at Urban Lounge.
Slowtrain
221 E. Broadway
Salt Lake City
801 364 2611
And to those of you in Atlanta reading this saying “Dang, I wish Girls would play a free instore in my town” you should go to Criminal Records tonight around… oh I don’t know… 7ish??
By truepanthersounds on Tuesday, February 2nd, 2010
photo by Bao Nguyen
Despite currently soldiering across the country Girls are announcing yet another batch of tour dates. This time, they’re going back to some of our favorite cities, all over the US and Canada, with a stop through Coachella. All American dates are with the excellent Dum Dum Girls. Make all the girl-bandname jokes you want we are just here with the FACTS.
By truepanthersounds on Tuesday, January 19th, 2010
A new year, a new single from Girls. Laura is probably our favorite track from the album. Such a ripper! At this point, you’ve probably heard enough of us going on and on about our love for this thing so just know that the 7″ comes with an exclusive b-side, the haunting and heartbreaking “Oh, Boy”.
Pre-order from the Matador Store and get a free 3″ Girls button, previously available only at shows and a few days during CMJ.
Pre-order the single HERE from the Matador Store
Order “Album” HERE
Girls are also embarking on yet another US tour with some of our favorite bands right now, Magic Kids, Smith Westerns and Hunx and His Punx. A real family jam. The tour culminates Valentines Day, which features all four bands and marks the almost two-year anniversary of Girls’ first show ever at Cafe Du Nord. Just found this old post from back in the day and got a little teary-eyed. Mon 1/25Detroit Bar. Costa Mesa, CA $@ Tue 1/26Club Congress. Tucson, AZ $@ Wed 1/27The Launchpad. Aburquerque, NM $@ Fri 1/29The Parish. Austin, TX *@ Sat 1/30House of Blues. Dallas, TX *@ Sun 1/31Walter’s On Washington. Houston, TX *@ Tue 2/2One Eyed Jacks. New Orleans, LA *@ Thu 2/4Bottletree. Birmingham, AL *@ Fri 2/5The Earl. Atlanta, GA *@ Sat 2/6 Exit/In. Nashville, TN *@ Sun 2/7 The Gargoyle. St. Louis, MO *@ Mon 2/8The Blue Note. Columbia, MO *@ Wed 2/10Bluebird Theater. Denver, CO *@ Fri 2/12 Urban Lounge. Salt Lake City, UT *@ Sun 2/14Great American Music Hall. San Francisco, CA *@$
By truepanthersounds on Monday, November 16th, 2009
Girls stopped by the beautiful KCMP studios in St. Paul, Minnesota this last weekend and dropped three beautiful, melancholy jams for a still and crisp aired Midwestern afternoon. Their versions of “Ghostmouth” and “Lauren Marie” sound extra gauzy and lush in the room ordinarily used for recording classical music, a performance of non-album track “Heartbreaker” takes the whole thing over the top. Thanks to The Current for being such great hosts and making these songs sound so good!
Despite just finishing up a 5-week tour of the UK and Europe and being halfway through a nationwide tour, Girls bring you MORE TOUR DATES. This time they’ll be traveling through the southwest, southern states and back across the midwest, through fog, sleet, snow, and corn mazes they will come to you America. The band went to a few of these cities last August, supporting Los Campesinos! A lot has changed since then, these last few months have been incredible and we’re all excited to see what the new year has in store!
Along for almost the entire trip are the awesome MAGIC KIDS, from Memphis, Tennessee.
Tour dates below. Dates for the current U.S. tour even further down.
Current Tour
11/12 Chicago, IL Empty Bottle #
11/13 Chicago, IL Empty Bottle (sold out) #
11/14 Minneapolis, MN 7th Street Entry #
11/17 Seattle, WA Nuemos #
11/18 Portland, OR Doug Fir Lounge #
11/18 Portland, OR In-store at Jackpot Records (FREE)
11/20 San Francisco, CA Swedish American Hall
11/21 San Francisco, CA Bottom Of The Hill (sold out) #$
12/4 San Diego, CA The Loft #@
12/5 Los Angeles, CA The Troubadour $@
12/6 Santa Barbara, CA Muddy Waters #@
#= Dominant Legs
$= Tamaryn
@= The Morning Benders
After months of speculation (much of it in our own corridors), we can happily announce that Matador Records has purchased the True Panther Sounds label. TPS, best known to many of you as the imprint behind Girls‘ recent rise to prominence, will continue to be managed by label founder Dean Bein. What would possess Matador to become involved with another label in this capacity? As Victor Kiam once explained his decision to purchase the Remington Shaver operation, “I liked it so much, I bought the company.” Needless to say, we like Dean, Girls, Glasser, Tanlines, Lemonade and Hunx & His Punx much more than than Mr. Kiam appreciated those razor blades.
At the moment, Girls’ ‘Album’ is the only True Panther Sounds title to be worked through Matador’s fearsome promotional & marketing machinery (ie. Hunx’ recent ‘Gay Singles’ LP, was not). However, in the months to come, additional offerings from TPS’ impressive roster (prior releases have included titles from The Fly Girlz, Ty Seagall, Rainbow Bridge, The Standing Nudes amongst others) will receive similar treatment. Stay tuned!
Girls are shipping up to Boston to rock the Sox off of everyone from Back Bay to Somerville… so check it out, FO FREE.
Free Instore
Saturday November 7th @ 5pm
Newbury Comics – 332 Newbury Street
Until then, grab a copy of Album so you can sing along. Or just check out this wicked good video that the Lust for Life directors dropped on us without telling anyone… but we still love them.
Girls just added a couple of Southern California dates to their already epic tour itinerary (currently galavanting around Europe, followed immediately by criss-crossing the USA). To reflect Southern California vibrations the bands are traveling solely by surfboard and are being limited to a strict diet of Pollo Loco tacos. Sorry guys but we run a tight ship around here and no one said “making it” in the biz is EASY.
Fri Dec 4. The Loft @ UCSD San Diego, CA (w/The Morning Benders) Sat Dec 5 The Troubador, Los Angeles, CA (w/The Morning Benders) Sun Dec 6 Muddy Waters, Santa Barbara, CA (w/The Morning Benders
and the rest entirety of the epic US Tour! New Yorkers tickets for the Bowery show are already ALMOST SOLD OUT!!!!!
TOUR DATES November
02 Hoboken, NJ Maxwell¹s
03 Washington, DC Black Cat
04 Philadelphia, PA Kung Fu Necktie
06 New York, NY Bowery Ballroom
07 Boston, MA Great Scott
09 Montreal, QUE Il Motore
10 Toronto, ONT El Mocambo
12 Chicago, IL Empty Bottle
13 Chicago, IL Empty Bottle
14 Minneapolis, MN 7th Street Entry
17 Seattle, WA Nuemos
18 Portland, OR Doug Fir Lounge
20 San Francisco, CA Swedish American Hall
21 San Francisco, CA Bottom Of The Hill
Thanks to Nate Chan and Will Abramson from Your’s Truly for filming this session. A lot of familiar faces and a great performance. In Nate and Will’s words…
I told JR to show up around 7 and that he could invite some friends to come watch and drink the beer I bought for them. They started loading in around 8 and as their set time drew closer, the main room at DifferentFur Studios became so stuffed with mission kids, loose affiliations, folks whispering about cryptic “secret show” text messages and close friends that the glass to the control room started to fog up. Before they played the first notes of “Laura,” all the beer was gone, the PA was acting up and the studio owners were complaining about the close quarters, but somehow we pulled it off.
Pre-order “Album” HERE, out nationwide on September 22nd.
By truepanthersounds on Wednesday, September 16th, 2009
Being in San Francisco the last few days has been amazing. The San Francisco-only release of Girls’ “Album” was yesterday, and (for lack of a better word) the “vibe” here is electric. Upon getting off the plane I couldn’t avoid the guys’ faces placed in every SF Bay Guardian newsbox around town. I gotta say, the cover looks really really good against the San Francisco skyline.
After a couple of sold-out California shows last week with Cass Mccombs the band celebrated the album release last night at Amoeba Records on Haight Street. An estimated 400 people came out to show their support, old faces, new faces, from seemingly every generation of San Francisco music fan. The Amoeba staff were incredible, and I think we were all really pleased at the number of people that came, bought the record (an unprecedented amount for an in-store apparently) and the huge line of people that got their brand new record signed. Even with admittedly tremendous expectations, I’m shocked. After living in the Bay Area for most of my life, I’ve never seen this kind of excitement for a pack of locals- and now I think we’re all ready to take the world by storm! Click on the photo below to see some more snaps from last night. Thank you to everyone that came out.
“Album” is out nationwide next Tuesday, September 22nd!
In case you haven’t done it yet, you can still stream the entire album at truepanther.com
Pre-order “Album” HERE
Today is a very exciting day for Matador Records and True Panther Sounds, as our little family officially unveils two of the most exciting albums we (or anyone else) are releasing this year. Both album-previews are fully embeddable, so please share with the people you love.
First, Times New Viking’s outstanding “Born Again Revisited” is streaming in its entirety. Listen first, then buy it (priced-to-own, with two free 7″s and a poster to boot):
And then we have Girls’ “Album”, a powerhouse statement-of-intent. Dean Bein of True Panther Sounds said it better than I could. Whether you live in San Francisco or Mars, you can hear (and buy it):
How do a San Franciscan band celebrate releasing a record in San Francisco that comes out a week early at record shops in San Francisco featuring songs that are kind of about San Francisco?
By truepanthersounds on Friday, September 11th, 2009
Dear Friends,
The weekend is pretty much here but honestly, we’re already looking forward to Monday. This Monday, September 14th, we’re going to premiere Girls’ “Album” as a high-quality stream on the True Panther Sounds site, www.truepanther.com.
If you’ll forgive the editorializing: This is a day that comes after almost two years of hard work by the band, a lot of blood sweat tears laughs and late nights, and the result couldn’t be more exciting for any of us. A lot of you maybe have heard a couple of songs off of the record already, one of them got named one of the top songs of the decade, others have floated around on singles and blogs. Some may have even heard the janky leak! But beyond those few tastes, Album, is a packed and fully realized treasure- the 12 tracks touch on so many familiar and beloved sounds but are fundamentally powered by the unchecked honesty, unbridled sincerity and incredible craftsmanship that is so hard to find in music these days. The New York Times put it better than I probably can (that is why they’re paid to write I suppose!). It’s not a re-exploration of the sounds we have loved but in fact the songs on this album are “templates for others to copy“. This is one of the proudest and most exciting time in this young label’s young life and we want to thank the band and you guys for making it happen.
The premiere stream will be available on the site at 10AM EST, in high quality streaming format from beginning to end. We hope you enjoy it.
Stream “ALBUM” HERE Monday September 14th, 10AM EST
Pre-order “ALBUM” HERE
GIRLS- Lust For Life (mp3)
Read an incredible Interview with Christopher HERE
A special album release listening party [presented by INSOUND and IMPOSE Magazine] for the upcoming GIRLS record, Album, and Times New Viking’s Born Again Revisited will be on Wednesday, September 16 at Bruar Falls (245 Grand Street) in Williamsburg, Brooklyn starting at 9pm. Both records come out on LP/CD/Digital on September 22nd. All attendees will receive a promo coupon from Insound for a special %discount on the pre-order! And of course: we will have ticket goodies and music giveaways..
By truepanthersounds on Thursday, September 10th, 2009
photo by Sandy Kim
We’re very pleased to announce that GIRLS are getting in the van this coming November and hitting select cities all over the United States for their first-ever headlining U.S. Tour. They will not be riding in the bus pictured above (nor will they be accompanied by the above female companions) but these shows will be very special.
Additionally, beginning this Monday September 14th, you will be able to access a high-quality stream of “Album” on www.truepanther.com. This album was recorded in the home, the band’s first fans were in their shared home, and thus, we chose to premiere this record on the label’s virtual home, the True Panther Site. Hope you enjoy it.
As a special little cherry on top, an mp3 of the album version of “Lust For Life” is below – the shimmering mixed and mastered version that hasn’t quite replaced the original mix on these here internets. See you on the road America!
TOUR DATES November
02 Hoboken, NJ Maxwell¹s
03 Washington, DC Black Cat
04 Philadelphia, PA Kung Fu Necktie
06 New York, NY Bowery Ballroom
07 Boston, MA Great Scott
09 Montreal, QUE Il Motore
10 Toronto, ONT El Mocambo
12 Chicago, IL Empty Bottle
13 Chicago, IL Empty Bottle
14 Minneapolis, MN 7th Street Entry
17 Seattle, WA Nuemos
18 Portland, OR Doug Fir Lounge
20 San Francisco, CA Swedish American Hall
21 San Francisco, CA Bottom Of The Hill
By truepanthersounds on Monday, September 7th, 2009
AMERICANS
On this lovely Labor Day, shortly bound for the excellent West Indian Day Carnival, we stand before you- stoked. The next few weeks are going to be all about GIRLS GIRLS GIRLS at True Panther HQ. NY Times totally nailed it in their review yesterday, people are “getting it”. At great risk of continuing to be hyperbolic- something very special is happening.
As a big thank you to the special city by the bay we’d like to declare the week of September 14th GIRLS WEEK (proposals for more creative names accepted) in San Francisco. To send some love back to the wonderful music fans and retailers that have been so supportive of the band from its inception, “Album”, will be available in local independent stores, one week before anywhere else. Starting 9/15, Bay Areans can walk into their local Amoeba, Aquarius, Rasputin, Streetlight, etc. and pick up a copy of the album the New York Times called “devastatingly fresh” and declared one of the year’s best. If you’re not in SF don’t worry, “Album” will be available everywhere beginning 9/22.
Additionally, the band will be celebrating this early release with a free in-store performance at the San Francisco Amoeba records Tuesday 9/15 at 6pm. Come one come all! Bring your friends your family, let’s share this together! Pick up a copy of the record before anyone else, play it over and over so much that the grooves are worn out by the nationwide September 22nd release date!
This week the band are also going on a short trip through California with their friend Cass Mccombs. These shows will be their last American appearances before embarking on their first full-on European tour.
Bay Area airwaves get a special treat as Girls pay a visit to KUSF to play live on the Sleeves On Hearts program tomorrow. Their set starts at 11am Pacific, and you can listen in at 90.3 FM in the San Francisco area, or point your web browser to kusf.org if you prefer your radio online.
In other Left Coast Girls news, their True Panther debut, Album, goes on sale in SF a week before the rest of the country, on Tuesday, September 15th. Amoeba in San Francisco will be celebrating with a free Girls instore at 6pm that day.
As announced on the True Panther blog, Girls’ debut album, appropriately entitled Album, will be coming out on September 22. Our friends at True Panther inform us that the duo of Christopher Owens and Chet “JR” White continue to “wet the eyes and explode the hearts of the willing.” We enthusiastically agree.
The album will be preceded by a 10″ single of “Hellhole Ratrace,” backed with the non-album B-side “Solitude.” Download both songs here:
Preorder information will be announced momentarily. Catch the band on the road this summer with The Pains Of Being Pure At Heart or Los Campesinos!
Jul 20 The Echo Los Angeles, California w/The Pains of Being Pure At Heart
Jul 21 Rickshaw San Francisco, California w/The Pains of Being Pure At Heart
Jul 23 The Backspace A/A Portland, Oregon w/The Pains of Being Pure At Heart
Jul 24 Biltmore Cabaret Vancouver, British Columbia w/The Pains of Being Pure At Heart
Jul 25 Capitol Hill Block Party Seattle, Washington
Aug 4 Webster Hall new york, New York w/Los Campesinos!
Aug 5 9:30 Club Washington, Washington DC w/Los Campesinos!
Aug 6 Grog Shop Cleveland, Ohio w/Los Campesinos!
Aug 7 Hideout Chicago, Illinois w/Los Campesinos!
Aug 11 Firebird St. Louis, Missouri w/Los Campesinos!
Aug 12 Record Bar Kansas city, Missouri w/Los Campesinos!
Aug 14 Emos Outside Austin, Texas w/Los Campesinos!
Aug 15 Granada Theatre Dallas, Texas w/Los Campesinos!
Aug 16 Warehouse (Studio) Houston, Texas w/Los Campesinos!
Aug 19 Launchpad Albuquerque, New Mexico w/Los Campesinos!
Aug 20 Club Congress Tucson, Arizona w/Los Campesinos!
Aug 21 El Rey Theatre L to the A, California w/Los Campesinos!
Aug 22 Glass House Pomona, California w/Los Campesinos!
Aug 23 Detroit Bar Costa Mesa, California w/Los Campesinos!
We are proud to announce the September 22 release of the debut full-length from Girls, entitledAlbum. The record will be released by True Panther Sounds, the label that released Girls’ debut 7″, “Lust For Life,” last year, in conjunction with Matador.
Built on the powerful songwriting of Christopher Owens and the ethereal production of Chet “JR” White, Girls recordedAlbum in a variety of bedrooms and rehearsal studios in their adopted hometown, San Francisco. The resulting 12 tracks are the perfect San Francisco summer record, evoking a narcotic, sunny afternoon in Dolores Park, yet promising the eventual hangover of summer’s departure.Album is a redemptive song-cycle about the various characters and desires that color Christopher Owens’s life. Described by the band as “honest, loose, ethereal, obnoxious and perfect,” it is a sincere tribute to the majesty of great pop music and the healing power of rock and roll.
Album’s seven-minute opus, “Hellhole Ratrace,” rated by Pitchfork as “one of the 100 best songs of the year,” will be available prior to the album‘s release date on a limited-edition 10″ vinyl single.
