Christopher Owens statement
As reported on the Turnstile and True Panther blogs:Dear all,
This may come as a surprise to many & has been an issue of much thought for me. My decision was not easy to make.
I am leaving Girls. My reasons at this time are personal. I need to do this in order to progress.
I will continue to write & record music. More will be announced soon. I thank you all for everything.
Sincerely–Christopher
GIRLS perform on CONAN + then again at COACHELLA
Long time fans, first time performers! Last night Girls were able to stop by Conan for a very special appearance, their very first on his show. Those who tuned in were treated to a heartfelt rendition of Love Like A River. For anyone who missed it, the good folks at Conan have provided this clip from the show.Girls are now headed into the desert for a special show at Pappy & Harriet's tonight in Pioneertown, CA and then hit Coachella tomorrow for the second weekend of madness.
Matador & True Panther Sounds In Austin, TX This Week
Notice how careful I was not to use the trademarked brand-name, S---- By S--------? That's because the several of the events below require neither a badge nor a wristband to attend. We've helpfully pointed out the exceptions, however. As always, we're thrilled to bits to taking part, even in the tiniest of ways, in this great annual rock biz circle jerk (that sometimes features former members of the Circle Jerks) and on behalf of my fellow Austin residents, I'd like to welcome you to America's
This doesn't mean, however, you can come over to my house.
CEREMONY :
Friday, March 16, Brooklyn Vegan / Power of the Riff / Thrasher / Converse "Death Match", Scoot Inn, 1308 E. 4th St. , 2pm (free)
Saturday, March 17, Mess With Texas, outside stage, 1105 E. 5th St., 2:45pm (free)
Saturday, March 17, Flower Booking Presents at Red 7, 611 E. 7th St., 8pm*
THE YOUNG :
Monday, March 12, The Mohawk (inside stage), 10:20pm, (free)
Wednesday, March 14, Bar 96, 96 Rainey Street, 10pm* (with Screaming Females, Titus Andronicus)
Thursday, March 15, Mess With Texas, 1105 E. 5th St., 1pm (with The Men, Cults)
Thursday, March 15, Brooklyn Vegan Presents at Hotel Vegas, 1500 E. 6th St., 4pm (free)
Saturday, March 17, Red Eyed Fly, 715 Red River, 2pm (free) (with Bleached)
Saturday March 17, Pure Volume House at Roy's, 340 E. 2nd St., 4:15pm (with Cymbals Eat Guitars) (free)
GIRLS :
Thursday, March 15, Mess With Texas, 1100 E. 5th St., 3pm (free)
Thursday, March 15, High Road Booking Presents at Stubb's, 801 Red River, 10pm*
TANLINES :
Friday, March 16, Rhapsody Party, Club DeVille, 900 Red River 1:4pm (with Washed Out, Zola Jesus) (free)
Friday, March 16, Windish Agency Presents at ND Studios, 501 North IH-35, 8pm *
Saturday, March 17, Mess With Texas, 1105 E. 5th St., 4pm (free)
* - official SXSW event : badges and wristbands get first shot. Venue might elect to sell tickets if they're not at capacity.
LEMONADE :
Girls - "My Ma" video debuts with Team Coco, band to perform on Conan March 22, 7" upcoming
Today, our friends at Team Coco have premiered the video for "My Ma", in advance of Girls' March 22 performance on Conan on TBS."My Ma" is the third video from Father, Son, Holy Ghost (still available to purchase), following the "Vomit" and "Honey Bunny" videos.
"My Ma" was directed and edited by Aaron Brown (Focus Creeps) and shot by Grant Singer and Aaron Brown:
Also, as a thank you to the stores that participated in Girls Across America (the first ever nationwide instore that took place in September 2011) Girls are pleased to announce the May 22 release of a "My Ma b/w Love Life" 7" single.
This 7” will be a one-time pressing of 1000, available only at the 159 participating stores (more info to come on when and where you can find the 7"). A small gesture of appreciation to all those great stores that have supported the band.
Girls are on tour starting March 1 finishing up at the Coachella Music and Arts Festival:
Mar 01 Santa Cruz CA - Coconut Grove
Mar 02 San Diego CA - Birch North Park Theatre
Mar 03 Phoenix AZ - Crescent Ballroom
Mar 05 Albuquerque NM - Launchpad
Mar 07 San Antonio TX - White Rabbit
Mar 08 Austin TX - La Zona Rosa
Mar 09 Dallas TX - Granada Theatre
Mar 12 New Orleans LA - One Eyed Jacks
Mar 13 Houston TX - Fitzgerald’s Upstairs
Mar 16 Englewood CO - Gothic Theatre
Mar 17 Salt Lake City UT - In The Venue
Mar 18 Reno NV - Cargo At CommRow
Apr 13 & Apr 20 Indio CA - Coachella
Intended Play 2012 - For The Vinyl-Phobic Amongst, The Price Just Dropped From $2 To Free
(I really don't see the resemblance)
Back in early January WE SHOCKED THE MUSIC WORLD with news of a $1.98 Matador/True Panther Sounds sampler LP including (mostly) new songs from The Young, Ceremony, Lee Ranaldo Tanlines, Perfume Genius, Stephen Malkmus & The Jicks, Fucked Up, Girls, Cold Cave, Esben and The Witch and Kurt Vile. It's come to our attention that a) there's a few stragglers out there who've yet to order this limited edition LP, and b) some of you either trashed your record players or simply prefer music in digital form.
So here's the deal ---
V/A - Intended Play (zip)
Matador/True Panther radio action(s) for Friday, February 3
Connoisseurs of live radio performance have a great deal on their plate today, and you have us to thank for it.
Seattle singer/songwriter (and star of the year's most controversial ad so far) Perfume Genius performs live on hometown station KEXP today at 2:00PM EST/11:00AM PST. Listen at 90.3FM or online at kexp.org, and pre-order the new Perfume Genius album, Put Your Back N 2 It, here.
Also this afternoon, Girls return to the World Cafe studios to play some songs from last year's world-beating sophomore album, Father, Son, Holy Ghost. The show starts at 2:00PM EST/11:00AM PST, and can be heard at 88.5FM in Philadelphia, or online at xpn.org. Can't catch the session when it airs? It'll be on NPR's website later in the day, and you can also find out when your local public radio station airs World Cafe at this link. And while you're here, you might as well pick up a copy of Father, Son, Holy Ghost for yourself, or for a treasured friend.
Finally, the aforementioned Ceremony live session on WNYU starts at 5:00PM EST/2:00PM PST and is not to be missed. Don't forget to pre-order their upcoming album, Zoo, right here.
Intended Play 2012, the vinyl bargain of the year & some good music to boot
Today we're psyched to tell you that OLE-981 is the Matador Records & True Panther Sounds' 2012 Intended Play Sampler hits shelves on January 14. This (insanely) budget-priced vinyl sampler showcases new tracks and now-classics from the Matador/True Panther syndicate circa 2011-2012, and much like the Cherry Red sampler from which this LP finds inspiration, is destined to rank at #1 on all music retail charts.
Oh, did we mention its costs $1.98!?!
The comp features unreleased tracks from: THE YOUNG (Austin, TX – Matador debut Spring 2012), CEREMONY (Rohnert Park, CA – Hysteria 7” coming February 2012), LEE RANALDO (from
Between the Times & The Tides, March 20), PERFUME GENIUS (sophomore album, Put Your
Back Into It, February ), STEPHEN MALKMUS & THE JICKS (unreleased track from Mirror Traffic
sessions) and True Panther bros, TANLINES.
The album also features 2011 favorites, GIRLS (from Father, Son, Holy Ghost on True Panther), KURT VILE (from So Outta Reach EP), ESBEN & THE WITCH (Hexagons EP, first time on vinyl), FUCKED UP (from the David Comes To Life companion 7") & COLD CAVE (exclusive re-mix/remaster of the Cherish The Light Years favorite).
Revisit your favorites from 2011, and get a preview of 2012 from your friends at Matador Records and True
Panther Sounds for under two dollars!
1 THE YOUNG - Don't Hustle For Love*
2 KURT VILE - Life's A Beach
3 GIRLS - My Ma
4 CEREMONY - Hysteria*
5 TANLINES - TBA
6 LEE RANALDO - Off The Wall*
7 FUCKED UP - Into The Light
8 ESBEN & THE WITCH - Hexagons II
9 PERFUME GENIUS - All Waters*
10 COLD CAVE - Confetti (edit)
11 STEPHEN MALKMUS & THE JICKS - Polvo*
* unreleased
Pre-order it HERE or find it in your favorite vinyl retailer on 1/17)
NYC Girls Fans: Buy The Album, Get A Free Ticket
Sometimes over here at Matador HQ we like to try wacky shit like making videos featuring famous funny guys or buying a single Soda Stream for 15 people to use and then wonder why it runs out of gas after a day and a half.But this time we're doing something a little more simple and a lot more awesome.
As you already know, Girls are playing Terminal 5 on Saturday January 14. As you probably know, tickets are disappearing faster than (insert Kardashian wedding joke here). So just for you, NYC, we've teamed up with some of the best independent records stores in the Big Apple to offer a FREE TICKET when you purchase a copy of Father, Son, Holy Ghost (while supplies last, of course).
Simple as that. Buy the new album at regular price, get a free ticket to the show at Terminal 5.
Visit Other Music, Generation Records, Sound Fix, Permanent Records or Academy Annex NOW because they've each only got a handful of tickets. Do it. DO IT. See you at the show.
Girls - For No One session debuts
Today For No One, along with Refinery 29, brings us a lovely rendition of "Love Like A River" from Father, Son, Holy Ghost. The album is on sale for $6.99 at Amazon (the sale ends tomorrow, so hurry!). The session:As announced, Girls will release an insane new 7" on December 6th, and you can pre-order it now.
Finally, Girls have two of their biggest ever US shows coming up soon: Tuesday December 6th at the Fonda in LA (tickets) and Saturday Jan 14th at Terminal 5 in NYC (buy tickets or win them from Refinery 29). If you live in Santa Ana, you aren't left out, either.
Bringing you some black friday deals, without fear of being trampled
Head over to Amazon MP3 to grab the following for a new low price of $6.99 from 11/21-29, as part of their Black Friday Hits promotion.
Thurston Moore 'Demolished Thoughts'
Kurt Vile 'Smoke Ring For My Halo'
Girls 'Father, Son, Holy Ghost' (on True Panther)
You can also find these titles on the popular CD & vinyl formats at the Matador webstore, or your favorite local indie retailer.
It's a GIRLS World
[caption id="attachment_4652" align="aligncenter" width="520" caption="Photo By Pooneh Ghana"]
[/caption]This weekend, Girls bowled over a massive crowd at Austin's Fun, Fun, Fun fest. In a way it was the culmination of the last few months which saw their album Father, Son, Holy Ghost draw pretty universal praise, and the completion of a US tour that really established them as one of the strongest live rock bands going these days. SPIN said the Fun, Fun, Fun fest fest was the "Best Breakout Set" of the festival. We have to agree.
To celebrate we'd like to share a couple of things with you.
First, our friends at iTunes have made Father, Son, Holy Ghost available for a very limited time for only $5.99. If you haven't copped the record yet, now is the time.
Buy from iTunes HERE
Second, when Girls were here in NYC last time they spent a day with the folks at Pitchfork filming an absolutely beautiful session in an abandoned church in Greenpoint. The band, along with Makeda Francisco, Skyler Lucas and Tracy Nelson, the lovely and talented singers who you may have seen accompany the band on select dates, TORE THROUGH a few of the newer songs. Crushing and awesome.
To view the full session click here.
Luckily for those of you in Europe, the band start a tour there today. As for the States, southern California will play host to two very special nights with Girls in Los Angeles and Santa Ana, in early December. New York in January. For more details about their upcoming US/Euroepan dates and their newly announced single "Lawrence" click HERE
Thank you for reading and for the continued support.
Welcome Home Girls (or A Free, All Ages San Francisco Instore)
What better way to wrap up a big, long and assuredly exhausting national tour than to come home, hang out in one of the world's best record stores and play a free show for all of your hometown friends and fans?Girls are doing exactly that at 2pm THIS SUNDAY, October 9 at Amoeba SF. Lucky.
And if you haven't picked up the new album Father, Son, Holy Ghost be sure to do so soon, as the band will be hanging out after their set to sign your copy.
Girls live session on The Current today
- photo by Sandy Kim
Remaining Girls tour dates:
October
Tuesday 04 – Vancouver, BC – The Biltmore Cabaret
Wednesday 05 – Seattle, WA – Neptune Theatre
Thursday 06 – Portland, OR – Wonder Ballroom
Saturday 08 – San Francisco, CA – Great American Music Hall
Sunday 09 – San Francisco, CA – Great American Music Hall
P.S. Album of the year contender Father, Son, Holy Ghost is still available for purchase and will be for the foreseeable future.
Deep Dish'n With Girls (or free Chicago instore)
Hey 'Cago!You like pizza. You like Girls. You like the respite that your lunch break provides. Why not combine all three at your other favorite thing... A RECORD STORE!
Next Thursday, September 29 Girls are playing a free, all ages, lunch hour instore at Reckless Records' Broadway store with those Chicago-style pizzas and drinks for you hard workers out there. What better way to spend a lunch hour?
And if you just can't tear yourself away from the desk at 2pm next Thursday, be sure to catch Girls that night at Lincoln Hall. But let's face it, you've probably just been playing Snood all morning. Amirite?!
Girls - "Honey Bunny" video debuts with the New York Times
The New York Times brings us the second video from Father, Son, Holy Ghost, just about the best record anyone has heard this year (it's available for purchase).On the heels of the excellent and epic "Vomit" video, this is the other side of the Christopher Owens coin, as conceived by Girls' own Chet JR White, who co-directed the video with Ivan Shumaker (Stu Barnes produced):
Girls are on the road as we speak, and reports are unanimous: un-miss the current lineup when it hits your town, cuz the shit is unmissable:
September
Monday 19 - Washington, DC - 9:30 Club
Tuesday 20 - Philadelphia, PA - Theatre of Living Arts
Thursday 22 - New York, NY - Bowery Ballroom
Friday 23 - New York, NY - Bowery Ballroom
Saturday 24 - Boston, MA - Paramount Center
Sunday 25 - Montreal, AL - Corona Theatre
Tuesday 27 - Toronto, ON - The Mod Club
Thursday 29 - Chicago, IL - Lincoln Hall
Friday 30 - Madison, WI - Majestic Theater
October
Saturday 01 - Minneapolis, MN - First Avenue
Tuesday 04 - Vancouver, BC - The Biltmore Cabaret
Wednesday 05 - Seattle, WA - Neptune Theatre
Thursday 06 - Portland, OR - Wonder Ballroom
Saturday 08 - San Francisco, CA - Great American Music Hall
Sunday 09 - San Francisco, CA - Great American Music Hall
Watch Girls Across America TONIGHT, a full in-store concert experience
As GIRLS trace their way up the east coast in a tour supporting the much-lauded 'Father, Son, Holy Ghost' they'll be stopping at Nashville's Grimey's New & Preloved Music where they'll be performing a live in-store performance airing HERE and on the websites of over 100 of our favorite independent record shops (find a list beneath the pagebreak).
[EDIT: It was GREAT -- watch an archive of the performance below now, for a limited time!]
This might be many of your first chances to check out GIRLS' new 8-piece line up (with gospel singers!) transmitted via a hi-quality multi-camera setup.
TUNE IN tonight at 6PM EDT/5PM CDT to catch the full set, of all your favorites from 'Father, Son, Holy Ghost' as well as the classics
Presented by:
- Amoeba
- Backside
- Boo Boo
- Bull City
- Cactus
- Cake Shop
- CD Central
- Central Square Records
- Criminal
- Culture Clash
- Dimple
- Disc Exchange
- Ear Candy
- End Of An Ear
- Euclid
- Everyday
- Exclusive Company
- Exile On Main St.
- Flat Black Circular
- Generation
- Good
- Graywhale
- Grimey's
- Guestroom
- Hybrid Moments
- Independent
- Insound
- Ka Chunk
- Landlocked
- Laurie's Planet Of Sound
- Looney Tunes
- Luna
- Lunchbox
- M Theory
- Main St. Music
- Music Millenium
- Music Saves
- Newbury Comics
- Origami
- Other Music
- Park Ave.
- Permanent Brooklyn
- Permanent Chicago
- Radio Active
- Rasputin
- Reckless
- Red Onion
- Redscroll
- Repo
- Saki
- Silver Platters
- Skip's
- Slowtrain
- Square
- Stinkweeds
- Streetlight
- Sweat
- The Telegraph
- Tonevendor
- Underground Sounds
- Vacation Vinyl
- Village Green
- Vintage Vinyl StL
- Vinyl Collective
- Waiting Room
- Waterloo
- Wuxtry
- Young Ones
- Zia
Girls perform "Honey Bunny" and "My Ma" on Fallon
Not sure what to say, other than that Girls destroyed the television set last night (and my computer this morning) with "Honey Bunny" and a web-exclusive "My Ma" at Late Night With Jimmy Fallon. The band's new album, Father, Son, Holy Ghost, came out yesterday, as well.Really, seriously, watch these clips - they're awesome - and tune to your local record store's website Friday at 5PM CDT (6PM EDT, etc...you know the drill) for a live concert webcast from Grimey's in Nashville. It will be like this, or perhaps even better (thanks to our pal The Audio Perv, as always, for the late-night encoding):
"Honey Bunny"
"My Ma"
Girls' tour starts TONIGHT in Atlanta:
September
Wednesday 14 - Atlanta, GA - Variety Playhouse
Thursday 15 - Asheville, NC - The Orange Peel
Friday 16 - Nashville, TN - (instore performance - LIVE WEBCAST - 5PM)
Friday 16 - Nashville, TN - The Mercy Lounge
Saturday 17 - Carrboro, NC - Cat's Cradle
Monday 19 - Washington, DC - 9:30 Club
Tuesday 20 - Philadelphia, PA - Theatre of Living Arts
Thursday 22 - New York, NY - Bowery Ballroom
Friday 23 - New York, NY - Bowery Ballroom
Saturday 24 - Boston, MA - Paramount Center
Sunday 25 - Montreal, AL - Corona Theatre
Tuesday 27 - Toronto, ON - The Mod Club
Thursday 29 - Chicago, IL - Lincoln Hall
Friday 30 - Madison, WI - Majestic Theater
October
Saturday 01 - Minneapolis, MN - First Avenue
Tuesday 04 - Vancouver, BC - The Biltmore Cabaret
Wednesday 05 - Seattle, WA - Neptune Theatre
Thursday 06 - Portland, OR - Wonder Ballroom
Saturday 08 - San Francisco, CA - Great American Music Hall
Sunday 09 - San Francisco, CA - Great American Music Hall
GIRLS ACROSS AMERICA - THE FIRST EVER NATIONWIDE INSTORE
Flash back a week to when we said that Girls were going to play a free, all ages concert this Friday at Grimey's down in Nashville. Remember that? Good. Now, fasten your socks lest they be knocked off.
To celebrate today's release of the freshly BNM'd Father, Son, Holy Ghost - and pay homage to the hundreds of indie record stores who have it on sale - we're going to be live webcasting Friday's Nashville concert from Grimey's across the websites, blogs and Facebooks of participating independent record stores across the nation. It's the first ever NATIONWIDE in-store performance. GIRLS ACROSS AMERICA!
So this Friday 9/16 at 5pm CST make sure to tune in to your favorite record store's website, blog or Facebook to watch the performance Live From Nashville.
……aaaand there's more: As another nod to indie record stores, Girls will create a limited edition vinyl release exclusive to stores participating in this live streaming event, to be made available later this year.
Check out participating stores HERE and LONG LIVE INDIE RETAIL!
Video streaming by Ustream
Girls NYC Instore
Remember when I told you that Girls were playing an instore in Nashville a few days after their new album comes out and you were all like, "Oh man, Mike. Jeez I wish they'd come up to the Big City and play a free, all ages instore for us Big City folk"?Well yea, we heard you, dude. And like the ultimate facilitators that we fancy ourselves we went ahead and booked a free, all ages Girls instore at NYC rockshop Other Music. Check. It. Out. But before you do that, check out the impending Girls tour dates after the jump.
September
Wednesday 14 - Atlanta, GA – Variety Playhouse
Thursday 15 – Asheville, NC – The Orange Peel
Friday 16 – Nashville, TN – Grimey’s (instore performance – 5PM)
Friday 16 - Nashville, TN – The Mercy Lounge
Saturday 17 – Carrboro, NC – Cat’s Cradle
Monday 19 – Washington, DC – 9:30 Club
Tuesday 20 – Philadelphia, PA – Theatre of Living Arts
Wednesday 21 -- New York, NY -- Other Music (instore performance -- 9PM)
Thursday 22 – New York, NY – Bowery Ballroom
Friday 23 – New York, NY – Bowery Ballroom
Saturday 24 – Boston, MA – Paramount Center
Sunday 25 – Montreal, AL – Corona Theatre
Tuesday 27 – Toronto, ON – The Mod Club
Thursday 29 – Chicago, IL – Lincoln Hall
Friday 30 – Madison, WI – Majestic Theater
October
Saturday 01 – Minneapolis, MN – First Avenue
Tuesday 04 – Vancouver, BC – The Biltmore Cabaret
Wednesday 05 - Seattle, WA – Neptune Theatre
Thursday 06 – Portland, OR – Wonder Ballroom
Saturday 08 – San Francisco, CA – Great American Music Hall
Sunday 09 – San Francisco, CA – Great American Music Hall
Girls on Late Night with Jimmy Fallon
Ever wanted to appear on TV with one of your favorite bands? We sure have.
On the release date of 'Father, Son, Holy Ghost' (that's next Tuesday, September 13), Girls will perform on Late Night with Jimmy Fallon. New Yorkers should head to http://www.fallonbandbench.com for their chance to watch the show from the "band bench". (Please make sure you include the following band code: GIR in your entry form).
*photo of Girls at FYF Fest this past weekend poached from sleepydoll3's flickr