You Blew It! - Grow Up, Dude

So the You Blew It! - Grow Up, Dude listening party is going well. I'm going to have to give this album 4 meows down for NOT ENOUGH MEOWS. There are meows in one of the tracks so they don't get the full 5 meows down. I've got a fever, and the only thing that can fix it is MORE MEOWS. You blew it, You Blew It! You shouldn't have mixed out all of those meows. The album is really good and you can stream it here, but cat lovers will be disappointed. You've been warned.

You Blew It! - Grow Up, Dude

Sinatra/I Kill Giants - Split

Sinatra and I Kill Giants just dropped a split like 30 seconds ago. Check it out, they are both phenomenal bands. It's free!

Free

Sinatra/I Kill Giants - Split

Hop Along - Tibetan Pop Stars

This is a new track by Hop Along was posted. The album will be released April 1st, but knowing the irony of that date, it won't actually be released out on that date. Francis takes forever to write, but this is fantastic.

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Hop Along - Tibetan Pop Stars

Wavelets - Athaletics

Well isn't this just lovely. At nine tracks, Athaletics is a little on the short side, but there is enough within those songs to make the album really stand out.  This is twinkly emo/indie that actually pulls off both elements well, with the energy of songs like 'We're Really Jazzed About The Gig' counterbalancing the more reflective and texturally focused numbers like 'Bad Scene, Jawbreaker's Fault.' Fans of bands like Algernon Cadwallader  and What Price, Wonderland? will find a lot to love here. There's nothing especially new here, but it's done so well that that doesn't matter, so give it a listen, if only to prove that there's more coming out of Gainesville than gruff pop punk.

Bandcamp: http://tinyengines.bandcamp.com/album/athaletics

Wavelets - Athaletics

Signals Midwest - Latitudes & Longitudes

Cleveland, OH's Signals Midwest are a band very much influenced by their location, and Latitudes & Longitudes takes more than a few cues from '90s Midwestern emo. There's the power of Braid, the twinkly guitar lines of American Football and the quirkyness of Cap'n Jazz all on display here, but it is all bound together by a sense of carefully measured songwriting which really sets it apart from bands who just rehash this classic sound. Basically, this is what happens when gruff punk collides with 90's emo, and it's brilliant, with songs like ‘Monarchs’, ‘I Was Lost’ and ‘The Quiet Persuader’ being particular standouts for me. Latitudes & Longitudes basically strikes the perfect balance; it’s accessible without being overly poppy, emotional without being over the top, and technical without being bafflingly so. So yeah, give it a spin, if you’re into any of the bands mentioned then you’ll find something to love here.

Download: http://tinyengines.bandcamp.com/album/latitudes-and-longitudes

Signals Midwest - Latitudes & Longitudes

Stop SOPA Cencorship Bill

There is a bill in progress and might be passed towards anti-piracy. It effectively gives corporations the right to shut down any website that they want if it interferes with their sales. So, this site, would be taken down with no notice or court to fight against. I have gotten cease and desist letters, digital millennium copyright act letters and letters from the RIAA itself asking me to take things down, but this bill would take it to the next level of corporate control. If you want for your ability to fight against it then read up on the links below. Sites like Wikipedia, Google, and Craigslist are blacked out today to protest this bill. I figure that we can do our relatively small part in posting this as well.

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Stop SOPA Cencorship Bill

Younger Siblings - Bald Eagles Aren't Actually Bald

I really like this 7" from Birmingham, AL's Younger Siblings. There are are a lot of different influences on display here, from 60's pop and surf rock to the more toned down elements of Bomb The Music Industry's recent album. Overall, it kind of sounds like grainy, analogue indie colliding with Bright Eyes with John Flansburgh on vocals. There is also a slightly twee undertone which reminded me of certain Dead Milkmen songs, which is always a plus point, and the whole thing is drenched in analogue distortion, reverb and even a little bit of slapback which gives a nice organic feel. My only real problem is that the first song, 'Pure Mechanical Failure' is, in my opinion, a lot stronger than the other tracks, and this disparity in quality started to get to me on the third or fourth listen. It's not that the other two songs are bad, far from it, they just aren't as good as the opener.  Overall though, this is a great little 7" and I will definately be keeping an ear out for what they do in the future.

Mediafire: http://www.mediafire.com/?dpbsjlaicwuow66

Buy 7": http://springstrecords.storenvy.com/products/137316-younger-siblings-bald-eagles-aren-t-really-bald-7 

Younger Siblings - Bald Eagles Aren't Actually Bald

Sticker Promotion Is Over!

Encase you're wondering where your free stickers are, they are right here in these envelopes. I'm drawing cool designs on them and writing you all personal notes. I take a while to do things, but I think it's worth it to add my personal flair to it. A lot of people requested stickers, I'm really excited that happened. The record label has a lot of cool stuff going on too, including stickers, so you'll be able to get your hands on those soon as well. Thanks for all your continued support.

Sticker Promotion Is Over!

Paul Newman & the Ride Home - The Importance of Being Ernest Hemingway

Normally when I think pop-punk I get bad vibes, but this band from Baltimore changes that notion. They have some folk-punk influence, not in the traditional sense, but in the sense that you would probably think they were from Gainesville, Florida if you didn't know better. I like their band name, their music ain't bad either.

Bandcamp
Mediafire

Paul Newman & the Ride Home - The Importance of Being Ernest Hemingway

Ape Up! - Untitled EP

This EP is supposedly only going to be up for one day so be sure to download it and not wait around.

Download

Ape Up! - Untitled EP

Sticker Promotion!

We messed up big by turning down the idea of running a blog and a record label at the same time. To make it up to you guys that stuck it out and are still here, I'm running a sticker promotion. Remember all those stickers that I had a while ago? I dug 31 of these bad boys up. That means we've given out or put up 94 stickers in the time that we got them. That's a pretty awesome thing to be able to say.

What we want for the blog is for it to be a forum for our fans to tell us what they think about what we're doing and ideas for how to change for the better. If you're in a band, we'll post you. If you are a good band and we have the money, we might release you. Fans of the blog will help us decide on what to release and what they want to buy. We're always open to anything you have to say. Even if it's just to say hi, feel free to contact us at songsfromtheroad@gmail.com

Here's the deal: Send your address to songsfromtheroad@gmail.com with something cool to say, what you intend to do with your sticker, and your address and we'll send you one free of charge. We'll pay the postage and envelopes.

We hope to hear from you soon!

Thanks,
Jesse

Sticker Promotion!

Spanish Club/Constellations - Split

Alright, so we're back and better than ever. To start, I'd like to share with you a band that never ceases to ask me my opinion on how they sound(Specifically Dominic). I initially told him that they shouldn't try to sound like they recorded through 1/8-1/4 inch adapters shoved into laptop headphone jacks so he came back and thanked me with this release. It's a refreshing Pennsylvania sounding album. I'm not talking about Philadelphia or Pittsburgh, but real heart of America, Pennsylvania. Their folk-punk roots show through into the typical twinkle-emo stuff that I hear way too much. It's also recorded by Joe from Algernon so that's pretty cool. The only downside to the album is that there are only 2 songs. It's for free download, but it will be released on CD off Littleneck Records for 3 bucks so I suggest liking them and keeping up with it if you're interested.

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Spanish Club/Constellations - Split