Cory Graves
Parquet Courts Moves On Up, Hailey's Goes Smoke-Free and Red Bull Sound Select Continues.
We admit it: We've had The Polyphonic Spree on our brains a lot as of late.
As we're sure you've already noticed, the band has been sending us daily dispatches of their current international tour leading up to next week's release of Yes, It's True, their first proper studio album in six years. And like they recently did with True Widow's just-released Circumambulation, Pitchfork is hosting an exclusive stream of the entire new record on its site today.
Also on Pitchfork this week? The debut single from Bad Sports' upcoming third LP, Bras, which is due out next month on Dirtnap Records. While we recommend that you head there immediately and check out the new Mark Ryan and Jeff Burke-produced joint, we — like Pitchfork writer Evan Minsker — don't recommend “Googling 'bad sports bras' unless you have the word 'band' or 'Dirtnap' in there somewhere.”
Speaking of buzzing garage bands with Denton ties: The Brooklyn-based Parquet Courts have parlayed their appearance in Spin's list of “The Top 40 Albums of 2013 So Far” into an opening slot at the Pixies' September 20 Bowery Ballroom show in New York. Then, in October, the Andrew Savage-led band will play arguably the biggest headlining gig of their young career at New York's Music Hall of Williamsburg. Supporting them at that show will be Future Punx, the new band from Savage's Fergus and Geronimo bandmate, Jason Kelly.
While we're still on the subject of Denton, we should point out that nearly three months after Rubber Gloves Rehearsal Studios went smoke-free, Hailey's has announced plans to follow suit starting this Thursday. It might just be a coincidence that Dan's Silverleaf — who went smokeless a year-and-a-half ago — and Gloves are pulling in all of Denton's best shows as of late. Time will tell, though, if the smoking ban will help Hailey's return to its onetime popularity.
Bringing things full circle: School of Seven Bells guitarist Ben Curtis — who once drummed for the pre-Spree outfit Tripping Daisy — has been undergoing chemotherapy treatments since being diagnosed with T-Cell Lymphoblastic Lymphoma earlier this year, and remains on the waiting list for a bone-marrow transplant. Now, to help cover some of Curtis' growing medical costs, Paul Banks of Interpol and Albert Hammond, Jr. of The Strokes are headlining a benefit show on August 22 at New York's Bowery Terrace. In addition to solo sets by the two musicians, former MTV personality Alexa Chung, DJ MomJeans (read: actor Danny Masterson, Fabrizio Moretti and Devendra Banhart will each perform DJ sets throughout the night.
Lastly we'll leave you with a few quick hits:
• Spune just announced Dark Rooms, Larry g(EE), and Dead Flowers as the local support at this year's Untapped: Dallas.
• On the heels of our first successful partnering with Spune and Red Bull last weekend, which saw Erykah Badu performing to a capacity crowd at Prophet Bar, we've confirmed the lineup for our second Sound Select concert. Baths, These Machines Are Winning, Ice Eater, and Son of Stan will perform at our next offering, which will come August 15 at Three Links. The event will cost $3 to attend, with no presales. If you wanna get in, you better get there early.
• In this month's “Best of Big D” issue, D Magazine named The Relatives as Dallas' “Best Music Act.” Similarly, Sarah Jaffe, was chosen as the Readers' Pick to receive the honor.
Parquet Courts cover photo by Ben Rayner. Got a tip for White Noise? Email us!
