I'm Taking You Back

Matrimonially-blissed-out poppers Mates of States are releasing their new album Mountaintops on September 13. Maracas is the first single, which you can download free below. Also check out the retro VHSed video below as well.

Kicking Back All That Fury

Mates of States announced this today on Facebook ...

Alright, BIG NEWS!! We are set to release a new album, "Mountaintops", on 9/13 via Barsuk. Check the tracklist out below.
Tracklist
01. Palomino
02. Maracas
03. Sway
04. Unless I'm Led
05. Total Serendipity
06. Basement Money
07. At Least I Have You
08. Desire
09. Change
10. Mistakes

Enjoyed Re-Arrange Us quite a bit, but I know its polished sound alienated some old fans. We'll see where they turn with Mountaintops. Sounds, er, lofty.

We Can Still Be Friends

Mates of State are just like us! Yes, poppers are people too.

Lucky

Happy Thanksgiving, Too Poppers.

Best news I've seen all day: Amazon.com is having a hell of a saletomorrow now on their top 50 MP3 albums. Five bucks for several on my "to-get" list: Raveonettes, Fleet Foxes, She & Him, Dr. Dog, and Ra Ra Riot, plus favorites by Mates of State, R.E.M., Nada Surf, Radiohead, Coldplay, and Mariah Carey.

Man, I just can't wait to hear that new Mariah Carey.

From a Great Height

Way2Poppy and I had a hell of a time at Lollapalooza this past Friday where we saw Mates of State and Radiohead, who were both exceptional. Raconteurs were just ok - I have to say I was a bit disappointed.

Radiohead epitomizes modern rock sophistication. They are entirely professional, utterly passionate crowd-pleasers. Check out their setlist:

15 Step
Airbag
There, There
All I Need
Nude
Weird Fishes
The Gloaming
The National Anthem
Faust Arp
No Surprises
Jigsaw Falling Into Place
Reckoner
Lucky
The Bends
Everything In Its Right Place
Fake Plastic Trees
Bodysnatchers
Videotape
Paranoid Android
Dollars & Cents
House of Cards
Optimistic
2 + 2 = 5
Idioteque

I'm partial to their poppier Bends / OK Computer era so I was particularly thrilled to hear those two albums fairly well represented. With their performances of Fake Plastic Trees and Paranoid Android, Radiohead solidified their status with me as one of the best bands of my generation. I have a whole new respect for them. Oh, and their light show was easily the best I've ever seen.

This was my third time seeing Mates of State and with each show, they keep getting bigger and bigger yet their sound remains grounded as simple, catchy-as-hell tunes. The songs from the new album sounded especially great and I can't wait to see them a fourth time when presented with the opportunity.

I took some mobile shots of our time there but they were terrible. See Lollapalooza's official photos to get a good sense of what went down. Those were the only shows we ended up seeing. I would've loved to see Wilco, but we chose to see them sing during the 7th inning stretch at Wrigley on Sunday instead!

Setlists
Photos

Take This Moment to Decide

Lollapalooza has released its requisite grid schedule that allows you to make the most of your August 1-3 in My Kind of Town. If I had tickets, here would be my highlights:

Friday:
Rogue Wave
Mates of State
The Raconteurs
Radiohead

Saturday:
Dr. Dog
Okkervil River
Broken Social Scene
Wilco

Sunday:
Office
The Weakerthans
Iron & Wine
Love & Rockets

Friday, by far, looks to be the strongest. Hmm, single-day pass?

Everything's Gonna Get Lighter

Outstanding. Paste Magazine is featuring the new Mates of State video for Get Better from their upcoming album Re-Arrange Us (out next week.) I was excited to read that the new album featured an emphasis on piano and strings, but the results exceed my expectations. This tune is instant and killer. Album of the summer? Let's hope.

At Least I Know You Tried

Mates of State has their fifth album out on May 20 called Re-Arrange Us.

Fans will notice that the 10-song set drifts away from the organ-heavy arrangements of the band's past in favor of piano, a decision that vocalist/multi-instrumentalist Jason Hammel describes as making the group nervous, but a needed change.

Hmm, sounds cool, but I'll definitely miss the organ. The two of them are great live so catch them if you can:

May 16: New Haven, Conn. (Toad’s Place)
May 22: San Francisco (Slim’s)
May 24: Bend, Ore. (Les Schwab Amphitheatre)
May 25: George, Wash. (Sasquatch Music Festival)
May 28: Los Angeles (Henry Fonda Theater)
June 6: Lawrence, Kans. (Wakarusa Music Festival)
June 7: Omaha, Neb. (The Slowdown)
June 8: St. Louis (The Bluebird Theatre)
June 10: Oklahoma City, Ok. (Bricktown Ballroom)
June 11: Dallas (Granada Theatre)
June 13: Austin, Texas (Emo’s)
June 14: Little Rock, Ark. (Rev Room)
June 15: Memphis (Hi-Tone)
June 17: Newport, Ky. (Southgate House)
June 18: Pittsburgh, Pa. (Mr. Smalls Theatre)
June 21: Philadelphia (Popped! Music Festival)
July 25: Pemberton, Bc. (Pemberton Festival)
Aug. 1: Chicago (Lollapalooza)
Aug. 8: Jersey City, N.J. (All Points West)
Sept. 26: Austin, Texas (Austin City Limits)

TheirSpace
Official Site
iTunes

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lyric source

Bless These Tangled Veins

So there I stood, withing spitting distance of MoS at their M-Shop show last night in Cow-Town Ames. Crowd was humpin', sounds was jumpin', and your friend Bonji was grooving and wishing he had not have left his digital camera on the kitchen counter.

During the maximum-volume presentation of Fraud in the 80's, the loudspeaker immediately to the right of my head freaked out! Or the channel freaked out! Or Kori's mic freaked out! Something freaked out! At first I thought to meself "well shit Bonji, you've gone and deafened yourself permanently" because I could watch the lips move, but nothing was getting to my auditory receptors. And then it happened. A sonic burst assaulted my inner ear pieces and parts, the room went fuuzy and I tumbled. Found myself slumped on the floor, up against a trash can.

And to answer your questions: NO I did not have too much to drink (one wheat beer during the Starlight Mints' set). And NO I did not smoke too much. Weird, fun stuff. Happy to report my hearing is not permanently damaged.

All the Things That Make You Better

Check out the stylish new video from Mates of States for Like U Crazy (although I'm still partial to the video for Fraud in the 80s). MoS will be back in Central Iowa at the M-shop in Ames next Tuesday night. It's a great show. This time around they're touring with Starlight Mints who are on the same label as MoS, Barsuk, which is one of the coolest record labels around. A look at their band list is proof positive.

M-shop has some other great shows coming up this fall. Click here for more info.