Here's another recap of some of my favorite stories from the week and some oldies which should just be shared.  My favorite is the Groove Armada slamming Kings of Leon, William Shatner covering Cee-Lo, oh so much fun.  Keep reading...

California's garage rockers have made their new album available to download from their website. It's "just abstract"... - Source

Black Rebel Motorcycle Club have announced a tour of the US, kicking off April 16 in New York City. - Source

BLACK REBEL MOTORCYCLE CLUB have signed a new record deal with The Echo Label in Europe. They have been without a home since Virgin dropped them almost a year ago. They will keep their imprint, "Abstract Dragon" and future European released will be under Echo/Abstract Dragon. They are currently finishing up their third album with a working title, "American LP".

In a letter to fans today Robert Turner of Black Rebel Motorcycle Club (B.R.M.C.) announced that the band has been in a contract dispute with Virgin Records for the past 6 months. As of a few days ago B.R.M.C. is free from the confines of the Virgin world and label free. They are currently on an extensive US tour with The Rapture. Read More for the text of the letter...

Black Rebel Motorcycle Club - Carrboro, NC - 09/17/03

Finally, a show I've been dying to see makes its way to North Carolina. And I have to begin by saying thank you to all of the folks who mentioned how terrible Warlock are because on your advice, I didn't bother to get there until late, and THANK GOD! They supposedly took the stage at 9 and played until 10:20. I have no idea why they were allowed to drone on until then. It was horrifying. One of my friends said it was criminal to have seven people on stage and have them all suck.

Ugh!!

Black Rebel Motorcycle Club
Transit in Philadelphia
July 9, 2003

For those of you in Philadelphia who haven't been to Transit, it's a neat place to see a show. Once we were finally let in around 9:15 there was a DJ who was spinning Bauhaus, early Cure, New Order, and other classic New Wave/Alternative tunes. The way Transit works - at least for the 21+ crowd - is that you can drink downstairs with the DJ and then the band will come on later upstairs. So around 10:45 my friends and I head up to get a good spot for seeing the stage. BRMC was set to come on around 11:00 with no opening act.

Once the BLACK REBEL MOTORCYCLE CLUB 19-month tour ended they decided to take a break. But they obviously missed the road because they're heading out to tour England in December. It's expected they will be playing several new tracks on the tour. Also, they have a new song, "Waiting Here", on the Rock Revolution CD that's given away with the current NME.

Charlatans w/ B.R.M.C.
El Rey, Los Angeles
Wednesday, July 24, 2001

I lost count, I think I've seen the Charlatans over 6 times going back to their mind-blowing performance at the Palladium in 1992. I wasn't too excited about this gig because over the years the Charlatans have been putting out substandard records. Their first couple of albums were great with a few bad songs, but now they've been reduced to bad albums with some great songs. Black Rebel Motorcycle Club was opening and that was enough for me to go.

Black Rebel Motorcycle Club
4100 Club, Los Angeles
Sunday, June 10, 2001

This was a free show on Sunday night and I was torn between going to this or Mogwai at the El Rey. Mogwai's gonna play San Diego in a few days so I'm covered there, I've never seen BRMC and I love the album. I was kinda worried cause I've never been to the 4100 club or "Detour" as it was previously called. Finding it was a breeze and I was expecting a line but there were just a few people hanging out outside, so I just cruised on in.