We never saw it coming. It is always the quiet ones. And et cetera. Who would have ever guessed that behind the quiet, enterprising façade there would be a conniving home-wrecker in Suicide Squeeze, a label otherwise known for its purity and sweetness? Word on the street has it that the Seattle-based imprint has tapped two new bands to fill its roster but how they got them may be frowned upon in certain circles. In fact, we’re not even sure Angelina Jolie would stoop to this level of domestic disruption. We know this happens all the time, but we can’t ignore the fact that whenever it does happen, it’s the kids who suffer. Tsk, tsk is all we have to say.
Whatever, it’s 2008, not 1955, and breaking up is just another part of everyday life, like getting dressed or slashing your boss' tires. From two broken homes come two new bands ready to start afresh without any past painful limbs pulling the creative body back. Fresh starts are always welcome in TinyMixTapesLand, so it gives us much pleasure to report that Suicide Squeeze has signed Past Lives (ex-Blood Brothers) and Cotton Jones (ex-Page France) to their growing concern and new releases by both clans are due just around the corner (November) and right around the bend (January), respectively!
Cotton Jones is the nom de plume of Michael Nau, former leader of the admirably wistful Page France. His first album on the label will be Paranoid Cocoon, due at the beginning of 2009. Nau has already released a couple EPs-with-art-books on Quite Scientific as “The Cotton Jones Basket Ride,” but whether or not he and professional partner Whitney McGraw will be using the “Basket Ride” appendage in the future is anyone’s guess. We hope so; we like baskets. And rides.
Live Jones:
09.05.08 - Frostburg, MD - Duncan’s #
09.26.08 - Baltimore, MD - Talking Head $
09.28.08 - New York, NY - Mercury Lounge %
# Ghostfinger
$ Throw Me the Statue
% David Vandervelde and Throw Me the Statue
Meanwhile, Past Lives, comprising former Blood Brothers Jordan Blilie, Morgan Henderson, and Mark Gajadar (the remaining two-fifths of Blood Brothers + J Clark of Pretty Girls Make Graves have begun playing as Jaguar Love). Past Lives’ first release on the hard-hearted label will be a debut five-song EP, entitled Strange Symmetry, which will be available for mass consumption November 4, although you can get the digital version now.
Let there be song titles:
1. Beyond Gone
2. Strange Symmetry
3. Skull Lender
4. Reverse the Curse
5. Chrome Life
Got remaining live dates if you want it:
09.04.08 - San Francisco, CA - The Hemlock Tavern ^
09.06.08 - Portland, OR - Satyricon *
09.07.08 - Seattle, WA - Neumo’s +
^ Clipd Beaks, Leyna Noel, and The Finer Things
* Fucked Up, Crystal Antlers, Sex Vid, and Street Plants
+ Dead Science