The extremely excellent new Waiting For The Click EP by The Stick Arounds features four songs, and the band has made videos for each of these songs. Check them all out below and get the EP directly from the band at bandcamp! These guys really know how to make the best out of a crummy year!
And don’t forget about their rippin’ cover of The Realists from This Must Be The Place!
Incoming Sticks…
In their 10 plus years as a band, Lansing Michigan’s The Stick Arounds have never shied away from the music that inspired them. Three full-length LPs and a dozen singles later, the influence of the songcraft of bands like Sloan, Teenage Fanclub, Big Star, and other power pop luminaries is as evident as ever on their new EP Waiting For The Click.
“We’re Not Even Close” is the painfully familiar tale of failed relationships, told in the most midwest way possible: through rock bombast akin to bands like Cheap Trick and The Replacements.
“Redtail Hawks” couples that same energy with a bit of straight vintage swagger reminiscent of T. Rex, and handclaps directly inspired by Motown records.
The vocal harmonies that have become part of the Stick Arounds signature sound are immediately apparent on “Easy To Take”, as is the Byrdsian guitar approach that harkens back to some of the band’s favorite classic country records and early country rock. Gram Parsons would have loved this.
Simultaneously a call for help and call to arms, “Ode To Kid Marine” is an open love letter to drowning your sorrows in a few beers and a favorite record. Named for a terrific solo Bob Pollard record, this track epitomizes the glory and inherent regret in blasting an album and drinking to make it through the night.
Four tight and taut songs make up this ten minute trip rooted deeply in harmony, threadbare honesty, and the enduring power of rock and roll.
Pre-order the thing at The Stick Arounds bandcamp.
Posted in The Stick Arounds
Tagged Indie Rock, Lansing, Michigan Music, Powerpop, The Stick Arounds, Waiting For The Click
We’re very excited to be hosting This Must Be The Place: Quality Hits From Lansing, a new 24 track compilation of Lansing-area artists performing some of their favorite covers, a project that was spearheaded by acclaimed music writer Rich Tupica (of the definitive Big Star book There Was A Light fame). Lots of old friends here! It’s a little glimpse into what us creative types have been up to with a year of no shows. From the GTG family we’ve got The Plurals, Cavalcade, The Wild Honey Collective, RK Andrews (No Skull/Red Teeth), Counterpunchers (members of Narc Out The Reds), The Stick Arounds, Isaac Richmond Vander Schuur (The Hat Madder), Jennifer Toms (Scary Women), and Disappointed Dad, plus lots of old friends throughout like Crystal Drive, Frontier Ruckus, Dylan Rogers, Rodeo Boys, Nonbinary, La La Delivery and plenty more! 24 tracks! Free download!
Here’s what Rich had to say about the project:
“This Must Be the Place: Quality Hits from Lansing is a totally free download of Lansing, Michigan bands performing select songs by artists they love. This is meant to serve as a fun stop-gap between now and the (eventual) return of live shows. So, please: Listen. Download. Repeat. There’s a wide range of covers here because each band/artist chose whichever song they wanted for this collection. The reason? Every band has a good cover in them—perhaps one they’ve always wanted to tackle, but never had a proper reason to. So, the “art of the cover” was fully realized here. With no limitations, it left the tracklist up to them and it made for a bizarre, yet somehow cohesive blend of genres.
Aside from a long roster of area fixtures Like Frontier Ruckus, Cavalcade, Rodeo Boys, The Plurals, Wally Pleasant (and many more!), there’s also new solo tracks and fresh side projects featured here from Lansing vets: RK Andrews (of No Skull, Red Teeth), Jennifer Toms (of Scary Women), Counterpunchers (members of Narc Out the Reds), Dylan Rogers (L.U.V.S), Isaac Richmond Vander Schuur (The Hat Madder), Seth + Modern Sadness (features Seth Rentfrow of Way to Fall, Kyle Daniel), Myron James (Edible Intention), and The Wild Honey Collective (a new GTG super group). Scroll through the selection, and you’ll see plenty of familiar names. Enjoy!”
Posted in Album, Cavalcade, Disappointed Dad, GTG Activity, Lansing, Narc Out the Reds, No Skull, Red Teeth, The Hat Madder, The Plurals, The Stick Arounds, The Wild Honey Collective
Tagged Cavalcade, Conspicuous Bystanders, Crystal Drive, Frontier Ruckus, Indie Folk, Indie Rock, Lansing, Lansing Music Scene, Michigan Music, Monte Pride, Punk, Quality Dairy, Rodeo Boys, Scary Women, Silktail, The Plurals, The Wild Honey Collective, Wally Pleasant
The whole darn thing, GTG Fest 2020! A great time and still a fest, as weird and not-in-person as it was. Thanks to all who played and all who watched!
You didn’t think we’d let COVID take away GTG Fest did ya? The 13th annual GTG Fest will be coming to you SATURDAY OCTOBER 10, following you on your mobile devices, lurking in the corner of your home on your smart TV, somehow popping up on that confusingly not-discarded Windows 98 Gateway tower that hasn’t been connected to the internet since 2001… EVERYWHERE!
Did I make watching a livestream briefly sound a little exciting? Well, we’re gonna do our best to bring some of the magical GTG Fest chaos to the streams. This thing’ll be streaming live from 4-10 at the GTG facebook page AND on the GTGRecordsTV youtube channel for all you fellow facebook haters out there. The show must go on!
SATURDAY OCTOBER 10
4 PM-10 PM EST
SCHEDULE:
Wild Honey / Drinking Mercury 4:00-4:30
The Soods 4:30-5:00
Raymond Strife 5:00-5:30
Narc Out the Reds 5:30-6:00
Jeremy Porter 6:00-6:30
Marsha 6:30-7:00
Honah Lee 7:00-7:30
Hunky Newcomers 7:30-8:00
Invisible Cartoons 8:00-8:30
The Stick Arounds 8:30-9:00
Erotic Novels 9:00-9:30
The Plurals 9:30-10:00
That’s a fest, eh? Well, it’s what we’ve got! Just like Joe Biden. Hey, I kept this apolitical until now, that’s good for 2020, right? Vote for Biden on November 3rd or else you’re part of the problem of social regression, racial injustice, natural destruction, and general being a fucking asshole.
xoxo – see you next Saturday!
The Stick Arounds collection of Hot Singles is out digitally everywhere now and on CD – you’ve got til the end of the month to pre-order a vinyl copy! Do it!
Posted in The Stick Arounds
Tagged Cool, Fun, Hot Singles Club, Indie Rock, Lansing, Michigan, Powerpop, The Stick Arounds
From the desk of The Stick Arounds:
We’ve taken all twelve of our singles from each month of 2019 and compiled them into one bitchin’ record. ‘Hot Singles Club’ is available now for pre-order on CD, Digital and Limited Edition Vinyl LP.
This delicious hot singles set includes seven brand new power-pop gems from the Stick Arounds, as well as a trio of cover songs and even two new studio versions of songs originally found on the Stick Arounds debut live LP, ‘Mystery Garage’.
CD and Digital versions of ‘Hot Singles Club’ will be released on February 14, 2020.
The limited edition LP is a special pre-order only lathe cut vinyl. The vinyl version also includes an exclusive 12″ x 12″ poster, plus each record is hand signed and numbered by the band. You must pre-order to get the LP. Vinyl pre-orders are only available until Feb. 28, so secure your copy today. LPs are expected to ship in early May of 2020.
Pre-Order LP and CD at http://stickaroundsmusic.com/store
Pre-Order Digital at https://thestickarounds.bandcamp.com
Everyone at GTG is very excited to have all of the Sticks’ singles in one place AND to try out this new short-run vinyl method. Hopefully this will be the first of many limited edition vinyl releases we can curate for the folks that want ’em!
Posted in Album, The Stick Arounds
Tagged 2020, CD, Hot, Hot Singles Club, Lansing, New, The Stick Arounds, Vinyl, Wow
