Home!

Home from Plurals tour! It was an amazing time and we can’t thank everyone involved enough! It’s pretty cool to come home from tour and be able to say that we had no bad shows, no real problems (actually after years of never having any problems on tour we had two flat tires, a parking ticket, and a speeding ticket – that was total bullshit, of course – which is way less than most bands have to deal with, so, can’t be too bitter!) and had the chance to play with so many amazing bands! Can’t wait to do it again. We’re going out for a week on the east coast with the Hunky Newcomers in September, stay tuned!

tommyplural

Plurals Summer Tour!!

No time to write, but write I shall! I’m typing on a laptop at the show in Portland while the first band is playing, which makes me lame. But anyway, The Plurals are on a summer tour! It’s been kickass! Thanks to Nato and co in Minneapolis, Austin and friends in Billings, the Salamanders and family in Bozeman, the jokers and hookers in Helena, Marty and the gang in Missoula, and those lovable drunks in Seattle for a great first week! We’re in Portland tonight at the Habesha Lounge, and no one will see that before they can come to the show, but here’s the rest of the dates:::

7/17 – Chico, CA @ the Down Lo w/ Minsky Blackouts
7/18 – Crockett, CA @ Toot’s Tavern
7/19 – Oakland, CA @ Eli’s Mile High Club w/ The Blast
7/20 – San Luis Obispo, CA @ Z Club
7/22 – Tempe, AZ @ Tempe Tavern w/ Floor Notes
7/23 – Tucson, AZ @ TLMS w/ City Mouse
7/24 – San Diego, CA @ the Void w/ City Mouse
7/25 – Pomona, CA @ VLHS
7/26 – San Pedro, CA @ The Nest w/ Black Sparrow Press
7/27 – Long Beach, CA @ Alex’s Bar w/ Good For You
7/28 – Fresno, CA @ Audie’s Punk Rock Pajama Party
7/29 – San Jose, CA @ Arrows to Eden
7/30 – Crockett, CA @ Toot’s Tavern
7/31 – San Francisco, CA @ Hemlock Tavern
8/1 – Portland, OR @ House Show
8/2 – Tacoma, WA @ O’Malley’s
8/4 – Seattle, WA @ Kraken
8/5 – Missoula, MT @ ZACC Below
8/7 – Rapid City, SD @ Johnny’s Billiards
8/8 – Omaha, NE @ Waiting Room w/ Congruency
8/9 – Moline, IA @ Bier Stube Black Hawk Room w/ Banquets, Lover’s Speed
8/10 – Normal, IL @ Firehouse Pub
8/11 – Toledo, OH @ Frankie’s

Here’s an event thing for the whole tour if you’re on that stupid Facebook thing:https://www.facebook.com/events/682078061817774/

I’m gonna go watch this band now! Bye!

tommyplural

It’s Fine.

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artwork by Peter Richards.

New GTG Records compilation It’s Fine. just released! This comp features 14 new songs by bands with upcoming releases on GTG Records, and also serves as the GTG debut for Cat Midway, Molly Rhythm, and Black Sparrow Press, all old friends and colleagues of the GTG that we are very excited to be working with in an “official” capacity. A lot of these songs are early and alternate versions of songs that are exclusively available on this comp, and they’re pretty neat.  You can download the comp for a pay-what-you-want optional fee, with all proceeds going to help get these damn records out sooner! We’ve got a Cat Midway LP, a Molly Rhthym CD, a Plurals/ Black Sparrow Press split 7-inch, and a Hunky Newcomers LP all pretty much ready to go! Hopefully this comp tides you over… and convinces you to, y’know, get ‘em.

Comin’ Up!

Like a flower!

The Plurals / Black Sparrow Press split 7-inch has been mastered and will be in production soon for an early July release! This will coincide with the next Plurals tour, which is shaping up to be something like:

7/9 Chicago, IL
7/10 Minneapolis, MN
7/11 Billings, MT
7/12 Bozeman, MT
7/13 Helena, MT
7/14 Missoula, MT
7/15 Seattle, WA
7/16 Portland, OR
7/17 Redding, CA
7/18 San Jose/ Berkley, CA HELP
7/19 San Francisco, CA HELP
7/20 San Luis Obispo, CA
7/21 Pomona, CA
7/22 Tempe, AZ
7/23 Tucson, AZ
7/24 San Diego, CA
7/25 – Los Angeles, CA
7/26 – San Pedro, CA
7/27 – Riverside, CA
7/28 – Fresno, CA
7/30 – Sacramento, CA
7/31 – Reno, NV HELP
8/1 – Bend, OR HELP
8/2 – Tacoma, WA
8/4 – Seattle, WA
8/5 – Missoula, MT
8/7- Rapid City/ Spearfish, SD
8/8 – Omaha, NE
Fri 8/9 – IA
Sat 8/10 – Normal, IL

Get stoked!

The Hunky Newcomers album is getting mastered now, at long last, so that’ll be around to get drunkenly tossed on your turntable later this summer!

More things are happening all the time, but watch this video of the Hat Madder playing recently:

Whoo!

GTG Bands Make Records!

Everyone’s in the studio in some capacity. I think the next thing to come out will be an LP (well, 13-14 pretty short songs, so an “album” on vinyl if not a “long player”) by the moronic dude-punk band Hunky Newcomers, to be released in conjunction with our best friend label Bermuda Mohawk Productions. Last I knew this album is going to be called “The Secret of the Booze” but don’t get mad at me if they change their minds. This record is recorded and mixed, it still needs to be mastered and I don’t think they’ve thought about the artwork or track order yet, but it should be coming together soon.

Next up on the docket will most likely be either an EP by the Hat Madder that is essentially finished, or maybe an EP thing by Narc Out the Reds. I say “EP thing” because NOTR has a lot of songs that break the 5 minute mark so it might only be 5 really cool demented pop songs and still be longer than 3 full spins of the Hunky Newcomers album.

The Plurals are chipping away at a lot of recordings, but have finished tracks for a split 7-inch with San Pedro awesome punk dudes Black Sparrow Press. This 7-inch will be released by GTG and a couple other labels and will feature 2 songs each by The Plurals and BSP and will be out in the mid-summer to coincide with The Plurals summer tour.

Honah Lee, the New Jersey based harbingers of sincerely boozey party punk rock, have demoed 12 songs for their next full-length album. They’ll be playing a lot locally this spring and summer while they record this album – if the demos are a remote indication this album is going to totally rule. The boys will tour some more this fall to promote the record.

Frank and Earnest are planning on hitting the studio this summer to finally follow up their great Old Francis EP from awhile back. Results from these recordings will, I think, be a “twangier” take on the melodic punk that these goofballs specialize in.

On the other end of the spectrum, the full-length album by the experimental indie-folk project Stargrazer is creeping closer to completion. While there is still no scheduled release, reports from the studio are making it sound like this one will be a very nuanced headphone listen equal parts warm and sinister.

Drinking Mercury is demoing new songs. No real release plan has been discussed, but it’s likely that this will be very much an “in-the-studio” affair with a collaborative songwriting approach. Not that previous songs weren’t collaborative, but early results are sounding “group”-ier than the Orcades album. That you can listen to here. Ahem.

In closing, Not the Bees are good. Check ’em out. Furthermore, if you want to pick up previous releases by GTG, we’s gotsa store.

Honah Lee Spring 2013 Tour Dates!

Just as the midwest winter is starting to mild out, it’s already time to get our faces melted.

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HONAH LEE TOUR DATES

3/15 @ Clancy’s – Keyser WV
w/ the Meeps, Yellow Dog Union, & Keller Diesel Company

3/16 @ Blind Bob’s – Dayton OH
w/ the Involuntarys, Dead Set Ready, Adventure, & Frank Grimes

3/18 – the Wolfhaus- Chicago IL
w/ Truman & His Trophy,the Morons

3/19 @ the Courthouse – Kalamazoo MI
w/ the Plurals

3/20 GTG NIGHT@ the Avenue – Lansing MI
w/ the Plurals and To Fear the Wolf

3/21 @ the P.A.N. Shop – Detroit MI
w/ Fires In Japan, Hunky Newcomers, Aggro or Die, D-Day

3/22 @ Aldo’s – Altoona PA
w/ Revenge Memorial, X’s For Eyes

3/23 TIM’S BIRTHDAY PARTY @ Mill Hill Basement – Trenton NJ
w/ Molly Rhythm, TV Tramps, Stillborn Identity

That there show on March 20th at the Avenue (formerly Gone Wired Cafe) in Lansing, MI is the first GTG-promoted event happening there, so anyone in the area should go check it out. $5 cover, 3 bands, Michigan craft beers a’plenty (reasonably priced too), and you’re supporting a truly local and independent business. End of pitch.

Honah Lee have a lot of new material that is sounding great. They’ll be hitting the studio later this spring for a new album, so set the stokeage meter at a reasonable level cuz we’re gonna be blowing it up later this year.

Grreeeat!!!!

So myself, the other Plurals, and a few friends just got back from a crazy-tacular weekend in New Jersey. These were actually the first Plurals shows of the year, the first being a house show in North Plainfield with Honah Lee and Not the Bees, the second being a rather off the hook show at the Mill Hill Basement that was headlined by a one-time-only reunion of our dear friends and truly amazing punks the Rape Babies.

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Photos by Jess Zoilkowski

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Heading out and doing some tour dates (even just a quick two-off one like this) is always a great time, but getting to spend it among some of our best friends made it even more of a wonderful experience. I feel a nice hint of “spring” in the air, with great work coming from all sides of the GTG. Honah Lee showed me very fresh demos of new songs that had me damn near drooling, and Not the Bees are no slouches either – Honah Lee will be in Michigan March 19-21, and Not the Bees have plans to hit up the midwest in the summertime. Earlier tonight I had the pleasure to catch up with Eric “CrookedSound” Merckling who has a wealth of material he’s working on of his own in addition to putting the finishing touches on the long-awaited Stargrazer full-length – PLUS he’s working with the Plurals on overdubs and mixing for a new album of our own (that we did instrumental tracking with the groin grabbingly transcendent Isaac Vander Schuur). Everyone’s gigging right now, we’re almost ready to master the Hunky Newcomers album, I just…. feel great. So great.

nichthebees

So does Nich!

Some of this enthusiasm can be felt in a new podcast started by Josh David that I am currently co-hosting. That’s called T McC & JD. Click on that there hyperlinked text to check it out. We’ll be posting a new episode soon that features an interview conducted with the Rape Babies last weekend. Try and contain your excitement!

tommyplural

Still out: The Hat Madder “Orgy Opposite”

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Listen up clowns, The Hat Madder released an LP in late 2012 called Orgy Opposite and it’s awesome. In a just world every radio station would just be spinning the whole record in sequence in heavy rotation, and then we’d be getting a little irked that no one is buying the record because they’re taping it off the radio, but this is not a just world… and no one listens to the radio and tapes things off it anymore. Pour a 40 out for the 90s. So, get the damn record. It’s 9 songs of brilliant psychedelic influenced rock, meticulously crafted but not pretentious and heavy on the hooks. Here’s a 3d video for a song off the album:

You can stream and buy it on bandcamp, but I highly recommend you order the LP from the GTG webstore. If clicking on the store link is a hassle, here’s your one-stop way to get the album:

So, curl up with a hot chocolate (spiked with schnapps if that’s your thing) and put the record on. Nothing wrong with staying in… GTG can always keep you company.

Tommy Plural winter 2013 Tour!

tommypluralandchauncey
1/15/13 Lexington, KY @ Cosmic Charlie’s w/ Mad Anthony
1/16/13 Decatur, AL @ Excalibur
1/17/13 Ocean Springs, MS @ Squeaky Lizard
1/18/13 Lafayette, LA @ Artmosphere
1/21/13 Austin, TX @ The Grand
1/23/13 Las Cruces, NM @ TBA
1/24/13 Tucson, AZ @ TLMS w/ Logan Greene
1/25/13 Phoenix, AZ @ Tempe Starving Artist w/ Logan Greene
1/26/13 Temecula, CA @ The Dial w/ Logan Greene

So, The Plurals have yet to really make much of a dent in the ol’ American south. Or… much of the southwest. So, Tommy Plural is scoping things out and will return with a full report. Look forward to photos of sunny locales to anger the northern winter dwelling folk. Those that can make the shows, get ready for new arrangements of Plurals songs and whatever cover song comes out of the blue. Cheers!

Tis…

Just in time for the holidays! Get on board! Bermuda Snowhawk 2012!

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Listen and download for free at bandcamp. The annual insane holiday compilation, co-released with our dear friends at Bermuda Mohawk Productions, features new music from GTG’s own Hunky Newcomers, CrookedSound, The Plurals, Middleman, Stargrazer and pals in arms Cavalcade, Calliope, Regretters (members of multiple GTG/BMP bands), new friends Mr. Fox and the Hounds and Travis Valentine, and the glorious Snowhawk exclusive projects like Foxy Rae Jepsen, Neon Tuesday, Cabin Fever, and many more. Finally, a reason to celebrate at the holidays.