Tuesday, February 9th, which is tomorrow, a few things are going to happen all in one place. Some pals are having their Birthday festivities at The Loving Touch. The Loving Touch also hosts a weekly event called In The Forest, where resident DJ Richard Wohlfeil has a guest come in and select every other track played from 9pm until 2am, which will be heard exclusively from scrachy and poppy vinyl. Tomorrow’s guest DJ is JRC from Eat This City, and he sounds like a prick to me. I bet he has some extra-dumb records.

While I’m there, though… I’m going to also make it a listening party for Five Three Dial Tone’s newest darling, 52 Week High. Somewhere around 11pm the Eznovah EP will be played in it’s vinyl entirety. You will know when it happens because the other guy already told you where to download it and you’ve been jamming that shit every day on your way to work.

We have our big release party all ready to go on Friday… you saw that nifty poster and stuff. If there is some retarded reason that you can’t make it because your mom had revolutionary hand surgery and you need to be at her bedside Friday… well I might have a small box of the singles at The Loving Touch tomorrow. If you walk up with $6 and just nod, I may be able to provide you what you need. Try it out.

Here is what I learned this weekend: Even if you see a venue billing something as “Deastro“, you should know that you are not getting Deastro and instead getting Randolph Chabot’s brand new project called Mirror Image. I saw this Friday at the MOCAD with one of the dudes from Parts & Labor doing his solo thing called Shooting Spires.

Shooting Spires sounded like something I might enjoy in a recorded state, it was electronicy and reverby and somewhere hidden in there I think it was poppy. The live setting wasn’t perfect for it, but I didn’t dislike it nearly as much as some of the people around me. I saw he had a record in the back, and I was going to buy one until someone told me that the guy was telling people that the record was mastered all wonky and sounded like garbage, and to just buy the CD. That’s when I remembered that a CD is free on the Internet and I put it on my to-do list.

Mirror Image was… a pretty new direction, bud. Lo-fi bedroom shoegaze-pop? I’m not totally sure I “got” it, but I don’t think I was alone because it started thinning out midway through the set. Also, before he went on Randolph did say “This is going to be loudest thing ever.” So that might have played a role in it as well. There is a show listed as Deastro this Thursday at the CAID, but I’m guessing you’re going to get Mirror Image. It’s worth checking out, but I suggest you stand in the back.

I also saw Odu Afrobeat Orchestra. I’d seen the name before but never had the chance to see it. People dance their asses off at this stuff, huh? I’m not going to pretend to know anything about music compositions or anything… and I always just assume if you’ve got some horns and they sound like their all playing the same song that you’re more talented than any 3 piece garagepop bands I normally see. I should probably see more stuff like this. Also, Alvin’s is pretty swass. Like, everyone was walking around with monocles and eating popcorn.

I just realized it’s foosball weekend, which means absolutely nothing to me except that on Monday, co-workers will make me watch YouTube clips of “OMG so hilarious” commercials that aren’t the least bit funny. I don’t even know which ultra-vanilla, way-past-their-prime band has been chosen to play the half time show. Destiny’s Child? Goo Goo Dolls? Simon and Garfunkel? Fleetwood Mac? All I know is I’m using this as an excuse to post what might be the funniest thing I’ve seen on the internuts all year.

Chevy trucks, bro. Chevy trucks.

You may have seen a sweet flyer or a review or a listing or a Facebook or a MySpace about something called 52 Week High and, not knowing what it was, you skipped right past it. That’s cool. I do the same thing — if I don’t already know what it is, it obviously can’t be any good.

Ok, so what do the following bands have in common: Electric Six, The Dead Bodies, Johnny Headband, PAS/CAL, The Beggars, Imposters of The Deep Society, Aquarius Void, Desktop, Bad Rythym, Speedball, Unicorn Magic and some others that I know I’m forgetting?

Well, two things — the first being that you’re not a fan of any of them, and the second being that 52 Week High is a new band comprised of members from those groups. Kind of. It’s Keith Thompson’s songs, run through “Techno” Jon Weier’s production and collaborated on by a number of musicians and finally released by the only label dumb enough to put out a record by a band that’s never played live and that nobody’s ever heard of. OH HAI

Five Three Dial Tone’s back again. Check it up top, wreck it. Let’s Begin. Failing to recognize what a bad idea investing in Detroit is, and following up the financial strain that was Deastro’s “Spritle” (Be the first on your block to have one, kids!),  Five Three Dial Tone Records announces their first release of 2010: 52 Week High’s “Eznovah”.

Keith and the boys are celebrating this by playing their first show evar. For their debut performance, the part of 52 Week High will be played by Keith Thompson, Jonathan Weier, Steven Tuthill, Jon Babich, Mike Alonso and Pan!c. I want you to picture Keith from Johnny Headband and Steven from The Beggars sharing frontman duties. I want you to imagine Pan!c from PAS/CAL pianoing bass-ing over Mike Alonso’s heavy-metal drumming. I want you to picture something else that’s pretty awesome and pretend it applies to this band. Doesn’t that sound like LIVE SHOW OF THE YEAR?

What if we make it free?

But what if it’s in Pontiac?

Oh, you’ll just complain? I’m fine with that. Next Friday (February 12) in the Pike Room, for zero dollars, The Rotary Club of Pontiac presents 52 Week High with special guests Dale Earnhardt Jr Jr, Human Reunion and Darling Imperial. This will not be a “concert,” this will be a party. There is no cover charge. It is all ages. There will be a limited number of debut-show only 7″s. We will go to that shitty diner down the street after the show, and you will have the time of your life.

Want some music? Sweet. You can download eight tracks from 52 Week High right here. Can you hear Adam Cox from Bad Rhythm’s influence? The Croff Family Band’s Rod Jones on sax? See if you can guess the other artists who contributed. Or don’t, I don’t give a shit. Asshole.

Free Download Link: 52 Week High “Eznovah”

This was initially going to go into the whole benefit for Haiti thing, and be long and ranty about net proceeds vs. gross proceeds, and how much money people were most likely dealing with and all of that stuff. At the end of the day, I gave $16 cash toward Haiti, and if they got 10% of my bar tab Friday and Saturday they should have all that shit cleaned up tomorrow. The Juliets are still my favorite band in the city right now, I think Troy Gregory might still have Sub Pop money, and I overheard someone during Charlie Slick’s set say to their friend something to effect of “Dude, why is she giving this guy her credibility? She’s in Tyvek!” So I learned Tyvek was credible and Charlie Slick wasn’t. 9 out 10 Haitians agreed.

In other news… all of the Blowout lineups went out. This is the version before everyone whines, so of course there will probably be some changes. Until then though, feel free to entertain us for the next few hours by posting your time slots and who you’re playing with. I’m waiting to find out that the Friendly Foes are headlining a night at the Belmont again so I can make some “Look at all this variety!” joke.

The only thing I’ve heard is that Millions Of Brazilians will headline the KofC Hall (why did they rename it?) on Saturday and play with Child Bite and Silverghost. Lettercamp and The Juliets play Friday in the lounge, with Black Lodge and “Stoopz & Breeze” I think… whatever the fuck Stoopz & Breeze is. Hey, why don’t you just tell me when you’re playing and who you’re playing with?

There’s bound to be a lot of shakin’ going on at the Majestic this weekend (get it?), during the two-day Detroit Rocks For Haiti Festival. Twenty-two bands will perform over two nights, and join the rest of the world in sharing aid with the people of Haiti — which is only fair, since the people of Haiti have been sharing their AIDS with the world for years.

Minimum donation of $8 per night gets you into the show. Net door proceeds and a portion of bar revenues will go somewhere, I’m sure.

This is pretty boring, huh? I know.

BLOWOUT BANDS: Offers will BEGIN going out TODAY…but will continue coming out all week. We are doing this on a showcase-to-showcase basis. Official lineups announced SATURDAY, JAN. 30th.

At least that is going on… So here is how it will work this year: You will get an email. It will look exactly like this:

2010 Blowout - You have been selected to play!

Hello All,

Congratulations — you or your band has been selected to play the 2010 Metro Times Blowout Music Festival!  Thank you for applying! Welcome!

http://metrotimes.com/blowout/

This email is our fist step in securing your slot.  Please reply to this email ASAP so we can move forward with sending you your showcase/payment (if applicable) offer/information, etc. If we do not hear back from you in 72 hours, we will assume you are no longer interested in playing, so please do you best to get back to us in a timely manner.

The Blowout is March 3-6, 2010. Please keep these dates open.

Also, if you have a really good reason (meaning, totally unavoidable and dire) for needing a specific date, please let me know right away. PLEASE BE SELECTIVE WITH SPECIAL REQUESTS.

Also, if your friends ask, it will take ALL WEEK to get this thing finalized. You are just the first of several batches poised to receive this email. Nobody needs to worry about whether or not they were selected this year until after the official announcement (Jan. 30).

Thank you so much for applying this year — the weekend is completely about you dudes.

With a pick slide,

Eve

So… A million of these went out today. You didn’t get one? You suck. Wait, it says right there that no one needs to be worried until AFTER the official announcement. So you don’t suck… you’re just a big secret.

If  you haven’t gotten this yet, it just means you’re not the favorite of anyone involved. That’s okay though… last year they put The Dead Bodies on the schedule without them submitting, so if that happens again there will be a spot available last minute for you. Congrats!

Feel free to use the comment section to confirm if your band got the email as a way to make the other bands around here feel inferior.

This city bores me and some of you are to blame. I’ve taken Best Coast off repeat for the first time in almost a week to listen to the new Midlake. I’m only four minutes in, so it’s too soon to tell, but this sounds a lot like Midlake. If you’re the kind of person who’s into Midlake, you might be the kind of person who’s into this new Midlake album. How’s that for a review?

I haven’t felt much like blogging lately. Not much happening around here that really piques my interest. I could cover national shit but there’s nobody who’s into current music that doesn’t already read real blogs from real cities. And most people who scan this site are only reading to see if we mention their venue / band / newspaper or maybe a venue / band / newspaper they hate. I mean, Times New Viking is coming and St. Vincent and Wild Beasts and YACHT and I like those bands and blah blah blah but looking at all the shows coming up, besides this one, none of them have me more excited than The Royal Family Tour 2010.

Confide and Black Veil Brides. Together. On the same bill. I’m a little hurt neither of these bands called me to tell me they were coming, since I’ve been their biggest supporter, but I won’t hold it against them. If there’s anything you need to remember from 2009, after this video, it’s Confide’s brilliant cover of “Such Great Heights” and Black Veil Brides’s, um…whatever this is.

You’ll recall from my multiple crabcore posts and Facebook updates that Confide is the band that, even while being crabcore, somehow manages a less offensive Postal Service rip-off than Owl City. And Black Veil Brides is the emo goth band with the hot chick singer and the guitarist that rips off Zach Shipps’s head-nod-crowd-look-guitar move thing 2:04 minutes into that video.

Both bands. Together. On the same bill. This is Jasperfest 2010. The only way it could get better is if one of the other bands dropped off and We Are Romans filled in.

Oh shit, Track 06 on this Midlake album is great.

Anyway, the point I’m trying to make here is that I’m bored and someone better do something fun soon because it takes these bands coming to town before I even consider leaving my house and if you were to jam your finger into someone else’s asshole through a layer or two of clothing — not in like a hot / sex / penetration way, but in a purposely uncomfortable and painful way to pretty much paralyze the person — is there a name for that?

Detroit is contagious, I guess. After Punk Bunny arrived here and got settled in at the house of someone who cooks at Sgt. Pepperonis, there was a blowup of sorts, and Luigi who fronts the band took off and stranded the rest of them in our lovely city.

With that the news came down that Punk Bunny is “officially done”, which in band-speak means they will all be besties again in a few days.

That being said, tonight’s show at The Cafe is canceled.  Maybe the rest of Punk Bunny will go with that guy to work tonight and be guest-chef’s at Sgt. Pepperonis? If that’s the case, please tip them well.