north of east

HUSKY just ended a tour of the U.S. with Shearwater about a week ago, but they must have really liked the States because they’re comin’ back!  Their debut album Forever So (out on Sub Pop in the U.S.) is one of the more heartfelt and beautiful records of the summer (“History’s Door” is one of my most-played tracks right now).  Tour dates below, tickets here.

They’ll be joined by German/Swiss duo BOY who just released their debut album Mutual Friends and won the European Border Breakers Award (previous winners include Adele and Damien Rice).

AUG 10 // THE FOX THEATRE // BOULDER

AUG 12 // 7TH ST ENTRY // MINNEAPOLIS

AUG 14 // SCHUBAS // CHICAGO

AUG 17 // WORLD CAFE LIVE (UPSTAIRS) // PHILADELPHIA

AUG 18 // NEW YORK SUMMER STAGE (CENTRAL PARK) // NYC

AUG 21 // JOE’S PUB // NYC

AUG 24 // CRYSTAL BALLROOM // PORTLAND

           HUSKY                                 BOY

facebook  ||  website         facebook  ||  website

This Windy City quartet’s band name caught my eye as I was sifting through CD submissions sent to an on-air host who’s on vacation this week.  Lucky for us, their music is pretty catchy too.  California Wives’ debut album Art History will be out September 4th via Vagrant Records, but you can download “Purple” and another track called “Marianne” from their Facebook page.  The band will be touring with Stars and Diamond Rings starting tomorrow (full tour dates listed here).

facebook  ||  website  ||  twitter  ||  tumblr

Freelance Whales announced last week that their new album Diluvia will be out on October 9th through Mom + Pop Music/Frenchkiss Records.  It will be the follow-up to the band’s debut Weathervanes, which came out in 2010 and put them on the map with the track “Hannah”.  The first single from the sophomore release is “Locked Out” and the band is kindly giving giving it away as a free download from their website.

Freelance Whales have only a few dates currently scheduled in New England and Canada but we’ll keep you posted if more are announced.

facebook  ||  website  ||  twitter

Philadelphia’s Timothy Showalter released his latest record yesterday and it has local music fans very excited.  Dark Shores is Showalter’s third full-length under the moniker Strand of Oaks. The album it expands on the exploratory, ethereal vibe he acheived with Pope Killdragon while infusing some of the folkier tendencies from Leave Ruin.  The result is an album full of darkly beautiful tracks, including a stripped-down version of the song Showalter recorded with Weathervane Music’s Shaking Through Sessions, “Spacestations” (more on that here).

The album is available to purchase and preview from the Strand of Oaks bandcamp, as well as below.  It is also available to stream in full on Spotify.  Noisetrade is offering up Strand of Oaks’ second album Pope Killdragon for free download here.

facebook || bandcamp || website || twitter