Upcoming Releases:

Box The Compass / Endzweck Split 7"

Replicator
"You Are Under Surveillance" CD

Kilowatthours/The Rum Diary
split CD

New Releases:

New releases are now at the distributors. If you are a store or a distributor, and are interested in the new releases, please get in touch with Mordam.

The WPP
"Baam! Jaam!"

The Rum Diary
"Poisons That Save Lives"

Under A Dying Sun
"Supernova"

 

 

 

 

 

 

Latest News:

THE RUM DIARY, YEAR END SHOWS

Friday, December 17th
@ Sweet Lou's in Downtown Cotati (The Old Inn of the Beginning)
The New Trust (members of velveteen)
The '89 Cubs (members of Desaparecidos, Bright Eyes)
The Roots of Orchis
The Rum Diary
9:30pm All Ages $6

Saturday, December 18th
@ Bottom of The Hill, San Francisco
The Rum Diary >
From Monument to Masses
Continental (first) 8pm, All Ages. $7

TRUXTON ON LIVE 105
www.truxton.net
Sunday, November 21st 2004:
Truxton was locked in heated, radio, band-battle with their friends LUXXURY this Sunday during live 105's battle for "not so silent night" and emerged VICTORIOUS! So Now move on to round 2 and hopefully end up winning this whole radio battle of the bands - the winner of which goes on to open the "not so silent night" festival Dec. 10th featuring bands such as the Killers and Interpol! Truxton Thanks you for your votes and we hope you tune in every week of the competition to vote for us. Just tune into 105.3 FM at 9pm and listen for details! (9pm on Sundays) Thanks.

Some background:
Truxton and 7 other bands were chosen out of a pool of 300 bands to battle it out for the opening slot on this year's Not so Silent Night. The 8 bands are to be played against each other and the audience is to vote to choose the opening band for this year's festival. Go to www.live105.com and click the SOUND CHECK button on the left there...Top of Form 1 Thanks!

Come on down and rock the friggin' house at the 12 Galaxies with Truxton, Wyshall Lane and Dear Nora:

Wednesday, December 1st 2004
9 PM - $7
12 Galaxies
2565 Mission Street, San Francisco, CA
with: Wyshall Lane Truxton Dear Nora

Friday, January 7th 2004
9 PM - $5
The Starry Plough
3101 Shattuck Avenue, Berkeley, CA
with: Truxton Cushion Theory The New Strange

THE WPP, TOUR
They're tour now posted in the Tours Section.

  • THE RUM DIARY September 2004 West Coast Tour Dates...
  • Thur - Sept 16 - The Tradewinds, Cotati, CA - w/ The Two Gallants
  • Fri - Sept 17 - Old Ironsides, Sacramento, CA - w/ Electro Group
  • Sat - Sept 18 - Plush, Tucson, AZ -w/ TBA
  • Sun - Sept 19 - Knitting Factory, Hollywood, CA - w/ Meow Meow
  • Mon - Sept 20 - Casbah, San Diego, CA - w/ TBA
  • Tues - Sept 21 - Cafe du Nord, San Francisco, CA - w/ Desert City Soundtrack
  • Wed - Sept 22 - Placebo, Arcata, CA - w/ Desert City Soundtrack / Lowlights
  • Thur - Sept 23 - Nocturnal, Portland, OR - w/desert city soundtrack
  • Fri - Sept 24 - Paradox, Seattle, WA - w/ Desert City Soundtrack , Roots of Orchis
  • Sat - TBA
  • Sun - TBA

See ya there!

 

Old News...

Hey all, it's 2004, and things are changing up a bit. Under A Dying Sun is now The New Rhythm Method. This band is awesome. Check them out live as they're playing shows in the Bay Area. We've got a split CD coming from Kilowatthours & The Rum Diary which is a great album, showcasing the many talents of both bands and a shared song which was sent to each other via mail. The Rum Diary's been making some news with their latest masterpiece "Poisons That Save Lives." Check out their site for all the rave reviews, and the interviews they''ve been getting from our friends at Giant Robot, Scene Point Blank, Skratch Magazine, SCTAS, Dagger, The New Scheme, and Modern Fix. They've also been featured in the Low Profile section of "bands to watch" in Alternative Press. Live 105 in the Bay Area and 3wk.com are giving them some air-time, so check out those stations and call in to request more! Tour dates have been updated, and more dates are coming. The Rum Diary and Truxton will be playing at this year's Noise Pop 2004. The Rum Diary will also be at SXSW in March during their tour. Be there, it'll be a lot of fun. Read The Spotlight Syndicate's interviews in Scene Point Blank and in AMP Magazine. We're happy to welcome Kilowatthours and Replicator to Substandard. Both these bands are amazing. Be sure to check them out. There are two songs from the upcoming Kilowatthours/The Rum Diary split in the Media section. Desa will be touring Europe pretty soon. More news very soon....

The Rum Diary vinyl just got in. So order it now, it's custom made and limited. You can also get it at upcoming shows. They'll be at Slim's in San Francisco on December 18th opening for Pinback and Aspects of Physics. Get there early!! They will be an upcoming split CD planned. Stay tuned.

DESA is on tour with the Matches. Check the tour dates to see if they're coming to your town.

Inventing Edward is writing new material for an upcoming split. More soon.

The next Under A Dying Sun show will be in Jan. 2004 in Palo Alto at The Edge. Their vinyl and CD is in now, so get your orders in now.

Kathleen Richards (Bay Area Buzz) will be on the "Fast Forward" program on Live 105 SFradio (105.3 FM) Wednesday the 22nd of October from 4-5pm (wednesday) and is allowed to play 3 songs that she likes. One of them is going to be a TRUXTON song. If you're so inclined, visit Live105.com and make a request for "All We Want."

Wednesday October 15th 12-3 pm Hansi will be playing a solo acoustic set at KZSU Stanford University Radio 90.1 FM. The appearance will most likely consist of live songs, a brief talk with the DJ and some tracks from the new record.

The Rum Diary "Poisons That Save Lives" CD is in. You should order it now. We'll have a few new mp3s up online for you to check out soon.

The Spotlight Syndicate - San Francisco, CAIn other news, we're going to put out some records from The WPP from Canada. These guys are awesome. Wait til you hear this.

Benny, thanks for sending the Guinness with your CD order. That was the biggest package I've gotten in the mail for an order. Crazy college kids...

Meanwhile, in Oakland... Truxton is featured in the "Bands To Watch" in the Bay Area Buzz. Watch them on the 19th. Their new album just came out. Pick it up. Here's an interview to read.

The Rum Diary's new record is at the pressing plant. There will be a limited custom made 12" LP as well. Look for this. This is by far their best stuff to date.

Reno is a-buzz with The Spotlight Syndicate. Check out this article. And for an interview, check out Scene Point Blank. Go watch Gross Point Blank.

Tour dates have been updated. Check them out and see you there. These are the only shows that matter.

DESA's new full-length "Year In A Red Room" (guess where they've been for the last year) is just about to drop. It'll be out September 16th. They'll be touring a bit with the RX Bandits. Check their dates. Check out the last Highwire Daze for their interview.

30 Years War is working on their full-length. But while you're desparately waiting, go out to their shows. Check the tours page.

Under A Dying Sun and End On End just returned from Japan safely from their tour with Endzweck and Funeral Diner. Welcome them back. The new UADS "Supernova" record will be released October 20th.

UADS at imusicast, OaklandOUT IN SEPTEMBER!!! Translation. Music. 3. (a compilation of songs) Featuring exclusive and/or very hard to find songs from the following 18 west Coast indie-rock bands: Grails, Ee, The Rum Diary, Continental, The Robot Ate Me, Fiver, Desert City Soundtrack, Snake Versus Wizard, The Dropscience, The Intima, Oma Yang, Funnel Mouth, John Wayne Crucifix, Xiu Xiu, Namesake, Liarbird, The Roots of Orchis, and Subaudible. CD RELEASE SHOW SATURDAY OCTOBER 4TH AT THE TENDERLOFT!!! Be there! I will.

Also out in September is DESA's full-length "Year In A Red Room." Pick this up! August releases are indie rockers Truxton's self-titled debut and screamy new wavers The Spotlight Syndicate's new album "...Forget The Static Past..."! You can order these from us here, just send us a note of what you want and a check/money order/well concealed cash, and we'll hook you up. Free stickers and other shit if you say "hi." Otherwise, head out to stores, or order online from Amazon.com, Interpunk.com, Insound.com, and other online retailers.

Also, a bunch of new MP3s are up in the Media section from DESA, Truxton, and Under A Dying Sun. More to come...

July 24th, a bunch of shows are coming up. We'll have dates posted up soon. In August, the debuts from Truxton (members of From Monuments To Masses & The Librarians) and The Spotlight Syndicate (ex-This Computer Kills) are in stores. If you're into Sunny Day Real Estate and Elliot Smith, check out Truxton. Hansi has a great voice. Check out The Spotlight Syndicate if you're looking for some screamy new wave indie rock. Also, September will have three releases: Under A Dying Sun's "Supernova" CD/LP, DESA's "A Year In A Red Room" CD, and a compilation entitled "Translation Music 3" which has 100% unreleased material from The Rum Diary, Xiu Xiiu, Desert City Soundtrack, The Roots Of Orchis, Fiver, The Dropscience, and more. In November The Rum Diary's "Poisons That Save Lives" will be out. More info soon.s

July 15th, DESA's "Demonstrates Birth" and 30 Years War's "Under The Gun" are out. Ask for them in stores if you don't see them. Check these bands out at shows. They rock. The tour dates section is updated. More soon...

The Rum Diary is headlining the June Bug Bash 2003, an indie-rock-meets-underground-comic-art event on Saturday, June 28th at The Stork Club in Oakland, CA. Visit http://www.junebugbash.com for more info.

Also, Paint Out The Light is opening for The Blood Brothers, These Arms Are Snakes, and Dance Disaster Movement at Pound SF on Monday. Hope you can make it!

End On End in Half Moon BayJune 19th - We'll have a new website up at some point and it'll be more updated. But in the meantime, here's some news. The new 30 Years War and DESA CDEPs will be out in July. Be sure to check those out. In August, The Spotlight Syndicate (ex-This Computer Kills) and Truxton will have debut full-lengths out. In September, the new Under A Dying Sun and DESA full-lengths will hit stores. Also a "Translation Music Vol. 3" will be out as well for a budget price. It will include 100% exclusive songs by The Rum Diary, Ee, Fiver, Roots Of Orchis, The Dropscience, Desert City Soundtrack, Xiu Xiu, and more. The Rum Diary's new full-length is almost done. Lamar (ex-Box The Compass/Three Summers Gone) and Kyle (ex-Three Summers Gone) are in a new band called With Eyes Like Static. Look for them. They have a sweet demo that they're selling at shows.

Bands are touring, we'll get a listing up of shows very soon.

More news soon...

May - Just a quick update: I'm working on updating the site. There are new MP3s of upcoming releases, and more on the way. All the new stuff is awesome. Check them out.

The Rum Diary will be on a West Coast Tour in May. Tours dates are in the Tour Dates section. Also, I think most of the new dates for everyone is updated as well. Under A Dying Sun will be going to Japan for a tour in the Summer. They head into the studio in May for a new record this Summer/Fall. New bands that have joined the Substandard family are DESA, 30 Years War, Truxton, and The Spotlight Syndicate. If you want to hear what they sound like, check out the Media section. Also, band links are in the Bands section.

The "KITESTRINGING: The Prison Literature Project Benefit" is due out in April. This is for a human rights cause. Please check it out. Tons of great artists, people, and bands have contributed to this compilation that's been done in a partnership with Versus Press to benefit the Prison Literature Project.

End On End is touring all over the West Coast. Dates are in the Tour section. Go see them.

DESA hits the studio in April for an upcoming full-length. Their demo will be released as an EP just so you can get a taste for their stuff now. 30 Years War will have an intense EP out in July. Get this if you're into hardcore. We'll hopefully see a full-length from this Santa Cruz band later this year as well.

The Rum Diary will grace the cover of West Coast Performer Mag in April. Pick up a copy. They're also writing/recording their new record as we speak.

There will be a full-length debut from Truxton (formerly Hansi). This band features San Diego transplant Johnannes Armentrout, Lucus of the Librarians, and Francis of From Monuments To Masses. Check out this interview with Johnannes at Run Devil Run.

The Flashing Astonishers are in the studio now. They just returned from a tour

Two of the three ex-members of This Computer Kills have formed a new band called The Spotlight Syndicate, which is in the vein of dancy post-punk/new wave rock. There are MP3s if you're interested.

Also, don't forget the new Inventing Edward record. This is a great record. Rum Diary, Black Heart Procession, Denali fans, get this.

Subincision stuff is also available. Be on the lookout for shows in the Bay Area.

Ok, that's it for now, I'll be back with more news soon.

 

Old News:

If I haven't returned an e-mail lately, it's probably due to losing all my e-mail in the last month. Please e-mail me again. Thanks - John

The Inventing Edward CD is due Feb. 24th. Keep an eye for this one.

The Rum Diary is the cover story for the Jan/Feb issue of Bay Area Buzz. Look for it if you're in the SF Bay Area. They just finished their West Coast Fall tour with San Diego's The Dropscience. We just got the photos scanned and put up on The Rum Diary band page.

The Rum Diary's been getting some great press lately. In November, features and interviews of the Rum Diary were in AMP Magazine, Bay Area Buzz, and Zero Magazine. The Rum Diary was featured in the SF Weekly earlier this year. Be on the lookout for a feature in Copper Press 14. The new CDEP is out on Springman Records now entitled "A Key To Slow Time," and it's awesome, their best stuff to date. Look for that one in stores now. Next year, be on the lookout for a material.

New punk rock records from Berkeley's Subincision are out now. Look for them if you're into satirical pogo-punk.

The Flashing Astonishers "On Involuntary Bliss" was the pick of the week for July 15th on Delusions Of Adequacy - (www.adequacy.net). Read the review here. More shows for November. They are also in the process of writing new songs.

End on End's new record "Why Evolve When We Can Go Sideways?" is now out. There's an End on End interview in the November issue of MaximumRockNRoll. Look for more interviews in Skratch Magazine and Destroy All Monthly. Check it out. They just finished their tour and are back in LA. They have a bunch of new shows in the LA area. Check the tours section for dates. There are a couple of samples up in the media section.

Under A Dying Sun is writing new songs for next year. Touring will pick up in January 2003. Be prepared for their best material yet. In the meantime...

Inventing Edward is playing shows in preparation for the February 2003 release of their debut full-length, "We've Met An Impasse (By Midnighte We'll Be Naked)". This album is amazing. We'll have samples of some their songs soon. A new IE site will be here.

Just to restate, This Computer Kills is no more. Josh and Jeff have a new band called Disconnect which has a sound similar to Four Hundred Years-just a little bit on the heavier side. They switched roles with Josh on drums and Jeff on guitar. Disconnect also features Ty from Soul Emigre (from Holland) and Justin on bass. They'll be recording a demo before Ty leaves for Holland in November, so expect music available online sometime after that. Possible mp3s are coming up soon from a recent show. Nick, with Jeff also have a another new band which has yet to be named. It's drums and bass-and Carolyn plays keyboard... dancy music in the vein of Gang of Four and the Faint but with an errie sound. Maybe a little bit of the Red Light Sting in there too. They will be recording and touring beginning in 2003. Mp3s may be available sooner if they record a demo. Bring your dancin' shoes.

You can find our CDs/LPs are in stores everywhere, or order it online at Interpunk, CDNow, RevHQ.com, Lumberjack, Amazon.com, Insound, and other online retailers.

For you Astonishers fans, there are interviews or The Flashing Astonishers in the new issues of Jersey Beat and The New Scheme. Under A Dying Sun was interviewed in the June 2002 issue of Section M Magazine. Also, in last month's issue, Box the Compass was interviewed in Section M. Click here. Check them out!

Here's a new End On End Message Board. Now you can say "Hi". Drop them a message.

New This Computer Kills photos from the Troubadour show are up here. Under A Dying Sun photos from their North-West Tour are being put up here. We have tons more coming. Especially some awesome live photo. There's an interview with Jon Fee of The Rum Diary here which also has some new photos from their show at the 2002 Noise Pop Festival in San Francisco.

Chris from Time In Malta sports a Box The Compass shirt! Look for TIM's upcoming split release with Breathe In on State of Grace (US) and Reflections (Europe). I heard some of the new tracks and they're some of the best stuff from these two bands yet. Also, be sure to pick up a copy of their new full length coming out on Equal Vision later this year. If you you missed the show at the Pound in SF, you missed some crazy action from Louie of Breathe In. Click here to see some photos. Also check out their latest release "From This Day On" on Bridge Nine.

Also, check out Senneval if you like it heavy. Check out The Shivering and Funeral Diner, they have a split LP out.

If you're interested in purchasing Substandard Records or New Red Archives releases online, head over to Interpunk.com, cdnow, Insound Annex, RevHQ.com or amazon.com and use the search.

Nicky Garratt is living in Germany. If you need to correspond with him regarding New Red Archives, send e-mail to: nicky@newrdarchives.com.