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Help The Yalla Yalla’s release their second album, Diamond In Dirt!

Want to turn $12.41* into something much, much better? For exactly that, you can help The Yalla Yallas finish production and release their second album Diamond In Dirt.


(*£8/$12.41 US/$12.70 CN, courtesy of your friendly blog currency converter!)

At that price, you’ll also in essence be pre-ordering a downloadable copy of the album when it’s ready. Add a few more dimes and you’ll be in line for a hard copy of the cd.

After hearing the demos when the album was first being written (a review of the demo tape from earlier this year can be found here), and now after listening to a reviewer’s copy of the album in it’s almost-finished state, I can assure you, you would much rather be listening to The Yalla Yallas than holding those twelve dollars and some change in your hands.

Through PledgeMusic, your contribution at any level (with many other perks to go along with your contribution, including an option for £20/$31.14 for your name in the cd credits) will help make this second album a reality. As of this writing, only 13 days are left to reach their goal so they can proceed with production.

As of this writing they are at 27%, so I implore you to one or more of the following to get to know The Yalla Yallas:

  • Give them a listen; you can stream music from their first album on the Yalla Yallas website
  • Head to their MySpace page for a listen to “Under Attack” which will be included on Diamond in Dirt
  • Watch the in studio clip of an acoustic version of “Death Shoes” (one of my favorite tracks) at the end of this post
  • Friend them on Facebook to keep up with the latest information
  • Check out the interview with Rob Galloway I did this past February to learn more about them

As for the album itself, it’s been an amazing process to witness the writing, recording and evolution of the songs. A quick review will have me telling you that from demo to current state, the tracks from Diamond In Dirt are now fully caffeinated. The energy level has risen to Full Steam Ahead, and is punctuated by Rob Galloway’s wonderfully growling voice. The beauty of the songs lie in the fact that they can easily lend themselves to being played fully plugged in, on stage full guns, and yet I can also picture them stripped down, acoustic around a campfire. The bones of the songs are lovely indeed, but with tough skin around them. I’ve never been so closely involved as a witness in the composing and releasing of an album, so this has a special place in my heart, and I’m really hoping to see them make their goal. If you’re interested in helping out with a worthy creative project and have a few bucks to spare, please visit The Yalla Yallas’ Diamond In Dirt project profile on PledgeMusic, it will be most appreciated!

The Yalla Yallas will also be included within today’s Trash City Radio Show transmission, so if you can try to catch the show live, and if that’s not possible you can find it later on in the archives right here on the blog.

(Photos courtesy of Sara Brooks)

The Yalla Yallas – Death Shoes (unplugged)

A beautiful version of the newish song “Death Shoes” by The Yalla Yallas, from an unplugged in studio session with the band. The only other version of which I have heard so far was via reviewing the demo of their second album, it’s a great song all the way around, and one of my favorites by them.

If you head on over to The Yalla Yallas youtube page, there are many other videos from the same session. Global A Go Go indeed, Rob!

For more about The Yalla Yallas you can check out their site, the interview I did with Rob several months back right here on the blog, or the review of their demo I did here.

“Stuck on the Other Side of the Ocean” Pt 2: Drunken Balordi

DRUNKEN BALORDI | bio

This coming Saturday Drunken Balordi, another band that I’ve recently discovered and am really enjoying lately, will be having a grand old time at Clapham Junction in London at the release party for their first album. (I’ll be stuck here while that is happening, but I’m very much looking forward to getting my hands on a copy once it’s out and about and available.)

I’ve got an interview in progress with lead singer and guitarist Billy King, so a more in depth post dedicated to Drunken Balordi is forthcoming but for now you can give them a listen here.

And watch here:

Update: full interview with Billy King can be found here in the post, I soliti drunken balordi!

“Stuck on the Other Side of the Ocean” Pt 1: The Penny Black Remedy

THE PENNY BLACK REMEDY | bio

From top left: Marijana Hajdarhodzic (vocals/percussion), Steve Nelson (bass), Wilco van Eijk (drums), Keith Thomson (vocals/guitars/song-writing duties)

The Penny Black Remedy (Balkan/gypsy/punk/juggernauts that they are!) fast became one of my favorites last year. I have been cheering them on from over here for awhile now, privy to their live shows and goings-on that they’ve been up to lately (a lot) over in the London area and other parts of the UK and Europe. I’ve also come to learn very recently through my dear friend Steve (who looks suspiciously similar to TPBR’s bass player) the exciting news that they will be playing several music festivals this summer, one of which is a recently confirmed date at Glastonbury!

To celebrate this news, TPBR have just released their 2nd single, and it is available as a free download via their website, now through June 27th.

The single, “You Have Wasted Your Life, Now Please Stop Wasting Your Money,” includes a b-side—you have to pretend the download has a second side to it, ok?—a brand new song titled “You Look Funny When You Think,” which I just heard for the first time earlier today. It’s a great acoustic track with Marijana Hajdarhodzic on lead vocals (what an amazing voice). The download comes as a zipped file (it also contains hi res artwork of the single cover, and a signed lyric sheet) and you can select among different file types (.mp3, flac, AAC) depending on how discerning your ears are.

To download the single they only ask that you sign up for their mailing list, a very fair trade in my opinion, and they also allow you the option to unsubscribe if you wish, but trust me, Keith’s email updates are among some of the funniest things I have ever read, you won’t want to unsubscribe.

If you enjoy “You Have Wasted Your Life, Now Please Stop Wasting Your Money” you need to check out the rest of the album, No One’s Fault But Your Own. It’s an incredibly infectious collection of songs full of wit and dark humor, and you can listen to in its entirety via stream and purchase from their website here rather than just me talking about it, so stop listening to me and get on over there!

Wait! Before you go, they have also sent out into the wilds a new video to go with the “You Have Wasted Your Life, Now Please Stop Wasting Your Money” single, and you can view it on their site along with other videos, and also right here:

Wait again, there’s still more! You should also check out this great article about the launch party for the single from Clink Magazine, a review with some great photos of the show.

Downside: I’m stuck all the way on the other side of the ocean and I’ll be missing all the fun (but cheering from afar!)