Go download “I Look Like Shit.” Good to see that Jeff’s still making stuff despite this possibly being the end of BTMI.
As is usual, Streetlight is running late on their album release. My own two cents? It’s been 5 years now. What’s another couple months? Let us know when you’re happy with it, Tomas. From their site, or read below:
The Short Version.
Both the Streetlight Manifesto album “The Hands That Thieve” and the Toh Kay companion album “The Hand That Thieves” are being pushed back to a later release date, presumably sometime in January, 2013.
The Long Version:
So, first off, I’d like to apologize to everyone who has been waiting for this record to come out as originally announced, on Nov 6th. I’d normally say “on behalf of everyone in Streetlight” but that’d be misleading. I am entirely and solely at fault for the delay of these records and I take full responsibilty for it. I simply put too much on my plate and lined up too many deadlines and tours, and I just couldn’t finish everything in time, between writing, recording, planning and my now notorious but unavoidable tendency to remix, rewrite and, in general, redo everything a few times before it’s “just right”. We announced the album prematurely and in a rush because of a number of factors that lined up in August, and since then I was unable to meet some critical deadlines in order to get the records handed in in time for a Nov 6th release. As the time continued to tick by, I tried to line up a slightly later release date, but I failed in meeting the deadlines for that date as well. I was waiting to announce the delay until we had a certain, solid release date but that just hasn’t happened yet for a number of reasons, so it’s time to let the cat out of the bag: We’re looking at January of 2013 as of now. As soon as I know anything, we’ll be announcing it on our site and to try to make it up to you guys as best we can, all preorders will ship with a special gift, one that will hopefully ease the frustration of the prolonged wait.
In the meantime, we are on tour, playing a number of new songs from the album, and we’ll be sharing live versions of the songs soon, as well as (finally) some proper samples from the record(s).
Once again, I humbly and whole heartedly apologize for the delay. I’ve let down our fans, and I’ve let down the other members of Streetlight, with my constant remixing, rewriting, starting again from scratch and making promises i end up unable to meet. I am sorry.
If you go to their facebook and like the page, you can stream the whole album right now.
By Chris Graue | Editor in Creep – August 16, 2012
I decided to try my hand at reviewing Hands Like Bricks’ album EP: II while at work because damn the man, save the Empire. I loosened my tie, popped on some headphones, and opened up Harry’s email contain the sweet, luscious tracks.
The very first thing I had to do, while “We Made This Mess” rolled was flip the bird to the boss’s wife. I don’t know why, she’s a nice lady, but there’s something about this album that just makes me want to set this place on fire and steal all the office supplies. It’s not a snotty skate punk sound, but it’s not an Americanatype open, vacant sound that a lot of bands have tried on lately either. It rests somewhere in between, with enough power to drive the record but enough attitude to make me pretend like I didn’t see the intern trying to get my attention. No, I’m not answering any of your stupid questions, I’m Hands Like Bricksing.
It’s almost as though the tight, punchy rhythms and the low, commanding guitar stand opposing each other in tone, but working together to create something new. A bit of occasional string tone adds a briskness that plays well with the midtoney bass that drives the HLB bus.
“Go Away” is my second favorite track on the album. It’s got a lot of sing along parts that made me forget I was stuck at a cubicle sliding the hard drive I’d thrown on the floor yesterday into a static bag. It’s still working for now, but I will defeat it yet.
It was “Satellite Phone Calls,” however, that really caught me. I had been reading a story on the internet about a guy whose son sodomized his dog, but that ringing strum in the opening stopped me dead in my tracks. This last song on the album has just a taste of a rockabilly vibe to it. Hiding somewhere between the traditional country vamp on the bass guitar is an acoustic coloring the tracks just that little shade of hillbilly this track needed. That one’s my favorite. There, I picked it.
The whole thing’s fun. Grab this thing when you get a chance. Now I have to somehow transition back into pretending like I really care about whether or not Derek’s hotel confirmation faxed through or not. Wish me luck. Shit.
Sean Eldon from Arrogant Sons of Bitches and Bomb The Music Industry has put out his own record. Go download it, and donate if you’re cool!