If anything, The Dillinger Escape Plan’s latest LP, Dissociation (Party Smasher Inc), serves as a comprehensive anthology of the various dynamics and styles that this New Jersey act has explored in just about 20 years of existence. This is further compounded by the recent announcement that Dissociation will be the last release before the band collectively buys the farm, so to speak.Continue reading
Giraffe Tongue Orchestra will be releasing their highly anticipated debut album, Broken Lines, on September 23rd via Party Smasher Inc./ Cooking Vinyl. Continue reading
The Dillinger Escape Plan will be releasing their sixth and final album, Dissociation, on October 14th via Party Smasher Inc., and they’ve just released another amazing new song for our listening pleasure.Continue reading
center>Giraffe Tongue Orchestra. Photo credit: Johnny Buzzerio
‘Crucifixion’, a track from rock supergroup Giraffe Tongue Orchestra, the new band w Alice In Chains vocalist William DuVall aligned with members of Mastodon and The Dillinger Escape Plan, premiered on BBC Radio 1‘s “Rock Show With Daniel P. Carter”. You can hear the track at this link or below:
‘Crucifixion’ is from Giraffe Tongue Orchestra’s début album Broken Lines, with a release date for September 23 via the Party Smasher Inc./Cooking Vinyl labels.
Brent Hinds commented on the formation of the band:
“During the time Mastodon was there for Soundwave, I was at the zoo in Sydney, Australia and was checking out the giraffes. They are amazing animals – one just grabbed a bunch of bananas from my hand with its tongue and peeled them with it as well – by the time the bananas got to its mouth, they were ready to be eaten. I saw Ben who was at Soundwave too and said ‘Man I think I found the name for our band,’ and told him the story.”
“That giraffe made it happen… like us, he figured it out.”, Ben Weinman of Dillinger escape Plan/Party Smasher Inc. added
William Duvall also commented on the band:
“Writing lyrics for these songs was somewhat like writing for film – the mood shifts rapidly and drastically within a song … sometimes the whole scene changes. There were a lot of times where, if you were trying to impose conventional rock songwriting standards on this, you’d be in a whole world of trouble.”
Weinman concluded:
“Brent, William, and myself have all been friends for a long time. Finishing the GTO record with William completes the puzzle. He is a man of diverse talents, and this band gives him the opportunity to spread his wings.”
Giraffe Tongue Orchestra’s lineup has changed since the project was launched in 2012. Actress/singer Juliette Lewis (Juliette And The Licks) was the original vocalist for the group, but has only contributed backing vocals to Broken Lines. Queens of the Stone Age’s Jon Theodoe appears on two tracks as well. The band has also set up a Pledge Music campaign for special merch and album versions and the album is available for pre-order at the following links.
Pre-order “Broken Lines” now
PledgeMusic – http://www.pledgemusic.com/projects/gto
Amazon – http://po.st/GtoBLamz
iTunes – http://po.st/GtoBLiT
Giraffe Tongue Orchestra is:
William DuVall -Vocals
Brent Hinds – Guitar
Ben Weinman – Guitar
Pete Griffin – Bass
Thomas Pridgen – Drums
Giraffe Tongue Orchestra online
Giraffe Tongue Orchestra on Facebook
Giraffe Tongue Orchestra on Twitter
Giraffe Tongue Orchestra on Instagram
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Ben Weinman was already one of the busiest guys in heavy music, but now his dance card will be filled to the max. What originally started out as a vanity label for is now going to be a fully-fledged “one-stop portal for musicians, photographers, illustrators, fashion designers and industry mavericks of all stripes.”, according to the Dillinger Escape Plan guitarist and resident stage destroyer.
As reported by Blabbermouth.net, Weinman has been cultivating this idea for sometime, and just needed to put the wheels in motion:
“I was well into my twenties, with a college degree and a corporate job, playing music with no intention of generating money or some massive fanbase,” explains Weinman. “Before I had even realized it, I was making 100% of my living creating art. How did this happen? Because we ignored the ‘rules.’ It wasn’t until I started living my artistic life with that mindset that I became a responsible creator — one who could move people through honest expression. And that is what Party Smasher Inc. is all about. We are here to celebrate the artists that are following their own path, undeterred by the trends.”
This continues an upward trend of artists driven collectives, either creatively or in management roles in the current scene. As bands age, die out, or plain run out of steam with fans; it’s great to see people in the business get creative when it comes to their future and ensuring a career beyond albums and tours. Bands dudes used to (and still do) flock to studio and record label jobs, but those are drying up and going away. Look for more of these ventures to pop up in marketing, management, fashion, and new media soon.
Learn more about Party Smasher Inc. on their website.
Live photo by Meg Loyal Photography
There aren’t many tours that are revealed that I get giddy with excitement for immediately after they are announced. After hearing The Dillinger Escape Plan were playing Boston, however, it became one of my most highly anticipated shows of the year, and it did not disappoint in the slightest. They are one of those bands who, from the times I have seen them, put on some of the most intense shows I have ever seen.
So, when I reached the sold out Brighton Music Hall and saw the crowd building up when doors opened, I knew Boston was going to be in for a hell of a show. The night started off with the band Shining. No, not the black metal band from Sweden, but the experimental metal act from Norway. Fronted by guitarist, vocalist, and saxophonist Jørgen Munkeby, Shining blends the intricacy of progressive metal with the sound of jazz and black metal in order to craft very interesting pieces of music, which can be heard on their releases Blackjazz and One One One (Indie Recordings). Opening with the track ‘I Won’t Forget’, it was obvious that some of the crowd did not know what to expect after they began to play. The band played with a lot of energy and had a very strong stage presence throughout their set. By the end, most of the crowd was into their performance, even some of the people who were talking about why they were on the bill. They ended their set with a cover of ’21st Century Schizoid Man’ by King Crimson, and having the whole crowd sing along was a perfect way to close their set.
Following Shining were glitchy hardcore noisemakers Retox, whose mathy approach must have been a tad too offbeat for a crowd awaiting Trash Talk. With a more straightforward and urban approach to hardcore, it lends itself more to the mosh, essentially. Busting out oldies like a souped-up version of ‘F.Y.R.A.’ and the title track from their fastcore favourite, ‘Walking Disease’ and evenly dotting in some of their darker, heavier material from Eyes & Nines and 119 paved the way for stage-dive and crowd surf central. With vocalist Lee Spielman keeping the crowd hype in order to give them their money’s worth in next day bruises, there was no shortage of circle pits, rafter hanging (guitarist Spencer included), and of course, good old fashioned mosh ignorance. Those near the stage during the seasonably doom-laden ‘Hash Wednesday” would also be able to smell a certain sweet leaf making the rounds. Surprisingly, no hospitalizations, but definitely a lot of damaged shoes.
To pile mayhem on mayhem came The Dillinger Escape Plan, who, unlike Retox, have the history and long-standing reputation for hosting shows where the trend generally is rafter hanging, pit violence, more rafter hanging, impassioned singalongs, and maybe more rafter hanging, but this time instigated by guitarist extraordinaire Ben Weinman. Of course, you can guess that this set followed the formula of a normal Dillinger set, but is that ever a bad thing?
Aside from vocalist Greg Puciato telling all couples to make sweet love for the sake of procreation during the swank, ear-friendly intro to the title track of their Sumerian Records debut, One Of Us Is The Killer, you can guess what happened, short of the venue walls collapsing under the weight of ‘43% Burnt’, or the glorious pile-on/stage invasion during ‘Sunshine The Werewolf’, a fitting closer. Whoever programs their light show should get an academy award for the headache inducing task of syncing up anti-epilepsy death rays with the mind-bending time signatures that they bust out as easily as a grade schooler can beat-box. When even ‘Panasonic Youth’ is a comparatively ‘easy’ song to tap your foot to, you know you’re in for the musical equivalent of a plane crash. In the best way, of course. Be sure to pick up the wreckage that was your brain on the way out of the venue.
Despite all odds, the Brighton Music Hall still stands, and so we may tell the tale of the night it survived Trash Talk And The Dillinger Escape Plan back to back. Honestly, I’m still puzzled, but some things are best not to think too hard about and just accept. Life is kind of like stage-diving, if you think about it that way.
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The Dillinger Escape Plan on Facebook
Review by Jason Mejia and Sean Pierre-Antoine
Photos by Meg Loyal Photography
When It comes to genre-bending and pushing creative envelopes, few do it better than The Dillinger Escape Plan. The band is about to release their latest album, entitled One Of Us Is The Killer. Ghost Cult Caught up with guitarist Ben Weinman to discuss DEP’s upcoming record, his admiration for Mike Patton and the fine art of maintaining one’s sanity on the road.Continue reading