By Frank Deserto
Photo Credit: Natalie Kocsis

Three cheers for NYC darlings A Place to Bury Strangers! Though astute readers of this blog may have heard hints and quick quips of the band mentioned across countless back entries, there's an explosion of news and interest surrounding them today, as they've just been confirmed as an opener for Nine Inch Nails' upcoming summer tour. The band was hand-picked alongside Crystal Castles, Deerhunter, White Williams, and Does It Offend You, Yeah, to namedrop the other indie-centric acts slated to support NIN's summer excursions.

That's not to say that A Place to Bury Strangers haven't developed a significant amount of interest beforehand, as several SXSW appearances and opening slots supporting the Jesus and Mary Chain, Battles, Holy Fuck, and the Brian Jonestown Massacre have brought the band to high attention with their fuzzy, aggressive brand of darkwave, brandishing them as "the loudest band in New York." Their intense live performances call to mind the experimentation and electronic pulse of Swans and early Wax Trax! recordings, while their fuzzed out overtones suggest devout worship of My Bloody Valentine and the Telescopes.

In testament to the band's sheer sonic force, they obliterated the amplifiers at Crash Mansion just before my band took the stage, much to our hilarity and chagrin. I can even remember a time long before then when their crowds were sparse, the only attendees being the band's girlfriends, management, and myself, so it's hard not to feel like a proud parent when this Brooklyn based outfit lands gigs such as these. Meanwhile, the band garnered tons of attention for their debut release, 2007's self-titled compilation on Killer Pimp records, which gathers ten of their previously self-released recordings onto disc or vinyl, whichever format you prefer...

In further A Place to Bury Strangers news, the band will take to Europe shortly before they join Nine Inch Nails down south, and a limited boxset of 7'' singles is slated for release in early May via Vacancy Records (I've already preordered mine, and I suggest you do the same). For any devout New York City fan with a little travel money in the bank, the upcoming string of A Place to Bury Strangers tour dates can be found below, along with a live rendition of 'Gimme Acid,' recorded last year at Union Pool. If you look closely, you can see yours truly thrashing away in the front. Was I wearing earplugs? Goodness, no.

5.7.08- London, UK: Barfly
5.8.08- London, UK: The Legion
5.9.08- London, UK: Club NME
5.11.08- Camber Sands, UK: ATP v Pitchfork
5.12.08- London, UK: Sonic Cathedral
5.13.08- London, UK: Madame Jo Jo's
5.15.08- Hull, UK: The Welly
5.16.08- Brighton, UK: The Great Escape Fesitval
5.17.08- Leeds, UK: Nastyfest
5.19.08- Glasgow, Scotland: The Captain's Rest
5.20.08- Nottingham, UK: Sonic Cathedral
5.21.08- Birmingham, UK: Jug of Ale
5.22.08- Luton, UK: Club NME- Sub Club
5.24.08- Paris, France: Noveau Casino
5.26.08- Amsterdam: Paradiso
5.28.08- Brussels- Witloof Bar-Botanique
5.29.08- Barcelona, Spain: Primavera
8.15.08- Oklahoma City, OK: Ford Center
8.16.08- Houston, TX: Toyota Center
8.18.08- Dallas, TX: American Airlines Center
8.20.08- St. Louis, MO: Scottrade Center

For those of you who don't own a fun calendar, I'm pleased to inform you that today is International Dance Day. To celebrate this high holiday, I'm starting off the morning with a year old tune from MSTRKRFT that could serve as an anthem for today (at least in Williamsburg).

The hot ticket over the weekend was for Hot Chip's gig at Terminal 5 -- anyone see them? We've got a review of the show coming your way in a little while. Until then, here's a video for their latest single, "Ready for the Floor," a colorful mix of their clever electro-pop with Batman villains.

The Morning Benders, one of the better indie pop groups to emerge from SXSW, just secured a spot on tour with British pop four piece The Kooks. A full list of tour dates are under the cut. Here's the band's satire on your 9-5 job, set to their catchy single, "Waiting For War." Should be a good start for your Tuesday morning.

4/18	House of Blues	San Diego, CA
4/19	The Wiltern	Los Angeles, CA
4/24	Commodore Ballroom	Vancouver, BC
4/25	Sasquatch Festival	George, WA
4/26	Wonder Ballroom	Portland, OR
4/28	Avalon Theatre	Salt Lake City, UT
4/29	Ogden Theatre	Denver, CO
4/31	Fine Line Music Café	Minneapolis, MN
5/1	Turner Hall Ballroom	Milwaukee, WI
5/2	Vic Theatre	Chicago, IL
5/4	Kool Haus	Toronto, ON
5/5	The Fillmore	Philadelphia, PA
5/9	Paradise Rock Club	Boston, MA
5/10	Terminal 5	New York, NY
5/11	Terminal 5	New York, NY

As I mentioned in an earlier post, the most intense/entertaining show I saw at SXSW was from Brooklyn thrash rockers The Giraffes. I hit up YouTube to see if these guys have any videos -- sure enough they do. Rather than making a conventional music video, The Giraffes got drunk, and taped their lead singer going punch for punch against their tour manager. Looks painful.

With all the mayhem during SXSW, I missed all of the Blitzen Trapper showcases, a band I was looking forward to seeing. Luckily, they'll be performing their blend of synth rock and indie folk over at Bowery Ballroom later in the month. Until then, this trippy video for "Wild Mountain Nation" should suffice.

In partnership with YouTube and Google, Nine Inch Nails is inviting everyone to participate in their recently announced Film Festival. They're celebrating the release of GHOSTS I-IV, their new and 100% record label-free studio album.

And they have $1.6M reasons to celebrate!!! The coffee's on Trent. In the meantime, we'll be trying to provide you with ongoing coverage.

What better way to start a Friday morning than with a video of ladies wrestling each other? West-coast rockers Truckee Brothers recently released this vintage-styled video (fully shot on B/W 8mm) for their explosive tune, Gritty Pretty. I'd call these guys a rugged version of The Hives. They'll be playing a handful of shows at SXSW, so keep your eyes peeled.

Songwriter/multi-instrumentalist Annie Clark (aka St. Vincent) performs tonight during the PLUG Independent Awards at Terminal 5. The video below showcases her gentle, angelic voice -- you decide whether it makes her worthy of a "St." title. You can register to watch tonight's performance over at Dell Lounge.

I rarely post rap videos, but come on -- how could I ignore a name like CunninLynguists? This indie rap trio from Kentucky channels their creativity into an intelligent set of lyrics, imbued with all sorts of political perspectives. Check these guys out at SXSW.