I moved from Los Angeles to Baltimore in 2005. I brought very few possessions with me, and although I knew they would be cumbersome traveling companions, I decided to bring a few dozen records along for the trip. Fast-forward a year or so. I was doing a pretty poor job of making ends meet. There were my records, gathering dust in the corner, neglected in the absence of a working record player, and I reluctantly decided to sell them on Craigslist. After a few poorly punctuated e-mails from strangers they were all but gone. I had, of course, set a few aside. My “Pink Moon” LP wasn’t going anywhere, neither was my favorite Bonnie “Prince” Billy record or Pedro the Lion’s “It’s Hard To Find A Friend.” It wasn’t even a question. Some records you just can’t part with.
All that to say this, if Joe O’Connell AKA Elephant Micah had written, recorded, and released 2012’s “Louder Than Thou” way back then, and I would’ve been lucky enough to own a copy, it wouldn’t have been on the chopping block, either. Simply put, some albums set themselves apart from the pack, not because the artists spend a bunch of money on a PR campaign or because the right label puts them out. No, they set themselves apart because they burrow their way into your gut from the moment your hear them. They’re special because they are the backdrops for every single memory you make for an entire calendar year after you buy them, and years later they’ll still make up the soundtracks to your best road trips.
Elephant Micah’s “Louder Than Thou” has quickly become that kind of a record for me. It’s six songs, just under thirty-seven minutes in length, and exists as a pure and inspiring example of what it means to be a writer of songs. Don’t take it from me. Buy this record. You’ll be happy that you did.
I just wanted to send a last-minute reminder that we’ll be in Portland, ME tomorrow night to play a show with Little Wings at SPACE. Kyle has been inspiring us all for years know, even you, whether you knew it or not. Hope to see you there!
Summer is over, but we’ll be spending plenty of fall and winter weekends floating around at Assateague Island, trying to pretend that it’s not. We’re playing some shows, too! Click the link and keep checking back because there’re more to come.
Our summer tours were fantastic. Endless thanks to everyone who organized and came out to our shows!
Also, a couple of discount codes just went live on our bandcamp page! Use “summerswims” to get 1/2 off the digital version (not CD) of Tones and “summerswims2” to get 1/2 off the digital version (not CD) of the Bare Black EP. The codes are only live until September 1st, so hurry on over before it’s too late! We really appreciate your support.
Today’s the day, my friends. You can order a copy of Tones directly from us at our Bandcamp. Or get it at iTunes, eMusic, Amazon, or the download emporium of your choice.
We’re on tour right now, having a nice relaxing day off. Hope to see you at one of the upcoming shows!
Hi! We’re back from Europe and feeling great! Thanks to everybody over there for all of your support! Be sure to check the SHOWS page for updated summer tour info. Chicago, St. Louis, and Milwaukee details coming soon!
Oh, and here’s an interview we did with a Portuguese TV station in Coimbra, Portugal. There’s also some live footage spliced in there, too, as well as a brief snippet of me beatboxing! Enjoy.
Two new songs are up at Bandcamp, “Elder Days” and “How I Love You,” which features Jenn (singing) and Andy (guitar-ing) of Wye Oak! We hope you like ‘em, and pre-order the album from Kickstarter if’n you please. Thanks for all your support thus far!
The Kickstarter is rollin’ and about 1/3 funded — thanks so much for all of your support! Please click on the above link (or Fred’s face) to check it out.
For information about Limp Bizkit, please visit their Wikipedia page.
