shithole, oregon

Horse Operas have been back from tour for some time now and we’ve been too lazy to get here and update. In a nutshell, it went great. Portland, Bellingham, Santa Cruz, Seattle, SF, and Eureka all went great. The only turd in the punch bowl was Medford, OR. Shit-hole! Furious Frank is recording a new song tomorrow about Horse Operas’ experience there.

On a lighter note, Furious Frank got an awesome write-up in Indie Collision:

Furious Frank – Notable April 21, 2010
Putting out an altogether appealing brand of folk rock is Furious Frank, a rhythm and horn driven group that is a distinctly American answer to Gogol Bordello. Blending staccato sounds borrowed from gypsy folk and ska, Furious Frank mischievously wind their way through songs that jump with energy but also bend around themselves to create pleasantly distorted melodies that bring to mind carnival barkers and organ grinders.

There is a communal shout and smile aesthetic to Furious Frank; all through their songs the band calls and responds in syncopated unison. Their playing pulls in elements of Tom Waits’ wry candor, steppy polka lines, and undercurrents of nashville strings. Furious Frank’s ‘hobocamp’ is a little supergroup of sorts bringing in Travis Mariott from the alt-country group Horse Operas, Jason Taylor and Mason Payne from the soulful country rock group Otis Problem, and Jay Stanek from the Big Sky String Band.

Through wicked tracks like “The Coroner of Drifter Creek,” Furious Frank chugs and plucks along to grinning lyrics, “Lungs and livers / Tongues and feet / Never waste the meat,” all with a jolly nod to the days of boxcar travels and Ringling big tops. The fact that the lines are delivered with knowing melodrama–in a deep bassoon–juxtaposes the slight horror with humor, like making making Upton Sinclair’s “The Jungle” into a musical comedy.

The bounding rhythms and playacting showmanship of the group never feels forced, you can tell that the group is enjoying themselves as they carousel the listener around their jittery brand of folk. Every off key and disconcerting lyric is situated for full effect, and the results are assuredly fun.

Furious Frank’s debut album from last year can be bought from their website www.furiousfrank.net (a steal at $2.50). They’ll be playing Chicago’s Ribfest on June 12th, but if you feel the need for prior enlightenment, check them out at the Montrose Room in Rosemont, IL at 8pm on May 21st.

Front Porch Musings

Horse Operas received a pretty stellar review from Front Porch Musings for their new album Dead Man’s Music.

Here’s a snippet:

I’m quite attracted to the stiff-upper lip sensibilities that come through in some of the tunes. The music is very simple; there’s a guitar, sometimes two, a ukelele, and some pretty easy to follow drum-beats. Simple formulas bring great results, as their songwriting and changing tempos are what makes this music fun to listen to.

Check out the full review and other altcountry related media at frontporchmusings.com

Onion Av Club Top Band Names for 2009

German Beef Initiative made The Onion’s AV Club list:

2009: The Year in Band Names – Our annual look through the funny, the groan-worthy, and everything in between.

Check under the “???” section.
Thanks!..?

Horse Operas‘ new album, Dead Man’s Music, received a new review but we can only guess it’s flattering because it’s from AltCountry.NL. We did get more stars than Rhett Miller’s solo album though. Anyone out there speak Dutch?

Furious Frank’s new album also received reviews in Bluesbunny & Timeout Chicago:

Local Americana act Furious Frank is a group rather than one irate individual, and that communal spirit lends itself to an amiable vibe belying its surly moniker. The outfit’s scrappy kitchen-sink concoctions easily rally an eager audience.

Thank you Timeout!

Horse Operas - Dead Mans Music

It’s finally here. the new full-length release from Horse Operas entitled Dead Man’s Music. On Dead Man’s Music, Horse Operas both channel the music of dead honky-tonkers and beat it back with a stick, creating an album of garage country with punk undertones.  You can purchase a physical copy of the album at CDBaby and digitally at iTunes.

Listen to the whole album on Reverb Nation:

Grun-Tu-Molani will play their CD release party for Varelse Dans this Friday at one of the new spots in Chicago’s Logan Square ( Cole’s – 2338 N. Milwaukee) @ 8pm.

Come witness the Rhodes/timpani/trombone~plus stylings of the only Southern Lover to have written every single one of their songs about an animal.

Vulture my personal favorite.

Vulture, Feast! will make the perfect back to school distraction for your illegitimate kids.

It’s printed! Furious Frank presents: The Hobocamp Mudshow is back from the press. The CD release party is June 19th at Quencher’s but we’ve got the bad boys in hand and they sound awesome. We’ve been recording this thing for a year!

Check out some tracks

German Beef Initiative, Containers and In the Year of the Pig have new live dates up on our shows page.

In the Year of the Pig have a show with Xiu Xiu on Feb. 28th at Duke Coffeehouse. Bound to be a great night.

In The Year Of The Pig are hard at work on their new album which should be released late 2008 or early 2009. It was recorded with Nick Peterson of Track and Field Studios in Carrboro, NC.  The new record took ITYOTP two days to record and will include 5 songs for a total run-time of 64 minutes.  We can’t wait!  You can check out a live preview on their myspace page here.

Also,  Containers will be touring the Bay Area this months and are playing a show at Bottom Of The Hill in San Francisco (our favorite live venue in the city!) with Dome Theater and locals Blanketship.  You can see the full schedule on our Shows page or on Containers myspace page.