Listen: Thrilling Singles from The New Division, WASI and Red Beard

No band wants to be associated with my quest for lactation desserts. These are the ones that took one for the team:

The New Division are prepping for the release of their sophomore album Together We Shine (due out March 18th via Division 87 Records). The album is a bit of a departure for the band. Its release will mark the culmination of 2 years of hard work and utter chaos. What was initially scheduled to follow-up 2011's Shadows was completely discarded. A new vision grew from this and was appropriated into the project’s sound. Then, one year into production, writer/vocalist John Kunkel lost everything on his hard drive (and all his backups were error ridden). Frustrated, annoyed, dejected John nearly trashed the entire album. But he gave it one more go. The result? Well, you’ll have to wait for that. But for now, a teaser. First single “Stockholm” for your listening pleasure:




First there was We Are/ She Is. Then that morphed and shape shifted (anything but swagged) into WASI. This LA based female duo makes catchy riot pop (think Matt & Kim getting high with the Ting Tings). WASI has a new Double Sided Single scheduled to be released on February 12th. Take my word, both sides are excellent. You can hear 1/2 of it below in the form of “And the World”. If you happen to live in LA you can catch the band Wednesday nights at the Silverlake Lounge where they will be setting up residency all February long.




Take a minute to look at Red Beard’s picture. The dark clothing and black and white photo lead me to think heavy metal/ screeching rock/crappy numetal band. Words like “amazing”, “techno”, “party”, “I want to dance my f***ing soul away” are the farthest thing from my mind. But when you actually listen to Red Beard, they will surprise you in the best way possible. Hell, they will blow your mind. And there is more on the way as the band has just announced plans for their second album. The band will be heading to the studio in March to start laying that down. In the meantime, let’s entertain us with what has come before. Experience Red Beard.