The latest from Wolf Parade

Spencer Krug's other other band will issue the follow-up to Apologies to the Queen Mary, one of the top albums of 2005 with the tentatively titled Kissing the Beehive on 17 June. It's tentative as the title is already being used for a Jonathon Carroll book. The tracklist is as follows:

1. Soldier's Grin
2. Call It A Ritual
3. Language City
4. Bang Your Drum
5. California Dreamer
6. The Grey Estates
7. Fine Young Cannibals
8. An Animal In Your Care
9. Kissing the Beehive

AOTY finalist and Krug project Sunset Rubdown is currently on tour in Europe. More to come.

Viva La Vida tracklist revealed

So in what we here at NLtS suspect will be second in a string of disappointments surrounding the new Coldplay album Viva La Vida (the first being the ridiculous title), they failed to keep the length to nine songs as they promised. Okay, so it's only one extra, but still. Oh and the song names are sort of ridiculous to boot. See for yourself:

1. Life in Technicolour
2. Cemeteries of London
3. Lost!
4. 42
5. Lovers in Japan/Reign of Love
6. Yes
7. Viva La Vida
8. Violet Hill
9. Strawberry Swing
10. Death and All His Friends

Damn, I was really excited about "Leftrightleftright". Anyway, the album, which will be produced by Brian Eno and Markus Dravs, hits stores June 16th. Brace yourselves.

Chinese Democracy is finished

No, this is not a reference to the recent controversy surrounding the Beijing Olympics this summer next. Rather, I am talking about the newest album from glam rockers Guns 'n Roses. It seems that after entering his second decade of work on the record, some $13m in, Axl Rose has decided that finally - finally - it is good enough. And faster than you can say anticlimax, he has sent it off to the record label for production.

Jesus.

Record Review: Tapes 'n Tapes - Walk It Off

When we last left Tapes 1, Tapes 2, 'n, and the other 'n; their most natural step was backward. The Loon was swelling with so many ideas: 90s slacker rock and 00s garage blues battled for supremacy, an instrumental track, few familiar checkpoints from any of the dominant scenes. In short, it was a beautiful mess. It would have been easy enough to retreat to lamer ground: witness Someone Still Loves You Boris Yeltsin's move from TnT's kitchen sink approach on Broom to the play-it-safe Pershing. Producer David Fridmann and the band clearly had something to say on Walk It Off, though.

TnT really come into their own on this record, refining their sound a great deal. They continue to split between Pavement and The Black Keys. Fridmann puts the pieces together nicely: drums and vocals right up front, with crunchy guitar and organ filling in. The band meshes best on "Hang Them All", which may be the year's best rock song so far, and "Demon Apple". Josh Grier's vocals still cover the range of distorted howls and Isaac Brock's passionate growl/yelp. With the general refinement of their sound, the band have landed dead centre in Modest Mouse territory, with a dash of post-Strokes rhythm tossed in.

Grier's lyrics are certainly the weak point of the album. While his material on The Loon was something like clever inscrutability a la Thom Yorke, this time around, they're just vague. This is worrying, as guitar riffs have become less central and the record risks becoming a drummer's showcase with a vocalist yelling tough guy-like slogans like "over line!" into the microphone.

Still, this reviewer appreciates the honesty of Walk It Off. Tapes 'n Tapes owe nothing to spacey LA, hungover New York, whiny Omaha, or overwrought Toronto. They don't wheel out the harpsichord or 40 piece orchestra. They mayn't be trying something new, but they're trying something fresh: making a rock and roll record.

8.0/10.0

-RJR

Radiohead reveal more tour dates

They're coming.

8.01 Chicago, IL - Grant Park (Lollapalooza)
8.03 Indianapolis, IN - Verizon Wireless Music Center
8.04 Cleveland, OH - Blossom Music Center
8.08 Jersey City, NJ - Liberty State Park (All Points West Festival)
8.09 Jersey City, NJ - Liberty State Park (All Points West Festival)
8.12 Camden, NJ - Susquehanna Bank Center
8.13 Mansfield, MA - Tweeter Center
8.15 Toronto, Ontario - Molson Amphitheatre
8.19 Vancouver, British Columbia - Thunderbird Stadium
8.20 Auburn, WA - White River Amphitheatre
8.22 San Francisco, CA - Golden Gate Park (Outside Lands Festival)
8.24 Los Angeles, CA - Hollywood Bowl
8.25 Los Angeles, CA - Hollywood Bowl
8.27 Chula Vista, CA - Cricket Wireless Amphitheatre
8.28 Santa Barbara, CA - Santa Barbara Bowl

The National serve up documentary and rarities disc

According to a recent Pitchfork report, Brooklyn-via-Cincinnati indie outfit The National - the men responsible for the magnificent Boxer (which was the second best album of 2007 according to us here at Never Learned to Swim) - are releasing a documentary about the creation of Boxer entitled A Skin, A Night.

If that wasn't enough to get you completely hot and bothered, when you order the DVD from Beggar's Banquet, they will also give you The Virginia EP, which is a twelve-strong collection of rarities, band favourites, b-sides, and even a cover (a rare thing for The National). Of Springsteen no less:

1. You've Done It Again Virginia
2. Santa Clara
3. Blank Slate
4. Tall Saint (demo)
5. Without Permission
6. Forever After Days
7. Rest of Years (demo)
8. Slow Show (demo)
9. Lucky You (Daytrotter session)
10. Mansion on the Hill (live)
11. Fake Empire (live)
12. About Today (live)

Santa Clara and Blank Slate are already in many music libraries, as they were released with Boxer when it was first released last May on iTunes. The others, however, are mostly new. Sex.

Remix Radiohead!

They always seem to be newsworthy. The latest word from the Oxfordshire legends is their track-by-track release of "Nude" (from the In Rainbows LP). The idea is that fans can take and remix the tracks themselves. More ambitious ones can add their own tracks - new instruments, beats, etc. It should yield some interesting products. If you decide to take a crack at it, you can upload your finished mix to http://www.radioheadremix.com, where your peers will evaluate them, and vote on a favourite. This whole affair lasts until May 1.