Lee Bains III & The Glory Fires’ new 7” single “Sweet Disorder!” b/w “Stars” is available at this very moment, so go ahead and bring some sweet Southern rock into your life.  Have a listen to the track below, and acquire this fine record for your collection.

Both tracks are new and previously unreleased. The 7” single is available for purchase now via the Sub Pop Mega Mart and iTunes.

Lee Bains III has this to say about the new single:
“The song “Sweet Disorder!” is about disrupting systems that have proven to fall short of, if not completely undermine, their purported missions (e.g., criminal justice, mental health, the church, language) for the sake of realigning them with those missions. The song developed out of months spent revisiting the Objectivist poets, binging on early Clash albums, and observing the Atlanta actions surrounding the deaths of Michael Brown, Eric Garner and other unarmed people of color. The song is the first completed work in a group of songs, tentatively titled Juvenile Detention, aimed at investigating questions of socialization, youth, identity, law, privilege, religion, culture, place, causality and memory.”
 
The song “Stars” was originally performed by the Birmingham band Primitons, and was released on their self-titled, Mitch Easter-produced 1982 masterpiece EP. The song is a result of the powerful songwriting team of non-performing lyricist Stephanie Truelove Wright and singer/tunesmith Mats Roden – an original pillar of our city’s punk/independent scene, a pioneering openly gay hometown musician, a gentle, self-deprecating soul, and a brilliant songwriter and bandleader who managed to craft melodies out of whimsy and nostalgia, sweetness and fire, sophistication and trash in such a way that could only have taken shape on the Southside of Birmingham. Mats passed away in 2014, and this record is dedicated to his memory and to his songs.”
 
Tour Dates:
Aug. 21 - Alpharetta, GA - Verizon Wireless Amphitheatre at Encore Park*
* w/ Alabama Shakes
 

Having only previously worked with director Christin Turner on more aesthetically obscure videos, Dee Dee admits, “I couldn’t handle starring in such a straight forward, HD role — it was just too much me. I felt exposed and that made me uncomfortable.”

Against the urging of Macon, Sub Pop, and her management, Dee Dee made the call against releasing it and it was canned. (Future bass player Malia James eventually made the official video for the song.)

Fast forward to 2015 and a sync of the song on the acclaimed television series Orange Is The New Black. Soundtracking Natasha Lyonne’s character in a heartbreaking scene brought on an overwhelming response to the song, and this renewed interest found Dee Dee being asked, yet again, to release the initial video.

“I look like a kid in it,” Dee Dee comments. “I look as young and vulnerable as I actually was at that point in my life — it’s probably the most honest visual I’ve done to date, which is probably why I fought it,” she laughs. She reached out to Macon and he replied simply, “I’ve been waiting for this text for four years (see Stereogum video premiere July 21st)

Dum Dum Girls’ digital single for “Coming Down” (radio edit) b/w “Girls Intuition” is now available for purchase through Sub Pop Mega Mart, iTunes and all streaming services.    

The wise and kind folks at the AV Club are now streaming the full album by Northwest rippers Strange Wilds here. Enrich your life by giving the album a listen, then preorder it at the Sub Pop Megamart. And, for those of you lucky enough to be in the great Northwest this Friday, go see them play a free, all-ages in-store at Seattle’s Everyday Music, then catch them again at Capitol Hill Block Party. Trust us, it will be worth both your time and your money.

You can now sooth your ears and eyes as you watch the video for THEESatisfaction’s “EarthEE”, the title track from the group’s stellar 2nd album, premiering via I-D Magazine. 

The new video, which director Maikoiyo Alley-Barnes calls a “A short visual meditation on the textile traditions of home, sacred Geo Metrics, theta based communication and the whirling dervish.  A sonically driven work of ancient Afro continuum…” stars the group alongside label mates Porter Ray and Ishmael Butler of Shabazz Palaces.

I-D says of “EarthEE”: “Utterly mesmerizing, this four minute video employs compelling graphics that helps propel the song even further into the light fantastic.”
 
In other news, Pitchfork recently included THEESatisfaction’s EarthEE in it’s “Overlooked Records 2015”, and said: “You could imagine THEESatisfaction—the Seattle boho rap duo of Cat Harris-White and Stasia Irons—recording in accordance with the phases of the moon. Their second album, EarthEE, is alluringly cosmic, no doubt, but their neo-soul has more resonance given its powerful sociopolitical critique…Unbound by genre or modes of thinking, EarthEE keeps tugging at the shapes of music and minds to come (see Pitchfork July 2nd).
 
THEESatisfaction’s current summer tour schedule in support of EarthEE resumes Tuesday, July 21st in Madrid, ES at Sala Siroco and ends August 29th in Seattle, WA with a Black Weirdo DJ Set at Northwest African American History Museum. Additionally, THEESatisfaction’s SassyBlack has a few DJ sets and individual performances coming up as well.
 
EarthEE  is available to purchase from Sub Pop Mega Mart,iTunes, Amazon and Bandcamp.

TOUR DATES ::  THEESatisfaction

Jul. 21 - Madrid, ES - Sala Siroco
Jul. 23 - Lisbon, PT - Galeria Ze dos Bois
Jul. 24 - Barcelos, PT - Milhoes de Festa
Jul. 29 - Madeira, PT - Estalagem da Ponta do Sol
Jul. 30 - Azores, PT - Walk & Talk Fest
Aug. 07 - Seattle, WA - South Lake Union Block Party
Aug. 27 - Victoria, BC - Eventide Music Series @ Continental Square
Aug. 28 - Vancouver, BC - Fortune Sound Club
Aug. 29 - Seattle, WA - Black Weirdo DJ Set @ Northwest African American History Museum*
*w/ Chocolate Chuck, Topspin
 
DJ SETS / SOLO PERFORMANCES  ::  SASSY BLACK

Aug. 01 - Sitka, AK - Homeskillet Fest
Aug. 06 - Seattle, WA - Neumo’s
Aug. 21 - Seattle, WA - KEXP