I guess we fell asleep inside the local music pillow fort, because we were totally clueless that Starfucker has a new album on the way. For reals!

It's called Jupiter and will hit the streets—and soundtrack countless basement dance parties—on the 5th of May, courtesy of Badman Recording Company. The first single is below. Now back to sleep, this fort is so comfortable.

LISTEN:

Starfucker - "Medicine"

OMG VIVA VOCE @ WOXY SXSW!

Oh sorry, my CAPS LOCK key was stuck. While down in Texas for the annual SXSW rodeo and domesticated animal state fair, Viva Voce rolled tape on a few live songs for the excellent WOXY. In addition to "Devotion" the first single from the forthcoming Rose City, the band also performed another new one, "Octavio."

I'm fairly confident this song is either about Mexican poet Octavio Paz, or Spider-Man's archnemesis Dr. Otto Gunther Octavius. Probably both.

LISTEN:

Viva Voce - "Octavio" (live on WOXY)

It would seem that Stephen Malkmus has finally put down his fantasy sports guidebooks and picked up the axe to record a session for our pals at Daytrotter. Backed by the Jicks, Malkmus performs an intro, something from both Pig Lib and Real Emotional Trash, and that one James Gang song ("Funk 49") that Kenny Loggins ripped-off for "Foot Loose."

LISTEN:

Stephen Malkmus & The Jicks - "Funk 49"

Good news for people who love A Weather news. According to an update from Sarah Winchester, the whispering (shhhhh-core?) bedroom pop band has recently wrapped up recording the basic tracks for album number two, the follow-up to last year's Cove. No word on when this record will see the light of day, but we'll keep you updated.

In other Winchester news, the A Weather singer—and occasional maker of merch table teddy bears—spent her winter recording a little solo EP entitled The Northeast Kingdom Demos. Similar to the quiet music of her other band, Winchester's solo songs are very intimate, as she explains:

...I am pleased to announce, I finally made something I'm calling Northeast Kingdom Demos. This winter has been long, as winters tend to be. I think recording made it go by a lot faster for me. I'm calling the collection a "demo" because I just used Garage Band and the internal microphone on (the wonderful) Aaron (Gerber)'s computer, so the demo label fits. You can hear a lot of clicks and bleeps and dogs and low-flying airplanes.

However, as far as recording goes, I consider this an achievement. I have always struggled with recording my own songs, and somehow, it finally happened. The timing was right.

The Northeast Kingdom is the nickname for the northeastern corner of Vermont, the state I am proud to say i hail from. The NEK has been listed as one of the "1,000 Places to See Before You Die", which is fitting because it's an extremely majestic and wooded area, but unearthly and eerie as well. The songs spring from this description; family and woods and love and death.

The best part, is that the EP is all yours, for free (just get an account—also free—at the Team-Love download library). And since you are not paying for this music, you can now afford that trip to Vermont. Have fun on the Ben & Jerry's factory tour.

LISTEN:

Sarah Winchester - "Northeast Kingdom"

We have a raccoon at our house. A big, scary, raccoon not afraid of a damn thing in this world. Oh, and it's now residing in our crawlspace, eating our garden, and totally not contributing to our hippie chore wheel. So being the wuss that I am, I have hired a crawlspace specialist (who knew such a career exists?) to rummage deep below our house and help us stop this evil creature from living beneath us. Seems fair.

But what I did not know is that—according to the very entertaining man we hired—raccoons hate the Ramones. Much like Miss Evelyn Togar, raccoons dislike rock and roll, and in his expert opinion nothing will flush this creature out like the Ramones.

And it's not just anything in the Ramones catalog, it's one song in particular...

LISTEN:

The Ramones - "Blitzkrieg Bop"

I swear to God I am not making this up. I'll let you know if it works...

After taking on God—and winning—with The Body, The Blood, The Machine, the popsters in the Thermals don't change their tune all that much for full-length number four, Now We Can See (out April 7th on Kill Rock Stars). Death, in all its glorious forms, is a constant lyrical reference on the new record, which, despite such a morbid topic, is an absolute blast to listen to. Evidently death is a lot of fun. Who knew?

LISTEN:
The Thermals - "When I Died"
** Edit: We were asked by the band's label to not post that song. Sorry. If you need us we'll be in our room, listening to Unwound's The Future of What and sobbing for pissing off Kill Rock Stars.

Photo: Alicia J. Rose

I had no clue that Eat Skull has a new album, Wild and Inside, coming out on April 6th courtesy of that smoking midget-loving label of theirs, Siltbreeze. Oh, you knew? I'm terrible at my job.

Judging from the brief time I have spent with Wild and Inside, it's pretty clear that the album is the next logical step for the band. Both noisy in volume and punk in spirit, it's hardly the noise-punk statement that last Summer's Sick to Death was. Good luck slapping a label on an album with such staggering attention deficit disorder and deliberately aimless first-take recordings. But that's sort of the point with Eat Skull, right? They're less interested (too bored?) in focusing on any one direction, instead each song is a shapeless endeavor, taking form just as often as it crumbles apart.

The finest moments of Wild are quite spectacular; opening with the playful anthem "Stick To The Formula," which is capped by short blasts of carnival organs and a bouncy chorus that begs for some live show call-and-response. The drowsy spoken/sung "Talkin' Bro In The Wall Blues" is downright epic for an Eat Skull song (3:18, that's a lifetime!), and—please take this in the best possible way—sounds like a Doors' outtake. It's a great song—and I fucking hate the Doors—that shines some light on the band's tempered growth. And the finest moment of the album? That comes courtesy of the hazy "Cooking a Way to be Happy," which binds faux '60s psychedelia with, um, breakfast. Sure, why not?

LISTEN:

Eat Skull - "Cooking a Way to be Happy"

The band will be selling Wild and Inside at their March 31st show at East End, but I'm not sure if that counts as a proper release show or not.