Wednesday, June 9, 2010

TVD Ticket & 7" Giveaway | The Cheniers, Saturday at the Black Cat


If there's another band out there with a smarter or stronger set of influences, they haven't crossed my path lately. And we've got an opportunity for you to take home said band's debut 7" and catch them live this coming Saturday night (6/12) at the Black Cat.

"The Cheniers are an Arlington-based trio that plays simple songs. There aren't too many parts. There's a lot of repetition, a fair amount of distortion. It's definitely indie rock. It might be lo-fi, but not really intentionally so. But not unintentionally, either. Does that even make sense?

Main inspiration comes from old New Zealand bands from 30 years ago - The Clean, The Doublehappys, Toy Love. The B-side of the The Cheniers' debut 7" is basically a straight rip-off of a song by the Doublehappys, in fact. Don't tell Shayne Carter. Or, tell him and see if he wants to fly us down to New Zealand to play with Dimmer. That 7" is out right now in Windian Records, the fantastic D.C. punk label, and will be available at the Black Cat on June 12.


Oh, and The Fall is another very major reference point. The first song on the A-side of the single, "45 Days," is very much indebted to "Grotesque"-era Fall. (Probably the best Fall era, FWIW.) The other song on the A-side, "Here Comes Trouble," is most people's favorite. Probably because it's about drugs and has a saxophone on it. It's hard to argue with that combination, admittedly.

Another fun fact about this record - all of the art was done by David Berman. He was in Silver Jews, kind of the greatest band of all time. He also does neat drawings."


And yes, we've got the aforementioned Windian 7" and a pair of tickets for one winner for Saturday's show in exchange for your well-referenced pleas in the comments to this post.

Plead your case. Drop some salient names. Reference a thesaurus. We don't care. Just make it good and make it before 5PM this Friday (6/11) and we'll put it together for you. Just like you expect—and remember to leave us some contact info!

The Cheniers - Here Comes Trouble (Mp3)
Authorized for download!

It's The Dig's Vinyl District!


“When I walk into a record store my instinct is usually to head straight for either the Beatles or the Bob Dylan section and buy 'Blonde on Blonde' or 'Rubber Soul' for the 16th time. By now I own enough copies of those albums and have started to look for other records to add to my collection.

Recently I was thumbing through the blues section at Bleeker Street Records and came across the album 'That’s My Story: John Lee Hooker Sings the Blues.' The cover caught my attention right away, so I took a chance, bought the album and went home to listen to it. What struck me immediately was the sound of his voice. There is warmth and eeriness to it that I’ve never heard in any other singer.


The vibrato that he drops into every song has a dark and ominous quality that shakes the speakers and makes you feel afraid when he sings lines like, “Next time I tell you, I’m gonna use my rod.”

I keep all my records together in a box, except for this one, which I keep on my coffee table so I never have to look for it."

—David Baldwin, Guitars, Vocals

The Dig - You're Already Gone (Mp3)
The Dig - Two Sisters in Love (Mp3)
Approved for download!