Rough Gems: Caw! Caw!

Rough Gems are those artists that haven't gotten the amount of attention they so shrewdly deserve or those that may be on the verge of making it. With any hope, we can change their fortunes by giving them some exposure. Or, at the very least, marginally improve their fan base.

CAW! CAW!

[mp3]

Caw! Caw! - "Organisms" 

Although we usually despise bands littering their monikers with punctuation (see: every band formed after 2007 playing dance punk), we'll make an exception with Chicago's Caw! Caw! In fact, the band's avian-themed name is perfect in trying to describe a sound you can't exactly pin down. (Or, pigeonhole. Ha!) But seriously, try shooting this bird; it flies so fast and takes so many left turns that you'll quickly tire of the pursuit, deem the hunt impossible and simply enjoy its splendor. 

At one point mathy, with unconventional time signatures and syncopated rhythms, and the next undeniably poppy, Caw! Caw! reminds us most of Born Ruffians, who reminded us last year of early-day Modest Mouse. Singer/guitarist Tim Tsurutani has the perfect yelp to complement the fast moving, high-on-life arrangements behind him, and he effortlessly crams in as many non-sequiturs as he can before catching up with the rest of the band. 

Honestly, we're pretty bummed we missed the boat on Wait Outside, the trio's excellent debut EP released last September on Slanty Shanty. It's chock full of quirky, blistering songs like "Organisms", which we're giving you above for free, and the ambient "Escape The Red Giant", on which Tsurutani evokes Billy Corgan and the rest of the band takes similar cues from the Siamese Dream album. Not bad company to have.

So hey guys, we really dig what you're doing. Now go make more music. With any luck, when you come back the whole blog world will be waiting for the result. And we can personally assure you that Caw! Caw! won't just be for the birds. 

You can buy the "Wait Outside" EP from Slanty Shanty, iTunes, or InSound. Don't say we didn't warn you.

Tour Alert: Plants and Animals & Born Ruffians

Plants and Animals Myspace
It's a Canadian fall tour! Actually, it's a good mix of both Canadian and US venues. Hundred bucks says Win Butler makes an appearance on one of these tour dates. Come on. The co-headlining tour with Born Ruffians will hopefully draw a bit more attention to Plants and Animal's excellent debut 2008 release, Parc Avenue. Below is an expert from a Romo press release:

"Plants and Animals is an epic-rock-pop-soul train that rivals anything crawling out of Canada today. "Parc Avenue" is an eleven-song opus weaving in and out of anthems and ballads, at times making grand gestures, but mostly nodding at real-life moments encountered during the album's conception. Recorded entirely to analog tape at the Treatment Room and Studio Carillon Tropical(singer, Warren Spicer's apartment), "Parc Avenue" is filled with everything from classic seventies guitar tones, intricately orchestrated pop, and dirty, epic post-rock. The instrumentation includes piano, guitar, pedal steel, and a host of percussion, topped with flourishes of auto harp. "

Tons of tour dates after the jump.

Thu 09/18/2008 The Horseshoe Toronto, ON
Sat 09/20/2008 LOLA Fest Victoria Park London, ON
Thu 09/25/2008 The Black Sheep Inn Wakefield, QC
Fri 09/26/2008 The Montreal House Peterborough, ON
Sat 09/27/2008 The Casbah Hamilton, ON
Mon 09/29/2008 Phoenix Concert Theater Toronto, ON (Polaris Music Prize Show)
Wed 10/01/2008 The Crofoot Ballroom Pontiac, MI*
Thu 10/02/2008 Club 770 Madison, WI*
Sat 10/04/2008 Pyramid Cabaret Winnipeg, MB*
Mon 10/06/2008 Amigo's Café Saskatoon, SK*
Tue 10/07/2008 Starlite Room, Edmonton, AB*
Wed 10/08/2008 The Warehouse Calgary, AB*
Fri 10/10/2008 Richard's on Richards Vancouver, BC*
Sat 10/11/2008 Sugar Nightclub Victoria, BC*
Sun 10/12/2008 Chop Suey Seattle, WA *
Mon 10/13/2008 Holocene Portland OR*
Wed 10/15/2008 Bottom of The Hill San Francisco CA*
Thu 10/16/2008 Spaceland Los Angeles CA *
Fri 10/17/2008 Casbah San Diego CA *
Sat 10/18/2008 Modified Phoenix AZ *
Mon 10/20/2008 Emo's Austin TX*
Tue 10/21/2008 Spanish Moon Baton Rouge LA *
Wed 10/22/2008 The Earl Atlanta GA *
Thu 10/23/2008 Local 506 Chapel Hill NC *
Fri 10/24/2008 Rock and Roll Hotel Washington D.C.*
Sat 10/25/2008 Talking Head Baltimore, MD*
Sun 10/26/2008 Johnny Brenda's Philadelphia, PA*
Mon 10/27/2008 Mercury Lounge New York, NY *
Tue 10/28/2008 Union Hall Brooklyn, NY *
Wed 10/29/2008 Paradise Boston MA *
Wed 11/05/2008 Théâtre Petit Champlain Quebec, QC