RED DONS – EAST / WEST COLLECTION LP & GENERATIONS 7″ out September 8th!

SURPRISE 083 | RED DONS – EAST / WEST COLLECTION LP

Spanning a recording career of way over a decade, RED DONS are finally ripe to be compiled. EAST / WEST collects choice cuts from out of print 7″s, compilation tracks and other curiosities. Popular favorite “Ausländer” from their Dirtnap released single of the same name is now finally available again on this LP to be spun into dust. 

All records will be on color vinyl.

ORDER NOW!

Tracklist:

1. West Bank

2. Room 322

3. A Thief’s Journal

4. Pariah

5. Independent

6. Everyday Distraction

7. Cold Hearted

8. Ausländer

9. Mauvaise Foi

10. A Vote For The Unknown

11. This City

12. Genocide

13. Letters

14. In A Bind

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SURPRISE 084 | RED DONS – GENERATIONS 7“

RED DONS return with their first record since their 2017 GENOCIDE 7″. 4 new songs of their trademark moody PDX melodic punk greatness. Cuing a “The Cast Of Thousands“ era Adverts feel, they continue their path of more matured songwriting in our post pandemic, late stage capitalist nuthouse of a society. 

ORDER NOW!

Tracklist:

1. Loop

2. Dead Sounds

3. Testify

4. Hard Feelings

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Red Dons European Tour 2023

06.09.2023, AT-Wien, Venster 99, w/ Demenzia Kolektiva

07.09.2023, CZ-Brno, Kabinet Muz, w/ Chorobopop

08.09.2023, CZ-Prague, Eternia, w/ Chorobopop

09.09.2023, DE-München, Kafe Kult, w/ Heroine Whores

10.09.2023, DE-Nürnberg, Desi, w/ Future Suck, Bibi Blockwart

11.09.2023, DE-Leipzig, Zxrx w/ Rouge, Laxisme

12.09.2023, DE-Berlin, Cassiopeia w/ Rouge

13.09.2023, DE-Hamburg, Hafenklang

14.09.2023, DE-Aachen, Lola Paroli

15.09.2023, FR-Paris, Le Cirque Electrique w/ Youth Avoiders, Short Days, Utopie

16.09.2023, DE-Frankfurt, Exzess, w/ NOHZ, Die Farce Die

17.09.2023, GE-Tbilisi, Secret Place

NEIGHBORHOOD BRATS – CONFINES OF LIFE LP PRE-ORDER!

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NEIGHBORHOOD BRATS – CONFINES OF LIFE LP releases on May 28!

PRE-ORDER your copy at the links below, we have limited red vinyl, black vinyl and a combo deal with a limited shirt!

PRE-ORDER LTD. RED VINYL + SHIRT: https://bit.ly/3e3PF3K

PRE-ORDER LTD. RED VINYL: https://bit.ly/3ecDyBk

PRE-ORDER BLACK VINYL: https://bit.ly/2PuPdBr

North American version will be available from Dirt Cult Records

Artwork by Andy Dahlström / Typotopia AB

On Confines of Life, the third studio album from California punk band Neighborhood Brats, the band dives head-first into songs about environmental crisis, systemic oppression, interpersonal/intrapersonal conflict, and the trappings of modern existence. Following blueprints of ‘77 punk, ‘80s hardcore and elements of post-punk, the diverse songwriting influences of vocalist Jenny Angelillo and guitarist George Rager are showcased throughout, putting the band in their element, while expanding on their original concept.

Recorded in February and March 2020 at Station House studio with Grammy Award-winning producer/engineer Mark Rains, the band had barely finished production when Los Angeles went into its initial shutdown in response to the incoming pandemic. Multiple 2020 tours were subsequently canceled as the music industry, and life in general, came to a standstill.

As live music faces challenges unlike any other in modern existence, the band looks forward to a time when they can safely return to the road. With Nick Aguilar (drums) and Mike West (bass), Neighborhood Brats stands at-the-ready. As their song goes… “We’ll Find You.”

DECIBELLES – ROCK FRANCAIS LP

We are very happy to announce that we will release the new DECIBELLES album “Rock Français” on vinyl in Germany!

We were approached by the band and their French label Deaf Rock Records just last week and are very happy that we can make this happen on such short notice.

Thanks a lot to the band and Deaf Rock Records for including us in this exciting project!

We will have 50 copies on purple vinyl and 150 copies on black vinyl, both come in a limited screenprinted sleeve. We expect our copies to be ready to ship in 1-2 weeks.

LIMITED PURPLE VINYL PRE-ORDER: https://bit.ly/2KyzOwX
BLACK VINYL PRE-ORDER: https://bit.ly/2IsT64g

The album is now available on all streaming platforms and can be downloaded here: https://bit.ly/2sR5jGm

SURPRISE 079 | DECIBELLES – ROCK FRANCAIS LP
DECIBELLES is a group from Lyon, France, created in 2006 by Sabrina Duval and Fanny Bouland, and joined a few years later by Guillaume Carle. A visceral sound, captivating music that detonates an explosion of dB, a sound shock engulfing you in a wave of DECIBELLES.

Rock Français is a sulphurous album out of the foundation of Steve Albini’s temple, the last big factory of indie-rock and final bastion of the analog to Chicago, the Electrical Audio Studio. A 100% French Album produced in Chicago.

More than just a production, ROCK FRANCAIS is an authentic album by its interpretation and its old school production, making sense on the analog tapes of the Chicagoan studio.

“So these are more spontaneous, more lively pieces that didn’t ask for a lot of work in post-production. We wanted to be real, to be closer to reality in what is complex and ambiguous, to accept that live music, that it accelerates, that it slows down, in short that it is made by humans and not by machines. The sound is raw, with more noise but without useless ornaments. There are songs that groove, others that are more incisive. Songs that takes their time, and others more immediate.” -Fanny

NEIGHBORHOOD BRATS – CLAW MARKS LP + EUROPEAN TOUR DATES!

We are very happy to present you the European vinyl pressing of the NEIGHBORHOOD BRATS – CLAW MARKS LP!

The band will also be back for another EU tour in June!

LIMITED ORANGE VINYL PRE-ORDER: https://bit.ly/2VeplaT
BLACK VINYL PRE-ORDER: https://bit.ly/2V8rRiS

The record will officially release on May 31.

Apologies for the production delays, in case you ordered through the band’s site, we will ship your record as soon as we receive them.

Catch em on tour in Europe in June:

05.06.2019 DE-Würzburg, Immerhin
06.06.2019 DE-Frankfurt, Dreikönigskeller
07.06.2019 DE-Münster, Gleis 22
08.06.2019 DE-Hamburg, Booze Cruise
09.06.2019 DE-Mannheim, JUZ
10.06.2019 DE- TBA
11.06.2019 DE-Berlin, K19
12.06.2019 DE-Leipzig, Zoro
13.06.2019 CZ-Brno, Kabinet Muz
14.06.2019 AT-Vienna, Venster 99
15.06.2019 DE-München, Kafe Kult

SURPRISE 078 | NEIGHBORHOOD BRATS – CLAW MARKS LP
NEIGHBORHOOD BRATS return with their second full length record, and let’s just start by saying it’s a scorcher. The band plays a brand of punk that, had they existed in 1977, would have been right at home on Dangerhouse Records alongside The Bags and The Avengers. That said, “Claw Marks” might just be the first Neighborhood Brats records that truly captures the urgency and energy of the band’s chaotic live show. The record finds the band at the top of their game in terms of songwriting, musicianship, and lyricism. So much so that lead singer Jenny Angelillo says that there are several songs on the album that could easily be her epitaph.

“Claw Marks” is an upbeat but beaten down soundtrack to the dystopian nightmare we find ourselves living in. When the band sings “It’s time to check out / We’re being left out” it sounds like a mantra for our time, while the album closes with Jenny singing “Dance with me / Bones, blood, And teeth/ Dance with me / Into the Void” over a reverb drenched guitar line provided by the band’s other core member, George Rager, that sounds like it was lifted out of some post-apocalyptic western. It’s all so fucking perfect.

THE BRIEFS – KIDS LAUGH AT YOU 7″

We’re mighty proud to present you the first new The Briefs recordings in over a decade!

“We have new songs about kids and rats. We think they’re hot.” – Steve E. Nix

The band will have limited exclusive white label advance copies with special screenprinted sleeves made by FlatLand with them on their EU dates this week!

The record will officially come out October 26, you can pre-order:

clear vinyl (150 copies TBS mailorder only): https://bit.ly/2NUz2Hj
black vinyl: https://bit.ly/2vfnBCA

Catch em here this week:
01.08.2018 DE / Berlin / SO36
02.08.2018 IT / Milano / Barrio’s
03.08.2018 FR / Albi / Xtreme Festival
04.08.2018 UK / Blackpool / Rebellion Festival, Empress Ballroom

SURPRISE 076 | THE BRIEFS – KIDS LAUGH AT YOU B/W SHE’S THE RAT
The first new Briefs recordings in over a decade finally see the light of day!
Seattle’s fab four deliver two stand out tracks of melodic punkrock that are taking cues from the golden eras of an equal part US and UK punk and will leave you wanting more…

DAYLIGHT ROBBERY new 7″ and European Tour!

Servus,

I’m happy to announce that Chicago’s DAYLIGHT ROBBERY will release a new 7″ entitled “SIGNAL BLEED” coinciding with their first ever Europen Tour!

SURPRISE 074 | DAYLIGHT ROBBERY – SIGNAL BLEED 7″

Daylight Robbery make expansive sound for tight spaces. This Chicago trio of DIY scene anchors makes anxious post-punk for those who came to throw their bodies on the gears and those who came to dance (and recognize that these categories overlap). David and Christine Wolf are a forever-shifting point-counterpoint to one another, both in their melodic guitar and bass interplay and their big harmonies and vocal trade-offs, and Jeff Rice’s propulsive drumming provides a solid metal foundation on which to build song structures that shift, collapse, and grow organically. You may hear echoes of the late ’70s and early ’80s in what they do, but their restlessness is very much of the now, the sound of the endless post-industrial search for stability rather than the sound of the late Cold War.

DAYLIGHT ROBBERY EUROPEAN TOUR 2018

17.05. DE-München – Kafe Kult w/ Hex + Cheap Surgery
18.05. DE-Offenburg – Kessel w/ Youth Avoiders + Stalled Minds
19.05. DE-Mannheim – JUZ / Pfingstfest 2018
20.05. BE-Antwerp – Kid’s Rhythm’N’Blues Kaffee w/ Hex + Cheap Surgery
21.05. FR-Paris – Le Klub w/ Rememberables
23.05. DE-Bremen – SWH
24.05. DE-Berlin – Trxxxtr
25.05. DE-Leipzig – Conne Island w/ Hysterese, Femme Krawall, etc.
26.05. CZ-Olomouc – SF Mini / Zine Fest
27.05. CZ-Brno – Kabinet Muz
28.05. AT-Vienna – Venster 99
30.05. HU-Budapest – Aurora
31.05. SL tba
01.06. SL tba
02.06. DE-Erlangen – Juz w/ Ufosekte

NEIGHBORHOOD BRATS new 7″ and European Tour!

Servus,

I’m really happy to announce a new EP called “Night Shift” by NEIGHBORHOOD BRATS from sunny California! It’s their first recorded output since the 2014 “Recovery” LP.

You can stream the title track HERE!

Pre-order limited clear vinyl HERE!

SURPRISE 072 | NEIGHBORHOOD BRATS – NIGHT SHIFT 7″

NIGHT SHIFT, Neighborhood Brats’ first release since 2014, is a return to original form without repeating or compromising the past.
The A side title track is a first-rate NB classic, paying homage to the RUNAWAYS, STOOGES and the SAINTS.
Side B features a collaborative writing effort by vocalist Jenny Angelillo and guitarist George Rager, in an AVENGERS meets RADIO BIRDMAN slammer. Captivated by an NPR story of WWII-era COMFORT WOMEN and echoing the current #metoo movement, Angelillo shouts “I’m not the one,” implicitly stating FUCK THAT SHIT TO SEXISM AND THE PATRIARCHY.

The release date is March 23.

The band will return to Europe in April / May, check the dates and come to a show nearby:

NEIGHBORHOOD BRATS European Tour 2018

11.04. DE-München – Kafe Kult
12.04. DE-Frankfurt – Dreikönigskeller
13.04. DE-Kassel – Goldgrube
14.04. DE-Berlin – SO36 / Nothing Nice To Say Fest 2018
15.04. SW-Malmö – Ask Andy
16.04. SW-Göteborg – Bengans
17.04. NO-Oslo – Revolver’s Goon Bar
18.04. SW-Arvika – Wilma‘s Musikpub
19.04. SW-Stockholm – Dead Rhythm
20.04. SW-Umeå – Droskan
21.04. FI-Oulu – Ykän Pub
22.04. FI-Tampere – Vastavirta
23.04. FI-Helsinki – Teen Wolf
25.04. SW-Uppsala – Femman
26.04. DK-København – Spillestedet Stengade
27.04. DE-Hamburg – Hafenklang
28.04. DE-Leipzig – Gieszer 16
29.04. CZ-Brno – Kabinet Muz
30.04. SK-Bratislava – Fuga
01.05. AT-Wien – Venster 99
02.05. DE-Fürth – Kunstkeller o27
03.05. DE-Karlsruhe – Alte Hackerei
04.05. BE-Antwerpen – Het Bos
05.05. DE-Mannheim – JUZ

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Check out our mailorder for tons of newly added records: www.takenbysurprise.net/store

Thanks for listening, hope you enjoy!

Michl

MEAN JEANS – ARE YOU SERIOUS? and ON MARS LP out now!

Servus,

just in time for their European Tour (dates below) and hot on the heels of their new album on FAT WRECK CHORDS we issued the European pressings of the MEAN JEANS – ARE YOU SERIOUS? and ON MARS LPs. Go to a show and snag one up or order through our webstore!

SURPRISE 067 | MEAN JEANS – ARE YOU SERIOUS? LP

Their debut effort from 2009. Originally released on DIRTNAP RECORDS.

THE MEAN JEANS are the kids that live down the street that blare the Ramones and the Angry Samoans late at night while they are playing “Edward 40s Hands” (that’s the game where a 40 is duct-taped to each hand, making it difficult to urinate until they are consumed). They have 3 things in their refrigerator: ketchup, beer and slime. THE MEAN JEANS were born when, at the ripe ages of 23 and 24, Jeans Wilder (skins, vox and smokes) and Billy Jeans (vox, riffs and spliffs) started playing their parent’s DC-area basements in the winter of 2006. They grew another member, Howie Doodat (AKA Jean Jeans on the bass guitar), after moving to Portland a year later. They’ve been pounding out drunken headbanging seshes across the US since then. This doesn’t count the Chattanooga Tennessee stop, where high schoolers stole their spot and played Blink 182 songs for over an hour. The Miller High Life wasn’t getting them drunk at all, and the guy who “booked” the show was weeping in his sister’s arms.

Order HERE!

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SURPRISE 068 | MEAN JEANS – ON MARS LP

Their sophomore album. Originally released on DIRTNAP RECORDS!

Portland’s premier party punks The Mean Jeans return with their long-awaited follow up to 2009’s Are You Serious! This is a different album, though, more mid-tempo catchier, and poppier (but less “pop punk” if you know what we mean) than their debut. In addition to the standard 3 piece instrumentation, Mean Jeans On Mars also features, at various times, acoustic guitar (!), keyboards (!), drum machines (!), empty Jaeger bottles (!) and boxes of macaroni (!) played as extra percussion. Oh and it also features the debut of new member Jr. Jeans on bass! (Howie Doodat is busy tearing up Portland in the Suicide Notes!)

This is a fantastic, exhilarating summertime pop album, so down a couple of jägerbombs and get ready to moonwalk into the unknown with the Mean Jeans!

Order HERE!

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MEAN JEANS – GUILTY OF BEING TIGHT – EUROPEAN TOUR 2016

Tue 7/19 – Hamburg, GER – Hafenklang w/ Cosmic Psychos
Wed 7/20 – Malmö, SWE – NGBG – free show outdoors!
Thu 7/21 – Gothenburg, SWE – Nefertiti – WWDIS summer fest
Fri 7/22 – Stockholm, SWE – Vieille Montagne w/ Ausmuteants
Sat 7/23 – Helsinki, FIN – Hori Smoku Summer Boogaloo – w/ Oblivians
Sun 7/24 – OFF
Mon 7/25 – Copenhagen, DK – Underwerket
Tue 7/26 – Berlin, GER – Bei Ruth
Wed 7/27 – Osnabrück, GER – Substanz
Thu 7/28 – Amsterdam, HOL – Pacific Parc – free show
Fri 7/29 – Hasselt, BEL – De Witte Non
Sat 7/30 – Rotterdam, HOL – V11 w/ Priceduifkes
Sun 7/31 – Mannheim, GER – JUZ – w/ War On Women
Mon 8/01 – TBA
Tue 8/02 – Vienna, AUT – Arena
Wed 8/03 – Munich, GER – Kafe Kult w/ The Yoohoos
Thu 8/04 – Heilbronn, GER – Bierkrug
Fri 8/05 – Frankfurt, GER – ExZess
Sat 8/06 – Duffel, BEL – Brakrock Ecofest  – w/ Dwarves, Adolescents

LENGUAS LARGAS – COME ON IN LP out now!

SURPRISE 065 | LENGUAS LARGAS – COME ON IN LP
LENGUAS LARGAS hail from the dusty confines of Tucson, Arizona. Made up of an unholy union of dirty DIY dudes who range from werewolf looking motherfuckers to dudes with cute ass shoes, they aren’t interested in the music scene, but instead, just interested in music and creating it.

Born out of the recuperation of tour sickness and brain baked boredom on New Years Day 2009 they play a graveyard like spooky haze gloom/psych rock with cold, minimal, post-punk stylistic leanings and have the Roky Erickson Weird-O-Meter pegged; as well as carry a mile-long locomotive’s worth of quarry-grade rock, freshly blasted from the earth

One day they hope to create a sound equal to the thundering ghostly stampede in the sky fronted by La Llorona and her plaintive wails. Failing that, they’ll settle for creating a hit song as universally loved as “Hotel California” or “I’m Too Sexy.”

This record was originally released by RECESS RECORDS in the USA.

Besides the regular edition on black vinyl, we have a limited edition of 100 available for mailorder only, with a screenprinted and custom cut folder around the cover (see below), designed and printed by our friend Chris Brief of FLATLAND SCREENPRINTING!

 

Order HERE (regular) or HERE (limited)!

The band also just released a new 12″ EP on RED LOUNGE RECORDS!

Get in touch with TRAPDOOR TOURZ at info@trapdoor-tourz.de for booking them on their European tour in the fall!

MANIAC – DEMIMONDE LP OUT NOW!

SURPRISE 059 | MANIAC – DEMIMONDE LP

MANIAC are gentlemen punks from Los Angeles. They are what they call a supergroup, being comprised of ex and current members of bands like CLOROX GIRLS, CUTE LEPERS, THE GIRLS, IMAGES, L.A. DRUGZ and RED DONS. Demimonde is their first long player. With echoes of everything from Cheap Trick to early Wire to modern-day greats like The Briefs, Demimonde hits that perfect blend of catchy ’77 punk and jittery new wave. And with all due credit to engineer MARK RAINS at Stationhouse Studios and DANIEL HUSAYN of Red Dons for the mastering job to make this baby loud and raucous.

Under license from LA-TI-DA Records, Vancouver, B.C. | LTDR-LP003

ORDER HERE!