As far as people who dig The Giraffes go, I’m a pretty sucky fan. I was about two years late to the party on the Brooklyn rockers Dave Catching-produced meisterwerk, Prime Motivator, and I didn’t make it out earlier this year when singer Aaron Lazar played his last show with the band, before bowing out (gracefully, I assume) due to health reasons.

Nonetheless, it’s with nerdy aplomb that I post the following new album news off the PR wire:

Soldiering forth in the wake of the departure of singer Aaron Lazar, The Giraffes announce the release of their latest full-length album The Giraffes Ruled, their second release on Madison, WI-based record label Crustacean Records.

Simply put, The Giraffes Ruled is the band’s epic, their most audacious disc to date.  Dating back to 2008, Ruled was conceived as a grand metaphor for something once mighty slowly dying – be it a country, a love or even a band – suffocating under the weight of lies (“The Bed”), avarice (“The Borders”), broken promises (“The Counter”) and unmet expectations (“The City”).  Fans of the band’s shout-along choruses and brutal rhythms, Lazar’s gravelly croon and razor-sharp wit, and Damien Paris‘ six-string pyrotechnics will find this to be their greatest, most coherent work. Newcomers will have the perfect (and ample) introduction to the band in all their volatile glory.

The Giraffes Ruled was produced by Joel Hamilton, and recorded and mixed at his Brooklyn studios the Bunker and the famous Studio G.

One month ago today (total coincidence), I posted a review of the new Giraffes live album, Show, on Crustacean Records. In case you’re too lazy to click that link, the gist of it was, “Hot damn, I really need to hear the last Giraffes studio album.” Well now I have, and I was right. I did need to hear this record.

Prime Motivator has more in common with Queens of the Stone Age‘s Songs for the Deaf than the color red and production from Dave Catching at Rancho de la Luna in California. The Brooklyn-based Giraffes (and I’ll say again I don’t know what the hell they’re doing in Brooklyn) affect a similar kind of playfulness in their songs. Thinking of a track like “Allergic to Magnets” or the more stoner-ized “Honest Men,” the band is notably tight, but there’s a looseness, an off-the-cuff feel to the songs that just can’t be faked. Vocalist Aaron Lazar‘s croon doesn’t hurt either, either for the comparison or in general.

The absolute highlight, though, is “Medicaid Benefit Appliqué,” track six of the total 13. At just under seven minutes, it’s the longest song on Prime Motivator, but man, if you’ve ever enjoyed the chorus of any song ever, you need to hear this track. It’s immaculate. It slows the pace of the record just when it needs it, has verses that seem to be built around Andrew Totolos crash cymbal, and adds some rock crunch at precisely the right time. If sat down and mapped out the entirety of Prime Motivator and tried to recreate the feel of the song, you wouldn’t be able to do it. This shit needs to just happen. Gorgeous.

But again, get this band out of Brooklyn. Their unabashed affection for what they do runs directly in contrast to the hipper-than-thou indie/irono cock rock that seems to seep from that borough, and their willingness to be heavy, catchy (beyond belief) and still pop-oriented and accessible makes them a better fit for an anything goes town like Chicago or even the muck of Los Angeles, which I’ve no doubt that if they were given the proper opportunity, The Giraffes would be able to rise above. Prime Motivator isn’t even necessarily stoner, it’s just a killer rock record that listening to now, I regret the nearly two full years I haven’t had with it. No time like this time to make up for lost time.

Like a lot of people, I first encountered Brooklyn rockers The Giraffes when they released their self-titled album in 2005 on Razor & Tie. To be honest, I didn’t think much of them at the time. Straightforward rock that was decent, good enough songwriting. I kept the album but never really went back to it, never kept up with the band. Out of the blue, half a decade later, the live album Show, released by Wisconsin’s Crustacean Records (celebrating their 15th year), drops on my doorstep and I’m wondering what the hell I’ve let slip my grasp all this time. Not only did Dave Catching – he wasn’t saying goodnight at the end of Queens of the Stone Age’s Songs for the Deaf, he was just saying — produce their last album, 2008’s Prime Motivator, with Joel Hamilton mixing, but more importantly, the songs on show are fucking killer, professional grade rock with attitude to spare. I feel a bit the fool.

The CD/DVD Show, with one disc adorably labeled “Earhole” and one labeled “Eyehole,” compiles 12 songs recorded at Union Pool in Brooklyn last year, playing tracks off the aforementioned Prime Motivator, the self-titled and beyond, igniting a raucous melee the likes of which few bands could. They kill, and as I listen/watch (let’s be honest, mostly listen), I can only wonder what Brooklyn does with this band. I mean, they’re actually rocking, and they’re actually good. In a borough whose music scene is populated by shitbird 20-year-old hipsters playing jagged math rock like they invented it, a band like The Giraffes must stand out like the most kickass herpes ever. On Show, the songwriting is tight, the performances are tight, the band is taking names and there’s no sense of self-conscious irony, no smugness to it. I watched the DVD and their pants aren’t even that tight! Hey guys, you might want to consider moving.

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This story pretty much speaks for itself. Much respect and wishes for a speedy recovery to Droids Attack guitarist/vocalist and all around good dude, Brad Van.

Via the PR wire:

Droids Attack has just returned from their latest tour in support of their newest full-length album, Must Destroy, released on Crustacean Records in February of 2010. It was a 15-day trip playing 14 different cities encompassing some of the biggest markets east of the Mississippi including New York City, Atlanta, Chicago, The Twin Cities, Detroit, Philadelphia and others. Including their southern tour at the end of April and numerous regional extended weekend jaunts, Droids Attack has played over 20 states over the course of 50 shows in the first half of 2010 while putting tens of thousands of miles on their late 90’s Dodge van.

Things took a turn for the life threatening on the third to last show of tour when Brad Van, singer/guitarist/songwriter for Droids Attack, began to take ill with stomach pains before their set at the Cobra Lounge in Chicago. He continued to finish the tour in pain and discomfort playing two more smoking sets in La Crosse, Wisconsin and Minneapolis, MN before finally getting to an emergency room Sunday morning at 5AM after finishing the tour at the Triple Rock Social Club.

The doctors diagnosed Brad with a burst appendix and rushed him into surgery immediately. He was finally discharged on Tuesday afternoon and is back home resting and recovering Madison, Wisconsin. Despite the ill health Brad has vowed to play their set Tuesday June 22nd at the Empty Bottle in Chicago opening for reunited and influential Florida doom metal band, Floor. The band is much revered by Droids Attack and considered an influence along with the post-Floor offshoot bands. According to Brad Van, “To me both Floor and Steve‘s other project Torche, are the most important bands I’ve heard in the last 15 years. This reunion show is a very rare and special performance and I can’t believe we got the gig. I’m very honored and excited that they asked us to perform with them.”

Beyond the Empty Bottle show, Droids Attack has a steady stream of regional shows upcoming including being slated to play Chicago‘s legendary Riot Fest Oct 6-10 with details to be announced regarding date and time.

Upcoming Droids Attack shows:
6/22 @ The Empty Bottle Chicago, IL opening for Floor
7/15 @ The Wisco Madison, WI w/ The Fuck Knights and Cloth Sea
7/17 @ Reptile Palace Oshkosh, WI w/ Admiral Black and Bloodhawk
7/22 @ Quenchers Chicago, IL
7/31 @ The Triple Rock Minneapolis, MN w/ 20 Dollar Love, Imperial Battlesnake and Bloodcow

I guess I’d never seen Williamsburg on a Friday night before. I would’ve thought at some point I must have, but as I rolled down Bedford Ave. and bore witness to the hedonistic hipster fashion show — like something out of Valley of the Dolls, but sucky and pretending to be environmentally conscious at the same time — I swear I’ve never seen anything like it. Next-gen aristocrats everywhere pretending to be edgy for each other. The whole place smelled like sex, alcohol and axle grease. Get me the fuck out.

My timing was meh. I walked into the Charleston first as the band before was on and second after Droids Attack‘s set had already begun (I went to hide my head in the meantime; here I’ll point out that my terror was all the worse in my surroundings because I wasn’t drinking). The “stage” was basically just the end of the room in the basement, which, as far as I’m concerned, rules. If there’s one redeeming value about a small show in New York, whether it’s at Lit Lounge, the Delancey, or back at Club Midway when they put on shows — and at countless others, I don’t doubt — is that the show is downstairs while the assholes are upstairs. I’ll take that every time.

The sound is never great in a basement, what with all the concrete, but the sound is never great anywhere and Droids Attack certainly made the most of it, guitarist/vocalist Brad Van playing through a new Orange amp as well as the Dr. Z you can hear on their Must Destroy album. Van had a couple extended solos and there was a sizable jam at the end of the set — take that, Mr. “This Is Your Last Song” Sound Guy — and bassist Nate Bush and drummer Tony Brungraber locked down killer grooves throughout the proceedings. The vibe was good times, irony and bullshit free, and Droids Attack rocked out with clear love for what they were doing. By the end of the set, I was up front.

It was getting late and I had a two-hour drive ahead of me (as opposed to the prior two-hour drive it took me to get to the Charleston in the first place), but Kings Destroy were quick in setting up their gear, so I managed to stay for their whole set and barely a minute longer. This was, I believe, their third show — remember the first? — and just between the two I’ve seen they already seem more established on stage. Carl Porcaro and Chris Skowronski, both on guitar, played a little slower than in Hoboken, giving an ultra-doom feel to the songs they didn’t have last time I heard them. I recognized a good portion of the material, which if I didn’t say this in my last review bodes well for the full-length to be recorded this summer, and though I wanted them to be a little louder (they were un-miked and competing with two guitar and bass amplifiers as well as the P.A.), Rob Sefcik‘s drums turned out to make the night. Not too many frills in his playing, but a steady hand and some enticing fills that did well accenting Steve Murphy‘s vocals, which also felt more confident over the songs.

If I haven’t mentioned him yet, it’s only because bassist Ed Bocchino was a little lower in the overall mix than I would have liked — doom needs rumble — but that could just as easily be caused by the concrete eating the low end as by an amp needing to be turned up. I also noticed it with Nate Bush during Droids Attack‘s set, so it very well could have just been the room.

When I was over I shook hands and was out quick to hit the road. It was well past one in the morning and I’d be lucky to make it to Connecticut before three — which, luckily, I did — but even taking that into account, and even with the hipster douchery surrounding, I don’t regret having gone to the show. Smaller gigs like that are my favorite, being neither especially friendly nor able to see the charm in having beer spilled on my sandaled feet. The Charleston may have been beset on all sides, but the basement was like a fallout shelter and I was only to happy to soak up whatever sanctuary I could.

It’s a newsly double-whammy for Wisconsin rockers Droids Attack, now supporting their new album, Must Destroy (stream it here). Not only have they got a new video for the most excellently titled song “Great Wall of ‘Gina,” but they’ve just posted tour dates that will bring them all the way out to the East Coast, where you can bet your ass I’ll be seeing them live. Here’s the video and info from the intrepid and timely PR wire:

Following the release of Madison, Wisconsin‘s doom-laden guitar assault that is Droids Attack’s new album, Must Destroy, the band has premiered the video for the song, “Great Wall of ‘Gina.” Produced and directed by Natalie Hinckley of Hinckley Design, and edited by Droids Attack frontman Brad Van, the video features burlesque star Moxie Rhoads.

In addition to the new video, Droids Attack have announced a series of US tour dates taking the band throughout the Midwest and along the East Coast for the first time since the release of their new album.

Droids Attack live:
5/28 – The Dojo, Indianapolis IN
5/29 – Third Street Dive, Louisville KY
5/30 – The Longbranch Saloon, Knoxville TN
5/31 – The Eastside Lounge, Atlanta GA
6/1 – The Reservoir, Carrboro NC
6/2 – The Hexagon, Baltimore MD
6/3 – Sweeney’s, Philadelphia PA
6/4 – The Charleston, Brooklyn NY
6/6 – The Smiling Moose, Pittsburgh PA
6/7 – The Royal Oaks, Youngstown OH
6/8 – Now That’s Class, Cleveland OH
6/9 – The 734, Ypsilanti MI
6/10 – The Cobra Lounge, Chicago IL
6/11 – The Joint, La Crosse WI
6/12 – The Hexagon Bar, Minneapolis MN

Raucous riff and roll from the Midwest isn’t something that comes across my desk every day, so when Must Destroy, the third album from Madison, Wisconsin, trio Droids Attack landed, robot-laden artwork facing up, I was immediately interested. Not only did the record live up to song titles like “The Great Wall of ‘Gina” and “Koko Beware,” but it proved to operate on a deeper level than just that surface goofiness as well. A win all around.

The Obelisk is streaming the album here if you haven’t heard it yet, and of course there’s the review as well, but I thought there might be more to say about Droids Attack, so I dialed up guitarist/vocalist/chief robot constructor Brad Van for a chat about the band’s outlook, past and future. In our extended discussion, presented after the jump, Van details his working relationship with bassist Nate Bush and drummer Tony Brungraber, their writing process, attitude on making music — and yes, robot manufacturing technique.

Please enjoy the Q&A after the jump.

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Madison, Wisconsin heavy riffers Droids Attack have been kind enough to let The Obelisk play host to an exclusive stream of their third album, Must Destroy, which is out now on Crustacean Records (review here). We all know how long exclusivity lasts on the internet, but yes, I do feel privileged, and thanks to the band — Brad Van, Nate Bush and Tony Brungraber — and Solid PR for making it happen. By way of a cheap plug, an interview with Van is online now at this location.

Until then, whether you want to scale “The Great Wall of ‘Gina” or take on “Koko Beware,” you can do so using the fancy little player below. A personal recommendation? All of them. Enjoy.

Droids Attack on MySpace