Tomorrow, Jan. 24, Seattle noise rock four-piece Brokaw will issue their debut album on Good to Die Records. The eight-song release is only 27 minutes long, but there’s no question it’s anything but a full-length. True to the AmRep legacy that seems to have birthed it, Interiors does a lot with a little. By the time “Time Ain’t Now” comes on to send up ’90s-style sub-hip-hop rock late into the record, the intensity and rawness feel as much a part of the band as the guitars, bass, drums and vocals.

Those who’ve smelled the flower of disease might recall Brokaw bassist G. Stuart Dahlquist from his tenure in Goatsnake, or perhaps Burning Witch before that, or Asva‘s ongoing run. Brokaw is certainly a departure from any of those bands’ aesthetics, but there’s something characteristic to Dahlquist‘s bass as it plays off the bombast of Rich Medic‘s drumming and Rick Troy‘s guitars. Vocalist Mike Henderson is part Iggy Pop and part Page Hamilton, both early; he recites his lines in various slurs and shouts that always seem to fit the music happening behind, whether it’s the bass-rumbling of “Politicians by the Pool” or the churning riffy groove of closer “You Didn’t Invent Sex.”

Good to Die was kind enough to give me permission to host Interiors in its entirety for your streaming pleasure, and you’ll find it below, followed by some PR wire-type info about the release. Please enjoy:

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The word “Brokaw” stirs up all kinds of connotations. There’s the stern voice of reason held by news anchor Tom Brokaw, the expressive and colorful guitar playing of former Come/Codeine member Chris Brokaw… and now, the sound of one of the meatiest and meanest rock groups to emerge from Seattle, Washington.

But what makes the band so vital and so compelling how obviously they gel both on record and on stage. The members of Brokaw have been playing together “on and off for a very long time,” says Dahlquist. “I have been playing music with Rick for around 35 years, the two of us have worked with Mike since meeting at music school in 1984, Rich has been in and out of the picture for at least 10 years. We’ve been friends for a long time and have a great chemistry together, we all love playing music and it comes easily for us.”

You’ll hear right from the start of the band’s debut LP Interiors, to be released this fall on the new Seattle label Good To Die Records. Recorded with Greg Norman at Electrical Audio in Chicago, Illinois, Brokaw fed off the live current that runs through the band and the studio. Their hyperdriven barrage of sound pulls from the influences of the Amphetamine Reptile family, while acknowledging a wide variety of interests like the freeform ’70s work of Miles Davis and the swing of cheeky, literate Britpop band The Fall.

Live, on record, and in person, Brokaw put their backs, their hearts, and their balls into everything they do. They don’t ask you to do the same, just to pay your respects and enjoy every sweat-drenched minute of it.

Salt the earth and screw the dragons — Sandrider has come. I reviewed the Seattle trio’s self-titled debut back in October, and it remains an upbeat balance of catchy and bombastic songwriting. The guitar of Jon Weisnewski (also vocals) jangles with unhinged swagger, and with Akimbo bandmate Nat Damm on drums and bassist/vocalist Jesse Roberts of The Ruby Doe, Sandrider emerges as a new band that sounds experienced.

Whether it’s the Americana sprawl of “The Judge” or the wailing screams of “The Corpse,” I’ve come to think of Sandrider, the album, as a natural extension sound-wise of what Akimbo did on their excellent and underrated 2008 album, Jersey Shores. With the Matt Bayles (Mastodon, Isis) production job, the songs are bright and engaging, but still unremittingly heavy heavy and dirty feeling. And the hooks speak for themselves.

So if you were a fan of that record, some of what Sandrider does on these tracks will be familiar, but with Roberts‘ contributions on bass, there’s a new personality beginning to form around the band, and this self-titled is hopefully just the beginning of that development. Like few records I’ve heard this year, it’s one to which I keep returning when I need a kick in the ass.

Seattle‘s own Good to Die Records is, after a couple delays, putting the album out next week on vinyl, and they were kind enough to give me permission to host not one song, not two songs, but the entire record for your streaming pleasure. You’ll find it on the player below. Hope you enjoy:

[mp3player width=460 height=350 config=fmp_jw_widget_config.xml playlist=sandrider.xml]

Sandrider‘s Sandrider will be released next Tuesday, Dec. 6, 2011, via Good to Die Records. For more info, check out Sandrider on Thee Facebooks or at their Bandcamp page. Good to Die‘s website is here.

Fans of Seattle post-sludgecore outfit Akimbo’s 2008 Jersey Shores maybe-swansong will be happy to know that some of the same jangly-guitar groove that so well permeated that concept album also shows up on the self-titled debut from Sandrider. No mystery why, as two-thirds of the new trio (releasing their album via Good to Die Records) are culled directly from Akimbo’s ranks – namely guitarist/vocalist Jon Weisnewski and drummer Nat Damm, joined in Sandrider by bassist/vocalist Jesse Roberts (The Ruby Doe), who meshes with the established duo as well as anyone could possibly ask on Sandrider’s seven tracks. The songs aren’t exactly an extension of what Akimbo accomplished so well on Jersey Shores, marking a shift in the band’s methods from the raw bombast of their earlier work to something more grounded and melodically ranging, but the trio (who still call Seattle home) are definitely aware of where they came from, and mid-tracklist cuts like “Voices” and “Paper” share some similar turns and sparks. Part of any perceived similarity, though, could also easily be attributed to the consistency of tone through which Weisnewski finds himself in the lead position in Sandrider. His vocals and playing style will be immediately recognizable to anyone who heard and/or dug Akimbo (even though he serves as bassist in that outfit), and likewise, Damm’s snare has a similar pop on Sandrider as it did on Jersey Shores, if bolstered by the production here of Matt Bayles, who produced Mastodon’s best albums, Botch, Isis and several other landmarks along the way.

So if Sandrider marks a shift for Weisnewski and Damm, it’s more in the inclusion of Roberts and the overall presentation of their sound than in the style of their play. That said, Sandrider does have a more grounded feel to its material than did Akimbo; a maturation and natural next step from what they last presented. Songs vary in memorability, but each proves worthy in one way or another, and for the flow Sandrider establish across the album as a whole, nothing is out of place or unjustifiable. Roberts is an excellent complement for Weisnewski vocally, the two blending so well together that it’s hard to tell where tradeoffs are (other than backing spots), and Damm’s percussion adds a punk-ish sense of danger to the whole affair, whether it’s the rhythmic shifts of “Crysknife” or the driving finale of closer “Scatter.” Sandrider, because they’re not really a new band, don’t fall prey to what a lot of others might on their first record in terms of not fully realizing the vision of what they’re trying to accomplish, but at the same time, there’s a sense of potential in opener “Children” that speaks to the development of Sandrider as its own band and a hopefully ongoing project. The song has some surfy swagger and sway, and Weisnewski’s scream tops the cleaner singing excellently. His guitar is at the fore, but the balance of the mix is excellent, and Sandrider can strike into either accessibility or riffy abandon depending on the band’s whim.

It’s the latter with “The Corpse,” a song that gets underway with a minute of guitar groove in the intro and probably the best opening line I’ve heard all year – “Breaking bread with the dragon!” – from Weisnewski. Hard not to get into a piece of music that depends like that, and the overall live feel of Sandrider speaks to the band’s awareness of audience, but like a lot of the record, the ethic isn’t anything new for Weisnewski or Damm – or for Roberts for that matter, as The Ruby Doe’s punk-minded altern-art-ive rock has that kind of vibe as well. “The Corpse” benefits from Roberts’ crispness of tone, which doesn’t so much follow the guitar as run alongside it, and effectively. Amp noise serves as transition into “Crysknife,” but really, the tracks especially on the first side of the album stand on their own, the opening trio of “Children,” “The Corpse” and “Crysknife” showing some similarity of approach and a runtime between five and five and a half minutes. They’re not all the same sonically – “Crysknife” feels burlier than “The Corpse” and has a more impatient performance from Damm – but Sandrider aren’t shy either in their appreciation for structure or their handling of it. These are songs with a beginning, middle and end, and each unit in the best of them (I’d include “Crysknife” in that thanks in no small part to the bass line that underscores the bridge) makes the whole stronger. The whole song and the whole album. “Voices” closes out the first half of Sandrider with a quiet creeping-guitar opening and piercing lead line that leads to hits and stops in place of a traditional chorus and provides suitable change to the established modus of the record.

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