Every emo band you ever loved are heading out on tour. The All-American Rejects launch the Wet Hot All-American Summer Tour, power pop classic Guitar Romantic by The Exploding Hearts reissued, new music from ambient country duo North Americans, garage power pop duo Crocodiles share “Upside Down in Heaven” video, and John Vanderslice hooks up with WASTOIDS to answer YOUR questions.
Power pop band The All-American Rejects is mounting a massive outing they’ve dubbed The Wet Hot All-American Summer Tour. They’ve got New Found Glory, Get Up Kids, The Starting Line, and Motion City Soundtrack joining them for the run. Get your tickets here.
In further power pop updates, Third Man Records has announced an expanded and remastered edition of The Exploding Hearts’ Guitar Romantic in celebration of the album’s 20th anniversary. A Buzzcocks-inspired classic of early 2000s punk, it’s an album marked by tragedy. Only three months after the album’s original 2003 release on Dirtnap Records, band members Jeremy Gage, Adam Cox, and Matt Fitzgerald sadly died in a van accident. Band member “King” Louie Bankston survived the crash, but passed away in 2022. His collaborator Terry Six worked to remaster the album from reel to reel and archived DAT tapes, inserting studio chatter from the band into the new mix. You can pre-order it now.
10-4 good buddy. In more Third Man news, ambient western music duo North Americans released Long Cool World today via the Detroit label. But the crew celebrated earlier this week with a Twitch listening party featuring the American Truck Simulator video game. North Americans have also dropped a new line of merch over at Hello Merch.
This week, WASTOIDS Digs the new Crocodiles video, “Upside Down in Heaven.” Directed by Sam Macon, the song is the title track from the duo’s new LP, out now on Lollipop Records. To watch the whole thing, check out our WASTOIDS Digs feature.
And to close, indie rock veteran John Vanderslice is best known for his work with Death Cab for Cutie, St Vincent, Mountain Goats, and Spoon, but ahead of his new album of electronic abstractions Crystals 3.0, he stopped by Los Angeles blog Passion of the Weiss to discuss his hip-hop favorites, including selections by JPEGMAFIA, Earl Sweatshirt, Pusha T, and Father. Take a listen now.
In related news, John is now available via the WASTOIDS Hotline. Call 1-877-WASTOIDS today to leave a question he’ll answer on WASTOIDS new show, Hotline, which premieres next week with special guests Quasi, featuring Janet Weiss, formerly of Sleater-Kinney, and Sam Coomes.
Got a question for John? Call 1-877-WASTOIDS & follow us on YouTube and Instagram. We’re on Twitter too but the vibes getting too weird over there.
