Saves the Day came out with a really great album earlier this year and I want to tell you bout it. I would say that it would help immensely if you were familiar with the vocal stylings of front man Chris Conley before you jump feet first into this sucker. Like Geddy Lee, he’s not for everyone, but if you have heard his stuff before and thought, "This is pretty good", well then I think you should give "Sound the Alarm" a spin. Or 2, actually it takes a couple……. But then watch out!

Hi folks. Sorry for the lack of content these last couple weeks. It's that whole time thing. It can be a real son of a gun, you know? Always trying to sneak away from you when you're not paying attention. Well, unfortunately, it has managed to pull a fast one on us. Kinda like that one time in high school when I was taking care of a friend's dogs while his family was on vacation. I opened the garage door to feed those damn mongrels, and they weren't there. Nope. Gone. Clean escape. Instead, there on the garage floor was a good 5 to 10 piles of dog poop.

"So long, Bones, thanks for the crappy food. We left you something in return, you stupid bastard!"

Yeah, time's been acting a lot like those damn dogs - you know, running away as fast as it can with a trail of drool flapping out from its stupid smiling mouth.

I know what you're thinking - "Does it really take a whole helluva lot of time to write an album review that barely even speaks to the album, and rather is a poorly disguised attempt to tell some antecdotal drinking story?" And to that I would reply, "Nah, not really."

Nevertheless, it takes more time than we seem to have right now.

Hell, I don't even have time to dedicate one hour a week to levitation like I'd planned. Which is a bummer, considering that a successful levitation lift-off is probably going to take many hours of practice.

Anyway, returning to my original poor metaphor, I eventually caught up to those dumbass dogs and reeled them back into my control, and I imagine the same will happen with time. But until that happens, I'm afraid the site updates will probably slow down for a while. Sorry for the hiatus, and hopefully once we've got all these damn dog turds cleaned up off the floor, we'll be back to doing what we do best - wasting your time and ours!

Thanks for stopping by...

As you've probably heard hundreds of times by overeager indie kids (myself included, I'm sure), the Hold Steady - America's favorite bar band with the world's coolest frontman - is releasing a new album on October 3. "Boys and Girls in America" will be their first one since signing to Vagrant, and promises to continue to inspire more of the beer-shotgunnin', fist flying shenangins of their past greats.

The fine folks at Pitchfork, whose enormous influence over the indie music scene helped push these deserved rockers into the public eye, have offered a first-listen of the album with a download of the single, "Chips Ahoy!" Hop on over there to download and blast this guitar screaming, organ pounding, Springsteen-slathered beauty.

If this one is any indication, "Boys and Girls in America" is going to kick ass.

A couple of Locals called the other week to inform their Ryan Adams fanboy friend, me, of some new info they picked up from a recent interview with Willie Nelson in Time magazine. Everyone's favorite pig-tailed bandana-wearing septuagenarian told the mag that he collaborated with Adams on his upcoming album, Songbird, coming out on Oct. 31.

I've finally stumbled upon a little more information on this exciting scoop, courtesy of Pitchfork, who reports that Ryan Adams helmed the producer role on the album while his band, The Cardinals, handled backup-band duty. They don't mention anything about Nelson and Adams actually teaming up to perform together on any of the tracks. I'm hoping this is a simple oversight from Pitchfork, and not reality. And that's definately a possibility, I'd say, considering that it sometimes seems that Pitchfork's main goal when reporting on Ryan Adams is to see how many smarmy comments they can sneak in about the guy, and, thus, facts may sometimes fall by the wayside.

But, I wonder after reading the Pitchfork post, with Adams' latest albums being so solid that even notoriously harsh critics of the dude couldn't find a lot of negative in them, and now with his working alongside of the untouchable Willie Nelson, could it be that Pitchfork is finding it harder to talk shit about Ryan Adams? Maybe so, considering that in this last post they've resorted to "Bryan Adams" jokes. Dang guys, even you're making those jokes now?

Might I offer a little advice for every one out there who just can't refrain from name-jokes when talking about Ryan Adams?

Take a look at the last names of the two singers I mention above. Yep, Nelson and Adams. Sound familiar? You bet it does. I'm talking about Nelson and Adam, the two awkward yet lovable main characters from the 1983 beach-and-boobie classic film, Spring Break.

Want to make a name joke? Fine. Use that one. Don't go for the obvious, go for the obscure! No one may appreciate your wit, but damnit, at least you know you're the first to make the joke. Let me know how that goes for ya.

Pitchfork

Kramer's
Buckhead, GA

Well, I just found a new place to park my ass and soak my brain on those days when I'm feeling brave enough to stagger outside my hometown of Decatur, and it's a new bar called Kramer's. Situated in the east side (maybe?) of Buckhead, a popular bar-and-club-filled section of Atlanta, Kramer's opened this past weekend, and the Georgia drinking society is a little better for it. Now, before I go on and describe the watering hole and assign it 5 out of 5 skulls on the Official Bones Rating System, I have a little disclaimer to make. I must confess that I've known the two dudes who just opened the bar, Kramer and J.J., for a long damn time.

As reported by punknews.org, Blink 182 fan site b182.com has posted a rather telling interview with the former band's bassist - the one who would appear to still find fart jokes funny - Mark Hoppus. Mark discusses his new group, Plus 44, which consists of Blink 182 drummer Travis Barker, Craig Fairbaugh of Transplants, and Shane Gallagher of The Nervous Return.

And for the juicy tidbits-loving teens, he relays a pretty personal account of the last days of Blink 182, and even gives his own review of the latest from former bandmate Tom Delonge's new project, Angels and Airwaves. Not a fan. Unless "forced and self-important" are good things. If so, than this news post might have some merit, as well.

And speaking of "He said, He said" amongst the 182 gang, Travis Barker is using some pretty choice words in blogging out about his soon to be ex-wife, Blond-girl-in-Playboy, according to Stereogum.com. Did Travis really write these things? Ah, who knows. And really, do we care? This entire news post here could have been swiped verbatim from some 13 year girls' MySpace, so why even pretend like we care if the gossip is true? Either way we still have to cross out "Travis + Shanna 4-ever" from our Trapper Keepers, damnit.

punknews.org
stereogum.com
b182.com

Editor's Note: Local Chiggers has provided us with a brief regurgitation of the past week's beer news. Regurgitation? Ha! Will the beer puns ever end??

How would you like to go searching through an outhouse? Well, a couple lovely folks in Twin Cities go diving for bottles from the late 19th century. The article put it best, it's the "archaeological version of dumpster diving." They refer to it as "privy digging." We all know it's just a euphemism for "digging through poop." Here's the story.

The wonderful people over at BeerAdvocate.com are going to make a magazine! Finally a beer magazine for beer lovers! We can tell the Wine Report to take a hike! Expect it late this fall. (www.beeradvocate.com)

Great news for the poor souls with celiac disease. (If you aren't aware, this is gluten intolerance, aka, goodbye beer.) There is a beer called "New Grist" made from sorghum and rice. Pure genius. More details here.

Fellow Americans should be happy, because in the UK the makers of Stella Artois think the price of the beer should be raised in the UK, because people will be willing to pay more. I'm glad I'll still be getting my Stella for around four bucks.

And the best news of all... According to a 2006 Gallup Poll, wine is no longer the favorite among American drinkers. Beer has prevailed!!! Let us take a moment of silence. (www.realbeer.com)

In a recent email conversation with Local Copperplate, he relayed his observations on being a new parent in that special way that only he can...

"By the way, if you ever have a baby, you will get extremely annoyed by the number of people that come up to you before the birth and say 'you better get your sleep in now!' It has replaced the 'we needed it' comment about rain. I understand that a baby might keep me up, but sleeping 100 straight hours before she is born is not going to help later on. Also, every woman at work that has had a baby now thinks they are my friend. They need to leave me alone."

Shmaltz Brewing, crafters of He'Brew, "The Chosen Beer", prove once again that they love being funny as much as they love being Jewish with their latest release, Bittersweet Lenny's R.I.P.A. As reported by realbeer.com, the beer marks the 40th anniversary of the death of the famous Jewish comedian and the guy whom Micheal Stipe reminds us "is not afraid". It also marks a new line of beers for the brewers called "The Shmaltz Tribute to Jewish Stars." In their press release they explain, "In keeping with Lenny Bruce’s comedic style, this rye-based double IPA is brewed with an obscene amount of malts and hops with shocking flavors, far beyond contemporary community standards".

Did you get the name? It's an IPA for a dead guy called R.I.P.A.. That's funny to me. I like beer puns. I one day hope to brew a Double Bock in honor of my hometown, Decatur, and call it "The Decator". Ha ha! Get it? Double Bocks are often named with words ending in "ator"! Oh, what fun we can all have with beer puns!

Now you try!

Anyway, head on over to Scmaltz's website to learn more about the company dedicated to "Crafting Quality Beer and Quality Shtick for the Jewish Community and Beyond... L'Chaim!"

realbeer.com.

www.shmaltz.com