Pages tagged “modern skirts”

Athens, Ga.-spawned 4 to Watch alums Modern Skirts are readying a new album, All of Us in Our Night, set to drop on Jan. 20. The band’s first album since Catalogue of Generous Men in 2005 includes cuts produced by R.E.M. bassist Mike Mills and Cracker’s David Lowery and was recorded in Richmond, Va., New Orleans and back home in Athens. The record features original artwork by an Atlanta artist that creates a sequential narrative broken up for each new track.

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Exclusive DVDs & live performances, full albums and early access to Paste content

Decatur, GA (September 30, 2008) - Paste magazine announced today the launch of “Paste Digital VIP” (www.pastemagazine.com/VIP), an exclusive service that delivers members an array of content for a low monthly fee.  The all-new Paste Digital VIP is available for $3.95 per month and, throughout the course of a year, provides members with 4 DVDs, 12 full digital albums, 52 exclusive live mp3’s, advance access to Paste’s digital edition & new music Sampler and much more.  The first month includes an album from indie buzz band Headlights plus exclusive live MP3s from Ari Hest and William Fitzsimmons.  Upcoming artists include The Rosebuds, Sonia Leigh and Modern Skirts.

[Above: Y O U at the beach, apparently.]

Trae Vedder of ATL band Death On Two Wheels perched on a stool with an acoustic guitar and an accompanying keyboardist throughout a rare unplugged set that met a full room, but not very much attention. It was too low-key for the party atmosphere that comes hand-in-hand with Pop Death Squad's free Big Trouble In Little Five Points show each month. Vedder himself was in good humor, cracking jokes and wailing out songs in his own gravelly tenor as the audience chatted inattentively and crowded the bar, preparing for the dancing they were about to do.

Click above to watch “Pasadena” from Modern Skirts‘ self-released album Catalogue of Generous Men.

Related Links:
Video of the Day: Modern Skirts - “Indiana Indian”
4 To Watch: Modern Skirts Dressed For Success
Sleep To Dream: Modern Skirts Play For Skateboarders in a Cement Pond

Click above to watch "The Birth of Modern Skirts" EPK from Modern Skirts. Their record Catalogue of Generous Men is out now!

This EPK was directed, shot, and edited by Jack Wallis of New Slang Films.

Click above to watch "Indiana Indian" from Modern Skirts. Their record Catalogue of Generous Men is out now!

This video was directed, shot, and edited by Jack Wallis of New Slang Films.

Hometown: Athens, Ga.
Members: [L-R] Jay Gulley (guitar/lead vocals), Phillip Brantley (bass/guitar/vocals), JoJo Glidewell (piano/vocals), John Swint (drums)
Fun Fact: The band’s debut album was mixed by John Keane, who’s worked with R.E.M., The Indigo Girls and Uncle Tupelo.
Why They’re Worth Watching: The Drive-By Truckers have taken the band under their wing and invited them to open one-off shows for them outside of Athens, and the band is selling out famous local venue The 40 Watt. The Skirts also are a Paste office fave to a ridiculous extent, with their debut spinning almost constantly.
For Fans of: Ben Folds, The Beatles, The Shins

The anecdote has already reached epic proportions among members of the Modern Skirts. Chances are it’s been embellished to make the tongue-tied culprit look even more bumbling and awkward (thereby easier to give hell to), but it plays something like this: Last fall after a concert in which the Skirts opened for local Athens rock legend Pylon, two guys named Michael Stipe and Chris Martin approach Jay Gulley, the Skirts’ lead singer. Stipe coolly remarks, “I’ve heard good things about your band.” To which Gulley replies, after a pause, “I’ve heard good things about your band, too.”

Phillip Brantley, the group’s primary bassist (they switch instruments a good bit onstage) and the relater of this particular tale, makes no attempt to conceal his amusement at the encounter or his giddiness over the presence of the audience members in question: “I can’t even believe they came out. It blows my mind.”

This is just one of a plethora of exciting things happening for an Athens, Ga., band that’s got the potential—nay, the goods—to explode in the same way the Drive-By Truckers have in the past couple years.

The Skirts are all country boys who grew up in small rural Georgia towns but have developed astonishing pop sensibilities—wildly inventive melodies and arrangements slapped atop jubilant, exuberantly catchy piano-and-guitar rockers. It’s a formula for bliss. The songwriting prowess evident on their self-released debut, Catalogue of Generous Men, portends good things to come. Maybe even a record deal. Brantley adds, “We’re really making a concerted effort to be patient.” Sure, patience is a virtue, but we’ve got a hunch they won’t have to exercise it long.