If you've got a moment...

Friends and folks, read this review of us!

http://camprevival.com

"You Are Alone But You Are Not Alone" Release Show in DC

We're very excited to announce our official CD release show for You Are Alone But You Are Not Alone at the DC9 on August 24. We're very lucky to have a whole host of talented folks come and play with us, so it'll be Ugly Purple Sweater in it's full-band glory.

And Pearl and the Beard of Brooklyn, NY will be coming down to play the show with us. And holy smokes are they good. How good is this?:

Oh, and also, their new record kicks ass. You can hear it on their Facebook page.

Things will get underway around 8, the cover is $8.

some photos

...of music/mischeif making:

Tear Yourself Apart

Portland, OR has been good to us. Here's a video of us playing Tear Yourself Apart (a new song) at the house show we played here.

Also, you can watch us play Josh's song "Dirty Blind," which is about corneal abrasions. 

Tour Constitution

We're off! Played two shows in San Francisco yesterday. Met a lot of lovely people and fantastic musicians. StitchCraft's CD release party for Though the Hoolaboo. I never seen such violin shredding and pretty singing in my whole life. 

After the show we stayed in the house of StitchCraft's violinist Anna and her bff, who are the two nicest people yet born. Much love. 

In honor of the beginnings of our meanderings, we find it necessary to draft for ourselves some articles of confederation. So:

OUR CONSTITUTION:

Article One: No member of the JS-UPS tour shall, while looking into the trunk, say "Oh shit!" or utter any other expression of surprise, dread, or horror, so as to avoid invoking in his or her band mates the impression that any of our equipment has been lost, stolen or damaged; and thus to avoid causing in each any premature cardiac arrest. 

Article Two: Easy on the booze. Livers aren't for sale on ebay. Yet.

Article Three: Rachel may not be referred to as "lovely," "pretty," "beautiful," "adorable," "cute," "ornamental," "delicate," "fragile," or, "a delightful hostess." Acceptable substitutes include, "hard working," "balls to the wall," "shit kicking," "take no prisoners," "the shredmeister," "environmentally aware," and "fair trade certified."

Article Four: No more than one greasy spoon per day.

Article Five: This constitution may be amended unilaterally by any member of the JS-UPS tour who happens to have access to this blogger account (sorry Josh.)

You Are Alone But You Are Not Alone

Our new album, "You Are Alone But You Are Not Alone," is available for download here. You can name whatever price you'd like, including nothing at all, at least for a couple of weeks.

Thanks to all the people who leant their help and encouragement--too many to name. But in particular to Ivan Basuri for engineering, Mike Tasevoli for his drumming, Andrew McCornack for his bass playing, and Colm O'Reily for the album art.

MiddleMarch vs. Old Harriet

If any of you have ever read Middlemarch you may remember the complex and sharp critique which George Eliot (aka Mary Anne Evans) makes about British Society and feminity. I have just begun to read this book, and at the moment I am anticipating her to narrate the political and social changes within a community, impacted largely by the rebellious female character, Dorothea. Already, within the first 50 pages Dorothea is bucking tradition, marrying an academic and taking on the challenge of improving the housing for the lower-class peasants. She is clearly bucking the social system and has shocked her neighbors with her preference for intelligence instead of aesthetics in her husband.

And, this may be a jump, but I will venture to say that Dorothea and Harriet (see interview below) take a similar position in society, stepping outside of their social bounds in order to accomplish what they would like to do in society: Harriet is called to rock'n'roll and Dorothea is called to moral philosophies.

We will see where this goes...if anyone has any help on understanding the underlying social conflicts in Britain in the 1820's, please feel free to write. And, if anyone has any opinions about Old Harriet, please do share.

And, on a band-note, we have our first shows on Sunday, in San Fransisco - see our show listing on the side!