The guys in Geronimo! are many things – smart, hard-working, insanely talented. And you can also add “generous” to that list: for a limited time, they’re offering their excellent full-length album Fuzzy Dreams for free, right here on the internet. They’re also playing a free show at Chicago’s Double Door on March 29 with local favorites Kid, You’ll Move Mountains. (Also: Brontosaurus and The Soil And The Sun. I haven’t personally checked those  bands out yet, but chances are they’re pretty rad.) Further details about the show can be found here.  Even if you can’t make it out to Double Door that night, GET THE ALBUM. I guarantee you don’t have another record in your collection that sounds like Fuzzy Dreams, and at this price you’d be an absolute fool not to at least give it a courtesy spin.

From everybody here at Assault: Congratulations, Geronimo!, on being three years old. And also on being so ridiculously awesome.

Holy shit – check out this free compilation from Grape Juice Records! (Download here.) Apparently it’s Grape Juice tradition to release a compilation of all the artists they worked with over the year. At the price of $0, you really can’t go wrong. So get it while it’s fresh! Included in the comp:

Jon Drake & The Shakes
Julie Meckler
Will Phalen
Rachele Eve
Musikanto
Rambos
Curtis Evans and Our Friends Electric
Derek Nelson and the Musicians
No Ordinary Oswald
The MPLS Henrys
The Shams Band

HOLY SHIT! Chromeo is back. If that doesn’t get you at least a little bit pumped, you probably should’ve thought twice about having your soul surgically removed. These guys make true crossover dance music – nerds who live on Pirate Bay can listen to it in their rooms while downloading new episodes of Dexter, but it also makes a great soundtrack for doing bad cocaine in night club restrooms. Chromeo songs are basically the perfect thing for anyone who likes stuff. You can download a remix of their new track “Don’t Turn the Lights On” right here, completely free of charge. (Our only request – if this track gets you laid, send pix!!!) Chromeo’s new album Business Casual is available next Tuesday, September 14th.

Chromeo:

• Official Site
• Last.fm
• Facebook
• Twitter

Attention, all Four Year Strong fans: the band’s video for “It Must Really Suck To Be Four Year Strong Right Now” is this week’s free video download from iTunes. CLICK RIGHT HERE and you’ll be instantly transported to a magical place where you can download a free Four Year Strong video. There are some fairly hardcore fans of FYS among the Assault.it staff, and even I have to give them their propers for being just about as spastic, crazy, and mind-blowing as a pop-punk could possibly be. These guys are so ferocious that it should be illegal; I wouldn’t go to one of their shows without an entourage the size of MC Hammer’s circa 1992. These guys are so nuts that their last CD came with a jock strap. Four Year Strong play so fast that their first manager, Sonic The Hedgehog, told them to slow down. This band is so good that we published a complimentary review of their latest album, which you can read here.

Now please, go download the video. You’ll like it.

One of our favorite local bands, Kid, You’ll Move Mountains, recently contributed a couple tracks to Switchboard Sessions, a site that records bands performing tracks over the phone. (Landlines – it’s analog!) The band (or, rather, Jim and Nina, the group’s main vocalists) performed “No Applause” (from their fantastic LP Loomings) and a cover of Queen’s “Nevermore.” Click on the link-y titles there to download the tracks from SoundCloud.

Kid, You’ll Move Mountains:

• Official Site
• MySpace
• Facebook
• Switchboard Sessions

First things first: here’s your download. It’s the first track from Charles The Osprey’s forthcoming album Consider. The record drops June 29 on Friction Records, and you can pre-order now. Details? They’re pressing only 500 copies – half on army green vinyl, the other half on orange. I might pick one up just for the cool factor – although it doesn’t hurt that these guys kick ass, too. Two dudes – Derek Lancioni (of Just For Kicks, Go Josephine, and Winnie Cooper pseudo-fame) on drums, Rafael Ohli on guitar – bashing it out, making your head feel weird. Record will cost you $15, but you can afford it. Plus, it comes with a digital download code, so you can throw it on your mp3 player of choice and blast it while you’re walking around or riding your bike or doing aggro shit like jumping out of an airplane while drinking Mountain Dew. It is, as they say, all good. PRE-ORDER NOW. (The band is also playing an LP release show on June 26 at Founders Brewing in Grand Rapids, MI w/ Ozenza. I won’t be there, but maybe Jeremy Clymer will? He lives in Michigan…)

Here’s one for the hipsters: Wavves just released a new song called “Post Acid” via Mountain Dew’s Green Label Sound. I’d make jokes about Mountain Dew here, except I’m drinking a liter of the stuff right now while listening to a new Wavves song for free. Hail commerce!

Wavves:

• MySpace
• Last.fm
• Green Label Sound

Like everybody else, we’ve been interested to see what’ll happen with Trent Reznor’s new band, How To Destroy Angels. So far there hasn’t been too much information – a weird intro, an official video, and a pretty dumb name. (Seriously, it is.) But now all those questions are rendered mere obsolete noise, much like Pretty Hate Machine. You can now download How To Destroy Angels’ first EP for free. Pretty cool, huh? I haven’t listened to it yet, but you can bet your ass I’m going to. And then probably go on Twitter and be like “Meh.” (For $2, you can get “HD quality” mp3s, which I didn’t know existed, but [let's be honest] are still mp3s, so why don’t you wait to pick this shit up on vinyl or CD, both of which are coming soon?) Click the widget below:

How To Destroy Angels:

• How To Destroy Angels Twitter
• How To Destroy Angels Facebook
• How To Destroy Angels MySpace
• How To Destroy Angels YouTube
• How To Destroy Angels Vimeo

Here’s a tip: if you want people to listen to your band, compare yourselves to Eddie Money. This is how Banquets got my attention.

Well, they actually got my attention first when I received an email alerting me to the release of their debut 7″, This Is Our Concern, Dude, and offering a download of the track “Elanor, I Need A Garden.” Right away, they were two-for-two – I love getting emails, and I also love The Big Lebowski references. So I decided to do some clicking on the links within the email to get more intel. I started with the label’s website – Black Numbers is offering This Is Our Concern, Dude for six bucks, and you can choose from 3 different colors. So now I’ve been emailed, I’ve noted the Lebowski reference, and I’m starting to get real excited because we’re talking about colored vinyl and that’s just plain fun. Plus, six bucks – not bad. I can probably get Third World Timmy to order me one without promising him a handjob. As Ice Cube might say, today was a good day. (And it’s only 7am!)

So now I already kind of like this band – I can tell they’re cool dudes, because they like the same stuff that I do. So then I’m about to listen to the song and I see this description on BN‘s page: “Four songs for fans of Hot Rod Circuit, The Get Up Kids, and Eddie Money.” Well, as a matter of fact, I always sort of liked the Get Up Kids, never got into Hot Rod Circuit, and absolutely fucking LOVE Eddie Money. That’s when I wanted these guys to take me home, tonight, and that was before I even listened to the track. I’m not Bob Lefsetz over here – I like being worked a little bit, and these guys were working me with the skill and intensity of [place semi-offensive prostitute joke here].

So then I listened to the track, and it’s pretty good. I’m not gonna lie to you, you’ve heard this kind of stuff before. Banquets are not breaking any new ground. But it’s catchy, and everybody seems to know what they’re doing (even the singer, which is a nice change-up from a lot of the stuff we listen to here), so I’m cool with it. I’m gonna pre-order one of these suckers, and I suggest you do, as well. You can choose from red, white, and blue vinyl, and here’s a tracklist, now that you mention it:

This Is Our Concern, Dude:
1. Lyndon B. Magic Johnson
2. Elanor, I Need A Garden (listen to this right now)
3. What A Bunch Of Aaron Burrs
4. I Wish I Was A Little More Lou Diamond Phillips

This Is Our Concern, Dude drops June 22. Act fast before these super-limited 7″s go the way of the mighty buffalo!

Banquets:

• MySpace
• Pre-Order This Is Our Concern, Dude

If you live somewhere in these United States of America, chances are the ridiculously awesome hardcore/pop-punk combo Transit are coming to play at a club near you. Their coast-to-coast tour with A Loss For Words just kicked off last week, and to get you as pumped as we are, we’re passing along a free download of their song “Stays The Same.” The track is from their recently-reissued (on 12″ vinyl!) debut EP Stay Home. (The guys ALSO just dropped a split 7″ with Man Overboard.) And their first LP is tentatively due for release from Run For Cover in September. Exciting shit! CLICK HERE TO HEAR THE TRACK! Below, the dates:

MAY 23 – Portland, ME @ Big Easy w/ A Loss For Words, Kid Liberty
MAY 24 – Albany, NY @ Bogies w/ A Loss For Words, Kid Liberty
MAY 25 – Amityville, NY @ Broadway w/ A Loss For Words, Kid Liberty
MAY 26 – Clinton, NJ @ The Aquifer w/ A Loss For Words, Kid Liberty
MAY 27 – Bensalem, PA @ Polanka Park w/ A Loss For Words, Kid Liberty
MAY 28 – Baltimore, MD @ Charm City Art Space w/ A Loss For Words, Kid Liberty
MAY 29 – Springfield, VA @ Jaxx w/ A Loss For Words, Kid Liberty
MAY 30 – High Point, NC @ Arts by Alexanderw/ A Loss For Words, Kid Liberty
MAY 31 – Summerville, SC @ Summerville American Legion w/ A Loss For Words, Kid Liberty
JUN 01 – Jacksonville, FL @ the Pit w/ A Loss For Words, Fallen From The Sky, Kid Liberty
JUN 02 – Orlando, FL @ Uncle Lou’s w/ A Loss For Words, Fallen From The Sky, Kid Liberty
JUN 03 – Pembrook Pines, FL @ The Talent Farm w/ AL4W, Fallen From the Sky, Kid Liberty
JUN 04 – Tampa, FL @ The Orpheum w/ A Loss For Words, Fallen From The Sky, Kid Liberty
JUN 05 – Tallahassee, FL @ The Farside w/ A Loss For Words, Fallen From The Sky, Kid Liberty
JUN 07 – Mansfield, TX @ The Warehouse w/ A Loss For Words, Fallen From The Sky, Kid Liberty
JUN 08 – San Antonio, TX @ White Rabit w/ A Loss For Words, Kid Liberty
JUN 09 – Midland, TX @ The Pine Box w/ A Loss For Words, Kid Liberty
JUN 10 – Las Cruces, NM @ Dream Center w/ A Loss For Words, Kid Liberty
JUN 11 – Albuquerque, NM @ Gold Manor w/ A Loss For Words, This Time Next Year
JUN 12 – Mesa, AZ @ Mesa Underground w/ A Loss For Words, This Time Next Year
JUN 13 – Murietta, CA @ Galindo’s w/ A Loss For Words, This Time Next Year
JUN 14 – Canoga Park, CA @ Cobalt Cafe w/ A Loss For Words, This Time Next Year
JUN 15 – Oakland, CA @ Oakland Metro w/ A Loss For Words, This Time Next Year
JUN 16 – Sacramento, CA @ The Boardwalk w/ A Loss For Words, This Time Next Year
JUN 17 – Vancouver, WA @ The FCC w/ A Loss For Words, This Time Next Year
JUN 18 – Olympia, WA @ Black Lake Grange w/ A Loss For Words, This Time Next Year
JUN 21 – Denver, CA @ Cervante’s Other Side w/ A Loss For Words, Such Gold
JUN 22 – Omaha, NE @ Sokol Underground w/ A Loss For Words, Such Gold
JUN 23 – Des Moines, IA @ Vaudeville Mews w/ A Loss For Words, Such Gold
JUN 24 – Buffalo, MN @ The Vault w/ A Loss For Words, Such Gold
JUN 25 – Milwaukee, WI @ The Borg Ward w/ A Loss For Words, Such Gold
JUN 26 – Romeo, MI @ Static Age w/ A Loss For Words & Such Gold
JUN 27 – Covington, KY @ Mad Hatter w/ A Loss For Words, Such Gold
JUN 28 – Erie, PA @ The Hangout w/ A Loss For Words, Such Gold
JUN 29 – Rochester, NY @ Dubland Underground w/ A Loss For Words, Such Gold
JUN 30 – Watertown, NY @ The Dungon @ Velocity w/ A Loss For Words, Such Gold
JUL 01 – Manchester, NY @ Rocko’s w/ A Loss For Words, Such Gold
JUL 02 – Allston, MA @ ICC w/ A Loss For Words, Defeo, Man Overboard, Balance And Composure

Clubfeet, three guys from Australia that make somewhat dance-y music, are getting ready to release their first full-length album Gold On Gold on July 27th. Don’t know who that is? Chill: we have a free mp3 for you to download that should clue you in to their sound and, if you’ve seen Heathers, perhaps coax a chuckle from deep within your blackened mirth-glands. To get the download, CLICK HERE. If you’re intrigued and you’d like to watch a weird, kinda cool video for the song that I found while trolling YouTube, then just watch the weird, kinda cool video for the song that I found while trolling YouTube (and subsequently embedded below):

www.youtube.com/watch?v=AcusYrqBvYQ

Atlanta’s The Whigs are one of those bands you know about, but (unless you’re some kind of Whigs superfan) you don’t pay all that much attention to. They’ve received mostly positive notices for their three records (the most recent of which is called In The Dark, and is totally available now for legal purchase) but never set the world on fire. Is that about to change? Possibly. They’re set for a headlining tour, plus dates with The Hold Steady, Kings Of Leon, and the Black Keys. I daresay, these guys might be poised for some serious breakout success!

These Southern gentlemen are also kindly offering their track “Dying” as a free mp3 download, which you can get RIGHT HERE. If you like what you hear, obviously you should pick up their records and check them out live. To faciliate this, here are some tour dates, and also a video of the dudes rocking out on Jimmy Fallon’s show. If you’re not a fan by now, I have totally failed as an amateur music blogger and must immediately exile myself to Canada, where nothing good ever happens except for the occasional moose fight. So please: be a fan! Goodies:

THE WHIGS ON JIMMY FALLON:

THE WHIGS ON TOUR:

With Kings of Leon:
June 5      Borgata Event Center – Atlantic City, NJ
June 6      Saratoga Performing Arts Center – Saratoga, NY
June 8      Toyota Pavilion at Montage Mountain – Scranton, PA
June 30    Hyde Park – London, UK
Whigs Headlining Dates:
June 10    The Handlebar – Greenville, SC
June 11    Sky City – Augusta, GA
June 12    Riverbend Festival – Chattanooga, TN
June 13    Rib Fest – Chicago, IL
June 17    Belly Up – San Diego
June 18    Troubadour – Los Angeles, CA
June 19    Velvet Jones – Santa Barbara, CA
With The Hold Steady:
July 2      Lac Courte Oreilles Casino - Hayward, WI
July 3      Cabooze Outdoor Stage – Minneapolis, MN
July 4      First Avenue – Minneapolis, MN
July 6      Slowdown – Omaha, NE
July 7      Ogden Theatre – Denver, CO
July 8      Santa Fe Brewing Company – Santa Fe, NM
July 9      Diamond Ballroom – Oklahoma City, OK
July 10    Granada Theater – Dallas, TX
July 11     High-Tone Cafe – Memphis, TN
July 12     Square Room – Knoxville, TN
July 14     Newport Music Hall – Columbus, OH
July 15     Crofoot Ballroom – Pontiac, MI
July 16     Kool Haus – Toronto, ON
Other:
July 17     Ottawa Bluesfest – Ottawa, ON
With The Black Keys:
September 2 Town Ballroom – Buffalo, NY
With Kings of Leon & The Black Keys:
September 3  Verizon Wireless Music Center – Indianapolis, IN
September 4  Riverbend Music Center – Cincinnati, OH   
September 7  First Niagara Pavilion – Pittsburgh, PA
September 8  Hershey Park Stadium – Hershey, PA
With The Black Keys:         
September 9  Charlottesville Pavilion – Charlottesville, PA
With Kings of Leon & The Black Keys:
September 10  Verizon Wireless Ampitheatre – Charlotte, NC
September 11  Virginia Beach Ampitheatre – Virginia Beach, VA
September 13  Time Warner Music Pavilion – Raleigh, NC
With The Black Keys:   
September 14   Orange Peel - Asheville, NC
With Kings of Leon & The Black Keys:
September 17   Cruzan Amphitheatre – W. Palm Peach, FL
September 18   Ford Amphitheater – Tampa, FL
September 20   Verizon Wireless Music Center – Birmingham, AL
With The Black Keys:
September 21   House of Blues – New Orleans, LA
With Kings of Leon & The Black Keys:
September 22   Cynthia Woods Mitchell Pavilion – Houston, TX
September 23   SuperPages.com Center – Dallas, TX

The Whigs:

• Official Site
• MySpace
• Twitter
• Facebook

Well, this is interesting: the Brooklyn act Extra Life, currently touring behind their recent sophomore effort Made Flesh, are set to release a remix EP called, eh, Splayed Flesh on June 22, and one of the remixers is none other than Battles frontman (and our personal hero) Tyondai Braxton. You can download the remix of “Head Shrinker” HERE for absolutely no cost, and it’s well worth it: weird, rubbery, robotic, futuristic, slightly danceable -- these are all words that come to mind while the track peels off your face and caresses that smooth skull-bone with trancey accents. I like it, you’ll like it, download it NOW. Also check out the video for the unmolested version of “Head Shrinker,” immediately below this sentence:

www.youtube.com/watch?v=Dja4b-3QwAY

Splayed Flesh tracklist:
1. Head Shrinker -- album version
2. Head Shrinker -- Tyondai Braxton remix
3. Head Shrinker -- Caley Monahon-Ward remix
4. The Body is True -- album version
5. The Body is True -- JG Thirlwell remix
6. Made Flesh -- album version
7. Made Flesh  Justin K Broadrick remix

Extra Life tour dates
5.14    Berlin, West Germany w/ Parenthetical Girls, Former Ghosts
5.15    Brno, Czech Republic, Fleda
5.16    Krakow, Poland, Klub Re
5.17    Zilina, SlovakiaStanica (acoustic duo) w/ Lonely Drifter Karen
5.18    Ljubljana, Slovenia, Kino Siska
5.19    Faenza, Italy, Clandestino
5.21    Lausanne, Switzerland, Le Romandie
5.22    Delemont, Switzerland, SAS
5.24    Grenoble, France, L’Amperage
5.25    Montpellier, France, Baloard
5.26    Lyon, France, Sonic
5.29    Poitiers, France, Confort Moderne
5.30    Lille, France, La Malterie
5.31    Stuttgart, Germany, Schocken
6.1      Köln, Germany, Kulturbunker
6.2      Bielefeld, Germany, Bunker Ulmenwall
6.3      Brussels, Belgium, Les Ateliers Claus
6.4      Cardiff, UK, Cardiff Arts Institute
6.5      Dublin, Ireland, Whelans
6.6      Belfast, UK, Crescent Arts Centre
6.8      Liverpool, UK, The Kazimier
6.9      Hull, UK, The Adelphi
6.11    Rotterdam, Netherlands, Poortgebouw