End of Tour

Tour has finally come to an end. The past twenty-some-odd days have been an amazing blur of events; a swirling amalgam of European countrysides, cityscape, and alleyways spent on van seats, stages and floor spaces. My battered body is thankful for the respite, yet I still can't believe this adventure has come to and end. We're gonna be hangin out in Amsterdam, devouring the sights and sounds for a couple of days, so if you're out here, hit us up. Thanks to everyone who came out to our shows over the last few weeks, you made this tour one to remember. To those of you in the UK, we hope to see you this Fall when we come back out with Gallows. We've also got some festivals coming up in the states. You can check out all of those dates here.

Here are some pictures from our show in Kingston at the Fighting Cocks:




...and a video from Ieperfest




If you missed them at Sound & Fury, our first book, Collective: Volume 1, is now up in our webstore. The book is over 100 pages of stories, pictures, interviews, artwork and more, compiled from a group of our friends submissions. Below are some photos of the book. Thanks Jason.






I know you've heard it before, but thanks for holding tight while waiting on your merch orders. We'll be back later this week to speed up the never-ending shipping process. Thanks for understanding.

-Spen

Nottingham Sans Sherriff

Space Jam's on the telly, Thrasher: Skate & Destroy's in the PS2 tray, and my head's filled with cobwebs and the last lingering bubbles from last night's cider filled pre-birthday celebration. Between ciders and doobies, we managed to play a set at Nottingham, England's Old Angel Inn. Despite the inconveniences of the mildly wet, dual landing stair sets we had to fight to load in (big ups to Closure for letting us use cabs) , the show went off surprisingly well. The set was a fun-filled, sweat and no tears extravaganza marked by a one man wet t-shirt contest, front flips straight to the floor, mouth-fulls of Limey fingers, christ-like hovering , and much more. Just before load out, the scene was set: Scattered amongst battered beer cans and cocktail spills, waffled footprints led in all directions, giving indication of the melee that had just occurred. A good mopping later, none wil be the wiser.


Spen

We are currently in the UK...

and it fucking rules. We always have a great time here. Our first UK show kicked off on Sunday at The Underworld with Reagan Youth and it was a raging party. Our good friends in The Bronx just so happened to be in London too so they came out and we turned the streets of Camden into our own personal pub. You can't ask for a better time than that. We played Huddersfield last night and chairs/speakers were flying everywhere. A few lads were sent off to the hospital to get stitched up. I think the pub was a little bummed out on all the broken shit but it turned out okay in the end. We are currently in Leeds getting ready to make our trek down south to Newport. The last time we were in Newport we made friends with the bartender at The Pub and stayed there all night with Paint It Black drinking every kind of alcohol we could find. Andy Nelson ended up driving a girls car around town on the wrong side of the street and hitting curbs along the way(and he was the sober one). It was a wild night to say the least. We ended up at someones parents house in the country side having a good old fashioned english breakfast served up by a kind english mother in the morning. It was a great time. Let's hope Newport gets wild like that again tonight. We are playing TJ's. Come out and hang. We have a few copies of the UK press of our East Of Eden single 7" with us but they are going fast. Try to snag one of those if you can. ..



Hope all is well. See you soon!

p.s. UK, where is the weed at?

-Lee

Back in the Netherlands

5 Reasons why Europe is dope right now:
- Coffee Shops (Given)
- Drinking in the whip
- Crazy Hospitality (Thanks!)
- Playing to 15 kids one night and with SOIA the next
- Mad Beer!


Back in the US we have added a few shows.
Come hang out!

9/19/2009 - Portland, OR @ MFNW 2009
Satyricon
125 NW Sixth Ave 503-227-0999
Wristband or $10.00 at the door.
8:00 PM Dr. Loomis
9:00 PM Crom
10:00 PM Despise You
11:00 PM Trash Talk
www.musicfestnw.com

9/20/2009 - Boston, MA @ Great American Hardcore Fest
Club Lido
1290 N. Shore Road
Revere, MA, Boston MA 02151
United States
www.myspace.com/greatamericanhardcorefest

10/30/2009 - Gainesville, FL @ The Fest for info www.thefestfl.com
10/31/2009 - Gainesville, FL @ The Fest for info www.thefestfl.com
11/01/2009 - Gainesville, FL @ The Fest for info www.thefestfl.com

Peace,
G

Snapshot of Berlin

Tonight, an ongoing tour joke became a reality. Ver ist ze money, Lebowski?

Here I sit, enjoying a delightfully chilled bottle of Berliner Pilsner in Lebowski, a not-so nihilistic bar located in Berlin's cozy and cafe riddled Freidrichshain district. I'm a little stoned and vibing to "Wild Child" by The Doors blasting from well hidden overhead speakers.

The walls are adorned with Big Lebowski memorabilia and photos of patrons and cast members, though not together. Above the bar bowling shoes hang, laces tied, like so many Chuck Taylors back home. A psychedelic, skeletal, caricature of The Dude himself graces the inner door jam, keeping watch over the barkeep and me from behind aviator shades. Ver ist ze money, Lebowski? I've just spotted one of the well concealed speakers, delicately tucked behind a 10lb. bowling ball, literally smashing five bowling pins. Twine and small loops (think fishing hooks) are the lone buffer between the presumably heavy display of art and the nearest bar stool.

Aside from the language barrier, this bar seems American. A friend once told me it was the subtle differences that make foreign countries great. He's right, i just spotted a Social Distortion poster.

The soundtrack for my short stay in Lebowski has been:
The Doors - Wild Child
Sublime - Johnny Butt
Peter Tosh - Legalize It
The Doors - Alabama Song
Jimi Hendrix - Castles of Sand

If Ipods had existed then, my mp3 device in 8th grade could have easily conjured a similar playlist on a trip through shuffle... just sayin.

No peace,

Spen

Guten Tag!

I wasn't certain the day would come, but on Thursday August 7, 2009, Spencer Louis Pollard was granted permission by issuing authorities to leave the United States of America. At roughly 7:50 am, Northwest Transatlantic Flight 52 touched down on the tarmac of Frankfurt, Germany. This was finally it. On my band's third trip to Europe, I made my first. After a disorienting stagger through customs, we forged our way to the baggage carousel to await multiple ill-packed, merch-filled duffel bags and our hopefully still intact guitars. Within the half hour we found ourselves outside and piling into our rented Sprinter, exchanging broken greetings with our driver, Michael. Shortly thereafter we hit the bricks to Amsterdam before having to make the 45 minute jaunt to Arnheim. While in Amsterdam, I was given an impromptu crash course of the city's unconventional tourist attractions. Hello heaven.

To everyone who's waiting on our mailorder, thanks for being patient. We sold out of several designs and they're being reprinted and shipped out now. Thanks for bearing with us. East of Eden is in, and will be available August 24th from Holy Roar Records so cruise on over to their website to pick one up while you still can. Check it out...



www.holyroarrecords.com


Sihkrat,

Spen

Sirens & Fury.. Our European tour starts this Friday...

This past weekend was rad. Our set at Sound & Fury on Sunday night ended with cops surrounding the front of the building, various objects flying through the sky, and a girl jumping off the roof of the fest. The Uhaul place didn't even notice that their truck was covered in foot prints from people climbing up it and flipping off of it when we returned it the next day. Shout outs to Riley, Bob and Todd for letting us get loud in the parking lot and everyone else for sticking around and groovin with us. We had a blast. Hopefully no one got too fucked up. Right now we are currently in the studio putting the finishing touches on a record that we have been recording for the past week or so. Keep your eyes and ears open for more details on that coming soon. We are leaving for Europe this week. Our first show is on Friday in the Netherlands. We will be playing shows all over Europe for the next three weeks. If we are playing in your area you should come out and hang. We want to go and do things/see stuff. We haven't been over to Europe in about a year so it's time to get wild.

TRASH TALK EUROPEAN TOUR AUGUST 2009

8/7/09 - Netherlands, Arnheim @ Willemeen
8/8/09 - Germany, Essen @ Pressure Fest
8/9/09 - Germany, Hamburg @ Hafenklang
8/10/09 - Sweden, Jönköping @ Insikten Kulturhuset
8/11/09 - Germany, Berlin @ Cassiopeia
8/12/09 - Poland,Warsaw @ Radio Luxembourg
8/13/09 - Germany, Gotha @ The Londoner
8/14/09 - Germany, Torgau @ Endless Summer Fest
8/15/09 - Netherlands, Hengelo @ Innocent
8/16/09 - Belgium, Mol @ JH Tydeeh
8/17/09 - France, Paris @ Le Pixi
8/18/09 - Belgium, Messancy @ Rider’s Park
8/19/09 - Germany, Mannheim@ JUZ
8/20/09 - Austria, Wien @ Centro Once
8/21/09 - Germany, Hohenstein @ Voice of Art Festival
8/22/09 - Germany, Zedtwitz @ Fernverkehr
8/23/09 - UK, London @ Underworld
8/24/09 - UK, Huddersfield @ Bar 1:22
8/25/09 - UK, Newport @ TJ’s
8/26/09 - UK, Nottingham @ The Old Angel
8/27/09 - UK, Ipswich @ Rose and Crown
8/28/09 - UK, Kingston @ The Fighting Cocks
8/29/09 - Belgium, Ieper @ Ieperfest

For more info on any of these shows head over to www.avocado-booking.com

That's all for now. There is tons of new shit coming soon. Join our mailing list to keep up with everything that's going on and don't forget to check back on the blog for crazy euro tour stories. See you soon.

-Lee