BRMC have a new single, "Weapon of Choice," that you can grab over at Idolator. Their new album Baby 81 comes out May 1st.

In the pantheon of weapon-themed BRMC songs, I'll put this one above "Six Barrel Shotgun" and just below "Rifles," which is saying a lot. As good as their last album Howl was, none of the tracks kicked the kind of ass that their previous LPs did. This one does. "Weapon of Choice" starts out with an acoustic guitar riff similar to the opening of "Ain't No Easy Way," before adding a clobbering drumpart and Robert Been's vocals. From there on out they turn on the electric guitars and basically begin burning shit and rolling around in the ashes.

Confirming what the lead single suggests, Peter Hayes told Billboard in October of the direction shift:

Hayes says BRMC didn't want to make an entire record full of the in-your-face, psychedelic rock found on 2003's "Take Them On, On Your Own," so the group incorporated some of the more textured production elements from "Howl" as a balance. "Things open up and break down within the songs, a lot," he says. "There are some songs that are kind of groove-oriented, not so blues or country influenced."

According to Hayes, "666 Conducer" is the most even blend of the last two albums, while "All You Do Is Talk" was built using 12 different guitar parts. "I played one string at a time making a chord and then doubled it," he says. "That's a big, thick wall of guitar, that one." Another song, "Am I Only," begins on acoustic "but opens up into big, distorted guitars. It also has a harmonium going along with it and some harmonica."

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KevNev previews the upcoming Brewers season. The only things I would add are that Carlos Villanueva could eventually take the #5 starter job. I'm praying for a healthy season for Ben Sheets and Rickie Weeks.

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You may recall my approval of the first single from the new Modest Mouse album, and over here you can find a zip file of the complete We Were Dead Before the Ship Even Sank. I haven't listened to it yet, but I love the title.

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Did you know that my birthday is coming up in less than a month??? Gift idea!

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Other music tidbits:
- Princeton has a new and awesome theme song.
- Pitchfork says what everyone who likes the Wrens thinks.
-Mew are coming to Boston on Friday, March 23rd. Sadly this means I won't make it to NYC until the next day.

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This was mentioned on SNL as well, but it's a pretty crazy story: a Malaysian woman took the wrong bus and wound up going missing for 25 years.

A woman who boarded the wrong bus on an attempted shopping trip from Thailand to Malaysia has returned home after 25 years. Jaeyana Beuraheng told her eight children she accidentally boarded a bus bound for Bangkok instead of Malaysia, and once there she boarded a second incorrect bus because she could not read or speak Thai or English, The Times of London reported Wednesday.

Beuraheng, who speaks only the Yawi dialect used by Muslims in southern Thailand, said the noise and traffic of the big city confused and disoriented her, leading her to board the second wrong bus to Chiang Mai, near the border with Burma.

The woman said she spent five years begging on the street in the city and was often mistaken for a member of a hill tribe because of her dark skin tone. She was arrested in 1987 on suspicion of being an illegal immigrant and was sent to a social services hostel when authorities were unable to determine her origins.

However, last month, three students from her home village arrived at the hostel for training, and they were able to communicate with Beuraheng and help her find her way home.

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Rod Benson might be the new Paul Shirley.

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Tyrus Thomas sucks.

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Census Taker


The best Chris Walken SNL sketches.