This Weeks Short Bursts :: Big Troubles + We Are Losers

New Jersey's pop phenoms, Big Troubles will issue their Mitch Easter produced sophomore set, Romantic Comedy on September 27th. The band will also release the Sad Girls 7" on August 30th, both releases will come courtesy of Big Troubles new label Slumberland Records. Just yesterday the band shared up the album track Misery over at Pantsfork, but luckily for us today they've made it available over at their Bandcamp page. It's two minutes of just the right amount of polish, grit, and sizable pop hooks. Their are hints of the bands sterling debut, Worry (which we reviewed here) but the band has jettisoned many of the lo-fi characteristics of their debut for the advantages of recording in a big studio. Based on Misery, Big Troubles have taken another impressive step forward. As of today we don't see any Boston show's on the calendar, but we have it from a source "close" to the band that a fall show in our city is in the works.

The Romantic Comedy pre-order info has yet to be posted at Slumberland, however you can get your hands on the Sad Girls 7" over at Insound.

Upcoming Shows:
Sep 22 Glasslands, Brooklyn, NY (record release)

Fall 2011 Tour w/ The Pains of Being Pure At Heart:
Sep 24 Beachland Ballroom, Cleveland, OH
Sep 25 Pygmalion Festival @ The Hi Dive, Urbana, IL
Sep 26 High Noon Saloon, Madison, WI
Sep 28 Royal Albert, Winnipeg, MB
Sep 30 Dickens, Calgary, AB
Oct 01 The Starlite Room, Edmonton, AB
Oct 03 The Biltmore Cabaret, Vancouver, BC
Oct 04 The Crocodile, Seattle, WA
Oct 05 The Wonder Ballroom, Portland, OR


Dublin's fuzz poppers , We Are Losers have inked a deal with Leeds based , Dance to The Radio. The band will release a limited edition double A sided 7" on July 18th. Ever since hearing the bands self titled and still free debut EP in 2010 we've been singing their praises. Initially started as a solo affair by fronter Gavin Elsted We Are Losers quickly morphed into a full band when Elsted's former band mates Steve Conlon, Gary Clark, and friend Brownwyn Murphy White signed on. The forthcoming Sunset Song b/w Cheerleader 7"picks up right were the bands EP left us, with two prodigious helpings of the bands signature skuzzy lo-fi pop.

Order the Sunset Song/Cheerleader 7" at Dance To The Radio

Big Troubles | The Shaking Through Sessions

Last year we had a pretty hard time keeping our yaps shut about Ridgewwod, NJ noise poppers, Big Troubles and their superlative debut long player, Worry both on these pages as well as in any other forum that we found the opportunity. Our affection for the band hasn't waned one bit, in fact we are thrilled to find that Big Troubles have shared up a new track for free download. The band recently contributed Phantom to Weathervane Music & WXPN's Shaking Through recording project, which documents the "birth of a song". Phantom was recorded at Miner Studios in Philadelphia with Brian McTear and finds Big Troubles shedding their lo-fi aesthetic and benefiting from the comforts of a big studio. Phantom is a fully realized mid-fi pop gem. The session was guest curated by Boston's own The Pelly Twins.

You can download the track for free at Weathervane Music's BandCamp Page

Transmissions :: Big Troubles Live in D.C.

New Jersey's noise pop stalwarts, Big Troubles played Washington D.C.'s, Subterranean A last weekend and offered up this brand new, unnamed, but completely fantastic new track. Enjoy it while we continue our begging campaign in hopes of convincing Big Troubles to play a Boston show in the very near future!

Reviewed :: Big Troubles - Worry

Over the next couple of weeks we will be focusing on our favorite releases of the last 12 months, just like every other blog, site, and music outlet in the free world. But before we get all Top 20 of 2010 on your collective asses, we wanted to dedicate some time to file our last edition of Reviewed for this year.

Over the last couple of years we've noticed a crop of young bands revisiting the shoegazer sounds we totally fell for in the late 80's and early 90's. Some of these bands bring some fresh ideas and unique execution of those influences while other are merely retreads, yes I'm talking to you Beach Fossils. The best example of the former that we can think of comes from Ridgewood, New Jersey's Big Troubles and their debut LP Worry. The album was released back in September by Brooklyn's Olde English Spelling Bee Records and nearly a day has passed since then that we haven't felt the need to give it a spin.

Songwriters Alex Craig and Ian Drennan create a varied and captivating debut on Worry. While Craig delivers fuzzed out pop gems, Drennan turns the abrasion up to 11 for some warm and accessible lo-fi pop moments. You only have to hear about ten seconds of the opening track, Video Rock to pin point the bands love of shoegaze bands like My Bloody Valentine and The Jesus and Mary Chain, but elsewhere on the album there are some obvious nods to 90's lo-fi heroes Guided By Voices as well the early recordings of Dinosaur Jr. Throughout Worry the band manages to create something bigger than the influences, something special, a noise pop juggernaut.

Tracks like Slouch and Freudian Slips display Craig/Drennan's knack for writing the perfect three minute pop song. Elsewhere Big Troubles enter quieter territory, but are no less captivating on the gorgeous, Georgia as well as the album closer, the spaced out and aptly titled Astrology Screen Savers.

To think that this is a starting point for this promising young band is a bit a mind blower, to release an album so completely satisfying as Worry on the first attempt is nothing short of astonishing. Please don't take our word for it, listen for yourself at the Big Troubles Bandcamp page, and relish the fuzzy pop bliss within.

Big Troubles - Freudian Slips