Ice, ice, baby!
"Destination Diamonds" by Diamond Nights
Ok, now I know this has been circulating online for a minute now (and is available on the band's website), but still, I want to share this with our readership in case you've missed it. Diamond Nights are so retardedly good, I hardly know what to do with myself when this song comes on. Seriously.
The band is an insanely tight four-piece: Morgan Phalen, Tim Traynor, Rob Laasko, and S.D. Rumsey, "in search of merriment and adventure" (so says their bio). They're currently working out of Queens, though they hail from parts as varied as New England, Wisconsin and Mexico. Phalen and Traynor have known each other for many years, playing in a weirdo-folk group in coastal-Mass in the early 90s. They went their separate ways for a while, but reunited in 2003, deciding to start again with a new take on classic Rock 'n Roll - you know as in "sex, drugs and ________." They've been building steam since then by playing shows, and a getting pair of releases put out by Kemado.
At the moment, they only have a couple of short releases out, a 12" and CD EP, but that's really okay - they're just about wrapped up their first full-length, which should be seeing the light of day at the end of this Summer. You can buy the 12" for "So Fantastic" (which is awesome - my copy is crystal-red vinyl for you other collectors out there) and the EP, called Once We Were Diamonds, direct from the label here and here.
Also, the boys are out on the road, playing almost every night for the rest of the summer - see their tour page for the full listing, but they're hitting states all through the mid-west, west coast, south... They're even playing my hometown of Tucson, AZ! They're also supposedly playing the Siren Festival out on Coney Island - that's usually one big hot sweaty mess, but give me a Nathan's hot dog and a beer and I'll be all set.
Boo Ya - happy Friday!
PS: Last night I went to see Pela and the National at Mercury Lounge, and ho-lee crappers, was it ever a great show - the Pela guys are so great, totally personable and fun, and damn, they sure know how to rock - I can't wait to hear more of their stuff recorded.
The National, who's new album, Alligator, is one of the best of 2005, really deserve the attention they've been getting lately - I was genuinely blown away by their set. They played this one song, called "Cherry Tree," that takes its time, slow and soft, but builds up to this enormous, loud crescendo, and I swear I thought the roof was about to fly off the place and we'd be left rocking out under the stars. Do everything you can to see both of these bands before they start selling out enormous venues, because I think they've both got the potential do to so.