New My Morning Jacket

Kentucky natives My Morning Jacket have released the title track from their forthcoming album Evil Urges. We here at H.A.D. have always been partial to the more upbeat MMJ endeavors, and this is exactly that. Moreover, there's some nice piano lines in there, and an overall feel that has Jim James channelling Prince like never before. The middle metal-jam echoes the purple one's multiple musical personalities as well. We likey.

mp3: My Morning Jacket - Evil Urges

It's Coachella Ramp Up Week In San Francisco

Given our regional proximity to the hype-tastic Coachella Festival, San Francisco is lucky enough to reap the benefits of the festival's attendees' travel plans. What that means is a slough of Coachella-bound bands doing small club dates in San Francisco as a warm up for the big-time in the desert. Coachella is this weekend, and that means this week is warm-up time. Suffice it to say, that even if you're not headed to Indio, there's plenty to see right here in the city. Even more bands are headed in next week, but we'll try not to overwhelm you. In no particular order (and with some non-Coachella bands in there to boot):

Wednesday:
Caribou with F**k Buttons @ The Independent
The Raconteurs @ Bimbos
Death Cab For Cutie @ The Fillmore
The Verve @ The Warfield
Man Man with Yeasayer @ GAMH
Midnight Juggernauts @ Mezzanine

Thursday:
Hot Chip @ The Fillmore
MGMT @ Slim's
Yelle @ The Independent

Friday:
Booka Shade, M.A.N.D.Y., and Heidi @ Mezzanine
Sasha and Digweed @ The Warfield
Kimya Dawson @ Herbst Theater

Saturday:
Simian Mobile Disco with Black Kids @ Mezzanine
Goldfrapp @ The Warfield
Mum @ The Independent
Mark Kozelek @ POTFA

Sunday:
Les Savy Fav @ GAMH
Stephen Malkmus + Jicks @ The Fillmore
Muse @ POTFA

The Free Spoon Deluge Continues

As we've reported previously, Spoon is giving away demos on their website in the "Bonus" section. This week sees the release of another new demo, this time it's for Gimme Fiction's "I Turn My Camera On". Entitled "I Turn My Camera On (First Version)", this track was previously available on a 7", but this is the first time in digital form, and it's free. Happy Monday.

mp3: Spoon - I Turn My Camera On (First Version)

Free Midnight Juggernauts Show Next Week At Mezannine

Australian outfit Midnight Juggernauts are making their way across the Pacific for a US tour (including Coachella, which, if you missed the memo, is next weekend) The band stops in San Francisco pre-festival next Wednesday, April 23rd at Mezzanine. And....guess what? The show is free! Apparently if you get there early enough, there's going to be free vodka too.

To our ears, the Juggernauts have a largely synth-powered sound that has a bit of a dark vibe, and seems to share a sonic palette with our recent faves MGMT. For some reason it also reminds us quite a bit of Supergrass. Not sure what that's about....maybe we're way off base. Anyway, free show, free vodka, can you really go wrong? We thought not.

Stream: Midnight Juggernauts - Dystopia

This Weekend: Lots Of Options

Well, if you've reached the weekend, and are feeling like there's not much going on, we're here to tell you you're wrong. Read on:

- If you feel like driving a bit and checking out two nights of awesome California bands, head North and check out Awesome Fest 2.
- If you're in the city, and feeling your hippie side, check out the 4/20 free tunes at the Green Apple Music Festival in Golden Gate Park.
- Finally, if you'd rather be a bit of a hipster/indie snob, Record Store Day is tomorrow, and there are free events at Amoeba and Rasputin.

So, there you go: take your pick!

New Weezer: A Return To Form

So, Weezer have just posted the lead single from their forthcoming self titled "red album", and it sounds pretty damn good. Being that we (along with, oh, everyone else) were highly disappointed in Make Believe, we really are hoping that this go around is a bit better. If the single is any indication, we may be in for some "Pork and Beans" still has the big, crunchtastic riffs that have come to dominate the band's sound of late, but there are also sweet sounding pianos, all the backing vocals you could want, and some nice acoustic guitars. Sure, it sounds like Weezer, what do you expect? But, it's got soul: something that the band had been lately lacking.

Stream: Weezer - Pork and Beans mp3: Weezer - Pork and Beans (lower quality)

This Weekend In Mendocino: Awesome Fest 2

So, we got this email here at H.A.D. HQ a few days back, and it appears to be a locally planned-and-promoted music festival, featuring some of California's most "up and coming" acts. Oddly, there isn't an official website, but there are tickets available, and there is a poster, so we're guessing it's pretty damn legit. It is (modestly) named "Awesome Fest 2". Wow. Swoon. <3

If this beautiful weather continues the way it has been, you shouldn't need much convincing to get yourself in a vehicle and make your way up to Point Arena to check out some of the Bay Area's most buzzworthy bands. Check it out:

AWESOME FEST 2
April 18th
Thee Oh Sees
Port O'Brien
The Morning Benders
Girls

April 19th
The Growlers (from LA)
Golden Animals (from LA)
Chief (from NYC)
Adam Stephens (from Two Gallants)

The Arena Theater
210 Main Street Point
Arena California

Tickets are available here. Ridemypwny has done a podcast featuring the lineup.

Tomorrow Night @ Mezzanine: Ghostland Observatory

While not everyone appears to love them, the word on the street is that the Ghostland Observatory show that we (unfortunately) missed last year at the Treasure Island Festival was killer. Sure, you need to be in the mood for a late night at what is primarily a dance space with a great sound system. However, if you're going to see a band that draws frequent comparisons (both good and bad) to Daft Punk, then doesn't that seem about right? The show is 9 PM tomorrow night at Mezzanine, tickets are still on-sale.

mp3: Ghostland Observatory - Heavy Heart

Mudcrutch Comes To The Fillmore Tonight

If you can manage to find yourself a ticket, tonight and tomorrow heralds Mudcrutch's arrival at the Fillmore. The band is Tom Petty's (and fellow Heartbreakers Mike Cambell and Benmont Tench) project from before he was a Heartbreaker, and by all accounts it's sounding pretty damn good. You can check out Rolling Stone's review of the new record here, and catch a video of one of the new songs live below....

Dirty Projectors @ The Independent

Last Friday night, Dirty Projectors stopped in at The Independent, and H.A.D. was there to catch the show. The band played a relatively short set, that was mainly focused on last year's Rise Above. They did, however, play some other material, and even ventured to put one new song out for consumption.

While the setlist-wise the show shared many characteristics with last fall's outing, the overall feel was quite different. Where last Fall's set felt like a tightly rehearsed band bringing their craft on the road, this show felt much more like a band actually playing together.

The band seemed just as tightly rehearsed (if not moreso), but the songs' instrumental breakdowns had greater depth, and the band members seemed to simply be having a better time. There was more laughter, and less stoic focus on getting parts of the performance to be just so. While the show wasn't sold out, it played extremely well to a devout crowd, and when Dave Longstreth returned (after quite a bit of cheering) for an encore he called out "Yeah? Alright!!!". It was quite clear that he was just as excited for the awesomeness of the evening as the audience was.

More photos at the H.A.D. flickr feed.