photo by michael j charles
The Weisstronauts
Instrumental Rock for the 22nd Century
Media folks! If you need a hi-res photo of the Weisstronauts for print, there is a color one HERE, and a b&w one HERE. Please credit Michael J. Charles. If alternate shots are desired, email us and we'll help you out in a jiffy.
News:
New album! We finally birthed "Instro-tainment," our fourth full length instrumental album. And, really, it is our masterverk. Sessions at Verdant Studio went swimmingly. A broader-than-ever sonic palette was employed (fake strings? Moog synth? pseudo-operatic famale vocals? Yes yes yes.) New song highlights include Kenny Lafler's bossa nova "Caixa Dos Moluscos," George Hall's Eastern European-flavored gem "Seven X's," Jeff Norcross' party-themed "Get It Together," Kevin Quinn's epic farewell to the surf genre "Surf's Down," and Pete Weiss' own farm-rock exercise "Chicky." Part-time 'Nauts road bassist Doug Yule (ex-Velvet Underground) made it to the sessions and contributed bass and fiddle on a few of the new tunes, including a spontaneous stomp-a-billy version of the Velvets' classic "What Goes On." Album out now on Sool Recordings, purchasable with Paypal on our BUY STUFF page.
Thanks to all who came out to the CD release show at Church in Boston. Special thanks to My Own Worst Enemy, Lars Vegas, and Invisible Rays for sharing the night with us. Good times! You can check out some snappy photos of the evening that are up on Picasa:
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Videos! We recently posted some Weisstronauts videos on Youtube. Themes include: a raucous live rendition of "Cranky," featuring the Fall '06 touring lineup of the 'Nauts, a stop-motion poultry-hierarchy contemplation on "You're In Control," a song from our first album. This latter one was conceived and directed by our pal David Thomas, of the band Pony, with visual elements by our other pal Stephen Fredette, also of Pony, Scruffy the Cat, and Pete Weiss & the Rock Band. Also, a Benny Hill-inspired take on "The Nashville Variations," directed by Pete's brother Marc, a Moog-y, manic "Ring Mod," a fire-safety-month "Back Porch" (those last two from the new album...) and a moody, abstract visual companion to "Creosote." More coming soon... Enjoy!
Upcoming mini-tour:
Sunday June 8, 2008
Rock and Bowl, New Orleans
Closing party for Potluck Audio Conference (formerly TapeOpCon). With the Tim Lee 3.
Tuesday June 10, 2008
Family Wash, Nashville
Multi-act night at the Wash. We go on early-ish, like around 9pm and will be playing a short-ish set (about 30 or 35 minutes). We love Nashville and we love the Wash!
Wednesday June 11, 2008
Barley's Tap Room, Knoxville TN
Thursday June 12, 2008
Emerald Lounge, Asheville NC
Psyched to be sharing the evening with the amazing Broomstars.
Friday June 13, 2008
Local 506, Chapel Hill NC
Honored to be opening for our instrumental brethren Killer Filler on the occasion of their CD release!
Saturday June 14, 2008
tba
If anyone located somewhere between North Carolina and NYC would like to book us for a private party (or any other type of event, really), we'd be open to it, as our original booking for this date unfortunately fell through...
Sunday June 15, 2008
Rodeo Bar, NYC
Opening for our heroes the Jack Grace Band.
Recent Press:
New England Music Scrapbook News recently interviewed Pete Weiss about the Weisstronauts and Verdant Studio. Interview is HERE, about a third down the page.
Pete Weiss interviewed by C.C. DiGuardia in Northeast Performer magazine and by John Clarkson in the U.K. webzine Pennyblackmusic.
"If there’s such a thing as a forward-thinking surf band, Boston’s The Weisstronauts are it. Avoiding the purism that makes so many instrumental retro-fetishists seem redundant, The Weisstronauts combine vintage surf and Nashville chicken-pickin’ with cartoon zaniness and spaghetti Western intrigue. They often recall NRBQ’s offbeat musical humor as much as Link Wray’s reverb-drenched Tarantino fodder."
—Jack Silverman, Nashville Scene