Chasing Kings and Dirty Names September 13, 2012

Doors open at 6:30, show starts at 7:30,

The forthcoming "Nice Guys" L.P. from Los Angeles alternative-pop group Chasing Kings is not exactly what you have come to expect from a group of twenty-somethings from the suburbs of Los Angeles. Although their sound has evolved rapidly since the 2009 self-release of their Tony Berg produced E.P. "The Current State Of Our Future," the group has always had that certain ability to write interesting pop songs that seem both rooted in classic sensibility yet possess undeniable contemporary charm. Weaving together pop threads from sources as disparate as the Beach Boys, Wilco, The Cure and Spoon into a fabric all its own, and one with a sense of humor to boot, it's no surprise that "Nice Guys" is as catchy as a cold.

Mixed by Todd Burke (M83, Belle and Sebastian, Fitz and The Tantrums), Mastered by Howie Weinberg (Spoon, White Stripes, Sonic Youth) the Self-Produced and Kickstarter funded full-length is slated for an early fall 2012 release.

Hide Your Daughters. The four members of Rock & Roll outfit, Dirty Names, started playing together early in life. Drummer Matt Rose and bassist Sam Wetterau have been friends since age 10 and played together in a band at age 15. Lead singer Harrison Cofer moved to their town of Annapolis, Maryland for his high school freshman year.The band teamed up with a short-tempered music enthusiast with a wicked record collection who began to manage the band. At that time, they were simply called The Names. The story goes that they were tossing around possible band names, getting more and more ridiculous, as bands do, until Rose shouted, “I can't take this anymore! Let's just be all of them. Let’s just be The Names.” (Later, they found out another band in Belgium already had the name, so they just made it a little dirtier.) Their manager locked them up in a garage studio for two years with few live shows. He drilled classic and rare rock recordings into their heads working them towards a record release. Towards the end of this phase, Wetterau returned from college and joined the band. As tempers flared, the band split with the manager and they realized that the best thing for them to do was play live as often as possible, touring all over America including two festivals in Toronto Canada.

In a similar short feedback loop fashion, the band started releasing EPs. Last year in 2011, they released the five-track ROCK AND ROLL MIND CONTROL, which features “Salt Water Jackie,” a track with an award-winning music video that takes place in a ballet studio and shows the band using their music to once again corrupt. The first EP was recorded in a shack-like garage studio of a friend. Earlier this year in 2012, they released SWEAT BOX, a six song EP recorded shirtless in a warehouse on a hot July day. The recording includes songs the band has been playing for a couple of years live but just hadn’t recorded yet. The two EPs will likely be combined into a proper album sometime in the not too distant future.

Official Website: http://www.thehamiltondc.com/live/calendar#/chasing-kings-and-dirty-names