So, yeah, the original lineup of 41 Gorgeous Blocks have started a new band called This Kills Me (www.thiskillsme.com) and are playing a show:

Something’s happening. And it’s happening July 19th. I can’t say any more right now. But soon.

The Star-Telegram would eat us again.

Here’s a little something to do while our band continues its hiatus or whatever it is we’re up to (which is nothing):

I just posted 6 songs over at our MySpace page - all of them cover songs. Info below.

“Whopper” by Henry Holt. Our version of this HH song appears on HH’s album Lines and Letdowns (2004). Recorded on Super Bowl Sunday of 2003.
me - guitar/vocals
Matt M - drums
Tanner - bass
Deedle - guitar/ vocals
Duane Deering - piano, vocals and most likely other stuff that I’m not aware of.

“Going To Pasalcqua” by Green Day. Recorded in Jan. 2003 while doing the Well… EP, this song was for a Green Day tribute album, although it wasn’t used.
me - guitar/vocals
Matt M - drums
Tanner - bass
Deedle - guitar/ vocals

“Baltimore” by Cleveland Bound Death Sentence. Recorded in a moment of procrastination while working on Querulous. Though I certainly don’t do it justice, this is a terrific song about friendship. Some of my favorite lyrics ever. Written by Aaron Cometbus.
me - acoustic, singingish

“Hey Jealousy” by the Gin Blossoms. This appears on our 2002 Swallow the Sandwich EP. It was recorded on a whim after, if I recall, Deedle picked up a Gin Blossoms CD at Half Price Books. I was never a fan of the song when it came out but loved it when I heard the used CD. It contains one of my favorite lines: “If you don’t expect too much from me, you might not be let down.”
me - guitar, voc
Deedle - lead guitar
Matt M -drums
Matt Pittman - bass guitar

“Out the Window” by the Violent Femmes. We recorded this on even more of a whim in 2005 while doing an acoustic session for the Adventure Club with Josh radio show. He asked us to play a cover and for some reason this came out. We’d never played the song together and I hadn’t sung it in years (which might be why I shamefully screw up the lyrics a couple times). Anyway, one of my favorite VF songs for sure.
me - acoustic, singing/whining
Matt M - snare, singing
Josh Venable - faint background singing

“Sloop John B", traditional, though considered a Beach Boy cover. Recorded live in December 2004 at Deedle’s last “official” show with us. We started doing this song in 2003 after I saw Brian Wilson perform it on Letterman. One of my favorite songs.
me - guitsing
Deed- guitsing
Tan- bass
MatM- drums

KDGE has gotten rid of the only reason to even go near music radio these days: Josh Venable. Sadly, his night shift and, more devastatingly, “The Adventure Club” have been eliminated from the lineup.

Not only has Josh been a longtime champion of countless bands - certainly ours - by offering radio play and opportunities that would never have existed without him, he actually played the music that he cared about. And there’s just no room for that on KDGE anymore.

I know his talent - and his insanely vast knowledge of music - will allow him bounce back very soon with something better and more satisfying; but still: this really sucks.

(via Zac Crain)

UPDATE: Unfair Park has this.

The book I’ve been going on and on about, which will feature some of my brother’s cartoons, is having a party:

Wide Array Presents Upstart Crows

Please join Wide Array for cocktails and hors d’oeuvres to celebrate the release of the new book Upstart Crows.

Friday, November 2, 2007
Seven o’clock in the evening

3217 Chapel Downs Drive
Dallas, Texas 75229

RSVP contact stephaniemreid@gmail.com

For more information please visit www.widearrayonline.com.

To see some more of Bobby’s art, visit the Simply Titled Yuck myspace site. An actual website is also in the works.

Sadly, Lance Hahn has passed away.

(Thanks to Chad for the information and The Sweethearts for the link.)

I am a huge fan of Lance and his music thanks to my brother. I have no idea how Bobby managed to get a hold of J Church’s Arbor Vitae, but it absolutely changed our lives. It had everything we were desperately seeking in music: GREAT lyrics and never-boring music that sounded simple (until you tried to recreate it on your own guitar), all in the form of 13 rough-yet polished, two-minute bundles of pure, self-effacing passion. Still one of my top albums. And I still hold standing a foot away from Lance as he slammed out the guitar solo for “Racked” as being the ultimate live show moment of my life (which, by the way, I hate saying, because it sounds like I’m only “saying” it. But, for what it’s worth, I promise I’m not).

From there, Bobby special-ordered every other J Church release that Off Beat Records could locate. Great songs everywhere you turned. I actually finally got a copy of Cringer’s “Greatest Hits, Vol. 1″ (Lance’s band before J Church) the night before my brother passed away. After hearing “If I Had Your Pen” for the first time, Bobby simply shrugged as if he wasn’t surprised in the least and said, “Perfect.”

Since then, I’ve kept up with Lance through his music and his monthly-if-not-more-than-monthly newsletter. I am not bending a single fact when I say that Lance Hahn was the real deal. Humble, passionate, kind and influential as they come.

I wish I knew what to do now, other than this: Thanks, Lance.

UPDATE: Lots of nice comments here.

Two more songs from our new album Querulous are now posted on MySpace.

You can also download several more free ones here.

Here’s a new review in Liner Notes:

Hailing 41 Gorgeous Blocks’ newest album Querulous is the poster child for great indie pop-rock. With the vocal and guitar stylings of Matt Riggle, the bass of Tanner Leaser and drumming from Matt Morris, these guys are emerging from the same music scene that great pop-rock acts like Bowling For Soup call home.

“Something That Rings A Bell” and “I’ll Just Wait” bubble and boil with pulsing guitar riffs. In “Standing Tall,” Morris displays first-rate percussive playing, which helps to create a potential punk rock hit. All of these songs follow fun lyrical rhyming patterns fun especially on the track “Reckless Words.”

The album’s title Querulous, a word meaning to complain, complements the lyrical content of a many of the album’s songs. The themes that Riggle explores on this album stem from the loss of his brother and former band mate, Bobby. Despite the depressing nature of the album’s lyrics, the instrumentation makes you want to dance. “Guts,” the track most likely to get radio play, and “It Should’ve” exemplify this.

41 Gorgeous Blocks definitely have something to be proud of with this cd, Though the album’s title refers to complaining, Querulous is definitely NOT something to complain about!

LR

You can still order it for 4 bucks here.

Wide Array has posted more information on the upcoming book featuring some of Bobby’s cartoons that I told you about:

Upstart Crows, the first of possibly tens of projects from Wide Array, makes its debut October of ‘07. The book is a collection of fiction from JD Reid, Alan Reid, Elijah R. Darkor, Gayla Chaney, Michele Cunningham-Scott, Benjamin Harvey, Jena Salon, Cindy St. John, and Barry Phillips. Interior comics were drawn by Bobby Riggle. The book can be found in our book section. The purchase of Upstart Crows is good for the soul and easy on the wallet. Please enjoy!

What an awesome music video. (And I don’t recall those words ever escaping my lips. Or keyboard.)

In about a month, some of my brother’s cartoons will be featured in an upcoming book called Upstart Crows, a collection of fiction from various authors, published by Wide Array. As the tagline goes:

Russian death squads, werewolves, eyeless janitors, lightning rods, dead swans, some fish, poetry, comics–what else do you need?

Check back here for how to order a copy, or visit the soon-to-be-updated website of Wide Array.

And then next year, Simply Titled Yuck, the complete collection of Bobby’s art will be out in book form. Stay tuned.