Widowspeak + Mac Demarco + Bleached

MAC DEMARCO

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When the then 21-year old Mac DeMarco released his debut Rock and Roll Night Club 12? just a short while ago in the Spring of 2012, it was accompanied by a barrage of bizarrely funny promo videos, wildly unhinged live performances and a not-so-subtle disparate range of promo photos. The glam facade was purely that, an image that was manufactured for fun to confuse the stiff and compartmentalizing world of indie music journalists. But it wasnt all a jest, as that EP covered a whole range of music styles that were latent in the ex-Makeout Videotape frontmans already impressive slough of cassette-only releases. The sincere and warm Mac who sang Only You was the same lipstick-wearing sleazoid that crooned Babys Wearing Blue Jeans and that suited him and his listeners just fine.

Now, all of six months later, Mac is back with his first proper full length, Mac DeMarco 2. As opposed to RNRNC, 2? is a concerted effort to produce a cohesive work that showcases Macs natural ability as a songwriter, singer and producer. With a new arsenal of recording gear, the fidelity has substantially improved without compromising the immediacy and organic quality of his prior releases under any monicker. The results are immediately rewarding, from the warm Cooking Up Something Good to the heartfelt My Kind of Woman. Its obvious Mac is presenting himself musically in the most sincere way possible, no matter what happens in his wild videos or live shows. Freaking out the Neighborhood, Macs apologetic ode to his loved ones about such public behavior, shows that Mac DeMarco is still with us, coming along for the ride, getting everyone else in trouble. Even so, the maturation process of Mac DeMarco, recording artist, is in full swing. He did, after all, turn 22 this April.

BLEACHED

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On the heels of three well-received singles comes Ride Your Heart, the bombastic debut album by LA band Bleached. Sisters Jennifer and Jessie Clavin match their ability to blend a mix of freewheeling '77 punk with vintage sunny Southern California melodic rock and roll; creating blindingly bright hooks and dark heartfelt lyrics about love, loss, and the crazy fun moments in between. That's the goal: the sugary and sour, repurposed by two aggressively harmonic musicians and songwriters. Their first single "Next Stop" epitomizes this movement - fun, raw, adventurous and free. Tossing you out onto the dance floor, hair mussed from make-outs, cigarette still dangling from your fingertips. Raised up deep in the San Fernando Valley, their suburban isolation nurtured the girls creativity, as they started making their own music at a young age. Sneaking into punk shows over the hill in Hollywood, they grew up to become teenaged underground staples at all-ages Downtown DIY venue, The Smell. "Me and Jen were punk kids who weren't taught how to play instruments," says Jessie. We taught ourselves how to play, out in the garage." Eventually signing to Kill Rock Stars and Post Present Medium, their all-girl punk band Mika Miko drew international acclaim, landing slots on tours with No Age, Black Lips, and The Gossip.

Bleached originally formed when the Clavin sisters resolved to continue working with each other upon the break up of Mika Miko. Plans were postponed when the sisters joined other bands. Jennifer relocated to New York and toured extensively. With Jennifer away, Jessie began to play with various bands in LA. But in the fleeting moments they found together back home, the songs that became Bleached's early 7" singles came together. Since Jennifer moved back to her hometown, Bleached now serves as both girls' chief creative outlet. "I was going crazy being in someone else's band," remarked Jennifer. "Me and Jessie are so proud and happy to be able to focus on our own music, together."

As a whole, the twelve tracks on Ride Your Heart reveal the many facets of Bleached's music in a delicious vortex of playful harmonies, tangled guitars, and golden noise. Each song brings a new element, while also imbibing the classic moods of bands as varied and iconic in nature as The Ramones and The Cars to The Rolling Stones and Fleetwood Mac. From the syncopated backbeat and two-part chorus of "Dead In Your Head,", the rolling riffs and sparkling melodies of "Searching Through The Past" and the pulsating energy and urgency of "Dreaming Without You" and "Outta My Mind", Bleached take you on a sweeping emotional roller coaster that churns and burns. Ride Your Heart is a thrilling, beating, glorious wall of sound strong enough to withstand its own impact.

plus guest opening support from SEAN NICHOLAS SAVAGE.

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Sean Nicholas Savage is a Montreal based recording artist. In 2011 he released the albums, Flamingo, Won-Ton Jazz and Trippple Midnight Karma with Arbutus Records, each a new flavor in the palate of pop, always smooth and practical but with the darkness and depth of real life. A contemporary incarnation of singers like Elvis or Madonna, he marries the universal themes of love and pain with fingered keyboard bass playing, lush harmonies and hypnotic rhythms. As if each were an episode in a philosophical drama, Savage touches always on a theory or point and comes to at least a near conclusion with his compositions. His melodies are inspired and free, but with a wisdom and responsibility, flowing effortlessly under each captivating stanza.

Paramount of Montreals after party scene, Savage is renowned for his captivating and inspirational solo performances, although each tends to be different from the last. Savage has released exclusively with Arbutus Records, and was one of the first artists to join the label after its inception in 2009. Savage was an on/off resident at the historic Lab Synthese DIY space that the label was born out of.