Our debut album Contagious Ignorance has been released worldwide.  Stay tuned for news on promotional activities.  Meanwhile, get it on iTunes:

The Band of the Eye is one of those bluffers that contradicts itself, and then pretends that it never said the other thing in the first place.  How else could we turn up here all news and sunshine saying our album is called Contagious Ignorance, all the while trying to sweep the previously announced title of Maximum Fisting under the rug without you noticing?  At least let us explain ourselves before you go off to listen to Miley Cyrus instead:

♥ Maximum Fisting gave off vibes that at best said 'comedy rock', and at worst put us in the company of Limp Bizkit, which is not a room we want to be in, all due respect to Fred Durst (which, to specify, is none).

♥ It was under doubt that DJ's could say Maximum Fisting and retain their jobs.

There you are.  Contagious Ignorance will be available in the first week of August.

Thanks to our friends at Poison Tree Records for sorting this out.  Buy their stuff!  Especially our album.  With the artwork the album is completely finished at last.  It's been a long process.  Thanks to those who listened at various stages and offered advice of diverse nature and usefulness.

Continuing the titular theme - stop giggling, you - the imminent Red Square Records compilation has been given the name Sounds for a Jilted Generation.  As well as being called virtually the same thing as a Prodigy album, this selection will include our song 'Why You Are so Awful'.  Next up: 

BCFM Radio Interview, Sunday, 5 July at 10PM (GMT): DJ Stashy Jon has been a kind supporter and will be indulging our rambling anecdotes, our unwholesome tastes in music, and playing any songs off our album that don't have naughty words in them.  Repeated on Monday at 10AM.  Tune in at 93.2FM in the Bristol area, or fiddle with your computer's antennae until they get to http://bcfm.org.uk/ to listen online.

Live shows:

Thursday, 30 July: Die Young, Stay Pretty night at The Jazz Club in Reading.  It's free in before 9.30 and £3 thereafter.  Named after a Blondie song.  It'll be our first trip to Reading.

Tuesday, 11 August: One World Festival in Bath.  It'll be our first festival.  All proceeds are for charity.

Wednesday, 12 August: flux=rad night at 12 Bar in London.  Named after a Pavement song and organised by our friends King of Spain.  Buy their album.  Unless you only have enough money to buy ours.

It is with girlish giggles of excitement that we announce that our debut album, Maximum Fisting, will be released in the Americas, Asia and Australasia in June. 

Courtesy of Californian indie label Poison Tree Records, Maximum Fisting will be available from iTunes and, as the contract tells us sternly, ‘any and all download sites deemed appropriate’.  Small but perfectly formed, Poison Tree Records has worked with Mondo Generator, Fu Manchu, Brant Bjork and Dwarves.  As such they know their figurative onions in relation to our type of rocking, and we’re very pleased to be working with them.

We intend to make it over to the US this year to play some shows, so if you are a booking agent, a band that would like to hook up, or someone with useful suggestions please get in touch.

We are not deaf to the protests of the EU, which is murmuring to the effect that it notices its absence from the release territories named above.  Patience, my sweet.  In short, we don’t know yet.  It will be a separate release, and we need to tread carefully to get it right.  Look at this e-mail that Chris actually had to send to someone the other week, for heaven’s sake:

"Hi [A&R Guy]

Thanks for your message and your interest in our album.  However, I must point out that our lyrics include the chorus 'we all worship Satan' and, irony notwithstanding, we might be at odds with a professedly Christian label?

Best wishes,

Chris"

We.  Kid.  Not.

Meanwhile, the album is being mastered by Shawn Joseph at Optimum Mastering.  Check out their link for informative clips on how vinyl records are made.

For an understanding of the modern music industry you might try this documentary, viewable free online, with the pleasant narration of Forest Whittaker: Before the Music Dies.

Interviewees include TBOTE ally Joey Burns of Calexico.  It’s interesting and informative viewing, if a little sentimental, and seemingly produced by people who think that the issues raised affect only America (somewhat ironic as they refer to U2, Eric Clapton and Elvis Costello).  Watch!

If you can drag yourselves away from your computers there’s still the option of live music:

Friday, 24 April at the Comedy Café in Shoreditch, doors 10PM.  It’s a measly £3.50 in and we’re on with The Wow Signal (distributed by Universal, if you don’t mind), planet chivers, Dim and Captain of the Rant.

On Tuesday, 12 May it’s AR2 at Bristol University, and for eye pleasure twice in a week get to Weston-Super-Mare on Thursday, 14 May for a show at Hobbits with Cosh, Panic Office and the Ottawa Hoax.

Even in the horizon-expanding world of music, few people can boast of having met someone who is actually called Tarzan.  But it was piloted by a surly German named Tarzan that Stereolab, unable to reach their storage facility to offload their gear, came to Press Play Studios to deposit their equipment one Sunday evening.  Unfortunately, due to physics, the tour bus couldn’t squeeze down Record Street, so the ’Lab, weary from touring Europe, needed some assistance to move their stuff from around the corner.  Enter two-thirds of The Band of the Eye, C. Murray and K. Ross, who were conscribed to help out.  Several rounds of lugging were required, unaided by Tarzan, who elected to mope in the vicinity of the bus.  Tarzan, you see, was destined that evening for Glasgow and the Stereophonics’ tour (quite why bands are touring in alphabetical order these days is beyond us).

Seriously.  Tarzan.

Stereolab!  You owe us one.

Since that time, the progress of the recording sessions can be charted by the comments of production sage Paul Tipler:

‘I’m going to make you sound very talented.’ (Issue could be taken with this statement, but never mind.)

‘I’m going to hit him.’

‘Let’s make this song sound like a rant.’

‘That take was pony.’