3/23/11

The HiFi's 2011 Tour Planz are SET! (and some include Zebras!)

Folks!

Our touring plans for Summer 2011 are set. If you can help, get in touch. NOTE: the August dates will be with our friends Zebras, who happen to include our own MrAlarm and me, DrAwkward, in their ranks. DOUBLE DUTY.

MAY MEMORIAL DAY WEEKEND MINI-TOUR OF EVILE:

THUR 5/26: Indianapolis, IN
FRI 5/27: Kalamazoo, MI
SAT 5/28: Bloomington, IN
SUN 5/29: Cincinnati, OH

IN JUNE WE KICK IT WITH POLICE TEETH:

FRI 6/17: Madison, WI (w/the Wax Eaters)
SAT 6/18: Milwaukee, WI @ Cactus Club (w/the Wax Eaters, most likely w/Absolutely)
FRI 6/24: hanging out at the the PRF BBQ while PT shreds
SAT 6/25: Louisville, KY w/Brophy Wives

AUGUST TWO-WEEK "HEY, WE HAVE NEW EPs TO SELL" EAST COAST TOUR (NOTE: all dates are with ZEBRAS):

FRI 8/12: Chicago, IL
SAT 8/13: Louisville, KY
SUN 8/14: Chattanooga/Knoxville, TN (or really, anywhere in eastern TN; whaddya got, PRF?)
MON 8/15: Atlanta, GA
TUE 8/16: Athens, GA
WED 8/17: Wilmington, NC
THUR 8/18: Raleigh, NC or Greenville, NC
FRI 8/19: Washington, DC or Baltimore, MD
SAT 8/20: Lancaster, PA
SUN 8/21: Brooklyn, NY
MON 8/22: OFF/DRIVE or Philly/New Brunswick, NJ
TUE 8/23: Pittsburgh, PA
WED 8/24: Columbus, OH
THUR 8/25: Cleveland, OH or Akron, OH OR Detroit, MI
FRI 8/26: Lansing, MI
SAT 8/27: Muncie, IN
SUN 8/28 DRIVE HOME

3/8/11

Imperial Walker Video Round-Up

"Imperial Walker" keeps making delicious noise. We're nearing $500 in total donations (before Bandcamp and PayPal take their cuts), and we're trying to take over YouTube with sweet clips to keep the word out there:

First, Jack Packard (maker of many of our awesome videos) delivers this "making of" clip:



Second, our buddy Conan Neutron of Victory & Associates provides the following image montage music video:



And finally, our pals Matt & Jim of Caffeinated Recordings filmed us giving "Imperial Walker" its LIVE DEBUT last Friday at Quenchers in Chicago:



We would love it if more people assembled their own "Imperial Walker" clips based on the Wisconsin protests. If you do, let us know and we'll post 'em here!

3/3/11

"Imperial Walker" gets "reviewed" in the...National Review?

So this was a heck of a mindfuck for us on Thursday morning--our google alerts let us know that "writer" Robert VerBruggen posted a snarky, sarcastic "review" of our protest anthem "Imperial Walker" on the National Review Online. The fuck?

In the realm of politicized rock ’n’ roll, IfIHadAHiFi has some big shoes to fill. Woodstock ended the Vietnam War. Live Aid eradicated hunger in Africa. Rage Against the Machine sprang Mumia from jail. And of course, Eminem, Bruce Springsteen, and whole swaths of the Billboard Top 40 got John Kerry elected president. So the bar for this Milwaukee-based noise-rock post-punk quintet — led by Mr. Alarm (who plays bass) and Dr. Awkward (whose moniker seems to refer to his efforts to drum and sing simultaneously) — has been set, and set high. Undaunted, they barge onto the scene in a high-volume blast of self-righteous fury with their new track, “Imperial Walker.”


We had to read it a few times to suss out exactly what was going on--it initially seemed that while the dude obviously wasn't fond of our politics, that maybe he liked the music? After all, he said things like "grating guitars, scratchy vocal processing, and a sludgy sound that may or may not be the low E string of a bass," things we normally take as compliments. But after a couple readings, we figured out that, no, he's being sarcastic, and he may actually mean those things as put-downs?

Also, apparently we're a five-piece now, which is news. Where is this fifth member of our "quintet?" He or she has been skipping a lot of band practices.

Whatever, we're in the goddamn National Review! The most widely-read online conservative talking point database! If we've gotten their attention, we must be doing something right, even if they think they're being condescendingly clever. So, awesome.

By the way, we're right around the $400 mark on proceeds raised from the download. Have you donated yet? The song has like 600 "likes" on Facebook but only 100-some downloads, so get on it, cheese!