Emo legends Cap’n Jazz haven’t played since 2010, but they aren’t entirely dead—at least not according to a source close to the band (who prefers to remain anonymous because he enjoys “a sniff of espionage”). Cap’n Jazz has received a few offers to play shows, and the dudes are wrestling with the “cost/benefit ratio of saying yes to them.” If they do play, there will likely be a new face in the band: Gossip Wolf’s source expects Blake Schwarzenbach (Jawbreaker, Jets to Brazil, Forgetters) to replace Davey von Bohlen (Promise Ring, Maritime) on guitar and backing vocals. Cap’n Jazz haven’t actually asked Schwarzenbach yet, but they have reason to believe he’ll go for it when they do.
Last week Smart Bar launched in-house record label Northside ’82, run by Smart Bar music director Marea Stamper (aka the Black Madonna) and Little White Earbuds editor in chief Steve Mizek. Northside ’82 debuts on July 3 with Ike Release‘s Dance Equations EP.
Gossip Wolf hasn’t heard from Marc Ruvolo—cofounder of Johann’s Face Records, former front man of No Empathy, and original proprietor of Bucket o’ Blood Books and Records—since he sold his store and left town in 2013. These days Ruvolo calls Brooklyn home, and last week his band the Fur Coats released an ace green-vinyl single on Ohio label Rad Girlfriend. The catchy pop-punk of lead track “One More Shot” would’ve sounded right at home on Johann’s Face back in the day. The band will support the release with a UK tour in July.
This weekend, Chicago noise/drone veteran Kevin Drumm dropped a new 30-minute track via Bandcamp—”Crooked Abode” sounds like a spooky house where every appliance comes to life one by one, emits a death rattle, and drifts off into electronic oblivion. On Sun 8/16 Drumm plays a solo set at Berserktown II in LA as part of a stacked lineup that includes the re-formed Royal Trux. v
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