Andrew Jackson Jihad releasing 'Knife Man' on Asian Man, embarking on full U.S. and Canada tours

Andrew Jackson Jihad announced the release of its fourth studio album, Knife Man, on September 20 via Asian Man Records. The band just debuted a new track, “Hate, Rain On Me” exclusively at Altpress.com.

At its core, Andrew Jackson Jihad is a band made up of a social worker and a gravedigger. Starting in 2004 and hailing from Phoenix, Arizona, these two men have been making music that attempts to understand and explain human nature. The music focuses on the horrid and beautiful ways that people treat each other, as well as the possibility that one day we will be able to reconcile this.

Typically playing live as a two-person band (Sean Bonnette: guitar, vocals/Ben Gallaty: upright bass, vocals), Andrew Jackson Jihad’s show is a cathartic experience that invites the audience to sing along. With the energy of a punk band, they blaze through song after song, stopping occasionally to interact with the audience. Their lyrics are tragic yet humorous, crass yet intelligent, heartbreaking yet uplifting. One listener has described the music as “sad in the key of happy.”

Their new album, Knife Man, is a record about love, poverty, violence, luck, discrimination, homelessness and Phoenix, Arizona. Recorded by their longtime engineer jalipaz at audioconfusion, Andrew Jackson Jihad formed an Arizona all-star band, borrowing members from ROAR, Doth, French Quarter, Swell… Adios, and Malakai. The Knife Man sessions have yielded Andrew Jackson Jihad’s most cohesive and driving album yet.

Andrew Jackson Jihad has played shows with The Gaslight Anthem, Xiu Xiu, Titus Andronicus, Against Me! and Deer Tick among many others. They are about to embark on a six-week full U.S./full Canada tour as the main support act for Frank Turner.

Knife Man Track Listing:

1. The Michael Jordan of Drunk Driving

2. Gift of the Magi 2: Return of the Magi

3. American Tune

4. Back Pack

5. Distance

6. Fucc the Devil

7. Hate, Rain on me

8. If you have Love in your Heart

9. No One

10. Sad Songs (intermission)

11. Zombie by the Cranberries by Andrew Jackson Jihad

12. People II 2: Still Peoplin’

13. Sorry Bro

14. Skate Park

15. Free Bird

16. Big Bird

Tour Dates:

Sept 20 - Danbury, CT - Heirloom Arts Theater

Sept 21 - New York, NY - Bowery Ballroom

Sept 22 - Millvale, PA - Mr Smalls

Sept 23 - Baltimore, MD - Ottobar

Sept 24 - Richmond, VA - Canal Club

Sept 25 - West Colombia, SC - New Brookland Tavern

Sept 27 - Orlando, FL - The Social

Sept 28 - Gainesville, FL - Double Down

Sept 29 - Ft. Laouderdale, FL - Culture Room

Sept 30 - Tampa, FL - Crowbar

Oct 1 - Atlanta, GA - Masquerade

Oct 3 - Austin, TX - Emo’s

Oct 4 - Dallas, TX - The Loft

Oct 5 - Oklahoma City, OK - Conservatory

Oct 6 - Kansas City, MO - The Record Bar

Oct 7 - Denver, CO - Marquis Theater

Oct 8 - Albuquerque, NM - Launchpad

Oct 10 - Phoenix, AZ - Rhythm Room

Oct 11 - Pomona, CA - Glass House

Oct 12 - San Diego, CA - Soma

Oct 13 - Los Angeles, CA - El Rey Theater

Oct 14 - San Francisco, CA - Slim’s

Oct 15 - Portland, OR - Hawthorne Theater

Oct 16 - Seattle, WA - Neumos

Oct 17 - Vancouver, BC - Biltmore Caberet

Oct 19 - Edmonton, AB - Starlite Room

Oct 20 - Calgary, AB - Republik

Oct 21 - Regina, SK - The Exchange

Oct 22 - Winnipeg, MB - West End Cultural Center

Oct 23 - Minneapolis, MN - Triple Rock

Oct 25 - Milwaukee, WI - Turner Hall

Oct 26 - Chicago, IL - Bottom Lounge

Oct 27 - Detroit, MI - Magic Stick

Oct 28 - Toronto, ON - The Phoenix

Oct 29 - Montreal, QC - Corona

Oct 30 - Ottawa, ON - Maverick’s

Oct 31 - Quebec City, QC - Cercle

Nov 2 - Cambridge, MA - Middle East

Nov 3 - New York, NY - Bowery Ballroom

Nov 4 - Philadelphia, PA - Theater of Living Arts

For More Information:

http://www.andrewjacksonjihad.com/

http://www.andrewjacksonjihad.tumblr.com

https://www.facebook.com/andrewjacksonjihad

http://twitter.com/ajjtheband

http://www.myspace.com/andrewjacksonjihad

http://www.asianmanrecords.com/

May 24, 2008: The Queers show at Reggie's

I'm creating a blog for the first time, so until I figure out how to make things fancy, this is what I'll be writing on.
I am going to review albums, shows and things of the sort here as well as banter about topics of relevance as well.
Enough time-wasting.

Saturday, May 24, 2008
Reggie's Rock Club
Chicago

The Queers
Lemuria
Bomb the Music Industry!
Andrew Jackson Jihad
Kepi Ghoulie

I've been promoting this show with posters kindly provided to me by Mike Park, of Asian Man Records for a while now. After hanging up a few around town, Mike put me on Kepi's guest list. Right off the bat, I was very stoked, but since I haven't been on many guest lists before, I waited in line with all the other kids like a moron, missing about half of Kepi's set. It bummed me out, as I wanted to see him the most. The Groovie Ghoulies vocalist played "The Beast With Five Hands" as his last song, so it made everything OK. He also played "The Highwayman" off his solo CD, Yes Depression as well. A familiar tune. It was nice seeing him, as I had never seen the Ghoulies before. I'll keep my fingers crossed.
Andrew Jackson Jihad was OK. They were very folky, kind of like every other band up on the indie scene right now. Your typical scruffy looking (probably vegan) guy with an acoustic guitar and a stand-up bass player singing some Against Me!-sounding songs over and over again. Not horrible, but not too original either.
The next band, Bomb the Music Industry!, intrigued me a bit. They were a 'collective' band, meaning there were no concrete members to it, and the members revolved as the show went from town to town. I'm not 100 percent up on how it works, but I assume there's some tabs somewhere and whoever wants to play as the band for whatever show just learns the music and does it. Kind of interesting, but it still wasn't that good. Just a bunch of amateur kids who want to be on stage singing and whatnot. Very fun, but not so much to look at.
It's more interesting that all of Bomb the Music Industry's mp3s are free via its MySpace page. Somewhere on there, I think it says Matt from Shinobu is on the recordings. So, kind of following the same 'indie-folk/punk' template, Bomb the Music Industry! didn't impress me much overall.
Lemuria was next. Unfortunately, I didn't catch much Lemuria as after being upset about the Kepi thing and then having to sit through two crappy bands, I went next door to drink. But they weren't bad. It's not all that often I see a girl-fronted band. I don't know what it is about that, but it's always more interesting for some reason, and not in a sexist or perverted way at all. It's just that after you see so many dudes singing for months and months of shows on end, it's kind of refreshing in a way to get that change of audio scenery in a live setting.
Anyways, The Queers headlined the gig. I enjoy them, they're fun and all that, but the only beef I have with them is that every time they come to town, they blow through the same set every time. They are a band sitting on a pretty hefty mine of good material, but they play the same fast short songs over and over again. Again, not a bad time, but I would love to hear some of their slower pop stuff live sometime.
The highlight of the night was when Ben Weasel came out to sing "Love Love Love" with The Queers. It was awesome. I had tickets to the Ben Weasel show the next day, so seeing and actually hearing his voice over the PA was a VERY nice appetizer to Sunday night.
But I'll talk about that later. After Mr. Weasel left the stage, Kepi came out to sing some Ramones tunes with The Queers. He did "Kill That Girl" and "Sheena Is a Punk Rocker," both very enjoyable. Seeing that cleared all feelings of angst from before, when I missed a chunk of his solo set.
So, all in all, it was a good show. The beer's overpriced as always and they do get you good on that, but other than that, it was an enjoyable night.