Set You Goals, Cartel, Fireworks, Hit The Lights, Mixtapes, and Super Prime are heading out on a tour from March to April! Check out the dates below by clicking “Read More!”
It’s a tough time to be in a rock band. Conyers, GA foursome Cartel have lived the downside of the music industry bubble, both metaphoric and literal. Now three albums and an EP into a rollercoaster career that’s taken them from half-empty bars to TRL and halfway back, and from indie The Militia Group to major label Epic to indie-major Wind-up Records, they’ve opted to go it alone, self-releasing their latest EP, In Stereo. But while Cartel are now theoretically free to do whatever they want, don’t expect any major surprises here. In Stereo is the logical successor to the retrenchment of 2009’s Cycles, a slightly-further-reaching follow up from a band with a clear sense of who they are.
There’s nothing on In Stereo as grandiose as the champagne supernova of Cartel’s “If I Were To Write The Song,” nothing as experimental as Chroma’s “Q” & “A” suite. In Stereo focuses on the variations possible within the three-minute pop-punk song formula rather than ranging outside of it. To that end, “Conduit” features some of the band’s most aggressive guitar sounds to date, with a spacey, echoed-and-delayed lead that darts and dodges around the song’s groove. The verses of “American Dreams” verses stomp forward like distant cousin of Chroma’s “Matter Of Time;” the tight reins on their vocal melody make the track’s breezy chorus soar all the higher in contrast.
Cartel recently opened up for Hot Rod Circuit on a string of their reunion dates. PropertyOfZack was there to capture three great Lives of the band playing a set in Philadelphia, and we are beyond stoked to post them. Check out the band playing “This City Never Sleeps,” “Say Anything (Else),” and “Honesty” below by clicking ”Read More”!
Cartel were set to to head over to Australia tomorrow for a week and a half, but the band has cancelled the entire run of dates. It looks like the promoter for the entire tour “screwed everything up and there’s no way to rectify the mistakes. You can read a full update from the band below by clicking “Read More”.
It had been previously announced that Cartel, Smoke Signals, No Motiv, I The Mighty, Helen Earth Band, and The Front Bottoms, among others, would be opening for Hot Rod Circuit on their final tour. It was however unclear which of the bands were opening for which shows. You can now check out the final routing and tour support below by clicking “Read More”.
Cartel will be travelling to Australia this coming November for a headlining run of ten shows. The band will be supporting their new release, In Stereo. Check out the dates below by clicking “Read More”!
A brand new Cartel song called “Conduit” can be heard here. The band will be self-releasing a new EP called In Stereo on October 4th.
Cartel played a headlining date in Ohio not too long ago, and our videographer, Kyle Garchar, was there to capture two new Lives of the band performing “Runaway” and “Burn This City” from Chroma. You can also check out the band playing two new songs acoustically for PropertyOfZack that will be coming out on their new EP here. The videos turned out great, so hit play and enjoy!
(For Tumblr Users: Click the direct link to view the videos)
*This footage was filmed by Kyle Garchar
- The Cab and Justin Timberlake will be working together.
- Seahaven announced their debut LP via Run For Cover Records.
- Hit The Lights signed to Razor & Tie Records for their new album.
- The Summer Set and The Downtown Fiction announced a fall tour.
- Simple Plan, Forever The Sickest Kids, The Cab, and Marianas Trench confirmed a tour.
- Cartel revealed the details behind their new EP.
- Pianos Become The Teeth will be releasing their new album in November.
- All Time Low and Simple Plan are working on a Canadian tour for 2012.
- blink-182 are not planning on touring again until summer 2012.
- O’Brother signed to Triple Crown Records.
Cartel will be self-releasing their new EP, In Stereo, on October 4th. A new song from the EP called “American Dreams” will be released on September 19th. Cartel will be opening for Hot Rod Circuit on six of their final tour dates this fall in support of In Stereo.
Hot Rod Circuit announced their final dates as a band a few weeks ago along with the supporting bands for the shows. Cartel, No Motiv, Smoke Signals, The Front Bottoms, Secret Music, and Helen Earth Band will all be playing on select dates. Cartel have now revealed when and where they’ll be playing. Check out the dates below by clicking “Read More”.
Hot Rod Circuit announced their final dates as a band just last week, but they have now announced the bands that will be opening for their last shows as well. Cartel, No Motiv, Smoke Signals, The Front Bottoms, Secret Music, and Helen Earth Band will all be playing select dates with Hot Rod, but it has not yet been confirmed who will be playing when. Check out the routing for Hot Rod Circuit’s final tour below by clicking “Read More”.
INTERVIEWS:
Patrick Stump
mewithoutYou
REVIEWS:
Divided By Friday // Prove It
SINGLE REVIEWS:
Tigers Jaw // “Distress Signal”
Cartel // “Lessons In Love”
SESSIONS:
Junior Doctor
Cartel
LIVE:
Set Your Goals
CONTESTS:
Divided By Friday [Ends on September 5th]
STREAMS:
A Lot Like Birds // “THINK DIRTY OUT LOUD”
Heart To Heart // “Requiem”
The Front Bottoms // “Looking Like You Just Woke Up”
ROAD BLOGS:
Plug In Stereo
Cartel
TRACK-BY-TRACK:
Divided By Friday // Prove It
GALLERY:
Gimme Summer Ya Love Tour
From Will Pugh:
Day 4 (Pittsburgh - Impromptu Day Off!!)
We slept off the fun of the previous night and awoke to a great idea presented by The Cab who, consequently, found themselves with an empty day sheet as well. The idea was to go to the Falcons-Steelers game at Heinz field. Brilliant! We had a nice game of beer pong prior to kickoff and I’ll let you know that yours truly sucks at beer pong. So, I had to drink a bunch of beer. Poor me. Haha. We all had a blast and went our separate ways afterward to be reunited at a later date.
Day 5 (Cleveland)
The Grog Shop is a classic underground venue. It reminds you of your first tour but has an undeniable charm. We were all feeling “it” pretty hard after the whirlwind in Pittsburgh but we managed to kick ass anyhow. Some local Cleveland fellows showed us some much needed hospitality which is always appreciated. All in all, if you can get coffee and sushi all in a 5 minute walk, it’s gonna be a good day. Indeed.
Day 6 (Columbus)
The Basement is one of the Cartel mainstays in tour world that’s always fun to play. Columbus has been a Cartel city for a long time and we always enjoy our journeys in BrOhio. By this point in time we had gotten into the tour groove where you kinda forget what day it is or how long you’ve been gone. This phenomenon is what keeps you sane during long stints on the road. It was good to see some old friends who’ve been coming to Cartel shows in C-bus for years. It really makes you warm inside to see folks 7 years later that were at your first show in that city and never missed one. We’re truly honored to have fans like that.
Day 7 (Joliet, IL)
We arrived at Mojoe’s just in time to find out they had a noise curfew at 5 which means no sound until then. It’s a typical restriction with venues that share buildings with other businesses. No big deal - to the Bar!! After killing time we banged out a soundcheck and proceeded to get some much needed football passes in the parking lot (what we refer to as “getting salty”). Since there weren’t any dressing rooms, we headed to the balcony bar to take in the show before we played.
