Wow!

We are sooo excited to be nominated! As you surely know, Friends or Enemies, is Pete Wentz’s artist social networking site. Verity in Stereo is excited and honored to be nominated along with All Time Low, Cobra Starship, Fall Out Boy and many others!

Please help and go vote now! You don’t even need to be a member all you have to do is check the circle next to Verity in Stereo and click vote!

PS…. Please facebook, twitter, myspace, and tell all your friends.

Click here to vote

<3 Unuka Records.

I am pretty excited about this release. Since the first single “Blood On My Hands” was released a few weeks ago and I’ve been listening to it daily. References have been made that this album, the first without John Feldmann producing, would go back to the dirtier, harder roots of “The Used” and “In Love and Death”. Although the final result is decidedly less gritty then the original albums, it does in fact explore some of the original song and even album structures. Simply put, if “Lies for Liars” was a exploration into a different direction for The Used then “Artwork” is a progression of what The Used originally was. From Blood On My Hands to the ballad Kissing You Goodbye, The Used have completed an album that although complex in its musical undertones will appeal to the diverse audience built in their earlier releases.
Preorder now at Amazon or get the Single Blood On My Hands on right now!

A relatively quiet week on the new music front is highlighted by alt rockers Arctic Monkeys, pop songstress Colbie Caillat, Jewish rapper Matisyahu and country classic Willie Nelson. We’ll link to these albums and some reviews below.

Arctic Monkeys : Humbug

Arctic Monkeys have captivated the post-Britpop scene since their 2006 debut, but Humbug finds the group justifying the hype by shifting its best qualities into different, equally dazzling shapes. – Billboard

Buy now on or Amazon
More reviews at metacritic.com

Willie Nelson : American Classic

Its sound is lustrous, its personnel impeccable. What’s missing is the sense of conviction that Mr. Nelson brings to his strongest work. – The New York Times

Buy now on or Amazon
More reviews at metacritic.com

Colbie Caillat : Breakthrough

Caillat has a fine voice — clear and ringing, with a hint of a rasp — and she can write hooks. (She co-composed every song here.) But the simpering puppy love grows wearying over 12 tracks, especially because Caillat fails to convince as a romantic heroine. She sounds too goofy — too bubbly and tingly — to be lovelorn. – Rolling Stone

Buy now on or Amazon
Read the full review at rollingstone.com

Matisyahu : Light

On bright pleasures like the New Wave-y “We Will Walk,” Light comes close to becoming an attention-holding pop album. But it’s dragged into earnest tedium by good-natured platitudes (“I must find a road that leads where nobody goes”) and hippie-soul moments like “Thunder,” on which Matisyeezy sounds like a self-serious indie rapper with a major vegan bent.. – Rolling Stone

Buy now on or Amazon
Read the full review at rollingstone.com

The band known, respectively, as Flight’s Kool was founded by band members, Joe Cerami, lead vocals and guitar, and Chris Ell, percussion and guitar, in the summer of 2006 while playing at the Java Joint. The word respect must be stressed because that’s precisely what this core of Jersey Shore natives has earned throughout their journey. The local buzz was created immediately after an acoustic demo, live from Chris’s living room, hit the streets. This low budget recording took off, gaining momentum faster than thought, and they began booking gigs at local night spots. Instantly, they were hearing excellent feed back throughout the Ocean County area. The buzz swiftly flew through local high schools and colleges, but that was just beginning. Recruitment of the current band members quickly took place. Cerami and Ell looked to the artistic hip hop skills of vocalist Ray Montgomery and the steady hands of Steve Vitti on the drums to give this group a more well rounded and versatile edge on the competition.
Word spread faster than the plague, and soon they were in high demand amongst club and bar owners. Continuously, they rocked the house and showed the fans what is was like to jam out to the new sounds from the rising “Local Legends.” Filling the room again and again, these boys from Toms River made a name for themselves as a legitimate group of up and coming artists with a message of hope and good feelings. By the summer of 2007, they recruited lead guitarist Brendan Ell, brother of co-founder Chris Ell, and gained the musical intelligence of bass player Jon Lewis, which unofficially announced them as a powerhouse. The knowledge of the music industry they gained from their two newest members gave the band a true advantage. This aided them in shows with bands such as Badfish(The Sublime Tribute Band) and Bob Marley’s legendary Wailers at Joey Harrison’s Surfclub. Consecutively, they stirred up the crowd and heard nothing but cheers from the fans.
That fall, following their introduction to the music industry in 2007/2008, these beach dwelling musicians went to work on their first full length album “Infestation” while continuing to book gigs. Shows opening and headlining at The Stone Pony in Asbury Park, at the Tropicana on Halloween night and in the Saw Mill Green Room for Fukitt clothing were great ways to promote their sound. The buzz circulated, and they found themselves playing in Surf Taco in Jackson, Paul’s Tavern in Belmar and two performances at The Saint in Asbury Park, including opening for Shootyz Groove. As expected, the crowds grew larger and larger with each night.
The mixing of their album “Infestation” was completed in April of 2008. During that Spring, the band performed live in front of a studio audience for a Monmouth University television show. To promote their album, the group joined forces with “Badfish” again at Joey Harrison’s Surf Club. Summer time came around, and their album was released. This went hand and hand with opening for The Wailer’s a second time. When the Garden Grove Festival in Asbury Park had arrived, they found themselves matched up with “Badfish” for the third time. During the same summer, our boys continued pushing, playing the “Wave Gathering Festival” in Asbury Park. It was here that the band received attention from the local media, including an interview with the Asbury Park Press in reference to a nomination for the “Best Groove Band” by the Asbury Park Music Awards.
Summer turned to Fall, and the band hit the road, playing in such venues as North Star Bar in Philadelphia, Sonar in Baltimore, Blaggard’s, Kenny’s Castaways and Sullivan Hall in New York City. It didn’t stop there, O’Donoghue’s in Hoboken, The Crossroads at Garwood, Chubby’s in Red Bank, The Stone Pony in Asbury Park and Hemingway’s in Seaside Heights. Everytime this young group of artists graced the stage, they saw new fans and a rapidly growing following. But please don’t misinterperet that as anything other than this band is ready for the next level! The average man or woman can enter a Flight’s Kool show on any given night and leave flowing with the music, softly singing the lyrics to themselves and being blessed with a possitive message that helps relieve their minds of the stress from everyday life! In a time of despair and struggle, it brightens the sky knowing that there is hope for the next generation. The band uses personal experiences and creative storytelling to empower audiences looking for help. The foundation has been set. The work has been put in, but there is more to be done. Flight’s Kool is set for take off!

Is a fallen empire worth saving? Can the resistance find redemption? Or will these be the last days? When THE VERONICA PROJECT scorched the sky, a permanent dusk fell and tyranny ruled. The resistance, known only as LOCUST, vowed to protect this ruined empire and its remaining population. Outnumbered and out gunned, LOCUST can only attempt to deliver a sense of hope and the possibility of new life through the reconstruction of THE EMPIRE. This will not be an easy task, and many will be lost. THE VERONICA PROJECT shows no fear, only a blank drone gaze that haunts the dreams of its adversaries.

This is the thematically driven landscape for which LAST DAYS OF EMPIRE provide the soundtrack—ethereal, ambient, and urgent post-rock movements that force the listener to confront a vast array of moods. The possibilities of this envisioned world prompt the dramatic duality of fantasy/reality in the highly emotional lyrical themes based on a hero motif of love, camaraderie, glory, and death. LAST DAYS OF EMPIRE hail from Central New Jersey, and are not afraid to take artistic steps through a dying scene.

Combining three layers of guitar work, an explosive yet patient rhythm section, distorted keys and beats, violin bows, a vast array of effects, and a strong vocal section that is equally abrasive as it is soothing, LAST DAYS OF EMPIRE deliver a sight to be seen in a live setting, and provide a fresh take on an emerging sub-genre.

River City Extension is dockgrass. What is dockgrass? It’s when singer/songwriter Joe Michelini, cellist Jenn Fantaccione, drummer/bassist Michael Costaney, vocalist Desiree Hartman, percussionist Nick Cucci, and trumpet player Dan Melius get together to start a project that is going to rebel against music without feeling or, “fake modern art”. Started August of ‘07 in Toms River, NJ, the band has gone through many members and many changes to finally arrive at the bluegrass/folk-rock/punk-rock and some other rocks type of sound they are today, which is often compared to bands like The Avett Brothers, and The Pogues. With already many small accomplishments under their belt, these core members plus a few friends hope to take music a place it has never gone before, with instrumentation and arrangements sewn together with the thread of musical diversity to form a complex quilt of genres, emotions, and an ultimately penetrating live show. River City Extension believes in the human spirit and the power to overcome anything with grace, art, precision, and of course a bottle or two of New Jersey’s finest. They have just self-released their first record NauticalSabbatical, and are playing shows all across the east-coast, in hopes of getting funding for a larger midwestern tour this summer.

Vocalist Kiirstin Kuhi left her former post-hardcore band and founded Hip Like [blank] with her pianist/cardsharp brother Mikal in late 2007. Since then, they’ve done little else but write songs and play as many shows as possible in the greater New York area—from bars and poetry clubs to opening for nationally touring acts.
With songs that are at once intimate and grandiose, playful and melancholy, Hip Like [blank] draw from jazz, rock, hip-hop, folk and pop to create a sound as unique and idiosyncratic as the siblings Kuhi themselves. Find their eponymous debut EP in stores across New Jersey or online at HipLikeBlank.com.
Unuka Records first signee, Hip Like [blank], can also be found on myspace, facebook, last.fm, ilike, purevolume and virb.

We found out about these guys from Kings of A&R. They showcased in New York City recently at Highline Ballroom opening up for The Roots. If that’s not enough to get you to look then I don’t know what else would be. Enough chatter, go check these kids out at myspace and let us know in the comments what you think.

We’ve been keeping this one under wraps for the last few months as we’ve worked on it but we’re ready to officially announce it. On Friday May 15th, 2009 Unuka Records has booked its first show. We have to thank our good friends at GNYC for allowing us to work with them on this one. We’re really excited because we’re all originally from the Jersey Shore (Oakhurst and Toms River). Needless to say we pulled at all the stops and booked a few of our favorite up and coming local acts. The show is at the Beach Bar on the Funtown Pier side of the boardwalk in Seaside Heights. As mentioned in the title its part of the Seaside Music Festival on Friday May 15th with the show starting at 8. The lineup consists of Philadelphia, PA based the defog, New Palz, NY based Liz Welter (originally from Oakhurst, NJ), Unuka Records own Hip Like [blank], Farmingdale, NJ based Skull Motion, Neptune, NJ based Vanities and headlining, Toms River’s own Flights Kool.
Now that you know who’s playing make sure you grab the flier below. Throw it up on your myspace page, print some out, give em to friends, put em on light posts… Ya know, the normal stuff. Thanks much and see ya there!

You can download the flier below.
Print Version
Black and White Print Version
Web Version
Code to put the web version on your myspace page (or you can download and make your default pic) :
<a href=”http://www.unukarecords.com/2009/04/28/unuka-records-books-its-first-show-at-the-seaside-music-festival”><img src=”http://www.unukarecords.com/wp-content/uploads/2009/04/fliersmall.jpg”></a>

Also, don’t forget to check out our friends at TheSurfersView.com

Hey everyone, we’re proud to let you know that Hip Like [blank] is featured on TalentTrove.com as the Stage of the Day. TalentTrove.com is a great social media website that is centered around helping you showcase your talents to the world. We’re super happy they chose Hip Like [blank] and would love for you to check out they’re page and the write up.

Hip Like [blank] will be doing 2 sets tonight at Joey’s Cafe in Washingtonville, NY. The address is 19 E Main St. Washingtonville, NY. We’re pretty excited for them to venture in new grounds and build on their already strong NJ/NY fan base. If you’re in the area be sure to come over and hang out. Also, Liz Welter, a long time friend of Kiirstin’s will be opening the show. She’s a solid acoustic act. The show starts at 9:30 so its late enough for all us 9-5ers.

See ya there.

Tim Towner, owner of The Daily Chorus, who a few months ago was brought on as General Manager and Partner of SmartPunk.com has stepped down as of today. He doesn’t go into much detail except to say that he has “big disagreements with people that call the shots now” and he “can’t work with people who he doesn’t believe in.” This is an interesting turn of events as Tim had been strongly integrating The Daily Chorus and Smartpunk with cross promotional efforts in blogs as well as refining and updating the business practice’s of SmartPunk. The future remains to be seen but you can be sure that with Tim out of the picture you won’t see any Unuka Records releases on SmartPunk.

I twittered this earlier and just decided to post it here as well. For those who don’t know “Mean Everything to Nothing” is Manchester Orchestra’s second full length and first from Canvasback(annuals and others). This is a fantastic album. It refines the sound they fostered on their debut “I’m Like a Virgin Losing a Child”. It’s darker, edgier, generally better defined and hints at a more specific alternative rock. They’ve managed to maneuver the process of maturity (that’s not to say “virgin” was immature) without losing the passion and overall impact of both the music and front man Andy Hull’s distinctive tenor. Take a listen, you’re sure to enjoy it.
Myspace

These guys added us on myspace today and we couldn’t be happier about it. They’re simply crafted indie pop songs evoke easy going feelings of humor, interest, passion and creativity. At least that’s what I got out of them. Check them out at myspace and if you’re in the Boston area at O’briens Pub on April 14 or T.T. The Bear’s place on May 1st. And don’t forget to let us know what you think of them.

After countless hours of preparation the day is finally here. Hip Like [Blank] hits the stage at the School of Rock in South Hackensack, NJ with MAE to release their debut EP. Kiirstin and Mikal are welcoming Zack Passman on bass and Craig Williams on drums to fill out the sound and rock all of you tonight.

We’re stoked to have over 100 of our closest fans there to enjoy everything with us. Thanks for all your continued support whether you are coming or not. Look for the EP on iTunes and other digital outlets soon.