Pitchfork

We got visions of Menomena's Danny Seim bouncing around his room with one (very long) pantleg on and a hand frantically slapping his laptop when he recently emailed us a mere three hours before embarking on a two-week tour with All Smiles, the newish project from ex-Grandaddy guitarist (and Seim BFF, he types) Jim Fairchild.

Seim will join Fairchild's band on drums and backing vocals as they hit the road over the next couple weeks, with their first date together taking place tonight (October 16) in Denver. What's more, as Seim notes, "we've been asked to open for Conor Oberst and his Mystic Pizza Band," with whom the Menomena man has a joking bone to pick "for stealing Menomena's 'best packaging' Grammy away from us with his damn Cassadaga record." That burn you just made is worth at least an American Music Award.

Seim and Fairchild will be joined during the All Smiles sets by Nik Freitas, also of the Mystic PizzaValley Band. Freitas rears his head on Oh for the Getting and Not Letting Go, the next LP from All Smiles. Check out a track from that album, "Our Final Roles as Birds", in MP3 form below. As for the album, release info is forthcoming.

There's also word from Seim about Menomena's follow-up to the Grammy-losing (but Best New Music garnering!) 2007 affair Friend and Foe, which they hope to knock out before the year's up and release in 2009. Menomena's got a pair of dates lined up late in November; the first's a leukemia benefit in Portland, and the second's a show in Honolulu that will be the band's first Hawaiian gig ever. Don't forget to pack that swimsuit, Seim.

All Smiles:

10-16 Denver, CO - Ogden Theater *                
10-17 Taos, NM - KTAO Solar Center *                      
10-18 Tucson, AZ - Rialto Theater *
10-19 San Diego, CA - SOMA *
10-20 Los Angeles, CA - The Echo
10-21 Los Angeles, CA - Henry Fonda Theater *
10-22 Los Angeles, CA - Henry Fonda Theater *
10-23 Visalia, CA - Fox Theater *
10-24 San Francisco, CA - The Warfield *
10-29 Minneapolis, MN - First Avenue *
10-30 Milwaukee, WI - Turner Hall *
10-31 Chicago, IL - The Vic *
11-01 Chicago, IL - The Vic *
11-02 Detroit, MI - Royal Oak Music Theater *

* with Conor Oberst and the Mystic Valley Band

Menomena:

11-23 Portland, OR - Doug Fir Lounge *
11-29 Honolulu, HI - The Loft

* with Eluvium, Dolorean