Barsuk Signs Mates of State, Starlight Mints, Viva Voce

That sordid, whirlwind signing binge resulted in a bad hangover and-- buried amidst assorted undergarments in the corner-- recording contracts with four of indie's finest: cute hyper-couples Mates of State and Viva Voce, sunny-fresh indie-poppers Starlight Mints, and soft-spoken singer-songwriter Rocky Votolato. It's no wonder really, ‘cos with over a dozen full-length releases between them, these four sure know how to put out...records.

And holy scandals, all are expecting yet again: due first is Votolato's Makers, which Barsuk will help bring into this world January 24. In part an homage to Rocky's rustic Texas upbringing, Makers will be the fourth solo full-length from the songwriter, who happens to be a father of two and brother to a Blood Brother. This dumplin' comes in weighing 12 tracks and looks a wee bit like this:

01 White Daisy Passing
02 Portland Is Leaving
03 The Night's Disguise
04 She Was Only in It for the Rain
05 Uppers Aren't Necessary
06 Wait out the Days
07 Streetlights
08 Tennessee Train Tracks
09 Goldfield
10 Tinfoil Hats
11 Where We Left Off
12 Makers

Next up, the highly-anticipated fourth record by too-cute-for-life husband-and-wife duo Mates of State. The couple have played surrogate sugar fix to indie kids for years with their distinct brand of organ-and-drums-sprung controlled chaos-pop. Mates Kori Gardner and Jason Hammel have christened their forthcoming album Bring It Back, and expect the bouncing bundle of joy to arrive March 21 bearing Barsuk's appropriately precious doggie logo and the following ten birthmarks:

01 Think Long
02 Fraud in the 80's
03 Like U Crazy
04 Beautiful Dreamer
05 What It Means
06 For the Actor
07 Nature and the Wreck
08 So Many Ways
09 Punchlines
10 Running Out

We'll have to wait until April 11 for Starlight Mints' as-yet-untitled. Barsuk debut, which follows up 2003's Built on Squares. Viva Voce's contribution to the family is due sometime mid-2006, but in the meantime, fans of the duo's male half, Kevin Robinson, can check out his experimental hip-hop project, Electric Ill. K.Rza (yes, that's his hip-hop name) unleashed his debut, a split album with Vla Hemia, last month on the Sounds Are Active label, and he'll perform a solo show at the Crocodile Café in Seattle on December 20. As for Barsuk's four scores, only Rocky Votolato is still getting around lately, but only in the Pacific Northwest. He's even playing a couple shows with his band Waxwing. Catch him if you can:

12-08 Seattle, WA - The Showbox Green Room
12-16 Seattle, WA - The Vera Project *
12-17 Redmond, WA - The Old Firehouse *
01-28 Seattle, WA - Crocodile Café (two shows) #

* Waxwing with Slender Means, Neon Blonde
# with Slender Means

Oh and by the way, Barsuk is so totally over Rilo Kiley.

Mates of State: http://www.matesofstate.com/
Starlight Mints: http://starlightmints.com/
Viva Voce: http://www.vivavoce.com/
Rocky Votolato: http://www.rockyvotolato.com/
Barsuk: http://www.barsuk.com/