Pitchfork: Appleseed Cast, Crystal Skulls Tour, Record

Appleseed Cast, Crystal Skulls Tour, Record

It's been some time since we last heard from the Appleseed Cast, that lovable, atmospheric quasi-emo-rock act from Lawrence, Kansas. During the three long years since the release of Two Conversations, the boys have been living profoundly, feeling a lot, and scrawling feverishly in their diaries. Now, at last, they're ready to dump the contents of those sacred books upon you, the emotion-happy, one-inch-button-adorned masses. With soaring, spiraling guitars too!

March 21 marks the release of Peregrine, the sixth Appleseed Cast record proper (counting the two Low Level Owls separately). The title is a fancy SAT word that means "migratory; inclined to wander". Their first release for The Militia Group, Peregrine features thirteen selections of that trademark Appley goodness, produced by John Congelton of the Paper Chase. Scope this here rather pastoral tracklist:

01 Ceremony
02 Woodland Hunter (Part 1)
03 Here We Are (Family in the Hallways)
04 Silas' Knife
05 Mountain Halo
06 Sunlit and Ascending
07 February
08 An Orange and a Blue
09 Song 3
10 Woodland Hunter (Part 2)
11 Peregrine
12 A Fate Delivered
13 The Clock and the Storm

Appropriate to their album title, the Appleseed Cast will migrate to nearly every god-forsaken watering hole in this great nation, with an impressive 40-date tour presently underway. Joining them for much of it are hot bands with silly names, like Minus the Bear, Crystal Skulls, Victory at Sea, Aloha, and Rocky Votolato.

Biblical, man:

03-01 Boise, ID - Neurolux
03-02 Seattle, WA - The Crocodile Caf� <br> 03-03 Portland, OR - Loveland *#
03-04 Eugene, OR - WOW Hall *#
03-05 Sacramento, CA - The Library *#
03-06 Berkeley, CA - Heller Lounge *#
03-07 Fresno, CA - The Belmont *#
03-08 San Luis Obispo, CA - S.L.O. Brewing Company *#
03-09 Pomona, CA - The Glass House *#
03-10 San Diego, CA - The Casbah *#
03-11 Tempe, AZ - The Clubhouse *#
03-12 Albuquerque, NM - Launchpad *#
03-13 Amarillo, TX - The Refuge *
03-14 Tulsa, OK - 1974 ^
03-16 Austin, TX - Red 7 (SXSW) $
03-17 Denton, TX - Rubbergloves
03-18 Oklahoma City, OK - The Conservatory
03-19 Wichita, KS - Headway Skate Park
03-25 Lawrence, KS - The Bottleneck %
04-06 Madison, WI - Club 770 @
04-07 Iowa City, IA - Gabe's Oasis @
04-08 Chicago, IL - Beat Kitchen (two shows) @
04-10 Lansing, MI - Mac's Bar @
04-11 Buffalo, NY - Mohawk Place +
04-12 Cambridge, MA - Middle East Downstairs +&
04-13 Cromwell, CT - Knights of Columbus +&
04-14 Philadelphia, PA - First Unitarian Church +&
04-15 Brooklyn, NY - Northsix +&
04-16 Baltimore, MD - Ottobar +&
04-17 Wilmington, NC - The Soapbox +&
04-19 Atlanta, GA - The Drunken Unicorn +&
04-21 Gainesville, FL - Common Grounds +
04-23 St. Augustine, FL - Cafe Eleven +
04-24 Athens, GA - Caledonia Lounge +
04-25 Nashville, TN - The End +
04-26 St. Louis, MO - Creepy Crawl +
04-27 Kansas City, MO - The Record Bar +

* with Crystal Skulls
# with Minus The Bear, Rocky Votolato
^ with Criteria
$ with Brandtson, Controlling the Famous, Fielding, The Holy Fire
% with White Whale, Black Christmas
@ with Lying in States
+ with Aloha
& with Victory at Sea

Other news from the Appleseed homefront: Gilead Media will re-release Low Level Owl Volumes I and II in deluxe 3xLP vinyl format. This strictly limited pressing of 1000 hits stores March 14. Finally, Appleseed Cast vocalist Chris Crisci is currently recording his second solo disc as Old Canes, while wearing a pot on his head.

As for Appleseed tourmates Crystal Skulls, the band's second album, Outgoing Behavior, is due in fine stores near you on April 11.

Tracklist:

01 Outgoing Behavior
02 Baby Boy
03 Move Me Alright
04 The Cosmic Door
05 Heavy Sleeper
06 Treat It Well
07 Brigantine Castles
08 Just Like You Want
09 The Hold Up
10 Hey, It's Easy
11 Sedate & Satisfied

They have a few non-Appleseed shows scheduled as well, including a stint at SXSW, where they will be getting around more at than "Brokeback" jokes in a frat house. Missing the band while in Austin would be like trying to give yourself a haircut with a shotgun...just plain stupid.

03-14 Denton, TX - Rubber Gloves +
03-15 Austin, TX - Urban Outfitters (SXSW Party)
03-16 Austin, TX - Habana Calle 6 (Mile High Fidelity SXSW Party)$
03-16 Austin, TX - Emo's (Suicide Squeeze SXSW Showcase) %
03-17 Austin, TX - Lucky Lounge (Riot Act Media SXSW Party)
03-17 Austin, TX - Red's Scoot Inn (SXSW Eastside Scootenanny)
04-07 Seattle, WA - Neumos ^
04-08 Portland, OR - Doug Fir Lounge ^
04-10 Salt lake City, UT Kilby Court ^
04-11 Denver, CO - Hi-Dive ^
04-13 Omaha, NE - Sokol Underground ^
04-14 Ames, IA - Maintenance Shop ^
04-15 Chicago, IL - Schubas ^
04-16 Kalamazoo, MI - Kraftbrau Brewery ^
04-17 Lansing, MI - Mac's Bar &

+ with His Name Is Alive & Saturday Looks Good To Me
$ with Pink Mountaintops
% with Minus the Bear, Chin Up Chin Up, Headphones, the Six Parts Seven and Metal Hearts ^ with John Vanderslice
& with Spank Rock

Out already and available on this tour is The Cosmic Door EP, which groups the new album's first single with two remixes from last year's triumphant Blocked Numbers. If you can't go see the band, try to at least get some satisfaction by playing the spoiler and buying up the last remaining limited-to-1000-copies from Suicide Squeeze. EP tracklist:

01 The Cosmic Door
02 Hard Party (Crystal Skulls Remix)
03 Away From Home (Dark Baby Remix)