CLEAR THE RUNWAY: Pre-order season is open now for the upcoming album by Athens death metallers Jet Engine Dragons. While the band definitely leans more toward the technical side of the genre, it still retains multiple hallmarks of the style. Plus, it feels like the band has been around for forever, so any stylistic quandaries should be resolved by now. The new record is named Ronin and is slated to contain eight songs, and the band will celebrate with a release show Apr. 5 at Flicker. The album was recorded and mixed by chief composer, vocalist and guitarist Corey Flowers. Pre-orders of the compact disc are a very reasonable $10, but you also have the option to order just the digital download or a combo-pack with a CD and T-shirt. Explore your options, and check out the first single “Cursed Gods Reborn” over at jetenginedragons.bandcamp.com.
THE MUSIC, THE MESSAGE: The all-star cast behind Curt Castle does a fine job of backing him up in his latest single, “All The Time,” which is a heavily dreamy treatise on keepin’ on and putting one foot in front of the other. The band is composed of well-known heavy hitters Ben Hackett, Jack Blauvelt, McKenrick Bearden, Lee Gunselman and Chris Haymond. Castle himself is better known as Ryan Engelberger, and the single was engineered by both him and Hackett at Chase Park Transduction, then mixed by Castle. The new single can be found at curtcastle.bandcamp.com, and you can find out more information at facebook.com/curtcastle and curtcastle.com.
BANNED ON THE RUN: Depending on who you are, you’ve either waited 40 years, 40 weeks or maybe even only 40 days for this news. And that news is that the self-titled compilation from Athens’ own Banned 37 is finally set to be released in its entirety on Feb. 14. All these tracks, both live and in-studio, were recorded in 1984. This newly compiled collection was mastered by Jason NeSmith, while the original tracks were recorded by legendary Athens producer John Keane. The band was composed of Kenneth Aguar, Newt Carter, Mark Craig, Eric Agner, Rob Neal and Robby McMahan. For a time, Banned 37 was (among many) a toast of Athens and enjoyed a certain level of local success both live and on WUOG 90.5 FM. Significantly, the band existed in that rarified period before hyper-specific genre labels were slapped on everything. The band deftly swung between Athens-style jangle pop and the slightly heavier Amer-indie of the time. This release arrives courtesy of one of the hardest working labels in Athens, Primordial Void. Pre-orders for the cassette version are open now at primordialvoid.bandcamp.com, which is also exactly where you’ll find this digitally once it’s released. Rumors of a reunion show are also swirling, so let hope spring eternal.
NOW AND THEN: Way back, like, nearly eight weeks ago, Iodine Watt released the superb EP hope (BANDCAMP SPECIAL EDITION) just on the heels of the Liminal Spaces EP and just ahead of this month’s Arrows EP. Whereas hope is a deeply experimental ambient record, Arrows is clever, sprightly, catchy, highly rhythmic, embraces both techno and jazz, and is a breath of fresh air just perfect for January. Find this and all the others over at iodinewatt.bandcamp.com.
BOOKMARK THIS: Long-running, to say the least, Athens punk band Triangle Fire will return to DIY venue The Red Line (1958 Winterville Road) Tuesday, Feb. 13 to play its first local show in three years. This is home field territory for the group, too, as they also played the spot’s inaugural show back in 2021. During this time, Triangle Fire will be in the midst of a decent sized tour, too. Also on this bill, which is already kind of stacked and promises to get more stacked as the days tick down, are Atlanta’s Sanity Syndrome and Dallas, TX band Boof. For more information, please see facebook.com/TriangleFireBand and listen to everyone via trianglefire.bandcamp.com, booftheworld.bandcamp.com, and you can find Sanity Syndrome on Spotify.
NOW HIRING: Musicians resource center Nuçi’s Space is now hiring for a few choice positions. Specifically, these are development manager (to be filled by mid-year), finance and compliance manager (to be filled by mid-year), health and wellness Program manager (applications being taken starting at end of January) and musician services program manager (actively recruiting now). Now, obviously, each of these positions comes with its own set of requirements and challenges, but I’d encourage any of you who are interested to please explore the specific ones of interest to you and reach out. For more information, please see nuci.org/hiring.
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