In other words the group is done, which is disappointing to say the least. All of those shows and all of those songs are now just things of the past.

Frankie Broyles is doing his solo thing now, and is currently out playing West Coast dates with Atlas Sound, Carnivores, and White Rainbow. Woody Shortridge is now playing bass for the Dog Bite band. Catch them at the Drunken Unicorn on Mon., March 5 with Grimes and Born Gold.

Long live the new flesh.

Seven years ago, Savannah natives Circle Takes the Square released As the Roots Undo..., a dense, apocalyptic, and crushingly heavy album, and unquestionably one of the finest post-hardcore releases of the decade. And when it seemed like the band was about to receive some of the mainstream success they deserved, they just sort of...stopped. There was no formal breakup announcement, but there were no announcements or tour dates since 2007. Mostly, fans had given up on anything new from the band, especially after three of the four members settled down and got married.

But earlier this year, the band launched a Kickstarter campaign intended to fund a new album, and within a month or two, the band had raised 10 grand more than the $2,500 they were hoping for. Now it looks like that money has been put to good use, as the band released a short Youtube video spotlighting clips from their upcoming record Decompositions Part I.

The band has disabled embedding on the video, but you should check out the sneak preview on Youtube. It's short, but seriously good. The band hasn't announced a release date for the record yet, but whenever it is, it can't come soon enough.

David Berman is one of the most lauded characters in the canon of indie-rock songwriters. He is also one of the hardest to understand.

Unlike his friend and sometimes bandmate Stephen Malkmus, Berman doesn't fit the mold of an ironic hipster. Nor does he carry the weighty, country-boy mystique of Will Oldham. Berman is more like Charles Bukowski. He has the ability to write lyrics rife with symbolism and that resonate with a universal sense of truth, but are grotesque in their painful honesty.

He relegates interviews to e-mail, both in the interest of clarity and to maintain the cryptic shield that surrounds Silver Jews records, it seems. His responses simultaneously feel conversational and elusive, and getting inside his head is virtually impossible.

Like his interviews, Berman's lyrics have their own internal sense of logic that reveals all sorts of hidden meaning. Just listen to his double-edged lyricism in "Candy Jail" from his latest release, Lookout Mountain, Lookout Sea (Drag City). "Living in a candy jail/where the guards are gracious and the grounds are grand/and the warden really listens and he understands," Berman sings.

On the surface, allusions to a cornucopia of peppermint-flavored jail bars, peanut-brittle bunk beds and marshmallow walls seem like nonsense. But upon closer examination, he's not just singing about sweets.

Read the rest of this article here.

(Photo by Brent Stewart)

This Saturday night Atlanta's long-standing power pop trio the Young Antiques (A.K.A. the 'Tiques) will head over to Savannah to play a show at The Jinx.

The Rent Boys are going along to give an encore performance of their recent reunion show at The Fringe Binge a few weeks back. So if you didn't get the chance to see them then, here's one more go-around, which is will worth the drive to Savannah; and after all there was an almost 8 year gap between Rent Boys' shows. And despite much prodding these recent reunions aren't going to lead to a proper reformation of the group, so catch them if you can.

In other Young Antiques news, the group is now taking pre-orders for their forthcoming self-released CD, titled Soundtrack to Tear Us Apart.

(Photo courtesy of the Young Antiques)

From out of nowhere Off-Duty Cop is playing their first show tonight at Lenny's. ODC is a new pairing of former Blame Game band mates Ian Deaton (guitar) and Alex Lambert (drums).

Deaton explains that the group is an excuse for him and Lambert to get together and jam on some punk songs and do some improvisational stuff as well. It is a project that will be ongoing, and will fire up whenever Lambert is back in town from NYC where he currently resides, or Deaton is up there.

Off-Duty Cop plays around 12:30 and the show is free. Be there or get busted...

If you're not stuck in gridlock or already far far away from Atlanta for the 4th of July weekend there are plenty of things going on around town to keep you entertained. In addition to the various back yard BBQ’s, block parties and shows taking place all over the city on the 4^th CL's gives a hearty, American thumbs to the following weekend happenings.

First and foremost, there is the King Khan and the Shrines show happening over at Lenny's. On Sat., July 5th.

Criminal Records in L5P is hosting an in-store performance with the Dutches & the Duke at 5 p.m. The show is free and there will most likely be will be beer provided.

Later that night the D&D head over to The Drunken Unicorn to play a show with Seattle's Fleet Foxes. The show is $10 and it starts at 10 p.m.

The Star Bar in L5P is has the whole weekend covered with a spate of free and fantastic shows from local bands.

Friday, July 4th

Pink Police

the Booze

the Hiss

El Capitan & the Scallywags

the N.E.C.

Club Awesome

Saturday July 5th

Anna Kramer & The Lost Cause

Gringo Star

Ocha La Rocha

Brass Castle

All the Saints

Music at The Star Bar begins at 8 p.m. on both nights and, once again, it's free all weekend.

And if these things aren’t your bag, than you can head over to Turner Field on Friday to catch Arrested Development’s lead female vocalist, Tasha LaRae perform the national anthem before the game starts.

Then on Saturday night Arrested Development will play a show in Fan Plaza beginning at 5:30 p.m. There will be a second show in Fan Plaza after the game as well.

Part-time No River City players Mark Carbone (bass) and Nathan Green (keyboard) have joined forces with CJ Bargamian (formerly of Crybaby and Myssouri and various other long gone Atlanta underdogs) to spearhead a new band, called A Fight to the Death.

The group first materialized as Bargamian’s solo project, dubbed Chris Bargamian & A Fight to the Death in 2006 with the self-released album, American Literature. End of Continent Sadness followed in ‘07.

Together now with a full line-up that also features Colin Jaccino (bass) and George Wallace (pedal steel) the group crafts a rolling and dusty rumble that’s driven by heavy percussions, wafting organ and lap-steel textures and a rustic, gypsy-esque Americana traipse. AFTTD doesn't have as much in common with the humid, country pace of No River City, but draws more to the world of Western film scores than anything else.

The group's debut LP is in the works and scheduled for a July 19^th release party at The Highland Inn Ballroom Lounge. Songs from the forthcoming release can be heard here, and if you are so intrigued by the tunes on their Myspace page, you can can check them out for free at The Star Bar tonight (as in Thurs., July 3) with Era of the Stereograph, Falcon Lords and the Sound Supreme. Music starts at 9 p.m.

(Photo courtesy AFTTD)