| Heavy Changes |
| News Archive |
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| New album out now! The oft-discussed and oft-delayed live album is now finally released under the title Rock Concert (an appropriate title for anyone who saw Ric's "Rock Group" bass drum head when Matthew Sweet performed on the Craig Kilborn show). (12/00) |
| Velvet Crush To Release Best-Of Album In Japan! The Japanese-only Velvet Crush best-of compilation (due in September) will be called Timeless Melodies. Paul said the track listing for Timeless Melodies is not finalized yet. In addition, Ric has also mentioned plans of a Japanese tour in October and an American tour in spring 2002. (05/01) |
| Jeffrey sighting! Original Crusher Jeffrey Underhill makes a guest appearance on the new Pernice Brothers album, The World Won't End. Unfortunately, the credits do not say which track(s) he plays on. As for the album itself, it reminds me of say, an old ELO album. (8/01) |
| Velvet Crush re-issues out now! Both the singles/b-sides album A Single Odessey and the newly enhanced debut album In The Presence Of Greatness are now available. The unreleased nugget here is a cover of Gene Clark's "Elevator Operator". Like their previous Clark cover ("Why Not Your Baby"), the Crush version is faithful to the original, right down to the deliciously cheezy backing harmonies. But the band also drops an explosive amount of rock energy on the tune, led by some awesome beatbox-like drumming from Ric. You won't want to miss it. Also, ITPOG comes with three bonus tracks: Circling The Sun, Everything Flows, & She Cracked. (08/01) |
| MTV Announces Velvet Crush To Receive Heavy Airplay! Ok, maybe not, but you can watch the videos for "Window To The World" and "Hold Me Up". Go to the Action Musik link on the links page or visit parasol.com. (09/01) |
| Track Listing For VC Japanese Best-Of! The Japanese-only Velvet Crush best-of compilation (out now) will be called Timeless Melodies. Ric has sent me the track listing: if not true/ ash & earth/ window to the world (radio mix)/ blind faith/ superstar/ gentle breeze/ butterfly position/ drive me down (acoustic version)/ star trip (original version)/ time wraps around you (original version)/ hold me up/ weird summer/ why not your baby/ atmosphere/ fear of flying/ think it over/ be someone tonight/ goin' to my head/ worst enemy/ things get better/ please don't take me down (new recording)/ staying found (new recording) In case you weren't counting, that's 22 tracks in all, including 2 brand new songs! (09/01) |
| Velvet Crush T-Shirts Available! The band now has new T-shirts for sale thru Parasol. If you want to get one (which you will if you possess even a modicum of cool), visit parasol.com. (09/01) |
| Melody Freaks Out Soon! Parasol has a release date for Melody Freaks of mid-May. Not sure, but I'm guessing the collection of demos and outtakes will include the original versions of "Star Trip" and "Time Wraps Around You" from Timeless Melodies (recorded with members of the Gigolo Aunts) that differ substantially from the versions on the Teenage Symphonies album. Still no word on a release date for the Soft Sounds album. I did finally snare a copy of Timeless Melodies. A word on the 2 new songs: "Please Don't Let Me Down" has a peaceful easy feelin' that ranks with the best tracks from Free Expression, and would have fit quite nicely on that album. "Staying Found" is one of the Crush's most Beatle-esque songs, complete with a George-like guitar break in the middle. Ironic, considering George passed away almost the same time this CD came out in Japan. (4/02) |
| More New Velvet Crush Material To Be Released Soon! I have info from Ric about the two upcoming Velvet Crush albums. I'll turn the mic over to him: "Melody Freaks is a collection of demos & outtakes spanning the years 1990-1996. Soft Sounds is a 'soft rock' album featuring songs written & recorded over the past two years. They'll both be out sometime in Jan/Feb 2002. There'll also be a mail-order only live thing called Shitty Bootleg available thru Parasol in the spring, and we're working on a new, full-on rawk album that we'll have out sometime in 2002." (11/01) |
| Ric Menck Joins The Tyde! The Tyde has announced that Ric has joined the band as their new drummer, this according to the band's website (www.thetyde.com). The band has a sound similar to Beachwood Sparks (they share some band members), but with less of an emphasis on country. The Tyde's debut album, Once, was one of the finest albums to be released in 2001. I asked Ric about his new gig: "I joined the Tyde late last year. I was extremely chuffed when they asked. They're nice people and we share a common love for similar music. They've signed to Rough Trade in England and we've already begun recording a 3 song EP for release in spring, to be followed by an LP in summer. There'll probably tour England at that point, but I doubt a tour of America will be forthcoming for quite some time. [I asked Ric about the Tyde stating that the UK band Felt was their biggest influence -ed.] Yes, I would say Felt are a big influence on their sound, especially on the way Ben Knight plays guitar, but they have many other influences and to sight them as merely sounding like Felt would be incorrect. [I also mentioned how I felt that the Tyde's sound was not all that different from the VC's own Free Expression lp -ed.] I'm not sure Once sounds very much like Free Expression stylistically, although there's a lot of California in both records and maybe that's what you're picking up on?! [why, yes, I was! -ed.] As for Velvet Crush, there'll be two new releases coming shortly. We're also talking about going to Champaign in the spring and recording an LP with our friend Adam Schmitt behind the board and our old compatriate Nick Rudd playing guitar. Nothing's definite just yet. In the world of VC things only happen when the timing is right." (02/02) |
| Melody Freaks Out Now! Melody Freaks, a collection of outtakes and demos, is now available from Parasol. Also, Ric has partnered with Parasol to form a reissue label, Reaction Musik. The label's debut release will be an album by the 60's Mod band the Action called Rolled Gold and is now available thru Parasol. (6/02) |