Lungs, Paint, and Tounges
03.09.08
Recent Reviews and an interview:
Spin Magazine March '08 Recommended Download #14: Spin March '08
Also, RITKWANDO is now on emusic...>RITKWANDO emusic
New Record and U.S. Tour
09.23.07
Our new record, Rabbit in the Kitchen with a New Dress On, will be released on December 4th, 2007. The album is being put out by None Records, a subsidiary of Polyvinyl Records. We're going to be touring across the U.S. in support of our album, hitting the Midwest in October, the West in November, and the East Coast in December. Check our tour page for dates. We're going to kick off the tour with a local album release show on October 25th at the Cowboy Monkey in Champaign. We'll be joined by the Beauty Shop, who will also be releasing their new EP, as well as a very special guest. Check out some samples of our new album and pre-order by October 23 to receive a free EP with your order
Grrrreat Western Sessions
07.01.07
We the Shipwreck, have taken over Matt Talbott's Great Western R&R compound in historical Tolono, IL (past the Subway) to slather 5 new buttery tracks onto analog tape. Matt was a gracious host, a Willy Wonka of recording. Jordan "Let's try that again" Schultz was driven to the brink of sanity and patience for five long, ulcer inducing days of working with us. In the end he departed for a vacation with a happiness of a man, who finally passed a kidney stone, but not before he endulged his man-sized hunger with an order of 20'' pokey stix (equally impressive and disgusting). Once again some nice people were coerced into contributing to our dirty work. Thank you Erin, Tristan and Chris H. for helping us out. If you are interested in renting or buying a studio check out Matt's site: www.gwrecordrecorders.com.
Dull boy
05.22.07
Work, work, work. Record, rinse, and repeat. Write songs, write blogs, write checks.
What will shipwreck do next? Is it possible that the clouds of our minds are obstructing the view of the summit? Will Sisyphus be there to greet the mortals?
The history of the world resides in the dirt underneath the fingernails of the uncircumcised. Those who will save the cheerleader will get off the island. The master of ceremonies has many faces, but the one you will remember looks like a mystery shopper. Blessed are the meek for they are easy to manipulate. Let me get some action from the back section.
Lend us your ears.
03.07.07
We are going on a small tour of the Northeast in April. Can't wait.
Come out and see us, bring your friends, relatives and pets. (monkeys and grandpa must wear diapers). You know we'll be happy to see YOU. Did you get a new haircut? You look fantastic!
In the meantime, check out our recent EPs - House of Cards and Walk in the Woods, and learn all the words, so you can be a professional fan and sing along. Did we mention you're stunning?
We're off to see the wizard.
12.26.06
There comes a point in a man's life when he wakes up and looks at himself in the mirror and says,"What am I doing with myself?"
Now if you're Shipwreck (don't worry, you're not) the answer to that question is always the same thing: "I'm working on another EP because I told the good people of this town that I would, and I'll be damned if I ain't man of my word."
And so we find ourselves in our rehearsal space again writing the material for the 3rd of 4 EP's we plan to release.
We're pulling out all the stops. Chris is hopping out from behind the skins to take on the keyboard. Vlad's taking his turn at tickling the old ivories, too. John's finding that the bass is the only instrument that makes his hands appear dainty (or at least human). Harman is diving into his vast and strange record collection to bring you the finest drum loops available.
Look for it in late spring.
For now, come see us on New Year's Eve. We'll be debuting most of the stuff that night. And we're going to party like it's 1999, but without all of the stockpiling of toilet paper and water like we did last time 'cause of that whole Y2K junk.
Cheers.
Sexy explosion of the Shipwreck. High five!
11.08.06
John got a new late-autumn style.
Harman got new gibberish sayings.
Chris got a new hope of employment.
Vlad got new pants and a new line of credit.
The Mule got new oil and a windshield wash.
We are ready. Are you?
Set your livers on maximum and dust off the beer goggles. "Shipwreck on the Van" coming to a theater/bar/watering hole near you this November (10th-18th) - limited release. In a world, where one band takes ten days out of their lives to rock the Southwest anything can happen...... "the smell of it surrounds you" playing in the background....
Bring your friends and a willingness to let four inebriated dudes sleep on your floor.
We'll see you at your house after the show, hide the "cheeps" Chancho.
It is happening again...
09.01.06
We're diving back into the studio this week. That's right, diving in. Our studio is underwater. It's how we accomplish that elusive subaquatic sound.
Captain Adam "Ahab" Schmitt will be at the helm again, calling the shots, turning the knobs, and making the all the pretty lights on the console shine. Call us perverts, but all those little blinking lights really gets us hot.
Speaking of hot, you should see the new t-shirts we got coming. Designed by Mason "Boys Gone Wild" Kessinger, these slick little duds are the cat's meow. Look for them at upcoming shows and right here on this website.
So this new EP will be El Numero Dos in our plan to release 4 EP's in 16 months, and people are asking, "Are you going to do it? Are you really going to stick to schedule?" And in response we say "F yeah, bro."
But why? Why not take it easy? Why not live the good life?
Well, if you really must ask, it's because evil commie Islamofascist drug cartel warlords have kidnapped our children and they'll kill them if we don't put out all the records in time.
I shit you not.
Busy Backson
07.29.06
The House of Cards EP is complete. This will be the first of four EP's we will release in the next sixteen months. Check out some of the songs from the album over in the media section.
We recorded with Adam Schmitt during April and May of this year and then mastered with Colin Jordan at the Boiler Room in Chicago. The EP features background vocals from our friends Joe Prokop and Stephen Ucherek of the Living Blue, Seth Hubbard and Rachel MacArthur of Watery Domestic, and Michelle Owen.
House of Cards will be available for $5 at our shows. Also look for it at Amazon, CD Baby, and iTunes shortly.
The release party for House of Cards is at the Cowboy Monkey in Champaign on Thursday July 6th. We'll be joined by Starflyer 59, Elanors, and Cheyenne.
In other news, we got a van. It's really easy on the eyes. We got some shows. They're kinda far away. You know what that means: we're going on tour. We leave the day after the release show. Check out the listings under our tour dates section.
Lastly, you're looking at a brand new website. Take a look around. Come back often. You'll notice some things.
Thanks to our friends and families who have made all this work of late possible. Know that you are the coolest.
no title
03.03.06
"When the gods wish to punish us, they answer our prayers." Wilde
Bounce with me. What lovely weather. Here, let me take your sweater. Shipwreck has just the thing for your pale torsos.
T-shirts!!!! Pro T-shirts!!!! All sizes!!!! Terror!!!! ? $15 bucks ? Get em while they still smell factory fresh.
We've been nominated by 107.1 WPGU's Local Music Awards in two categories: Best Rock Band and Best Rock Album. Thanks whoever you are. Come over tonight. We'll show you the laser show we've been perfecting. And then we'll burn your retinas out with Michael J. Fox playing through John's full-stack converted into photons at your ojos.
The band has been writing some grimy slick melodies lately and maybe we'll drop a few on you at all our upcoming shows. (See show page for dates.) We're playing every Monday in April at the Canopy Club so you're guaranteed some fresh material at those shows.
Love me.
The owls are not what they seem.
02.27.06
Yes, something is happening, isn't it?
Well for starters, we're playing on Wednesday at the Iron Post with Pulsar 47 and Fireflies. Wednesday are the new Thursdays, and we all know that Thursdays became a weekend night back during the Iran-Contra scandal days, so technically it's the weekend. Come out and party like it's 1999. (Minus the fears of Y2K)
no title
01.13.06
Who put the ram in the ram-a-lam-a-ding-dong?
Well, the year has come to an end. Now you must feast on the gut of an antelope. Well... how does it feel to be a ten-legged hog? Just put on your pink tophat and two-step over to Bobby's house with your mommy. Dig on my flow.
Mmmmm? XXX-citing month coming up for the Shipwreck Family Band. Many a show in January. Chicago. St. Louis, Columbus, Springfield? oh my!? A Great Cover-Up premier? T-shirts are almost done and our records seem to be selling fairly well. We also landed a great review in Skyscraper Magazine Issue #20.
Folks have been very kind with their best-of-the-year ratings. (They weren't cheap, believe me? and my hungry babies) We would really love to see your smiling, intoxicated faces at our shows. We want to videotape you after the show. Please see John for details. He's hungry.
February 2nd will be a full-on Rock War at Battlerusa. Bring your cross-bows.
Shipwreck is from Champaign-Urbana, Illinois where corn grows through the holes in the floor.
Announcing Shiprweck v2.0
09.14.05
Greetings and welcome to the grand opening of the revamped Shipwreck homepage, where it's always Friday night and the belly dancers are bountiful.
Sorry if you missed the two months of the free download of our new album, Origin, but you can get a taste of it, as well as a couple tracks from our first EP, Six Mega-Hits, on the songs page.
Shipwreck weighs in at a combined weight of 858 lbs and hails from Champaign-Urbana, Illinois, where the sun eases out of and into the flat horizon and the cornfields are chock full of creepy little kids.
Vladimir's back from a month in Russia, where he was visiting his mama and learning the bass lines to the entire Hall & Oates catalog. Chris, Harman, and John meanwhile were back States-side crafting terrestial versions of our subaquatic standards.
We've been busy of late preparing for shows, forging an arsenal of next generation gigahits, and exploring the fine line in poker where victory and intoxication become mutually exclusive.
Join us for a show with The Appleseed Cast and Chin Up Chin Up at the Canopy Club on Saturday, October 1, at 8 pm and at other shows listed here.