Birthday Suits Tour Starts Today

March
5 Fargo, ND @ The Aquarium
6 Billings, MT @ The Perk
7 Missoula, MT @ Badlander w/ Victory Smokes
8 Seattle, WA @ The Sunset w/ The Whore Moans
9 Olympia, WA @ house show
10 Portland, OR @ East End
11 Eugene, OR @ The Oak Street Speakeasy
12 San Francisco, CA @ The Knockouts w/ The Pets, Pins of Light
13 Los Angeles, CA @ Redwood w/ The Pack A.D., The Gunslingers
14 San Pedro, CA @ Harold's Place

15 San Diego, CA @ Bar Pink w/ Wild Weekend, The Girls

16 Tucson, AZ @ Bsnsns Sawmills w/ Ultramaroon, Fugitive Kind, Lenguas Largas
17 Las Cruces, NM @ El Patio w/ Shang-A-Lang, Taco Cat, Forever
18 drive
19 Austin, TX SXSW "Blackout Booking Showcase" w/ Human Eye, Thomas Function, Greg Ashley Band, Lover, Brimstone Howl, Terrible Twos, TV Ghost, Audacity
20 Austin, TX SXSW
21 Austin, TX SXSW
22 San Antonio, TX @ Sam's w/ Peelander-Z, The Emeralds
23 off
24 Denton, TX @ Rubber Gloves w/ Peelander-Z
25 TBA

26 Oklahoma City, OK @ The Conservatory w/ Peelander-Z

27 Omaha, NE @ O'leaver's Pub w/ Bazooka Shootout
28 Minneapolis, MN @ Triple Rock w/ Swewhores, Gay Witch Abortion, Double Bird

Catch the rambunctious garage-punk duo at SXSW, or at one of their two Minnesota dates today, and at the end of the month, respectively.

Birthday Suits MySpace Page

Birthday Suits to Release Split Single With The Marked Men

As Valentine's Day approaches, the music community at large is getting some special releases pertaining to the holiday. Nationally, Ryan Adams is set to release a EP with all of his best love songs. In terms of Minneapolis artists, Birthday Suits and The Marked Men are about to give listeners something special as well. The groups are releasing a seven-inch, one which will consist of two songs from each band: One original, and one where each covers the other's material (in other words, Birthday Suits have one original song, then cover a song by The Marked Men, and vice versa).

Read more about the single, including the historical precedent for these band's getting together, here. To get your hands on it, go to The Birthday Suits show this Friday @ the Entry.

Birthday Suits MySpace Page
The Marked Men MySpace Page

Tonight: Birthday Suits, Strut & Shock at the Clown Lounge

(Birthday Suits)

What is the Clown Lounge? No, it's not the student lounge at a prestigious Ivy League university. ("I'll thank you not to refer to Princeton that way"). Rather, it is the basement of the Turf Club, and its also the site of two of the most raucously rollicking bands in the Twin Cities. First off will be Struck & Shock, a 50/50 guy-girl quartet who fall somewhere between good old-fashioned garage-rock and the forward-thinking righteous anger of Riot-Grrl. They have a song called "Sexy Never Hurt Anyone". Who am I to disagree?

Next up will be Birthday Suits, a duo more in line with the aggressive tempos and guitar tones of punk (which, as we all know, is garage's unruly kid brother). Three years ago, BS released their debut album called Cherry Blue. There hasn't been much album-length activity since then, but the band has been keeping busy by touring with the likes of Dillenger Four, releasing free downloads via RCRD LBL, and putting out a split 7" inch with like-minded garage-punkers The Blind Shake. While there may not be a whole lot of word regarding a Blue follow-up, listeners can still expect a high-octane show from Birthday Suits.

Here are the set times:

Strut & Shock (10:30)
Birthday Suits (11:30)

Clown Lounge Website

Birthday Suits MySpace Page
Strut & Shock MySpace Page

Minneapolis In Chicago: Dillenger Four, Birthday Suits Tonight At Beat Kitchen Saturday Night

Download: Dillinger Four - "Fuzzy Pink Hand-Cuffs"
Download: Birthday Suits - "Slowly Motion"

Our Chicagoland (sounds like an amusement park, no?) readers who are curious about Minneapolis punk may want to check out the bill tonight at Beat Kitchen, an excellent place in Chicago for food and music if there ever was one. Beloved Minneapolis pop-punkers Dillinger Four are stopping by the Lakeview live venue to play 2 shows. Ever the ones to be the populists, one an all-ages show starting at 5 p.m., and the other show is a 18+ show starting at 10 p.m.. Maybe if you're lucky, they'll play material from Civil War, the album that the Star-Trib reported as finally seeing the light of day in 2008.

That would make War the band's first release in six years. Hopefully, their fans will think that the album has been worth the wait. Joining them at the later show will be fellow Minneapolis punk duo Birthday Suits. The duo's last record was 2005's Cherry Blue. Hearing both the Suits and D4 in the same building will undoubtedly make your legs sore from all the pogoing. But at least you're ears will be ringing with the sound of two distinctive punk rock voices from the Twin Cities.

Buy tickets for both shows here.

Dillinger Four's MySpace Page
Birthday Suits' MySpace Page

(Jonathan Graef)