I now declare this bridge open.

Today we travel to the middle of nowhere to finish recording our new album. I suppose it's customary to be excited about whatever is being worked on at a given time, but I think these recordings are easily the best we've ever put to tape. David Allen has done a wonderful job making every strange, left-field idea that the three of us blurt out work perfectly. (Dave, you're also a much weirder guy than most give you credit for. This is a good thing. We have felt right at home.) Hopefully this record makes you stare at your speakers like a dog, or laugh like when you hear the Beach Boys at an empty gas station on a rainy morning, or remember your favorite date in history. I can't wait to play it for you.

The name of this record is still under review. The tracks are, in no particular order (and subject to exclusion), as follows:

1. Marketing Ploy

2. Scott Walker Records

3. Clean Black Coats

4. Plastic Bags / Destroying a Piano

5. Shtriga

6. Blank Host

7. Building Things to Scale, Daniel

8. Bombs Away

9. Count Your Lucky Breaths

10. Red Sea Jive

11. Athena

12. Ghosts in my Parents' Hallway

Until we meet again,

DB

I thought ya'll was getting' signed

hello. good afternoon.

recording is in our near future. new record. new approach. moody pop music has been an interesting road to travel for a couple of years. now we think we'd like to sharpen up this knife and do something a bit more raw and hands-off. local mustachio david allen, who just nailed it with the new black fortys record, will be at the helm this time around while the three of us actually focus.

view halloo. warn the dogs.

-secondary modern

here it is then

"ascension day" - talk talk

"never my love" - the association

"tezeta" - mulatu astatque

"new lace sleeves" - elvis costello

"the devil's coachman" - robyn hitchcock

...an idea of where we might be coming from at this juncture. just today.

WEEKDAY UPDATE # 4 -- "Clean Black Coats"

AUDIO/VIDEO -- "Clean Black Coats"
[enjoy]

-Secondary Modern

WEEKDAY UPDATE # 3 -- "Shtriga"

AUDIO/VIDEO -- "SHTRIGA"
[hey, check it out, we switched instruments, which is something we do from time to time. it's not a big deal. it's not 'our thing'. oh, just take a listen!]

-Secondary Modern

WEEKDAY UPDATE # 2 -- "Scott Walker Records"

AUDIO/VIDEO -- "SCOTT WALKER RECORDS"

[this song was played on tour in march. we started writing it the day matt got back from his long trip to idaho and finished it that evening. we all felt like it was a good indicator that we were back in action. hope you feel the same.]

-Secondary Modern

WEEKDAY UPDATE #1 -- "Marketing Ploy"

AUDIO/VIDEO -- "MARKETING PLOY"

[this is the first of a series of posts. we will post a video of a new song each week until our show at Hangar 9 on May 27. this one is called "MARKETING PLOY". thanks for watching.]

-Secondary Modern

looking ahead

you're waltzing with a person of ill fame

Listening to Sparklehorse as the shit comes down outside. Here we go:

We've been quiet since our March tour. It has been intentional. However, behind the closed/locked door of our quaint little practice space in the back of Plaza Records we have been making quite a lot of noise. Find me three guys who get tired of their songs faster than us. Vaudeville Ghosts came out in August and I can honestly say our March tour was probably the last one geared toward that material.


We'll let this fresh new cat out of the bag on Friday, May 27 @ Hangar 9. It'll be the first time we've had top billing at the new Hangar and we're looking forward to trying out some new sounds (you know, like noises). Also playing: Mouthbreathers, Up The Academy (both from Lawrence, KS), and a new Carbondale band called Kid Tiger.

Sneak peaks in the form of video/audio/photographs soon...

vampire planet,
Secondary Modern

loud pop music in the cold cold midwest

Ok. Here it is...a brief wrap-up of our short tour:

Chicago -- Van brakes down within first 20 minutes of our tour. Visions of the most depressing week and a half ever spent are smashed by the generosity of Max Sentenney (I doubt I spelled that right). "Hey Max, can we borrow your van...um, right now...uhhh, for 9 days...please?" Who says yes to that kind of thing? Thank you, sir! Weird show...waaay late...throwing up hamburgers. Stayed with Kaliegh and Justin. Talked about comic books after jazz just seemed boring.

Madison -- Find me a city more alive than Madison, WI right now. Not only did we get to play with our good friends in Icarus Himself, but we got to check out a Saturday afternoon protest at the Capitol. It's humbling to see people so unified in such an intelligent way. "We" and "us" replacing "Me" and "I"...and because we were there to play for them, they accepted us as one of there own. Petty bullshit out the window! Take notice! Nice people working for something...what an idea. [read up on this, please, and check out the nonsense in Michigan immediately].

Dubuque -- Rode with Icarus Himself to Iowa. Great show. Great place (when you enter Iowa your thoughts immediately travel toward "oh, shit...really? Not the case!). Karl informed us of celebrity deaths that didn't really happen the whole drive home. Wu-Tang at 4am. Bacon and Eggs with Nick, etc, etc.

Minneapolis -- Snowstorm, Kitty Rhombus, Cause Spirits and Soundbar. Kind of a dead one, but who goes out on Sunday in a snowstorm? Man, not me. Stayed with Ian, Jason, Andrew, and John (for two days...thank you). Ate at a hipster place where they made you write down your order even though they stood right by you and could have easily used their ears. What novelty!

Iowa City -- Played a free show at the Mill. Talked with Sam about Guided By Voices for way too long. Stayed with a Nashville transplant named Amar. Maybe the most chilled out dude we met the whole time.

Omaha -- I turned 24 at this show. Details are hazy, but I do know we stayed with Scott (who is a chef) and he made us one of the best breakfasts I've ever had. [writing something about every city is taking longer than I thought].

Lawrence -- Actual birthday show. Replay Lounge. We got a very good response after we established that we were, indeed, playing that loud on purpose. ("I'm sorry, when I said 'we're from Carbondale, IL' I figured we all understood that was code for 'we're going to play very loud now' ").

oh God...okay, done-ish.

TONIGHT: HANGAR 9

w/ Black Fortys and State Champion

10 pm

we are opening and we will be playing very loud.

I wonder how many people read this whole thing? I'm not even going to spell check it.

-David

The Real McCoy!

HELLOOOO...

Our tour is shaping up nicely. Our pal Dalton Kennerly will be joining us for the trip and also will be playing guitar on a chunk of the set. Should be wonderful...or we are going to kill him. Anyway, here are the dates so far:

March 3: Chicago, IL @ Beat Kitchen

March 4: Madison, WI @ Mickey's w/ Icarus Himself

March 5: Dubuque, IA @ The Busted Lift w/ Icarus Himself

March 6: Minneapolis, MN @ Cause Spirits and Soundbar

March 9: Omaha, NE @ Barley Street Tavern

March 12: Carbondale, IL @ Hangar 9 w/ State Champion and The Black Fortys

March 17: Tulsa, OK @ Soundpony

...A couple of the empty slots are still in the works, so watch out for that. We're also looking to play a couple of unofficial SXSW shows on March 18-19. Anyone with a line on that type of thing should email secondarymodern@hotmail.com

Let's end it on this note:

love,

Secondary Modern

I'm Talkin' Bout the Future!

Them,

It's time.

Matt will be back from the land of potatoes at the beginning of next month. New songs are flowing and they'll be worked out when he returns. No time to screw around though, because when I say "It's time", I mean it's time for another tour. The dates are coming together quickly! We'll do about a week and a half and then roll on down to Austin, TX for some SXSW mayhem. We're looking forward to all of this, but it will mainly be good to have ol' McG back in Illinois.

Stayed tuned for further transmissions.

-us