Summer Shows Added

Summer's right around the corner, which means it's about time you start spending your long summer nights inside small dark venues with us and our friends. Shows are starting to roll in, and here's where we're at so far:

Wednesday, May 8th @ 331 Club, Minneapolis, MN
With: Cheryl, Darkside's Winning
Free, 21+, 9:00PM

Sunday, May 19th @ Amsterdam Bar and Hall, St. Paul, MN
With: The Persian Leaps, The Farewell Circuit
Free, 21+,

Monday, June 17th @ Kitty Cat Klub, Minneapolis, MN
Hannah's Birthday Bash & Tour Kick-Off Party
With: Panther Ray, Strange Relations
$5, 21+, 9:00PM

Friday, June 21st @ TBA, Winona, MN
With: Panther Ray

Saturday, June 22nd @ Vaudeville Mews, Des Moines, IA
With: Panther Ray, No Good Deed
$10, 21+, 8:00PM

Sunday, June 23rd @ TBA, Madison, WI
With: Panther Ray

We will have new shirts available at all of these shows, along with a limited number of the remaining "Neighbors" cassettes from Cakes and Tapes Records (as well as a few custom tape players!). See you in the sweat.

December Shows Added

We here at Brilliant Beast HQ are pleased as the spiked punch at a high school Sadie Hawkins dance to let you know that A) Jordan has a working throat and vocal cords, and B) we're going to show them off to you this coming December with a couple shows that look to be the musical equivalent to the stuffing in your Thanksgiving turkey (you know, soaked in broiled animal fats).

First up is Friday, December 14th, at Big V's in Saint Paul (Snelling & University). We'll be headlining a night of indie rock acts, so be sure to stock up on your PBR tallboys so the carpeted walls can be properly soaked. It's a 21+ show with a $5 cover, the music starts at 10 PM. We'll be joined on the loudest stage in the Twin Cities by these fine folks:

The Mad Rounds (f/k/a the Calcified Kids)
Persian Leaps
She Burns Forever (f/k/a Sontaran Experiment)

And then here comes the biggie, the fresh cut of red meat, the cranberry sauce from the can, the ultimate belt-loosener....

Friday, December 28th, we'll be helping Jordan celebrate his 26th birthday in style at Hell's Kitchen in downtown Minneapolis (80 S 9th Street). This party's going to be like Footloose and Flash Dance rolled into a tortilla and deep fried -- a Chimi-cha-cha-changa! We're plunking ourselves in the middle of a rock 'n roll sandwich with some reggae bread. Here's the lineup:

The Prizefighters (featuring Eric and Jordan)
France Camp
The Brilliant Beast
The Dropsteppers

It's a 21+ show, 10 PM doors, and a $5 cover. There are some great drink deals going on, and we'll have a contest to see who can buy Jordan the most $4 Summit Winter Ales. We'll bombard you with more information coming soon about this can't-miss danceathon as the day grows nearer.

We've been working on a whole lotta new songs, so please come on out and hear what we've been cooking up!

.....is anyone else really hungry right now?.......

7th Street Entry Show, 8/15

We're super excited to be making our downtown danceteria debut coming up on Wednesday, August 15th as we'll be bringing the thunder to the cozy confines of the 7th Street Entry. The doors open at 7:00 PM and we hit the stage first at 8:00. We'll be followed by Portage and Cjell Cruze. It's $5 to enter and you gotta pass the 18+ test first.

We'll still have plenty of cassette tapes at the show, and we still have customized Brilliant Beast tape players for you to shake your wallet at. Click here some more info on the show.

Official US Cassette Release is on!

After the fine fellows at Cakes and Tapes released Neighbors on cassette tape on April 16th, it's been available for consumption via the European Union's official "Let's pretend to save Greece" campaign by offering five Euros in exchange for 7 heart-stopping tracks of gravy-coated rock and roll. But now, Marshall Plan 2.0 aside, you will be able to finally purchase the cassette direct from the mouth of the Beast when you come see us at our official tape release show on Sunday, July 22nd at the Fine Line in Minneapolis (318 1st Ave). It's a free show, and you'll also have the chance to purchase the cassette along with a hopefully operational tape player we'll scour the metro-area thrift stores for. What a steal!

We'll be playing with France Camp, Urges From Elsewhere (also releasing a CD this night), and the Jacob Martin Band all the way up from Nashville. Again, it's free. It's also 21+. It is also the debut of our new pentacle tri-guitar attack, with a special appearance from the one and only Bells Cline! How can you say no to that????

Here's the flyer for the show:

And the cover art image for the cassette (I know, it's different from the CD. How fucking cool is that? Better buy  one, right?)

New Shows, New Friend, New Cassette!

Important new developments from the Lair of the Beast!

Item 1: New Shows
The Brilliant Beast have 2 shows lined up for the next 2 months. First, we will be rejoining our good friends The Dropsteppers on Wednesday, March 28, at the 331 Club in Northeast Minneapolis. It's a birthday celebration for Tom and Paul from the Dropsteppers, so you know it's going to be a full-on dance fest. These guys sure know how to bring that sweet soul vibe to Jamaican rhythms! The show is FREE (21+) and it starts at 10. Don't miss it! More info here.

Then on Monday, April 16, we will be at the brand new Amsterdam Bar along with Kasey McKee and Dream Escape Artists. This show is also FREE and 21+, starting at 9. More info to come.

Item 2: New Friend
The Brilliant Beast would like to welcome longtime BFF Daniel James Edmonds into the pack. Well-known for his stylings as a solo artist and headmaster of Danelectric, he'll be bringing his affable cardigan-clad charm to fill in while Hannah remains trapped overseas in England. Upon her eventual return, Dan will remain our indentured servant. So expect a lot more fiddle and three-guitar spin-outs come summer time.

Item 3: New Cassette
We are also proud to announce that "Neighbors" will be released as a cassette-EP and digital download by Portugal hit-makers Cakes and Tapes. We are working out the details now, and are expecting a mid-April release. We will definitely keep you posted as this is tremendously exciting news.

Over and out,
- Jordan

Holding Pattern!

Before Hannah took off for 5 months in York, we filmed a charming music video for the charming ditty "Holding Pattern," which is featured on our new EP Neighbors. The video stars Hannah and Jordan and was shot on an out-of-manufacture flip camera, used about 10 minutes of total film, and was shot and edited in under 5 hours. We're extremely efficient when it comes to being hip. Enjoy it, it's great!

Release Show Victory!

Thanks to all who came out to the 331 Club for the "Neighbors" release show! Big thanks to the Dropsteppers and Beyond the Element for being terrific bands and great drinking buddies. 

Thanks to Alison Osberg for taking some wonderful photos!

Let's be "Neighbors"

It's finally here! The long-rumored, long-awaited, desperately-anticipated follow-up to 2010's folksy collection of heartbreaks "Bestiary" was officially released on November 30th at the 331 Club in Nordeast MPLS. The new EP, "Neighbors," is a 7-track snarl of power-pop jingles sure to make you twist your way out of your anxious skin. The mood has shifted from heartbroken to romantically paranoid. The songs on "Neighbors" chronicle the slow unraveling of a tired relationship through the intense inner-monologue that occurs when lust has turned to lack of trust. We're losing grip, and we'll do anything possible to keep you around, baby.

Recorded and mixed in five days, "Neighbors" marks a new chapter in the Brilliant Beast's saga. Heavily influenced by the magical lo-fi sounds of late-80s power-pop and shoegaze, this album takes the plaintive folk hollers from "Bestiary" and dips them in a bubbling cauldron of reverb and grit. Produced by St. Paul soundsmith Kasey McKee, the 27-minute EP has a warmth that can only arrive from cassette mixing and basement recording. 

You can look at all the lyrics right here on this website (under the "Lyrics" tab, smartypants). You can listen to the record on BandCamp, and if you like it, you can purchase the digital copy as well. Or, you can buy the whole physical package from the band, or by sending an email to thebrilliantbeast@gmail.com with your address and we'll mailorder the whole shebang for $5. 

"Neighbors" by the Brilliant Beast:

www.thebrilliantbeast.bandcamp.com

Go!

Neighbors by The Brilliant Beast is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs 3.0 Unported License.

Live on the Radio!

Yesterday, we stopped by the KPVL 89.1FM The Blend studio in Decorah, Iowa, with longtime pal/one-time collaborator Adam Wiltgen, who was nice enough to interview us and let us play four songs. You can tune in tonight on the online stream at 5 PM central by logging on to www.891theblend.org to hear this week's installment of the Driftless Podcast. In this stunningly exclusive interview, you'll hear all about hog farms, new experiences, and Tony Hawk Pro Skater, along with previews of these tracks from our upcoming EP:

- Neighbors
- Holding Patten
- The Bear
- Black Shadow

Tune it on up!

Extreme Home Makeover: Website Edition

Just added to the site, as you may have noticed (or you will now notice, if this is your first visit) the header has changed. We are now a group of happy children performing in the early 1960s somewhere. Much more representative of our sound than an actual picture of us.

Also, a lyrics section has been added, so now you can sing along at all of our shows and sing the real words! Although, I can't promise that I'll actually sing the words that I've written. I've got a bad habit for ad lib on stage, as remembering words is hard! Even if I wrote 'em, there's just so many syllables, you know?

And hey! Tomorrow is a free show at the Acadia. We're playing with Stop Drop, they're pretty awesome. And a band from LA, so maybe they know all the young stars of the MTV programming empire. We can only hope. Check out the facebook for all the info, but remember, it's FREE!

- Jordan