Jakob Dylan To Release Solo Album in May

Apparently, that recent string of Wallflowers tour dates has been in preparation for Jakob Dylan's first solo record. The album, Seeing Things, will be available on May 13. I'm definitely looking forward to this, and I think it's about time, especially considering that the last original member of the Wallflowers, Rami Jaffee, left the band late last year. Dylan's one of America's most talented lyricists, in my opinion, though the band never got the attention it deserved, post-"One Headlight."

Yes, the album is co-sponsored by Starbucks and Columbia, but hopefully we can all get past that. His father, after all, released The Gaslight Tapes exclusively from the coffee chain.

Dylan will be playing at SXSW this spring, and a national tour is expected to follow.

TRACKLIST:
'Evil Is Alive And Well'
'Valley Of The Low Sun'
'All Day And All Night'
'Everybody Pays As They Go'
'Will It Grow'
'I Told You I Couldn't Stop'
'War Is Kind'
'Something Good This Way Comes'
'On Up The Mountain'
'This End Of The Telescope'

LINKS:
Jakob Dylan's MySpace
The Wallflowers website

Lineup Changes, New Tour Dates For The Wallflowers

I don't know if I'm the only one still keeping up with Wallflowers news, but longtime guitarist Rami Jaffee has left the group this month, right before the band starts its mini-tour (its first in two years!). This comes via the band's website, where Stuart Mathis has been announced as Jaffee's replacement, for the next few months at least. That's too bad, but I'm hoping the split was amicable. This might be a good time for the band to get its name back out there, with the Boss getting ready to lay some rootsy, good old fashioned Magic on us. The band's got an official MySpace and re-designed website up and running, so something's gotta be coming... a new album, perhaps?

Anyways, check out the tour dates and the Wallflowers' covers of some very, very good songs (plus an acoustic version of "Sleepwalker," awww yeah).

TOUR DATES:
10/17: Mobile, AL @ Bayfest
10/18: Washington DC @ 9:30 Club
10/19: Glenside, PA @ Keswick Theatre
10/20: Atlantic City, NJ @ Borgata Music Box
10/21: Somerville, MA @ Somerville Theatre
10/22: New York, NY @ Highline Ballroom
10/27: Alpine, CA @ Dream Catcher Showroom at Viejas
10/28: Pala, CA @ Pala Event Center
11/07: Chicago, IL @ Park West
11/08: Mt. Pleasant, MI @ Soaring Eagle Casino & Resort
11/10: Milwaukee, WI @ Turner Hall
11/11: Minneapolis/St. Paul, MN @ Fitzgerald Theater

LISTEN:
"Sleepwalker" [MP3] (Acoustic)
"Heroes" [MP3] (Bowie cover)
"Into The Mystic" [MP3] (Van Morrison cover)

ON THE WEB:
The Wallflowers' website
The Wallflowers on MySpace
Click here for information on ticket pre-orders

The Wallflowers Announce Small October Club Tour

Jakob Dylan and the Wallflowers load up the van for their October shows.

One of my old favorite non-indie bands, the Wallflowers, has just announced a smattering of smaller, more intimate shows they'll be performing on the East coast in October. These will be the band's first shows in two years (sounds about right - I saw the guys play in Ventura in the summer of 2005). Sounds perfect, because while the band's often expansive sound (think of older songs like "One Headlight") can fill an arena, Jakob Dylan's songwriting and lyrics seem more suited toward smaller venues. I'm a sucker for an underrated album (I whine about them all the time like a baby), and 2004's Rebel, Sweetheart was an underrated (though imperfect) album if there ever was one. And would you listen to the lyrics in "God Says Nothing Back"? Think this means they're working on another album?

SHOWS:
10/18 - Washington DC @ 9:30 Club
10/19 - Glenside, PA @ Keswick Theatre
10/20 - Atlantic City, NJ @ Borgata Musix Box
10/21 - Somerville, MA @ Somerville Theatre
10/22 - New York, NY @ Highline Ballroom

LISTEN:
"God Says Nothing Back" [MP3] from Rebel, Sweetheart

ON THE WEB:
The Wallflowers website
The Wallflowers on MySpace

Album of the Week: The Wallflowers - S/T

I'm not going to bore you all with too much of a rant on how undeservedly overlooked the Wallflowers are. I know it's hard to ignore all of those repetitive 90s bands the Wallflowers are always lumped together with, but c'mon, they really sound nothing like the Goo Goo Dolls (and other "beacons" of 90s "alt-rock"). Anyways, before "One Headlight" thrust the band into the spotlight, the band released its self-titled disc that was pretty much ignored by the media back in 1992, save for a few praising reviews that all inevitably featured the whole "Bob Dylan's son" sort of remark. Jakob Dylan's voice DID sound rawer and less polished, a little more like his father's, and there was a little bit more of a country-fied, Americana bend to the band's sound as well. The melancholy lyrics are a bit of a mixed bag, ranging from beautiful to sounding just a little bit awkward -- apparently Dylan hadn't written too many songs when he and the band's original line-up (who broke up soon after this album, after being dropped from Virgin) went to the studio. In any case, though, the stripped-down sound and youthful energy is a refreshing thing to hear from a band that's been suffering from overproduction for a long time now.

LISTEN:
"Shy Of The Moon" [MP3]

ON THE WEB:
The Wallflowers' website