Iowa City just inherited a new musical talent in Alex Dezen. Dezen’s best known for his role fronting Brooklyn-based alt-rockers The Damnwells. Now he takes on a new role as a student at the University of Iowa Writers’ Workshop. That doesn’t mean he’ll just be sitting in front of a typewriter, in fact, he’s already shown his face around Iowa City music venues and we can only hope that’s not a one-off. If you’re curious about the recruit we just got, you can check out The Damnwells here, and you can download their latest full-lenght, One Last Century, legally and for free.
This is some damn fine ragged, heart-on-sleeve alt-country. Embrace the musical gift Iowa City has just received.
Daytrotter will be kicking off their Barnstormer II Festival this Monday evening (the 5th) at 6 PM in West Liberty, IA. Many notable bands will be performing, including Port O’Brien, Nurses, Brooks Strause, and Drink Up Buttercup. And yes, they will all be playing in a barn. It is hard to miss an event like this.
Nurses is an up and coming trio from Portland, Oregon who have been featured on NPR and Pitchfork. Port O’Brien is out of California and are on the eve of releasing their new album entitled Threadbare. Many of us have heard their hit single, I Woke Up Today from their previous release and even on a commercial advertising for Dulux Paint. Brooks Strause is a fellow local folk rock artist right out of Cedar Falls, Iowa and lastly, with the addition of Drink Up Buttercup, catchy indie pop songs will not be missed.
Iowa City indie-poppers The Western Front have themselves a new EP called The Balkanization of Epistemology. If you were lucky you caught DJ John Schlotfelt spin the four-track EP in its entirety on his Iowa-themed radio show Corn-Fed Music.
You can cop the whole darn thing here. FOR. FREE. The RIAA won’t come for you, don’t worry.
