…well, we thought we might try and jumpstart yr week with a new track from Cincy faves, Eat Sugar. The quartet have a new digital-only release due out on August 24 entitled Levantese! Working again with Dayton alumni John Schmersal, the album finds Eat Sugar boiling their high-energy aesthetic to reveal an propulsive, sensual rhythmic [courtesy of bassist Jim Reynolds & drummer Greg Poneris workout shrouded in menacing clouds of synths [provided by Mike McBride]. At the epicenter as narrator, Aidan Bogosian croons and howls out seductive tales of modern confusion. Dig the track “Shadowside” below and head over to the Eat Sugar website to grab the free download. The band will be at South Park Tavern this Saturday, August 21 with The Fervor [Louisville] and locals The Turkish Delights. See you there….

MP3: Eat Sugar “Shadowside”

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…after a slow 2009 season, Dayton bands have come alive in 2010 with an impressive flurry of releases that may very well end up being one of the most fruitful years for local releases in recent memory. As we come to the midway point in the year, one of our current favorite locals, The Turkish Delights is, at long last, preparing to issue their debut disc: …Ahem. As alumni of The Buddha Den NTRO/XPO residency [the first, to be exact] and 2009 Canal Street Tavern Dayton Band Play-Offs Champions, this trio has earned a groundswell of devotees on the strength of an energetic live set and quirky, infectious songwriting. While the band mines the fertile soil of classic garage, early punk & new wave, and a plethora of indie icons, the resultant concoction defies easy categorization and transcends the sum of its constituent influences. While the official release of …Ahem is a few weeks of still [July 10 at Blind Bob's], we thought we’d offer up a quick taste to prepare you for an incredible new release from the Gem City…

MP3: The Turkish Delights “Please Forgive Me”

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…as many of you already know, The Turkish Delights emerged victorious on Saturday night as they faced off against Oxymoronatron in Dayton Band Play-Offs Finals, hosted by none other than Canal Street Tavern. Winning by a mere four votes, it was one of the most highly contested finals we can recall. Congratulations to the Turks on their incredible showing this summer!

…well kids, the 2009 Dayton Band Playoffs at Canal Street Tavern is nearing the end. Last night, the long-running Oxymoronatron advanced to the Finals. Tonight, their match for the title will be determined in a semi-finals match between The Turkish Delights and Good English. Admittedly, we’d love to see The Turkish Delights advance and go toe-to-toe versus Oxymoronatron, if nothing else than to see an amazing show. The Dayton Band Playoffs Championship will take place on Saturday, September 26. We’d encourage all of you to head out tonight and make our dreams come true…

MP3: The Turkish Delights “Lite Brite”
MP3: The Turkish Delights “Dig Yourself”

…we realize that we have failed this summer in bringing you any coverage whatsoever on Canal Street Tavern’s summer institution for young bands, The Annual Dayton Band Playoffs. While most in Dayton know of this event’s legacy, let’s remind everyone that such Dayton notables as The Method, Brainiac, Real Lulu, and Shrug all stand as past champions. Although in recent years it’s been overlooked, the Playoffs continue to provide young bands with an opportunity to play in a great room on a great stage…

…it appears as if this year we find one of our favorite locals making a push toward the finals: The Turkish Delights. Tonight the band will play in Round 3, hoping to make it to the semifinals. We wish them good luck in their title bid this year…

MP3: The Turkish Delights “Frightening Lightening”
MP3: The Turkish Delights “Vowels to God”

…if you were fortunate enough to have been part of last evening at South Park Tavern, you’ll likely acknowledge that it was an incredible evening of music and that the audience rose to the occasion as well, feeding enthusiasm back to the bands. Openers Electric Banana and The Turkish Delights both turned in sets that had the crowds on their feet and wanting more. For one band, however, the evening served as a goodbye. Here are a few words from Lucas of Hospital Garden…

Hospital Garden is moving to Chicago. When I moved to Dayton two years ago, it was never with the intent of permanence. I hoped to complete graduate school, and, once again, move on. However, I did not anticipate making so many amazing friendships. I was lucky enough to have met Ian and Sarah, thus forming Hospital Garden. The shows we have played and the songs we have created have been far beyond my expectations, thus moving as a band makes sense right now. It’s hard to leave the people and bands that we love here, but in Chicago there is a lot of opportunity in my field (Community Counseling), and a lot of new venues to play. Sarah and Ian are also going to be finding employment and continuing their educations there. We’re still young and it’s the right time to do something like this. We love Dayton and we love playing and hanging out here. We will be back regularly for as long as we are a band. Naturally, we will miss you all and can’t wait to see you again in the near future. Thank you so much for coming to our shows, listening to our demos, and singing along to our songs. It means more to us than you know.

Love,
Hospital Garden.

…in addition to their migration north, Hospital Garden are gearing up to release their debut album. Stay tuned for more on that as details emerge…

…in adhering to the sad and sickening status quo, one of Dayton’s finest will soon be relocating. In the process of becoming one of our favorites over the past year or so, Hospital Garden emerged as one of the Gem City’s leading contenders. Their scheduled departure to Chicago this fall saddens us greatly, but we’re very excited for their future. Tonight we will say goodbye with a very special show at South Park Tavern, featuring the next wave of Dayton goodness, The Turkish Delights and Electric Banana. Come on out and help us say goodbye…

MP3: Hospital Garden “Ypsi”
MP3: The Turkish Delights “Dig Yourself”
MP3: Electric Banana “Denim on Denim”

…with summer knocking on the door, it seems appears as if yr showgoing options in Dayton are only gonna improve in the coming months. Here’s the lowdown on a nice pair tonight…

…over at Blind Bob’s, The Buddha Den Presents series returns with The Interiors (Chicago; pictured), along with The Seedy Seeds (Cincinnati) and one of our local faves, The Turkish Delights…

MP3: The Interiors “I’m So Happy”
MP3: The Turkish Delights “Lite-Brite”
MP3: The Seedy Seeds “Drive Me to the Center”

…out at The Fusion Chamber, you’ve got a heavy bill featuring Corpus Christi, Imbroglio, Ambush, Minutes, By Way of Sunstorm, and Hester Prynne…

…whatever yr choice, we’ll see you out tonight….

…admittedly, we’ve been laying a bit lower lately than even we’re totally comfortable with. For that, we apologize. Rest assured that we are still very much here and still very much tuning in to find new stuff all the time…

…this Friday The Buddha Den Presents series returns with a great band from Chicago, The Interiors. The band’s excellent debut came out last year on the 54′ 40 or Fight imprint and the band quickly started making some inroads with incessant touring. We took a minute to speak with guitarist Chase Duncan and here’s what he had to say…

The Buddha Den: For those who aren’t familiar with The Interiors’ backstory, how about a little rewind first? How/when did you all come together? What other bands were you involved in previously? What brought the three of you together?

Chase Duncan: In early ‘04. [Interiors' drummer] Brian [Lubinsky] and I had been playing together for a bit with different bass players but none of them worked out. [Bassist] Collin [Jordan] came in after seeing an ad we were running in the Reader where we name checked Desmond Dekker as an influence. He was really into that as he had not yet heard American music.

Brian played in a handful of bands in Cincinnati and Chicago but he had yet to find his “shining star” until he met me.

Collin had something to do with some kind of free-jazz rock thing that involved copious amounts of drugs and a warehouse. Although no one bothered to document those events, we’re confident that they must have sounded glorious.

TBD: Your self-titled debut quickly caught some big attention, i.e. you performed for a Rolling Stone magazine showcase in Chicago last summer. How has the reception of your album compared to your expectations? What has been the general response in performance?

CD: We had no expectations, in all honesty, but we’ve been very happy.

People love our show. It’s hard not to, really.

TBD: Although you’re from Chicago, your sound doesn’t necessarily fit in with the classic perception of the “Chicago sound”. Has that had any consequences for you at home and on tour?

CD: Not really but we do close every show with “Johnny B. Goode” so that everyone knows we’re keeping it real.

TBD: We understand you are currently at work on a full-length follow up to your debut. How soon do you expect that to hit the streets? What can we expect from the record? Any sonic surprises?

CD: Not much to say in terms of the ‘how’ ‘where’ and ‘when’. As far as the ‘what’ goes, I think it will be a stronger synthesis of our ideas than the first record which was written over a number of years and experiments. This will be over a much more concentrated period of time and, therefore, more focused, streamlined and themed both sonically and lyrically.

Going on the road makes you a better musician in a way that nothing I’ve ever experienced can. We’re way better musicians individually and a much stronger band as a result.

There will be many sonic surprises. I intend to introduce the concept of the ‘fade-in’ whereby a song is ended by gradually increasing the volume of our ‘jam out’ until you are forced to turn it off before damage is done to your person and/or stereo.

TBD: How do you see 2009 shaping up for The Interiors? What does the remainder of the year have in store for you?

CD: Writing writing writing

TBD: Is there anything else you would like The Buddha Den readers to know about The Interiors?

CD: We love you!

…tune in to The Interiors now and we’ll see you Friday night at Blind Bob’s with special guests The Seedy Seeds and The Turkish Delights…

MP3: The Interiors “I’m So Happy”
MP3: The Interiors “Powerlines”
MP3: The Interiors “You Should Have Known”

…we’re continuing our April Residency at The Buddha Den NTRO/XPO tonight with The Turkish Delights. In case you haven’t joined us over at the Oregon Express yet this month, the trio are catching a serious wave and have turned in two excellent performances. We’d highly encourage you to join us this evening, especially since it’s totally FREE. Opening the evening will be Mascot. We’ll see you there…

MP3: The Turkish Delights “Dig Yourself”
MP3: Mascot “Solar Party”