Amazing show all around! Hope you were able to join us on Tuesday, Feb 26th for Man Man and Murder By Death. Thanks to our videographer Lanny Huang, we were able to capture a couple songs from both bands.



Murder By Death:
"Brother" and "Until Morale Improves, The Beatings Will Continue"


Man Man:
(unknown song - new?) and "Hurly/Burly"

Band Name: Cloud Rat. Madison's father once told her that seagulls were rats in the clouds. So that's where that came from, not the actual cloud rat native to the Philippines.

Location: We are all natives from the Mount Pleasant area of Michigan, but Madison now lives in Detroit.

Formed: December 2009

Members: Adrian - Drums. Madison - Vocals. Rorik - Guitar

Releases: So far - Self Titled LP (June 2010), Split Cassette w/ Xtra Vomit (October 2010, soon to be on LP in April '12), 3-Way Split LP w/ The Oily Menace and Wolbachia (September 2011), Split 7" w/ Autarkeia (December 2011), as well as two digital/mp3 releases on Grindcore Karaoke (Self Titled LP and Fever Dreams, which collects all of the other currently released material).


Tell us about yourselves!
Cloud Rat formed in the cold winter of 2009. Adrian and I had been friends for a long time, and have played in bands together years before. Adrian and Madison have known each other for years as well, and were living together when we formed as a band. I went to a show at their house, and I could hear Madison screaming over the band! So that night we all talked about starting a band so that we could contribute a track to our friend Kevin's Michigan Grindcore compilation he was putting together (which never happened). After forming, we wrote and recorded our Self Titled LP within a month, and then it was put out 5 months later by our friends at IFB Records in Florida. We are forever grateful to them for everything they have done for us.

I would describe our sound as grindcore rooted in punk, with a lot of hardcore punk, black metal, screamo, and grunge influences creeping in. We do our best to promote veganism, radical feminism, anti racism/sexism/homophobia/classism/bullshit. The purpose of this band is a mixture of personal catharsis, promoting kindness and equality, and to have fun as well.

We have toured most of the USA and have plans to do a lot more within the next couple years. Currently we are recording for three different records and are looking to head overseas soon-ish.
We look forward to coming to Ithaca!!!!!!

-Rorik / Cloud Rat
cloudrat.blogspot.com

Don't miss Cloud Rat live, this Thursday at Silent City Distro - located on The Commons, above Autumn Leaves Books at 115 MLK Jr / State St, Ithaca, NY 14850.  8PM $5 ALL AGES with locals Hiroshima Vacation and King Sized Pegasus. 

Braveyoung (formerly known as Giant) hail from Greensboro, NC and compose beautifully lush and complex instrumental music for your aural pleasure. Their latest, We Are Lonely Animals and their preceding EP Song found release through the mighty The End Records (Sleepytime Gorilla Museum, Ulver, Goes Cube, etc).

They've had a busy 2011 so far with the release of their latest LP and a pending collaboration with The Body. Up next the troop is about to launch on a Northeast US/Canadian tour with our friends in Rosetta. On their way back home, Ithaca Underground is presenting an absolutely FREE show with this fantastic five-piece in celebration of Bubba (IU main-man) Crumrine's birthday and the final performance of local favorites, Beach Parade. BY bassist and co-founding member Zack Jones takes a few minutes before they hit the road for some quick Q&A.

IU: For the uninitiated, could you give our readers a bit of background on how you, your brother, and Kyle (and Derrek at the time) all met and started writing music together as what would become Braveyoung?

Zack: Isaac and I have been playing together since we were children. We grew up in a small farmtown in rural NC, fortunately immersed in a very musical family. Kyle and Derrick were living in greensboro when Isaac and approached them about working with us on some stuff. We had already written what would become the red opus, and some other stuff we later discarded.

IU: When did Ben come into the picture?

Zack: Rodney, who had been working with us during the recording of 'song' and some tours following that, decided to have a family.  Ben is a long time friend, and he was over what he was involved in musically at the time, so after continuing for quite some time as a four piece, we asked him to help us flesh out some bigger ideas.

IU: Earlier this spring the band released "We Are Lonely Animals" What are some of your favorite moments of the LP - ether of the process or the composition itself? 

Zack: There have always been long drags of time between records with braveyoung, mainly because it is expensive to produce a record the way we feel like a record should be produced. We had been stuck on a collection of recordings that over 2 years of production, had thousands and thousands of dollars invested in it, only to be discarded. It was an intensely confusing time for us, and when Derrick decided to leave the band after 5 weeks in Europe, it gave us the opportunity to just completely move on from that material. The writing was, personally, one of the most intimate and favorable experiences of my life. We also got to record live, which is something we always felt would benefit us. We were very excited to finally be able to put to record what we had been doing live for the past few years. Trying to compose some pieces that had a severe amount of weight to them without being "heavy", in a common sense of the word. I really like how quiet the record is.

IU: Also earlier in the year, you all collaborated with The Body on a studio project - any updates on when the world might get to hear what came of the sessions?

Footage from one of the best shows we've ever done! Thanks for the huge turnout, support, and patients getting started a bit late. Hope you were there!


Defiance, Ohio - 'The List'


Nana Grizol - "Voices Echo Down Thee Halls"


Nana Grizol - "Cynicism"


Toby Foster


Toby Foster


Defiance, Ohio - "Oh, Susquehanna!"


Nana Grizol


Your Heart Breaks


Your Heart Breaks

The DVD of last December's BIG DAY IN is here! Featuring life footage from Soul Control, Bridge & Tunnel, Beach Parade, Why The Wires, Oak & Bone, Like Wolves, Ghost Robot Ninja Bear, Speak Daggers, Zona Mexicana, Cattle Drums, Ailments, and Bright Shiny Objects.



We're talking multi-track board & room audio and multi-angle video from all the bands involved plus bonus mp3s and photo gallery - for just $10.

The release will be available first this Saturday, May 7th at BIG DAY IN with Tombs, Woe, Ehnahre, Sulaco, Night Owls, Oak & Bone, Lux Carentes, Sepsis, Inerds, Mouth To Mouth To Mouth, Hiroshima Vacation, and Sun Spells - we aim to record this one as well so don't miss out!

The disc will be available at all Ithaca Underground shows after BIG DAY IN, at Angry Mom Records in Ithaca, and via Hex Records. Keep in touch as we add additional ways of obtaining this momentous disc.

Thanks to everyone who came out for Ithaca Underground's five-band night on Wednesday. If you missed it (or just want to relive it) check out the videos below - including the surprise reunion of Crime Pays! No word on whether more shows are in the works but we'll keep you posted. A pleasure seeing you all as always and thanks for your continued support!  Special thanks to McNeil music who have been a huge help this spring with PA equipment, especially with the sub for this one.


The American Dollar - Fade In Out


The American Dollar


Crime Pays


Crime Pays


Paper Armies


Paper Armies


The Atomic Forces


Kites In Space


Kites In Space

More vids up now from the Ithaca Underground YouTube page! We have over 230 uploads now so come visit. Footage from Pygmy Lush, Des Ark, Zevious, The Invisible Hand, Makeshift, Plasma 36, Rye n' Clover, and Kaboosh! below:


Pygmy Lush live at The Space @ GreenStar


Pygmy Lush live at The Space @ GreenStar


DES ARK live at The Space @ GreenStar


Zevious live at CSMA


Zevious live at CSMA


The Invisible Hand live at CSMA

These questions were answered by Nathaniel Rappole in conjunction with Frayser Micou (aka The Impostor), whose answers are made as if he were the former.  The *'s signify what is happening in the moment of the answering.

*Frayser is making breakfast. We are in his kitchen.  It is 11:20 AM. The bacon is frying.*

IU: Where did the idea for initiating a one-man project and the imagery behind Gull start?

NR - It is important to do some things alone. The imagery/skull mask came into play while I was living in Philadelphia (circa 2003).

I needed a way in which to hold the telephone mic close to my face.  My good friend Graydon had a paper skull mask, and my pal Brian had some electrical know how and a soldering gun.  gullskullgullskull = serendipity.

FM - I was watching groucho marx and he spoke to me.  He said "you can do any fucking thing you want to in this world..."  he said this with not his eyes, but his brows.  It was then that I realized my drummer wasn't playing the parts I wanted, my bass player only wanted to swim, and my guitarist (me) was overshadowing me. I needed to venture off into the abyss of self emulation.

Burn baby burn.

*The grits are on... they take a slow hand.*

IU: Where along the timeline did the project evolve in relation to your other bands Ultra Dolphins and Snack Truck?

Live clips from the first Ithaca Underground show at Giving Tree Cafe this past Sunday, June 27th! More to come soon...