A lot of people have asked me via e-mail, “Hey Matt, is Late Night Wallflower on Twitter?” I’m not one to be on top of trends, what can I say. Anyways, all you techy nerds can now follow us on Twitter. Become our friend so I can understand this crazy thing you kids do. It’s just twitter.com/latenightwf.

Photo by Bill Shouldis

Cursive have given you a choice in how much to pay for a digital download of their brand new record Mama, I’m Swollen (Saddle Creek). Say it’s March 3rd, you pay $3. March 4th = $4, etc. So get to it and purchase the record now. If you are a Cursive devotee, I can’t see why you would wait anyways. I just got my copy and it sounds fantastic so far.

Saddle Creek also has CD and deluxe LP physical editions of the record available. This option includes a download card for additional bonus music and videos, along with artwork and handwritten lyrics by Cursive frontman Tim Kasher. It looks pretty sweet.

Read more after the jump.

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All photos by Marisa Abaza

Tom Gabel finished his latest solo tour at NYC’s Knitting Factory last night. Going into it, I really just expected the Against Me! leader to play most of his new solo EP Heart Burns, with some AM! songs thrown in for good measure. In fact, I didn’t think I was going to make the show to begin with. I would have been very pissed off if that was the case, because this show proved to be incredible and totally went beyond my expectations.

When I arrived at the Knitting Factory, a drum set was set up on stage, so I immediately knew something was up. Maybe he was playing with a backing band? I would find out soon.

The first half of the set was the standard affair and consisted of a new song, which he wrote days before about a dream he had involving Bob Dylan. Gabel also played “Random Hearts,” “Amputations,” “Anna Is A Stool Pigeon,” “Harsh Realms,” Dylan’s “Wagon Wheel” and AM!’s “Joy.”

Then, it got really interesting. Granted, the set was going really well, but to have original AM! drummer Kevin Mahon join Tom on stage was something special. “This is the first time we’ve shared a stage in seven years,” Gabel stated as his former bandmate joined him. “We are Against Me!.” Then they were off.

It seemed a bit rigid at first, but soon, things were flying, including the audience. Gabel noted that the set was better than how they played back in the early days.

They hammered out the entirety of the Crime EP, along with the beloved “Shit Stroll” and a few others thrown in. This was the setlist many Against Me! fans have been waiting to see for quite some time. An amazing show. I really hope somebody filmed it because it needs to be seen.

More pictures and setlist after the jump.

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Photo by Bill Shouldis

After re-uniting for a new album and American/European tour, Rival Schools is back and better than ever. The band played to a packed crowd at Philadelphia’s Khyber on November 3rd, with the set mostly consisting of songs off the band’s lone full-length United By Fate. They opened up with the United’s opening track “Travel by Telephone,” and went into a forty-five minute set of banger after banger. They also played a slowed down version of “Holding Sand,” which might have been better than the studio version.

Despite the audience frequently yelling out Quicksand titles, Walter Schreifels kept his cool and covered “How Soon is Now” by The Smiths. The band played a handful of songs off the upcoming album, most notably one called “You Should of Hung Out.” Some of the new songs played homage to the grungy sound of Nirvana but the rest of them sounded like a typical Rival Schools songs.

One of the highlights of the set was the encore, when the band played a medley of hardcore classics, including “Clobberin Time” by Sick of it All, “We Gotta Know” by the Cro-Mags, and “Distance” by Moondog.

If this show was any indication of the band’s future, I am sure it is going to be positive. This was the best show I’ve been to all year; so good I had to go to Baltimore two days later to see them again. They weren’t as good as in Philadelphia, but hey, nothing is as good as home.

All photos by Linda Wildemann

Against Me! and Ted Leo & The Pharmacists combined for one hell of a double bill at Webster Hall on October 11th. Both bands spent time earlier in the year on the arena circuit (AM! with The Foo Fighters, Ted Leo with Pearl Jam), so it was good to see them playing on a somewhat smaller stage. The highlight of the show was Against Me! playing “The Disco Before The Breakdown,” which I have never heard the band play live before. Even though there was no horn section with it, it still sounded amazing. Check out some pictures after the jump.

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