The Torn ACLs

Hey, we’re playing at the Skylark this Friday! It is a...

Wed, 22 Feb 2012 12:26:51 -0800

Hey, we’re playing at the Skylark this Friday! It is a combination rock show/birthday party for Cristina Bautista, who is super awesome, and it should be lots of fun! Click the poster for the Facebook event page, and RSVP yo self!

Also, thanks so much to everyone who voted for us on The Deli. We totally won and everything!

-William

KEXP Music That Matters Podcast

Mon, 13 Feb 2012 10:39:00 -0800

Cool news! Our song “Can’t Say No To Friday” has been included on the KEXP podcast, Music That Matters, Vol. 291 - Music I’m Friggin’ Diggin’, hosted by Troy Nelson! Alongside our contribution, there are a dozen more awesome songs (one of them by our friends The Hoot Hoots!)

Check it out right here!

-William

The Deli Seattle - Artist of the Month Poll!

Thu, 02 Feb 2012 11:58:57 -0800

The Deli Seattle - Artist of the Month Poll!:

The lovely people at The Deli Seattle have nominated us in their artist of the month poll! If you have a few seconds, we would be honored to have your vote. Just go to http://seattle.thedelimagazine.com before February 14th. It will make us very happy!

Thanks so much! We have some shows coming up in the next few weeks, so we hope to see you soon!

-William

Thanks very very very much to everyone who came out to our CD release show for Make A Break, Make A...

Mon, 09 Jan 2012 07:17:02 -0800

Thanks very very very much to everyone who came out to our CD release show for Make A Break, Make A Move at Columbia City Theater! It was a great night for us, and it means a lot that so many of our fans, friends, and families were there to show support. We hope you all had lots of fun!

Now that the album is out, there are a few different ways that you can pick it up: we’ll have it for sale at shows, it’s available at our bandcamp page, and in the coming weeks, we’ll be getting it to all the usual outlets online, as well as some independent record stores here in Seattle.

The plan is to play a lot of shows this year, so hopefully we’ll see you out there soon!

-William

Photo

Sun, 01 Jan 2012 20:14:00 -0800

LISTS (this one goes to 11)

Sat, 31 Dec 2011 13:14:00 -0800

In keeping with tradition, I have compiled a list of my favorite albums of the year. My criteria when making a pick is based on how much I listened to it and what I got out of it. Last year, I enjoyed the catchiness of having a “top 10 of ‘10” list, so here are my Top 11 Albums of ‘11!!!

1. Bill Callahan - Apocalypse

2. Cataldo - Prison Boxing (bandcamp)

3. Destroyer - Kaputt

4. Fleet Foxes - Helplessness Blues

5. Radiohead - The King of Limbs

6. Darwin Deez - Darwin Deez (bandcamp)

7. Telekinesis - 12 Desperate Straight Lines

8. Pepper Rabbit - Red Velvet Snowball

9. tUnE-yArDs - w h o k i l l

10. The Weeknd - House of Balloons

11. Stephen Malkmus & The Jicks - Mirror Traffic

(Here are 11 more that almost almost almost made the cut: R Kelly - Love Letter, Chad VanGaalen - Diaper Island, Jeffrey Lewis - A Turn in The Dream Songs, TW Walsh - Songs of Pain and Leisure (bandcamp), Shabazz Palaces - Black Up, Kanye & Jay-Z - Watch The Throne, Mister Heavenly - Mister Heavenly, The Elected - Bury Me in My Rings, The Mountain Goats - All Eternals Deck, Eisley - The Valley, Wilco - The Whole Love)

OK then! 2012 is already shaping up to be a good one (STARTING WITH OUR CD RELEASE ON JANUARY 6th, OF COURSE), so I am very excited to see what unfolds. Happy new year and all of that!

-William

So much going on to start the New Year!

Fri, 30 Dec 2011 12:12:56 -0800

So much is going on!

First of all, here’s the Sound on the Sound writeup of our CD Release Show next Friday that they are presenting.

Secondly, we have CDs! They’ve arrive back from the replication company. They look fantastic and we’re so excited to have them!

Thirdly, you’ll be able to buy shirts as well! We will have some awesome The Torn ACLs shirts at the show…both men’s and women’s cuts and sizes!

And if you’re going next week to the show, please let us know on the Facebook event page! We hope to see you there!! We’ve got some surprises in store for the evening and we are super excited!

Sweden, Norway, Denmark, Iceland

Sun, 25 Dec 2011 22:57:54 -0800

Sweden, Norway, Denmark, Iceland:

From ‘neath the flocked and baubled conifer in our hearts emerges a humble holiday gift. Click on the title of this post to be whisked away to northern Europe via Miles’ lovingly curated mix of Scandinavian pop music. Last month, he distributed burned discs to the rest of the band containing 50-odd mp3s, and now I’ve tracked down (almost) all of those songs on Spotify in order to share them with you. Whatever your choice of seasonal festivities, this playlist is chock-full of jamz. It has been affectionately referred to in some circles as the “Hot Nordic Blondes” mix. From Miles to us to you, we hope you enjoy it. Takk!

William

Two weeks...

Fri, 23 Dec 2011 11:58:01 -0800

Hey, friends!

Have you been keeping an eye on the calendar? There are a lot of event coming up, aren’t there? Here are some important ones:

Various religious, pagan, or non-denominational celebrations (dates vary)
New New Year (Jan 1)
Old New Year (Jan 1 on the Julian calendar, or Jan 14 on the Gregorian - which do you follow?)
The Torn ACLs’ record release for Make a Break, Make a Move (Jan 6)

Wait, what!?! Do you believe it? January 6th is 2 weeks from today! Hopefully by now you have checked out the preview track from our debut full-length album, Can’t Say No To Friday. If you haven’t, you should do so right now! While you’re there, you should probably preorder the thing. This is the only way you can be sure to “get it first,” which I understand is very important. It’s also the only way to get a free, digital download of a mega rare non-album track that we recorded with Telekinesis’ own Michael Benjamin Lerner (MBL). In the marketing world, this is known, cleverly, as a “pre-order incentive.”

Did you forget to buy your pal/fam/bf/gf/pet a gift for the holidays?

Snap one up!

Do you have money burning a hole in your pocket or e-pocket?

Cop that!

Are you hoping to date one of us and want a conversation starter?

Give us money!

Do I have more to say? YES! We are celebrating the release of this album by playing music for you at the beautiful Columbia City Theater on January 6th, where you can meet us, peep our new threads, fill your ears with the freshest of tunes, and make merry with your friends and our friends.

For those of you who are concerned about the fact that we’re about to dive into 2012, the year the world is supposed to end, let me finish by giving you a personal promise. If the world ends, we, The Torn ACLs, promise not to break up. You have my word.

See you on January 6, 2012!

-Miles

Join the CD release party Facebook invite!

Fri, 23 Dec 2011 01:47:00 -0800

Sound on the Sound is presenting our CD release show as aforementioned at the Columbia City Theater. It’s going to be awesome!!! January 6th, 2012.

Please mark yourself as attending if you can make it! We need others to see you’re going so they’ll make sure to come too!

Here is the link!

Awesome! We are so excited!!!

Here is the cover art for Make A Break, Make A Move! The...

Tue, 06 Dec 2011 22:18:40 -0800

Here is the cover art for Make A Break, Make A Move! The painting is “Magh Meall” by Cable Griffith, and the text layout/design is by Jill Labieniec.

Make A Break, Make A Move

Wed, 30 Nov 2011 07:19:00 -0800

Alright! This is the album we’ve been hard at work on for well over a year, and we are very excited to send it out into the world just over a month from now.

Pre-order info is at thetornacls.bandcamp.com, and we are offering a free mp3 of the song “Can’t Say No To Friday” in exchange for an email address.

To celebrate the occasion, we will be playing a record release show at Columbia City Theater on January 6th. We’re already looking forward to it and hoping we’ll get to see lots of you there!

We profusely thank everyone who has helped us out and given us support! Exciting times ahead!

-ACLs

Disaster averted, friends. The output jack on my bass broke...

Mon, 28 Nov 2011 22:22:57 -0800

Disaster averted, friends. The output jack on my bass broke with little warning. Luckily I took a detour-ridden drive past weary marathoners and found a replacement for $1.85 at the local parts store. 15 minutes of soldering and we’re back in business. Come take a closer look at the Benbow Room on 12/3. I’m happy to take you on a tour of my newly refurbished axe!

-Miles

Benbow Room Show!

Sat, 26 Nov 2011 22:10:33 -0800

December 3rd we’re playing again at The Benbow Room in West Seattle! It’s looking to be a great evening, so hopefully you all can make it! Here is the Facebook link:

http://www.facebook.com/events/279692862045780/

If you’re going please mark yourself attending and spread the word! Hope to see you there!

This is a demo for the arrangement of “I’ll Do...

Mon, 07 Nov 2011 13:23:00 -0800

This is a demo for the arrangement of “I’ll Do Anything But Break Dance For Ya, Darling” that we put together for the show this past Saturday night. I recorded it in my parents’ basement a few weeks ago so we would have a blueprint to work from. Since the original Daniel Johnston version is a solo piano-and-vocal performance, additional drums, bass, guitar parts, and harmonies had to be written around what was there to give it the full-band treatment. This recording is dodgy for sure, but it was fun to make and I hope you like it!

-william

Right: Us with Troy & Mackenzie from The Young Evils after...

Sun, 06 Nov 2011 22:54:00 -0800

Right: Us with Troy & Mackenzie from The Young Evils after playing some Daniel Johnston songs at the Skylark for Troy’s birthday last night. Left: Jason’s homemade t-shirt to commemorate the occasion. Great night!

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Fri, 04 Nov 2011 18:01:33 -0700

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Fri, 04 Nov 2011 17:57:09 -0700

After a few weeks of tinkering, my homemade pedalboard is...

Tue, 25 Oct 2011 18:51:27 -0700

After a few weeks of tinkering, my homemade pedalboard is complete! I got the suitcase from the Goodwill on Dearborn, screws and stuff from True Value in Mountlake Terrace, and egg crate foam from the Friendly Foam Shop in the U District.

-william

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Thu, 20 Oct 2011 07:33:00 -0700