Its first track, “Negative Film”, is exemplary of the EP’s depth. As Bitto utters, “Gave you my word, it wasn’t worth a spit. Gave you a kiss, it tasted like shit,” the song has a very Ryan Adams, alt-country feel to it. Before you can even process that comparison, though, Bitto becomes a 2013 version of Michael Stipe, his voice loud and all-consuming through the chorus.

“Our First Fall” is a song everyone needs at some point in his or her life, for a lonely, heartbroken kind of night. Bitto’s cloud-soft voice paired with very angry, tearful lyrics sweeps you into a storm of emotions you can relate to. “Song No. 3” is probably our favorite on the EP, and is equally heart wrenching. Comparing Bitto’s vocals to that of Conor Oberst is inevitable, and only makes the track tug at your chest more.

Toward the end of the album, a sense of nostalgia begins to emerge, especially on “Burnt Orange”, a very pretty track about love come and gone. “Ghost” is a surprisingly upbeat tune instrumentally, raising the tempo of the album before a pleasant crash into Air’s final track, “9”. The September Call-Up couldn’t have chosen a more perfect track to conclude their album – it’s sensitive, dreamy, and thought provoking. And after listening to the record, you see that the duo’s intention, all along, was to get listeners thinking.  Job well done.

Air And My Sleep is due out June 25 through Wissahickon Records.

After about six and a half years of waiting, the Bluths could have had us thinking they’d never come back for us— but that’s why you always leave a note.  Thankfully, they left us a few.

Here are the ones we’ve gathered at Vinyl Mag:

1. From the trailer, it looks like… Michael is moving, George Michael and Maeby are dorm-mates, Buster’s hook is bedazzled, and the series didn’t say goodbye to these  Kitty. 

2. Each episode will revolve around a different character

Luckily we won’t just see a single plot from fifteen different angles, though we will get to see the characters’ paths intersect.  As Jason Bateman explained to GQ, “…the action across the episodes is happening simultaneously. If I’m driving down the street in my episode, and Gob’s going down the sidewalk on his Segway, you could stop my episode, go into his episode, and follow him and see where he’s going.”  Which means…

3. You don’t really have watch the first episode first or the last episode last…

While creator Mitchell Hurwitz says the episodes are placed in their order for a reason, Portia de Rossi says the episodes can be watched in any order because they are filmed as stand-alones.  Which for most other shows would mean not getting so hooked that you watch the entire season in one sitting…  But it’s Arrested Development… stopping the season midway would be like going to jail without eating ice-cream sandwiches.  But that’s okay, because we’ll be able to watch them all in one sitting since…

4. All the episodes will be released at once on Netflix

And Netflix has apparently been super awesome about letting Arrested Development stay Arrested Development.  According to Hurwitz, they wanted to make sure everything was as he wanted it rather than making demands.  Also…

5. The length of episodes, budget, and bleeping are pretty much the same

The closer to the Arrested Development nature the better, I say.  Unfortunately, on the other hand…

6. Julia Louis-Dreyfus won’t be in this season

’Cause HBO has Selina Meyer too busy trying to to clean up after the “50 Ways to Win in Denver” fiasco. However…

7. New characters will include Blake Anderson, Seth Rogen, Ed Helms, Isla Fisher and John Krasinski

We may not know their roles yet, but we do know Rogen filmed his scenes with…

8. Kristen Wiig, who is cast as a young Lucille

Which has led to speculation that Rogen could be cast as a young George Sr. (he may not look as much like George as the pope does, but I could still see it).  Also…

9. Conan O’Brien will be a guest star

Cast as himself, and…

10. Ron Howard (producer and narrator) and Brian Grazer (producer) will also be on-screen playing themselves

Supposedly the plot will include Ron Howard and Brian Grazer’s production company, Imagine Entertainment, working on a movie about the Bluths.  Also both acting and producing…

11. Michael Cera helped write the season

Apparently Hurwitz invited him to the writer’s room for what Cera thought was a one-time thing, but he ended up staying for the whole season and gained a producer title on the credits.  Meanwhile…

12. Buster and Lucille’s relationship looks as near-incestuous as ever,

13. And Maeby is still the forgotten child

14. Somebody, at some point, is gonna be naked

The cat— or dead dove (do not eat)— isn’t totally out of the bag… but if anybody wants to place a bet, I’ve got mine right here:

15. …Also Ann is apparently still in the picture

In other news, there’s this…

They’ve been compared to 70′s-era Rolling Stones.  They have been called a country band.  They’ve been called a blues band.  Whatever they are – I’d say a cocktail of all of the above – it works, and we are ready for more.

I sat down with Kurtis Marschke (the original Deadstring Brother) and J.D. Mack to talk about their new album, Cannery Row, as well as Nashville’s influence on their sound, their experience at South by Southwest, and their upcoming album and tour.  So have a gander, and then go stalk their music.

They are also currently in the studio working on their upcoming album, set to release sometime this summer!

“Skeleton” can also be downloaded for free here.

TOUR DATES:

May 31st Hoboken, NJ Maxwell’s
June 1st Hoboken, NJ Maxwell’s
June 2nd Washington, DC Black Cat
June 4th Norfolk, VA Jewish Mother Backstage
June 5th Chapel Hill, NC Local 506
June 6th Jacksonville, FL Roc Bar
June 7th Orlando, FL Will’s Pub
June 8th Atlanta, GA Drunken Unicorn Atlanta, GA
June 10th Houston, TX Fitzgerald’s
June 11th Austin, TX Mohawk
June 13th Phoenix, AZ The Rhythm Room
June 14th San Diego, CA House of Blues
June 15th Santa Ana, CA Constellation Room
June 16th San Francisco, CA Brick and Mortar Music Hall
June 18th Portland, OR Backspace
June 19th Seattle, WA The Vera Project
June 21st Salt Lake City, UT The Shred Shed
June 22nd Denver, CO Marquis Theater
June 23rd Lawrence, KS Jackpot Music Hall
June 24th St. Louis, MO The Firebird
June 26th Triple Rock Minneapolis, MN

June 27th Chicago, IL Subterranean
June 28th Pontiac, MI Pike Room
June 29th Akron, OH Musica
June 30th Pittsburgh, PA The Smiling Moose
July 1st Buffalo, NY The Waiting Room
July 2nd Syracuse, NY Lost Horizon
July 10th Hamden, CT The Space
July 12th New York, NY Webster Hall
July 13th Cambridge, MA The Sinclair
Jul 18th Baltimore, MD Ottobar
Jul 19th Blacksburg, VA I Got Brains Fest @ 130 Jackson
Jul 20th Lakewood, NJ Jersey Shore Music Fest
Jul 21st Greensboro, NC SOS Fest @ Blind Tiger
Jul 23rd Skully’s Columbus, OH
Jul 24th Southgate House Newport, KY
Jul 25th Hoosier Dome Indianapolis, IN
Jul 26th Nashville, TN The End
Jul 27th Macon, GA Bragg Jam @ The 567 Center
Jul 28th Wilmington, NC Soapbox Laundrolounge
Jul 29th Richmond, VA The Camel

They also have a new album out via Mazarine Records, After The Dream You Are Awake.

May 23 The Sinclair w/ The Thermals Cambridge, MA
May 24 PhilaMOCA Philadelphia, PA
May 26 Blind Bob’s Dayton, OH
May 28 Charlie Bob’s Nashville, TN
May 29 529 Bar Atlanta, GA
May 30 Peacock Lounge Orlando, FL
May 31 Venture Compound St. Petersburg, FL
Jun 01 Display Gainesville, FL
Jun 02 Burro Bar Jacksonville, FL
Jun 03 Flicker Athens, GA