Ripple News - LO-PAN To Begin Let Freedom Ding Tour; Vinyl Out Now!

Ohio rockers LO-PAN have unveiled their latest slew of tour dates in support of their Small Stone Records debut, Salvador. After scores of shows across the country with the likes of Truckfighters, Dixie Witch, Gypsyhawk and Fight Amp, LO-PAN’s Let Freedom Ding tour – allegedly named for the many bells that mysteriously occupy the dashboard of the band’s van – will find the outfit bringing their fuzzed-out soul rock bliss to the Midwest alongside heavy hitters like Bloodcow, Droids Attack, and Chapstik.

In addition, Small Stone’s 180-gram vinyl pressing of Salvador is available now in white and red/blue clear swirl. Whatever flavor you choose, it’s delicious, and available now at smallstone.com/store. The band will also have copies with them on the road, and they take credit cards. Seriously.


LO-PAN Let Freedom Ding Tour:

08/17/2011 The Mill - Iowa City, IA w/ Snow Demon
08/18/2011 The Waiting Room - Omaha, NE w/ Bloodcow
08/19/2011 Tennyson's Tap - Denver, CO w/ Low Gravity, Black Lamb
08/20/2011 Burt's Tiki Lounge - Salt Lake City, UT w/ Muckraker, Dwellers, Top Dead Celebrity
08/23/2011 The Aquarium - Fargo, ND
08/24/2011 Triple Rock Social Club - Minneapolis, MN  w/ Droids Attack
08/25/2011 JB's Speakeasy - La Crosse, WI w/ Droids Attack
08/26/2011 Club Inferno - Madison, WI w/ Droids Attack
08/27/2011 Red Line Tap - Chicago, IL w/ Heaving Mass, Droids Attack
08/28/2011 Small's - Detroit, MI w/ Chapstick, Knife



Lo-Pan, Salvador vinyl track listing:

Side A:

El Dorado

Bleeding Out

Seed

Bird Of Prey

Deciduous



Side B:

Intro

Chichen Itza

Struck Match

Generations

Solo

Free Album Cornucopia!! Check out the Vault Full of Killer Free Music

Over here at the Ripple, we love giving away free (legal) music.  Spread the word.  Help the bands.  The problem is that so much free music comes in, we don't have enough time to post it all.

Enter Ripple Facebook.  Pop on over and "like" the Ripple Effect page, and stay tuned in to the best free songs, EP's, and Album downloads that bands, labels and PR companies send our way.

Here's a sampler of what you can find there right now:

10 free downloadable tracks that sample their catalogue. The Tsurumi Sampler will be available for free until the release of their 5th album Last Chance Summer Dance by latest label signee Fonzarelli. 

 

 

 

The Soda Shop have their excellent free compilation with such bands as Stone Axe, Mos Generator, Venomin James, Gozu, and Lo-Pan. Seriously amazing . . .

 

 

 

The good folk at Exploding in Sound are releasing their 9th  free compilation, featuring such artists as ...And You Will Know Us By The Trail of Dead, J Mascis, Steve Brodsky, Marnie Stern, Bad Books, Guards, Adebisi Shank, Bunny's A Swine, Mini Mansions, Hammer No More The Fingers, Tijuana Panthers, Crystal Antlers, Weekend, Tidal Arms, Hawk Eyes (aka Chickenhawk) and more!

 

 

And much, much more.  Go to Ripple Facebook, become a friend and get the inside line on tons of free music.

Small Stone Triple Axe Attack – part II featuring, Suplecs, Lo-Pan, and Ironweed

I’ve been neglecting my pile of recent Small Stone releases lately. They’ve been sitting here for a few weeks now and every time I try to get around to writing them the demands of reality (ugh!) demand my attention and another day slips by. But not anymore! Here a triple decker of new stuff from the unusually consistent rock label.

Suplecs - Mad Oak Redoux


First up is the new one from Suplecs called Mad Oak Redoux. This New Orleans outfit has been going for about 15 years and show no signs of mellowing out. I’d never heard these guys before and really enjoyed their mix of classic influences like Black Sabbath and The Misfits merged with Soundgarden, Melvins and Nirvana. About half the songs are short and fast and they stretch out on some of the longer ones. “Stand Alone” reminds me a lot of forgotten Louisville titans Kinghorse with their mix of Sabotage-era Sabbath riffs with a big Danziggy chorus. “Fema Man” is a suitably pissed off song about hurricane Katrina and all the bullshit that went on afterwards. “Switchblade” and “2x4” are the longest songs, about 6 minutes each, and pound heavy. 10 songs, 40 minutes. Hit and quit it. Nice one.


Buy here: Small Stone

Lo-Pan – Salvador


If you keep your records in alphabetical order and have Thin Lizzy right next to Tool then chances are Lo-Pan is for you. Fast, heavy, pissed off music with strong vocals and plenty of good hooks. There are some great guitar freak outs that would make both Tommy Bolin and Piggy from VoiVod smile. Lo-Pan hails from Columbus, OH and try as they might they cannot escape the classic rock stranglehold that exists in that part of the country but they’re way too heavy for any commercial rock station. Good songwriting and plenty of dynamics keep some of the longer songs from getting dull. Maybe they can convince Eric Moore of The Godz to contribute to the next one.


Buy here: Small Stone

Ironweed - Your World Of Tomorrow


I always liked the name Ironweed and now that I’ve heard their music I like that a lot, too. Hailing from the New York state capitol, Ironweed are easily the best thing to come from Albany since Blotto. Ironweed are a straight ahead pummeling metal band. Two crushing guitars, pounding rhythm section and lots of good yelling, Ironweed remind me of another great Small Stone band Solace. Fans of anything hard n heavy ranging from vintage Judas Priest to D.R.I. will love Ironweed. Starving iron dogs will feast upon this bloody platter of raw riff metal.


Buy here: iTunes



It’s worth noting that all three of these releases were produced and recorded by Benny Grotto at Mad Oak Studios in Boston. The sound is hard, clear and punchy and will definitely sound good in your car as flip off the slow pokes in the right lane.

-- Woody

Small Stone Triple Axe Attack

Small Stone’s been steady rolling out some really good product these days. It’s always exciting when a party pack with their return address label shows up because that means heavy rock is inside. The latest shipment was no exception. Here are 3 of their latest and greatest.

Lo Pan’s - Sasquanaut


As far as I know, Thin Lizzy and Hawkwind never played together, but if they did and had a late night jam session Lo Pan’s Sasquanaut might have been the result. This was originally released on another label but when Small Stone signed the band they did some remixing and remastered the whole thing. Never heard the original, but this sounds great. Vocals have a nice distorted halo around them and the band crushes while it swings. They can get kind of trippy at times like Mick Bolton era UFO but never to the point of pointless noodling.

buy from Small Stone:  here

“Dragline”

Red Giant - Dysfunctional Majesty

Red Giant got my immediate attention with their great Love Gun album rip off cover artwork. Even better is the disc contained inside. Dysfunctional Majesty is their first album in about 6 years. Sounding like a really pissed off Clutch, it rocks hard right out of the gate. Crushingly heavy riffs combined with angry, strangulated vocals and frenzied drumming. Fire this one up in the car after a shitty day at work and defy the cops to pull you over. There’s even a good version of AC/DC’s “Let There Be Rock” as a secret bonus track. Can’t go wrong with this muther.

buy from Small Stone: here


“Chopper” (live)

Blackwolfgoat -  Dragonwizardsleeve

If you ever imagined what Angus and Malcolm Young would sound like borrowing a Frippertronics rig, then Blackwolfgoat’s debut Dragonwizardsleeve is right up your alley. Not the entire album is like that but opening song “Risk and Return” made me think of that. This one man instrumental band is guitarist Darryl Shepard (Hackman, Roadsaw, Milligram) not rocking like his old bands but once the rock is in you, it always comes out no matter how hard you drone. This would make a good gateway for people who are put off by the statistical density of Earth or Sunn O))). It’s also really good if you’re high on pot and need something to zone out to. But the best application would be to annoy your co-workers with. That really did the trick on a misty morning in the office.


buy from Small Stone: here