News

Pre-Order Our Debut Album Now!

Well, kids, there she is. At long last our self-titled debut album is coming out. As you can see above we’re staying true to our roots and spitting in the wind with a vinyl release thanks to our old cohorts, Revelation Records. Red vinyl, gatefold LP with a fun little scavenger hunt for clues on the inside sleeve. Pre-order the vinyl here (digital download included).

The album is out June 12th and there will, of course, also be a digital release through all the usual outlets including iTunes, Bandcamp etc. We turned to our good friends and veteran music producers Eric Stenman (Thrice, Weezer, Saves The Day) and Mike Fratantuno (Black Eyed Peas) for production and advice and we’re pretty damn proud of the way it turned out. Alternative Press is streaming the album track ‘On Tonight’, so head there for a little preview!

Tracklist as follows:

SIDE ONE
01 Let’s Get Wrecked
02 Bounce Back
03 Late Expectations
04 The Brilliance
05 Broken Pieces
06 Forget How to Live

SIDE TWO
07 To Be Amazing
08 The Reason Why You Sang
09 Left Alone
10 On Tonight
11 Roll Out the Barrel

It’s Here

By now you’ve heard that Coffee Breath & Heartache have released a limited edition 10″ e.p. of ‘The Brilliance’ with some bonus tracks. Well, for those of you not interested in owning the amazing vinyl piece they came up with (and seriously, it’s beautiful…) they’ve given us the go-ahead to release the digital format of the very same e.p.

Just click on the link above to go to our Bandcamp page and you can download all four tracks for the tidy sum of $3.50.

Incidentally, if you would like the keepsake but don’t have a turntable, the vinyl does come with a free download code. Just sayin’… the guys at CB&H do really great work and we’d love for you to support them!

10″ Brilliance EP Production Line

That hum you hear like the finest German engineering is the motor of punk rock purring away near Berlin, as the fine, FINE folks at CoffeeBreath & Heartache are hand-screening and assembling the very limited edition 10″ record they’re producing for our song The Brilliance. Here’s a few images they’ve sent us; this is really a work of art. We’d recommend getting your hands on one at their website, as we’re not sure how many we’re going to have state-side.

“The Brilliance” German e.p.

As you may have seen, our friends over at Coffee Breath and Heartache in Germany are putting together a limited edition, single-sided 10″ for “The Brilliance” due out hopefully in November. You can see what the cover looks like just to right there.

The A-side will include the original studio version of the song (which you can preview and download there by the artwork), as well as acoustic versions of “Late Expectations” and “The Reason Why You Sang” recorded especially for this release. Capping it all off will be a remix of “The Brilliance” called the U.N. Consequence mix. This is a seriously multi-national release. We even got New Jersey in there too! There will of course be a download code as well so that you can get the digital versions of the tracks.

The B-Side will feature brand new art, silk-screened right onto the vinyl. Bet you’ve never seen that before…

We’ve sent off all the artwork, and Popeye is literally holding all-night vigils in front of his mail box in anticipation of receiving the test pressings from Coffee Breath, so we will update you as we can. There will be a world-wide digital release as well, for those of you who can’t make it to the Sam Goody’s in Berlin.

In the meantime, watch the video for “The Brilliance” below, check out Coffee Breath and Heartache’s rad attention to detail in making records, and if you speak German, read some of the press the release is already getting: Visions Pastepunk

The Brilliance

‘The Brilliance’ is less a political song than a story about a rich kid who became the most powerful man in the world– not for his steadfast righteousness, conviction, education or drive, but simply because he was next in line to inherit the throne. Maybe he didn’t want to take this path. Maybe he didn’t think he had a choice. Whether he wanted it or not, entitlement and privilege was his free pass to get away with some pretty questionable behavior. It’s interesting what people will excuse or overlook for some, while they scrutinize and vilify others for insignificant or even imaginary reasons. They say that rock and roll is supposed to be dangerous. But it can never be as dangerous as politics.

Your Favorite Trainwreck was fortunate to work with director Geordie Stephens and Tool of North America on this project. None of this would be possible without their extraordinary vision and generosity.

Where the $#!@ is the video?

August 17, 2011 – We know we’ve been promising the video for ‘The Brilliance’ for some time now. However, some small legal issues and a fair amount of red tape have held up its release. We are just as eager to see it as you are. I swear it’s gonna make your head spin right off. The moment it is available it will be posted here. Thank you for your understanding and your ongoing patience for the release of our debut album.

“Whatever you do, DON’T LOOK AT THE FIREWORKS.”

That was the director’s only real direction for us. “It’s a metaphor”, he said, “they’re not really there, they’re not really meant to be acknowledged.”

Jeff H: “Sorry. I couldn’t help myself. How many times in life do you get to stand underneath a full on fireworks show? Of course I’m gonna look.”

See the results here when the video premieres in the coming week.

Brilliance video shoot

In honor of the unveiling here’s a few stills from our recent shoot for ‘The Brilliance’. The video is in the final edit now so keep an eye right here for the premiere in about a week or so.