Later this summer, Fort Worth grunge outfit Toadies will embark on a co-headlining tour with alt-metal band Helmet. The joint outing kicks off on July 20th in Houston, TX, and hits up locales like Jacksonville, FL, Philadelphia, PA, Chicago, IL, and beyond before wrapping up on August 14th in Denver, CO. Check out the Toadies’ full tour schedule below, including their remaining dates supporting Social Distortion.

Toadies should be showcasing tracks off from their upcoming fifth studio album, PLAY.ROCK.MUSIC, due out July 31st via Kirtland Records. If you haven’t already, stream the album’s first single, “Summer of the Strange”, just above the itinerary.

Toadies 2012 Tour Dates:
05/15 – Spokane, WA @ Knitting Factory #
05/16 – Bend, OR @ Midtown #
05/18 – Reno @ Knitting Factory #
05/19 – Los Angeles @ The Roxy
05/20 – Pozo, CA @ Pozo Saloon #
06/15 – Shreveport, LA @ The Warehouse #
06/16 – Dallas, TX @ Palladium #
07/20 – Houston, TX @ House Of Blues *
07/21 – Pensacola, FL @ Cptn Fun Beach Club *
07/22 – New Orleans, LA @ Tipitinas *
07/24 – Jacksonville, FL @ Jack Rabbits *
07/25 – Ft. Lauderdale, FL @ Revolution *
07/26 – St. Petersburg, FL @ State Theatre *
07/28 – Atlanta, GA @ The Masquerade *
07/29 – Charlotte, NC @ The Fillmore *
07/31 – Silver Springs, MD @ The Fillmore *
08/01 – Philadelphia, PA @ The Trocadero Theatre *
08/02 – New York, NY @ Webster Hall *
08/03 – Boston, MA @ Paradise Rock Club *
08/04 – Rochester, NY @ Water Street Music Hall *
08/05 – Lansing, MI @ Michigan Rock And Brew Fest *
08/07 – Cleveland, OH @ House Of Blues *
08/08 – Detroit, MI @ The Crofoot *
08/09 – Chicago, IL @ House Of Blues *
08/10 – Indianapolis, IN @ The Vogue *
08/11 – St. Louis, MO @ Pop’s *
08/12 – Kansas City, MO @ The Beaumont Club *
08/14 – Denver, CO @ The Bluebird Theater *

# = w/ Social Distortion
* = w/ Helmet

Dallas/Fort Worth grunge outfit Toadies will release their new album, PLAY.ROCK.MUSIC, on July 31st via Kirtland Records. Originally slated to be released as an EP on May 31st, the band changed their tune and expanded the effort after spending some quality time in the recording studio with producer Frenchie Smith (The Darkness, Meat Puppets, Built to Spill). The first single, “Summer of the Stage”, will be released digitally on May 8th.

In a press release, vocalist Vaden Todd Lewis says of the recording process:

The plan was just to record some demos with (producer) Frenchie Smith. It went so well we decided to compile the songs into an EP. But we were having such a good time, we decided to keep the ball rolling and make a full-length record. A lot of this material was written on the fly in the studio. It was a very exciting and scary process.”

Currently on tour with Social Distortion, Toadies announced that they will be adding more to-be-determined dates with Helmet afterward. The band has also revealed that their annual festival Dia de los Toadies will take place over Labor Day weekend in New Braunfels, TX. Check out their full docket below.

PLAY.ROCK.MUSIC *partial* Tracklist:
01. Rattler’s Revenge
02. Summer of the Strange
03. Laments of a Good Man
04. We Burned the City Down
05. Animals
06. Beside You

The Toadies 2012 Tour Dates:
04/10 – Portland, OR @ Roseland Theater *
04/13 – Seattle, WA @ Paramount Theatre *
04/16 – Vancouver, BC @ The Commodore Ballroom *
04/17 – Vancouver, BC @ Commodore
04/19 – Calgary, AB @ MacEwan Hall *
04/20 – Edmonton, AB @ Edmonton Events Centre *
04/23 – Winnipeg, MB @ Burton Cummings Theater *
04/26 – Minneapolis, MN @ First Avenue *
04/28 – Sauget, IL @ Pop’s *
05/01 – Memphis, TN @ Minglewood Hall *
05/02 – Little Rock, AR @ Juanita’s
05/05 – Corpus Christi, TX @ Concrete Street Amphitheater *
05/08 – Oklahoma City, OK @ Diamond Ballroom *
05/10 – Boulder, CO @ Boulder Theater *
05/11 – Salt Lake City, UT @ The Depot *
05/12 – Salt Lake City, UT @ The Depot
05/14 – Boise, ID @ Knitting Factory
05/15 – Spokane, WA @ Knitting Factory
05/16 – Bend, OR @ Midtown
05/18 – Reno @ Knitting Factory
05/19 – Los Angeles @ The Roxy (Headline Date)
05/20 – Pozo, CA @ Pozo Saloon
06/15 – Shreveport, LA @ The Warehouse
06/16 – Dallas, TX @ Palladium

* = w/ Social Distortion

Other notable acts include X, who will be performing their album Los Angeles in its entirety, Youth of Today, Suicide Machines, ALL (featuring Scott Reynolds, Chad Price and Dave Smalley), and Helmet. In addition, the festival plans to announce another headliner, which festival founder Mike Petryshyn says “deserves its very own separate announcement,” on Friday, June 24th at 9AM CDT. Update: It’s Danzig. The band will perform “a career spanning show featuring sets of Danzig, Samhain, and Misfits songs with none other than [former Misfits guitarist] Doyle Wolfgang von Frankenstein joining on guitar for the Misfits set.”

Also announced today was the Riot Fest’s latest off-shoot, Riot Fest East. Set for September 24th at Penn’s Landing in Philadelphia, PA, the festival will feature Descendents, Dead Milkmen, X performing Los Angeles, How Water Music, Naked Raygun, and more.

You can find the full lineups for both Riot Fest and Riot Fest East at our Festival Outlook. Tickets for Riot Fest cost $135 for a Congress Pass and $145 for a Festival Pass, while tickets for Riot Fest East are priced at $34.50. Both are on-sale beginning Friday, June 24th. Visit the festival’s website for complete details.

As it relates to the bands, this year’s newly unveiled initial bill is heavy in up-and-comers, though there are a few old-timers mixed in as well. For example, for every Surfer Blood, Four Tet, Salem, Small Black, Big Freedia, and School of Seven Bells, there’s also Ghostface Killah, Helmet, Senses Fail, Greg Dulli, and even Bayside. Also, Kevin Devine and Manchester Orchestra will debut their new collaboration, Bad Books. You can find a full listing of confirmed bands here.

Hundreds more acts are set to be announced in the weeks ahead. As for badges, they’re currently on sale, though the ongoing early bird discount ends tomorrow at midnight, so hurry.

In fact, Hamilton told Art Michalski in May that Seeing Eye Dog was a “very Helmet sounding record” with lyrics that come from his “perspective of life.” While he may be your dad’s age, don’t expect this 50-year-old to be spouting off about an oil spill or heath care. “I’ve had songs that politics have reared their ugly head on,” he said, “but I try not to have my political views on the album. I like to question things, but I don’t want to get up on a soapbox and preach through my songs.”

The new album – due to hit shelves in September – is the band’s seventh and its first for the Work Song imprint, which is run by Hamilton’s manager. Hamilton says Helmet landed on the label as a result of getting “pretty fucked over by” Warcon Records, which released 2006’s Monochrome. “All the problems made me really skeptical about the music industry,” said Hamilton, “we were barely hanging on as a band after the debacle, and I really had no interest in starting my own label, so this opportunity was the right deal.” As a result of the current contract, Hamilton owns the rights to all of the masters for Seeing Eye Dog and said being on Work Song is “about as close to self-releasing and promoting an album as you can get.”

Several versions of the release will be available, but fanatics can take part in the $99 super-deluxe package that is signed by Hamilton and comes with a golden laminate tour pass that allows the purchaser to meet the band and get into each and every one of their U.S. shows. Their stateside tour crisscrosses the U.S. from September to November before hopping the Atlantic to spend the rest of 2010 in Europe, and those without a golden ticket can obtain their own regular, paper tickets on the band’s website or Ticketmaster.com. Tickets are available now, and tour dates (including their month-long European soiree) are listed below.

Helmet 2010 Tour Dates
09/08 – Sacramento, CA @ Harlow’s
09/10 – Oakland, CA @ Uptown Theatre
09/11 – San Jose, CA @ The Blank Club
09/13 – Portland, OR @ Dante’s
09/15 – Seattle, WA @ Showbox
09/16 – Vancouver, BC @ The Venue
09/18 – Edmonton, AB @ The Starlite Room
09/19 – Calgary, AB @ Dicken’s Pub
09/21 – Casper, WY @ Downtown Grill & Venue
09/23 – Tempe, AZ @ The Clubhouse
09/24 – Anaheim, CA @ The Galaxy
09/25 – San Diego, CA @ Casbah
09/26 – Redondo Beach, CA @ The Brixton
10/08 – Denver, CO @ Bluebird Theatre
10/09 – Fort Collins, CO @ Aggie Theatre
10/10 – Omaha, NE @ The Waiting Room
10/12 – Chicago, IL @ Double Door
10/13 – Cleveland, OH @ Peabodys
10/15 – Columbus, OH @ Skully’s Music Center
10/16 – Detroit, MI @ Smalls
10/17 – Toronto, ON @ Lee’s Palace
10/19 – Montreal, QC @ Studio
10/20 – Boston, MA @ The Middle East
10/22 – Baltimore, MD @ Sonar
10/23 – New York, NY @ Gramercy Theatre
10/24 – West Chester, PA @ The Note
10/30 – Austin, TX @ Red 7
10/31 – Dallas, TX @ The Loft
11/02 – Albuquerque, NM @ Launchpad
11/03 – Tucson, AZ @ Club Congress
11/05 – Los Angeles, CA @ Key Club
11/17 – Arnhem, NL @ Luxor
11/18 – Den Bosch, NL @ W2
11/19 – Bielefeld, DE @ Germany Forum
11/20 – Hamburg, DE @ Knust
11/22 – Aarhus, DK @ Voxhall
11/23 – Copenhagen, DK @ Vega Jr.
11/24 – Berlin, DE @ So36
11/26 – Munich, DE @ Feierwerk
11/27 – Vienna, AT @ Szene
11/28 – Budapest, HU @ Dürer Kert
11/29 – Basel, CH @ Sommercasino
11/30 – Zurich, CH @ Abart
12/01 – Amalgame, CH @ Yverdon
12/03 – Ravenna, IT @ Bronson
12/04 – Turin, IT @ Spazio
12/05 – Annecy Le Brise, FR @ Glace
12/06 – Strasbourg, FR @ La Laiterie
12/08 – Stuttgart, DE @ Roehre
12/09 – Cologne, DE @ Werkstatt
12/10 – Paris, FR @ Elysee Montmarte
12/11 – Orleans, FR @ Astro Lab
12/12 – Tourcoing, FR @ Le Grand Mix
12/14 – Ghent, BE @ Vooruit
12/15 – London, UK @ La Scala
12/16 – Manchester, UK @ Club Academy
12/17 – Glasgow, UK @ Cathouse

For a moment in time, picture yourself in the throes of 1994. Alternative and industrial music were in the mainstream while youths everywhere nursed their emotional wounds left by Kurt Cobain’s suicide. Up and coming hip-hoppers found escape in Nas as he brought forth the classic Illmatic to kick gangsta rap in the head. Meanwhile, California surfer punks boosted The Offspring’s Smash (or even Green Day’s Dookie) to record setting sales. Even aging rockers had their share in the madness, perhaps indulging in Pink Floyd’s final tour. That same year, however, another icon was lost too soon, thereby glossing over an already grim, classic film with even more tragedy — and one hell of a killer soundtrack.

The Crow is one of those universal tales of duality — of revenge and love, rules and rebellion, Gods and men. While the film did lend itself to a generation of teenagers with goth subculture and budding emo tendencies abound, The Crow always had a viable story to tell. In fact, the story’s illustrator and writer James O’ Barr originally conceived the project as, “a means of dealing with the death of his girlfriend at the hands of a drunk driver.” When Eric Draven, the tragic main character who’s brought back to life, avenges the death of his girlfriend Shelly, O’Barr could only relate with pen, paper and tattered memories. What’s more, this tragic backstory only continues.

Towards the end of the film’s shoot, actor Brandon Lee suffered a fatal wound from one of the prop guns. What should have been a blank was actually a loaded gun and the actor died right on set — in fact, in the very scene that Draven is shot and killed. Most attribute the comic’s inspired and amassing Goth culture to this on-set death. Regardless of the parallels between Lee and Draven, the acclaimed anti-hero had already become the icon of Goths everywhere, long before the film came to fruition. In a sense, O’Barr’s comic portrayal seems like a beacon for everything and anything that is Goth culture, and much of that has to do with music.

The comic’s dark and macabre storyline is littered with countless references to post-punk groups popular throughout the eighties. Some of The Cure’s lyrics are even featured within the novel itself, which explains the spill over into the film’s soundtrack five years later. A self professed fan of O’Barr’s work, Robert Smith penned the anthemic “Burn” specifically for the film and its corresponding soundtrack. While the novel had its own musical accompaniment entitled Trust Obey: Fear and Bullets, it’s the film soundtrack that later played host to the alt-rock themes of the early ’90s and then some.

Immediately following the film, the corresponding soundtrack hit shelves with much applause and praise, even topping the Billboard 200. Despite its eclectic mix of artists, the soundtrack was a cohesive and concise representation of both the film and its core themes. The Cure’s “Burn”, which opens the album, carries with it an assortment of emotions. There’s a sense of despair and loneliness, yet also a subdued bitterness that’s awash in rage and lust. It’s melancholy, but driving. It’s moody, but poppy. This schizophrenic-juggernaut style sets the bar for the remaining thirteen tracks, and while most songs hardly hit the watermark that Smith sets, they come pretty damn close. It’s an epic ride, really.

But mostly, it’s a surprising one. Bands that would otherwise have no place on this type of soundtrack really blend, the most obvious example being The Violent Femmes. While the lyrics this Wisconsin act have come up with in the past could be thought of as foreboding or even taboo (“Country Death Song”, “Black Girls”), “Color Me Once” is perfectly suited on this album as the imperfect balance of balladeer blues and clumsy alternative a la Weezer’s “Undone” or “El Scorcho”.  Somehow while the Femmes may not have worked on this album, they fit here with a sound that comes off like watching a car crash in slow motion, and it is quite possibly the band at its finest (not counting the extremely addictive, “Freak Magnet”).

Industrial enthusiasts find the most solace here. Between the Machines of Loving Grace’s “Golgotha Tenament Blues” and Nine Inch Nail’s brilliant cover of Joy Division’s classic “Dead Souls”, there’s enough here for seconds. The latter is a prime track, though. For anyone who is a fan of Trent Reznor’s early catalog, it’s blatant how much influence both English rock band Joy Division and its post-Curtis formation New Order had on Reznor. During the mid-90s, industrial was becoming more and more mainstream, thanks in part to Lollapalooza and also in light of Reznor’s signature stage presence, too. Due to this fact, his addition is a blessing in disguise. The industrial guru essentially amps up the English tune, nearly making it his own. On film, its gloomy beats serves its purpose, but on the soundtrack, it’s just one rocking vibe to ride for a good five minutes.

Of course, we couldn’t chalk this soundtrack up without mentioning its biggest hit, the Stone Temple Pilots’ alternative rock staple, “Big Empty”. Everyone who has ever turned on a radio past eight ‘o clock will surely recognize the morbid blues of this tune, a feature rather welcome here amongst the overall gloom and doom. Originally debuted acoustically on MTV Unplugged, the studio cut of “Big Empty” made its way to The Crow before copping a place on the Pilots’ successful sophomoric effort, Purple. This would explain the soundtrack’s Billboard appearances.

The subdued rage gets literal, however, with the inclusion of the slightly more upbeat but no less tempered track from Rage Against The Machine, appropriately titled “Darkness”. While admittedly not a band to fit the Goth-type culture, the tune does go hand in hand with the film’s Devil’s Night introduction. “Darkness” is a dose of anarchy that makes its presence known, and it’s properly placed considering only half the song is chaotic while the other half sports guitarist Tom Morello’s infamous threading, which he does here in a rather somber subconsciousness.

It is easy to tell how brilliantly cohesive the first half of this soundtrack is as it’s filled with morbid fluidity and silent worship that occasionally gets the shake up from powerful choruses and memorable riffs or beats. Some fans may be torn between which half is better, while others may listen from beginning to end without a problem. Given the strong and popular band roster, the first half is easy to love, even though the latter end brings forth astonishing inclusions by ’90s alternative staples like Rollins Band and The Jesus and Mary Chain. Some metal slips in too, with chaotic tracks like Pantera’s cover of Poison Idea’s “The Badge” and Helmet’s “Milquetoast”. Closing the album, jazz singer Jane Siberry brings life and sobriety to the charming song “It Can’t Rain All The Time” which, carved into the film’s storyline, is an original tune written and composed by Eric Draven himself. It’s a proper end and a fitting tribute to both Brandon Lee and all the elements that make up The Crow.

Collectively, The Crow Original Motion Picture Soundtrack is timeless in its efforts of preserving both the film’s vivid imagery and the memory of mid-to-late ’90s modern rock acts. Save for the Stone Temple Pilots, no band overshadows another here, and that’s what should define a great soundtrack. What’s more, the album’s diverse song selections parallel the main character’s almost split personality and the chaos thriving within him. That’s not only a successful trait, it’s a remarkable feat. That being said, The Crow Original Motion Picture Soundtrack is our most appropriate first pick for Cinema Sounds.

The Crow Tracklist:
1. “Burn” – The Cure
2. “Golgotha Tenement Blues” – Machines of Loving Grace
3. “Big Empty” – Stone Temple Pilots
4. “Dead Souls” – Nine Inch Nails (Joy Division cover)
5. “Darkness” – Rage Against the Machine
6. “Color Me Once” – Violent Femmes
7. “Ghostrider” – Rollins Band
8. “Milktoast” – Helmet
9. “The Badge” – Pantera (Poison Idea cover)
10. “Slip Slide Melting” – For Love Not Lisa
11. “After the Flesh” – My Life with the Thrill Kill Kult
12. “Snakedriver” – The Jesus and Mary Chain
13. “Time Baby III” – Medicine
14. “It Can’t Rain All the Time” – Jane Siberry