September 22, 2008

hey all,

after a soul-shattering 15 hour drive yesterday we're sitting in new york city eating calzones. no sign of stephen merritt or the strokes YET. we leave tomorrow for toronto, as we're getting ready to play lee's palace on friday along with our collagen rock cohorts the danks and toronto pals the i spies. just a reminder that things get going early, doors at 7:30, and we'll be on around 9:30.

after that we'll be sticking around for all the polaris prize hoopla on sunday. i hear that shad knows how to party. i guess we'll see.

we're also planning a western canadian tour for november along with another east coast band or two. more on that later.

rock on.
andy

July 29, 2008

hey all,

word on the street is that "heroes of the sidewalk" is this week's itunes single of the week, which i believe entitles all you itunes folk to a free download. i'm told they're offering a track from each of the polaris nominees for the next ten weeks. not too shabby. you can download it here.

- andy

July 25, 2008

the nice people over at xm radio have nominated us for 'best artist' and 'best album' for the verge music awards. it's nice to see some of our pals like mardeen and the museum pieces in the mix as well. it's too bad we have to crush them. i believe it's all based on public voting so if you feel like laying a vote or two for us you can head right...here!

- andy

July 8, 2008

the 10 finalists were announced yesterday for the polaris music prize and little jabs managed to sneak in there alongside...

black mountain- in the future
basia bulat- oh, my darling
caribou- andorra
kathleen edwards- asking for flowers
holy fuck- lp
plants and animals- parc avenue
shad- the old prince
stars- in our bedroom after the war
the weakerthans- reunion tour

we're honoured to be included in such a list. the winner will be announced at the end of september when 11 judges duke it out, "12 angry men"-style, to decide which album deserves the prize.

- andy

June 18, 2008

polaris prize nomination

if you've never heard of it, the polaris music prize recognizes the year's best canadian album regardless of sales and is voted on by 185 or so music journalists, broadcasters and bloggers across canada. we were lucky enough to make the top 40 this year alongside some of our favorite bands. they narrow it down to 10 albums next month and the winner receives $20,000. it's a fantastic organization, so head on over to polarismusicprize.ca to see the other 39 albums and to read up on what it's all about.

- andy

June 6, 2008

hey everyone,

please excuse the recent lack of blogging. we've been busy relaxing on our home of prince edward island for the past few weeks. when not relaxing in the sun we've been preparing for the launch of COLLAGEN ROCK RECORDS, a collective of the best and brightest bands from these here parts. aside from ourselves, the roster includes:

SMOTHERED IN HUGS

MARDEEN

THE DANKS

all three of these bands have records coming out within the next month and we expect them to blow the doors off teenagers' bedrooms nationwide.

the official launch party will be held during toronto's prestigous NXNE festival on june 12th at the rivoli. doors open at 9pm. a good maritime rock n roll party will follow.

see you there.

- andy

May 7, 2008

hey everyone,

it may seem that we've been pretty quiet over the past month but fear not as we've been busy writing new songs. we're finally going to get a chance to unleash them too as we're leaving tomorrow en route to toronto, making stops in some of our favorite towns along the way. our best pals mardeen are going to be joining us on some of these shows, as well as toronto's the wooden sky and fellow maritimers, mercy the sexton.

and if you feel like updating your summer wardrobe, there should be some new TH-T-shirts available.

check the shows section of the website to see where we'll be landing

- andy

April 18, 2008

hey gang

we've decided to try and provide some post-exam happiness to the nice people of fredericton and halifax this weekend with our collagen rock labelmates and all around thrill-hunks, the danks. we're really excited to have local rock n' roll sweethearts, the superfantastics along for the halifax show as well. we've got three new tunes that we're eager to play and this seems like a good opportunity.

so, if you live in halifax or freddy beach and you've just finished school for the year (or you're getting close...), bring your text books and we'll let you burn them while we play. seriously. (not really)

- andy

April 17, 2008

hey guys

if you have a second, cast a vote for the friendly folks at CBC Radio 3. Here are the deets...

from CBC Radio 3:

We've been nominated for a Webby Award in the category of Best Radio Website, and we're up against some very heavy hitters including BBC World Service, Virgin Radio International, Seattle's KEXP, and Accutunes.

While the main competition is judged by the International Academy of Digital Arts & Sciences, there is also a People's Voice Award, so this is where you come in. If you are so inclined, please help us out, and GO VOTE!

You'll have to register, but this only takes a second, and then you can look for us under Website / Media / Radio.

Follow this link to the voting page:

http://pv.webbyawards.com

Thanks for your support!

ALSO, our beloved local record store, Back Alley Discs has made it to the Top 5 in CBC Radio 3's search for the Best Record Store in Canada. Make sure to vote for them while you're there.

- andy

March 20, 2008

oh hi...

when I last wrote we were just leaving Ontario and since then we've made it to Vancouver and back. our western leg got off to a shaky start as icy windy roads forced us to stop in portage la prairie for the night. luckily the super 8 we found ourselves at had a large waterslide and limited families to worry about bothering. we all bought $7 too-short swimming trunks at wal-mart and rode that thing until we were blind from chlorine. what a day. from then on the west treated us as if we were one of its own. from the two rivers beer in Winnipeg to the hospitality of the city streets in Edmonton, the friendly westerners took good care of us. after only having played there once before it was a real surprise to see the crowd in Calgary singing along with us on most tunes. I found people sang especially hard to my tunes. weird… we then were able to reunite with the kings of Calgary and our former touring mates the dudes and proceeded to pound out tunes in their basement until it was too late. possible dudes/tht collaboration in the works. seriously.

the day we hit the coast… was a Saturday I think. played with mint records popsters the awkward stage at the railyway club in Vancouver and it was one of the best nights of the tour. according to alec, the next afternoon when picking up our equipment a homeless man outside the club couldn't stop raving about our show. god bless you, Vancouver. Vancouver also marked the second time we forgot the cbc radio 3 banner. sigh. truly sorry about that, cbc radio 3. we'll make it up to you with a milkshake or two next time we're in town.

we didn't have much time to poke around Vancouver as we left the flew out the next morning to new york city to play a little showcase. it was a first time for all of us. driving into the city seemed to be one continuous graveyard which was a little weird, but once we arrived we set out on foot to times square. it was good and late but the streets were still insanely bright due to all of the neon signs. Derek wanted to see the Hershey chocolate factory but after many sleepless nights we went to bed instead. we only had the next morning to look around so alec and liam visited the met to see Picasso paintings while Derek and I took the manlier route and saw dinosaur bones at the museum of natural history. highlight: seeing the club tail of an ankylosaurus, my favorite/the best dinosaur.

after playing our showcase we took in some nightlife at a hip little bar called the piano. liam tried his best to stomach a manhattan but couldn't quite finish it. someday, buddy ;)

then it was off to saskatoon the next morning. next time around we'll spend more time together, new york.

our most recent stop was in regina on Saturday. we didn't expect much but were taken aback by the friendliness of everyone at the exchange and were blown away by the opening act, 18 year-old marshall burns. normally seen with his band rah rah , he played a solo set before inviting a slew of friends onstage for a few rockers about the modern lovers to end things off. we ended up eating sour cotton candy and strawberry voortman wafers with them all night.

now we're on our way to Peterborough for the last show of the tour before ending things off in our hometown of Charlottetown next week.
we just want to say thanks to cbc radio 3 for helping spread the word about this tour and to everyone who came out to the shows, bought cds and tshirts and made this trip a success for us. we appreciate it.

we're almost home so don't ruin this for us, Peterborough...

- andy



March 13, 2008

hey gang

on our way through calgary we dropped by fuel 90.3 to play a few acoustic tunes and to talk to our pal matt. check out the tunes...

jezebel
close up to me
i did what i could

- andy

March 04, 2008

still reeling from our win at the east coast music awards, we made our way towards the nation's capital. on our way we decided to pay a visit to our french brothers and sisters in quebec city and montreal. a number of I Heart THT shirts were spotted in the crowd in quebec city. whether they were friends from pei remains to be unseen. the crowd in montreal did not disappoint either. while some crowds are content to stand arms crossed with their head nodding to the beat it was nice to see some people dancing and sweating along with us. well played, montreal. islands were playing the next night at the same club, which would have been nice to see but we had to get moving towards zaphod's in ottawa. we've played ottawa something like seven times over the past year but this was heads and tails above the rest as the whole crowd was singing along. the beauty of zaphod's is how it's connected to a strip club and how they apparently share the same back stairs, as after our set derek and liam were treated to their own private show backstage. i think the whole complex is called the stripper-drome or something like that. pretty sure the word 'drome' is in there anyways.

we were very happy to have our heroes and pals the two-minute miracles along for the next two shows in london and guelph. if you've never heard of them I suggest you buy their new record, "vol. IV: the lions of love". not as easy task to follow those gentlemen.

after parting ways with the miracles we met up with cbc radio photographer extraordinaire trevor weeks who offered us a place to stay at his "shelter from the storm" bed and breakfast in troy county. a big music fan, he's put up a who's who of the canadian music scene, including elliott brood and the acorn. it seemed like something out of an old mystery movie, as it had a series of secret passageways and hidden doors. we had a late night photo shoot which resulted in some gems, the cream of the crop displayed below. the area of brantford we played in seemed mostly boarded up except for a little spot called the ford plant which seemed to be run by the kids of the town. looking to relax a little before the show, we walked up the street to a bar called the rodeo. the waitress was especially angry and became even more so when we handed her our PEI drivers licenses. she looked at us as if we were aliens and asked for ontario id. since we're not from ontario we had nothing to give her. she then repeatedly told us that we weren't allowed to drink in brantford since we were from "out of providence". realizing she was insane we marched down to the street to a friendlier and less crazy establishment. thanks to the kids who came out that night, we had fun. derek looked especially sharp that night if I remember correctly.

in other news, we did a few songs for "the orange lounge". you can watch the videos right HERE. not too shabby.

- andy

shelter from the storm

3 am photo shoot

February 22, 2008

hey toronto, criminal records in-store tomorrow!

we'll be dropping by criminal records (493 Queen St. W) tomorrow evening at 5pm for an in-store performance. come watch us play a few tunes and then help us pick out some new albums for our drive out west.

- andy

February 18, 2008

ahoy there

our tour officially began on the 14th in quebec city. we were in Halifax the day before recording an episode of cbc fuse with our new friends old man luedeke and ruth minnikin (airing march 8 on cbc radio 1. will rock.). after wrapping things up around 9 o'clock pm we hit the road. too bad the road was covered in about an inch of pure ice due to a huge amount of freezing rain and was more a skating rink than anything else. deciding to brave the storm we packed up the caravan and headed to Fredericton. normally a four hour drive, we arrived in Fredericton at a cool 7 am. impossible? you'd think so. after driving for an hour or two, we came across dozens of transfer trucks stopped in the middle of the highway due to the ice. we waited behind them for many hours. many men would have broken down at this point, but we held strong due to a good supply of Cadbury cream eggs and tinkering around with garageband on our laptop. I got out of the van at one point to check out what the hold up was and if it wasn't for my excellent balance I would have likely tumbled. if Derek had gotten out I think we would have fallen. taking the advice of a friendly cop we drove on the shoulder past all of the trucks and continued towards Fredericton at an alarmingly slow rate. we eventually saw a sign for oromocto which we took in search of a hotel. our gps system, "lynette", guided us to a dead end where a hotel supposedly was. we then received equally wrong directions from a kindly old man who was shoveling snow at 5 am and the crack staff at the local mcdonalds. at this point of the night it seemed like we had somehow driven directly into the gates of hell. luckily we were eventually guided to a motel in Fredericton by some kind folks in a jeep. I hope this blog doesn't reflect too poorly on the lovely town of oromocto. I'm sure it's nicer during the day. anyways, after surviving this horror of a night I feel we're aptly prepared for the journey ahead.

we won an ecma for best pop recording last weekend. the trophy sits in alec's lap as he drives. how cute!

the shows have been great so far. london in up next. we'll be playing with one of our favorite bands, the two-minute miracles. should be one to remember.

signing off from the road

- andy

here's a picture of a sunset on oromocto lake. divine.



February 05, 2008

hey all

we've been nominated for favorite rock artist/ group or duo at this year's independent music awards. nice to see our east coast friends crowding this category, as we're up against our friend and producer joel plaskett, our first ever tourmates wintersleep, as well as non-east coasters neverending white lights and ten second epic. you can vote right HERE. do us right.

we leave tomorrow for tour. yikes. will write from the road.

godspeed.

-andy

January 22, 2008

We're happy to announce that our upcoming Cross Canada tour is sponsored by the mighty CBC Radio 3. To commemorate this event we've posted three live tracks recorded by the CBC this past June in Toronto at the Horseshoe Tavern. Hope you dig them, you can download them from the links below. Check out the Shows section to find out when we'll be in your neighborhood.

Backseat Sweetheart
Better Sorry Than Safe
Heat Seeker

January 17, 2008

we're pleased to announce that our "nighthawks" video is all finished. if you're looking for a higher quality super version, you can watch it over here.

big thanks to sean wainsteim, his crew, the various stuffed animals and all the nice folks who volunteered their time as extras. all that dancing and making out must be tiring.

if you've got a second or two to spare, you can send requests to the following music stations ordering them to play it.

ondemand@muchmusic.com
goingcoastal@muchmusic.com
feedback@mtv.ca

you're too good to us.

-Andy

January 16, 2008

We'll be performing at the 'Rock the Hill' event as part of this year's ECMA festivities. It's all happening at the Student Union Building on the UNB campus on Thursday, February 7 and will also feature sets by hey rosetta!, the Tom Fun Orchestra and Slowcoaster. Tickets are $25 and $20 for students, the show is open to the public (19+) and all UNB students.

-Andy

January 3, 2008

Hey all

We ended 2008 with a couple of shows around our home base of Charlottetown, Prince Edward Island. 2008 is shaping up to be a busy year but for the next few weeks we'll be laying low, writing some new tunes, and generally taking it easy. Things should start heating up come February. The video release of Nighthawks and another big tour are in the works. We'll let you know once all the details are ironed out.

Little Jabs showed up on a number of year end lists, a few of them posted over at our myspace.

Happy New Year! We'll report back soon.

-Andy

December 6, 2007

We're into the homestretch of 2007 and what better way to kick off December than with a trip to visit our French brothers and sisters in Quebec. We'll be opening for Quebec's own Pascale Picard tonight in Quebec City at the Imperial, then Friday and Saturday in Montreal at Club soda. These shows are extra special because Derek will be drumming left-handed. Am i telling the truth? You'll have to come to the show to find out.

-Andy

November 2, 2007

It's that time of year again, and the gentle folks at CBC Radio 3 have seen it fit to nominate us for a couple of Bucky Awards:

Best Roadtrip Song- Backseat Sweetheart
Best Falsetto- Nighthawks

Now let's not get ahead of ourselves here. We were in a similar boat last year, coasting on a wave of bliss until we got destroyed by Islands and their tune "Jogging Gorgeous Summer". We've got some more stiff competition this year, with the likes of Joel Plaskett, Stars and Miracle Fortress hot on our trail.

Click on the banner below and lay down a vote or two. We can do this.

- Andy

October 2, 2007

After a few weeks of driving rental cars we are back on track and have a have a newer and golder Grand Caravan. Hopefully we'll get a picture or two of our old van (R.I.P) post-crash online soon so you can get an idea of how broken it really was (very broken).
Aside from that the tour has been going very well. Western Canada is beautiful. The Dudes have proven to be good dudes and far superior poker players. We have one show left with them, in Ottawa tomorrow night, before we separate for a week and then reunite a little Maritime tour. This will be the first time The Dudes have played in our neck of the woods, so treat them well Atlantic Canada.

- Andy

September 17, 2007

hey music fans

due to being jerked around by several car rental companies, we won't be able to make the victoria show, which stinks. sorry.

rest assured, while our van may be squashed, our spirits remain sizable (with the exception of andy, who is a blubbering mess at the moment).

- alec