Yard of Blondes "empty lands" Los Angeles, CA-based folk rock group YARD OF BLONDES is pleased to announce the upcoming release of their new EP, Murderology, via High Desert Lo-Fi Records and MTV award-winning and Grammy-nominated art agency HK Corp. The theme of Murderology is love and death; the EP is essentially a collection of meticulously crafted songs inspired by “murder ballads” of the 19th century. YARD OF BLONDES recorded the EP with Julian at Firewater Studios with the full support of its owner, Billy Graziadei of Biohazard. YARD OF BLONDES boasts influences beyond folk music by incorporating stoner rock, pop-rock and indie bits in their music, as well. The band is already well known on the west coast, having performed at more than 100 shows with other great bands they have been growing as a full live band on the stages of L.A. clubs such as The Bootleg Theater, El Cid, The Viper Room, TAIX, Skinny’s Lounge, Hemingway, the Whisky A Go-Go and more.

You may remember one of our former feature bands last year, Being There… London based indie alt-rockers Being There will release their debut album, Breaking Away, on January 29 in the U.S. via Young & Lost Club.

Formed towards the end of 2010 after meeting at university in Manchester, the now London based band Being There started working with label Young & Lost Club from the offset, after vocalist and guitarist Sammy Lewis previously worked with the label as a solo performer. Joined by James Robinson (bass & vocals), Tom Rapanakis (drums) and Nick Olorenshaw (lead guitar) Being There spent 2011 on the road with Noah & The Whale, releasing their debut single, recording their debut album and rounding the year off as one of NME’s ones to watch for 2012.

Being There spent much of 2012 on the road with a brief stint in the studio to record Breaking Away onto tape during a two-week stay in Leeds with producer Richard Formby (Wild Beasts, Spectrals).

With a strong coming of age theme, Breaking Away is inspired by a nostalgia for teen years that feel full of possibility, but are also, as Sammy says, a time that’s “tinged with a sense of limitation, feeling trapped in the suburbs waiting to grow up or just waiting for something to happen”. The band are conscious that it also relates to the current environment where “so many people we know are experiencing an extended adolescence, where you are a graduate but can’t find a job and are stuck at home again dreaming of escape”.