Here is the cover art for our upcoming EP "All for One"!

Hey everyone,

We just got the mastered songs back from Jonny_Dub for our next EP, and they sound amazing!  I can't wait to share this with you. 

I'm working on the artwork and design for the CD and we'll be sending that off to be manufactured soon. 

Meanwhile, I can announce the title of the new EP:

The new WRS EP is called "All for One"!

Here is the track listing:

1. Collecting Dust
2. Ride Up to the Sun
3. Saved that File
4. Never in Doubt
5. All for One

If you've seen us play this year, you have probably heard some of these songs--but in my admittedly biased opinion, this is our best EP yet. The production is out of this world, we're using a lot of sounds and instruments we've never used before, and the final tracks sound amazing!

I'll post the cover art and release date soon, and we'll begin taking preorders for the CD.

Thanks!

The new WRS EP will be out soon! We have finished the recording and Bruce Chandler is almost finished mixing. We'll announce the release date shortly.

The first track we are previewing from the new EP is called "Rise Up to the Sun", and it's a bit unusual for WRS songs.

The song itself dates back about 12 years, and it was co-written by myself and Stephen Hyde, my former partner in crime in the band Friends of Jesus.

It started with the verse chords, to which Stephen composed the lyrics and melody for the verse. It was written to reminisce about lazy summer days hanging out in the streets or the park listening to music and passing the time.

We collaborated on the chorus, and made a VERY primitive 4-track demo of it back then.  

World Racketeering Squad pulled it out again recently and have been playing it at most of our live shows this year.  This is an early version of the song and may be a bit different from the released version, out later this Spring.

We hope you enjoy!  If you like it, please share it with your friends using the 'Share' link below.  Thanks!

Racketeers,

Did you have a great weekend? 81 degrees in Austin in January, that's why we live in Texas, right?

We've got a roundup of our show on Saturday with Conquistador, Inc, but first I wanted to tell you about a local band who could really use your help getting their next album off the ground.

Help the Sour Notes With Their New Album

The Sour Notes are a terrific Austin band who have been incredibly busy lately. Since forming in 2008, they've put out 3 albums, two 7-inch records, played 120 shows gone on 4 tours.

They've recorded their upcoming album Last Looks and they're raising money to pay for the mixing and mastering and manufacture of said album. They're using Kickstarter to raise money and there are only a few days left to help out.

How it works

With Kickstarter, when you back this project with $10 or $20 or more up front, you receive a copy of the album and your choice from a variety of packages, including T-shirts, 7-inch records, all the way up to a vintage 1980s Moog synthesizer used in the recording of the album.

A Kickstarter project is only funded if they reach their goal by the scheduled date, and The Sour Notes have only a few days left to raise $800 more, so please help them out as much as you can. It's not cheap being a band!

Support The Sour Notes now. Even a few dollars will help!

WRS + Conquistador Inc = Nerdwave Rock and Roll

Saturday's show at Rockin' Tomato kicked some very major ass. We had an awesome time playing and it was a real treat to finally get to see Conquistador, Inc bring their Tool-meets-Ween nerdwave weirdness to the Tomato.

It was great to hang out with friends like Jennifer ellen Cook, Western Homes and Anna Charlock, and to see a bunch of new faces at the show. We gave away a copy of What is Nerdwave?, Talking to the Radio, and Conquistador's Ballads album, along with a wall-size poster of the stories behind Ballads songs.

Here's me kicking back during a guitar solo, taken by my friend Jen:

Here's Reed and Bruce and Missouri's Marcus Denmon setting up before the show:

We're going to be spending a lot of time this month recording--we'll share some of the fruits of that labor with you, our dearest Racketeers, as it progresses.

Our next show is Saturday, February 12, at The Parlor, with the illustrious Barebones Orchestra. Until then, enjoy this remix of our song "Summer". Thanks!

Love, Isaac, Reed and Bruce

Greetings, Racketeers!

How have you been? A lot is happening with World Racketeering Squad, including a show tomorrow with the fantastic Conquistador, Inc. So let's get to it!

Recording is good for the soul

As Bruce will be moving on to focus on recording and producing after February, Reed and I have been thinking, talking and planning about how to move on without him. We both love bands like They Might Be Giants, Ween and Cocker Spaniels, who got started or continue to play with drum machines, backing tracks, and the like.

With that as inspiration, we're doing a LOT of recording right now, not worrying about not having a live drum kit but doing a lot of programming and using synth drums. We will see how it comes out in the final recordings, but for me (Isaac) it is a dream come true.

Nerdwave with Conquistador, Inc

Our favorite band in Austin currently is Conquistador, Inc. Reed and I first saw them at Headhunters last year when we stepped into the downstairs bar and saw a bunch of guys packed tightly onto the little stage singing a song about Lisa Nowak, the lovelorn astronaut who travelled cross-country in adult diapers. We realized we'd finally stumbled upon another nerdwave band!

(This was before encountering Cocker Spaniels, The Bell Riots, and other cool bands who have embraced the nerdwave.)

It took us many months but we finally got Conquistador, Inc on the same bill with us! They put out an excellent album, Ballads, at the end of the year and we have been rocking it nonstop. They'll be playing songs from Ballads this Saturday at Rockin' Tomato with World Racketeering Squad.

Come to Rockin' Tomato on S. Lamar tomorrow (Saturday the 29th) at 8pm!

The show is free, there will be prizes given away and, as always, there is delicious pizza and beer!

Conquistador, Inc don't play a lot of shows so please take advantage of this opportunity! 

Love, Isaac, Reed and Bruce

Saturday Jan 29 2011

• WRS at Rockin' Tomato with Conquistador, Inc
• Rockin' Tomato Pizza Company
• 3003 South Lamar
• Austin, TX 78704 (map)
• 8:00pm - 11:45pm

•  WRS will play at Rockin' Tomato on Saturday, January 29 with Conquistador, Inc.

Do you have a World Racketeering Squad sticker?  If so, take a photo of it and share it with us!

Here are some friends who have shared theirs:

Shaggy:

Note that Shaggy is called Shaggy for a reason! He drives the MYSTERY MACHINE!

Here's Drey's:

Here is a WRS sticker AND postcard on the refrigerator of Austin's hardest working music writer, Western Homes:

And here's Bob Sokol's:

Where's yours?

from Neatorama

Hey everyone,

Isaac here. Just a quick bit of news and a lineup change for our show this Friday at Trailer Space.

Mentioned in The Onion AV Club

We got mentioned in The Onion AV Club! They do a yearly roundup of crazy band names and we made the cut! Coincidentally my other band, You Might Think We're Sharks, was also listed. That could make me the only dude on the list twice!

Nerdwave Showcase II (lineup change)

We're sorry to announce The Bell Riots won't be performing on Friday, but Austin's rising guitar star Andrew Stone has agreed to fill in!

Andrew has just finished recording his first full-length album, and you can hear the first song, "Angels of Mercy", and purchase it now. The tune is a little bit Stevie Ray Vaughan, a little bit Cream--basically it rocks! Check it out.

We'll see you at the Nerdwave Showcase this coming Friday, from 7pm to 10pm at Trailer Space Records! It's an early show so you can hit up the after party at Club 1808 where DIY Danna will be spinning tunes in between noise and nerdwave acts Slugbug, VC Chldkrft, Lead Pipe and more.

At Trailer Space we will be doing several drawings throughout the night, giving away CDs, cookies and other goodies.

Both shows are free! See you there!

Isaac, Reed and Bruce

We give away shit at each of our shows now!

We do a couple of prize drawings for stuff like free copies of our CDs, free copies of other excellent CDs, and now--cookies!

We're doing two drawings Friday night and the prizes will include some of these beautiful cookies baked by Sean Padilla:

All you have to do is show up to Trailer Space on Friday at 7pm and enter the drawing!