The Parting Gifts debut “Keep Walkin'”

cover-parting-giftsAs I am a fan of both the Ettes and the Reigning Sound (and the Oblivians and Greg Cartwright in general), I wholeheartedly support the formation of the Parting Gifts.

What began as a one-off split-45 by songwriters Greg Cartwright (The Oblivians, Compulsive Gamblers, Reigning Sound) and Coco Hames (The Ettes, Coco Motion) quickly evolved into The Parting Gifts, who will release their debut full-length album this fall on In The Red Records.

“I thought, I’d write a song, Greg would write a song, we’d record them together, and that would be that,” says Hames. “Luckily Greg’s prolific awesome switch was on, and we got this whole record instead.”

Offers Cartwright, “I was just so impressed with how easily things went that I was inspired to write more material for the project.”

And as if the talents of Cartwright and Hames weren’t enough, the album features intense performances from Dan Auerbach (The Black Keys, BlacRok), Patrick Keeler (The Greenhornes, The Raconteurs), Jem Cohen and Poni Silver (The Ettes) and Dave Amels (Reigning Sound, Daptone). The result is an impressive 14 original songs penned by Cartwright and Hames, as well as a haunting cover of the Rolling Stones’ “Walkin’ Through the Sleepy City”.

The duo plays tonight at the Hi-Tone in Memphis as part of Gonerfest 7. Their debut, Strychnine Dandelion, is out November 9 on In the Red Records. Listen to a track from it below.

MP3: the Parting Gifts, “Keep Walkin'”

Only 12 hours left to register for the Scion Garage Fest

garage-fest-flierAt 11:59 p.m., Pacific Daylight Time, the RSVP page for the Scion Garage Fest closes. Your chance to see scads of amazing bands for free will end, and you’ll have to listen to everyone else talk about how they got to see the Clean for free in Lawrence.

The line-up for the Saturday, October 2, festival keeps changing (Guitar Wolf was originally on the bill and the Raveonettes weren’t), but the core acts (the Oblivians, the Gories, Hunx, et al) seem to be holding steady. Somebody’s already posted a tentative list of set times and venues over at the Goner Records board, so you can start planning as to whether you’re going to see the Gories or King Khan & the Shrines.

In related news, the Spook Lights have organized an all-local show to present some bands that are getting shunted aside, like Fag Cop, Wayne Pain & the Shit Stains, Strong Smells, and themselves at the Replay Lounge that same day. So, for those of you who either don’t want to participate in the corporate-sponsored hullabaloo or simply want to get away from the crowds, there’ll be that show to hit, as well.