Here we go:

NEW RELEASE!!

SURPRISE 011 - AUTISTIC YOUTH - IDLE MINDS LP
We've come a long way, baby...
Long awaited 2nd album from hardworking PDX youngsters, following up the “Landmine Beach” LP, as well as a bunch of singles.
Driving, melodic punk/hardcore (but NOT “melodic hardcore” if ya get the distinction) with dark, swirling undercurrents. Catchy but not at all vapid. Sounding like a cross between Portland, Southern California, and Copenhagen, you could compare this to bands like THE OBSERVERS, NO HOPE FOR THE KIDS, REAGAN YOUTH, or ADOLESCENTS.

This record is again a co-prduction with, guess who, yeah, of course: SABOTAGE RECORDS in Bremen. Our friends Keith (BLACK WATER) and Ken (DIRTNAP) released this album in the Americas.

All copies come with a coupon for free digital download.

The first press are 500 on black vinyl. There is a limited edition of 100 with an extra screenprinted sleeve available only from the TBSR or SABOTAGE mailorder. Check it out here!

Please order via the webshop (and find a lot of other grrrrreat records) at www.takenbysurprise.net/shop

OR

Send:

16 EUROS (Germany and Europe)
18 EUROS (Rest of the planet)

to info@takenbysurprise.net via PayPal for a single copy. Postage and PayPal fee are included.

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BLOG!

Me and Franz at SABOTAGE RECORDS started a blog where we offer our releases for free download, of course as long as the bands are cool with that. We are talking about whole records on mp3 here, not just snippets or some shit like that. We are into releasing vinyl and not mp3s and anybody with half a brain can find anything for download online anyway, so we figured it's better to give the people what they want.
Find the blog here: twoheartsarebetterthanone.blogspot.com and keep checking back, we are constantly adding old, new and sometimes even upcoming records!!

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The past:

Thanks for the great feedback on the RED DONS - FAKE MEETS FAILURE LP! It made me and the band really happy! The first press is about to run out, very few copies of the limited edition are still available through my mailorder, so you better hurry up. I will repress this record asap. Expect the RED DONS on the road in Europe next year. Details will follow as soon as I have them. I have very few copies of their PARIAH 7" on clear and the US version of the LP on green wax in the mailorder!

Also still available and hot are the CANADIAN RIFLE and BLOODY GEARS 7"s, check both out on the blog and order a copy if you like them, same goes for the DEFECT DEFECT LP which is almost sold out on my end. By the way DEFECT DEFECT are going to tour Japan in November, pretty cool. I hope they make their way to Europe next year.

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The future:

This past months have been the busiest the label has ever been and that has been good. So why stop? Here is what is on the agenda next:

SURPRISE 015 | SONIC AVENUES - S/T LP
This record originally came out limited to 300 pieces on the great Ottawa based label GOING GAGA and I am happy to repress this with different cover art, again co-released with SABOTAGE. This album came out of left field and knocked me out of my boots when I heard it the first time... and still does. Powerpop and punk blended together just perfectly. Think of the UNDERTONES and MARKED MEN in one bed and you come very close to how great this record really is. Why can't music always be this great?
On tour with THE STEVE ADAMYK BAND in Europe in November, get in touch with TRAPDOOR TOURZ if you wanna book a gig.
Check out the band here: sonicavenues.blogspot.com or www.myspace.com/sonicavenues

SURPRISE 016 | STEVE ADAMYK - DESECRATE 7"
Steve Adamyk is the guitarist of the band SEDATIVES who I had the pleasure of doing a 7" with last year. He started the STEVE ADAMYK BAND as a solo project and the line-up now includes Emmanuel and Dave from the SEDZ! This is their 3rd 7" following two great smashers on P.TRASH and RED LOUNGE respectively. 3 songs on this one now, if you need comparisons before you click on their MySpace link, ok, I think this sounds like a mix of POINTED STICKS and THE BARRACUDAS. Whoever doesn't like those two bands must feel no joy in life...
On tour with SONIC AVENUES in Europe in November, get in touch with TRAPDOOR TOURZ if you wanna book a gig.
Check out the band here: www.myspace.com/steveadamyk

SURPRISE 017 | ROUGH KIDS - INTO THE '00s 7"
It's not RAW it's ROUGH! Follow-up 7" to their self released debut EP and their split 7" with frenchies IRRITONES. This band is from Los Angeles and they take cues from the classic DANGERHOUSE RECORDS style of the early days of punkrock in their hometown while also adding elements of 1977 UK punk though still keeping it fresh and new sounding. Dig in and enjoy!
Check out this video for the A-Side of this single, it's starring Luke Perry and guitar playing dinosaurs among other cool stuff!
Check out the band here: thisisrough.com or www.myspace.com/roughkids

After those three releases it's anarchocrust legends CLOROX GIRLS triumphant return to vinyl!! A split 7" with Portland based WELCOME HOME WALKER and another 7" just by themselves. After that their long awaited fourth album is gonna drop. Can't wait, they are one of my favorite live bands ever so I hope they will make their way to Europe next year, too! - www.myspace.com/cloroxgirls

Also new to the family is a great band from London the ROLE MODELS! Just had the pleasure to see them in their hometown and party hard with them. Think of something between the HEARTBREAKERS, THE BEAT and THE PLIMSOULS. Great stuff all around and the nicest people. A 6 song 12" will come out early next year followed by some Euro touring. - www.myspace.com/rolemodelsuk

More records by GREAT bands are being talked about, plotted and schemed. It never gets boring doing this! More infos on those releases will follow in the next update when things are finalized.

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Distribution:

I have to thank two people a lot that helped me set up distribution in Europe. One is Gregor from SOUNDS OF SUBTERRANIA and the other one is my friend Mira at DAY AFTER RECORDS in the Czech Republic. TBSR releases are now non-exclusively available through CARGO in Germany and SONIC RENDEZVOUS in Belgium and Holland. So bug your local record stores to order the records from them!

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Other news:

SABOTAGE just released two great new albums by SPECTRES and THE ESTRANGED! Get in touch if you need copies of any SABOTAGE release, we trade and wholesale together.

NO SURRENDER!

Michl

Our new record, Invented will be available everywhere September 28th 2010

Back with producer Mark Trombino (Clarity, Bleed American) — we made noise and laid down the tunes in our Arizona studio

Touring plans coming your way soon!

- Jim, Rick, Tom and Zach

Invented is...

1. Heart Is Hard To Find
2. My Best Theory
3. Evidence
4. Higher Devotion
5. Movielike
6. Coffee and Cigarettes
7. Stop
8. Littlething
9. Cut
10. Action Needs An Audience
11. Invented
12. Mixtape

subdays.de verlost 2x2 Karten für das Konzert von Lagwagon + No Use for a Name (Dienstag, 27.07.2010, Backstage, München).

Einfach über das subdays-Postfach eine Mail an den User "admin" Schreiben mit "Lagwagon" als Betreff und seinem eigenen Namen im Text. Unter allen Zuschriften verlosen wir bereits am 19.07. um 14 Uhr die Karten. Der Rechtsweg ist ausgeschlossen!

Servus,

summer is here, a nation of idiots is waving their shitty german flags in the streets, a good time to release a punk record I guess.

RED DONS - FAKE MEETS FAILURE LP is out now!!

First press are 500. 400 copies on black vinyl housed in a screenprinted sleeve and 100 copies on limited red wax in a screenprinted sleeve on CHROMOLUX paper (looks like a mirror, so it's pretty disco) only available through the TAKEN BY SURPRISE mailorder. The record comes with a coupon for free digital download.

UK and AMERICAS please order copies from DERANGED RECORDS in Canaduh, they also just released a new RED DONS 7"! - http://www.derangedrecords.com

Distros, stores, mailorders, popsicle stands here get in touch for wholesale rates. Trades are possible, but don't cry if I say no, the budget for this record was pretty high so I can't trade for everything, ok?

Find me here: info@takenbysurprise.net

I also got some RED DONS shirts for sale, check the webshop at http://www.takenbysurprise.net/shop for designs and look reddonculously awesome this summer!

SINGLE COPIES OF THE LIMITED EDITION ARE:

16 EUROS (GERMANY + EUROPE)
18 EUROS (WORLD)

PLEASE SEND YOUR PAYMENT TO INFO@TAKENBYSURPRISE.NET

Below's the cover and write up, read it, it's really witty:

SURPRISE 012 | RED DONS - FAKE MEETS FAILURE LP

The '00s or whatever you wanna call the last decade are over, the results are in. Honorable independent publications and the ever growing "blogosphere" outdid themselves with Top 5, Top 10, and Top 100 lists of records that were issued in the last ten years. A common find among these lists was the seminal SO WHAT'S LEFT NOW? LP by Portland, Oregon's THE OBSERVERS released on VINYL WARNING in 2004. The dawn of a new decade is upon us and Doug Burns (Lead singer/songwriter/artist of THE OBSERVERS) has a new band, the RED DONS, featuring Daniel Hajji Husayn, Richard Joachim Preinesberger, and a rotating cast of characters including Justin Maurer (CLOROX GIRLS), Will Kinser (BORN/DEAD), Zack Brooks (SODA POP KIDS), and Andy Foote (THE PHYSICAL CHALLENGE). Named after a group of Cambridge professors that operated as spies for the Soviet Union in WW2, the RED DONS continue where THE OBSERVERS left off with added elements of Arabic themes in both the artwork and sound. After the much lauded release of their debut album and successfully touring the US, Canada, Europe, and Brazil, the RED DONS entered a Portland studio to record ten new tracks. On this new album FAKE MEETS FAILURE (DERANGED RECORDS / TAKEN BY SURPRISE RECORDS) due to be released in July 2010, the band successfully develops their unique style even further. Coded lyrics about vagabond characters moving back and forth between the lines of the current climate of fear and suspicion that has been brought upon the USA by the war on terror. Again, consistent songwriting and a great production make this record stand out among the current competition. Combining TSOL-like vocals, SoCal punk rage, and the defiant melancholy of Pacific Northwesterners like the WIPERS this powerful release rises above the stack of contemporaries that take on the early 80s punk sound. No retro fashion hype, no flavor of the month. When this year turns, be sure to find this LP in the leading spots of Top 5, Top 10 and Top 100 lists of 2010. This allbum will prove to be unsurpassed in the underground realm of indie, punk, hardcore, and the DIY Rock'N'Roll of today. Though members are now scattered across the globe, the RED DONS will tour the USA in July 2010 and set sail for Europe in the spring of 2010. So What's Left Now? A hell of an aftermath to follow...one hell of a followup record, and one great, fierce force of a touring machine known as RED DONS.

Up next is the AUTISTIC YOUTH - IDLE MINDS LP (coop with SABOTAGE RECORDS), currently waiting on the testpressings. After that: CLOROX GIRLS new 7", CLOROX GIRLS / WELCOME HOME WALKER split 7", ROUGH KIDS 7", STEVE ADAMYK 7", SONIC AVENUES LP repress and some more records that will be announced shortly.

Still available and hotter than hell:

SURPRISE 014 | CANADIAN RIFLE - FACTS 7"
SURPRISE 013 | BLOODY GEARS - S/T 7"
SURPRISE 010 | DEFECT DEFECT - S/T LP
SURPRISE 009 | NAILS - S/T 7" almost sold out
SURPRISE 007 | MARVELOUS DARLINGS - SHOOT THE PIANO PLAYER 7"
SURPRISE 006 | SUSPECT PARTS - MAN EATER 7"
SURPRISE 005 | LOSER LIFE - FRIENDS WITH A DEMON LP
SURPRISE 004 | LOSER LIFE - MY HELL one sided 12"
SURPRISE 002 | THE OBSERVERS - DOWN ON TODAY 7" last 75 copies
SURPRISE 001 | AUTISTIC YOUTH - LANDMINE BEACH LP

OK, got it? Now order some records so the new releases can come out, the more you buy the faster things go, simple as that.

Thanks for the support to those who deserve it, when running a one man show like this label you know who your friends are!!

All my lovin to my buddy Marcel and the new ALTIN VILLAGE family member!!

NO SURRENDER!!

Michl

--
TAKEN BY SURPRISE RECORDS
Michl Krenner
Klenzestrasse 89
80469 Munich
Germany
http://www.takenbysurprise.net

AVAILABLE RELEASES:
SURPRISE 014 | CANADIAN RIFLE - FACTS 7"
SURPRISE 013 | BLOODY GEARS - S/T 7"
SURPRISE 012 | RED DONS - FAKE MEETS FAILURE LP
SURPRISE 010 | DEFECT DEFECT - S/T LP
SURPRISE 009 | NAILS - S/T 7" almost sold out
SURPRISE 007 | MARVELOUS DARLINGS - SHOOT THE PIANO PLAYER 7"
SURPRISE 006 | SUSPECT PARTS - MAN EATER 7"
SURPRISE 005 | LOSER LIFE - FRIENDS WITH A DEMON LP
SURPRISE 004 | LOSER LIFE - MY HELL one sided 12"
SURPRISE 002 | THE OBSERVERS - DOWN ON TODAY 7" last 75 copies
SURPRISE 001 | AUTISTIC YOUTH - LANDMINE BEACH LP

OUT SOON:
SURPRISE 011 | AUTISTIC YOUTH - IDLE MINDS LP

As most of you know, four days ago Fat Mike set up his own twitter account. Well, it took him all of two days to scoop us on a news story, post some incomplete artwork for an upcoming NOFX release, and set off various threads of misinformation in the blogosphere… talk about your classic backfire. So, now is probably a good time for us to step in and give you the straight dope.

On August 17th we’ll be releasing NOFX’s The Longest EP, a collection of 30 EP tracks from 1987 to 2009, plus rarities, out of print stuff and previously unreleased outtakes. Instead of paying like $30 for the 5 EP’s, you can get em all on one CD for $10. You can scope the final artwork (including Melvin this time) below, which happens to be by the same dude that illustrated the cover of The Longest Line. In conjunction with this release the other EP’s will be going out of print. One other tidbit, the double lp will be a limited pressing! Get the original CD’s while you still can…

http://www.fatwreck.com/news

Die Operation „Free Gaza“ nahm ein katastrophales Ende. Bei dem Versuch die israelische Seeblockade zu durchbrechen wurden mindestens neun Aktivisten der „Mavi Marmari“ getötet. Ein weiteres Debakel zeichnet sich ab. Das Schiff namens „Rachel Corrie“ schippert in diesen Stunden Richtung Israel. Indes finden weltweit zahlreiche Demonstrationen statt. Dabei geht es in der Regel nationalistisch und antisemitisch zu – auch in München.

Der ganze Platz ist mit türkischen und palästinensischen Nationalfahnen übersät. Vereinzelt sind auch Fahnen der radikal-islamistischen Organisationen Hizbollah und Hamas zu entdecken. Bei der Protestkundgebung in Istanbul am Anfang dieser Woche wurde feurig gepredigt. Gott hat die Juden auf den falschen Weg geführt, ist zu hören. Und Israel hat sich die Türken zum Feind gemacht. Tausende recken ihre Fäuste in die Höhe und skandieren: „Nieder mit Israel“ und „Allah ist groß“. Das nationalistische und religiöse Lager sind sich einig. „Mit dem Töten kennt ihr euch gut aus“, gibt Staatschef Erdogan wiederholt in Richtung Israel zu verstehen. Hitlers „Mein Kampf“ belegte – bevor Bayern auf sein Urheberrecht pochte – Platz zwei der türkischen Bestsellerliste. Das Werk wurde anscheinend auch aufmerksam gelesen.

Die Juden und das Töten

Der Topos, die Juden würden heimtückisch morden, ist in der Geschichte des Antijudaismus und Antisemitismus ein immer wiederkehrendes Muster. In Böhmen kam es beispielsweise 1161 zu Pogromen, weil jüdische Ärzte angeblich Christen vergiftet hätten. Das erste Pogrom in München ist datiert auf das Jahr 1285. Eine Frau „gestand“, die Juden hätten ein Christenkind getötet und das Blut getrunken. In Frankreich kam es ca. 1348 zu den sogenannten Pestpogromen, die schon bald über Mainz, Genf, Koblenz, Köln und Trier nach Deutschland schwappten. Keimzelle der Ausschreitungen war das Gerücht, die Pest hätten die Juden zu verantworten, weil sie die Brunnen vergiften. Wenn Erdogan äußert, die Juden würden sich mit dem Töten ja auskennen, spielt er auf diese Gerüchte an.

Ein kurzer Blick in die Facebook-Community bringt diese Tage unzweideutiges zum Vorschein. Unabhängig von Nationalität und politischer Farbe sind Kommentare zu finden, die in eindeutiger Weise antisemitisch sind und vielerorts wird gar Hitler herbeigesehnt. So auch auf einer Gaza Solidaritätskundgebung in Wien.

Wenig Überraschendes in München

Zur Demonstration „Free Gaza! Solidarität mit den Palästinensern“ auf dem Münchner Marienplatz riefen unterschiedlichste Organisationen auf. Unter anderem die Partei DIE.LINKE, die DKP und das „Münchner Friedensbündnis“. Das abgegebene Bild war wenig überraschend und entsprach den bekannten Szenen aus Wien, Berlin und Istanbul. Türkischer und Palästinensischer Nationalismus prägte die Veranstaltung. Etliche zogen sich gleich beide Fahnen über. Ein allgemein bejubeltes Highlight war der Türkeifahnen-Schwenker auf dem Kirchturm.

Von Anfang bis Ende der Veranstaltung wurde immer wieder die antisemitische Parole „Kindermörder Israel“ skandiert. Bei zahlreichen Kriegen und Konflikten weltweit werden Kinder Opfer der Auseinandersetzung. Nur in einem Fall wir einer Partei penetrant vorgeworfen, es explizit auf Kinder abgesehen zu haben. Wie Erdogans Auslassungen zum Thema „die Juden und das Töten“ verweist die Parole „Kindermörder Israel“ auf den antisemitischen Topos vom "Kindermordenen Juden".

In diesem von Nationalismus und Antisemitismus aufgeladenen Ambiente wirkte das skurrile Spruchband der SDAJ, welches „Solidarität mit den Palästinensern“ anzeigte und aber auch versprach, die SDAJ würde „Gegen Antisemitismus“ Stellung beziehen, umso skurriler. Ein kleines Grüppchen mit Israelfahne am Rande der Demonstration erntete den zu erwartenden Hass der Teilnehmer und konnte für den Polizeischutz dankbar sein. Das Bozkurt Handzeichen, Erkennungsmerkmal der ultra-nationalistischen Grauen Wölfe, wurde mehrmals gezeigt, wie in folgendem Video zu sehen ist.

„Die unglaubliche Wiederauferstehung der Deutschen nach 1945“

Während letzte Woche eine weitere Gedenktafel für die deutschen Vertriebenen in Tschechien (oder Polen, egal) – unter Tränen der Rührung – eingeweiht wurde, die undeutsche deutsche Lena für Deutschland den Eurovision Song Contest gewann, die frechen Griechen noch einmal ordentlich zurechtgestutzt wurden, die schwarz-rot-goldenen Wimpel an den Autos bereits auf eine kommende Weltmeisterschaft hinweisen und die „nationale Katastrophe“ mit der Nominierung von Wulff zum Präsidentschaftskandidaten abgewendet wurde, kümmert sich die deutsche „Friedensbewegung“ darum, mit dem hässlichsten aller deutscher Makel aufzuräumen: Der historischen Täterschaft. Die Nachkommen der Opfer der europäischen Vernichtung – so der Wunsch – sollen heute Täter sein. Und die Nachkommen der Täter, die mit dem großen Zeigefinger. Diese Form der Schuldumkehr, in der Literatur oft Sekundärer Antisemitismus genannt, war auf der Demonstration in München am 04. Juni 2010 prominent vertreten.

Weitere Bilder:

Ausgleichende Gerechtigkeit: Die Nürnberger Prozesse sitzen tief

Richtige Deutsche warnen vor falschen Freunden

Israel maximalbrutal: Schwarze, Indianer, Palästinenser

Kinderbild schon fast perfekt: Nur die Hakennase, die üben wir nochmal

Alle Infos zu "Weight of the world" hier: http://www.myspace.com/thisishell

ISIS has reached an end. It's hard to try to say it in any delicate way, and it is a truth that is best spoken plainly. This end isn't something that occurred over night and it hasn't been brought about by a single cataclysmic fracture in the band. Simply put, ISIS has done everything we wanted to do, said everything we wanted to say. In the interest of preserving the love we have of this band, for each other, for the music made and for all the people who have continually supported us, it is time to bring it to a close. We've seen too many bands push past the point of a dignified death and we all promised one another early on in the life of the band that we would do our best to ensure ISIS would never fall victim to that syndrome. We've had a much longer run than we ever expected we would and accomplished a great deal more than we ever imagined possible. We never set any specific goals when the band was founded other than to make the music we wanted to hear and to play (and to stay true to that ideal), so everything else that has come along the long and winding path has been an absolute gift. As with any momentous life-changing decision (which this certainly is for the 5 of us), we feel a very dynamic range of emotions about this and cannot express all of it within the space of a few sentences, and perhaps it's best to do what we've always done in and let our music speak for us. It is and has been the truest expression of who we are as a collective and in some ways who we are as individuals for the 13 years in which we've been together. The last and perhaps most important thing we might say in relation to all this is how grateful we are for the people that have supported us over the years. It is a lengthy list that would include those who put out our records, those that played on them and put them to tape, the many bands with whom we shared the stage, all of our family, friends and companions who supported us in our individual lives and thus made it possible for us to continue on in the band, and most importantly those who truly listened to our music whether in recorded form or by coming to out to our shows (or both). It is quite true that we would never have done what we have without those people, that is many of you who are reading this. Our words can never fully express what we feel, but we hope that our music and the efforts made to bring it into being can serve as a more proper expression of gratitude for this life and for everyone in it. Thank you.

In more immediate and practical terms the tour we are about to embark upon is indeed our last. We are hoping that these final live rituals can help us bring a close to the life of this band in a celebratory and reverent way, and also provide us with a chance to say goodbye to many of those that have supported us over the years. While there is a measure of sadness that comes with the passing of this band, we hope that the final days can be joyous ones during which any and all that wish to come and join us will do so. It seems fitting that the last show of the tour and of our active existence will take place in Montreal, the site of the very first ISIS show in 1997 (though that was an unintentional move when booking the show initially). After the tour we also plan to follow through with other projects set in motion some time ago - pursuing the completion of a final EP, compiling live audio and visual material for future releases, and generally doing whatever we can to make our music available for as long as there are people who wish to hear it.

Thanks again to any and all,

ISIS, May 18, 2010