[Listen] Bad Books - 'II' (Full Album Stream)

If you've been reading SKOA for a while you may know that I am personally a huge Manchester Orchestra fan. A few years ago I was pleasantly surprised to hear Andy Hull had teamed up with Kevin Devine for a side project titled Bad Books. The band is rounded out with the other members of Manchester Orchestra and the result was a melting pot of creativity and influence, and I thoroughly enjoy album one.

They are now set to release album number two simply call, II. It will be released next week on October 9th but you can stream the second album right now via CoS below. The album has a variety of styles and isn't pigeon holed to the style we saw them undertake in "Forest Whitaker" in early August.

[Listen] Bad Books - "Forest Whitaker"

Bad Books, the project between Andy Hull of Manchester Orchestra and Kevin Devine is set to return later this year with a new album, Bad Books II. We were very fond of the projects first release so it'll be interesting to see where this second album leads. Andy has said of the project that it's his "therapeutic outlet". This track starts a little left field and features a whistle melody, electronic video game like guitars and a big fat electric drum beat. See what you make of it after the jump courtesy of Rolling Stone.

Bad Books II is set for release on October the 9th.

[Download] Bad Books - "Thanklin Franklin (Fish Ass Baby)"

Yesterday the guys from Bad Books, Kevin Devine, Andy Hull and the rest of Mnchester Orchestera uploaded a track that a few of you may be familier with if you caught the band live late last year. Titled "Thanklin Franklin (Fish Ass Baby)", it's never officially been released as a B-Side, yet the band seem to perform it live at most dates they have performed with numerous youtube videos showing the lighter side to the boys. The song see's Kevin rapping, yes rapping! and it's good to see these boys can have a laugh and get down when needs be. 

Check it out below, and I'm sure we're going to be seeing more of some members of Bad Books with Manchester Orchestra last week announcing the release date of their new album Simple Math. Enjoy the funny side to Bad Books below via the Favourite Gentleman Soundcloud Page. Just note that on the Soundcloud page theres quite a few recently upped tracks from Andy Hull's solo project Right Away, Great Captain!  which is a nice added bonus.

Bad Books - Thanklin Franklin (Fish Ass Baby) by favoritegentlemen

[Watch] Bad Books - "Baby Shoes" (Live @ Their Second Show Ever)

When I got introduced to Manchester Orchestra last year they excited me a lot and Andy Hull's voice just spoke to me like no other artists had and then this year it was announced that in between MancOrch's follow up to Mean Everything To Nothing the guys and Kevin Devine had hooked up to record an LP under the name Bad Books, I got more than a little excited. The album featured a 50/50 mix of songs written by Kevin Devine and Andy Hull and it was pretty darn good to say the least.

Spinner have just posted up a video of them performing "Baby Shoes" taken from their LP. It was filmed by Brian Lane of Brand New and his partner Dan Nevetta who together make ApK Media. In relation to the recording Andy said. "That night was just an incredible environment where this new band of ours was able to take in an amazingly awesome and intimate setting." Check out the great performance up top and if you've not grabbed it yet pick up the self titled LP from Bad Books over here.

[Watch] Bad Books - "You Wouldn't Have To Ask" (Video) + New Tour Dates

Check out the new Bad Books video for "You Wouldn't Have To Ask". Great video for a great song. Gotta say though, is it just me or does the drummer just look a little too happy? I mean, I know they're a really happy band because they're all buds and all, something just seems a bit...special? Maybe he's really playing up the whole 50's style thing really well.

Bad Books are also going to be doing some more shows! This time they're heading south, so be sure to check them out if you're in the area.

New dates after the jump!

11/24/10 - Atlanta , Center Stage
12/01/10 - Carrboro, Cats Cradle
12/2/10- West Columbia, SC - New Brookland Tavern
12/3/10- Macon GA - The 567
12/4/10- Orlando, FL - The Social
12/5/10- Tampa FL - The Orpheum

[CMJ 2010] Bad Books @ Bowery Ballroom10/20/2010

Next stop was Bad Books at Bowery Ballroom. This was their first public appearance and the guys seemed to have more fun on stage than the fans did! Lots of cracking jokes and fun covers, including Built To Spill ("The Plan"). If you thought the record had a lot of energy, well wait till you see them live! I must admit, it took some getting used to seeing Kevin Devine amongst the Manchester guys, probably about two songs, but after that it was like they've always belonged together. That includes how tight they sounded, too. Nothing sloppy from what I could tell (granted, I don't know the album inside and out...yet).

Make sure you check out their live acoustic performance from earlier on Wednesday if you haven't already.

You can check more photos here.

[Watch] Bad Books Live Acoustic Stream Today @ 1pm EDT

Andy Hull and Kevin Devine's Bad Books project released it's debut earlier this week and it's one hell of a listen. Both write moving tracks for the self titled album and the guitar work is nice. I'm sure there's a theremin thrown in for good measure on "You're A Mirror I Cannot Avoid" too. Andy's voice always gets to me I don't know what it is, it just sounds so haunted and full emotional. Every note he sings he sounds like he means it with all of his heart and that's most definitely a good thing. It's passion. If you're yet to get your hands on the album you can stream it in full over here thanks to Myspace. I'd advise you pick it up too if you have the cash (it's $2.99 if you act fast so it's not exactly a wedge!). 

For all you lovers of these guys they are doing an Acoustic Session today at 1pm ET (8pm GMT) and the session will also consist of a "chat". Maybe this chat will reveal some more details on how the whole album came about and the process they went through for writing the 5 songs each and piecing it together as this wonderful album. The live Session is a perfect watch for your lunch break and it's even better for me as I'll be at home, finished for the day with a beer in my hand. They are set to head out on the road this month and Andy and Kevin head out together in December. Dates after the jump.

TOUR DATES

10.20.10 – Bowery Ballroom – New York, NY
10.22.10 – T.T. The Bear’s Place – Cambridge, MA
10.23.10 – TheNorthStar Bar – Philadelphia, PA
10.24.10 – The Ottobar – Baltimore, MD
11.24.10 – The Stuffing @ The Center Stage Complex –Atlanta, GA

12.01.10 – Cat’s Cradle – Carrboro, NC**
12.02.10 – New Brookland Tavern – West Columbia, SC**
12.03.10 – The 567 – Macon, GA**
12.04.10 – The Social –Orlando, FL**
12.05.10 – The Orpheum – Tampa, FL**

**Andy Hull & Kevin Devine

[Listen] Bad Books - 'Bad Books' Full Album

Earlier this month we introduced you to the new project from Andy Hull and Kevin Devine who with a little help from the rest of Manchester Orchestra are better known as Bad Books. We only had a few tracks to go off of but now, with their album due out next week digitally (19th October) and on CD/Vinyl next month (9th November) via Favourite Gentleman, they have made it available for stream in full on their Myspace. Take a listen to it in all its glory below. Head on over to the official site to pick yourself up a copy and watch out for them when they hit the road later this month.

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