Country-fried Vancouver rock'n'rollers Lions in the Street could have been one of the biggest acts of the past decade, but a famous falling-out with the band's old label, TVT Records, left them with an unfinished debut and inability to put out any new material for years to come. But following the release of a self-titled album in 2010 and a new EP just this past February on Beverly Martel Records, the denim-clad quartet have decided to take another stab at their long-lost debut, which is currently being re-mastered and re-recorded with the Orchard (who bought TVT after it went bankrupt in 2008).
The LP isn't expected out until 2014, but Exclaim! is offering a rough mix of album cut "Someday," which you can now hear in the player below.
The track follows in the footsteps of the band's previous releases, capturing the essence of the Rolling Stones and '90s throwback classic rock acts like Sloan and Thrush Hermit. But with a flange-heavy rhythm and passionate vocals reminiscent of a young Dave Grohl, the song sounds right at home during rock's rebirth in the early 2000s.
According to frontman Chris Kinnon, the album is still in the finishing stages and has been slow going due to his work as a sanitation worker and the band having to deal with "paying off label debts (that had) prevented us from really touring and promoting things," but until we get an official release date, check out the song below, along with a statement from Kinnon about the record's long and unfortunate history.
The story via's Lions in the Street's Chris Kinnon:
We signed with TVT Records (NIN, Lil 'Jon, Pitbull) in 2004. After turning down a chance to have Todd Rundgren produce, we made a record in L.A. at Hollywood Sound (where Prince and the Black Crowes made their first records) with Dave Cobb (Jamey Johnson, Waylon Jennings, Jason Isbell).
Even though everyone loved the record, what began as a dispute over mixing and tracklisting escalated into a full-blown [battle] between our manager in NYC and TVT: TVT wouldn't let us finish the record, nor would they drop us and release us from our contract.
We hired a very expensive and well-known lawyer, Don Engel, who represented Van Halen, the Eagles, Donna Summer, and Backstreet Boys against their labels. As TVT had breached the contract, he informed them we were free to sign with another label, which meant walking away from the album. It was never finished or mixed, and these are just board mixes from the sessions.
Although we had about 5 other big labels try to sign us, TVT's reputation scared them away (Gottlieb the owner went to Harvard Law School and was very unpredictable and litigious). We've released music independently (and slowly) since them, as car accidents and paying off label debts has prevented us from really touring and promoting things.
TVT went bankrupt and The Orchard in NYC bought its assets. We approached The Orchard this year and expressed interest in finishing and releasing the record. Very graciously, they offered us our masters back (which is incredible considering the hundreds of thousands it cost TVT to make the record).
I've worked as a sanitation worker to pay off the debts. 604 still has the rights to the record in Canada, so we'll have to work with them to finish and release it in early 2014. Sometimes when I consider what we walked away from and how much that decision to stand up for our artistic integrity cost us, I wonder if it was all folly.
The LP isn't expected out until 2014, but Exclaim! is offering a rough mix of album cut "Someday," which you can now hear in the player below.
The track follows in the footsteps of the band's previous releases, capturing the essence of the Rolling Stones and '90s throwback classic rock acts like Sloan and Thrush Hermit. But with a flange-heavy rhythm and passionate vocals reminiscent of a young Dave Grohl, the song sounds right at home during rock's rebirth in the early 2000s.
According to frontman Chris Kinnon, the album is still in the finishing stages and has been slow going due to his work as a sanitation worker and the band having to deal with "paying off label debts (that had) prevented us from really touring and promoting things," but until we get an official release date, check out the song below, along with a statement from Kinnon about the record's long and unfortunate history.
The story via's Lions in the Street's Chris Kinnon:
We signed with TVT Records (NIN, Lil 'Jon, Pitbull) in 2004. After turning down a chance to have Todd Rundgren produce, we made a record in L.A. at Hollywood Sound (where Prince and the Black Crowes made their first records) with Dave Cobb (Jamey Johnson, Waylon Jennings, Jason Isbell).
Even though everyone loved the record, what began as a dispute over mixing and tracklisting escalated into a full-blown [battle] between our manager in NYC and TVT: TVT wouldn't let us finish the record, nor would they drop us and release us from our contract.
We hired a very expensive and well-known lawyer, Don Engel, who represented Van Halen, the Eagles, Donna Summer, and Backstreet Boys against their labels. As TVT had breached the contract, he informed them we were free to sign with another label, which meant walking away from the album. It was never finished or mixed, and these are just board mixes from the sessions.
Although we had about 5 other big labels try to sign us, TVT's reputation scared them away (Gottlieb the owner went to Harvard Law School and was very unpredictable and litigious). We've released music independently (and slowly) since them, as car accidents and paying off label debts has prevented us from really touring and promoting things.
TVT went bankrupt and The Orchard in NYC bought its assets. We approached The Orchard this year and expressed interest in finishing and releasing the record. Very graciously, they offered us our masters back (which is incredible considering the hundreds of thousands it cost TVT to make the record).
I've worked as a sanitation worker to pay off the debts. 604 still has the rights to the record in Canada, so we'll have to work with them to finish and release it in early 2014. Sometimes when I consider what we walked away from and how much that decision to stand up for our artistic integrity cost us, I wonder if it was all folly.