LA-based outfit The Reigning Monarchs are steadily gaining steam, packing shows, and recently raised almost 30K on fan funding site Indie Go Go. They only asked for 10K. The goal? To not only make their new studio record -- Black Sweater Massacre -- but to tour and make a feature length documentary about the whole process...and wear black sweaters while doing all of it.
Black Sweater Massacre will be released on September 24, 2013. In 2007, standup comic and bestselling author Greg Behrendt (He's Just Not That Into You) asked his friend, music producer-guitarist Michael Eisenstein (of Boston favorites Letters To Cleo) to produce a song he wrote as a musical intro for his upcoming standup comedy tour. Combining surf guitar, rockabilly twang and brass like Quadrophenia with the rhythms and energy of The Clash, that particular song ended up being the launch pad for The Reigning Monarchs, and it was also the first track on 2008's self-titled debut LP. In 2012, after gigging regularly, the LA-based band released the 3-song digital EP "All Summer Single," further combining influences as diverse as Dick Dale, Ennio Morricone, The Skatellites and John Scofield. The Reigning Monarchs weren't happy enough with "All Summer Single" living only in the aural atmosphere, so they created a companion T-Shirt which soon found its way onto the torsos of Monarch fans like Dave Grohl and Ben Stiller.Videos