BitTorrent Download: The Boxer Rebellion.
There’s being indie, and then there’s being an independent band. The former is a genre; a semi-confusing shorthand for any act involving guitars. The latter is meaningful, and more rare: the artists who actually go it alone. These are the the guys worth listening to. Right now, we’re listening to The Boxer Rebellion.
The Boxer Rebellion is Nathan Nicholson, Todd Howe, Adam Harrison, and Piers Hewitt; a London-based rock band formed in 2001. In Jan 2009, they self-released their second album, Union. It went on to become iTunes’ Alternative Album of the Year. The Boxer Rebellion became the first ‘unsigned’ band to break the Billboard Albums 200 on a digital-only release. With Union, The Boxer Rebellion made a statement about the state of rock: you can be independent, and successful. And they set a precedent for music’s next wave.
Over the years, they’ve kept moving; following up Union with The Cold Still, and a compilation of b-sides and rarities. Says drummer Piers Hewitt: “We always want to progress musically, and never make the same record twice; having learnt so much since we decided to do things on our own terms, and on our own label.” Promises, their newest album, debuted earlier in May on the band’s own Absentee Recordings label. And it marks yet another evolution for the band: provocative, emotional, and uplifting – a rewrite of the independent rock canon.
We’re partnering with The Boxer Rebellion to distribute tracks from Union and The Cold Still exclusively to BitTorrent fans. Because direct-to-fan is a powerful thing. According to Hewitt:
“Our fans are our life-blood. We know plenty on a first-name basis and we see them and hang at the merch stall after gigs, just like we did all those years ago. The only difference being that now there’s a whole lot more of them… from Tokyo to Mexico City. It’s truly a beautiful thing.”
We expect that there will be a lot more of them now.
Get the BitTorrent Bundle, and you’ll get three tracks from Union, and three tracks from The Cold Still LP. Open the text file inside the Bundle, and find out how to unlock the rest of the The Cold Still LP for a limited time only.
Get the BitTorrent Download: The Boxer Rebellion
Read on for the track list and tour dates.
Track list
1. Flashing Red Light Means Go (Union LP)
2. No Harm (The Cold Still LP)
3. Step Out Of The Car (The Cold Still LP)
4. Evacuate (Union LP)
5. The Runner (The Cold Still LP)
6. Semi-Automatic (Union LP)
Tour Dates
May 31 | Electric Owl | Vancouver, CAN
Jun 01 | Doug Fir | Portland, US
Jun 02 | Neptune | Seattle, US
Jun 05 | The Fillmore | San Francisco, US
Jun 07 | Avalon | Los Angeles, US
Jun 10 | Crescent Ballroom | Phoenix, US
Jun 12 | Bluebird | Denver, US
Jun 15 | Metro | Chicago, US
Jun 17 | Mr Smalls | Pittsburgh, US
Jun 18 | Union Transfer | Philadelphia, US
Jun 20 | Webster Hall | New York, US
Jun 22 | Sinclair | Boston, US
Sep 12 | The Orangerie | Brussels, BE
Sep 13 | Paradiso | Amsterdam, NL
Sep 14 | Breda Barst | Breda, NL
Sep 15 | Doornroosje | Nijmegen, NL
Sep 17 | Gebäude 9 | Cologne, DE
Sep 19 | Lido | Berlin, DE
Sep 21 | Pod Minoga | Poznan, PL
Sep 22 | Hydrozagadka | Warsaw, PL
Sep 23 | Lucerna Music Bar | Prague, CZ
Sep 25 | Werk 2 | Leipzig, DE
Sep 27 | Das Bett | Frankfurt, DE
Sep 29 | Ampere Club | Munich, DE
Sep 30 | Flex | Vienna, AT
Oct 01 | Cinema Paradiso | St. Pölten, AT
Oct 03 | Komplex | Zürich, CH
Oct 04 | Le Romandie | Lausanne, CH
Oct 11 | The Forum | London, UK
