High Strung Celebrates Vinyl Release

The High Strung has made a name for itself by touring libraries across the country (and Guantanamo Bay), leaving its 318,621-mile-traveled van at the steps of the Rock 'n' Roll Hall of Fame in 2004 and having one of its songs featured on Showtime’s Shameless.

But most importantly, the Detroit band has written a consistently respectable catalog during the past decade, putting out fresh material on an almost-yearly basis. On Sunday, The High Strung will celebrate a limited vinyl release of its 2010 full-length Dragon Dicks, performing it from start to finish at .

Since forming in the late '90s, the band managed to catch the attention of legendary Detroit rock producer Jim Diamond, who worked on the first two White Stripes albums. He produced The High Strung releases These are Good Times (2003), Moxie Bravo (2006) and Get The Guests (2007).

"He's good at everything, and I love it," said High Strung vocalist/guitarist Josh Malerman. “Most of the time, I think producers just want to be involved in the arranging or something, but Jim’s not like that. I think he likes bands to know their songs. If you know your stuff, you can make a fantastic album with him in a week.”

Dragon Dicks, the band's fifth full-length release, was recorded in 2010 at bassist Chad Stocker’s home studio. Stocker also produced the album.

“It was the most liberating experience when it was just the three of us in a basement," Malerman said in a Detroit Free Press article published May 19, 2010. "We got right down to business. It was a really free, fun experience, and I feel like you can hear that."

The album, which is getting the vinyl treatment thanks to New Fortune Records, maintains all of the qualities of The High Strung exerted across the band's previous four albums. Catchy psychedelic hooks, occasional Guided By Voices-esque low fidelity and an obvious keen pop-sensibility are displayed through the driving tunes.

“New Fortune is Kevin Pachla and Nardo Navdo," Malerman said. "They’re the guys who run it. They told me they wanted to start a vinyl-only, Detroit-only label, and we’re actually the first album.”

Malerman also added in the Free Press article that he was challenged to write an entire album on the way home from Nashville, TN. He said the five songs that were created during the nine-hour trip actually made the cut.

While making the rounds of the United States, the band has also been no stranger to Ferndale. When Dragon Dicks was released on CD last year, the band threw a show at the and has played at just about every spot in the area.

“There’s so many cool venues right now in Ferndale,” Malerman said. “ just closed, which sucks, but there are four or five solid venues to play. For us, it’s great because for the people that live there in Detroit proper and live in the suburbs, it’s a good middle ground.”

Joining the reissue fiesta will be '90s-inspired indie rock and 75 percent Ferndale native band Betty Cooper, formerly known as Swamp Sisters.

The band started in 2008 as a duo featuring Annette Barbara and Melody Malosh, who had already been playing music together for three years. After gathering help from drummer Kristin VonB, they released a self-titled E.P. (under the Swamp Sisters moniker) in 2009 on Bellyache Records.

“I was writing a little bit, but when I started writing more and more material, it wasn’t sounding like Swamp Sisters anymore,” said guitarist/vocalist Barbara. “We changed the name to fit the new material.”

The four-piece band, which plans to release a full length by the end of the summer, has been leaving audiences Metro Detroit audiences swooning for the past few years. The band recently played the 2011 installment of Metro Times Blowout and will be playing the Majestic Theatre’s F***ing Awesome Fest on Aug. 12 (Stay tuned to Ferndale Patch for a story on Ferndale bands playing the fest).

Betty Cooper is plenty pleased to be centered in an area such as Ferndale. 

“I love the walkable streets, bike riding around, and there’s just a great nightlife in Ferndale,” Barbara said. “There’s a lot of good creativity in Ferndale. It’s a great place to get inspired, and if you play really loud, your neighbors probably won’t mind.”

So, take a breather from the heat wave and spend some of your Sunday — which is also Malerman's birthday — downtown. DJ Jeff Milo, DJ R-O-Z and DJ Richie Wohlfeil will be spinning records to keep things moving along throughout the night, which also includes free barbecue and drink specials.

It’s pretty hard to beat that kind of itinerary.

The High Strung celebrates the vinyl release of Dragon Dicks at The Loving Touch this Sunday with Betty Cooper and special guests Electric Fire Babies. Doors open at 4 p.m. Cost is $5.

Later in the evening local band Prussia and California-based EMA play the Loving Touch starting at 10 p.m. Read about that concert .

Correction: In a previous version of this story Kevin Pachla and Nardo Navdo names were misspelled. This version corrects them.