Schoolyard Heroes hit the road

At the very top of the 2007 class of horror metal and theatrical fear pop, Seattle’s Schoolyard Heroes take top honors as they join the elite roster of Stolen Transmission Records, distributed worldwide by the Island Def Jam Music Group. The band’s first album for the label, ABOMINATIONS, will arrive in stores – when else but! – the beginning of the school year, September 18th, just when the back-to-school bells begin to toll.

Before then, Schoolyard Heroes will join Toronto’s goth synth rock band the Birthday Massacre on a brief North American tour, opening Wednesday September 5th, at The Mod Club in Toronto. The 8-city trip wraps up with a hometown gig at El Corazon in Seattle on September 18th. Two days later, they head back out on the road to join Sum 41 and Stolen Transmission label mates Monty Are I. Please see complete tour dates below.

ABOMINATIONS was recorded and produced by John Goodmanson (who has worked with the Blood Brothers, Sleater-Kinney, Blondie, and Wu-Tang Clan). Prior to the release,
“Dude, Where’s My Skin” is being released as the lead track, and “Cemetary Girls” as the first single. Video premiere details will be announced in the weeks ahead.

Schoolyard Heroes – vocalist Ryann Donnelly, guitarist Steve Bonnell, bassist Jonah Bergman, and drummer Brian Turner – have recorded two albums since they were launched on the unsuspecting Pacific Northwest prog-punk scene four years ago: The Funeral Sciences (2003) and Fantastic Wounds (2005), both on the indie Control Group/TCG imprint. The two are sampled on their website, www.myspace.com/schoolyardheroes, with “The Mechanical Man vs. The Robot from the Outer Limits” and “Attack of the Puppet People” (from the debut), and “They Live” and “The Girl Who Was Born Without a Face” (from the second album).

As the website explains, “Soon after their inception, the band came in second place at EMP’s Sound Off! competition, played the Bumbershoot festival, and found themselves sharing the bill with Franz Ferdinand and the Yeah Yeah Yeahs at staunch supporters KNDD's huge EndFest fete. The Heroes wowed audiences opening for Pretty Girls Make Graves and Vendetta Red, too – all while headlining their own crowds of over 500.”

“Donnelly has classically romanticized the curious fun of ’60s pulp horror tomes and Troma films in Schoolyard Heroes’ songs,” the site continues, “wailing, growling and crooning lines like ‘Check the body before it gets cold!’ (from their debut’s ‘Curse of the Werewolf’) with piercing intensity.” As Blen­der noted, their “creeping melodies menace like an unseen villain.” The band has catalytically converted an entire generation of Pacific Northwest youth with their boisterous attitude and the sheer weight of their riff heavy operatic horror rock. Buckle up for a fun ride through Amityville.

SCHOOLYARD HEROES ON TOUR

Festivals:
Sept. 3 Bumbershoot at Seattle Center Seattle, WA

With The Birthday Massacre
Sept. 5th The Mod Club Toronto, Ontario
Sept. 8th Phantasy Concert Club Cleveland, Ohio
Sept. 9th House of Blues Chicago, Illinois
Sept. 10th Moramar Theater Milwaukee, Wisconsin
Sept. 13th Grand Emporium Kansas City, Missouri
Sept. 14th Club Roxbury Omaha, Nebraska
Sept. 16th Avalon Salt Lake City, Utah
Sept. 18th El Corazon Seattle, Washington

With Sum 41
Sept. 20th Starland Ballroom Sayreville, New Jersey
Sept. 21st Trocadero Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
Sept. 22nd Northern Lights Albany, New York
Sept. 23rd Water Street Music Hall Rochester, New York
Sept. 26th St. Andrew’s Hall Detroit, Michigan
Sept. 27th The Intersection Grand Rapids, MI
Sept. 28th Metro Chicago, Illinois
Oct. 3rd Cain’s Tulsa, Oklahoma
Oct. 4th Granada Lawrence, Kansas
Oct. 7th Big Easy Boise, Idaho