Welcome to today’s adventure in which our hero reaches the long overdue realization that he really should have been more of a Trashcan Sinatras fan back in the day. The Trashcans are in the midst of a rare U.S. tour with Brookville opening, a run of dates that might just be one of the best double bills of the year.

First things first, make sure that you get there in time to see Brookville.

What good is a killer double bill, if you miss the first band? Brookville came highly recommended, and they were totally fab beyond belief. I was already interested, as the band is a solo project featuring Ivy co-founder Andy Chase. The band claim bands like Prefab Sprout, Talk Talk, The House of Love, Happy Mondays, and The The as influences, along with more commonly cited bands like The Beatles and The Doors. Chase has even been known to pull out a random The The cover, if you’re nice. I was a huge Ivy fan in the 90s, so it was nice to catch up a bit on what Chase has been up to with Brookville. Brookville already have two albums, and will release their third album Broken Lights in September. Last night’s show was their first in Cleveland, and I’ll look forward to seeing them come back around this fall when the new album is released.

Stream “Great Mistake,” the first single from the new Brookville album via their Myspace page here.

I had to rub my eyes a couple of months ago when I saw a Grog Shop date booked for The Trashcan Sinatras. Holy time warp, Batman….did we just warp back to the 90s? As it turns out, the Trashcans have a new album, In The Music, and luckily for U.S. music fans, they’re currently touring in support of that. The tour has been relatively well attended, including a sold out show at Schuba’s in Chicago this past week, and a healthy amount of Clevelanders turned out for the Grog show last night.

Here is a review of the recent St. Louis show, and also a great two part interview with Trashcans lead singer Frank Reader conducted by Will Harris for our friends Popdose. Check out part one and part two of the interview for some great reading that will bring you fully up to date on what the Trashcans have been up to.

The Trashcan Sinatras have five shows left on their current tour, resuming with a show in Washington D.C. tomorrow night at the Rock & Roll Hotel, and wrapping up on August 16th with a show at T.T. the Bear’s in Boston.

Fans checking out the current tour can take home a soundboard recording of that night’s show, packaged on a cool Trashcan Sinatras In The Music branded USB flash drive – Pick one up for yourself at the merch table.

Above photo – Trashcan Sinatras lead singer Frank Reader performs in St. Louis – photo by Annie Zaleski