Check out the latest video from Seattle’s hardest touring band, rock’n'roll troubadours, The Loney H:

Here’s your first look at Concrete Class, the third album from long time Sound on the Sound favorite, The Lonely H.

If you thougt these kids were good when they were 18, just wait till you hear what they sound like after a couple years on the road as one of Seattle’s hardest touring bands! As the name and album cover implies, The Lonely H has learned a lot on the road and have grown in to their sound and swagger.

Concrete Class is out June 9th in record stores everywhere.

 Here’s a little taste of what’s to come from Concrete Class, in video form, courtesy of JamBase in San Francisco. It’s a great acoustic take on “The River.”

The Lonely H will continue to cement their burgeouning rock god-ness next weekend, May 16th, when they’ll be playing The Gorge with some of the biggest names in classic rock’n'roll: The Allman Brothers and The Dead.

The Lonely H have just announced a release date for their new album titled Concrete Class. Every ten days until the release date of June 10, the band will be posting a new song from the album on their myspace page.

A couple weeks ago, on the same day I noted the Cave Singers had posted a new song, a little bit later that day the band blogged that their new album has a release date of August 18.

Kaylee Cole blogged that she is working on a new “secret project” with Dave Sitek of TV on the Radio, but it will “be very different than what you currently hear on my myspace.”

Alex Brown Church of Sea Wolf has announced he’s headed to the studio with Mike Mogis, master producer, engineer and musician of Bright Eyes fame later this April. If all goes well a new Sea Wolf album will be available come September.

Albums out today we recommend considering for your collection include:

- Kingdom of Rust by Doves (stream before you buy on Doves’ myspace page)

- Now We Can See by The Thermals (see the new video for the title track above)

- Telekinesis! by Telekinesis (stream before you buy at Merge Records)

- The Breaking of our Days by Karli Fairbanks

- Other Lives by Other Lives (stream before you buy at AOL)

You can stream a whole bucket of other new releases out today over at Spinner, including the new Hold Steady live record and the new Junior Boys.

We’re huge advocates of the live experience here and recognize that capturing and presenting a live recording of a band (or solo player) so the music retains it’s vital qualities is no mean task. Below we’ve presented a few of the online sessions that knocked our socks off this year and we think shouldn’t be overlooked.

Bon Iver : Hard to Find a Friend’s Backstage Sessions featuring two songs with Justin Vernon solo: “Creature Fear” and “Flume.” |listen and watch at htfaf|

Fleet Foxes : Hard to Find a Friend’s Backstage Sessions featuring three songs with Robin Pecknold solo: “Katie Cruel,” “Innocent Sun,” and a stunning version of “Oliver James.” |listen and watch at htfaf|

Throw Me the Statue : LA BLOGOTHEQUE featuring all five members busking on the Banbridge to Seattle ferry playing three songs: “Lolita,” “About to Walk” and “My Valuable Hunting Knife.” |listen and watch at la blogotheque|

Starfucker at Rudy’s Barbershop : The Penny Jam featuring the Portland trio stirring up a dance party with casio’s and electric vocals on “Dance Face.” |watch it here|

Damien Jurado Daytrotter Session features four songs: “Dimes,” Gillian was a Horse,” “Everything Trying,” and “Ohio.” |listen here|

The Lonely H Daytrotter Session features four unreleased songs that sound as professionally done as if they had paid a whole lot of money for them: “Mother’s Only Son.” “Goin’ Out West,” “Oh My!” and “Pheonox.” |listen here|

The Maldives KEXP In-Studio on Swingin’ Doors where they play five songs: “By the Wind Sailor,” “Do You Still,” “Tequila Sunday,” “Time is Right Now,” and “Whidbey Island Blues.” |listen here|

Blind Pilot Live at MusicFest Northwest KEXP Podcast featuring a half hour of this Portland duo with a large cast of friends helping out. |subscribe to the KEXP podcast here|

Thee Emergency In the KEXP Studio. We were there so of course it is on our list. |listen to it here|

The Lonely H ::: At Bumbershoot
Photo by Abbey

2008 saw The Lonely H go from Port Angeles boys to a band of road-made men. The band drove the length of the United States, more than once — playing bars from Birmingham, AL to the Bay. They’ve braved Spring Break in Florida (twice), SXSW, Bumbershoot, and literally hundreds of bars, coffee shops, and house parties all over the country.

Despite spending most of the year on the road and far away from home, The Lonely H is happily playing one more ‘08 Seattle show at Neumo’s tonight. The show is all ages, the doors are at 8pm–and The H are up first.

The Lonely H at Fremont Oktoberfest ::: Photo by Abbey

Local gigaholics the Lonely H have been across the country and back a couple of times this year, and they stopped by Daytrotter for a set of four all new tunes. These aren’t the usual Daytrotter acoustic or stripped down versions of the songs, but full band recordings that adeptly capture the classically big rock n’ roll sound of this band. I suspect most bands would be ecstatic if they ever in their life got a recording this good. I know my band would.

Listen and download here.

Seeing The Lonely H after a six month span, most of which the band has been on the road, living the life of a traveling touring band – was like witnessing an almost entirely new band. The licks were tighter than ever, the voices more trained, and the stage presence bigger and better than before. The H also played a number of new songs they’ve written on the road, most of which had a serious Thin Lizzy vibe. As always, we’re looking forward to hear and see what comes nexts from these fellas.

Eric ::: photo by Abbey

Ben and the H ::: photo by Josh

Mark ::: photo by Abbey

Artist Name: The Lonely H
Hails from: Port Angeles, Washington
Sounds Like: the greatest long lost 70’s rock band.
Latest Release: Hair
If You Plan on Passing the Pipe at These Sets, Don’t Miss The Lonely H: Howlin’ Rain, Thee Emergency

In 2008, The Lonely H has been a local band in name only. The band has been on the road almost non-stop since February, criss-crossing the United States more than once. We were lucky enough to catch up with The Lonely H in Austin and have dinner with them. The boys we first fell for on their last day of high school, looked more like road-weary men (albeit baby-faced ones). Over grits and greens the guys told us about playing after a wet t-shirt contest during spring break (a well-paying disaster), seeing the country, meeting some great new bands, truck-stop shopping, growing up, and missing home. While traveling the highways of the U.S. the Lonely H has been busy writing new material, including at least one song about the Lonely H mom’s that is sure to melt your heart. We’re super excited to see what the last three months of life on the road has inspired and brought out in the Lonely H, as well as hearing a few of our old favorites of our Number One Local Release of 2007, Hair.

The Lonely H play Sunday August 31st at The EMP Sky Church at 12:30-1:30pm

Exactly a year ago today, Sound on the Sound made a great musical discovery and share an incredibly memorable night with two of Seattle’s most talented bands. On last years’ Solstice we were lucky enough to be introduced to five incredibly talented guys from Port Angeles, The Lonely H. 

A year ago, four of these kids were skipping practice for their high school graduation to play the Nectar. And what a year it has been for The Lonely H–despite suffering the loss of original lead guitarist Colin, the boys have continued and improved as a four piece. Indeed, a year later, these boys are no longer boys, but well-traveled musicians who have spent nearly all of 2008 on the road. The new songs the H have been writing on the road show an increased maturity, meatier licks, and dueling lusts for the road and home.

Despite the men they have become, I will always fondly remember the wide-smiling boys who astonished me with their old-soul rock’n'roll that night. Here are a few photos from the night we were introduced to the Lonely H:

Last night we headed to our favorite bar, The Blue Moon, to see off our favorite garage-rockers Thunderbird Motel on a two week tour. T-shirts were going like hotcakes, and since one band canceled they played an extended set. For a couple of their upcoming SoCal dates, they will be joined by fellow SOTS favorites The Lonely H. If you like southern styled balls-to-the-wall garage rock, this lineup is for you.

Thunderbird Motel West Coast Tour Dates

May 2 - Oak Street Speakeasy - Eugene, Oregon
May 3 - NORTH STAR CRAFT BREWERY - Shasta Lake, California
May 4 - ELEMENT LOUNGE - Bakersfield, California
May 5 - Che Cafe - W/ THE LONELY H - San Diego, California
May 6 - ECHO CURIO- W/ THE LONELY H - LA (Echo Park), California
May 7 - THE STORK CLUB- W/ THE LONELY H - Oakland, California
May 8 - KIMO’S - San Francisco, California
May 10 - JAMBALAYA - Arcata, California
May 11 - The TONIC LOUNGE - Portland, Oregon
May 12 - NEUMO’S/ A BENEFIT FOR ELISE KINNAMON-ALL AGES - Seattle