Cincinnati Rock quartet The Ready Stance will be giving local audiences a special chance to pick up its debut full-length, Damndest, this Friday at MOTR Pub in Over-the-Rhine. The group hosts the locals-only release party two months before the album is made available (digitally and on CD and vinyl) nationally.  

Strangely, but perhaps predictably, James Mercer’s recent career moves seem indicative of diva behavior — signing with Columbia, dismissing his longtime bandmates and making The Shins something of a solo venture while exploring outside projects like Broken Bells.   

It’s been three years since my introduction to The Pinstripes, interviewing the band in the cramped rehearsal space they dubbed “The Good Stuff.” We discussed their love of Ska, Reggae, Dub, Soul and all points between and beyond, as well as their recordings to that point (Higher Ground and The Decay) while downing a few lightly chilled Pabst Blue Ribbons.   

Grateful Dead drummer Mickey Hart recently told Rolling Stone the band has long resisted offers to license its image to sell products, saying “You didn’t want to turn the Dead into a knickknack-trinket business.” But, he added, “Times and attitudes have changed.”   

In an interview last year, frontman Andrew McMahon of Pop Rock band Jack’s Mannequin said the band’s mission was simply to get “people fired up for some new music.” That new music arrived in early October with People and Things, the third album from the group led by the piano-playing vocalist McMahon.   

The fact that Cincinnati, despite its size, feels like a place where everybody knows your name is a really charming quality, but it makes it difficult to interview people.I recently sat down with Stuart MacKenzie from The Lions Rampant in a semi-professional setting (The Comet) to talk about the band's new album.  

Toronto's Danko Jones has always brought an interesting melodic element to the Hard Rock arena, a touch of Pop lightness to leaven the Rock density. The approach has clearly worked; Jones and his Power Garage trio have become arena-sized heroes in Europe, they've received numerous home-country Juno nominations, The Raconteurs have covered them, Motorhead personally tapped them as tourmates and The Rolling Stones gave them the opening slot for their Toronto show.  

When I sat down at the computer to write, I was beat to a pissy pulp. I had a mountain and a half of work to do. What to do? I chose to listen to Patton Oswalt, the funniest person on the planet right now. And within the first 20 seconds of his new album, 'My Weakness Is Strong,' my exhaustion was a thing of the past. All of those laughing cliches? Did 'em. Laughed 'til my sides ached? Check. Laughed 'til I cried? Check.   

With my crazy busy schedule, I'm already over my allotted time limit on how long I can spend on this opening, so I'm off to put out a half dozen other fires while you peruse this week's reviewage. The past couple of years have produced an absolute bumper crop of newly minted singing/songwriting women of every stripe, from Pop chanteuses with serious chart aspirations to Rock chicks with chops and bravado. Imogen Heap is not among them.