Pitchfork

"Free-jazz pop." "Improvisational post-rock." "That band with the vibraphone." Aloha wants you to throw those stereotypes about them out the window. (Frankly, who wouldn't?)

On April 11, Polyvinyl will roll out the group's fourth offering, Some Echoes, which was recorded in sessions scattered across the country over the past year and a half. Their breeziest work yet, Some Echoes belies a strong prog influence, with swirling organ sounds and antique keyboard riffs replacing guitars at the forefront. And everybody knows that prog is the new post-rock.

Drummer Cale Parks tells us that Tony Cavallario's lyrics are at the forefront of Aloha's songs again, as they were on the band's 2004 release Here Comes Everyone. So you'll find none of that instrumental background music wimpiness here.

It won't be long:

01 Brace Your Face
02 Big Morning
03 Your Eyes
04 Ice Storming
05 Between the Walls
06 Come Home
07 Weekend
08 Summer Lawn
09 If I Lie Down
10 Mountain

Not ones to disappoint by making just one announcement, Aloha have revealed March dates for a tour that will see them playing various hotspots across America, including the hottest of them all: SXSW. They'll be sharing stages with a mind-boggling number of buzz bands.

We get down:

03-08 Buffalo, NY - Kitchen Distribution
03-09 Cleveland Heights, OH - Grog Shop *
03-10 Lansing, MI - Mac's Bar #
03-11 Chicago, IL - The Hideout
03-12 Columbia, MO - MOJO !
03-13 Oklahoma City, OK - The One Fourteen
03-14 Dallas, TX - Gypsy Tea Room ^@
03-15 Austin, TX - Emo's Jr. (SXSW) ?
03-16 Austin, TX - The Parish (SXSW) ^&
03-17 San Antonio, TX - Blacklion %
03-18 Austin, TX - Mother Eagan's Pub (early show) =
03-18 Houston, TX - Walter's on Washington %
03-19 Little Rock, AR - Vino's $
03-22 Columbus, OH - The High Five
03-23 Pittsburgh, PA - Garfield Artworks
04-10 New York, NY - Mercury Lounge +

* with Mazarin, The Double
# with Dirty on Purpose
! with the Ponys
^ with Teo Leo/Pharmacists
@ with the Duke Spirit, Les Aus
? with Owen, Saturday Looks Good to Me, Headlights, Octopus Project, ...And You Will Know Us by the Trail of Dead, Of Montreal
& with Rogue Wave, Thunderbirds are Now!, What Made Milwaukee Famous
% with The Velvet Teen
= with Oxford Collapse, +/-, Earlimart, Swearing at Motorists
$ with Maritime
+ with Voxtrot