hello all,
we leave for tour in a week. all of the dates are listed below and on our page. if you live in one of these towns, or nearby...or even far away, be sure to come out and say hello. we'd love to see and meet you. a big thank you to everyone who has helped put shows together. it's been a long time since we've played these areas, and we're really looking forward to it.
over the last month, we took it upon ourselves to record a tape of the songs from oceans of islands acoustically. below is the cover. 100 of them should be arriving at my door sometime this week.​.​.​hopefully.​
we also have 100 left of the father's & sons lp. when the record was pressed not enough covers were made, so we are in the process of screening the remaining ones with a beautiful 4 screen image which was done by our friend james weinberg (who did the oceans of islands cover with us). we'll also have copies of the poster, new tshirts and lots of records with us. also, we'll probably leave a couple LPs and tapes home so there are some for mailorder later, etc..
you can see the poster and tape designs on our page. thsirts, as well as the limited screen for fathers & sons will be posted soon!

hope to see some of you on the road.
take care,
pete, brendan and luke


the tour dates:::::
3.14.09 > lancaster, pa @ stomping ground with algernon cadwaller, black kites, we were skeletons, 1994!, straight no chaser
3.15.09 > akron, oh @ its a kling thing with antilles, reverse the curse and pswingset
3.16.09 > chicago, il @ summer camp with maribelle, juffrage and one more
3.17.09 > minneapolis, mn @ the alamo with be kind to yr neighbors, charles de gaulle and young quitters
3.18.09 > milwaukee, wi @ borg ward with wilmot proviso and more
3.19.09 > bloomington, in @ rachels cafe with pink houses and still hidden
3.20.09 > louisville, ky @ skull alley with lautrec, still hidden and xerxes
3.21.09 > atlanta, ga @ wonderroot with gold standard, lautrec, 40 hells
3.22.09 > melbourne, fl @ a house with lautrec, shout signals and high almight
3.23.09 > miami, fl @ goo with downsided, lautrec, deserter, black alcoholics
3.24.09 > gainesville, fl @ the kickstand with young livers, diet cokeheads, bad year
3.25.09 > charlotte, nc @ lunchbox records with lowbrow, meth mountain and one more
3.26.09 > richmond, va @ nara sushi with turboslut, sweatlodge and field day
3.27.09 > arlington, va @ murky coffee with daniel striped tiger, osceola and more
3.28.09 > brooklyn, ny @ 538 johnson ave with daniel striped tiger, little lungs and remainder
3.30.09 > allston, ma @ great scott with young widows, my disco and howl
4.4.09 > philadelphia, pa @ kung fu necktie with young widows, my disco and amateur party
4.24.09> cambridge, ma @ whrb record hospital-split set with daniel striped tiger.

we forgot to mention in previous posts that we were mentioned in jon daley's top 20 albums of the year. you can read it here. we're glad he liked it and took the time to mention us.

...has many wonderful places to see beyond that large city known as the big apple. we were lucky enough to venture out to ithaca and syracuse this past weekend (as well as western massachusetts) to play some shows. so, we owe a big thank you to matt and matt, bubba and mel of ithaca underground, ryan of hanging like a hex, ampere, relics, swath, rejouissance, the rolemodels, mistletoe, gods and queens, patrons of sweet, might and all of the people who came out to the shows and helped us feel at home. without all of you, none of this would have been possible. no thanks to a certain burrito establishment that took over an hour to make 2 burritos and an enchilada....although they were pretty good. nevertheless, we had a great time and hope to visit all of these places soon. see you soon and take care.

kevin nelson has a blog. it looks real nice and he decided it was worth his time to interview us and hopefully that won't ruin it. i had the pleasure of speaking with him for quite some time while i wandered around harvard square in cambridge, ma. we'd like to thank him for taking the time to contact us and taking the time to learn more about us. here is what came out of it.

hello friends,
it's been a long time since we have done any proper touring, especially in the u.s. actually, it's been some time since we have played consistent shows. the past year has been busy for all of us. however, we are back and we've started to work on writing new stuff and booking shows....lots of them.
we are playing this friday in allston (you can find all the details under our show listing). the weekend after that we head out to western, mass, as well as ithaca and syracuse, ny. we are also in the midst of setting up a tour for march 2009. we will be heading, for two weeks, through parts through parts of the midwest and the east coast. there are so many places we want to go and people we would like to see, but two weeks just doesn't give us enough time to realistically get to all of them. hopefully we can set something up in the future to return to the west coast, the south and the midwest states that we are neglecting...we'll hit up all the time zones, sooner or later.
:::::::
OUR CURRENT TOUR ITINERARY IS:
3/14: LANCASTER, PA
3/15: AKRON, OH (it's a kling thing house)
3/16: CHICAGO, IL
3/17: MINNEAPOLIS, MN
3/18: MILWAUKEE, WI
3/19: BLOOMINGTON, IN
3/20: LOUISVILLE, KY (skull alley)
3/21: ATLANTA, GA
3/22: TAMPA, FL (transitions)
3/23: MIAMI, FL
3/24: ST. AUGUSTINE/JACKSONVILLE,GAINESVILLE, FL (help!?)
3/25: CHARLOTTE, NC (lunchbox records)
3/26: RICHMOND, VA (nara sushi)
3/27: WASHINGTON, DC with daniel striped tiger
3/28: NYC, NY with daniel striped tiger
3/29 home
3/30: BOSTON, MA with young widows and my disco
:::::::
some of these may change, but take a look at the show listing and you will see any changes we have made, as well as who we are playing with. thanks for your continued support and hopefully we'll see some of you in march.
take care,
pete, brendan and luke

so, two weeks later and we've recovered from the weekend of 'the fest' in gainesville, fl. we had a great time, saw some old faces and met some new ones. saw some great bands and hung out alot...we also travelled alot over the course of those few days.
anyways, thanks to everyone who came to the show, played and most importantly, a big thank you to everyone who helped set the whole thing up.
here are two articles about the fest that we were mentioned in...

first
by Michael (kickashley)
and
second
by Kristina Grinovich
thank you to both of them for mentioning us. hopefully we'll make it down there again.
take care,
pete, brendan and luke

hello friends,
well, the time has come. oceans of islands has arrived (at least the lps) and we are so happy with how it looks and sounds. now it is your turn to hear it in it's entirety. you can pre-order the lp/cd through level-plane. we also have a new t-shirt ready for our european tour and greg (of level plane) is offering a special deal and price in which you can buy an lp or cd along with a shirt. he only has a limited amount, as do we, so if you are interested in one you should order it now. for those of you who will be seeing us in europe, we will have these shirts in black and green. once the shirts are gone, well, they'll be gone. below is the pre-order link. also, there is a limited amount of vinyl that is on maroon...i believe it is first come, first serve, so order away.
pre-order
we have also included the write up of the lp/cd on the level plane page, as well as our most up to date tour dates. we leave in just over a week! we're pretty excited.


SINALOA - Oceans of Islands LP/CD

Release Date: 04.01.08

Formed seven years ago in Boston, Sinaloa are Pete Zetlan (Aché), Brendan Campbell (Aché, Ettil Vrye), and Luke Pearson (Ettil Vrye), three friends who grew up together in Andover, Massachusetts. Merrimac Valley hardcore kids stuck on the Moss Icon, Rites of Spring strain of post-hardcore – not to mention fellow Andover High attendees Piebald, Converge, and Cave In – Pete, Luke and Brendan did what any DIY kids would do and started a band themselves. Several of them. By the time Sinaloa was formed, in 2001, the trio had already crossed the country several times in various incarnations, and were beloved standbys of the local DIY scenes in Boston and Providence, RI.

Their newest, Oceans of Islands, picks up where their last two left off: emotive, driving, heartfelt anthems full of dueling vocals, meandering melodies, and slow-burning crescendos. Recorded at Providence, RI's Machines with Magnets (Battles, Clap Your Hands Say Yeah), and featuring the trumpet stylings of Forbes Graham (Erase Errata, the One AM Radio) on two songs, Oceans of Islands is perhaps the best yet showcase for Sinaloa's idiosyncratic drums, guitars, and no bass setup.

As always, all three members do vocals—"Sinaloa is a state: Everybody sings," goes the band's motto. Fittingly, the first words on Oceans of Islands are "There's a story in each room": a perfect summary of the band's obsessively attentive and compassionate lyrical outlook. After so many years together, the trio is tighter than ever, and Oceans of Islands is their loudest, most joyful record to date.

Known for their transcendent live shows, the band will travel to Europe in March with fellow MA-screamers Daniel Striped Tiger, and the trio plans to cross the US again this summer.
:::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::
MARCH EUROPEAN TOUR

3.15.08 - KTS (freiburg) with daniel striped tiger and petethepiratesquid!

3.16.08 - KAFE KULT (munich) with daniel striped tiger

3.17.08 - FRUEHAUF (leipzig) with daniel striped tiger and petethepiratesquid!

3.18.08 - SUBVERSIV (berlin) with daniel striped tiger

3.19.08 - ROTE FLORA (hamburg) with daniel striped tiger

3.20.08 - LADES KAELDER (copenhagen) with daniel striped tiger, catena collapse

3.21.08 - 1000 FRYD (aalborg) with daniel striped tiger, catena collapse

3.22.08 - VERA (groningen) with daniel striped tiger

3.23.08 - JH DE BOGAARD (geel) with daniel striped tiger, don't mess with texas, loathus, bright

3.24.08 - GROSVENOR (london) with daniel striped tiger, don't mess with texas

3.25.08 - PACKHORSE (leeds) with don't mess with texas, shittalker

3.26.08 - HENRY'S CELLAR BAR (edinburgh) with don't mess with texas

3.27.08 - CASTEL HOTEL (manchester) with don't mess with texas

3.28.08 - THE NELLY GYWNEE (portsmouth) with don't mess with texas

3.29.08 - AJZ (bielefeld) with don't mess with texas and more

oceans of islands - 2008

tread, not trudge
there is a story in each room, door to door. battered and torn, still doesn't erase what was here. from street to street, we walked in arms, from lizardi to congress, finger to finger. these seeds will grow into fields, into a beauty that always lived here. hope within these walls, within a people who know, know no boundaries. swim these waters, tread with head held high. share your sorrows and struggles. hearts that have been sunken deep, this is where it lives and breathes. these waters ripple in each soul who enters, stir like new beginnings, with a hope so strong.

explanation
in the summer of 2006 i had the opportunity to help lead a group of teenagers down to new orleans, louisiana to help in the aftermath of hurricane katrina. to truly explain the experience would be impossible. from helping to gut houses, to meeting the people who lived in the area and were planning on moving back, was an eye opening experience. almost a year later from the storm, and from the lay of the land you would have thought it had just happened. most of the areas were ghost towns. we'd enter abandoned houses with clothes and furniture strewn across each room, walls covered with mold and watermarks that were close to the ceiling. upon entering each house i couldn't help but think how we were trespassing through someone's belongings. to have everything that was once so personal to someone, emptied throughout the house, destroyed. remnants of a life that took place within each room. yet, all we could do was make piles to be sorted or eventually trashed. however, when we met the people who lived in these houses, they had a way to them, a sincerity, strength and hope that they would continue to move on, that this disaster would not stop them. it really put things in perspective, to hear stories and see the people of new orleans (and all areas effected by katrina) push forward and reclaim their lives.

what we could not move
with tiny fingers we reach up and up, sometimes it takes the likes of us all. and maybe it's my fault if it doesn't work this time. maybe it was never meant to be fine. eyes closed, we drive through streets we know so well. i mouth all the words i'd love for you to tell. with hopes and wishes, on tired knees, at the foot of this bed. my mind plays back and forth all you ever said. and it speaks to us in ways we never knew, at this point i'm grasping on to what's left, knowing it's through. this proves to be the hardest, even when it takes the likes of us all. maybe we did the best that we could.

explanation
some people say that if you work hard enough anything is possible, and while i know and believe that effort is needed to make something work, there are certainly times when things just weren't meant to be. there is a point when you need to step back and reconsider the situation and realize that even all of your effort is not going to make a change. i'm not trying to be pessimistic, but i think it is important to know that there are times when reality needs to surface and take precedent to help make decisions, move forward and learn.

ashes of giants
sounds, wavering in their youth, end a silence that followed fury. for the first time in months, the sun rose, and battered the waking earth with light. it rained warmth on frozen ground, and uncovered the ruins of night. no more would giants bend the earth. water melted, and again began to move – washing over the buried bones of giants. gathering, from the fallen, what could be used, the water held promise. no more would giants bend the earth. the hands of industry had to give up their grip, when the bodies weakened with their own girth. the fires that engulfed the earth were, now, only ash and silt. the giants that set them were destroyed by what they built. water then carried the distilled remnants of what gave them breath, but left buried what gave them greed and guilt. for the first time, in months, the sun rose, and battered the waking earth with light. it rained warmth on frozen ground, and uncovered the ruins of night. no more would giants bend the earth.

explanation
this is an addendum, or postscript, to 'the earth is on fire'. this takes place after the imagined apocalypse, and life has not ended – although the species that was the architect of destruction is gone. moreover, the biological imprint of the deceased (lacking the desperate drive to grow for growth's sake) carries life on into a new era. one of rebirth, and of healing.

seek harbor
it billows and sways, almost engulfing us capturing anything in its course. even holding on tight won't save us this time. we can't be saved, we won't be saved. clouds above, follow like a moth to a flame. like terrible monsters with mouths and hands hoping to swallow us whole. and we can hide but it's still there. we lock ourselves in down below, still it hunts us and haunts us. this is our own creation, right here in front of us a very hell of our own…and you whisper, "it never ends." we can't sleep this one away. it's our own doing, with no end to these dark clouds; so unforgiving, unrelenting, with no end in sight. you write it all down frantically with hopes that we'll be found. not to be lost forever, not to ever stray this way, not to follow this course again.

explanation
we make mistakes throughout our lives, as individuals and as communities. over time, you'd hope to learn from them, to not make the same mistakes on a consistent basis. some choices have greater effects than others, and one can only hope that these events sort themselves out over time, through work and communication. individually, i know that i have made mistakes, some that i still look back and wince at. i learn from them, but still they don't always make me feel good about the situation. on a larger scale, you look at the world and how we treat (and interact with) each other, as one nation to another nation, and it is truly terrifying. it makes you wonder, no matter how many books record our history, if we will ever truly learn from our mistakes. does it ever end? will we ever learn? will the smaller voices, the true people, ever rise up and be heard? can we continue to live like this?

voices resound
from sender to sender, i guess they've all forgotten. from sender to sender, we don't sing the same songs. we'll look back at all of this, in the shadow of a building, with silence saying all we ever could. to feel new soil under our feet and see where we traveled (from point a to b) and all the places in between. sometimes we don't sing the same songs. this may never reach your ears. you never saw the intent. you never could see the end. years of listening from sender to sender, i guess they've all forgotten. do you see beyond your own space?

explanation
in high school i was fortunate enough to stumble upon a wonderful youth organization called the andover youth services (ays). the program gave, and continues to give, a voice to the youth of our town. furthermore, it continues to inspire me today. beginning with one person and a small group of high school students in 1994, it has now grown to a full time staff of 5 who serve roughly 2000 people ranging from elementary school to high school. all the while, they have continued to strive in bringing a youth center to the town. yet, there have been many people who have refused to give support to ays and the goals they strive for, to empower the youth. each person who works at ays has amazing passion to create, serve and contribute constantly. it seems few and far between that you find a group of people who continually work so hard, with a perpetual desire and drive to better themselves and the community, both large and small. these are truly inspiring people. this is for bill, glenn, suzie, tony and sobhan.

rows of tops
we shout at those who can hear, but whisper in the direction of the deaf. we are oracles and truth seers, but we don't get up from our desks. we don't want to follow where anyone goes. we are oceans of islands with no shore. we shoot up into trees at eagles and crows, but can't see through the branches anymore. we forget our friends, even more - our foes, but we type until our fingers are sore. we maim our face, to spite our nose, and stop working when it makes us sore. we try to topple columns by forming rows, and yell in ways so easy to ignore. we're revolutionary, but just spinning.

explanation
it seems to me that a higher and higher percentage of human interactions are faceless, anonymous, and largely without consequence. they are conveyed through a computer, a text message, or some other device of convenience, and they happen very much in isolation. there is also a vast universe of online spaces, and it seems that many people respond to that vastness by desperately trying to be noticed, to be distinct amongst the countless masses, but not necessarily being desperate to connect with anyone else in a meaningful way. people are forgetting what it is to look another person in the eye. the most important, and most trivial, topics are debated vehemently (often expertly), but because the trivial seamlessly neighbors the important, very little gets beyond debate. very little turns to action. a generation of people see very clearly the problems of their day, but largely in isolation, and the real mimics the tone of the hypothetical.

no bearing
when this vessel reaches shore, it will be empty. it calls to no one. adheres to nothing. alone among these waters no direction, no course. let the sinking begin, let it swallow it whole.

explanation
the overall feeling of when things have reached, what seem to be, rock bottom, or are spinning out of control. when you feel like you have no control over the situations that are in front of you. i guess these are the times that truly test us, allow us to learn, but also feel so defeating that you want to just hide from it all.

echoes
these months have been unforgiving, to watch her slowly lose pace. and i sleep standing up, or not at all. but these feelings can't amount to the struggle i see in that room. but within it, i see a smile and i'm not sure where that courage comes from. and if i wrote a last "goodbye" i'd be calling it all quits, giving it all up. i know the smells and sounds, all a little too well. so i struggle to watch this day in and out. but long ago we built this fire and it still glows. we fan the flames and it fills me up. neither rain nor snow deadens it. with closed eyes i wonder the pain, my heart fills, cries and holds her.

explanation
this is really written from the stand point of my father and the way i imagine he may have felt and thought as he watched my mother slowly lose her battle with cancer. as a young child i know it was hard for me, but i was also sheltered a bit from what was really happening. for him, to watch the love of his life succumb to a horrible disease at such a young age, i can only try to imagine how very hard it was, how indescribable it must have been, and how these feelings must still resonate within him today.

name names
can you see yourself along this stream? ripples only make it messier. there is a poison, one that you can't touch. was it in you since day one? something you feel inside and out. your name was known, the shadow that you cast. it seeps into you, this toxicity. and not for one year, but many. so it's broken, broken from the start. is it for us to fix, to put these parts back together? to not put you in the corner, to not ignore what went wrong. if you never knew how to swim, would we throw you in? with you flailing, the tide carrying you out. would we save you? these are the ones who were marked, the "nonexistent." we'll be the first to point the finger, we'll be the first to call you out. to learn from the unlearned, please ignore our ignorance, this has become so routine. what will save you? what will save me?

explanation
in school there have always been people who were labeled as "trouble." where these labels came from, it's not certain, but they always seemed to stick. often times, the image that was cast upon these individuals stayed with them throughout the course of school, sometimes leading to self esteem issues within these people. we are so quick to judge, to place people into categories, so that we have a better handle on them and can feel secure about ourselves. as a teacher now, i still see this happen, with both students and teachers guilty of doing so. obviously, this is not unique to just a school setting, but really to any social situation. we have the tendencies to mark people and truly this is out of our own insecurities.

legs.limbs.wings
standing on shaky ground, bed and clothes that barely fit. see my ankles and wrists, awake with cold feet. when this bed is too short, our legs have grown too long and weary. now we breathe in december's air and go silent, like in a dream. all comes rushing back, all we used to fear. the things we said we'd do and undo but never did, just like we knew. it's been us for so long, for so many years. and we've all grown so very much, legs to limbs to wings. we grow and outgrow, dance and take steps. it becomes us slowly. never to return that place in quite the same way.

explanation
i've never been great with change. i get used to the way things are and then over time, what once was is no longer and it takes me a little while to adjust. it's obviously a part of life, and an important one at that. sometimes these changes can be scary, or take you by surprise. however, we need to take these steps to better ourselves, and at the same time we need those around us to take these steps. change can, unfortunately, bring criticism when often times they should be celebrated. i know i have been guilty of this myself. i can only hope to help those around me, as i know they would help me, to help better one another.
split with daniel striped tiger - 2008

cause and effect
guide with control to standardize our lives. confined to decide within the boundaries of belief. beliefs built on history and the financial burden of those with the power to influence regulation in their favor. forced to live in a state of imperfect liberty and in the shadow and false sentiment of freedom, that guides our next action. to take a mistake and turn it to fortune. from the greed of those that came before us, built the pillar of our culture, to profit on error and close the door of chance. let us breathe and we'll fall on our own. rather than be confined by the rules etched in stone. let us breathe to move forward. let us breathe and move forward.

explanation:
when i wrote the lyrics to this song as i was thinking a lot about the united states' political process and the origin of regulations that are instilled upon us. they come in the form of policy, best practice, and law that we have to comply with on a daily basis. some are meant to improve the quality of life for mankind while others act to endorse private companies with influence. In either case these regulations have downstream effects and might not make sense on a larger scale. give consideration to the guidelines that you are expected to follow; think about where they came from, who they benefit, and who they were meant to benefit.

we have been non stop busy since the last post.  the biggest thing to mention is that we have recorded a new record and named it.  the new full length record will be called "oceans of islands" and will be released by level plane records and purepainsugar records in spring 2008 (we are planning to have them for our march 2008 european tour...more on that soon). 

to summarize what we've been up to since the last post
- we wrote songs like crazy. 
- took a week off from writing to go play the fest 6 in gainesville.....we left boston, with our regular travelmates and buddies ampere, on thursday night and got back on sunday night....40+ hours of driving, but worth every minute.  the shows were great, and it is a great event to be a part of.
- we practiced the songs that we wrote, refined them, and demo'd them
- we met james weinberg and talked about the design of the record...since he will be doing some illustrations and the layout.
- practiced
- practiced more
- went to machines with magnets' new studio in pawtucket, ri and recorded 11 songs (one of which will be on a split 7" with daniel striped tiger...who is touring europe with us)
- had forbes graham add some trumpet to those songs

now we wait until the middle of december to do the final mix of the record and have it mastered...we anxiously await.  we are all very happy with how everything has turned out so far, so we can't wait to share it.

these are our european tour dates.  some are tentative, but you get the idea:
Sa. 15.03.2008 Freiburg - Kts (tbc)*
So. 16.03.2008 Munich - Kafe Kult *
Mo. 17.03.2008 Leipzig - tba *
Di. 18.03.2008 Berlin - Subversiv *
Mi. 19.03.2008 Hamburg - Rote Flora *
Do. 20.03.2008 Copenhagen - Lades Kaelder * ~
Fr. 21.03.2008 Aalborg - 1000 Fryd *
Sa. 22.03.2008 Groningen - Vera *
So. 23.03.2008 Mol - tba * +
Mo. 24.03.2008 London - tba * +
Di. 25.03.2008 Leeds - tba +
Mi. 26.03.2008 Edinburgh - tba +
Do. 27.03.2008 Manchester - tba +
Fr. 28.03.2008 Brighton - tba +
Sa. 29.03.2008 Bielefeld - Ajz

* = With Daniel Striped Tiger
+ = With Don't Mess with Texas
~ = With Catena Collapse

i am sure there is a ton that i missed, but we'll share that soon!

we just uploaded a bunch of old pictures here
http://picasaweb.google.com/sinaloaisastate