OK, here's the background on the EP.

Several of the EP tracks are songs that would have been part of our debut LP for TVT Records.   After a crazy producer search (flying to Connecticut to meet with Bob Ezrin; flying to LA, where we stayed at the W Hotel and met with Todd Rundgren; working with AC/DC producer Mike Fraser at Bryan Adams' Warehouse Studio in Vancouver; demoing a song with Gilby Clarke from Guns and Roses at his studio in Los Angeles; working with that Raiders fanactic Matt Hyde at the Armoury in Vancouver), we bunkered down with Dave Cobb at Hollywood Sound Recorders in Los Angeles for a six weeks.  Dave is from Georgia, and has produced Shooter Jennings and Jamey Johnson.  He's a first-rate guitarist with killer gear (we used a real '59 Les Paul on a bunch of these, as well as my '58 Tele).  We ended up fighting with TVT (who didn't?) and the record never came out: we couldn't agree on a mixer, and they bailed on plans our then-manager Allen Kovac made to mix with Steve Thompson (Appetite for Destruction, Milk and Honey) in rural Massachussets.

The demo, "Never Make A Fool of Me", chronicles the circumstance related above: watching something you've put everything into fall apart because of professional incompetence, arrogance, and ignorance.

And the new song, "Shangri-La", is from our upcoming LP, recorded to tape (listen for the tape hiss!) with Shawn Cole at Mushroom in Vancouver.  It's a serious record, with heavy jams and the best songs we've written---from Everly Brothers ballads to James Gang slide guitar rockers---just wait and see. 

http://www.bigtakeover.com/reviews/lions-in-the-street-mixtape-ep-hand-to-mouth


Once known as the Years and signed to the currently bankrupt TVT Records, LIONS IN THE STREET
left behind an onerous deal and a debut LP thrust into limbo for
artistic freedom and a new life as an independent rock & roll unit.
The band put the excellent Cat Got Your Tongue EP out in 2006
on its own Hand to Mouth label; after a couple of years of roadwork and
recording, the Vancouver quartet releases another aperitif as it
readies the new version of its first album.


The Mixtape EP, available as a download from the quartet’s website, combines tunes recorded with producer DAVE COBB
for the aborted TVT album with a demo and a preview of the upcoming
full-length. “Shangri-La,” the latter, is a primo ass-kicker, the kind
of tune the ROLLING STONES haven’t been able to knock out since Exile On Main Street.  The other four songs, whether rocking (“Never Make a Fool Out of Me”), rolling (“Oh Carolina”) or romancing (“Still the Same”), are damn near
as good, especially the brooding ballad “Ruthless.” Worth every megabyte, especially for fans of rock & roll in the style of the Stones and the FACES.


-Michael Toland

Hey, we're off to SXSW again this year.  And in advance of the festival---and in advance of our LP---we've released our 'Mixtape' EP, available by free download from our website.  Lots of mixed bits and pieces: old songs we recorded at Hollywood Sound in LA for TVT, new songs we recorded at Mushroom with Shawn Cole, and a demo. 

If you like them, throw a coin in the busker's hat (Paypal donation button). 

We've got an EP release show on Saturday, February 28, at the Media Club, so come out!

We're releasing another free by donation EP from our website this week.  The songs are now up streaming on our myspace!   Check 'em out! 

A few older tracks we did in LA with Dave Cobb for TVT, a new one, and a demo. 

The full-length will follow.

Tell your friends, and Happy New Year
Lions


Here's the tracklisting, go get it:

Shangri-La

Still the Same

Oh Carolina

Ruthless

Never Make A Fool of Me

Here's how we made the record: 2 days of tracking, 4 guys who can play in a righteous-sounding live room with a Neve, killer mics, and crazy preamps/compressors (Mushroom), one serious engineer/producer (Shawn Cole), one 2' tape machine, one foosball table, a '58 telecaster (for real), a gold top Les Paul (not for real), 60's Ludwig, '67 Fender Jazz, a bunch 'o tweed Fender amps, a mighty Canadian Trayor 50-watter (ssshh...secret weapon!), and a whole bunch of good songs and buddies to help with keys, harp, singing, etc.

The Room:





The 'ProTools' rig:



The Gear:





The 'Champ'?



Buddies:





TCB:

Our new track 'Moving Along' is now streaming on our myspace and website, so turn an ear towards it.

We're just putting the finishing touches on our brand new record, recorded with our favourite New Brunswickan fadermaster, the ridiculously talented producer/engineer Shawn Cole (You Say Party We Say Die, Bend Sinister).  This is some seriously top shelf rock and roll: our signature throw-down blues rockers, gospel ballads, freak-out jams, and even some Felice and Boudleaux Bryant-ish country.  We will make the playoffs this year, that's a promise, and challenge for the cup.

One garbage man, one carpenter, and two clerks take care of business: this album took blood, sweat, and Years.  The album's equal parts vintage studio (recorded all the songs to tape in three days at Mushroom Studios) and basement styles (vocals done in the basement, as per our EP). 

You can still download our debut 'Cat Got Your Tongue' EP for free from our website, for now...but get it while you can!

More live dates, including a crazy album release party with all kinds of guests to follow, as well as release details regarding the upcoming full length, so stay tuned!