It’s with unbelievable excitement and pride that we share with you a BRAND NEW TRACK by the amazing NYC band CELL.

Cell were a New York-based rock band that formed in 1990 and released two full-length LPs and several singles and EPs on the DGC subsidiary of Geffen Records, along with a single on the Ecstatic Peace label.  Their two full-lengths, Slo-Blo and Living Room, are legit classics of the era, but the label gave up on them and the band split up, leaving behind a small catalog but a massive legacy.

What began as a plan to play just two reunion shows – our DromFest and a second show on September 3 at the Mercury Lounge – added an interesting wrinkle, as members of the band began discussing making a new recording of “Free People,” a lost song that was being worked on during the band’s final tour in the early 1990s. Sadly, the band broke up before the song could ever be recorded.

As a way of helping promote their upcoming shows, the band members began discussing the possibility of recording this song, and within weeks it became a reality. We were beyond ecstatic when the band told us about it, and asked us if we could release it on Dromedary.

Of COURSE we can release it on Dromedary.

And with that, we’re proud to unveil to you the soulful melodies and bluesy noise of “Free People.”

As for what’s next from the band, well, this is it. This song, and the two upcoming live performances – Sunday, September 1 at DromFest, and September 3 at the Mercury Lounge in NYC.

The latest LP from Cathedral Ceilings, La La La…Whatever, is available for preorder now, with a release date of September 6.

The band’s second LP, recorded and co-produced by Tom Beaujour (Nada Surf, Aeon Station), is an album that presents a dozen hot, guitar-driven rock numbers in quick succession, with the same intensity as their growing word-of-mouth live shows will attest. The band specializes in standard, no-frills violent pop, just like we like it here at Dromedary.

The album’s lead singles, “My CEO” and “Bill Berry,” are both available now for download. The album will be available on limited-edition flaming red and orange 180-gram vinyl, 180-gram audiophile black vinyl, limited edition compact disc and, of course, the digital format of your choice. And don’t forget to catch the band at DromFest on September 1.

We’ve known Babe for years. And yet none of us have ever met.

They’ve been around a couple of years longer than we have; over the years, a few Dromedary bands have shared the stage with them, and I think we first exchanged letters – actual LETTERS because we’re fucking old as dirt – in the 90s when we put out the Mommyheads’ Flying Suit LP. Over the years, Tim and I have exchanged periodic emails – sometimes years apart. Whenever I got an email from Tim, it always made me happy to know that Babe were still out there, making ridiculous, crazy, experimental, unique music.

They’ve got a new album out called What About Today? (all of Babe’s albums are named after Barbra Streisand albums, this one after the 1969 LP that was, up until that point, her poorest performance on the charts). News of the album caused us to reconnect, another of our periodic exchanges of hellos, and this one led to a quick discussion of DromFest, the discovery that their new album was actually recorded in Catskill (where DromFest is being held), and an agreement to add the mighty Babe the Blue OX to the DromFest lineup.

The band will be playing Sunday afternoon, and you should absolutely make it a point to be there.

As Drom30 came to a close last year, a few people reflected on the weekend, and said “You know, you should make this an annual thing.”

We don’t know about that, but we definitely had it in us to reprise last year’s party and give it another try. And as we started asking other bands, we discovered people were enthusiastic about it.

So we’re thrilled to announce the second annual DromFest, a weekend-long celebration of independent rock in New York’s beautiful Hudson Valley, on August 30, 31 and September 1, 2024. The event will take place in and around the Avalon Lounge, one of the most creative and supportive spaces for adventurous music in the area.

This year’s lineup includes a number of musical luminaries, standout DJs, and some of our favorite figures in indie rock. The lineup looks like this:

FRIDAY
The Figgs
The Chris Brokaw Rock Band
The Royal Arctic Institute

SATURDAY
King Missile (Dog Fly Religion)
Scrawl
Antietam
The Thalia Zedek Band
Poem Rocket
Moviola
Karyn Kuhl & the Gang
Dew Claw
Readings by Bela Koe-Krompecher, Karen Schoemer and John S. Hall

SUNDAY
Aeon Station
Cell
Cathedral Ceilings
Sleepyhead
TuscaderoBabe the Blue OX
The Human Hearts
Matt Hunter & the Dusty Fates
Screening of “Couldn’t You Wait – The Story of Silkworm”

We’ve got all kinds of other stuff in the works, including outdoor vendors, and another custom Dromedary beer, craft brewed right in the Hudson Valley in conjunction with another local brewer.

Friday night tickets and Saturday/Sunday Weekend passes are on sale NOW. Buy them here.

We’re celebrating the release of Reindeer Soul, the debut LP by Matt Hunter & the Dusty Fates. We first heard Matt’s band – which included lots of old friends and members of bands we’ve admired for years – when we booked a show at the Avalon in Catskill with our pals in Savak. Matt is Savak’s bass player, and the Dusty Fates came up and played as well.

We fell instantly in love with the quality of the songwriting and the creative musicianship, with a three-guitar lineup featuring Matt, Evans Wohlforth (Glenn Branca) and Jim Santo (The Sharp Things), with Gerard Smith (Phantom Tollbooth) handling bass duties and Jeff Gensterblum (Savak) on drums. And when the opportunity arose to put out their debut, we couldn’t have jumped at the chance faster. We’re big fans of long-timers who are still making interesting, relevant music, and Matt surrounds himself with such people.

Glide magazine calls Reindeer Soul an “expansive and atmospheric stunner,” and we agree. Check it out in our webstore today!