A few weeks back, we took Tokyo Police Club's "Breakneck Speed" to the AT&T Performing Arts Center, which was serving at the time as a location for a shoot for NBC's Chase. And, between shoots, got people's opinions of the song off the band's 2010 album, Champ. A waitress working nearby, an extra and an employee at the PAC all agreed -- although, each admitted, the song wasn't necessarily up any of their alleys. Still, as you'll see in the above clip, the band managed to win over each of our ambushed listeners in the end.

And, hey, talk about convenient: Tokyo Police Club is slated to rock out at the Granada Theater tomorrow night. Oh, and, if you want to go the show, well, you're in luck. The kind folks at the Granada have been nice enough to pass along three free pairs of tickets for us to pass along to a few lucky DC9 readers interested in seeing the show. And, if that's not enough, Tokyo Police Club's been kind enough to pass along an mp3 of "Breakneck Speed" as a free download, too.

After the jump, download the song -- and see how to win your free tickets to the show, as well.

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This week, we traveled to West Village to see how people there felt about Turbo Fruits, the Tennessee-based indie rock outfit.The folks we stumbled across in West Village compared Turbo Fruits' "Where The Stars Don't Shine" to the likes of the Ramones and the Beatles. And though they found the recording of the song to be a bit "garage," they nonetheless found the song fun and dance-able. They also thought that the band fairly likely to play a good live show.

Good news, then: Turbo Fruits is slated to come through the region for a gig at Denton's Rubber Gloves on Saturday, December 18. And if you want to go the live show, well, you're in luck. Rubber Gloves has been nice enough to pass along two free pairs of tickets to lucky DC9 Readers interested in seeing Saturday night's show. And if that's not enough, Turbo Fruits was also kind enough to pass along this song as a free MP3 download.

Download the song and see how to win your free pair of tickets to Turbo Fruits' show after the jump.

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This week, we traveled to El Centro College in the heart of downtown Dallas to see how students felt about The Dandy Warhols, the popular post-punk band hailing from Portland.

Although none of the participants were accustomed to this kind of music, all of the participants found a way to enjoy the vibe and beat of "The World Come On." One participant spoke to how the song is "uplifting." Another commented on how it makes for good car music.

But no matter who it was, the universal appeal was evident with this band.

And that universal appeal isn't surprising -- this band's music has been featured in everything from Ford Commercials and The O.C. to Dancing with the Stars and Chuck, which is pretty much what it takes to be financially successful in the mp3 era.

Speaking of mp3s, if you enjoyed the "The World Come On" in the above as much as the participants, you're in luck. In advance of the band's stop through to the Granada Theater on Saturday night, the Dandy Warhols were been kind enough to let our DC9 readers download "The World Come On" as a free MP3. Grab it after the jump -- where you can also learn how to win one of two pairs of tickets for this upcoming show, courtesy the friendly folks at the Granada.

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It's that time again. Like clockwork, Aural Ambush has made a resurrection. If your not familiar with it, here's how it goes: We grab a song from an act stopping through town, pick a spot in the metroplex where we'll force people to listen to that band, and then we capture people's reactions to the track on film.

This week, we're covering Philadelphia's Free Energy, in anticipation of their show at The Loft on Friday night with Foxy Shazam. And we took their pop-rock song "Dream City" to Eisenberg's Skatepark in Plano. The song seemed to fit right in with the skatepark vibe, with skaters generally liking the song, even if it wasn't in their regular rotation.

If you're digging the song, well, you're in luck: The band's been kind enough to pass along the song as a free download to DC9 readers. Get it after the jump--where you can also find out how to win one of five free pairs of tickets The Loft has passed along for us give away to readers as well.

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This week we ventured north to the SMU campus to see how students felt about Moon Taxi, the rockin' quintet from Nashville.

All of the participants seemed to have musical preferences more associated with mainstream trends, i.e. pop, rock, and rap. Regardless, approximately 66-percent of our ambushees (all those named "Alex") really enjoyed the band's new track "Around The Sun." One stagnant rap fan (the unaccounted-for 33-some-odd-percent) could not be moved by the psychedelic rock fusion that is Moon Taxi.

However, if you were so moved, you are in luck. The boys of Moon Taxi were nice enough to let our DC9 readers download "Around The Sun" as a free MP3. If that's just not enough and you've found yourself whistling for a taxi--a Moon taxi--hail it and take it to The Loft tomorrow night to see them perform with Denton's own Andrew Tinker as the opening act. Make the jump for the MP3.

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For this episode of Aural Ambush, we brought a bit of Chicago to our friends at Recycled Books on the historic downtown Denton square with the track "Solid Ground" from Illinois boys Maps & Atlases. The song, featured on their latest LP, Perch Patchwork, which dropped late last month, impressed most of our "ambushees" with its "chill," "arrangement-heavy," "not-something-you'd-party-to" sound.
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As you may have noticed, the last rebirth of Aural Ambush wasn't as long-lasting as we'd hoped. This summer we're giving it another go.

If you're not familiar with the concept, it's pretty simple: We grab an mp3 from a group touring through our domain, equip ourselves with CD player, headphones, and a friendly demeanor, and then head out on the town to get on-the-spot reactions from random folks willing to give the song a listen.

For the first installment of this new dynasty, we approached five unsuspecting shoppers at North Park Mall. None of them had ever previously heard of Austin's The Octopus Project, who play the Granada Theater with FUR and Florene tomorrow night, but it seems most of them had heard Death Cab for Cutie and/or The Postal Service--they were all quick to compare the track "Wet Gold" from the band's Golden Beds EP to a slew of Ben Gibbard ditties. Each participant admitted that what they were hearing was slightly, if not extremely, outside of their normal rotation but, on the whole, enjoyable.

If you also enjoyed it, you're in luck. Peek-A-Boo Records was nice enough to pass along "Wet Gold" as a free download for DC9 Readers. Grab it after the jump. And, if you'd like to hear more, the folks at the Granada have been kind enough to pass along three pairs to tickets to tomorrow night's show. Want one of the pairs? Be one of the first three people to email Pete right now with the words "An Octopus' Garden" in the subject line, and you're in. Good luck!

Update: Contest is over. Congrats to our winners!

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Today, we welcome back an old friend to the blog. That's right: It's the return of Aural Ambush, a feature we hope will be back and running regularly in these confines we call DC9. It's been a while, though, so, for those who may have forgotten the concept, a quick refresher: We grab an mp3 from an act stopping through the region, pop it onto our portable player, head out on the town, and capture man-on-the-street reactions to the track. Makes for a pretty decent time, actually, as the above clip, shot by Danny Fulgencio, more than demonstrates. Check it out.

The subject of this week's ambush: David Bazan, the former frontman of Pedro the Lion, and a group of bicycle polo (there exists such a thing, go figure) players and fans in Oak Cliff. As Daniel Rodrigue points out in this week's paper, Bazan's gone through something of a major religious transition of late...

A number of reviews have called his Barsuk debut a "breakup album" where God gets dumped--but, no disrespect intended, and God aside, Curse Your Branches comes across like a breakup album for a generation that's fed up with meaninglessness, unanswered questions and Bible-belt backwardness taking precedent over common decency. Continue reading...

Even so, a couple of our ambush victims knocked the song immediately for its religious face value. Oh well--at least one guy thinks it's pretty "legit."

Catch Bazan tonight at Dan's Silver Leaf, where he'll be performing a set alongside his labelmates in Say Hi (which was formerly--and awesomely--called Say Hi to Your Mom, a band of which Marky Mark would no doubt would approve). And for those of you playing along? Enjoy a free stream and download Bazan's "Bless This Mess" after the jump, courtesy of Barsuk.

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Sarah Wilmer

This week, two new interns joined the Aural Ambush squad and our $20 Discman was replaced with a borrowed iPod. A few weeks/months off and suddenly this is a high class operation? Well, actually, that's fitting: Only the best would do for the esteemed Knox Street patrons and joggers of the nearby Katy Trail, who kindly took a breather for a few minutes of "We Are Beautiful, We Are Doomed" by Los Campesinos!, a seven-piece indie pop rock outfit from Wales.

(We'll have a Q&A with drummer Ollie Campesinos up later this week, too, so keep an eye out for that...)

Most agreed that the track was upbeat, '80s-sounding and British--all pretty spot on. And the song seemed to give our sidewalk critics renewed vigor to return to the trails or the nearby dry cleaners. After such a sweaty day, we promise to generously Lysol our headphones before the next Ambush--so don't worry if we happen upon you next time...

Jump with us to hear the track and see what this batch of listeners thought of it...

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You can get away with calling TV on the Radio lots of things -- post-punk, art rock, whatever you like. The amateur music critics we found at Mockingbird Station Monday afternoon tried all those and then some -- even hinting that the track "Golden Age" off the New York set's new album Dear Science, was just way too old for them. After all, it came out a little over a month ago.

TV on the Radio play the Lakewood Theater tonight, but this week's Aural Ambush is playing right now, after the jump.

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