I was a latecomer to Port O’Brien, a band whose 2009 album, Threadbare, fortunately found its way to my mailbox during the pre-release promotional push.

And wouldn’t ya know, just when you think you start to know a band, they go and break up on you. But former Port O’Brien frotnman Van Pierszalowski – who kindly let us in on his affinity for Lil Wayne on this site – is moving forward with a new project called WATERS.

On Tuesday, Stereogum premiered the first track from the forthcoming album, Out in the Light, due for release in September.

There was a great frenetic energy to Pierszalowski’s brand of folk-rock with Port O’Brien, and from the sound of it so far, WATERS has even a little more crunch and oomph behind it.

Pierszalowski is on Twitter, so you can stalk him there.

• Waters | For the One

When life travels at the speed of the Internet, releasing albums anything more than two years apart seems – fair or not – like a dangerous career play. But then there’s Richard Buckner, a man who makes music too vital to ever be considered disposable or subject to the whims of the 140-character crowd.

After releasing albums about every other year for most of his career, Buckner has been quiet for five (long) years – since 2006’s Meadow came out on Merge Records. But on Aug. 2, at long last, Buckner and Merge will present a new album, Our Blood.

Reasons for the wait are many: an aborted film score, the demise of a tape machine, a stolen laptop. But, Buckner says, “The recording machine was resuscitated and some of the material was recovered. Cracks were patched. Parts were redundantly re-invented. Commas were moved. Insinuations were re-insinuated until the last percussive breaths of those final OCD utterances were expelled like the final heaves of bile, wept-out long after the climactic drama had faded to a somber, blurry moment of truth and voilà!, the record was done, or, let us be clear, abandoned like the charred shell of a car with a nice stereo.”

This is music to my ears. I first saw Buckner live in Tempe in 1995 (with Alejandro Escovedo) and it was, without a doubt, a moving experience – one of the first times I can remember being left defenseless to a live-music moment. So it’s confusing/maddening/dispiriting to read (in a great new interview at Aquarium Drunkard) that Buckner is driving forklifts, holding road signs and working for the census to stay afloat. “The only money comes from touring. There’s no money in making records.” That may be totally obvious now, but it doesn’t make it any less depressing hearing it from an artist you truly admire.

Still, I feel hopeful and thankful that Buckner hasn’t just given up on it all, that I’ll still have new music to look forward to from him. (And for crying out loud, if you don’t own Bloomed, it’s one of the finest albums in my collection.)

Below is Traitor, the first single from Our Blood, which is available for preorder at Merge. And be sure to check out what appears to be Buckner’s newly launched website.

• Richard Buckner | Traitor

I’m not sure acoustic versions of Twilight Sad songs actually get the point across of Twilight Sad songs. The sonic pummeling of distortion and feedback is all part of the experience, especially live.

That’s not to say the songs can’t stand on their own without that. James Graham certainly writes powerful lyrics with a voice that can carry them in most any setting. Personally, I just love how their epic sound moves the needle, sonically and emotionally.

But, hey, see for yourself because the Scottish outfit is offering a seven-track acoustic EP for the small cost of your email address at its blog (or in that little widget below that sometimes takes awhile to load).

Tracklist:
1. I Became a Prostitute
2. Interrupted
3. Seven Years of Letters
4. Suck (The Wedding Present cover)
5. That Birthday Present
6. The Neighbours Can’t Breathe
7. The Wrong Car

• The Twilight Sad | I Became a Prostitute (acoustic)

Until seeing the Arcade Fire two weeks ago, I hadn’t been to Comerica Theatre (nee Dodge Theatre) in eight-plus years. Now it looks like I’ll be going there for a second time this year.

Death Cab for Cutie announced new North American tour dates, and they include an Aug. 15 stop in Phoenix. I’m having a hard time remembering when I saw Death Cab for the first (and only) time, though I feel like it was at the new Nita’s Hideaway with John Vanderslice, but this tour history doesn’t list that show (but it does list one with Nada Surf in 2003, so maybe that was it?).

Anyway, Death Cab has long outgrown the small-venue scene and it appears their tourmates, Frightened Rabbit – one of my favorites – might be next. If not for Frightened Rabbit’s inclusion, I’m not sure I’m willing to pony up the $32 for tickets. Can’t wait to hear how their songs carry in such a spacious venue.

Speaking of tickets, they go on sale May 7, but Stateside Presents is having a pre-sale on May 2. There’s a Death Cab pre-sale Friday, but you must belong to the fan club, and only Zooey Deschanel likes Ben Gibbard that much.

You can get a taste of three new Death Cab songs below, all of which will be on their May 31 release, Codes and Keys.