High-energy hip-hoppers Weird Is the New Cool and Latin-reggae-punk rockers Fayuca wasted no time in hitting the road to begin their 2013 campaign.

Mere days after the new year dawned, the two local acts launched their Spark the Flame Tour on Thursday, January 3, and paid a little visit to our northern Arizona neighbors in Flagstaff over the weekend. With stops also scheduled in Nevada, California, New Mexico, and Texas, the two groups will be plenty busy in the coming weeks. You can witness some of their tour shenanigans in video form after the jump.

See also:
- Weird Is the New Cool Rebounds From Tragedy
Download: Fayuca's Heavy "The Cycle"

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There's so much to report and so little Internet to shove it in. First things first: the small bit of youth music we've witnessed in the Western United States convinces me thoroughly that my generation of American musicians has the studiousness and audacity to be emotionally unflinching in the face of economic turmoil and technological proliferation. Second things following: we all got fifty-cent neck tattoos.

The NorCal/Pacific Northwest leg took us to strange lengths. The bands we played with in the Sacramento area swung neatly between technical proficiency and calculated ineptitude. Our local homies ALAK use Captain Beefheart chord shapes and fragmented percussion as a strangely compelling vehicle for affecting, harmonious vocal melodies.

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The southern California leg concluded nicely. Thanks to a great promoter and the draw of some awesome local rippers, we played to 130 kids at The Smell in Los Angeles, a well-known downtown all-ages space with a relatively big stage. We don't normally get the opportunity to play with big PAs and drum mics, so the boomy loudness felt a little foreign. People said it sounded good, though. Afterward Stephen, Andrew and I ate the biggest reubens we've ever had at Canter's in Fairfax. I can always get behind unreasonably tall stacks of pastrami at 3 a.m.

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I won't attempt to explain the amalgam of esoteric in-jokes that manifested into the tour poster seen above. There's a perfectly good but lengthy explanation for why the four of us chose to put John Fogerty's head on a French Quarter t-shirt, gave him dice for eyes and exhorted the viewer to keep on "chooglin'" in the year 2001. The best part of the story is that in this first week of our 28-day west coast tour, we've managed to sell four of them.

This tour is in support of our new record called Desert Wasn't Welcome and so far it still has that glorified road trip feel. Three friends and I are traveling the west coast in my overstuffed 2001 Toyota Camry, listening to podcasts and Buffalo Springfield and Die Antwoord, hanging with locals in a new place every day and basically getting paid a neat sum to do a fun loud thing.

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Wikimedia Commons

Boise, Idaho

Well folks, this last post is kind of a sad one. The two local bands on the Las Vegas show dropped out at the lat minute, which forced the promoter to cancel Out of Reverie's last scheduled date.

We kicked around a few options and Darian Reneé (the singer of Salt the Sea who happens to be involved in everything music and gave us a place to stay) made tons of phone calls on the band's behalf, but we found no solution.

Ending the tour early and enjoying our last day in Boise ended up being the best option.
After recovering from numerous canceled shows during the tour, this final one sounded the death knell.

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Jake Krauss

The drive out of Seattle

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We had quite a drive yesterday. After a couple of hours of sleep at a friend of mine's house in Seattle, we got up bright and early at 6 a.m. and hit the open road.

I know this might be getting old, but the beginning of the drive was another beautiful one. I guess that's what happens when you drive through a National Forest chock full of green trees, lakes and rivers.

It blew my mind how much green there in almost every direction I looked.

It was truly a weird day. Despite being deprived of sleep, Jake and I managed to split the 500-mile drive between the two of us, by far the most driving we had done at that point in the tour.

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Jake Krauss

The "1167," our venue in Eugene.

Last night was definitely one to remember, but as much as we wanted to stay in Eugene, we had to move on to the next show.

Traveling ahead unded up being a very good decision as Tacoma rocked all our socks off.
So, after a little afternoon breakfast with Nic at Brails, we packed the van back up and headed for Tacoma so the guys could play at the Red Room later that night.

Throughout this trip, the amazing beauty of the Northwest has constantly amazed all of us.

For a bunch of kids who grew up in the middle of the desert, the abundance of greenery and rivers and sub-80 degree temperatures has come as a wonderful surprise.

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Jake Krauss

The farm

Out of Reverie finally played a show today.

After days of inactivity, the guys killed it at a house show in Eugene. The promoter for the Eugene Underground show up-and-disappeared and a friend stepped in to give us a place to play.

We woke up at Jake's family farm in Northern California and the fresh air and hospitality set us off on the right foot. The day felt good from the beginning and it was a good omen for the rest of the day (and night) to come.

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Wayne Schutsky

Poster on the Shine window

Out of Reverie is finally back on the road.

We got off to a late start in the morning, so we ended up arriving a little late to the Shine Coffee Shop in Sacramento. Rena, the place's proprietor, was very cool about it, though, and still had a spot for the band following the open mic.

Because of the shop's size and Out of Reverie's imposing sound, it was decided that Dain should play the show acoustic.

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Jake Krauss

Walking around Montebello on an unofficial off day

Let's start off with the good news.

The band and I had the chance to spend another day with the Dain Griffin's very hospitable and friendly family. We also got to walk around the neighborhood for a bit and enjoy some nice (78 degrees) sunny weather.

We saw a couple of crazy dogs, bought some ice cream from the ice cream man and walked a mile and half to the nearest gas station for refreshments.

And then the bad.

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