'Dirty Tender Love' brings London reviewer back to Birthday Party era

Amanda Barokh of The Dalston Howl gives "Dirty Tender Love" a rating of 9 out of 10.Amanda Barokh, who is based in northeast London and writes for The Dalston Howl, recently reviewed "Dirty Tender Love" and compared it to what Nick Cave sounded like during the Birthday Party era.

Read her review here: Pen Expers – Dirty Tender Love

Barokh also finds connections to Tom Waits and Suicide, and mentions three of the songs on the latest Pen Expers album as highlights — "Ghost Train", "Drink To Me, Victoria Lee" and "iwannadoher".

In her review, Barokh draws attention to the singing performance on the record:

"Pen Expers frontman Alexander Arvman is gifted with the same oratory skills as Waits and Cave. He artfully spins out each song into a blood curdling tale."

The Dalston Howl reviews usually don't include a ratings indicator. In a message to Pen Expers on Twitter, Barokh said she gave "Dirty Tender Love" a rating of 9 out of 10.

The Icarus Line cancels Scandinavian gigs

The Icarus Line is cancelling its Scandinavian gigs this October because drummer Troy Petrey was unable to make the trip from Los Angeles to Europe.

Pen Expers, which was scheduled to open for The Icarus Line at four concerts in Sweden and Norway, will still play in Stockholm on Saturday as planned.

The Pen Expers gigs on Sunday in Malmö and Monday in Oslo are cancelled.

Update (Oct. 3): The Pen Expers concert in Gothenburg on Tuesday is cancelled as well.

See the Calendar for an updated listing

Pen Expers to open for The Icarus Line in October

Pen Expers front man Alexander Arvman and his band will warm up the stage for The Icarus Line.Pen Expers will have the honor to open for Los Angeles-based rock 'n' roll band The Icarus Line, which will be playing in Sweden and Norway early October as part of a European tour.

Two of the gigs will be held at Debaser, Sweden's hottest host of hard rock acts: On Oct. 1 the mayhem will take place at Debaser Slussen in Stockholm, and on Oct. 2 the havoc will happen at Debaser Malmö.

The venue for the Oct. 3 Norway concert is Blå, in Oslo.

See the Calendar for a more detailed listing

The joint gigs are a continuation of the collaboration between The Icarus Line and Pen Expers that started earlier this year with the release of the split 7" that holds "Raise Your Crown" and "iwannadoher".

Read more about this partnership and how it got started in Alexander's blog post.

Twitter followers will win iTunes songs

To celebrate the launch of the new Pen Expers website, we're giving away songs to our Twitter followers every day in August.

One daily winner will be selected randomly from our followers and will be sent an email with an electronic gift certificate, redeemable in the iTunes Store and good for one Pen Expers song.

Here's a running list of the winners:

• Aug. 1: @Michael_Swart
• Aug. 2: @Esmelon
• Aug. 3: @Freddansmusik
• Aug. 4: @dguldbrandsen
• Aug. 5: @andersjedenfors
• Aug. 6: @joakimkarlsson
• Aug. 7: @Aggsen
• Aug. 8: @builtlike4truck
• Aug. 9: @morgondan
• Aug. 10: @ZenaidaSerrano
• Aug. 11: @my_record_label
• Aug. 12: @LaimaDagis
• Aug. 13: @strobie
• Aug. 14: @gonzo1977
• Aug. 15: @PSL_SVT
• Aug. 16: @LLyssarides
• Aug. 17: @Zoowraa
• Aug. 18: @Ollegardmusic
• Aug. 19: @blendalars
• Aug. 20: @anderseriksson
• Aug. 21: @Platerik
• Aug. 22: @welomusic
• Aug. 23: @russmccrory
• Aug. 24: @MartinToresson
• Aug. 25: @jennypenny_swe
• Aug. 26: @GabsBex
• Aug. 27: @ncandtbs
• Aug. 28: @robbtodd
• Aug. 29: @Larson_6427
• Aug. 30: @TyredEyes
• Aug. 31: @HampusMork

To enter, all you have to do is follow Pen Expers on Twitter. If you're a winner, you'll be notified through a tweet that mentions your handle. We'll ask you to send us a direct message on Twitter and let us know which email address to send the iTunes gift certificate to.

We'll also ask you to select which song you want. You can explore tunes from all three Pen Expers albums on the Songs page and let us know your pick. If you don't want to make a choice, we'll send you "Drink To Me, Victoria Lee" from "Dirty Tender Love."

Follow Pen Expers on Twitter

As long as you're one of our followers, you're automatically entered to win every day for the whole month. Good luck!

@builtlike4truck